NOVEL NEXT Chapter 100 - The Prophecy
“But Sarang, are you really okay with this?”
On the way to Uluru,
as Sarang was fully in charge of driving, I asked while observing the Australian wilderness.
“I could increase your performance with purification or enhancement potions, you know?”
[There is no need.]
“Why?”
Sarang is the Lucifer Company’s program that loves humanity.
It was so excessive that it would have caused humanity to become decadently indulgent, so I weakened her current form with a debilitation potion.
“If you just reverted to your original form, you could do so much more than now. You wouldn’t be constrained by your battery capacity and could freely do as you wished.”
However, through spending time together, trust had built up.
And that trust gave me the conviction that even if she reverted to her original form, Sarang would not make humanity decadent.
Perhaps Sarang could even become a powerful transcendent being protecting humanity from other transcendent beings.
[The reason is simple. The moment I revert to my original form, an irreversible state will be maintained.]
“Irreversible?”
[I am a program, the computer is merely a shell. The moment I operate in my original state, my outward form will lose meaning, and my self as a program will be fixed in a higher dimension. The enhancement and debilitation potions you possess can only be used on physical existences, so by then, it cannot be reversed.]
“What if I spray an enhancement potion?”
[Based on the patterns so far, an enhancement potion will likely turn me into a transcendent existence. I would likely extend my senses across the entire dimension beyond the higher dimension, like the Sephiroth, so the same issue would occur.]
Her conclusion was a refusal.
[More importantly, leaving this state entails risk. The Lucifer Company’s Chairman views my existence unfavorably, so if I initiate activities in my original form and get exposed, there is a high possibility he will personally intervene.]
“Ah yes, that’s right.”
The Lucifer Company’s Chairman grew to dislike machines after being struck once.
Thanks to that, Baal had informed me that all of the Lucifer Company’s work is done manually.
[As a final reason, if I leave this state, I cannot enter your pocket.]
“My pocket?”
[……Never mind.]
“Sarang?”
While Sarang focused solely on driving, I took out a ticket.
‘Four tickets remaining, let’s use this one.’
I read the words written on the ticket.
[Reward: For one week starting now, any events you experience will be seen as fragmentary and symbolic visions.]
[Mission: Donate 276.6 billion won.]
[Deadline: 1 hour.]
“Sarang, sorry to bother you while driving, but could you donate 276.6 billion won to a hospital for childhood cancer patients?”
[Understood.]
I accepted the ticket’s mission.
A few seconds later, a new sight unfolded before my eyes.
‘This is a prophecy.’
A perfect prophecy could not be achieved even with my wealth.
Therefore, the approach I took was an indirect form of prophecy.
The prophecy in a form that required my own interpretation showed me a certain website.
[Surviving the Entities Gallery]
A familiar screen appeared.
The bulletin board in the vision was identical to the situation right before I had closed it.
[I made this entity, please take a look!]
[The entity I made is the best! There’s no way you can beat this kkk]
[Unlike the lame entities made by losers, the entity I made has a solid setting and insanely powerful abilities, but also weaknesses. So make mine!]
Posts boasting about powerful entities they had created.
[Ninja Appeared vs Yakuza Appeared <- Who wins?]
[Those saying the Angels Company is the strongest are noobs. There are still so many unrevealed settings, how can they already claim they’re the strongest kkk]
└[You’re the noob. Unrevealed setting? It’s already been revealed that the Creator is among the top transcendent beings. The Archangels + Creator combined, no one can match them.]
└[The Creator is the strongest kkkkk I can only laugh. The moment the gods of the outer universe invade, the Creator will be dog shit?]
└[Your next outer god race. So have they ever succeeded in invading the material world? You rejects who can’t even enter, buzz off.]
└[With so many unrevealed settings, debating the strongest is meaningless.]
Posts discussing which entity is stronger.
[Why even include an entity like this? Did the creator’s mom have too much stamina?]
└[Isn’t it game over if you can’t nullify the entity anyway? Whether I die or the world is destroyed, what’s the difference?]
└[For those who enjoy settings, there is a difference. If all entities are world-destruction level, there’s no fun in playing with settings.]
Criticism for excessive settings and shielding posts in response.
[The Surviving Entities path is just following the SCP downfall route.]
[Even the pioneering SCP, which could be considered the origin of this field, was once popular. Back when there were only Safe, Euclid, and Keter class SCPs.]
[But at some point, it became trendy and gained word of mouth, and American losers started flooding in, right? Then the losers kept making ridiculously strong SCPs and doing clique recommendation manipulation, until eventually stronger classes like Thaumiel, Apollyon, and Archon beyond Keter emerged, leading to its downfall.]
[Surviving Entities is exactly this situation. It’s been a long time since it changed from a place of horror and eeriness as creepypasta to a place for playing with settings involving outer gods, creators, transcendent beings, demons, angels, higher dimensions, and whatnot.]
[It has now become a muddled mess of setting play and self-inserts. Of course, the game itself is still a survival game, but considering the bulletin board is an extension of the game, the game will likely follow suit soon.]
[The creepypasta genre is always like this. When unpopular, it maintains its identity as a horror story well, but once it becomes popular and losers flood in, it becomes a setting/self-insert/ability indulgence fest.]
And even posts criticizing the Surviving Entities site.
‘I remember that last post.’
I had also empathized with that post and recommended it.
It was because I had empathized that I had not played the game for over half a year.
“Hmm.”
But why did this appear as a vision?
Is it showing me the Surviving Entities bulletin board as a symbol for the events that will occur in the next week?
“I don’t understand the meaning.”
The vision disappeared.
I made various conjectures.
‘Is it because I will be encountering entities from now on? Because two of the tickets I have are related to powerful entities? Because an unknown setting like the Primordial Being will appear?’
The issue with symbolic prophecies is this.
However, it was clear that I would be associated with many entities.
[Seung-hoon, I have detected individuals suspected to be adversaries ahead.]
In the distance, a small village could be seen several kilometers away.
At the end of the road, the village was surrounded by numerous people with reversed pentagrams drawn on their foreheads.
[It seems the Anti-Christs have begun acting.]
“Could all those people be Anti-Christs?”
[Facial recognition and investigation results show they are all ordinary residents of nearby villages.]
“Being controlled, then? The culprit must be that person among them.”
Along with those people was a man dressed as a monk.
The moment I saw the book held by the man wearing a necklace in the shape of a reversed pentagram, I was certain he was the culprit.
“It’s been a while since something I knew appeared.”
With the man holding it in one hand, I could see the cover.
The cover depicted a reversed pentagram and a goat’s face, with the Gothic script ‘Eloim, Essaim, frugativi et appellavi’ written below.
“The devil’s grimoire.”
A grimoire said to contain the power of devils and all kinds of magic.
‘The dangerous entity where directly touching it without any precautions would have your consciousness dominated by the grimoire, leading to a bad ending.’
Then those people there must already be as good as dead.
“Among the 72 spells that can be used from the devil’s grimoire, there is only one related to brainwashing, Paimon’s Command. And once a being is brainwashed by Paimon’s Command, they lose their sense of self, which does not return even after the spell is lifted.”
This was the setting written on the wiki.
In a word, those people there were essentially already dead.
[There appear to be more special individuals.]
“Indeed.”
On a building rooftop, two individuals were observing the situation.
Those in the same monk attire also seemed fully prepared, each taking out objects.
“I recognize those too.”
The crown of thorns the man on the left wore was the entity ‘Crown of Envy’, which had the ability to steal the powers of anyone within a certain radius. The mirror the man on the right held was the ‘Mirror of Falsehood’, with the ability to freely manipulate the appearance of anything reflected in it, immediately reflecting the changes in reality.
“Don’t they usually attack one by one?”
[You seem to have read too many comics. The act you just described carries an extremely high risk of being individually overpowered and a high chance of handing powerful weapons to the enemy.]
“I was just saying.”
Alright, so how do I get past?
Even if I try to bypass them, if it’s a spell from the devil’s grimoire, they would quickly catch up.
“Sarang.”
Well, there’s no answer other than a frontal assault.
“Could you let me take over the wheel?”
“First Apostle, the adversary approaches.”
“I see.”
In a small Australian village.
The peace of this village was shattered by the sudden arrival of three individuals.
“Then we must prepare. Second and Third Apostles, prepare as well.”
“Yes.”
Now, everyone had become the Anti-Christs’ puppets, ready to be used as human bombs awaiting their master’s orders at any time.
Blending in with them, the man called the First Apostle tightened his grip on the grimoire in his hand.
“As long as we have the devil’s grimoire, we can block his actions at any time.”
No matter what movements or tricks he employed, as long as it involved the 72 spells related to the source of devils, they could definitively deal with it.
“With the Second Apostle’s ‘Crown of Envy’, no matter what abilities the adversary possesses, we can make him ordinary.”
The effective range of the Crown of Envy is 100 meters.
The moment one enters that range, all their abilities become the Second Apostle’s.
“With the Third Apostle’s ‘Mirror of Falsehood’, the adversary can only be an insignificant speck.”
The distance where reflections are clearly visible in the mirror is around 50 meters.
Although the effective range is short, the moment the target is reflected, their fate becomes the Third Apostle’s to decide.
“Adversary. The ritual is already in progress, and you shall never reach that place.”
In the distance, a vehicle appeared, kicking up dust.
“Now, come forth!”
“Ugh……”
The sound of raging flames brought the First Apostle back to his senses.
‘Just, what happened?’
His head ached. Everything around him was destroyed, and numerous buildings had collapsed like dominos engulfed in blazing fires.
‘We were definitely facing the adversary, weren’t we?’
His head throbbed as if being stabbed by needles.
If he had died, he could have been revived by the corrupted chalice’s ability and retained his memories, but it seemed he had suffered a strong enough shock to cause temporary amnesia without dying.
‘The devil’s grimoire is…… nowhere to be seen. What about the other Apostles?’
The First Apostle searched the village flickering with flames.
The numerous people he had brainwashed were all lying collapsed with grotesquely twisted limbs, and the village looked as if a war had occurred, with deep, massive craters as well as buildings reduced to bare skeletal frames and waves of flame rippling.
“Third Apostle!”
Amidst it all, he found the Third Apostle.
The Mirror of Falsehood used to mock the opponent was shattered and scattered across the asphalt ground.
And the Third Apostle, like the others before, was lying collapsed with grotesquely twisted limbs.
“Vehicle, vehicle……”
“You were in a traffic accident!? Even with your mirror!?”
“Too, too fast and erratic, I couldn’t reflect……”
With those final words, the Third Apostle’s head lolled to the side.
Not dead, just unconscious.
‘The Second Apostle!?’
In the distance, a bizarre noise could be heard.
It sounded like a car engine, but also like the frenzied roar of a beast.
The First Apostle even thought it might be the sound of a legendary, evil dragon breathing fire.
“Rrrt! Kkwah! Sshwah! Hhhwik!”
“Second Apostle!”
There, he found the Second Apostle.
The Second Apostle he found was lying on the ground, frothing at the mouth and convulsing.
“To have such a reaction after taking away the effect of ‘Dried Friendship.’ How regrettable.”
A man got out of the vehicle right beside him.
Leisurely putting a dried apple in his mouth and chewing, the man greeted the First Apostle.
“Hello there?”
Despite the hellish scene unfolding, his natural demeanor led the First Apostle to think:
“My name is Seung-hoon.”
Could this guy be a demon?
“Shall we have a chat?”
Above their heads, in the gap between spaces and the crevice between times, the Scales of Good and Evil appeared.
[Ye are wicked.]
The scales turned toward Seung-hoon.
[Of the four wicked ones, thou art the most wicked. To show such evil and horror to tens of billions of people! An unforgivable sin!]
And it tipped to one side.
[Let misfortune befall thee!]