At last, the fifteenth millennium was approaching.
News reached me that Terra had finally discovered the "Warp dimension" and, together with Mars—the seat of all technological advancement—was researching faster-than-light travel through that unknown realm.
Faced with a great discovery that would elevate human civilization to another level, mankind would likely be driven by greed to commercialize it at once.
Before long, humanity would spread terrifyingly across the galaxy through Warp travel.
The [Dark Age of Technology], humanity’s greatest golden age and the seed of its greatest catastrophe, was about to begin in earnest.
Time truly was both long and brutally short.
"Haa... So it’s finally starting? Time flies like hell."
Lately, as time passed, I had been suffering from an intense obsession with the future.
No matter how I ran Gateway Corporation and quite literally swept up the Solar System’s most advanced technologies,
when I thought of the future to come, there were still fatal shortcomings and deficiencies lurking within me.
Will the children survive the AI rebellion that turns all human civilization into an inferno?
What if I’m insufficiently prepared, and everything I possess is swept away into nothingness?
They were right when they said that the more one possessed, the more one had to lose. Such primal worries and an overwhelming thirst grew worse by the day, dragging me ever deeper into a swamp of anguish.
In the end, to resolve it, I retained the Gateway trade network spread across the Solar System exactly as it was,
but delegated all practical operational authority over the corporation to the Yurick Family.
Then I shut myself away alone in a laboratory deep beneath Titan’s core, desperately seeking an answer like a madman.
It was an extreme measure I had taken because I felt that, otherwise, endless anxiety would continue to consume me.
Today, too, I was sunk in deep thought amid a space littered with every kind of complex machine.
Veronica, the current head of the Yurick Family and my personal secretary, appeared carrying a tray with cola and a plate of elaborate, luxurious food.
"Noah. I’ve brought your meal."
"Oh, Veronica. You’re here?"
Incidentally, I had no idea why such a tradition had begun, but the Yurick Family had a strict and stubborn rule: only the family head could serve as my personal secretary.
"Once again, you’ve personally brought food for this useless bum. You must be terribly busy as family head."
"What else can I do? I have to help you at your side, at least. I prepared Korean food today, since it’s your favorite."
"Ooh, nice! Thanks as always, Veronica."
"...When do you intend to return?"
At Veronica’s sudden question, I froze, my chopsticks halted just before they picked up the food.
A cold sweat beaded at the back of my neck.
I knew it too.
After spending so many long years together, I had become their emotional pillar.
Yet that man had suddenly buried himself deep underground in seclusion.
Honestly, even I had to admit it was irresponsible.
"Uh... well, I don’t know. Since I still haven’t found a definite answer, I think it’ll take a little longer."
"You have already secluded yourself here for over ten years. Not only the family elders, but all the citizens of Titan are becoming unsettled."
"Then I’ll stream my appearance live in real ti—"
"Rejected. You cannot show yourself to everyone looking so shabby and unkempt. The Yuricks may not mind, but outsiders might see you and think little of you."
"Urgh... Cold. Don’t strike me with such a cold voice. It hurts."
The head of this generation had quite the sharp tongue.
Still, the others’ excessive reverence and formal treatment of me had been quietly burdensome.
So having her needle me this comfortably was actually nice.
...Could it be that I had this sort of taste?
"Then could you please stop burying yourself in this underground hole and come outside?"
"I’m sorry. I’m sorry for making you worry because of me. But wait just a little longer. Soon... I think I’ll soon find the perfect answer."
"...You are cruel."
"I’m sorry for being pathetic."
"It does not suit you to say that you are sorry. Please stop."
"Gomen."
"Haa... All right. I will trust you and wait."
One day, as I desperately searched for an answer while unintentionally causing the children such great concern,
a thought like an electric shudder suddenly passed through my mind.
"F-found it!! I found it!!!"
What if I used my spatial passage ability not merely in the physical world, but applied it to the realm of the mind to construct a vast mental network?
If I could fold the invisible space lying between mind and mind and connect them completely,
perhaps I could create a kind of transcendent mental network system that perfectly shared and controlled my ego.
Like the [Hive Mind] of the Tyranids who would one day come pouring in from beyond the galaxy.
At last, I had glimpsed that infinite potential, and immediately began a massive biological project that would completely change the course of my immortality.
I secretly assembled the most authoritative bioengineers under Gateway Corporation and planned a forbidden experiment using myself as the test subject.
"Noah, have you gone mad?!"
"No! Absolutely not!"
"Even for you, Noah, this is far too reckless!"
Of course, Veronica, head of the Yurick Family, along with every elder of the family, initially wept and protested as they vehemently tried to dissuade me.
But under my unyielding orders and persistent persuasion, the experiment was eventually forced through.
I lay on the cold operating table and accepted the children’s precise, delicate hands.
The mechanical arms they operated began to move chillingly toward my head.
Because I had to wield my ability while maintaining my sound mind in real time, my skull was opened without even anesthesia.
Cold machinery began analyzing the structure of my Perpetual brain in real time.
The bioengineers operating those machines with the aid of super-advanced AI announced the start in trembling voices.
"We will begin, Noah."
His voice was taut with immense tension he could not conceal.
"Don’t be so nervous... Whatever you do, I’ll regenerate right away, so I’ll be fine."
"Yes, then... as planned, to analyze the delicate connection between the brain and mind, we will begin with the frontal lobe—"
"Hogoeek?!! Aaaahngsseukssa!"
"Noah? Noah!!!"
Well, since I had to maintain consciousness, my tongue twisted while they rummaged through my brain and strange screams burst out.
There were also several spectacular biological accidents.
But my monstrously immortal body regenerated itself perfectly in no time, so there was no major problem.
Children terrified by the sight collapsed in succession, but the experiment continued without stopping.
At the same time, based on my genes, they began manufacturing clones that would become my duplicates and receive my ego.
This part was considerably easier than expected.
By mechanically exploiting my overwhelming cellular regeneration, clones were mass-cultivated at a horrifying speed, as though products were being stamped out in a factory.
The cost of producing a single clone was only fifty kilograms of calorie-protein paste,
and the cultivation time was a mere five minutes—an insane level of cost-effectiveness.
As the experiment proceeded smoothly, we finally entered the crucial final stage: applying my spatial ability to the realm of the mind.
It was a realm akin to the world within the mind—the Warp dimension, filled with Chaos corruption—yet fundamentally and utterly different from it.
Unlike the Warp, where the filthy thoughts and destructive emotions of every sentient species in the galaxy gathered and swirled without restraint,
this was a pure, closed network through which only my ego could flow.
Like the [Webway], legacy of the ancient Old Ones, a safe and private network of mental artificial passages was woven between brain and brain, firmly established beyond the material realm.
The mental network thus created was practically a singularity that transcended time, space, and even reality.
Objectively speaking, it was utter madness.
But supported by the super-advanced technology I had amassed with vast capital over the years, it was certainly a gamble worth attempting.
*
At the very center of a gigantic underground cavern densely packed with tens of thousands of clones,
I sat on the floor, multiple bundles of neural cables connected to my head.
Translucently glowing neural lines linked my head and those of the countless clones in a complex web.
The mental network that would serve as the infrastructure had already been woven to perfection.
Now, only one thing remained.
Like flipping a power switch, I only needed to synchronize and upload my original mind across the entirety of this immense mental network.
All around me, I could see the children fervently praying that I would succeed.
Remarkably, among them were children who had shaved their heads and become Buddhist monks, praying in a manner jarringly out of place amid the surroundings.
Honestly, at this very moment, this was no longer the realm of strict scientific probability and calculation, but one of faith and miracles alone.
My eternal retainers and family offered earnest prayers,
begging from the depths of their hearts only that I succeed safely in this experiment.
Listening to the countless voices of prayer, I slowly finished taking a deep breath,
then raised the synchronization switch myself.
Peeeeeeeeeeeee—
"Ghhhnngh!!"
In that instant, my entire body stiffened at the bizarre sensation of my ego being mercilessly torn into thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of pieces.
"Aaaaah!!! Kheek... Aaaah...!"
Unable to withstand the extreme overload twisting my soul, foam began spilling from my mouth.
The laboratory, watching my alarming reaction, became a scene of chaos in an instant.
Near-screaming shouts erupted among the children who had been praying so fervently.
"Experiment team! We have to stop the experiment immediately!"
"No! Absolutely not! If we forcibly stop it now, Noah’s mind will collapse forever!"
"Damn it, this is driving me insane...!"
"Right now... there is nothing we can do except trust him and pray."
The situation had already left their hands.
Only I could confront this moment and resolve it myself.
As my mind spread in every direction, the children’s urgent voices echoing through the room began driving into my consciousness through tens of thousands of ears, across countless channels.
My original ego had entered the bodies of the clones perfectly through the mental network.
But the waves of identical, repeated, cascading information pouring in with unbearable overlap cruelly constricted me.
Because of the hyperdimensional multiple senses and grotesque sense of dislocation I had never experienced before,
my soul was screaming in instinctive rejection.
At the same time, the clones connected to me all twisted their bodies and let out agonized groans.
Countless versions of "me" screamed simultaneously.
It... hurts.
As my soul and mind split and shattered, a tidal wave of rejection and alienation felt by those fragments from every direction swept through my whole consciousness.
I wanted to go mad at once. I wanted to give up everything.
Though it was the result I had chosen for myself, bitter regret washed over me as well.
Still, I could not give up here—not when I thought of the children far away, watching this dreadful sight and praying so desperately.
Was this punishment for a mere human trespassing into the domain of gods?
Had I been too arrogant?
Ah... how had things come to this?
I had only wanted to enjoy war to my heart’s content...
As I wandered through that hellish agony, I finally realized one thing in a flash.
...This is not the way.
I was wrong. The very approach was mistaken.
Yes. I had chosen the wrong approach.
Trying to force my immense ego into the vast framework of the mental network and control it before adapting to it
was like shoving a child who had not even learned to walk and telling them to run across a cliff.
By sheer patience alone, I barely held onto the sensation of my entire body violently twisting under the oncoming rejection.
Forcing my convulsing limbs to calm, I sat upright in the middle of the web-like neural lines.
I closed every one of my tens of thousands of eyes. Then, slowly, I began to sink into a meditation as deep as the abyss.
Like dripping water slowly boring through stone over countless years.
When I let the fragments of my divided mind seep into the mental network bit by tiny bit, without haste, the rejection faded as if by magic.
The soul’s violent resistance gradually subsided, gently filling the void beyond dimensions little by little.
Realizing this method was the answer, I armed myself with fierce patience and chose to wait for the time when my entire ego would fully melt into it.
How much time passed?
At last, the countless minds bound together perfectly, and I became able to share, without the slightest error, the sensations felt by every "me" as one.
Even as I continued meditating, the earnest prayers of the children endlessly chanting sutras for me came through clearly on tens of thousands of channels.
I could even feel in real time the cold touch of the nutrient injectors inserted into the noses and mouths of all my bodies.
I’m sorry. You have all suffered so much because of me...
With relief, I sank once more into an even deeper mental mire.
Feeling through my skin every cell and every clone—every "me" that I had perceived only through the mind—
I finally recognized that we were, in essence, one immense whole.
I recognized, accepted, and fused.
And slowly, everyone breathing within the cavern became my ego itself.
Thus, when I finally attained complete peace of soul,
we were at last able to face one another and declare:
We had all become me.
The biological project unlike any other in galactic history had achieved perfect success.
I slowly opened my eyes.
As tens of thousands of "me" filling the underground cavern opened their eyes at once,
an old woman looking at me in welcome, tears welling in her eyes, came into the original me’s field of vision.
Though she had grown old and frail under the direct blow of time, I knew who she was at a single glance.
"Veronica..."
"Noah... Have you awakened safely?"
More than two hundred years had passed in the meditation required to synchronize my ego.
I reached out and gently cradled the wrinkled cheek of my secretary, whose dazzling blond hair had long since faded white.
"Yes. I succeeded... child. I’m sorry. I made you wait far too long."
"Don’t... say you’re sorry."
"...Thank you."
"Thank you... for coming back."
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