Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Second Resolution #2
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What the hell kind of mail is this? Why is there so much of it?
With trembling hands, I checked the mailbox.
*Rustle.*
[Message: You have acquired a new achievement.]
-Achievement: First to Die
-Achievements are automatically claimed.
"What the...?"
Why is an achievement coming through mail?
I immediately checked the titles tab, and sure enough, a new title called "First to Die" had been added. As expected, achievements and titles are linked.
"First to die, huh."
This must be from when Secriem killed me in the subway.
The date on the mail confirms it.
It was the exact day I got taken out by the vampire.
I wondered why it came via mail, but the answer came quickly.
"Oh, I get it."
At that time, the status window's functions weren't fully unlocked yet. So I couldn't acquire the title, and it got sent via mail automatically.
*Ping.*
"What kind of system is this?"
Sending missed stuff via mail is a decent system, but the mailbox itself only unlocks after you learn about the loop play mechanic.
It's ridiculously user-unfriendly.
If I compare it to a game, it's like an open-world game where they throw the player in with zero info and expect them to unlock basic systems on their own.
Ah, yeah.
It's definitely an open-world game.
Normally, you'd use guides posted by others or beginner routes to unlock everything you need right from the start.
But without that knowledge, you're just spinning your wheels until you stumble on it later—or worst case, you might never even know it exists.
Maybe.
Am I in a similar situation?
"No way I'm missing a ton of stuff like this, right?"
That thought sent a chill down my spine. It was ridiculous, irritating, and a bit infuriating. But I couldn't just point at the status window and chew it out.
I just accepted it and scrolled through the mailbox.
Since it's sending achievements, maybe there are some good ones in here. And with 999+ of them? I'm hyped.
But...
"Huh."
[Message: You have acquired a new achievement.]
-Achievement: Became Unable to Die
-Achievements are automatically claimed.
"This one..."
I checked the date on the mail.
"Roughly... around the time I was in the hospital."
Yeah.
That's when I ended up in a state where I couldn't die.
I broke the rules, escaped, fell into a world where everything was sewn together, tried to kill myself by smashing my head, but even with my brain and heart destroyed, I didn't die. I became unable to die. After that, I got dragged back to the hospital... and donated skin infinitely.
"..."
This feels off.
At that time, I definitely turned into something not human. But why didn't an ending trigger? And why did I regress even though I couldn't die?
I have a hypothesis.
That unknown value... it shot up to the hundreds of thousands, and for some reason, even though I didn't die, it forced a regression.
If that's the case, then instead of hitting an ending, I racked up that penalty value to 100k and got forced to regress.
"Hmm."
Endings, endings.
Unable to die.
Unable to move.
Something like that.
Maybe because I ended up in a situation where I couldn't see an ending, I got that penalty value and was forced to regress?
Endings, regression, death, loops, system.
I can't draw conclusions without knowing more.
"Let's skip this one."
I'd only checked the second mail, and my head was already pounding. There were still 999+ left—can I even read them all in this lifetime?
Alright, third mail.
.
.
.
[Message: You have acquired a new achievement.]
-Achievement: Spoke of Regression Fact
[Message: You have acquired a new achievement.]
-Achievement: Spoke of Regression Fact
[Message: You have acquired a new achievement.]
-Achievement: Spoke of Regression Fact
[Message: You have acquired a new achievement.]
-Achievement: Spoke of Regression Fact
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.
.
.
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-Achievement: Spoke of Regression Fact
-Achievement: Spoke of Regression Fact
-■■■■■■■■■■■
-■■■■■■■■■■■
-■■■■■■■■■■■
-■■■■■■■■■■■
-Ach■■ is ■ut■■matically cl■■med.
.
.
.
What is this?
Spoke of Regression Fact...?
Why is only this one glitched out?
*Shiver.*
A sudden chill ran through my body, goosebumps prickling everywhere.
The moment I saw "regression," an inexplicable sense of crisis hit me. It felt similar to the emotion I had when I saw Jaaldi's final moments in the Giant Tower.
This message is probably from when I revealed the regression fact to Jaaldi in the Giant Tower.
"Fuck... seriously, why...?"
Is my intuition right after all...?
Talking about regression carelessly won't lead to anything good.
Then.
What's the next mail?
.
.
.
[Message: ■■■■ has detected the Regressor's existence.]
[Message: ■■■■ has detected the Regressor's existence.]
[Message: ■■■■ has detected the Regressor's existence.]
.
.
.
[Message: ■■■■ has detected the Regressor's existence.]
[Message: ■■■■ has detected the Regressor's existence.]
[Message: ■■■■ has detected the Regressor's existence.]
.
.
.
[Message: ■■■■ has detected the Regressor's existence.]
[Message: ■■■■ has detected the Regressor's existence.]
[Message: ■■■■ has detected the Regressor's existence.]
The true nature of the mails filling the mailbox...
Was this.
Terror messages about some unknown entity detecting the Regressor's existence.
I felt like I was going insane.
I was a fool.
I acted too rashly.
As a regressor, I tried to reveal the regression.
Because of that one careless word... some unknown, alien existence detected the Regressor's presence...!
"Hah, ha! Hah!"
My heart raced, ragged breaths bursting out. An alien terror crushed my body and mind.
What the hell is ■■■■?
What happens if it detects the Regressor's existence?
No.
Beyond just knowing...
What happens if it finds me?
It's true that someone knows about my regression.
Grahnak obviously knows, and Secriem, who fought Spandal after memories were transferred, probably knows too. But those two aren't likely sending me mail.
These terror messages might be warnings from the status window itself.
Suppressing my fear, I kept scrolling through the mailbox.
[Message: You preemptively stopped the descent of 'Descendant of the Singing Star' and obtained a reward.]
-Reward: Singing Flower
-Claim it?
"Ah!"
Something new!
Not terror messages from some entity detecting the regressor— a normal message!
And it's about a reward!
The tension eased a bit.
The Descendant of the Singing Star is some incredibly powerful extraterrestrial entity. A reward from that thing? It has to be amazing, whatever it is.
"But... Singing Flower?"
It'd be nice if I could check its form or specs. I reflexively went to claim it but stopped myself.
"Wait a sec."
This...
Is it safe to claim?
What even happens if I do?
Does the Singing Flower just appear in my hand out of nowhere?
"..."
I still vividly remember the Giant Apocalypse.
Suppose I claim this reward, and something super suspicious and horrific suddenly appears in my hand. What if it slips my control and triggers something like the Giant Apocalypse all over again?
"Fuck no!"
That's a straight path to doom.
I couldn't decide whether to claim it. Suppressing my excitement, I scrolled the mailbox again.
The mail with the "Singing Flower" attachment scrolled up. Bringing it back down showed the claim prompt again.
"Guess I don't have to claim it right now."
It doesn't seem like it'll delete if I don't.
Hold off for now.
Next mail...
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.
I ignored the unease and kept scrolling down. Hundreds of messages, all the same. A few valid ones, the rest pure terror spam.
No matter what, I won't utter a word about being a regressor.
This is the status window's warning to me.
Some unknown entity trying to track me down is terrifying, but it's already happened. I can't let it eat away at my sanity by freaking out. Best to force it down and ignore it. Just don't repeat the mistake.
[Message: You defeated '■■■.■■■' and obtained a reward.]
-Reward: Vampire Angel's Heart
-Claim it?
Another reward.
"...Grahnak."
Reward for taking him down.
"Vampire Angel's Heart, huh."
This one looks legit.
No clue what the Singing Flower is, but this is straightforward. It's gotta be Grahnak's heart.
If I claim this, do I get vampire powers? Seems plausible, but worst case, I might turn into a Vampire Angel and trigger a bad ending.
"What kind of rewards are these!"
Every single one is suspicious!
Get vampire powers and just turn into a vampire?!
The one thing I hate most in the world is vampires. Me, the world's best vampire hunter, becoming a vampire? That's an unbearable insult. Worse than death. Definitely one of the worst endings.
In the end, I held off on claiming the second reward too.
It's staying in the mailbox, so I can grab it anytime.
[Unread mails: 0]
And just like that, I checked every single mail.
999+ of them, all regressor-related spam.
Overthinking it will just drive me nuts.
Let it go.
"Status window."
[●Status Window]
Name: Grong
Title: Activated Reality Recognition Device
.
.
Loop: 2
Death Count: 16
[●Loop-by-Loop Death Count List]
[●Collected Endings]
[●Functions]
[●Resolution List]
[●Owned Abilities]
[●Point Shop]
[●Mailbox]
[...]
"Death count's through the roof."
Still, I earned a ton of points this time.
Peanuts compared to all the deaths so far, but let's use them once.
Seeing all those points is pretty satisfying.
I opened the point shop.
[●Point Shop]
[-Purchasable Items]
[●2,000 Points]
[-Reduces Death Count by (1).]
[●2,000 Points]
[-#$%#$%$ value is reduced.]
"Let's give it a shot."
First, reduce the death count and that unknown value once each. Gotta test this stuff when points are plentiful. No other chance otherwise.
Even after spending 4k, 7k left.
Pull one ability and save the rest.
That's smart spending.
"Reduce death count."
[Reduce Death Count?]
[YES / NO]
"Yes."
*Ding!*
[Death Count reduced by (1).]
[Current Death Count: 16(-1)]
What?
It doesn't go to 15, but shows 16(-1)?
*Ding!*
[You have acquired a new achievement.]
[Achievement: Wishing to Reverse Death]
"Ah, you bastard."
Another shitty achievement.
Feels like achievements are just there to mock me.
Anyway.
"..."
I focused my mind and scanned my surroundings.
Nothing...
No real change.
Reduced death count by 1, but no sensation. I didn't feel changes from consecutive deaths anyway, so no noticeable difference is normal.
"Okay. Now the value."
I selected the one below death count.
[Reduce value?]
[YES / NO]
"Yes."
*Ding!*
The unknown value went down.
"..."
No sensation here either.
"If it's going down... gotta be good, right?"
Per my hypothesis, this is a penalty that rises when you hit a no-ending situation, forcing regression instead.
Down is better.
Problem is, it hit 170k on the first loop, and 2k points only shaved off 10k... Sigh.
"Yeah. Bottom line, abilities are what matter."
I always ragged on abilities for being useless crap.
But after reducing death count and the value with zero effect, nothing beats the tangible boost from abilities.
I entered the ability acquisition screen.
"Allah hu! Akbar! Please give me something good!"
*Flash!*
[...][...][...]
[...][...][...]
[...][...][...]
Yes!
Second slot this time!