Chapter 437: The One who was a Regressor I |
The One who was a Regressor I
There is an epilogue.
White Night was prevented.
The Great Void that had scorched everything south of the Han River without missing a single cycle for thousands of times had disappeared without a trace.
Most people probably wouldn't even realize such an event was supposed to happen.
"Come on, come on. Everyone come here and get your Udumbara shot!"
Only 'most people,' mind you.
"You there, you're moving too slowly! Hurry up!"
Tweeeeet—!
"Nya. If I get this shot, I'll no longer have cat ears, no more magical girl costume, and no more restriction of having to add meow at the end of my sentences..."
"So? You don't want it?"
"No, I fucking love it, meow."
For a long time, awakening had meant power.
It had been the exclusive domain of those who ruled with their wounds, having been wounded by the world.
Even for someone firmly united with the cause of protecting humanity, it was very difficult to voluntarily give up the power that had come into their own hands.
"Well, let me go first..."
Do-hwa does that difficult thing.
While several awakeners were hesitating, Do-hwa approached first before anyone else and held out her forearm.
"Oh."
Dok-seo smiled strangely.
"Are you sure, Director? Once you get this injection, Udumbara will bloom in your stomach for a bit, then turn into plum blossoms a few days later and get digested. That means you'll be saying goodbye forever to giving patients biological prosthetics."
"It doesn't matter..."
Do-hwa smirked.
"They'll manage on their own..."
"As expected of Director noona! Alright, then this will sting for a moment!"
The great National Road Management Corps Director set an example first.
Next, the northern Saintess smiled brightly and voluntarily took the injection herself, so there was no one who could be greedy alone.
'And the memories from the previous cycle still exist, albeit faintly.'
Those who had desired peace more than anyone.
They were people who recalled, even if dimly, the thousands of deaths they'd experienced.
Now, if the last remaining void poison in the world was none other than their own abilities, they were ready to willingly return to everyday life.
After all the awakeners had received their vaccination shots, the final turn came to me.
"..."
However, when giving me the injection, Dok-seo's expression was somehow shifty.
The moment I was about to ask why she was making that face, Dok-seo quickly pulled her head back and shouted to the awakeners around.
"Alright! I borrowed this abandoned school from Mayor Sang-guk for a whole week! Inside the school there's a buffet and tons of alcohol prepared for us victors, so enjoy to your hearts' content!"
"Oooooh!"
"As expected of Dok-seo! I believed in you!"
"Author-nim, I love you!"
The party began.
June's temperature was neither too hot nor too chilly. Even if hot, the wind would cool it enough, and even if cold, the alcohol would warm it enough.
The party continued even after night fell. They had that much to share with each other.
"Hey, let's record our conversations on video before the memories disappear!"
"Oh. That's a good idea?"
Here and there, awakeners busied themselves creating their own little time capsules of memories.
Even at this very moment, as alcohol and laughter flowed into the night sky's air, the memories of the dream within a dream that had briefly colored their minds were gradually fading.
Literally a midsummer night's dream.
If only they could step foot into the dream within a dream again, the memories would return vividly, but that abyss had already disappeared.
"Saintess Ah-ryeon! I, we really owe you so much, but to think we'll forget like this... sob, tears are..."
"Please just remember that our devotion was sincere! Lord Saintess!"
"Ah. Yes, yes..."
In one corner of the playground, those who had been holy knights of the Eastern Holy State were sobbing.
When they saw me approaching, they stopped crying with an 'oh.'
"Lord Undertaker! Welcome!"
"You must have a drink with us too!"
"Hehe. Guild Leader. These mister's hearts are too hot... P-please save me."
I smiled wryly while sharing drinks with them.
"I'm grateful you welcome me, but will you be alright, everyone?"
"Hm? Alright about what?"
"The Eastern Holy State, led by Mo Gwang-seo Christ, was ultimately a satellite state I manipulated from start to finish. Even if you're angry that I deceived you, I have nothing to say."
"Ah."
One of the holy knights nodded.
Once, when a monk named Seok-hwa had performed self-immolation, he was the holy knight who had guided him, and on SG Net he used the nickname like a kind one.
"Well, we were fanatics. But anyway, didn't the grace of the Saintess who healed and cared for us also originate from you, Lord Undertaker?"
"The north was a forsaken land of death until the Saintess came anyway."
Another holy knight spoke. He was from North Korea.
"Even though it's almost faded now, I remember. Winter was too cold. It was really the first time I'd been that hungry in winter..."
"It was hell. I don't know about others, but there's no way we'd be angry at the Miss Saintess or Lord Undertaker!"
I hesitated for a moment, then silently held out my glass. The holy knights laughed and clinked glasses.
"Cheers!"
"Hehehe... G-Guild Leader. Please save me. These people have been chugging alcohol nonstop since broad daylight... bweeeh."
"The Saintess is vomiting!"
"Get water! Water!"
People were horrified.
Since there was no way I had a fetish for the vomiting heroine trope that was long past its heyday, I quickly fled to another location.
"Ah. Undertaker."
"Oh? Isn't it Teacher."
However, there is no paradise in places you flee to.
The place I happened to encounter was where Seo-rin and Cheon Yo-hwa, that is, the children of Samcheon World and Baekwha Girls' High, were sprawled out.
It was truly a tragic scene.
Not just one or two, but over a dozen people were swimming on the floor.
"Hey. What are you guys doing?"
"Us? Uh, competing."
Seo-rin replied nonchalantly. Hiccup. The lighting was dim so I hadn't noticed, but even while answering, Seo-rin's face was flushed red and the smell of alcohol wafted strongly.
"Competing... suddenly?"
"It's not sudden, Teacher. Hic. If the kids' memories disappear, the rivalry we've fought over for tens of thousands of years will disappear too... That's, that's—"
"A shame?"
"No! We have to land the final blow!"
Yo-hwa's eyes flashed.
"The capital of the Korean Peninsula is Sejong! This is just official, official! How dare, you know? Something like Busan! Hm? To match us! Can it even."
"Huh? If you combine all the cycles, the period when Busan was the capital, hiccup. Is the longest among all the capitals of all countries in the Korean Peninsula ever? Hiccup."
"..."
They were really having the most useless debate of their lives.
"Teacher, which of the two does Teacher think..."
"Oh my. Dok-seo told me to come but I completely forgot about our appointment. I can't be late from here, so I'll go ahead."
"Teacher?!"
If I stayed still, I'd definitely taste hell pushed by those two's nagging, so I hurried and ran.
From behind, the sound of my name being called along with crash-bang sounds could be heard, but I cleanly ignored it.
Obviously it must have been the noise of Samcheon World and Baekwha Girls' High fighting. Yeah. Of course.
"Hm?"
At least the part about having a late-night appointment with Dok-seo wasn't a lie.
However, on the stairs leading up to the school rooftop (truly an otaku-like location choice befitting Dok-seo), I encountered an unexpected person.
It was Yu Ji-won.
"Oh my. Mr. Matiz. I thought you'd be enjoying the wild party on the playground, where are you hurrying to?"
"Ji-won, what are you doing here? The National Road Management Corps members should be drinking over there."
"I'm enjoying time alone."
Swish.
Ji-won shook her paper cup.
"Of course, until just a moment ago it wasn't alone but two, though."
When I turned my head, on the windowsill she was leaning against, one ownerless paper cup sat forlornly.
I was puzzled.
"Were you drinking together? Just the two of you?"
"Yes."
"That's unusual. I barely remember you drinking with anyone other than me. Who was it?"
"It was Ji-soo."
"..."
"Yes. The child who was my adopted daughter."
Ji-won shook the wine bottle.
"How about it? Would you like a glass?"
"Sure."
She poured wine for me. We toasted without saying anything to each other.
Rather than clinking cups, it was closer to briefly touching them.
"Ji-soo also participated in the final subjugation battle, but didn't directly engage in combat. She observed only me throughout."
"...I see."
"Yes. And a little while ago, before the memories of past lives faded, she came to find me."
I closed my mouth.
The relationship between Yu Ji-won and Kim Ji-soo was a problem entirely for those two to take responsibility for.
My involvement had already ended long ago, and I was no longer in a position to give advice this way or that.
How the story concluded—the decision of whether to tell that ending also rested with them, not me.
So I waited.
For Ji-won's words. Or silence.
"..."
As if reading my thoughts, Ji-won faintly smiled.
That single layer of smile seemed to turn back the date of the air between us to a summer slightly older than June 17th.
"She told me she was grateful."
"Grateful..."
It was such an unexpected statement.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Kim Ji-soo's life was ruined by Yu Ji-won. And yet, grateful?
"In cycles where I didn't operate the Misfortune Workshop, Kim Ji-soo died without a sound or rumor. By anomalies. Even those memories of death seem to have suddenly surfaced in the depths of that dream within a dream."
"..."
"However, the gratitude Ji-soo spoke contained half sincerity and half resolve. Can you guess what kind of resolve?"
I thought briefly, then said.
"...I think Ji-soo conveyed her gratitude first before demanding an apology from you. Someone who wants to receive sincerity from another person, unless they're a con artist, needs to show their own sincerity first."
"Exactly right."
Wind blew from the window. Ji-won swept her long hair with the back of her hand.
"So I also said I was sorry."
"..."
"Not because of feelings of regret. It wasn't a judgment that apologizing here would resolve the grudge and be advantageous to me... either."
A murmur flowed.
"Simply, I couldn't do for Ji-soo what Mr. Matiz had done for me in my childhood. I apologized regarding that."
"..."
"I thought it was perfect handling. As Ji-soo said, I operated the Misfortune Workshop by selecting only children who would meet tragic deaths if I didn't intervene."
Ji-won said.
"I built the justification that no matter what misfortune was given, as long as they could become awakeners, as long as they could avoid unjust deaths, that was enough."
Indeed, Ji-won's logic was solid.
She had even calculated the case of her own failure, showing the seasoned wisdom of guarding herself to avoid being caught as much as possible.
"But thinking about it, it wasn't much different from what the world did to me in my childhood."
"..."
"Regarding that point alone, I could sincerely apologize. I consider it a painful mistake. Thus, I apologized."
"I see."
"Yes."
"What did Ji-soo say?"
"After hearing my words, she answered that she understood. Then she bowed her head, said thank you again, and left."
"..."
"She's a strong and upright child. Even if her memories fade, she'll carry on with the strength of her character."
"Yes. She definitely will."
Wind blew again.
Until now, all stories had occurred in places where I was present.
No, I couldn't help but be present wherever stories occurred.
Because I was a regressor who repeatedly lived countless lives.
'Now stories I don't know will arise.'
If defining someone as 'you are this' is a story, and the power and authority of a regressor.
Finally, days were continuing where my authority itself had let go.
'However...'
There existed not just stories I alone told, but also stories shared with each other.
I patted Ji-won's shoulder.
Ji-won blinked. Then silently leaned her head on my shoulder.
"Mm."
"What are you thinking about?"
"Indeed, I think the ring of [Mr. Matiz] suits me."
Ji-won looked up at me.
"Thank you for always waiting until I make a mistake. Mr. Matiz."
"...I'm sorry for repeatedly assigning you the role of Leviathan's priestess."
"No."
A small nod.
"That was the second fortune given to my life."
"Second? What was the first?"
"Being born."
Ji-won smiled.
With a smile shown only to me.
"I'm happy to have been born into a world where you exist. Mr. Matiz."
After having various conversations with Ji-won and parting, I climbed the stairs.
Opening the door to the rooftop, the appointed place—
"Ooh. Mister, good night. Good night. Welcome."
Dok-seo was monopolizing the spacious rooftop.
No. This too, just like Ji-won's case earlier, had some flaws in calling it entirely a place for herself alone.
"...Why did you put a beer can in front of the laptop? The Admin can't even drink it anyway."
"Hm? No? She's drinking it though?"
"What."
Dok-seo showed me the laptop screen.
Really, within the screen, a white-haired girl made of dots was holding a beer can.
Why? What?
The cheap low-quality speaker stuttered.
Can't I drink or something?
"...No. That, no."
Your eyes are very displeasing.
"As long as you're happy."
If she could feel good calling cyber 2D dot beer alcohol.
"Upsy."
Dok-seo jumped from the rooftop flower bed. Not just jumping down normally, she flew into the air, did a double rotation, then landed stylishly like a gymnast.
I unconsciously clapped my hands.
"Wow. Our Dok-seo. It's clearly visible that you're on a different dimension from when I knew you."
"I'm pretty amazing. So... can you guess why I called Mister out separately on this late night?"
"First, half the purpose would be wanting to have a secret conversation in the space called school rooftop."
"Ah. A really important reason. Right."
Dok-seo giggled.
"And the other half?"
"...The Udumbara-plum blossom vaccine you developed together with Sword Marquess and Ah-ryeon. Since I got that shot, it's normal that I should also gradually lose my awakening ability and have my Complete Memory ability fade."
"Yeah."
"But my eyes still clearly see your dead forms. It's already past midnight. Even though other awakeners are gradually losing both abilities and memories."
"Right."
"..."
"What Mister is thinking right now is also right."
I closed my lips. Moonlight and clouds were playing tag with shadows on the rooftop.
I slowly opened my mouth.
"The injection you gave during the day. It was fake."
"Yeah."
Dok-seo nodded.
Endlessly lightly.
"More precisely, only the core members of the Regression Alliance, including Mister, received 'fake' injections."
"..."
"Do you understand what I'm saying? Mister."
Dok-seo smiled.
"Now the only awakeners left in this world are just us."
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