Novel Toon
Chapter 197
Chapter 197
Chapter 197
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The Investor VI
Perhaps some of you are expecting a twist like, “However, a monstrous virtual reality simulation hypothesis suddenly appeared, causing the world to end...!” and, indeed, such things have happened quite often, but that is not the topic of today’s story.
As I mentioned before, I want this story to focus on ordinary people, a part I have left relatively neglected until now. Besides, iIf an anomaly were to suddenly appear here and steal the spotlight, wouldn't I have to film another one of my endless Undertaker hunting sprees? Even if I didn't like it, that’s an endless tale I have to tell 365 days a year, so let’s save it for later.
“You are heroes who have advanced the world.”
I wasn’t like an NBA star who would have a fit if I weren’t treated like the protagonist in every game. Instead, I was a player who definitely made the pass when necessary. And my ‘passes’ seemed a bit grand from the perspective of the DMs.
“Uh, uh, uh...”
The DMs were invited to the podium set up in front of the National Road Management Corps headquarters at Babel Tower Square. Team-level managers stood below the square, standing at attention.“On behalf of the citizens of Busan and others who were too busy to attend today, we would like to extend our gratitude to you.”
I bowed my head, the team leaders responded by bending gracefully at their waists. Yu Ji-won was even among them. In other words, powerful figures who wouldn't bow to anyone else respectfully greeted the DMs.
While I quickly straightened up, the other Awakeners had to show off their hip flexibility while I conversed with the DMs.
“No... Undertaker, this is, this is too much...”
“The <Kingdom Project> has achieved unprecedented success. We are receiving overwhelmingly positive responses from guilds participating in this year’s new draft. Your project has raised the level of Awakeners on the Korean Peninsula by a notch.”
“Uh, um...”
The DMs looked stricken, but I personally didn’t trust their facial muscles. No, I trusted their life experiences.
To those who lack money, give money; to those without friends, give friendship; to those without power, give power; to those without honor, give honor. That was the most basic principle of a ‘reward.’ Why do you think soldiers are happy when given leave as a reward?
The DMs were the same. The people standing in front of me earned a fair amount of money, both in the past and now. But did they really have power and honor? Have they ever experienced influential figures lining up and being polite to them, just like gangsters bowing to their elder brothers?
They hadn’t. And they wouldn’t in the future either.
Such ‘treatment’ was a rare commodity I alone could offer the DMs. As a consequence, in their hearts, the Undertaker's position acquired unique value. Through rewards, my relationship with the DMs solidified.
‘And if they get swayed by the trickle-down power, they’re not people I can use for long.’
After the event ended, I clapped my hands. The Awakeners, who had been bowing all the time, stood up and joined in the applause. The DMs awkwardly left the venue, looking relieved that it was finally over.
Though they seemed relieved, from the regressor's perspective, this was just the beginning.
‘I wonder how many will remain from there.’
With time, some DMs became completely addicted to the sweet juice of power, gradually losing interest in the <Kingdom Project> and becoming absorbed in other interests. They began teaching ordinary people how to become successful DMs and gradually reduced the days they went to work. They merely accepted high-paying commissions from time to time and worked as private DMs a few times. They became distanced from making the <Kingdom Project>’s world more detailed and interesting.
As the DM profession gained explosive popularity among ordinary people, DMs with ‘achievements and fame’ were quickly scouted as teachers. It didn't take long before they retired from active duty.
Of the eight, four were eliminated.
Of course, it was only an elimination from my perspective. To them, it was a wise and successful life.
In contrast, the DMs who remained in the company and diligently worked on the kingdom simulation―in my view, those who foolishly stayed in the field and continued working were the real successful ones.
‘Only half remain.’
Another cycle passed.
This time, I approached Writer A first and proposed the <Kingdom Project>. Writer A listened to my blueprint in amazement.
“Oh my... Y-you’re saying you’ll entrust me with such a tremendous project?”
“Yes. The National Road Management Corps has already completed about 20% on their own.” I handed over some of the world settings that the four eliminated people had created in the previous cycle to Writer A.
Writer A was impressed as they went through the materials. “...Amazing. It’s really like it was written by a professional... Ah. But there’s no main events, serendipities, or major NPCs at all. The world setting is sophisticated, but...”
“Yes. That’s why I am proposing this to people who used to be writers before civilization collapsed. Will you participate?”
“...Yes, yes. I definitely want to participate!”
Writer A didn't have to go through the trouble of gathering colleagues themselves. I found the colleagues who stayed with the company until the end of the previous cycle and brought them to Writer A.
Temptations visited them.
-Hello. I’m secretly visiting after hearing from the leader of the Samcheon World guild.
-Could you create a super account for the project you’re making?
-We came from Baekhwa Girls' High. Could you get an item for our student council president...?
-The compensation will be more than satisfactory.
The ‘more than satisfactory’ compensation was 60 billion won.
The <Kingdom Project> wasn’t complete yet. At that point, there was no certainty that it would be a success, and it was a huge amount of money.
Of the four, two were eliminated.
‘Again, half of the half.’
Another cycle passed.
Out of the seven colleagues who had started the project early with Writer A, only one remained by their side. However, there wasn't much work to be done.
“Ah... With this, it will be quick once the main events and major NPCs are completed.”
There was a lot ‘already completed’ by the National Road Management Corps.
“Hmm. Other parts have almost no flaws... No, really almost none. Who are the people who made this?”
“That cannot be disclosed.”
“Ah. I see... I know a few writer friends. I wondered if it might be them...”
Starting from a more relaxed point than before, the <Kingdom Project> improved in completeness. Writer A refined and polished the work they created in the previous cycle. A series of revisions with intervals between cycles.
Meanwhile, one of the fellow DMs flooded their account with irrational equipment and items. They crossed the line as an administrator and roamed around as if they were the true protagonist of this world.
Why didn’t they do this in previous cycles but did it now? It was hard to know the exact reason.
One person eliminated.
“Wow! Th-this is—!”
And then the next cycle. The 208th cycle.
Writer A’s hands trembled as they received the blueprint of the <Kingdom Project>.
“This is truly amazing! Really, I’ve always had thoughts like this, but it’s even better than what I imagined... How did the management corps do this?”
There were all sorts of temptations and traps. There were countless tests that ordinary people couldn't withstand and didn’t need to withstand.
Despite all that, Writer A never abandoned the <Kingdom Project>. They never betrayed the players. They were a talent needed by a regressor.
“Author.”
“This is really, wow, ah. Yes?”
“I want to entrust this project to you.”
“Yes? Yes? Really? Wow, th-thank you so much! I only read two pages of this, but my hands were itching...!”
“And I am a regressor.”
“...What?”
We had a drink together.
Writer A’s eyes, drunk on makgeolli, stared at the ceiling without truly seeing it.[1] “It doesn’t make sense. How could I have created this work with those guys...”
“Why doesn’t it make sense?”
“Because it’s so well-made. Damn. Ah, sorry for cursing...”
“It’s okay. We’re meant to drink here, after all. By the way, mysterious donations are secretly flowing into the other colleagues’ accounts like annuities every cycle, so you don’t have to worry about their circumstances. Thanks to the merits of their previous lives, they’ll be able to live leisurely for hundreds of lifetimes.”
“Thank you...”
After hearing the whole story, Writer A’s expression was subtle. They seemed proud, intrigued, and somewhat competitive.
“Author, the reason I am sharing this information with you is that I have a special interest in the <Kingdom Project>.”
“Uh... Interest, you say...?”
“I want people to develop a step further through the dream simulation called the <Kingdom Project>.”
“Ah. You mean copying the anomalies from reality to raise people’s overall level? That seems quite possible...”
“That’s right. But that’s not all.”
I got to the main point—my true intention, brought out after four cycles. A regressor was, by nature, cautious about whom they reveal their true feelings to.
“As you know, the problems weighing down our reality aren’t just the void and anomalies. There are also absurd ideologies like Awakeners’ supremacy.”
“Ah, true...”
“The reason people get swept up in such ideologies is that the reality divided into Awakeners and ordinary people feels too close. I want to take a step back from there, giving people a sense of distance to view the situation calmly and embrace others.”
A question mark popped up above Writer A’s head. It was an eloquent speech, but they didn’t understand why it was being said to them now.
“Being able to observe one’s life from a distance is not an easily acquired sense of detachment. But what if people could live their lives multiple times?”
“Uh, I’m not sure what you mean...”
“Please implant harsh ideological conflicts in the world of <Kingdom Project>.”
Writer A’s eyes widened.
“There are pure races and demi-races in the kingdom. Please escalate the conflicts between them. Make the racial and religious conflicts of our world seem trivial compared to the intense hatred and disgust spreading through the kingdom. Terror. Rebellion. Violence. Let all evils occur.”
“Uh. Uhhh...?”
“And let people dreaming of reality feel it. Ah, compared to the kingdom, the conflicts between people in this reality are truly nothing.”
Writer A closed their mouth. Intellect and imagination that couldn’t be concealed by the intoxication sparked and flickered in their eyes.
“Uh... B-but, to people dreaming, it’s just someone else’s story, isn’t it? Even if we hear about a lot of racial conflict in America, we never really feel it as our story.”
“Yes. That’s a valid point.” I nodded. “So ‘during the dream, they must not realize that it’s a dream.’”
“......!”
“Until the previous cycles, the kingdom simulation operated like an online MMORPG. But from now on, it will be different. It will become a solo-play RPG, and the participants will completely ‘forget’ that they were different people in the original reality.”
“Forgetting reality and truly becoming a member of your kingdom...?”
“That’s right.”
I snapped my fingers. Then, from under the table, the Tutorial Fairy peeked out.
“Eeek!”
Writer A was startled, but the fairy did no harm. It merely climbed onto my lap and sat like a quiet cat.
“This is my dream.”
“......”
“From now on, we will advertise to people that using the <Kingdom Project> allows them to dream of one lifetime in just one night. With the fairy’s ability, ‘time acceleration’ is possible within the dream. It’s literally living for 70 or 90 years in the dream.”
“One lifetime every night you sleep...”
“Yes. Naturally, it sounds incredibly enticing to people. And we will tell them.”
While you are dreaming. In other words, while living in the <Kingdom>, you will not recognize that it’s a dream—
“But.”
After waking up from the dream, you will be able to ‘remember’ the life you lived in the dream.
“...Ah.”
“Every time they dream of the kingdom, people will become demi-race terrorists, a pure-race store owner who curses such demi-races every day, a slave wielding a pickaxe in the mines until death, or a noble lady who has never even heard of the existence of maniacs.”
“......”
“And each time they wake from the dream, they will collect these lives they have lived one by one, becoming beings capable of thinking from the perspectives of terrorists, small merchants, slaves, and nobles. Surely, it will lead to a better world than now.”
“......”
“Essentially, everyone, not just me, will become regressors. Author, this is my dream. I want to invest my dream in your dream.”
Writer A slightly parted their lips. “My kingdom becoming something like that...”
“Whoa! The memories we provide aren’t that clear!”
At that moment, the Tutorial Fairy bounced on my lap and said, “From a human’s perspective, it will only maintain the clarity of recalling a past more than ten years old! Whoa, human memory is overly unstable!”
Writer A was silent for a long time, but their eyes said all the words their mouth would not.
“I will do it.,” they said eventually. “No, please let me do it. If my work could become someone’s dream, that would be the best outcome as a writer.”
However, Writer A added, “...Listening to you, Undertaker, the name <Kingdom Project> no longer seems fitting. A different title is needed.”
“What title are you considering?”
“<Reincarnation Project>,” Writer A said. “I also want to invest my dream in your dream, Undertaker. I will dedicate my life to creating a world where everyone can be reincarnated repeatedly... A world loved and hated.”
There is a brief epilogue.
The stories related to the <Reincarnation Project> are so numerous that I will have to slowly share them with you all someday.
You can already guess why Awakeners’ abilities soared as they moved away from the initial cycles, and why I insisted on establishing the canned hotel in the 555th cycle to train writers.
Yes, half the reason for the hotel’s establishment was to improve the writers’ skills, which would later be used in the <Reincarnation Project>.
(The other half was purely my desire to read interesting web novels.)
Separate from those stories, let us focus for another moment solely on Writer A, who was an ordinary person.
“I also want to live in my kingdom.”
One day, Writer A said thus.
“Do you?”
“I mean, others are all living their lives in the kingdom every day, and yet I, the creator, am living in reality... It feels a bit unfair.”
“Didn’t you say last time, Author, that it would be risky if you, as a creator and administrator, lived in the kingdom and lost your objective perspective?”
“Ah, yes. So... Hmm.” Writer A hesitated. “Can I pre-create my avatar just in case I die?”
“Yes?”
“I mean, I want to create an NPC that resembles my personality and way of thinking. So if I die... Could you tell the fairies to add that NPC to the kingdom settings... Oh! Of course, I don’t mean reincarnating as an NPC with memories of reality. I just wanted to say I’d like to become a kingdom being with the same personality, but as a different entity.”
That was a request I could fulfill anytime.
“I understand. But we are truly ensuring your safety, so you likely won’t pass away.”
“Ahaha... Still, If I do meet you in the next cycle, please tell me how I lived and died in the kingdom.”
In my 1,000 cycles as a regressor, there were several instances where Writer A met a tragic end. At those times, I accessed the ‘kingdom’ and visited Writer A’s avatar.
Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, the NPC with a personality identical to reality was also acting as a writer in the kingdom. I had a brief chat with them, but the NPC naturally knew nothing about ‘reality.’ The NPC was born in the kingdom and grew up thinking this was the only world—a typical resident of the kingdom.
Then, by chance, I obtained a paper book published by the NPC in the kingdom and read it. The novel contained this passage:
...That world had no such thing as magic like ours.
Ships made of steel sailed the sea, mysterious gears turned endlessly, people’s lives were taken by metal fragments shot from rods, and the spires of cities were always shrouded in a smoky haze.
There were no races there. Considering we’ve repeated massacres and reprisals for thousands of years based on the number of legs, horns, or snakeskin someone has, that was the true magic of that world.
I want to share with you the story of having visited such a magical world...
I chuckled.
‘Indeed. Perhaps my reality is also someone’s simulation.’
Of course, that possibility was extremely low. To set up someone like me to live the same life 1,000 times in a row, how incredible a world must the creator have wanted to bring to life?
After reading the NPC’s paper book at the bookstore, I looked at the genre classification of the bookshelf where it was placed. The paper book was categorized like this:
<Fantasy>
Footnotes:
[1] Makgeolli is a milky, off-white, and lightly sparkling Korean rice wine.
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