Infinite Regressor, Chapter 470 - I’m an Infinite Regressor, But I’ve Got Stories to Tell

9. "Excuse me." "Hmm?" At the main building of the cult. Go Yo-il was strolling down a corridor when he turned around. Standing there was not the supreme leader and absolute authority of this place, but rather... A person who looked just like the leader. "Ah. Madam-in-law! Good morning!" "Yes." The leader's younger sister, Yo-hwa. She was someone who was difficult to address because her name sounded exactly the same as her sister's. However, thanks to his engagement to her brother, he had a convenient title to use now—'sister-in-law.' Though, when she heard him use that title, her expression turned rather peculiar. "Is something the matter?" "No, nothing really... But brother-in-law, you distinguish between my sister and me quite well, don't you? Even the long-time household staff at home occasionally confuse us." "Ah. It's the atmosphere." "The atmosphere?" "If I might say, you are like the sun while the leader is like the moon. Although I wouldn’t know if it's some principle of yin and yang due to my frequent outings, you can tell just from your gaits. Haha." "......" Yo-hwa, the younger of the twin sisters and known as the Great Guardian within the cult, wore an even more complex expression. "…I feel like I’m understanding why my sister issued a restraining order. Let's get to the point quickly." "?" "Brother-in-law. Lately, my sister has been shutting herself in her room." Go Yo-il blinked. "Is that so?" "Yes. You probably haven't noticed because you're not involved in running the cult, but she's been shut inside for over a week now." "Well... a week could be seen as a short vacation, couldn't it? It is summer after all. The leader might be worn out." "Without a word? My sister?" Go Yo-il’s sister-in-law scoffed. "I can pretend to be her in front of the followers for a few more days, but you should go ask her why she suddenly decided to become such a recluse." "Is it alright?" "What is?" "Wouldn't it be more comforting for the leader if you went instead of an outsider like me..." She sighed deeply for some reason. "I told you, I'm busy pretending to be her. Could you take my place? We are family, after all." "Oh. I apologize. I didn’t consider your situation, sister-in-law. Of course, I'll head over quickly." "No, don’t rush..." "?" "Ah, never mind. Really. If I talk any more, I feel like I’ll end up losing my mind." With a jingle, she handed him something. It was a key. "It's the key to my sister's bedroom." "Uh. Is it alright for me to just accept something like this..." "It's perfectly fine. Isn't it normal for a fiancé to carry his fiancée’s key? I have a spare, so you use that one." "Hmm... I understand. Thank you. I'd like to get to know you more, sister-in-law, maybe over a coffee sometime." "Are you crazy?" "Pardon?" "Oh, no, nothing. Just talking to myself! I often talk to myself, really! I’m an absolute otaku! Such a geek! If you knew what I engaged in, you’d be quite shocked! And I’m mean too, always gossiping about people." "Ah. Well, I see..." It was information he absolutely did not need to know. Looking puzzled, Go Yo-il set off down the corridor. He hadn’t walked far when her voice called out to him from behind. "Brother-in-law." "Yes?" "Our sister. Though she appears playful and perfect, and capable on the surface, she guards a very fragile inner self." "......" "Think about how many people are close to her. Just me. And you. That’s it. Consider why she involved you in an engagement in the first place. Just give it a thought, at least once." It was a puzzling statement. Before he could ask what she meant, she disappeared quickly. The corridors of the cult's estate were like a labyrinth, making it extremely difficult to trace the steps of sisters who had lived there since birth. 'Why think about the engagement?' Pondering, Go Yo-il proceeded to the leader's private chamber. 'Wasn’t it to ensure we couldn’t betray each other by becoming family, given we were accomplices in killing the former leader?' As Go Yo-il approached, the attendants waiting by the bedroom bowed deeply. All had their tongues cut and couldn’t speak. They were loyal attendants who had served Cheon Yo-hwa since before the previous leader’s time. In the cult, they were known as Ba Gua. They wore thin veils over their faces, making it difficult to differentiate each one. They seemed both ancient and youthful, creating an unsettling feeling when confronted. Frankly, Go Yo-il found them burdensome, as their attitude towards him was always exceedingly devoted. "No, no. You can stand upright. I have come to check on the leader on my sister-in-law’s request." "......" "I also have this key with me." When Go Yo-il took out the key with a jingle, the attendants’ heads turned intently toward it. "......" "May I go in to see the leader briefly?" The attendants exchanged silent glances. Then, bowing even lower than before, they wordlessly scampered off down the corridor, disappearing without a sound. In an instant, Go Yo-il found himself alone in the corridor, with only a key dangling awkwardly in his hand. "Uh. I didn’t mean for them to leave..." No response came from anywhere. Go Yo-il shrugged his shoulders and knocked on the door. Receiving no answer, he reluctantly used the key. "Excuse me. I’ll be coming in, Leader." Creak. The door made an unnecessarily loud noise, sending a chill down Go Yo-il’s neck. Or perhaps it was the cold that seeped through like a draft from inside the room. "Leader?" The room was spacious. Fusuma doors lined its sides. Though labeled a bedroom, this space seemed to stand alone as if it was a separate dwelling altogether. Perfectly disconnected from the outside. '...Where could she be?' Gulping down the inexplicable tension, Go Yo-il opened each sliding door one by one, searching for Cheon Yo-hwa. "Ah." She lay in the last room. This was the true 'bedroom'—a bed large enough to accommodate not just two, but possibly even four people comfortably. On this bed, strikingly contrasted by its black wooden frame and white sheets, Cheon Yo-hwa lay silently, without even the sound of her breathing. "......" Even though they were officially engaged, it felt improper to watch her sleeping like this—yet, surprisingly, it didn't. Despite sleeping, Cheon Yo-hwa's face and garments were immaculate, no different from her usual appearance. 'Does the leader wear makeup even when she sleeps...?' Thanks to this, Go Yo-il, though her fiancé, could carefully observe Cheon Yo-hwa's face in detail for perhaps the first time since they met. 'Wait. Could this possibly be her bare face?' It was unbelievable. The face wasn't the only issue. Her clothes had minimal creases, and her lips emitted a faint scent of fragrance. Even without makeup or brushing her teeth, she could step directly into today’s agenda. 'This is insane... Is she naturally like this? Wow. So that's why my sister-in-law allowed me to come into the bedroom so casually.' Just then, Cheon Yo-hwa opened her eyes right in front of him. "Ah." "......" Her crimson eyes reflected him. Go Yo-il flinched. The distance was close, but beyond that, her eyes were incredibly, incredibly transparent. As if startled by seeing himself in an overly clear mirror, Go Yo-il found himself momentarily petrified. Blink— When Cheon Yo-hwa's eyelids opened and closed once, Go Yo-il was finally released from his petrification. He remembered to breathe and gasped for a breath he'd forgotten, piling up a backlog of reserved air in his lungs. "Ah, excuse me..." Only later did he manage to exhale. Because his lips had been sealed. "―――." Go Yo-il's mind ground to a halt. His brain faltered in processing the current event unfolding before his eyes. 'What?' Time had stopped. The future didn’t come. As a result, Go Yo-il had no choice but to reflect on what just happened, the past. 'What?' 'What?' 'What?' Right. He had inhaled just now. While inhaling, he had briefly absorbed a hint of the orange scent lingering in the bedroom. However, for some reason, this orange scent had transcended mere smell to become delineated like juice, filling his mouth entirely. ‘This is’ ‘now?’ ‘What is happening’ ‘exactly?’ Eyes were close. Breathing was felt. Since it was neither his breath nor scent, Go Yo-il was confused whether he was breathing or being deprived of air. ‘In other words…’ Stuttering like a paywall-blocked AI, Go Yo-il's brain painstakingly provided an answer to the user’s question. ‘A kiss?’ The delay in answering had its reasons. Go Yo-il's database contained little to no data regarding this word. In more literary terms, it’s also called a 'first kiss.' “~~~~~~?!” A second late, Go Yo-il started to squirm. His breathing became rougher. His eyes widened to their limits. And Go Yo-il realized how insignificant he was in the grand scheme of things, having given up returning to his previous time loop. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t escape Cheon Yo-hwa's grip cradling the back of his head. "Mm, mm... Senior..." As their lips parted slightly with a faint chuckle, Cheon Yo-hwa pulled him even closer, pressing her lips again. This time, she drew Go Yo-il onto the bed altogether. "~~~~~~~~!?!?" The intrusion of Cheon Yo-hwa’s scent, crossing the boundary of where one should not recklessly tread, made Go Yo-il’s struggles more fierce. Of course, his struggles were comparable to those of the German army in Berlin facing the Allies. The more Go Yo-il struggled, the deeper he seemed to sink into the mire. The bed linens tangled around him, while something other than the texture of the sheets also wrapped around him, and the lingering scent of Cheon Yo-hwa seeped in from all directions. Oh, wait. When had their fingers interlaced? Something stroked down his spine, as if gliding along piano keys. “!?!?!?!?!?!?!?” What Go Yo-il never imagined was that currently, Cheon Yo-hwa was drastically enhancing her authority with the powers of alien divinity, relishing daily dream dates with Go Yo-il. As a result, the exclusive skill [Detect Go Yo-il’s Weakness] had leveled up explosively. In short, Go Yo-il at this moment was like a wild Pidgey from the initial village, facing a seemingly benign Pokémon trainer who suddenly released a level 80 Pikachu. Even worse, the compatibility was terrible. What Pikachu considered a light nuzzle might result in a critical electric shock for Pidgey. Five hellish minutes passed. “Ehehe... Mm, senior…” The Pokémon champion, apparently satisfied, finally released Pidgey from her embrace and slipped back into the realm of dreams, her breathing soft and content. “......” Silently, Go Yo-il painstakingly peeled away each of Cheon Yo-hwa's arms and legs tangled around him, one by one. It wasn’t an easy task. It took almost ten minutes per limb—forty minutes in total—until he finally managed to extricate himself. Finally, the time came for Pidgey Yo-il to make his escape. Sliding the door closed with a soft rumble, and the main door with a thud, he found himself once again alone in the corridor, just as he had been roughly an hour ago. It was a great relief. Had Ba Gua’s attendants been keeping watch, lowly ranked Yo-il might have died of embarrassment. “.........” Tidying up his disheveled clothes, calming his breath, and groaning at the lingering orange scent on his shirt, he vowed to shower and have his clothes cleaned at the dry cleaners before returning home. Closing his eyes tightly, Go Yo-il made a firm determination. ‘Nothing… ever happened!’ It was a resolute commitment. ‘Until I die. Or you know, until the world comes to an end! Yeah, Yo-il, just for the next few years! Let’s take this secret to the grave...!’ As Go Yo-il staggered away down the hallway. “......” Eight pairs of eyes quietly observed him from the corner of the corridor. Stealthily, a total of sixteen eyes glanced at one another. Nod. They nodded up and down in agreement. They scurried off somewhere. 10. "Yo-hwa." "Yes, sister?" "Lately, it feels like Go Yo-il is avoiding me. Do you think it's just my imagination?" "Ah, it's just your imagination. Really, just your imagination." "Really...?" "Yes. Lately, I've been pretending to be you and acting as the leader frequently. Since then, brother-in-law has been speaking to me, thinking I'm you. Don't worry! There's no way I'll end up liking him!" "Hmm..." "More importantly, rest a bit more, sister. You need a break after working so hard for Father." "But I'm worried it might be burdensome for you..." "Oh, come on. It's a good chance for me to gain some experience! By the way, sister, are you taking the sleeping pills regularly?" "Ah. Yes. The ones you gave me last time work really well for me. Because of them, I'm continuing my training even in my dreams." "It's not just in your dreams, though." "Huh?" "Oh, no, nothing. Anyway, you need to rest properly for the vacation to be meaningful. Let's keep pushing for another two weeks, okay?" "…You need determination even for resting?" "Yes. Absolutely, if you ask me." "?" "Ah, seriously... What a struggle. There's no one else who cares for their family as much as I do in this world." "??"