Despair of the Future

Universal Vision.

One of Buddhism’s six supernatural powers, an eye possessing the ability to see through the essence of things and pierce into the future.

The moment Yuseong obtained it, countless visions rapidly flashed before his eyes.

The battle with Contractors called the Ten Swords, deteriorating public opinion due to civilian casualties during combat, Ten Swords escaping and causing more trouble, increasing monster appearances and shrinking human territory.

He could see not only what Bruce had mentioned but even further into the future.

Watching the visions as if entranced, Yuseong bit his lip as he felt his karma points rapidly depleting.

‘This skill, just how much karma does it consume?’

Yuseong could now understand why Bruce couldn’t perfectly foresee the future.

He had only looked barely over a month into the future, yet billions of karma points had already vanished.

An absolutely monstrous consumption rate.

At this rate, he wouldn’t last long.

‘I need to view more efficiently.’

While Bruce had stubbornly tried to see all futures, thinking about it, there was no need or reason to watch the fate of cities on the opposite side of Earth or which Contractors would become famous.

When he manipulated the flow of karma going to his eyes using the Karma Operation skill, the visions began to waver.

Understanding and applying an S-rank skill in real-time was nearly impossible.

However, wisdom stat approaching three thousand and Eye of Truth’s unrivaled energy manipulation made the impossible possible.

The countless visions rapidly decreased to thousands, hundreds, then dozens, and the karma consumption decreased proportionally.

Zzzzt!

Static began appearing in the visions.

Though he had reduced the consumption, he had already spent too much karma to maintain Universal Vision.

But he couldn’t give up here, if only because of the karma points already spent.

‘Dying land, grotesquely transformed people and monsters, Dragonia and giant war machines, massive tendrils covering all of Japan, a tree reaching the sky.’

Numerous images visible beyond the static-filled blurry visions.

And among them, Yuseong spotted a familiar face.

Though he had never met them in person, he remembered seeing their face several times in photos and videos.

One of the notorious pair known for their inactivity along with Changwei.

A user belonging to Three Weak.

It was Carlos, accompanied by countless undead and strange lifeforms, facing off against eight users.

‘Why is he…?’

Zzzzzzzt!

All visions except one went dark.

Just as Yuseong was about to close his eyes and end Universal Vision from a vision so filled with static it was barely recognizable, a certain vision appeared before him.

Demons and monsters filling a ruined city.

And in the center was Lucifer, whose whereabouts had been unknown.

Unlike when last seen, the hole in his chest was filled, and he was emanating an overwhelming presence that could be felt even through the vision.

In that moment, Yuseong instinctively knew.

Lucifer had not just recovered from his injuries but reached the realm of transcendence.

‘What the hell?!’

Even when his power wasn’t fully restored, he had been strong enough to easily wipe out a small city.

If such a being not only became a transcendent but also commanded countless demons and monsters, Earth’s forces absolutely could not stop them.

‘…We’re doomed. Should I implement Kang Changseok’s Humanity Preservation Plan?’

As he had this random thought about the hopeless future, Yuseong noticed something strange.

‘Why are they all in this state?’

The demons, monsters, even Lucifer – none of them were normal.

Some demons were frantically clawing at their eyes as if they had seen something they shouldn’t have, while monsters were fighting each other madly.

Some were laughing maniacally while killing their companions, while those being killed wore expressions of relief.

Lucifer was no exception.

His bulging eyes about to pop out and body trembling like an aspen leaf clearly proved he was experiencing terror.

It didn’t take long to realize what was causing these reactions.

■■■■■■!

A solemn and massive discord.

Something massive that was a fusion of sound, waves, terror, and malice.

Yuseong remembered clearly what this resonance was.

Along with that unforgettable resonance, the city began to be dyed in darkness.

Zzzzzt!

His view changed with the sound of static.

In the city’s sky, between the cracks of space.

It was there.

Massive eyeballs filled with indescribable madness and malice.

A gigantic pitch-black body seemingly made of the abyss, making Earth look like a speck of dust.

Hundreds, thousands of amorphous tentacle bundles extending from it.

Thud!

The moment he perceived it through the static-filled screen, Yuseong lost strength and collapsed to the floor.

He needed to open his eyes quickly.

But no matter how much his brain commanded, his eyes wouldn’t open as if weights were attached.

This was dangerous.

If he kept watching that thing any longer, he wouldn’t be able to endure.

The desire to worship and praise that being at the top of his voice.

Ah, what a grand and perfect being.

How fleeting and insignificant humans are before it?

“Ah, ahhh…”

Sounds that couldn’t form words emerged.

It was impossible to maintain sanity before that being.

It was beautiful, divine, and sublime.

Without realizing it, a smile spread across his face as endless tears flowed from his eyes.

Drip.

It felt so ecstatic, as if someone was kneading and manipulating his brain.

Why had he feared that one until now?

He could do anything for that one.

“■■■■■■.”

Yes, just like his future self over there.

Looking down at the ground with ceaselessly rotating eyes.

To deliver enlightenment to ignorant insects who don’t know that one’s greatness, performing rituals calling that one in a language unpronounceable by human vocal organs…

Flash!

In that moment, his view changed.

That one had vanished without a trace, replaced by the faces of ignorant insects.

About to lash out from the horrible feeling of being suddenly thrown from heaven into hell, Yuseong barely regained his senses and brought his fist down on his own head.

Crack!

“Kuh!”

Having failed to control his strength, intense pain surged with the sound of his skull cracking from a single strike.

But Yuseong kept pounding his head without rest, only stopping when his vision blurred and consciousness grew distant.

“What, what’s wrong. Did you eat something bad? Why are you suddenly like this?”

“Don’t just watch, do something!”

“Huff, huff, huff.”

Using the echoing voices as background noise, Yuseong took deep breaths to gather his thoughts.

‘That, that was dangerous.’

It was a miracle.

If he hadn’t experienced hearing that cry before, if not for his unique empathy ability, if his mental stat hadn’t reached three thousand, if Universal Vision had maintained longer, if he had observed that thing just a bit longer.

He would no longer have remained himself.

He would probably be raving mad like his future self, shouting unspeakable blasphemous words about calling that thing to Earth.

‘Future self?’

His mind that had briefly frozen from the powerful mental pollution and self-harm finally began moving again.

“Hey, hey! Can you hear me?”

“Mr. Yuseong? Are you alright?”

“Just… a moment…”

Yuseong held out his hand signaling them to wait and continued his interrupted thoughts.

The being calling the Outer God to Earth was undoubtedly his future self.

‘Just what happens in the future?’

As Yuseong was shocked by this unbelievable future, he recalled his past conversation with Hae Cheongyeong and quickly concentrated to enter the mental realm.

The microuniverse where countless stars had been shining.

But now many stars had vanished.

‘No, they haven’t vanished.’

They just couldn’t be seen properly as they were dyed in complete darkness.

And proportional to how many stars were dyed in darkness, the size of the Outer God’s thoughts in the center…

“Why did it grow?!”

Though he noticed the users jumping in surprise, he had no leisure to mind such things.

The Outer God’s thoughts that had shrunk after absorbing the Seed of Divinity had grown back as if nothing had happened.

The cause was obvious.

Because he had heard the Outer God’s cry and witnessed its form through Universal Vision.

The image had been so fragmentary that he couldn’t tell exactly when in the future this would happen.

However, one fact was certain.

Whether becoming the Outer God’s apostle or puppet, that time would come sooner than the future he had just observed.

‘It took roughly three months after obtaining the Seed of Divinity for nearly half the stars to be dyed black. Though the stars were dyed in darkness more slowly as the thoughts shrank, now that they’ve returned to their original size…’

The future he saw in Universal Vision would become reality within three months at the latest.

That wasn’t all.

Though momentarily overshadowed by its overwhelming presence, the Outer God wasn’t the only thing to worry about – there was also Lucifer who had reached transcendence and commanded numerous demons and monsters.

Once the Outer God descended, Lucifer and everything else would become meaningless, but they were still a threatening existence.

‘Though I can’t tell exactly when Lucifer became a transcendent, judging by the Chinese characters on signs and building styles, it’s definitely China, or maybe Taiwan…’

Finishing his thoughts, Yuseong opened his eyes.

Doubt, bewilderment, fear, worry.

Seven users were looking at him with eyes containing their respective emotions.

His mental strength had hit rock bottom from the aftereffects of hearing and directly witnessing the Outer God’s cry.

Though he wanted to let go of consciousness and faint right there, Yuseong endured it with superhuman patience and opened his mouth.

“…All plans made until now are cancelled.”

“What?”

Everyone wore dumbfounded expressions at Yuseong’s words about canceling plans after suddenly staggering, collapsing, and groaning in pain.

After contemplating how to persuade people, Yuseong decided to just tell the truth.

He didn’t have the mental strength to think up lies, and moreover, the current situation wasn’t manageable enough to get by with lies.

“I just stole and learned the future-seeing skill that Bruce used. And I saw up to a month into the future like Bruce did.”

“I don’t understand what you mean, but this joke has gone too far. Are you mentally…”

“The skill’s name is Universal Vision. S-rank skill that consumes certain resources to see the future. Is anything wrong?”

Bruce’s face instantly hardened.

Sensing the unusual atmosphere, the other users realized Yuseong was telling the truth.

Before the users could open their mouths, Yuseong dropped the bomb first.

“Carlos has betrayed us. Carlos is behind everything happening in Japan right now.”

“What?”

“The Ten Swords’ rebellion, conflicts between Contractors and civilians, monster waves. They’re all just bait to buy time. If we stay like this, Japan will turn into hell.”

Heavy silence fell over the conference room.