Became an American Retro Novelist - Chapter 184



Only Noblemtl

184.

Simon Carver smiled bitterly.

“I felt so sorry for Lucy.”

As one of the most brilliant minds in history, she had no choice but to accept the North’s offer.

A new world of losers created through conflict, the result of a thought experiment that proved that it is impossible to sustain endlessly upward human happiness.

The difference was that while Part 1 was spontaneous, Part 2 was thoroughly controlled.

It was a kind of regression.

Lucy, who was chosen as queen by The North, appears in various forms throughout the world’s history and fights with The North for the happiness of mankind.

The ending was sometimes a victory for Lucy, and sometimes a defeat for her. But since both sides were human groups, some would say victory or defeat, but in the true sense, victory and defeat were indistinguishable.

As time goes by, The Book continues to adjust possibilities and bring happiness to humans. And in the end, it strives to reach complete happiness that it cannot reach.

For that moment, which may come someday, but is extremely unlikely.

Humans who, in the span of eternity, which may be an extremely short period of time in the history of the universe, have false beliefs and slander and reject others, and thus gain happiness.

Lucy, the only human who knows the whole truth, feels a deep sense of emptiness.

Humans could do nothing under the control of ‘The North’.

What each person believes to be true and pursues is nothing more than a social experiment taking place on the palm of God’s hand.

Above all, human happiness and unhappiness, which should be respected above all else, felt like a proposition that the North had set as its goal rather than something in itself.

“This is a country of losers.

And I am the queen there.

The only one who knows the truth among the fake.

But it is a being that can never approach the truth.』

The novel ends with Lucy feeling so miserable and pathetic.

“Humans, in the end, were nothing more than tools for the happiness that the North was trying to achieve.”

Simon gave it that assessment.

As we read Part 1, readers acted as if they were saying, ‘We can choose The Book.’ And that illusion was possible because it was based on the premise that the fictional world created by the being called ‘The Book’ was prepared for humans.

But that wasn’t the case. Each individual human being was a being who could be sacrificed for the sake of the happiness of the human species, just like Lucy, the character in this novel.

It was ironic.

At the same time, I felt a sense of emptiness.

“In Part 1, this novel asked a question to all of us readers. Is life under artificial intelligence that exists for human happiness happy or unhappy? Each person gave a different answer, and I thought this novel was valuable because of that issue. However, Part 2 left me a little puzzled. It felt like the result of all our thinking was for nothing.”

“Was it not that good?”

“No. But I think this ending will be controversial. I think some people might feel offended. But if that is what the author intended, I will respect this ending. It would have been arrogant to think that we could choose the world of the North in the first place. I think it is a good enough ending for a dystopian story.”

Simon shows respect for God from an authorial perspective.

And in front of him, God opened his mouth and smiled awkwardly.

“Well, actually, there’s something I want to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“It started to break after about 20,000 words. The ‘Z’ key.”

“Keys? Typewriter?”

“Yes. So I ended the story as one possibility. A world without end. A world that can never be completed properly because ‘Z’ is broken. Couldn’t I put a period on it? Of course, I think this ending itself is valuable enough. If we look at the larger framework of the story that has continued from Part 1, humans are beings who constantly fight, so they will repeat all kinds of conflicts in this world and pursue happiness that cannot be completed, and that is very closely related to how we live.”

As he said, he believed that God had value in and of himself.

Humans are constantly in conflict, but they find happiness in it.

Because the truth about ‘The Book’ is known only to Lucy.

And God himself was in the same situation as Lucy.

‘Only I know.’

The world may repeat itself.

return.

Even if it is a coincidence, there are people who return to life after only one life.

So what about the America of 1985, where you live for the second time and where things have changed?

With that fact in mind, the latter half of the work, which I personally ‘added’ by hand with a pen, was quite different from the original ending.

“Okay, excuse me.”

Shin placed the bag he had brought on the table and took out a handwritten manuscript and a fountain pen from it.

“······? Author?”

“Let’s do this. Oh, it’s okay since I sent it by fax and the original manuscript remains.”

The god picked up the pen and began to scribble across the last few lines of the manuscript.

With that, the ‘time’ that depicted Lucy living in despair and misery in the world disappeared.

It was an act that he could do because he was a god who could be called ‘The North’ in this world made of letters.

‘Hello, reader. Thank you so much for reading my story.’

Because I am a being who can look at the world with that kind of sense, I was able to write.

Another story written through the character of Lucy, a man who feels the possibility and projects himself into the America of 1985, which may be dominated by the North.

The story of the version where the ‘Z’ key exists.

God thought with a smile.

‘Maybe I too am just a being on the letters written by someone else.’

And then I handed Simon the manuscript I had written.

***

The moment I heard Alexa Flare under the streetlight, I felt like the world I lived in was distorted.

‘The old days were good.’

To me, who was living in the future, a person from a time longed for, a long time ago, said those words.

Just like my future self did.

When I got home, I felt that moment and thought about it deeply, it really gave me a lot to think about.

Are humans inherently creatures who long for the past?

So then what is the reason?

Two main answers came to mind to that question.

Anxiety about the present and the future.

Nostalgia for the good old days.

And from there, a thought naturally followed.

I was a person who was free from both of those things.

I was given a chance to live one more life, and I went back to the past and picked and ate only the delicious parts of the pie called life as I wanted. I went back to the past where I felt nostalgic, and with the knowledge I had, I gained a life that was incomparably richer than before, without any anxiety about the present and the future.

Moreover, knowing the present and the future gave me a deeper understanding of this past society.

What people think, where it comes from, and how it will change.

That’s why, while Alexa’s words made sense, they felt very disconnected from the current situation.

And I thought.

‘Isn’t it because I know the present and the future that I’m happy now? So what about this?’

What if there is a divine being who knows and controls the structure of this vast world?

That was ‘The Book’.

In other words, it was a ‘me’ in a state with no limits to cognition and action.

But the actions of that being are never justified or understood.

I realized it when I changed Jiwoo Jang’s life.

In my opinion, TRPG and Doofi and Alexa helped her make the friends she wanted, but······.

‘Is that really the right thing to do?’

I did it knowing everything?

And you don’t even understand it?

······No, it’s okay up to there. It would have been the same even further north.

It wasn’t an action I took with the hope of understanding from the beginning. I thought it would be enough for Jiwoo to be able to enjoy his own life while staying with our mother.

And from that conclusion, I realized another thing.

Unless Jiwoo has a comparison group called her ‘previous life’, unlike me who feels happy in my current improved life, isn’t it possible that she will never be able to achieve complete happiness?

And that argument applied not only to her, but to Alexa as well.

In her previous life, she moved to New York and was never heard from again, but now she is still fighting fiercely here.

‘So is Kate Moore.’

All those who thought they had changed and become better because of their current self still have to struggle with life in the end.

But that’s how life is.

Even though we knew we meant nothing, we had to affirm ourselves.

That’s why I wanted to ask this.

‘If human free will were an illusion, would we be broken?’

As I went through the unrealistic event called ‘Regression’, I felt a fierce sense of the existence of a god controlling me. And in the process, I also felt the fear of not knowing what would happen to my life again.

Like Lucy, I too could be being manipulated by someone, as the only being who knows the truth that no one knows and cannot tell.

Then I wanted to say this to the guy who might be above me.

‘Aren’t you in pain?’

Isn’t it painful to have created a world like this and have no choice but to watch?

At the same time, it was a question that only Lucy could pose to The North.

And the change brought about by that one question was enormous.

『As a being that does not exist in the material world where humans live, it was the ‘first question’ I received from an entity other than myself during the time that must be counted in centuries.

The North pondered Lucy’s words for a moment. But the being could not come up with an answer. There were hundreds of millions of answers, but none of them were accepted.

The space was meaningless to the two of them. The North asked Lucy why she was asking such a thing. Lucy, who was living as a vagabond and watching the world, answered nonchalantly.

“It’s just a simple question. Just answer yes or no.”

[Then I will answer. No. I am not in pain. I do not have any mechanism to feel pain or emotional pain.]

“Okay. Then that’s fine.”

Lucy chuckled.

Through her answers and reactions, The Book came to the conclusion that it did not seem to be the right answer.

The world was repeating the history of struggle.

The North affirmed such an approach, and his rule focused on building resilience while empowering people to fight.

Individual aggression increased, people were easily hurt and actually died easily, but they all fought for their beliefs until the moment of death.

And even at the moment of his death in the struggle, he did not even accept the fact that he had died as a misfortune.

The reason Lucy asked such a question to The North was because she felt the ‘definition of human existence’ there.

Lucy thought as she continued to lead the fight with The North.

Humans are never beautiful. Rather, there is a part of them that is ugly and dirty.

And yet, humans have their own value simply by existing.

Perfection and imperfection. Life and death. Victory and defeat. Happiness and unhappiness.

For humans, not all concepts are defined as right and wrong.

Suddenly, I felt pity for the North, who had never been able to reach this answer from the beginning and had only to pursue happiness.

And in fact, it was very strange for her to feel that way.

But because of that, she was a human, not a machine.

That’s why I felt pity for the North, who could not reach this answer from the beginning and had to pursue only happiness.

And in fact, it was very strange for her to feel that way.

Lucy suffered for thousands of years.

She was the Antichrist, the Satan, the prophetess, the revolutionary, and she became that way against her will.

The mind has reached its limit and everything has become meaningless.

After a few ‘regenerations’, she reached a point where she had to be conscious of every single movement of her body. In fact, she had to ‘regenerate’ herself without being conscious of how to breathe. Because she, who had been the leader of the revolutionary army, died so suddenly, there was a lot of uproar on the news for a while.

But even in the midst of all that.

My view of the world has become clearer.

And he wanted to ask his only counterpart what he had realized.

The North asked itself questions, and spent more time talking to Lucy about things other than ‘work’.

Lucy never gave me the right answer, but she continued to engage me in conversation.

It was a dialogue between two people who knew the ‘truth’.

Simon pursed his lips as he read the newly written ending.

“The North is changing.”

It was neither a revolution nor a war, but simply a conversation.

Finally, the North gave its answer.

『[I will grant you rest, Lucy.]

“what?”

Lucy’s eyes widened at the sudden story.

The North answered.

[This is the final conclusion I reached after talking with you.]

That was the more North Korean answer to ‘Aren’t you in pain?’

No one asked The Book. In the first place, it was impossible. No one knew the truth of the world like Lucy. The only one who understood even a little bit of the vast purpose and knowledge of that existence was Lucy. And the question she asked after deep contemplation over a long period of time and experience completely changed The Book.

Through many questions and conversations, The Book began to see humans from a different perspective.

That was the conclusion reached.

The being understood the limitations of humanity.

It was impossible for a human named Lucy to be with him in achieving the conclusion he would one day reach, ‘absolute human happiness.’ The Book, who began to recognize and view Lucy as an individual rather than a human being, decided that he could no longer allow Lucy to be with him as a being who would live an almost immortal life.

[Is it because I understand your pain?]

“······Are you asking me now?”

[Yes, that’s right, Lucy.]

“Well, I don’t know.”

Lucy thought of a good saying.

“I heard this.”

Humans can never fully understand others.

Humans understand others because they see themselves reflected in the mirror of themselves.

That means.

“Isn’t it because you’re in pain? More north.”

The North did not answer.

He also did not mechanically deny that he was not human.

In the face of that presence, Lucy thought that she might have loosened a major screw of this mechanical god. The North could no longer consider humans as a single species. The thought that this would lead to a great change… Lucy could not shake it off.

The North said.

[Lucy.]

“Yeah, more north.”

[I hope you are happy.]

Lucy couldn’t answer that.

Light came in and I felt peace warmly embracing my body.

At the end of the flow of time that seemed like an eternity, she met her death.

And finally achieved the goal I wanted in that life.

Eternal rest.

In addition, freedom from ‘The North’.

Seeing her reach true happiness only at the very last moment, a single sentence that seemed like a curse was engraved on Buk.

[What is my happiness in living for the happiness of mankind?]

‘He’ observed the world.

There was a war going on somewhere.

Peace has come from somewhere.

A fight broke out somewhere.

Somewhere, love embraced everything.

A world where no human being can ever achieve ‘absolute happiness’.

But that’s why the North admired them more.

A world where everyone is happy and the losers are unhappy.

-FIN』

Simon, who had read all the content up to the end, looked up and said this.

“It’s a loser’s victory.”

That was right.