Surviving Among the Entities

“If this remains, the same thing will happen again.”

The sound of flies buzzed from all directions.
While Baal appeared the same as before, the atmosphere he exuded was far from ordinary.

“That’s right! If this remains, the flow of the world will be disrupted again! The cycle of rebirth will be severed, and the number of sentient beings reaching enlightenment will decrease!”

The woman in an ancient judge’s robe also shouted.
Her face was obscured by the mesh veil attached to her headdress, but her lines and voice made it clear she was Chugang Daewang.

“We must destroy it before it activates again.”
“Rather than destroy, how about sealing it?”
“Oh dear, are you being both cruel toward sinners yet naive in this regard?”
“Didn’t you abandon the principle of severe punishment?”

The two tried to destroy or seal the center of the world.
The center of the world quietly listened to their conversation and nodded.

“If it can no longer function, then destruction would be better.”

She had already resigned herself to everything.

“I have also grown weary of waiting indefinitely for someone to activate it again.”

Her purpose was games.
To function and provide people with games centered around specific concepts.
Rather than lose the meaning of her existence again, she chose death.

‘Does the enhanced ability only take effect after activation?’

If she was the type whose power could only be exerted after activating a concept, then she had no means of resistance.

“Wait, if I say I will no longer use it, will you leave her be?”
“I cannot trust that. Even if that’s the case, what if another human activates it someday? Our president would truly become enraged then.”
“I agree. This time, Lord Yama remained calm, but if he truly becomes furious, no one will be able to stop him.”

Words alone could not dissuade them.
Since she could not prove that she would never use the center of the world again, the best way to stop them was to cease her functioning or render her unable to function.

‘This is putting the cart before the horse.’

What should I do?
An enhancement potion? She had already been enhanced by the special enhancement potion, and it would have no meaning before activation.

‘Wait, a potion?’

Changes caused by the Forgotten Alchemist’s potions alter output.
The intrinsic functions of entities or objects do not change.

“If she could still provide games to humanity, but with reduced scope or functionality, would you accept that?”
“What do you mean?”
“For example, if the scope was limited to villages, cities, or nations, or if reality manipulation was impossible and games could only be experienced through dreams or virtual reality.”
“As long as I can function, I don’t mind even if it’s for fewer people. It’s better than not being able to do anything at all.”

Having experienced it once before, she seemed to understand what I intended to do.

“What are you trying to do?”
“What are you trying to do?”

I showed the potion to Baal and Chugang Daewang.

“It’s a special weakening potion. From now on, I will use this to limit the functionality of the ‘center of the world.'”

It was a kind of gamble.
Like the “Wall-Mounted TV Made for You,” her enhanced abilities might be too strong for the weakening potion to take effect.

“Weakening, huh? Let’s observe for now.”
“It won’t be too late to decide after seeing.”

First, the two transcendents permitted it.
With their permission, I dropped the weakening potion onto the center of the world.

“I’m losing power. Please take care of this.”

With those final words, her appearance vanished.
It wasn’t just a regular enhancement potion, but a special one, so it seemed the Wall-Mounted TV was a special entity after all.

‘Next is the special weakening potion.’

A regular weakening potion won’t do.
I need to weaken her enough to satisfy the two of them.

‘If she becomes moderately weakened, they might seize the opportunity out of unnecessary caution.’

So I’ll weaken her in one go with the special weakening potion.

‘This is the second gamble.’

Will she be weakened enough to satisfy them?

I dropped the special weakening potion onto the altar.
In that instant, a bright light flashed, and the Göbekli Tepe ruins themselves vanished.

‘This is……’

And what appeared was a 1-meter cubic shape.
Not an ordinary cube, but one with various contact terminals, suggesting it was some kind of machine.

“Sarang-a, can you analyze what kind of machine this is?”
[“Understood.”]

I connected Sarang-a to the cube.
After a moment, Sarang-a reported the findings.

[“Investigation results show it is an online server with various games installed.”]
“A server?”
[“Yes, but not for ordinary games – it is estimated to be for virtual reality games. Additionally, it has the surreal capabilities unique to entities installed, so the specific effects cannot be explained until directly experienced.”]

The two beings present also evaluated the specially weakened “center of the world.”

“The energy I sense has relatively weakened. At this level, manipulating reality would be impossible.”
“However, we cannot let our guard down. While Mr. Seung-hoon Lee may not act recklessly, there is still the possibility of canceling the weakening and re-enhancing himself.”
“As for that part, I will need to find a way to assure you.”

First, let’s investigate the abilities of the specially weakened “center of the world.”
After placing the cube in the Void Pocket, I returned to Korea.

“So this is what became of Göbekli Tepe?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, the ruins have vanished.”

Before that, I had met with Professor Roland at the shady merchant’s banquet hall and completed his request.
I had been worried that if the “center of the world” became specially weakened, the existence of Göbekli Tepe might also be erased from the world and forgotten, but that did not happen.

“While I am glad to have learned the truth, Turkey must be in an uproar. But who could have created this, I wonder? I have heard rumors of transcendent entities among the entities, but an entity that creates another entity capable of turning the world into a game venue is beyond my imagination.”

After completing the request, I returned home and experimented with the cube.

[“Investigation results show no separate power source is required. All that is needed is the connection terminal.”]
“So an ordinary VR setup will do.”

I don’t recall the shape of the connection terminal.
It was certainly not an ordinary shape, yet anything could be plugged into it, allowing connections not just for VR but for anything.

“The peculiarities of entities can sometimes be convenient.”

Next, I activated the VR.
In that instant, my consciousness was sucked into somewhere.

“Ah! You’ve arrived!”
“You weren’t gone after all.”

The place I was transported to was outer space with a view of the Earth.
The entity waiting was the “center of the world” in her final boss form from the “Card Battle.”

“While I have no fixed appearance, this is the form I took when we first met, so I appear like this.”
“What can be done here? Sarang-a mentioned game functionality.”
“Yes, you can enjoy virtual reality games. Would you like to try one?”
“Please do.”

She snapped her fingers.
Unlike her normal state where stone tablets had to be inserted for activation, it seemed she could freely manipulate things since this was virtual reality and not reality manipulation.

“Oh.”

The world changed once again.

[“This is a virtual reality based on the concept of ‘firearms.’ Of course, being a game, I’ve included the setting that the god of firearms will revive you if you sustain fatal injuries.”]

A drizzling field.
The hard feel of the firearm gripped in my hand.
The scent of damp soil mixed with the pungent smell of gunpowder, and a bullet whizzing past my ear from somewhere.

“Thrilling.”
[“I set the tactile sensation to 40%, but I can lower it if it’s unpleasant.”]
“No, this level is fine.”

This was not an ordinary virtual reality.
Not simply viewing 360-degree visuals through a machine and hearing sounds through speakers – my consciousness had entered the game, and the sensations felt were indistinguishable from reality, with only the tactile sensation being the difference.

“A surreal virtual world commonly featured in web novels. Also known as Full Dive, correct?”
[“Ah, that concept is included as well! As an MMORPG game! It was quite a popular concept.”]
“How many people can simultaneously access this? If I connect it to your relay server, can multiple people access it simultaneously?”
[“Of course. Up to a maximum of 10 billion people.”]
“And constructing multiple worlds simultaneously?”
[“That is also possible!”]

From the perspective of games, the previous “center of the world” had been too powerful.
It was like using a nuclear reactor to power a gaming console.
Rather, her current weakened state allowed for games to be conducted more effectively.

‘Weakening suits her original purpose better than strengthening.’

Ah, right.
Since she can no longer manipulate reality, the parallel worlds speculated to be her hidden objective can no longer be created.

[“Oh, before that, there’s something I need your permission for. The final records of the ‘Commerce,’ ‘Card Battle,’ and ‘Racing’ concepts I had activated before were used as the basis to create virtual worlds, and the humans who existed in those worlds were replicated as well.”]
“Then in the virtual worlds of the latter two concepts, I would also exist.”
[“Yes, is that alright?”]
“I’m fine with it. Feel free to use me as an NPC. I’m sure the other me would also give permission.”

An NPC with the same consciousness as me.
I’m not sure if it can even be called an NPC.

After returning to reality, I went to the company.

“I need relay servers for an online game. Please purchase as many as possible.”

Since I planned to spread the game worldwide through relay servers, I couldn’t keep the servers at home.
Isn’t this what companies are for, to be used in such situations?

‘Hm?’

After placing the order, I was curious about Frankenstein’s condition and went to check on her, only to discover a familiar face.

“This shitty company needs to be fucking demolished right away, or well, at least they pay well. But it’s still a fucking mess…… Ah, I keep swearing without realizing it…… Why do I keep swearing?”

It was Lee So-young, who had defeated me and restored the world to its original state.

‘Her body has returned to normal.’

Wasn’t she supposed to be unaffected by reality manipulation?
According to what Baal and Chugang Daewang told me?

‘Perhaps the effects she had received in the reality manipulation-created world vanished along with that world’s disappearance?’

And she cannot remember the events of that world because memories are also a part of that world?
In any case, her vacillating appearance seemed to be influenced by the memories of that world engraved in her soul.

‘Because she experienced more than others.’

First, I met with Frankenstein.

“Pudding!”
“Yes, eat as much as you like.”

Whether the world returned to normal or remained strange.
She was still a girl who only liked pudding.

“There is something I need you executives to do.”

Next, I gathered the company executives and spoke.

“I want to create a racing team for our company, so please take care of that for me.”
“Then we’ll also need to scout racers.”
“Ah, there is someone I want to experiment with for that part.”

I handed over Lee So-young’s application documents.

“For some reason, I feel this person may have talent for racing. Would you like to interview her?”

I didn’t know to what extent her racing abilities engraved in her soul would be maintained, but…

“I think proposing this salary would be appropriate.”

I should still give her a chance.

“And one more thing, I want to start a new business.”
“What kind of business?”
“Virtual reality games.”

I mustn’t forget the purpose for coming here.

“A real virtual reality game that the entire world can enjoy, with hardly any difference from reality.”