Chapter 68

Sarin-nim's fixed event was 'retirement from the music industry.' The cause was a combination of the pressure she'd felt through her career in the music industry and her body never properly recovering after giving birth. But in this timeline, she got to see your team's stage, and thanks to that, her long slump has ended.

Footage of Sarin and our stage from the last recording played. Ending the Empress of Ballads' slump — yeah, we really had pulled off something bigger than I'd thought.

Of course, a fixed event changing doesn't automatically mean a Regressor is involved. Repeated regressions like this aren't something that happens often to begin with.

With a flashy transition, the slide advanced, and one familiar keyword filled the screen.

〈Butterfly Effect〉

Small butterflies in every color leapt off the monitor, beat their wings quickly, and vanished.

The sight held my eyes for a moment — pretty enough — before the businesslike white letters on the blue window snapped me back to focus.

Human free will is more powerful than you might think. When, where, and what someone will choose — and what change that choice will spark — no one really knows.

In other words: if something big enough to shift one of those fixed events did happen, odds were very high it was either a historic event driven by someone's incredibly strong will, or that the Selreg bastard was tangled up in it.

"Isn't this getting way too complicated? Even in a novel, worldbuilding this long-winded loses me — I bail out of boredom."

But it was all necessary background!

"Anyway, thanks. I've got a bit of a picture now of how things run around here."

And how I should move going forward — that was starting to sketch out too, at least a little.

"So, first things first — anyone suspicious, I need to collect them as companions."

That was how I'd get to see their past timelines. And from there, clues would come.

"Ah, one more thing I'm curious about."

Question permitted! (^_-)~☆

"What happens when a fixed event changes? Something that was supposed to happen didn't happen."

Nothing happens.

"What?"

The answer caught me completely off guard. Nothing happens?

But without a flicker of hesitation, this System kid just put a peaceful smiley face up on the monitor.

There is no such thing as 'something that must happen.' There are only 'inevitable outcomes' formed by accumulated choices! Even if some choices shift and different outcomes appear, nothing goes wrong. The person simply lives through some version of a life where that event never happened. Time just keeps flowing.

…tough stuff, as expected.

But five lives into this, even those hard truths about how life works felt like something I could almost start to grasp.

"Fine, then. In this life, let's look forward to what kind of butterfly effect Sarin — now past her slump — kicks up."

While she's at it — wouldn't hurt to squeeze another big one out of her, honestly.

On that idle thought, I got to my feet. Time to head back to reality.

"Let's call it there for today. I've got chicken to eat, and I need to monitor the performance video going up. Lots to do."

Ah, before that — one more thing.

"Teacher, you're going too fast. Does the test range happen to be everything from the origin of humanity through the present day?"

A fixed event can shift due to the various variables I've explained, but… There's just one thing — the laws of nature don't change so easily.

The laws of nature. Was it talking about things like the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death?

I'll go into more detail on this next time!

"Right, let's wrap it up today. How do I get out of here?"

The exit is that way →. (❀╹◡╹) ????????

In the dark space, an arrow traced itself in the air and glowed like an LED sign. And somehow, over on one side of the workspace, a suspiciously massive door had appeared.

"I just walk out?"

★☆Have a safe trip hooome★☆ ( ღ'ᴗ'ღ )

"Business done and now you're throwing me out cold-blooded. Sy-hyung, I'm hurt."

A few steps and I was at the door. About to grab the handle without hesitation, I paused at a sudden thought and let go again.

"Hey — one more, then."

? . ? What is it?

"What's your name?"

Sorry?

"I've got a name for the Selreg, a name for Retty — but not for you. Can't just keep saying 'System, System' forever. And you said you're not even really a System, right?"

Selreg is one thing, but… Retty is — surely not…?

"This isn't a movie — I can't keep saying 'the Returner, the Returner' all day. I'm just going with Retty."

It's the Returner…! (˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º

"Right. Then tell him to return already, and stop popping up doing dumb shit."

Tch — just thinking about how that red bastard had jerked me around still made my blood boil.

"Anyway. So what am I supposed to call you, huh? Got a name or not? Administrators aren't allowed to have those or something? Then give me a prisoner number, at least."

I am not a prisoner!?

"Then the last digits of your phone number, whatever. Ah — hurry up. If you don't tell me, I'm just going to call you Bluey or Sparky or something."

1, 13!

"113?"

13! Administrator No. 13!

I'd suspected as much — turns out they really do go by numbers, not names.

'Fair enough — you're managing humans, so you're probably not built like human society anyway.'

"All right. From now on I'm calling you Thirteen. Hey, Thirteen."

…somehow, that doesn't feel great?

"Why would it not feel great. Thirteen. Thirteen. Feels a lot like 'System' rhythmically — not bad."

Yeah, the sound checks out. Thirteen. Going forward, when it's time to threaten it, 'little bro Thirteen' should do the trick.

"Okay. Heading out for real now. See you back in reality."

With a somewhat lighter feeling, I gripped the handle again. The handle wasn't especially heavy — I turned it and pulled the door open, and a flash of light hit me and my mind went hazy again.

Like being hauled up out of deep water in a net, the harsh sensation of reality slammed into me all over.

"…huh—"

The moment I opened my eyes — the old ceiling, the familiar fluorescent light.

The instant I registered that I was awake, my vision reeled and a wave of nausea hit.

"Urk—!"

The world spun, and a surge of dizziness rolled through me.

I half-rolled, half-crawled off the mattress, and the nausea got worse. Staggering, I bolted straight out of the room — and I could see my parents across the way, rushing out at the noise, startled.

But I had no room in my head to worry about them. With the urge to throw up surging up, I ducked into the bathroom next door, grabbed the toilet, and emptied out bile.

I closed my eyes against the still-lurching field of vision, but that only cranked the dizziness up.

'What the — this is—'

"Son, are you okay? Are you sick? What's wrong!"

I didn't have the presence of mind to say I was fine.

After a long, hard round of retching, the dizziness finally let up and my vision settled.

Fuming, I held onto the sink and rinsed out my mouth, and a blue window popped up in front of me again.

…ahem-ahem.

"…? What."

Then, out of nowhere, it reopened that update log from earlier and put it back up.

label: Kang Hajin (Fixed Regressor) Permissions Update (1.0) 1. More concrete information on 'human timelines' becomes accessible. 2. An 'unconscious space' is now bound to you. You may enter it whenever needed. — Entry keyword must be designated. — Time inside the unconscious space flows differently from real-world time; please note. 3. Interference over 'companions' is strengthened. You can exert greater influence on them. 4. Security tier has been upgraded.

"Yeah, so? What am I supposed to do with it?"

Wondering what the point was, I read it again — and under item 2, in the notes section, a line lit up in a twinkle and got underlined.

Looking closely, in very small print, there was one more warning line.

※ Use of the unconscious space may produce mild physical side effects; these are temporary and not harmful to the body, so please note ※

"……"

Ahahaha — h-how did this end up in such small print…. System error. System error.

"……"

The System reads the intense fury inside the Fixed Regressor's silence! The System panics at the Fixed Regressor's fury!

"…you little shit — is this what you call full disclosure?"

Next time I went back into that unconscious whatever, this Thirteen was getting materialized first thing. The anger wasn't going to work its way out until I'd wrung that little bastard out with my own hands at least once.

"Hajin-ah, Hajin-ah! Are you okay?"

"…you — I'll deal with you later."

I'd meant to fire off at least one more line at Thirteen, but at my parents' worried voices outside the door, I let it go. A quick extra mouth rinse, a rough tidy-up on the face I'd broken a cold sweat over in that brief span, and I opened the bathroom door.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Must be indigestion. It just came on all sudden."

"Are you sure? You don't need to see a doctor?"

"You haven't had anything since lunch, though. Your face is burning up—?"

"No, I'm better. My stomach was queasy for a second, but throwing up cleared it."

Even as I smiled and worked to reassure my parents, Mom's face stayed clouded with worry as she checked my hands and forehead.

"Mom, I said I'm fine."

"Did you sleep okay at the company? Do they feed you on time? You need to eat well and sleep well…"

"Aigo, Mom — you know your son could rig up plumbing in the middle of a desert."

"That's it. I'm making you porridge — dinner's that."

Huh? Porridge?

"No, Mom, you said you'd get me chicken."

"Chicken, my foot — you just said you were sick. You're not supposed to eat greasy stuff when your stomach's off."

The excuse I'd tossed off just to calm her down had cost me my precious chicken!

Feeling like the world was ending, I couldn't even get a word in — Mom already had her sleeves rolled up and was pulling out the rice basket.

"Son, come here — want me to prick your thumb?"

"…nah. Just — call me when the porridge is done. I'll sleep a little more."

"Yeah, get more sleep. You need to sleep when you're sick."

Mom — who no one could stop once she got fired up — was already turning on the gas. I gave up cleanly, trudged back into my room, and closed the door.

"My chicken…."

The chicken was gone. Where the rage — the kind born of that emptiness and futility — was pointed, I trust doesn't need spelling out.

………………. (◑_◑);;;;;;;;;

"Thirteen."

………………yes?

Silence settled over the tiny, cramped room.

"How are you going to make it up to me?"

I smiled. Bright as anything.