READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 270. Are We Friends?
A star suddenly splitting into two or a deadly meteor crashing into the ocean, bringing an unknown plague.
Honestly, the Great Mage had little interest in the total annihilation of all living beings.
It was uncertain whether such biological dangers would affect him, considering he was wrapped in a sturdy shell—he could probably go out into space without a scratch.
Ugh.
Yet, even this indifferent Great Mage changed his mind upon witnessing the reactions of the residents as the planet headed towards destruction.
No matter how much he thought about it, he did not want to work as a Mage Commander.
Why, you ask?
*
“By the way, there’s a saying back on Earth?”
“….”
“If you leave food, you will be punished.”
“….”
“They say that when you go to hell in the afterlife, you’ll have to eat the leftovers you wasted in your life. Wasn’t there a phrase about wishing for white rice and meat soup? Something along those lines.”
Warm light.
Dry air.
The familiar environment returns, and I find myself in a living space on Earth.
By now, the wall clock indicates around 12. I gulped down the cold green tea in front of me until the bottom of the cup was visible.
I just wanted to wet my throat as the explanation was nearing its end.
“Anyway, honestly, are there really that many people in Korea who cherish food nowadays?”
What followed was a food-related discussion that matched the light tone I had introduced.
“Kim Gi-ryeo’s brain has some knowledge. I’ve heard that right after the war, when they were dirt poor, everyone was desperate over a grain of rice, and now food waste exceeds 4 million tons!”
“….”
“But let me clarify that this isn’t to blame anyone; it’s actually a natural phenomenon.”
“….”
“My hometown also deteriorated through a similar trend.”
“….”
“When I regained consciousness trapped in my core, it was like… Earth had advanced significantly in biotechnology.”
As food became abundant, its value plummeted.
Alphauri would soon resemble a hellish landscape.
The advancement of magic that I so loved was to blame.
With artificial cultivation technologies, life became common.
Moreover, wounds became inconsequential, and no one sympathized with bleeding others anymore.
And that wasn’t the only miserable fate encountered on that alien planet.
“If I had to make an analogy….”
That place was a world where philosophy, art, and altruism had died.
As history progressed toward its end, for some reason, the inhabitants obsessed over technological advancements, discarding any romance deemed unnecessary for survival.
It was a horrifying level just to express in words, let alone the perspective of someone who witnessed it all.
Truly, I didn’t even want to recall the events encountered at sea.
Shaking my head, I barely continued my speech.
“These are frustrating stories, so I’ll try to summarize. Do you know why my hometown perished?”
“….”
“The answer is resource depletion.”
The resource crisis of the Alphauri was far more severe than Earth’s petroleum depletion theory could ever measure.
“We were in different conditions than Earth. I only learned about biology and the fundamentals of physics to apply magic more efficiently, and mages, by nature, showed little interest in natural sciences. So, all civilizations relied on a single resource.”
The miracle of conjuring imagined results just by wishing sincerely flowed through the veins of the entire race—how could living beings resist the allure of magic?
Magic had been cherished by the Alphauri since their primitive days. Naturally, the rulers of that oceanic planet established most of their civilization using that technology.
But one day…
Some intellectuals stumbled upon a shocking secret.
“The external mana generated by the planet is not infinite.”
For the Alphauri, this realization was akin to the end of the world.
“It’s really hard to compare situations with Earth.”
Unlike the warming disasters here.
The Alphauri’s recognition of the mana depletion occurred long after surpassing the planet’s natural recovery threshold.
The cosmic energy known as external mana has a specific cycle, much like the lifespan of a living organism.
In its early stages of existence, mana can recover its strength elastically, no matter how much is wasted.
But after millions of years, when reaching mid-age, every time the life on the planet uses high-level magic, some damage remains in the production facilities.
Whether this should be labeled as the old age of the magical era is debatable.
At least from my observations, mana production ceased after a certain critical point and just continuously decreased.
“Ms. Seonwoo-yeon, have you ever imagined a world without electricity?”
Oblivious to such secrets, the Alphauri continued to waste resources in pointless wars and disputes.
They squandered it.
They barely achieved their dream of prolonging life only to be struck by the fear that a world without mana might come at that time.
“If you think about it, every time one unidentified person from South America was killed, the duration of electronic civilization for Koreans increased by a month. What do you think would happen to the world then?”
At least my hometown could not maintain its composure in light of this resource depletion.
Society became incomprehensibly chaotic.
We really thought we wouldn’t know about the population control plan!
After recovering my memory,
As time passed, I also realized the truth behind the words once shouted by a certain Alphauri Fire Mage.
‘Until then, the rulers intentionally kept plans for exterminating the inhabitants of the planet from entering my mind.’
Having gained some ability to resist, my first instinct was to protect all the planet’s citizens.
Killing the Alphauri had many restrictions, but facilitating the lives of others was entirely permissible under the Golem principles.
However, despite these efforts, horrifying scenes soon unfolded at the bottom of the ocean.
It should have been clear from the beginning, starting from the terror of that mad fire mage.
The Alphauri had already undergone hundreds of conflicts, sufficiently decreasing the altruistic individuals. In other words, the critical point also applied to our genetic pool.
We had long surpassed the appropriate time for self-purification.
Thus, upon hearing rumors of potential mana depletion, both the rich and poor participated in population control unexpectedly.
“…….”
Had it not been for that foolishness, the Alphauri could have endured for several more years.
“Anyway.”
I carefully chose my words.
“At first, I thought I’d just settle for reality and live by protecting my fellow countrymen, but after seeing such a sight, my motivation totally vanished.”
“….”
“I tried to signal that I was wrongfully trapped, hoping to catch the attention of the rulers… but if I had received a positive response then, I wouldn’t have been so disappointed in the world.”
“….”
“Overall, I was dismayed. Maybe that’s why I failed to resist my supervisor’s newly created personality control magic.”
“….”
“After that, I lived another ten years in servitude, only to suddenly regain my self-awareness. When that happened, I thought it was an opportunity and quietly attempted magic to practically die mentally. Oh, by the way, self-harm is prohibited under the grand premise and only applies to the body.”
“….”
Wow, but this leader’s kid wasn’t ordinary either. No, as soon as I became unusable due to that act, it was as if they were waiting with a ‘restart’ mechanism…
After explaining to some extent, I glanced directly at him.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I usually bore regular folks with such mechanical stories.”
There were still no answers, but that was fine.
“I summarized only the necessary parts, and yet, 10 minutes have already passed. Thank you for staying awake and not losing patience.”
Right. Now it no longer matters.
“That said, this is really almost complete.”
I slowly stood up.
In one hand, I held the empty green tea cup and waved it at Seonwoo-yeon as if to emphasize my intent. The destination was obvious.
The sink.
“Self-restoration, attempts at mental annihilation, and restarts. I kept repeating this process, and the intervals of waking began to shorten, leading the managers to half-give up on me. They ended up just having me observe the ceiling day and night for intruders. If that was the case, they could’ve just disposed of me. What was the point of having me as a symbol of ‘number one’?”
“….”
“Oh, did you know? By the time my hometown reached its civilization’s end, virtual worlds were all the rage among people.”
“….”
“Once they completely conquered the physical body, the focus of interest shifted to the mind. So, it turned out that in my dominated state, I developed an astounding illusion magic. Though it wasn’t intended, an increase in dream junkies inadvertently eased overall planetary management.”
“….”
“In short, I had nothing to do. The last time I remember, the living population was merely in the hundreds, and the ocean was filled with golems; it truly was a strange world….”
Clink.
I placed the cup I held into the kitchen sink.
However, at this point, an unexpected voice rang out.
“Excuse me.”
It was the long-awaited phrase from Seonwoo-yeon.
“But.”
“Yes? Go ahead.”
“I’ve listened to your story, yet that part… I don’t quite understand. Even in such… a situation, how could you manage to escape here? Wasn’t everything controlled?”
To this, I readily replied.
“Oh, that.”
Thinking back, it was a part I wish to omit, but I completely overlooked the crucial segment.
“Someone helped me.”
I stated calmly.
Was it around the time just before the world ended?
There existed a job with a prestigious title on the planet, a position overseeing the design of golems.
The chief engineer.
A new-age Alphauri came to me one day and said:
‘How pitiful that a hero who once saved the planet is reduced to this.’
At the same time, they secretly returned my memories while avoiding the gaze of all the rulers. I learned that even if I fell into a mental stupor, I would only experience a restart.
Moreover, that engineer was incredibly meticulous about how to deceive ■▒. They also told me methods to shield my self from brainwashing.
‘I found it in the records of ancient history; those numbered Mage Commanders are actually living Alphauri. This inhumane technology must come to an end.’
That individual was…
The last remnant of altruism remaining on the planet.
With nothing but warm intentions, they offered me tremendous help.
I was deeply moved by the kindness of that gentle fellow countryman and planned to share my completed reincarnation magic with the chief engineer to escape the ruined planet together.
However.
‘The sea of selfish creatures wasn’t filled for no reason.’
In an anti-utopian society, having a shred of compassion often incurs disadvantages for survival.
So let me put it plainly.
That kind-hearted engineer was caught using tricks on a few remaining successful mechanical creations and was executed immediately.
It was a pity, but it was a conclusion that felt devoid of any twist.
Later, they brought the engineer’s corpse, horrifically dissected, to the ruler for interrogation.
“Does this red blood remind you of anything?”
Fortunately, thanks to the trick the chief engineer taught me, I could lie without any issue.
‘Who is that?’
The additional restart conducted out of fear that the ruler might not know was resisted with the unique protective spells the scholar had taught me.
How I wished it had been possible to escape together as planned.
“Thanks to some conscientious fellow countryman, I barely managed to possess this corpse on Earth. But sadly, that person was caught and killed.”
“….”
Wow, I really was surprised then. It was miraculous to find a helping hand when only a few hundred Alphauri remained alive.
Tsk-tsk.
With the now-familiar body of an Earthling, I shrugged my shoulders.
Surprisingly, Seonwoo-yeon visibly expressed her surprise.
“It’s unavoidable. But isn’t that the way reality goes? Kind-hearted people often end up sacrificing themselves and dying without recognition during crises.”
That was when.
Seonwoo-yeon, who had been looking at me, suddenly murmured,
“…Perhaps the lack of expression on that person was also because they were an alien…?”
A somewhat out-of-the-blue statement.
“Excuse me? What did you say?”
“Oh… Well, you mentioned that the only person who helped you ended poorly, yet their face doesn’t seem sad at all…”
However, she seemed to have her reasons for bringing it up.
“Was that intrusive of me? S-sorry. But given how unfazed you seem after such unimaginable events, I unwittingly…”
Considering the acknowledgment that her past life was essentially trapped and exploited for what might feel like an eternity based on Earth’s standards—it was admittedly a long, long time.
Yeah.
Thinking about it now, the expressions I made about not wanting to work overtime or such were mostly self-deprecating humor.
The life I lived in my previous incarnation wasn’t light and cheerful at all.
But then again, it wasn’t something to dwell on with gloom either.
“So what? After all, I’m just detailing something that’s already resolved.”
I widened my eyes in an exaggerated Earth-like manner.
In response, an identical expression of surprise reflected back at me from Seonwoo-yeon.
“Was what I experienced that shocking to say I simply couldn’t imagine?”
“Yes?”
“Is it really that much of a shocker to refer to as unimaginable?”
I briefly glanced at the Justitia plate placed in the center of the room before redirecting my gaze.
What followed was a few words that seemed pointless.
“It feels amusing as it contrasts with the evaluations I’ve made up till now.”
“Evaluations?”
“I thought Earth would have gone through stuff like this as well. Like, how they probably just inserted humans into machines because they lacked the time and funds to develop AI.”
“Listening to it again, it’s horrifying.”
“Surely, that such things have never occurred in history just to save costs?”
“……”
Honestly, now that further delay was unnecessary, I thought I might as well throw in a few bits of casual conversation.
“Anyway, I don’t consider the experiences I’ve had to be anything special, so you don’t need to look at me with such concerned eyes.”
I let the thoughts that diverged from my spoken words flow through my mind.
Soon enough, I found myself teasingly saying something that summed up what I’ve explained so far into my phone.
“Hey, Siri, can you set the alarm for 7 AM tomorrow?”
In response, the software integrated into the phone returned a reply.
[Yes, Mr. Kim Gi-ryeo. I’ve set the alarm for 7 AM tomorrow. It will ring in 18 hours.]