Side Story Chapter 41 - The Third Zone (1)

“Why’s that guy suddenly coming out here?!” Jeong-woo dropped the book he was reading in surprise and jumped up. He had finally found a clue to Yeon-woo’s whereabouts. However, he questioned why he had appeared so late. The time gap was too wide.

There was naturally a time difference in multiple universes and parallel universes, but there were limits to that difference. From when Yeon-woo appeared at the original world line―world line #0―there was a difference from when he learned of the dismantling of the First Star, the Martial King Nayu. There should be around…ten thousand years in between. That was enough time for thousands of the beings who called themselves “stars” to be created. However, the problem was…

“…Where?!”

While all these beings were created, Jeong-woo hadn’t sensed anything at all. Aside from being Deus Ex Machina, an omniscient being who ruled and controlled all the cogs known as the worlds, universes, and laws, he was also a bookkeeper and librarian who organized and protected all the records produced by the cogs.

Jeong-woo had magnified the trait he received from his mother, Quirinale, and synchronized it with the laws of the world. It was not a stretch to say Cha Jeong-woo was literally the laws of causality. He was also proud of his position, and he was certain he’d upheld all the duties required of him.

However, at this moment, Jeong-woo asked himself. Was I really doing a proper job? Was I observing all the businesses of the world? Did I miss anything? Did I slack because I was busy? Did I not properly look into things that required a second look because I was out of it? Is it too late to fix my mistakes―?!

“That’s enough.”

Cha Jeong-woo suddenly heard a voice as he was wallowing around in shame. He quickly collected himself. The Heavenly Demon was watching him. The aura exuded by the Heavenly Demon had forced his shaking soul to get a grip.

The Heavenly Demon could know anything he wanted, including the thoughts and feelings of mortals, transcendents, and even other emperors. The only one he wasn’t able to watch was the Black King, who stood on equal ground to him.

The Heavenly Demon had jolted Jeong-woo awake from being swallowed by the thoughts of what it was he had missed.

‘…I guess I went overboard.’ Jeong-woo smiled wryly at Shanon and Nocturne, who were looking at him with concern.

The Heavenly Demon crossed his arms and spoke in a standoffish tone. “It’s not your fault, so don’t worry. Technically, I was the slacker.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Mm.”

The Heavenly Demon scratched his temples as he stalled for time. It didn’t seem like it was because the situation was difficult to explain. Rather, he seemed to be uncomfortable at having to reveal something he’d kept hidden.

『Man, if you know something, stop hiding it and…. Hehehe. I’m just saying. You don’t have to frown like that. You’ll only get wrinkles. Hehehe. Is there anything you need?』

When the Heavenly Demon raised a fist, Shanon bowed and rubbed his hands together. His forehead was going to touch the floor at this rate, and the Heavenly Demon looked at him with disbelief.

Cha Jeong-woo’s silent gaze continued to demand an answer from the Heavenly Demon, and the Heavenly Demon sighed. He spoke directly to Jeong-woo. “The knowledge in this library… You know what ‘gnosis’ is, right?”

“You taught me that it’s the records created from what the many beings and their souls see and understand.”

“Right. Mortals, transcendents… Gods, demons, dragons, giants… Any being that has a ‘soul’ is able to learn knowledge. They can gain enlightenment and twist the already existing laws to create new laws. And all these are only possible where light reaches.”

Light wasn’t a simple matter. It made up the world and was always expanding. Its speed raced forward, faster than anything else, to establish time and history. Also, because it expanded the universe, it was the most necessary and basic material for creation.

The creation of the universe and the world was still in progress. Space wasn’t fixed; it continued to expand and create new planets and birthed civilizations. Naturally, the more the civilization, the more transcendents were born.

Law was established where light reached, and universes were made. Moreover, the beings born in this area could only see where the light had reached. They could interpret the laws and learn knowledge from them. Like this, civilizations advanced, and more gnosis appeared in the library. That was what the phrase “light is knowledge” meant.

Light was already stretching, the universe expanded, and gnosis was steadily stacked up. There was no concept of “completion.” It was a never-ending process. That was this universe’s absolute truth, and this was what the Heavenly Demon was speaking about.

“That light is me, so I become stronger even when I’m doing nothing. The greater the universe expands, the wider the territory of light becomes. In the past, it was occasionally cut off when the Black King and I fought over the wheels and dreams, but I don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

“Sir.”

“Yes? Well, I understand you admire me, but you don’t need to—”

“Please get to the point.”

The Heavenly Demon looked dumbfounded. No one in this world spoke to him like that. Crunch! Belatedly, he realized what he’d just heard and he gritted his teeth. “…You punk, you’re exactly like your twin!”

“Because we’re twins.”

“I should set a day and beat you up…”

“Then I’m going to quit.”

“…Dammit.”

If Jeong-woo quit, the job would go back to the Heavenly Demon again, and the Heavenly Demon had resolved that such a thing should never happen. He knew better than anyone how hard the labor was…! He had barely rid himself of the job to have some free time, but Jeong-woo quitting? Quitting?! Over his dead body!

“Okay, okay! I’ll tell you, geez!” The Heavenly Demon was put in the position of a powerless employer being bullied by a wicked employee. He quickly got to the point. He ignored how Shanon was looking at Cha Jeong-woo with admiring eyes. Everyone who associated with Yeon-woo had terrible personalities anyway. The Heavenly Demon asked, “So, then what do you think happens where it doesn't reach?”

“…it’s where creation doesn’t happen, isn’t it? That’s where the concepts of Day and Night came from.”

Jeong-woo didn’t understand what the Heavenly Demon was getting at.

The Eight Gods of Disorder and other otherworld gods were classified into Night (Nox) because their territories didn’t receive any light, and their history wasn’t recorded in the Changgong Library. It was impossible to observe them in the first place.

Even the Heavenly Demon, who was omniscient and omnipotent in the territory of Day (Eros), didn’t have a way to know much about them.

Still, Jeong-woo wasn’t worried. Yeon-woo had full control over the territory of Night. But just then, the Heavenly Demon grinned mischievously and asked, “What if there’s a third zone that’s neither Day nor Night?”

Jeong-woo stiffened, as did Shanon and Nocturne. They didn’t understand; they had never heard of such a thing before.

“When light and darkness didn’t exist yet, and only chaos reigned, the universe was only made up of the dream of the Black King… The being the creatures of the Night call ‘dim-witted father.’”

This was the history before the beginning…before the first wheel and dream even began. Now, the Heavenly Demon was likely the only being to know this story.

“In the middle of a dream, a mysterious crack appeared, and when that became bigger, Pangu was born. The creation of the universe began as the egg of chaos cracked and light appeared.” The Heavenly Demon’s eyes darkened as he continued, “The light released from the cracked egg became Day, and the territories that weren’t affected by this were called Night. I was lucky to take that Day in my hands, and I continued to fight the Black King, who wanted to repeat the Night.”

Jeong-woo was familiar with this much. The Heavenly Demon absorbed the Pangu who was born from the egg of chaos and rose to his current position. His power to stand against the Black King originated from there.

“However, no one worried about the cracked eggshell.”

Jeong-woo started to see what the Heavenly Demon was speaking about.

“Really, no one had the mind to. I was busy beating up the beings of Night to make the weak Day powerful, and the Black King didn’t care because he was too busy snoring.”

“…”

“It was too late when I realized creatures that didn’t belong to either Day or Night were entering the world’s backend…and they had already become the foundation of Idea.” The Heavenly Demon looked frustrated. “It had become a zone with entirely different compositions and laws to the extent that it was impossible to observe or interfere with it. It’s a paradoxical zone that can exist theoretically but doesn’t really exist.”

For one to exist, two conditions had to be met. One, it had to have a soul, and two, it had to belong to either Day or Night. Only then could the being moved freely. It was impossible for a being to exist away from the worlds of the Black King and the Heavenly Demon. Souls could not take place. Even if something did exist, it was only a shell, and even if there was some truth, they were all lies. It didn’t exist in the first place. That was why it was a paradox. A chaos more chaotic than chaos itself.

“Even I don’t know what exists there. I wasn’t interested, and there was no reason for me to be. So for creatures to have evaded the eyes of me, you, and Yeon-woo, this is the first thing that comes to mind. That’s the only place that’s hidden from our eyes.”

“What…!” Jeong-woo unwittingly exclaimed in shock a while later. His expression was one of bitterness. “…I thought I was starting to understand now, but this world is still filled with things I don’t know.”

“It’s arrogant to think you know something. We’re free from it, but as long as the universe and world exist, it’ll continue to change. There are still things I don’t know too. No one knows what the eggshell of chaos that’s at the bottom of Idea looks like. Something I don’t know about could pop up suddenly anytime anywhere.”

The sentence echoed in Jeong-woo’s head. Something I don’t know about could pop up suddenly anytime anywhere. Jeong-woo felt like his vision widened. Once again, he was able to realize this world was really full of mysteries.

“…If you think about it that way, the puzzle becomes even greater trying to figure out where the Black King, who existed prior to the creation of the universe, came from.”

“Right? You’ll never get anything done if you dig too deeply into things.”

In Buddhism, there was a concept of “three thousand realms.” Countless worlds were tied together to become one thousand realms, those realms were doubled to become two thousand realms, and another added became three thousand realms. This idea explained that countless concepts could continue to expand infinitely.

‘The world that I know might just be limited to these three thousand realms.’ Right now, to Jeong-woo, everything was confusing.

“Yeon-woo could’ve gone to find the star fragment there, so let’s continue to see.”

Jeong-woo nodded.

“Anyhow…” The Heavenly Demon felt slightly more relieved now, but his gaze focused on the books was sharp. “Kronos, that bastard, didn’t recognize me when I was right in front of him?”

Son Jae-won, Son Ji-ho, and Seo Eun-yeong… The Heavenly Demon definitely knew what these names were. “Just you wait.” He wasn’t angry because he was venting his anger from Jeong-woo, who threatened to quit, to his father. Absolutely not.