Liar Paradox - Chapter 2

LIAR PARADOX

CHAPTER 2

SYNOPSIS AND CHARACTER INFO

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To explain how things came to this, we need to go back to the past.

Specifically, to the time before he regressed, when he was known not as Yeo Hanseo, but by the number 109 (Baekgu).

His earliest memory was of a pristine white room that reeked of disinfectant.

The things that happened there... were things he'd rather not recall.

Still, among the subjects in the lab, he was considered one of the lucky ones. He had awakened as an Esper, which allowed him to escape that hellish place and experience a fleeting taste of freedom.

The problem was that Baekgu was no better than a lab rat, having spent his entire life confined in a box. With only scraps of overheard conversations from researchers as his knowledge of the outside world, living as an ordinary citizen without identity or status proved nearly impossible.

If he had been smarter, things might have been different. But Baekgu, merely an experimental subject, had never deeply planned anything for himself. Moreover, intoxicated by his escape from the lab, he had foolishly squandered his abilities like a fool.

How could a lab rat with no proper education possibly know any better?

'You have quite the ability, don't you?'

That such a madman existed in this world.

He later learned that the man was the cult leader of a pseudo-religious group. By the time he found out, he was already collared and unable to escape.

From that day forward, Baekgu was treated like a slave by that man. Some days were so horrific that he wished he could return to the lab.

And so, days without dreams or hope passed, and passed, and passed...

Then, suddenly, the cult leader died.

When the freedom he had never been able to attain fell into his lap, panic overwhelmed him at first, but he also felt a flicker of joy. That joy quickly turned to rage and despair.

The world had ended.

The cause of the apocalypse was a Dungeon Break. This phenomenon occurred when a dungeon wasn't cleared in time, causing the monsters within to flood into the world. The Cult Leader had died when a horde of such creatures swarmed him.

Baekgu was destined to meet the same fate soon.

"Fuck."

The sight of the temple littered with corpses brought the curse to his lips. His left arm, torn apart by a monster's bite, throbbed with agony. Even if he somehow survived this, how long could he last? The world was already overrun with monsters, and all the Espers who could have stopped them were dead.

Since things had come to this, Baekgu wished he could at least spit on the Cult Leader's corpse before dying, but it was nowhere to be seen, likely swallowed by the monsters. He'd wanted to kill the Cult Leader himself, but his fate ended so meaninglessly, without even getting his revenge...

Now, all he hoped for was a less painful death. If only the monster had bitten his head instead of his arm, he grumbled inwardly. Suddenly, something flashed through Baekgu's mind.

Wait a minute... didn't the Cult Leader have some kind of poison?

The Cult Leader was a master of such things, given his penchant for foul deeds. And Baekgu knew exactly where the Cult Leader kept such items. Perhaps because he thought Baekgu would never betray him, the Cult Leader had never hidden anything from him.

Fleeing the monsters, he entered a secret chamber within the temple, where he found a massive pile of the Cult Leader's belongings.

"The poison... where's the poison?"

Searching with only one arm proved difficult.

Suddenly, a monster's roar echoed from the distance. Could it have caught the scent of his blood? The sound seemed to be growing closer.

His heart raced with urgency.

"Damn it, where is it... wait, what's this?"

Instead of the poison, something else caught his eye: a black leather-bound book.

"So this was here all along."

The Book of Prophecy.

It had been among the gifts the Cult Leader received from his followers.

Was this the book said to contain prophecies of future events?

Yet the Cult Leader had never opened it, deterred by the warning scrawled crookedly on the cover in red ink:

Book of Prophecy

Do Not Read Under Any Circumstances.

1. All prophecies must come to pass.

2. Whoever opens the Book of Prophecy will die within three minutes.

3. If someone reads the Book of Prophecy, everyone who has seen or touched it will die.

Baekgu found these warnings ridiculous, but the Cult Leader took them seriously. Having already touched the book himself, he feared the consequences if others read it. This was why the book had been locked away in a secret chamber known only to the Cult Leader.

Regardless, this wasn't what Baekgu was looking for. He tossed the book aside and resumed his search for the poison.

This is driving me crazy. It has to be here somewhere.

The roar of a monster echoed nearby.

Is he really going to end up as monster food? If he'd been bitten to death from the start, he wouldn't mind. But after having his arm bitten once, the thought of going through that again sends shivers down his spine.

Suddenly, Baekgu's eyes fell on the book lying sprawled on the floor again.

Whoever opens the Book of Prophecy will die within three minutes.

Wait, if this book is a real prophecy book... and if it really comes true, then he wouldn't even need to find poison, would he?

As if entranced, Baekgu picked up the book and opened it.

The contents inside...

"It's blank."

He flipped through the pages, just in case, but they were all the same.

"Ha."

He couldn't believe it. No wonder the cover looked like some childish prank. When a person is desperate, they'll cling to anything, no matter how absurd.

He wonder what kind of ridiculous expression the Cult Leader would have made if he knew about this. Regretting that he couldn't witness it, Baekgu flipped through the pages with a flick of his wrist.

"Hmm?"

Something was written on the last page of the book, which had been blank until now. Though the message wasn't long, it took him a while to slowly read it.

You who have read this page.

You have lived a life more miserable and unfortunate than anyone else.

I will grant you an opportunity.

If you fail, you will meet a gruesome death, but if you succeed, you will undoubtedly find happiness.

You only need to accomplish one thing.

Success Condition: Save Gu Jei

Good luck.

P.S. I recommend blocking your nose.


After he finished reading the message, he let out a hollow laugh.

"This is complete nonsense. Save Gu Jei? How am I supposed to save someone who's already dead...?"

Crunch.

"...Ugh."

A horrifying pain surged through him.

But before all sensation faded, what tormented Baekgu the most wasn't the pain itself, but the monster's putrid breath.

I take back what I said about that being a bogus book.

I should have held my nose...

Then, the world plunged into complete darkness.

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"Huff!"

Baekgu gasped for air, jolting upright.

Thump, thump, thump.

His heart pounded as if it would burst, and his entire body was drenched in cold sweat.

With trembling hands, he groped himself, finding no injuries—he was completely unharmed.

Could it all have been a dream?

No, that couldn't be. The vivid agony of being devoured by the monster couldn't possibly have been a dream.

He was certain he had died. So how was he still alive?

"Where am I now?"

Only then did Baekgu take in his surroundings.

A clear blue sky and lush green trees.

A flock of pigeons pecking at the ground.

And a little girl pointing at him.

"Mommy, someone's lying over there!"

"Shh, don't look."

The mother and daughter whispered as they hurried past Baekgu.

So, this place is...

"A park?"

He was sure he had been at the temple.

What was even stranger was how familiar this park felt. Even the snack bag lying under the bench where he had been lying seemed oddly familiar.

"Oh, this!"

No, it wasn't just a feeling.

Baekgu hurriedly picked up the green snack bag. As soon as he opened it, a strange, indescribable aroma—sweet yet salty, with a hint of sourness—assaulted his nostrils.

It was Melon Potato Chips.

The one snack he couldn't swallow, despite his habit of eating almost anything that wasn't rotten. Unsurprisingly, it was quickly discontinued.

But that was years ago, wasn't it?

Baekgu had only eaten these chips once, shortly after escaping the lab. Someone had forgotten to take their black bag from a park bench, leaving behind a few chips and a drink. That's when he'd tasted these awful potato chips.

Baekgu, unsure where to go, recalled his rough days of sleeping in a park.

This park looks exactly like that one.

"...No way."

Baekgu frantically scanned his surroundings. He spotted a man in running gear jogging toward him.

He rushed over.

"Excuse me!"

"Huh? Yes?" the man gasped.

"What year is it?"

The man hesitated, then sprinted away in the opposite direction.

 He could have at least answered.

Forced to find another target, Baekgu thought, Now that I think about it, I've been hearing some kind of broadcast since earlier.

Following the sound, he found an elderly man sitting in the park's gazebo. The noise was coming from the news playing on the man's phone.

Baekgu craned his neck, staring intently at the old man's phone.

Then he froze.

The Seonhong Station Gate, which had been causing significant problems, was successfully cleared by Esper Gu Jei in a solo raid at 4:00 AM this morning...

A man's face appeared on the screen, clad in black techwear. Objectively, he was strikingly handsome, but the moment Baekgu saw that face, a chill ran down his spine.

Because that man...

Gu Jei had died three years ago.

"How...?"

Yet the Gu Jei on the screen was vividly alive and moving, even looking younger than Baekgu remembered.

At first, Baekgu thought it was a mistake. But then a profile appeared beneath Gu Jei's briefing:

Gu Jei (21)

Twenty-one years old?

Gu Jei died at 23, too young for anyone not to feel pity.

"Ha..."

A disbelieving chuckle escaped Baekgu's lips. The sound startled an elderly man behind him, who noticed Baekgu staring at his phone and quickly moved away.

Baekgu slumped into the empty seat the old man had vacated.

What is this?

At this point, he had to admit it: he had returned to the past, five years ago.

"......"

Acceptance brought a strange calm to his mind.

The cause was clear: the Book of Prophecy, that bizarre book.

The book had promised a chance: a gruesome death for failure, happiness for success. He had wondered what it meant, but now he understood—it was the chance to live again.

Baekgu's heart began to race, but this time for a different reason than when he had first awakened.

He can live again. Start over from the beginning.

He now knew what choices he made in the past that were wrong. This meant he could avoid being captured by the Cult Leader, avoid being dragged around like a slave, and live a free life...

Wait a minute.

At that moment, another sentence from the Book of Prophecy flashed through Baekgu's mind:

I will grant you an opportunity.

If you fail, you will meet a gruesome death, but if you succeed, you will undoubtedly find happiness.

You only need to accomplish one thing.

Success Condition: Save Gu Jei

Save Gu Jei?

Me?

Me?!

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