Chapter 314 – The Truth Revealed
In this way, a religious group that has fallen into fanaticism begins to appear in front of the holy day.
『A group of fanatics who fell into madness and shouted for ascension.』
『In the early days, their appearance was not a big threat to us, they are just pseudo-apocalypse. It was nothing more, nothing less.”
『So most of my own people just ignored them and lived worrying about the future.』
『Then, our species, tired of the artificial intelligence army’s relentless pursuit and escape, was mentally devastated, and little by little they began to open their minds to the fanatic group.』
“It was absurd. Even though they are remnants, it’s like the descendants of a once great civilization committed themselves to a pseudo-religion.”
『But, even though it was miserable, it was true. Thanks to them, even the last bits of civilization that we have left have begun to corrupt.”
『When corruption was completely stained like that, the pseudo-religion that seized power named our race ‘transcendents’ and insisted that we abandon the present world that had perished and leave for a new world. And they called it the sanctuary of transcendence.”
‘…Transcendence?’
『The transcendence they speak of is, absurdly, abandoning the body, extracting only the mind, moving to a new world, and pioneering a new world from there.』
“…You believe in that?”
『Sadly, my people, who had already been brainwashed into their doctrines, were gradually persuaded by their words.』
『For reference, the Transcendence Church claimed that the experiences they had in the Ark in the past were for transcendence, but their words were quite subtle, so they were more persuasive.』
“…”
『Even those who drew a line with the denomination of transcendence, perhaps they thought the words were quite plausible, but gradually started to be incited by the doctrine.』
『In the end, we actually carried out the plan using our remaining technology.』
『The task of mobilizing all the remaining skills from most of the lost skills and sending only the mind to another dimension.』
『It seemed impossible, but we succeeded. Even if it’s ridiculous…』
『That’s how we ended up wandering around the dimension. Then we waged endless war against the newly encountered races.”
“…Why?”
『To find a body suitable for us.』
“…?”
『The leader of the Transcendence Church insisted that our species, with only the mental body, rebuild their bodies and rebuild their civilization anew.』
『The problem was that the body was rebuilt. It was a plan to invade other races, subdue them, and then steal the bodies of those races.”
“Crazy…”
『What’s more miserable is that even though we destroyed countless alien races, we couldn’t find a body suitable for our race.』
“…”
『In the midst of numerous setbacks, some awakened people who have begun to come to their senses have begun to open their mouths little by little.』
“…Which?”
『Rather, let’s make the body ourselves. Actually, that was the normal way of thinking. Even though most of them have been lost, the technology we still possess is powerful, and if we use that technology, we can create mechanical bodies as much as we like.”
“But why…?”
“Poorly enough, the madness of religion obstructed this claim. The Church of Transcendence advocated purity, and insisted that true transcendence could only be achieved by transplanting our minds into the body of a new race.”
“Crazy bastards…”
『Right. Crazy And those who were resentful of their madness gradually settled down in the shadows and began to secretly create an organization.”
“Is that so…?”
『Right. It’s us.”
“Hmm…”
『The problem is that the power of the Transcendence Church, which seized power over the people, was strong, and our strength was weak. Confronting them was tantamount to suicide.”
『While such a small number of secret societies are enraged and enduring their atrocities. We met a new civilization during our dimensional travel.”
“…That is?”
“That’s right. Humanity.”
“Hmm…”
『To my heartache, you have been identified as a ‘naturally occurring’ race for the first time in a long time with the potential to embrace the spirit of our people.』
“!!”
『And the beginning of all this tragedy started from there.』
“…No way?”
『Right. Transcendentalists plan to remodel human bodies ‘properly’ to make them suitable for our species.”
“…Remodeling?”
“That’s right. In fact, strictly speaking, your body is not a perfect match.』
“You said you were right?”
『Hmm… It’s hard to explain. In fact, the race to transplant the mind does not have to have any special abilities.”
“…?”
『First of all, you had to have a fairly high level of intellect, and second, you had to be in an evolutionary state just before awakening psionic energy.』
“Hmm…”
『In fact, it is difficult to meet the former in an infinitely wide dimension and universe, but the latter is daunting. Most of the beings who built civilizations superior to you have awakened to psionics.”
『And, in the case of awakening, mind transplantation was impossible no matter how good the conditions were. It’s out of sync with our psionics.”
“…No way?”
“That’s right. Right now, the Church of Transcendence is conducting an experiment to force the psionics of mankind to bloom, but to remodel them to suit their taste.”
“Crazy…”
“It is a terrible thing. They seized the heads of the countries they defeated and tried to make deals with them. If you help them in rebuilding their bodies, they will free them from being ‘livestock’ and, of course, let them enjoy wealth and prosperity.”
『As a result of that proposal, the powerful people of many countries betrayed and sold your people and joined the Transcendence Church. And the Transcendence Church created a puppet government with them at the forefront, and then began to control humans.”
“…I don’t understand.”
『What is it?』
“Isn’t it just… Making clones through artificial insemination or genetic experimentation? Why would you do that…”
“It is simple. Because they are fanatics.”
“…”
“I don’t understand. Actually I don’t understand either. They claim that the act of implanting a mind into a being that is not a ‘naturally occurring’ creature under the guise of ‘purity’ is against doctrine.』
“Crazy… Really crazy…”
『I agree with you.』
Seong-il feels his mind warmed by the crazy story beyond his imagination.
『Although there were many problems, anyway, when the possibility of transplanting the mind to another race appeared for the first time, the Transcendence Church began to show a fanatical obsession with mankind.』
“…”
『They gave up their lives in the name of ‘martyrdom’ and put their minds into human test subjects, and many people died as a side effect like that.』
“Under…”
『Well, there were some lucky survivors. You should have seen one of them this time too.”
“…Manager?”
『Right. We call them managers. Anyway, with so many sacrifices… To be precise, with the miserable sacrifices of both humanity and our species, a lot of information began to accumulate, and information about a suitable body began to be grasped.”
『As the preparations progressed steadily, the Church of Transcendence began to ‘raise’ suitable humans by ordering human minions.』
“…Can that be?”
“Okay. Your ‘school’. Well, there are many other organizations besides that, but… That’s the case with you.”
“…”
『Anyway, they tried to mass-produce such suitable humans, and in the process of preparing for it, many of our people were forced to ‘hibernate’ and prepare for mind transplants.』
『And… That was an opportunity for us.』
“I guess that means…”
“Okay. We’ve been patient and revolted. Coincidentally, most of my own people in what you call the ‘Dome’ were beginning to fall into a ‘state of suspended animation’, so the rebellion was surprisingly easy.”
“…Why didn’t they wake up their people?”
『Surprisingly, that is impossible from their point of view. Once you fall into suspended animation and wake up, you become one of them.”
“…Which?”
“Most of them die. And even if you survive, mind transplantation will be impossible forever.”
“Ah…”
『That’s why, unless it’s really the worst case, they couldn’t wake their fellow countrymen from sleeping, and thanks to that, they couldn’t subdue us, who are only a minority, and have been fighting against us for decades.』
“…I understood.”
Even though there were still a lot of uncertainties, Illax’s words gave us a general understanding of the situation.
Seong-il is so shocked to hear his words, but desperately gathers his mind and asks him a question.
“…Just a few more questions.”
『Ask me.』
“What is your purpose? Why are you helping us?”
『…』
Ilax was silent for a while looking at the holy day. He is silent for a while, then carefully opens his mouth.
『Atonement, parting with fanaticism. And a new beginning.”
“Hmm…”
『Me and my comrades intend to purify the Transcendental Church and leave this dimension by implanting the minds of our fellow citizens who have fallen into hibernation into mechanical bodies.』
“…Why?”
“It’s because I feel that’s the most reasonable of the paths we’re going to take.”
『Anyway, among my own people, those who think the same as me, we call ourselves ‘Guardians of Reason’.』
“Okay.”
『…I can say that this is the information that shows the reality of you and our people.』
“If you have any questions, feel free to ask.”
“…Just hearing the story makes my head hurt.”
『I guess so. I understand. Because most people do.”
“First… I’ll ask you one last thing.”
『Ask me.』
“Why did you bring me here out of the blue, leaving the other humans behind?”
“It is simple. Even though you cleared the Infectious Dungeon, coming out of it intact means that you are one of those rare humans who can be transplanted by transcendents depending on your training.”
“!!”
『In addition, it was interesting that he was wandering around the dungeon without government control. Usually, there were many cases where such friends got out of control through their own efforts.”
“…Then what do you plan to do with me?”
Seong-il starts to get a little wary when he hears that he may have a body suitable for transcendental mind transplants.
As if reading his heart, Illax responded to him with a soft wave.
“Don’t worry. You won’t have anything to worry about. We are satisfied with sabotaging the Transcendence Church and hurting their plans.”
“…Maybe I’ll be caught by them later?”
Seong-il asks back, ‘Couldn’t you guys arrest me?’ To his question, Illax continues to answer in a calm tone.
『That point is not a problem either. If you awaken your psionics in a direction they don’t want, the problem will be solved.”
“…Unwanted direction?”
“That’s right. Simply put, it makes your ability very strong.”
“…Why?”
『As I said before, if the psionic abilities are excessively awakened, mind transplantation becomes impossible.』
“Ah…”
“Until then, I want you to stay here. I swear we will never harm you.”
“…When the awakening is over?”
“At that time, do as you please. Stay here and share the cause with us. Or did you stand alone? That is your freedom.”
“Okay. Thank you. The question is over.”
『Okay. If you have any questions, please come to me anytime. I will answer any of your questions openly.”
“Yes.”
After those words, the spirit of Seongil returns to reality.
Then, I saw Lee Ah-hyun sitting down in her seat with a devastated expression on her side.
“…Are you okay?”
“No.”
“…”
“The world I’ve lived in is all fake, but how can I be okay?”
After those words, Ahyeon Lee grabs Seongil’s outstretched hand and struggles to stand up from her seat.
“…Hmm? You heard the story too? I thought Ilax was just talking to me.”
“Ah, Ilax can communicate with many people at the same time.”
“!!”
Min Ye-jin, who appeared behind Seong-il’s muttering and answered instead. She pats the two of them and leads them somewhere.
“Let’s go rest for now. Your friend is having a hard time.”
“…I see.”
Seong-il starts walking down the road following Min Ye-jin. Then the view of the small town.
“And…”
Seong-il exclaims in admiration at the appearance of quite a lot of people and buildings.
Shortly after chatting with her, they stop in front of a small apartment-style building.
“Come in.”
“…Where is it?”
“Uh, your temporary lodgings? We’ll stay here for now, and later, when you’re all settled, you’ll either leave here and go outside, or join our resistance and go to a better lodging.”
“Ah…”
“By the way, depending on the achievement level, the better… No, there’s no point in saying this to the newly arrived kids.”
Min Ye-jin chats and takes Seong-il and Ah-hyeon to their lodgings.
“On the right side, Seongil should stay, and on the left side, Ahhyun should stay.”
“…Thank you.”
“It’s even something to be thankful for. For now, you guys will be mentally struggling, so I’ll deliver meals every day to the dorm.”
“Yes.”
So Min Ye-jin gives Seong-il a brief explanation of the dimensional city and precautions.
After all the explanations, she turned away from her seat and said.
“I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“Yes? Yes… See you tomorrow.”
So she leaves, and Lee Ah-hyun and Seong-il move to their respective rooms.
‘First… Let’s take out my phone from the inventory…’
Seong-il, the game master’s words won’t leave my head. He carefully opens his inventory and takes out his phone.
Weeing!!
And as if he had waited, his phone starts ringing.
