Chapter 10

It wasn’t until I transferred an advance of one billion won into his account that Joo Seowon finally calmed down. Maybe because he was a money-crazed bastard, his whole attitude shifted the moment he got paid. He still went in and out of his banking app a few times to make sure the balance was real, though.

Anyway, I gave Joo Seowon his first job. What I wanted from him was obvious—after all, I’d been seriously eyeing that healer I saw this morning.

I did consider killing him on the off chance I really was a Plunderer, but I dropped the idea after realizing how inefficient it would be.

First of all, I was only F-rank right now, so even if I was a Plunderer, there was no way I could properly use healing abilities yet. Second, I had my Mimic (S) skill. If I needed to, I could just copy him, so it was better to have a fully functioning healer intact.

And above all, Do Yehyun wasn’t in the original novel. I was confident that even if I took him in and molded him to my liking, the so-called “causality” wouldn’t screw me over with some penalty for breaking plausibility.

Seems like that whole “causality” thing is applied more loosely than I thought.

When I told Joo Seowon what I wanted, he looked at me in horror and shook his head.

‘So you’re saying you want me to find this twenty-year-old kid named Do Yehyun? Where does he live?’

‘Korea. Uh... Seoul?’

‘Wow, thanks for narrowing it the fuck down, asshole. ...And the deadline?’

‘Today.’

‘You seriously out of your goddamn mind?’

‘Kidding. ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) I’ll be generous—three days.’

‘What the fuck did you just say? Shit, my client’s insane.’

Still, I had to admit he was good at what he did. Chain-smoking while digging up information, he tracked down Do Yehyun’s movements in no time. Naturally, I didn’t stick around in that cancer factory and instead headed to my hotel.

Once inside, there was something I’d been meaning to do—something I couldn’t risk with other people around.

“Status window.”

Welcome, ‘Seo Jehyun’!

I needed to ground myself a bit. Honestly, I still wanted to deny this was real.

“Can you talk? There’s gotta be someone behind you pulling the strings. If you’re a program, then there’s a programmer, right?”

Welcome, ‘Seo Jehyun’!

“Show yourself. If you don’t, I’ll show you just how petty a human can get.”

Yeah, I figured it wouldn’t work on the first try. Still, I was confident that if it came down to a contest of persistence, I’d win in a landslide.

I decided to start by spoiling things live on social media. Or maybe YouTube would be better? Without overthinking it, I pulled out my phone and logged in. The text in the status window suddenly changed.

Switching to 1:1 system chat mode.

Knew it—machines only listen after you beat them a bit.

I’d thought of some questions, but order matters. Like, there’s no way the system would answer “why did this happen to me” straight off the bat. So I’d start with something easier to confirm.

“Are your answers pre-written prompts? Or is there actually someone out there answering me through you?”

Like figuring out whether the customer service rep you’re talking to is a bot or not.

system: Based on the information entered, I provide answers matching the question.

“So, prompts, then.”

Which means someone did input information behind this thing. But who?

‘Alright, put that thought aside for now—ask the important stuff first.’

I stared at the patiently waiting status window, thinking for a moment.

“What exactly is ‘causality’? I could already guess what those censored letters were, so forget that. If I’m the ‘Seed of the Great Apocalypse,’ does that mean I have to follow the original story for causality to hold?”

system: As long as there is a probability of it happening, cau■lity will not be broken. Anything is fine as long as you can reach the ending.

“And this ‘ending’—specifically, does it mean I have to destroy the world, kill Kwon Taehan, or both?”

system: Any process toward destruction is permitted if it maintains cau■lity.

So basically the same answer as before? Destruction matters more, and killing Kwon Taehan is just part of the process?

“When you say destruction, do you mean wiping out humanity? Or are we talking about heat death of the universe or a big crunch? Or maybe you want something mythical, like Armageddon or Ragnarok?”

system: The Great Apocalypse encompasses all.

“Whoever made this thing has a real shitty sense of UI. Stop being so goddamn vague. Anyway, why the hell should I do that? What’s in it for me?”

system: This is the path ‘Seo Jehyun’ has chosen, and the duty assigned as the Seed of the Great Apocalypse.

“Bullshit. I never chose this, you bastard.”

What the hell is it talking about? Even after my swearing, the letters stayed unchanged.

“...What happens if I don’t fulfill this ‘duty’?”

system: History will repeat endlessly until you reach the ending.

“So you’ll make me regress? Ah, so it’s the Kwon Taehan route.”

What a shitty system—nothing but sticks, no carrots. I paced the room, mulling it over. Was I supposed to obediently survive and bring about the world’s destruction? Then Kwon Taehan would just kill me. Was the plan to get me to wreck the world and then let him finish me off?

Why the hell would I?

If there was some benefit after my death, maybe, but there’s nothing in it for me—so why should I play along?

But... is this even someone’s “order” in the first place?

Right—Lim Sungyeon said that shitty novel of his was basically a prophecy. If there’s a prophecy, there’s gotta be someone giving it. Hunters, Gates, the status window, the power that sent me here, Kwon Taehan’s regression—obviously it’s all connected.

And whoever could pull that off... was far beyond human.

‘So a god... maybe not exactly a god, but something with that kind of power.’

Round and round, but the conclusion was surprisingly simple. Hands in my pockets, I stared out the window at the setting sun between the high-rises.

“Can the information in you be modified?”

system: Correct.

I drew the curtain all the way open and watched the sky turn gold as the sun dipped lower. When I was a kid, the myth comics I read always drew gods up in the clouds. I believed it for a long time.

“Who entered that information?”

No, wrong question. I turned to face the floating status window.

“Can I meet them?”

The letters vanished completely, then reappeared slowly.

system: Once you approach the ending, it will be possible through the establishment of cau■lity.

For the first time in a while, I smiled genuinely. That was exactly the answer I wanted.

***

After that, I spent the whole day beating on the status window for anything worth hearing. The thing that stuck with me most was the penalty for breaking causality. The term itself was vague, so I had the system clarify, and I got a rough guide.

‘It’s more sensitive about me revealing the existence of the original than about changing the plot.’

So meeting Joo Seowon and altering his future was fine, but telling him this world came from a novel was not. The penalty I got for spoiling something to Ryu Taeyoung lined up with that.

‘Can you even call that “causality”?’

Maybe not, but I shelved the thought. What mattered was that I now had a clear goal.

One day I was living a normal life, and the next I was thrown into a world full of dungeons and hunters. I needed to find out why—and there’s no way a human like me could figure it out alone.

‘Which means I need to target someone directly connected to making me like this.’

The system said I had to get close to the ending to meet that “god,” so I’d follow the original’s ending as closely as needed. The process might... vary a bit, but whether I destroyed the world or killed Kwon Taehan, it didn’t matter. Since Kwon Taehan saved the world in the original, they were practically the same thing.

‘I’ll gladly go kill him.’

With my ultimate goal set, I actually felt more alive.

I treated the spots that still ached from getting hit by Joo Seowon. My body felt weaker than it should—probably because hunter ranks came with automatic physical enhancements, and I’d been nerfed compared to my previous self. Still, potions could heal almost anything instantly if you had money.

This time I didn’t even need that much—he hadn’t hit me intending to kill, probably because I knew Joo Minha. I mulled over my next move, then made a call.

—What’s the occasion, client? Huh? I’m busy as hell here.

I scoffed at his tone and cut straight to the point.

“How far along are you? Timeout’s coming up.”

—You gonna hound me like this every day?

“...”

—...Anyway, I dug up Do Yehyun’s personal info, but I’m still pinning down his exact location. Looks like he bolted today.

“Personal info? Forget that—what do you mean, bolted?”

—He’d been working off a debt for an illegal guild.

Figures. The way he was overly wary at the center made sense now.

“A twenty-year-old? Ninety percent chance it wasn’t even his debt.”

—Yeah, you’re right. Said it was something his uncle left him. Want me to send you the info?

“No, hold onto it. I’ll come to you later anyway.”

—...Seriously?

Seriously? I raised an eyebrow.

“Seriously?”

—...Well, if my client insists on gracing me with his presence, I guess I’ll welcome you.

“Good. Wait for me.”

I was about to have the hotel call me a cab when I remembered I didn’t have a car right now.

‘Guess I’ll need to get a new one soon.’

But for now, I’d just “borrow” one. And right in front of me, I had an option.

“You got a car?”

—...Yeah, why?

“Lend it to me.”

—Hey! I haven’t even paid off half the loan yet! You’re loaded—don’t you have one?

“I did, but it got blown up when a dungeon broke out.”

When I said that honestly, the line went quiet for a moment. Really? Feeling sad over something like that? Tch. People and their obsession with money.

I clicked my tongue openly, and I could hear him grinding his teeth on the other end. Ignoring it, I remembered why I’d called in the first place.

“Joo Seowon. Where do you buy items?”

—Huh? There are a few shops that only deal in items. Check the hunter market... some department stores have them too.

Yeah, sure—but that’s not what I meant.

“Seowon, you gonna keep playing dumb?”

Pretty convincing act. If he was starting this already, it could get annoying. After a pause, he let out a heavy sigh.

—What... exactly are you? What the hell have you heard?