Chapter 207

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Gun]

w

Chapter 207

──────

The Antagonist IV

7

Despite the onslaught from the enemy, presumably an anomaly at the level of an alien god, we did not panic.

Not only I, but the entire Regressors' Alliance, who now hold the reins of power in Korea, remained calm.

It was only natural.

- Another virus?

- These anomalies seem to lack imagination, always relying on plagues to mess with humanity...

- So, is this one stronger than COVID?

Yes.

At this point, Korea has gained too much experience to be alarmed by an epidemic and lament the end of the world.

Through the Constellation Chat and SG-Net, we issued a notice stating, “A currently unidentified virus is rampant, so we ask all citizens to respond proficiently.”

The citizens quickly complied. Maintaining distance, isolating by neighborhood zones, creating schedules to avoid overlapping routes, and so on.

However, this 'Return Virus' was a bit different. It was powerful enough to scorn the preventive traditions Korea had built up over a long time.

“How on earth are we supposed to stop symptoms that spread through dreams...?”

Noh Doha summed up the difficulty in a single sentence.

“Diseases transmitted through the real world can at least be contained or dealt with, but this one spreads simply by appearing in someone’s dream, someone who’s under [Time Seal]...”

“I’ve sent the tutorial fairies into the dreams of the symptomatic.”

“Do you really think those shrieking vending machines can stop a disease...?”

“No. They can only buy us some time at best.”

In short, it's impossible to quarantine.

No matter how composed and calm the Korean leadership was, the situation was nothing short of dire.

Without reaching the peak of aura mastery, it’s impossible for a human to go long without sleep.

Everyone sleeps, and everyone was infected through their dreams.

Even though only a day had passed, the chaos on SG-Net was enough to show how severe the situation was.

- Anonymous: [Virus] I’m losing my mind; every time I close my eyes, I keep seeing scenes of my death from previous turns.

- Anonymous: [Virus] The world is repeating, and this life is just one of countless copies.

- Anonymous: [Virus] For those who haven’t been infected yet, here’s what to expect.txt

- Anonymous: [Virus] This is hell.

The desperate pleas of those infected with the virus were pouring in.

I personally met and interviewed some of them.

The reported symptoms of the ‘Return Virus’ were generally consistent.

“The, the world is repeating! I’m sure of it! Look! I’ve definitely had this conversation with you before!”

Symptom 1: A strong sense of déjà vu.

When the symptoms were mild, it was just a slight déjà vu, but as the disease worsened, the déjà vu became overwhelming.

“Please calm down. Sir, this is the first time we’ve met. Even if there was a previous turn, we’ve never had a conversation like this.”

“N-no. You just haven’t realized it yet. Yes. You’re so calm because you haven’t realized that the world is repeating!”

“......”

Who would have thought I’d be lectured about regression in my lifetime?

As I felt a strange mix of emotions, the patient trembled and bit his nails. His pupils had already lost focus.

“Your expression... those eyes, I’ve seen them all before. It’s all useless. We’re going to die again. And repeat again. And live the same life as if nothing happened... I don’t want to die. I don’t want to live...”

“Hm.”

Symptom 2: An extreme fear of regression.

This symptom was quite odd because most people fantasize about becoming a regressor to live a better life.

In fact, this characteristic stemmed from the first symptom.

If you were really a regressor in a story, you would enjoy carving out a completely ‘new’ path compared to your previous life.

But the Return Virus was different.

The most malicious aspect of this disease is that it makes the infected feel that everything they think and do has already been ‘repeated thousands, tens of thousands of times.’

No matter how new your actions seem, it’s no use.

Whether playing a newly released game or reading a new novel by your favorite author, the infected feel they’ve experienced it all before.

Inevitably. No matter what choice you make—an overwhelming sense of déjà vu.

In other words...

I tossed the addicted fairy a General Sausage.

Fairy No. 264 happily munched on the peach-colored sausage without even peeling off the casing. Maintaining loyalty management like this, as naturally as breathing, is how you make use of the tutorial fairies.

“Hoee! While carefully monitoring the infected’s dreams under the Secretary-General’s orders...! I made an astonishing discovery!”

“What is it?”

“Seeing is believing! On-site inspections are the core duty of a communist party official! Secretary-General Comrade, come on!”

8

The places where a fairy would invite me were either a tutorial dungeon or a dream.

Since all of Korea’s tutorial dungeons had closed down, naturally, our meeting place became the dream of an infected person—in this case, the fantasy world of soccer player Kim Joocheol.

“I was managing this human’s dream with particular care under the Secretary-General’s orders!”

The fairy fluttered around.

When I first arrived, the whole place was swarming with rioters, setting everything on fire, but now it was quite peaceful.

Even the stadium was intact.

That’s because all the spectators and soccer players had fallen asleep, emitting ‘zzz...’ speech bubbles.

It was the power of the Nightmare Demon, the specialist in the world of dreams.

“To prevent the symptoms from worsening, we came up with the following method: First, put all the residents of this world to sleep, then enter their dreams, put them to sleep again, and then enter the dream within a dream and put them to sleep again and again!”

“It’s similar to how you enter the unconscious world.”

“Hoee! Exactly! As expected of the Secretary-General Comrade!”

The fairy buzzed excitedly.

“When you keep dragging an ordinary human into dreams within dreams, the dream becomes so distorted and altered that the space where the virus could thrive melts away like candle wax! We were implementing quarantine measures using this method!”

Oh, by the way, the tutorial fairies could be left inside the [Time Seal] and abandoned.

If a human were abandoned like that, they’d be lost forever, but for some reason, the tutorial fairies could enter and exit relatively freely as long as I gave them ‘permission.’

When I asked how that was possible:

- Hoee! Secretary-General Comrade may call this place a graveyard, but to us, it feels no different from a dream!

Was their response.

The fairy’s senses are quite mysterious.

“But here, here! Come with me into the dream of this entity named Kim Joocheol!”

I entered.

Kim Joocheol was sound asleep in the middle of the soccer field. Holding the fairy’s hand (still after hearing that weird lullaby), I entered Kim Joocheol’s dream.

Then,

- Did you watch the Olympic game yesterday?

- Everyone! Believe in the Goddess! Believe in the Goddess and live in heaven!

- Baaang!

- Dad, I told you not to talk about politics!

Crowds of people were bustling around, chattering and walking busily.

It had been so long since I’d seen anything like this in reality that I’d almost forgotten, but looking back, it was the scene at Seoul Station.

“Where is this...?”

People were walking around using smartphones. Cars on the road honked their horns. Students climbed the stairs of Seoul Station.

It was the kind of scene that might have been the everyday life of humanity before the world ended.

“...Is this really Kim Joocheol’s dream?”

It wasn’t that I was underestimating Kim Joocheol.

As the fairy explained before we entered, creating such a ‘detailed and rational’ scene in the unconscious was impossible.

Even with my [Perfect Memory], I found a vast desert when I stepped out of Busan Station in the unconscious world.

But what about here?

This was far too realistic for something conjured by the unconscious mind of a mere Kim Joocheol.

Even the acrid smell of exhaust from the asphalt road had a distinct texture.

As real as reality. No, it was just like reality.

“Hoee! It’s hard to define whether this is a dream or not, but let’s call it the [Reverse World]! One thing is certain!”

“And what’s that?”

“The Reverse World is as big as the Korean Peninsula, and it’s still expanding in real time! If we push a little more, it can surpass the real world, fighting!”

The fairy said.

“And not just Kim Joocheol, but pretty much anyone can connect to this place!”

“...What?”

“Infected people in the real world, every single one of them, has been abducted into this Reverse World!”

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Gun]

w