Episode 15 – Charles has been riding the story until now. There are 129 endings, several for each character. Among the playable characters were the cult leaders of the Dark Brotherhood, Hellfire Club, Fisherman’s Brotherhood, and the Scavenger’s Salvation.
By following the story, multiple branching endings could be seen according to some choices. So he was faithful to his role-playing assignment.
But now Charles was searching for the 130th ending. This time the goal was not to follow the story.
In this world, there were immutable fixed events. One of them was Professor Carlton opening a dimensional gate. Leaving these fixed events alone, Charles planned to follow a story he created by himself.
‘The name…’
When Charles touched a fragment of the Revelation Tablet in the world of the mind, he couldn’t understand most of their language, but he knew their names.
He couldn’t know the name of the old man assumed to have made or discovered the Revelation Tablet. But he could know the names of some disciples: Abraham, Marsh, and Simon.
‘It wasn’t in what I knew.’
The Revelation Tablet story is an event separate from the main story happening in Metropol.
While playing the game, Kim Yeon-soo read numerous extraneous game materials, and among them, there was a book Charles guessed.
The Mistweaver University is divided into several buildings. The most famous building is the Ishildner Library at the west end of Lafert Hill. This library is the largest university library in the country and the largest private library.
He walked a bit and headed to the place where rare books are kept. Before the era of Hermes, an ancient civilization called Lem existed.
The Lem era is referred to as the early days of Egypt or even before Egypt, a very distant past, called so as a collective term for the dawn of human civilization.
Truly a distant past.
There were not many things left from this era, but Charles clearly remembered one of them. He picked up a book.
‘Abraham’s Fragments’
Strictly speaking, this wasn’t a magic book. It was a book inscribed with maps of cities, civilizations, constellations, and creatures from the Lem era. Hence, its value was recognized, and it was kept as a copy in the library.
“Charles.”
“You came?”
When he turned his head, Drake was standing there. He was supposed to help Drake today. Though he usually acted like a hooligan, he was a renowned archaeologist. Particularly, he loved uncovering the secrets of the Lem era.
“That rare book… It’s Abraham’s Fragments, isn’t it?”
“I have something to ask about it.”
“Hmm. Ask anything.”
“Can you find out who Abraham is?”
“Of course.”
Drake willingly agreed to help Charles. He first talked about what he knew.
“Abraham was a famous archaeologist a hundred years ago. He excavated numerous ancient relics and books from the continent of Itopia. And he compiled the Lem era, which is Abraham’s Fragments.”
“For personal reasons, I’m investigating a figure from the Lem era. Can you research the Abraham family for me?”
“That’s easy.”
Charles closed Abraham’s Fragments and returned it to its original place. Drake said he would happily investigate this time to repay the debt owed from before.
After parting with him, he headed home. He took out the pocket watch to check the time when he arrived at the front gate, and it was 6 o’clock. It was soon time for Bonnie to bring the carriage.
While leisurely looking around, there was a strange man.
He saw a shabby-looking man in overalls and a gray shirt, the typical attire of factory workers. A man in his 30s was sweating profusely and seemed to be looking around anxiously.
In an instant, Charles analyzed him. His strangely flickering eyes were following women among the college students passing by. Mid-30s.
Judging by the calluses on his hands, he was an experienced worker, likely employed at a nearby steel mill. His shoulders were slightly tense and raised. He was probably about to commit something.
“Hey!”
Sensing Charles’s intense gaze, the man looked at Charles and hurriedly disappeared into an alley. Feeling suspicious, Charles tried to chase after him, but something blocked his way.
Bonnie, who was dressed in a neat suit, was driving the carriage. It seemed she had stopped the carriage hastily as Charles suddenly stepped onto the road.
By the time Charles, who had his attention diverted, looked back, the man had already disappeared.
“Master Charles?”
“Ah, it’s nothing, Bonnie. Let’s go.”
Charles thought his intense gaze was a sufficient warning to the man. He didn’t think there would be any immediate issues, but it still bothered him.
‘The story is jumping around so much that the tales I know are disappearing. That man might do something. But I can’t report it as suspicious right now. They’ll think I’m crazy.’
If the man ignored Charles’s warning and committed a crime, there was nothing Charles could do. Feeling a slight unease, he got into the carriage and headed home.
When Charles returned to his mansion in the suburbs of Metropol, he was greeted by his butler, Jayken.
“Dinner is ready, Master.”
“Yes, thank you. No issues?”
“No, Master.”
“How about the estate?”
“No problems there either.”
Charles nodded. The estate, filled with vineyards, was not nearly enough revenue to run the cult, so Charles considered expanding the vineyard or engaging in related businesses to improve the revenue model.
After dinner, Charles wrote in his diary for a bit while looking at the dark night sky. When alone, he often missed reality much more.
He wondered how his family was doing, pondered about what he should do in this game world, and thought about the fate of the disappearing world if he failed.
However, since the concerns and questions couldn’t be resolved, he had to tuck them away in his heart and move forward.
*
*
*
At dusk, a kind-faced police officer came out, vomiting.
“Damn it! Fuck!”
The reason why the usually kind officer was swearing with a grim face was due to the corpse.
While seeing corpses was a usual part of the job, this corpse’s condition was particularly bad. Someone patted him on the back.
“Rudolf, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine, detective.”
“Notify others right away.”
Although the bearded detective spoke calmly, rage and sorrow surged within him. As he reentered to re-check the corpse with a pale face, someone called him from the side.
“Detective Louis.”
“…Beckto.”
The man called Beckto by the inspector was a tall man with a rugged face. Though he looked like an ordinary businessman in a striped neat suit and a fedora, Louis knew Beckto was a journalist for the Metropol Times. And how he always hunted for exclusives like a hyena.
Beckto was a journalist always covering police incidents, but Louis could not tolerate this particular incident becoming a snack for the smug.
“Sorry, but not this time. No photos or interviews are allowed, so it’s better to leave.”
“Commissioner Cain sent me.”
“Tell him to fuck off.”
“I’m telling you, Commissioner Cain sent me.”
Ignoring Beckto who was about to take something out of his pocket, Louis extended his middle finger and returned to the crime scene. Commissioner Cain, Commissioner Cain… He had fallen for this trick so many times when Beckto claimed he was sent by the Commissioner.
While he was briefly out, the number of police officers around the crime scene had increased. This time, the corpse was hanging under the bell tower. The bell ringer first thought it was a piece of sculpture.
A bust, to be exact. The fact he mistook it for that was because the lower half of the corpse was missing.
A 20-year-old woman. Both eyes were missing. X-shaped stab wounds on both wrists. Her entire body, including both flesh and bone, was shaved as if sculpted. Most parts, including internal organs, were cleanly missing. The cause of death was blood loss.
The lower body was completely gone. The face was so badly damaged that it was hard to recognize the body; they only knew she was a college student from her clothes.
Judging by the darkened blood, it was estimated she had died a day to two days prior. It seemed her internal organs were removed post-mortem. As the forensic team examined the body in more detail, someone climbed up the bell tower.
“Is this the corpse?”
“Hmm?”
Turning around, Beckto was pulling out a camera. Louis glared at Rudolf. Rudolf protested helplessly.
“The Commissioner’s warrant arrived. If we refuse again, I’m ordered to turn in my badge.”
Commissioner, you bastard. Muttering silently, Louis glared harshly at Beckto. So this time, he actually brought the Commissioner’s warrant, huh.
“The Commissioner imposed an embargo, so at least the article won’t come out for three days.”
“Great timing to say that.”
“If you catch the perpetrator quickly, there shouldn’t be a problem. Detective Louis, aren’t you famous for catching criminals efficiently?”
Louis tried to ignore Beckto’s smirk. Suddenly, the sky started to brighten. The problem was that it was now twilight.
“What?”
A red moon was floating in the sky. The eerie red light from the moon reflected and enveloped the corpse and the people. The blood-red moonlight enveloped the tragic scene. At that moment, Constable Rudolf screamed in fear.
“It, it moved.”
“What?”
When Detective Louis looked back, Rudolf’s face was pale.
“The fingers of the corpse just moved!”
“Nonsense.”
Detective Louis looked at the corpse. It was still motionless. The fingers hadn’t budged. Seeing Rudolf in fear, he shook his head and spoke.
“This guy seems unwell. Send him home to rest and call the forensic team to determine everything.”
He told another officer and looked back at the corpse again, which remained still. The forensic team carried the corpse to the autopsy room; it stayed motionless until then.
However, while the forensic team momentarily stepped out after placing the corpse in the autopsy room, the corpse’s fingertips began to twitch and move.
*
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*
As birds chirped in the morning, Charles woke up with a yawn.
Charles had several servants in his mansion. Butler Jayken, coachman Murboni, and quite a few servants doing various menial jobs. They prepare breakfast and bring it to the bedroom, along with the morning paper every day.
Among them, Flona was the maid responsible for bringing Charles’s breakfast. If managing the cult as the first disciple was her shadow work, being a maid was her ‘sunshine’ work.
“Mr. Charles. Breakfast is here.”
“Right, thank you.”
In a world without TV or the internet, reading the newspaper like this was equivalent to watching TV.
A radio would be developed a bit later. This era could be seen as the dawn of countless modern conveniences we know.
Charles picked up the major local newspaper, the Metropol Times.
“Hm. A murder case?”
An article about a recent murder appeared in the Metropol Times. This era, though resembling modern times, was a crude version with poor human rights and dignity.
Children were exploited for long hours in factories, and the working conditions were so harsh that many fell ill. The gap between rich and poor was enormous, and their ethical standards were slightly different from modern ones.
Therefore, the article detailed the corpse with a graphic photo, and the body appeared peculiarly sculpted. Charles’s eyes turned cold.
‘It’s the work of the Scavenger’s Salvation.’
The x-shaped scars on the wrists made it clear. Unlike the Dark Brotherhood, it appeared to be the work of yet another cult, the Scavenger’s Salvation.
Come to think of it, a follower Lucy, who was infiltrated as a spy in Charles’s cult, was also a minion of the sculpting machine.
Charles couldn’t get the man he saw yesterday out of his mind. The man dressed as a factory worker who was wandering around. Charles instinctively thought he might be the perpetrator and read the details carefully.
