Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Infinite Regression Gallery
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Han Seol, 24 years old.
Proudly passed the GED, had nothing to do so voluntarily enlisted, then completed full-term discharge from the Army.
The only certification he possessed was a driver’s license.
For reference, he had no parents, and his job was a rice seller.
Of course, not real rice.
The only things he knew how to do were click-clicking and saying “the physical is insane.”
Earning money in the neural world for eighteen hours a day, selling rice and eating—that was my entire life.
“Hm.”
So where is this place.
Until I dozed off in front of the computer and smashed my head into the keyboard, it should have been home.
In the corner of my room, diligently selling rice day by day through some game… no, living.
When I opened my eyes, I was in a place I had never seen before.
It was a circular cave-like place where faint light seeped in.
‘There are five passages.’
Mysterious passages whose insides could not be seen at all were carved into the walls.
If I had to express the directions, one each at 1 o’clock, 5 o’clock, 7 o’clock, and 11 o’clock at regular intervals.
And at the 12 o’clock direction, there existed one passage that looked relatively small.
‘So what is that.’
-1-
[Apocalypse 364:16:54:35]
[Section 6:16:54:35]
[ 0 / 7 ]
Above the 12 o’clock passage, glowing letters and numbers were floating.
The numbers were decreasing by one every second. Probably a timer.
The one above was probably one year, and the one below was probably one week.
‘The word apocalypse bothers me, but…’
There was something more concerning than that, so I had no choice but to turn my head.
Sparkle sparkle.
A star flaunting its radiance right in front of my eyes.
More precisely, something like a silver star candy was emitting light in all directions.
A dark space of unknown meaning, a meaningless star floating in the air and glowing.
Other than that, there was only one body. My sweet bed, and the computer that had been my workplace, were all gone.
‘…Is there really nothing?’
If I was summoned somewhere, couldn’t they at least explain it?
My mouth went dry. In the unknown situation, my heart began pounding on its own.
Was this the isekai summoning I’d only heard about, did I suddenly die in my sleep, or was I kidnapped somewhere. Anyone was fine, so I wished someone would explain.
After scratching my head for a moment in the unfriendly situation, I felt a heavy sensation in my pocket.
“Oh.”
My little strong Han Seol… no, my cellphone.
If the computer was my workplace, the cellphone was my business trip location.
When my waist hurt and I couldn’t endure it, I would lie on the bed and run remote.
‘This causes farming loss.’
Without much thought, I tried to turn on the remote app, but the app didn’t exist.
The mobile games I had installed, the web novels, webtoons, and OTT—all the dopamine lumps that helped my grinding—were all gone.
No signal, out of service range, and I couldn’t turn on Wi-Fi or data.
‘……Am I screwed?’
Then I can’t even report it.
What can I even do with a phone that can’t even send a distress signal—
‘Gallery?’
A blue background with white letters.
As I swiped the screen, I found an app that felt extremely familiar.
Maybe because I found something familiar in a situation disconnected from reality, it felt like my tension loosened a little.
There were also the actual gallery apps like the photo album and camera, but those didn’t interest me much.
“Gallery….”
Suddenly my blood boiled.
The heart of a likable (not likable) fixed-nick (not fixed-nick) user was pounding.
At least here, I was a ninja and a witch. Multi—no, clone techniques could be used freely.
Well, since there was no VPN, one IP ban would be the end, but still, my heart was pounding.
‘Does it even connect.’
Even though there was no internet connection, wondering if it would even open, I touched the gallery.
[Infinite Regression Gallery]
[A gallery where those trapped in endless hell share stories with one another]
‘Brutal.’
I laughed hollowly at the name of the only gallery that appeared the moment I entered.
When you say infinite regression, it’s usually not a good thing. Some anime, some web novels—the content was quite harsh.
[Climbing Tower 100 floors is fucking awful no matter how many times] (12)
[What’s the hideout reward on the 100th run?] (7)
[Apocalypse in 3 days and 90 floors left lol] (54)
[I’m a newbie, do people wait until the timer ends before using it?] (14)
[When does an Irregular appear… I really want to go home] (35)
‘Normal posts don’t seem useful right now.’
After roughly looking over the posts whose contents I couldn’t tell, I immediately checked the featured posts.
[★ Why isn’t our Manager a cute girl?] (117)
[★ 1st run climb finished newbie review.txt] (260)
[★ Ah fuck the newbie I was taking care of seems dead?] (320)
[★ 548th run illegal magic duel winner] (999+)
[★ 6373] (999+)
The number of comments was larger than I expected. Of course, one person could have written multiple times, but the gallery population seemed larger than I thought.
‘This doesn’t seem helpful either.’
Just as I was about to click the “1st run climb finished newbie review,” a newly featured post appeared, and as if possessed, I touched it.
[★ Holy fucking shit, found an Irregular on the 263rd run lol] (178)
[Author: Luck Fairy]
(Photo of a shining star floating in the air)
Fuck, finally, finally, finally, finally!!!!!!!!!
Unlucky trash bastards, goodbye. Hyung ascends first lol.
I compared the photo to the thing floating in front of me.
‘No matter how I look at it, it’s the same.’
I didn’t know exactly what it was.
But roughly speaking, this star-like thing floating in the air seemed to be what they called an “Irregular.”
‘An item… maybe?’
I didn’t really know what Irregular or ascension meant.
But I could roughly understand that it was something valuable.
The star suddenly emitted blinding light.
Each time I refreshed the gallery, dozens of comments increased.
My mouth corners naturally went up.
‘Okay.’
Where this place was, what this thing was.
I didn’t know any of that.
But I realized what I needed to do right now.
Staying here trembling like an idiot wouldn’t change anything.
There existed something that could only be done at this moment.
I immediately exited the gallery and turned on the camera.
In my life, a camera was something I only used to take pictures of fried chicken to upload at dawn, but this time, the level was different.
Click.
[Is this a good thing?]
[Author: Anon]
(Photo of a shining star floating in the air)
I don’t know where this place is, but when I opened my eyes this was here…
I’m starving to death, but instead of something like this couldn’t you give food…ㅠ
‘I can’t hold this back.’
* * *
Ding.
Ding ding.
Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding—
“Wow.”
Is this the life of an insider?
This feeling where all the world’s attention is directed at me, my body trembled from the thrill.
When I refreshed, comments increased by five… no, ten at a time.
The recommendation count was increasing by one per second. The downvotes were rising about five times faster, though.
[Comments]
??
Is this real?
Are you serious?
Isn’t this bait?
And then—
[This ID has been banned by the Infinite Regression Manager.]
[Ban duration: Permanent]
[Reason: Theft, impersonation, baiting]
[Handled by: Eraser Not Me]
“…What?”
Perfect trinity. I was labeled as a troll.
Why? What did I do?
If the ban reason were bragging, I could understand, but theft, impersonation, baiting?
‘And permanent?’
This is really unfair.
I wanted to ask the reason, but I couldn’t even enter the gallery.
A gallery that doesn’t even let you view posts—what kind of gallery is that?
At the very least, shouldn’t they let me explain?
‘I can’t even change my ID…’
There was only nickname change in the settings.
Creating a new account or changing IP was impossible.
“I shouldn’t have posted….”
The only means of communication, the only place to get information, disappeared.
All that remained was the shining star.
‘…Still.’
At least it looked better than entering those pitch-black passages.
They said it was valuable.
Gulp.
The ascension talk from the featured posts came to mind.
I clenched my teeth and reached out toward the star.
Then the star burst into brilliant light—
“…That’s not happening, right?”
Nothing happened.
It was hard.
I tried throwing it on the ground, but it didn’t break.
No strange doll turned me into a magical girl, no dragon appeared to grant wishes.
“Hm….”
Holding the star candy, I blankly looked up.
Where exactly was this place?
Was the endless hell mentioned in the gallery description referring to this meaningless space?
“I want to go into the gallery….”
I hadn’t even enjoyed the reactions fully.
I hadn’t obtained any information.
Being permanently banned over a non-stolen image was unfair.
“If only the internet connected…”
At that moment—
The star candy in my arms started to become warm.
Its light grew stronger.
“W-wait… what is this? Is it exploding?!”
I threw it away in panic.
The light was blinding.
“Please please please…!”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
But instead of an explosion—
A translucent window floated in front of me.
[■■□□□□□□□□]
A loading bar?
[■■■■■□□□□]
The star candy disappeared.
[■■■■■■■■■■]
Ding!
[Your wish is adjusted to match your current location.]
[Your wish is reinterpreted to suit the situation.]
[Your wish has been approved by the star.]
“…Internet?”
[Camera] [Gallery] [Internet]
A new app appeared.
I tapped Internet.
[Gallery] [Star Wiki]
I tapped Gallery.
[Create new account]
“…!”
It seemed I had obtained the ability to create blank accounts.
* * *
[Infinite Regression Gallery]
Account creation was successful.
Since it was a gallery I had entered countless times, I smiled, feeling as if I had returned to my hometown.
‘Then now, I’ll start the rage-filled manager assassination—’
Just as I was about to look for the featured post I had written, wondering what kind of comment the manager had left while banning me—
“……”
I froze when I saw that my post did not exist anywhere.
The featured posts I had seen earlier were lined up, but the post I had written was nowhere to be found.
Among all those featured posts, only the one I wrote had disappeared.
‘This… can’t be….’
My hands trembled. I could have seen the highest recommendation count and downvote count of my life, but it seemed that the incompetent Eraser had deleted the post.
I couldn’t endure it anymore. This was basically turning the petition board into a gladiator arena.
This was not something to let slide easily.
Even if they banned me, they should have left the post. This clearly crossed the line.
[Isn’t pulling aggro with Irregulars nostalgic though] (21)
[Isn’t permanent ban literally hell?] (11)
[6373 << This guy was trapped in the Tower even before the gallery existed lol] (56)
[I’m barely at 100 runs so I’m laughing, but if it goes past 1000 runs my head would go weird lol] (34)
[He’s just an idiot, it’s not the first time seeing this, why react so much] (17)
Looking at the post list, the aftermath of my post still remained.
Roughly several pages were filled with posts about me. At first, people had been unsure whether it was real or not, but after the moment I got banned, public opinion seemed to have changed.
They were treating me as a low-grade aggro troll and a photo-stealing nuisance.
[A new permanent-ban victim after 80 years lol] (57)
Judging by the reactions, permanent bans didn’t seem to be common.
[☆ Since I banned them, please don’t mention it further...] (335)
[Author: Eraser Not Me🔸]
They were even praising her in the comments of a post where the manager herself said she personally banned me and asked people not to mention it anymore.
No, what did she even do? Why is she being praised?
I didn’t post it to get praise, but banning someone for theft, impersonation, baiting—this was too much.
[★ If you praise the manager you get auto-recommend lol] (108)
[Author: Orange Sex]
(A picture of a cute girl personifying the manager)
As expected, Infinite Regression Gallery is finally normalized thanks to the manager
(The coolest beauty, rumored to be the prettiest in the gallery, S-class body, virgin)
Recommendations 348 / Downvotes 1
[Comments]
Manager! Manager! Manager!
Look, the one downvote is transparent;
I should’ve confirmed if he was a water mage before banning him though
┗ Fact is, he looked exactly like the average fire mage lol
What? Wasn’t the manager a cute girl?
She is. Just not a virgin apparently
(Unicorn crying icon)
Even the manager-praise post that had just been uploaded reached featured status in just a few seconds.
All the recommendations and comments that should have been mine were being stolen by the manager.
‘This won’t end with a 1v1 duel.’
I, Han Seol, was disappointed in the gallery users.
If my mood was ruined, then you guys should feel the same.
‘Temporary post save.’
Using only a phone to troll isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible either.
If I temporarily saved the same post dozens, hundreds of times, and then just positioned my finger—
[Manager, why did you ban me?]
[Manager, why did you ban me?]
[Why is the Heart Tower writing posts now?]
[Manager, why did you ban me?]
[How are you alive if you were banned?]
[Manager, why did you ban me?]
A pseudo-spam device completed without manually writing posts one by one.
[This ID has been banned by the Infinite Regression Manager.]
‘I expected this.’
I immediately created a new account.
[Manager, why did you ban me again?]
Twice. Three times. Four times.
After repeating bans and account creation for a while, a surrender declaration finally arrived from Eraser.
Eraser Not Me🔸: What on earth is this…? I banned you, so how are you continuously entering…?
Eraser Not Me🔸: I thought you were different people, but are you really the same person from earlier…?
Banned Newbie (Author): Why ban me?
Banned Newbie (Author): Answer.
Eraser Not Me🔸: If you steal Irregular certification photos, it’s a permanent ban, it’s written…
Banned Newbie (Author): Where is that written
Eraser Not Me🔸: In the notice…
Banned Newbie (Author): Who reads that
Eraser Not Me🔸: …Yes?
Who reads gallery notices.
In the first place, it wasn’t impersonation or theft.
[Manager, look]
[Author: Banned Newbie]
(Photo of shining star floating in the air 1)
(Photo of shining star floating in the air 2)
Uploading from different angles just in case you don’t believe it
You don’t believe it’s 1st run? If there’s another way to certify, I’ll do it
I uploaded several photos I had taken beforehand.
If this was still called impersonation or theft, there would be no answer.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
When I refreshed due to the insane notifications, dozens of people were spamming question marks.
[Comments]
Is this for real???
Isn’t this actually an Irregular? Doesn’t look stolen
6373: Is this really 1st run…?
This is actually hilarious lol
I’ve never seen this guy talk before
Still don’t know, could be stolen too
How are you entering when you were banned?
Among the flood of similar comments, I found one that seemed helpful.
If it’s not fake, the run number floats above the hideout, take a picture of that and upload it
‘Hideout?’
I didn’t know what a hideout was, but the only floating thing was the numbers above the passage.
Wondering if the top number meant run count, I immediately photographed it.
[Is this the run count?]
[Author: Banned Newbie]
(Photo of floating numbers and timer)
-1- ? This means 1st run, right? See, it’s real
‘…Why aren’t notifications coming?’
The sounds that should have been ringing madly weren’t happening.
Not just comments, even posts weren’t updating.
Was there lag? Or did the world—no, the gallery—freeze?
[Did I get banned again?]
I wrote another post just in case, but I wasn’t banned.
After refreshing several times with no response, I scratched my head.
Dingdingdingdingding!
“Look at that firepower.”
I laughed hollowly at the phone ringing madly again.
Shock. Confusion. Those words described the comments flooding in.
Most were question marks, but the heated reaction oddly made me proud.
‘I, Han Seol, can control your emotions.’
[Alright, got it, manager answer]
[Author: Banned Newbie]
Aren’t you apologizing already?
You branded someone as a troll and now you’re staying silent?
When it’s this hot, there’s no need to comment.
Just posting alone duplicates featured posts.
[☆ Alright, got it, manager answer] (131)
[☆ Did I get banned again?] (71)
[★ Is this the run count?] (320)
[★ Manager, look] (468)
‘Four featured posts in a row is a new record.’
And hundreds of comments on each.
As I smiled at the cheers filling the gallery, a comment from the manager finally appeared.
Eraser Not Me🔸: I’m sorry… I’ve never seen it appear on a 1st run… I thought it doesn’t appear on the 1st run…
Banned Newbie (Author): Okay, I’ll let it go
Eraser Not Me🔸: I’m really sorry for doubting you… I lifted all the bans…
Eraser Not Me🔸: After several theft incidents, we’ve been managing more strictly…
Banned Newbie (Author): Okay, fine!
Since I got an apology, I coolly forgave her.
With one featured post duplicated four times, I’d been compensated enough.
Ding!
Eraser Not Me🔸: Sorry, but how are you continuously making IDs…? That function shouldn’t exist…
‘Mm, that’s understandable.’
From her perspective, this must have felt like a disaster.
In a world without the concept of blank accounts, a monster called me appeared.
Banned-Lifted Newbie (Author): I grabbed that star and said I wanted to gallery, and it became possible lol
After kindly answering, I waited for her response.
Dingdingdingdingdingding!!!
I blinked at a reaction incomparable to anything before.
Below my reply to the manager, literally everyone in the gallery was commenting.
‘…Why are they acting like this?’
Every single person was shocked.
Some were laughing madly, but no one explained why.
As hundreds of identical reactions piled up, I tilted my head and wrote another post.
[So what is the star candy I posted??]
[Author: Banned-Lifted Newbie]
I roughly get that it’s something big
[Comments]
Eraser Not Me🔸: We call it an Irregular… um… simply put…
Banned-Lifted Newbie (Author): Yeah yeah, just say it clearly
Feeling frustrated at her hesitation, I replied.
Eraser Not Me🔸: It’s a star that grants wishes… more precisely, the only way to escape this place…
Banned-Lifted Newbie (Author): ?
Eraser Not Me🔸: You prayed with it to be able to gallery…
Banned-Lifted Newbie (Author): ?
Eraser Not Me🔸: It’s something you can obtain roughly once every thousand years—
Thud!
I immediately threw my phone.
A thousand… years? Humans can’t even live that long.
You’re telling me I used a wish-granting star, the only means of escaping this place, to make a blank account?
Ding!
“….”
Hoping it wasn’t true, I picked up the still-ringing phone.
The last comment notification.
Dog Barks at Idiots: (Dog barking madly icon)
“Ah.”
I’m screwed.
* * *
“Haa….”
How much time had passed.
I was sitting on the floor, only staring at my phone.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
“Kukukuk….”
I laughed hollowly at the nonstop notifications.
It wasn’t even funny, but laughter kept coming out.
Someone there is a person who throws away something everyone cries their whole life wanting?
This is legendary
I’ve been here a long time, but this is the first Irregular post I’m not jealous of
Why didn’t you transfer it then!! Why!!!
‘Still… well.’
After sitting blankly for a long time, I slowly lifted my head.
I don’t regret it. Really.
I didn’t know where this was, or what an Irregular was.
If I had touched the star and made a strange wish, I might not even have been able to see the gallery.
Banned-Lifted Newbie (Author): If you guys had fun then it’s fine lol
┗ You’ll grow big someday
┗ (Dog tilting head icon)
Going back home, my life wouldn’t be beautiful anyway.
No parents. No friends to meet in reality.
A life of locking myself in a room, selling rice for eighteen hours a day.
If I had to return to that life, maybe having a different experience wasn’t bad.
At least now—
Ding! Dingding!
With the insane notifications, I could feel that I was alive.
‘Being able to gallery is nice!’
Good is good.
Eraser Not Me🔸: Still… don’t give up and climb the Tower…
Eraser Not Me🔸: You see the section timer, right? Please read the notice… please…
Eraser Not Me🔸: I’ll cheer for you… I’m worried since you don’t know anything…
Banned-Lifted Newbie (Author): You’re the one who banned me so I couldn’t leave
Eraser Not Me🔸: I’m sorry… if you have questions, I’ll answer everything…
Banned-Lifted Newbie (Author): Just kidding lol, my fault for bragging
Eraser Not Me🔸: (Weird creature crying icon)
‘Climb the Tower…’
After replying casually, I turned my head.
The small passage at the 12 o’clock direction.
If I went in there, would there be something called a Tower?
[Section 6:16:31:18]
Looking at the timer with less than a week remaining, I slowly stood up.
‘Anyway…’
The water had already spilled.
Then there was only one thing left to do.
“…Should I try entering once.”
I slowly walked toward the passage.
With a meaningless smile,
I threw my body toward the pitch-black darkness.