My Divine Diary Chapter 761

Chapter 761

—

– Kim Sanghyun

A distant past, the place where the Administration Bureau revealed a magnificent new world to me.

Now, it stands as the stronghold of the Pure faction opposing the Son of Dawn.

The situation at the TT building was far from ideal.

The aftermath of the movie theater’s collapse was washing over us.

Monsters were appearing on every floor of the 50-story building, and the 11th floor we were on was no exception.

A shadow-dwelling monster was occupying the space, leaping out and attacking people left and right.

“Damn it, the elevator had to stop at the 11th floor…!” Mooksung exclaimed.

“We should head to a place with more light,” Eunsol suggested.

“Let’s stick close to the wall as we move,” I replied.

“AHHH! S-save me—”

People were getting skewered by the gray hands that shot out from the shadows.

Bodies were piling up every ten seconds, and it was tough to respond.

As the lights flickered out, darkness enveloped the area, creating a very favorable environment for the monsters.

Undoubtedly, this was no ordinary office; it was the base of the Administration Bureau’s Pure faction.

The staff here weren’t your run-of-the-mill folks either.

“Prepare flashbangs! Throw!”

In an instant, a blinding light flooded the area.

The monsters lurking in the shadows had no choice but to reveal themselves as the darkness dissipated.

At this point, everyone was fighting tenaciously.

“There, let’s head for the stairs!” Mooksung pointed.

Ignoring the surroundings, we continued upward.

Ironically, as the world crumbled, our options expanded.

With monsters swarming every floor, no one seemed to care about us.

Not even the monsters themselves.

“Am I imagining this, or are the monsters kind of avoiding us?” Eunsol asked.

“Well, even lions target the weaker prey—chaos beings aren’t all that different, are they?”

In moments like this, it struck me that we were quite different from our past selves.

*

Upon reaching the 24th floor, we heard an ‘announcement’ for the first time.

— Sizzle! Attention to guests who have arrived at the headquarters.

“M-Me? Are they talking about us?” Mooksung asked in disbelief.

— Due to elevator destruction, please use the emergency stairs between the 23rd and 24th floors and make three round trips up and down.

“What? Three round trips?” Eunsol questioned.

“Let’s just try doing what they ask,” I suggested.

“Do they think we know what that means?” Mooksung grumbled.

“I recognize that voice. They want to meet us,” I replied.

Rushing towards the emergency stairs, we yelled, “Down!”

— Dada-dak!

“Now, up!”

“This better not be some sort of magic trick, right?”

“For crying out loud, what is this nonsense?”

“Back down!”

We made three round trips between the 23rd and 24th floors.

Down, up, down, up, down, up.

When we returned to the 24th floor, I was momentarily speechless.

“… Whoa. A door appeared out of nowhere.”

“Haha! Alright, let’s go in.”

— Click!

As soon as I opened the door, a familiar voice reached my ears.

“Johnny, it’s been a while.”

“David!”

With a bizarre gradient of gray and black hair, he looked like a pretty handsome guy in his late twenties.

But underneath that lay the appearance of a very weary and aged man.

He was sitting alone in a room that shone so brightly, it was blinding.

“Are you alone?”

“For now, yes. If you look at the empty chairs around, you’d notice there are usually more employees.”

“…”

“Sorry for the delayed announcement. I knew visitors had arrived quite a while ago, but all the cameras were broken. I only figured out you were here just now.”

My companions seemed to want to let David and me have our conversation, standing quietly in the back.

Perhaps this behavior showed they had no intention of fighting, as David appeared to be relaxed.

Or maybe it was psychological resignation, given that the world had already gone to ruins.

“When was the last time I saw you, David? Was it when the Son of Dawn was sealed away?”

According to the fleeting memories tied to my first wish, that seemed correct.

“Right. If my memory serves me right, Serilda tied you up, and I threw you onto the altar.”

“… Not the best memory, that.”

“I guess not. You seem to be thinking just like I am,” David chuckled sadly.

“My bad for that incident.”

“… Right…”

“Huh… Apologies coming to fruition only after the apocalypse—there’s no such thing as a timely apology.”

David was sitting here, in the stronghold of the Pure faction, as if he were a leader.

Inviting me here to apologize for the past after trying to stop the descent of the Son of Dawn.

At this point, I started to believe in the hypothesis Kain presented in the meeting.

*

“Earlier, you had a question, didn’t you? Where did David go? I mean, where did he really disappear to?”

“The agents who contributed to stopping the Son of Dawn all became six-winged angels… except David. Why is that?”

“At first, I thought he died before the apocalypse, but that couldn’t be right. Even in paradise, the dead can be resurrected.”

“After pondering this long enough, I had a thought. What if David betrayed the Son of Dawn? Just like your brother did?”

“If that’s the case, it also explains why he didn’t become a guardian with six wings even after participating in the ceremony. Because he’s a traitor.”

*

“Looks like it’s true then.”

“Hmm?”

“You’ve switched sides to the Pure faction, haven’t you?”

“Seems your memory is finally working. I switched sides a long time ago, over 500 years ago.”

Just as I began to think of my next question, David mumbled in a voice filled with despair.

“Ah… I don’t know exactly what you want, but shouldn’t you have come a bit sooner?”

“What do you—”

“You’re trying to prevent the apocalypse, but you’re late. Haha! You’re late.”

“You….”

“The ones hurting humans now are just lower minions. The real ones are scattered around the world, breaking down sealing facilities one by one. Soon, all the demons the Administration Bureau has imprisoned throughout eternity will be released…”

The apocalypse is unstoppable.

Having demons released from a beautiful new world and smashing the chaos sealing facilities everywhere.

Eventually, all chaos entities sealed for long ages by the Administration Bureau will emerge.

This was a heartbreaking fact for David, but for me, it was just a recounting of what I already knew.

Because the hotel had sent out alerts long ago.

Just then, Mooksung’s voice came from behind.

“A guy who’s eaten enough to be unbothered, what’s with that long face?”

“What?”

“Listen, whether ordinary folks are troubled or not, we’re fine, right? To be frank, this isn’t the first time the world’s gone to shit. I’ve seen the earth literally bursting!”

Unlike regular people, we, as returnees, didn’t care about such empty doom.

It was absurd, but honestly, not entirely wrong.

That’s some classic agent comfort right there.

By the way, the earth exploding? He actually witnessed that?

Please, don’t let it have happened in Mooksung’s room!

“Hah! Looks like you’ve become a returnee recently, huh?”

“I guess Mooksung looks like a returnee but is actually a newbie. First time I’m seeing him.”

Interestingly enough, David’s statement wasn’t entirely wrong.

Seeing how Ari occasionally treats Mooksung like a junior, it seemed like Mooksung’s experience was a bit short for a returnee.

Unless Ari’s history was ridiculously long.

“The apocalypse is like folding a thin sheet of metal. Once folded, it’s destruction; once unfolded, it’s a reset. The sheet will unfold again, but it leaves a mark in the middle. Don’t tell me this petty fact evades you—”

Mooksung shrugged.

“Anyway, it can unfold, right?”

“….”

“Let’s stop whining now. We’re both part of the ‘next batch’ moving forward, so we should start thinking about what to do next.”

Technically speaking, only we had a ‘next’ to look forward to.

This was the Curse Room, and in the next iteration, David would lose his memory.

Of course, he wouldn’t know this was Room 302.

“… Johnny, why did you come looking for me? Surely not to get an apology—”

— Boom!

Suddenly, a tremor rocked the entire building!

David’s expression changed to one of urgency.

“Spit it out quick! It’s gonna blow in five minutes!”

“Mooksung: We’ll save serious questions for next time. You already knew this bastard was here!”

“Eunsol: Let’s keep it simple, then!”

“Why did you switch sides? You were initially a servant of the Son of Dawn too!”

Strangely enough, David suddenly fell silent.

It was as if a distant memory popped into his head.

“Was humanity’s future shown to you by the Son of Dawn not satisfactory?”

“… If it was, I wouldn’t have followed him in the first place.”

True enough.

If he disliked the paradise the Son of Dawn would create, he certainly wouldn’t have served him from the outset.

“Or perhaps, he changed his opinion and came to believe that humanity must rise on its own?”

“Ah… that was your line of thought, wasn’t it? I respect that. However, to be honest, I don’t trust humanity that much—”

“YOU SON OF A BITCH! We’re running out of time here, and you’re prattling on!”

David looked momentarily stunned.

“Uh… I didn’t know you were this foul-mouthed—”

“Just give me an answer already!”

“… There’s a rumor passed down in the Bureau like a legend.”

“What?”

“Two collapses.”

Suddenly, the air went still.

“If you trace back to the beginning and end countless times, there existed a genuinely great civilization. Our ancestors built a civilization so advanced they would consider us monkeys.”

“….”

“Two collapses occurred. The first collapse turned 100 into 10, and the second one turned 10 into 1.”

“….”

“The one responsible for the second collapse was an unparalleled genius, a madman unlike any other. He was the creator of the moon, and it is because of him that humanity’s history has fallen into eternal muddy waters.”

Everyone, including Mooksung and Eunsol, fell silent.

It sounded more familiar to us than to David himself.𝑅êạd new chapt𝒆rs on no/v/e/l𝒃in(.)com

“Info about the first collapse is far less plentiful. Since it happened much longer ago, that’s expected. The only known aspect is that it is linked to those who hinder liberation.”

Those who prevent liberation— the nefarious liberators.

“That’s almost mythological. Even agents and pioneers barely remember it beyond mere folklore,” David noted.

“Did your grandfather’s Bureau also have old tales like that?” Eunsol asked.

“Not at all. This is my first time hearing it in Room 302,” Mooksung responded.

“A Bureau from Room 302 seems to be an older force, so I guess ancient tales remain as mere rumors.”

It was a fascinating tale, yet I wondered why we were hearing it now.

“Why is this coming up now? I was just asking why you switched sides.”

At that moment, David reached inside his coat and pulled something out.

It was a notebook.

An old, title-less notebook.

“I accidentally uncovered the truth behind the first collapse. According to ancient records—”

Just then.

— Tap!

The lights suddenly went out.

— Crash!

A hand extended from the darkness and pierced David’s chest in an instant.

David fell silent, unable to let out a single sound as he succumbed to instant death.

There was no chance for resistance or anything.

“Whoops!”

“Ugh!”

Out came the instinctive Rest Horn and the Final Flash, along with One More Chance.

A voice echoed from the darkness.

“Haha! You all just don’t know when to quit. Is there no concept of personal space?”

“What are you—”

“This notebook is kind of like someone’s diary. It’s problematic if you pry into it.”

“What the—”

“Besides, you don’t really need to see the contents of the notebook, do you?”

The figure’s mouth stretched wide to the side.

… That mouth was bigger than its face.

This felt like it might just be my last moment.

*

– Observation Post, Han Kain

— Crackle!

With a slight pain, the observation terminated forcibly.

This meant there were no longer any observable subjects inside Room 302.

A moment ago, Sanghyun had died, and Seungyub was no different.

However, this didn’t imply that all my companions were dead.

“… It seems it’s our turn now. Let’s get ready.”

“Ugh! So it begins,” Jincheol and Elena breathed heavily.

In the meantime, I reflected on what happened just before Sanghyun’s death.

About the notebook.

It wasn’t an unfamiliar notebook.

It was a notebook I knew far too well.

Like the creature mentioned, it wasn’t essential to verify its contents.

… It was a notebook I had discovered first, and I had added many entries to it.

Ancient memories.

Long ago, there had been a senior researcher who was filled with devotion towards humanity.

He gained ancient knowledge through a mysterious process…

This knowledge was a terror that weak humans could not endure.

A despairing doctrine that rendered all the glory humanity had amassed worthless.

This fear became the genesis of everything.

“…”

“Kain? What are you thinking—”

“Just let it be. He’s always been a thought-heavy guy.

Let’s think of it like game theory.

Once everyone comes to know knowledge A, we have to respond with strategy A1.

If everyone takes the A1 strategy and loses, what’s the most appropriate move?

It would make the most sense to collectively forget knowledge A.

Some knowledge is better off unknown.

“Whoa! A door just appeared over there.”

“This one seems different from the past. Let’s go in!”

Two collapses, huh…

Honestly, the second collapse truly seems to fall on Aleph’s shoulders.

Oh, that could hardly be blamed on me; it really was Aleph’s fault.

As for the first collapse, it’s ambiguous whether it was due to the nefarious liberators.

They merely informed the ancestors of the universe’s greatest secrets.

Additionally, that secret wasn’t something all that grand, either.

It was a conclusion that could be reached by combining only publicly available information.

No need to go to the ancient times; even the allies could combine what they know to similarly conclude.

Given the phenomenon recurring in the world, it was bound to arise sometime.

“… Elena.”

“Yes?”

“What if every single one of Elena’s cells turned into a person?”

“Excuse me?”

“Forget it.”

“Stop with your odd tendencies.”

For now, let’s focus on Room 302.

“Let’s go in.”