Chapter 133: Putting Heads Together

“This diary feels more like a memoir than the actual Memoirs.”

That was Jin Seong-ha’s impression after finishing the diary. Sa-on’s face had hardened into a cold mask, while Se-on wore a complicated expression.

“T-the Teacher… he missed his family more than we thought…….”

Even if Da-on had been here, his reaction likely wouldn’t have been much different from Se-on’s. The Teacher’s past—the time before he was the “Teacher.” Looking at a diary filled with such confusion, one couldn’t help but have similar thoughts. Jin Seong-ha and Sa-on read through the diary a few more times.

“The handwriting changes.”

“Yeah. Like it’s a different person.”

Ion remained still.

“This part.”

Jin Seong-ha pointed with his finger.

[I must not let Pleasure be disappointed.]

“He said he must not let Pleasure be disappointed. And then this part.”

Jin Seong-ha flipped the page. After the diary entries ended, there were random memos left at the back. His finger pointed to a memo that said [Apostle].

“Doesn’t this look suspicious?”

He was accurately identifying as suspicious the exact parts Ion had been desperately hoping he would notice.

“Commander, you said that in the remake of The Hunter and the Hero, there are beings called Apostles. Incredibly powerful, absolute entities that created the System.”

“Yes.”

“That entity was an acquaintance of the Breeder. And in my opinion, the ‘Pleasure’ mentioned here is a title referring to an Apostle.”

“Yes, I think so too.”

Conversing was easy when there was someone quick-witted around. And Jin Seong-ha wasn’t the only one.

“Then ‘Descent on April 18th’ must mean the descent of an Apostle. If they’re the ones who created the System, reversing time would be a piece of cake. This is scary.”

Contrary to his words, Sa-on was wearing a thin, sharp smile.

“……? W-wait, give me an explanation too….”

Se-on requested an explanation, but Sa-on ignored him. If Da-on were here, he would have kindly explained so he could follow along, but Da-on—the only kind one among the orphans—was currently working in Idea.

Jin Seong-ha went one step further.

“If ‘Pleasure’ is the name of an Apostle… then there might be others named after emotions. Like Sorrow, or Anger. Or Love.”

“There’s no ‘Pleasure’ among the Seven Deadly Sins, so maybe there are four? Like the Four Emotions (Hui-ro-ae-rak)?”

“Who knows.”

“Surely there aren’t twelve, like the Twelve Apostles.”

When Ion remained silent, Sa-on asked:

“What does our On-on think? Four? Or more?”

All eyes focused on Ion.

‘Is it okay if I give the right answer here?’

Ion toyed with Sanse’s leaves, hesitating before speaking.

“Maybe… seven. There’s the concept of the Seven Passions (Chil-jeong)…….”

At that answer, Sa-on immediately went to a dictionary app on his tablet and searched for “Seven Passions.”

[The seven human emotions: Joy, Anger, Sorrow, Pleasure, Love, Hatred, and Greed.]

“So there are six more Apostles. Better than twelve, I suppose.”

“Looking at it this way, ‘Pleasure’ feels a lot milder than ‘Anger’ or ‘Hatred.’ If you told me I had to fight the Apostle of Anger or Hatred, I’d feel suffocated, but the Apostle of Pleasure feels like someone you could talk things out with.”

Jin Seong-ha and Sa-on accepted Ion’s hypothesis immediately. No, they didn’t just accept it—they treated it as fact, which made Ion a little uneasy. Jin Seong-ha and Sa-on continued their conversation and deductions.

Ion didn’t intervene, and Se-on’s eyes darted back and forth as he struggled to keep up. In fact, Purre, with his round eyes sparkling, seemed to understand better. After some time, the conversation reached this point:

“The conclusion is that the Seven Apostles created the System in the world for a specific purpose and had the Breeders raise disciples… then what is that purpose?”

“Ah, I hate using my brain. My sister should have come instead of me.”

The two had deduced this far by putting their heads together. Sa-on searched for “Apostle” again.

[1. A person dedicated to a holy work. 2. The twelve disciples specially chosen by Jesus to spread the Gospel.]

Looking at the screen, Jin Seong-ha said:

“If Apostles are those chosen to spread God’s Gospel, then in this case, the Gospel would be ‘Emotions’.”

“That makes sense. God created the Apostles to spread their respective emotions to humanity.”

The deduction by Jin Seong-ha and Sa-on was as follows:

• The Seven Apostles are beings who each govern a single emotion.

• In Idea and Earth, which were facing the crisis of destruction, the emotion of “Pleasure” began to disappear.

• The Apostle governing Pleasure planned the scenario called The Hunter and the Hero and created the System.

The deduction hit a wall here. According to this logic, it would mean ‘they concocted a story to provide humanity with the emotion of pleasure,’ but that sentence was contradictory in itself. Because The Hunter and the Hero was a story that tormented its characters, not one that made them happy.

‘Their reasoning is better than I thought.’

Ion was quite surprised internally. If you changed “to humanity” to “to God,” it matched the truth. However, it seemed that even for them, stepping outside a human-centric mindset was difficult.

‘Can I give them more hints?’

Ion hesitated again. He wanted to give them a hint, but if he did…

‘The Apostle might take an interest in me.’

[Pleasure] was surely watching from nearby right now. Because the protagonist, of all people, was talking about him.

Purre-re.

Meanwhile, Purre was using Sanse as a slide, getting dirt all over himself. Ion said:

“It seems Purre doesn’t find this story interesting at all.”

“For Purre, it’ll be more pleasurable to hear whether the snack he’ll eat later is cake or a tart.”

“I suppose so. This conversation isn’t meant for Purre.”

“…….”

Jin Seong-ha narrowed his eyes as if measuring something. Ion avoided his gaze and stayed still. After a moment, Jin Seong-ha spoke.

“What if the target the Apostle wants to provide pleasure to isn’t the characters….”

“…….”

“But Purre?”

Are you kidding me?

“Jin Seong-ha, go outside and clear your head.”

“Mmm. I should. I don’t even know what I’m saying.”

Jin Seong-ha actually went out to get some fresh air. Well, deducing this much was already impressive. Now it was time for Ion to step in.

“What if it’s not for the characters… but to provide pleasure to the Readers?”

“Readers?”

“On-on, just because we used a scenario as a metaphor doesn’t mean we’re actually inside a scenario. We’re alive—where would there be readers? Are you going to keep pushing your novel theory instead of believing Hyung?”

“You’re the one… Just because I used ‘readers’ as a metaphor doesn’t mean I’m talking about readers actually reading a novel.”

At Ion’s serious tone, Sa-on asked back:

“Then what kind of readers?”

“The target the Apostle wants to give pleasure to is a being other than us. A different being that created the Apostles and watches over humans.”

He didn’t explicitly point out that it was “God,” but no one would fail to realize that the being he referred to was a god.

“W-what is that…? Aliens?”

“I told you to shut up, Nun-se-on.”

Except for Se-on.

“A god, huh. Ha, so even a god is involved now.”

Sa-on brushed his hair back roughly. Even though they were indoors, Sa-on, who had been wearing a flashy faux-fur coat, threw it off as if he were overheating. Ion, on the other hand, felt a slight chill. He felt his back grow damp with cold sweat. It felt like someone was pulling on the back of his head. He wanted to ask Jin Seong-ha if he felt a gaze right now, but knowing it was a pointless question, he just shrugged his shoulders.

‘He must be watching.’

But in the current flow of conversation, it was natural for me to say this. Ion bit his lip.

“Wait, Ion. What’s wrong? Are you trembling?”

Sa-on’s gaze landed on Ion’s shaking shoulders.

“Shit.”

Cursing, Sa-on’s voice dropped low.

“If you’re overexerting yourself, don’t say anything more. I get what you’re trying to say.”

‘Ah… he’s misunderstood.’

He thought Ion was bound by some contract similar to a “Non-Disclosure Agreement.” And that he was struggling because of the backlash from giving away too many keywords.

“Yeah. Commander, don’t overdo it. You don’t look good right now.”

“…Yes.”

Ion let the misunderstanding stand. There was nothing more he could say anyway. If he went further, the Apostle might become suspicious of him. It would be a headache if he attracted unwanted attention and it was revealed that he was the child [Sorrow] had left behind in the past.

‘Huh?’

Thinking about it, it was strange. If [Pleasure] didn’t know… that Ion was the infant from the Heaven Realm left by [Sorrow]. Then the “Return of the Heaven Realm’s Lost Child” in the Memoirs……?

Is that lost child really not me, after all? Is it truly not me? As he thought that far, his mind came to a halt. His brain felt like it was creaking.

“The conclusion is this: The Apostle governing Pleasure planned the scenario The Hunter and the Hero to give pleasure to God, and sent down the being known as the Breeder so that things would flow according to this scenario.”

At Jin Seong-ha’s dry voice, his temporarily stalled brain began to move again.

‘When Sa-on and Jin Seong-ha put their heads together, things move along fast.’

It would have been easier if Il-on and Da-on were here too. Regardless, they had reached the desired conclusion. With this, they now knew most of what Ion knew. Jin Seong-ha, looking at the word “Fission” in the diary and the identical handwriting and appearance of the Breeders, even figured out that the Breeders had split off from a single being. He didn’t even stop there.

“Anyway, it seems I am a key figure… and I have a rough idea of the identity of the gaze I feel sometimes.”

“What gaze?”

Jin Seong-ha explained to Sa-on about the gaze that occasionally watched him, hidden behind everything in the world. Without Ion needing to ask, Sa-on asked immediately:

“How about now?”

“I don’t feel it right now. It’s getting more subtle by the day, so I’m not 100% sure. If the owner of this gaze really is an Apostle, it’s a relief they aren’t watching right now.”

Ion’s heart sank. It wasn’t a relief at all. They were talking about Jin Seong-ha and the Apostles, yet he wasn’t watching. That meant… he was watching somewhere else—somewhere that would be a much bigger, more important problem.

‘Is something major happening in Idea? Or another world?’

Fortunately, Ion had a way to check on things in Idea: the “Mirror of the Wise.” It would be better to check later rather than right now.

“Then let’s set a signal. Jin Seong-ha, from now on, if you feel a gaze, use this hand gesture.”

Sa-on folded his fingers and held his index and middle fingers tightly together. Come to think of it, Sa-on was speaking informally to Jin Seong-ha as if it were natural, both last time and this time. Jin Seong-ha didn’t seem to mind particularly.

‘Sa-on has always considered himself older.’

It seemed Jin Seong-ha knew Sa-on’s thoughts and was tolerating it.

“Noticing it isn’t easy… but I’ll send a signal. However, it might be better to create a code word. If I say ‘Sloth,’ just understand what I mean.”

“Why ‘Sloth’ of all things?”

“I like animals, and Commander Ion likes plants, so I combined the two.” (Note: “Nam-u-neul-bo” / Sloth literally contains “Tree”)

“You ridiculous guy.”

Sa-on let out a smirk. Ion, who had known Sa-on for a long time, recognized that it wasn’t a smirk of sarcasm or ridicule, but a laugh from being genuinely amused. It seemed they had become closer while he was in Idea.