I'm an Infinite Regressor, But I've Got Stories to Tell-Chapter 308

Discord: https://dsc.gg/reapercomics

◈ I’m an Infinite Regressor, But I’ve Got Stories to Tell

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The Skeptic I

“Mister. I’m going on a trip to Southeast Asia with Ha-yul. Huh? Why do you look so serious again?”

“It’s nothing, just...”

Something felt off.

“I feel like I’ve seen this before. Anyway, you’re going on a trip? You know you have to use Yeouido Airport for international travel, right?”

“Of course. If I go to Namsan and get a Central Intelligence Agency ID and a passport, I can board the plane with a free pass, right? I remember everything.”

“Right. At Yeouido, you have to say you’re from the Special Forces, not the CIA. The historical background of each Anomaly is subtly different.”

“Got it. I’ll enjoy a two-night, three-day beach vacation and bring you back some pretty seashells as a gift!”

With that, Dok-seo waved goodbye and left.

[It’s... It’s my first time traveling abroad.]

“Huh? You lived in Japan, though.”

[That was more like exile than a trip.]

Ha-yul scurried after Dok-seo, and further behind, a housekeeper doll dragged a suitcase behind them.

The room grew quiet.

Something still felt off.

“Undertaker.”

“Ah, Seo-rin. What’s up?”

“We’ve caught the Trolley Dilemma this time, and I think if we use it well, we can establish a permanent railway. The Trolley Dilemma is so dumb that it even counts the dolls Ha-yul made as ‘humans.’ So, I’m thinking of tying a bunch of dolls to either side of the tracks to make the Trolley Dilemma move back and forth. What do you think?”

“Sounds like a great idea.”

“Right? Maybe railways will replace highways as the main transportation system on the Korean Peninsula. I’ll lay the tracks right away, so wait for me.”

“Ah. I’ll be waiting.”

Seo-rin hummed a tune as she led the underlings of the Samcheon World guild away. She had somehow managed to recruit Ha-yul, and now, the witches transported doll hauls that numbered in the hundreds.

If Seo-rin’s plan to create a Trolley Dilemma railway succeeded, it would truly revolutionize transportation.

In the original history, trains were a symbol of the industrial revolution. Perhaps a similar upheaval was about to occur in this apocalypse.

And yet, something still felt off.

Here, “off” meant a nagging feeling in my heart.

When Dok-seo and Ha-yul casually mentioned going on an overseas trip, and when Seo-rin declared she would start a railway revolution, a strange unease tickled the back of my neck.

“Your Excellency,” Ji-won said as she approached. “The financial policy you devised for Dream Casino has now been perfectly implemented. The people are accumulating wealth to dream even sweeter dreams.”

“Ah...”

“The credibility of the won is quite high and not just on the Korean Peninsula, but also on the Japanese archipelago and the Chinese mainland. All of this is thanks to Your Excellency’s orders to dispatch Tutorial Fairies to various regions. I, Yu Ji-won, am always moved by Your Excellency’s care for all humanity.”

“Good...”

“Voices praising Your Excellency’s benevolence are echoing across the world. How can this not be called a golden age?”

Ji-won then spent the next 30 minutes singing my praises before leaving. Her light footsteps exuded the satisfaction of having completed her daily tasks.

Something was off.

Really off.

Problem was, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what, which made me feel all the more frustrated because of it. It was like having an itch right in the middle of my throat that I couldn’t scratch, so I kept letting out pointless little coughs.

It was a cold winter.

Do-hwa sipped her mulled wine, exhaling a relaxed breath.

“I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve had this kind of leisure. Lately, the workload around here has decreased, so life feels a bit more livable...”

“Your workload has decreased?”

“Yes. We have the airport, the highways, and—even if they’re a bit unstable—the railways. The financial system is also running smoothly. Heh. For an apocalypse, this is practically a developed country—”

“Ah.”

At that moment.

“Ah! Ah! Ahhh!”

The spot on the back of my neck that had been tingling exploded.

I had finally realized the true nature of the “off” feeling that had been tormenting me all this time.

I couldn’t help but jump up and scream. How could I have not noticed this until now?!

“Damn it.”

Do-hwa’s wine glass tipped over as I slammed the table, but this minor collateral damage was the least of my concerns.

“What the hell is it now, huh?” she grumbled. “Did you catch some new kind of crazy virus and start raving again...?”

“Life is too comfortable!”

“Huh...?”

“Commander Noh. Haven’t you ever felt like something was off? This is the apocalypse. The world is on the brink of destruction. So how can people casually go on overseas trips, and what’s with this railway nonsense? A golden age? What golden age?!”

Wiping her wine-splattered monocle with the hem of her lab coat, Do-hwa looked at me like I was a lunatic.

“No. Have you finally lost it? All of that infrastructure was built because you defeated the Anomalies. Your memory was your only redeeming quality, but now you’re getting dementia too...”

“I supervised the Tutorial Fairies from start to finish, yes, but Yeouido Airport wasn’t this convenient before. The Trolley Dilemma was also much more troublesome.”

Yet, at some point, the Anomalies had started obediently serving humanity’s needs.

The Tutorial Fairies could communicate from the start, and cooperating with me benefited them too. They received a constant supply of “dreams,” the staple food of the Baku. But Yeouido Airport? The Trolley Dilemma? These Anomalies couldn’t communicate and had no concept of benefit or loss.

So why were they cooperating with the reconstruction of human civilization? Were the Anomalies just pushovers?

No way. If the Anomalies were pushovers, my story would have ended around chapter 120, and the tragedy of SG Net readers suffering from Dok-seo’s constant hiatuses would have been avoided.

“This itself is an Anomaly!” I exploded in frustration. “Those cunning bastards! Cowardly Anomaly scum! As expected of the source of all evil, they’ve subtly changed their survival strategy without anyone noticing! Ha! How dare they try to deceive me, the Undertaker! Pretending to cooperate with my convenience and humanity’s comfort, they’re slyly pushing for coexistence! Ha! Not a chance. Even if I starve and freeze to death on the streets! I will never! Tolerate! Their schemes!”

“Hmm.”

Do-hwa adjusted her glasses and flipped through her notebook.

“Let’s see. Is there any free time in Kim Ji-soo’s schedule at the mental ward today...?”

https://dsc.gg/reapercomics

“Godfather, do you ever have sudden outbursts in your daily life, where hatred, contempt, or past traumas overwhelm you?”

“Yes. Just thinking about the Ten Legs’s tentacle piercing Seo-rin’s abdomen makes my skin crawl.”

“Godfather, how do you usually maintain your peace of mind?”

“I read Romance of the Three Kingdoms or write parody novels about it, always reflecting on how to navigate turbulent times.”

“Godfather, do you ever feel like someone is watching you, monitoring you, or plotting against you, even on an ordinary day?”

“Ah. Ji-soo, you might not know this, but there’s a terrifying entity called Go Yuri. Never say her name out loud. Refer to her only as the ‘pink entity.’”

“I see. Is the pink entity targeting you, Godfather?”

“Of course! The pink entity is always waiting for the moment my resolve weakens. Phew, I’m breaking out in a cold sweat just thinking about it.”

“I see...”

And so, the one-hour counseling session ended.

“Godfather.”

“Ah, do you have the results? How is it? You’ve never seen a client with as sound a mindset as mine, right?”

“I’m sorry. You have a severe case of Anomaly-hating syndrome and Three Kingdoms addiction.”

“What?”

“That’s ridiculous...”

“See! I knew this would happen!”

While I was dumbfounded, the people who had tagged along as my “guardians” chattered noisily.

“Even if Mister’s been through a lot, he’s always blaming Anomalies for everything! This is the Anomaly’s fault, that’s the Anomaly’s fault. We just went on a trip to Southeast Asia to relax, and now you’re saying we’ve been bewitched by Anomalies?” Dok-seo demanded.

Ha-yul was next to respond. [We didn’t even relax much. The sea was beautiful, but the constant sound of cannon fire from beyond the horizon was annoying.]

“Yeah, well. Undertaker does tend to overreact sometimes,” Do-hwa said with a shrug.

“I don’t trust these psychological tests, Your Excellency,” reassured Ji-won. “The fact that I was diagnosed as a psychopath shows how flawed these tests are.”

“Hmm...”

The local broadcast was as noisy as ever.

“No, something’s really off!” I insisted. “You guys don’t know how cunning these Anomalies are, so you’re letting your guard down. They’re like viruses! They might seem convenient and comfortable now, but the backlash from using them will definitely be massive!”

“Look at him. He’s at it again.”

[He’s like a broken record. Anomaly this, Anomaly that.]

The self-proclaimed “guardians” (I never asked for them) whispered among themselves.

Not one of them trusted me—I could feel it.

Saintess! The Saintess would understand!

The Saintess, who shares a heart and soul with me, will surely understand!

[Um... I’m sorry.]

[Actually, I think it might be better if you became a bit more flexible in your mindset.]

Even you, Saintess?

[I respect you, Mr. Undertaker. But sometimes, I feel like you underestimate your own achievements.]

[Whether it’s Yeouido Airport or the Trolley Dilemma, you’re the one who pioneered their strategies and uses.]

[The fact that people can feel even a small sense of convenience in these times is thanks to your efforts.]

[To suspect that even your achievements are part of an Anomaly’s conspiracy... I can’t help but feel like you’re undervaluing your comrades.]

Ugh.

The Saintess’s comfort was appreciated, but I wasn’t being paranoid for no reason.

The regressor’s intuition was screaming at me. The “civilization” or “convenience” of the Anomalies—there’s definitely a terrifying malice hidden behind it!

“No, intuition is just your subjective feeling. What the...”

It was noisy.

In the end, no one agreed with my argument. The only exception was Ji-won, who said, “Your Excellency’s words are truly wise,” and nodded along.

But as everyone knows, Yu Whatever’s agreement was about as useful as a human’s wisdom teeth.

‘Could my intuition really be wrong?’

I couldn’t accept it.

I could accept all other opinions, but when it came to Anomalies, I trusted my gut.

A leader sometimes needs stubbornness.

If Hannibal had listened to his advisors saying, “What? You’re going to cross the Alps to attack Rome? General, are you out of your mind?” and retreated, he wouldn’t have appeared in Fate/Requiem later.

‘No, I couldn’t have misread the signs of the Anomalies. I’m sure of it. There must be someone out there who agrees with me. Someone!’

But even the Saintess, who always supported me, had made her disagreement clear.

Who would sympathize with my argument now?

My options were running out.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freёnovelkiss.com.

“—so I came to consult you. What do you think? Doesn’t it seem like some suspicious Anomaly’s scheme to you too?”

“Hmm.”

The person in front of me twirled her orange hair.

The setting was a school classroom.

But as if to prove that this wasn’t a real classroom, the scenery outside the windows was incredibly dynamic.

Leaves fluttered outside the back window, while snowflakes drifted outside the front window.

“Sunbae.”

In the middle of this mysterious classroom, the person sitting at the desk spoke.

“So, you’re saying that after regressing multiple times and gathering human comrades, none of them agree with you, so you came to me—an Anomaly and an Outer God—someone you even sealed with Time Seal, and after 300 years in regressor time, you’re suddenly asking for empathy?”

“Hmm,” I hummed, thinking for a moment. “You could summarize it that way.”

“Sunbae, you’re really trash, huh?”

Infinite Void.

No, Cheon Yo-hwa looked at me with a gaze full of contempt.