Episode 7-Ender's Game (10)

After my initial shock, I watched the meeting with interested eyes. This was - probably - a once-in-a-lifetime chance to spy on the powerful Dokkaebi. As the operators of [Star Stream,] they controlled the scenarios and influenced the course of events.

(Wait, is this the Dokkaebi Bureau?)

If this was the Dokkaebi Bureau.... this was truly a great opportunity. Buildings and offices managed by the Dokkaebi Bureau were equivalent to the U.S. Pentagon in terms of information and secrecy.

(I could learn so much information.)

I could view Constellation taxes, Star Streamer taxes, Incarnation taxes, main scenario requests for different planetary systems.... So much information is housed by the Dokkaebi....

(This is a bloody gold - no - diamond-mine.)

The information in this office could be worth millions of coins. Sadly, I didn't know how long I could stay here. I had to pay attention to this meeting. After several interruptions from other Dokkaebi, Herald began to speak again.

[Okay, the Constellations that are Myth-Grade are: "The Black One, Lord of Muspellheim," "All-Devouring Wolf of Apocalypse" and.... sheesh, this Constellation is strong. They are currently hiding their true modifier from the other Constellations and Incarnations. But because we have access to the system that they use, we can see their true identity. The last Myth-Grade Constellation is "Maternal Harbinger of Eternal Night and Chaos."]

After this name was spoken, all the Dokkaebi shivered from fear, or appeared nervous. They began to argue again.

[That Constellation is using the Star Stream?!! We must ban her!! She's too powerful, she'll ruin the Scenarios!!]

[We can't do that! All Constellations have a right to use [Star Stream] for their entertainment purposes. It's in our Terms of Service.]

[She isn't a Constellation, or a normal one at that!! She is a force of Chaos!! Look at her modifier!!]

[That was a modifier generated by the Star Stream naming system,] a Dokkaebi interceded. [Which means that she is still a part of the Star Stream.]

[Dokkaebi Kjellberg! But-]

[Enough. This is an advantageous situation. If she is entering the scenarios and using too much probability because she is overconfident....] The Dokkaebi - who seemed to be Kjellberg - smiled as he said this.

After a pause from this controversial sounding sentence, Herald spoke up again.

[You are hoping that they overuse their probability and lower their potential influence,] Herald said.

[See, this is why Herald in a intermediate dokkaebi! He understands the system and how it works.]

I looked at Herald.

(I thought he was poor....)

We weren't together long, but I could relate to Herald because I thought he was like me. We would talk for a bit, and complain about [Star Stream.] I felt dread.

(Does he work for the Bureau?)

Being a Dokkaebi [Star Streamer] and a Dokkaebi that works for the [Dokkaebi Bureau] is very different. If I could compare it to something, Star Streamers are like Twitch users, or YouTubers. They make content, and have the Constellations pay them directly.

Dokkaebi who work for the Bureau are similar to people who control internet servers, and the government of the [Star Stream.] If I could compare them to anything, I would say that these Dokkaebi are office workers. They make sure that [Star Streamers] don't exhaust too much probability, and affect the grand universe too much.

(But the Star Stream isn't opposed to extreme content....) I thought angrily. (If I could summarize Star Stream, it's basically YouTube that allows R-18 content to some Constellations....)

I gripped my fist... and I calmed my anger, and went back to the conversation at hand.

[Besides that! We could get into trouble for allowing this to happen!! Scandals of Myth-Grade Constellations ruining early main scenarios usually result in backlash to the Dokkaebi who monitor such scenarios!!]

[We can remedy that,] Dokkaebi Kjellberg said. [We will put more probability constraints on the Washington State scenarios, and we will try to notify the King if anything happens.]

[The King?] Herald asked. [Are you sure we should trouble him with this?]

[I would say it's important, Herald. Why are you concerned if the King is involved or not? Are... you afraid for that monstrous Incarnation that you have on your channel?]

All the Dokkaebi turned to look at Herald.

[Hey, yeah.... What's his name...?] The Dokkaebi named Paul began snapping their fingers, as if it was a habit. [Ah!! I remember!]

I felt afraid of what the Dokkaebi was about to say....

[That Incarnation named Ethan Nakamura! He's being sponsored by "The Black One, Lord of Muspellheim," right?]

(Oh... shit...)

[Hey, yeah, he's an absolute monster....]

[He talks about killing the Constellations time to time....]

[It's probably just baseless threats. All Incarnations are like that. They think they have to kill the Constellations, become Constellations, or work with Constellations.... all the good it can do for them...]

All the Dokkaebi began to laugh at Paul's comment, or whisper about it as if they were little kids. I looked at Herald's face, and he seemed somewhat uncomfortable. He began to speak again.

[I'm just monitoring the boy. As a potential singularity, he poses a danger. We can't just....] Herald paused, as if the words he was about to say made him feel uncomfortable. [We can't just kill Ethan Nakamura.]

For some reason, I felt touched by Herald's word. Conversely, all the Dokkaebi in the meeting room looked at Herald as if he let out a massive fart. Sadly, the humor of such a situation wasn't there. Instead, it was just all of the disgust.

[Herald,] a Dokkaebi said. [Do you... actually care about this Incarnation?]

[What? No.] Herald said this with a cold look, but even I could tell he was lying.

[Enough,] Dokkaebi Kjellberg interjected. [Who are the other Myth-Grade Constellations?]

Herald nodded at the question, and continued: [The others are Constellation "Mother Within the Earth," Constellation "Physical Prison of Giants and Titans." Another one is "Father of Eternal Darkness and Chaos."]

[My god.... why did they come back...?]

[How....]

These names alone made some of the Dokkaebi shudder; other Dokkaebi looked ignorant, but perturbed.

[Which pantheon are they from?] Dokkaebi Kjellberg asked.

[The Greek one, sir,] Herald answered quickly.

[I see. Their status in the scenarios?]

[Null, sir. They seem to be monitoring "Maternal Harbinger of Eternal Night and Chaos." None of the others have any Incarnations.]

[Let us thank the probability for that. If they were to move, they could destroy the entire solar system of Planet #8612.]

[All right, all of you are free to go. It's around lunch, so proceed to the mess hall if you like. I apologize for the abrupt meeting.] Dokkaebi Kjellberg said.

After they were all dismissed, several Dokkaebi left; either they would go back to work because they were diligent, or they would go to lunch because they were too lax. I decided to follow Herald back to their office. It was a small space, but very neat. There wasn't anything that was unnecessary; it felt clinical even. All that was here was an artificial plant, but it looked pathetic compared to the lacking décor.

It felt weird being here. I felt like a little kid that was at his father's office because it was "Bring Your Kid to Work Day."

(Thank god I never had a father.)

After that somber thought, I simply watched Herald work. He did it with a surgeon-like-precision; he would sign his name, read documents, sign his name, and read more documents. He would do this over and over again. 30 minutes passed like this.

(This is boring as fuck....)

[Herald?]

Herald looked up from his desk quickly, and saw it was Dokkaebi Kjellberg.

[Yes, sir? Do you need anything?]

Dokkaebi Kjellberg looked at both ends of the hallway; it seemed he didn't want anyone to see him enter Herald's office. I felt dread when he finally came in, and closed the office door. I turned to look back at Herald, and his expression was even more serious than before.

[Sir, what is this about?]

Herald was standing at his desk, looking skeptically at Kjellberg.

[Nothing that will take up too much of your time, Herald.]

(Bitch, that's code that you gonna kill him, and it ain't gonna take long to murder him....)

Out of all the chapters I read from TWSA, I've never read an account where a Dokkaebi killed another Dokkaebi. I would have to presume that their would be certain [Star Stream] laws that would prevent that.

[Herald, I wish to talk to you about Incarnation Ethan Nakamura.]

If I was in my body, I bet my back would go rigid.

(They don't know I'm here. I'm using Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, and they are not as strong as Hypnos, who can control dreams... Shit, I'm just hoping....)

If the Dokkaebi found out I could spy on them, then I would be hit by probability storms six ways till Sunday.

[Do not worry. I do not wish to sanction the Incarnation, or report them.]

I turned back Herald; he relaxed a little bit, but he still seemed tense.

[Then, sir... pardon my rudeness, but what is this about?]

[It's about how strong they are, and why they are trapped in a hidden scenario.]

[You know of that?] Herald asked with a grimace.

[Yes. The hidden scenario is absurd.]

Dokkaebi Kjellberg brought up the window and made Herald look at it.

+

[Hidden Scenario-Literature Dungeon]

Category: Hidden

Difficulty: S+

Time Limit: None

Rewards: 50,000 coins; Legendary-Grade Fable

Requirements: Finish a book to the end.

Failure: ???

Overall Evaluation: Only one Incarnation may enter one book. There are a plethora of books to choose from; all the books will be locked when one Incarnation chooses a book to enter. The Incarnation will become a random character in the respective book.

+

[The requirements only appeared after the Incarnation entered the hidden scenario,] Dokkaebi Kjellberg said.

[I see...] Herald said.

[The hidden scenario is also a novel simulation made with Time Dilation, which can affect the Incarnation negatively. Usually, this isn't an issue, but the reward is too extreme. A Legendary-Grade fable? In the 4th Main scenario? It's too much.]

[Well, sir, the rank of the dungeon is S+ and Time Dilation is in effect, so I would say that it is fair enough and difficult enough; they cancel each other out.]

It felt as if Herald was trying to appeal to some logic that wasn't there. As I reader of TWSA, even I knew that receiving a Legendary Fable was too broken - especially in the early scenarios. All the scenarios were - mostly - controlled by the Dokkaebi, except for a few rare cases.

[That is an true, but there is another issue. We have simulation programmers enter their names and category of work into the Dokkaebi System, but we can't find the other programmer. The other one was killed in South Korea by a group of Incarnations; two of the Incarnations disturb the probability as well.]

[Well, shouldn't the emerging scenarios remedy the issue of probability?]

[Yes, but there is another monstrous Incarnation in India.]

[Ranveer Khan?]

[No, a different one. They are few and far between, but the Constellations are making a big hubbub of it all.]

[Well, the gazes of Constellations also give probability....]

[Stop rationalizing the situation. This is what I'm saying: strange things are happening. An example is one of the programmers of the simulation "Ender's Game."]

[How is it strange, sir?] Herald asked quizzically.

[Their is barely any information about them. I only have a name, but a profile doesn't appear in the system. All I know is this: the programmer is called "EG9."]

[Sorry, may you say it again?]

[Bah, look at this!]

+

[Programmer File]

Birth Name: EG9

Age: ???

Occupation: ???

Serial Number: ???

Space-Time Coordinates: ???

Contact information: ???

Additional Information: ???

+

[This is just a sample of the file information, Herald. The rest of it is just question marks.]

[Wait, how? The system is perfect, there's no way a file so important can be corrupted....]

[I don't know. It might be the Wenny men; they love to screw around with our scenarios, but I don't TRULY know if it's them. I just came here to warn you. If your channel's Incarnation comes out too strong because they earned an overpowered Fable, you will be questioned by the Bureau. The worst-case-scenario is this: you suffer from a probability storm. The best-case-scenario: You receive forced leave without pay. You're a Star Streamer on the side; you won't be bothered financially, but it will look horrible on your record. But that is the best case scenario....]

[Why are you worried about my channel?]

[Because you are one of the best Star Stream Monitors we had in ages. You have caught Illegal Probability Sharers for a long-time.... seeing something happen to your record would be a shame. To be truthful, you should be out-ranking me. You are one of the youngest Dokkaebi that entered the Dokkaebi PMA...]

[Please, Dokkaebi Kjellberg...] Herald seemed to hold back his words, he appeared bashful and ashamed.

[So, this is why I have to warn you again. If you keep on protecting Ethan Nakamura unnecessarily... You'll suffer horrible fates that I can't even conceive. I don't know who oversees your Dokkaebi Probability Monitor Agency, but when they give the order to steer the probability against Ethan Nakamura.... You must take the shot....]

Herald seemed shaken from the paragraph that Dokkaebi Kjellberg uttered.

[Leave my office. You are drawing suspicion to us by talking to me. Do you think I don't know about Ethan, and how he is a singularity in the scenario?]

Suddenly, Herald's countenance changed from a scared office worker to a professional, authoritative person. Surprisingly, Dokkaebi Kjellberg seemed to be cowed. Even I could sense the atmosphere shift into something serious.

[Don't worry, the matter... it is safe with me.]

After that affirmation, Kjellberg left.

(When the hell did this turn into some cheap spy movie?)

The situation at hand felt like some Mission: Impossible shit, or a James Bond film. Although, I could tell it was serious by looking at Herald's anguish face. He made sure that Kjellberg was gone, and sat back down in his seat. He was grabbing the fur on his head, and seemed as if he was about to cry.

[Damnit... I'm sorry, Ethan.]

I was shaken when he spoke my name aloud.

[If they found out... I'll have to put your name in the books....]

(Does he mean the official system that the Dokkaebi use?)

[Seriously, why is this the only things that comes up?]

I floated behind Herald, and saw he was looking at my attribute information.

+

[Incarnation Information]

Name: Ethan Nakamura

Age: 15

Ethnicity: ???

Species: Human

Personal Skills: [Bombastic Voice Lv.3], [Self-taught Sword Fighting Lv.8], [Asian Condescension Lv.8], [Reading Comprehension Lv.6], [Asian Adaption Lv. 10], [Physical Analyzation Lv. 1]...

■?■■?■■■?■■■■?■■■?■■?■?■■■?

+

(If I could feel my heart beat, could I feel it beat in this form?)

Herald was looking at some of my information. I thought Fragment of the 4th Wall protected my information; I couldn't even see my own attribute window. It seems that gaining other Fragments was a major priority for me; I felt disconcerted that the Dokkaebi could see it so easily.

(If they could view my information... other people can as well.)

Such as Yu Junghyeok. He had a SS-Grade skill called [Sage's Eyes.] It could allow him to view people's attribute information with ease. Anna Croft could also glean information from others by entering their dreams and reading their futures. I was under the impression that my Fragment protected me from that.

(It's probably due to it being a Fragment and not a whole piece...)

I saw Herald flick some windows, until he was watching something else. I couldn't see the screen too well, but I saw it clearly: a Scenario Window. It had the title "Ender's Game: Simulation."

Herald was watching Colonel Graff and Major Anderson talk to each other. They were in the respective bodies of their actors - Harrison Ford and Viola Davis - but the dialogue - both movie and book - was different. I saw the two stand up around a desk; I also saw a plaque with Graff's name on it. It seemed that the physical setting was staged in his office. I began to hear my supervising officers speak.

+

"I swear, I saw Ender smirk a little when he broke that kid's arm. How do we know he isn't another Peter? Do we have to start over again?"

"Anderson, we can't. There isn't enough time. Our fleet is almost there; a few more years. We need Ender to beat the Formics when he becomes commander."

"If he turns into a Peter, you know he's going to send all of our troops to hell. His brother is a cruel son of a bitch, if Ender grows up to be him.... No one will want to follow him anymore."

"Want do you want me to do? Tell all the kids to love him now? That's not going to work."

"Shit, I don't know anymore...."

"We can send him to an army if he shows promise."

"If, Graff, if. If he doesn't show promise, we are screwed; either from the buggers, or from the governments that are going to court-martial our asses because of what we plan to do to the boy!"

"That won't happen. If we train him correctly, he can be the exact person we need him to be. It's only been a few days at Battle School...."

"Yes, and the pressure is already getting to him. His grades are failing. It's weird for some reason. He scored unnaturally high in language comprehension, but too low in mathematics. What the hell happened? Did his brain tip side to side on launch? Oh, I know: it was because of that kid who kept hitting Ender on the back of the head."

"I don't know, Anderson."

"Shit.... If Ender becomes too violent and arrogant, he'll lose his intelligence and start to rely on brute force. If that happens, he's going to like the rest of the angry little shits here."

"How do you want me to avoid that?"

Major Anderson paused for a moment.

"Devalue the other boys again - but instead - with just you and Ender. Place more faith in him, more trust. If you do.... he might want to try harder...."

"I-I can't compromise that," Graff said hesitantly.

"Are you afraid of becoming to close to him?"

"Yes. Of course. Don't be a idiot. Teaching these kids, making them into soldiers.... It's funny at first, but it feels different when you find out that the kids you sent to Combat School grew up into soldiers that died in space-battle."

"That's our job, Graff."

"I know. At times, I hate it."

+

Herald closed the window.

(Why? Why is the simulation running when... it's just a simulation? Shouldn't it be powered by code? How powerful is the randomization engine? A simulation's "Time Dilation" is the equivalent of being set to low-powered mode on a computer.... So, why? Is it how the programming works to generate newer-outcomes?)

I was shocked. Did I just hear... Herald's thoughts?

[Wait a minute....]

Herald began to look around.

[Who's there!?! Spy!! There is a spy!!]

[It' s ti me to lea ve th is dre am....]

(Fragment of the 4th Wall?)

***

I was back at Hypnos's River Lethe home. I was back: I was standing on Fragment of the 4th Wall.

(What the hell was... that?)

"Well, Ethan, did you find anything interesting?"

I turned my attention back to Hypnos, who was standing in a field of wilting flowers.

"What the hell did you do the probability, you crazy-du-- Ga!! How did that happen!?!"

Hypnos shrugged and said, "I don't know, but I do know this: It's time to wake up now, Ethan."

"NO! This conversation--"

"Is over," Hypnos interrupted.

I felt my mind rise towards the ceiling of the Underworld.

[Constellation "Queen of the Darkest Spring" is looking at Constellation "Deity of Sleep and Hypnosis."]

This was the last thing I saw before I woke up again.