322 – Past (1)
It was the early days of the Tower. So it really was the ‘early days’.
“I have to be the center. The powers of the newly emerged superhumans are too dangerous. I have to idolize myself, control everyone as someone to look up to and secretly fear. I can do it with my power.”
Jeter was increasing his size online.
“Marie! Eat! I made your favorite ravioli. I also bought you some aid.”
“…”
“Here she is again.”
“Honey, what’s wrong?
Is Marie acting strange again?” “She ran away a few days ago, and now she’s always acting like that? No matter what I say, she says, ‘Mom won’t understand.’”
“That’s what girls in puberty are like. You understand.”
“No, but you still have to eat.”
Another tutorial where there was no exceptional strongman like Michael Jeter. There, a girl who witnessed countless human deaths groaned in trauma.
“Fuck, didn’t I tell you to delete it? Didn’t I tell you to cooperate? Do you still think you’re a free American citizen?”
The time when the US intelligence agency threatened the CEOs of social media companies to hide information about ‘superpowered people.’ The
time when everything was just beginning. The time when the rules hadn’t been set yet. The time when everyone didn’t fully understand the situation they were facing.
“This is…”
The US President let out a long sigh in the secret laboratory hidden in the basement of the US National Zoo.
“I can’t believe it.”
A large book was floating in front of him, and he was reading a thick report with his eyes. Although he was a politician who usually enjoyed discovering cider and was known for his ‘outrageous’ concept, he looked rational and intelligent now.
“Is everything here true?”
“Yes.”
“Give it to me.”
Because the research was conducted so secretly, there were only three scientists here, and the rest were all intelligence agents. The person who answered just now was one of those agents, and he took a pistol out of his pocket and handed it to the president.
“Whew.”
-Bam!
There was no hesitation. The president immediately fired the gun at the book, and soon after, the agent picked up the crushed bullet from the floor and handed it to the president.
“… Heh heh.”
The US president shook his head. This is… what the scientists called it.
“The Book of Truth.”
They said it was a book that contained all truth. They said it was an object that could turn the entire history of mankind upside down.
And the owner of such a great object…
“Ronald… is well?”
“Yes.”
He was a blond young man, only 17 years old. His name was Ronald. He is the grandson of a senior Republican congressman who is still active, and he said that he was summoned to a ‘tutorial’ while attending a prestigious high school.
“Huh, huh huh…”
The president’s reason cried out that he had to acknowledge all of this. He had already seen the video of a man spitting fire from his hands, a woman overtaking a car at a run, and a grandmother lifting a 300kg barbell with one hand. The world was changing differently than before, and he had a duty to respond appropriately as the president of the United States.
The tower may have really appeared, and those who survived may have returned with supernatural powers.
However, if we acknowledge that, we must acknowledge the contents of this report now.
– The reality of the tower has been confirmed, and the possibility of a divine being has also been raised.
– The target object (hereinafter referred to as ‘the book’) follows a strict principle of reciprocity. It provides the relevant information when provided with appropriate materials, but does not respond when provided with insufficient materials.
– The physical structure of the book cannot be changed with current technology.
– The book is presumed to have functions other than simply providing information. However, the currently available materials cannot activate the function.
– The reliability of information obtained through the book has been confirmed.
＞ Senator Hubert dies of a heart attack.
＞ Explosion of a semiconductor factory in China.
＞ Billionaire Robert Kim caught having an affair.
– The amount of material needed to predict the distant future has increased, but accuracy has been maintained.
– The book proposes the establishment of an ‘association’ centered around ‘strong climbers’ for social stability.
– Additional research and analysis are required, and in-depth investigation into the mechanism and potential applications of this phenomenon is required. More gold bars are required.
If this report is true. The book knows everything, and everything is possible. If there is enough gold bars, the book is omnipotent.
Then this is a book in form only.
“… Isn’t it God?”
Like… isn’t it God.
The president. The president of the United States, the world’s most powerful nation.
Should he acknowledge the existence of God who appeared before his eyes in the form of a book? He agonized all night. Because
humanity was on his shoulders.
**
Again, time passes. Rather than pondering the identity of the book, the president decided to use it, and eventually ordered the creation of the ‘Player Association’. At first, there was a lot of opposition, but after the Vice President was summoned to the tower and returned alive, the opposition completely died down.
“No, really?”
“Really.”
The Vice President creates ice from his hands, so how can you not believe it? You have to believe it.
Anyway, this is how the ‘Player Association’ was created. It wasn’t just created in the United States, but also had influence all over the world.
“Uh, we’re going to create an association. In your country too.”
“Do you think that makes sense?”
“This. You needed it?”
“Oh, no… Where did you get this?”
“And this. If you look at this picture…”
“This, this picture was taken when…”
“Association.”
“… I will cooperate.”
It goes without saying that the ‘Book of Truth’ was of great help in the process. A considerable amount of gold was spent to gain the cooperation of politicians from other countries, but it was a reasonable transaction because it greatly reduced the confusion in the end.
Did the book and gold bars only serve the association? Let me just mention that the president’s political position was greatly strengthened during this period.
In any case, the president and his research team did not stop exploring the book. They increased the amount of gold they could use by involving other countries, and they even conducted light experiments on the book’s owner, ‘Robert.’ Their understanding of the book and the necessary sacrifices gradually increased, and some scientists even imagined that world peace could be achieved through the book.
The world changed. But it changed in a rather ‘orderly’ way. The existing social order was not broken and was still controllable. It was all thanks to the President, the Book of Truth, and some of Michael Jeter.
The ‘Status Window’ given by God opened up a new world. There was more to study, and humanity progressed.
“Mr. President! A whole family was murdered in Massachusetts!”
“Mr. President! There have already been three bank robberies!”
“All police stations across the country are on the verge of paralysis! The police force is beyond their capacity!”
However, the newly appeared ‘Status Window’ and ‘Player’ were darker than light.
“Your Majesty. There have already been over 900 unidentified murders.”
“At first, I thought it was a simple dispute between drug gangs… But they say the cause of death was not a gunshot wound, but a burn. It must have been the work of a person with powers.” They
formed an association as instructed by the ‘Book of Truth’ and tried to suppress the chaos as much as possible… But the President had very little means to stop the players’ crimes. Although guns were effective, the criminals could just hide on the first floor. Unless you are a sniper who can suppress players from nowhere, you cannot kill a player who is running away, and the number of well-trained snipers is ridiculously insufficient.
In the first place, do you know when and where a player will commit a crime and deploy snipers?
“Mr. President!”
“… Why?”
“That’s, the next presidential candidate…!”
This confusion reached its peak when a politician was assassinated. A politician who usually made extreme statements for public recognition and popularity was murdered in a hotel, but the criminal left no trace. At least, there was no way to catch him with science and technology.
“Aren’t our lives already like flies?”
“Even famous movie stars and influencers are killed or kidnapped. This is no different from walking around with your head out.”
This caused the leaders of the world to have a seizure. No matter how much money you spend, how many people you use, or how well you defend yourself, the fact that you can die caused fear. This was especially true for leaders who usually had a sense of privilege that they were different.
“We need to come up with a plan. Please, with that book…”
“Isn’t America in charge? Please, save us!” It
was truly shameful to see people who could be called the face of a country begging the American president, but it is also true that there is no other country that can come up with a plan.
Their circumstances are understandable, but America also had its own concerns.
“… We cannot use the book. The amount of sacrifice required is immeasurable.”
America poured in resources that were almost at their limit, but the Book of Truth did not answer the question, “Please tell me how to prevent the assassination of politicians.” It was clear that the amount of sacrifice was insufficient, but it seemed that the question was too broad and involved the personal lives of the players.
“China can provide test subjects. If they sacrifice people…”
“Don’t cross the line, Chairman. Let’s think of another way.”
The Chinese chairman was talking nonsense, but the president neatly refused. There was a line that should not be crossed. Of course, the situation was still hopeless.
“Players must remain heroes. They must climb the tower.”
Meanwhile, the player association president was saying something like, ‘The darkness of the players should not be overly highlighted.’ He was saying that the government should step in and help players because they lacked motivation to climb the tower. His position was understandable, but the president’s head was about to explode. Players’
abilities were not set in stone. There were no specific categories, nor were there any commonalities. It was literally an ability that could be used ‘just like that,’ so how could you stop it?
Metal detectors? Ineffective. Facial recognition? Players who were not members of the association in the first place would commit crimes. Keeping an eye on people with disabilities? That’s discrimination against the disabled.
The president, who had been holding meetings with high-ranking government officials, crime experts, and various scholars, suddenly realized what he was lacking.
“…Imagination.”
The situation itself was absurd, so why was he bound by common sense?
That night, the president secretly invited successful novelists. They were all writers who were known for their rich imagination.
“Your Majesty, is there any point in inviting novelists?”
“The situation is absurd anyway. Then we have to respond in absurd ways.” After
inviting the writers, the president had them discuss the “most deadly superpower.” At first, the writers thought they had been brought in for some crime, but soon they became completely focused on the discussion.
“If there is a person with powerful mind control abilities, we cannot deal with them. The first target would probably be the president. If he can control the president’s mind and then expand his influence to other places based on the U.S. government, he will soon be the ruler of the world.”
Mind control.
“What about someone with teleportation abilities? If he had just one pistol, bang! “Just shoot and run away, that’s it.”
Teleportation ability user.
“Invisibility is also fatal. No evidence is left behind.”
Invisibility ability user.
“What if there is someone who can infiltrate a computer? The current computerized system cannot deal with it.”
Information manipulation ability user.
“What if they are simply too strong and too fast? What if even the greatest stopping power of mankind, guns, missiles, and nuclear weapons, are ineffective?”
Body enhancement ability user.
“There may be someone who can stop time and move only themselves.”
Time stop ability user.
And.
“What about the ability to go back to the past?”
Time traveler.