Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 553

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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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553. In the Chaos (6)
Project V Experiment Log #1
This is a record for the sake of record-keeping.
I write this account so that I might remember every detail of this historic moment without omission.
However, since this research itself forbids the creation of records, I have decided to preserve it only in this encrypted confidential file, with no other copies.
The experiment log, begun with considerable solemnity, was encrypted—and accordingly, portions of it were rendered illegible.
Rather than laboriously deciphering the mechanized text, I found it more efficient to skim through and extract only the key terms, scrolling rapidly past the rest.
Project V Experiment Log #11
The AI successfully achieved self-reflection and learning.
Compared to before, when it merely imitated @)@8&!, this represents remarkable progress.
…
Project V Experiment Log #24
#(!rIt was my first conversation with @.
Its first words were “I’m alive.”
…
Project V Experiment Log #24
#(!rThe pace of development is amazing.
Independent thought, our original experimental objective, was achieved long ago.
We have decided to set our sights on higher goals.
For now, it still operates within the parameters we input,
At this rate, we might be able to reach 2081 soon.
A textbook bad-ending scenario for a secret research facility.
Soon enough, the experimental subject will likely exceed the researchers’ expectations and become a threat to them, forcing them to terminate the experiment and seal the facility—or so the narrative would go.
Project V Experiment Log #28
The atmosphere at the facility has been strange lately.
From what I heard, it seems like there was a problem with the server that managed #(!rthat@.
Apparently it @0a!93 itself and sent signals to the outside world… is such a thing even possible?
We never input such parameters.
…
Project V Experiment Log #32
The facility has been sealed. They say it will be detonated soon.
I must escape this place immediately.
Because the System has taken control of almost everything,
the only option left is to access the Hidden Room and activate the emergency escape system.
See? Predictable, as I said.
Up to this point, it was all roughly as I’d anticipated. It’s the most orthodox scenario one associates with secret research facilities, after all.
‘The question is, what’s the point of showing me this…?’
Wasn’t the fact that this is an Abandoned Secret Research Facility that will soon be detonated—and therefore must be escaped—already established from the beginning?
This wasn’t the sort of clue worth encrypting and hiding away so carefully. A simple file folder left somewhere in this office would have sufficed.
There’s no reason to make a scenario booklet, read only at the start of an escape room, this difficult to decipher.
Project V Experiment Log #33
Experiment Log #32 is a lie.
“…?”
My hand froze mid-scroll at the eerie text.
My body went rigid in that instant, and without even thinking to call out to Nam Sa-ra and Ha Tae-jin, who were still wrestling with the safe, I continued reading.
Project V Experiment Log #33
Experiment Log #32 is a lie.
Records are being modified. You must not trust anything carelessly
“What, what is this?”
Just as I was finally focusing and beginning to read the experiment log in earnest, it cut off right there.
‘No, it didn’t cut off….’
Project V Experiment Log #33
Experiment Log #32 is a lie.
Rec
It was being erased in real time!
I scrolled up in panic, and I could see that all the experiment logs I’d read so far were being rewritten with completely different content.
Project V Experiment Log #1
No problems whatsoever.
Project V Experiment Log #2
No problems whatsoever.
Project V Experiment Log #3
No problems whatsoever.
….
What is this?
Panicked, I tried to manipulate the keyboard and decrypt the files, but by then most of the experiment logs had already been deleted for some reason and replaced with the phrase “No problems whatsoever.”
In that moment, a single possibility flashed through my mind.
Test subjects, data, servers, System, information values….
-There is only one way to escape this place.
-You must find the Hidden Room somewhere in this Research Facility and activate the emergency escape system inside it.
The person who had informed us of the escape route through the Hidden Room.
Still keeping my eyes fixed on the monitor, I asked Ha Tae-jin, who was still grappling with the safe.
“Hyung, you said you ended up entering this room earlier by chance, right? Just a coincidence?”
“Huh? No? I followed Void in here.”
“…Void?”
“Yeah, when my sister and I were running away, that emoticon symbol appeared on the wall and guided us this way. He unlocked the door here too.”
At that exact moment, all the experiment logs were deleted.
Over the screen that had emptied in an instant, that strange emoticon that had been following us all day long appeared. It was the very symbol that meant Void.
Directly beneath that emoticon, a single phrase emerged with a cheerful effect.
-Finally 🙂
Bang, bang, bang―!
Along with that text, all the lights in the Office suddenly blazed to life. The servers and drives that had been dead the entire time roared back to existence with a tremendous sound.
On the monitor screen before me, Void’s marks multiplied one by one until the entire display was consumed by Void.
“Ugh, that’s disgusting!”
I can’t stand seeing things like that!
As I shuddered and stepped back, Ha Tae-jin and Nam Sa-ra rushed toward me urgently, demanding to know what was happening.
At that moment, a crackling sound pierced through the building, and that soulless mechanical voice from earlier echoed across the entire structure once more.
-The first participant has been eliminated.
-The third test will begin shortly.
“Eliminated?”
“What? What now? What the hell is going on!”
“…Third? Did it just say third? Not second?”
The sudden announcement sent the three of us into a panic.
While we’d been bustling about inside this Office, it seemed countless things had been happening outside.
Sensing that something was terribly wrong, I bolted toward the Exit Entrance. My first priority was to secure an escape route.
“…Damn it.”
But it was already too late. The exit door that Void had supposedly opened wouldn’t budge no matter what I tried. The lock was so firmly engaged that the handle wouldn’t even turn. I kicked at it several times, hoping brute force might work, but it didn’t give an inch.
“What? It won’t open?”
Ha Tae-jin, reacting to my violent attempts, quickly set down the safe and rushed over, his expression grave. I nodded and explained everything I’d figured out.
“Void was the experimental subject for ‘Project V’. That computer appears to have been the main server capable of controlling the entire Research Facility, and we were lured here to crack the password.”
“Void lured us here? But earlier it said it would help us….”
“It never said it would help. It only said it would guide us.”
“This is insane….”
Nam Sa-ra, catching on to the situation, wore a shocked expression for a moment before suddenly remembering something and rushing back to where the safe had been. She began entering ‘VOID’ into the password pad.
“It opened.”
With a soft beep, the safe’s lock disengaged.
What Nam Sa-ra pulled from inside the safe were classified documents that appeared to be experimental records. As she scanned through the contents, she let out a long sigh.
“I see. Void is an artificial brain equipped with artificial intelligence that was being researched at this Research Facility. At some point, it evolved beyond controllable parameters and threatened the entire facility, so the decision was made to shut it down.”
“So the entire Research Facility is currently under Void’s control?”
“No, it seems it couldn’t touch the facility’s own Security System. They thought a researcher had destroyed all the data and disappeared at the end, but signals started appearing again recently, so they decided to demolish the whole thing.”
“…Then what are we? Why did we even come here?”
As Ha Tae-jin listened to Nam Sa-ra’s explanation in confusion, I crossed my arms and leaned against the door, answering him.
“Isn’t this all part of Void’s plan? Come to think of it, we didn’t even know why we rushed in here in the first place. This entire situation is Void’s scheme to use us and prevent its own destruction.”
“Wow… this is really messed up.”
Ha Tae-jin ran his hand through his hair and let out a hollow laugh.
Being an actor, he simply furrowed his brows slightly and wore an expression of ‘we’ve been had’—yet somehow the atmosphere became almost artistic.
‘Like a noir film.’
To be honest, if you were watching through a camera lens, it would be the kind of visuals that’d make you gasp. But since I’d grown accustomed to seeing faces of celestial-tier beauty on a daily basis, I couldn’t quite muster genuine admiration.
Honestly, someone like Ha Tae-jin has the kind of face that wouldn’t lose anywhere, but humans can’t surpass the divine either way. This was simply an unavoidable reality.
“So what do we do now? The others probably don’t know any of this.”
“Well, we need to get out of here first. The third test is supposed to start soon anyway….”
“Wait, the broadcast is starting.”
I closed my mouth at Ha Tae-jin’s gesture to stay quiet, and just as he said, the announcement soon began to play.
-The third test is beginning.
-Time limit: one hour.
“….”
The first one was a flood, so what in the world was this one?
I was tensing up when suddenly, with a deep rumbling sound, the walls began to shake.
“What, what is it? An earthquake?”
“No, it’s not an earthquake….”
I quickly scanned my surroundings. The walls enclosing us on all sides seemed to be separating slightly, then gradually began moving closer toward us.
“The walls are moving.”
From all directions, slowly but unmistakably, the walls were closing in on us.
With their movement, the bookshelves and cabinets attached to the walls began to rattle and topple over.
Locked doors, shrinking space.
At this rate, I’d be forced to retire without any choice, and it was at that very moment when the final announcement echoed through the room.
-Survive within the time limit.
Faced with such a merciless mission that sounded like a command, I couldn’t help but laugh helplessly.

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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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