The Reader III
"Too good of an environment?" I echoed.
What was wrong with that?
"Hah. I think you've got some fantasies about what it means to be a writer. Writers are laborers, plain and simple. They write to earn money and gain attention."
Oh Dok-seo, the self-proclaimed web novel expert, said this. As mentioned earlier, we'll delve deeper into who this Oh Dok-seo is at another time.
For now, it's enough to know that Oh Dok-seo was a nerd-fashion trendsetter, always sporting a red bob haircut, a cap, a band-aid on her nose, and her favorite hoodie.
She sent me a sidelong glance. "Just making sure, you're not using Mind Reading right now?"
"I've turned it off."
"Good. Now, have you ever seen a construction worker swinging a hammer purely for self-fulfillment? Someone who says, 'I love unloading crates so much that I want to do it for the rest of my life'?"
"Well… not often."
"That's exactly it."
Oh Dok-seo chewed her gum then blew a bubble.
By the way, it wasn't bubble gum, just regular chewing gum. Naturally, it didn't inflate properly, making a faint hissing noise before bursting and sticking to her lips.
She wiped her mouth nonchalantly, fully embodying her nerd-fashionista, edgy, chuunibyou persona.
"Remember, writing comes from a place of scarcity."
Her expression was serious. No, not just that—she was deadlyserious.
I don't usually use that phrase, but in this case, it was warranted. If I didn't use "deadly" to describe Oh Dok-seo's face, it would be disrespecting the word's very existence.
"Why give them an allowance? Take it away. Throw them into the depths of despair. Make them watch people being slaughtered by monsters. You're strong, right? You can do it, so why aren't you?"
"Hmm…"
"Just don't kill them. Oh, and keep their hands and backs intact. You just need to make sure they're not crippled. Writers actually produce better work when exploited."
Oh Dok-seo spoke with the confidence of someone who believed truth should serve them, not the other way around.
"Weren't they all doomed to die if not for you? So if they stay alive, you've done your job, haven't you?"
Is that how it was? Really?
'That makes sense.'
It was worth testing.
Assuming the Canned Hotel was doomed to fail in the 560th cycle, I trained the writers according to Oh Dok-seo's advice in the next cycle.
Instead of heaven, I gave them a taste of a milder hell.
"Kyaaaah!"
"Somebody help! Help me!"
I took the writers for a little walk beyond their accommodations.
Hooonk! Beep!
Honk! Honk! Honk!
Hooooooonk! Beep Beep!
The Isekai Trucks exceeded a thousand in number.
The parking lot and even the road leading to the accommodations were jam-packed with 11-ton trucks, replicating the traffic jams of Chuseok holidays. Trucks collided, overturned, and crashed as they pursued the writers in a surreal scene.
And that wasn't all.
"Ugh, it's cold…"
"I'm hungry… I want yukgaejang…"
"Moooom…"
The environment had changed too.
Instead of a luxury hotel, I set up a shabby refugee camp for the writers. No chef fairies cooking gourmet meals. No casino dealer fairies. None of that.
Even the equipment provided was cheap.
Watching the writers sit on the dirt floor, staring blankly at the ceiling or crying their eyes out, pained me. But shock therapy exists for a reason.
I spoke.
"Ahem, mic check," I said. "Writers, from now on, you'll be living in this village. I will try to protect you from most dangers, but I can't guarantee your safety. The harder you write, and the more entertaining your stories are, the more resources you'll have."
"..."
"I love you, dear writers. I wish you the best."
Then something miraculous happened.
This extreme treatment actually worked! The writers were driven to write as if possessed. Out of 335, not one was idle. Their writing speed was incomparable to the last cycle!
I couldn't help but be moved.
"These are true writers, and this is how much they should write."
Looking at the pile of manuscripts brought a smile to my face, and yet, as I eagerly flipped through the pages―
"…Hmm?"
Something felt off.
Like a dog startled by unfamiliar food, I instinctively paused while holding the manuscript.
"Why… why does this taste spoiled?"
It was different.
The flavor of the writing had changed.
The fantasy writer who once sang about the triumphs of humanity was now writing a story about the demon king's army butchering everything. A yuri author, known for heartwarming characters, had monsters tearing couples apart. Zombies appeared in martial arts stories and destroyed the Martial Realm. Across all genres, characters were in despair, and the world was falling apart.
And then I realized.
"This isn't genre fiction!"
Pure literature!
The flavor was unmistakably pure literature, and that particular kind that screams, "Everything's screwed, so screw it all!"
The familiar scent of the web novel authors I loved was gone, replaced by a stranger's fragrance. It felt like catching my partner cheating.
'It's well-written. Very well-written, but…'
This wasn't the kind of food I wanted!
If I wanted despair, I could just reflect on my life as a regressor. Why should I read despair fiction in my free time? Was I a masochist?
No matter how much effort the authors put in, they couldn't compete with my firsthand knowledge of how terrible monsters could be or how far humanity could fall. Their attention to detail didn't measure up to mine.
'What have I done to my authors?'
This couldn't stand.
I immediately sought out Oh Dok-seo to complain. But even considering the different cycle, she remained uninterested.
"Not fun? So what?" Oh Dok-seo dismissed as she casually filed her nails. "A creative work just needs to have the author's spirit, right? Why should they sell their soul just for your amusement?"
"..."
"You said you love these authors. Shouldn't you love them no matter what they write? What's wrong? Has your love changed? Wow. I didn't think you'd be so harsh."
"..."
"Then again, maybe it's my fault for expecting anything from humans again. Can love change? Can people truly shift in their beliefs? Oh, and by 'shift,' I mean 'shit.' Catchy rhyme, right?"
I couldn't reason with this edgy, chuunibyou poser!
Thus, the 561st cycle's Canned Hotel was also a complete failure.
Back to square one, I pondered.
Too much comfort was no good because it took away the motivation to write. Too much suffering was also no good because it bled into the writing itself.
'This is a tough nut to crack. How can I cultivate tasty web novels? Are authors inherently doomed from the start?'
I mulled it over again and again until finally, I reached a conclusion.
In the next cycle, SG Net, which had only a community function, got a new board.
A novel serialization board.
The announcement posted on the board read as follows:
──────────
[Novel Serialization Board Usage Guide]
1. All registered SG Net members receive novel points daily upon logging in.
2. Novel points can be used to purchase new chapters of novels or donate to your favorite author.
3. Points used by readers will be transferred to the authors. Authors can use these points to purchase desired items, a list of which will be announced to authors separately.
4. At 24:00 every day, the board will display the rankings of all novels based on how many readers purchased them.
5. For un-Awakened authors who cannot access SG Net, a manager service is available. The manager will upload the un-Awakened author's work to the board. Members can also upload on behalf of un-Awakened authors they know.
6. Let's create a healthy competitive culture!
──────────
In other words, I had created a platform for serializing novels.
Members' initial reactions were lukewarm.
-Anonymous: Can anyone post a novel?
-[Yuldoguk] SwordMarquess: It's time to unveil my profound prose to the world.
-[Samcheon] WitchJudge: I was a bit bored since there wasn't much to do besides community stuff, so this is nice.
-Anonymous: What items can you buy with points?
-OldManGoryeo: Probably only shitty stuff will be uploaded. Any author wannabes thinking of serializing better watch out. I'll comment on every chapter.
-dolLHoUse: hype
-[Baekhwa] SixthGrader: Hngh... ( >_<);
There weren't many Awakener authors. And even if there were, most were too busy navigating the apocalypse to have time to serialize. But leisure wasn't just for those who had it; it was for those who made it. A few Awakeners found time to serialize novels.
-OldManGoryeo: ? What's with this point purchase list?
An official post on SG Net one day caused a stir.
-One-month accommodation ticket (5-star hotel)
-Fairy bodyguard: Unable to hunt in Gates, only provides defense. Misuse of this bodyguard will be punished.
-Real-time chat fan meeting with desired Constellation: Meeting may be denied based on the Constellation's preference. If denied, points will be refunded.
-Consultation on one's awakening ability tech tree: Constellation provides direct guidance on maximizing the efficiency of one's ability. Will not be responsible for training, only gives guidelines.
.
.
.
-OldManGoryeo: Seriously, just look at these point items. Anyway, I bought the awakening ability tech tree. Are the dumb SG Net people not serializing yet? lol
The comment section exploded.
-Anonymous: ?? Is that for real?
-Anonymous: Who gave points to buy that guy's novel? Idiots?
-LiteraryGirl: OldManGoryeo actually writes pretty well… He was a web novel otaku before the gates opened, and there aren't many who write like him.
-Anonymous: What's that psycho's novel about?
└LiteraryGirl: An incredibly kind protagonist uses their healing ability to help those in need and eventually saves a small kingdom in a tribute to humanity. A rare type of protagonist these days. I cried at the scene where they almost get hunted as a witch but still treats the inquisitors, saying, "A doctor doesn't choose their patients."
└Anonymous: ?
└[Samcheon] Lieutenant: ?
-Anonymous: Fuck, are these items real? Classic SG Net W. It's on a different level with the Constellations directly managing it.
-dolLHoUse: hypeeee
-[Yuldoguk] SwordMarquess: Why doesn't anyone read my prose?
The message was a shock, but so was the messenger, a notorious SG Net troll. Members' responses grew heated.
That official post marked the beginning of the "Great Serial Age" on SG Net.
Some people who had awakened started serializing their novels directly. Guilds also began hiring skilled authors and uploading their work on their behalf.
In a world that had collapsed, the once-useless writer profession became a kind of support member.
-The Protagonist Doesn't Return as the Blossoming Blade (★9.9)
-The Reasons Why She Ended Up a Count's Munchkin (★9.9)
-Comedy Club [19+ Uncensored Edition] (★9.9)
-Hiding Reinforced Steel in the Apartment (★5.7)[1]
Unsurprisingly, the serialized works on SG Net showcased a level of quality unmatched by the 560th and 561st cycles. The despair and emotions that writers experienced during the apocalypse added depth to their work while maintaining the fun of web novels.
"What's the difference? What do you think changed?"
After hearing about my journey since the 560th cycle, Oh Dok-seo asked me that question.
I poured her an espresso since that's all she drinks.
"The number of readers," I answered. "And competition."
"Hmm? What are you talking about?"
"Most writers are attention-seekers. As you said, they lack something in their lives. But that emptiness isn't filled by experience, only by others' attention, love, and passion."
Because what they lack isn't themselves but others. Writers have too much of themselves in their hearts.
"That's why they need as many people around them as possible, like celebrities. Like Roman gladiators in the colosseum."
"Hmm."
"But that's secondary. The real key is competition between writers."
I logged into SG Net's novel serialization board and pulled up the novel rankings. The ranking section prominently displayed the most popular novels, listed from first place down.
"Endless competition among writers, judged solely by purchase numbers. It's pure meritocracy. Writers can't help but be drawn to the radiant mirage of 'proving their worth through pure writing skill,' like the bright lights of New York's skyscrapers."
It reminded me of ancient Greek tragedy writers. They held contests and ranked each other, and crowds gathered to follow the writers' works in real time, cheering them on. Back when Athens was the world's leading city and dominating the Mediterranean world, winning the crowd's favor meant being recognized as the world's best writer.
Competition, enthusiasm, and a certificate proclaiming you the best in the world.
That system allowed Greek tragedies to burn in a brilliant, if brief, burst.
It's no wonder Nietzsche described competition as the essence of the Greek people.
"This is my— humanity's last Dionysian theater."
But I was a consummate glutton. While I enjoyed popular works that appealed to the masses, I also devoured niche genres that appealed to only a few yet satisfied their creators' desires.
Before and after the world began collapsing, these works often went unnoticed.
I scrolled down the rankings and clicked on a particular novel.
-Title: 101 Ways She Accepts Death (★7.7)
-Pen name: BadEndingLover
A writer who always pursued the niche.
After reading the latest chapter, I pressed the [Support Author] button.
-Donated 2,000 points.
-ZERO_SUGAR: Your writing is always... wonderful ^^. I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter. Please watch out for trucks~
Hmm.
Something seemed missing, so I tilted my head.
"Oh."
That's right. I forgot to write this.
-ZERO_SUGAR: But there's a spelling error. The correct expression is "an incident occurred" not "an insident occurred". This is the third time you've made this mistake in this work. Are you the type who doesn't run a spell checker~? lol. Best wishes, and stay healthy. Write well ^^
I nodded.
Still a perfect donation message.
Though this whole ridiculous act proved unexpectedly useful later on.
Hoooooonk!
But that's a story for another day.
Right now, I had to deal with the Isekai Truck parked in front of my place.
Footnotes:
[1] These are spoofs of popular titles such as Return of the Blossoming Blade, The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke's Mansion, and Hiding a House in the Apocalypse.
-x-X-x-
The Prophet I
Let's talk about Oh Dok-seo, a web novel otaku, leader of nerd fashion, and a hipster with a case of chuunibyou syndrome.
As I mentioned before, I first met this character in the 555th run. Actually, we knew each other well before that, but we only forged a real bond in that cycle.
At the time, I regressed to the waiting area of Busan Station, as usual.
'I'm bored.'
Back then, I hadn't even acquired my web novel hobby.
Even someone like me, an optimist who could rank in the [Life's Most Optimistic Infinite Regressor] competition across all fiction, would get a little tired of reaching the 555th starting point. Wouldn't you get sick of even the world's most fun theme park after visiting 555 times?
Moreover, the waiting area of Busan Station was far from an exciting theme park. The best you could hope for was Seo Gyu yelling, "You fucking asshole!" loudly enough to ring through the hall.
There was one hidden secret in the waiting area, but that's for later.
'...Should I try Mind Reading?'
This time, I decided to spice things up a bit.
[Mind Reading] was an ability I acquired in the 554th run. I could listen in on the thoughts of beings less capable than me. The criteria for 'capability' were extremely vague, and the ability itself wasn't all that powerful, but it was worth using just for fun.
[Lee Jae-hee: My phone's not working?]
[Uehara Shino: Too many people. Can't breathe.]
The moment I activated Mind Reading, the collective thoughts of the people gathered at the Busan Station waiting area flooded my ears. Some voices were familiar, while others were relatively new.
[Seo Gyu: Fuck, what's going on? This is bullshit.]
[Park Ye-dam: I should report to my boss...]
[Lee Baek: What the hell? Where's everyone else?]
[Go Yuri: Uh҉҉-oh҉҈-uh҉.]
[Jung So-hee: Leader? Leader, where have you gone?]
[Sim Ah-ryeon: Where am I? Who am I?]
[Kim Si-woon: Mom.]
For a moment, I felt dizzy.
Mind Reading didn't let me focus on a specific target. When I activated it, I heard all the surface-level thoughts of those around me. Still, I could bear wading through them, and my first impression of using [Mind Reading] at the Busan Station waiting area was…
'Not much.'
All I could hear were the same mundane thoughts.
'Well, I'm familiar with all these faces.'
I had already figured out nearly everything about the original members of the Busan Station waiting area. Their names, appearance, origins, and even the abilities they'd awaken later.
So no matter what these people did or thought, nothing surprised me. I could predict their thoughts just by looking at their faces, so Mind Reading was practically meaningless.
'Of course, I can't read Go Yuri, as expected.'
I should never get involved with that child.
I walked away from Go Yuri and headed to a vending machine on the other side of the waiting area to leisurely grab a drink.
People around me gave me the stink eye, thinking, "What kind of person is so relaxed in this dire situation?" but I didn't care.
Later on, even these drinks would become rare. From their perspective, they'd just been summoned to the waiting area, but I'd returned to a world that was still relatively intact after 20 years of struggle.
"Ahhh."
After having gone without for so long, the Ceylon Tea tasted heavenly. It was so good that I quickly downed a can and bought another. After gulping down four in a row, people stared at me in disbelief.
[Lee Jae-hee: ...What's up with this guy? He's drinking it like it's the best thing he's ever had.]
[Jung So-hee: Ceylon Tea? Such sacrilege!]
[Park Ye-dam: The kid knows how to drink.]
[Sim Ah-ryeon: Where am I? Who am I?]
[Lee Baek: What's with this geezer's taste?]
Hmm. Lee Baek hasn't changed since the first run.
Even after listening again, nothing stood out.
Mind Reading was a double-edged sword in that way. Right before using it, I would feel a rush of excitement, wondering what fascinating thoughts people might be hiding. But after listening, I'd be disappointed, thinking, That's it? Hence, ironically, Mind Reading was the most fun right before activation.
There was nothing I could do about it. At this point, asking the original members to have a fresh mindset was unreasonably greedy of me—
[Oh Dok-seo: Wow. The Busan Station waiting area. I've seen this in a novel! Soon, the Tutorial Fairy will appear and blow off the head of the guy who swears.]
I guess not.
"Puha!"
I spat out my fifth Ceylon Tea. The drink, glowing like the sunset, splashed across the air, painting the world with its golden hue, and the people caught off guard gasped as they witnessed the setting sun race past seven hours ahead of schedule.
[Lee Jae-hee: Ack! Gross!]
[Jung So-hee: Disgusting. Horrible.]
[Park Ye-dam: Ugh, filthy guy.]
[Sim Ah-ryeon: Where am I? Who am I?]
[Lee Baek: Fucking hell, what a pig.]
The original members—who were always at odds over personality, origin, ideology, and beliefs—had finally come to an agreement. They accomplished the impossible, but at this moment, that didn't matter.
I whipped my head around.
[Oh Dok-seo: Let's see. The novel didn't have many illustrations, so it's hard to recognize people... Oh, but I can tell that guy is Lee Baek! Kim Tae-yang! Wow. That guy made the waiting area stage a nightmare...]
There she was.
Oh Dok-seo. A person who always wore a cynical expression and seemed aloof and detached throughout the 555 cycles. Her distinctive features included lifeless eyes, a hoodie, and a cap.
A frequent victim who often died in the Busan Station waiting area unless I intervened. For some reason, she was checking out her surroundings with an almost lively glimmer in her usually dead eyes.
[Oh Dok-seo: Well, no doubt about it. This is the prologue stage from the story I binged last night, Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint.]
Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint? Prologue?
[Oh Dok-seo: So, what's my ability? Status Window. Hey, Status Window. ...Status? Open? Ability Window? Skill Window? Wow. Not even a hologram pop-up when it's the latest trend? This is straight-up Status Window discrimination.]
Latest trend? What was she rambling about?
"You fucking asshole! What the hell are you talking about?"
"Ho-ho."
Whoops. I'd focused so much on Oh Dok-seo's thoughts that I couldn't stop Seo Gyu's head from being blown off.
'Sorry, Seo Gyu!'
Fairy Number 264 scored a kill for the first time in ages. As blood splattered everywhere, Sim Ah-ryeon and many others screamed.
Of course, all I felt was, "Wow, how long has it been?" rather than shock.
[Oh Dok-seo: Oh. The Tutorial Head-Blowing Man cliché, huh? They do all these old tropes but no Status Window?]
Oh Dok-seo wasn't fazed either.
She didn't seem shocked at all. I thought calling Seo Gyu the "Head-Blowing Man" was harsh, but oh well.
[Oh Dok-seo: Anyway. The only important thing in the Busan Station waiting area is how early you can grab the elixir hidden in Haeundae.]
How did she know there was an elixir in Haeundae?
[Oh Dok-seo: And the only Awakeners worth paying attention to in the waiting area is Uehara Shino. She's treated like garbage now, but she'll later awaken as a high-level alchemist...]
How did she know that?
[Oh Dok-seo: Uehara's the opposite of Sim Ah-ryeon. She's only useful until the prologue stage, but she'll be handy as a healer until then... Oh, there she goes. Right, she's a coward.]
How did she… Wait, Sim Ah-ryeon became useless later?
She was actually at her lowest now, but once SG Net was established, she'd rise like a phoenix to greet the vast expanse of the NET world.
There wasn't any time to nitpick the details. Oh Dok-seo kept spilling one fascinating thought after another like golden honey dripping from a Himalayan beehive.
[Oh Dok-seo: I should start buttering up Uehara Shino. Tsk. Breaking canon and creating an unstoppable original character isn't my style... but since I don't even have a Status Window, can't be picky, right?]
Breaking canon? Unstoppable original character?
As I said before, at this point, I had no knowledge of web novels. It was Oh Dok-seo over there who preached this hobby to me, so it was only natural that her thoughts sounded like a foreign language to me.
[Oh Dok-seo: But even Uehara Shino is only my second priority.]
[Oh Dok-seo: If there's one person to focus on here, it's definitely that man.]
At that moment, Oh Dok-seo turned to me. Sensing her gaze, I quickly looked away, and unaware that I was watching, she stared directly at me.
[Oh Dok-seo: There he is.]
[Oh Dok-seo: The protagonist of this world. Codename: Undertaker.]
?
[Oh Dok-seo: He's better-looking than I expected… wait, maybe the cover art was better? Hmm. Is he better in person? Hard to say. He resembles the cover a bit.]
??
[Oh Dok-seo: But don't be fooled by his looks. The Undertaker has experienced regression multiple times. He has no mercy or empathy.]
[Oh Dok-seo: He lives only for revenge against monsters, a typical regressor with nothing but hatred, and he's probably furious right now because he lost Dang Seo-rin to the Ten Legs in the last cycle.]
[Oh Dok-seo: He's just a madman. If he senses anything off, he might kill me on the spot. Better be careful around him.]
???
No empathy... hatred... fury? What?
Excuse me, but who is this person?
Dang Seo-rin hadn't died to the Ten Legs in the previous cycle. It was a formidable wall at first, but after around 20 runs, I could beat it in five minutes.
Could this person be…?
'Does she know the past me?'
That's when it happened.
[Oh Dok-seo: Hey, mister.]
"Hey, mister."
The telepathic and actual voices overlapped.
Oh Dok-seo's finger pointed at me. There were only about ten people left in the Busan Station waiting area, and except for me, everyone had huddled together.
"Mister, come over here. The fairy's made a fountain of blood, and everyone's bailed. We'd better stick together at least. Don't you agree?"
"Fairy Number 264 did nothing wrong! The seniors gave the wrong guidelines! In fact, Fairy Number 264 is a victim..."
"Oh, shut up. The adults are talking. Why are you interrupting?"
"Eek."
At the center of the survivors, Oh Dok-seo stood boldly with her chest puffed out like a leader.
Her audacity in challenging the Tutorial Fairy, whom everyone else feared, must have made a strong impression. In reality, Fairy Number 264 was just following the guidelines and felt no malice toward humans (except the bourgeoisie), and so the fairy quickly retreated.
"So? Are you coming over here or not, mister?"
"..."
Oh Dok-seo mumbled to me internally.
[Oh Dok-seo: Come on. Please, come over here. Without you, we're all dead! I know you lost your first love and the only guild leader you ever followed, Dang Seo-rin, and I know you hate monsters and the world sucks, but please save us!]
Honestly, I didn't fully understand half of what this kid was saying, and I had no idea what she had gotten wrong.
But one thing was clear.
'If I follow her around, this run is going to be a blast.'
There was another reason too—not just for the thrill but also because I might be able to use her to hunt down a certain bizarre sort of creature. But that's a story for another time.
Anyway.
I called up my memory of my ancient self from ages past, more than a thousand years ago. What expressions, glances, and tone had I used back then?
"...I won't follow you."
Was it something like that? Should be. Probably.
Even in my long regressor life, it was my first time acting the role of myself. It felt quite unusual, to say the least.
"I'll simply observe you."
"Ah. Well, do whatever you want." Oh Dok-seo snickered dismissively.
After looting a Silver Bell from the souvenir shop, I read her thoughts again.
[Oh Dok-seo: Wow, his voice is terrifying. Gives me chills... But escaping the Busan Station waiting area is nearly impossible without the protagonist. I'll have to butter him up somehow.]
Hmm.
She was certainly an interesting character.
-x-X-x-
The Prophet II
Following Oh Dok-seo brought with it a minor problem.
No, it wasn't so minor. It caused a significant issue. And it wasn't because of me.
[Oh Dok-seo: Alright! Cleared the Tutorial!]
It wasn't a problem with Oh Dok-seo either.
She wasn't bad for a novice, despite my modest assistance (of course, I'm just being humble here, it was hardly modest). She broke through the Busan Station Gate in just 48 hours.
For context, I first cleared Busan Station in my third run. To put it differently, I had lived and died in Busan during my first and second runs. I could proudly say I was more of a Busan local than most, and if my hometown weren't actually Seoul, I could've earned the "True Busan Man" badge.
Even on my third run, it took me a whole week to clear it. So for Oh Dok-seo to cut it down to 48 hours proved she had great potential.
[Oh Dok-seo: Even if the protagonist helped, I still finished this in two days? Oh Dok-seo, who are you? I can handle fashion, hip-hop, and slaying monsters, so is there anything I can't do? I'm starting to scare myself...]
Let's just let her youthful bravado slide.
By now, the Busan Station waiting area was a mysterious place. It wasn't just teeming with talent, it was overflowing.
'An unknown entity like Go Yuri with the potential to destroy the world, the enigmatic Seo Gyu with his community-managing skills, the trouble-seeking Sim Ah-ryeon, the MacGuffin Uehara Shino, me, the Undertaker who regresses infinitely, and now even Oh Dok-seo?'
It was truly fearsome. A treasure trove of talent ripe for the taking.
The ancient city of Peixian from the Chu-Han Contention, where Liu Bang recruited farmers and Xiao He was sorting bureaucratic paperwork while Fan Kuai butchered pigs, wasn't worth envying. But I digress…
Anyway, Oh Dok-seo's adventure itself went smoothly.
But if it wasn't my problem or hers, it meant a third-party intruder had intervened in this lighthearted party.
"...?"
This mysterious entity walked briskly, glancing back at me occasionally. Every time she did, she would tilt her head and smile sweetly.
I almost fell for her. If I hadn't learned that this entity would smile just like that even while destroying the world, I might have confessed my love to her like a true man.
This entity was Go Yuri.
'I'm going crazy.'
The one who wielded the red flash. If you tagged her, she'd fall under #brainwash, #cognitionmanipulation, #affectioncontrol, and #CthulhuMythos.
That's right. Go Yuri had also joined Oh Dok-seo's party. All of us were OG members who started in the Busan Station waiting area, so this was bound to happen eventually.
In just one early-stage party, we had both a being who would make my life amusing and one who could utterly destroy it. Was this even possible? Of course it was— Busan Station waiting area, what a crazy starting point.
At that moment, pink hair fluttered right in front of me.
"Undertaker, right?"
My heart skipped a beat.
For reference, Go Yuri was still actively using [Perception Manipulation], [Affection Control], and [Impression Brainwashing]. All kinds of people had already gathered around her, vying for her favor. But she pushed away all those sycophants and approached me directly.
A chill ran down my spine. " ...What do you want?"
One thing that was lucky for me was that I was playing the 'coolest regressor in the world.' Time to keep up the poker face.
I tried to think of all the despair I felt as the world ended, the betrayal I felt when Old Man Scho ran off alone, and the sadness I felt when losing Dang Seo-rin for the first time… Anything that would help me summon negative emotions.
Thanks to that, my face was convincingly unpleasant. Unpleasant Level 5.
"Ah, no, it's nothing important."
Go Yuri wasn't fazed.
"I was just curious about what kind of person you are. You were calm when people died and monsters appeared in the waiting area."
She had been spying on me?
If my heart had sweat glands, I'd have been dripping with cold sweat. Like the martial arts saying to beware the elderly and children, my life motto was always to be wary of pink hair.
I decided to up my unpleasantness. Unpleasant Level 6.
"I'm not interested in you. So don't concern yourself with me."
"Do you like Ceylon Tea? It's my favorite drink."
"..."
This was underhanded.
Was this the power of [Perception Manipulation]? She naturally tried to raise my affection level like it was nothing.
But I, the Undertaker, was no pushover. Honestly, my heart did skip a beat, but I interpreted that as a sign of a heart attack. In other words, I'd die if I let this slide.
No choice. Unpleasant Level 7!
"You're annoying. Get lost."
"Hyaaah."
Hyah? Hee-yaaah?
Did she just smile at me with her eyes?
"Do you realize that while talking to me, you've never even looked in my direction?"
"Shut up. Do you not understand the meaning of 'get lost'? Either you're ignorant or you're dismissing me. If it's the former, you're foolish. If it's the latter, you're oblivious."
"Mr. Undertaker, you're an interesting person."
"..."
"Let's get along from now on. My name is Go Yuri. Just call me Yuri."
After saying this, Go Yuri walked off first. Her shadow, with her hands clasped behind her back, was humming a tune.
It seemed like she had taken an interest in me. My intentions had yielded the opposite result.
'Next time I encounter Go Yuri, instead of being unpleasant, I should act like a drunk gambler.'
To give a little spoiler: even changing my strategy was useless.
"Forgetting your sorrows with alcohol and letting go through gambling—you're someone who knows what it means to live life to the fullest!"
That was the crazy response she gave.
There was only one way to handle Go Yuri. Don't let her notice you in the first place.
Someone might wonder why an infinite regressor was so afraid of Go Yuri. But for regressors, death isn't the scariest thing. Ignorance is.
Think about it. The opponent is an S-class cognition manipulator, the final boss of mental viruses. Could you trust any knowledge gained from approaching Go Yuri? What if that knowledge was already tainted by brainwashing and manipulation? And what would Go Yuri do if she discovered I was a regressor?
For instance:
"Then let me ask you this. Did you think I wasn't brainwashing you from the start...? Oh ho ho. You're simply hypnotized into believing you've regressed when you're actually under my control. From now on, I'll reign supreme."
What if something like that happened?
Among all the Awakeners I knew, the one with the strongest mental fortitude was the Saintess. Even she was defeated by Go Yuri. Until I obtained the 'shield' to resist cognition manipulation, the mental firewall, it would be wise not to associate with Go Yuri.
But apparently, I wasn't the only one who knew little about her.
[Oh Dok-seo: Hmm. Who's she? Pink hair?]
Oh Dok-seo glanced this way. She probably thought she was sneaky, but my senses picked it up.
[Oh Dok-seo: Was there a character like her in the previous cycle? Her hair color stands out for an extra. But I can't help but feel like she leaves a really good impression. Probably older than me. Maybe I could befriend her.]
Even Oh Dok-seo didn't know about Go Yuri.
This fact held a significant hint.
By observing Oh Dok-seo, it became clear to me that she'd read "a certain novel." Surprisingly, the protagonist of that novel was me, the Undertaker.
What wasn't clear was whether it should even be called a novel. It was more like my documentary or biography. Oh Dok-seo knew too much for it to be anything else.
And yet...
'She only knows the really old stuff.'
It was like reading a novel that updated at a snail's pace.
For instance:
[Oh Dok-seo: Okay, got the elixir from Haeundae! Wow, getting the elixir right after clearing the Busan Station Gate. This is super fast progress. Maybe I've got some talent.]
[Oh Dok-seo: With this, it'll be possible to defeat the terrifying final boss... Ten Legs.]
Ten Legs wasn't the final boss. In fact, it wasn't even a mid-game boss. Its time of freely exploring restaurants across the Korean Peninsula lasted until around the 20th run at most. After that, it became a delicacy itself.
[Oh Dok-seo: I need to join up with Dang Seo-rin somehow. She's the most reliable guild leader among those bastards. If her Cursed Song Incantation activates properly, she's the strongest DPS.]
Dang Seo-rin wasn't the strongest DPS. At the very beginning, she might've looked like one, but her true strength emerged in the role of a supporter. As Old Man Scho and I became stronger with each passing run, Dang Seo-rin gradually withdrew from the front lines to support us.
In short:
[Oh Dok-seo: The protagonist has to withstand the Ten Legs assault, but it'll be tough alone. Should I help him out after all?]
Oh Dok-seo didn't even know Old Man Scho existed.
The conclusion was simple.
'The novel Oh Dok-seo read only explored my life up to the 4th run.'
In other words, it was an unfinished autobiography. A half-written novel. A story where not all chapters were serialized yet. An ongoing series by a slow author.
It was truly a unique ability.
If it had a name, it would be... [Author's Nudge].
But assuming Oh Dok-seo's novel only summarized the first four runs of my life explained everything. It also clarified why she treated me like a psychopath.
'Well, I guess I was a little edgy back then before I met Old Man Scho.'
Of course, I wasn't as much of a psychopath as she believed. I simply preemptively separated the heads from the bodies of troublemakers, threatened to kill everyone if things didn't go my way, and wouldn't be satisfied unless I profited the most from any event... just your standard web novel regressor personality?
[Oh Dok-seo: Wow. Look at that terrifying expression when I said I'd join Dang Seo-rin. This madman, once he chooses to trust someone, he treats them like a real person while seeing others like me as less than human. It's heartbreaking!]
Hmm. A conversation was clearly needed.
I quietly observed Oh Dok-seo for about four months. In the end, I decided she was trustworthy enough.
"Oh Dok-seo."
"Huh? What's up, all of a sudden? I'm surprised you spoke to me first."
"I'd like to talk. Somewhere quiet, just the two of us."
I approached Oh Dok-seo while the party members were away. I double-checked to make sure Go Yuri was gone, so now it was safe.
[Oh Dok-seo: Eek! Shit, he's going to bury me without anyone knowing!]
Apparently, Oh Dok-seo didn't feel safe at all.
"Yeah? Sure. A good party leader should listen to their members."
Well, I wasn't sure about that, but at least she was good at schooling her expression. Despite freaking out internally, she chewed her gum with a poker face.
We went into a local café with a sign reading "Closed until August 20." Today was October 25. The interior was neat and tidy. I cautiously sat down, thinking of the owner who couldn't organize their heart even after arranging their belongings.
"Alright... what's this about?" Oh Dok-seo looked at me with a calm face, determined eyes, and a fearful heart.
I disabled [Mind Reading] for a moment. It wasn't suitable for serious conversations between people. "First, I'd advise you not to be too shocked."
"Huh? What are you going to say?"
"Let's get straight to the point. Oh Dok-seo, I know you read a novel you believe to be this world's original work."
"..."
Tick, tick.
The wall clock, still working because the battery hadn't died yet, diligently ticked away. Unfortunately, it wasn't one of those cuckoo clocks.
Oh Dok-seo's jaw dropped. "What?"
"By the way, the way I'm speaking now is to match your expectations. I'd prefer to return to my normal tone, if you don't mind. This is out of my comfort zone."
"Wait, wait, wait. Hold on! Hold on!" Oh Dok-seo practically screamed. "A novel? What novel? I have no idea what you're talking about!"
"Of course, it's the Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint that you claim to have read. You might not know, but I have an ability called [Mind Reading]. It converts surface-level thoughts into language and lets the user hear them."
"Huh? That's a lie, there's no such ability in the original work... Ah." Oh Dok-seo blinked. "Was that some kind of leading question?"
"No, it's true. I also know you think I'm half-psychopath."
"I-I never said that!" she denied with a trembling voice, yet still firmly maintaining her innocence. She had the brazenness of a politician.
After ten minutes of conversation later, we cleared up our misunderstandings—or rather, her one-sided misconceptions. Her expressions varied wildly as we spoke.
She muttered in disbelief, "What? This is a scam."
"A scam?"
"In novels, regressors never reveal their secrets to the protagonist... Uh, I'm the protagonist in this case. Anyway, they usually hide it. But it was obvious from the moment we were summoned to the Busan Station. This doesn't follow novel logic!"
"Sorry, but the world isn't a novel."
"It was until just now!" She slammed her hand down on the table. "And what's with your tone! Where's the Undertaker who would kill his companions at the drop of a hat?"
"Honestly, that was so long ago for me. Imagine hearing, 'You were such a good kid when you were five,' when you're fifty. Would you relate?"
"Huh? That long?"
"That long."
"How many runs have you had, from your perspective?"
"Five hundred fifty-five runs."
"Five hundred fifty-five?" Oh Dok-seo screeched like a cuckoo clock. "What's up with that number?! Not fifty-five, but five hundred fifty-five? Even if the Ten Legs is tough, couldn't you have killed it by then? What are you, neglecting your duties?"
"Ah, the Ten Legs isn't the final boss. It's actually the weakest."
She went pale. "The Ten Legs who turned Dang Seo-rin, the Great Witch and Guild Leader, into fried chicken is the weakest?"
"I've been grilling them on skewers lately."
"Bullshit... Wait a second. Undertaker, how old are you?"
Hmm.
I cautiously answered, "Kid, age is meaningless for a regressor."
"No, no, no. It's not meaningless. Let's see, even if we assume ten years per run... 5,550 years old?"
"..."
I pled the fifth.
Not because I didn't have anything to say, but because saying it would only worsen my case. Like the fact that the average duration of each run was longer than ten years.
She studied my expression with open horror. "What?! You're an old geezer!"
"..."
"No way, the protagonist I thought was so cool is actually an old man!"
And thus, "Old Man" became the way Oh Dok-seo referred to me.
I felt a little down.
Such cruelty.
Kid, I hope you live to my age too.
-x-X-x-
The Prophet III
From the day I came out as a regressor, my relationship with Oh Dok-seo rapidly improved.
I also became more comfortable because I stopped pretending to be an insufferable cool guy (which was fun, but ridiculous), and Dok-seo, no longer feeling the need to guard against a ticking time bomb psychopath who could snap at any moment, also felt more at ease.
"Kid, let's go."
"Hmm? Where all of a sudden?"
"Gangnam."
A little later, I went out to Seoul with Dok-seo, just the two of us. Originally, there were few parks south of the Han River, making the neighborhood a rather poor place for walks. However, since the residents had relocated to the afterlife, it had become quite pleasant.
-G҉rr҉҉k҉?
Ten Legs stood dumbfounded amidst the empty, abandoned buildings. Even after the residents disappeared, it remained like a true caretaker, guarding the apartments.
-G҉҉rr҉r҉҉҉҉r҉!
In the eyes of this caretaker, we must have looked suspicious. It immediately lashed out its tentacles, charging toward us. Given how suspicious the times had become, this excessive response was inevitable.
In fact, its judgment wasn't wrong. What else could one call someone who had gone through hundreds of regressions and a person who had read this world like a novel, other than suspicious?
Dok-seo screamed and hid behind me. "Are you crazy? That's Ten Legs! You need to gather every Awakener in Korea to deal with it, so why are you alone...?!"
"Secret Technique, Octopus Sashimi."
I swung my sword.
Ten Legs was difficult to subjugate due to its terrifying regenerative powers. No matter how many tentacles were cut, they quickly grew back. The condition that both hearts had to be destroyed simultaneously wasn't easy either.
In other words, from the moment I mastered sashimi cuts faster than its could regenerate, Ten Legs was nothing more than live octopus on a chopping board.
After my half-dozen strikes, Ten Legs and the abandoned buildings around it collapsed. Its screams were buried beneath the rumble of crumbling structures.
When all the buildings had fallen, everything went quiet.
"Oh..." Dok-seo mumbled blankly. "What, is it over? Is that really it?"
"Yeah, the final boss you talked about is dead, so now the world is at peace. Go celebrate."
"Damn... You really got strong, huh?" she looked back at me with a hint of admiration. "But even with that power, you can't stop the apocalypse?"
"I can't. Ten Legs is only strong in terms of regeneration. It doesn't have annoying traits like immunity to physical attacks or magical attacks. It's really the weakest."
"No way..." her expression hardened.
While she had already believed me, this incident made her completely trust me.
Oh Dok-seo disbanded the party she had carefully nurtured. It seemed unnecessary, but she was firm.
"No matter how much power I gathered, I wouldn't have been able to fight Ten Legs, but you destroyed it on your own. My party is meaningless then, right? I should switch strategies to support you as much as possible."
Whether her rationale was right or wrong was a secondary matter. Thanks to her, I found a good reason to part ways with Go Yuri.
Upon hearing the party disbandment order, Go Yuri looked incredibly disappointed (at least, that's how it seemed to me).
"I wanted to be with you and Undertaker... Do we really have to part like this?"
"Oh, Yuri unnie could still... Gaaagh!"[1]
I pinched Dok-seo's arm as she was about to mutter something out of line. I had repeatedly explained to her how scary Go Yuri was when alone, but when the time to break up finally arrived, she got brainwashed all over again. Only then did she snap out of it.
"Huh. S-sorry, Yuri unnie! I've agreed to become his disciple for a while! This old man insists on only taking one disciple, so I won't be able to go with you!"
"Hmm."
Dok-seo bowed her head deeply as if she felt truly sorry.
Go Yuri calmly studied her. Then she turned to look at me. Was I overreacting to think I glimpsed the shadow of red flesh in her bright red eyes?
"It can't be helped. The master-disciple relationship is as important as that of parent and child. It's not something outsiders should interfere with."
Go Yuri spoke in a way that appealed to me while staring directly at my face without a single twitch.
"I'll take my leave, then."
"Are you really...?"
"Yes, even if we part now, I feel like our connection won't be severed. We'll surely meet again someday. Despite the state of the world, I hope you both find happiness."
Go Yuri took two steps back and bowed gracefully like a noblewoman. Then, without adding another word, she walked down the hill alone. Soon, her figure disappeared down the slope.
"Haaaah—"
Dok-seo slumped, her whole body melting as the tension left her. Even her cap, which was practically her main body, slid halfway off.
"So, you were telling the truth..." she mumbled. "What the hell was that? I didn't think much of it before we talked, but then when we got going, I suddenly thought, 'Why am I being so cold to Yuri unnie?'"
"She's always like that, but it's a relief she acknowledged the importance of a master-disciple relationship."
"Hmm? What are you saying? She told me that even if it's a master-disciple relationship, it's dangerous for a man and woman to wander around alone together and that I should be careful."
"...?"
"...?"
We looked at each other, then quickly turned our heads to the hill Go Yuri had descended. Since we saw her going down, she should have been climbing up the opposite slope by now.
Cicadas chirped.
No matter how long we waited, Go Yuri's figure didn't appear.
We wandered through the crumbling world.
I didn't want to describe that collapse in detail. Some astute readers might have already noticed that I intentionally avoided such descriptions.
Thanks to the Saintess's efforts, South Korea was relatively secure. However, her reach only extended to the Awakeners. She couldn't control the majority of ordinary people.
Looting, arson, violence... People who had lost their loved ones to violence filled the emptiness by adopting abandoned pets. Political factions became military fiefdoms, and the military became political. The fingers of the impoverished, the first carrier of an unprecedented epidemic—misfortune piled up endlessly.
I only handled the misfortunes I could manage.
Unbearable misfortunes were transferred to others' hearts. I'm not playing the regressor just to spread epidemics.
"One of the novels I read—the one where you're the main character, Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint—had just about 30 chapters released."
One day, Oh Dok-seo said this while casually wiping what looked like blood from her face. Actually, it wasn't blood but a petal from the red-flowered Udumbara, a parasitic organism of a vicious epidemic. There will be an opportunity to mention it in detail in the next episode.
"Thirty chapters?"
"Yeah. I never read any novel shorter than that, no matter how interesting it looks. You never know when an author might stop writing. I think I started reading it maybe two or three days before the Seoul Gate broke?"
Oh Dok-seo was similar to me in nature. We often talked more about our hobbies than about misfortune.
"Where did you find that novel?"
"Just from my usual web novel platform. I noticed it was already favorited. It's like adding something to your bookmarks."
"...So there's an author writing Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint?"
"I don't know about that," Dok-seo said, chewing her gum. "To be honest, I don't remember adding it, but my favorites list easily exceeds 200, so I just thought I'd forgotten about it. But now that I think about it, maybe it was favorited without me knowing... Ah."
While walking through Onyang, a large stray dog approached us. Dok-seo embraced it. Our two-person party had gained a new member.
"I think it's your ability."
"Ability?"
A few days later, as we secretly stocked up on dog food in a department store taken over by a guild (luckily, the pet corner had little security), I spoke.
"There's someone named Seo Gyu. His ability is creating and running an online community. Since Awakeners' abilities vary widely, it wouldn't be strange if yours manifests in the form of 'reading novels.'"
"But I already know my ability. It's Shield Generation."
"You're a multi-ability user."
"Huh? Really? Isn't that super rare?"
"It is. But in life, you realize that a 1 percent chance isn't as unlikely as it seems."
"Oh, I see... Hmm, so I actually have another ability that takes the form of reading novels..."
"For convenience, I've named it Publication Demanding."
"Publication Demanding..."
Woof, Darkness (the dog's name) barked. Its sound resonated through the darkened department store.
"Oh, shush!" Dok-seo tried to quiet it, but we had already been noticed by a patroller.
"Oh no, danger..."
"Let's run."
Wiping out the guild occupying the department store would've been easy, but they would later become a valuable ally in fighting for humanity. We quickly fled.
Woof! Woof!
Darkness, cradled in Dok-seo's arms, barked happily.
A few months later, on the way back from a guild coalition meeting, Dok-seo asked me, "Isn't my ability more like Prophecy than Publication Demanding?"
"Prophecy?"
"Yeah, knowing your life story is practically the same as foretelling the future. You know how prophets in novels see the future as vivid images like in movies? In my case, it's manifested in the form of web novels, which I'm most familiar with. Doesn't that make sense?"
"Hmm."
That certainly made sense. But if Oh Dok-seo's ability was Prophecy, that left some questions still yet to be answered.
"Then why was there no sign of anything strange until the 555th cycle?"
"Hmm?"
"You wouldn't know, Dok-seo, but from my perspective, this cycle is highly unusual. In your terms, it's like an extra character suddenly awakened to the Prophecy ability."
"Your delivery's a bit off, but still, it's strange." Oh Dok-seo stroked her chin. "Maybe it's just that 555 is a special number. It's my name after all."
"Regressions aren't a numbers game. That can't be the reason."
"Hmm. What could it be, really? Why didn't I approach you until the 555th cycle...?" Oh Dok-seo tilted her head.
Our questions were finally answered on a day both distant and near, when the 555th cycle ended in failure and became the 556th.
[Oh Dok-seo: Wow, the Busan Station waiting room. I read this in the novel! Soon, the Tutorial Fairy will appear and blow the head off that man who says 'You fucking asshole'... Huh? Huh?!Why's the protagonist suddenly coming toward me?]
This time, I approached Oh Dok-seo first. This was, of course, to completely stonewall Go Yuri against interfering.
The unexpected event startled Dok-seo. But just like in the previous cycle, she quickly trusted me after seeing how easily I cut down Ten Legs. She also revealed something surprising.
"But old man, is it okay for you to be hanging out with me like this?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"That, um... What's his name…? Schopenhauer? Anyway, shouldn't you team up with that Swordmaster old man?"
My eyes widened. "You know Old Man Scho? How?"
"Yeah? Of course. He's in the novel."
In the previous cycle, Oh Dok-seo hadn't mentioned Old Man Scho. Though I had told her there was another regressor, it was just a side story for her, having only read up to the fourth cycle in the novel. I met Old Man Scho for the first time in the sixth cycle. Yet now, Oh Dok-seo brought him up first.
This was clear evidence.
'The novel that Oh Dok-seo read... had more chapters?'
I looked at her intently. "Dok-seo, how many chapters were released in the Omniscient Regressor's Viewpointthat you read?"
"Oh? Uh, maybe... Thirty-two? Thirty-three? Something like that."
"...!"
That confirmed it.
As the cycles progressed, the 'novel' that Oh Dok-seo read gained more chapters. While it had only reached up to 30 chapters in the previous cycle, this time, at least two more had been added.
The standard for this 'increasing serialization' was as arbitrary as a peddler's whim. Sometimes, a single chapter would be added over 60 cycles, while other times, two chapters were added after only one. It was completely random.
Further exploration was needed to determine the exact criteria for adding chapters, but there was one thing I was sure of.
'This kid is following my life's track.'
A shiver ran through me.
With a slightly slower step, at a pace slightly behind mine, yet still at a consistent speed, Oh Dok-seo was following me.
Before reaching 30 chapters, Oh Dok-seo wouldn't have read the novel. She had said she never read novels shorter than that. So she only read the novel for the 'first time' when it reached 30 chapters. That was during the 555th cycle.
Dok-seo's guess was right. Her ability was Prophecy. She just hadn't realized it and had wasted it through 555 cycles.
'But it's not a perfect prophecy.'
According to Greek mythology, the god and prophet Prometheus had a younger brother, Epimetheus. Unlike Prometheus, whose name meant "forethought," his brother Epimetheus meant "afterthought." The brothers became the origins of 'prologue' and 'epilogue.'
Oh Dok-seo was Epimetheus, who had awakened to the prophecy.
Her prophecy wasn't quick. She was slower than any other prophet, following the tracks I had set long before, with a time lag of about 5,000 years.
Yet, despite this, Oh Dok-seo was steadily following my every step.
When I crossed the 555th cycle, she reached her fifth.
When I crossed the 560th cycle, she would be at her eleventh.
'So someday—really far in the future, Oh Dok-seo will also reach the 555th cycle, won't she?'
That the story wasn't fiction.
That what seemed like tales from another world were actually stories from her own.
That she would meet me, the protagonist, travel the world with me, deal with warlords, and adopt a dog.
All this would someday be serialized in Oh Dok-seo's novel, and she would read it.
I realized this future and trembled slightly. It felt like a ray of light had pierced the world, where destruction seemed inevitable.
"...Old man, what's going on?" Dok-seo tilted her head at my reaction.
Suddenly, my right forearm itched.
Dang Seo-rin's last words echoed in my head.
"You have dreams similar to mine."
"You're also moving forward like me, repairing the tracks in this broken world, one by one. The tracks the Ten Legs destroyed, the abandoned lines that other monsters left broken and torn. If we keep fixing them step by step, then eventually, the tracks will connect from one station to another."
"Then other people can walk along those tracks too."
Yes, in the end, Dang Seo-rin was right. What she had muttered then was just a hope, and I had accepted her last words because I, too, shared that same hope. But now, after more than 5,000 years had passed, reality had finally caught up to our hopes.
'In that case.'
I stilled the trembling in my heart.
'I'll wait for this kid to catch up to me.'
Until when? Well, until Oh Dok-seo arrives at the station named the 555th cycle.
That cycle was like Pandora's box. When Oh Dok-seo realizes that the 'novel' she read is actually the tracks laid out in reality, this world would fundamentally change.
As a regressor, a new joy, the joy of waiting, had been added to my life.
And so, I waited.
The 556th cycle ended, then the 557th.
"Hey! Old man! You can't abandon Old Man Scho like that!" Oh Dok-seo shouted when we reached the 581st cycle.
She must have read the latest chapters where Old Man Scho had left on an indefinite 'vacation.'
I smirked. "Who did I abandon?"
Nothing could have been more unfair. I abandon Old Man Scho? No, he had abandoned me while I never once gave up on him. She was confusing the sequence of events, the perpetrator and the victim.
But interpreting a novel and commenting on its contents is always up to the reader.
As new chapters were added and the cycles progressed, Oh Dok-seo kept leaving me 'comments.'
"Wow. How do you take down the Udumbara boss?"
"No way! All the Constellations were lying?"
"Community-building ability? What kind of trash ability is that...?"
"Sim Ah-ryeon is a complete troll... I could never get along with someone like that."
"Online game weirdness? Wow, seriously. There was such a gimmick? It was never mentioned in the original."
"...What's up with Go Yuri? Is she even human? Isn't she a monster?"
Like a reader leaving comments for the author, Oh Dok-seo screamed and complained. Not that I was the author or anything, but I generously accepted her comments. Even if I was still childish at over 5,000 years old, at least I knew how to let others step within my boundaries.
'Keep following, Dok-seo.'
Hurry up.
You may be slower than me, but your steps are quicker than anyone else's.
Tread my failures, my guidebooks, and my life story. Though my life was originally for others, it's now also for you.
Of course, not all this waiting was fun.
Finally, Oh Dok-seo read up to the 52nd cycle, when I founded the Sixth International Convenience Store with the fairies. From then on, the way she looked at me fundamentally changed.
"Old man."
"What is it?"
"You know, you're a total psycho."
"..."
"And could you cut down on the SG Net talk? And take it easy on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms."
"Dok-seo, I have my reasons for bringing up the Three Kingdoms threads. If I don't, a certain anomaly..."
"Enough. The way you talk doesn't match your age. Or maybe it does? How old are you, anyway?"
"..."
I invoked my right to remain silent and quietly drank my coffee. There was no point trying to salvage my tarnished image when I knew better than anyone that it was beyond saving.
That's right.
This might sound ridiculous, but sometimes, just sometimes, I missed the days when Oh Dok-seo shivered, mistaking me for a cold-hearted regressor.
That brat.
You should try growing old like me someday, brat.
Footnotes:
[1] Unnie is a word used by younger women to refer to older sister figures.
-x-X-x-
The New Buddha I
As I mentioned before, there were numerous boss-level monsters that emerged around the globe besides Ten Legs. One such example was the Meteor Shower, which rained down an endless storm of meteors from the night sky when I ran a convenience store.
Early on, "monster" was the most common term for them. However, just like the Meteor Shower, many monsters were more phenomena than living beings. As the story progressed, Awakeners began branching out into using other terms as well, like "anomaly," "fiend," "yokai," and "the lost."
In Japan, boss-level monsters were referred to as "angels." Quite the odd choice of terminology, considering they were called "demons" in the West. Later, the Puppeteer, an Awakener who had lived in Japan, explained that the term originated from a classic Japanese anime.
The Gates were similarly convoluted. Many of them didn't resemble "doors," so terms like "void," "abyss," "inferno," and "hell" were used more frequently. (In fact, distinguishing between "anomalies" and "voids" was difficult.)
Today, let's discuss one of the primary culprits behind these linguistic changes—namely, the "New Buddha."
"Uh? Hey..."
"Huh?"
"What's that on your head?"
That monster wasn't a living creature. More precisely, opinions were divided on whether it was living or non-living.
"That thing growing by your ear... a leaf?"
Such is the nature of viruses.
Where the virus originated remained unknown for a long time. It mostly likely stemmed from North or South Korea. Just as Busan Station's waiting room had become a hotbed for Awakeners, the Korean Peninsula was a paradise for monsters. It's like the world itself was balancing things out.
"Z-zombie virus!"
People panicked and flew into an uproar. Zombies are a staple of any apocalypse, after all.
When infected with the virus, the human body begins to sprout leaves or flowers. There were even cases of weeds growing on bald heads. Yet despite this peculiar occurrence, the initial response to the virus was surprisingly lukewarm.
There was a reason for that.
"No! I'm not a zombie!"
"...Huh?"
"See, I'm speaking normally! My memory's fine, and my head's clear! Damn, having a maple leaf under my arm does feel weird, but I don't want to die because of it!"
Simply put, the people infected by the virus were surprisingly functional. While it turned the human body into a bizarre-looking flower pot in the blink of an eye, the virus appeared to be harmless if one could ignore its appearance.
In fact, it even came with significant benefits.
"That damn monster! It killed my mother!"
"Ah..."
"I'll kill it, no matter what! Even if I die, I will end that monster!"
"Son..."
"Please watch over me from heaven, mother. Your unfilial son will soon follow."
"Son!"
"Huh?"
"I'm not dead, you fool! How many times do I have to call out to you?!"
"M-mother? But your stomach is torn open..."
"Don't know why, but I'm fine. Maybe because I had a tonic yesterday?"
People infected with the virus were hard to kill. As long as the brain wasn't destroyed, even severed limbs and damaged organs couldn't cause death. Even if the body's vital functions shut down, if one soaked up enough sunlight during the day and drank plenty of water, they could survive serious injuries.
With the medical system as it was, how did ordinary people react?
"God has blessed us!"
"Me too... I want to be infected too!"
People clamored to get infected. Awakeners with healing abilities were rare, and the skilled healers were busy assisting on the frontlines. In this era of uncertainty, where death was always one move away, gaining an extra "life point" for free was a godsend. It was like finding a lifeboat on the sinking Titanic.
"A zombie virus? No, it's the blessing of life."
"Become a plant too! You won't need to scavenge for food anymore. With sunlight and water, you can live without a care in the world."
"This is the greatness of the New Buddha. Believe in the New Buddha, and you will be free from suffering and gain a body capable of living in a new world."
Even cult doctrines began to sprout. The zombie virus came to be worshiped as the New Buddha. Although not related to Buddhism, its slogan "Eternal liberation from the harm of needing life in meat or grain to sustain life" resonated with people.[1]
Followers of the New Buddha shaved their heads. Unlike Buddhists, however, what grew back was not new hair for these New Buddhists but instead weeds and flowers.
They claimed that shedding human skin was part of accepting a New Buddha.
"Oh my, Lady Yellow Rose. I hope you slept well?"
"Yes, thanks to your care, Lady White Rose, I slept peacefully."
The New Buddhists adopted new dharma names, similar to Christian baptismal names. They called each other by the names of trees and flowers that grew from their heads.
They named their group Hwadan, meaning a Flower Garden of a million blooms, and called their ideology Huayan, or Flower Garland.[2] It was fitting, given their penchant for living with flowers on their heads.
"...These flower-heads are going to kill us."
Dang Seo-rin once muttered this, probably in the fifth cycle.
As the vice guild leader of the Samcheon Guild, I shrugged. "Well, in a world this chaotic, it's no wonder people want to rely on cults. Why else would the Yellow Turban Rebellion have occurred?"[3]
"So the vice guild leader continues his use of Three Kingdoms metaphors. It makes you sound old, so please stop."
What's wrong with The Three Kingdoms? All the kids love Liu Bei. Filial kids admire Cao Cao. Sun Quan is... well, liked by psychos.
Seeing my expression, Dang Seo-rin chuckled. "I get why they do it, but these people are poison to us."
She was right.
The New Buddha had its drawbacks. It had no ill effects on ordinary people, but about two weeks after being infected, once the flower fully bloomed, Awakeners "couldn't use their powers."
A deadly poison, indeed.
"Be careful too, Guild Leader. Nowadays, any criticism against them is met with accusations of 'plant hate.'"
"But they hate Awakeners."
Another valid point.
In the early stages of the Gate crisis, Awakeners were highly respected. But backlash against their superiority grew, and the New Buddha systematically incorporated this into their teachings.
"Awakeners are no different from monsters, as shown by how their powers vanish once they receive the New Buddha's blessing."
"All Awakeners should join the New Buddha faith and quickly free themselves from the sin of killing! Those who don't oppose Huayan's will! They shatter the peace of all life!"
"Non-killing eternal life! Eternal Huayan! Endless stability!"
A truly troublesome bunch of cultists they were.
But Dang Seo-rin was a capable guild leader. She hadn't formed a multinational guild in Korea for nothing.
She casually solved the issue by donating a large amount of goods to the New Buddhist flower bed.
"Haha! Although Dang Seo-rin has yet to receive the Buddha's blessing, how could we flowers mistreat one who devotes herself to the greater good?"
"Thanks."
"Amitabha, Amitabha..."
Amitabha, my foot. If Siddhartha had seen that fake monk with the tiger lillies growing from his head, he would've shaved it clean with clippers.
Korea was still a relatively nice place to live. On the peninsula existed a phenomenon called the "Constellation." This phenomenon kept Awakeners relatively grounded, so their superiority couldn't flourish. Consequently, there wasn't much hatred toward Awakeners among ordinary people.
However, when the New Buddha spread to other countries, things changed.
The New Buddha, along with the virus, became an intellectual infection exported worldwide, and the cult shook the world.
"Everyone! What is faith?"
"Non-killing eternal life! Eternal Huayan! Endless stability!"
"That's right! Faith is merely a name for flowers!"
"Waaaaaaa—!"
In other countries where constellations didn't exist, Awakeners' supremacy was rampant. Governments were crippled, the rule of law collapsed, and even those keeping an eye on me were absent. The natural consequence was that Awakeners with any modicum of power wreaked havoc.
Naturally, the common folk who suffered despised the Awakeners, and the New Buddha served to justify that hatred. Thus was born a K-cult that swept the world.
There was another cult in North Korea, but its influence was limited to the northern region, so its impact paled compared to the New Buddha.
"...This is a mess. A total mess. The number of volunteer soldiers we expected from Japan has plummeted."
Dang Seo-rin rubbed the frayed edge of her cone hat with her fingers. It was her unconscious habit that appeared whenever she was genuinely troubled.
You might've forgotten, but in the fifth cycle, we retreated to Busan instead of fighting the Ten Legs directly. Hundreds of Awakeners from Japan had promised to join us, but the number suddenly dwindled to 20.
"Twenty's too few."
"The flower-heads have expanded their influence in Japan. They've taken over from Kyushu to Kanto, nearly half the country, so it's been difficult clearing out their base. I've heard that even India, Europe, and America are starting to succumb."
"Humanity's future looks bleak."
The rise of cults and the bleak future were a chicken-and-egg problem.
While the Ten Legs was visible and could be defeated with enough fighting, the New Buddha had no such solution. How could a virus be eradicated? The virus labs were busy researching life-threatening epidemics, so the New Buddha virus wasn't a priority.
Each cycle brought with it a different set of New Buddha victims. Sometimes Dang Seo-rin was infected, and other times, even the Saintess.
Whenever I suspected I was infected, I'd quickly end my life before the leaves bloomed. If my awakening ability stopped working, what if I lost my ability to regress with it? I had to die before that could happen.
Well, with Old Man Scho around, I probably wouldn't have trouble, but better safe than sorry.
Here's what happened to the characters when they got infected and which flowers bloomed:
Saintess: Blue hydrangea, with drops of violet dye.
Dang Seo-rin: Pitch-black violets, like the night sky enveloping a moon halo.
Seo Gyu: Unknown.
Sim Ah-ryeon: White lily of the valley, trembling amusingly.
Lee Ju-ho: Bright yellow sunflower.
Go Yuri: Unknown, presumed to be daffodil.
Old Man Scho: Unknown, presumed to be clover (not four-leaf).
Oh Dok-seo: Red spider lily, also known as "Lycoris radiata" or "higanbana." She was curious what flower would bloom for her and deliberately got infected to find out. Not normal either.
Like Old Man Scho, I didn't know what flower would bloom for me. If I suspected an infection, I'd kill myself before the flower bloomed. I did this twice.
If I had to guess, though, perhaps a pure white lily? Symbolizing innocence and purity seems fitting for me.
Anyway, the New Buddha was more troublesome than Ten Legs.
Letting them be since they didn't harm civilians was my strategy until the 17th cycle, when it had to be corrected.
"Doc! We're in trouble!"
Old Man Scho burst through the door. I had just fallen asleep and frowned deeply.
"Ah, what is it? Let me sleep. I'm not old like you. I still need a lot of sleep."
"What? You damn brat... That's not it! Outside! Look out the window, you fool!"
"What's got you freaking out in the middle of the night...?"
I opened the window and looked up at the night sky. Then, I froze, window frame gripped in hand.
"...What the hell is that?"
Yggdrasil.
A massive red tree engulfed the expanse of the night sky.
Footnotes:
[1] The slogan here is a play on ahimsa, or the first precept of five in Buddhism that calls for non-harming or abstinence from taking life.
[2] The term "화엄" refers to the "Huayan" school of Buddhism, also known as the Flower Garland School. This tradition is named after the "Avatamsaka Sutra" (Flower Garland Sutra), one of the most influential Mahayana sutras. The Huayan school is known for its intricate and profound philosophy which emphasizes interpenetration and interdependence of all phenomena. In East Asian Buddhism, it has been particularly influential in China, Korea, and Japan.
[3] A peasant revolt led by Zhage Jue, who claimed to be a sorcerer capable of healing and who convinced his followers that a yellow-skied apocalypse was coming for them all. It is also the event that opens the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
-x-X-x-
The New Buddha II
In the 17th cycle, Old Man Scho and I were running an academy. He was the principal, and I served as the vice principal. It was a ploy to easily attract and cultivate promising awakeners from various countries.
We managed this academy earnestly for a while, accumulating plenty of data on the awakeners. There will come a time to discuss this academy in more detail later.
"Gather all the graduating class and faculty!"
"I've already done that, you brat! You're the last one!"
Old Man Scho lied. We had to roam the dormitory in our pajamas, waking up every combat team.
After preparations were complete, we set out for the rendezvous point agreed upon with other guilds for emergencies.
"Samcheon guild leader!"
"Oh, Undertaker. Swordmaster is here too?"
Along the way, other guilds joined us one after another.
Samcheon World, one of the two strongest in Korea, had quickly arrived with their elites. The sight of sixty awakeners in pointed hats, wielding staffs, looked ridiculous, but their combat strength was no joke.
"What kind of mess is this?"
"We're still figuring out the exact cause. The Constellations are giving me hints, but I need to see it with my own eyes. That giant tree was first spotted around 2 a.m. today."
"Did it suddenly bloom?"
"Yeah. It grew that big in less than an hour, and it started glowing red only after it fully grew. So the report was a bit delayed."
"...Ominous."
"I agree."
Then a Samcheon guild member approached Dang Seo-rin and whispered something to her.
All the guild leaders gathered at the rendezvous point looked at Dang Seo-rin. Despite Ten Legs being subjugated, she was still relied on as a leader. She sighed.
"Well, you all should see this. Bring it."
"Yes."
The guild members dragged something bound tightly with ropes. It was a human, or to be precise, someone dressed as a New Buddhist.
To be more exact, it was a human gnawing on their forearm and mumbling incessantly.
"Hun҉gry҉… Hun҈҈҉gry҉… Hun҉gry҈… Hun҈҉gry…"
Even tied up, the biting didn't stop. They bent their head as much as they could and twisted their elbow backward to gnaw at their own flesh.
In the dim night, we couldn't see it clearly at first, but now we noticed their legs and left arm had already been devoured.
The guild leaders' faces hardened.
"…What's that guy doing? Is he a zombie?"
"At least he's a polite zombie, eating his own flesh."
"Or maybe he's just a modest zombie."
"What's he mumbling?"
The live sight of someone tearing off their own flesh was grotesque, but the guild leaders who had survived till now were not easily shaken. Their expressions were grim, but their sharp eyes observed the zombie.
"From what we've seen so far…"
When Dang Seo-rin spoke, the guild leaders fell silent.
"All New Buddhists show the same symptoms."
"All of them!"
A murmur of shock spread.
"Every single one?"
"Yes. Ah, I misspoke. You don't even have to be a New Buddhist; anyone infected with the New Buddha virus, whether ordinary or awakened, is the same."
"I knew it."
Old Man Scho grumbled.
"There's never been anything good that comes from cults. What, you get an extra life point if you get infected? No way such a lucky thing exists. I've been suspicious from the start."
"..."
The guild leaders' stares bore down on the German's indiscriminate grumbling. Clearing my throat, I carefully took over the conversation.
"Samcheon Guild Leader, are these the only symptoms? Like Tami, a creature that devours itself? While intriguing, I don't see the connection between the World Tree and these zombies."
"What's Tami? Anyway, watch a bit longer. Something curious will happen."
Even while we spoke, the zombie didn't stop feeding.
"Hun҉gry҉… Hun҈҈҉gry҉… Hun҉gry҈… Hun҈҉gry…"
Soon, the last remaining right arm fell off. The zombie stood tall like a Matryoshka doll.
"...…"
The zombie raised its head and looked up at the night sky in the direction of the World Tree. Its mouth slowly opened, and a red flower sprouted from within.
The guild leaders collectively held their breath.
"My God."
"Fuck, what…?"
Someone muttered, "Looks like a cordyceps…"
A fungus that parasitizes its host before blooming into a mushroom.
Except in this case, it wasn't a mushroom but a brilliantly beautiful red flower.
The red flower used the zombie's body as a flowerpot, and in the blink of an eye, it grew to the height of a one-story building. It was as if time itself had malfunctioned. We were speechless as we looked up at the crown of the red flower.
Pop, like popcorn bursting, the petals exploded.
The red flower blossomed and withered in ten seconds as if each was its own season. But unlike other trees, it didn't shed its flowers downward.
The guild leaders were speechless.
"H-Hey. That's…?"
"They're floating up?"
Not falling, but ascending.
The red flower's home was not the ground but the sky. The petals floated upward like lighter winds, fireflies, or cherry blossoms.
And it wasn't only happening here.
The dark night sky glittered with countless red lights. They were far closer than stars, though much dimmer. Red petals scattered like the Milky Way from abandoned buildings, open fields, and all around, returning to the night sky.
"Beautiful…"
That, too, was someone's murmur.
With the World Tree reclaiming every speck of red from the ground, it looked more magnificent than ever. Its radiance was so brilliant that both starlight and moonlight were overshadowed.
"Hmm."
Old Man Scho let out a sigh.
When I turned to look, he wasn't staring at the night sky but at the zombie.
Its gaunt body looked more like the husk of a long-decayed tree than flesh. The human corpse drained of all its red had been reduced to mere remnants. When Old Man Scho poked it with his sheathed sword, the zombie-pot crumbled.
"Undertaker."
"…Yes, old man."
"Looks like we're fucked, right?"
I nodded. I hated to admit it, but it was an accurate diagnosis.
The boss-level monster that appeared after Ten Legs.
Or rather, the anomaly that had emerged before Ten Legs but hid its power for years, parasitizing hosts until finally revealing itself.
The World Tree— the return of Udumbara.
Udumbara.
A mystical flower revered in Buddhism. A legendary blossom that didn't exist in reality.
But now, it did.
There was no countermeasure against a legend that had descended to Earth. More dangerous than the Ten Legs.
Unlike Ten Legs, Udumbara was cunning. It didn't just parasitize hosts but made them welcome it. It quietly expanded its influence before unleashing its full power at once.
Once Udumbara revealed itself, it was game over. If the World Tree could bloom red, there were already too many hosts infected. From that point, the apocalypse was inevitable.
"Oh no, what do we do…"
"Indeed."
Old Man Scho and I put our heads together, deep in thought.
By the way, it was the 18th cycle. Where did the 17th cycle go, you ask? Uh… weeds sprouted from Old Man Scho's beard, and grass grew from my eyebrows.
We thought it was the last-ditch effort and took the whole Guild Alliance to hack at the tree with axes, but it didn't work. So, Old Man Scho and I downed poison in a glass of soju and toasted.
Even after Old Man Scho went on leave, we couldn't come up with a fundamental countermeasure against Udumbara.
The best we could do was suppress the spread of cults and keep the awakeners' superiority in check.
But that was just a stopgap measure. While we could control things domestically, how could we manage overseas? Whatever strategy we devised, it would only delay Udumbara's bloom.
Yet time passed, and the 36th cycle came.
"The Constellations don't exist."
"Neither the Saintess of National Salvation nor the Conqueror of the Alps are real. They're just characters I created."
――From the moment I met the Saintess, everything changed quickly.
We finally found a clue to the seemingly hopeless conquest of the World Tree.
After forming a blood pact with the Saintess, I began the full-scale subjugation of Udumbara. The crux of the operation was the request I made to the Saintess.
"Saintess, please use your [Clairvoyance] to monitor the awakeners on Jeju Island for some time."
"Jeju Island?"
The Saintess tilted her head.
"Is there a particular reason?"
"Yes. If left alone, a cult called the New Buddhists will begin to emerge in earnest by year three…"
I explained the zombie virus and the rise of the New Buddhists, the emergence of awakeners' superiority, and the backlash of hatred against them. And, finally, the Red World Tree's full bloom.
The Saintess listened quietly from beginning to end. Then she spoke softly.
"Indeed. So, you intend to find the virus's first patient."
"Exactly."
The first patient, whose identity had eluded us in previous cycles, was the first domino that set off the viral outbreak.
It would have been impossible to identify them alone. But using my regression ability and the Saintess's [Clairvoyance], it was possible.
"In this cycle, we'll focus on Jeju Island. Next, Gyeongsangnam-do, then Gyeongsangbuk-do, Jeollanam-do, and Jeollabuk-do… Each cycle, we will focus on a region in Korea, moving from the south to the north. That way――"
"We will eventually witness the first patient's birth."
The Saintess nodded.
"I understand. I've primarily used Clairvoyance to monitor prominent awakeners like you, Undertaker. But if I push myself a little… even if it's impossible to observe every Awakener in Korea in real time, I can manage at least one region."
"Do you want me to assign Yu Ji-won to assist you?"
"No, it's okay."
The Saintess clasped her hands together and closed her eyes as if praying.
"This is something I can handle alone."
At the time, I didn't know the exact method she used to observe so many awakeners. It was one of her "secrets" that she never revealed.
I could only guess she cooperated with awakeners working with the South Korean government (or remnants of it), like Noh Do-hwa, among others.
After assigning the Saintess her quest, I took care of the cult leaders responsible for founding the New Buddhists. Even if other faiths would eventually arise, eliminating them bought us at least a year or two.
And so, in the 36th cycle:
"It's not Jeju Island."
37th cycle:
"No sign of a first patient in Gyeongsangnam-do."
38th, 39th, 40th cycles.
Finally, in the 41st cycle.
"…Found them."
The Saintess opened her eyes.
"Chungcheongnam-do. Asan. Onyang."
More precisely, an old inn in Onyang.
The old commercial district had withered after the city center shifted, leaving the inn to decay precariously beside neglected sidewalks where weeds flourished more than people.
The inn seemed abandoned. Its beige paint had flaked off in patches.
In room 202 on the second floor, where there wasn't much left to take, a mother and her son lay dead.
"...…"
The mother and child looked like they had just closed their eyes.
Finding this place was nearly miraculous. An awakener working at the local community center was patrolling residential areas and lodging facilities, ensuring no residents had been left behind. (Perhaps the Saintess, pretending to be a Constellation, had directed him.)
When the staff member found the bodies, the Saintess witnessed the scene simultaneously.
He moved to his next checkpoint, burdened with caring for the living, but the Saintess's gaze lingered, leading me here today.
There was a reason my alias was the "Undertaker."
"Hmm."
The mother leaned against the wall, holding her child tight. He was an infant, and small, delicate red flowers, like young ferns in spring, bloomed above her shoulders.
Around his wrist hung a prayer bead bracelet that was a bit too large for his tiny wrist. It wasn't hard to imagine whose bracelet it was and who had put it on him. I briefly thought about the mother's feelings when she placed her own bracelet on her child.
When crossing to the afterlife, perhaps she hoped her child wouldn't fall into hell.
I stood still, gazing at the scene before me like a Buddhist staring at a statue.
[Mr. Undertaker.]
The Saintess spoke telepathically. She didn't pretend to be a Constellation with me, using her real voice instead.
I nodded.
"I understand. Don't worry."
I infused my sword with aura and swung it. A few red flowers scattered across the small, one-room world.
Udumbara was a mythical flower.
There isn't much of an epilogue to this story.
But from that day onward, I had one more task to handle at the start of each cycle.
Taking care of Seo Gyu and Sim Ah-ryeon at Busan Station. Drinking Café au Lait with Old Man Scho at Baekje Hospital. Establishing an alliance with the Saintess. And then heading up to Chungcheong-do to see the red flowers.
Later, I learned that no matter how many times I repeated my regressions, it was impossible to save the mother and her child. They were already dead by the time the Gate crisis hit Seoul.
Cause of death: starvation.
Misery is always in season.
"Phew…"
Sometimes, I arrived at the inn a few days late due to a delayed schedule. By then, the Udumbara, once no bigger than a young fern, would have already grown into a small cherry tree.
"Wow, it's so beautiful…"
I brought a companion along to see the flowers every new cycle. In the 96th cycle, my companion was Sim Ah-ryeon.
"Is this really the anomaly you mentioned, guild leader? You said it should be classified at a continental danger level on SG Net…"
"Yes."
"It's such a fascinating sight. Makes me want to paint it."
True to her word, Sim Ah-ryeon had brought an easel here and set it up. As she pulled out her paints, she said, "Ah."
"So, guild leader, what kind of flower is that…?"
A flower that has destroyed the world countless times.
Instead of telling her that, I brushed aside the branches and said,
"It's a flower that blooms each season I die."
"Gasp."
Sim Ah-ryeon marveled at my sophisticated expression.
"Middle school syndrome…"
"...…"
"A grown man with middle school syndrome…"
Hmm.
Next time I bring her along, it'll be to a creepy haunted spot.
Footnotes:
[1] The term "화엄" refers to the "Huayan" school of Buddhism, also known as the Flower Garland School. This tradition is named after the "Avatamsaka Sutra" (Flower Garland Sutra), one of the most influential Mahayana sutras. The Huayan school is known for its intricate and profound philosophy which emphasizes interpenetration and interdependence of all phenomena. In East Asian Buddhism, it has been particularly influential in China, Korea, and Japan.
-x-X-x-