Chapter 2
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Regression is Truly Convenient
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Regression is truly convenient. You can recall solutions from various routes to easily solve problems, or gather everything beneficial from the future right into your hands.
However, all of that was pointless to me. The outcome was always the same, so there was no need to solve things in a different way.
On top of that, the memories of regression weren't something I possessed from childhood. They came back after time flowed on and on, at a certain point. Of course, not all memories from previous turns returned perfectly. I wasn't smart enough to remember everything perfectly, after all. Some turns were hazy.
Because of those rules, I once racked my brain trying to remember everything about regression from the very start before going back again, but I realized it was all useless and gave up. So I was certain it would be the same this time. It had always been that way before, and it wouldn't change going forward.
Yet the anomaly that occurred overturned all my expectations.
‘I never imagined it would twist this much.’
As I stared at the monster corpse in front of me, recalling the time when I had no memories, sighs poured out of me involuntarily.
The anomaly began seven years ago, rewinding time a bit to when I was eighteen. Back in those days when damn useless memories weren't doing their job.
♧♣♧
"Ji-eon, this is inside a novel."
"What are you talking about?"
It was completely out of nowhere. The timing was during a normal meal before we each headed out, so it didn't feel like a joke. And as truth, no one would believe it. So I just brushed it off as a joke from my brother, who never usually messed around like that.
I had no idea it would continue for a whole month, though.
"Three years from now, gates will appear."
"Getting hit by a truck and going to another world sounds more believable."
One day passed.
"Before gates appear, patterns will show up on people's bodies."
"Wow, impressive."
Another day passed.
"If you don't get rid of the gates, monsters will come out."
"Yeah."
Even as another day passed.
"This is inside a novel. And I... got possessed into it."
My brother's repeated jokes were more than enough to grate on my nerves.
"Cut it out."
I scowled deeply, warning him about his boring joke, but he just wore an incredibly calm expression. His face showed no agitation whatsoever, to the point where I wondered if he even had emotions.
The atmosphere turned icy in an instant. Our parents were at work, so no one was around to stop a fight from breaking out.
"So what, I'm a novel character, so I'm different from you?"
"That's not what I—"
"Then what do you want me to do? Bro, are you aware you're crazy? How can you spout the same nonsense for a whole month? You are human, right?"
"......"
"I don't get what you want, but hey, is this about sabotaging my exams? If so, congrats. Mission accomplished."
The more I spoke, the more I wanted to punch him. I held back my anger, stared off at the distant mountains, then looked back at him. He was still maintaining that infuriatingly serene expression.
"You crazy bastard......"
Words weren't getting through. Of course they wouldn't to someone who'd been spouting nonsense for a month straight.
At a loss for words, I turned and stormed back to my room, slamming the door behind me. I figured the next day he'd either admit he was wrong and apologize, or act like nothing happened.
But the next day's situation was utterly ridiculous.
"Where's bro?"
"Didn't he say he was moving out? You didn't hear?"
"Huh?"
Yeah, he was twenty, so he could live on his own. But the timing was just too absurd. Leaving right after a fight? Anyone would think he left because of it.
"Man......"
Still, it didn't really faze me. If anything, good riddance. Better than hearing his crazy talk every day, so I let it slide without much thought.
And just like that, three years passed.
♧♣♧
While I was smoothly going through college life, misfortune began creeping in.
"Hey, you see this?"
"What is it?"
After an earlier-than-usual class ended, as I was leisurely heading to the next one while fiddling with my phone, my friend walking beside me suddenly shoved his screen in my face. I instinctively furrowed my brow at the abrupt intrusion, then relaxed and looked.
"Pat... tern?"
"Isn't it badass?"
"What... Hey, Ma Heo-yun. Stop with the games already. Everything looks cool to you. If it's that badass, go get a tattoo or something."
"It's not the same!"
He pounded my back with a few slaps, and I reflexively hunched over. It wasn't the first time, so I let it go, but it still hurt.
Muttering curses under my breath, I took a step to follow him as he walked ahead. Then a faint sense of déjà vu made me stop in my tracks.
‘...Pattern?’
I racked my brain trying to recall where I'd felt this before, but nothing came up.
"Hey, hurry up!"
"Yeah, coming."
Pushing the déjà vu aside at his call, I took another step forward.
‘If I can't remember it, it's probably nothing.’
Unaware of the misfortune approaching, I walked on casually.
I arrived early for the next class. Less than thirty minutes in, my eyelids grew heavy, and my eyes started drooping. I glanced to the side and saw Ma Heo-yun already face-down, snoring away.
‘...I thought I went to bed early.’
Racking my memory, I recalled stupidly gaming until three in the morning. Sighing at my past self, I figured I could tough it out for one day and leaned forward to nap like him.
Or at least, I tried to.
"Arghhh!"
A scream pierced my ears before I could even lean down fully, jolting me upright.
My heavy eyes snapped open, and my head whipped toward the sound. I wasn't the only one—other students meerkat-like peered out the classroom door. The professor told us to ignore it and focus, but who could concentrate in this situation?
The class ground to a halt. Someone couldn't hold back their curiosity and jumped up to check outside. Then came another scream, followed by an exclamation of awe.
"What the hell?"
Stirred by the murmurs, even Ma Heo-yun sat up groggily, trying to figure things out—specifically by grabbing my collar and asking what was going on.
Curiosity drew another person out, then another. Soon everyone was heading for the door, the professor included. And me too.
"What the—"
Squeezing through the crowded hallway like a marketplace, I finally reached a clear view and couldn't believe my eyes. My slightly open mouth refused to close.
Someone voiced exactly what I was thinking.
"What... what is that? Holy shit, that's insane."
It wasn't quite an animal, lacking a clear form, yet it pulsed with an eerie life force, not quite an object either. Simply put, it was like one of those liquid monsters from toys I'd played with as a kid, squatting right in the middle of the hallway.
"Holy shit......"
Ma Heo-yun, unable to contain his shock, pulled out his phone and started snapping pictures. Most people around did the same, whipping out their phones.
Amid the chaotic shutter sounds, I just stared blankly at the bizarre thing.
I had no choice.
「Three years from now, gates will appear.」
「Before gates appear, patterns will show up on people's bodies.」
「If you don't get rid of the gates, monsters will come out.」
Memories surged up like a flood in a movie.
Of course, only for a moment.
‘...Am I finally losing it?’
I refused to believe any connection between my brother's old ramblings and what was unfolding before me. There was no way I could. Reality was reality, and his words were nothing but absurd nonsense.
‘I'm an idiot for even being stunned for a second.’
Glancing around, others were calling it a prank, a hidden camera—nobody thought that thing was ‘real.’ And honestly, who would?
As I let out a hollow laugh, Ma Heo-yun next to me spoke up.
"Why are you laughing creepily?"
"Just. Because of that thing."
"Whatever, check this out."
He thrust his phone screen right up to my face. I leaned back to view it. SNS posts were updating rapidly.
[What's this?]
[Huge-ass flower popped up. Wtf?]
[Someone in a Slender Man costume! Quality!!]
[Weird fish on the beach. Gross;; Radiation?]
"Weird, right?"
"......"
It was definitely weird. What were the odds of this happening simultaneously in multiple places? But I didn't think it was real, so I laughed and replied.
"You're making it cringy saying that."
"Ugh, come on."
"What, it's not like some novel......"
「Ji-eon, this is inside a novel.」
Goosebumps erupted all over my body. Things I'd forgotten completely over the past three years came rushing back, sending chills down my spine.
‘...That psycho Han Ji-un.’
If I saw him, should I recommend a psychiatrist?
While I was lost in thought, someone stepped closer to the bizarre thing.
"Hey, take my picture quick."
"Yeah, strike a pose."
"Damn... up close it's even grosser."
Giggling, he started posing in various ways. He didn't touch the slimy thing directly—probably didn't want to—but that didn't last.
"Ack!"
Mid-pose, he tripped over his own foot, stumbling toward it, and reflexively grabbed it to steady himself.
"Ew! It's so slimy—"
And then, in one second.
It took just one second.
A massive shadow loomed over the head of the guy who'd touched it. And the source of that shadow bit his head off in one go.
"......"
As if on cue, the shutter sounds stopped abruptly, silence falling.
The faint drip of blood hitting the floor rang clearly in my ears. The cross-section of his severed neck filled my vision perfectly. The moment felt like slow motion, agonizingly slow, so slow I couldn't grasp that it all happened in one second.
The body thudded to the floor, and five seconds later.
"Kyaaahhh!"
"Shit, fuck!"
"Mom! Aaaah!"
Screams far louder than any shutter sounds assaulted my ears.
People bolted away from the bizarre thing—no, the monster—all at once. Some tripped over each other in the chaos, others got trampled.
Of course, I ran safely. Faster than I ever thought possible. At a speed I'd never reached before in my life, I sprinted without hesitation.
‘What the, what, what is that thing?’
My brain wouldn't process. My body ran forward, but my thoughts stayed stuck.
Was that even possible? Hell, was this reality?
Countless screams echoed from behind, along with bursting sounds, tearing flesh, and shattering bones.
Still, I ran. Terrified I'd be next, even as my mind cooled, my legs kept pumping.
But soon, my desperate bid for survival crumbled under something that slammed into my back.