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Chapter 239: Monad I

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Today\'s episode will unusually be presented as a series of mysteries.

Actually, when viewed from afar, my stories always resembled that kind of arrangement.

Although it can\'t be called a perfect omnibus, it\'s something akin to a half-omnibus format.

In this sense, today\'s episode is an \'omnibus within an omnibus,\' a story within a story, an epilogue within an epilogue — like a monad reflecting another monad.

So, I hope you enjoy the mysteries.

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The first monad.

Let me first tell you about a strange story related to the "Ice Age."

As you may know, the Ice Age anomaly was isolated on the internet.

The footage of the Ice Age was recorded and sealed off as a secret post on SGNet.

However, when it comes to anomalies, you must never let your guard down just because you\'ve sealed it away and think, "It\'s over, we did it!" The classic animation Ghost Stories failed to understand this, which is why the exorcist mother and daughter had to continue their efforts across generations.

On the other hand, I, Doctor Jang and self-proclaimed world\'s greatest anomaly expert, always understood the importance of maintaining sustainable isolation after sealing something.

"Hey, boss."

Therefore, I had already ordered Seo Gyu to keep an eye on the secret post of the Ice Age.

One day, Seo Gyu, who was assigned that task, came to me with a slightly troubled expression.

"What\'s up?"

"It\'s about the Ice Age anomaly you sealed away on SGNet with the Chief...”

"First of all, the Chief and I didn’t shoot any romance scenes. Everything was just the anomaly distorting and editing the footage. But yes, we sealed it away. Why?"

"Uh, you might want to come see this, boss."

I went to check.

I haven\'t really mentioned Seo Gyu\'s work environment before, so I\'ll explain it now.

Seo Gyu\'s workspace resembled something like a "Chinese reroll factory."

Hundreds of smartphones were spread out on the table, all connected to SGNet.

Each screen showed different anomalies that had been isolated as secret posts.

The anomalies screamed their dying breaths through the phones at volumes so low that most people wouldn’t even notice the sound.

–Aah aah aah aah.

–Hero, if you are reading this now, it means you’ve returned home safely. We admire your noble will, asking to be returned to your original world, even at the cost of losing all your memories…

–This is a photo of a cat lying on a white bed.

–Anyone want to talk about the Three Kingdoms with me?

There\'s no use hiding it.

This small workspace was a cyber anomaly prison.

Anomalies that needed to be physically sealed away were sent to the prison in the basement of the National Road Management Headquarters. But anomalies that couldn’t distinguish between reality and the virtual world were all confined to SGNet.

In a way, Seo Gyu might deserve the nickname "Special Warden" more than "Swearing Man."

As the owner of SGNet, Seo Gyu was the warden overseeing the largest number of anomalies in the world.

(There’s a reason why he never goes outside and stays holed up here playing the role of a totem.)

"Hmm."

I glanced around the cyber prison. Each smartphone was like a solitary cell for the anomalies.

"Is this how a scientist feels looking at brains in jars?"

"Sorry?"

"Just talking to myself. So, did the Ice Age cause any problems?"

"Ah, here, take a look at this…"

Seo Gyu picked up one of the phones and showed it to me. The phone, tagged with 668-711, was playing the [Surviving the Ice Age] documentary.

It just so happened to be the scene where Chief Noh Doha and I were kissing.

It was an embarrassing scene, but I ignored it without much thought since it was all maliciously edited footage, and the characters weren’t real people but part of the anomaly’s play.

"Why?"

"Uh, boss, don’t just glance at it. Look more closely."

"...?"

I was a little taken aback. Was he crazy? Was he telling me to focus on the kiss scene between Chief Noh Doha and me?

"Not the content, boss. The length of the video. Doesn’t it seem strange?"

Luckily, Seo Gyu wasn’t crazy. In fact, he made a good point.

The length of the video being played on the SGNet secret post was indeed a bit strange.

"Hmm?"

I frowned.

"Was the kiss scene… this long originally?"

The flow of time seemed off.

Originally, [Surviving the Ice Age] was a three-part series consisting of Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3, with each part being about 20 minutes long.

In total, it was a one-hour video.

The kiss scene between Chief Noh Doha and me was only the finale, lasting no more than 30 seconds.

But now, no matter how long we waited, the kiss scene didn’t end in the [Surviving the Ice Age: Anomaly Edition].

"…Did the video get longer?"

"Yes. I checked several times. The video says it\'s 20 minutes long, right?"

Seo Gyu pointed at the screen.

"But when I played it, it ran for 24 hours. I’ve double-checked it, so I’m sure."

"…"

I rubbed my chin.

“24 hours means 1,440 minutes. The video, which was originally 20 minutes, has been extended to 1,440 minutes, 72 times longer?"

It didn’t make sense.

“…You said you double-checked it. Is there anything else different?"

"Well, since the video got longer, the content has changed in parts too. Hold on. Let me increase the sound. Ah, here it is, boss. Look at this part…"

Seo Gyu rewound the video.

In this part, Yoo Jiwon was cornering Noh Doha. It was the classic ‘wall slam’ pose.

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It might be surprising, but Yoo Jiwon was much taller than Noh Doha. So, it created quite an intimidating scene from the outside.

"Chief, although I acted independently in this operation, it was a necessary sacrifice."

An edited version of Yoo Jiwon — directed, acted, and produced by the Ice Age anomaly — was speaking.

"If you had issued the order, the governing authority of the survivor group would have weakened. That’s why I took on the role of the bad cop myself. There’s no personal motive."

"Hmph. A person driven entirely by emotions sure talks well. If you say so, why don\'t you lead the next operation yourself?"

"I am irreplaceable."

"I don\'t think so…"

"……"

There was a tense atmosphere between the two characters.

I blinked.

“…This scene wasn’t here before, was it?”

“No, it wasn’t.”

Seo Gyu nodded with a tired expression.

“By the way, there’s also a fight scene between the Saintess and the Head of Management. Brother, I didn’t show it to you because it was so intense that it gave me a stomachache for the past two days.”

“What the hell…? This isn’t just a case of editing the footage—it’s like they’ve completely recreated it from scratch with CGI.”

“The video now feels like the characters were trapped in the Ice Age not for three days but for tens of days.”

I rubbed my forehead.

‘The video’s length has been arbitrarily extended. And to match the length, the content has been edited to feel [natural] on its own.’

Why?

I couldn’t figure out the cause.

Was it because the video had been confined to SG-Net, this \'virtual reality\'? That alone couldn’t explain such strange occurrences.

“…Aside from the extended runtime and content, there’s no negative effect on reality, right?”

“Yes, I can confirm that.”

“Then let’s put it on hold for now.”

Although it felt a bit unsettling, emotions didn’t matter. What was important was the real world for me and us—not some video confined within SG-Net.

――But the bizarre occurrences related to the documentary didn’t stop.

“Brother.”

“What is it?”

“That video… It’s acting strange again.”

Some time later.

The video [Surviving the Ice Age. Weird Edition] had evolved into [Surviving the Ice Age. Weird Director\'s Cut].

“This time… the video’s runtime is a whopping 72 days. Each one. When you add up all three parts, it’s over 200 days.”

“….”

“The video quality’s also a bit hazier. Look at the borders of the video, Brother. It’s like the smartphone screen has doubled in layers.”

With each increase in the video’s layers, the total runtime seemed to multiply by 72 times.

“…Like I said before, as long as it doesn’t affect reality, we don’t need to bother checking the content anymore, Seo Gyu.”

“Got it…”

Seo Gyu seemed uneasy.

“But now, even Dokseo and Sim Aryeon appear in the video. The explanation is that external support has come after the isolation on Liberty Island dragged on for so long.”

“Hmm.”

“I didn’t watch it all—just bits and pieces. Apparently, the Ice Age has spread beyond Sinuiju, and the entire Korean Peninsula has been wiped out. Other places are freezing over too.”

“…”

“It feels strange, like it’s something that actually happened in reality. Well, like you said, I’ll stop watching it.”

Although I didn’t understand the mechanism, the bizarre Ice Age trapped in SG-Net was indeed conquering the world within the video.

The time of the world being overtaken by the Ice Age rapidly expanded—60 minutes became 3 days, 3 days became 216 days.

So, if we were to shoot just one more [Extended Edition]?

‘…Over 15,000 days.’

Approximately 42 years.

In a world covered in ice, my companions, including Noh Doha and myself, would have to survive for over 40 years.

Even if we did survive, what then?

Only a future with 3,000 years of bloated time awaited. It was nothing short of despair.

‘Though I don’t know the cause.’

I could predict the outcome.

‘That Ice Age anomaly—it’s not satisfied with merely the [60-minute world] it originally had.’

The virtual reality was drawing ever closer to the real world. At an alarming speed.

‘…From 3,000 years, multiply by 72 again. And then another 72 times. If it keeps growing by 72 times, eventually it will span a time worthy of being called a world.’

As expected.

When I secretly revisited the anomaly prison to check on the smartphone where the Ice Age was confined—

—Whoooosh.

No human voices played on the smartphone screen anymore.

The Statue of Liberty, buried in snow and decaying.

And my corpse, staring wide-eyed in death. The body of Noh Doha, whose hand was clasped with mine, silently reflected in the camera lens.

—Whoooosh.

The camera no longer moved.

It simply recorded the two long-dead bodies. Only the white noise of the howling blizzard streamed from the speakers.

This was the scenery of destruction.

“…So, we isolated the virtual world because it was being mistaken for reality, but now it seems it has conquered the virtual world.”

—Whoooosh.

My mutterings were quickly swallowed by the sound of the wind.

The white noise faintly sounded like the anomaly was laughing maniacally.

—Humans, I am satisfied with this.

This was the first piece of the puzzle.

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