Chapter 4: Regression
Seoul's city center. An ordinary morning before the Tower had appeared. Jin So-yul quickened her steps. Her destination was the convenience store. After paying for a triangle kimbap and cola, she stepped right back out.
One bite, two bites. It was the complete opposite of the atmosphere when she'd been dying on the 100th floor before her regression.
"……Breakfast, huh."
In web novels, regressors usually kicked off some grand endeavor the moment they opened their eyes. Which just went to show—this situation was reality. Even after regressing, you still had to eat. You couldn't do a damn thing on an empty stomach. It was obvious, really, but it felt strangely novel all the same.
After finishing her kimbap, Jin So-yul took a sip of cola.
……Constellation. You're watching, right?
"……."
You don't have to answer. I just… wanted to say it.
She suddenly looked up at the clear blue sky.
Before…… no, before the regression, the Towers appeared at noon. Exactly 12 o'clock.
"……."
They popped up out of nowhere in every capital around the world…… The news was chaos, and the religious types were screaming it was God's judgment. But where's God? All that's inside the Towers are monsters.
A setup I'd seen countless times in web novels. Sudden gates or Towers appearing. And people fighting to survive in the ensuing pandemonium. Right before my eyes was someone who'd lived through it for real.
On the first day, most of the people who entered the Towers died.
"Died……."
Some out of curiosity, some from a hero complex, some because they thought they were chosen…… All sorts of reasons, but the result was the same. So I'm not going in on the first day. Instead……
Jin So-yul took another sip of her cola. Somewhere in central Seoul. Her gaze turned toward the distance.
Once the Tower appears, mana starts spreading. Faint at first, then stronger. Exposure to that mana gives you a shot at awakening.
"Awakening."
Before the regression, I awakened by chance a week later. But this time, I'm doing it differently. I remember what it feels like.
A cliché of regression stories. The protagonist, armed with memories, grows faster using past experience. Awakening on day one was a classic beat.
I'll wait. Until the Tower appears.
Jin So-yul tossed her empty cola can casually. Whoosh, thunk. She glanced back as it landed neatly in the trash bin, then hurried on. Her direction: the site of the Tower's descent, Gwanghwamun Square.
Time flowed toward noon. Jin So-yul had taken a seat in a café near Gwanghwamun. Staring out the window, the clock now read 11:50.
"Ten minutes left……."
My own mutter. Just then, Jin So-yul on the screen checked her watch too. Her expression was calm.
The café was filled with ordinary folk. Office workers tapping away at laptops, college kids chattering away. None of them knew a Tower was about to appear. That the world would change in ten minutes.
11:55. Jin So-yul stood, paid, and left the café.
11:58. She stood in the middle of Gwanghwamun Square. Tourists snapped photos around her.
11:59. Jin So-yul looked up at the sky. I adjusted the tablet screen to scan the surroundings. Still an ordinary sky. A few clouds drifting in the typical January winter.
12:00. A deafening roar echoed through the tablet. A massive pillar of light plunged from the heavens, shaking the world. Anyone watching might've thought it was an earthquake.
KYAAAHH——!!!
What, what is that?!
Run!
The people in the square screamed and scattered in all directions. As the light faded, there it was. A Tower piercing the sky.
Police sirens wailed. Helicopters buzzed overhead, and TV cameras began broadcasting the square.
Breaking news! An unidentified structure has appeared in central Seoul! Similar phenomena reported in major cities worldwide! The government——
The news voice flowed from the tablet. But amid the chaos, Jin So-yul alone didn't budge. She just stared up at the sky, entranced, murmuring softly.
……It's starting.
"……Yeah, it's starting."
I added quietly to her soliloquy. Knowing it wouldn't reach her, but to steel my own resolve.
The area around the Tower turned into pandemonium in seconds.
No approaching! Step back!
Hey, do you know what that Tower is?!
Please wait for the government announcement!
Jin So-yul watched the Tower from outside the barricade. Something she'd already lived through nine years ago.
The mana is starting to spread.
Was mana visible? I peered closely at the screen but saw nothing. Which made sense, I suppose. I was just a Constellation—not equipped to sense mana.
As if to elaborate for me, Jin So-yul closed her eyes.
……Ordinary people can't feel it, but I can. It's the power I've been using all this time.
Her mana was rising in real time. Just as she'd said—absorbing mana emanating from the Tower.
…….
With eyes closed, she regulated her breathing. Ignoring the surrounding noise, she focused on her own world.
Mana: 0.1 → 0.5
Mana: 0.5 → 1.0
Mana: 1.0 → 2.0
After straining like that for a while, Jin So-yul's eyes snapped open. Her pupils had changed—her originally black irises now shimmered with a faint red glow. Was that the sign of awakening?
"Oh……."
A regressor succeeding in awakening on day one. I couldn't help letting out an exclamation. Seeing it firsthand felt entirely different.
Your contracted Apostle has successfully awakened.
Reward: +500 CP
Rewards were piling up nicely. 500 CP—more generous than I'd expected.
On screen, Jin So-yul raised her hand. A faint light rippled above her palm. Her expression was oddly complex. The slight upturn of her lips—hard to tell if it was a smile or a bitter one.
It's done…… This much should…….
"This much?"
I was pretty strong, but it's back to square one.
"Ah, the mana thing."
Still…… now I can climb back up.
She turned away without a hint of regret. Destination: home. By afternoon, the chaos had begun to settle. The government issued an emergency announcement, and news channels trotted out experts speculating wildly about the Tower's nature.
Could it be UFOs? They really exist, you know.
Right? Alien invasion theory seems solid.
Or maybe an inter-dimensional rift…….
Dimensions? That's ridiculous.
…….
Jin So-yul sighed as she stared blankly at the TV.
No one knows a thing. Obviously.
"……."
Tomorrow, the military will mobilize in earnest. Probably afternoon or evening. I need to enter before then.
"Hmm……."
I'll rest today. Gotta hustle starting tomorrow.
I needed to save CP, but her face tugged at me. Sometimes you just gotta trust your gut. Felt like things could go seriously sideways if I let it slide.
Observer of the 0th Dimension advises getting plenty of rest.
……Yes, Constellation.
Observer of the 0th Dimension reminds you it's only the first day.
Haha, right. It is just the first day…….
The furrow in Jin So-yul's brow smoothed. She added softly, almost inaudibly.
Thank you…… Constellation. Good night.
Soon, the lights went out. After watching her fall asleep, I ended the observation. I glanced up at the bunker's ceiling. The fluorescent light still flickered. Right—my world and the one on the screen were from different dimensions entirely.
"……Good night."
In the bunker, there was no day or night. Lights on: day. Lights off: night.
"……."
Honestly, I had no clue what the point of being a Constellation even was. No idea why I'd been handed this power out of nowhere. I survived to the end, or whatever.
……Observer of the 0th Dimension. But all I did was watch the screen or cheer them on.
In web novels, this was when the protagonist grilled the system: Why me? Most got no answer, or it hid some massive secret.
"Why me?"
Naturally, no reply. I let out a wry chuckle. Didn't matter if there was no answer. What I could do was set in stone anyway.
In the end, I'd become a Constellation. Observing the world beyond the screen, granting power to my Apostle, offering occasional encouragement. If that was my role, I'd just have to play it.
"With that mindset, I'll never accomplish anything."
Talking to myself. The days of giving up, trapped in this bunker, were over. Beyond the tablet was Jin So-yul. Tomorrow, the regressor entering the Tower. And I was her Constellation.
I carefully stood and placed my palms on the floor. First things first—time to start exercising again.