Chapter 109
Chapter 109
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: Those Who Were Companions I: Shin Noah
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1
If I had to pick the most fundamental ability among the powers I awakened, it would be [Time Seal].
Not only did it form the foundation for my epithet "Undertaker," but it was also the very first skill I awakened.
However, the ability I used most profitably—almost like breathing, in my daily life—was undoubtedly [Perfect Memory].
Without this guy's skill, how could I possibly spin tales of my thousands of years for all of you?
But in truth, [Perfect Memory] doesn't mean I remember absolutely everything at 100%.
In my long life as a regressor, there's exactly one blank spot—like forcibly deleted data—taking up a mere 0.01%.
So today, let's talk about the "imperfect memory" in my abilities.
This is a story from the 173rd regression.
2
One day, the Saintess said,
[Undertaker.]
"Yes."
[Maybe I've been operating with preconceptions about the constellations all this time. Shouldn't we refresh their image in a more friendly and approachable way?]
"Ah, yes. Do as you wish."
[Last night, a great idea suddenly came to me.]
Those of you with exceptional memories might find the above dialogue familiar.
[Hello hello! Greetings to all the Awakened on the Korean Peninsula! Nice to meow-t you!]
[From now on, I'll always be watching over you as the constellation, Saintess of National Salvation-meow!]
[Meow-oong! Please take care of meow!]
"......"
That's right.
The 173rd regression was the one where I deliberately left the 'Butterfly Effect' alone without subjugating it.
The flap of wings that occurred in Beijing didn't head to America or Brazil—instead, it moved next door to Korea, dealing a massive blow to the mental world of the Saintess, the longtime resident of the peninsula.
"Saintess."
[Meow?]
"That's not it. Please stop......"
[Yes.]
The Saintess's deviation left countless '?' marks on SG Net before being quelled.
Anyway, the Butterfly Effect randomly generated variables like this—things utterly impossible in previous regressions.
In terms of creating a 'future even a regressor couldn't predict,' the Butterfly Effect might unexpectedly be my greatest nemesis. But on the flip side, by producing 'new events free of boredom,' it was also a quite grateful monster.
After all, you can't always hear the Saintess speaking in that meow-meow tone, right?
I created a folder in my brain's desktop called '173rd Regression Saintess-Cat Constellation Transformation,' saved the recording file, and returned to my routine.
A regressor has their own meticulously scheduled routine. This was only 7 months into the regression, so I was busy in many ways.
After subjugating the World Tree Udumbara in Asan Onyang, I headed to the rehabilitation hospital where my first meeting with No Do-ha—to propose the creation of the National Highway Management Corps—was supposed to take place.
No Do-ha was dead.
"......"
The location was a national hospital. One that doubled as a rehab center.
Hospitals, pharmacies, and marts were the most vulnerable to raids at the end of the world. As public institutions with weak security, rehab hospitals looked like prime targets to looters.
While you couldn't say national hospitals offered vastly superior service to private ones, thanks to government subsidies, they provided pretty cost-effective treatment to patients.
The reviews were good too. That high star rating surely owed something to the skill of No Do-ha, the orthotics technician working at the prosthetics center.
No Do-ha's body was sprawled at the entrance to the inpatient ward, far from the prosthetics center where she worked.
If it had only been a looter raid, the damage wouldn't have been severe. This was still early in the apocalypse. Even looters weren't completely without qualms about murder.
But the looters' raid overlapped with monster activity. As the hospital began to crumble, No Do-ha left her workstation and rushed to the inpatient ward. And died.
The attack seemed to have happened just a day ago. The blood on her favorite white coat hadn't fully lost its red hue.
"Why......"
I muttered, then swallowed the rest.
It was the first time. A regression where No Do-ha died this early on.
Thus, I could instantly grasp what had caused this outcome.
The Butterfly Effect.
The monster that, if left alone, deviated from established causality and spawned random variables. One of those variables just happened to trigger the looters and monsters.
Result: No Do-ha died.
This was a route that could emerge if you left the Butterfly Effect untouched.
"...The gift's gone to waste. Workshop Master."
I sat leaning against the wall next to No Do-ha's body. And set down the gift box from China beside her.
Pu'er tea. Bingdao Laozhai first flush. A luxury item worth about 20 million won.
It was genuine. Acquired using a regressor's knowledge and connections. Every regression start, I gifted this to No Do-ha, who preferred tea slightly over coffee.
No Do-ha was extremely closed off to others. But after receiving this gift, she'd furrow her brow but leave an opening for conversation: '...Well, fine. Let's hear your story, then.'
Like this.
-Huh? Regressor? Excuse me. Are you seriously asking me to believe that ridiculous nonsense right now...?
-There's plenty of proof. We've had this exact conversation countless times. That's why there's even the 'If You Know This Much, I Have No Choice But to Believe You: 100 Questions to Confirm You're a Regressor' list that No Do-ha herself devised.
-What the hell kind of bullshit is th...
-I'm not a prophet or a National Intelligence Service agent. But first, let me pass on what No Do-ha from previous regressions wanted me to tell you now.
-What...?
-Are you enjoying sucking on that sweet honey?
-Huh...?
-The booklet I just gave you doesn't just have the question list—it contains pretty much all the failure records from previous regressions. In other words, the current No Do-ha is in a far more advantageous position than her past selves. And that's what previous No Do-has are pointing out. Are you enjoying that sweet honey?
-......
-For reference, the sentence includes the vulgarity 'you fucking bastard' afterward.
-Bullshit.
After talking through the night like that, No Do-ha would accept her role as head of the National Highway Management Corps.
But today, that conversation couldn't happen.
-Undertaker Awakener...
-Yes?
-Your job's handling funerals for professionals, right? If I die, don't embalm my body. Oh. And this isn't just for this regression—it's a request for all time from now on...
-That's not hard, but why not let me embalm you?
-Hmph, 'cause I don't want to be indebted to you... Just leave my body there and go. Don't look. Don't check. No farewells. Got it...?
-Hmm.
-We’ll meet again anyway. Just tell me then why I kicked the bucket...
I sat next to the body, staring up at the hospital corridor without looking at No Do-ha's dead face.
For a while.
"...See you next time, Workshop Master."
No reply came.
But I would carry this scene and memory intact to the next regression. No Do-ha would surely respond then with her signature 'Hmph,' and that unique laugh.
Imagining that scene made me smile a little.
I left the gift behind and exited the hospital.
Afterward, with the Saintess's help, I tracked down and slaughtered the looters who raided the national hospital. Not that it's particularly important, but the looters were organized like the 72 bandit strongholds in wuxia tales, and one group even involved Yi Baek.
Proof that people don't change easily.
After weeding out the massive looter group just starting to take root domestically, I crossed to Beijing and subjugated the Butterfly Effect as well.
[She must have been an important person to you, Undertaker.]
"Yes. Though she'd probably be sick of me."
[......]
After that, the Saintess and I never mentioned No Do-ha again. We proceeded with the 173rd regression as if nothing had happened.
Just in case, I'll add that I didn't even consider suicide to start a new regression.
Living diligently even without No Do-ha—that was my own funeral and tribute to her death.
On the contrary, I should seize this variable as an opportunity to collect data on aspects I couldn't normally gather.
That way, in the next regression, No Do-ha would surely muse, 'Hmph, well, at least my dog-like death served some purpose...'
That was why.
Why I pursued a slightly more radical route in the 173rd regression.
3
"National Highway Management Corps?"
Dang Seo-rin tilted her head.
"You're planning to create some organization like that and want me to take the top position?"
"Yes."
No Do-ha was the number one candidate to lead the National Highway Management Corps. And having a number one implied there was a number two.
As you'd expect, my number two was always Dang Seo-rin.
"Hmm... I have a ton of questions, but let's start with this one."
"Speak freely."
"Why me, of all people?"
That was a simple question.
There were countless reasons Dang Seo-rin was perfect for leading the National Highway Management Corps.
"I figured you'd ask that, so I prepared some materials."
"Huh? Materials?"
"Yes. Please take a look at this PPT."
"...Huh, this is weird. I suddenly have this ominous feeling that I just asked a question I shouldn't have."
(1) Leadership.
Dang Seo-rin had already turned Three Thousand Worlds into the Korean Peninsula's strongest guild across numerous regressions.
Not only that, but after Busan—the metropolis—and Seoul fell, turning it into the de facto capital, she governed it masterfully.
While other guild leaders relied on the AI Judge, Dang Seo-rin used her 'Equivalent Exchange' magic to administer Busan's justice in her own way. Even Three Thousand Worlds guild members and Busan citizens alike accepted it.
No one could match her in leadership.
(2) Noblesse Oblige.
While some guild leaders hunkered down in occupied cities, building their own petty kingdoms, Dang Seo-rin threw herself into the war without hesitation, heading to the front lines against the monsters.
Ten Tribes. Udumbara. Meteor Shower. Every time powerful monsters swept the peninsula, Dang Seo-rin shaved off her very lifespan, singing her magic on the battlefield.
Dedication to the public.
The skill to turn that dedication into results.
The charisma to package those achievements, spread them, gather supporters, and establish authority.
Dang Seo-rin possessed these exceedingly rare virtues.
...As I've mentioned a few times before, this apocalypse was rife with the absurd notion of 'Awakened supremacy.'
Like No Do-ha, I always called Awakened just that—Awakened. But plenty of people referred to the same beings as 'Transcendents' or 'Ascended Ones.'
Dang Seo-rin never let such wordplay define her identity even slightly. She simply shouldered endless responsibility matching her immense power.
For the role of National Highway Management Corps leader—which required not just rallying Awakened but considering every human on the peninsula—no one was more suitable.
(3) Personal Charm.
Beyond the charisma needed to lead groups, on a one-to-one level, Dang Seo-rin was...
"No, hold on! Stop! STOOOP!"
"Hm?"
I was in the middle of fervently expounding on the '101 Reasons You Should Lead the National Highway Management Corps' when Dang Seo-rin waved both hands wildly.
"Undertaker, enough! That's plenty! Stop now! Please!"
"Why? I haven't even finished."
"I said stop! You—you're trying to embarrass me to death, aren't you? Huh? Trying to make me die of shame? Seriously. You're insane!"
As you might guess from her usual pointed hat and witch's broom, the part of Dang Seo-rin's brain handling shame and embarrassment had atrophied.
Yet, bombarding her with praise unrelated to 'magic,' 'witch,' or 'song' made her brain panic, like neglected thigh muscles trembling uncontrollably after forced squats.
And in such moments, unreasonable demands went through with high success rates.
"Got it. So I can take that as you accepting the National Highway Management Corps leadership?"
"Yes! I'll do it. I'll take it, so shut up before anyone hears!"
See? That's a classic move from Dang Seo-rin's former manager.
Thus, Dang Seo-rin's Three Thousand Worlds guild merged with the National Highway Management Corps. Or rather, Three Thousand Worlds evolved into the National Highway Management Corps from then on.
The whole process went smoothly.
Few worried about too much power concentrating in what was just a single guild. Dang Seo-rin's reputation had the power to turn concerns into expectations.
Yet, if you ask why I hadn't handed the Corps to her in previous regressions despite how simple it was—the core reason, beyond minor excuses, was just one.
-Don't reveal to the next regression's me that you're a regressor, if at all possible.
I couldn't confess to Dang Seo-rin that I was a regressor.
Because of her own dying words.
In the regression where we first successfully subjugated the Ten Tribes—the 10th regression, where I revealed I was a regressor—Dang Seo-rin tied me with an eternal pact.
-I'm greedy and a shopaholic. I could never think, 'I'll sacrifice this regression for the next one.'
-If you tell me I have centuries of lifespan left, I'll definitely burn it all on this regression.
-Don't let my lifespan accumulate until the absolute final crisis. The real, very last one.
I kept that promise.
From the 10th to the 173rd regression, I never once revealed my secret to her.
And that meant, unlike No Do-ha or the Saintess, Dang Seo-rin could never join our regression alliance.
I could share any info gained from regressions with No Do-ha freely, but with Dang Seo-rin, it always required some packaging, acting... in other words, lies.
Lies. Something I'd never do to Dang Seo-rin otherwise.
But the 173rd regression's shock from No Do-ha's early exit led me to test the IF route: [What if Dang Seo-rin led the National Highway Management Corps?]
And sure enough.
In this newly pioneered route, Dang Seo-rin fully showcased her talents.
"Undertaker. That Equivalent Exchange magic you helped me develop last time. I thought about it yesterday, and it seems to have endless potential."
"Yeah. When sending National Highway Management Corps members on patrols to outlying areas, I plan to always include at least one who fought in the Ten Tribes subjugation. That way, if there's trouble with other guilds, we can brush it off like, 'We're all comrades-in-arms, right?'"
"Hmm—Cheon Yo-hwa's guild leader provided the AI Judge, which is convenient, sure. But people sometimes reject its rulings, right? So, maybe have final judgments come from the Busan National Highway Management Corps HQ..."
My judgment was spot on.
Even with No Do-ha's accumulated data and my advice, Dang Seo-rin led the Corps with astonishing speed, as if it were the most natural thing.
And soon enough, she came up with ideas neither No Do-ha nor I had ever thought of.
"Hey, Undertaker."
"Hm?"
"Could I record the songs from my Song Enchantment and play them softly throughout the entire city? Like... developing a magic to make people feel a bit happier."
That was the beginning.
무한 회귀자인데 썰 푼다