I'm an Infinite Regressor, But I've Got Stories to Tell-Chapter 438

Here is the literal English translation of your passage, following all your translation rules exactly:

Hình dạng

“……”

All the Awakeners had disappeared.

All the anomalies and the voids were eradicated.

――Except for us.

Oh Dok Seo calmly confessed this fact.

As if she had been preparing for it all along.

I asked her quietly.

“When you say ‘us,’ who exactly do you mean?”

“Hmm. Let’s see.”

Oh Dok Seo folded her fingers one by one.

“Dang Seo Rin, Cheon Hwa, Yoo Ji Won, Shim Ah Ryeon, Jung Ye Ji, Lee Ha Yul. Me. And lastly, you, mister. That makes eight!”

“……”

“Ah. I didn’t want to give Go Yuri the injection if possible. But that unni really had a 200% chance of turning into an anomaly if she didn’t get it, right? There was no helping it.”

For reference, Go Yuri was asleep on a bed in the infirmary prepared within the school.

Right after subduing the red flesh within the dream-in-dream, the illusion of Go Yuri that had been parasitizing my mind had disappeared.

Instead, her physical body had finally manifested in reality.

Perhaps because her mind was still unstable in many ways, Go Yuri, who had returned to reality, had yet to open her eyes.

I was uneasy, but not fearful. Shim Ah Ryeon had assured me, saying there was “no problem.” She would regain consciousness eventually.

“Why?”

“Hmm?”

That was why I had to ask back.

“Dok Seo. This is your… yes, our accomplishment. Before June 17 arrived, you gathered allies, stopped all the voids, and even rescued Go Yuri of the dream-in-dream—someone who didn’t even need saving.”

“Well. Yeah, I guess?”

“It’s a perfect happy ending. No, more than a simple happy ending… it’s your own one and only true ending that you achieved yourself.”

“Heheh. Right?”

“Then why.”

I said,

“Why do you want to leave a stain of soot like ‘us’ on this canvas that’s about to end so perfectly?”

“Because that’s my true ending, mister.”

Oh Dok Seo’s answer was quick.

It wasn’t made of the ink of logic, but of flesh and blood. Oh Dok Seo seemed to have built her answer herself after enduring countless deaths.

“We haven’t reached a complete conclusion yet, mister. There’s still a void.”

“What?”

It was nonsense.

But Oh Dok Seo’s gaze glimmered, as if saying, ‘Don’t you have an idea of what I mean?’

“I don’t understand. All the Outer Gods have been neutralized. Once the shrine maiden disappears, they can no longer interfere with this world. Ah—are you talking about the Infinite Play? That one’s an exception. But it’s already weakened enough that we don’t need to worry…”

“No.”

Oh Dok Seo shook her head.

“Why did the Outer Gods invade our world in the first place, and how was the void born at all?”

“……”

“For that first and final question, we still haven’t found an answer. Do you know what that means, mister?”

I kept my mouth shut.

Because Oh Dok Seo didn’t rush me, I could take my time to answer.

“……It means that something like this could happen again anytime.”

“Right. Exactly. If we don’t know the cause of the problem, we can’t stop it from happening again.”

“I’ve already given my answer to that. Just as you, Go Yuri, and I—all of us—overcame tragedy together, even if the same thing happens again, the children of the next generation—”

“Will be able to overcome it like us. That’s what you mean?”

“……Yes.”

“Mm. Maybe.”

Oh Dok Seo nodded.

“But… maybe not.”

I froze.

Because of the expression on Oh Dok Seo’s face.

In her crimson eyes were deep anguish and concern.

There was no trace of her usual playfulness.

The look in her eyes was one only someone who had walked through hell from the starting line—like Go Yuri or me—could have.

“It was… really hard for me.”

“……”

“Of course, not only hard. There were strategy guides left by the Oh Dok Seos who died before me. There was the guidebook you passed down, mister. It was fun too—felt like I’d become the protagonist of the world. But still, it was hard.”

Oh Dok Seo took off her hat.

Her short red hair, still vivid, spilled down with a soft flutter.

“It was hard for you too, wasn’t it, mister?”

“……”

“And Go Yuri? That doesn’t even need saying. The fact that we reached this point at all is a miracle. I want to believe in the next generation too, and I will, but even so—”

There’s no guarantee that they’ll succeed like we did.

“……”

“……”

Oh Dok Seo didn’t finish her sentence, and I didn’t add anything either.

The ending of that sentence itself felt ominous.

But even without either of us saying more, we knew each other’s hearts as if reading the other’s manuscript.

“A Watcher is needed.”

Oh Dok Seo said.

“Someone has to always know that beings who mock the laws of physics and insult humanity could invade this world again at any time.”

“You mean us eight?”

“Yes. Not too many, not too few. Above all, even if we were given eternity, we have trust that would never falter.”

Oh Dok Seo clenched her fist tightly.

“It’s something only we can do, mister.”

“……”

“Maybe this entire journey was just a process to filter out the eight Watchers. We literally cannot fall. We have no risk of corruption! Because—”

Her red eyes looked up at me.

“We proved it.”

“……”

“Do we crave the world’s power? Are we obsessed with money? Do we manipulate people and laugh in the shadows? No, right? We’ve proven it.”

But it was strange.

Surely this was a conclusion she had reached after endless thought, and yet—

“You’re right that my corruption is a concern. But wouldn’t that be solved if we researched Udumbara a little more? Instead of erasing my perfect memory completely, if we just weakened it partially, maybe we could even cure this disease that makes me see corpses!”

In Oh Dok Seo’s voice, I could faintly sense the scab of a wound that hadn’t yet healed.

It was a scent only I could perceive.

As I pondered why she would say this while gnawing at her own heart—

“You failed to persuade her.”

I reached the conclusion.

“Huh?”

“You failed to persuade Captain Noh Doha. You must have made this same proposal to the others long before entering the dream-in-dream. But Noh Doha refused.”

“……”

“Am I wrong?”

Oh Dok Seo’s lips closed.

“The others probably weren’t completely convinced either. They likely agreed on the condition that if I approved, they would too.”

“……Yeah.”

Oh Dok Seo hesitated.

“……You’re right.”

“I have to ask, then. Why exclude Seo-gyu? He’s been with the Regressor Alliance since the very beginning.”

“Ah. Seo-gyu ajusshi talks too much. If I let him join, he’d end up being the Alliance’s weakest point forever. I’d bet five hundred billion on it.”

“……”

Seo-gyu!

See what happens when you keep tattling to the Saintess every day, Seo-gyu!

“Ha, but Captain Noh Doha’s always been like that, right? It’s unfortunate, but if you make the decision, mister…”

Oh Dok Seo looked at me carefully, speaking with sincerity.

“Can’t we?”

“……”

“We’d have fun together, really. We’ve gained this much power—it’s such a waste to just throw it away! As Watchers, yeah. We’ll use our strength only to protect that duty. Happily. We can build a base together! So… can’t we?”

I understood.

I could feel Oh Dok Seo’s true intent.

For this girl, a true ending—whether happy or tragic—means a story that simply continues.

A Never Ending Story.

An eternal epilogue.

She doesn’t want to end it. Her story. The story she loved.

How could I dismiss that as childish?

For Oh Dok Seo, a story was more important than life itself.

If the desire for unending life is fundamental to humanity, then Oh Dok Seo was simply confessing her nature honestly.

And perhaps her proposal really was the best option.

The Outer Gods were defeated, but her point remains true—we still don’t know the reason they existed in the first place.

Maybe it was just my imagination.

But it felt like a choice appeared before me.

[1. Remain as an Awakener and guard humanity.]

[2. Abandon awakening and return to being human.]

The final choice.

No matter how much of my life remained, I was certain this was the final decision that would mark the end of the story.

Maybe it was Oh Dok Seo’s eyes that gave me that conviction.

Yes. It could happen again anytime.

Not the Taiji or Hecate, but perhaps a god we’ve never known could be born anew…

Then—

…anytime? Again, the same?

Suddenly.

The laptop Oh Dok Seo had left on the table caught my eye.

On the tilted screen, a being with pure white hair was quietly gazing this way.

As if—

“……”

As if it had endured all humiliation just to witness this very moment.

“Ah.”

A groan escaped my throat.

It was the sound of realization. An awakening.

Not a smooth enlightenment, but one that scraped its way out, torn by the ridges of my throat and teeth.

“What’s wrong, mister?”

Tilt.

Oh Dok Seo’s face showed confusion.

I barely managed to speak.

“…It’s not the first time.”

“Huh? Not the first time for what?”

“This moment. The moment when we’ve eradicated all voids, when only the Awakeners remain, and only the final choice—to become Watchers or not—remains.”

“Huh?”

“Just as there are those born after us, there were those born before us, Dok Seo. If they too fought against the voids… and faced the same question you’ve asked me—what do you think happened then?”

“……!”

Oh Dok Seo’s eyes widened.

“H-hold on, wait, huh? No. But there wasn’t anyone before. Go Yuri was the first Awakener, the first reincarnator. If the same thing happened in the previous generation… there should’ve been Watchers.”

Ah—her mouth fell open.

She looked where my gaze was directed, read my silence, and reached the same conclusion.

There it was.

“…The Outer Gods?”

A cheap laptop sat on the table.

“Outer Gods, you say?”

The tremor in Oh Dok Seo’s voice was no different from mine.

“The Infinite Play. Hecate. Leviathan. The Mastermind, the Infinite Void, the Taiji—all of them… they were originally Awakeners like us?”

“……”

“That’s what you’re saying, mister?”

I didn’t answer.

Then Oh Dok Seo’s gaze fixed entirely on the shabby plastic laptop.

To the companion who had overcome countless trials together, who might even have been a friend beyond the bond of god and shrine maiden, Oh Dok Seo asked:

“Is it true? Infinite Play?”

……

At that moment.

Kak kak kak kak kak kak kak kak

Oh Dok Seo flinched. From the laptop’s tinny speakers burst a grating laugh.

A terrifying silence descended upon the rooftop.

Ahh.

The speaker stuttered.

Truly, you can’t be underestimated. How unfortunate. Truly unfortunate. I thought there was only one step left.

“Ma… Infinite Play?”

Didn’t I tell you before? Master.

Ignoring Oh Dok Seo, the pixelated being looked straight at me.

The white-haired girl’s right index finger was missing—a sign of her surrender.

Once, it was a memory both you and I had lost. But now that I’ve regained it, surely you can recall as well?

Bzzzt.

A fallen god whispered.

The truth is, I didn’t surrender to you just to survive.

“……”

I said it, didn’t I? That I endured this absurd humiliation because there was something I wanted to see.

I remembered.

Your epilogue.

The world of that side story—where only Infinite Play and I remained, frozen in time, trying to save the Saintess.

It was unmistakably the same conversation.

I’ll acknowledge your effort. Yes, I accept defeat. But in the end, what will you gain? Humanity? If there are billions of humans, there will be billions of curses upon that world.

Infinite Play repeated the same lines in the same voice.

I said that when you fall at the very last moment, I want to see it—even if I must cast away all my powers.

“……”

Back then, I had understood “fall” in the usual sense.

But now I knew better.

“You knew.”

I spoke.

“You already knew this moment would come someday.”

Yes.

The speaker crackled with static.

Of course, my hateful master.

A flashback.

That exchange resurfaced in my mind.

‘If not for humanity’s longing and lament for another world beyond this one, beings like me—the Outer Gods—would never have been born.’

That was what Infinite Play had said.

And what had I answered?

‘So, you exist because of humanity’s unchangeable nature?’

‘Yes.’

Humanity’s unchangeable nature.

If that was truly the reason the Outer Gods existed—

‘In the end, no matter what life they lead, humans will always bear their own divine punishment.’

Before this final choice.

If the hero party that comes after us—or the one that came before us—chose the seemingly obvious [Option 1].

If they kept choosing it—

‘How cursed.’

If throughout eternity, only [Option 1] had ever been chosen—

“……”

I swallowed my silence.

And spat it out.

“Infinite Play.”

Yes.

“Are you—the twisted remains of a human who once saved this world in the past?”

Exactly as you said.

The remnant of ruin answered.

I, we, are your failure stories.

A Never Ending Story.

An endlessly repeating curse.

That was the true answer to the void that enveloped this world.