BXBX NOVEL Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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The Existence Ⅰ
1
Since the ark appeared in the last episode, I thought I’d continue with the theme of "ships" in this one.
Of course, few ships have as much global renown as the ark.
(If we limit it to the Korean Peninsula, perhaps the Turtle Ship might come close.)
The ship we’ll be discussing today is one that’s both famous and not so famous—a strange one, known as "The Ship of Theseus."
2
Before we get into the main story.
Sharp-eyed readers may have noticed that I’ve recently omitted the phrase, "This episode is based on events that occurred in XXX turn."
Now, I’ll finally reveal that the Leviathan leading the redevelopment of Busan’s construction project was from the 664th turn.
In other words, it was the era when Doctor Jang Regressor was evolving from a seasoned veteran to a fossil fuel. A time when I was beginning to enjoy a status that could be called "Munchkin" without any shame.
But today, we'll focus on a story from a much earlier time.
[Doctor Jang, when I briefly stopped by Okinawa the other day, I saw with my clairvoyance that a massive typhoon was moving toward the Philippines.]
"A massive one?"
[Yes. It seemed to have a diameter of at least 1,000 kilometers, and its height almost reached the boundary of the troposphere.]
"What the heck is that? That sounds terrifying..."
One of the forbidden plots in subcultures is having a strong protagonist become weak again.
In the past, there were many stories in martial arts where the protagonist would lose their memory after falling off a cliff or have their inner power shattered, leading to a frustrating turn of events. But such lazy plots can’t survive in today’s wild and competitive subculture market.
However, in my story, anything is possible.
For example, I can "regress" from the 664th turn back to the 239th turn, and as a character, I am legally allowed to become weaker.
At that time, I didn't have the ability to cross the Pacific Ocean on my own (people would laugh at the mere suggestion), I didn't know about the existence of the great typhoon anomaly, and I certainly couldn't have imagined that the Saintess might suddenly turn into a potato while out on a stroll.
Even for a regressor, it was hard to imagine such things.
But...
If we're talking about similarly strange occurrences, they have always been unwelcome guests in my life, both then and now.
"Craftsman Noh Doha! We've got a patient here! Please hurry and make a prosthetic for them!"
"Damn it..."
Of course, from Noh Doha’s perspective, I must have been the uninvited guest in their life.
To maintain smooth human relationships, one must always adopt a relativistic perspective.
"This isn't a patient; it's just a corpse with a few seconds left to live! Damn it, how am I supposed to meet this production deadline...?"
One day during the 239th turn, I carried a severely injured person to Noh Doha.
Let's call this patient "Patient A."
Noh Doha grumbled, but immediately stopped their duties as the Head of National Road Management and started working to save Patient A.
In the post-apocalyptic world, the President of Korea also served as an on-call emergency room doctor 24/7.
"......, ......"
As Noh Doha said, the patient was in a quantum state between life and death.
The body was covered in blood. Arms and legs had flown off in search of freedom, and even the heart had been pierced clean through. The fact that death hadn't been fully confirmed yet was nothing short of a miracle.
Of course, it wasn’t a miracle from the heavens.
The apocalypse was like a yandere character who had a –100 affinity score with humanity.
What’s the point of a yandere with no affection? Yeah, exactly. There’s not much difference from an ordinary serial killer.
"How did they end up like this...?"
"They belong to a small guild. They were exploring a void near Gimhae and ended up encountering the 'Code of Hammurabi' anomaly. This person offered their heart as a condition to kill the anomaly's heart."
"Huh. Quite the sacrifice. And they somehow survived..."
"The other guild members performed CPR desperately for an hour, taking turns. It was a grueling experience, but it paid off. I received the distress signal and rushed over. This place was much closer than Pyongyang, so I brought them here."
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
It was always important, but after the use of "Aura" became a mandatory subject for awakened beings, it became even more crucial.
Now, when saving someone's heart, awakened beings didn't just rely on weak hand pumping.
They used the mystery of the apocalypse, "Aura."
To put it dramatically, emergency treatment was still possible even if the heart stopped or, as in this case, disappeared.
Controlling oxygen and carbon dioxide levels and circulating the blood using Aura made it possible to keep someone alive for hours.
For how long? Until my Aura ran out.
Of course, circulating a human’s blood throughout their body was not as easy as it might sound. It required extremely precise Aura control.
In today’s job market, a simple Aura accumulator wasn’t as highly valued.
In critical situations (which occurred 90% of the time in the void), the kind of people that guilds sought were those who could delicately control their Aura to protect both their own life and the lives of their comrades.
And who was the one who not only developed this comprehensive "Aura Usage Method" but also introduced it to the job market and established it as a required course?
Who else could it be?
It was I, Doctor Jang.
It was no wonder that I was respected by most awakened beings in most turns.
If I suggested founding the National Road Management Team, all the guild leaders across the country would agree. After all, they were practically my disciples in every way but name.
Anyway.
"The arms, legs, and heart. Craftsman, please prioritize making the heart first, and we can deal with the limbs later. In the meantime, I'll keep the patient alive."
"Sigh..."
Noh Doha adjusted the angle of their monocle and grabbed their tools.
"Hold on for 60 more minutes..."
Noh Doha’s awakened ability.
[Prosthetic Creation].
The ability to create prosthetics that, when attached to a person’s body, would function "as if they were a natural part of their body."
At first, it was mainly used to create artificial limbs, but as the turns went on, it began to be applied to more "delicate body parts."
Now, when awakened beings joined a guild, they almost always took a "body photo."
This body photo captured the external appearance and the internal organs—brain, heart, lungs, and so on.
And guilds sent these body photos to the National Road Management Team for registration.
The reason was simple.
So that when they were in life-threatening situations like this, Noh Doha could create "body parts as close to the original as possible."
It was a type of insurance, so to speak.
Of course, Noh Doha was extremely busy.
Finding a healer was easier than requesting prosthetics from Noh Doha, who had the workload of Zhuge Liang.
But what if the heart was gone?
There were very few healers who could treat that. Maybe only the so-called "KoreanVillage Villain," who debuted as a Saintess in the North, could.
Seriously injured patients, those who were virtually dead but whose comrades had somehow kept them alive with Aura, literal walking corpses.
These patients needed to go to Sim Aryeon or Noh Doha to have any chance of survival.
Just like in this case.
"The heart’s been created. Open the chest..."
"Yes, sir."
As expected, Noh Doha was as generous as ever.
Serving as the head of a quasi-government in a post-apocalyptic Korea, managing elderly welfare, and treating emergency patients who lost their hearts every few days. What is it that they can't do or won't do?
Will they die of overwork? Don’t worry. The world will end before that happens.
"Hmm. Fortunately, the blood vessels seem relatively intact. No, they’re too intact..."
"That’s because they only exchanged hearts with the Code of Hammurabi. It’s not an external injury."
"Ah, I see. Then let’s proceed with the implantation..."
Noh Doha implanted the "artificial heart."
Sweat dripped from his chin. It clearly showed how intensely he was focusing on Patient A.
"The heart is properly positioned."
"Please attach it with Aura..."
"Yes. I’ll keep circulating blood with Aura until the heartbeat returns. One, two, three."
Thump-.
"...!"
Patient A’s body jerked.
Noh Doha and I, who had done this many times, paid no mind and continued the surgery smoothly.
"Start reducing the Aura bit by bit..."
"I’ve reduced it by 70%. Breathing is normal. The heartbeat is strong. No abnormalities."
"Reduce it more..."
"50% reduced. No abnormalities. The patient’s Aura is faintly detectable in the heart. It’s starting to resist my Aura."
"Cut it back significantly. Slowly..."
"Yes. 30%, 20%, 10%, 1%. No abnormalities. Resistance has disappeared. Stopping the Aura infusion."
I smoothly disconnected the Aura that I had been channeling for nearly two hours.
"......"
"......"
Noh Doha and I silently gazed down at Patient A, lying on the hospital bed.
We deliberately avoided using a vital sign monitor, the kind that usually emits a 'beep-beep-beep' sound in hospitals. Absolutely not. Never.
As I’ve mentioned before, electronic devices are dangerous these days. Ever since the Void arrived, everything has been contaminated.
If you were to place a vital sign monitor near a patient, no matter how stable they might be, it wouldn’t be long before:
Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep—beeeeeeeep—
And the heart would stop.
It’s no exaggeration to say that what was once a life-saving tool has now become a killing machine.
It’s absurd, but what can we do? That’s the state of our world.
Even in such a world, we must save those who can be saved.
"One minute has passed. No issues."
"......"
"Three minutes have passed. No issues. Pulse and pupil contraction are normal. I'm proceeding with consciousness check."
My dark aura forcibly awakened Patient A's consciousness.
Gasp—.
The patient opened their mouth wide.
"Gasp, gasp... H-where am I...?"
"Patient. Patient. Can you hear my voice?"
"Ugh? Y-yes, I can... I can hear you..."
"Can you tell me your name?"
"Ugh. Uh, Ah Reum..."
I nodded.
"Consciousness is stable. No contamination from the Void detected so far. Master Noh Doha, it seems you can relax now."
"Whew..."
Thud.
Noh Doha slumped into a chair, completely exhausted. He looked like he didn’t even have the strength to speak.
Sensing his fatigue, I went out and brought him some iced coffee.
Noh Doha briefly looked as if he was debating whether to throw the coffee at me but eventually just accepted it and drank.
"I'm going to die from overwork at this rate..."
"You'll be fine. All of humanity is in the same boat."
"Seriously, I'm overworked. I need to delegate more authority to Yoo Jiwon or reduce my workload somehow..."
"Chief Noh Doha. Do you know what we call Yoo Jiwon when she has more authority than she does now?"
"Let me guess, a anomaly? A dictator? Or is it the start of another one of your 'I've given her more authority in previous turns' things? Whether you’re telling the truth or making it up on the spot, I’ll never know, and so I’m forced to be a victim of your Regressor Time Play?"
"And what if... it is?"
Splash!
Even as an experienced regressor, there were some things I couldn’t predict.
First, coffee can be thrown at you even when it’s only half-drunk.
Second, there was Patient A, whom we had just saved.
"Thank you! Chief! Doctor Jang!"
For the record, this person's real name was "Ah Reum."
Their name was "Reum," and their surname was "A." An unusual surname for the Korean Peninsula.
"I will live even more diligently, grateful for your saved life! Truly, thank you!"
Patient A expressed their gratitude, but in reality, we did not believe those words.
Typically, those who had experienced the "loss of a heart" would retreat to the rear lines. The Void was just too dreadful.
No one blamed them for it.
There were plenty of heroes who could shrug off losing a limb, but when it came to losing a heart or brain, even they would say, "Yeah, retirement is understandable."
But Patient A was unusually dedicated.
One month later.
"Master Noh Doha! We have a patient! Please hurry and craft a prosthetic!"
"Goddammit..."
As usual, I kicked open the door to the Highway Management Command headquarters' meeting room.
Noh Doha, who was in the middle of a meeting with other department heads, cursed under his breath.
When he checked on the patient, his curses intensified.
"Wait a minute. Damn it. Isn't this the person who lost all their limbs and even donated their heart last month...?"
"Yes. That's correct."
"They went back into the Void after suffering those injuries? And if my eyes are correct, now half of their head is missing...?"
"It’s a miracle they survived even this. They encountered a basilisk, apparently. We should have a scan of their brain somewhere. Please make it as close as possible."
"This... damn it..."
Incredibly, Noh Doha was able to create an "artificial brain."
But only one hemisphere.
One side of the brain had to be intact for the artificial brain on the opposite side to function. If the entire brain was destroyed, even the master craftsman's S-class prosthetics were useless.
Why that was, none of us knew. Nor did we want to.
In this era, ignorance was strength. Francis Bacon was not a person but a misspelling of "France is bacon."
"Thank you! Chief! Doctor Jang! I will live even more diligently, grateful for your saved life! Truly, thank you!"
"Ah, yes. Well, just live safely... not just diligently..."
In any case, Noh Doha managed to save Patient A, who had lost their "left brain."
Now, Patient A had their left brain, heart, left arm, right arm, left leg, and right leg all replaced with prosthetics.
At this point, it was hard to call them Homo sapiens anymore.
But well, when you walk down the highway nowadays, you occasionally see people with sunflowers for heads. By comparison, a cyborg is relatively normal.
The problem came next.
"Master Noh Doha! We have a patient! Please hurry and craft a prosthetic!"
"......"
Two months later.
When I brought in the patient, Noh Doha, who had been enjoying some privacy (wine tasting in the basement), looked utterly disgusted.
"Are you kidding me? This is that person again, isn’t it...?"
To our astonishment, Patient A had been transported with their "right brain" missing this time.
What kind of coincidence was this?
In all my long life, this was a first.
What kind of madman would keep returning to the Void after losing all their limbs and their heart, then lose their left brain and still go back in to lose their right brain?
But the life of a regressor is not simple arithmetic; it’s statistics.
A lunatic like this did exist, and such a ridiculous scenario did occur.
"So you're not going to save them?"
"No, damn it. I’ll save them. But... this is essentially replacing the left and right brains alternately with prosthetics, right? Who knows what could happen? I've never done this before..."
"Don’t worry. Neither have I."
"Wow. That really puts my mind at ease, you damn regressor..."
Regardless, Noh Doha crafted the right brain.
And successfully implanted it into Patient A.
In fact, by this point, he could have done it with his eyes closed. By now, both Noh Doha and I were starting to wonder if our real job was being Patient A’s primary physicians.
In the end, we became the first medical team in history to replace an entire human brain from natural to synthetic.
"Patient. Patient. Can you hear my voice?"
"......"
"Can you tell me your name?"
"......"
Blink, blink.
Patient A opened their eyes. Their heartbeat was stable, and their pupils still reflected intelligence.
"Ah Reum. My name is Ah Reum."
I patted Noh Doha on the shoulder, congratulating her on the success of this impossible surgery.
However,
"――But what exactly is 'Ah Reum'?"
Looking back now, I wonder if it might have been better if the surgery had failed.
"Sorry?"
"I have a name, Ah Reum. But is the Ah Reum of ten years ago the same person as the Ah Reum of today?"
Patient A spoke, enunciating each word carefully.
With a voice that somehow felt... different.
"What about the Ah Reum from ten seconds ago? The Ah Reum from one second ago? Is the Ah Reum of one second from now the same person as the Ah Reum right now? Who am I? What am I?"
"......"
And thus, in that moment, a new anomaly was born into the world.