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◈ I’m an Infinite Regressor, But I’ve Got Stories to Tell
The Mastermind XIII
I opened my eyes.
The moment I did, I realized I was in a divine realm. At first glance, it resembled an ordinary classroom, but this was the domain created by Infinite Void, which had consumed the Mastermind.
This was the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end.
“It’s been a while, sunbae.”
Infinite Void sat with its back against the chalkboard.
“Or should I say, we’ve met again after only a fleeting moment? How are you feeling right now?”
It took me a moment to respond. “It feels like I’ve relived my life from the 1st cycle all the way to the 688th.”
“Hahaha. That’s not a feeling. That’s just a factual description.”
The scenery outside the classroom windows was surreal. Each window showed a different scene. Through one, a vivid blue sky stretched out endlessly while another revealed a galaxy swirling across the darkness. In some windows, it was summer, and in others, autumn or winter.
“Facts? Don’t be ridiculous,” I scoffed. “What you’ve shown me is nothing more than an illusion.”
“Hmm.” Infinite Void smiled faintly as it asked, “Are you so sure?”
“......”
“You, sunbae, remember two timelines. One where Infinite Void was merely an Outer God, a target to be hunted and destroyed.”
A piece of chalk moved on its own, drawing a screeching line across the chalkboard. Soon, a second, parallel white line followed.
“And another where the elder twin, Cheon Yo-hwa, existed as your companion and strategist, always by your side. In this timeline, I was both Infinite Void, the Outer God, and Cheon Yo-hwa, the human.”
Timeline A.
Timeline B.
Either way, both led to the scene I was witnessing now.
“Now you remember both. Why not ask your Complete Memory to figure out which one is real?”
“Of course, the timeline where you are an Outer God is the real one...”
My chest tightened painfully.
“You seized the power of the simulated universes in the 688th cycle. That’s how you were able to show me this false illusion.”
Even as I spoke, my heart ached.
The figure before me—the mischievous, cunning elder twin—was undoubtedly the same person I had spent countless cycles with.
My soul, which retained every memory, whispered this truth to me.
“Perhaps. But that’s not a settled matter, sunbae,” Infinite Void said with a smile. It was the exact same expression I had seen on my student’s face countless times across the cycles. “This is a matter to be decided from now on.”
What nonsense was it spouting?
“I told you, didn’t I? Once you Time Sealed me, the Mastermind’s perfect Miko, I’d be erased from the world.”
Ah.
“That’s right. If I, the elder twin of Timeline B, am sealed in time, the world will revert to Timeline A.”
“......”
“People will forget me. Even my younger sister, Yo-hwa, won’t be able to remember me. The events I participated in will transform into events that occurred without me.”
Just as it had been for others who were sealed.
Even if a son forgot his soccer-player father, his life would continue without disruption. Similarly, even if Cheon Yo-hwa ceased to exist in this world, nothing would change.
Her achievements would become someone else’s accomplishments. Her words attributed to someone else’s whispers.
“The distinction between past and future is meaningless, sunbae. The choice you make now will loop back through the wheel of cycles, shaping both your past and the present moment.”
The timelines would merge.
The gaps would be filled.
The story would be rewritten.
“Didn’t you ever find it strange? Why, as soon as you established the foundation for the Regressor Alliance, you always rushed to Baekhwa Girls’ High School?”
It’s because, originally, you were the twins’ tutor. The bond you shared with them made it natural for you to try and rescue them.
―So said Infinite Void.
“How did you manage to subdue me, Infinite Void, in your first-ever attempt at infiltrating Baekhwa Girls’ High School? Was it because I was a weak Outer God? Or...”
Or because you had already uncovered my weaknesses through some means. As a regressor, you had an ally who was deeply familiar with the school’s secrets. You waited until you were strong enough, until you wielded the blade Do-hwa, until you had enlisted the fairies. Then, you struck at the perfect moment.
An excellent strategy. A testament to your patience.
As a result, Infinite Void, the Outer God, was defeated so easily it bordered on being absurd.
―Or so the girl before me claimed.
“That is my story.”
The girl placed her hands over her heart.
“The one who lived as a priestess in a cult, who stood faithfully beside the Regressor, who worked harder than anyone to help you hunt Outer Gods... This is where it ends, sunbae.”
My heart pounded ominously.
“This is the end, sunbae.”
“Infinite Void...”
“If you see me as an Outer God, it’s only natural to use Time Seal here to eliminate me. After all, I’m a threat. This is the perfect opportunity to erase the one responsible for this broken world. You’re not going to refuse, are you? Or... do you see me as human?”
My heart wouldn’t stop racing.
“If I seem human to you... please respect my will. Accept that this is the only way to conquer the Mastermind, sunbae.”
“......”
“Haha. Don’t look so down. In a way, I’ve bet everything on you.”
“But there are still blank spaces in your memory. Who left you the Silver Bells? What is Go Yuri? And most importantly, who advised you to intentionally create this amnesia between the 1st and 4th cycles?”
“You—”
“It wasn’t me.” She took my other hand in hers as well, clasping it even tighter in her grip, and she said, “There’s someone else. Another entity.”
That was true.
Thanks to her, I now remembered being the twin sisters’ tutor, but most of my memories were still shrouded in mist.
For instance, I might not have been the only one on that KTX train heading to Busan. In the tutorial dungeon at Busan Station, it felt like a certain someone else had been there with me.
Her brow furrowed slightly. “I’m sorry. I wanted to save Old Man Schopenhauer too, but forcing such drastic changes to causality was impossible.”
“Ah...”
“It was already a miracle to weave together a timeline that honored your journey up to the 688th cycle while simultaneously creating something new.”
To deny the Mastermind’s existence was to manipulate the universe as if it were a simulation. Yet, to erase an Outer God like the Mastermind, I had to honor the singular reality of my universe.
“That’s why the only picture you can paint on this canvas is your shadow.”
“My... shadow?”
“Yes. Don’t forget. This blank canvas, this shadow—it’s your divine realm.”
The girl, who had been serious until now, suddenly smiled brightly.
“Oh! I’ve said everything!”
“......”
“Honestly, you don’t have enough strategist characters by your side, sunbae. Phew, now I can finally relax.”
“......”
“Haha. Sorry for dropping out like Old Man Schopenhauer. The rest of your life is going to be tough, but you’ll just have to suffer through it. That’s what being a regressor is all about.”
Time began to freeze.
This classroom, this divine realm, and the girl’s domain were becoming eternally severed from reality.
To create the most beautiful hell imaginable.
“Ah.”
The girl looked up, gazing at her galaxy above, and sighed.
“Yo-hwa. My name.”
Yo (寥). Desolate.
Hwa (化). Transformation.
“To grow lonely and desolate.”
From the galaxy, a voice seemed to emerge. Perhaps it was nothing more than the sensation of her heartbeat, transmitted through our joined hands, that I simply interpreted as words.
Something beyond sound resonated, carrying the girl’s final testament as if singing her last poem:
Here lies the loneliest place in the universe of all creation.
The most desolate place.
The most colorless void.
A world outside the world, thus emptiness.
A time beyond time, thus absence.
Yet still the pinnacle humans endlessly imagine, dream of, and long to reach—thus karma.
I, born as Infinite Void, have come to know time.
Here, all things cease.
Even the infinite regress of logic that thinks of itself, and then of itself again, will stop breathing here.
I, having known time, now return to Infinite Void.
To the moment, the time, the void,
I can now finally say these words:
Be still. You are truly beautiful.
It might have been nothing but a sound I hallucinated.
The girl before me might also have been nothing more than an illusion or a shadow. Forgotten by the world, her existence was something even I could easily dismiss.
“Yo-hwa.”
But I didn’t deny her.
To remember—that was my life.
Hearing my voice, hearing me call her name, Cheon Yo-hwa looked at me. Her crimson eyes widened.
“Yes.”
Cheon Yo-hwa smiled.
“Thank you for teaching me what it means to be human, sunbae. In the past, in the future, and here in this place―”
And thus,
“I love you in this very moment.”
Time stopped.
Anomaly: The Mastermind
Aliases: Simulated Universe, Heavenly Kingdom, Infinite Labyrinth, Fog of War, Soul Harvester, Brain in a Vat, Hollow Earth Hypothesis, IF Scenario, Descartes’ Demon
Threat Level: Lv. 5 Outer God
Subjugation—COMPLETE
Footnotes: