Episode 12. First-Person Perspective (3)
[Constellation, 'Prisoner of the Long Orphan' applauds your fighting spirit!]
[Constellation, 'Devilish Judge of Fire' praises your courage!]
[Constellation, 'Secretive Strategist' shows interest in your tactics.]
······.
[Many constellations were greatly impressed by your performance.]
[You have received 20,000 coins in sponsorship.]
I frowned at the flood of indirect messages pouring in without any filter.
Nobody dislikes compliments, but when dozens of them hit all at once, it's basically a form of torture.
Where the hell is Bi-hyeong? Not managing the messages properly… where did he go?
Ah… he's probably being summoned at the management bureau right now.
The hidden scenario reward hasn't arrived yet, and the mid-tier goblin has quietly disappeared, so I can roughly guess what's happening.
By the way, the total sponsorship is 20,000 coins…
As expected, the difference between a "minor channel" and a "major channel" is huge in terms of income.
I quickly rummaged through the body of the Fire Dragon species and pulled out its core.
[5th-Rank Fire Dragon Core]
The core was enveloped in a faint red glow.
Since it's of the Rare Disaster grade, the quality of the core itself was impressive.
Even though it's a degraded version, it's still a type of dragon, so there's a lot that can be harvested—bones, scales, skin. You could give it to a skilled blacksmith for crafting or sell it on the market.
Just to be sure, I started checking the dead Fire Dragon's body again. I mean, we defeated a Rare Disaster-level creature—surely there must be more than just this.
Then, suddenly, a sharp "szaak" sound hit my back, accompanied by a jolt of pain.
"Reader, are you some kind of game character?"
I hadn't noticed her approach, but Jeong Hee-won was standing behind me.
I coughed without thinking.
"······I'm running on empty right now. If you hit me like that, I'll die."
"Even if you die, you come back anyway."
"That's not always the case."
At this point, she should have slammed me again like usual, but for some reason, she was quiet.
Come to think of it, she looked pretty shocked when I died earlier.
I think she even cried… no, no way—Hee-won crying?
She seemed to lower her voice, probably because of the others around.
"······Did you know everything and plan accordingly this time, too?"
"Not everything······."
"What if you really had died!"
"But I survived."
Another sharp slap landed on my back.
Late to the scene, Lee Hyun-sung hurried over.
"Reader! Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
From afar, Jeong Min-seop and Lee Seong-guk approached timidly, and everyone had gathered.
Honestly, I had hoped these guys would die here—but they're incredibly lucky.
Well, they're in my group now anyway, so controlling them anytime is easy.
But then… silence fell suddenly, and I realized everyone was staring at me with bright eyes.
I sighed and said,
"Ask one by one. What do you want to know?"
And suddenly, an interrogation began.
"The Resurrection is a new perk I acquired. It's not because of Jesus or anything like that."
I avoided complicated topics and only shared the information the party needed to know. Hee-won muttered in disbelief.
"Every time you save someone, it's called Resurrection… totally broken, isn't it?"
"It's roughly once per hundred people, but yeah, it's broken."
I admitted it honestly.
But even the 'King of Immortality' had a fatal weakness.
With this perk, I cannot directly take a person's life.
I can wound, restrain, or incapacitate someone, no problem—but killing them is forbidden. The moment the King of Immortality kills a fellow being directly, they immediately lose their throne.
Of course, I didn't go into all these details. There's no reason for anyone else to know.
"I'll have to work hard to save people from now on."
"I'll try to save them, though there will be difficult cases…"
"Don't worry. I'll kill the troublesome ones."
Hee-won's confident voice.
The reason I could freely choose 'King of Immortality' was because of her. This was also why I had raised the 'Judicator of Evil' from the start.
Running solo could be frustrating sometimes, but keeping 'King of Immortality' until the mid-late game wasn't a big problem in the long run.
Later on, there would be even more broken perks. Just because I got a good early perk doesn't mean I should stick with it forever.
"This really feels like a fantasy novel. All sorts of abilities keep popping up…"
Lee Hyun-sung's words prompted Lee Seong-guk and Jeong Min-seop to glance at me nervously.
I intentionally glared at them—a warning not to speak nonsense.
Not sure how he took it, but Seong-guk went ahead and asked nonsense anyway.
"How did it feel when you died?"
"······Terrible, obviously."
Why the sudden question? Seong-guk continued with a serious tone.
"Honestly, seeing you come back to life… was a bit scary."
"Scary?"
If you want, I can also translate the next section with the party's reactions—it gets a bit more comedic and tense. Do you want me to continue?
"Yes. Strictly speaking, your entire body was completely destroyed and then restored. Logically, that shouldn't be possible. I don't know the rules of this world, but if our existence can be entirely replicated… then perhaps, technically, you weren't 'resurrected'—you were 'replicated,' weren't you?"
He spoke with a calm voice, but the idea was chilling.
I hadn't even considered that possibility…
Come to think of it, this guy's trait was [Hypnotist].
…So he's interested in this kind of thing, too?
Jeong Hee-won scolded him.
"Have you been watching too many movies?"
"This is an important issue. If there's no continuity between your death and resurrection, there's no guarantee that the 'you' before death and the 'you' after resurrection are the same person."
Now he was even using complex terminology.
A memory suddenly flashed through my mind.
Could this be the same guy who left pedantic, intellectual hate comments during the prologue and then dropped out?
"You're trying to kill me with an incredibly clever idea… but there's no need to worry. I was conscious even after dying. So technically, I didn't really die."
"Are you saying you experienced the state of your soul?"
"I'm not sure if it counts as a soul…"
Talking about it left me feeling a little uneasy.
'Annihilation Method' is, after all, a world created by the author.
And that world has become reality.
A world where souls couldn't be proven has now become a world where souls are a given.
In such a world, what exactly is the existence of 'me'?
My country, my soul…
Did such things exist originally?
Or is even this 'me' just part of the story created by the author?
I shook my head.
Now is not the time for such thoughts.
"Anyway, that's enough useless questions, right?"
"Ah, may I ask just one more thing?"
"What is it?"
"Why are you suddenly using honorifics with Min-seop and me…?"
"The Yoo Joong-hyuk concept is over now."
Lee Seong-guk suddenly realized something and made a 'hot' expression.
"Oh… come to think of it, your appearance…"
I didn't even need to hear the trailing words to understand.
Of course, just because the concept is over doesn't mean the treatment changes drastically.
I held out my hand toward Seong-guk.
"Give me your smartphone."
"Huh?"
"I said, hand me your phone."
Seong-guk hesitated but then extended his phone.
Nice device. Better than the one I was using.
"Can I take this?"
"······Wasn't the Yoo Joong-hyuk concept over?"
"This was my original concept all along."
Seong-guk pouted.
"Everyone, take a little rest. I need to check something. We'll move in 10 minutes. You can also collect items in the meantime."
While the party gathered the scattered items, I tried to access the internet on Jeong Min-seop's smartphone.
I pretended to be calm, but in truth, I was a little anxious.
[Hidden scenario rewards are delayed.]
['Plausibility compliance judgment' is currently in progress at the management bureau.]
It was because of that message.
Plausibility compliance judgment.
That's probably why the hidden scenario reward coins haven't been credited yet.
I wanted to check the relevant parts in the 'Annihilation Method' script, but on top of everything, my previous smartphone had been burned.
Truly an uncharacteristic mistake for me.
It felt ominous.
What if the email the author sent was deleted…?
Then, a message popped up on the smartphone screen.
[Synchronization with a new device is available.]
[Do you want to proceed with synchronization?]
…What's this?
The moment I pressed confirm, a file started downloading, and a new file appeared on the home screen.
[Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World.txt]
I see. So that's how it works.
Of course, such a file wouldn't disappear so easily, even if goblins or constellations couldn't read it.
I watched Seong-guk and Min-seop goofing around while collecting items.
If you want, I can also translate the next section where they start exploring the contents of the file—it gets pretty suspenseful. Do you want me to continue?
Suddenly, I became curious.
Could the dropouts read this, too?
For now… it would be better to be as cautious as possible.
I opened the text file and began reading Annihilation Method.
[Your 'Reading Speed' has increased due to a trait effect.]
The section I found described the "Plausibility Compliance Review" that took place during Yoo Joong-hyuk's sixth regression.
"The mid-tier goblin chief of the Seoul Management Bureau, 'Baram,' frowned as he read through the scenario documents placed before him. At the very top of the stack was a file labeled
'A regressor, huh… damn it. These days, whether they're goblins or constellations, everyone's so damn sharp…'
Smacking his lips, Baram swept his gaze over the goblins attending the review meeting.
There were no high-tier goblins or great goblins present.
That was only natural. After all, this was a "plausibility compliance review" triggered at the level of a regional dome. Local matters were to be resolved locally. Baram asked the tense goblins,
"Who filed the petition on this one?"
"It was Aooni from Japan."
"That bastard should mind his own country. Why is he nitpicking someone else's plausibility? Do those assholes have no sense of business?"
"It seems tensions among the lower-tier goblins have been rising lately…"
Baram frowned.
According to the report, this 'Yoo Joong-hyuk' fellow certainly had plenty of grounds for a plausibility dispute.
Not only did he start out with high-level proficiency skills, he also possessed a large amount of critical information that should have been automatically filtered.
On top of that, because of some skill called [Sage's Eye], there were system-inaccessible entries, forcing them to request assistance from the upper management bureau just to complete the investigation.
Baram sighed and closed the report.
"Forget it. This guy was approved by the higher-ups. Leave him alone."
"Is that really okay? If we do that, the backlash—"
"That just means he has a backing constellation capable of bearing that level of backlash."
"But can a single constellation really handle it? Unless there's a constellation alliance to share the plausibility burden—"
Baram let out a short laugh.
"You barely have any seniority, and you're lecturing me? Want to go find out who this guy's backing constellation is?"
"N-no, sir."
"The fifth scenario will start soon anyway, so focus on that. This level of plausibility will gradually be offset as the scenario progresses. And besides—"
The atmosphere suddenly turned cold, and the mid-tier goblins fell silent.
"Have you guys stopped working lately?"
"Ugh…!"
"Why are sales in the U.S. and India such garbage? There's a prophet in America, and a constellation alliance in India, isn't there? There are plenty of easy marks—so why are the numbers that bad? Are you not making your products properly?"
"Th-that is…"
"Fuck plausibility—give it to the dogs! Hurry up and sell more coin packages!"**
A snort of laughter escaped me.
Watching what these goblins get up to reminds me of Mino Soft, the company I used to work for.
Their planning department was no joke either.
In any case, my current situation is quite similar to Yoo Joong-hyuk's in Annihilation Method.
I'd always known something like this would happen eventually… but this is exactly why standing out is dangerous.
This… I'm not going to lose out because of a compliance review, am I?
Just then, a voice echoed through the air.
[Because of you, I've been summoned to the management bureau so many times…]
It was Bihyung. I quickly opened a channel.
'So? What happened?'
If you want, I can continue translating the conversation with Bihyung or explain the plausibility system in clearer terms.