Infinite Regressor, Chapter 438 - I’m an Infinite Regressor, But I’ve Got Stories to Tell

"......" All awakened individuals had disappeared. All anomalies and voids had been vanquished. ――Except for us. Oh Dok-seo had calmly confessed this truth. As if she had been preparing for this moment for a long time. I asked her calmly. "Who exactly are you referring to when you say 'us'?" "Hmm. Let me think." Oh Dok-seo counted with her fingers. "Dang Seo-rin, Cheon Yo-hwa, Yu Ji-won, Sim Ah-ryeon, Jeong Yeji, Lee Ha-yul, me, and finally you. That's eight of us!" "......" "Oh, I would have preferred not to inoculate Go Yuri if possible, but you know she had a 200% chance of turning into an anomaly if we didn't, right? There was no choice but to do it." Incidentally, Go Yuri was asleep on a hospital bed in the infirmary of this school. Right after conquering the red flesh in the dream within a dream, the image of Go Yuri that had been haunting my mind vanished. In its place, Go Yuri's physical form finally materialized in reality. However, perhaps due to lingering mental instability, Go Yuri hadn't yet opened her eyes since returning to reality. Though it was unsettling, it didn't feel ominous. Sim Ah-ryeon had confidently assured me, "It's okay." She would regain her consciousness someday. "Why is that?" "Huh?" I couldn't help but ask. "Dok-seo, this is your... right, our achievement. Before June 17 arrived, you gathered allies to thwart all the voids, and even managed to rescue Go Yuri from the dream within a dream, which you didn't even need to save." "Well, yeah." "This is a perfect happy ending. No, beyond a simple happy ending... it’s the one and only true ending you’ve earned for yourself." "Hehe. Right?" "Then why?" I asked. "Why do you want to leave this mark of 'us' on a canvas that’s about to be perfectly completed?" "Because that's my true ending. Mister." Oh Dok-seo's answer came swiftly. It was an answer comprised not of logic's ink but of flesh and blood. It seemed as though Oh Dok-seo had constructed her own solution after overcoming countless deaths. "We haven't reached the complete resolution yet. Mister. There’s still the void." "What?" It was an incomprehensible statement. Yet, Oh Dok-seo’s eyes radiated a belief in me as if saying 'surely you have some guesses,' scattering starlight into the night air. "What do you mean? All the outer gods have been neutralized. Once even the anchor of the priestess is gone, they’ll have no means to interfere with this world. Ah, are you talking about Infinite Metagame? Even so, it’s been significantly weakened already, so there's no need to worry..." "No." Oh Dok-seo shook her head. "From the outset, why did the foreign deities invade our world, and how did the void come into existence at all?" "......" "We haven't yet obtained answers to that original and final question. Do you know what that means, mister?" I kept silent. Since Oh Dok-seo didn’t rush me for an answer, I could take ample time to reply. “……That such a situation could happen again at any time.” "Exactly. It’s precise. If you can’t know the cause of a problem, you can’t prevent its recurrence." "As for that, I’ve given my answer already. Just as Go Yuri, you, and I overcame tragedy together, even if something similar happens again, the future generations..." "You mean they can overcome it just like we did?" “……Yes.” "Yeah. Maybe." Oh Dok-seo nodded. "But... it might not be the case." I paused. Because of the expression she wore. In those crimson eyes of hers were steeped a deep anguish and concern. Nowhere in her gaze was the usual mischievousness to be found. Her eyes, carrying the same sense of remorse that only those who had to traverse through hell itself, like Go Yuri or me, could have. "It was quite tough for me." “…….” "Of course, it wasn't all hard. There were the strategies left by the previous Oh Dok-seos who died before. There was also the strategy guide you left behind. And it was exciting, feeling like I was the protagonist of the world... but, in the end, it was tough." Oh Dok-seo took off her hat. With a flutter, her still-red bobbed hair cascaded down. "You had it tough too, didn’t you?” “…….” "And what about Go Yuri? There's no need to even mention it. Us reaching this point is nothing short of a miracle. Mister. I too want to believe in, and will believe in the future children, but that doesn’t guarantee―." That they will succeed like us. “…….” “…….” Oh Dok-seo didn't finish her sentence, and I didn’t add to it either. The ending of such a sentence felt ominous in itself. Yet even without adding a single word, we were so familiar with one another that we could decipher each other's unwritten pages. "There needs to be a sentinel." Oh Dok-seo spoke. "Someone has to be aware that these entities, disrespectful of the laws of physics and contemptuous of humanity, can invade this world at any time without notice." "You mean, it’s us eight." “Yes. Neither too many nor too few. Above all, we have a trust built that wouldn’t falter even if given eternal time." Oh Dok-seo clenched her fist tightly. "It’s something only we can do, mister." "......" "Perhaps the whole journey was a process to filter out the eight sentinels. We, quite literally, will not fall into corruption. There’s no fear of corruption! Because." Her crimson eyes gazed up at me. "Because we've proven ourselves." “…….” "Do we desire the power of the world? Are we obsessed with money? Do we secretly laugh while manipulating people? No, we’ve proven otherwise." Yet it was peculiar. Surely, this conclusion was one Oh Dok-seo had reached after countless considerations from her perspective. "It’s understandable to worry about you succumbing, mister. But wouldn't further research into the Udumbara alleviate that? If we only partially weaken the perfect memory ability, then maybe we could cure the illness that lets you see corpses like now!" In Oh Dok-seo’s voice, there lingered the faint sense of a wound not yet fully healed. "It must be a scent of blood only I can detect." I pondered briefly why Oh Dok-seo was seemingly gnawing away at her own heart as she spoke. "You failed to persuade her, didn’t you?" I reached a conclusion. "Huh?" "You failed to persuade Patrol Chief Noh Do-hwa. Long before entering the dream within a dream, you likely gathered other allies with the words you’ve just told me. However, Noh Do-hwa refused." "......" "Am I wrong in my assumption?" Oh Dok-seo’s lips sealed shut. "The other allies probably weren't completely convinced either. They likely agreed on the condition that if I agreed, they would too." "......Yes." Oh Dok-seo hesitated. "...That's right." "First, let me point this out. Why did you exclude Seo Gyu? After all, he joined the Regression Alliance from the very beginning." "Oh. Seo Gyu is too loose-mouthed. If we include him, he might forever be our greatest weakness. I’d wager five billion that’d be the case." "......" Seo Gyu! This is what happens when you couldn't keep from telling the Saintess every little thing, Seo Gyu! "But we already knew Patrol Chief Noh Do-hwa was like that from the start, didn’t we? It’s unfortunate. Still, if you make a decision, Mister...” Oh Dok-seo, cautious yet with sincerity, looked at me and said. "Could you not?" “......” "We could have so much fun together. It's such a waste to discard this power we’ve gained! As sentinels. Yes. We'll only use this power to fulfill our duty as sentinels! In harmony. Maybe decorate our hideout! But... but, is it really not possible?" I understood. I sensed the true intent of Oh Dok-seo. ‘For this child, a true ending isn't about happiness or unhappiness, but simply a continuing story.’ A Never Ending Story. An eternally ongoing epilogue. ‘She doesn’t want it to end. Her story. The story she loved.’ How could anyone dismiss that as a childish desire? To Oh Dok-seo, a story was more important than life itself. If the desire for life not to end was fundamental to humanity, then Oh Dok-seo was just as straightforwardly expressing her truth. 'And perhaps, Oh Dok-seo's proposal truly is the best option.’ ‘While the outer gods were vanquished, her point that we still don't understand why they existed in the first place is a valid one.’ Was it just my imagination? It felt as if a choice had appeared before me. [1. Remain as an awakened and protect humanity.] [2. Abandon awakening and return to humanity.] The final choice. Regardless of how much of my life remains, I was certain this would be the choice that ends the main storyline. Perhaps it was the conviction in Oh Dok-seo’s eyes that gave me that certainty. ‘Yes. The same thing could happen again.’ ‘Not by Laplace or Hecate; an unknown alien god could be born anew...’ Then. ‘…Anytime? Again, the same?’ Suddenly. Oh Dok-seo’s laptop on the table caught my eye. On the slanted laptop screen, a being with snow-white hair was quietly gazing this way. As if. "......" As if it had endured all this hardship until now just to witness this moment. "Ah." A groan escaped my throat. It was the sound of realization. An awakening. Not a clean, pristine realization flowing unscathed, but rather wisdom that seeped out, shattering along the bumpy throat and narrow gaps between my teeth. "Why the sudden change, Mister?" Oh Dok-seo tilted her head, puzzled. I forced myself to speak. “……It isn’t the first time.” “Uh? What do you mean, it isn’t the first time? What isn’t?” “This moment. When all the voids are vanquished, and only the awakened remain, leaving a final choice to become a sentinel or not.” “Huh?” “Just as there will be children born after us, there were those born before us. Dok-seo, if they fought the voids just like us... and faced the same question you posed to me, what do you think would have happened?” “……!” Oh Dok-seo’s eyes widened. “Uh? Uh, uh? Wait… just a minute, huh? But... there wasn’t. Go Yuri was the first awakened, right? The first of the reincarnated. If there were similar events in the generation before us... there should have been sentinels.” Ah, and Oh Dok-seo’s mouth opened. Following the direction of my gaze, reading my silence, she arrived at her conclusion on her own. There, sat... "......Outer gods?" A cheap laptop. “Outer gods, you say?” The moan that slipped from Oh Dok-seo's lips trembled with a rhythm not unlike my own. "Infinite Metagame, Hecate… Leviathan, Infinite Void, Mastermind, Laplace—all of them. Could it be that they were once... awakened beings just like us?" “…….” “That’s what you’re suggesting, Mister?” I didn’t answer. Instead, Oh Dok-seo’s gaze fell solely on the shabby plastic table and the laptop atop it. To the companion that had overcome countless adversities with her. Perhaps she believed they’d built more than just a bond beyond that of deity and shrine maiden. Oh Dok-seo asked, "Is it true? Infinite Metagame?" -……. In that moment. Laughter erupted, so grating it threatened to shatter the laptop's speakers. The unnerving silence fell heavily upon the rooftop. -Ah, truly. The speakers stuttered. -I underestimated you. How unfortunate. Genuinely. Truly unfortunate. I thought there was just one more step to go. “I-Infinite Metagame?” -I told you before, didn’t I? Master. Ignoring Oh Dok-seo, the pixelated figure on the screen stared directly at me. Her white-haired form had her right index finger severed, a sign of her surrender. -Though these memories were once lost to both you and me, now that they're regained, shouldn’t you be able to remember, too? Fizzle. A whisper from a fallen deity. "I didn't surrender to you solely for survival." "......" "It was because there was something I wanted to witness, something I yearned to see, which I confessed was worth enduring such an absurd humiliation for." It came back to me. "Your epilogue." An episode in a world where, left alone with Infinite Metagame, you'd attempt to save the Saintess trapped in a moment of frozen time. It was certainly a conversation we had back then. "I acknowledge your efforts. Yes, I admit defeat. But what will you gain in the end? Humanity? Mankind? A world where billions harbor billions of curses?" Infinite Metagame echoed the same lines. The same voice, the same words. "When you finally succumb to corruption at the last moment. I said I wanted to witness it, even if it meant giving up all my powers." "......" Back then, I took the word 'corruption' mentioned by Infinite Metagame in its typical sense. But now, it was different. "You knew." I spoke. "Even back then, you knew such a moment would eventually come." -Yes. The speaker crackled with noise. -Of course, my despised master. A flashback. The questions and answers from then flashed through my mind. ‘If there hadn’t been yearning and lament for a world other than this current one, I wouldn’t have been born as an outer god.’ In the past, Infinite Metagame had monologued in such a manner. How did I respond to that monologue? ‘So you're saying that it's due to an inescapable trait of human nature that you exist.’ ‘Yes.’ An inescapable trait of human nature. If that was indeed the reason for the existence of outer gods. ‘No matter where they start, in whichever life, humans will inevitably bear their own heavenly punishment.’ When looking at this final choice ahead. If the hero party that comes after us, or the one that came before, always picks what appears to be the obvious answer, [Option 1]. If they chose it. ‘It’s cursed.’ If [Option 1] had been repeated for eternity. "......" I swallowed the silence. Then I released it. "Infinite Metagame." -Yes. "Are you, once, the twisted conclusion of a human who previously saved this world?" -Just as you said. A remnant of downfall replied. -I, we, are the tale of your failures. Never Ending Story. An eternally repeating curse. This was the resolution to the void cast upon this world.