WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

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

Chapter 396

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The Bereaved IV

Operation briefing. ON.

"Most awakeners perceive the Void as a type of dungeon. However, physical laws do not apply in the Void, and it cannot be defined as a physical location."

Snap. The piece of chalk broke in my hand.

But that was fine. At least the chalk had died a glorious death after scribbling its entire purpose onto the chalkboard.

"Therefore, the Void can just as easily arise within a person's mind."

"Are you saying that's my sister's current state?"

"Probably."

On the chalkboard was a chibi-style drawing of Yo-hwa.

Right in the middle of the rather well-drawn illustration, on Yo-hwa's chest, I drew a large ‘□’, an empty square box.

"It isn't just Yo-hwa. It's everyone who lost the most precious character in their lives due to the Time Seal. All of them."

“…”

"We can surmise that a void has formed in the deepest parts of their psyches. You could call it a hole in the heart."

"A hole in the heart…"

"And until now, Yo-hwa's psychological void has been blocked in this way."

Scrape, scritch, tap.

Using the broken piece of chalk, I drew an arrow from the ‘□’ and wrote a name next to it. Like this.

□ → Undertaker

Blink.

Cheon-hwa's eyes, who was sitting in the very front row of the classroom, widened slightly.

"Ah."

"Yo-hwa has a hole in her heart. But right after, someone appeared who saved not only her life but also the lives of the Baekhwa Girls' High students. And that person was—"

"You, Sunbae."

"Yes."

I had found it slightly strange for a while now.

'Even if I saved her life, her affection for me grew far too quickly—and far too deeply.'

The moment I started having doubts was when I encountered the anomaly known as 'Savior Narrative Syndrome'.

'Of course, I approached those kids at the exact moment they needed me, in the exact role they needed. Nevertheless... Unlike me, the regressor, wasn't I still a stranger they had only just met?'

Why did they come to rely on me so quickly?

Why did their heartbeats resonate with my existence as if they had been waiting for it all along?

I recalled this question and came up with my own answer.

"It's simple. If you assume there's a void in their hearts, a hole that runs as deep as hell itself, then it all makes rational sense."

“…”

"Yo-hwa has a psychological void that she absolutely cannot fill. So, to deny and seal that hole, she placed the person known as 'Undertaker' at the very center of her heart."

"Sunbae, are you trying to say that the feelings my sister has for you aren't love?"

"No. I'm not discussing the color of the heart, but its structure. In a way, it's a feeling much deeper than ordinary love."

“…I see. And if she fails to block the hole, the void.”

"She would become an anomaly."

A desperate struggle to remain human.

She couldn't become human on her own. As I said, a fatal gap had already been torn open in her heart.

So, she finds a guarantor.

Because she herself is not enough, she borrows the existence of another to serve as a patch-up job for the hole in her heart.

"Trust, because she entrusts herself to another. Love, because they guarantee each other's humanity. Sacrifice, because she handed over her most precious heart to another. Obsession, because she cannot let go. You can call it whatever you want."

“…”

"The important point right now is—"

My chalk danced again.

Cheon-hwa (Older Sister) → □ → Undertaker

Scrape. The trembling of the chalkboard stopped.

"The fact that I was not the one originally designated for this spot."

“…

"The reason I, we, failed in the last cycle was because we missed this. My thinking was too simple. I just thought that if she met her lost family member, an instinctive favorability would form."

“…Because in Yo-hwa's heart, you had already taken that spot, sunbae. I get it now."

Cheon-hwa's eyes lowered.

"My existence must have looked like an 'enemy' that threatened not only Yo-hwa herself, but you as well, Sunbae."

"That’s right."

"She can bear it if she's the only one threatened. But if it feels like someone is trying to take your place, Sunbae... Definitely. She's bound to react sensitively."

A more delicate approach.

That was why a more sophisticated strategy was desperately needed.

"In the end, it's a matter of timing. If 'Undertaker' has already become Yo-hwa's teacher and completely replaced the hole, it's already too late."

"Yeah. I understand. I, her 'lost older sister,' have to appear before Yo-hwa falls for you, Sunbae."

“…However you want to put it, yes. At any rate, the direction is correct."

"But that's impossible."

Cheon-hwa said.

"Look, Sunbae. I've been hit with a Time Seal, so I can't move a single step from the rooftop of the Tower of Babel. On the other hand, for Yo-hwa to get here, she first has to clear the 'Baekhwa Girls' High Tutorial Dungeon.' But to clear that dungeon, your existence is indispensable, Sunbae. So how… Ah."

Cheon-hwa's eyes went wide.

Clatter. She pushed back her chair and stood up.

"The fairy!"

I smiled.

"Exactly."

The tutorial fairy.

Or, the 'first anomaly'.

It was the first anomaly-like anomaly that the vast majority of awakeners encountered. That was natural.

That's why it was the 'tutorial' fairy, after all.

Of course, that was just a nickname given for convenience.

Its true name, the name that revealed the anomaly's identity in its entirety, was something else.

I lamented.

"In the end, in our world, you guys are a succubus and an incubus...."

"Hoe-eh."

Fairy number 264 was happily stuffing a sausage into both its cheeks, like a happy hamster.

For the record, it was a bribe I gave them. I don't know why, but their species went crazy for sausages.

Once, I thought, 'Maybe they'll like a fancier sausage more?' and got them a Johnsonville product, but strangely, they shook their heads, saying it didn't suit their taste.

They were a strange bunch, anyway.

And as you might have guessed from my use of the word 'bunch' here.

"Such a sweet taste...!"

"Hoe. Why did my comrades fall for the bourgeoisie's appeasement and turn into the hunting dogs of power, hoeeh. This food is so counter-revolutionary it makes me realize it inadvertently."

"Is it a taste that makes you abandon the world revolution and regress into nationalistic revisionism that only cares about Russia?"

Right now, a number of fairies were gathered before my eyes in a small huddle.

"You guys seem to be subtly lacking in enthusiasm."

"Hoeeeng. That's because…"

"We ambitiously started the tutorial dungeon, but the Fairy King who was giving us orders suddenly disappeared…"

"Praised as a revolutionary fighter and sent to the jungles of South America, only to find out it was just a purge from back home…"

"The wall of reality is the North Sea Ice Palace…"

That's right.

Originally, the tutorial fairies were under the control of the Outer God, Infinite Void, or the Mastermind.

However, Infinite Void had been intellectually castrated and reduced to something like a lump of power, and the Mastermind had been sealed by someone on the rooftop of the Tower of Babel.

In a word, the fairies of today were.

"No different from dogs abandoned by their masters."

"Hieeek! Wh-what cruel wording!"

"We opened the tutorial dungeon out of inertia, but we just don't feel motivated for some reason…"

"When I think about it, who cares about humans? Whether they get killed by other anomalies is just their own fate…"

Just like humans falling into depression, the fairies were collectively shrouded in a dark cloud.

I caught a strange sense of déjà vu.

'In a way, isn't this also the result of a void suddenly appearing in their hearts?'

…An angle of thought I would have never come up with in my past self.

My hatred for anomalies was still preserved along with my Complete Memory, forever burning my heart.

But now, I could observe with a cold detachment from the opposite side, at least when it came to the tutorial fairies.

'It might not be all that different.'

One day they woke up, and Mugan had become strange and the Mastermind had disappeared.

All thanks to the actions of me, the regressor.

The flow was always similar.

"I will become your new pillar of support. Specifically, I will distribute one sausage to each of you every day."

"Hoe-eh! Comrade General Secretary!"

"You're going to rule over us!"

"The forefront of the revolution!"

"Long live Comrade General Secretary! Long live! Long live!"

In the first place, what is an anomaly?

Why did these beings come to exist?

'Almost every awakener must first meet the tutorial fairies.'

'And the fairies' true identity is the Dream Demon. Anomalies of dreams.'

'In short, the first void that people encounter is none other than… a dream.'

A human's dream. The first void.

'In a way, a more fitting name for the tutorial fairies might be the [Fairy of Beginnings].'

Tutorial. Starting point. Dream.

All the puzzle pieces shimmered just at the edge of my grasp, as if I could understand them but couldn't, as if I could catch them but couldn't.

'Could all of this be a mere coincidence?'

One more step.

It felt like if I could just find the last puzzle piece, I would see the destination this picture was pointing to, but for now, it was still a mystery.

Pushing the puzzle to one side of my mind, I spoke with a deliberately solemn expression.

"What I require of you is very clear. From now on, I will infiltrate Baekhwa Girls' High disguised as a security guard. There will be a girl there who is the student council president, and whenever that girl falls asleep—"

"—I'm going to use the fairies to manipulate her dreams. And I will continuously show Yo-hwa the image of her 'older sister' in her dreams."

“…”

"Yo-hwa just recently lost her sister. If she sees even a vision resembling her sister in her dreams, the hole in Yo-hwa's heart is bound to react."

“…”

"So, Cheon-hwa."

I said, looking at the girl in front of me.

"I need your help to create a dream that is as close to reality as possible. Tell me what happened between you two sisters in your childhood. As detailed as possible, please."

A long silence followed.

Cheon-hwa's face looked complicated.

Gratitude for someone who would go to such lengths for her and her sister. Apology for having to rely on him so much.

And an overwhelming emotion for being accepted as a human, not an anomaly. Trust. Love. Sacrifice. Obsession.

"But there's a problem, Sunbae."

Leaving behind the emotions that wouldn't disappear no matter what you called them, Cheon-hwa, ever the strategist of the self-proclaimed Regressor Alliance, pointed out the practical problems first.

"No matter how hard the fairies try, they won't be able to perfectly replicate my childhood self. They're no different from dolls that only act as they're programmed."

"That's true."

"My sister has good instincts. Her nose for telling the real from the fake is almost genius-level. Will her heart really be moved by an 'older sister doll' that the fairies clumsily imitate?"

It was a truly accurate point.

"Who do you take me for? I'm a man who has even run a reincarnation project using writers and fairies."

I puffed out my chest.

"It's no exaggeration to say that there are few who know the strengths and weaknesses of fairies as well as I do. Naturally, I've prepared a countermeasure for that."

"Heeh. As expected of you, Sunbae! What kind of countermeasure is it?"

"A very effective one, Cheon-hwa. Do you not have the world's best actor right before your eyes?"

Blink.

"?"

"?"

Cheon-hwa's head tilted to the side. My head tilted the other way.

About ten seconds passed like that.

"Uh…"

Cheon-hwa's lips parted hesitantly.

"Sorry, Sunbae. I think I misunderstood something. If I did, please feel free to correct me."

"Mm."

"So… based on the story I tell you, and because your memory is super, super good, you'll memorize everything like it's a script."

"Mm."

"And then… 'you're' going to act as 'me'? You, Sunbae? You're going to 'transform' with the help of the Dream Demons, like me, like a Ditto, like a female student in a black sailor uniform… and act as her older sister for my little sister. That's not what you're saying, right? I misunderstood, right?"

"No. You understood it perfectly."

“…”

"What. Don't you worry. Although it may not be on the level of Oh Dok-seo's VTuber mode, I, as a regressor who has lived for tens of thousands of years, boast the strongest acting ability among present-day humanity. I will act out a 'Cheon Yo-hwa' who is more you than you are."

“…”

"So come, hurry and tell me the life story of you and your sister. How you talked to each other at home, what habits and quirks you had, input every single thing into my Complete Memory—"

"That's creepy!!"

Why?

Regardless of what the strategist complained about, the operation was pushed forward.

The Baekhwa Girls' High Tutorial Dungeon was a demon's den where casualties would increase exponentially if left alone for even a moment. Realistically, at this point in time, besides me, there was no one else suitable to enter Baekhwa Girls' High and act as 'Cheon-hwa' in the dream.

And so.

“…Security guard mister.”

After building up a decent level of trust, just like in other turns, Yo-hwa cautiously approached me.

As you can tell from the fact that she still calls me 'security guard mister’ and not 'Teacher', it hasn't been many days.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Um, I have something I'd like to talk about… Could you listen for a moment?"

Finally! I clenched my fist in my mind.

But I didn't show any of it on the outside.

"Of course. As the student council president, Yo-hwa, it must be hard for you to show any weakness in front of the other kids, so you can always rely on an adult."

"Ahaha. Thank you."

"So what's on your mind?"

"Lately, whenever I fall asleep, I have these really, super, seriously creepy dreams… They're just completely unpleasant dreams. Could this also be the influence of ghosts or something?"

“…”

Why?

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