abcnovels
Chapter 13 – The Unknown Being I
Chapter 13 – The Unknown Being I
Chapter 13 – The Unknown Being I
[Proofreader – Gun]
Chapter 13 – The Unknown Being I
1
Even a Regressor is human.
A human.
I was very far from being an all-powerful god.
Just by looking at the vague description, you can tell. Did I ever think that I, who was thought to be a mediocre Awakened in previous runs, would be referred to as an angel in this run for saving patients from the brink of death with an unprecedented level of healing magic?
But, how does everyone who treated me like an idiot feel now? How could I have known that a Japanese web novel-style title like “?Manga Serial Start?Mediocre Awakened in Awakening ~ Saved Patients from Crisis of Death, Now Called an Angel~?Release on 11/11?” would unfold?
In other words, just because someone is a Regressor doesn’t mean they know all the secrets.
Occasionally, events that are like mysteries or ghost stories that even I can’t solve come to me.
Events that, looking back while sipping on Shono’s café au lait, make me wonder, “What on earth was that?”
Today, I’ll introduce one such mystery.
2
Do you believe there’s balance in the world?
For example, if there are bad people among humans, there are also angels.
If villains appear in online communities, then on the flip side, popular stars who everyone wants to be friends with also emerge.
-[Satisfaction] CookingQueen: Seeking peace of mind? Join the Satisfaction Guild! The main base is in Daejeon!
CookingQueen was always popular on SGNet.
I’ve only heard good things about this person.
“Are you talking about CookingQueen? I haven’t observed them for long, but they’re not a bad person. They take good care of their guild members, and even do volunteer work every Sunday. Personally, I think there’s no one as trustworthy among Awakeneds as CookingQueen.”
Witness 1. Saintess.
“Oh, CookingQueen. You know them, right? They are a really good member. I’ve seen all sorts of things while running SGNet, but I’ve never seen CookingQueen causing any trouble. But are they boring? Not at all. They write a lot of funny posts and don’t act all high and mighty. Ugh. If all members were like CookingQueen, I wouldn’t have to go through this…”
Witness 2. Seo Gyu.
-[Satisfaction] CookingQueen: KoreanVillage. I believe in the kindness that is planted like a seed in your heart. Why do you keep repeating actions that hurt yourself? If you have concerns, please consult with me.
-KoreanVillage: Please… stop… I was wrong. I’m a bastard. I’m a bad guy, so don’t talk to me like that…
Witness 3. Sim Aryeon.
Each Awakened, with their wildly different personalities, testified unanimously. CookingQueen is a rare possessor of character in this modern era.
Even the Saintess, especially renowned for being strict in evaluating people didn’t hesitate to praise. As the testimony came from someone who could directly observe the Awakeneds through “[Clairvoyance]”, the credibility was exceptional.
Of course, I, the one and only Infinite Regressor (except for one other person who’s on long vacation), Doctor Jang, also had a favorable impression of CookingQueen.
-Literary Girl: This person, ZeroSugar, has an impressive nose.
?[Satisfaction] CookingQueen: Criticizing others actually lowers oneself. Every human is a mirror reflecting me, and I am a mirror for every human. Let’s respect and consider each other.
Even when those vile individuals hiding in the shadows slandered me, CookingQueen was there to defend me.
I knew better than anyone how difficult it was to stick to righteousness when everyone else is doing evil.
And so, in the 89th run.
During this time, spurred on by the fact that “Untouched Lottery” Seo Gyu hit the jackpot, I would recruit a different Awakened as a colleague each run. CookingQueen, who had proven their integrity and righteousness throughout past runs, was also one of my targets.
It wasn’t because they privately sided with me.
“Hello?”
“Yes, hello.”
And recruiting CookingQueen wasn’t difficult. Like Seo Gyu, CookingQueen was very close.
Right at the point where my return journey began, Busan Station’s main hall.
Among the 399 summoned, CookingQueen’s original body was included.
“It seemed safer to move with several people. I’m forming a party. If it’s not too much trouble, would you like to accompany me until we leave Busan Station?”
“Oh. Yes, sure.”
She was a woman with pink hair.
Her hair color was flashy, but her demeanor was calm. Despite experiencing numerous life experiences, she hadn’t lost her serenity.
There was a sense of imbalance between her color and expression. However, this awkwardness wasn’t odd; rather, it added to her unique charm.
“Thank you. You can call me Doctor Jang or just Doctor. What should I call you?”
“Koyori.”
In previous runs, the woman who had been active on SGNet under the name CookingQueen smiled brightly, calmly, and politely.
“Just call me Cooking comfortably, Doctor.”
3
To cut to the chase, Koyori had no combat abilities whatsoever.
No, she didn’t even have any usable abilities at all. At most, she had awakened [Sensation Block].
If Koyori had talents as a sniper or assassin, then [Sensation Block] would have been a useful ability. But Koyori really had no talent for fighting.
“Ugh. Ow! Ugh! Sorry! Sorry!”
Koyori cried as she took hits from the weakest monsters, slimes.
Sim Aryeon (who had been recruited as my party member around run 51) approached and tore the slimes apart ferociously.
“Um, Unnie… You’re really pathetic…”
“Yes. It seems I have no talent.”
“It’s okay. I’ll protect you!”
“Thank you, Aryeon…”
The camaraderie among the comrades was truly beautiful to behold. Except for the fact that Sim Aryeon, who spoke like that, was also at the bottom in terms of combat power.
Yet, we didn’t expel Koyori from the party.
It wasn’t out of fear that the story’s genre would change to #Regret #Obsession #Filth, but for entirely rational reasons.
“Oh. Guild Leader.”
5 a.m. Still in the serene blue hour before daily life began. Koyori often came down from upstairs by foot, while I was drinking café au lait in the guild dormitory kitchen.
Even though it had been a long time since I’d been living as a Regressor, I still found the title of ‘Guild Leader’ difficult to get used to. It was a somewhat special title for me.
But I naturally accepted the greeting without showing any outward discomfort.
“Up early?”
“Yes. I naturally wake up at this time.”
Koyori chuckled.
Plus 10 points.
After all, it was a healthy and wholesome habit for humans to go to bed early and wake up early. This principle remained unchanged even at run 100 or run 1000.
Koyori wandered into the kitchen.
“You always brew your own coffee in the morning, Guild Leader? Our guild name even has ‘cafe’ in it. Is it a hobby of yours?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t originally a hobby, but an old friend was deeply interested in this field. Somehow, I ended up getting into it too.”
“That’s cool!”
Koyori clasped her hands together to make a tilted triangle shape and smiled softly with her head slightly tilted.
“I think sticking to a set pattern early in the morning is a sign of sincerity. What should I say? It’s a declaration of intent not to let time flow as it pleases. Yet, Guild Leader, you drink warm coffee. It relaxes your mind and body. It’s a very good pattern!”
A smile spread across my lips.
I had my own reasons for liking the early morning, but Koyori’s words weren’t wrong either.
“You and I understand each other. Are you going to water the plants now?”
“Yes. The mountain hydrangeas bloomed beautifully! I was worried about whether the soil would be suitable, but the blue color came out really bright, and I was so happy!”
Plus 30 points.
Lazy people spread laziness-virus around, while diligent people emit hard-work-vitamins.
Even though nobody asked, just tending to the flowerbed was already commendable. Watching how meticulously and beautifully she did it, my heart couldn’t help but feel content.
Whenever I said something like this in front of my party members, the response was always lukewarm.
“Umm, Hyung-nim.”
“Why? Seo Gyu.”
“Hyung-nim, even though there’s not much of an age gap between us, when you speak, you sound just like a company director…”
Uh-oh.
[Proofreader – Gun]
As I furrowed my brows, Seo Gyu quickly averted his gaze.
The Saintess who received my coffee (a masterpiece brewed to taste as close to bongdari coffee as possible) nodded her head.
“I think Doctor Jang’s opinion is correct. All virtues stem from habits, and habits originate from diligence. Any virtue will degrade into self-serving self-aggrandisement in the absence of diligence.”
“Isn’t that so? As expected. Seo Gyu, you should learn from Koyori and Saintess-nim too.”
Seo Gyu made a subtle expression.
“…Strange. Our guild’s average age is almost the lowest in the industry, yet why does the atmosphere feel like this…?”
He muttered like that, but the fondness for Koyori wasn’t just mine; it applied to all party members.
“Koyori! Let’s grab a beer after training! Our favorite place has restocked this week!”
“Um, Koyori noona. Regarding SGNet operations…”
“K-Koyori unni. Would you like to have lunch together today…?”
Party members, famous for being as difficult as wild horses, became docile in front of Koyori.
In fact, it was precisely because of this point that I decided to keep taking Koyori with me.
Suffice it to say now, but Awakeneds generally had bad personalities. It wasn’t an absolute law, but it was clear that as their character twisted, their abilities became stronger.
Our guild was made up of S-rank and A-rank promising individuals. Consequently, emotional instability was rampant. Even Seo Gyu, who was quiet in front of me, wasn’t he the crazy guy who cursed out the tutorial fairy, saying, “Hey, you fucking bastard!”?
Saintess… I trust her enough to entrust my life to her, but it’s hard to see her as just an ordinary person. She only occasionally chats with Seo Gyu about SGNet operations.
Saintess sent more messages to people than anyone else, but paradoxically, she disliked communicating with people.
Getting along with everyone in a guild full of troublemakers was by no means an easy feat.
“The party members’ mental states are much more stable than in previous runs.”
Plus 200 points.
Affinity level up to Lv.7.
Even if Koyori only had the ability to [Sensation Block] and was just an awakening with barely any abilities, it didn’t matter.
It’s often said, but in humans, mental state is just as important. What good is having the strongest combat abilities if your mind crumbles? If your mind falls apart like a showman, you’ll just transition from being a showman to a no-show.
“Alright, everyone. Let’s have lunch together then.”
Koyori acted as a bridge connecting all guild members.
If it had been in previous runs, even the awakening members who growled at each other were now being mediated by Koyori in the middle, reducing my burden significantly.
Watching from afar, I whispered to the Saintess.
“Koyori is like a good stew. Organizational management has become ridiculously easy. You know Hahyool, right? The silent one. Even he follows Koyori. If we continue like this, even if we stretch it a bit, increasing the guild size to 20, 30 members shouldn’t be a problem.”
“….”
“Hmm?”
When I turned back after receiving no response, the Saintess’s expression seemed somewhat absent-minded. Her usually clear eyes seemed slightly clouded.
“Saintess-nim?”
“Oh. Yes. I’m sorry. What did you just say?”
“It wasn’t anything important. Are you feeling hot? Shall I bring you some cold water?”
“…No, I’m fine.”
The Saintess muttered.
“I was just surprised at how she’s so close with everyone. You know, I’m quite distant by nature from those kinds of personalities.”
“Everyone’s character has its strengths and weaknesses, right? Koyori might also have stresses she can’t share with others.”
“That’s true. You’re right.”
In many ways, the 89th run felt good.
SGNet operations went smoothly. Sim Aryeon, the villain of KoreanVillage, also successfully transitioned to an A-rank healer, without causing any trouble as he used to.
With the Saintess’s flawless backup and Koyori’s charming personality at its peak, the guild’s internal cohesion was stronger than ever before. They even managed to arrest all the fairies and gain nationwide support from the Awakeneds.
A run where power and influence grew exponentially.
“Perhaps… this time, we might actually be able to prevent the end of the world?”
Looking back now, it was just idle chatter, but at the time, I genuinely believed it. What could I do about it?
After such a satisfying day, I went to bed.
The next day, as I woke up and tried to get up.
Because it was my principle to get up immediately upon waking up, without dawdling in bed.
“…?”
But this day, I hesitated in bed for quite a while.
It wasn’t because I suddenly realized the ways of laziness.
I simply stared blankly at the ceiling.
Until I fell asleep, it had been clean, with nothing on it.
[Don’t trust the pink-haired one.]
A familiar ceiling now bore unfamiliar words.
4
Infinite regression gifted me with numerous lessons.
One of those gifts was the name ‘doubt.’
Old Scho, who was also a regressor like me. Didn’t he say that before?
-Don’t trust those who claim to be the Constellation.
Everyone naturally believed in the existence of the Constellations. But Old Scho pointed out that the Constellations ‘favor Koreans’ and never stopped doubting.
In the end, Old Scho was right. The Constellations were nothing but a masquerade by the Saintess aimed at the entire nation.
‘German.’
While having breakfast with guild members, I thought about the sentence I saw in the room earlier.
‘They didn’t use a writing tool, they used the tip of a knife to carve it. So…’
I took out a dagger from my pocket and looked at it.
A self-defense weapon I never parted with even when sleeping.
Inspecting the blade, I noticed traces of fine dust and dirt. I would need to ask Uehara Shino for a detailed composition, but roughly speaking, the ceiling and the material were the same.
In other words.
‘Someone took the dagger from my possession, carved a sentence in German on the ceiling that only I could recognize, and it wasn’t detected by me during the whole process, and even broke through all the security measures set up in my bedroom.’
Is that possible?
‘Impossible.’
Moreover, my guild headquarters had tiny ‘cobwebs’ set up all over the ceiling by a serious security specialist called ‘Dollmaker.’
Apart from the Tang Seorin’s guild, there was no headquarters with such a high level of security. At least, among our guild members, there was no one capable of penetrating security and playing tricks.
Old Scho might be capable, but… still impossible. His body at Yeongam was confirmed as soon as the 89th run began.
In the end, there was only one suspect.
‘Me.’
Myself.
I looked at my reflection in the glass.
If I were the culprit, I could easily commit the crime despite all those adverse conditions.
The problem was… No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t recall any memory of myself carving such a sentence on the ceiling.
‘Brainwashing? Delusions? Multiple personalities? Amnesia? Hypnosis?’
Countless possibilities came to mind.
It had to be one of two things.
“Either someone’s trying to drive a wedge between me and Koyori, or it’s really a warning about Koyori.”
Casually, I turned my head and met Koyori’s gaze, who was holding a sandwich in her hands and eating.
“…?”
Koyori grinned and continued eating her sandwich.
…My heartbeat settled down calmly.
I, too, proceeded with the meal as if nothing had happened.
‘I never expected such a bizarre event to occur in what I thought was an exceptional run, the 89th.’
In such a dire situation, the only colleague I could consult was ultimately Saintess. Knowing that I was a regressor and that she was more objective in assessing situations than anyone else.
“By the way, have you noticed the Constellations haven’t been messaging lately?”
“Oh? You too? I haven’t been getting any messages since yesterday.”
“They used to message us all the time, but suddenly going silent makes me feel uneasy, you know?”
Pause.
I glanced over at the guild members chatting at the dining table.
“The messages from the Constellations aren’t coming through?”
“Yeah, Guild Leader.”
“I bet there’s talk about it on SGnet too, right now.”
A foreboding feeling crept over me.
[Proofreader – Gun]