Surviving Among the Entities

‘Where should I use this?’

Returning to the office, I gazed at the Remaining Monkey’s Paw. The Remaining Monkey’s Paw with only its thumb left had proven through the world beyond my right eye to possess far greater power than in the game.

‘An entity that grants the wish-maker’s wish exactly as desired.’

While the original Monkey’s Paw distorted and granted wishes on its own interpretation, the Remaining Monkey’s Paw was said to grant the desired wish without distortion.

‘It even takes the wish-maker themselves as the reference point.’

In the world beyond my right eye, Yoo Seong-yeol’s wish was “Make everyone rational and intelligent,” but the people of that world were anything but rational and intelligent from my perspective.

‘Rather, they were foolish and irrational.’

If they were truly rational and intelligent, such a world could never have resulted.

‘They would have weighed the benefits and risks of their actions to make the optimal choice.’

In that process, the members of society would have exchanged opinions, introduced policies to reduce risk, and strived for greater benefits through social consensus while temporarily sacrificing individual interests for the future community’s benefit.

‘The reason it’s impossible in reality is because individuals prioritize their own interests more, but if everyone was truly rational and intelligent, a desirable society compromising with reality for the community’s future benefit would have emerged.’

But the world Yoo Seong-yeol envisioned was not that. Rationality only focused on individual survival, and intelligence solely aimed to completely reject future risks.

I know why that kind of world resulted. It was because Yoo Seong-yeol had been consumed by online communities.

‘Sensationalized community posts merely seek attention.’

Prolonged exposure to all sorts of sensationalized incidents and the results of foolish human choices he encountered through online communities caused him to develop a cynical disposition, changing the criteria for rationality and intelligence in his mind.

“Well, it had to be that way. If there are 7 billion people in the world, there would be 7 billion reference points.”

If it didn’t match the wish-maker’s criteria, it would be no different from the original Monkey’s Paw. The Remaining Monkey’s Paw merely matched the sandcastle built on anger and cynicism that was Yoo Seong-yeol’s criteria – it did nothing wrong.

“In the end, humans were the problem again.”

There are benefits to simply possessing the Remaining Monkey’s Paw without using it. Just preventing reckless usage was enough to protect the world from danger.

“But I’ve decided to use it.”

However, I decided to use it. Because I had thought of the proper way to utilize it.

‘In the game, there were four ways to use the Remaining Monkey’s Paw.’

First, enhance the character. With the user’s character physically and mentally empowered, the probability of escaping entities posing physical and spiritual threats would drastically increase.

‘It randomly increased by 2 to 4 times, but that’s not a good choice for me.’

I eliminated that option. Like this Monkey’s Paw incident, if a large-scale catastrophe occurs somewhere unknown to me and outside my involvement, enhancing myself would be meaningless.

‘Even if I gained immortality through a wish, it would have little meaning in this world.’

Because there exist beings worse than death.

‘Second, acquire desired entities.’

This too was rejected. Of course, if utilized well it could help survive countless entities, but likewise in incidents like this one it would be futile against catastrophes transcending the entire universe and dimensions.

‘Third, exclude desired entities from the game.’

Permanently exclude weak, insignificant entities through destruction, or temporarily banish powerful entities to other dimensions in year-long seals.

‘In a world with countless existing entities, excluding just one would be meaningless.’

And finally the fourth option, restore corrupted entities.

‘Restore depleted consumable entities for reuse, or revive ostensibly powerful but weakened entities as allies.’

The fourth option is what I desire.

“Remaining Monkey’s Paw, I wish to make a wish.”

Only the target is not an entity.

“Restore the Humanity Preservation Foundation to its pristine state before its destruction by Munchkin Mary Sue Constellation.”

What was the greatest reason humanity could rise to its current position at the apex of the ecosystem? While I won’t make the one-dimensional assumption that a single cause led to a single result, I can be certain ‘cooperation’ played a major part.

‘Humanity cooperated to form societies, allowing them to survive physically stronger beasts.’

Wolves, lions, and elephants cooperate similarly, but human cooperation is a far more advanced organization, and what I need is the division of labor arising from such groups.

‘I cannot survive entities alone.’

I had thought this previously. If a global, humanity-wide, universal catastrophe occurs somewhere I’m not present and uninvolved, could I stop it?

‘The answer is no.’

It could happen while I’m asleep, or even if I’m awake there’s a high probability everything would end before I could perceive the impending catastrophe.

‘DialTV’s assistance is limited – this time I was fortunate, but there’s no guarantee of the same luck again.’

Then how has humanity been sustaining itself?
It was thanks to the Humanity Preservation Foundation.
Nicknamed “The Foundation.”

‘Originally a group protecting the world from entities.’

Possessing numerous entities that can foresee the future, efficiently utilizing various entities to protect humanity from entities.

‘And my ultimate collaborators who can find and resolve the entities I cannot handle.’

Their strength varied from game to game, but according to Munchkin Mary Sue Constellation they were highly potent in this world, so if I could revive them catastrophes like this incident would not occur.

‘Of course, the stronger the Foundation, the more they tend to violently exclude suspicious existences….’

I would likely be categorized as an entity by them too, so they would probably try to somehow exclude or eliminate me, but it’s better than abruptly vanishing without understanding why.

‘If they come for me, I’ll try to resolve it through conversation, or use the Golden Ticket.’

As I made the wish, one of the Remaining Monkey’s Paw’s fingers began to curl.

“!?”

But that was only momentary, as the finger stopped curling halfway as if obstructed, then after quivering for a while it straightened back out.

“Did the wish not come true?”

Why? For what reason?

‘I don’t know.’

With the odds of it succeeding being nearly impossible, I experimented by making another wish.

“Remaining Monkey’s Paw, I wish to make a wish. Eliminate every single entity existing in this world, other dimensions, and beyond the universe.”

The finger curled the tiniest amount like a speck of dust before straightening again.

‘So the earlier reaction was it trying to grant the wish but failing due to lack of power.’

Why could it not restore the Foundation?

‘Was the Munchkin Mary Sue Constellation’s destruction an existential erasure?’

I couldn’t discern the reason. In the end, I gave up on using the Remaining Monkey’s Paw for now and decided to store it temporarily.

‘It would be nice if I could learn the reason.’

The next day, after arriving at the office a few minutes later.

“Excuse me, are you the Resolver Seung-hoon Lee?”
“Yes, that’s me.”

Two people in business attire had come to see me.

“I see. We are like this.”

The woman of the pair handed me her business card.

[Humanity Preservation Foundation: S / Sung Yoo-ra]

An utterly unexpected business card.

“I’m Sung Yoo-ra, an S-rank agent from the Humanity Preservation Foundation, or the Foundation for short.”
“Kim Dong-ook, a C-rank agent of the same affiliation.”

The Foundation had come for me.

“Excuse me, but do you happen to possess the Remaining Monkey’s Paw?”

“What would you like for refreshments? Black tea? Coffee?”
“I’ll have coffee, please.”
“Ah, could I have milk instead?”
“Of course.”

In the brief moment I went to fetch tea, milk, and coffee, I could hear their voices.

[“Ma’am, isn’t that an entity?”]
[“Yeah, it must be from one of the Other World series.”]
[“Let’s secure it immediately!”]
[“Are you insane? The target is a Reality Restructuring ability user who can forcibly imprint the notion of being a Resolver on the entire world’s population. And we’ve willingly entered his den!”]

My Resolver business card had the English translation printed below the Korean, and recently I had also disseminated it through Google ads on overseas websites, so it seemed that was the cause of their comments.

‘Being too effective is also a problem.’

As I poured milk into the tea, I continued eavesdropping on their conversation.

[“To be honest, I’m still instinctively perceiving his Resolver identity despite taking the S-rank Reality Restructuring vaccine! If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t even be able to suspect him.”]
[“Whew, for such a person to have used the Remaining Monkey’s Paw against us, did he do so for good or ill?”]
[“Don’t jump to any conclusions yet. An agent’s cardinal rule, you know?”]
[“Never eliminate any possibility when dealing with entities, certainty is death.”]
[“Well, higher-ups may have judged that way but I don’t think so.”]

Unexpectedly, the woman Sung Yoo-ra passed a favorable judgment on me.

[“If a world-scale Reality Restructuring ability user merely acquired the status of Resolver, it means he’s so humble and lacking in greed.”]
[“But what if he’s just concealing his true intentions?”]
[“That’s why we came to find out. Whether he used the Remaining Monkey’s Paw for offensive purposes, or some other use.”]

I re-entered the office with the tea, coffee, and milk.

“Here you are.”
“Thank you, I’ll enjoy it.”
“Thank you.”

They drank the beverages without any suspicion despite being on guard against me.

‘I don’t know if it’s because the Foundation is so ruined they don’t even suspect poison testing entities exist, or if they’re so ruined their skills have deteriorated to not even suspect.’

Sung Yoo-ra was not the type to dawdle with meandering conversation.

“To begin, our Foundation detected that you Seung-hoon Lee used the Remaining Monkey’s Paw against us. We don’t know the details, but our defensive system detected it, nullified the wish, and traced it back to here.”
“Impressive. The power of the Remaining Monkey’s Paw must be formidable.”
“We’re the Foundation, after all. So I’ll ask, what wish did you make?”

I told them the wish I had made verbatim.

“……”
“Ma’am?”
“The truth.”

Judging by how readily she answered, she must have an ability to discern truth from lies, or possess an entity that can.

“Subordinate, disengage it.”
“……Yes.”

Kim Dong-ook took something out of his pocket. It was a small box, and his dexterous, careful motions operating the box’s surface with a small metal pen were exquisitely delicate.

“What is that?”
“An antimatter bomb. It’s set to detonate immediately upon our activation command or detection of a new Reality Restructuring wave.”
“Oh, what’s its yield?”

I’ll have to rescind my earlier evaluation.

“It will annihilate everything within a 10km radius.”

The Foundation is still the Foundation even in ruin.

“Fortunately, your statement just now was not a Reality Restructuring attempt to deceive me. If it had been, it would have detonated immediately.”
“Haha, how amusing.”
“……”
“Ma’am, disengagement is complete.”
“Oh, right. Yes.”

Before they could bring up the topic first, I spoke first.

“It seems you’re trying to restore the Foundation using the Remaining Monkey’s Paw.”
“Yes. That you used it means you know its ability, but could you please hand it over to us for the sake of humanity?”

I nodded.

“Of course.”
“Ah!”
“But there is a condition.”

Sung Yoo-ra spoke with a resolved expression.

“We will accept any condition within our ability to fulfill. Even if it is……”

For a moment, she seemed remarkably alluring.

‘Beautiful.’

Her flowing hair seemed as lustrous as silk, making my heart ache at the thought of caressing it. Looking into her pupils made me want to gaze into her eyes all day long.

Her figure was so slender and delicate that I wanted to embrace her all day, and her fragrance was so enthralling I could not concentrate while inhaling it.

“For me to desire your body.”

Could this be love? Perhaps it could be love.

“I refuse.”

But no. I refuse such love that merely covets the flesh without spiritual connection.

‘Love should arise from affection built through bonds and time, and spiritual union.’

If not platonic love, I at least desire a relationship approaching that.
Though my flesh only responds to the opposite sex limiting me to half the world’s population, an opposite sex partner is all that’s required so I’m sure I’ll eventually encounter such a person.

“……Pardon?”
“……Huh?”

The two of them froze with dumbfounded expressions. Kim Dong-ook was even dripping milk from his mouth.

“Um……”

He even shifted his seat slightly to distance himself from me.

“Excuse me, but are you perhaps gay?”

Sung Yoo-ra asked.

“My body only responds to females so I’m not homosexual.”
“Then why did you……”
“What I desire is spiritual love over physical. No matter the appearance, if they are someone I can spiritually love then physical issues can be resolved.”
“……”

After a momentary silence, she spoke.

“I thoroughly reviewed your past records, Seung-hoon Lee.”
“You mean my records?”
“Yes, including the sexual records I found online.”
“You couldn’t mean the records from when I was 13 to 16 years old?”

She nodded.

“Ahh.”

Now I understood their reactions.

“How embarrassing, this.”

She must have seen the records from when I most fervently explored sex (sexuality).

“Talking about spiritual love now……”
“Humans change as time passes. In any case, this is my condition.”

I placed down the emptied teacup.

“I want to visit the Foundation.”