Infinite Regressor, Chapter 461 - I’m an Infinite Regressor, But I’ve Got Stories to Tell

3. The accommodations Go Yo-il had secured were a budget-friendly business hotel. Though it was somewhat distanced from the city center, it hardly mattered since he had planned to travel by bicycle for the entire month. This distance had its own advantages. "Oh." Even just a short walk from the hotel led directly to this dimly lit alleyway, untouched by the glow of streetlights. "You're out early." "And you? Teleportation?" "Yes!" Go Yuri. This enigmatic woman who claimed to have been his younger sister in a previous life, stood wrapped in the shadows of the night as if they were her overcoat. “I thought it would take the Undertaker a bit longer to avoid Yu Ji-won’s eyes.” "She was just going to sleep. It's her first trip abroad. She must be tired without even knowing it." "Hmm." Go Yuri smiled with her eyes. "Are you talking about Yu Ji-won...?" "Why? Is there something that's bugging you?" "No. It's just a bit curious to think how someone who effortlessly calculates the frequency and depth of their breaths could actually fail at managing their condition." Go Yo-il was about to retort, asking what kind of alien from another planet she was talking about, but he paused. His attention was distracted by the drink Yuri had tossed his way. Seeing the type of drink he had caught, Go Yo-il furrowed his brows. "...A protein drink?" "Yes!" "Hey. Aren’t you supposed to pick something like a warm canned coffee or a drink that seems a bit more romantic in moments like these?" "Oh, sorry. Come to think of it, brother, you haven’t taken up an interest in strength training yet, have you?" "...." "But still, it's much healthier than having caffeine in the middle of the night, so drink up without worry!" There it was again. Yet another instance like this. When he was with this woman, Go Yo-il often felt a churning sensation in his stomach. '...Even now, she's confusing the current me with the future me.' Even the way she addressed him was ever-changing. Sometimes it was "Guild Master," other times "Brother," and then again "Undertaker." Within her, there existed too many versions of 'him.' 'Of course, it's only the future me from my perspective. From hers, it's probably the past me.' Go Yo-il wasn’t sure how to articulate the emotions he felt at the moment. However, he didn’t blame her for how he felt. Regardless, she had ‘reincarnated’ more times than he could even imagine. How many years had she lived through? A thousand? Ten thousand? Surely, counting was meaningless. She had lived for far too long and experienced far too many events. Having a little disarray in her memories was undoubtedly a reasonable penalty. "As for the main topic. Brother? I don't have much information to share today. The situation with the Cheon family sect is――." Night deepened. In an isolated alley of a foreign town with no eavesdroppers, just the two of them quietly plotting to prevent the impending end of the world. If anyone else knew, they might have thought what kind of crazy lunatics these were, taken aback. "I'm subtly laying the groundwork for you, so as soon as this trip ends, you might naturally become my successor..." "Go Yuri." "Yes?" Go Yuri, who had been explaining cheerfully for a while, paused mid-sentence. "Why, Guild Master?" "You told me once, didn't you? Even if it's just a trivial feeling, you asked me to share everything without holding back." "Yes!" Go Yuri beamed brightly. "I place a high value on your 'feelings,’ brother. When confronting the anomalous creatures, there are times when purely rational judgment doesn’t solve anything." "Right. About that. Since yesterday, I’ve had this continuous, strange feeling." "…You’ve had a strange feeling?" Flicker. "How exactly is it strange?" "I’m not sure." "..." "To be as specific as possible. It started yesterday afternoon. I was looking up at the sky when I heard the cicadas, and suddenly it felt as though this world didn’t belong to me anymore… that kind of feeling." Go Yuri’s face. Became eerily serious. "..." What kind of expression should that be called? It was cold. Not because it was empty, but because there was an overwhelming flow of thought, making it profoundly deep. Like the ocean. Go Yo-il felt as if, for the first time in his life, he was seeing the true face of his 'sister.' "Yesterday, huh." Go Yuri murmured. Though it was merely a mention that he was 'feeling strange,' it could have been easily shrugged off, and Go Yo-il himself wouldn’t have felt any dissatisfaction. Yet her tone was extremely serious. “Please be more detailed.” “Hmm.” “What happened immediately after the strange feeling began? That part might be the most important.” “What happened… Ah. Ji-won.” “Yu Ji-won?” “Ji-won called for me. It was the day we were leaving the country, and she had finished packing the bike.” “Aha. …” Go Yuri rested her chin on her hand. Her contemplation didn't last long. “Close your eyes for just a moment. When I tell you to open them, please do so.” “Are you going to teleport?” “Yes.” He followed her instructions. As soon as Go Yo-il closed his eyes, the presence that had been right before him vanished without a trace. As did the sweet apple scent. It was only about a minute later that the familiar fragrance drifted back through the night air. “Open your eyes.” Again, he did as told. There stood Go Yuri, but her appearance had changed. Having presumably used [Teleportation] to go somewhere, she now held several rather sizable frames. Contained within the frames were portraits. They were so intricately detailed that one might mistake them for photographs, crafted with hyper-realistic precision. “Please, look at this person first. Use your flashlight function.” “...” “What feeling do you get, brother?” The person in the portrait was curiously wearing a monocle, draped in a white coat like a doctor, and had slightly unkempt hair, perhaps curly or just brushed casually. More than anything, what captured Go Yo-il’s attention in the portrait were the eyes of the person depicted. They held a shadow, or, perhaps, a lingering smudge of soot. Go Yo-il's heart fluttered, unsettled by the eyes in the portrait—eyes that seemed to have exhausted all their valuation of this world. "…It makes my chest tighten." "Good. Next." Go Yuri proceeded to show nearly fifteen portraits, one after another. In the dark alley, devoid of any lighting, Go Yo-il had to examine each piece with the flashlight on his smartphone. “How about this person?” “I feel nothing." “But they are so beautiful, aren't they?” “I admit they’re pretty. Still, it doesn’t stir any emotions.” "..." Among them were portraits that did stir something within Go Yo-il, but there were far more that did not. After this mysterious assessment was completed. "...Noh Do-hwa, Sim Ah-ryeon, and Jeong Ye-ji. Remarkably, those were the only three you had a reaction to." Go Yuri’s expression took a more serious turn. She continued to mutter nonsensically, "Hmm, hmm—hmm," before speaking again. "This is really, truly, truly strange, Brother." "Could you explain it to me too?" "Under normal circumstances, I’d never dare such a 'spoiler,' but yes. Considering how peculiar the situation is, I have no choice but to take a gamble." Go Yuri declared. "The three people you reacted to earlier—coincidentally enough—are all individuals you were romantically involved with in previous, previous, previous lifetimes." "...What?" The content was so shocking that Go Yo-il’s mind went momentarily blank. However, his companion continued without a hint of concern. "It’s not precisely past lives or the life before that. This is merely counting the number of 'meaningful' lives, based on my observation. But, it's true." "Ah. Um. Uh... W-What does it mean to have been romantically involved...?" "Oh! No sexual harassment! I don’t think we should discuss anything explicit!" "..." That reaction alone answered everything. Go Yo-il briefly felt lightheaded, and he reflexively began flipping through the portraits Go Yuri had just set down. With these people? Me? Developing into a romantic relationship? "Uh. It's just that their appearances... hmm. I don’t know if it’s appropriate for me to say this, but... they all look... so distinct, and they’re all quite different..." "Yes. I was surprised too. How unexpected—no matter how off guard I might have been—that you'd end up in such relations with Sim Ah-ryeon too. Truly, Brother, you’re a monster of possibilities." "What do you mean by that??" "You'll understand eventually. Or maybe, given the spoiler, the path may now be completely twisted. You might not understand after all." Go Yuri sighed softly. "There exists an optimistic interpretation and a worst-case interpretation. Which would you like to hear first?" "...From the darker side." "The optimistic interpretation is the hypothesis that, you, Brother, are a dazzlingly committed romantic, instinctively remembering love from past lives." "..." Why, despite having asked to hear the darker side first, did she respond with the exact opposite? It was irrational, yet it was perfectly consistent with someone asserting herself to be his sister. After all, which sibling ever listens exactly to everything their brother says? "I don’t think I'm someone so obsessed with love." "Should I just strangle this guy?" "Hmm?" "Nothing." Go Yuri smiled brightly. “Next. The worst-case scenario is...” “What is it?” “It’s the possibility that we’ve unwittingly fallen into some abnormal phenomenon, to the point of mistakenly believing we’re going through reincarnation and regression while actually not." "..." Could such a thing be possible? “It is possible.” Before Go Yo-il could even formulate the question in his mind, Go Yuri had preemptively answered it. "The simplest way to think about it all is like a dream, right? Adding a bit more ingenuity, it could be interpreted as a brain-in-a-vat scenario, a running simulation." "...That’s horrifying." "Yes. Anomalies tend to be like that." Go Yuri nodded. "So, let’s start by eliminating the Cheon siblings and observe this world’s response." She stated matter-of-factly. "What?" "I told you. There exists the possibility of this being a simulated universe. If so, it would mean Laplace is in rotation, and therefore, by killing the Cheon twins, some kind of reaction should manifest." "W-Wait a minute." Go Yo-il grabbed her shoulders. It felt as if, if he let her go now, she would teleport on the spot to commit murder. "Yuri, wait. That conclusion is irrational. I only mentioned feeling strange yesterday and today. Why would that lead to... killing someone, especially those kids you’ve nurtured and trained since they were young?" "Because I trust the Guild Master’s feelings immensely." "Are you serious? What if you kill them, and your assumption turns out to be wrong?" "Please, calculate the risk objectively." Go Yuri’s expression remained unaltered. "If killing the Cheon twins leads to no occurrence, it’s a good thing. It means from the next life onwards, we won’t need to worry about whether we’re trapped in a simulation or not." "But people die!" "This is the way to save people. Yes, I understand it sounds like sophistry. However, since the moment I dared to reveal the spoiler to you, this life has become a 'discarded card' to me. If it’s a discarded card either way, maximize its utility..." At that moment. With a soft drop, something landed on the back of Go Yo-il’s hand on her shoulder and then on Go Yuri’s cheek. "...Rain?" It was a raindrop. Within less than ten seconds, those drops transformed into streams, which then evolved into a downpour. Even considering how East Asia sometimes confuses its climate with Southeast Asia, this was unusually heavy rainfall. However, Go Yo-il felt somewhat relieved by it. Now he had an excuse. He held tightly onto Go Yuri’s hand. "For now. You’re too worked up. Let’s head to a convenience store or somewhere and cool off your head..." "No." Mumble. "Yuri?" "It's not. This is, not rain――." Squelch. With the lightest of vibrations, the rainwater started to mix with crimson. Go Yo-il found his breath caught at the sight before him. And the same went for the one who had caused the crimson hue. “...Ah?” Go Yuri, with a slightly dazed expression, looked down at her chest. Drip. Drip. From the blood-stained kitchen knife, crimson-tinged rainwater trickled down. “Ah, ha.” Soon, the knife twisted at a strange angle, and the steady rhythm of breath escaping from her lips faltered. A faint blue chill swirled around the blade. “Bro...ther.” Her voice was as slender as if it would be washed away by the rain. Go Yuri further tightened her grip on the hand she already held—Go Yo-il's. Her bangs, heavy with rain, clung to her forehead. Yet, her gaze steadfastly remained on Go Yo-il. “Next time. Again...” The sound of a body collapsing reverberated through the rain, with a dull thud. Now, there was nothing to obstruct the falling rain. Behind where Go Yuri had stood, now revealed was the figure of the perpetrator holding the knife. Go Yo-il shifted his gaze from the fallen body of his sister to the assailant standing in front of him. And with difficulty, he spoke. “...Ji-won.” “Yes.” Yu Ji-won, covered in a raincoat. Hiding hair that fell in silver cascades rather than her usual black, spoke with her usual expressionless face. "Now, Mr. Matiz might feel a bit more liberated."