Surviving Among the Entities

“I like the world you’ve created.”

The first time I had this thought was when Sarang-a failed to recognize the reality manipulation.

“In the original world, there were truly many entities that threatened the world. Thanks to the Foundation’s efforts, humanity’s daily life could be maintained, but even their power could not block all entities.”

According to Sarang-a, if combat was involved, she too would settle it through a duel.
This meant that even entities like Sarang-a could not escape the rules created by the “center of the world.”

“Humanity could not stand against such entities. Unless it was the Foundation, or unless one possessed special means like myself, all they could do was helplessly succumb, be defeated, and face death. The only thing they could do was pray to be mercifully killed.”

This fact brought about one change.

“But in the world you have created, the world in the midst of this game, humanity is not powerless. Since entities also follow your rules, humanity has gained a means to fight back.”
“Is that why you want to maintain this world?”
“There are a few more reasons, but let’s continue our conversation over tea time.”

I tried to take out a tea time set from the Void Pocket, but she waved her hand first.
As if it had been there from the beginning, a tea time set was laid out before me.

“Intriguing. Please tell me more.”
“Darjeeling, I see. Very well.”

Darjeeling with cucumber sandwiches.
An entity that knows a thing or two.

“The reason I just mentioned was the first, and the second is because it has brought peace to humanity.”

Taking a sip of black tea.
Taking a bite of the cucumber sandwich, I provided a detailed explanation.

“Human history is the history of war. Since it has been an era of peace for the past few decades, everyone has forgotten that fact, but war was about to start again.”

To seize global hegemony.
To overcome the rapidly approaching climate crisis.
For their religious beliefs.
To plunder the rich resources of other nations.
To maintain their own power.

“Once war starts, hatred begets more hatred, passing down an unbroken chain of hatred. In the end, war would continue until humanity’s annihilation.”
“Isn’t it the same here?”
“Yes, but at least the world follows the rules, doesn’t it? Those defeated in duels surrender to the winners, and wars are also conducted through duels, so there are overwhelmingly fewer casualties compared to the original world. The passing down of hatred is also reduced.”

Emptying my teacup, I stated the conclusion.

“In summary, this world is the optimal environment that protects humanity from unpredictable entities outside the dimension and enforces rules on existing entities, giving humanity the power to fight back, while also maximally suppressing human nature to strive for greater future progress.”
“……Impressive. I thought you had sought me out to unconditionally return to the original world.”

The other party’s reaction was not bad either.
However, that did not mean my plan would proceed smoothly.

“I would also be happy to continue maintaining this world. However, as I mentioned earlier, games must have an end. That is the case no matter how forcefully I try to maintain it.”

Games must have an end.
It was like fate itself.

“It was the same during Göbekli Tepe. No matter how hard I tried to maintain the game, it was as if fate was helping humanity – out of nowhere, gold and silver mines were discovered, and commercial geniuses were born in droves.”

This was an element that even she, as the host of the game, could not control.
She described this phenomenon as follows:

“Protagonist Correction. The stronger the final boss becomes, the stronger the protagonist humanity also becomes. Even if you become the final boss in my stead with that powerful deck, eventually, humanity will appear who can defeat even that deck.”
“That does seem to be a problem.”

Of course, I had also considered this problem.

“I too did not expect to win forever and ever. But what if this happens? What if the current game becomes not a temporary manipulation, but a genuine reality? Then even if I, the final boss, am defeated, the game will not end.”
“I do not have that ability.”
“I have an item that can grant you that ability.”

I took out a small glass vial from the Void Pocket.

“A special enhancement potion, a liquid that bestows great power upon the right entity. Through continuous experiments with a weaker regular enhancement potion, I discovered that the directionality of the enhancement tends to further develop the entity’s raison d’être.”
“Then……”
“Yes, as an entity whose purpose is to let humanity experience games, you may gain the ability to solidify the game as reality, with that aspect being greatly enhanced.”

Without hesitation, she accepted the special enhancement potion.
A single drop of the golden liquid disappeared past her lips.

“……Indeed.”

There was no major outward change, except that her irises turned golden.

“With this power, it seems possible. However, it will take some time. Perhaps a year, and since I must focus solely on this, my ability to fend off external intrusions will not be much different from now.”
“Even with the Protagonist Correction, if it’s just a year, you should be able to endure.”
“Then……”

She placed her hand on my cheek.
Befitting an entity whose purpose was games, she smiled as if welcoming the current situation, but her smile gradually froze.

“Your deck, it’s too powerful. I intended to entrust you as the final boss, but I cannot due to the strength of your deck. I did not foresee this phenomenon……”
“Oh, is that so?”

Just in case, I examined my deck.
One card in particular caught my eye.

[Blind Girl]
[Cost: 0]
[Effect: When this card is Normal or Special Summoned to the field, the player who successfully Summoned it permanently gains the “Universal” effect.]
[“Universal”: At the end of your turn, you can check your opponent’s hand, deck, and Graveyard, and rearrange the order and positions of the cards as you wish.]
[Card Text: Oops, sorry, seems like it’s my fault?]

“There can only be one final boss. But your deck is also being treated as another entity.”
“I see why the problem arose.”

The issue was the conflict caused by having two entity values.

“Then it seems we must abandon the ‘Card Battle’ and start a different game. Even with a different game, the absolute rules would be the same as now, wouldn’t they?”
“Yes, that is true, but… apart from Card Battles, is there a concept where you would have an overwhelming advantage as the final boss?”
“Unfortunately, there is one.”

I had also considered this.
But I had set it aside due to personal greed.

“Racing.”

If even mere cards could birth such a strange world.
How bizarre would a racing-centric world be?

“Let’s move to a world where the concept of auto racing is central.”

In such a world, my driving skills might also improve to a decent level.

“First, please send Professor Roland back to his residence. You can do at least that much, can’t you? Also, make him temporarily forget the memories involving me.”
“Yes, I can do that.”

As for his request, I could wrap it up by revealing the truth to him once everything was over.

“Thanks to you, I can now change the concept without replacing the stone tablets. So can we start right away?”
“Yes. It’s fine.”
“Then!”

Looking as joyful as I was, she exerted her power, and the world suddenly split in two.

‘This phenomenon is not visible to my left eye.’

It was only visible to my right eye.
Beyond my right eye, there was another me.
The me as a Duelist who had just been conversing with her, awaiting the racing world.

‘She’s gone.’

Without her, the manager of the “center of the world,” there was only the human me.
That world was like a new branch that had grown independently in its own direction from this place where I was.

‘A parallel world?’

Though she was not a uniquely high-tier entity like the Blind Girl.

‘Perhaps this is what her creator desired.’

To create parallel worlds with different possibilities through games.
The center of the world was the central terminal that allowed such branches to sprout, so it did not exist in other worlds.
Just a hypothesis; I don’t know if it’s the truth.

‘Oh dear.’

My eyes met those of the Duelist me.
He too saw me with his right eye.
As we had not completely separated yet, we communicated mentally.

‘We’ve been separated. A parallel world? That must be it.’
‘Probably.’
‘In my world, the “center of the world” disappeared. But since this space and the cards remain, the “Card Battle” state continues.’
‘That’s not so bad, is it? You achieved your goal, after all.’
‘Yeah, it’s not bad.’

The Duelist me waved his hand.

‘I also wanted to enjoy racing, so enjoy it a lot for me.’
‘Take care, Duelist Seung-hoon.’

Eventually, the parallel world vanished from sight.
In the distance, a new world approached. It was like the loading gap between games as the world changed.

“?”

At that moment, a phone rang.

“Dong-wook?”
-Ah! Seung-hoon! I can finally reach you! You’re on Earth now, right? What in the world happened……

The call was immediately cut off.
Following that, a single fly buzzed around my ear.

“Oh, Mr. Seung-hoon Lee, what in the world have you……”

The fly also quickly disappeared.
Next, the Karma Call Center phone rang.

-Hello? Lord of Karma-to-be? What in the world are you……”

That call was also immediately cut off.
Then, a gold ingot spontaneously popped out of the Void Pocket, and a thin, long golden thread emerged, writing words in the air before me.

[VVIP Customer? What in the world are you doing!?]

The golden thread also quickly scattered.
This time, my smartphone’s screen turned on by itself, displaying a noise-filled screen.

[This Mr… …what… …Director… …furious……]

It seemed wall-mounted TVs could also project their power onto other mediums.
Judging by the severe noise, it didn’t seem useful unless it was the main body.

“It seems there was some external interference during this moment of the world changing.”

Once the world had completely changed, there was no more interference.
In the changed world, I was in an office with a view overlooking the entire surface.

“Beautiful.”

Through the window, I could see a massive racetrack stadium.
The enormous track, which must have been at least tens of kilometers in size, was something I had never seen in the original world.

Surrounding that racetrack stadium was a massive mountain.
A checkered flag spanning several kilometers was sculpted into it, and at the very top was a similarly gigantic sculpted car wheel, clearly displaying the value of this world.

“The racing world, huh.”

I checked my reflection in the glass window.
Befitting the final boss, the deep black suit was striking.
My facial features had also changed – while it was undoubtedly the same face as before, it now emanated a peculiar sense of wickedness.

“You’ve certainly put in a lot of effort until now, to acquire normal driving skills. But in the end, you couldn’t change yourself.”

My current background automatically flowed into my mind, likely due to the “center of the world’s” consideration.

“Instead, you changed the world itself. Maybe your driving skills have also changed? Even if they haven’t, it will still be a great help for racing, so it doesn’t matter.”

A leading racing company that ruled the world.
Its founder and a racing driver who has never lost a single race, now the company’s chairman.

“Everyone says they are the protagonist of their own story, but from now on, I’ll stop being the protagonist.”

Undefeated and invincible – that is my current name known to the world, Seung-hoon Lee.

“From now on, I am the final boss.”