The Regressor Endures the Hardship

Episode 69

...My ability was stolen.

I'm restless.

She's strong.

Tirpe clutched her temples amidst thoughts scattered like shards of glass.

Her mind blurred again.

"Ugh..."

Even as she tried to think, other thoughts kept intruding.

Her consciousness flickered—cutting off, reconnecting, like spliced film playing in broken fragments.

This repeated several times.

Her thoughts progressed without proper context or logic.

But it didn't matter.

Having endured despair beyond measure, even this barely coherent state of mind was a blessing.

Am I insane...? I must be. Then since when...?

She couldn't even remember. Not even when her mind had first become unstable.

Such trivial things had long ceased to matter after repeating regression over and over.

A life tediously repeated 129 times.

The Tower remained nothing but an unsolvable labyrinth, and she was nothing but a falling failure each time.

So, at some point, things like self-identity had stopped mattering entirely.

"...Die."

She unconsciously summoned mana.

Black Magic Power coiled around her wrist, forming thorned vines that stretched toward the ceiling. The towering tendrils lashed out like whips, shattering the floor beneath.

"Die, die...!!"

Her own scream sounded like a tantrum.

But it didn't matter who heard or what they thought.

To reclaim her ability, she would pay any price.

CRACK!

The floor trembled as the thorned whip struck. Park Si-hyun read its trajectory through the scattering debris and dodged.

BANG!

The whip snapped mid-swing where he had evaded.

"...Weird."

He didn't even glance at the dissipating Black Magic Power. His eyes remained fixed on Tirpe.

Tirpe, panting heavily, met his gaze.

Throb.

Another inexplicable headache stabbed through her skull.

For some reason, she couldn't bear to hold his stare.

It felt like he was seeing right through her.

In that moment, Park Si-hyun spoke, sounding genuinely puzzled.

"Why would someone with your strength try to grow stronger by becoming a sacrifice?"

The hand gripping the whip froze.

Then, quietly, she let out a hollow laugh and raised her head.

* * *

This was from a time when Tirpe, unaware of her parents, lived in an orphanage.

"Tirpe!"

A child she had been close to was found by their birth parents.

"I'll come visit you, I promise!"

The child smiled brightly, happier than Tirpe had ever seen them.

Tirpe tried to force a smile too, but she couldn't match their joy.

Maybe someday... my parents will come for me too.

But that hope had long since withered.

"Bye! Take care!"

The child waved and left with their parents, determined to keep smiling until the very end. Only after turning away did their tears finally spill.

"Sniff... Hic..."

A nun standing behind Tirpe pulled her into a hug.

For once, Tirpe couldn't hold back her whimpers.

"Mom... Dad..."

She had always suppressed it, knowing the nuns disliked it—but not this time.

She missed her parents too.

She kept wiping her tears, but they wouldn't stop. Frustrated at her own helplessness, she resented herself.

Turning around, Tirpe babbled to the nun.

"Why... why won't my parents come for me? Is it... is it because I'm not good enough?"

The fear had always been there. That her parents hadn't come because of her, just like the other nuns had implied.

But this nun, Sister Angela, gently patted her back.

"...Tirpe. You are good enough. You're even prettier than Sister could ever hope to be. Your father is German, and your mother is Korean, right?"

Her features might have seemed gloomy at first glance, but beneath that, she was undeniably lovely.

While the other nuns called her eyes unsettling, Sister Angela alone thought Tirpe was adorable.

"...I'm a German-Korean mix?"

"Pfft, where did you learn that?"

"The head nun told me..." ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"That's right. Your father is in Germany right now. One day, he'll come all the way here to take you home. So chin up, okay?"

Tirpe wiped her tears and nodded obediently.

"Okay."

"But are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you really fine with 'Tirpe'? Receiving a name is..."

"I... want my name from Mom and Dad."

The nun smiled softly.

"Alright. Then until then, how about Sister becomes your family?"

"Really!? You'll be my family?"

Family.

The word brought color to Tirpe's cheeks.

"Of course."

The nun nodded.

"So until you meet your parents, you and Sister will live together, nice and cozy?"

"Yeah..."

Tirpe smiled shyly, her face brightening.

But in the end, she never received a name from them.

Instead, she had found people who could be called family.

"Tirpe unnie! I heard you're going to become a nun this time! Congratulations!"

"Congratulations! Congratulations!"

They had become family to a child who had never known a parent's touch.

"Congratulations, Tirpe."

Sister Angela, who had been like a mother to her, still remained here.

"I'm so proud of you."

The youthful face from those days was gone. But the love Angela had given her—that, Tirpe still remembered.

Now, she didn't need to receive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a name from her parents.

As long as she had family like this by her side...

That was what she had thought.

CRASH!

Until the day calamity descended upon the world.

On the day the once-blue sky turned pitch black.

『To those unchosen, even in death, the opportunity to toil...』

After that, she cursed God with every fiber of her being.

—SCREEEEEECH!

Children who wouldn't have hurt a fly became horrifying corpses, tearing into people.

In the midst of it all, Tirpe froze.

"KYAAAAH!"

"AAAAAH!"

She truly couldn't do anything.

"Aah... Aah..."

The children who had been her family turned into monsters, rampaging.

Blood gushed from the neck of a child who had been bitten and torn apart.

"TIRPE!!"

Even the screams of agony were swallowed up, buried beneath the children.

A child in torment called out to Tirpe desperately.

And yet, Tirpe couldn't move.

"...Aah, aah, AAAAAH!"

Then, suddenly—

CRUNCH.

A searing pain shot through her arm. Dazed, she lowered her head.

A tiny zombie was gnawing on her arm, chewing relentlessly.

The child who had once been so small and adorable now glared at her with bloodshot eyes—pupils twisted, veins bulging.

"KYAAAAAAH!"

It was a horrifying sight. She wanted to live. She didn't want to die.

She wanted to escape.

That was the only thought in her mind—the safety of the children didn't even cross it.

"AAAAAAH!"

She flung off the children clinging to her and ran.

And then, she saw her.

Sister Angela.

"Tirpe..."

Blood poured from her torn abdomen.

Even with such grievous wounds, she forced herself to walk toward Tirpe, worried for her.

"...Ti-Tirpe... You must... survive..."

Tirpe was numbly pushed outside the door.

THUD.

She couldn't bring herself to look inside.

She didn't have the courage.

KYAAAAAAH!

SCREEEEEECH!

All she could do was sob and beg for help.

"Someone... Anyone, please, help...!!"

Her voice never reached anyone. It never would.

And yet, she survived.

She clung to life, abandoning them all.

"Hic... Hic..."

By the time she returned to the chapel, only the corpses of her family remained.

Standing before them, she could only be a sinner.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

She didn't even have the right to cry. And yet, tears fell.

"Forgive me. Forgive me."

Before Angela's corpse, she made a vow.

Empty words of atonement were meaningless. She had to atone through action.

She had to confess her sins to those she had abandoned and beg for their forgiveness.

She had to climb the Tower and bring her family back to life.

But her resolve didn't last long.

The Tower was a hell worse than Earth.

「Chastisement」

Even after fighting desperately on the front lines, sparing no thought for her own body, the raid failed.

Leaning against the cold wall of the 11th Floor, where everyone had been wiped out, Tirpe coughed up blood.

A wish she had never voiced spilled from her lips.

"...Mother."

Did she even have the right to say that now?

Probably not.

If only we had all died together back then... Would I have been spared this torment?

'I'm sorry. All of you.'

In a corner of the 11th Floor, her last breath faded.

That was how she died.

And then—

『「შემობრუნდი」has been activated.』

Her eyes opened.

On the playground of the orphanage, five years before the Tower appeared.

"Tirpe! Push me on the swing!"

A little girl, far smaller than she remembered, clung to her.

"Tirpe."

Suddenly, a gentle voice called from behind.

Hearing it, Tirpe's eyes trembled.

With great effort, she turned her head.

Sister Angela, younger than in her last memories.

The woman ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠who had died for her was looking at her now.

"Aah... Aah..."

Emotions she couldn't even name spilled from her eyes.

Guilt, regret, longing—all of it tangled together.

"...Did something happen? Why all of a sudden—?"

Tirpe suddenly pulled Angela into a tight embrace. Angela stiffened in surprise.

But seeing the girl trembling, her expression softened.

"It's alright, Tirpe. You're a good girl."

Tirpe swallowed her tears, unable to speak.

She had returned.

And at the same time, she realized:

[შემობრუნდი (Rewind, Turn Back)]

The shackles that had tormented her hadn't disappeared.

"..."

"Eh? Tirpe's crying!"

"Tirpe unnie, why are you crying? Don't cry."

She had to stop it.

She wouldn't let these warm, lively people be laid to rest in cold earth again.

[შემობრუნდი (Rewind, Turn Back)]

But the higher she climbed, the more the Tower became hell.

"Unnie is... okay."

At the very least, while this powerful 「ability」 remained, she would change the future.

If only to save her family.

"I..."

I can't die.