Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Sleepwalker II
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Shin Noah
I barely, really barely, managed to hold onto the thread of sanity that had decided to run away from my skull.
‘Assassination… it wasn’t?’
Then, did that mean the Level 6 security hideout I’d built by pooling every bit of a regressor’s knowledge was completely useless?
What about the constant deadly poison surveillance system I’d scraped together by gathering every awakener with medical abilities, like Uehara Shino and Sim A-ryeon?
What about the ultimate weapon—Train Cannon Fortress—Galactic Railroad 999 that I’d created, putting unimaginable stress on Dang Seo-rin in the process?
Yes. It was all completely useless. Every last bit of it had been a waste of time.
If I coldly evaluated it from the perspective of the 1183rd round, the me from the 24th round had simply been an outstanding idiot.
Among them, the train fortress was especially a black history I didn’t even want to mention, so I absolutely wouldn’t bring it up when spinning tales in the future.
‘Then what the hell did I die from? What happened?’
Confusion. Torment. Agony.
My brain was still rigidly frozen, buried in preconceptions. In other words, it needed to soften a bit more to reach the idea of, ‘Maybe monsters don’t need a fixed form? Couldn’t a [phenomenon] like starlight in the night sky be a monster too? In fact, isn’t the term “monster” itself a bit off, and wouldn’t it be more appropriate to use “anomaly” from now on?’
Of course. If you don’t know, you get hit.
But even the me from the 24th round wasn’t such an idiot that I couldn’t arrive at the conclusion, ‘In any case, something extremely strange definitely happened that night.’
And so, back to year 7.
“Haa. Undertaker, look over there――.”
“Yeah. Shooting stars. It’s the Meteor Shower that always appears around this time. I’m watching it just fine.”
“…What’s that? Aren’t you a bit prickly today? What’s been bugging you all day?”
Because on the day the shooting stars fall, our deaths are sealed.
But I couldn’t reveal that regressor’s knowledge to Dang Seo-rin. Naturally, having received no reasonable explanation, Dang Seo-rin stormed off in a huff.
I vowed to apologize someday, but unable to contain my own tension and sensitivity, I gazed up at the night sky.
‘I absolutely won’t sleep tonight.’
Click.
Gulping down the canned coffee I’d saved for this day, my eyes vigilantly scanned the surroundings without missing a thing.
I’d chosen the location carefully. The summit of Bongrae Mountain on Yeongdo in Busan.
To reach this place, any intruder would have to step on the threads the puppeteer had strung up like a spiderweb, and I’d notice them immediately. Unless the intruder dropped straight out of the sky, that is.
The Meteor Shower was still beautifully falling from the night sky.
….
“Huh?”
Wait a minute.
It had been 9 p.m. when Dang Seo-rin and I went for that walk earlier, so by that calculation, it’s already been….
Six hours of the Meteor Shower falling.
‘Do Meteor Showers usually last this long?’
And it wasn’t just a light drizzle of one or two streaks. It was like a summer downpour. Thick streams of vivid starlight endlessly streaked across the night sky.
And those raindrops.
Were getting thicker.
“…….”
A chill raced up my spine.
Before I knew it, I’d dismantled my disguise and jumped to my feet.
“Crazy. No way, right?”
Of course, that “no way” was exactly right.
In a fortunate turn, from now on, humanity would have to fight and win against the starlight of the universe. This was the new quest assigned to this regressor.
Yeah. What the hell did I expect from this shitshow of a game?
3
There are probably few people who can accurately describe the moment the world ends.
More precisely, as far as I know, in this vast world, there were exactly two humans capable of that feat.
The Saintess with [Clairvoyance]. Me, the Undertaker with [Infinite Regression].
No matter how suddenly an incident occurred, the Saintess could call out “time” and meticulously record the situation, while I could simply turn the wheel of regression.
But unfortunately, at this time, I hadn’t even exchanged names with the Saintess.
Therefore, documenting the world’s end by Meteor Shower fell solely to me.
“The stars… are getting closer?”
Boss battle, anti-Meteor Shower battle. Phase 1.
First, countless starlights pour down from the night sky.
If you’re very far from the Meteor Shower’s landing point, your survival odds are high. A Meteor Shower isn’t real shooting stars. It’s an anomaly. Compared to actual meteors, they fall agonizingly slowly.
If you’re standing near the landing point? My condolences. You’re already 99% dead.
The me from the 25th round fell into that category.
Because after the Meteor Shower appeared in this world, the first place to think, ‘Ah, it’s gotta land here!’ was none other than South Gyeongsang Province on the Korean Peninsula.
“Fuck me.”
Ten Tribes, Udumbara, and now Meteor Shower. A surge of respect for Great-Grandfather Dangun welled up in my heart unbidden. Were the Korean Peninsula’s geographical conditions for real?
The one consolation? Well. At least right before dying, you get to experience something pretty mystical.
-Twi҉n҉kle҉,҉ ҉twi҉n҉kle҉,҉ ҉li҉ttle҉ ҉sta҉r҉.
A melody tickling the heavens.
-Be҉au҉ti҉fu҉l҉l҉y҉ ҉i҉t҉ ҉fal҉ls҉.
It was the start of boss battle Phase 2.
I quickly descended Bongrae Mountain.
Even in the dead of night, people were out, or poking their heads through windows, gawking at the night sky.
Probably because of the utterly surreal sight and surreal melody.
“What is this? A song?”
“Where’s it coming from?”
“Speakers…? No, that can’t be.”
Murmurs rose.
After civilization collapsed, humanity’s biological rhythms had regressed to prehistoric times. By 9 p.m., almost everyone was forced into the good children’s routine of drifting off to sleep.
Considering that, the scene before my eyes was definitely abnormal.
-Fr҉om҉ ҉th҉e҉ ҉ea҉st҉ ҉sk҉y҉,҉ ҉fr҉om҉ ҉th҉e҉ ҉we҉st҉ ҉sk҉y҉ ҉to҉o҉.
It wasn’t even worth calling a fine singing voice, to be polite.
The pitch was off. Here and there, noises like TV static—or sobs that sounded almost human—interrupted, making the lyrics hard to discern.
But even so—everyone could instantly recognize it as a ‘song.’ No matter how muddled with noise.
To exaggerate a bit, the lullaby dripping from the Meteor Shower carried a rhythm etched into modern humanity’s DNA.
“Doesn’t this sound familiar?”
“It’s a lullaby!”
“What? A lullaby?”
“Yeah! It’s all staticky so it’s hard to hear, but it’s a lullaby. You know, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!”
“Oh.”
Mozart’s lullaby. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
Though lyrics varied by nation and ethnicity, it was a mega-hit so instinctive that nearly everyone recognized it.
-Twi҉n҉kle҉,҉ ҉twi҉n҉kle҉,҉ ҉li҉ttle҉ ҉sta҉r҉.
Listening to the starlights drawing ever closer from the night sky and the cozy lullaby flowing down from the heavens, people might forget they were being invaded by one of the world’s most dangerous anomalies.
But the very moment every human gazed vacantly at the night sky, the melody shattered, and chunks of the world were torn away.
-Wheeee҉e҉e҉e҉e҉e҉e҉!
“Argh! Fuck!”
“A-air raid siren?”
“No, the government’s gone, speakers are all busted, what the….”
People clutched their ears and grimaced at the sudden siren. Fortunately, it stopped soon after, but that didn’t mean they could relax.
That sound was the effect announcing the anomaly had entered a new phase.
Phase 3, commencing.
-Twi҉n҉kle҉,҉ ҉twi҉n҉kle҉,҉ ҉li҉ttle҉ ҉sta҉r҉.
-Be҉au҉ti҉fu҉l҉l҉y҉ ҉i҉t҉ ҉fal҉ls҉.
Shwaaaaa―
The Meteor Showers, which had been falling so slowly, suddenly crisscrossed in the skies over Busan.
It was a beautiful, pure white curve twisting every which way, each individual starlight unfolding like wings, each carrying its own note.
That’s when I arrived at the Three Thousand Worlds guild headquarters. Dang Seo-rin was outside the train station with a few guild members.
I shouted urgently.
“Dang Seo-rin!”
“Huh? Undertaker? Why at this hour….”
A flicker of displeasure crossed Dang Seo-rin’s face. She must have remembered our argument earlier.
But there was no time for that.
“Monsters!”
“What?”
“Those! The starlights! They’re monsters!”
“……!”
The moment she heard me, Dang Seo-rin’s expression changed. Not as my food tour buddy, but as the Alliance Leader of the Korean Peninsula Guild Alliance and leader of Three Thousand Worlds, her face turned fierce.
“No way! That’s just a phenomenon.”
“What phenomenon? Even if all the scientists got jobs in monster bellies, no one’s announced shooting stars that sing lullabies from space and fall slowly for over six hours!”
“Wait. Then, how the hell do we…?”
I understood what Dang Seo-rin swallowed.
[Then, how the hell do we stop… something like that?]
It took just one or two lines of dialogue to shatter monster preconceptions, and Dang Seo-rin was faster than anyone.
But we were far too late everywhere else.
-Fr҉om҉ ҉th҉e҉ ҉ea҉st҉ ҉sk҉y҉,҉ ҉fr҉om҉ ҉th҉e҉ ҉we҉st҉ ҉sk҉y҉ ҉to҉o҉.
Thud.
Dang Seo-rin and I whipped our heads around. Thud—one by one, the Three Thousand Worlds guild members who’d formed a circular guard around us were collapsing like scarecrows.
Even Dang Seo-rin couldn’t help but be shocked.
“What the――.”
“Crazy.”
It wasn’t just the guild members. Thud. Thud. Citizens out gawking at the rare night sky spectacle, people eavesdropping on the low-fidelity lullaby through window cracks—they were all toppling over as if fainting.
“Are they… dead? All of a sudden like this?”
“No.”
I approached the nearest guild member and checked their condition.
“…They’ve fallen asleep.”
“What?”
“Exactly as it sounds. They’re sleeping. Hard to believe, but the whole city’s falling into slumber right now.”
I slapped their cheek—smack—but the guild member didn’t twitch. Even after I released my aura.
I groaned.
“Looks like… not only those starlights, but the lullaby itself flowing from them—it’s all one big monster.”
“…….”
“Not sure, but it’s got a [Forced Sleep] effect or something. The moment they heard the song, it was over. Shit situation. Let’s run.”
I immediately abandoned the city.
“Run?”
“Yeah. Dang Seo-rin. We need to get out of this city fast.”
I grabbed Dang Seo-rin’s wrist. It felt unusually light.
“If we stay, we’ll fall asleep soon too. Then there’ll be no one left to report on this phenomenon, on that monster.”
“…….”
“We have to struggle to the end. It’s not over yet. Come on, Dang Seo-rin. Hurry.”
That’s when it happened.
The night sky turned blindingly white.
Dazzling, so dazzling.
Dang Seo-rin, whose wrist I held, stared blankly upward.
“Ah…….”
White night.
Boss battle Phase 4.
And the final phase.
“…Too late. Undertaker.”
“…….”
“I’ve been thinking you were off lately. Someone who was fine before keeps getting anxious, irritable. You… knew this was coming.”
“No, I didn’t know. I just suspected something would happen tonight. Never imagined the countless starlights were monsters.”
“Mm, sorry. I should’ve paid more attention.”
“…I’m the one who’s sorry.”
I murmured.
“I promise I won’t do it again next time.”
“Pfft. Yeah, got it.”
Dang Seo-rin snickered as if hearing a funny joke. I hugged her tight.
From the sky bleached white by darkness, the lullaby echoed. Static, mixed with street noise.
-Twi҉n҉kle҉,҉ ҉twi҉n҉kle҉,҉ ҉li҉ttle҉ ҉sta҉r҉.
-Be҉au҉ti҉fu҉l҉l҉y҉ ҉i҉t҉ ҉fal҉ls҉.
The light reached my nose.
My vision brightened, which should’ve sharpened my mind, but instead my eyelids grew rapidly heavy.
Dang Seo-rin too, probably. She blinked, blinked, wrapping her arms around my back. Or maybe not embracing, just collapsing toward me.
“Undertaker.”
“…Yeah.”
“Actually, I.”
Flash―――.
My vision went entirely white.
The night sky. The city. Busan’s front sea. The collapsed great bridge midway. The beach. Dang Seo-rin’s face. Shadows. Breaths.
Even the world.
That was my 25th demise.