Chapter 407
As I mentioned in the last episode, I continued to traverse the world, 'conquering' anomalies as I went along.
This time, let me tell you about an incident that happened briefly during my time in Busan.
2
My comrades in the Regression Alliance often expressed their gratitude towards me.
The reason was simple. Their lives changed because an individual like me, a regressor, intervened.
"Yes. I'm so grateful that I feel like skinning you and keeping you as a sacred token for life..."
Let me correct myself.
Excluding someone with a twisted personality like Noh Do-hwa, the comrades of the Regression Alliance were 'mostly' thankful to me.
Take Lee Ha-yul, for example.
[Yeah. It's terrifying to think you weren't around.]
She huddled in my embrace like a squirrel upon my rare return to the Busan hideout, and remarked.
[I probably would have killed the esteemed Mayor Jung Sang-guk and then tidied up my own end.]
[Eliminating all traitors. It's a sad reality, but it's the mission bestowed upon me, the last proud descendant of the Deoksu Lee family, Ha-yul.]
That was indeed the case.
However, to turn it around, I offered Ha-yul an option for life when she was originally destined for death.
No one forced me, but I felt an obligation regarding this matter.
Of course. If I saved someone who wanted to die, shouldn't I take responsibility for their life?
I didn't mean to take responsibility for everything.
At the very least, I intended to ensure that Ha-yul wouldn't abandon life—enough to keep her fingers from leaving the 'Continue' button of the game.
[...]
I had no plans to leave her to fend for herself after carelessly tossing her into the hunting ground.
Nor did I intend to overlook her dependency on me.
[You want me to become stronger.]
Exactly.
I taught her ways to become strong. Provided her with the time to practice.
If there was an overwhelming emptiness in her heart that she couldn't endure, I even plunged into that '□' of her subconscious to bring it to light.
"It's hard to believe how we came to be this way, but everyone in this world carries a wound from losing someone like Go Yuri. Ha-yul, you're no different."
[...]
"When people encounter Go Yuri, they are instinctively charmed as if brainwashed; the secret to this magic lies here."
I once thought it was a mere brainwashing ability.
But no longer.
"When people see Go Yuri, they feel as if they are reuniting with someone precious they had lost long ago. Unconsciously."
[Because she really was someone lost?]
"Yes."
That was Go Yuri's secret. Her magic. Her charm.
Everyone felt 'longing' when they saw Go Yuri. They sensed nostalgia from before the world turned into chaos, before their lives fell apart.
It was an irresistible allure.
"But my past is not just distorted in parts; it's completely erased. It's literally a blank and a void. Perhaps that is why I had some immunity against Go Yuri's brainwashing."
[...]
In my arms, Ha-yul tilted her head to look up at my face.
[That's actually not a good omen.]
"What do you mean?"
[Dad. If Go Yuri was part of my life, and that part was cut out enough to distort my memories.]
[The fact that your memory is entirely gone.]
[Doesn't that mean Go Yuri was so precious to the point where just cutting out a part wouldn't suffice, and everything had to be erased?]
"......"
She was indeed a clever child.
I gently combed through Ha-yul's brown hair. With a slight natural wave to it, Ha-yul enjoyed it when I brushed her hair like this.
"Having wounds that even I'm unaware of doesn't always have to be a bad thing."
[Why?]
"Ha-yul, you and I. The members of the Regression Alliance, and even others, we all suffer from the same memory void, don't we?"
[...]
Lee Ha-yul rubbed her head against my chest. I also accepted Ha-yul's affectionate gestures.
“But.”
All of humanity shared a common '□.' They had lost the existence of Go Yuri.
For that reason, when one plunges into the depths of a dream within a dream, a so-called subconscious void unfolds.
‘The entity known as the alien god is a being that distorts the world by contaminating all humans. If so, has Go Yuri already swallowed the humanity on Earth?’
That's when it happened.
"A-Aaaaht."
Sim Ah-ryeon, who hadn’t even washed her hair, was trembling at the entrance of the cafe hideout.
"The Guild Master... again! You've returned home after so long and yet you keep doting on Lee Ha-yul only...!"
Lee Ha-yul let out a scoff.
[The early bird claims Dad’s lap.]
"I... I was awake too. I could have done it if I didn't stay up all night guarding the peace of SG Net!"
[That's impossible.]
Lee Ha-yul stated coolly.
[Sister Ah-ryeon is a well-known commu-addict.]
"Hair! Please, comb mine too!"
[You smell. Don't come near me.]
"What? What are you talking about? I only have a pleasant scent... The faithful of the Eastern Holy Nation all like me. If my scent is offending. It's entirely Lee Ha-yul's nose's fault."
[Why is this person flawless when playing the saintly role but turns into a mess as soon as she’s home? Seriously, I don’t get it.]
Unbothered by Lee Ha-yul’s lamentations, Sim Ah-ryeon barged in like a hedgehog and claimed a spot.
Eek, rather than a cry, Ha-yul radiated groans with her entire body.
Nevertheless, the fact that they bickered playfully rather than shooing each other away attested to our Ha-yul's beautiful nature. QED.
So what if you slayed and tortured family, turned them into puppets, and carried them around? Such things happen.
It’s all Go Yuri's fault, who bored a □ into Ha-yul's heart and executed the humanity affection deficiency plan. Hm.
"......"
Sim Ah-ryeon was staring intently at me.
Anticipating this, I pulled out another comb I had ready and began to tidy her hair, prompting her to finally smile.
"Ah-ryeon."
"Yes?"
"How is the preparation for the exhibition going?"
"Yes!"
Ah-ryeon giggled.
"It's all thanks to you, Guild Master."
3
Introducing Sim Ah-ryeon, the uncontested winner in the 'Who Might Be the True Oddity in Our Regression Alliance?' poll.
Despite constantly whining that I only favored Ha-yul, this ungrateful villain was, of course, spreading fake news.
I could confidently say that in all the worlds past, present, and future, no one put forth as much effort for Sim Ah-ryeon as I did.
"You mean... a painting?"
"Yes. Draw portraits of the anomalies."
The Portrait Project.
This was another part of my attempt to rehabilitate Sim Ah-ryeon, an enigma of humanity.
As I talked about the Inunaki Tunnel in a previous episode, I used to have Sim Ah-ryeon with me during this period, always instructing her to draw 'portraits of the anomalies.'
There was deep thought behind it.
'Ah-ryeon, too, is ultimately a pitiable victim who has developed mental scars due to Go Yuri's wicked pranks!'
Sim Ah-ryeon’s constant escape to the SG Net community to boost her self-esteem because she couldn’t find fulfillment in the real world.
Her reason for turning reality into a stage by taking a job as a saint in the North and shouting, ‘This is not the true me,’ while portraying a persona completely different from her true self.
The silent pressure she exerted, demonstrating the essence of her menhera, with her looks that said, ‘Hehehe, if you've saved me, you can't escape,’ whenever she saw me.
All of it was undoubtedly because of the '□' left by Go Yuri.
“Uh…”
Hearing my argument, Oh Dok-seo tilted her head.
"Mister, didn't you once say that blaming others or the world and shirking your own responsibility caused anomalies to arise? It feels like you’ve just swapped blaming others with blaming Go Yuri, but fundamentally you're doing the same thing..."
"The most recent episode was uploaded 172 days ago."
"Kyaaaaak!"
Rest assured. I, the mortician, have vanquished the monster that trapped our dear readers in the abyss of hiatus.
Anyway, the issue was the heart. A disease of the heart.
But it wasn't like I could bring Go Yuri over and appeal, ‘Now become one.’
What could I do to heal Sim Ah-ryeon, this troublemaker of the Regression Alliance, this unprecedentedly notorious villain who generates nuisance with infinite energy?
The answer.
'It's art.'
I arrived at such a tentative conclusion.
'Although Ah-ryeon dismisses all activities in reality as mere "play," she is genuinely serious when drawing.'
That was Sim Ah-ryeon's blessing.
She could be earnest in at least one field. She had a point of friction where she could confront the world, rubbing against it and scratching it thoroughly.
And she had celestial talent to boot?
If that isn't a blessing, what is?
'Even if I'm quite capable at drawing, Ah-ryeon's illustrations of anomalies have... A vitality in their detail and intensity that I would find difficult to express.'
Considering that I, as a regressor, have spent hundreds of thousands of hours honing my skills in art, Sim Ah-ryeon's sense was indeed extraordinary.
'However…'
The creations from that talent.
She never revealed them to people under her real name, her true identity.
Even when posting doodles on SG Net, all were uploaded under the nickname [Ingrateful Villain].
Or attached anonymously to strategy guides posted by the [Librarian of the Grand Library].
‘Not just in art.’
How many people currently on Earth even know of Sim Ah-ryeon's existence?
Plenty of awakeners knew the Ingrateful Villain. Those who worshiped the northern saint were even more numerous.
Whether through infamy or fame, both ‘nicknames’ were receiving unmatched attention in their time.
But Sim Ah-ryeon?
“D-Dok-seo, look at this. I'm sorry, dear readers. I'm cutting down on sleep, writing and rewriting the manuscript, but I can't produce a quality I'm satisfied with. Sometimes I detest my dedication to craftsmanship…”
"Hwaaaah! Mister! Ah-ryeon is bullying me again! She’s chasing me reciting old notices!”
"......"
How many people truly knew Sim Ah-ryeon?
'Only the members of the Regression Alliance.'
Whether it was the real saint residing in her Yongsan home or the fake saint frequenting the Pyongyang palace, both were oddly similar in being hidden from the world.
'Thus, the debut! The maestro of contemporary art who followed in the footsteps of Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning to birth grotesque expressionism! Artist Sim Ah-ryeon!'
“?”
Noticing my fervent gaze, Sim Ah-ryeon tilted her head before waddling over with a brush, settling in front of me.
‘Hehe.’
Smiling with an intent as dark as malice, I gently combed her hair. Ah-ryeon, soon the whole world will be cheering your name.
‘And then perhaps you’ll find the fun in reality and leave the tiring masquerade behind!’
“?”
The long-awaited exhibition day finally arrived.
We set up a temporary gallery in the Babel Plaza where Busan citizens could comfortably explore it as they passed by.
Noh Do-hwa was seriously concerned whether investing resources into such an event was right, but even the great overseer of the National Road had to concede before the noble cause of normalizing Sim Ah-ryeon.
“What’s this? An exhibition?”
“Wow, it’s been a while since I heard about one.”
“Is this organized by the National Road Administration?”
In the past, people who wouldn't have given museums a second glance, lacking dopamine, wandered around the gallery in groups of threes and fours.
“Oh…”
“That’s some feeling it’s got.”
“Right? It seems so enigmatic, yet it’s exceedingly intriguing.”
The theme selection was perfect.
Displayed in the exhibition were vigorous expressions of the anomalies with whom Sim Ah-ryeon had performed funerals alongside me.
After all, anomalies were familiar to awakeners, and commonly spoken of even among the general populace. They were a field everyone was interested in, regardless of class.
Yet it was a genre that had never been 'properly' established in art history, which Sim Ah-ryeon brought into being with her brush.
"Ah, a Gremlin! I know this one! It's a Gremlin!"
"Just looking at it makes me want to get rid of it..."
"Haha."
"But what's this masked kid? Is this one a anomaly too?"
"No idea. The awakened ones would know."
The murmur continued.
Despite the early hours during the weekdays, by lunchtime, word of mouth had spread, and attendees multiplied fivefold. By evening, the gallery was bustling to the point of being packed.
"Hee."
"...I didn't expect it to be this much."
On the second day, even Dang Seo-rin and Cheon Yo-hwa couldn't hide their astonishment as they escorted their respective officers.
The looks of newfound respect were focused on Sim Ah-ryeon, who sat at the counter, her head practically buried in her shoulders.
"It's no wonder you always stood up for her. I thought she was just about healing..."
Their admiration was justified.
This exhibition was dubbed the 『Special Exhibition on Anomalies』 after all.
The more varied the types of anomalies the visitors were familiar with, the deeper and more comprehensive their experience would be.
In other words, it was designed so that the more exceptional the awakened ones were, the more they could immerse themselves in the exhibition.
‘The reaction wasn't this good when I showcased her illustrations on SG Net.’
The difference between viewing a piece on a smartphone screen and seeing it in person was significant.
Sim Ah-ryeon even represented ‘Infinite Void’ and ‘Mastermind’ with expressionist-infused abstract art.
Even Cheon Yo-hwa found herself lingering in front of the colossal canvases for long periods.
“Hmmm…”
By the fourth day of the exhibition, Noh Do-hwa, having heard the buzz, managed to drop by during a break.
After touring the gallery with explanations from me, the newly minted professional curator, Noh Do-hwa murmured.
"Indeed. I was skeptical about what sort of art exhibition this might be, but it seems it helps people to understand the anomalies more accurately. It was meaningful…”
Even someone like Noh Do-hwa, who had lived far removed from art, admitted so.
The exhibition project had been a huge success.
-Anonymous: I think this is the first time I've seen someone who can draw this well in my life
└Anonymous: Really, I used to think modern art was just clapping for famous people’s nonsense, but this changed my mind...
└[Samcheon]Witch Trial Officer: I’m shocked too
└Anonymous: Oh no, to have a noble comment in such a humble place;;
SG Net was abuzz with talk of the exhibition.
"Hmm."
I looked down at my smartphone, pleased.
Yes, whether in reality or the virtual sphere, it wasn’t necessary to draw attention as the Ingrateful Villain.
Sim Ah-ryeon had plenty of allure to capture people's interest on her own.
Would Ah-ryeon finally start freeing herself from the torments of a lacking heart?
Such an exciting prospect.
"......"
Sim Ah-ryeon was staring at me intently.