Editor’s Survival Guide

■ Precautions within 「National Theater That Roots Out the Fake」

[Before Watching Performance]

3. Your inner self may be reflected in the performance.

Though rare, the content of the performance may depict your past or trauma.

If the actions on stage feel like your own story, close your eyes and endure.

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The performances of 「National Theater」 sometimes project a spectator’s inner self.

Their past, or their trauma.

The moment I met the “three creatures” or “the thing that made me” belonged to both. First, it was certainly my past, and judging by the way it had even rebounded hypnosis, it was also true that the event was at the level of trauma.

“Earlier, you called the content of the performance ‘human history,’ correct? That is right. It is hard to see what Teacher Seo Do-un saw as personal trauma.”

Kim Ji-an spoke.

“What you saw was a more fundamental image than that, and symbols overlapping with the notes you saw in 「Hotel」 appear there too. And the time you were dragged into 「National Theater」 was also after you came out of 「Sports Complex」. Even if you could not remember, it was the point when the shock from that time would still be vivid.”

Yes, that was plausible enough.

Let us assume that performance was my subjective interpretation of the “three creatures” and “the thing that made me.”

“The ‘four living creatures’ in the Bible are sacred beings.”

“They are also beings who break seals and bring down disasters.”

When I spoke heavily, Kim Ji-an countered.

“And on that stage, you overlaid the colors of the ‘Four Horsemen’ onto the ‘four living creatures.’ That likely means you already perceived them as ‘beings who bring disaster and tribulation.’”

“The scale is growing too large…….”

“Ah, that does not mean you should conclude this is God’s judgment. It would be more correct to interpret it as, it was shocking enough to look that way, or there were elements that would make you regard it that way. Besides, there is still no evidence that these ‘four living creatures’ made the Special Zones.”

As Kim Ji-an continued speaking, she looked toward Oh Tae-o.

As if asking whether anything more had been discovered while she had been gone.

At that, Oh Tae-o only shook his head.

I chewed over Kim Ji-an’s method of interpretation, then spoke again.

“So this is not actual judgment, or actual messengers of God. It only looked that way within the scope of my perception, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Then I suppose I must infer their identities at the level of my own perception.”

At my words, Kim Ji-an nodded again.

Thinking about it, this was not such unfamiliar work.

Characters in novels each have their own limits too.

Suggesting the range of thoughts and actions according to those limits is also important work that increases the plausibility of a story.

I decided to apply that limitation to myself and continue making inferences.

“First, to me, the ‘four living creatures’ of the Bible are incomprehensible beings. They are called messengers of God, but as you said earlier, they are beings who bring disasters upon the world.”

“That is right. For those who believe in that faith, that day may be the long-awaited day of judgment and salvation, but for those who do not, it is simply the day of ruin.”

“Conversely, that means they are not absolute evil either. They are only carrying out some mission. They are not plunging the world into chaos because they themselves are wicked or greedy.”

Then did that mean I had perceived the “three creatures” and “the thing that made me” not as angels, demons, or monsters, but as something like public servants dispatched for fieldwork?

Mm, perhaps going that far was too much of a leap.

I had met them for only 144 seconds.

“Still, since they stir up the world for the sake of their own objective, to me, these ‘four living creatures’ seem closer to outsiders or invaders than representatives of God.”

In any case, it was clear that, from my perspective, they were not beings I could welcome.

“And those ‘four living creatures’ were originally on the same side.”

That went without saying in the Bible, and it was the same on the stage I had seen.

The things on stage had appeared carrying the wagon wheel together.

“But in the file I recorded, they were in opposition. Divided into the ‘three creatures’ and the ‘thing that made me.’ Then could this not be read as ‘an internal split occurred among the four living creatures who were originally on the same side’?”

“I do not think that is an unreasonable interpretation.”

Kim Ji-an agreed with me and continued speaking.

“Because in the performance too, the ‘bird’ did something strange at the end. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse symbolize conquest, war, famine, and death in order. You already know this too, Teacher, correct?”

“Yes, I know.”

Of course I knew.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were a motif often borrowed by works about ruin.

“In the performance you saw as well, whenever those creatures moved, humans formed ranks, fought one another, or collapsed from hunger.”

That was true.

That was why I had perceived it as human history.

“If we follow that order, when the ‘pale bird’ came out at the end, the stage should have been covered in death and ended. But at the very end, one man revived instead.”

At Kim Ji-an’s words, I recalled again.

The things I had seen that day.

When the bluish-white bird flew, all the humans on the stage crumbled and white flowers bloomed.

They were white roses.

The roses blooming in profusion soon gathered together and made the shape of a person.

At a glance, it was a sacred sight.

But when I looked closely, it was a face I knew, and when I realized he was hanging by the neck in midair, it felt as if the world stopped.

And at that moment, I had felt the impulse to go up onto the stage for the first time.

“This is resurrection, and it differs from the original role of the final horseman.”

“Then that could be a betrayal to those on the same side.”

At the words I added, Kim Ji-an nodded repeatedly.

“Yes. So I think the man who revived at the end may have been a representation of you yourself, Teacher Do-un.”

“…….”

It was a somewhat unexpected story.

Because I had thought that man was my father.

But after hearing Kim Ji-an’s words, there was something in that interpretation too that struck me.

“Because I made you?”

“That is right. Then those words can also be interpreted to some degree.”

Yes, that too had plausibility.

The plausibility that the man who revived above death was me.

For a subject I could no longer easily pretend not to know, I swept a hand over my face for a moment.

In reality, Director Go Hong-sang had died and revived again and again.

It had already become fact that dead people could revive inside Special Zones.

Moreover, no matter how I thought about it, I did not know how I had come out of 「Railway Station」 alive and intact.

Had I died once too, after all……?

A dull shock pushed in with the belated realization.

It was a calm and small shock, like a wave that had just rolled in and only wet the tops of my feet for now.

That was only natural, because while it was shocking, it felt a little awkward to be freshly shocked by it.

Perhaps because I had just seen Director Go’s variety-show resurrection, I seemed to be strangely able to accept it…….

Of course, I might suddenly plunge into confusion later, but right now, I could accept it with unexpected calm.

Besides, if this was the case, I could partially understand 「Crow」 picking me up and moving me around like its toy.

Since they had revived me, perhaps they were claiming some share and rights in their own way.

Of course, they were using me without my consent, so to me, those bastards were still definitely bad guys.

“This is only an interpretation.”

While I silently chewed it over, Kim Ji-an added this.

“We are gathering symbols in order to understand the situation. You do not have to believe this exactly as it is. No, it is better to keep some distance from it. Otherwise, you may become trapped in a frame and fail to see other things.”

I should not have done it, but without realizing it, I looked back at Oh Tae-o.

“What…….”

Oh Tae-o immediately became displeased.

Right, an interpretation was only an interpretation, and ultimately a hypothesis.

For now, I had to organize it as “this interpretation is possible too” and move on. I could not carelessly reach a conclusion.

“Still, after fitting things together like this, I feel as if it has been organized.”

Things I had so far passed over as “what is that?” felt much more comfortable now that they had been tied together and saved in one place.

Whether this was right or wrong, I would find out later.

At that moment, Oh Tae-o spoke.

“If the 「Railway Station」 risk is resolved this time, more material for comparison will come out…….”

“Material for comparison?”

“Because we will be able to see the materials written by Lee Sol’s father.”

“Ah.”

The materials Lee Seop had written had been blinded too.

But those were materials from no less than 4 years ago, and the exploration methods had probably already been absorbed into the Bureau’s know-how.

Would there truly be meaningful material there?

When I looked at him in confusion, Oh Tae-o spoke again.

“The date you wrote down in 「Hotel」 this time, January 23, 20XX…….”

“Sunbae, please do not talk carelessly…….”

But Kim Ji-an covered her ears and suffered, so he could not finish speaking.

Oh Tae-o looked at Kim Ji-an once, then took out his tablet.

Ding—

A message from Oh Tae-o arrived on my tablet.

-January 23, 20XX was the day Lee Sol’s father left his final voice record before disappearing.

-I think Lee Sol’s father disappeared because of this record.

-All the researchers who heard this record were dragged to 「Railway Station」 and died.

“…….”

At Oh Tae-o’s message, I remembered.

The way Lee Seop had gradually distorted inside 「Hotel」.

And the letters that had been smeared as if hurriedly erased.

“The Research Division is also looking forward to this operation…… If it succeeds, we will be able to read materials that have been inaccessible for years…….”

That was true.

Now that I thought about it, Cha Si-eon had also said something like this to persuade Kwon Mu-seop.

-Moreover, continuing to bear the risk of 「Railway Station」 is wasteful. Because of that, even meaningful data is being left alone.

So that had not been something he said casually. There had been a basis for it.

I had wondered why the being called 「Crow」 was so blindly devoted to saving the human child named Lee Sol.

Perhaps its objective was not Lee Sol, but this.

Having us open Pandora’s box may be the true objective of the bird, the betrayer among the “four living creatures.”

If that was truly so, would the remaining “three creatures” simply sit by and watch?

The possibility was slim.

The pressure of willingly entering the jaws of death.

It was the first moment I truly felt it.