Chapter 167

Translator/Editor: Ryuu

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◈ I’m an Infinite Regressor, But I’ve Got Stories to Tell

Chapter 167

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The Traveler II

As I looked at them, they looked back at me.

The ‘Undertaker’ sitting in the emergency exit row, legs crossed, gave me a crooked look.

- Welcome, Undertaker.

- I don’t know which world’s Undertaker you are, but it seems there are 107 of us.

- Including our companions, that makes 214.

Murmurs spread through the plane.RêAd lateSt chapters at novelhall.com Only

Hundreds of Undertakers added their comments or sneered. The plane became noisy in an instant.

- If you’re all actually people, I guess using ‘107’ as a unit is fine. But what if all of you, except me, are anomalies?

- Oh, a smart ‘me.’ I was just thinking the same thing. Would you like to volunteer as the first to be exterminated?

My head started spinning.

“Wait. Instead of murmuring among yourselves, explain this to me. What kind of anomaly is this? A doppelgänger? But the doppelgänger is in Cheon Yo-hwa’s Poké Ball right now.”

- Explain? If what’s inside your skull is a bird brain, count the numbers, idiot.

The ‘Undertakers’ sighed, shrugged, or crunched in-flight peanuts.

- You’re the 107th ‘me.’

- Got it? 107th. We’ve explained this to every new arrival, so we’ve repeated the explanation dozens of times. No matter how entertaining each cycle is, repeating the same explanation isn’t enjoyable.

- No choice. I’ll explain this time.

Another Undertaker stood up.

Interestingly, this one wore a Sherlock Holmes hat, perhaps imagining himself born on Baker Street in London.

Even though we were the same Undertaker, the details varied. Some even cosplayed with their companions in animal costumes.

What’s up with that?

- Each of us decided to travel with Dang Seo-rin for different reasons. You’re the 107th. Where are you planning to go?

“...Uyuni Salt Flats.”

- Oh. I see.

Sighs came from all around. Sherlock 106 looked at us with deep sympathy.

- Ha-yul lost her heart there once.

- In your world, did Ha-yul die in the 110th cycle? How incompetent. I saved her.

- Isn’t that place where Inca and Aztec myths combined into a horrifying hybrid?

- It’s where humanity first developed a perpetual motion machine. It automatically recharges with solar energy if you offer a human heart.

“......”

Dang Seo-rin squeezed my hand tightly. Her palm felt hotter than usual.

“...Undertaker, what are they talking about? Cycles? Traveling with Ha-yul?”

- Silly. All of us, including your Undertaker, are regressors. You, the 107th ‘me.’

The Dang Seo-rin in the front row spoke.

This Dang Seo-rin wore a school uniform, not her usual witch hat and robe.

A school uniform? Wasn’t that the exclusive uniform of Baekhwa Girls’ High?

Of course, the original Dang Seo-rin (107th) didn’t like that outfit.

She looked at the uniformed Dang Seo-rin as if she were a North Korean soldier at a South Korean military parade.

“What about you?”

- I’m Dang Seo-rin. And a polite person trying to kindly explain the situation to someone wearing a ridiculous outfit.

The uniformed Dang Seo-rin smiled.

- Undertaker is a regressor. He’s been through hundreds of cycles. If you’re also ‘me,’ you might have suspected it.

“......”

- Next, you’ll ask the Undertaker if it’s true. Understandable, but consider our perspective. I’ve watched that scene 100 times already.

Then, an Undertaker sitting in the middle of the plane stood up. This one spoke formally.

- Everyone. One of us must get off here.

“What?”

- Have you all gentlemen and ladies still not been able to figure it out?

The formal-speaking Undertaker smirked.

- With this final Undertaker, the number of people on this plane is confirmed at 214. Exactly matching the death toll of Flight 801 in 1997.[1]

“First... let’s sit and talk. The furry Undertaker was right. We need to unite.”

- Hmm.

- Indeed.

“If we join forces, we can accomplish great things. Forget the old man—we can save the world ourselves.”

- But what if the rest of you are all anomalies? That would be pointless.

“I have a solution for that.” I smiled confidently. “If you’re not an anomaly, the Saintess’s Clairvoyance and Telepathy should work.”

- Oh?

“This is a space void. It looks like space but is probably still over Korea. The Saintess’s telepathy should reveal the real anomalies.”

- Makes sense.

- Excellent idea.

Nodding at their admiration, I looked up at the plane ceiling. “Saintess, are you watching? Please respond.”

[Yes.]

“Good. Please tell me who the fakes are...”

Then it happened.

[Yes.]

[Yes.]

[Yes.]

The Saintess’s voice echoed, overlapping.

“What?”

It didn’t stop there.

[Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.] [Yes.]

[I’m checking now.]

[Hard to tell if anyone is fake. All of them.]

[Responding to my clairvoyance.]

[It’s hard to believe, but all present Undertakers and Dang Seo-rins.]

[Seem real. Unless I’m infected too.]

[Mr. Undertaker?]

[Mr. Undertaker, why no response?]

[Mr. Undertaker?] [Mr. Undertaker?] [Mr. Undertaker?] [Mr. Undertaker?] [Mr. Undertaker?] [Mr. Undertaker?] [Mr. Undertaker?] [Mr. Undertaker?] [Mr. Undertaker?]

“......”

Great.

We were definitely screwed.

‘Wait a second.’

A grim possibility crossed my mind.

If there were 51 Mr. Undertakers and 51 Dang Seo-rins, and 51 Saintesses observing us, then logically...

‘What about the anomalies?’

For the same reason, could there be 51 Outer Gods in this void?

This wasn’t a ‘copy the Undertaker’ event. That would have been too convenient.

It was the opposite. This plane was a gacha event for multiplying Outer Gods.

“......”

- ......

- ......

All the Undertakers exchanged furtive glances.

The looks were deadly. Each of them likely had telepathy with ‘their’ Saintess and faced the same phenomenon.

And reached the same conclusion.

‘If more than one Undertaker gets off the plane, confirming multiple Undertakers on the ground will also multiply the Outer Gods!’

‘If 51 Undertakers exist, 51 Go Yuris will too.’

‘What madness.’

‘Only one Undertaker can get off the plane.’

Yes.

From now on, it was a matter of who would (try to) kill me.

Footnotes:

[1] Korean Air Flight 801 was an international passenger flight whose crash led to the deaths of 214 passengers. Experts cite poor communication between the personnel onboard as the most probable cause of the incident.

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