Infinite Regressor, Chapter 418 - I’m an Infinite Regressor, But I’ve Got Stories to Tell

Tick-tock. Time had come. At last, the moment had arrived to present you all with a question—one that had been endlessly veiled in secrecy throughout this narrative. Who am 'I' in this story? You all have presumed 'I' to be the 'Undertaker.' Naturally, the protagonist was the Undertaker. But, simultaneously, you knew the fact that the one refining the Undertaker's tale into sentences was none other than 'Oh Dok-seo.' -Script: Undertaker -Editing: Oh Dok-seo Had the prearranged agreement between Oh Dok-seo and me indeed been enacted, the roles we each undertook would have been divulged from the introduction of this novel. In this tale, 'I' was the Undertaker. And all this while, I was also 'Oh Dok-seo.' Every story is an imitation of dreams. It is the act of dreaming another's dream through the form of a book. Just as I am now dreaming of Go Yuri's dreams, Oh Dok-seo was peering into the dreams of a regressor named 'me.' "Dok-seo." "...? Why the sudden tone?" "There are words I must convey to you now." I held Oh Dok-seo's hands firmly. She flinched, taken aback. Experiencing Go Yuri's reincarnation, I found myself as a young lady from a European noble family in this life. Yet, I abandoned the mannerisms of this life. I relinquished expressions. For the first time, I completely ignored the rigid rules of adhering to 'Go Yuri's' reincarnated self thus far. "Uh, uh...?" "You may not understand it now. But, one day, you'll surely read my diary in the form of a novel." "I've already read it..." "No." I shook my head. "Living as your sibling was, from my perspective, nothing more than a fleeting moment of ephemeral existence. I will spend hundreds of lifetimes with you and billions without you." "..." "I am living this moment to comfort a single lonely soul." I spun the tale. It was a lengthy story. But I knew Oh Dok-seo well and knew how to concoct the tale in a palatable form for her. It took weeks until Oh Dok-seo devoured the entire story, suffered indigestion, and finally spoke up. "What... do you want from me?" "I am in the process of dissecting and severing only her humanity from the vast monstrosity named Go Yuri." Separation. Isolation. Essentially the same operation Go Yuri enacted against foreign entities. "Regrettably, I must task you with the same endeavor." "..." "There is no need for an anomalous entity called the Undertaker to exist in this world." I stated resolutely. "He has grown too vast. A being that already coexisted with hundreds of visions with each step now intertwining with billions of reincarnations. Humanity has come too far to regard him as an ordinary human." "Then?" "Leave only the traces of the Undertaker's human life in this world." That was my end. "Go Yuri entrusted herself to me. I shall also entrust myself to you." "..." "Remember the Undertaker merely as an ordinary human. A peculiar man with iron will and extraordinary memory, one who had a fondness for ancient classics like the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms.'" Indeed. The endeavor of annotating the humanity in every chapter title was itself a process of sealing one regressor, the Undertaker. It was a desperate measure for someone who could spiral into monstrosity to be remembered as human. "How you depict me, the evaluation of me, I leave it entirely to you." "To me...?" "Yes." Go Yuri remarked. For entities like us, what mattered was how much of oneself one was prepared to surrender. Monsters relinquished nothing. They imposed themselves on this world. They trampled upon even the cosmic laws with their own decrees. Beings of monstrosity perpetually chanted 'I', 'I', 'I'. Thus, the method to not become monstrous was simple. To surrender one's understanding of oneself, not monopolize it but offer it to others. Infinite Void ceased to be monstrous the moment it began to be referred to as Cheon Yo-hwa. Go Yuri transcended her name and offered her very life to me. "It may sound strange now, but indeed, you are my priestess." With a smile, I patted Oh Dok-seo on the shoulder. "Deities exist to concede to their priestesses." "..." Thusly, following the isolation of Go Yuri, the outline of the sealing plan for what was to become of me emerged. Naturally, a preliminary task laid ahead. ‘Infinite Metagame.’ A notorious final striker who constantly looked for opportunities to enchant Oh Dok-seo and devour a prepared feast. ‘I must firmly subdue that one and extract a declaration of surrender. Only then can that being not meddle with Oh Dok-seo’s sealing process.’ Fortunately, the task of subduing Infinite Metagame had been laid out by the 'future Undertaker' and 'my past self.' The repeating timeline of this world. Everything was inevitable. ‘This route must have been premeditated by Go Yuri ever since before my first cycle began.’ A two-legged race of synergy. ‘And from now on... I must adjust the prologue of the novel Oh Dok-seo will read to commence with the Undertaker’s tale rather than Go Yuri’s.’ It was a simple task. ‘As long as Infinite Metagame perceives the Undertaker as a greater threat deserving attention than Go Yuri, all will be well.’ In other words. ‘After adjusting all schedules and embarking on the definitive route―― Go Yuri will refrain from involving herself in world destruction.’ It was a form of camouflage. I’m not really dangerous, see-. Well, I mean I am, but as long as you don’t directly mess with me, I don’t plan to act recklessly-. But mess with me and you’ll be sorry! I’ll put you in your place-? Thus, naturally, Infinite Metagame’s gaze would gravitate more toward the regressor than the reincarnator. It was wiser to focus on eliminating the thorn-like regressor rather than the reincarnator who had no immediate intention of making a move. "Heh." I couldn’t help but chuckle. ‘Isn’t that precisely the position I remember for Go Yuri?’ The reason Go Yuri was particularly sensitive to the landing of Leviathan became clear when considering her grand strategy. ‘I, the Undertaker, must eventually abandon my aura and find my own way of conquering.’ ‘But in the 664th cycle, it’s too soon. The Undertaker lacks the experience to resolve to forsake the aura.’ ‘Until sufficient experience is gained, relying on the aura for survival is unavoidable.’ This was what was known as Go Yuri’s ‘Regressor Maker.’ The cultivation of a regressor needed to proceed gradually. It was inconvenient if understanding the truth of Leviathan came too early, and problematic if it came too late. ‘For the sake of one person.’ I embraced the successive lives. ‘Did it take all this devotion to reach here?’ I lived all lives and watched over the lives of all. In the lowest depths, I attempted to remain silent with a wrenching throat; in the highest skyscrapers, I declared with a commanding voice. I lived as a beggar who relied on a bowl while perched on the gutter of the roadside. To a legless beggar, the depth of that gutter was akin to a valley. On dusty streets that swallowed the air, I extended a hand toward tourists. All lives were pitiful in the face of destruction. ‘The reincarnator wasn’t simply a sorrowful existence.’ In each of those lives, I grasped the hand that arose in prayer-like manner as I walked. ‘Humans are strong.’ I saw a flower blooming from the ditch. Even when covered in dust, the red of its petals remained undiminished. ‘Observe. Even if foreign entities mocking the world create chaos amidst laughter, a reincarnator and a regressor among humans have walked to this point.’ Let’s go. 'Oh Dok-seo, I imagine you're feeling sorrowful.' Let us walk. ‘I feel sad too, leaving all these stories and regrets in your hands.’ The Cheon Yo-hwa sisters were born. I was a childhood friend of their mother—a mother who died early, leaving me with the words to take care of her children. These children, eventually seized by external spirits, would go on to massacre countless people. Yet, the children laughing before me now would love a certain man, and eventually, embrace the world that man inhabited. ‘But you are a strong child.’ Dang Seo-rin was born. Originally, the human possessing the body of Dang Seo-rin had died. Yet, an external spirit inheriting Dang Seo-rin’s memories accepted her human identity, without even realizing her monstrous nature. One day, despite being a monstrosity, she would sing lullabies to subdue other monstrosities, while walking side by side with a single man. ‘Do not succumb to sadness.’ Yu Ji-won did not commit suicide. Initially, Yu Ji-won was fated, on a summer day with torrential rain, to murder her parents and dementia-stricken grandmother before ending her own life. She possessed the courage to regard the entire world as insects, and to consider herself one as well. I once was born as her sibling, yet, astoundingly, that young Yu Ji-won smothered her infant sibling away from their parents' sight. Because there was no need to add one more to such a hell. ‘Even if you forget everything, it doesn't matter. That, too, is an ending. But if you cannot forget, if you cannot accept, then become strong.’ To prevent Yu Ji-won's suicide, another’s presence was needed beneath the rainy night sky. ‘You must become enriched to the extent that even when you offer yourself, you remain who you are.’ The path appeared before me. Along this route was Dang Seo-rin, there were lives that perished to bring Dang Seo-rin forth, Jeong Yeji was there, with souls sacrificed to establish Jeong Yeji, and there were Noh Do-hwa, Cheon Yo-hwa, Yu Ji-won, Lee Ha-yul, Sim Ah-ryeon, Yu Ji-won, countless individuals. “……” Go Yuri looked back at me as she walked. Smile. Her face was lit with a smile. I, too, was smiling. ‘What I wish to leave with you is not sorrow but the strength to continue walking after reading all these scars.’ Go Yuri believed in me. I believed in Oh Dok-seo. And then. “Abub- Abrabrab- Buh-eeh-." It was now my turn to believe in myself. “Huh? Oh my, she smiled! She smiled!” Tick-tock. I looked up at ‘me’ looking down at ‘me,’ who had been born as her sibling. With gentle lips, I opened up. 8 Yes, Mr. Undertaker. Welcome. Nice to see you again. I suppose you now understand that the phrase ‘nice to meet you’ can always apply to the current Undertaker. I will be erased from this world. This is a desire you once longed for, so rejoice for its fulfillment. Oh, no. I’m kidding! I'm kidding. It has been a strange life. I lived through it. Before you entered my dream—. Well, yes. It wasn’t that you entered; rather, I tripped you into it. But it was my way of hiding my embarrassment, so please overlook it. Anyway. Before that, you asked me. Why didn’t I save Mr. Schopenhauer? I am sorry. It was intentional, you see! Granted, everything resulted from the deliberate choices I made. In many ways, you, Mr. Undertaker, were a perfect candidate. I was quietly convinced I’d finally found a priestess solely for me. …but humans cannot always be strong. The Kafka you admire mentioned it, didn’t he? Alexander was able to advance because there was an Indian wall he could point his sword at. Without something visible, there is no goal. One gives up. Humans possess the melancholy trait of repeatedly failing to challenge themselves when the goal is not vividly in sight. So, I presented ‘Schopenhauer’ as a milestone to you, Mr. Undertaker. From now on—from hundreds of millions of years ago—starting from the moment you met me, your fate as a regressor is secured, leading you down a long singular path. It will be hard. It will be sorrowful. However, when a goal is visible. You possess the strength not to give up, Mr. Undertaker. Yes. The corpse of Schopenhauer, who had just taken his own life because you couldn’t save him, is the milestone I gifted you. An unavoidable marker reminding you why you began this path, and what must await at the end of this route. Emit Schopenhauer. Please rescue my father someday. I do expect complaints about how cruel and harsh this is. I will accept them. In return, I will be vanquished by you. Dyed by the red flower of Udumbara. If necessary, through the seal of time that I created for you for this very moment. I will disappear, leaving behind billions of family members and vanishing along with souls erased from billions of routes. In this world, only you will remember me. And to traverse all these paths, to pierce through the emptiness of a heart scarred beyond healing, there is just one condition. Love me dearly. And then, forget me. Love others who are not me. Forget the fact that you loved me, that I loved you. Forget the memory of wounding me, of me wounding you—forget it all. Even forget that you have forgotten. Continue to live. ...There is bound to be fallout at the end of this conclusion. The world spared from destruction will find it a bit more... challenging to remember other precious beings. Memory will become a little more fragile. Observing someone properly will become a little harder. It’s natural. For the existence of ‘me’ has punctured holes into the hearts of the people. But if this is the only price— If this is the only cost to prevent such an absurd ruin—I will gladly bear it. Pardon my many transgressions. Please understand that this was the best I could do as a child who suddenly woke up after dying only to find herself living yet another life. I love you. Mother. Father. Everyone. Did I do well? Did I choose the right person? I loved. I relinquished much. I led a life in which I had no choice but to forsake many things. Even so, I never abandoned this one conviction until the end. That even in such a world, I am grateful, from the depths of my heart, sincerely, for having been born. Farewell. . . . . . . Tick-tock. June 24th, 12:00. The Regressor encounters ‘Hecate’ Dang Seo-rin at a crossroads in Busan. Evacuation processions flow into Busan from all over the country. Global daily deaths: 51,956,792. June 22nd, 14:20. The Regressor reunites with Yu Ji-won at a rest area on a road in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Key military units of Korea annihilated by the Ten Tribes. Global daily deaths: 124,956,792. June 21st, 13:00. The Regressor meets Noh Do-hwa, an assistive device technician who was evacuating patients during an attack at the National Rehabilitation Center. Global daily deaths: 319,956,792. June 18th, 20:00. The Regressor enters a tutorial dungeon at Baek-Hwa Girls’ High School. Encounters Cheon Yo-hwa within the distorted timeline of the Endless Hell. Global daily deaths: 771,221,328. June 17th, 16:00. The Regressor contacts the individual known as ‘Saintess.’ Formation of the Regression Alliance. June 17th, 14:10. Emit Schopenhauer dies at a café in Busan. June 17th, 14:00. A large-scale Void Bright Night manifests south of the Han River in Seoul, Korean Peninsula. Simultaneously, small-scale Voids, dubbed 'Tutorial Dungeons,' appear worldwide. Global daily deaths: 1,649,857,026. June 17th, 13:59. The Regressor regresses. . . . . . . April 29th, 16:00. Oh Dok-seo. Awakens. . . . . . . Tick-tock. . . . . . . April 29th, 16:00. Oh Dok-seo, awakens. May 07th, 17:11. Oh Dok-seo, dies. April 29th, 16:00. Oh Dok-seo, awakens. May 07th, 19:20. Oh Dok-seo, dies. April 29th, 16:00. Oh Dok-seo, awakens. May 08th, 04:44. Oh Dok-seo, dies. April 29th, 16:00. Oh Dok-seo, awakens. May 08th, 04:44. Oh Dok-seo, dies. April 29th, 16:00. Oh Dok-seo, awakens. May 08th, 04:44. Oh Dok-seo, dies. April 29th, 16:00. Oh Dok-seo, awakens. May 08th, 13:10. Oh Dok-seo, dies. April 29th, 16:00. Oh Dok-seo, awakens. May 09th, 08:36. Oh Dok-seo, dies. . . . . . . April 29th, 16:00. Oh Dok-seo, awakens. . . . June 17th, 13:59. The Regressor regresses. -End of Regressor. End.