The Recorder I
These days, I often thought I talked too much about Dang Seo-rin.
Of course, I couldn't tell my story as a regressor without ntioning Dang Seo-rin. However, even the greatest output of the Korean Peninsula, the Great Witch of the railroad, the idol of all people, has a personal life.
Yes, a personal life.
I was not the type to actively dig into soone else's secrets, nor was I the type to interfere with their hobbies.
Even if that 'soone' was a ntally unstable, dual-personality, malicious stuttering keyboard battler.
"Ah. G-Guild leader... G-Good morning...."
Sim Ah-ryeon.
Alias: One of the greatest trolls on SG Net, known as the villain OldManGoryeo.
However, during the 50th cycle, she was praised as the [Healing Angel] for treating ordinary people for free. She even volunteered as an art teacher, school nurse, and librarian for elentary school children.
Fashion style: Prefers brown tops. Especially likes to wear a white doctor's gown over a brown turtleneck. Why? Because she wants to show off that she's an expensive healer.
Even with just this, her character seed quite amusing, but her awakening skill was even more outlandish.
Ability: Commonly known as Grudge Orb. To put it differently, she drank in all the aggro. The more she was cursed at, the stronger her healing abilities beca. Because of this ridiculous ability, Sim Ah-ryeon practically lived on SG Net, attracting all sorts of aggro.
She was practically the Anubis of the Korean Peninsula... but when it ca to her personal life, she had so surprisingly wholeso hobbies.
"Yes, good morning. Are you going out sowhere at this hour?"
"I-I thought I'd try painting again after a long ti, hehe. You gave an easel last ti, guild leader...."
Sim Ah-ryeon, who was awkwardly laughing, had a canvas and easel tucked under her arm.
Hobby: Painting.
That's right. She was actually an art student. Readers with good mories might recall that when we raided the villain OldManGoryeo's house during the 50th cycle, Sim Ah-ryeon was painting.
And... believe it or not, Sim Ah-ryeon was actually one of the most academically accomplished mbers of our guild.
Education: Art Departnt at Yewon School, Seoul Arts High School, and Seoul National University's Design Departnt—quite the royal road.
Not only that, but she also swept school art exhibitions from a young age and even won awards at various design exhibitions.
She had two minister's awards in elentary and middle school and a president's award in high school. All the aspiring art students born in the sa year and preparing for college hated Sim Ah-ryeon. Her talent for attracting aggro was evident from an early age.
Sounds like bullshit? I thought so too, so I snuck into the ruins of her schools and dug through the data. It was true.
How could this be real... Back then, I could only lant amidst the exhibition materials in the middle of a deserted school.
With such a brilliant educational and career background, what Sim Ah-ryeon mainly did was:
-OldManGoryeo: Hm... It seems you've never observed people in real life. Did you draw this with your own body as a reference? Then seriously, I recomnd you switch from illustrator to live specin in a lab.
-OldManGoryeo: Wow, jackpot. If you draw like this in an entrance exam academy, you could get your tuition refunded imdiately.
-OldManGoryeo: Seriously, I drew better than this when I was eight, lol.
These kinds of nitpicking comnts.
Or she'd draw comics that pissed people off and post them on SG Net.
Right now, Sim Ah-ryeon was smiling innocently in front of , but just last night, she had once again earned the Triple Crown of curses from SG Net mbers.
"Where are you going to paint?"
"Ah, the Han River. I thought I'd paint so landscapes while listening to the murmuring water.... The weather is really nice today. Hmm. If I get bored, I might walk around the neighborhood and offer free checkups to any sick elderly people I find...."
"Oh, Lord. Why did you give this child such an ability as Grudge Orb."
"Eh?"
"Nothing.... Anyway, you're going to the riverside in front, right? Give your bag."
"Eek. Y-You don't have to... Ah. Thank you, guild leader...."
Sim Ah-ryeon followed timidly, but once we reached the riverside and she set up her easel, her hesitation vanished.
Facing the canvas, she humd to herself, "Hmm, mmh, hmm," and began to paint with smooth, swift strokes.
"......"
Her hand moved with incredible speed, one of the virtues of a painter being 'speed'. Sim Ah-ryeon's hand was remarkably fast.
It wasn't just her hand that was fast. Having lived as a regressor, my eye for art had grown quite sharp, and Sim Ah-ryeon's painting reached a significant level, even to my discerning eyes.
"Heh... As expected. I'm a genius...."
Her occasional muttering was, well, honestly a bit cringe-worthy.
'Well. It's a much healthier hobby than trolling on the community sites.'
I shrugged.
At least until then, I had no intention of getting involved in Sim Ah-ryeon's hobbies.
The change began in the 95th cycle.
Let briefly describe the historical flow surrounding us. The first ti the teor Shower was subdued was in the 42nd cycle.
Unfortunately, due to the law of action and reaction, when the teor Shower was defeated, our awakeners also perished.
However, the ti of a regressor defies the laws of physics. By the 43rd, 44th, and 45th cycles, the strategies for dealing with the teor Shower had beco more refined.
By the 95th cycle, it could be said that the strategies were complete.
"Dang Seo-rin, when the teor Shower appears, use magic to set up a net below it."
"Huh? A net? Why?"
"Think of it as a teorite. Destroying the teorite is one thing, but the debris after destruction is also a problem, isn't it?"
"...Ah."
Listening to my advice, Dang Seo-rin began developing magic. The net magic 'Heavenly Net' solely for dealing with the teor Shower was completed. With this, the final desperate move of the teor Shower was easily sealed.
And that wasn't all.
The quest list of constellations tempting the awakened of the Korean Peninsula also evolved day by day.
The AAA-grade ga 'Growing as an Awakener on the Korean Peninsula,' planned by and serviced by the Saintess, was an open-world sandbox ultra-real MMORPG. It provided a lot of information about the voids and even offered 'customized growth' automatically.
"Huh. My awakening ability wasn't turning filth into potable water but actual purification?"
"After clearing the dungeon, a build-up guide that optimizes my ability appeared!"
"Damn. The world is shit, but at least there's a sense of growth."
"Quests are invincible, and constellations are gods!"
"Repeat after ! The teor Shower is just... a star."
Of course, all these rewards were what I had obtained by struggling as a regressor.
Running an academy and nurturing as many awakener as possible paid off. I developed their potential and optimized builds.
"Huh? The reward is... an Equivalent Exchange Grimoire? What's this?"
Just look at Dang Seo-rin; the Dang Seo-rin of the 4th cycle and the Dang Seo-rin of the 95th cycle were entirely different.
The magic she barely created over several years in previous cycles was now almost given for free.
"...Unbelievable! Such an outrageous magic exists?"
The effect was trendous.
Not only S-class individuals like Dang Seo-rin, but even most awakeners were growing rapidly like Bitcoin in the early 2020s, following an upward trend.
As a result, while it might not reach the level of the Ten Legs, the teor Shower began to join the ranks of easily defeatable strange phenona.
Udumbara? That was already included long ago.
-Kyuu҉u҉?҉
-So҉ Hu҉ngr҉y҉?҉
-̶͐ͅT̵̬̊w̶͔͝í̵̲n̴̨̈k̴̫̆ľ̶͖e̶̝͑?̸͒͜
Ah, but alas, the Korean Peninsula's strange trio that drove the early part of my regressor life into despair was now out of service.
Anyway, in all things, benefits co with drawbacks.
As the Saintess's power reached its limit, the probability of the corrupted version, the 'Executioner,' appearing increased. The sa went for others.
The awakeners had grown stronger, but they had also beco more dangerous. It was safe to say that 'acceleration' was starting.
If this were a character collection gacha mobile ga, there would be no problem. Rather, it would be advantageous.
'10th cycle Dang Seo-rin is 2-star, 50th cycle Dang Seo-rin is 3-star, 100th cycle Dang Seo-rin is 4-star! Wow! Multiple Dang Seo-rins!'
'You can sell the sa character several tis by just changing their outfits?'
'Limited edition pickup rerun! Saintess Alternative version - Executioner appears! Clairvoyance, Telepathy, Ti Stop, existing abilities greatly enhanced!'
'If you don't like it... you'll have to draw it, right?'
Etc., testing people's wallets and patience from various angles.
But as you know, this was reality. As a regressor, I had to be mindful of various side effects.
"Um... Guild leader...?"
So, if anyone in reality said such lines, one should be extrely cautious.
"Hmm? What's wrong, Ah-ryeon?"
"I-I don't know if I should say this. Actually, I shouldn't, but... but I thought maybe it might be okay if it's you, guild leader...."
"Mm? What is it? Just tell ."
"T-Then… Lean in a bit."
Sim Ah-ryeon whispered in my ear.
"Um... Guild leader. About the teor Shower. Could you maybe, even just a little, subdue it slowly...?"
?
"Why?"
"Because I want to paint it...."
?
"Why?"
"B-Because... it's so cool. Stars that bring about destruction from the sky. Creating waves of darkness. Even a lullaby from the sirens... Honestly, I think it should be preserved forever for future generations in a painting...."
???
If soone claid that Cthulhu appeared in the sea and said, 'Wow, I must paint it in hyper-realistic detail to ensure as many civilians as possible see it!', they would be treated as a lunatic. My expression at that mont was precisely like witnessing such a lunatic.
"Ah-ryeon, the guild leader is confused right now, but the teor Shower is a top-tier anomaly."
"Yes? Ah, yes... According to the library society, it's a continental-class anomaly. It's the most dangerous anomaly observed on the Korean Peninsula. I know that, of course...."
"Yet you want to leisurely paint the teor Shower? Are you serious? What if the combat team mbers die while subduing it?"
"Um... Well, I think sacrifices for the sake of art are inevitable. Last ti, I wanted to paint the Ten Legs, but... it's such a pity that the painting was lost. It's an eternal loss for humanity...."
"......"
By the way, the formal identification na for the Ten Legs by the library society is 'crawling baby Cthulhu'. Basically, Sim Ah-ryeon genuinely wanted to paint Cthulhu.
And she actually did.
It was so absurd that I set up a situation for her to paint during the next Ten Legs subjugation.
"Wow, these tentacles! So bizarre, no terrestrial, or even marine, creature has ever evolved to have these in their evolutionary history...! To think such things exist! This is unbelievable! Heh, heh. I must paint, I must paint...."
"......"
I slightly regretted it.
But the surprising fact was... Sim Ah-ryeon's paintings of anomalies posted on SG Net beca massively popular.
-Anonymous: (Doodle) Posting a small sketch of the Ten Legs today... ^^
(Image attached)
-This is the Ten Legs that was subjugated last ti! I was incredibly lucky to join the subjugation team and got a chance to sketch it! But the team fought so well that I didn't have enough ti to sketch... ㅠㅠ
-It's embarrassing, but I hope this helps other awakeners who couldn't join the subjugation get a sense of what the Ten Legs looked like... So I'm posting it here...!
-Postscript: It seems SG Net lowers image quality every ti you upload a file, which is always a shaㅠㅠ. Admins, please do your best...!
Hmm.
Yes. I know what you want to say. Unfortunately, this really was a post written by Sim Ah-ryeon (aka villain OldManGoryeo).
She just wrote it anonymously instead of with her official nickna.
Naturally, comnts with a completely opposite sentint to the usual trolling posts of the villain OldManGoryeo flooded in.
-[Baekhwa] SixthGrader: Wow! It's so pretty!! (>_
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