I'm an Infinite Regressor, But I've Got Stories to Tell-Chapter 398

Why was Go Yori here?

Not only I, but even the fairies — the server administrators managing this “dream” — didn’t know the answer.

“Huek, we’re sorry, Comrade Secretary-General!”

“We’re only reconstructing the past as closely as possible to the data of Codename Yo Hwa and the settings input by you, Comrade Secretary-General…!”

“But if we alter the data, it could erase her existence entirely! Should we invoke the hereditary authority passed down to the Secretary-General — the power of ‘Existence Erasure’?”

I shook my head.

“No. There’s no need. No — absolutely do not do that.”

“Hooeeh.”

“Our goal isn’t to distort Yo Hwa’s past, but to restore it as accurately as possible. If there are inevitable inconsistencies, we can tolerate slight distortions — but we must never intentionally ruin it. Keep that in mind.”

“Hoet! Understood, Comrade Secretary-General!”

The fairies saluted in unison.

“But Comrade Secretary-General, not only your appearance but even your tone seems to be gradually resembling Codename ‘Cheon Hwa’! Personally, I find it adorable!”

“……”

“With the passionate support of the people, our Red Empire can endure another two hundred years!”

I confiscated their sausages.

The fairies burst into tears, crying “Hoeeeng~” as I bit into the sausage without a care, and began to cautiously explore the mansion.

‘The tutorial fairies are outsiders. It’s only natural they wouldn’t know anything about Go Yori.’

‘That means I’ll have to ask the insiders — the cult members themselves.’

After all, I was the sect’s precious child — one of the heirs chosen as the next divine successor.

Though my young age placed many restrictions on my actions, contacting the believers to gather information was simple enough.

However—

“Shh, young miss.”

“We mustn’t speak of that woman!”

Even the shadowy believers who roamed the mansion like ghosts spoke conflicting words about Go Yori.

“Ahh, the young miss will be heartbroken…”

“She is someone the High Priest cherishes dearly.”

“What? What are you saying, miss? There’s no such person in this sanctuary.”

“Miss… that’s a strange question.”

“She’s your stepmother, isn’t she?”

“……”

Their testimonies contradicted each other.

Some said Go Yori was the High Priest’s lover.

Others denied her existence entirely.

Still others said she was the woman he married after losing his wife.

It wasn’t that someone was deliberately lying — my eyes were well-trained in discerning truth from performance.

They were all telling the truth.

It was as if—

“…even the information related to Go Yori has become jumbled, as though time and space themselves have been scrambled.”

I felt dizzy with confusion.

Even an ordinary Void was already a depth beyond human comprehension — but with Go Yori’s presence added in, it was nearly madness-inducing.

So, I went to see the only one — well, one of two including myself — who still retained a coherent identity within this dream’s Void.

“Yo Hwa.”

“Hmph! I hate you, Sis! Go away! Die!”

“Here, chocolate ice cream.”

“I love you, Sis! Stay alive forever!”

To my little sister, the great philosopher who had placed chocolate ice cream on the boundary between life and death, I asked carefully:

“That really pretty lady who’s always next to Father.”

“Uung? Teacher?”

“……”

I froze.

‘Teacher.’

That title — here of all places?

“…Sorry, Yo Hwa. I guess my head’s been scattered lately. Since when did we start studying with the ‘Teacher’ again?”

“The scriptures! The Tao Te Ching!”

Yo Hwa grinned brightly.

“Teacher’s so nice! She teaches it way easier than the other adults! And she never scolds us!”

“I see…”

“Yeah! But Sis, you’re weird. You really, really like Teacher too, right? Why are you asking all of a sudden? …Ah! I get it! You’re trying to get between Teacher and me, aren’t you? Right?!”

“Not ‘get between,’ it’s ‘sow discord.’”

“Same thing! Sis, you dummy!”

“Our Yo Hwa sure has… very different linguistic opinions from the National Institute of the Korean Language.”

“Eh? Na, National… what?”

“They’re the destroyers of language and absolute rulers of vocabulary — they call ‘netizens’ nuriggoon and the internet nurigeumool.”

“Uh… I don’t get it…”

Yo Hwa’s lips trembled as her brows drooped downward.

‘Ahh, she’s so cute.’

Before I realized it, my hand was already ruffling her adorable little head.

“Ung…”

Yo Hwa frowned slightly, glancing between my face and her hand (equipment: chocolate ice cream).

Then, as if deciding “Oh, fine!” she resumed eating, allowing my patting like a dignified queen permitting tribute.

‘So cute!’

My sister, how can you be this adorable, this lovable, this silly, when we share the same blood and DNA?

For such a child to be born from that father — it’s a miracle, a blessing.

May you never grow up, stay just like this forever, and adore your sister eternally…

“—Hah!”

I snapped out of it.

“No! I’ve gotten too immersed in Cheon Hwa’s emotions — my way of thinking’s turning just like hers!”

Goosebumps ran down my arms.

As expected of the Void — even a seasoned professional like me could lose her sense of self in a single unguarded moment.

Fortunately, I had one last safeguard: [Perfect Memory].

As long as my memories as the Undertaker endured, I could always find my way back to myself, even if I lost my identity temporarily.

Perfect Memory really is broken-level OP…

Senior got to enjoy this all by herself? So unfair…

“Sis. This chocolate ice cream’s weird.”

“Hmm? What about it?”

“The outside’s chocolate, which is good, but inside it’s green. It tastes like toothpaste. Is this really chocolate ice cream?”

“Of course. The fancy ones nowadays all have green centers. That’s proof they’re made from organic, all-natural chocolate. That little minty flavor means it’s good for your health.”

“Ohh, I see!”

“Only truly refined ladies can appreciate the depth of this elegant sweetness. Honestly, I’m not quite there yet. How about you, Yo Hwa?”

“Um… it’s really tasty!”

“Is it? Then from now on, let’s have you eat only this kind of chocolate ice cream!”

“Ehh…”

I was quietly adding another warm memory of sisterly bonding to the ledger when—

Knock, knock, knock.

There was a knock at the door.

I quickly signaled to my sister, and she gulped down the last of her ice cream, erasing all traces of evidence.

In this cult household, the discipline was so strict that even desserts had to be eaten in secret.

“Who is it?”

I answered to buy Yo Hwa some time.

Then, upon hearing the voice from beyond the door, my heart momentarily stopped.

“It’s me, young ladies.”

Go Yori’s voice.

“It’s time for our lesson. Lady Cheon Hwa, Lady Yo Hwa — may I come in?”

“……”

I didn’t hesitate long.

“Ah! Please come in, Teacher!”

Hadn’t my little sister testified herself?

That I, “Cheon Hwa,” liked the tutor.

Therefore, no matter how uneasy I felt toward Go Yori’s presence, I couldn’t act against the established setting or rules.

If anyone in this Void noticed I was an “outsider,” the anomalies would instantly move to eliminate me.

If my goal were extermination, it’d be fine —

but this time, the purpose was not to purge or destroy.

It was restoration.

To recover what once existed —

like retrieving deleted files from a computer using a specialized recovery program.

So—

When the door creaked open, the reaction of “Cheon Hwa” had already been decided.

“Wow—! Teacher!”

“Ahaha.”

Smiling warmly, I greeted her with exaggerated enthusiasm, and Go Yori returned a polite, gentle smile.

“How have you been, Lady Cheon Hwa?”

“I’m good! Wow, Teacher, how are you always so pretty every time I see you? You even smell nice! I’m jealous!”

“Thank you. But you’re the truly beautiful one, Lady Cheon Hwa. I only look this way because I put in effort — once you grow a little more, people will be in awe wherever you go.”

Then Go Yori tilted her head slightly and looked over my shoulder.

“Lady Yo Hwa as well — how are you?”

“Ah, y-yes! Hello, Teacher!”

“Oh my.”

Go Yori stepped closer and stopped in front of Yo Hwa.

Hic! Yo Hwa tensed up instantly.

From Go Yori’s pocket, a white handkerchief slid out — carrying a faint apple scent that spread through the room.

With a soft motion, she knelt down and gently wiped Yo Hwa’s mouth, where traces of chocolate lingered.

“Ah. A-ah…”

Smiling sweetly, Go Yori tucked the handkerchief back into her pocket and turned toward me, as if she hadn’t seen a thing.

“Shall we continue studying the scriptures from last time, my ladies?”

“Y-yes!”

As Yo Hwa cheerfully answered, I too smiled — but inside, my mind turned cold and sharp.

I’d faintly sensed it earlier in the hallway, but now I was certain.

“……”

Go Yori…

did not recognize me.

Let’s turn back the clock for a moment.

Not too long ago—

that is, before I transformed into the daughter of a prestigious family,

before I entered Yo Hwa’s dream.

To be specific, this started sometime after the 1,000th round.

“Hyung-nim.”

“Hm? What’s up, Seogyu? You coming to me first — that’s unusual.”

“I thought it’d be better to report this to you directly.”

SG-Net.

The Library Society Board.

Originally, it was an encyclopedia-type forum designed for Awakeners to study and learn attack strategies for themselves.

The [Librarian of the Grand Library], who managed the place, was merely a fictional constellation —

a fabricated entity created for convenience.

Yet…

“This. This post here.”

“Hm?”

“Isn’t it about that person? The one you warned us over and over again to be careful about… The one with the pink, or whatever it was?”

At some point, the [Library Society Board] began overflowing with information —

data I had never entered myself —

streaming backward into it, unrestrained.

“What?”

“Please, take a look at this part.”

Most of it — no, 99.99% — was useless nonsense.

Childish make-believe posts about marquises and barons, nothing but juvenile worldbuilding games.

But among them—

There was one post.

A post far too meaningful, far too pointed, to dismiss as mere fiction.

“At first glance, it may appear to be a phenomenon that brainwashes its target — but that’s not quite true.

Brainwashing is merely the result.

What it actually does is read into the target’s inner self and subconscious, and automatically outputs the words that person most desires to hear”

“……”

“Skill Name: Absolute Strategy. Auto-Hunt.

In truth, communicating directly with it is impossible.

However, if you are capable of altering your own inner self, you may be able to adjust the angle of the conversation.”

“……”

“It’s not exactly the same as the explanation you gave before, Hyung-nim — but it’s close, right?”

An information post about Go Yori.

A post containing details that couldn’t be obtained anywhere else,

even if one paid a fortune or sacrificed dozens of regressions —

was somehow publicly posted, for free,

on SG-Net’s [Library Society Board].

“No. That makes no sense.”

Naturally, I denied it at first.

“Posts that appear here without our input — automatically generated by some anomaly —

are all set to private, remember?”

“Right.”

“Then the only people who can see this post are our Regressor Alliance members.

Meaning, someone leaked information about Go Yori to help us.

That’s… impossible.”

Seogyu blinked.

“Then what is this, Hyung-nim?”

“Probably an anomaly mimicking the Infinite Monkey Theorem.”

“Infinite… monkey?”

“Yes. If you gave a monkey a typewriter and infinite time, it’s said that eventually it would produce the works of Shakespeare.”

“Ohhh…”

“This is just coincidence. Pure coincidence.

Some glitching anomaly haunting the [Library Society Board] spat out endless nonsense,

and by sheer accident, one of them happened to resemble real information about Go Yori.”

Slide.

I took the smartphone from Seogyu and scrolled through the post.

“Essentially, a finely crafted fake news piece—”

And then I saw it.

At the very bottom of the post—

Two engraved letters. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

S U.

“……”

“Hyung-nim? What’s wrong?”

Those two letters froze me in place.

SU.

It was a testament.

A cipher.

A code that only I in this entire world could understand.

For those who may have forgotten —

a long time ago, Oh Dok Seo and I had this conversation.

—That’s her, right? The prologue. The fake protagonist.

—You know, the previous round! Before the Void Descension! I read Omniscient Regressor’s Perspective back then.

The exact same story was in its prologue.

Hearing Oh Dok Seo’s words, the past me had asked:

—Then, does that novel also explain why her head exploded all of a sudden?

—Of course. She’s a real prophet, after all.

A prophet.

A being capable of glimpsing the future of this world.

But because she saw too much,

the moment she awakened her precognition,

her head exploded.

A tragic, fake protagonist.

There were a total of six prophets in this world —

and not one of them escaped that same fate of cranial detonation.

Even the prophet awakened in the Japanese archipelago,

known as “Y”,

couldn’t avoid instant death.

But right before dying,

Y used their last strength to scratch a dying message onto the floor.

S U.

That was the prophet’s will.

Their final and only prophecy.

And—

“…I’ve never told anyone this before. It’s my secret alone.”

Which meant—

“This document… is real.”

I didn’t know the cause.

Couldn’t know it.

But for some reason,

a certain Undertaker from another round —

using a secret code known only to Undertakers —

had left me information about Go Yori.

Even if it meant losing their memories in the process.

“Seo gyu. Delete this post.”

“Huh? Ah, yes.”

“And never, ever mention this to anyone.

Not a word. Not even a hint. Understood?”

“…Yes, Hyung-nim. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Yes.

From that day on, I possessed a weapon.

A small dagger —

the only means to resist Go Yori’s [Cognitive Distortion] and [Brainwashing].

Even in this round, as I infiltrated Yo Hwa’s dream…

Even now, as that same Go Yori —

for some reason appearing as the “tutor” of the twin sisters living in a cult mansion —

sat across the desk reading the Tao Te Ching aloud—

“I won’t let you toy with me any longer.”

That dagger was still in my hand.

As Cheon Hwa’s bright eyes curved into a smile,

my dark gaze quietly sank beneath them.

“I will uncover your true identity, Go Yori.”