episode_0147

“Truth?”

“That’s right. Many things were hidden beneath the surface of this world. To some extent, Northmund’s actions like this were intentional. iced coffee… I’m sorry, but can we sit down and talk first? I guess my voice doesn’t come out very well because I’m being held up by the collar. Sigh!”

A conductor taking his time. However, the tone of his voice was full of tension, a bit impatient rather than relaxed.

I made him sit down and throw him towards the chair that had been pushed away due to the commotion that had just occurred.

With an old man’s voice saying, “Oh my gosh,” he lifts up one of his somewhat restored arms and presses his chest, which had been grabbed by me, and then says, “Hmm, hmm,” before calming down his words.

“Huh… Where should I start the story? Now that I’m talking about it, I feel a bit lost.”

The old man, who had been choosing his words with a hmm, caught my murderous gaze and quickly cleared his throat.

“Okay, let me start with an old story. First of all, I will assume that Northmund is a blank slate with nothing in it. Even if there is a part you know, I hope you will just listen to it first.”

After seeing that I was nodding, the old man waved his hand and golden light began to flow from it.

The light gradually gathered in the center and formed a sphere of a certain size.

“What is this?”

“This is the appearance of a great being. It is energy itself, not matter. There are countless such beings in each dimension. In each dimension, there are such beings called creator gods.”

“… .”

Perhaps because he thought I was interested, the old man waved his hand slightly and brought the golden orb a little closer to me.

“Based on the current dimension, this world was created quite early on. It was a time when life was emerging in only a few areas of the entire dimension. In human time, this is hundreds of billions of years ago. Yes, even if you look at all dimensions, it is a fairly old dimension. You can think of it as one of the oldest dimensions.”

While holding it, I heard that the real universe is 13.8 billion years old after the Big Bang. If the age of this dimension is in the hundreds of billions, it is definitely an old dimension.

As I was thinking about that, the golden sphere suddenly stretched out its arm-like arms and created a planetary system with just a single wave of its hand.

The appearance was like the solar system of the real universe.

No, it might be the same or it might not be the same. Since they share the same worldview, it would be the solar system, the solar system itself.

With a single wave of a hand, a planet that looked like Earth was born, followed by a red planet, numerous asteroid belts, a gas planet with large eyes at the bottom, an ocher-colored planet with an orbital ring, etc.

“And being old means a lot of power. In any case, even if he is a god, he is ultimately unable to transcend world affairs. In the end, the gods of the early dimension and the gods of the later dimension, who had that power, went to war… .”

When I heard that, I frowned and waved my hand.

At that time, the last planet in the solar system, which appeared to be Neptune, was forming, and at the gesture of my hand it disappeared, scattering blue particles around.

The Collector stopped what he was saying at my sudden action and looked at me.

” As I was holding it, there were so many useless words. I am not interested in the biography of this “great being” or something. The same goes for history at this level, and it is not important at all right now.”

I stretched out my finger and pointed at the old man in the chair in front of me and growled lowly.

“Speak to the point. I have absolutely no desire to talk at length with you.”

“Hey, I was telling you about the motivation behind the great being finally entering its dormant period and dreaming a grand dream… Okay, what happened? If Northmund wants to proceed quickly. Hehehe.”

It was something I didn’t need to hear. I’m not interested.

Roughly speaking, after going through such a dimensional war and hundreds of billions of years of strange circumstances, isn’t it true that he eventually lost his motivation and became a sleeper in the corner of his room?

At my urging, the old man lightly scratched the back of his head and waved his hand again, making the golden sphere that served as a projector disappear and fiddling with his bearded chin.

“Then, let me be honest and tell you only what you want. The great being wants its own extinction. The end of this dream ultimately involves the destruction of the current dimension, that is, the disappearance of God itself. Yes, that’s right. To put it simply, this dream is like God’s last play before he takes his own life. Well, let’s say it’s similar to death row inmates enjoying their last supper before their execution. Tsk tsk… Of course, that sentence is handed down voluntarily.”

“… This is absurd. It’s so absurd that I can’t help but laugh. Are you saying that God’s final entertainment is the embodiment of a romance novel?”

“Uh heh heh, Northmund, do you think so too? When I first found out about that, I almost burst into laughter. And the contents are recorded in Wittgen’s book. Northmund probably knows this too. This is a book in which Guardian Wittgen peeked into God’s dreams and recorded their contents.”

So, isn’t 『Kiss Siege Sense』 to be Wittgen’s book?

It was so absurd that I put my hand on my forehead. Strangely enough, it is a female-oriented scene with a feminine taste.

I lightly sneered when I heard that fact.

As if it was so absurd that it wasn’t worth listening to.

No, of course I am not disparaging people who read romance novels. I, too, have often read such novels from around the world.

Isn’t it a bit funny that the only entertainment at the end of one’s life is a romance novel? Or is it not possible because we have already been enlightened for countless years?

I have no intention of criticizing taste itself. If anyone is offended by my thoughts right now, it is solely my fault and I apologize in advance.

“So Alexstras attempted to change that meaningless ending. Ultimately, it was a futile effort. I can never stand against you, Northmund. Ah, what pitiful creatures they are. After assisting a great being for eons, he eventually disappears at the end of this childish play.”

After listening to it, I could understand his feelings to some extent. He lived a truly miserable life.

After laughing for a moment, I immediately caught the next one.

Although the question of the meaning of this world’s existence has been resolved to some extent, it has not yet been completely resolved.

Therefore, I stated my question directly.

“But it takes a long time for the main part of Wittgen’s book to begin. Why did I come back 30 years ago? As you know, I did not enter this dimension voluntarily.”

“Ah. Because it had to be that way. Because only then could this ending be twisted in the most efficient way.”

“What?”

“It was the time when there was the least amount of interruption. Coincidentally, this was also the time when it became a religious tradition. Yes, around that time, the idiots at the ring bridge opened the gate and started bringing in monsters. In the end, didn’t it work out well? At that time, I was also watching television. Ugh, I didn’t know Northmund would act like that.”

I furrowed my brows without realizing it due to the sudden heat that was approaching.

I was just hearing the truth I had been hearing all along.

In the previous world, I was an ordinary office worker, going to work, and living a monotonous life while moderately enjoying my hobby of gaming.

If you ask me if life was fun, well, the truth is that it wasn’t fun. A life that goes round every day.

The fact that I was immersed in, integrated with, and enjoying the game character, which was just a piece of data, was in itself proof of that.

But now the daily life I wanted to avoid will no longer return.

It was cut off and it was now impossible to return. Now, the return to the daily life I long for has stopped.

And is there a being right in front of me who caused me to deviate from this everyday life in an unintentional way?

“Is it you? What called me? Why?”

As I clenched my fist, the surroundings began to vibrate in response to my will.

As if a strong wind was sweeping the surrounding area, there were countless scratches on the luxurious table, and the Persian carpet was torn to shreds, sending fluff flying into the air.

However, there was a feeling of warmth between the two people in this space that made one think that only this place was free from the storm.

And I raised my gaze towards him to see what that energy was.

“Ugh, this is pretty fun. At first, I was a little disappointed that Northmund didn’t know, but it turned out for the better. Haha. I never thought revealing shocking facts would be so fun. Now I know why villains spend time revealing their true identities in movies… I’m sorry.”

After seeing my expression change and Yongin’s fist clenching, the Collector quickly removes his smile from his face, clears his throat, and regains his posture.

This guy is walking a pretty tight tightrope. It’s a situation where it feels like if you tilt it just a little bit, you’ll fall to your death.

He begins to open his mouth again, as if he knows that this is the one who will bring about that death.

“What I’m about to tell you may shock you to some extent. However, there is no lie whatsoever in what I say, so please do not doubt. It may be shocking right now, but in the end, you might be grateful to me.”

An old man dressed in black clothes with a large body that did not suit his age.

The frivolous old man, who, paradoxically, looked like the black clothes did not suit his physique yet somehow suited him, took a deep breath.

“Alextras said that if you do a lot, you will be noticed, so she intervened to change the smallest things first. They attempted to fight the final battle by breeding the powers of the guardians, who had been gradually disappearing over a long period of time. Sometimes through whispers, sometimes through direct revelation.”

“… .”

“But have you never thought about it this way? Even if his ultimate goal is to absorb that boy, is it possible to surpass the “Great Being”?”

I shook my head.

That is certainly true.

As someone who has faced Alexstras once, I can gauge his strength to some extent.

Of course, the one in that Romanian city was a parasite of The One, a kind of incarnation, but even so, it would be difficult to say that the original’s skills surpassed mine.

And even if Alexstras says Han Si-woo is added in that state… Well, it was very negative to see it as surpassing the Creator God.

Even with the situation that the guy just showed, it was impossible to say that Alexstras plus Han Si-woo could be compared to the being who created the solar system with a single wave of his hand.

Could it be that they are trying to confront the elephant with the power of an ant standing in front of an elephant, or rather, a microorganism that is not even an ant?

“… That must be difficult.”

“That’s right. Even if the final goal mentioned in Wittgen’s book is added, it is impossible to oppose the great being with that power. But it was probably best for him. Because there is no time.”

“You don’t have time?”

“Wittgen’s book ends with the final body graduating from the Academy. That point is the end point of this world. If the time had been longer, mating would have lasted even longer.”

I wanted to say something or ask more questions, but I had no choice but to keep holding my forehead.

is it. It doesn’t continue after that. Was that point the end of the novel? And would the collapse of the world have begun from then on?

Like Han Si-woo from 『Ki.si.sen』, he is actually the existence of that dream. In the end, does that mean that that point is the end?

“But that was the minimum step. Although fusion with the final body is weak, it can approach a portion of the power of the past. Only at that level can you achieve a certain speed of absorbing God. Yes, it is similar to a mosquito attaching itself to a sleeping human and sucking the blood. Of course, if a human wakes up, it can be shattered in one fell swoop, but the human is still sleeping comfortably.”

“In short, securing Han Si-woo was a prerequisite for the needle to pierce the skin of a sleeping human.”

“You clearly understand,” said the Collector with a smile and a slap on the palm of his hand.

“Now you understand why I underestimate the completeness of Alexstras’ plan, right? Same demon, so the guardians’ opinions are also the same. Anyway, they were people without grit and their willpower was weak, so I was slowly getting tired of them. But even so, I thought it was the best choice and continued to do so until now.”

“You’ve been avoiding answering since earlier. I asked why I, Elm Northmund, was brought to this world. I wasn’t asking about Alexstras’ circumstances.”

The collector smiled, feeling like he had answered my question well.

There was no answer right away, but this time, looking at him like that, I didn’t say anything and quietly waited for an answer.

In fact, it was such a shocking fact that I felt like my head was going to explode.

Perhaps because he was aware of that fact, or perhaps because he had caught the slight trembling of my reptile’s pupils, the Collector smiled slightly and continued.