Introduction to History (4)

He had never thought about it, though he had doubted that this world was simply a manuscript written down on paper. But doubts couldn’t be turned into conviction. Kleio stretched out his hand toward Regina, a clear blue rectangle with a thin line in the middle forming on his hand as he injected ether into it.

“I’ve already turned back time with this skill and corrected the details of the story. How can a real-world be modified with a few scribbled correction marks?”

How could the real world be reduced to letters, and how could a strike mark rearrange a person’s life? How could you turn back time and bring someone back from the dead? The air around him seemed to grow thinner as Kleio felt choked. Regina struggled with a look that was no better than Kleio’s. She tried to convey the truth he asked for, but the words were violently blocked by some deterrent. After a tedious attempt, Regina’s voice came to him.

“…Oh, do you remember this question? How can history and narrative be distinguished?”

It was an out of context question. And Kleio, or Jungjin, remembered the moment he first heard that question in his life. It felt like an illusion as the past came to his mind—all of it; smell, sound, and texture. Kleio’s lips slowly turned upward.

“It is divided into writing that cannot change what has happened, writing that can change what has happened, and the act of finding events and the act of creating.”

“At the same time, the boundaries between history and narrative are closely attached—to the point where there is no way to discriminate, or they are as far away between as the edges of an ocean.”

Regina, who finished reciting the verses started by Kleio, managed a smile. It was the content that their professor in the Introduction to History class had given the very first day. They each knew it in a heartbeat. The official name of the lecture understood the Philosophy of History, but it was a required major course that everyone called “introduction to” by shorthand.

The scenery of the classroom on the second floor of the east building passed through his blinking eyelids. The east building was sixty years old and rather cold in March. The old radiators were noisy every morning. The lectures of the old professors on the verge of retirement were often lacking, and they went on several tangents in class. But Jungjin liked it. He used to glance at the back of Minsun, who always sat in the front row. It was thirteen years ago that now felt like a memory from a past life. Actually, that period of his life was functionally a past life now.

“Yes, that’s what we learned. The events of history that we know of in that world cannot happen twice, and historical descriptions cannot change what actually happened. In that world, that was right.”

Regina’s voice was so small that he could barely hear her even though they were practically cheek to cheek. Kleio squeezed her trembling hand.

“But here, this history isn’t. The history of this world can be rewritten and undone.”

In this world, the dead could survive, and mistakes could be corrected.

“This is very similar to the world we used to know, but it is a completely different world. It is composed of different natural laws and principles. Could it be that the history of the world, which sets the train station’s clock with ether rather than electricity, is the same as ours? Could the time here be the same as ours?”

“Then what’s the author’s role in this repeating world? How can a manuscript change it?”

Regina squeezed his hand painfully as she urgently spoke.

“You already know. Text is at its roots, transcending time and space… Think about it. That wasn’t different in our original world. There was also a book that wrote about the creation and destruction of the world. If so, couldn’t there be a book about the things in between?”

Jungjin engraved those words in his mind, unable to calm her pale, trembling hand. It was a description of the structure of this world that couldn’t be obtained anywhere. Even if he couldn’t understand it now, he sensed that it was something he must remember.

“It’s like rewriting the Bible would change the world?”

“Haha, you probably cannot fully understand the power of text now, but you’re already a great wizard, so you’ll have to admit it. Isn’t your magic strangely powerful?”

Kleio responded by squeezing her hand.

“Right, I did.”

“The mantras made of texts that have survived a long time, that have been rewritten over and over again, make your magic so powerful.”

It was true. Even simple defensive magic was overwhelmingly powerful when used with a mantra he obtained from the other world. But Jungjin found contradictions in her words.

“Why? All those sentences are creations that don’t exist in this world. In this world, no one knows them. How do I get a power that way?”

“Because the act of quoting in the form of chanting a mantra connects our worlds with the Palimpsest. Including ether, all the magic of the world-.”

It was something he had heard and read so many times he reflexively finished her thoughts.

“-Come from outside the world.”

“Right. For that reason, you have the same power as a miracle by remembering the sentences that crossed the world.”

He still couldn’t accept the sudden knowledge.

“But it wasn’t even the original language.”

“Translating is possible, as all the songs and scriptures in the world are translatable. Meaning transcends frame and exceeds form. The words of truth don’t fade in the midst of translation. That’s a divine event. ‘In the beginning, was the Word’ 1) *…”

Jungjin knew the next verse in Albion’s language. The Word was with God and was God.

“Hah, then it makes more sense. Anyone who has read some books can do that. Why the hell did you choose me?”

“It’s not like that. You did a really good job. You’ve come this far. Your recommendation…”

“Recommendation…”

“The advice you wrote on the eight manuscripts you read.”

It felt like the distant past now. Jungjin was barely able to remember the few emails he had exchanged with Mousai, offering only general theories as to his recommendations.

-If development is blocked, make a plot, and outline first before writing.

-It seems that you did not specifically assume a target audience, but if you think about the recent trend, you can also consider a direction to speed up the development.

-If the protagonist is given the information and ability to fight the villain, will it not lead to the intended development?

The content wasn’t that great. Also, at that time, -The Prince of the Kingdom of Albion- was still a lukewarm text. If he had thought it was a world he would have to live in, he would’ve given more specific instructions. He felt something between regret and shock as he hungered to get rid of the powers and duties he had never asked for.

“So, do you want to argue that this world is the real world in writing and that the author, one of the muses, was influenced to recreate the world? That is a really unwelcome fact.”

“Then, what do you know to be true? You are both the editor and the clerk, and now you are the one who connects the two worlds by Promise. It was the scribes who recorded the world created by the Word as canon. Writing down the source of the quotation, editing, and looking at the context is also the job of the clerk. So in the world of a manuscript that is not yet a book, your authority is still weak.”

Tears of pain began to spill from Regina’s purple eyes. They were clouded, and, for a moment, looked like Minsun’s brown eyes. However, it wasn’t that particular color that resembled Minsun, but rather the compassion and aspiration they held.

“Please fulfill the author’s will □□, so that the author’s chosen king can have a future. It’s something only you can do.”

Regina’s body tilted over, like a great oak slowly dying. Her faint words were filled with desperation. Unable to withstand the thick scent of blood, Kleio held her back.

“Now stop talking. Still… I’ll ask again later.”

Regina’s hand fell limply to the bed.

“You’ve already heard a lot of your questions answered. After you completely belong to this story, all secrets will lose their mystery before you. Things that are forbidden to speak will no longer be restricted. Only you can make the final decision-“

She coughed violently.

“-I wait for that day.”

At the end of that, Regina lowered her gaze as she forcibly swallowed back blood. She seemed worried that if she got blood on her white clothing, it might get the attention of the priests.

“Can you edit this dialogue with your rights? The author will also approve it because this is a prematurely placed appendix that shouldn’t be included yet. If it were right, I would’ve blessed you and fallen asleep.”

“Does this author really exist? If so, where and by what principles does he hold onto a story that he can’t handle?”

“The author doesn’t know all the details of what’s happening here right now. Both acceptance and rejection of developments happen under his closed eyes based on the goal and theme set by the author.”

Kleio came to a halt as he blotted at Regina’s blood-stained hand with a handkerchief.

“But because I wanted to tell you a piece of truth, I made a decision. However, I can’t speak anymore; this body is bound by this world’s constraints. □□, □□□. Even names are missing… I wanted to call you again…”

Silence followed her words, but he could imagine her affect. He hadn’t cried since his mother had grown ill, but now it seemed like his eyes were growing wet.

“This is the only thing we’ve been given right now, so please understand that the world is calling you.”

With all her energy, Regina straightened her back out and rested her right hand on Kleio’s shoulder.

“To Sir Kleio Asel, I wish you a blessing from Regina Istoria, the daughter of the Goddess.”

Regina, the last of her vitality squeezed out, was pale as her mind seemed to fade. Her expression was one of sorrow as Kleio lowered her to the pillows. He hesitated as he looked over Promise on his left hand, but he eventually activated Editor’s Authority.

[―Unique skill: Uses Editor Authority. (2/3)]

[―Remaining time/time limit:

00:04:59 / 00:05:00]

Time slowed to a halt as the skill activated and soon, in front of Kleio, the Palimpsest alongside a quill with blue-gold ink appeared. He had a completely different sentiment now than from the first time he saw it. With the text of the world itself before him, he had to spend a few seconds calming down. Finally, he unfolded the delicate manuscript, crumbs of it flaking in his hand. There was something he had to check before editing. He turned it back to the front.

Pyton’s second rise, Grendel’s surprise attack, the death of Duke Tristein, Arthur’s crisis… and the appearance of Diegesis.

『When you share a sincere will with a being deeply involved in the security of the world, the honorable favor of God comes to the earth.』

‘There it is.’

Unlike the information windows, which had no traces in the manuscript, that message was clearly recorded. The character Kleio Asel expressed his inner feelings as Jungjin.

‘Is this the result of the rise in narrative involvement?’

He almost wanted to laugh. The moment he realized the importance of his editor role, Kleio was also becoming one of the main characters. It was a terribly odd feeling, but he had no time to appreciate it fully. Conscious of his shrinking time limit, Kleio straightened out the manuscript. Finding the scene where he met Regina was easy. The neat writing was now jagged; ink splattered as if the author had been half asleep as it was written. It looked more like a draft or a memo than a manuscript — a state he hadn’t seen once before.

‘The parts where Regina was interrupted are also missing.’

They were completely jumbled. Kleio boldly put a delete sign on the entire page, then began to transfer the contents of the previous page to the next one. No other modifications were made. He excluded the final words Regina said, where she had blessed him.

[―Remaining time/time limit:

00:00:01 / 00:05:00]

A message appeared earlier than usual to inform him if it worked.

[―The author accepts the editor’s sentiments.]

1) 『Kai Korean Version』, 「John Gospel」 1:1.