324 – Past (3)

The President, who was drunk on hot passion.

“Shut up.”

“…”

With Jeter’s single word, the President’s mind was instantly pulled back to reality. Michael Jeter was the embodiment of self-management. He would joke, but never swear, and he was always polite to the President.

Jeter, swearing?

“Let’s assume that the book has that function.”

Of course, this was all intentional. Michael Jeter, who had been thinking calmly in the slow time, thought that he had to swear to calm the President’s mind.

“Let’s assume that if we actually use that book, it is possible to prove the existence of the regressor.”

“…”

“In an omnipotent, god-like book. How many sacrifices do you think would be needed to leave a small mark?”

“…” “It might be possible if we pull together America’s strength.”

“It may be possible. But it is a possibility.”

The drunken president now understood what Jeter was trying to say.

“Let’s say we gathered all the resources of the United States and donated them to the book. Let’s say we actually left a mark. But what if there is no regressor?”

“…”

“The United States would have wasted all its resources on a useless little mark, and you would have to take responsibility and put the gun in your mouth. Do you think that makes sense?”

“Well, but. If there is a time traveler, he is like a god…”

“If there really is a time traveler, what do you plan to do next?”

Even if the president’s plan works, it’s a problem.

“If we prove its existence. Then what?”

“…” “…”

“Let’s say we are very, very lucky and there actually is a regressor. Let’s say we didn’t leave a mark, but the mark was left where we were going to leave it.”

Jeter’s words dug deep into the president’s heart.

“What does that change? It only proves that there is a regressor. Who is the regressor, what is his intention, is there a way to tell? Self-satisfaction of having proven the existence of a god-like power. Other than that-”

“… That’s enough.”

Keuhehehe- The president laughed, unable to overcome his drunkenness, and leaned his forehead on the table.

“I, I… I think I was a little drunk.”

Alcohol. Power. Power.

The president realized that he had made a slip of the tongue. Jeter was right a hundred, a thousand times. What if we did as the president said and there was no regressor? That would be throwing America’s future into the trash.

So what if there was a regressor? That wouldn’t change anything. We only know that such a transcendent power exists, but there’s nothing we can do. Should we prepare for him, or should we do something to restrain him?

A god-like being who can know the future and can never harm him. Knowing his existence doesn’t change anything. It means that what the president was trying to do now was pure self-satisfaction.

“… Forget about today.”

“Yes.”

The president’s ‘I hope you forget’ contained many meanings. He wanted to forget his slip of the tongue, and he also thanked Michael Jeter for restraining him from talking nonsense.

Likewise, Jeter didn’t want to dig too deep into this. The president was doing well enough right now, and there was no one who could replace him. Of course, since his emotions were extremely thin, he could always make efficient decisions, but it was natural for ordinary people to get drunk on power and do nonsense.

The two drank as if nothing had happened, and after a while, they separated. They went about their daily lives as they always had.

But they really couldn’t go back to the way things were. Their relationship had grown distant since this incident. That’s how change always is.

You can’t go back.

**

Again. A week or so later. Michael Jeter was climbing the tower. The association was cruising, and America had established itself as the master of the new order.

“Whew.”

He had just cleared the 14th floor. He wanted to climb more, but there was a lot of paperwork to do. If he hadn’t been the association president, he would have climbed to the top of humanity. I just think it can’t be helped.

– Knock knock.

“Come in.”

Jeter, sitting on his office chair with his eyes fixed on the documents, allowed the visitor to enter.

“?”

After 0.1 seconds, he sensed something strange. The sound of footsteps, the location of the knock on the door, and the person he remembered were not the same.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Mahesh.”

And so, the one who opened the door and came in was a kind-looking Indian man. He seemed a little nervous, but he naturally sat down on the chair in front of Jeter.

“… How did you get in here?”

“Is it because you’re too strong? The security was lax to begin with. It was easy to break in because they knew the shift schedule.”

He said he was aiming for the guards’ shift change. Easier said than done, but obtaining that information itself was not easy.

“I’ll ask again.”

Furthermore, Mahesh’s words were completely true.

“How did you get in here?”

Jeter didn’t need an escort. Not bullets, poison gas, or maybe even a nuclear bomb. They couldn’t harm him. It was much easier to wring that man’s neck now than to snatch candy from a child.

Mahesh gulped as if he felt pressured by Jitter’s attitude, but he didn’t stop himself from saying what he had to say.

“I… have the prophetic ability.”

“Prophecy?”

“Limited foresight, shall we say. That foresight led me here. It said, ‘Find the strongest man.’ The strongest man was debatable, but you were definitely the strongest man.”

Mahesh, an Indian who declared himself a prophet. He said that he had come to find Jitter as his foresight led him.

“I want to help you. I think that’s how I can contribute to humanity.”

“…”

An Indian who suddenly appeared. An incredibly fraudulent trait. An opportunity too tempting to swallow.

Normally, I would hesitate.

“Okay.”

Jeter swallowed it. It was because he was confident that he could digest it, and also because he had been feeling a lack

of it recently. He was feeling a lack of power. It wasn’t that he lacked personal power. It was that he lacked ‘influence.’ As

the president’s case shows, humans are unstable. Humans can change at any time depending on the situation. What if a leader somewhere suddenly loses his mind and launches a nuclear bomb? Or what if a crazy player commits a mass murder terrorist attack?

Jeter would win if he fought them, but it would be meaningless if everything else was destroyed. Jeter thought of himself as the strongest, but there was a limit to what he could do alone.

Jeter, who felt the need for a proper force, took Mahesh’s hand. That was the beginning of Jeter’s private organization, ‘Alpha’.

“You can go to Cambodia now. At exactly 2:13, downstream of this river.”

“Understood.”

Mahesh was able to detect the locations of players who were wasting their talents, and Jeter could go to them and play the role of a hero. Recruiting was easy.

“Go, thank you! Thank you so much for saving my life!”

A long-distance teleportation ability user.

“… Tell me the name. Thank you.”

A person with the ability to transform into an animal.

“How about my, my secret base… Hehehe… You’re the president of the player association, right? Okay. That’s interesting.”

A person with the ability to transform their body into an electric signal and infiltrate a computer.

And.

“My ability is… inventory.”

It was also at this point that high school girl Dok Soo-hee joined. Players with various deadly abilities gathered under the name of Michael Jeter.

“Here, these are the special forces who will help with training.”

Players belonging to ‘Alpha’ received professional training. Not only did they help them use their abilities more effectively, but they also… From martial arts, infiltration, to conversation skills to extract information. They have accumulated knowledge that rivals that of experts. Of course, they use items from the U.S. Treasury like water.

“Hey! That ice cream is mine!”

“You have a lot in your inventory. Give me some.”

“I don’t have any!”

The training period itself was short, but in the meantime, the bonds between the members of the organization became stronger. Of course, their skills also skyrocketed.

After roughly completing their training, the Alpha members were divided into two groups.

“Items obtained while climbing the tower will be stored in the common warehouse. We will gather resources in one place and use them in a more necessary way.

Those who actively climb the tower and collect items.

“What should we do?”

“You just have to carry out your mission in reality.”

And those who exert influence in reality. Jeter’s goal was world peace, and the world was full of seeds that would destroy peace.

“This guy is a vicious rapist. He has the ability to transform into an object. Find him.”

“What are we going to do after we find him?”

I’ll say it again.

“Kill him.”

Jitter had no emotions at this time.

**

It was only two and a half months until now. It had been two and a half months since the first tutorial. Mahesh had just cleared the 15th floor and discovered the ‘timer’ of the stone statues, and Kim Jun-ho was shivering on the snowy mountain on the 10th floor. ”

I will hold a meeting. Please gather.”

By this time, the US president had practically taken the seat of the master of the Earth. Attending the meetings he hosted was now considered a power in itself, and his intervention in the policies of other countries was recognized as a right rather than rudeness. Although only two and a half months had passed, the influence of the book was that great. At the

same time, Jitter had secured a firm leadership position among the players. It is true that there was some ‘intervention’ in public opinion, but the results achieved through Jitter’s own efforts were certain.

To be honest, Jitter did not like the president’s methods. He was going to create a world for the players, so he wondered what the point of consolidating his political position was.

The same goes for the president. The sight of Jeter gathering players with dangerous abilities was enough to feel threatening from the perspective of the government. The moment the blade he was sharpening was pointed at the president’s neck, he had to be considered already dead.

In other words, they considered each other a thorn in their side. They did not like each other.

However, the two maintained a cooperative relationship. They never invaded each other’s territory, and each did their best in their respective positions.

The reason was obvious. It was because their goals were the same. Maintaining human order. And world peace.

Jeter believed that the current situation would continue. Appropriately respecting each other’s authority, not interfering, and protecting the world. He believed that a relationship more like a cooperative company than an alliance would continue in the future.

“Chairman.”

“Why, Mahesh.”

“I think you should check this out.”

“… Elixir?”

That was to be expected.