Infinite Regressor, Chapter 443 - I’m an Infinite Regressor, But I’ve Got Stories to Tell

2. The Undertaker walked. He walked and walked again. No one called his name. No passersby existed. Seoul, Suwon, Sejong, Daejeon. In those cities, no life could be felt. “…….” Trickle, trickle. In the middle of the lifeless cities, a river flowed endlessly, bearing the only remaining vitality as evidence of life. The whispering sound of the water was the same. Whether citizens were present or absent, whether children giggling as they crossed the stepping stones were there or not, the stream continued to murmur. In a place where people had vanished, only the water remained unscathed. “…….” Is this how the world has perished? Even though it was he himself who had crafted such a landscape, the Undertaker was enveloped in a hollow void. ‘I was not wrong.’ ‘No. Even if I were wrong... I am at least less wrong than this world.’ Indeed. Around the brook, only transparent tombstones stood like statues, dreaming of happiness permitted to all. ‘The world is always at its worst. So how could those born from it be different? I could only become the lesser evil.’ No one would dip their toes into that river and laugh ever again. Unable to bear the silence, the Undertaker spoke. “Yo-hwa.” A voice echoed from behind him. -Yes, Teacher. “It's a relief you’re here. If you weren’t, I might have gone insane already.” -Ahaha. Really, Teacher? Are you still worried about that? -It doesn’t matter if you lose your sanity. After all, it's just the two of us left on this journey, and in this world, only our journey remains. -If two people are engulfed in madness and they're the only ones left, then it’s not madness but normalcy, Teacher. The Undertaker was delighted by those words. Just as he turned around to pat Cheon Yo-hwa on the shoulder, there stood the student council president of Baekhwa High School, smiling brightly with a clarity indistinguishable from reality. He almost gave her a pat on the shoulder. Until the apparition of Cheon Yo-hwa passed through him like a ghost. “…….” Hesitating. The Undertaker followed Cheon Yo-hwa's back with his gaze and glanced around. Despite the looming apocalypse, elementary school students were giggling as they used the stepping stones over the river as their path back home. Parents, unable to use those stepping stones as a path of escape, looked on at their children with worry etched into their faces. -Come on, Teacher! Let's go find the next body! In the crowd haunted by the specter of corpses, Cheon Yo-hwa disappeared. Lee Ha-yul. Sim Ah-ryeon. Yu Ji-won. Traces of those who once walked the 'journey' together all shimmered like heatwaves in the midsummer sun. “…….” Ah, there was the world. An illusion created by the [Perfect Memory Ability]. Like nothing had perished, as if time still flowed somewhere, a mirage adorned the city. The Undertaker could only let out a sigh. ‘Everyone has left me behind.’ No. That was a mistaken analysis. ‘I was the one who let them all go.’ Why? Because the world was flawed. Yet, he believed that those born into such a world were not at fault. As a result, to the Undertaker, the world had split into ‘this side’ and ‘that side.’ A shore and the other shore. Now, he couldn’t even tell which side was the true world. ‘Where do I, as a human, belong?’ The Undertaker closed his left eye. The world seen through his right eye was deathly silent, with even the mirage missing, leaving only the sound of the brook trickling. He closed his right eye. The world seen through his left eye was bustling with noise, with Cheon Yo-hwa laughing and the other companions intact, the world still buzzing with sound. He closed both eyes, then opened them again. “…….” Both sides seemed so far away. He walked. Toward a world that wouldn’t get closer no matter how much he walked. Toward the reason that allowed the Undertaker to keep walking in such a world. “Hm…?” That reason was reclining in a national rehabilitation hospital in some remote city. “Remarkable. To think there was someone alive…?” That reason bore slightly rough black hair. Not wearing an attire of authority or self-proof, but a white doctor's gown meant purely to reassure patients. “Of course, whether you’re actually human or not is questionable. Well, the world’s been a mess for ages anyway…” The nametag on that reason’s chest dangled like a hanged corpse, marked 'Noh Do-hwa.' “And so…” That reason appeared like a lone buoy on a wave, indifferent to either eye, to either shore. “Who might you be…?” Starting today. The Undertaker needed to eliminate the last reason left to him in this world as well. This was his alleyway. He had no other options left. 3. “How intriguing your lamentations were…” Days passed. For seven days and nights, the Undertaker and Noh Do-hwa exchanged lengthy conversations. Occasionally, during their discussions, they strolled through the city. They’d explore someone's dream, laid bare inside a crystal tombstone, only when Noh Do-hwa specifically requested. “Well, there are still various mysteries remaining…” Thanks to this, Noh Do-hwa had grown to trust the words of her counterpart. Certainly. After briefly catching a glimpse of the other side of the ocean in a two-seater aircraft, Noh Do-hwa wasn’t the sort to stubbornly nitpick unnecessarily. “Nonetheless, a few things are certain. First, that you are entirely responsible for the utter annihilation of civilization…” “I will not deny it.” “And that you are an extraordinary lunatic. Hmph. You stopped people from suffering by making them repeat their happiest day eternally? Even the devil wouldn't conceive such a devilish notion…” “…….” The Undertaker remained silent. His tightly pressed lips and the expression on his face were being scrutinized by Noh Do-hwa, who found them immensely fascinating. If human eyes had tongues, it would be closer to a lick than a gaze. “Let me ask you just one thing. Undertaker? Hm. Should I just address you as Undertaker…?” “Yes. Ask me anything.” “Is there even one reason why I shouldn’t regard you as a monstrous anomaly that caused the world's end…?” “…….” The Undertaker couldn’t respond. A gleam flashed in Noh Do-hwa's eyes. Silence from the weak is sometimes an escape, a shield. But the silence of the strong? It is often a weakness, blood seeping from a wound. Noh Do-hwa had an innate sense of smell for detecting human blood. “Well, I think I understand for the most part. There were times I had childlike thoughts wishing the world would collapse. But for it to actually happen, and for me to be the only survivor left on Earth... it's a rare experience indeed…” Noh Do-hwa's voice was now almost a hum. For the past few days, she had provoked the man before her in various ways like this. Tested him. Experimented on him. Compared to her, who was a mere engineer of prosthetics, the man was overwhelmingly powerful. He could twist her neck and kill her anytime he wanted, like a hunter. Yet―― the Undertaker never once threatened her. Not even slightly. Not at all. ‘Aha.’ As the experiment concluded, Noh Do-hwa felt pure admiration. How astonishing it was indeed. The man before her, despite being the one who wiped out humanity, genuinely believed that he lacked the 'right' to kill even a weak human like her of his own volition. ―Could someone like him have really caused humanity's annihilation? Noh Do-hwa felt an urge to scoff. ―Was it precisely because he is someone like this that he managed to bring about humanity's end? She felt joy. She struggled to understand why she was happy, but the mere fact that 'such' a moment had been given to her. The fact that the 'opportunity' and 'choice' to truly finalize humanity's extinction were given to no other but herself was amusing. ‘Isn’t it quite the tasteless joke…?’ Noh Do-hwa scrutinized the man’s face once more. His features were broad and bold. Yet his eyes held an unfathomably deep, dark shadow. If she were to extract those eyes and put them on display, wouldn’t even obsidian lose its luster? ‘――No.’ Hold back. There was no need to rush. Noh Do-hwa calmed the tight heat swelling in her heart. It required just a small amount of effort. “Even the necromancer who wandered with you for thousands upon thousands of years is gone. Yet, the fact that I remain…” Calmly, steadily. With her pearly white teeth, she savored her words as if relishing them. She broke them apart. “It means that for countless ages, I have consistently rejected the [Time Seal], correct…?” “That’s correct.” “Show me…” Show me. When she nibbled through these words, Noh Do-hwa internally predicted how the conversation with the man would unfold. For instance, -What is it you’d like me to show you? -Didn’t you say thousands of years? Then one could presume you would’ve used every means to persuade someone like me to be confined in the [Time Seal]. Those means— all the methods you employed to coax me, show them to me directly. -……. -Why did I reject your proposition? Whatever were the past ‘me's’ thinking? I need to know from beginning to end to be satisfied. Undertaker. Otherwise, I will never agree to your proposal. Something like this. Conversations have a certain tempo. Even if it can’t be music, it could become a kind of humming. However. “Understood.” “……?” The answer that came from the man was slightly different from what Noh Do-hwa had expected. As if there was no need to match the tune for their song, as though there was no need to discern what her intentions were in saying ‘show me,’ he rose from his seat. “Please wait a moment…” Noh Do-hwa stopped him. “Yes?” “You. Are you sure you understand what I asked you to show? I didn’t particularly give any explanation…” Although she hadn’t realized it herself, Noh Do-hwa was frowning at that moment. The Undertaker seemed indifferent to her expression. It was a deliberate nonchalance. If he had paid attention to people's faces all day long, if he had given his heart to the mirage of figures, his soul would’ve crumbled before long. “Yes.” To him, human faces had come to mean no more than a reptilian face. Just as no one reads emotions from a crocodile's face, the Undertaker no longer attributed any significance to human expressions. “Weren’t you asking to see how previous versions of Noh Do-hwa reacted?” “…Well, yes, that is correct.” “First of all, you were the Director of National Roads... Oh. A governmental position on the Korean Peninsula. You were the head of it. The Regression Alliance, too, was fairly operational at the time. In any case, I should show you anecdotes from that period.” “Hm…” “At that time, you demanded a promise from me.” “…….” For some reason. As she watched him speak with lifeless eyes about the so-called 'past,' “You told me not to dream of convincing you without first sealing every other human being on this planet. To move to Busan first, and one by one, see the events that occurred in previous cycles…” “…….” As she observed him analyze and understand her current self based on the ‘Noh Do-hwa’ he had met and spoken with, even reading the lingering nuances of words she had skipped, ――Something did not sit well with her. Her heart pounded. “Uhh…?” Unthinkingly, Noh Do-hwa raised her arm and gently pressed against her chest. It was racing. The pulse so persistently evident that not even her black leather gloves could suppress it. “……?” “Come along, Ms. Noh Do-hwa. The road to Busan is long, so exercise caution.” “Ah. Yes, I will be careful…” As the Undertaker turned and started to walk away, his stark white neck was fully exposed. “…….” Perhaps because the lifeless eyes had now disappeared from her view, the beauty of the man's form became apparent to her belatedly. Suddenly. Noh Do-hwa felt an urge to break that neck.