Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 82 - 79 Extraordinaryism 1

Chapter 82: 79 Extraordinaryism 1

Looking at this black electronic telescope, I couldn’t help but be speechless.

I had just heard that Zhu Shi had gone to great lengths for me in secret, yet it was circumvented by Lu Youxun, and I did indeed have some reservations about him. Of course, I was well aware that Lu Youxun was just diligently fulfilling his duty; he personally had done nothing wrong. It was a problem of my personal emotions.

But now, seeing this thing, those emotions were instantly dispersed, turning into speechlessness towards both Lu Youxun and Zhu Shi.

After all, Lu Youxun was a demon hunter skilled in various Divination Skills and investigative spells, yet in the end, he resorted to using an electronic telescope to spy on my secrets—it was a contrast so stark it was dumbfounding. Zhu Shi, despite all her precautions against reading land memory and warding off Divination Skills, had ultimately overlooked such an item.

I couldn’t fault them either, because I hadn’t even remotely considered that a telescope would show up here.

"So you mean to say... during the battle, you were watching us from a distance with this thing?" I asked.

"Yes. It is my duty, I hope you don’t mind," Lu Youxun first humorously smiled, then said, "And don’t blame Zhu Shi for incompetence. It’s not that she doesn’t understand modern technology, but that she has a stereotype about us Extraordinary Fanatics, thinking we despise modern technology. Indeed, many among us despise technology, but that’s just their foolishness, not a view to be generalized."

"Extraordinaryism?"

"Zhu Shi must have described to you the faction I belong to," he said. "Extraordinaryism is the general name for our ideology. The faction I am part of is also referred to as Transcendentalism Mountain."

"You once referred to demon hunters as monks, is that also a term from your Extraordinaryism?" I asked.

"Exactly," he contemplated briefly before saying, "Zhuang Cheng, when you first encountered demon hunters, did you ever feel puzzled why Luo Mountain would collectively refer to those with special abilities as ’demon hunters’?"

I had indeed pondered this question initially.

If it were just possessing special abilities, calling them "individuals with special abilities" would be more appropriate. The term "demon hunter" implies action. If a person’s abilities have no connection with combat, and they neither wish nor have experience in fighting demons, then calling them a demon hunter certainly isn’t fitting.

Luo Mountain would even directly call someone using special abilities for evil deeds a "Fallen Demon Hunter" rather than any other designation reflecting their actual actions more accurately. Suppose I had awakened my superpowers at fourteen and immediately engaged in wrongdoing, I would also be labeled as a Fallen Demon Hunter—despite never having acted as a hunter.

There was only one conclusion I could draw.

"It’s about ’naming,’ isn’t it?" I said.

"That’s right," Lu Youxun agreed.

As children, some would nickname peers they disliked and encourage others to use the same nicknames. While childish, such actions hold considerable power in the adult world; giving a name to something is an act of power and characterization.

Giving a serious entity a comical name dissolves its severity, and vice versa. Such occurrences are commonplace in real life. If someone capable of killing demons is named a demon hunter, people around them would gradually find it natural for that person to hunt demons.

Even if they neither ideate nor have experience hunting demons, society would still expect them to fulfill the duty inherently ascribed by the title ’demon hunter.’ The individual might even subconsciously harbor similar thoughts, feeling guilty for not fulfilling their supposed responsibilities or simply accepting themselves as selfish.

The actual capacity to fight and the appropriateness of engaging in combat are entirely separate matters; there is no initial need for guilt or self-reproach, for these are later imposed ideologies.

And those whose abilities aren’t suited for combat might also be considered capable of providing support from behind, thus getting swept up in this defining act.

This phenomenon reminded me of the Mysticism knowledge I had encountered in the past. In the world of Mysticism, a name holds power, and the right name can even determine one’s fate.

Even from a psychological perspective, the title ’demon hunter’ indeed imposes the "Power of Destiny" on this group. But not mystically, rather ideologically. It’s not to say that Mysticism is playing tricks with psychology. Just like in ancient times, Feng Shui wasn’t entirely obscure—some bona fide architectural knowledge was also categorized under Feng Shui. And long ago, certain ideologies were initially the domain of Mysticism.

But considering the presence of supernatural entities, perhaps ’naming’ indeed involves the so-called Power of Destiny.

"Form is extremely important; many who pride themselves on pragmatism look down on form, unaware of the tremendous power it has wielded throughout human history. Names give credibility, and credibility upholds substance. Only the substance and name cannot be falsified," Lu Youxun first sighed, then continued, "One of the aspirations of Extraordinaryism is to change ’demon hunter’ to ’monk.’ We will no longer be inherently expected to deal with the supernatural but will be free and strong individuals."

"What about the task of dealing with the supernatural, then?" I asked.

"I will still continue," he said, "but this job is no longer something that is taken for granted. Since ancient times, the nation has treated Luo Mountain as an organization that should naturally take huge risks in dealing with the abnormal. This kind of thinking is twisted, and we must correct it."

At this point, what he had said had not actually made me feel disgusted. Many times, people say that the greater the power, the greater the responsibility. Here, power refers to a person’s social authority. When individuals receive power with the support of a group, they should consciously maintain the group. But if this logic is mechanically applied to ’super individuals’ like demon hunters, various contradictions will arise.

The problem came afterward.

"So, as a compensation for dealing with the abnormal, do you Extraordinary Fanatics think you should become the God of this nation?" I asked.

"Since we are to take on responsibilities, shouldn’t the corresponding power be handed over? Isn’t that reasonable?" Lu Youxun countered.

"I don’t know if the responsibility of fighting the abnormal is equivalent to the power of enslaving ordinary people, as I lack knowledge in that area. But if this is really that reasonable, why haven’t the Luo Mountains of history done that?" I asked intentionally. "There must be some crucial reason for it."

"There isn’t any reason," he said without hesitation. "The Luo Mountains of the past didn’t choose to rule the mortal world simply because they ’hadn’t thought of it.’ I’m not saying they were foolish or insane, but there was some external force preventing them from thinking that way.

"It might have been a form of mass hypnosis, or maybe some other incredible phenomenon. In any case, that force was very powerful; even the Impermanence of previous generations were influenced by it, to the extent of defining us who should be ’monks’ as ’demon hunters,’ and forbidding us from revealing our existence to the secular world, as well as banning us from taking the stage of history. We don’t know why, but we never questioned this order, continuing right up to this era.

"Now, that force has dissipated. We should reclaim our true title and return to our rightful place."

"Then why haven’t you acted yet?" I asked. "According to Zhu Shi, that force had already dissipated three years ago, but you still haven’t exercised your influence over society. Why is that?"

I had asked a similar question to Zhu Shi. Zhu Shi attributed it to "internal disagreements within Luo Mountain," but I thought this reason was not sufficient. Besides, Zhu Shi didn’t seem like the type who cared about the political storms of Luo Mountain; she likely had a lot of missed information.

Lu Youxun, on the other hand, was entirely different; he was clearly a person who valued "principles" and "mountain doctrines," and stood on a completely different footing from Zhu Shi, with a different perspective that allowed him to see different things.

I’m not interested in "principles" and "mountain doctrines," but I am quite interested in "mysteries."

Lu Youxun spoke in a deep voice, "Because we are wary of the ’Divine Seal.’"

Divine Seal?

Hearing this name, I shuddered.

"What is the Divine Seal?" I asked immediately.

"It is the term a few people within Luo Mountain use to refer to the origin of that force," Lu Youxun explained. "Concerning what that force is that prevented Luo Mountain from stepping onto the stage of history, there is a plethora of opinions within Luo Mountain. One of the minority hypotheses is that somewhere in this world, there exists a Divine Artifact called the ’Divine Seal’ capable of fulfilling any wish.

"This hypothesis holds that a long time ago, a human acquired the ’Divine Seal,’ who, for some unknown purpose, made an unknown wish to the ’Divine Seal.’

"This wish affected the whole world, making ordinary people the protagonists of the world, while we monks could only take a backseat, operating in secrecy in the background."

I touched the Divine Seal Fragment in my pocket and then tentatively asked, "Do you believe this hypothesis?"

"Actually, I find it hard to believe that such a Divine Artifact exists. Although I cannot claim to have read widely, I have studied intensely. If such an artifact truly existed, why have I never heard of it before?" he shook his head. "It’s just that my superiors have chatted with me about this absurd hypothesis that only a few people take seriously, so I just followed along with that term."

In other words, although he had just said "we are wary of the ’Divine Seal,’" in fact, most of the ’we’ don’t believe in or even know about the existence of the Divine Seal, he just picked a convenient term to refer to the source of that force.

But I know that the Divine Seal is real.

Merely the fragment of the Divine Seal was capable of pulling me, the rebellious Impermanence, survivors of the Doomsday World, and a person-whose-identity-is-unknown named Number One into that mysterious and unpredictable Mist Dream Realm. This thing, transcending space and even time, might truly possess the power to fulfill any wish.

The reason I say ’might’ is because the scale of the topic is too vast. It’s a super phenomenon capable of swaying human history; does my little fragment really possess such divine power in its intact state? I still find it hard to believe fully.

"So, you Extraordinary Fanatics believe... the Master of the Divine Seal is still alive, and if Luo Mountain acts rashly, the Master of the Divine Seal will intervene?" I asked.

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