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

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The Monad III

The third and final fragment of the Monad.

[Mr. Undertaker. I apologize for contacting you so late. Yu Ji-won just passed away.]

Thunk.

My steps through the night froze. It was a day when the full moon, tainted red by the Void, spilled crimson vapor across the sky.

Now, even my breath was mingling with that vapor.

“What was the cause of death?”

[It’s hard to say for sure. She was resting in her personal quarters when there was a sudden sound of glass shattering.]

[It was the full-length mirror you referred to as the Magic Mirror.]

[The mirror broke on its own, without any apparent cause. Ji-won tilted her head in confusion, then at that moment, someone knocked on her door.]

[She asked for the passphrase. The person outside responded correctly. But the instant she opened the door, her vision went dark.]

[I immediately sent a message through the Constellation system, instructing a nearby Awakener to check on Yu Ji-won.]

[That’s when they found her dead, with the door still open.]

There was a moment of silence.

[Mr. Undertaker, do you have any idea what kind of Anomaly this could be?]

I didn’t.

This sort of thing had been happening more frequently lately.

“There’s no telling right now. Did it happen at the National Road Management Corps’ headquarters?”

[Yes.]

“Inform Captain Noh Do-hwa as well. I will go and prepare Ji-won’s body.”

[Understood.]

Yu Ji-won had died a sudden death.

Hers wasn’t the first. Though she was the person who had just informed me, the Saintess wasn’t aware that she too had also been experiencing a sudden increase in fatalities lately.

‘Again. Ji-won died in another absurd manner.’

It all started from the 669th cycle. That was when I met Nenet at Naryanmar, received the Sacred Fire from him, and began constructing signal towers across the world. Ever since then, the death toll of Yu Ji-won and the Saintess had inexplicably started to rise.

670th cycle.

While walking across the Seongsu Bridge, the Saintess slipped and fell, plummeting to her death in the Han River.

Considering the Saintess’s abilities, it was an absurd way to die. Most of all, she normally used the Jamsu Bridge for her walks, never the Seongsu Bridge.

Even so, at that time, I dismissed it as an unfortunate coincidence.

‘The Saintess shares her vision with Awakeners, so she encounters Anomalies far more frequently than others. Her chances of taking mental damage are higher as well. Maybe she was bewitched by an Anomaly associated with bridges.’

But as if mocking my judgment, suspiciously frequent and unusual deaths continued to occur around both Yu Ji-won and the Saintess.

Accidental falls. Freezing to death in the middle of summer. Heatstroke in winter. Friendly fire. Ridiculous deaths, like getting hit by a stray arrow on the battlefield―

Beginning in the 683rd cycle, when I first launched my proper investigation into Mastermind Syndrome, these incidents hit a peak. Almost as if...

‘Almost as if the world itself held a grudge against Ji-won and the Saintess.’

Why?

Why the two of them, in particular?

The thought consumed me, even during Ji-won’s funeral.

Instead of a photo, a portrait painted by Ah-ryeon was hung as the memorial image. In the portrait, Ji-won looked straight at me with an expression that said, “We both know there’s always the next cycle, don’t we?”

‘The signal towers built across the world. And this Mastermind Syndrome. My actions must have triggered something dormant, something that had been asleep until now.’

What was it? Why?

I couldn’t find the answer.

‘So, conversely... If I don’t build the signal towers, will this phenomenon cease?’

A plausible hypothesis.

I put it to the test in the next cycle.

I didn’t seek out Nenet, nor did I accept the Sacred Fire from him. Naturally, I didn’t construct any signal towers around the world.

“Saintess.”

[Yes.]

“Has there been any sign of abnormalities near Ji-won?”

[No, everything is normal.]

And just like that, the sudden deaths that had been plaguing Yu Ji-won and the Saintess disappeared, almost as if by magic.

Near the very end of that cycle, both of them experienced understandable deaths, not the absurdities they had before.

I rubbed my face with a dry hand.

‘...Alright. At least the trigger is identified.’

The identity of the Anomaly remained elusive. It could be an Outer God-class Anomaly, or perhaps even something absurdly weak but that activated only under specific conditions.

For reasons still unknown, as long as I didn’t build signal towers across the world, the mysterious Anomaly didn’t seem to have any intention of erasing Ji-won and the Saintess.

It felt like I’d finally grabbed a loose end.

I decided to challenge this mystery head-on.

‘Fine. I won’t dare to spread it across the world, but how about the entire Korean Peninsula? Can we agree on that?’

In the next cycle, I received the Sacred Fire from Nenet and constructed signal towers all over the Korean Peninsula. I referenced locations of signal towers from the Joseon era, taking every precaution to avoid suspicion.

“We’re just restoring history,” was the pretext I used to mask my intentions from the Anomaly.

To my surprise, even in this cycle, both Ji-won and the Saintess met normal, legitimate ends. The absurd hand of death did not touch either of them.

‘So, the Korean Peninsula is acceptable. Fine. What about East Asia? The Japanese archipelago, Taiwan, mainland China, and the Mongolian plains? Is that acceptable too?’

It was.

Signal towers were constructed at key points throughout East Asia.

Whenever reinforcements were needed, the towers would urgently send up signals. If I saw columns of smoke rising high into the sky from afar, I would rush to rescue the survivors.

‘So, East Asia is alright. It’s surprisingly lenient, I appreciate that. Then, for the last attempt, how about the Indian subcontinent and Eastern Europe―?’

The Saintess died.

A magnitude 9 earthquake struck Seoul overnight. It wasn’t just a magnitude 9—a massive chasm, like the gaping maw of hell, tore through the ground and swallowed everything.

[I’m sorry, Mr. Undertaker.]

[I’ve used Time Stop, and I’m still using it, but it’s impossible to escape the earthquake’s grasp.]

[Until next time.]

That was the message the Saintess wrote, in less than a second, before her communication was cut off.

With the disappearance of her Clairvoyance and Telepathy, the Constellations under her care also perished. Even before the disaster, however, the failure to predict the Seoul Earthquake had already shattered the unshakeable trust the Awakeners held in the Constellations.

The social safety network I had meticulously built across the Korean Peninsula was on the brink of collapse, and it wouldn’t take more than a few days for it to fall apart.

After accepting the Saintess’ death, I immediately went to find Ji-won.

Busan was still intact. Ji-won wasn’t.

That day, on her way to the café base, she mistook the safe path through the Inunaki Tunnel and ended up with her limbs torn apart, scattered across the Japanese archipelago.

The one who had the Mini-Map ability, the one who could read maps better than anyone, that Yu Ji-won, lost her way and died.

Ji-won’s head was rolling at the entrance of the café base. Even in death, her face remained unnaturally serene.

I gritted my teeth.

“So... the signal towers are allowed only up to East Asia. Anything beyond the Indian subcontinent is out of the question, is it?”

Both the Saintess and Ji-won died. The National Road Management Corps was barely able to monitor the areas around Busan. This cycle was rapidly approaching its end.

And yet, I still had tasks to complete.

There was still a counselor in this world with whom I could discuss matters like these.

“Why don’t you just give up, sunbae?”

A girl with an orange ponytail giggled as she spoke.

Infinite Void. An Outer God sealed within Cheon Yo-hwa’s soul, lingering on as a split personality or a turned ally. Most of its former power had been lost, but it still had the keen insight of an ex-Outer God.

I had asked Cheon Yo-hwa to summon Infinite Void, and the moment it heard my story, it burst into laughter.

“It’s obviously an Outer God-class Anomaly.”

“So that’s how it is...”

“Yep. To put it in your terms, sunbae, it seems the Korean Peninsula to East Asia has been somewhat recognized as your domain.”

“......”

“That means the other Outer God has no intention of recklessly invading your territory. It doesn’t want to, or rather, it’s become incapable of doing so. After all, you’ve laid such solid groundwork.”

But then, Infinite Void grinned slyly.

“If, however, you’re genuinely planning to save the entire world, not just the people around you, then the other side will get desperate. So don’t worry too much, sunbae. ‘They’ were just offering a diplomatic deal of sorts.”

“A deal?”

“Yep. A deal. Like, ‘Let’s stop this, Undertaker. We’ll concede East Asia and other regions, so be content with that. But anything south of the Himalayas and west of the Urals is mine. I’ve already called dibs. Deal?’”

“......”

Infinite Void cackled. “Hahaha! To be honest, I think it’s something to be proud of. I mean, after looping hundreds of times, you finally managed it, right? Wow― I don’t know which Outer God it is, but getting them to acknowledge boundaries up to the Urals and the Himalayas is like a feat not seen since Genghis Khan, isn’t it?”

“You don’t have any guesses as to why it’s targeting Yu Ji-won and the Saintess, do you?”

Infinite Void shrugged, its lips curving into a pout. “Hmm, who knows?”

“......”

“There was a time, you know. When I commanded all the nightmares and opened tutorial dungeons worldwide. I began the invasion of the Void earlier than any other Anomaly, faster and ahead of everyone else. Ah, those were the days! The nights of the Hundred Tales! Back then, I shined like a star. Little me declared herself the Akashic Record of all existence... But alas. Then certain someone had to come at me with a time-looping cheat, determined to take me down first. What choice did I have? I became a pitiful Anomaly trapped in a mere monkey’s body, and here I am...”

I kept my mouth shut. There was no need to respond to its provocations.

Sensing my indifference, Infinite Void chuckled to itself. Its crimson eyes narrowed, gleaming mischievously.

“I’m just a shadow of my former self. I can’t give you any big secrets. But if you’re willing to pay the proper ‘consultation fee,’ I could support you in your quest to hunt down this Outer God.”

“State your terms.”

“Call me by my name. Cheon Yo-hwa.”

“......”

The air around us stilled.

The sunlight streaming through the window dimmed abruptly, as if the day had instantly turned to night.

“Please, sunbae. Just once. Just call me Cheon Yo-hwa, even if it’s only this one time... Please, just say it. With your voice. Yo-hwa, my dear. Just once, won’t you call me that?”

Infinite Void tilted its head like a snake, leaning in close as it softly pleaded, looking up at me with an innocent gaze.

“If you do, I’ll gladly cooperate. Use me however you like, sunbae.”

“You’re already Cheon Yo-hwa (天寥化).”[1]

“Not that damned name.”

A distorted, mechanical sound came from Infinite Void’s lips.

“Why are you pretending not to understand? Sunbae. Cheon Yo-hwa. Cheon Yo-hwa. The human who dared to declare she would sing a thousand songs to seal a being of a hundred tales. She became my vessel long ago, a part of me, my possession. Give her back. Give her back, give her back, give her back.”

It seemed unaware of how twisted its voice had become. The next moment, it spoke as if nothing had happened.

“Just once is enough. You can loop infinitely, can’t you, sunbae? Calling me that just once in this cycle won’t affect the next version of me. Think of it as one step back for two steps forward. Doesn’t it fit nicely into your grand strategy?”

“That makes sense.”

I pushed Infinite Void away.

“If I weren’t a Complete Memory user, that is.”

“......”

“The moment I call you Cheon Yo-hwa, even if only once, that memory will be embedded in me like a nail, regardless of the cycle. Ultimately, the seal on you would weaken. I can’t allow that.”

“Huh. So?” Infinite Void smirked. “You’re really going to mess with that Outer God hiding beyond the mountain ranges? Without my advice, all on your own, from scratch? Hah. Maybe if you loop 2,000 more times, you’ll have a chance. But can your sanity hold out until then?”

“......”

“Oh, that’s right! Isn’t it thanks to that Saintess that you keep your sanity intact? She’s lived just as long as you, right? But ooooh, sunbae, if you go up against this Outer God, she’ll just keep dying over and over again. What happens if your mind can’t handle it...?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

“Why not? I always have your best interests at heart, sunbae.”

I allowed a faint smile to curl my lips. “But there was one thing among your blabbering that was worth considering.”

“Oh, really? What is it?”

“That I should use you.”

I took hold of its hand. Infinite Void’s eyes lit up, a bright expression spreading across its face as it assumed I had finally given in.

What a predictable misunderstanding. Of course, there was no way a regressor would fall for the tricks spun by an Outer God’s tongue.

I softly spoke to the true owner of the hand I was holding.

“Yo-hwa.”

“――”

Blink.

The red light flickered, and in its place were eyes full of trust, as usual.

“Yes, teacher?”

The girl whose name I had granted. My disciple.

“I have a favor to ask. I’m sorry, but could you entrust this life to me?”

“......”

“Seoul is falling, the Constellation system is collapsing, and soon even the northern regions will be swallowed by the tide of Anomalies. But there’s still something I need to confirm here.”

“You need my help, don’t you?”

“It must be you. No one else.”

“Yes.”

Cheon Yo-hwa smiled brightly.

“Of course I’ll help! Oh, but I am a bit worried about my friends. If possible, could you make sure they don’t suffer when they die?”

“Alright. I truly appreciate it.”

“So do I.”

Yo-hwa placed her hands over my left hand. Gently, passing to me a slight pressure and warmth.

“Always, and forever—thank you, teacher.”

There was a moment of silence.

The next time the crimson eyes flickered, her hands abruptly pulled away from mine.

“What are you scheming, you?”

The gaze now carried an edge of caution, wary of the unknown. It was Infinite Void. The entity had been called forth from within Cheon Yo-hwa’s consciousness once more.

“Not even calling me sunbae anymore?”

“Answer me. What kind of ridiculous plan are you hatching now?”

“Like I said, I intend to use you.” I stood up. “Soon, the world will end. Up until that very moment, I will survive, and so will you.”

“What?”

“We’ll be the last two standing.”

Infinite Void looked confused. But the moment it grasped my intention, its expression morphed into one of horror.

“The last one standing. Whoever is next to me will inevitably be infected by Mastermind Syndrome.”

“......!”

“If, as I suspect, this Outer God controls the Mastermind Syndrome, Infinite Void, then its influence will reach out to you this time.”

“You, you―! How dare you...?”

I smiled. “While human minds may be easily ensnared by an Outer God, do you really think the mind of an Anomaly that was once an Outer God itself can be corrupted so easily by Mastermind Syndrome?”

No.

A collision was inevitable.

Of course, there was a vast difference in power between the unknown adversary and Infinite Void. But even the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs was insignificant compared to the Earth.

The fact that a collision would occur—that alone was vital. Even a weakened Infinite Void wouldn’t fall helplessly to another Outer God. There would be a gap, however slight.

And that gap would be more than enough for me.

“Infinite Void. While you resist the Outer God with all your strength, I will seize its tail.”

To subdue one beyond your reach, you used another outside your bounds.[2]

Be it Infinite Void or the mysterious Outer God, from humanity’s perspective, they were nothing but troublesome outsiders.

“The lands west of the Urals? South of the Himalayas? And you expect me to agree to that?”

“......”

“Don’t make me laugh. Not a single blade of grass, a speck of dust, or a breath of air from this land will be handed over to you.”

Thus, as previously mentioned, this story serves as an epilogue to the epilogue, so there’s no additional epilogue to add here.

The puzzle pieces are in place.

Now, it’s time to hunt the enemies of humanity.

Footnotes:

[1] Back in chapter 97, Cheon Yo-hwa’s name is revealed to have multiple possible meanings. Infinite Void is restricted to the hanja definition of 天寥化, meaning serene heavens both boundless and formless, infinite and void. Cheon Yo-hwa, Undertaker’s comrade, takes the name of 千謠話, which literally means a thousand folk tales but can be interpreted as an endless abundance of stories passed along through human connection.

[2] Literally, “to subdue a barbarian, use another barbarian.” A saying meant to advise letting outsiders do the dirty work and fight it out amongst themselves.

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