Chapter 23 : Gates

Several hours after hearing Enhen’s news.

I sat with my legs crossed, looking down at the succubus and listening to her story.
I had woken from the dream long ago.

The succubus, brought into reality and kneeling, kept glancing furtively at me while chattering away cheerfully.

For a demon who was on the verge of death just moments ago, she’s quite sociable.
Is it a trait of Mongma?
Maybe Enhen adapted well because her nature matched too.

“…You. What’s your name?”

An insolent b*tch who dared to try and take Caspar’s affection… but still, she gave me news of Enhen, so I decided to spare her this once.

“Yes, yes? My true name, you mean?”

“A nickname is fine too, just a common name I can call you by. I can’t keep calling you succubus forever.”

A true name is very important to a demon.
Well, knowing the name doesn’t mean you can defeat or banish a demon, but it makes the process easier.

In that sense, the fact that such a low-level demon knew Zamiel’s name adds credibility to the information she provided.

Sometimes, the fact that information is known can itself be another piece of information.
From the fact that Zamiel’s name was known to the Hunter Association on Earth and even to a low-level demon, I could deduce several things.

‘Your name has fallen to the ground, Zamiel.’

It was probably Enhen’s doing.
Among the information connecting us two, the only thing that wouldn’t matter if revealed happened to be Zamiel’s true name.

Just as I had been searching for Enhen, Enhen must have been searching for me too.

“Please call me Lilith. Riri or Lily is fine too.”

“…That’s such a typical demon name, it’s slightly absurd.”

Should I say it’s a common name you’d likely find if you asked any passing succubus?

“Hehe. That’s right. Succubi often use this nickname. Um, due to the nature of our work, we often use names with people, but we can’t use our true names every time, right? I know the Queen used it often too.”

Ah. So it’s a prostitute’s alias.

“…”

My mood soured slightly.

No matter how well Enhen was doing now… it felt like a stark reminder that she once lived a life at the bottom.

How much must Enhen have suffered?
When Enhen died, the world was still relatively intact.

Born as a Duke’s younger sister, she saw only good things and lived without wanting for anything.
That Enhen… because of me…

“Um. There. A-Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Yes. I’m fine.”

It wasn’t the worst.
Rather, didn’t the best possible outcome occur?

Caspar is alive and well now, even dreaming peacefully.
And Enhen grew strong enough to succeed on her own and is even searching for me.

Yes.

It really is… an unbelievably good outcome.

Almost anticlimactically so.

“Just. Just… Feeling the passage of time acutely.”

What was all my suffering for then?
Perhaps the problem was that someone like me tried to meddle in things?

Because of me, Enhen was dragged to hell.
Trying desperately to save Enhen, I went crazy and massacred people.

In the end, it’s all because of me, isn’t it?
The world being ruined.

Wouldn’t a better outcome have resulted if Caspar became ruler instead of me?
Because I kept picking fights over every little thing.

I know I obtained an ending far too good for someone like me.

Still.

Just. It feels a bit strange.

Hunter Association.

I met with Saradoryeong after a long time for a conversation.
To share information about Hell and resolve some questions.

“Hmm. President. Are you alright?”

Most of Saradoryeong’s power came from Seocheon Flower Garden.
Though he supposedly tamed most of the power as his own, it was impossible not to have internal injuries.

“Heh. Not to a level you need to worry about. Am I not also, well, a Special Grade, no, an S-rank Hunter?”

Tap.

I tapped the table with my finger, choosing my words.

I had a question.

The succubus clearly came from a B-rank Gate.
But… she knew about Hell.
She even knew that Enhen had become one of Hell’s Archdukes.

It meant a mere B-rank Gate and an S-rank Gate were connected.
Furthermore, considering Zamiel existed even in the world I was in… already 3 worlds were connected.

If so.

It’s reasonable to assume that other worlds can also connect to Hell.

“President. Is my guess correct? That the worlds inside Gates are not completely independent.”

Thinking about it, the Seocheon Flower Garden case was also a bit strange.
The Jade Emperor didn’t seem like he would vanish just like that.

“You know, don’t you? Gates come from humanity’s collective unconscious… And the unconscious is all connected.”

Saradoryeong smiled faintly, indirectly affirming my words.

“…How? If humans existing on Earth are the main stream, shouldn’t the derived subconscious change infinitely?”

“The world you were dragged into. The Land of Prosperity. How was it? Did its laws and composition change chaotically over time?”

…No.

People very similar to reality lived there.
As if, it were another world entirely.

I had pondered my identity too.
Whether this place was inside a game or just a world resembling it.

“The human subconscious is, yes. Like a child, perhaps. An ignorant yet omnipotent young god who haphazardly molds supreme materials to create broken worlds. There are places near perfection, like the one you lived in, but there were also hideously broken worlds. Though you might find it hard to agree.”

Saradoryeong said this, smiling wryly.

I thought I knew what he was trying to say.
Seocheon Flower Garden was an incredibly bizarre place.
Completely different from the one in myth…, a space twisted with malice towards humans.

At least the Land of Prosperity where I lived, despite its horrific predetermined fate, was otherwise similar to a place where people lived.

A Gate, inside, is merely a door grafting a cut-off corner of another world. B-rank, A-rank, these are ultimately just the size of the door.”

…The term ‘Gate’ is used in two senses.

The door opening in reality leading to another world.
And the new world inside that door.

But it turned out they were all the same meaning.
If the inside of the door is also part of the ‘passage’, then the reason for using such an ambiguous term makes sense.

“I’ve wondered about this for a while, but hearing you talk makes me even more curious. If the subconscious is such a foolish god… Haven’t you thought about controlling it? Dark fantasy or mass media featuring monsters don’t seem to have ever been particularly banned.”

I knew control was exercised.
That’s why most Soulslike games were released toned down or banned altogether.

But… it was slightly puzzling why more active control wasn’t attempted.

“Haha! You too, were a ruler, were you? Indeed. Rulers all seem to think alike.”

Amused, yet also sad.
Saradoryeong laughed emptily.
Then he looked at me seriously and opened his mouth.

“We tried. Controlling the subconscious. An experiment conducted in Texas, USA. Controlling Gate occurrence by controlling the human subconscious. That was the experiment’s goal.”

A familiar name comes up.
Only then did I understand what had happened.

“Hell…”

“The controlled subconscious produced entirely unexpected results. It was arrogant; the subconscious is subconscious precisely because it lies outside consciousness. To think humans could control it.”

They removed the rough edges.
Excluded violent sensations.
Sought to leave only the beautiful and good.

Through doublethink, drugs, and advanced science, they delved into the foundations of humanity, trying to create the ‘correct mind’.

They thought that way the world wouldn’t become hell.

“Control succeeded crudely, and the result was horrific. Appropriate culture dilutes extreme subconsciousness, but they didn’t know that.”

I nodded.

“I think I understand. Stripping away the shallow subconscious and forcibly overlaying something else doesn’t rewrite the subconscious. Ultimately, it’s bound to return to the most fundamental.”

And the spirit of America. No, something more archetypal than that…

“Correct. The Christian mythology forming the backbone of Western culture… Its foundation responded.”

Hellenism and Hebraism.
The two pillars of Western civilization.

If billions of people all share the same worldview, its potential must surely be immense.

Therefore.

Hell must have been different from the Gates experienced so far.
Because an omnipotent child, with malice, sculpted the form of destruction most directly using the finest materials.

“…”

I understood why Hell was created instead of Heaven too.

Because the human heart was always closer to hell than heaven.

Human affairs were so ironic.
That the actions taken to avoid hell created hell.
It felt like looking at my past self, so I couldn’t just laugh it off.

However… Enhen probably doesn’t need worrying about.

Since she’s an Archduke of Hell.
Perhaps she’s even stronger than me.

“Then raiding Hell… would be difficult. There wouldn’t even be a specific Gate, presumably.”

“Correct. That place has left our human hands now. Because it’s a completely new world. There’s no special strategy that exists.”

I misunderstood.
Gates are merely ‘doors’ through which beings cross over from other worlds.

Furthermore, while small-scale Gates might change according to the subconscious, Hell has already become too vast.
Raiding Hell now would effectively be on the scale of starting a world war.

Unless they initiated the fight first, there was no reason to raid it.
Especially if Enhen truly is one of Hell’s rulers.

When my thoughts reached that point, I realized one thing.

‘Wait. If Enhen is free now…’

Isn’t there no reason not to wake Caspar?