"Reaching this point was the victory condition."
"...Victory condition?"
A soft hum.
A hologram appeared in the empty space, showing the shape-shifting Great Monster. It morphed constantly, showing forms Gordius had not seen before, including some final phases he hadn’t encountered.
"It takes on infinite forms based on information, adapting to its era and environment... but the endpoint is mostly the same."
The holographic Great Monster transformed again, into the swirling data bomb Gordius had just witnessed.
"It becomes the form that inflicts the most damage on the world, using all its power in a self-destructive attack... A persistently troublesome enemy, isn’t it?"
"..."
"There was no way to predict what its initial forms might be, so we could only hope to overcome them on our own. But as for this 'final' form, which is fixed... we were prepared for that."
The wrist tattoo had been that very preparation.
In that case—
"...Is it really over?"
"Yes. It's over. I will take care of the Great Monster’s last-ditch attack pattern, and the world will be at peace again. Restoring civilization will be grueling, but... hope remains."
"...Is that so..."
He did it.
Gordius had saved the world from the unprecedented threat of the Great Monster.
Yet, for some reason, the shadow over his heart felt heavier than the joy of success. Staring at the white floor with a darkened gaze, the young man from another world cautiously asked the mad wizard:
"...Will I return, then?"
"Yes. This is not your world. I'll give you until the end of the day, but you, too, must wake from this dream and return to reality."
"What will happen to those left in New Stellaria?"
"Naturally—they will continue to live."
Yes, that’s it.
The reason Gordius could not celebrate this grand victory with a carefree heart was...
The story ends, but life doesn’t.
The Western world is polluted by radiation from nuclear war, the social order of Korea has collapsed, and survivors will see, shimmering before them, yet another form of survival competition.
The joy of slaying the Great Monster will last only a few days; then, the people of New Stellaria will realize there’s a long, thorny road ahead.
Gordius had been entrusted with three months of their time.
And, upon reflection... it felt like he had some change left over, even after defeating the Great Monster. Isn’t it a good merchant’s duty to provide after-sales service?
He looked directly at the mad wizard and spoke.
"Could I stay a little longer?"
Though phrased as a question, it was more of a declaration. He wouldn’t feel at peace unless he stayed and built a foundation for the future.
The mad wizard chuckled.
"An amusing suggestion. Are you worried about those left behind?"
"...Yes."
"Let’s take a little detour, then. The tattoo on your wrist serves as a seal for the Great Monster’s final attack pattern. And that power now lies here, in our hands."
Bzzt.
A black sphere appeared, floating in the air. It might have had the potential to wreak havoc across the globe. Just looking at it made his skin tingle, a magical concentration of unimaginable output.
The mad wizard spun it around his fingertip.
"I had planned to seal this away."
"..."
"But instead of sealing this power—we could use it to turn back time. To a past when everything was beautiful."
"Wait, what?"
Gordius's eyes widened.
Did he just say they could reverse time? Did this man just say that?
If so, then... if it really worked... they could finish this story from the very beginning. By preparing from the time when modern civilization was thriving, they could crush the Great Monster before it even reared its head.
He could prevent Woo Chaerin’s death...!!
Hope filled his eyes, but the mad wizard cut him off with a sharp line.
"It’s not as convenient as you think, Gordius. Of course, if you start back in the heyday of modern civilization, building robots will be much easier. But in exchange for reversing time, the clock tattoo will disappear."
"Meaning?"
"It means that, in a second attempt, there won’t be a deus ex machina to stop the Great Monster’s final attack pattern."
The mad wizard offered a somewhat sinister smile as he proposed:
"‘Hard mode.’ You’ll have to overcome the final phase entirely on your own. So, what do you say... up for the challenge?"
He didn’t need to think about the answer.
"—I’ll do it."
Given a chance to undo everything, who wouldn’t take the challenge?
The mad wizard laughed heartily, clapping his hands. Gordius’s consciousness lifted, and the white space began to recede quickly.
"Very well. You will know what to do. Good luck, Gordius. May you find happiness at the end of your story!"
The sensation of being sucked downward. When he opened his eyes—
...
"Mr. Wizard, Mr. Wizard?! The Great Monster’s condition seems odd?!"
It was right after the tattoo had glowed. He was back in Meteor’s cockpit. The tattoo crumbled to dust. Gordius quickly reviewed the dream-like conversation.
Crack. Crack, crack!
Apparently, he did know exactly what to do.
The swirling mana in the Great Monster’s chest was refining itself into a portal that spiraled gracefully.
Through it, he could see South Korea in the past. The bustling skyscrapers, radiant with neon lights, before the monster’s arrival.
"Kim Yoon-seo, that’s a portal to the past."
"What?!"
"I’m going to go back and change the entire future. As soon as the Great Monster appears, I’ll squash it so no one dies. Will you come with me?"
"Of course! But, um... you’re not crazy, right? You’re speaking normally, right? This isn’t the monster messing with our heads, right?!"
That’s how it looks, doesn’t it?
If a colleague suddenly started spouting nonsense in a dire situation, Gordius would probably be skeptical too.
But the flow of mana told him it was real.
"Open cockpit."
Pshh—!
Meteor Unit 2’s chest opened, exposing the cockpit. A gust of wind blew in. Gordius looked at Kim Yoon-seo.
"You can stay, or you can come with me, but I’m going to change the future. And that move... it won’t be something to regret. After all, isn’t it thanks to it that we met? You’ll be happy."
"Ah... No, I’m coming too! But you’re not just throwing yourself into a pit of despair, right...?"
"Remember, we equipped ourselves against the Great Monster’s hypnosis wave. And we set the instruments to display any mental attack impact. The system is fine. I’m going first!"
Leap.
Without hesitation, Gordius jumped into the portal.
"This is... ah, screw it!"
Kim Yoon-seo hesitated, then squeezed her eyes shut and leapt after him.
Flash—!
The portal to the past swallowed the two pilots, then gradually shrank, disappearing as if it had never existed.
...
Where am I?
It’s dark; I can’t see anything. I don’t even know if I’m standing or sitting. Gordius took a moment to calmly reflect on the past. Why was he in the dark?
"..."
His memory was intact. He could recall everything.
He’d accepted the mad professor’s proposal.
Yes, the professor had baited him with the alluring idea of 'time reversal.' Gordius inhaled the scent of the sewers deeply. It was the same as at the beginning of the first attempt.
Would the timing be the same too? If so, he had about two weeks before the Great Monster’s arrival. He walked confidently along the flowing stream, needing no adjustment to the darkness.
He already knew the way; it didn’t matter if he couldn’t see.
He found the ladder.
Clunk, clunk.
He climbed the ladder. With each step, the sound echoed through the passage. At the top, the manhole cover was shut. If he remembered correctly, this was a roadway.
With a click, he eased the cover aside to check the area. No cars were passing by. Gordius quickly climbed up, crossing the empty road to the sidewalk.
There lay the neon-drenched city.
Beneath the silent night moon, the city was far from asleep.
He didn’t know where to look; the buildings soared so high, adorned with colored LEDs that broadcasted their existence. The flickering windows were like a maestro conducting a concert.
Even the low-rise buildings held their own charm, boasting vivid signs and neat architecture. It was as if all the stars that should have been in the sky had descended to the ground.
The roads were unbroken and clear, bustling with cars.
This was unmistakably before the Great Monster’s appearance. Checking the date on a billboard confirmed it: this was the moment he’d first arrived in this world.
"Heh."
His heart raced. A figure from his memories danced before him.
Woo Chaerin, with whom he had toiled in Stellaria, researching the magic engine. He remembered her vividly. Now it was time to bring her back.
He clenched his fist. This chance wasn’t a dream.
"Alright, this isn’t a dream. I’ll use all the societal infrastructure to build Stellaria. And in the end—"
He would build a towering, dependable giant robot for anyone to look up to.
And with it—
He would save the world.
Gordius robbed a bank. Using mysterious magic, he withdrew enough for his immediate needs and left behind a promissory note, promising to repay twice the amount. He’d repay for real once he found Joseph.
Afterward, he ditched the golden robe for a snazzy long coat, got a watch, styled his hair, and completed his preparations just as dawn was breaking.
The first person he needed to recruit was Kim Yoon-seo. She was nearby.
Though he didn’t know her exact address, there was only one middle school in the vicinity. A quick scan around there would suffice to locate her.
He wasn’t sure if she had followed him back. If she had, she’d have memories of the future. If not, he’d face the challenge of convincing a middle schooler to become a pilot.
"There’s no giving up."
Operating a 100-meter-tall giant robot solo would be a stretch for Gordius. Kim Yoon-seo, with her exceptional mana control, was a necessary talent. And mana talent was ageless.
The entrance of a dashing foreigner dressed to the nines immediately drew the students’ attention. He strode through the school, scanning the first-grade classrooms.
And in Class 1-3, he found Kim Yoon-seo.
She sat loftily atop a slouched classmate as if he were her chair.
"..."
"Oh, you’re here? Even ten years ago, you looked exactly the same, Wizard. Must be the power of the cryo capsule."
"What are you doing to these kids? Aren’t you over twenty?"
"Well, um... they were kind of hazing me. And hey, I’m only in seventh grade right now, so isn’t it fine...?"
She seemed to be relishing the feeling of being a seventh-grade schoolgirl, even though she’d been a veteran one-armed pilot in the previous timeline. Yoon-seo hopped off her makeshift seat and joined Gordius.
She avoided his gaze, evidently a bit embarrassed about her actions.
"Shall we? Have you found Joseph?"
"Not yet. I don’t even know where he is."
"I know. When he drinks, he rambles about the past. Around this time, he’d be traveling around Korea, inspecting bunkers... and probably catching girl group concerts."
"Let’s go get him."
The pilot duo skipped school for the sake of the world.
After listening to Gordius’s explanation about the colossal monster set to appear in the future, and the need to build a 100-meter-tall giant robot with his entire fortune in two weeks—
Joseph burst out laughing.
"Pfft—!! Ha-ha-ha! Hah, ha-ha-ha—!"
"...."
"Trying to assassinate me with laughter, huh? That’s an original attempt. Make sure I don’t regret investing in a giant robot? Ha-ha-ha—!!"
The shrewd businessman Joseph Williams gave them the finger, waving it for emphasis to usher them out.
"You’ve had your laugh. Now get out. Next time, bring a more convincing idea—"
Crack.
Gordius cracked his knuckles.
"You were the one who said to drag you into this by the collar, Joseph. I didn’t want to act ungentlemanly, but... I’m merely fulfilling our contract."
"...Wizard, you’re smiling right now, which doesn’t match the sentiment."
"Golem Summoning."
Rumble, rumble!
Earthen golems rose from the ground, blocking the doors and windows.
"What, what is this?! Did you set up this whole set in advance?! No, that’s...?!"
Joseph panicked at the sudden shift to fantasy. He finally understood. Gordius wasn’t here to request an investment.
He had come to collect!
"I’ll make you feel the need to invest with every fiber of your being."
"S-Stay back! Don’t come any closer—!!"
And so, he was thoroughly convinced in the end.
With Joseph’s voluntary and dedicated involvement, the project began to move. His wealth, bestowed by Bitcoin’s grace, quickly transformed the luxurious underground bunker into a robot production facility.
"My hard-earned money..."
"Shh."
"So I can’t even complain after being fleeced?!"
Most problems could be solved with money. But recruiting talent—especially a leader—was challenging, no matter how much money he had.
After all, who had experience building giant robots? Besides Gordius, no one else was qualified for such a role.
So, here he was, ready for recruitment, with a bouquet of flowers in hand.
At the gate of the Space Research Center .
Beyond that gate lay the Woo Chaerin of the past. His heart raced.
"G-Gordius, sir? This way! Let me show you around the facility...!"
"Please do, Director."
Now a major investor in the facility thanks to Joseph’s funds, Gordius was escorted into the center by the balding director.
And in a corner of the lab, he saw her.
Disheveled clothes, thick glasses, a weary expression, a crooked lab coat, and the hunched shoulders of someone who found life thoroughly uninteresting.
She looked more like mold growing in a corner than a blooming lotus, yet to Gordius, she shone with vivid beauty, her figure imprinted in his mind.
He walked towards her.
He couldn’t hear the director asking why he was heading in that direction, nor the murmurs of other researchers. Every one of his senses was focused on her.
Crossing a decade to this moment, Gordius knelt before Woo Chaerin and offered her the bouquet. Then he spoke:
"I admire your papers. My research group, Stellaria, has an open position for a head researcher. Would you care to join?"
"...Huh?"
Woo Chaerin was completely floored by the sudden recruitment attack.