A Regressor's Bucket List

“…As you may have guessed, the reason I called you separately to tell you this is…”

“……”

“Because I hope you will settle here in the Floating Territory.”

At Sejong’s proposal, U-jin feigned ignorance and asked back.

“Me?”

“That is right.”

Sejong’s tone, which had naturally shifted to a more informal and authoritative manner, expressed his affirmation of U-jin’s question.

“I have continued the work of searching for talent, but lately, I haven't seen anyone quite as capable.”

It was only natural.

For hundreds of years, those with talent from the Upper Plane had been brought to this vast land.

There were always exceptions, but talent was naturally bound to follow ‘genetics,’ and if everyone with talent for various crafts lived in the Floating Territory, where on the continent could new talent possibly be born?

You reap what you sow; beans grow where beans are planted, and red beans grow where red beans are planted.

The people of Floating Specter Joseon whom U-jin had seen while moving to the Inner Palace appeared to be ordinary people on the surface.

However, each and every one of them was an unrivaled figure in their respective fields.

Since such talented individuals were already aboard Joseon, it couldn't be said with absolute certainty, but it was correct to assume that there was no more talent left on the continent.

Even if there were, they would be few and far between on the vast continent, and finding them would not be an easy task, no matter how outstanding Joseon was.

“The last child I chose was that boy, Sat-gat.”

“……”

“In fact, if I were to follow the principles I’ve maintained until now, I shouldn't have made contact first… but after seeing that sparkling talent, I simply couldn't help myself.”

Sejong had a peculiar rule for recruiting talent: he would not initiate contact with those whose talents in ‘martial power and mana’ could lead them to be employed by the Church Alliance.

This was because Sejong judged that taking away talent that could be used significantly in the War against Demons for the Floating Territory would be a detriment to the public good.

However, that rule was not always followed, and occasionally exceptions occurred—one of which was the ‘Wandering Poet Kim Satgat.’

…And in the current case, U-jin could also be considered one of those exceptions.

“Of course, I am not forcing you.”

“……”

“If I were, I would have brought you here without bothering to ask. It is easy to enter, but difficult to leave.”

…It was hard to agree with the part about it being easy to enter, but he wasn't wrong.

The very fact that Sejong was meeting him alone and asking for his intentions meant that there was no intent to coerce him.

“Everyone living in this Joseon boarded by their own choice. I merely provided the options.”

“……”

“I can even send you back down if you wish.”

Just as Sejong said, U-jin had heard from Kim Satgat about the very few who had lived in the Floating Territory and then gone back down.

U-jin knew better than anyone that the proposal he was making now was not forced.

However, it wasn't simply because they could leave at any time that the countless people living in the Floating Territory had boarded this ‘Floating Specter Joseon.’

“…Surely that isn't the only reason.”

Hehe—

“Indeed.”

Sejong let out a small laugh and nodded his head.

U-jin was already well aware of the advantages of Floating Specter Joseon.

The support to develop one's talent as much as one desired.

Rivals one would never have met on the continent.

An environment where one could focus solely on their work.

As much as they built an environment where talented people could bring everything they possessed into full bloom, the Floating Territory provided excellent elements that no ambitious person could refuse.

But the existence of the Floating Territory could not be explained by those things alone.

If that were the case, it would have been impossible for the Floating Territory to vanish so stably from the Order’s sight.

It was a space of considerable scale where people from different cultural spheres gathered.

Regardless of their exceptional technology, conflicts were bound to arise wherever people gathered, and it was common for those conflicts to escalate into incidents and accidents.

The fact that the Floating Territory had been able to hide its identity for hundreds of years meant that, in any case, conflicts were mediated before they could escalate into major incidents.

As a simple example, if someone with even a slight understanding of the Floating Territory’s operating principles had gone down and spoken of it to the outside world, its existence could have been revealed to the world at any time.

And since everyone here was considered a ‘genius,’ it wasn't entirely impossible for their self-centered personalities to clash and spark a coup within.

Ultimately, the reason the Floating Territory could float in the sky while hiding its identity for over hundreds of years was entirely because the people of Floating Specter Joseon cooperated.

And that continuous cooperation could not be maintained by ‘freedom’ alone.

It was only possible if there was a clear vision shared by the people settled here.

That was what U-jin was asking.

The reason provided by this Floating Territory that allowed so many talented individuals to abandon their lives on the continent without regret and board the Floating Territory.

He was asking for that.

And Sejong’s answer to that was—

“…Are you…”

“……”

“Aware of the fact that this Upper Plane is not the end?”

He was revealing a fact that would likely cause many to faint if it were known to the world.

***

“In truth, for quite a long time now.”

“……”

“That is, even when I was in the Lower-Dimensional Plane, I suspected the existence of the Upper Plane.”

“……”

“There were records left in various literatures, and my Intuition told me so. Whatever the form, I thought there must be something metaphysical beyond the physical dimensions.”

It sounded like he was grasping at clouds, but it was his intuitive sense that pierced through the existence of mana and the Upper Plane.

“So when I first ascended here, I thought that I could complete the dream I couldn't finish in the Lower-Dimensional Plane, where I sought to know the Truth of the world.”

“……”

“I thought I had grasped its hem.”

Sejong shook his head.

“But I was wrong. I prided myself on being born with an extraordinary Perception, and I thought my old friend, who built this Floating Territory with me from the start, also possessed an outstanding Perception… but even here, we could not reach the Truth.”

“……”

“Of course, I gained a much deeper understanding than in the Lower-Dimensional Plane and can boast that I have raised the level of my concepts by one stage qualitatively. But that was all. It felt as if a wall still remained.”

Perception.

An extraordinary intellectual ability to realize the logic of things.

While it didn't correspond exactly, it was a word that shared a meaning with intuition among commonly used terms.

It was, as Sejong himself described, the ability to explore the ‘Truth.’

It referred to an intangible ability to capture something that pierces through the principles of all things in heaven and earth.

In other words.

Could it be called the essence?

Due to its nature, it was difficult to explain in words, but U-jin could sufficiently understand what he was talking about.

Not the usage and functional principles of a hoe, but the fundamental reason it was made.

Not the usage and functional principles of mana, but the reason for its existence behind them.

Beyond the shape and principles of the world, the beginning that lies behind it.

The reason for human existence.

He assumed there was a clear answer to those cloud-grasping Zen riddles and was referring to it as the ‘Truth.’

The beginning and end of all things in heaven and earth.

The secret of birth, aging, sickness, and death.

“In the process of agonizing over it, the Floating Territory was completed, and even as the first few numbers gathered, we continued to agonize, but we could not reach it.”

“……”

“And then, at some point, I realized it faintly.”

He shrugged.

“That there really was a wall.”

It was a fact that would surprise anyone who heard it.

The basic understanding of this world’s composition only included the ‘Upper Plane’ and the ‘Lower-Dimensional Plane.’

Even then, only those residing in the Upper Plane knew about it; the beings of the Lower-Dimensional Plane did not know of the Upper Plane’s existence until they ascended themselves.

Of course, there were exceptional cases like Sejong, but those were such special cases that, for a typical being of the Lower-Dimensional Plane, it was true that they could not even fathom the existence of the Upper Plane itself.

However.

The story Sejong just told was that the Upper Plane was not the end, but that there was one more physical barrier.

It was a story difficult to simply accept as it was.

“…The Transcendence Plane.”

“……”

“For now, that is what we are calling it.”

The Transcendence Plane.

The name, which gave off a grand feeling from the start, referred to the highest dimension that could be said to exist above the Upper Plane.

Of course, only those in the Floating Territory knew of its existence, and since not even the high-flying priests and Heroes of the Order suspected it, it was a word that existed only within the Floating Territory.

“The purpose of the Floating Territory lies there. To ascend to that Transcendence Plane and witness the Truth.”

“……”

“That is the dream shared by everyone aboard this Floating Territory.”

The vision of the Floating Territory.

It lay in ‘witnessing the Truth.’

Of course, some might ask.

Why on earth would you be curious about such a thing? I’d rather just live comfortably without knowing.

But that was only possible when a ‘comfortable life’ was guaranteed.

The Floating Territory might be lacking in military strength, but it was the organization closest to the Truth of this world.

Even when compared to the ‘Guardian Cross Order.’

Of course, it might be different if one were at the level of the Pope, who could open all the secret archives of the Order.

In any case, the Floating Territory had a much higher understanding of the Upper Plane than even Louis or Ludwig, who were among the top high priests of the Order.

Which meant.

“…Because at this rate, this world will perish.”

It meant they were an organization that suspected the destruction of the Upper Plane, which U-jin had experienced in the First Round, with a level of certainty close to conviction.

It wasn't just a movement driven by longing for the plane above or curiosity about the Truth.

The path of the Floating Territory was closer to a heroic endeavor to seek salvation in a way different from the Guardian Cross Order.

In fact, Sejong thought so.

In the current situation, the Guardian Cross Order would be defeated by the Demon King's Allied Forces, and the end would not merely be the ‘dominance of the Demon King's Allied Forces,’ but would reach the ‘destruction of the Upper Plane.’

And if the Floating Territory did not head directly to the Transcendence Plane to find a solution, that would be the end of this world.

…Well.

The end of the First Round that U-jin had witnessed was not much different.

Grin—

“We must leave something for the next generation, shouldn't we? We cannot let this beautiful world end with our generation.”