Chapter 118

〈03. Who is the 'Base Persona' of the Selected Regressor?〉

Confirmed clues so far (based on discarded timelines)

Orphan

Doesn't know who his parents are

Close bond with the orphanage director

The director's death is the trigger for the regressions

Only son living with wealthy parents

Genius-level intellect

Enters college and takes on his first class-rep role

Serves in the military

Doesn't serve in the military

Travels abroad

Never gets a passport

Learns an instrument

Plays sports

…….

"What… is this?"

The list ran on and on, one inconsistent condition after another. As if to put that lunatic's regression count into visual form, the list really did seem to have no end.

And among them were conditions that no human will could change, or that flat-out contradicted each other.

For instance…

"You said he was an orphan. Then how's he living a life with parents? On top of that, what's this about serving in the military but also not serving? Traveled abroad but has no passport? What the hell does that…."

Frowning at the clues he couldn't begin to make sense of, questioning them one by one, Hajin suddenly remembered what Thirteen had said a bit earlier.

Thirteen's line — that 'the Returner' seemed to be after 'discarded timelines.'

"…don't tell me."

He furrowed his brow at the hypothesis he didn't want to entertain.

Don't tell me — the reason they'd never been able to properly track down the Selected Regressor until now was—

And, as if to confirm his hypothesis was right, Thirteen's response came back immediately.

Yes, you're probably thinking exactly what I'm thinking. The Selected Regressor's 'base persona' appears to be pieced together, scrap by scrap, from timelines discarded by other people. Which is to say…. even he himself doesn't know it, but there's a strong chance the whole backdrop of the life he's living is fake. 'Retty' is using 'the Selected Regressor' to force countless timelines to be discarded, and using those timelines to— So — so, this is really just a hypothesis, but.

Thirteen hesitated for a long stretch, as if even speaking it aloud required caution.

Then, at last, Thirteen laid out the motive he'd worked out for Retty.

'The Returner' is probably…. For reasons I don't know, using those timelines, it seems he's trying to become a 'human' himself. That's why he made use of the Selected Regressor and attacked you, Mr. Hajin. …because only then, until enough timelines have been discarded for him to become human, …would the regressions never stop.

That was a motive fit for this insane loop. An unhinged one.

Endlessly repeating regressions.

Countless timelines discarded inside them.

The 'Selected Regressor,' stitching together discarded timelines to chase a false happiness,

And 'the Returner,' trying to use those timelines to become human.

By Thirteen's reasoning, this strange arrangement must have gone on in perfect balance for a very long time.

Since the Selected Regressor's base persona doesn't perceive the regressions, he could always live each new timeline happily. But just in case, so he wouldn't end up with the same outcome as a life that had already failed, it looks like he's left the experiences from his time as the Selected Regressor buried in the base persona's unconscious. So the base persona instinctively makes different choices from the previous rounds every time and finds happiness — and once the shelf life on that happiness runs out, the Selected Regressor persona kicks in and carries out the regression.

The Selected Regressor's goal, ultimately, was 'happiness.'

Even if it meant grinding down his own already-shattered mind, emotions, and reason, he'd been running from life through endless regressions, all so his 'base persona' could be happy.

Except here, someone showed up out of nowhere like a comet and smashed that perfect balance to pieces.

That someone is you, Mr. Hajin.

"…?"

This latest regression made it certain. The Selected Regressor is being heavily affected by you. I told you, didn't I. This regression happened 'for the sake of the Blue Flare team.' Setting aside the very first, earliest regression, the Selected Regressor has never repeated the same timeline in order to resolve something.

The Selected Regressor, who should be running away from misfortune, hadn't run away.

Because of me.

That, too, was a hypothesis he'd already thought about last time — when he'd first met Retty.

Could it be… the Selected Regressor has come to care about this life that much? Enough that he'd repeat regressions forever if it meant protecting this timeline. Through you, Mr. Hajin, he may have discovered some kind of possibility.

If that hellish loop of endless regression had, in fact, been the Selreg thrashing for the first time — trying, for once, to protect a life —

Once that proposition was on the table, the puzzle pieces that had been scattered chaos started — for the first time — to find their places.

"If the Selreg trusted me that much, it makes sense Retty tried to shake my mental. He needs me to completely fall apart, or this whole thing has to collapse — otherwise the Selreg won't fall into despair again and try to run."

That's right.

Hajin sat thinking for a moment.

'Wait — could it be?'

No way.

Please, no.

…but in the head of a guy who'd scraped every won out of his bank account and installed every promo-coupon app to binge his way through regression-and-transmigration web novels, an alarm was blaring.

"Thirteen — could it possibly be…."

The words wouldn't come out easily.

And no wonder — if this hypothesis was right, then—

"…it's me, isn't it? The Selected Regressor."

Because that would mean his entire life was fake.

His heart pounded, and without meaning to, his hands clenched tight and started to tremble.

The fact that the Selreg's timeline had gotten tangled with his in the first place was already a little off, wasn't it?

What if his mental state in a previous life had, in truth, been Kux-Dus-level fragile, and that was why he'd been repeating regressions?

What if he'd repeated regressions countless times, become the Selected Regressor, and then — once he, the base persona, started perceiving the regressions — a whole other persona called the Fixed Regressor had spun off—

Excuse me? ('◇')? That could not possibly be the case. (shaking my head vigorously, wearing an *are you serious* face)

Ah, so it's not that kind of {genre?}(#jmojt1v71slx)

Thirteen — filling an entire signboard (where the hell had that come from, either) with big X marks and shaking his head no as hard as he possibly could — left Hajin slightly sheepish.

"No, but come on. 'The protagonist who first noticed the anomaly was actually the mastermind all along' — you don't know that? It's a huge cliché. Also known as the Oedipus-style plot. 'The culprit was me all along' — that kind of thing."

That could not possibly be the case. Please, rest easy.

"You didn't have to go all the way to 'rest easy,' you're making me way too comfortable."

Watching Thirteen — full of conviction, shaking the system window violently left and right in denial — the tension drained clean out of Hajin's body.

Truth was, he'd been pretty rattled. Wondering what he'd do if he really was 'another self.'

Then Thirteen, who'd picked up on that feeling, carried on with the explanation.

A life built out of discarded timelines will always have gaps. Your life, Mr. Hajin, doesn't have any of those. Everything is something you built, experienced, and were born with — it's all really yours. Even, going back to the past, the experiences of failure that made you unhappy.

The things he'd built, and made, and experienced.

Everything of his, that he alone had earned.

Getting that confirmed one more time was, oddly, a relief.

And at the same time, for the sunfish who'd fallen into such enormous misfortune, he felt a little….

pity.

Exactly what method 'the Returner' plans to use to gather these timelines and become human — the specifics of his methods and motive still need more investigation. A Time Administrator trying to become human is, honestly, a first…. Still, this fight also dealt a heavy blow to 'the Returner.' So for the time being, please rest easy, and focus on the survival and your debut first!

Thirteen switched back to superfan mode, throwing sparkle effects around again.

'No matter how I look at it, this punk's playing an idol raising sim with me.'

Holding onto a suspicion he had a hunch about but no proof of, he nodded for now.

It was about time to wake up.

Ah, and…

Just as Hajin was about to get up from the sofa, Thirteen carefully raised another system window.

While we were force-restoring the Mental Care System this time, we ended up using every bit of the cash you'd saved up, Mr. Hajin. Also, due to various backend issues, cash skills will be unavailable for a while. On top of that, I might have to step away again for further investigation. So — for the time being, I'd recommend refraining from anything that might trigger a penalty!

At the sheepishly-delivered notice, Hajin — pretty cool about it — nodded.

"Sure. Got it."

(…the fact that he accepted so coolly for once has me a little thrown.) Z (‘0-0’)

What does this thing take me for.

"You said they'd disappear eventually anyway. So I should start getting used to it too. The 'real' me, without skills."

Ever since going through this whole infinite-regression business, he'd been mulling it over.

That he didn't need to lean on the System and skills so much — that he shouldn't — and once he'd realized that, he'd actually felt lighter.

"I'm okay now. I think I'll be okay."

……….

"I want to be recognized as who I am, for what I've built myself up into."

Having gotten an honest feeling off his chest for once, he was really about to wake up — but somehow, Thirteen had gone quiet again.

"…?"

What? he thought, and looked back — and…

(口)....... Mr. Kang Hajin, you truly are an incredible person…………. 0 ಡ......~

Tears were literally falling right off the edge of the system window. Oh, come on.

"If it's gonna get this bad, wouldn't it be easier for you to just, like — humanize? Get some kind of body?"

On principle, we Time Administrators can't take on a life-form's shape— no, hang on, is that really the important part right now! Are you a T, Mr. Kang Hajin? (´`)。

"Fifty-fifty. F 51%, T 49%."

Chuckling at how ridiculous it all was, Hajin made a light patting motion against Thirteen's system window, which he'd grown a bit attached to by now. Turned out the translucent material didn't actually register touch.

"Alright, I'm really going now. Ugh, just thinking about the aftereffects again already scares me."

…We'll do more research to get rid of the aftereffects as fast as we can. (feeling glum about not being able to help….)

"Don't do 'cute,' I'll get too attached."

…the problem being he was already, apparently, plenty attached.

Thud.

The instant he woke from the Unconscious Space and opened his eyes, Hajin — unable to bear the wave of nausea coming up — bolted from the bed and out of the room.

Without a second to register how much time had passed or what time it even was, he ran to the bathroom and heaved everything up.

"Ugh!"

Riiiing!

Even after he'd brought up everything in his stomach, the pain and the burn didn't let up.

Like something had gone wrong with his inner ear, a ringing hit along with a wave of terrible dizziness.

"Ah! Ah, dammit, ow."

Unable to keep his balance, Hajin staggered and threw out an arm to catch himself on something — hit something instead, and scraped his hand.

He hadn't even flipped the light on — he'd come rushing in in such a hurry — and it was dark enough that he couldn't see well.

"This is killing me, seriously…."

Even in the dark, he could feel his vision spinning, and it felt awful. Barely gripping the sink, Hajin closed his eyes and breathed slowly. Pressing hard at the corners of his eyes against the blur, forehead braced in his hand, he just waited it out.

… some amount of time later, his vision and his body slowly started coming back to normal.

"If I do this too many times I'm going to actually die."

The longer he stayed, the stronger the fallout felt.

Resolving to stay out of the Unconscious Space as much as he could for the time being, Hajin fumbled the tap on. He'd come rushing in without even flipping the bathroom light, so he couldn't really see a thing.

'The kids didn't wake up, right? Wonder what time it is now.'

Thinking that, he rinsed his mouth quickly with cold water and, splashing some water lightly onto his face too—

Click!

"…?"

The bathroom light, which he hadn't touched, came on by itself.

'What — what.'

Did someone actually hear? Or did they not know he was in here and try to come in?

Startled, Hajin turned his head toward the door — and the slightly-open door creaked all the way open.

And what was standing there was…

SKT 5:23 2

24 100%

"…? What are you guys."

"!!!"

The maknae line, huddled close together with dead-serious faces, staring at Hajin.

The ones Ju Eunchan had said he'd be playing games with in the lounge earlier.

And those maknae kids, the second their worried faces met Hajin's eyes—

"…aaaaaah!!!!"

"Ha, Hajin-hyung!!!! Hyung, you can't die!!!!!!"

"1, 119!!!! Call 119!!!!!!"

"Hajin-san!!!!!! Daijoubu!???"

"Hy, hyung, blood!!!!!!!"

…started shrieking at the top of their lungs and pointing at Hajin.

"What is it! What's wrong!"

Barely a beat into being bewildered by the maknae line yelling at him, Siwoo — who must have been in the middle of brushing his teeth, since he came sprinting over with a toothbrush in hand — asked what was going on. Then, taking in the freaked-out maknae line and spotting Hajin inside the bathroom, his eyes went wide with alarm.

"Kang Hajin, you okay?"

"…ah, I was dizzy for a sec but now I'm fi— wooaaaaah! What is this!?"

He raised a hand to reassure them he was fine — but a hand and an arm streaked bright red with blood came into Hajin's line of sight.

'Wait.'

Whipping his head around to check himself in the mirror over the sink, Hajin let out a scream.

"Aaaaah! No, it's not! I'm okay! It's a misunderstanding!!!"

Blood from his hand — cut deeper than he'd realized — was smeared all over his face. Because he'd washed his face without thinking and grabbed at every surface within reach, the sink looked like an outright bloodbath. Hajin's whole look — pajamas stained blotchy with blood — was scary even to him.

"Ja, Jaeyoung-ah! Jaeyoung-ah, get it together!!!"

"119!!! Call 119!!!!"

"Hajin-hyung! You weren't thinking bad thoughts, right!? I'll go report every single one of those hate-comment posters!!!!"

…gu, guys. Please, calm down.

That's a misunderstanding….

Hajin shot Siwoo — the one person here who could get this situation under control — a look that was, frankly, begging for help.