Chapter 224 - Episode 29. Fallen Star (4)
Chapter 224: Episode 29. Fallen Star (4)
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“What the Rupture Lord said was true.”
“《Big Brother》 really was a star...”
“And everything the Rupture Lord has done was to bring down 《Big Brother》?”
The war the Rupture Lord had started became a heroic tale of restoring the fallen 《Abyss》. That tale soon became reality, influencing the entire 《Abyss》.
Another week passed, and every tragedy caused by the Rupture Lord had been glorified. Rumors became truth, and the gods of the 《Abyss》 had no choice but to accept it.
‘《Big Brother》 fell at the hands of the Rupture Lord.’
It was the most shocking event to occur in the 《Abyss》 in nearly 210,000 years.
The gods and Followers of the Seventh Site were shaken by the unexpected news as well.
“Damn it! That bastard has completely buried the Seventh Site incident!”
The audience chamber of 〈Edmund〉, the Seventh Site.
Yu Seolha, who had somehow become the strategist of the Guides of Destruction, was discussing how to address the situation with Nameless. She paced around the audience chamber, muttering to herself.
“This is driving me crazy. According to the first plan, Rupture’s enemies should have been flocking to the Seventh Site by now...”
The great battle at the Seventh Site, where Jaehwan defeated Great Lord Jerome and made a name for himself.
The public had named that battle 〈Hope Reborn〉. It had created the perfect opportunity for the Seventh Site and the Guides of Destruction to expand their influence.
Yu Seolha knew that well. That was why she had used every available means of promotion to spread Jaehwan’s name far and wide. She had devised a strategy that would allow Jaehwan to serve as a symbol capable of opposing 「Rupture」.
Yet after 〈Revolution Day〉 a week ago, her plan had fallen apart.
With the fall of the star, everyone’s attention had turned toward 「Rupture」 and Rupture Lord Maiad.
Even within the Seventh Site, people had been talking more about Rupture and 《Big Brother》 than Jaehwan day after day.
“Nameless, come up with something too.”
Faced with her endless questions, Nameless only looked out the window. Yu Seolha asked again.
“Did the Commander really bring down 《Big Brother》?”
Her thoughts were a mess. Her mind denied it, but the scene she had witnessed with her own eyes was far too vivid.
The star. Yu Seolha could still clearly remember Maiad’s expression as he pointed toward that star.
“Seolha, that is where we will arrive.”
There was no doubt. The star that had shattered on Revolution Day was the very star Maiad had shown her once.
But...
‘That cannot be true. The Commander never intended to confront 《Big Brother》.’
Yu Seolha bit her lip as she recalled the result of the 「World Appraisal」 she had seen.
Maiad, who had burned only with the ambition to conquer the Abyss, had suddenly ascended into the sky and brought down a star.
The man everyone had condemned was now emerging as the savior of the 《Abyss》. Some factions were even beginning to actively support his cause.
That was the impact of 《Big Brother》’s fall.
A completely inviolable divinity.
That was what 《Big Brother》 had been in the 《Abyss》 until now.
“Nameless. Answer me.”
Nameless glanced at Yu Seolha, then turned their gaze back toward the sky.
“It! Could be, or it could not.”
The answer left room for doubt, and Yu Seolha’s ears perked up.
“What does that mean?”
“It means! Exactly that.”
“Is making everything difficult to understand trendy these days? That little brat was like this too.”
Yu Seolha frowned as she remembered the boy who kept muttering about something called Ouroboros.
“You said it yourself before. You said the current Maiad would have trouble taking down 《Big Brother》.”
“I did!”
“Then how could Maiad have brought down 《Big Brother》?”
“I do not know!”
“What?”
Yu Seolha barely managed to suppress the shout rising in her throat. Thinking back, conversations with Nameless had always been like this.
Come to think of it, the Ouroboros brat had said something similar once.
Had he said, “That is because of Ouroboros”?
‘Nameless said they had entered the Forest of Madness before too.’
Jaehwan and Nameless had both entered the Forest of Madness and returned. Perhaps that was why there was something similar about the way they spoke.
The things important to them were never spoken of completely.
Even now, Yu Seolha did not know what Jaehwan was thinking. She knew he intended to climb to the end of this Tree of Illusion and destroy the 「System」, but she had no idea what complicated motives were tangled within him.
Whenever Yu Seolha grew frustrated over that, Runald had once told her this.
“The problem is the question.”
“The question is the problem?”
“You need to ask the right question.”
At the time, she had dismissed it as something a child would say. But perhaps this was the same kind of problem.
The right question.
Yu Seolha looked at Nameless. Nameless had been staring at the sky ever since a week ago. Then a thought crossed her mind.
“Nameless. You said 《Big Brother》 took the form of a ‘moon’ to you, right?”
Nameless flinched, then silently nodded.
“Can you still see that ‘moon’?”
“I! Cannot.”
“Is that so? Damn it.”
Yu Seolha bit her lip.
Nameless wore a strange expression.
“You think! That because the moon disappeared from my sight, 《Big Brother》 has vanished.”
“I will not deny it. But can’t you only speak ten phrases at a time?”
“Seolha! That was nine phrases.”
Yu Seolha considered it. If 《Big Brother》 had truly disappeared, it would have vanished from the Unique Worlds of the other beings who could see it as well.
At present, only four beings in the 《Abyss》 were known to be able to see 《Big Brother》.
Rupture Lord Maiad.
Buddha, the God of Reincarnation.
Nameless, the God of Madness.
And Jaehwan.
Realistically, Yu Seolha could verify the truth through two of them. Yet she did not need to ask both. Confirming it with one would be enough.
“Anyway, you are right. If you can no longer see 《Big Brother》, then it must be true that the Commander killed 《Big Brother》.”
“Truth! You say.”
For the first time, Yu Seolha saw Pierre wear such an expression.
“Certainly! The ‘moon’ has disappeared from my Unique World.”
The voice was quiet. For someone speaking of the end of an era, the tone was gentle.
Nameless seemed to find it difficult to speak at length, because a speech bubble slowly rose from their body.
「Not only! me. Buddha must be the same. The founders of 「Rupture」! share their Unique Worlds to some degree.」
“Huh? What does that mean...?”
「If the ‘star’ has disappeared from Maiad’s! Unique World, then my ‘moon’ must disappear as well. Likewise! the ‘sun’ in Buddha’s world will have disappeared.」
This was the first time Yu Seolha had learned that Rupture’s founders shared their Unique Worlds. Thinking about it, it made sense. They were the ones who had created 「Mountain of Corpses, Sea of Blood」, Rupture’s Unique World.
In any case, they saw the “same world” in “slightly different ways.” Whether it was a star, moon, or sun, their forms differed slightly, but all were symbols that revealed 《Big Brother》.
And now, those symbols of 《Big Brother》 had disappeared. What that indicated was clear.
“Then 《Big Brother》 really is dead...”
Yu Seolha found the despair in her own voice unfamiliar.
If 《Big Brother》 had disappeared, she should have been happy. Why did she sound like this?
Nameless spoke.
「That! Is unknown.」
“Why?”
「Because! no one knows what Big Brother is.」
The words threw the situation back into mystery.
Just as Yu Seolha was about to snap and ask what Nameless was trying to say, Nameless asked a question.
「Seolha! You came from the 「Peripheral Worlds」, right?」
“Yeah, that is right.”
「What! was it like?」
She did not know why Nameless was suddenly asking that, but Yu Seolha decided to answer. Nameless would not bring up an unrelated subject without a clear reason.
“It was just a small planet. A planet that was reasonably large, reasonably round, with suitable gravity that formed an ecosystem where suitably ordinary life forms lived.”
“A planet!”
Nameless smiled meaningfully and asked.
“How! can you be so certain?”
“Huh? Certain about what?”
“How! can you be certain that it was a planet?”
“This is seriously irritating.”
Yu Seolha frowned.
“What is there to be certain about? It is common knowledge. The place where I lived had science too. There was research into celestial bodies.”
“I see! Scientists. Did they! prove that your world was a ‘planet’?”
“Prove it?”
Yu Seolha nodded with a bewildered expression.
“Probably?”
“Then! you only believe their words and think the place where you lived was a ‘planet.’”
“What are you trying to say? I told you, it is common knowledge that worlds in the Peripheral Worlds are ‘planets.’”
“And! was that common knowledge not ultimately told to you by scientists?”
“Well, yes, but... No, more importantly, is this not obvious?”
“Obvious! What is! obvious? Have you! ever gone into space and seen the outer bounds of the world where you lived?”
Yu Seolha was left speechless.
“Of course I have not. But some scientists have gone into space and seen the planet they lived on with their own eyes.”
“So! in the end, you were naively believing only what they said. Cute!”
“You crazy... That is not the point.”
Frustration rose in her chest.
Did she have to taste something herself to know whether it was soybean paste or shit? Everyone said so, everyone had learned it that way, everyone knew it was true. Why did she have to...
“Scientists! can lie too. Because they are smart! they may be able to tell lies more convincing than anyone else.”
“No... Do you always talk to people like this?”
“A very! convincing lie. Have you! ever considered that they might manipulate the facts?”
“Why would they even do something like...”
Her trailing words faded away with her breath.
Only then did Yu Seolha realize this was not a conversation about planets or her homeland.
Nameless had been talking about 《Big Brother》 all along.
“Are you saying 《Big Brother》 is a lie?”
“...”
“Do not tell me you never saw something like a ‘moon’ all this time. Were you scamming everyone?”
“I did not! say that.”
Nameless looked up at the sky once more.
“I saw! the moon. That is! an unquestionable ‘fact.’ But whether the ‘fact’ I saw was ‘truth’ is something no one can know.”
The empty sky was reflected in Nameless’s retinas. The thing that had always floated there no longer existed.
Something Nameless had longed for and wished for.
Something that could now never be known.
That was when a man entered Nameless’s sight. Jaehwan stood on a lower terrace of the fortress, looking up at the sky just like Nameless.
Unlike Nameless, Jaehwan was still glaring at something far too “obvious” in the heavens.
* * *
Another month passed.
“《Big Brother》 is dead. Now we will live in the world that comes after it.”
Maiad’s declaration spread throughout the Tree of Illusion over the course of a month.
Some historians had already used Maiad’s declaration to define this era as “the world after Big Brother.” A few intellectuals criticized it as a hasty judgment of the era, but no one could deny that the tide of the age was flowing around Maiad and 「Rupture」.
Those who agreed with the death of 《Big Brother》, and those who did not.
They all had no choice but to recognize one fact.
This was now the age of 「Rupture」.
Footnotes:
Chapter discussion