The Nebula's Civilization

Chapter 257: The Fourth Enemy

At the time of Hegemonia's downfall, the atmosphere of the Pantheon was good. Though there was Jang-Wan’s sacrifice in the process of acquiring the Large Area, and the damage to the Empire and the Pantheon itself was not insignificant, Hegemonia was the only enemy that posed a real sense of threat.

Even 27 years later, this fact hadn't changed much. Since her fall, the Pantheon had faced three enemies. The first was a player named Bolt, who was content with exerting influence over surrounding NPC nations from their small region. Sung-Woon referred to this player as misaeng[1], but Crampus saw it differently.

"They’re a survivalist.”

“A survivalist?”

According to Crampus, on Earth, there were people who called themselves survivalists, who believed they should always be prepared for any crisis that might come their way. This wasn't just about keeping an umbrella handy for rain. In extreme cases, these people would dig shelters in preparation for world-ending scenarios.

"The player isn’t simply holding on because defeat isn’t yet set in stone. Look at this data. The import volume of preserved food is abnormally high compared to exports. And what about weapons? They might not seem much from above, but there must be tunnels and bunkers prepared everywhere. What's the use of fallout shelters before nuclear weapons are even developed? Practicality? You can't think like that with survivalists. They prioritize such fantasies. We can easily win if we target that."

Sung-Woon couldn't help but ask Crampus about his unprecedented advice. "How do you know so well?"

"Uh, well… Who knows?"

The Pantheon first proposed a conversation with player Bolt. The Empire had virtually controlled almost all territories of the four major continents, leaving only a few small NPC states on the first and fourth continents and three players. There was no need to even mention the NPC states, and Sung-Woon judged that even Sha-Cha’s Black Order had almost no capacity to resist. Therefore, the two players operating even smaller countries should have already surrendered in the original game. Although there wasn't a specific rule for this, not doing so would have been branded as bad manners for unnecessarily dragging out play time.

As a result of the conversation, Bolt declared they would never surrender. This was problematic. Sung-Woon and the Pantheon wanted to win this game, and in The Lost World, there was no rule that automatically declared one as the winner if there was a large enough gap between them and the opponent. There were such rules in games with fewer players, but not in the regular game with a limit of 32 players.

"Why are they doing this?"

Sung-Woon's question was valid. Although the country that dominated the surrounding nations couldn't be considered weak, it was far from being capable of fighting the entire world or even controlling a whole continent. Specifically, the nation occupied less than three percent of the First Continent. Without even needing to mobilize the central army from the Second Continent, the forces already on the First Continent were more than enough for an invasion.

Crampus answered Sung-Woon's question. "Survivalists want to be the last ones standing."

"Are they playing the game with different rules than me? In The Lost World, the goal is to be the last one winning, not just surviving."

"Well…you could say that. Apart from the game rules, some people play for their own satisfaction."

Crampus pointed to Eldar, who was busy eating sherbet from a distance, looking nothing like a god. As Eldar tilted their head and pointed at themself with a spoon, Sung-Woon nodded.

"I get that, but what's the benefit of surviving till the end?"

"Precisely, they believe that someday, when the world ends and everything turns to wasteland, their values will reign supreme."

"So, they're people who only wish for world destruction."

Sung-Woon understood. Then, he utilized all his wisdom to attack Bolt's nation. The war, not fought with the full might of the Empire, lasted longer than expected—about a week. Sung-Woon defeated player Bolt’s incarnation using Lakrak and the other apostles, and then Bolt turned into a vassal.

After the war, Sung-Woon asked Crampus, "So you're no longer a survivalist?"

"No, I never was one. And in the hyper-connected society of modern civilization, survivalism is a natural trend. After all, civilization could collapse at any time."

"Hmm."

"But I can't just focus on preparing for a future that may or may not come while failing to tackle the challenges right in front of me. I realized that relatively early."

Unlike player Bolt, who was not particularly strong or troublesome, player Chistka gave off an ominous vibe from their ID itself. While Bolt's influence over neighboring NPC nations was typical of a powerful country's influence over smaller states, Chistka's country was markedly different. Player Lim Chun-Sik called Chistka crazy, and Sung-Woon somewhat agreed.

Unlike the revolutionary winds driven by the Empire on the Second Continent, Chistka's republic had already been established and was aggressively interfering in the internal affairs of neighboring nations. Further scrutiny by the Pantheon revealed that beyond the country, a separate force led by player Chistka was spread not just in the neighboring states but across the Second and Fourth Continents as well.

Before the Pantheon could even contact Chistka, Chistka made the first move. It was a revolution, but not just any revolution. It was a communist revolution known as the Second Wind in the history of all continents. This revolution included workers who participated in the first revolution, making it not just a simple division, and its intent was clear.

Rejecting liberal republicanism and capitalism, the ambition was to usher in a new era ruled by a single party. The beauty of the landscape sung by the Second Wind was such that more individuals were swept up in it than the Pantheon had anticipated.

However, the Empire was solid. Sung-Woon acknowledged that playing the revolution card was effective and a method he often used, but he thought it needed finer adjustments. He believed that a certain level of compromise and surrender would make it easier to gain the empathy and support of more people. The timing was also too late. This was partly a matter of Chistka's capabilities as a player.

Although the Empire was somewhat shaken by the Second Wind, both from a military and an ideological standpoint, it managed to recover well. In particular, the assistance of AR1026, who had majored in political science, was significant.

Ultimately, the final battle was a blitzkrieg surrounding Chistka's nation on the First Continent. Before the end, Chistka, in their Hierophany body, challenged the Pantheon.

-Are you going to do the same thing?

Sung-Woon, using Divine Control to enter a small Goblin boy soldier's body with Lim Chun-Sik behind him, asked, "The same thing?"

-Capitalism.

When Sung-Woon didn't immediately respond, Chistka continued.

-Are you going to go down the same path when you know how the 21st century ended?

"...Uh, well, it wasn't the end."

-Resource shortages, religious conflicts, fascism, climate crisis. Everything was heading towards destruction, and we escaped. That was the end.

Sung-Woon thought deeply about these words with sincerity.

Then he said, "I don't agree."

Chistka, in their giant tank-like Hierophany body, spoke their last words.

-How unfortunate. I thought you might understand.

The battle resumed, and it ended with player Wisdom's monomolecular wire tearing Chistka apart.

Following this, the Pantheon had one last enemy left. The long-fought evil god, Sha-Cha. Although Sha-Cha's Black Order had occasional interactions with Sung-Woon, they shifted their stance completely after the Empire's unification of the continent. The Empire's growth was too strong, despite the existence of another powerful nation, the Union Kingdom.

As if proving its strength, the Empire did not collapse even under the joint attack of the Union Kingdom and other nations, crushing all of Sha-Cha's coastal forces, effectively blocking the Black Order's influence on the continent. With no more access to resources from the continent, the civilization level of the Black Order regressed. They could build ships, but could only rely on their own islands or piracy, unable to maintain a proper army.

Had Sha-Cha not been an enemy, Sung-Woon would have liked to advise them.

‘Don't turn everyone into an enemy, even a fake alliance with the Empire would have been better. Then, you could have gained inland bases, increased the diversity of your nation, and developed in more diverse ways. Of course, the Empire would have been prepared, but you wouldn't have been so powerless. There were more possibilities, after all.’

Regardless, Sha-Cha was a difficult enemy. The Deep Ones, the main species composing the Black Order, could survive not only in the sea, but also in the deep sea. Initially, this fact wasn't considered significant, but it was later discovered that the Deep Ones were creating civilization-like living spaces in caves deep in the sea. Therefore, while it was easy to attack the Deep Ones at sea or through submarines, there were no means to attack those in the deep sea.

Moreover, the Krakens, which would have been neutral monsters in the game of The Lost World, fell somewhat under their control. Krakens weren't invincible against modernized firearms, but were troublesome since they could reside in the deep sea. So, what the Pantheon did was to monitor the Black Order's waters and wait.

During this time, the Empire directed human resources generated by the post-war baby boom and the countless surplus resources not consumed by war into development, enjoying unprecedented prosperity.

Even after the war, the players' roles were not over. The gods led the development of each species and continent with their abilities. Electricity was distributed, airplanes were invented, communication developed, all units were standardized and systematized, currency stabilized, and resources from wealthy areas poured into less developed regions. Within a few years, the population increased by over twenty percent, deaths due to hunger dropped to four decimal places, and basic education was provided equally to almost all regions.

Then, the nuclear bomb was created. Despite debates within the Pantheon about manufacturing nuclear bombs, they agreed it was the most efficient way to kill the Krakens. After sufficient warnings to Sha-Cha, the first nuclear warhead named Calming the Fury of the Oceans hit Kraken No. 1 in the deep sea.

Despite the Pantheon's offer of surrender, the Black Order launched all-out attacks on the coasts of the Third and Fourth continents, but were brutally defeated by the Empire's modern weapons. The seas were somewhat contaminated with radiation, but it was not to a level that warranted concern, and the stable pressure of the deep sea meant it wasn't a big problem.

With the power of nuclear bombs proven, more clean and smaller nukes were dropped on the remaining Krakens and the suspected bases of the Deep Ones in the deep sea.

More and more, Deep Ones lost their faith and declared surrender, including high-ranking cardinals of the Black Order. Sha-Cha, in a desperate move, gave up all islands and chose isolation.

Unfortunately, even several nuclear bombings on the suspected last bases in the deep sea didn't yield satisfactory results, and concerns about the dangers and fears of nuclear bombs, radiation contamination, and opposition statements from conscientious scientists, climatologists, and environmentalists poured out. The Empire had no choice but to stop the nuclear attacks.

It was undoubtedly Sha-Cha's intention, but at first, it seemed like a meaningless delay to Sung-Woon.

‘In a few more years, submarines capable of deep-sea navigation will be built. Does all this matter?’

After some time, Sung-Woon realized that all this had meaning. One more player was added to the player list. 癤욧렇?5?, the unknown player Sung-Woon decided to call Jeolyo, was not found anywhere on the entire continent. Despite being clearly included in the total number of players and appearing on the list, the player Jeolyo didn’t respond to Whisper Conversations. An unseen enemy was an enemy that couldn’t be attacked, and if attacking wasn’t possible, winning the game was impossible.

This presented the Pantheon with a new problem. Even if they defeated Sha-Cha, could they defeat the newly emerged Jeolyo? And if they were lucky enough to defeat Jeolyo, would new players keep appearing in this game? Then was the victory condition of defeating all enemies even achievable? And what did it mean to become a true god after victory?

These questions were complex, and no answers were found. Sung-Woon proposed a simple solution.

"If we can't find the answer with the people we have, we should gather people who might know the answer."

The Pantheon gathered archaeologists, explorers, amateur historians, and anthropologists, giving them trials. They were tasked with discovering various ancient ruins that had not been found even as the game approached its later stages. These trials enabled players to be found and resurrected, but they still didn’t provide the answers.

‘There's something we're missing.’

***

Kobold Ion skimmed through the Conspiracy Theory forum. There was nothing particularly interesting, but there was an urban legend frequently mentioned recently. The Parasite Spook. These parasites, known to be about the size of two knuckles of a pinky finger to half a forefinger, depending on the species, supposedly entered a person's mouth or nose, ate their brain, and then impersonated them. It was a popular spooky story.

The stories’ protagonists often encountered family members, friends, or lovers who had been out of contact for days, acting strangely and saying things that didn't make sense, creating a sense of unease. And as such people increased in their surroundings, the fear was that one of these beings might enter their own head next. This was the main plot.

Of course, these parasites had a weakness. According to different versions of the story, the parasites couldn't eat spicy food. Secretly sprinkling spicy sauce on food and feeding it to someone close would force the parasite out of the body through the mouth or nose, ending the story.

‘It's always the same version. Reposting the same thing over and over.’

Ion grumbled while checking other posts. He noticed one post that had attracted a lot of comments, indicating some controversy. Ion clicked on it.

[LiveKindly: Seriously, I'm a Vampire who's lived over 150 years, okay?]

[BlueButterfly: There they go again.]

[MeowCat: LiveKindly, if you've lived over 150 years, then I'm Hwee-Kyung who's lived over 200 years and ascended.]

[LiveKindly: Hey MeowCat, where do you live?]

1. The term 'misaeng' is a Korean Go term used to refer to a stone that has not yet been claimed, thus its life or death is undecided. ☜