Episode 9 – Live Poll: Dead or Alive

The sky has become a giant voting screen. The viewers across the universe begin betting on Jinwoo’s choice: Will he remain a cold avenger and strike God’s server? Or will he choose memory, save Mina, and return to being human? 1. A Cosmic Gambling House As voting progresses, the physical laws of Earth begin to fluctuate. When votes for love increase, the temperature around Jinwoo rises and flowers bloom. When votes for revenge increase, Jinwoo’s body hardens like a machine and absorbs the life force around him. Observer F: “Obviously revenge! Destroying everything is the best part.” Observer G: “No, tragic love is the classic ratings winner. He has to save Mina!” Jinwoo screams as his body mutates according to the live voting results against his will. 2. The Absolute Sheriff: The Moderator When Jinwoo tries to hack the voting system itself, God sends an entity called The Moderator to stop him. Unlike the Sweepers, the Moderator is a higher-level being — a judge who enforces the operating policies of the universe. The Moderator appears before Jinwoo and freezes space. “Unauthorized event interference detected. Account suspension is under review.” With a single gesture, the hacking tools Jinwoo built are classified as illegal programs and deleted instantly. 3. Mina’s Reverse Strategy: Data Overfitting Trapped and compressed inside the Backup Sector, Mina decides to use Kyle’s mockery against him. She begins forcibly uploading not only Jinwoo’s memories, but all the painful memories of humanity preserved there over thousands of years. “God created us to cure His boredom? Then let Him swallow all this pain at once.” Mina’s body begins glowing white under an unbearable amount of data. She becomes a massive data bomb and detonates the Backup Sector’s firewall from within. 4. The Collapse of the Voting System Fragments of memory burst into the real world. The screens of the viewers who were enjoying the vote suddenly synchronize with thousands of years of human pain and sorrow. For the first time, the spectators who had casually watched while eating popcorn feel the suffering of the creations as their own. The ratings graph plunges vertically, drops below zero, and overloads the system. 5. Ending: The Path Not Chosen While the Moderator falls into temporary error from the data shock, Jinwoo looks at the voting screen. But the result is neither love nor revenge. It reads: [ERROR: No Result Value] Mina falls from the sky and lands in Jinwoo’s arms. From her eyes, the memories Jinwoo lost spill out like grains of light. “Jinwoo… we don’t need a vote. We make our own ending.” At that moment, the voting screen in the sky shatters. A massive eye of God appears between the clouds. God no longer sounds amused. In a low, unpleasant voice, He declares to the world: “This broadcast accident has gone too far. There will be no next episode. I will reset the server.” From the far edge of the horizon, the world begins to be erased in white light. Episode 9 ends.