Discord: sdsc.gg/reapercomics
◈ I’m an Infinite Regressor, But I’ve Got Stories to Tell
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The Exile VII
After safely escorting the students to Busan and spending around two months juggling a hectic schedule, I finally managed to arrange to et with Ji-soo personally.
It wasn’t in any way a date. If it had been one, I would never in my life have committed the atrocity of bringing Dok-seo along as a third wheel.
An awkward silence sucked air from the room.
“So, uh... This person is...?”
“Call Dok-seo,” said the otaku, wearing a baseball cap tipped low over her face. “But don’t pay any mind. I’m more of a—ehhh—let’s it “bystander.” I consider silence a virtue. If one wishes to stand at the forefront of the stage, it’s not yet the season of harvest. The autumn breeze... It is still faint.”
“You really don’t need to concern yourself with this kid, Ji-soo,” I quickly interjected, seeing Ji-soo’s expression grow increasingly grim. “I just brought her along because she’s a very useful Awakener. Now, please, hear out.”
“Oh. Alright, then.”
An hour passed.
It was enough ti to reveal that I was a regressor and to explain the incidents that had occurred in the previous cycle. Ji-soo carefully chose her words when responding.
“So what you’re saying is... Beneath the surface of this country’s secret organizations, there are extensive facilities used to abduct and torture orphans. And I was captured there, subjected to those thods, and forcibly turned into an Awakener with supernatural abilities?”
“That’s right.”
“I see...” she mused calmly while her expression scread, What the hell?
It was to be expected, really. If soone told you that a psychopath had imprisoned your past self, your soul had been crushed to the point of no return, and you ultimately took your own life—that brutal, fairytale ending—it would be hard to accept, wouldn’t it?
“I... Well, I can understand up to the part where you said my past self went through so terrible misfortunes in the previous cycle.”
Even so, Ji-soo made every effort to remain polite toward . I had saved her and her upperclassmates at school from near death and guided them safely to Busan, after all. She hadn’t forgotten that debt of gratitude.
Ji-soo’s jet-black eyes glead as she said, “But even if that’s true, wouldn’t it be best to sever ties with that piece of human trash? I should focus on living a happy life for myself.”
A surprisingly reasonable opinion!
“The part I find most incomprehensible is the decision my past self made. To do it in the na of vengeance against that psychopath is one thing—and yes, revenge is fine—but why choose a path that makes miserable?”
It was a valid point. Ji-soo of the 704th cycle, who hadn’t experienced the horrors of the Misfortune Workshop, possessed an entirely rational way of thinking. If she went to a psychological counseling center and took the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2),[1] the doctor would probably say, “You have a completely healthy mind! Just watch your caffeine intake. We don’t treat normal people like you here, so please leave!”
For reference, Ji-won would also be told to leave, but for the opposite reason where the doctor might scream, “Eek! Get this monster out of our hospital!”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t inherit the will of my past self. Nor do I want to. While I appreciate your efforts, Undertaker...”
“No. That’s the normal response.”
“Right...”
In many ways, her reaction was the complete opposite of Ji-won’s, I realized. With that silver-haired psychopath, there existed a secret keyword—a single magical phrase capable of instantly convincing her of any bizarre phenonon.
“I know that in the sumr of your 14th year, when you were in middle school, you dismbered your family and dumped them in the Minari Pond at Mount Dobong.”
That single sentence was enough to convince Ji-won of the reality that a regressor was standing before her, acting as a courier who delivered her final will to the next cycle. She even went above and beyond, synchronizing her past self with her present self, much like a player inheriting a save file.
But most people didn’t think that way. Even if they had endured hell itself, even if they had incinerated their souls with hatred for another, conveying that feeling to their future self was impossible.
At tis, the distance between oneself and one’s self was greater than the distance between two strangers. Kim Ji-soo understood this well.
“That’s why I plan to try sothing a little unusual today.”
This was sothing the Ji-soo from the 703rd cycle had already anticipated.
“What do you an?” the Ji-soo standing before asked.
“As I said, your past self wanted, in so way, to ensure her hatred was conveyed to the next cycle. But she also knew that just explaining everything wouldn’t suddenly make you go, ‘Ah, yes, I’ll live a life consud by rage now.’ This might sound like a complint, but the Ji-soo from the 703rd cycle was quite clever.”
Ji-soo visibly stiffened.
There was a subtle discomfort in her deanor. However little emotion her face conveyed, she seed to have sensed an underlying unease.
Not feeling the need to correct her assumption, I turned and looked down to Dok-seo where she sat beside . “Are you ready?”
Dok-seo nodded. “Of course. I’ve been ready for this mont for 12,000 years.”
Ji-soo tilted her head in confusion, her gaze flicking between us.
At that mont, a faint lody began to fill the air of the café, which had been quiet despite being fully seated.
Having spent nearly two months in Busan, Ji-soo had been sufficiently educated on the fact that Anomalies could appear anywhere, anyti. She instinctively scanned her surroundings.
“Is it an Anomaly?”
“No. Don’t worry, it’s just a song I asked an Awakener I know to play. It’s not your average tune, though,” I added, chuckling wryly. “Ji-soo, could you close your eyes for a mont?”
“Well... Alright.”
The lody gradually swelled. What began as a monotonous hum, simple like running tap water, slowly grew in volu and richness.
“Ah.”
Although her eyes remained closed, Ji-soo’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.
By this point, she must have realized what the song was. It was Busan’s fad specialty, Seo-rin’s Cursed Song Incantation. For the general public, hearing this lody was a rare luxury, afforded once a month over radio waves. Now, it resonated in this café, played for the sake of one person.
No, perhaps it was composed for two.
Repetition, Target Designation, Illusion, Modulation—these four verses ford a harmonious lody, encircling the space around us.
Soon, the speaker volu decreased, and the song transitioned into a soft, looping background track.
“You can open your eyes now.”
Ji-soo’s jet-black eyes opened. “Ah?”
A flicker of starlight trembled within them as the sunlight streaming through the window cast its glow, creating faint silhouettes of objects, softening the clarity of shapes in her gaze. Within her eyes rested the reflection of Dok-seo sitting beside .
“Greetings.”
However, the face reflected in Ji-soo’s eyes was not Dok-seo’s. Even the voice layered over the Cursed Song Incantation’s background lody was not Dok-seo’s.
“The 704th cycle .”
Dok-seo’s eyes, gleaming with a deep, swamp-like green hue, looked at her.
“Perhaps it’s more fitting to say, ‘It’s nice to et you.’ I am the 703rd cycle’s you.”
Ji-soo from this cycle froze, inhaling sharply.
“I am Ji-soo.”
Now, the performance began.
sdsc.gg/reapercomics
In the forest where Ji-won had departed and disappeared, a conversation between two people had taken place.
Q: Think it over. For the Ji-soo of the next cycle, it would an having their life direction determined by soone who lived an entirely different path. Would your next self truly accept that?
A: If she doesn’t, then that’s where it ends. My grudge. My pain. My wounds. This blazing heart of mine... would simply amount to sothing that could not surpass a single lifeti.
When I had posed the question in another life, that was how the Ji-soo from the 703rd cycle answered, by acknowledging the possibility that her hatred might fail to reach her next self.
A: But... there’s a way.
Ard with that knowledge, Ji-soo began to devise a plan.
She did not believe in sentintal notions like “a strong will transcends cycles” or “resolve can be inherited across ti.” Even at the peak of her rage-consud life, she remained a rational strategist.
Just like her godmother.
Q: A way?
A: Yes. My godmother often told us stories about you, Undertaker. Among those tales, she ntioned that you possessed Complete mory.
Q: And if that’s true?
The Ji-soo of the 703rd cycle took a deep breath and stared directly at .
A: Then please... act as .
Q: What?
A: The Ji-soo of the next cycle won’t be able to empathize with just by hearing words alone. That’s why... there must be direct communication.
A: I’m not a regressor like you, Undertaker. I can’t perform the miracle of conversing with my next self.
A: But... through you...
A: It might be possible to deliver my ssage.
Q: ...
A: I will preemptively answer every question that the Ji-soo of the next cycle might ask . All of their doubts. All of their countless uncertainties.
A: My answers. My expressions. My voice.
A: My emotions.
A: ...Everything about .
A: Please rember it all, Undertaker. Then recreate it, and convey it to the next Ji-soo.
Q: ...
A: Ha-yul sunbae has the ability to manipulate puppets. If they craft a puppet resembling , and you and Lee sunbae work together to control it, you’ll be able to replicate my appearance.
Q: No. That’s a valid thod, but there’s an even better solution.
A: What is it?
Dok-seo.
A child who had been part of the 703rd Punishnt Unit with us, and more recently, a colleague who had Awakened the ability called Side Story Creation.
Q: Dok-seo has the power to perfectly embody the existence of a past cycle.
Using Side Story Creation, Dok-seo had previously acted as a long-forgotten Saintess and even reenacted the fury of a glacial era. The ability was limited to recreating people I had personally encountered and rembered, but with my Complete mory, I could recall every detail of their actions and behavior. Based on my data, Dok-seo’s acting achieved a resolution so vivid that it verged on reality.
I myself had once been so engrossed in her Side Story that I got scolded by the Saintess for acting like an internet-addicted shut-in.
Of course, everything in life has its pros and cons. Dok-seo’s ability could also be used to save soone.
I ca to this obvious realization while speaking with the Ji-soo of the 703rd cycle.
Q: I’ll combine that with Seo-rin’s Cursed Song Incantation. Since Dok-seo’s acting doesn’t extend to mimicking appearances or voices, I’ll ask Seo-rin to implent Vocal Modulation and Illusion techniques into the song. That will handle those gaps.
A: ...That’s impressive.
Q: Then let’s begin.
A: Yes.
Q: Ti for a Q&A session.
An age-old question arose here.
Could emotions be conveyed? Could willpower be inherited?
The human heart could not directly connect to another while willpower lacked substance and could not leap across the chasm between cycles.
But regressors existed. And regressors had the power to rember anything.
Through my mories, the transparent wish of Seo-rin—to “soday travel the world along the railway tracks”—was passed to the next cycle’s Seo-rin.
Through my mories, the vague yet undeniable desire of Ha-yul to “beco a little happier” reached the Ha-yul of the next cycle.
The sa was true for Ji-soo.
One week. It happened one week after Ji-soo and I made our secret pact in the forest.
I had ntioned before that Ji-soo had taken her own life a week later. So might have posed a certain question after hearing the story.
Q: Why did Ji-soo end her life in just one week?
However, that question was fundantally flawed.
Ji-soo had always been on the verge of giving up her life. The mont she realized she could never harm her godmother’s heart, her urge to embrace death had simply reached its tipping point. Thus, the question should have been refrad like this:
Q: Why did Ji-soo endure for an entire week before taking her own life?
The answer was simple.
For one week, she and I secretly t every night to conduct tens of thousands of “Q&A sessions.” She imprinted herself as vividly as possible into my mory. Together, we ticulously organized every potential question her future self might ask, and the Ji-soo of the 703rd cycle answered them all.
She docunted everything. She gathered every valuable piece of her life and entrusted them to —the regressor who served as a ti capsule.
And so...
“Ask anything,” Dok-seo said, her voice steady and unwavering. “I’m ready for it all.”
After one autumn and one winter had passed, the mories Ji-soo had buried in the regressor’s mind were finally delivered.
Beside , Dok-seo opened the ti capsule.
Footnotes:
[1] The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) is the most widely used psychotric test for asuring adult psychopathology in the world.
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