Translator: Dreamscribe
[Today is a truly momentous day in the history of humankind. The Mars underground facility has finally opened its doors to ordinary civilians, and as of today, eleven households have begun their lives on Mars. Artificial Hibernation technology, successfully developed one year ago, has made long-distance space travel possible, and within the next decade, settling hundreds of thousands of households is expected to.......]
At news of the successful settlement, the executives broke into applause.
"Congratulations, Chairman-nim."
"You've finally succeeded in Mars Terraforming."
Mars Terraforming.
Dispatching legions of androids to build a base and excavate the underground facility had been a success, but safely transporting people was another matter.
Just firing a rocket at Mars and reaching the planet took six to nine months.
Of course, advances in science had since brought that down to under four months, but the people inside the spacecraft still had to endure altered gravity, and since they weren't trained astronauts, problems piled up from every angle.
In other words, they could carry people, but the transport process was so complicated that even if they wanted to send ordinary households, they couldn't.
"But with your son's breakthrough invention, this artificial sleep technology, this settlement finally became possible, didn't it?"
"Exactly. I hear it was a technology no one had cracked for thirty years, though plenty had worked on it. And your son solved it in one go....... Truly remarkable."
At yet another shower of praise for my son, the corners of my mouth turned up.
"And isn't that all because you raised your son so wonderfully, Chairman?"
"Haha. Well, genes do count for something."
I shook my head, smiling.
"No, not really. My son was so bright from a young age that even holding a conversation with him was difficult. I didn't do a thing. Surely it's because all of you here have steered the company so steadily?"
"Oh, please. We just follow what you instruct, Chairman."
"That's right. Without you, the company would have been in trouble long ago."
When Kwangwoon's size suddenly ballooned, apparently hyung-nim had been wracked with anxiety.
They say keeping a company at its weight class is harder than growing one in the first place, don't they.
And Kwangwoon had ridden the financial crisis into an unprecedented boom, so if every country had decided to pound on us in earnest, we wouldn't have known what hit us.
Thankfully, we navigated that transitional period well, and now we maintained our size steadily.
Hyung-nim paved the road and then retired, so I've had an easy time following in his footsteps, you could say.
'And the power of Intuition played a big role too.'
Life is a chain of choices.
Which one is the most advantageous, we can never really know.
But my Intuition always knew which option was best, and it would send me the signal.
Thanks to that power, Kwangwoon had not only maintained its weight class but climbed another rung higher.
We had saved the pitiful souls who were starving to death, solved medical problems, and now, at last, sent humans to Mars to pioneer a new settlement.
'So before I grow old and die, I have to use this power even more to stabilize the world and the company.......'
Just as I was lost in that thought.
"Ugh!"
A pain like someone driving an awl into the back of my head, and a groan escaped me before I knew it.
"Ch-Chairman-nim!?"
"Are you all right!"
The executives sprang to their feet in alarm.
I smiled and calmed them down.
"I'm fine. Just a momentary headache."
"Chairman, then we should get you to a hospital first......."
"Really, I'm fine. And you know this, don't you? Thanks to this Biochip, I'm getting round-the-clock health monitoring. If something were wrong, we'd know right away."
The truth was these sudden headaches had been going on for months.
And their frequency seemed to be picking up.
I'd even had tests done a few days ago, but nothing unusual turned up.
'Why is this happening lately?'
A headache with no known cause.
Could it be because of my ability?
Just as I'm growing old and my body is rusting out.
Could this ability be doing the same?
* * *
Jung Se-yoon understood exactly what kind of ability his father Jung Jin-ho's Intuition was.
His father's ability was decidedly different from his own.
Jung Se-yoon had Intuition too, but it didn't trigger very often.
His father, however, could gather certain information and the Intuition would fire right away, guiding his choices.
That was the Intuition Jung Se-yoon had come to understand in his father.
A perfect godlike wisdom that science could never hope to match, one that could even map out the distant future.
"Being able to send civilians to Mars this time is entirely thanks to you. You untangled everything NASA and our GAIA had been banging our heads against all this time."
Kim Geum-ho patted Jung Se-yoon's shoulder, telling him he'd done well.
"It was all thanks to the researchers who worked so hard. I just lent a hand."
"Heh heh. Enough with the pointless modesty. Without you, we'd probably have suffered another ten years before barely cobbling together a prototype."
Jung Se-yoon smiled without a word.
He didn't say it out loud, but he knew.
Without his help, Mars Terraforming would have been pie in the sky.
"The reason I called you in is partly to commend you, but there's also something I wanted to ask."
"Yes. What is it?"
"Those projects you've been in charge of lately. They're all related to space technology. And the contents of these projects are quite flashy. Not just Mars, but terraforming other planets, interstellar travel technology, and so on. One in particular caught my eye. The Hyper Drive."
"Because the universe is too vast to travel at the speed of light."
"Right. I took an interest in this field a while back and studied it, so I know. But the Hyper Drive is, for all practical purposes, an impossible technology. To forcibly compress space and move through it, you'd need a staggering amount of energy. Burning every planet in our solar system wouldn't be enough."
Scientists always lament this.
Why can't we move faster than the speed of light?
According to the theory of relativity, nothing in this world travels faster than light.
And no matter how much science advances, it cannot escape that framework.
Because someone set things up that way by force.
But just like computer programs, there are always holes somewhere.
Bugs, in other words.
"If you warp the spacetime around a ship, you can reduce the travel distance itself. That was the existing Warp Drive theory, but if you merge it with the Hyper Drive theory, you'd be able to achieve a far more revolutionary and rapid form of travel."
"That's easy to say. Genius or not, even a few hundred years wouldn't be enough for you to calculate all of that."
"Which is why we need the power of artificial intelligence. Of course, the problem is that even our current supercomputers can't finish the calculations."
Sensing his head would start to spin if he pressed further, Kim Geum-ho paused the conversation for a moment.
"You know what our GAIA is pursuing, don't you?"
"Yes. Solving global warming and saving humanity. That is GAIA's role."
"Right. And I won't deny that you are the single most important talent at our GAIA. Without you, we'd probably waste another several decades, or even centuries. But looking at the projects you've been focused on lately, it seems you have no interest in global warming at all. Isn't everything about venturing into space?"
It was true.
The project lists Jung Se-yoon had sent directly to his father for approval were all in that domain.
"The founding purpose of our GAIA is to solve global warming. So I'd like you to focus on that. If someone like you concentrates research on this issue, it will surely be resolved faster."
"Actually, the solution is simple."
"Simple?"
"Yes. We just need to cut the current population by thirty percent. According to the research we've already conducted, the Earth is designed to heal itself. The problem is that the vast human population on the planet keeps making the self-healing Earth sick."
"Wh, what on earth are you saying right now? Are you telling me to carry out population reduction?"
A chill ran down Kim Geum-ho's spine.
Because Jung Se-yoon was staring at him with unnerving clarity.
"It seems there's been a misunderstanding. I'm not some lunatic, and I'm not saying we should wipe out thirty percent of the population."
"Then?"
"Just as we relocated a population to Mars this time, we need to terraform Mars and various other planets and move as many people as possible to other worlds. Then Earth will heal on its own."
"......."
If that's what he meant, that was a relief.
Kim Geum-ho let out a sigh of relief, but every time he looked into Jung Se-yoon's eyes, a chill would occasionally run through him.
His looks took after his mother and could put any celebrity to shame, but those two eyes gazed without the slightest wavering at the exact goal he had set for himself.
The problem was that no one could tell what that goal was.
He thought about asking, but he was almost afraid to hear the answer.
He could sense it without needing to hear it.
A steadfast goal gripped by madness and conviction.
Right now, Jung Se-yoon was pressing forward solely to achieve it.
Whatever it was, he couldn't know, and didn't want to know either.
* * *
If there is a cult-like religious force called Contra Mundium.
Then naturally there must also be a religious force that follows the true god ruling over this world.
Today as well, countless people gathered at the meeting place, each wearing a mask.
Columns stood like those of a temple, and the walls were covered in elaborate murals. The origin of this magnificent place, they say, began with a certain Guild.
They held regular gatherings, performed religious rites that outsiders could never learn of, and divided their roles among themselves.
It's said that those who played the role of Priest were held in particularly high regard.
What's striking is that the former U.S. President, Aiden, had been the most dedicated Guild Member of them all, and right up until his death, he was known to have sworn his loyalty to the Guild.
"Welcome to today's Trinity gathering. May the Absolute One bless you all."
Trinity had begun as a Guild.
But now it had become a colossal religious organization.
Chaebol, celebrities, politicians, literary figures, scientists, and so on.
Every notable figure had been enrolled in this religious organization, and those who weren't, well, whatever misfortune befell them was their own problem.
"Today we have a special guest who will share wise words with us."
At the host's introduction, tens of thousands turned to see a man stepping up to the auditorium stage.
Like everyone else in the place, he wore a mask, so his identity was hidden, but.
"Huh!"
He suddenly removed the mask he was wearing and showed his face to all.
"Wait. That, that's......."
Before long, the sanctuary was filled with murmuring.
Everyone recognized that face.
The genius of the age.
The father of science who would succeed Newton and Einstein.
Jung Se-yoon, the rising star who had won the youngest-ever Nobel Prize in Physics.
But above all, what mattered was whose son he was.
He was none other than Jung Jin-ho's son.
"My name is Jung Se-yoon."
His unexpected appearance made the commotion slow to settle.
"I know that with so much going on lately, the atmosphere has been as unsettled as you see it now."
At his gentle yet charismatic voice, the hall quickly fell quiet on both sides.
"I know that many of you have been trembling with unease, especially over the mysterious deaths occurring around the world."
Then someone cried out.
"Are those truly the judgment of the Absolute One?"
Jung Se-yoon answered at once.
"Yes. All of it is His will and His power."
"!?"
The murmurs swelled far louder than before.
"But there is no need for any of you to fear. His judgment falls only upon those who disrupt the order of this world. Upon you, who believe in Him and follow Him, such a thing will never happen."
"......."
"I understand that until now, you have been troubled, not knowing who exactly the Absolute One you serve truly is. Here and now, I will make it clear. The Absolute One you serve is no invisible being. It is my father, Jung Jin-ho. He is the Absolute One who has descended upon this world in human form to guide us."
"......!"
The once-uproarious hall fell silent again, as if by magic.
"The reason I reveal this to you now is that there is no longer any need to hide it. From now on, for the sake of justice and for the sake of us, whom He is meant to govern, He will use His power without restraint. So no matter what adversary may arise, do not fear. Do not waver. All you must do is follow His will."
Jung Se-yoon knew that the one currently passing judgment on people was not his father, but Helios, built by the power of science.
But they didn't need to know that sort of thing.
What mattered to them was visible evidence.
"He is merciful. He will never betray those who follow Him. But His mercy is by no means bound to the Earth alone. Soon it will reach beyond this galaxy and extend across the entire universe, and the life that exists there will come to worship the doctrine of our Trinity and the Absolute One as well."
So how, then, was one to bind the faithful as servants for eternity?
"And then, the believers here will be rewarded by Him and will live Eternal Life. Ruling the universe alongside Him."
It was simply a matter of giving them what they desired.
"Woaaaahhh!"
"I believe!!"
That was what a god was.
Not something that had existed from the beginning, but something that was made.
And for that god to exist, worshipers were required.
Foolish believers who would fear its power, revere it, and give their very lives to follow.
"......."
Jung Se-yoon quietly looked down at the faithful raising their hands high and roaring.
A certain philosopher once said this.
That religion is a political tool used to control the masses and stabilize the state.
Those words, spoken centuries ago, now pierced clean through this age of the future.