Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 118

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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118. Reasons for Action (5)
Infinite regression repeating endlessly.
Within it, countless timelines discarded and forgotten.
The Chosen Regressor, stitching together abandoned timelines to pursue false happiness,
and The One Who Returns, seeking to become human through those very timelines.
According to Thirteen’s deduction, this bizarre relationship must have maintained perfect equilibrium for an extraordinarily long time.
[System Alert: The Chosen Regressor’s base personality doesn’t perceive regression, so they could always live happily in each new timeline.]
[System Alert: But to prepare for contingencies—to avoid repeating the same failed results—it seems the experiences as the Chosen Regressor were left embedded in the base personality’s subconscious.]
[System Alert: So the base personality instinctively makes different choices each cycle, seeking happiness, and when that happiness’s validity expires, the Chosen Regressor’s personality initiates the next regression.]
After all, the Chosen Regressor’s purpose is ‘happiness.’
Even grinding away their own shattered mental state, emotions, and reason, they’ve been fleeing from life through infinite regression—all so their ‘base personality’ could find happiness.
But then, like a comet, someone appears and shatters that perfect equilibrium.
[System Alert: That someone is you, Ha-jin.]
“…Me?”
[System Alert: This regression has made it certain. The Chosen Regressor is heavily influenced by you.]
[System Alert: I mentioned it before. This regression happened ‘for the Blue Flare Team.’]
[System Alert: Except for the very first regression, the Chosen Regressor has never repeated the same timeline to resolve something.]
The Chosen Regressor, who should have fled from misfortune, didn’t flee.
Because of me.
It was a hypothesis I’d considered before, when I first met The Returner.
[System Alert: Could it be… that the Chosen Regressor has developed such affection for this life?]
[System Alert: Enough to want to protect this timeline, even through infinite regression?]
[System Alert: Perhaps they discovered some possibility through you, Ha-jin.]
If the hellish cycle of infinite regression was actually the desperate struggle of the Chosen Regressor trying to protect this life for the first time…
Once that premise was established, the puzzle pieces scattered across chaos finally began finding their proper places.
“…If that bastard showed me that much trust, then I understand why The Returner tried to shake my mental state. If I completely collapsed or this fell apart, the Chosen Regressor would despair again and try to flee.”
[System Alert: Precisely.]
I fell silent, lost in thought.
‘…Could it be?’
It made no sense.
I hoped it wasn’t true.
…A loud alarm blared in my mind—the mind of someone who’d scraped together every last penny, downloaded every event app, and devoured countless regression web novels.
“Thirteen, could it be….”
The words wouldn’t come easily.
Because if this hypothesis was correct….
“…Could I be the Chosen Regressor?”
…Then my entire life would be fake.
My heart pounded, and without realizing it, my hands clenched and trembled.
From the start, the fact that the Chosen Regressor’s timeline was entangled with mine felt off, didn’t it?
What if my mental state in previous lives was actually so weak—like some pathetic character—that I kept regressing?
If I’ve repeated regression countless times to become a Chosen Regressor, and then my original personality awakened to the regressions, creating yet another personality called a Fixed Regressor…
[System Alert: What? (‘◇’)?]
[System Alert: That can’t be right.]
[System Alert: (Shaking head vigorously with an incredulous expression)]
Ah, this isn’t that genre?
Thirteen marked the entire display board (I still had no idea where this thing kept coming from) with X’s while vehemently denying the possibility, and I found myself momentarily flustered.
“No, listen. ‘The protagonist who first noticed the anomaly was actually the mastermind all along’—you know that trope? It’s a total cliché. The so-called Oedipal narrative structure. ‘Turns out I was the culprit all along,’ that kind of thing.”
[System Alert: That’s impossible. Rest assured.]
“…Why are you even reassuring me like that? You’re making me way too comfortable.”
Because Thirteen shook the system window left and right with such conviction, denying the possibility outright, the tension suddenly drained from my body.
Truth be told, I was terrified. I genuinely wondered what would happen if there really was ‘another me.’
Noticing my anxiety, Thirteen continued with the explanation.
[System Alert: Lives created from abandoned timelines always develop critical flaws.]
[System Alert: Your life has no such flaws, Ha-jin.]
[System Alert: Everything you’ve built, experienced, and been born with is entirely yours.]
[System Alert: Even the failures that once made you suffer in the past.]
Everything I possessed, created, and experienced.
The entirety of myself that I alone had achieved.
Having that confirmed once more, I felt genuinely reassured.
And at the same time, toward that sunfish bastard drowning in such immense misfortune, I found myself feeling a little…
compassion.
[System Alert: We still need further investigation into exactly how The One Who Returns is attempting to gather these timelines and become human, as well as the specific methods and motivations behind it.]
[System Alert: A Time Management Authority attempting to become human is truly unprecedented….]
[System Alert: Still, through this battle, we’ve dealt The One Who Returns a significant blow.]
[System Alert: So for now, please rest easy and focus on the Survival Program and your debut!]
Thirteen suddenly shifted into fan mode, radiating sparkling effects across the display.
‘No matter how I look at it, this bastard is basically playing an idol training game with me.’
Holding onto suspicions with no evidence but plenty of conviction, I nodded along for now.
It was almost time to wake up.
[System Alert: Oh, and….]
Just as I was about to get up from the sofa, Thirteen carefully opened another system window.
[System Alert: When I forcibly restored the Mental Care System this time, all the cache you’d accumulated was used up.]
[System Alert: Additionally, due to various system issues, cache skills will be unavailable for a while.]
[System Alert: Plus, I might need to step away again for investigations.]
[System Alert: So I’d recommend refraining from any actions that might incur penalties for the time being!]
At the hesitant notification, I nodded back quite coolly.
“Got it. I understand.”
[System Alert: (…Slightly flustered by how readily you’re accepting this.)]
[System Alert: Σ(‘◉⌓◉’)]
What the hell does this guy think I am?
“They’re skills that’ll disappear anyway eventually. So I guess I need to get used to the real me—the one without skills.”
Ever since experiencing this infinite regression incident, I’d been thinking about it constantly.
Once I realized I didn’t need to rely so heavily on the system and skills—and shouldn’t—my mind actually felt lighter.
“I’m okay now. I think I’m going to be okay.”
[System Alert: ….]
“I want to be recognized for who I’ve become through my own efforts.”
After finally voicing such honest thoughts, I was about to wake up for real when Thirteen suddenly went quiet again.
“…?”
Wondering what was wrong, I turned back to look…
[System Alert: … (ಢ‸ಢ)]
[System Alert: Kang Ha-jin, you’re truly amazing….]
[System Alert: … ʕ ಡ ﹏ ಡ ʔ]
Tears were literally dripping down from outside the system window. Well, well.
“If you’re going to be like this, wouldn’t it be better if you somehow became humanized or biologized or something?”
[System Alert: We Time Management Authority members are fundamentally unable to take on the form of living beings… Wait, is that really important right now?!]
[System Alert: Are you F or T, Kang Ha-jin?]
[System Alert: ｡ﾟヽ(ﾟ´Д｀)ﾉﾟ｡]
“Fifty-fifty. F 51%, T 49%.”
I laughed helplessly and just made a motion of tapping Thirteen’s system window—the one I’d grown fond of by now. Though it was semi-transparent, so my fingers didn’t actually make contact.
“I’m really going now. Ugh, just thinking about experiencing side effects again is already terrifying.”
[System Alert: …We will research more quickly to see if we can eliminate the side effects.]
[System Alert: (Looking dejected for not being helpful….)]
“Don’t be cute. I’ve already grown attached.”
…The problem was that I’d already grown far too attached.
* * *
Thud—
The moment Ha-jin woke from the Unconscious Space, his eyes snapped open and he couldn’t hold back the surging nausea. He kicked off the bed and bolted from the room.
Without even registering how much time had passed or what hour it was, he rushed to the Restroom and retched violently.
“Ugh!”
Screeeech—!
Even after emptying his stomach completely, the pain and burning sensation persisted.
As if something had gone wrong with his inner ear, severe vertigo arrived alongside a ringing in his ears.
“Ah! Damn it, it hurts.”
Unable to maintain his balance properly, Ha-jin staggered and reached out to grab something to keep from falling, but his hand scraped against something in the process.
He hadn’t turned on the light in his panic to get there, so the darkness made it difficult to see anything clearly.
“This is driving me insane, seriously….”
Even in the darkness, he could feel his vision spinning in circles—it was unbearable. Barely managing to grip the sink, Ha-jin closed his eyes and breathed slowly. He pressed his eyes shut against the dizzying sensation, held his forehead, and simply waited for this side effect to pass.
…Time passed—he wasn’t sure how much—before his vision and body gradually began returning to normal.
“If I do this a few more times, I’m seriously going to die.”
The longer it went on, the stronger the aftershock seemed to become.
I made a silent vow to avoid the Unconscious Space as much as possible for the time being, then fumbled to turn on the faucet. In my rush to get in, I hadn’t bothered flipping the light switch, so I could barely see anything in the darkness.
‘I hope I didn’t wake the kids. What time is it anyway?’
With that thought, I rinsed my mouth quickly with cold water, and was just lightly washing my face when—
Click!
“…?”
The restroom light turned on by itself, without me touching anything.
‘What… what is this?’
Did someone hear me? Or were they trying to come in without knowing I was here?
Startled, I turned my head toward the door, and the slightly ajar door swung fully open with a creak.
And standing there was…
“…? What is it, you guys?”
“…!!!”
The youngest members, huddled together with serious expressions on their faces, staring at me.
Those same kids Ju Eun-chan had said would be playing games in the Lounge.
And the moment their worried eyes met mine,
“…AAAAHHHHH!!!!”
“Ha-jin hyung!!!! You can’t die!!!!!!”
“1, 119!!!! Call 119!!!!!!!”
“Ha-jin sunbae!!!!!! Are you okay!???”
“B, brother there’s blood!!!!!!!”
…they just started screaming and pointing at me?
“What’s wrong! What happened?”
Before I could even process why they were screaming at me, Si-woo—who must have been in the middle of brushing his teeth, toothbrush still in hand—came rushing over to ask what was going on. The moment he spotted the panicked youngest members and me inside the restroom, his eyes went wide with shock.
“Kang Ha-jin, are you okay?”
“…Oh, I was a bit dizzy earlier but now I’m fine—, UGGHHHHH! What is this!?”
I raised my hand to reassure them, but that’s when I saw my hands and arms completely covered in bright red blood.
‘No way…’
I frantically turned to look at my reflection in the mirror above the sink and let out a scream.
“AHHHHH! No, it’s not! It’s a misunderstanding!!!”
Blood from a cut on my hand—deeper than I’d realized—had smeared all over my face. I’d washed my face without thinking, touching everything, and now the sink looked like a bloodbath. Even I had to admit I looked terrifying, covered in blood-stained pajamas.
“Jae, Jae-young! Jae-young, snap out of it!!!”
“119!!! Call 119!!!!”
“Ha-jin hyung! You didn’t have any bad thoughts, right!? I’ll report all those trolls leaving hate comments!!!!”
…You guys, please calm down.
This is all a misunderstanding…
I turned desperately to Si-woo, the only one who could possibly mediate this situation, silently pleading for help.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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