Chapter 95

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Translator: 8uhl

Chapter: 95

Chapter Title: The Hundredth Regression

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Thud.

"Guh... kuhuk! Urk... ugh."

This hellish nightmare had dragged me through ninety-nine regressions before finally letting me return to my body. I lay sprawled on the floor, gasping for breath, but all I could manage was ragged exhales. No real oxygen reached my lungs—my head spun dizzily.

Every event from those ordeals crashed over me as vividly as if they'd happened yesterday. A tsunami of emotions I'd felt surged in, filling my chest to the brim.

'I'd rather just die.'

I'd wanted to recover my memories. I'd thought that would solve every problem I'd faced.

But no. The truth was crueler than ignorance.

Rustle.

My legs had no strength, but I slowly pushed myself up. Lying there any longer, I'd be crushed to death by the weight of it all.

I had no idea how to escape this nightmare, so I just started walking. Each step twisted my guts—I wanted to vomit something up.

'For now... just think. Like always.'

This was my hundredth regression. In the ninety-eighth, I'd nearly stopped the apocalypse, but fully erasing the Hell Path required my sacrifice. Se-bin realized that and snapped, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slaughtering all our comrades.

I didn't want to hate her, so starting from the next regression, I imposed a penalty to wipe my memories. That's why I had no recollection at the start of this one.

"...Ah."

Empty memory fragments tied to Se-bin began slotting into place, one by one.

I remembered being stabbed by her sword not because she was a traitor. And she hadn't stabbed me—it was me, plunging the blade into my own gut to regress.

The timeline where Se-bin never existed was a side effect of her stealth skill. I didn't know why she'd used it for so long, but at least it wasn't because she was a traitor.

Crunch.

'Thank goodness.'

Tears fell like an idiot. My vision wavered from the endless stream.

Se-bin slashing our comrades because of me in that timeline, hiding the bunker—it was unforgivable. But selfishly, nothing made me happier than knowing my one and only childhood friend wasn't a traitor.

I rubbed my eyes furiously with the sleeve of Iter's robe. The tears vanished as if washed away, my swollen, red eyes returning to normal. Feeling much better, I pressed on.

Clink.

Something caught my foot then. Looking down, I saw a shard of pure white fragment.

"Now you understand why I erased your memories, right?"

A familiar voice pierced my ears. I followed the fragments to their source—and there, at the end, was a battered version of myself.

Precisely, me from the ninety-eighth regression.

"It was you after all."

I spoke to my ninety-eighth self. He replied with a bitter smile.

The closer I got to the truth, the more pivotal memories I recalled—and the more obsessively my ninety-eighth self deleted them.

'He must've done it to spare me the pain.'

My ninety-eighth self had wiped my memories to protect me. But he'd overlooked one thing: the bizarre Savior Causality stat ensuring I'd eventually remember everything.

Thud.

I pulled my ninety-eighth self into a hug. The metallic tang of blood from his self-inflicted wound stung my nose, but it didn't matter.

"You did well."

"......"

"You were afraid I'd break, weren't you?"

My ninety-eighth self said nothing. I pulled back to look at his face—transparent tears streamed down it.

Thud.

His body jolted with a loud noise. Now I saw he was slumped against a vivid red door, legs mangled but braced hard to hold it shut, as if blocking something from bursting out.

"What's inside that door?"

"...You."

"Huh?"

"Every version of you from all timelines except you and me."

Crack.

Hands burst from the door's gap. Their owners looked ready to smash through any second, menacing shapes.

"So those random directives and missions came from them, huh."

My ninety-eighth self nodded.

"To be precise, we didn't give you the missions."

"Right. We just added a little extra reward."

"Oh, the random directives were from us, though! Gotta help you grow fast and save the world, yeah?"

Voices echoed from beyond the door—dozens overlapping at once, naturally, all mine.

"And it's not just you, Ji-ui. Choi Min Hunter has her own mission. Se-bin has hers."

"How do you know that?"

"We're part of this world."

Crack.

More hands shoved through. My ninety-eighth self strained against the door, but it wasn't enough. The hands stretched toward me, fingers wiggling eagerly.

"The Regressor's karma hasn't been cleared."

"So we can't vanish—we're stuck drifting as part of the system."

"Like ghosts."

"But hey, it lets us intervene in your abilities and the dungeons to some extent."

"That's a relief."

My past selves chimed in, one after another.

'If the Regressor's karma isn't cleared, there's no true rest.'

It felt like shackles the world had forcibly clamped on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me. They'd snag my ankle not just in past timelines, but this one too.

"You hate us."

"You should."

"Yeah. Should've just let the world end without asking for anything."

My selves wallowed in self-recrimination—guilt over creating a timeline that shouldn't exist.

Thud.

I grasped their hands. Cold, rigid like plaster statues, the sensation traveled up my palms.

"No need to apologize."

"......"

"You've all been me until now. And so have I."

My ninety-eighth self looked up at me. His eyes were red from tears. I reached out—he took my arm and carefully stood.

Click.

Then I guided his hand to the others'. I'd expected no warmth from how icy they felt at first, but once clasped, a faint heat rose.

"If you all made mistakes, then this me will fix them."

"You......"

"I'll clear all the karma you've piled up in one go."

Bang!!

I kicked the door hard. It shattered in crimson fragments, revealing the 'mes' beyond.

Hundreds of eyes fixed on me in unison. But it wasn't eerie at all.

A hundred regressions had forged unprecedented power and chances. And they existed because my past selves had.

'This time, I can save the world—and myself.'

I gripped the clasped hands tighter.

"So help me make this the last one."

"......"

"I'll end everything in this timeline."

Flash.

Blinding white flooded my vision—like being engulfed in the world's brightest light. I could only sense each other through our hands.

"This you really feels like the Savior."

My voice overlapped in dozens, resounding.

"We'll help. Just like you said—make this timeline the last."

Status windows popped up one after another. The reset mission 'One Who Steps on Karma' completed in an instant, granting me the Regressor's Right Eye plus brand-new rewards I'd never seen.

"Ah, this is in the way—better get rid of it."

The borrowed authority from the Creator melted away.

Time to erase every last trace of the bastard.

"We loaded it with every form of Ego we've used so far."

"You can pull them out anytime."

"You've been swapping them well, but there are plenty you haven't tried. You remember, right?"

As my selves fell silent after that, the status windows vanished—and so did the warmth in my hands.

"Taking in the memories must've been horrific, but I'm glad we could meet like this."

"...Me too."

I answered my past selves, listening from somewhere in the void. Meeting them inside the Creator's fragment made sense—I'd once been its owner.

Swish.

Something invisible brushed my hair back.

"We'll lend you all our strength."

"So ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you keep doing your best, like now."

Weeeeng—

"Our little Savior."

Crackle.

Color flooded the white space in an instant, along with the voices.

"Uh... where's this?"

A room carpeted like a hotel lounge. Massive windows lined the walls, draped in curtains matching the crimson carpet.

'Oh yeah, I got the Savior's Left Eye.'

The Regressor's Right Eye showed records from past timelines. So what did the Savior's Left Eye reveal?

I closed my right eye. Golden letters shimmered into view.

"Gasp."

I sucked in a sharp breath without thinking. How was I supposed to process this hyper-detailed intel?

One thing was clear: this eye provided the most precise攻略 guide imaginable.

'Like a Savior's manual.'

I opened my eyes fully and scanned the room. Four differently shaped doors floated before the far wall.

Ting.

A silver fork dropped at my feet. Aside from ornate floral engravings on the handle, it looked ordinary.

'This the Gourmet's Fork from before?'

I bent to pick it up. A status window appeared.

The status window jogged my memory of the last text before past memories flooded in.

[5 Ingredients Entered]

[Entering Edited Timeline.]

[Time Remaining to Reach Gourmet's Table: 24 Hours]

The 'Head Chef' had turned us into ingredients. I'd been exempted, but the others weren't. They were probably suffering in their own nightmares right now.

Fork in hand, I headed for the four doors.

[Han Jin-woo] [Kang Se-bin] [Cha Do-yun] [Choi Min]

Sure enough, they were trapped here.

I wanted to pull Se-bin out first, but for survival, I needed the healer above all.

I drew a deep breath, gripped the door handle, and shoved it open.