Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 503

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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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503. A Butterfly’s Dream (2)
I discovered that system window sometime after I first became aware that I was trapped in this infinite loop, during a period when I was throwing myself into all manner of reckless experiments just to keep from losing my mind.
Yet despite everything, I found myself opening my eyes once more at 5 PM on September 15th with nothing to show for it—just another futile cycle.
“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, damn it….”
Ah, I’d quit cursing.
But the frustration was so suffocating that even my reformed tongue betrayed me.
By that point, I could no longer distinguish whether I was already mad, in the process of going mad, or simply losing my grip on sanity. If only the Returner would appear before me and ramble on about something—then at least I could piece together what was happening. But there was nothing, absolutely nothing, and I was left completely alone in a day devoid of meaning.
“…Does any of this even matter?”
It felt like being trapped in an escape room puzzle with no hints.
A puzzle my mind could never solve alone, with no one to work through it with me, no staff member to offer assistance, and not even a time limit—which meant no one in the world knew I was trapped here at all. That was the endless cycle of my existence.
“….”
The terror and loneliness of possibly having to live like this forever gnawed away at me endlessly. Before an environment that overwhelmed me, human willpower proved to be fragile and insignificant.
Living in the grip of this endless loop’s terror, I began to wonder if it wouldn’t be better to forget everything and wake up fresh each morning with a blank slate.
-You haven’t lost everything, Ha-jin.
Yet despite that, I rose from my bed.
I washed myself clean, ate a meal, and changed my clothes.
There was only one force driving me forward.
-There’s still a chance.
There might still be a chance.
If I wasn’t the only one caught in this loop, I couldn’t afford to give up. Even if I eventually surrendered, it would only be after confirming that my family and the other members were safe.
“Maybe I should go outside today.”
The tedious rain continued to fall beyond the window, but on days like this, I needed to breathe in the outside air and clear my head. Fortunately, this cursed “loop” didn’t seem to restrict the range of places I could visit.
I draped a towel over my now-familiar dull black hair, changed out of my pajamas. For some reason, the clothes I’d been wearing felt uncomfortable, so I started the washing machine.
Not that it mattered—the moment the clock struck noon, everything would reset and I’d be wearing them again before the clothes even finished drying.
“…?”
I grabbed my phone, which never received calls, and my wallet, which held nothing of value. I swept my damp hair back carelessly, and just as I reached for an umbrella from the shoe rack—
[
□□□□□□□□□□
]
“That’s… surely not….”
[
■□□□□□□□□□
]
In that very moment, a faint blue light flickered into existence above my head.
So dim I would have missed it without looking carefully, yet unmistakably present, accompanied by a crackling effect.
“…Ha.”
It was a green light—the first green light ever to appear on a traffic signal that had only ever shown red.
* * *
And so, from the day that system window appeared until today….
Another identical day, though I’ve lost count of how many have passed.
“That was delicious.”
After scraping the last of the kimchi fried rice from my bowl with practiced efficiency and finishing the dishes with equal care, I pulled out a blank notebook and pen.
Then, at the top of the page, I wrote a title in handwriting that wasn’t perfectly straight but was nonetheless neat and deliberate.
【#What I’ve Learned So Far】
So much had happened lately that I needed to organize my thoughts. Of course, this record would vanish after midnight anyway….
‘But the point is to think things through while writing by hand, not to leave a permanent record.’
Sitting up straight, I tapped the pen against the notebook slowly before beginning to write, my hand moving with deliberate care.
The empty house filled with nothing but the tedious sound of rain and the scratching of pen on paper.

【└ I can feel pain. Though injuries do reset after a day passes.】
【└ But it’s also difficult to call this ‘true’ reality.】
【└ It might feel something like that ‘perfect day’ Ha-ru almost got trapped in?】
Ha-ru.
Now that I think about it, what happened to Ha-ru?
It should have been right when his personality was about to be completely erased. Could my being trapped in this loop somehow be connected to that?
‘…For now, let me focus on what I can actually handle.’
Other thoughts tried to surface, but I quickly pushed them away.
The moment I remember the ‘original’ world, despair becomes unbearable in an instant.
It was a lesson learned through bitter experience.
I continued writing.
【2. Time here is only one day, but it’s affected by ‘continuity’.】
<└ After midnight, everything resets, but the accumulated experience itself doesn't disappear. The fact that I now remember everything clearly, when I used to forget I was trapped here at all, proves it. (
I think I've lost some weight too
or something?)
【└ Injuries basically reset, but if I hurt the same spot repeatedly, scars remain. The scabs on my lips keep multiplying.】
【└ If I had to classify it, 'layering' seems like the right term.】
【3. The escape method is to create something that 'absolutely shouldn't happen'.】
I pressed the period down firmly, then hesitated. After a moment's thought, I corrected the punctuation.
【3. The escape method is to create something that 'absolutely shouldn't happen'?】
Having written this far, I habitually brought the pen to my lips and crossed my arms. With my red lips pouting slightly, tilted at an awkward angle, I stared at the System window by the entrance door, still faintly gleaming.
At least my efforts hadn't been entirely wasted—now I could distinguish the faint blue System window well enough to make out its presence.
But opacity wasn't the only thing that had changed.
[
■■■■■■■■■□
]
That mysterious gauge had been slowly filling up for some time now, and it was down to its final segment.
The problem was that this last segment refused to budge.
"…."
Ha-jin, lost in thought once more, picked up his pen.
Then, with careful deliberation, he began to write the next thought.
【└ The more I destroy this 'reality', the higher the gauge seems to climb.】
【└ As the gauge rises, the System window becomes clearer. Conversely, if I lose 'awareness' or take no action at all, the gauge decreases or the System window becomes blurry.】
【└ If that reaches 100%, returning to reality becomes poss—】
Ha-jin's hand froze mid-motion as he was about to write 'possible?'.
Staring rigidly at the letters he'd written, Ha-jin set down his pen for a moment. Then he clenched and unclenched his fist, using his left hand to massage the muscles of his right hand firmly. His right hand, which had been trembling and stiffening slightly, only regained its normal sensation after he'd worked it out for quite some time.
"…."
Ha-jin carefully gripped the pen again.
Though his right hand still felt somewhat unnatural, he'd once lain sprawled for three hours with a broken leg, so this degree of discomfort hardly registered as a real problem.

After crossing out those lines several times, Ha-jin finally set down his pen with a gesture tinged with frustration. His gaze turned once more toward the System window.
In any case, what mattered was filling that last remaining segment of the gauge bar.
Even if that gauge bar heralded the end of his life itself, Ha-jin had no choice in the matter now. If he wanted to maintain the status quo, that would be one thing—but to see what came next, he first had to turn the page.
Even if the next page bore the death of his most cherished person.
“But that one segment just won’t fill no matter what….”
Ha-jin had conducted all manner of experiments, observing the gauge bar’s movements the entire time.
The gauge bar didn’t move simply because Ha-jin performed unusual actions; the only criterion he’d discovered was that it responded more strongly the more he did things he absolutely would never have done during this period.
‘It’s not just reacting to anything extraordinary. The more it’s something I’d never do, the faster it fills—so it’s definitely interacting with me somehow.’
Kang Ha-jin pondered this.
If that gauge bar truly was a connection to Thirteen, and if this place was a trap constructed by the Returner, then what could that gauge bar possibly signify?
“….”
His mind began to race. Ha-jin’s fingers tapped habitually across the table, producing soft rhythmic sounds. As his fingers moved like those of a pianist, Ha-jin rapidly retraced his recent memories.
[System Recovery Complete]
[WARNING]
[WARNING]
[System Alert: ‘Intruder’ detected. Security protocol activated….]
[System Alert: Timeline deviation of ‘Fixed Regressor’ confirmed. Normalcy protocol initiated.]
Tap-tap-tap, tap—.
The rhythm of his fingers gradually slowed.
[Dan Ha-ru’s timeline needs events that will interweave intensely with as many people’s timelines as possible.]
[It’s like driving a nail through tangled threads. Even if someone pulls at those threads, they won’t come loose—they’ll remain entangled with the others.]
[So Dan Ha-ru’s timeline won’t deviate from its orbit and become isolated.]
“Orbit, then….”
Kang Ha-jin considered this.
If right now his timeline had deviated from its ‘normal orbit’ due to the Returner’s scheme, and that’s why Thirteen was desperately searching for his timeline’s location…
[System Alert: There exists a unique temporal energy that only manifests from the Chosen Regressor. We’ve been using that as the basis for our tracking.]
‘If I’m sending out abnormal signals from my timeline by doing things I’d absolutely never do, and Thirteen is gradually narrowing down my location based on that…’
But if the scope turned out to be unexpectedly vast, and even after filtering out over 90%, there remained more timelines than stars in the Milky Way, making it impossible to identify which one was the timeline of the ‘Fixed Regressor Kang Ha-jin’—
“Then we drive a nail into the timeline itself…”
So what if, instead, I were to do something that twenty-nine-year-old Kang Ha-jin would absolutely never do, yet something that most resembled the timeline of the ‘Fixed Regressor Kang Ha-jin’?
“Something twenty-nine-year-old Kang Ha-jin would never do, yet something that evokes twenty-one-year-old Kang Ha-jin…”
Twenty-nine-year-old Kang Ha-jin, who had lived the life of a ‘failed PD,’ and twenty-one-year-old Kang Ha-jin, who had lived the life of a ‘successful idol.’
A single action that crossed between those two.
The answer flashed through my mind instantly, and I rose from my seat, striding purposefully into my room.
“Hmm…”
With long strides, I approached something in the room and came to a halt.
“So it’s just this, then?”
An old guitar, its surface worn smooth by countless touches.
I picked up the guitar without hesitation, though by now its tuning had surely fallen into disrepair.
Something so natural for twenty-one-year-old Kang Ha-jin, yet something that could never happen for twenty-nine-year-old Kang Ha-jin.
“Why not try a street performance?”
Singing in front of people.
As the urge to escape surged anew, a refreshing smile finally graced my lips for the first time today.

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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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