I'm an Infinite Regressor, But I've Got Stories to Tell-Chapter 410

This could already be considered a confession.

“……”

While I was combing Shim Ah-ryeon’s hair from behind, I took a brief breath.

It was because of this.

How could I possibly go somewhere else, leaving behind a girl like this?

Even in the world corrupted by Mansangyuhee and degraded into pixels—that is, the destruction of the 135th regression—Shim Ah-ryeon never abandoned me, who was no more than a mere “NPC.”

“Ah-ryeon, the Guild Leader――.”

So I opened my lips, intending to give an honest answer to this child’s most genuine confession. I opened them—

—but Shim Ah-ryeon, who was sitting with her back turned to me, had already tilted her head like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

“Ah-ryeon?”

I grabbed her shoulder to check.

“ZZZ……”

This brat was asleep.

Drooling copiously, at that.

“Heh.”

I let out a hollow laugh out of disbelief.

Seriously. What is she, a deaf protagonist? How could she fall asleep right after saying everything she wanted in such a heartfelt moment?

Even the gentle Guild Leader would get angry at this.

“You little rascal. You really live exactly the way you want, huh? You mischievous brat.”

“Uh-beeeb, beehh… uhehehe……”

Even as I poked and pinched her cheeks over and over, Shim Ah-ryeon didn’t budge from her “deep sleep” stage.

Of course, I could guess the reason. She hadn’t taken a break all week, didn’t care if her clothes got dirty, and just kept on drawing nonstop. How could her mind possibly remain intact?

Her physical vitality, she managed to maintain by sprinkling self-healing. Thanks to that, she had accomplished a quest that would make anyone in the art world faint just hearing it—“Prepare for Two Consecutive Exhibitions.”

However, mental vitality was another matter.

Shim Ah-ryeon had been high on the drug called “healing aura,” painting day and night for an entire week without sleep. It wasn’t normal.

She must have endured through sheer will until I came to see the exhibition, and the moment she realized the Guild Leader had seen everything—snap—the rubber band in her head must have snapped.

“Uhehehe, Gi-uild Leader-nim……”

“Yes, yes. The Guild Leader’s right here.”

Pat, pat.

I set down the comb and gently ran my hand over Shim Ah-ryeon’s head. My schedule was clear anyway, so I decided to stay right here by her side, until the wicked old villain coughed and woke up.

――Step.

At that moment, I heard footsteps coming from the gallery entrance. It was a bit strange.

A “No Entry” sign was hanging at the entrance. The time had already passed midnight. There was no way any brave citizen would come to steal something right in front of the Tower of Babel.

‘Maybe a drunk from the nearby casino wandered in by mistake?’

Step. Step. Step.

The footsteps came closer and closer. Soon, once the person rounded the corner, I would see them—so I prepared to warn them in advance.

“Whoever you are, this area is off-limits to the public. I’d appreciate it if you could step outside……”

“Oh my.”

Step.

One foot appeared around the corner. Then the lower body covered by a long skirt. Then the neatly arranged upper body.

And the pink hair cascading down like the branches of a willow.

“I’m sorry. I thought this exhibition was open only at night, so I assumed the closing time was at dawn. Did I come at the wrong time?”

“……”

My whole body stiffened.

Go Yuri.

A scent of apples so thick it felt as though it could seep into the deepest marrow of my brain approached from the corner of the gallery like a shadow.

Step. Step.

Go Yuri walked forward and stood in front of the massive canvas of Title: Ten Families.

“You’ve removed the frame, I see. I suppose it’s because you had no intention of storing or preserving the piece later. You meant to use it once for this exhibition and then discard it. You exposed the naked face of the canvas without a frame… It’s wonderful.”

“……”

“An exhibition that questions how much a frame interferes with immersion. No wonder Yu Ji-won’s perfume would have been distracting. After all, she painted this thinking only of the Guild Leader for a whole week—she must have wanted the Guild Leader to, just for a moment, set aside all thoughts of anyone else and look only at her work.”

“……”

“It’s an entirely reasonable exchange.”

I carefully shifted Shim Ah-ryeon and held her close in my arms.

Of course, I didn’t take my eyes off Go Yuri. I observed her every motion—every smallest sign—maintaining my highest level of vigilance.

Meanwhile—

“Ah, this must be Dang Seo Rin. And this one… perhaps Yo Hwa’s death? Truly. She was already talented, but to think her skills would grow this much. Mmm. Magnificent……. Indeed—love and death. No matter how human art history changes, these two subjects will forever remain relevant.”

She walked calmly through the midnight gallery, stopping in front of each piece one after another, as though they were bus stops.

Ninety minutes passed.

In the end, I had to open my lips.

“Why did you come?”

“I heard there was a wonderful exhibition being held.”

“That’s really all?”

“For now, yes. To love not only someone’s life, but even their death. To find beauty in their mere existence. Truly, truly, truly…… Opportunities to witness the works of such a painter don’t come often.”

“……”

“I’ve seen them. Truly.”

Bow.

Go Yuri bowed deeply before me—before us, including the sleeping Shim Ah-ryeon in my arms.

“If this world were a single work of art, and if only beauty existed within it, then the countless cycles a regressor has repeated might exist for the sake of this one single moment――that is what I’d say.”

“……”

“They were masterpieces worthy of such praise.”

It was the highest of compliments.

But Shim Ah-ryeon’s ears would never hear those words of praise.

Not because she was asleep.

But because Go Yuri’s voice, from the very beginning, could never reach anyone.

Neither curses, nor praise, nor even the simplest greetings of daily life.

She was a being who returned only the most optimized response to what the other person wished to hear.

That was Go Yuri.

“But you and I both know, Doctor, that the world cannot be described as beautiful alone.”

However—

I alone was the exception.

“Yes.”

Since the 1,000th regression, for some reason, I had gained the ability to hear the voice of the anomalous. I had also discovered the method—that Go Yuri’s lines changed according to her conversation partner.

Thus, this kind of technique was possible.

“……”

I looked around.

The night gallery. There, displayed, were landscapes—Kyŏnggwan—built from my deaths, spanning from the 1st regression to the 1,000th.

Without hurry, one by one, I connected myself with each depiction of death, immersing myself completely.

Starting from the 1,083rd regression, and moving in reverse――to the 5th. To the 4th. Until finally, the 1st, which I had seen in Cheon Hwa’s dream.

[Perfect Memory].

To me, this ability was both a lifelong curse and a blessing, its thousandfold gears becoming the teeth of countless keys, clicking into place.

The riddle called “Go Yuri.”

I began aligning the tumblers within a single lock.

“Go Yuri.”

“Yes.”

“Why did you erase your own existence and fall into corruption as an anomaly?”

“……”

At that moment—

Creak, creak, creak—like keys and locks grinding against each other, “voices” reverberated through all the canvases spread across the exhibition hall.

“What are you saying?” “I’ve never fallen into corruption.” “Mr. Undertaker.” “My.” “Huh? Miss Cheon Hwa?” “Of course, it was for humanity.” “So sad……” “Mr. Undertaker.” “Ahaha, you’ve finally found out!” “No.” “Haven’t you known all along?” “I’m human, as you see.” “How fascinating.” “I’ve never mentioned the next teacher to the lady.” “Me and.” “The Guild Leader.” “My voice.” “Being able to forget is sometimes a blessing.” “There was no other way.” “The line between anomaly and human is extremely ambiguous.” “That’s your ego.” “Let’s become one.” “Doctor.” “Can you hear me?”

The voices echoed endlessly.

They poured down like bullets on a battlefield.

But I did not lose focus.

Ordinarily, perhaps I might have—but here, even if I looked away for a moment, the records of my one thousand deaths were on display all around me.

The child was asleep in my arms.

Shim Ah-ryeon’s temple, built for me.

Here, I could maintain myself, without skipping even a single frame.

Therefore, I gathered every wish and hope from every regression into a single thread, a single timeline, a single key――and reached it.

“What are you saying?” “I’ve never fallen into corruption.” “Mr. Undertaker.” “My.” “Huh? Miss Cheon Hwa?” “Of course, it was for humanity.” “So sad……” “Mr. Undertaker.” “Ahaha, you’ve finally found out!” “No.” “Haven’t you known all along?” “I’m human, as you see.” “How fascinating.” “I’ve never mentioned the next teacher to the lady.” “Me and.” “The Guild Leader.” “My voice.” “Being able to forget is sometimes a blessing.” “There was no other way.” “The line between anomaly and human is extremely ambiguous.” “That’s your ego.” “Let’s become one.” “Doctor.” “Can you hear me?”

I edited it.

“My.” “Voice.” “Can you hear me?”

I answered.

“Yes.”

I broke the curse.

“I can hear you. Clearly.”

Go Yuri’s lips closed.

“……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……” “……”

Countless paintings, countless Go Yuris—all fell silent at once.

Creak. The friction sound subsided. The key slid all the way into the lock. And what remained was only one outcome.

“……”

Unlocking.

The tinnitus faded.

The shadows that had wailed—“Look at me first, understand me, acknowledge me”—within the pandemonium of the abyss, all vanished.

I faced one person.

I sought the answer.

And Go Yuri could not reject my wish.

From the beginning, that was what she was.

She—

“…It took a long time, didn’t it?”

Smiled.

“Humans aren’t beautiful. Not even you, Doctor. You throw everything away and go on vacations just to scrub away the stains on your heart.”

I drew in a breath.

“When I take a vacation regression, Ha-yul kills himself. Yo Hwa turns into a mad necromancer. Dang Seo Rin becomes a lonely tyrant. The others too, they all fall into unhappy lives. And yet, I leave, knowing that.”

“But that’s your temporary measure to remain human, Doctor.”

“…The moment I start thinking all their lives are my responsibility, I’ll start trying to take responsibility for all of humanity. But I’m no god. One day, I’ll surely break.”

“Even so, someone will call your way of living cowardly.”

“What matters is victory. Now that I’ve come this far, the only path left is to win. For that, I changed the way I live, and even abandoned the way I think.”

“Truly, well said.”

A fine crack appeared at the corner of Go Yuri’s lips.

“To know how to abandon oneself—that is the minimum condition required to walk this single, empty road of the void-stained world.”

“……”

“Simply having the resolve to abandon isn’t enough. If such resolve could solve everything, no one would ever suffer.”

“Only after devising the most perfect way to discard yourself—can you truly cast yourself away.”

Step.

Go Yuri, with her hands clasped behind her back, walked past me slowly.

“You asked why I discarded myself, didn’t you? The answer is simple.”

“……”

“Because my goal was to save people—not to create a unique godlike being called ‘Go Yuri.’”

Even if others couldn’t understand, surely you, Doctor, would understand my heart, she whispered sweetly into my ear.

“Ahh. It would have been nice if I’d been a more perfect being. Go Yuri, God! Ta-da! I’ll take responsibility for you all―like this. Ahaha.”

“……”

“But I’m not a god.”

Step.

Go Yuri’s footsteps stopped behind me.

“I don’t desire much. I was simply born as such a person in such a world, and ended up this way, just like you, Doctor.”

“You…”

Go Yuri spoke.

If this world were truly beautiful, she said, then merely holding Shim Ah-ryeon’s exhibition would have been worth thousands of regressions.

But the world was not beautiful. This world hated humans. Only humans born from hatred existed.

And therefore, by uttering this one final question, I had arrived at the answer worth thousands of regressions.

“Who are you?”

Go Yuri tilted her body slightly.

And whispered.

“I am a Reborn One.”

It was a thunderous revelation.

“A human who is always born again.”

—Exhibitor. End.