I'm an Infinite Regressor, But I've Got Stories to Tell-Chapter 414

414

A teleportation ability user.

Go Yuri.

“……”

The moment I accepted the business card summarized in just two lines in my head, countless emotions crossed my mind.

Of course. It was certain that besides [Teleportation], countless other abilities lay hidden within her.

If the roaring sound of the wind rising from the endless abyss that had pierced t hrough the □ in human memory could be called an awakening (覺聲)—

Then the hundreds of millions, the billions of holes pierced through Go Yuri’s heart were themselves a cluster of awakenings.

But among all of them, [Teleportation] was the one that I, old Sho, that we had all longed for so desperately.

We searched and searched but could never find it—so we at least sought to secure a passage that could allow quick movement; wasn’t that why we obtained the Inunaki Tunnel?

That I had chosen the Inunaki Tunnel as my hideout as a regressor—

It was for convenience, yes, but also a vow of my own—never to forget old Schopenhauer’s “wish.”

“…This might sound like resentment, but. May I say something?”

“Ah, I don’t mind, Doctor.”

Go Yuri smiled faintly.

“From the beginning, exchanging such a proper ‘conversation’ like this is itself a joy for me. Ufufu. I don’t know if you can read even my expression, but… I’m actually quite happy right now, you know?”

“…Why didn’t you save old Schopenhauer?”

Those words slipped out of my mouth.

“If it were you, you could have saved him. Yes. Sho would never have known who or what you were—whether human or not. But you could have silently moved Mrs. Adele beside the old man, couldn’t you? Wouldn’t that have been easy for you?”

“……”

The smile on Go Yuri’s face sank quietly, like matcha powder settling.

“You’re asking why I didn’t save him. Even though I could have.”

“That’s right.”

“Hmm.”

She seemed slightly troubled, lost in thought—then suddenly showed an entirely unexpected action.

She began taking off her jacket.

“……?!”

I reacted faster than thunder—immediately turning my head away.

For reference, there was no trace of lust.

As I’ve confessed before, I, the Undertaker, always perceived ‘the form the other person had when they met their death in another round.’

In other words, the head of Go Yuri that I had once beheaded in Round 89 was being broadcast twenty-four hours a day on the Undertaker Channel.

And it wasn’t only visual—the sound too was reproduced in ultra-high fidelity. Her severed head smiling brightly and saying, “Let’s become one~.”

If lust had arisen in that situation, that would have been more surprising.

“Hey, what the—suddenly—”

“It’s okay.”

What is? What’s okay?

I’m absolutely not okay?

“Please look, Doctor.”

“……”

The moment I opened my tightly shut eyes—

I once again witnessed an entirely unexpected sight, leaving me speechless for a while.

Even normally, Go Yuri never exposed bare skin.

Even when she wore a green apron with “Records of the Three Kingdoms (三國志)” printed on it while serving food at the free kitchen, her entire body was covered completely by cloth.

So in my long, long life as a regressor, this might as well have been the first time I had ever seen her bare skin—but there was no bare skin.

A back with the spine protruding.

So densely covered in black markings that not a hint of flesh was visible.

[Lee So-yeong / 6/17/13:59]

A name.

[Kim Ha-neul / 11/2/22:45]

[Mateusz Kowalski / 5/20/23:56]

[Park Jin-woo / 3/12/08:21]

Names.

Like epitaphs.

[Jung Da-yeon / 1/6/10:18]

[Han Yoo-jin / 12/14/15:27]

[李秀文 / 8/22/11:11]

[Shin Ye-rim / 8/8/19:12]

[Kang Tae-hyun / 5/20/23:56]

[आयशा ख़ान / 7/19/14:44]

[Choi Min-seok / 9/25/17:03]

[Люсия Ромеро / 11/3/18:18]

[田中 優希 / 12/27/06:40]

[Yoo Seo-yeon / 7/3/06:35]

[ماركو بيانكي / 2/28/12:00]

[Moon Chae-won / 10/10/09:09]

[Nguyễn Thị Sophia / 8/16/20:25]

[Jo Eun-bi / 12/21/16:45]

[Омар Эль-Саид / 6/5/00:02]

[Jang Eun-seo / 7/27/20:40]

[נואה סמית / 9/1/14:11]

[Noh Hyun-woo / 5/13/05:25]

[Анастасия Волкова / 10/31/03:03]

[Yoon Ha-rin / 10/31/03:03]

Names and dates.

Letters written in the smallest possible size that the human eye could still perceive—

On her back. On her arms. On her waist. Over her entire body.

“I don’t have as good a memory as you do, Doctor,” said Go Yuri, her back turned to me.

“So I wrote down as much as I could remember.”

“…Dates of death.”

“Yes. The times when my precious people died. If a strong butterfly effect occurs, these don’t mean much, though.”

She quietly pulled her clothes back on.

I silently watched the sight of that graveyard of letters being covered once again.

“It’s a kind of spell. They’re all precious people, but especially, the truly special ones—I recall their lives each time I write their names down.”

“……”

“Then, sometimes, I turn the mirror around and look—‘Huh? Why did I write this person’s name again?’”

Go Yuri tilted her head.

“—And then, I can’t remember. It happens more often than you’d think.”

“……”

“When that happens, from the next life on, I stop writing that person’s name and date. Like tossing a memo file into the trash bin—whoosh.”

My lips barely moved.

About the way to escape that grave of oblivion—perhaps no one else in the world, but I at least could say this for certain.

And I knew better than anyone the side effects of that method.

“Perfect Memory.”

“Yes.”

“…But perfect memory means that, in exchange for remembering others, you must bury your own senses within the grave.”

“Yes.”

“We each reflect the end of the paths we can reach.”

Go Yuri turned back to look at me.

Her smile still lingered.

“All powers are blessings and curses both. But people’s hearts are fickle—you always envy what you don’t have.”

“……”

“I thought about it a lot. Mmm—for example, Doctor, Ms. Lee Ha-yul is very precious to you, isn’t she? But after hundreds of rounds, you stopped remembering her.”

“……”

“I think… that must have been sad.”

It was.

“So, Doctor, please don’t think of your ability as a curse.”

And then I realized.

“You… you didn’t acquire Perfect Memory on purpose—just so you could say that to me.”

“……”

A faintly surprised look.

Then, another soft smile.

Her gentle gaze rested on my face—the eyes of someone who knew her intention had been understood, and who understood that understanding in return.

After I exhaled, Go Yuri murmured quietly:

“Mr. Schopenhauer awakens his regression power only after losing his wife.”

“……”

“I tried many ways. At one point, I even made Mr. Schopenhauer—not you—the ‘protagonist’ of a route. But ultimately—his mentality was too weak.”

The greatest weakness of a regressor.

“To awaken only after losing one’s wife. But once he lost her, he couldn’t be happy enough to live on as a regressor.”

“…A dilemma between two impossibilities.”

“Yes. It would’ve been convenient if he could find new love easily, but goodness—my father is far too single-mindedly devoted. It’s troublesome.”

Go Yuri covered her mouth and laughed.

“But you, Doctor—you were the best.”

“……”

“Your ability—honestly speaking, it was nothing special. F-rank. Oh, you were originally just an ordinary, powerless man.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes. But your mentality—mmm, your mentality was so strong, I couldn’t believe it. Despite awakeners beginning to appear everywhere, the one leading the final defense line’s recon squad was always you.”

“I see.”

I couldn’t relate.

Because that was a “past I could not remember.”

But watching Go Yuri talk about me—she somehow seemed more cheerful.

“You had a precious sister, and when she died, you were devastated. But surprisingly—next life, this man—still powerless! Can you believe it?”

She looked almost… happy.

So I could only leave her be.

“I really was the perfect little sister, you know.”

“You?”

“Yes. And you were the perfect brother. The recon squad members envied our sibling relationship so much. Mmm, even now, when you’re with people like Lee Ha-yul, Shim Ah-ryun, or Oh Dok Seo, others might envy the warmth you have—but I think if they had seen us siblings, those relationships would’ve seemed like cheap imitations.”

“No, that’s way too exaggerated.”

“If you realized just how much of a doting brother you were, you’d be embarrassed out of your mind.”

“……”

Since I had some suspicion about my own doting-brother tendencies, I stayed quiet.

“We were such a close pair. When you saw me get kidnapped into the Void, limbs severed and tortured to death—you were in so much pain.”

“……”

“But then, next life—oh? This man—hasn’t awakened at all…!”

“Hmm.”

“W-wait—so all that doting-brother act was fake? An act? My goodness. To deceive a reincarnator’s eyes—unforgivable. This time, I’ll become someone even more precious than your past-life sister and make you awaken!”

Go Yuri chuckled to herself as if amused.

“I guess… I got stubborn.”

“…Sorry I was such a heartless fool.”

“Hm? No, no. I thought that too at first, but it wasn’t like that.”

She looked at me.

“Doctor, do you know when you first awakened?”

“No. Not at all.”

“When you heard my story.”

Her story?

“I tried to make you awaken about six times, but it never worked. So in desperation, I confessed everything. Outed myself as a reincarnator.”

“Ah.”

“So I said something like—‘You’re the first person like this, why won’t you awaken, were your feelings for me all lies?’ I meant to vent my frustration, but then—you, Doctor—”

“I’m sorry.

I’m sorry I couldn’t remember.

I’m sorry I couldn’t remember you.”

“You started crying.”

“……”

“Ahaha, I was so flustered. You held me and kept apologizing—‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry’—again and again. You, who stayed firm even when the defense line fell and citizens were dying—why were you suddenly like that?”

Then—

“Embarrassing as it is, I cried too.”

“……”

“I realized then—ah, I just wanted to be apologized to.”

Go Yuri reached out her hand.

Her palm gently brushed the regressor’s head.

“Human hearts are so fickle, aren’t they? It’s only natural that you don’t remember me. Yet I wanted an apology for the forgetfulness of a past life. How ridiculous.”

“……”

“It wasn’t Perfect Memory from the start. Just… slightly better memory. You already had good memory, so it wasn’t much of an awakening ability—FFF rank, maybe.”

But still.

“I think I just wanted to act spoiled toward you, Doctor.”

There must have been many reasons.

In the pursuit of SSS-rank awakeners, she had treated her precious family like lottery draws. Distributed happiness and pain like test variables to maximize awakening potential.

If her first-life self had heard that, she would have been appalled—would’ve asked, “Are you even human?”

Before that self could completely disappear—while even a trace of her first life still remained—she made a bet.

“I thought—if it’s you, Doctor, maybe it’ll be okay.”

She threw her final card.

“No more reincarnations. Well, not literally—yes, I kept reincarnating—but I stopped using my reincarnation to awaken others.”

This was my last life.

“I decided—to make this man my final destination.”

Fix the route.

Suppress the butterfly effect.

Select who to save and who to abandon. Among them are countless S-rank awakeners. Abandon them.

Set the “Undertaker” at the route’s center.

Simultaneously calculate the paths of billions to create the “optimal route.” Must create it. Can create it.

Move Uehara Shino’s location—not the original Seongsan Sunrise Peak tutorial dungeon, but the Busan Station tutorial dungeon.

Move the Saintess Jung Ye-ji’s location—to keep her from being caught when the Void appears in Seoul, which requires groundwork, and performing that groundwork causes three S-rank awakeners’ paths to collide. Ignore. Push through.

“It was hard.”

The reincarnator realized—though she thought time was the one infinite resource given to her, in truth, time was the most scarce.

“I was happy.”

Even using teleportation to the fullest, optimizing every route, every schedule—there were still paths that had to be abandoned.

The farther from the Korean Peninsula, the stronger that effect became. It couldn’t be helped. The Undertaker, who sat at the center of the route, lacked teleportation.

Abandon. Abandon. Abandon. Abandon.

As completion neared, from afar, the world looked bizarrely as if “most awakeners were concentrated in Korea.”

But in truth, it was the opposite.

“It was a world where almost all awakeners outside Korea had been abandoned.”

For example—whenever routes changed, the Leviathan appeared in different places. She fixed its location to a middle-school girl living in a poor Seoul neighborhood.

The best world.

The worst calculation.

A world of both best and worst possibilities—for one man alone.

“I’m sorry, but this was the best I could do.”

Go Yuri held out her hand.

“Doctor, you won’t remember—but long ago, truly long ago, we made a promise.”

“…What kind of promise?”

“I asked you.”

Will you save me?

“And you answered.”

No matter what happens. I will.

“Now, for the last time, I’ll ask again.”

To renew an old promise.

“Will you save this world… and me?”

The regressor did not hesitate.

He took the reincarnator’s hand—and covered it with his other hand.

Humans had two hands.

It meant they could layer two hearts into a single promise.

“No matter what happens.”

“……”

“I will.”

A smile slid across the reincarnator’s lips.

“Let’s become one, Guildmaster.”

And at that moment—when he opened his eyes again—

The regressor finally remembered everything that had happened in the very first round.

—Reincarnator. 結.