The Tales of an Infinite Regressor

Chapter 6 – Operator I

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Chapter 6 – Operator I

1

How long I survive during a specific run varies greatly.

There are days when I enjoy a day-to-day life, dying in just one day after reruning, or enduring for over 20 years only to freeze to death.

There are times when I get stabbed with a squid bread by an alien and die in my 9th year, or experience the feelings of a dinosaur by dying from being hit by a meteorite falling to Earth in my 7th year.

Even I, who received the benefits of a regressor, have experienced this. How much worse could it be for others?

Most Awakeneds couldn’t even last 2, 5 or 10 years, let alone 20 years, before dying.

If they had strength, they died because of it, and if they lacked it, they died because of it too.

In a collapsing world, the reasons for death were diverse, and everyday life was synonymous with cause of death.

But there was one person who died faster than any other Awakened.

Commonly known as SG Guy.

Of course, ‘SG Guy’ was not his real name.

It was just a short way of saying ‘Fucking Bullshit Guy’, nothing more than a nickname I came up with in my mind.

I found out SG Guy’s real name in the 50th run.

2

The fastest-dying human in the world.

That’s the image I have of SG Guy.

If I were to introduce his story, first and foremost, I would need to describe the scenery I see right after regressing.

“What, where am I? What’s this place?”

“Oh? Busan Station? I was in the park just a moment ago…”

“Master? Master, where are you?”

Every time I start regressing, I wake up in the main hall of Busan Station.

Other than me, 398 ordinary people were forcibly summoned here. By the way, there were no rules to the summons. There were even Japanese people dragged all the way from Fukuoka.

As hundreds of people panicked at the sudden run of events, something suddenly appeared in the air with a pop!

“Ah, hello there! Everyone!”

It was the fairy of the tutorial.

A character that looked like it had just jumped out of a 2D world into reality, transformed into a 3D character.

“Oh my, the numbers are a bit lower… Anyway, I’m sure you’re all surprised to be suddenly summoned here, right? But don’t worry! I’ll kindly guide you through everything from the beginning!”

Despite the fairy’s apologies, it was hard not to worry.

First of all, the way it spoke seemed like that of an idiot. Unknown people’s manner of speaking was like the ink printed by a printer called personality, so if the ink was a mess, it was reasonable to assume there was a serious problem with the printer.

But a slightly more serious problem was the fairy floating in the air.

Human civilization hadn’t matured enough to accommodate extraterrestrial beings floating in the air without any devices. As a result, screams of “Ah!” erupted from all corners of the main hall.

“Oh! It’s okay, it’s okay! Now then. I’ll explain this and that to you all! Have you all received basic education? I’m the homeroom teacher of class B in Busan Station’s main hall! As much as you all diligently listen to me, I’ll also treat you kindly. Now then…”

“You fucking bastard!”

Everyone paused.

A majestic roar reverberated.

“What bullshit is that!”

He seemed to be in his early twenties.

A man with tattoos on his arms, displaying his biceps, was berating the fairy.

Yes.

He was none other than SG Guy, the Fucking Bullshit Guy.

“Hey… yes?”

“That fucking bastard! If you suddenly bring people here, you should at least apologize first instead of spouting nonsense!”

SG Guy’s voice was very intimidating. The citizens around him even took a step back unconsciously.

Even the fairy stumbled at the overly enthusiastic scolding.

“No, hey. That wasn’t something I did, I’m just a regular staff member…”

“That fucking bastard!”

The fairy flinched.

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By now, you might have figured out that there was a reason why I called him SG Guy.

He was the type of guy who couldn’t utter a word without decorating it with the word ‘fucking’. A guy with a rustic diction that only those who have worked in tough conditions can truly understand.

“Anyway, you said you’re a staff member! Huh? No apology?”

“Well… these kinds of people are rare nowadays, I heard from the seniors. Even humans have become wicked and won’t be provoked…”

The fairy looked distressed.

Suddenly, a notebook appeared in his hand. He flipped through the pages, muttering.

“How should I respond in this situation?”

“Ah, here it is.”

“That fucking bastard! Making fun of people?”

“Hey.”

The fairy lightly waved his wand (which had somehow been summoned). SG Guy’s head exploded with a bang.

“Are we done now? Alright! Everyone, follow my lead!”

The fairy grinned widely, like a child expecting their prank to be well-received.

What the fairy failed to consider was the average sensibility of the people gathered here. In other words, it was also called morality or ethics.

“Hieeeek!”

The protagonist of this amusing scream was Shim Aryeon (I know the names of all the survivors in Busan Station’s main hall). Unfortunately, he happened to be near SG Guy and was the one covered in a lot of fresh blood.

“S-Someone died…! Someone! Arghh, he’s dead! Sob! Someone, he’s dead!”

As soon as he was covered in blood, he ran away faster than anyone else.

Splatter, splat!

Blood and intestines sprayed everywhere as he fled.

The grotesque sight made people realize the reality.

“Aaah!”

“It’s murder! Murder!”

“Run away!”

Close to four hundred people followed Shim Aryeon and started fleeing helter-skelter.

The fairy gestured with “Oops,” “Over there,” “Go there,” “Wait,” but instead of calming people, it only instilled more fear.

In the end, within seconds, only about ten people, including myself, were left in the main hall.

“…”

“Uh…”

The fairy looked distressed.

“The guideline was flawed! It said that if we eliminate just one example, everyone else would calm down!”

SG Guy’s body, with his head deleted, lay alone on the main hall floor.

Then I went into the souvenir shop alone to farm my exclusive item, the silver droplet.

Now, everyone will understand why I didn’t know SG Guy’s real name.

He was the ‘extra’ who stood up to the tutorial fairy and was executed, a common trope in novels.

That was SG Guy’s identity.

3

Honestly, I never felt any emotion towards SG Guy.

Regardless of which run it was, SG Guy always went on a rampage against the fairy.

Despite my life taking various routes through regressions, the initial event of ‘SG Guy dying by the fairy’s hand’ always occurred.

‘…What if I save that guy?’

So, it wouldn’t be strange for me to suddenly feel curious.

‘Yeah. Let’s try saving him.’

Just in case, you never know, right?

I tried saving him and awakening him, what if he runs out to be the teleporter Old Scho had longed for?

By the way, I was very inclined to follow my curiosity. I wasn’t always like this, but after going through regressions, my personality seemed to change on its own.

At the 50th run, I decided to satisfy my curiosity.

“Ah, hello there! Everyone! Oh? The numbers seem a bit low… Anyway, I’m sure you’re all surprised to be suddenly summoned here, right? But―”

But the one who was truly surprised was the fairy.

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The reason was simple. I leaped up to the fairy’s nose in an instant.

“Huh?”

My shadow fell over the fairy’s surprised face.

I didn’t particularly feel sorry.

Before the fairy could even close its eyelids, my rough palm grabbed its head.

I rotated my hand once, filled with strong energy.

There was a bang, like a joke. The fairy’s small head exploded. It was quite a paradoxical end for the fairy, who had always exploded other humans’ heads.

“Huh?”

“What just happened…?”

People murmured as they looked at me landing on the floor.

It was truly a fleeting conflict.

As it was still early in my regression, there probably weren’t any witnesses who had followed the fight between the fairy and me closely.

Oh, by the way, I replaced not only the head but also the rest of the body. People probably only perceived it as ‘a small creature appearing in the air suddenly disappearing.’

“Huh?”

SG Guy, who had just opened his mouth to explode, was also making a surprised noise with his gaping mouth.

I approached him and greeted him politely.

“Hello.”

“Huh? Oh, yes… Hello?”

For the first time, I heard something other than ‘Hey, you fucking bastard’ from SG Guy.

It was a somewhat historic moment.

4

Indeed, SG Guy was quite the tough guy.

“Who are you?”

He addressed me as ‘you.’

I could feel his readiness to hold onto his pride and guts while still maintaining politeness.

But when he witnessed me swiftly dispatching the monster that appeared at Busan Station, ‘you’ runed into ‘you,’ and as the number of monster heads I severed exceeded fifty, it runned into ‘…’

[PR/N: Korean has “formal/polite” tone which you use to strangers/elders, and “infromal/casual” tone which you use with friends.]

Finally, when I cleared the gate, the form of address changed slightly more dramatically.

“Um… Sir?”

“Yes?”

SG Guy scrutinized my complexion.

“You seemed pretty impressive dealing with those monsters. Why would someone like you bother bringing someone like me along?”

“There are two answers. One is the truth, but may not be believable, and the other is a lie, but may be acceptable. Which one would you like to hear?”

“Huh? Um… the truth?”

“I’m a regressor and am currently repeating the world for the 50th time, and every time, you die in the waiting room. I’m curious about who you are and decided to save you this time to find out.”

“Oh…?”

SG Guy’s face, which had been looking at me with a mixture of admiration and fear, instantly twisted. If the sentence ‘What the fuck, you nerd’ could be expressed with facial muscles, it would probably look like that.

I felt somewhat embarrassed. The 35th run, when I met the Saintess, was a kind of runing point, and since then, I had occasionally mentioned that I was a regressor.

Yet, apart from the Saintess, no one had believed me so far. Why was that?

“In fact, I am a member of Special Forces Team 5, which has been preparing for such situations at the National Intelligence Service for a long time. I request your cooperation.”

“Ah, I see.”

“It’s a bit late for introductions. I am codenamed Field Medic. May I know your name?”

“I’m Seo Gyu. Sir. Please feel free to call me.”

“Is that so?”

Seo Gyu. That was SG Guy’s real name.

I realized how important ‘companionship’ was on the journey to prevent the destruction of the world. So, I actively recruited and gathered promising candidates to grow into A-class Awakeneds.

The 50th run was no different. I traveled with Seo Gyu and recruited more party members along the way.

I had already grasped through countless runs how to maximize the efficiency of their abilities, so my party members grew day by day.

“…I seem to lack talent, sir.”

Seo Gyu did not enjoy the benefits of being a regressor.

It was natural. Surviving the tutorial and forming a party with me were all first-time experiences for Seo Gyu.

I didn’t even know what abilities he would awaken. It wasn’t feasible to provide one-on-one tutoring.

“Ah, damn. Why do the others grow so well, but not me…?”

On the other hand, from Seo Gyu’s perspective, he would have felt like a tremendously talentless underachiever.

All his peers were A-class prodigies, genius-like beings, so naturally, he would feel inferior by comparison.

But I knew very well how to deal with such situations.

“Saintess.”

“Yes?”

“Could you send a message to Seo Gyu for me?”

The Saintess of the Salvation.

It was time for my legendary pokemon, which I had been hiding away, to make its appearance.

At my request, the Saintess occasionally sent messages to the party members, sometimes nudging them, sometimes cheering them on.

[The Lord of the Crimson Horse believes in your true talents!]

[The Conqueror of the Alps dispels your doubts.]

Naturally, I had been gathering information about my party members: family relations, education, past traumas, skills, and so on.

All this information was passed on to the Saintess. Based on this first-class personal data, the Saintess provided psychological counseling to the trainees.

Legally, it would be considered a breach of privacy, but after the collapse of civilization, privacy laws had lost some of their effectiveness. In fact, even before the collapse, they weren’t very well enforced.

Furthermore, the Saintess was an S-class Awakened with the ability of ‘clairvoyance.’

With my information, combined with hers, the party members had no doubt that there really were Constellations of power who observed their every move.

But when these Constellations of power vouched for their abilities?

“I will train hard and awaken my abilities without fail!”

Seo Gyu had no choice but to ignite his determination.

Our two-pronged strategy, the collaboration between me and the Saintess, was perfect.

As for questions about brainwashing and gaslighting, I’ll plead the fifth.

Before long, one night, Seo Gyu came to me secretly, away from the other party members. His face was very serious.

“Um, sir.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I think I awakened my ability last night.”

Finally!

I felt a surge of anticipation.

The sacrifice of the tutorial. The man who exited the stage before anyone else in all 50 regressions.

What would his ability be?

Offensive? Defensive? Either way, I was confident that my curiosity would be satisfied.

I shook hands with Seo Gyu.

“Congratulations. I always believed you’d make it someday.”

“Th-thank you. It’s all thanks to you, sir.”

“So, what’s the ability?”

“Um, well… How should I explain this, sir?”

Seo Gyu’s grip on my hand was weak.

His expression was subtle. Despite achieving the awakening he had longed for, he didn’t seem particularly pleased.

‘Guess it was a letdown after all.’

Seeing his face, I too folded a layer of expectation in my heart. Superior abilities weren’t something that just showed up easily.

“So, what’s the deal? Just spit it out clearly.”

“Well, it’s just that… It’s a bit ambiguous to explain in words… Sir, do you carry a cellphone with you? Could you take a look for a moment?”

“A cellphone?”

“Yes.”

I expressed my doubts but obediently took out my smartphone.

The cellphone was dead. It had been six months since the Gate incident, and most communication devices had become useless.

Phones, internet, radios, radars – you name it, they were all contaminated by the anomalies.

“Would you mind runing on the internet and accessing the address I’m about to give you?”

“Hmm…?”

And then I witnessed something astounding.

Internet access, which should have been impossible, was now available.

I felt a sense of wonder for the first time in a while as I manipulated the smartphone.

The internet was still shown as dead, and other apps didn’t work either. But somehow, the site accessed according to Seo Gyu’s instructions was working perfectly fine.

“What’s this…?”

It was a bulletin board-style website.

The design was as crude as during the early days of PC communication.

Seo Gyu spoke with embarrassment, as if showing a childhood drawing to someone.

“S-so, this is the ability I awakened. Website operation.”

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