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

Chapter 288

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

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The Hypocrite VII

Ji-won lied as naturally as a bodybuilder gulping down high-quality carbohydrates whole-grain pasta made from 100% durum wheat—akin to eating brown rice—during a bulking phase. Despite promising to return in “20 minutes,” after leaving behind a pink gas thick enough to suffocate an elephant, she reappeared only after 40 minutes.

“Reporting my return.”

The click-clack of polished shoe soles echoed briskly as Ji-won entered the tunnel.

“Can you hear me, Your Excellency? Hmm... I see your entire body is trembling,” Ji-won muttered to herself. “If you had circulated your Aura even once, you wouldn’t have suffered any adverse effects. As expected of Your Excellency, the Undertaker. You possess a will that far surpasses the patience of any ordinary human.”

One step.

“I acknowledge that I returned later than the previously promised time. I ask for your understanding. This, too, was part of your command to resist with all my strength... Twenty minutes. It is the time frame given to those tasked to endure this hell before it can end. The despair that strikes when such hope is severed without warning... That is when a person’s mental fortitude truly begins to crumble.”

Ji-won took another step, drawing nearer by the sound of it. Judging by the muffled quality of her voice, she was still wearing her gas mask. It made sense—the gas lingering in the area was potent enough to warrant caution. While its release had stopped five minutes prior, it had yet to be properly ventilated out.

“But don’t worry.” My vision dimmed slightly as Ji-won’s shadow fell over my closed eyelids. “I have no intention of subduing Your Excellency by force in your current state. What I’m planning now is psychological pressure. It’s not too late to release your anger and—”

My eyes flashed open and my arm shot out like lightning, gripping Ji-won’s wrist. I tugged, flipping her over, and she lost her balance and collapsed beneath me with a thud.

There was no escape now. It was time for some wrestling.

Ji-won stared up at my face, her pupils dilated with surprise as I pinned her down so she was unable to move.

“Incomprehensible. I used a drug newly concocted by Uehara Shino using her Awakener abilities. I confirmed that even a bear would become incapacitated within two minutes of administration—and yet... Oh, I see. You’ve been using your Aura all along, haven’t you?”

“Do you think I’d use it?”

My fingers trembled as I twisted her wrist.

Even now, it felt like my brain was being scorched, my nerves snapping like brittle twigs. My pulse hammered at 175 bpm. Each breath brought no relief—my lungs were filled with residual pink gas that clung to every breath, leaving an unshakable sensation of suffocation as the pink slime filling my body radiated an unbearable heat.

Indeed, Uehara Shino was an alchemist so brilliant in the early cycles that she made Sim Ah-ryeon seem insignificant by comparison.

Even so, I endured.

I gritted my teeth and exhaled harshly. “The only issue here is that you made the wrong request of Shino. A drug that reveals the depths of human desire and nature?”

I let out a ragged breath, yet even that wasn’t enough to calm the turmoil in my chest. It felt like I needed to rip open my ribcage to expose my heart and lungs.

“It’s flawed—seriously flawed. If you had instead requested a drug that abnormally amplifies desires or suppresses rationality, you might’ve achieved better results... This is my true nature—my essence—Ji-won. Since at least the 42nd cycle, I have never lived against my true nature.”

Ji-won, who had been silently gazing up at me, finally spoke. “Indeed. It seems I made an uncharacteristic mistake.”

“That’s right. You should surrender—”@@@@

“Then I shall resist to the bitter end.” She whipped her body around, thrashing desperately to escape my hold.

“Hey! Now of all times?!”

“I am merely following orders.”

What followed was less a fight and more an outright brawl.

The operations team—the National Road Management Corps—was a force of elite Awakeners, tasked with suppressing conflicts across the Korean Peninsula. They were essentially the strongest among the strong. In every cycle, Ji-won retained her position as its team leader. Not only was she skilled in weapons like axes and swords, but she was also a formidable wrestler. RáNỘꞖƐS

Crash! Bam!

Ji-won and I rolled across the floor of the underwater tunnel, grappling in a chaotic melee.

“Give up! Or else I’ll actually break your arm!”

“One’s already broken... If you don’t release me... I’ll drive a knife into your side...”

“You lunatic! How can you not scream when your broken arm is being twisted?!”

He expressed all this through the steam rising from a cup of café au lait.

“Even so, I wanted to create a variable for you, Your Excellency.”

Though she had never met Emit Schopenhauer, she had deduced the truth behind my actions. Just as I had gradually understood the psychopathic tendencies and principles driving Yu Ji-won, she had dissected the structure of my existence as a regressor.

“The suffering inflicted on ordinary people in this cycle will disappear in the next. It will all be reset,” she argued. “If we can identify someone with the potential for teleportation, there will be no need to resort to such pain in subsequent cycles. More delicate methods can be employed. Don’t you agree, Your Excellency?”

I shook my head slightly. “No.”

“Why not?”

“The world doesn’t reset entirely, Ji-won. My memories and existence as a regressor always persist.”

“Are you saying your conscience suffers as a result?”

“It’s far worse than that. I would turn into an Anomaly.”

She went quiet.

“If I began justifying torment, torture, and betrayal by claiming they wouldn’t carry over to the next cycle... If I deliberately chose such actions... then I wouldn’t be the Undertaker anymore. I would be nothing but a mere Corrupted.”

A Corrupted.

A regressor.

“I refuse to let all the meaning in my life culminate in such a fate.”

“I see.” Ji-won rested part of the weight of her head against my outstretched hand. “You’ve been fighting not only the world but also a constant battle against yourself.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

“I’m the same. I, too, constantly suppress my rising urges to kill.”

“No, this cycle seems like the one where you’ve given in completely...”

“Since we’re on the topic, let me ask: in all the cycles, have I ever killed the National Road Management Corps’s leader, Noh Do-hwa?”

I blinked. “Uh...”

“Not due to possession by an Anomaly or wartime necessity, but a deliberate act of murder. Have I ever committed such an evil deed?”

“No, you haven’t.”

“Hmm.” She nodded slightly. “Indeed, it’s just as I thought. I must commend my restraint.”

“You wanted... to kill Noh Do-hwa?”

“Of course. What self-respecting murderer wouldn’t want to target such a prime figure?”

I was utterly taken aback.

Just as I struggled to process that shocking confession, Ji-won dealt another blow.

“Dang Seo-rin, Cheon Yo-hwa, and even Lee Ha-yul all qualify as tantalizing prey. Oh Dok-seo and Sim Ah-ryeon? Not bad—like indulging in junk food. It’s unfortunate that the Saintess is dead. I would have loved to savor that experience.”

“You lunatic.”

“But the crown jewel, of course, is none other than Your Excellency.”

Ji-won smiled faintly.

“Please live long, Your Excellency.”

That smile shocked me more than all her prior revelations. I could only stare blankly.

“You are the sole reason I haven’t operated as a murderer, Your Excellency.”

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