Chapter 12 – Truth – Part 1

TL: Eevee

Ed: Isalee

Let’s make an a.s.sumption here. So in the world I used to live in, a substance called ‘mana’ came into it. Whether that was a good or bad thing is irrelevant. The important thing is that ‘an ma.s.sive amount’ came in.

What probably happened was that people were unaccustomed to mana so it was nothing short of poison to them. And if you were exposed to an excess of that then you would die.

Oxygen is something essential to our bodies, but if you keep breathing 100% oxygen for extended periods of time, then there would be all sorts of problems. Putting it simply, lungs aside, even the brain ‘burns’. In that case, what would happen if someone was continually exposed to an overwhelming excess of a foreign substance that the body had absolutely no defenses or immunity against?

I wondered how, out of the 7-8 billion or so humans, not even one could accept it. There could have been humans that were sealed off, and there were s.p.a.ce stations in the sky.

But still no one?

Then what does that make me?

“The population of the world during the prehistoric era was close to eight billion. Even if 0.01% of the population survived, that would still leave eight hundred thousand people. But even so, it is suspicious that no one survived.”

“I will answer that question shortly. It is an important matter.”

……

My heart started to pound but I took deep breaths and somewhat calmed down. Sunang leisurely waited for me, and perhaps thinking that I was stable, she threw out another question.

“Why do you suspect the hundred year time period?”

Sunang’s question brought my mind back to the present.

Of course, because of scientific evidence.

“Before I answer that question, could I first see a world map?”

“Not a map, but it is possible.”

A ball of light about the size of a head formed in Sunang’s hand, and as the light settled and solidified, it formed into a shape.

The shape of the Earth.

“This is something that Araepa.s.s created after consulting the remnants of the prehistoric civilisation. He said that this is on a scale of 5000 to 1.”

I can’t refute that. If she’d brought out something like a medieval map I could have at least tried to argue against it. But she brought out a model of Earth. It can’t be 100% trusted but I have to take its accuracy seriously.

The problem was….

“Why is India stuck to Jeju Island!”

India, or more accurately, a landma.s.s that looked like India, was stuck to Jeju Island and China. Plus……

“Freedomland’s(1) become our neighbour!”

North America’s attached to j.a.pan. j.a.pan’s connected by ‘land’ to Gyungsando.(2) And the rest, as in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Oceania, South America, all have vanished. The rest is ocean. Heck, even over half of China, Siberia, North America have vanished as well. That is, over half the Earth’s landma.s.s is gone. No, not half, over three quarters is missing.

Why?

Where the h.e.l.l did you sell off the tectonic drift and continental plate theories. Does it make any sense that the continents can change this much in a thousand… no, a couple hundred years?

“What is the matter?”

“If the continents were to move like this it would take tens of thousands of… no, millions of years. And the continents that have been discovered and studied till now have all moved around randomly. This was why I had doubts of the hundred year time period. Because just now, I heard that all the continents I knew are now ocean.”

“How surprising. The prehistoric era had knowledge like this as well.”

“It did, but…… I can’t explain it with my knowledge.”

Even dedicated specialists would find it hard to. In order for the Indian subcontinent to move near Korea, just how many plates would it need to skip over? If India or j.a.pan came to stick to our country, ma.s.sive tectonic movements would be a given, but if it changed this much in just a hundred years you might as well call in Armageddon.

“Then could you please explain mana and dimensional gates to me?”

“That… might be difficult as well.”

Then again, if this was a fantasy novel then even I could probably throw in my two cents.

“In that case, there could only be one cause. Wouldn’t it?”

“Mana.”

So the words ‘fascist’ and ‘commie’ have disappeared to be replaced by the new word ‘mana.’ If unexplainable things happen, all you need to say ‘it’s because of mana’ and nothing more need be said. In that case, then the probability that my knowledge is awry is eliminated.

“Jinsu-nim.”

“Yes.”

“You can’t speak a word of our discussion to anyone else. Can you promise me?”

What discussion? Does she mean the multipurpose capabilities of mana?

“I cannot promise that. Even though I have no thoughts of telling anyone, I may accidentally let it slip when I talk about related subjects.”

Also, if someone brought out the torture gear, then I’d probably cry everything out even before a bruise. How the h.e.l.l would I endure torture. I probably wouldn’t even last a minute after having my legs twisted?

“Since I cannot trust myself, if it’s something that cannot be leaked then I’d rather you seal it. Or erase my memory.”

“Jinsu-nim is an honest person. I trust you.”

Hey, I can’t even trust myself so why the h.e.l.l are you trusting me?

“Around a thousand years ago, we crossed a gate between dimensions and came to this land. The world then….. I could only describe it as ‘wretched’.”

Many continents sank into the ocean.

A bright civilisation was buried under the earth.

Humans lacked clothes and language and wandered around like beasts.

“Their appearance was human but their heads were in a blank slate. They were living purely on instinct. Can you imagine it? There were legacies that awed us lying around and yet they were treating them like rocks on the roadside.”

“……”

I can imagine it. So you’re telling me they used vernier calipers as a club.

“We each had our own roles. Berius… No, the Angel G.o.d took on the role of protection from danger, the Demon G.o.d undertook research on the prehistoric civilisation, and the Beast G.o.d treated and educated the humans. I was responsible for the place where both humans and the legacies of the prehistoric civilisation were safe. The construction of the holy land.”

“And that holy land became Seoul.”

“Indeed. And so another hundred years pa.s.sed. There were many advances within that time. According to the records of the prehistoric civilisation… you could say that technology was around the level of the early Three Kingdoms era.(3) Between the records said and the people at the time, there was a difference, where their bodies had adjusted to mana, and were becoming aware of how to use it; they developed both physically and mentally. The problem began there.”