Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 68

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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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68. System Update (3)
[System Notification: Sarin’s fixed event had been ‘K-pop Industry Retirement’.]
[System Notification: The reason was the pressure she felt while active in the K-pop Industry, and her condition that never properly recovered after childbirth.]
[System Notification: However, in this timeline, she witnessed your stage, and through that, she ended her prolonged slump.]
Footage of Sarin from the past recording and our stage crossed paths in my mind. Ending the Ballad Empress’s slump—I really had done something far more significant than I’d initially realized.
[System Notification: Of course, just because a fixed event changes doesn’t necessarily mean a returner is involved.]
[System Notification: After all, this kind of repeated regression isn’t something that happens frequently.]
The slide advanced with a brilliant effect, and a familiar keyword filled the screen.
【Butterfly Effect】
Colorful little butterflies burst from the monitor, fluttering rapidly before vanishing.
I was captivated by the beautiful sight, but only briefly—the administrative text on the blue window soon reclaimed my focus.
[System Notification: Human free will is far more powerful than you might think.]
[System Notification: No one knows when, where, or what choices will be made, or what changes those choices will bring about.]
In other words, if a fixed event were to change to such a degree, it meant either someone’s extraordinarily powerful will had created a historical event, or the probability of a returner being involved was extremely high.
“Isn’t this getting too complicated? Even in novels, if you lay out the worldbuilding this elaborately, it gets boring and people stop reading.”
[System Notification: But these were all necessary explanations!]
“Either way, thanks. Now I’m starting to understand how things work.”
And I was beginning to see a picture of what I needed to do going forward.
“So first, I should collect any suspicious individuals as colleagues.”
That way I could see their past timelines. And through that, clues would emerge.
“Oh, but I have one more thing I’m curious about.”
[System Notification: Your question is permitted! (^_-)~☆]
“What happens when a fixed event changes? Something that was supposed to happen didn’t.”
[System Notification: Nothing happens.]
“What?”
The unexpected answer caught me off guard. Nothing happens?
Yet the system displayed nothing but a serene smiling emoticon on the monitor, completely unperturbed.
[System Notification: There is no such thing as something that must absolutely happen.]
[System Notification: There exists only the ‘inevitable result’ formed by accumulated choices!]
[System Notification: If different choices lead to different outcomes, there is no problem with that.]
[System Notification: You simply live a life where that event never occurred.]
[System Notification: Time simply continues to flow.]
…It was a difficult concept to grasp, as expected.
But now, having lived through five iterations, I felt I could understand this difficult truth of existence a little better.
“Alright then. In this life, let’s see what kind of butterfly effect Sarin, who overcame her slump, will bring about.”
I wouldn’t mind if she did something even bigger while she was at it.
With such frivolous thoughts, I rose to my feet. It was time to return to reality.
“For now, let’s call it a day. I need to eat chicken, and I have to monitor the performance video going live. There’s a lot to do.”
[System Notification: Ah, before that, there’s just one more thing I need to tell you.]
“Teacher, you’re going too fast. Is the test material really from the origin of humanity until now?”
[System Notification: Fixed events may change depending on the various variables I mentioned, but….]
[System Notification: There is just one thing—the laws of nature do not change easily.]
The laws of nature. Are you talking about things like human birth, aging, sickness, and death?
[System Notification: I will explain this story in more detail next time!]
“Yeah, let’s stop here for today. How do I get out of here?”
[System Notification: The exit is over there→. (❀╹◡╹) 👉👉]
An arrow materialized in the darkness like an LED light, glowing brilliantly. Before I knew it, a suspiciously enormous door had appeared at one end of the studio.
“I just have to walk out?”
[System Notification: ★☆Goodbye now★☆ ( ღ’ᴗ’ღ )]
“Coldly kicking me out like you’re done with me. Seok, am I hurt?”
After a few steps, I found myself at the door. I reached for the handle without hesitation, but a sudden thought made me release it again.
“Hey, then I have one more question.”
[System Notification: ? . ? What is it?]
“What’s your name?”
[System Notification: Pardon?]
“The Returning One, Dol, The One Who Returns—I have plenty of names to call others by, but you don’t have one. I can’t keep saying System, System all the time. Besides, you said you’re not even a system in the first place?”
[System Notification: The Returning One is one thing, but… Dol, The One Who… surely not…?]
“It’s not a movie, and I can’t keep saying The One Who Returns, The One Who Returns all day long. Let’s just shorten it to Dol.”
[System Notification: It’s The One Who Goes Back…! (˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º]
“Right. Go back then, that one. Don’t show up again and cause trouble.”
Tsk—just thinking about being toyed with by that red bastard made my blood boil all over again.
“Anyway, so what should I call you? You. Don’t you have a name? Managers aren’t supposed to have those kinds of things? Then let me just call you by a prisoner number.”
[System Notification: I’m not a prisoner!?]
“Then use the last digits of a phone number. Come on, hurry. If you don’t tell me, should I just call you something like Bluey or Sparkle?”
[System Notification: 1, 13!]
“113?”
[System Notification: 13! Manager Number 13!]
I had a suspicion, and it turned out to be true—they really were called by numbers instead of names.
‘Well, I suppose those who manage humans wouldn’t share the same social structure as humans themselves.’
“Alright then. From now on, I’ll call you Thirteen. Thirteen.”
[System Notification: …That feels oddly unpleasant?]
“Why does it feel unpleasant? Thirteen. Thirteen. It sounds pretty similar to System, and it works fine.”
Hmm, the sound of it passes the test. Thirteen. When I need to threaten them in the future, I can just say Thirteen’s younger sibling.
“Okay. So I’m leaving now? Let’s meet again in reality.”
With a somewhat relieved feeling, I grasped the door handle again. I turned the not-too-heavy handle and pulled the door open, and in an instant, bright light flooded in and my consciousness grew distant once more.
Like being dragged up in a net from the depths of the ocean, the sharp sensations of reality crashed over my entire body.
“…Gasp.”
The moment my eyes opened, I saw the worn ceiling and the familiar fluorescent light above.
The instant I realized I had woken up, my vision spun and nausea washed over me.
“Ugh—!”
The world spun in nauseating circles, and dizziness crashed over me like a wave.
I crawled out of bed and staggered to my feet, but the nausea only intensified. As I stumbled out of the room, I caught sight of my parents emerging from their bedroom across the hall, startled by the commotion.
But I had no mind to comfort them. Bile rose urgently in my throat, and I rushed into the nearby Restroom, gripping the toilet bowl as I retched violently.
My vision still swam even with my eyes shut, but closing them only amplified the vertigo.
‘What is this…?’
“Son, are you alright? Are you sick? What’s wrong!”
I was in no state to reassure them.
After what felt like an eternity of purging, the dizziness finally subsided and my vision stabilized.
Damn inner ear, do your job properly.
Still seething, I gripped the sink and rinsed my mouth when a blue window materialized before my eyes once more.
[System Notification: …Ahem, ahem.]
“…? What?”
Then it simply displayed the update details I’d seen before.
[Kang Ha-jin (Fixed Returner) Authority Update (1.0) Details]
1. More detailed information regarding the ‘Human Timeline’ becomes accessible.
2. The ‘Unconscious Space’ is now yours to command. You may enter whenever necessary.
※ Entry keyword designation required ※
※ Please note: time flows differently within the Unconscious Space compared to reality ※
3. Your influence over ‘allies’ increases. You may exert greater control over them.
4. Security clearance is upgraded.
“So what am I supposed to do about it?”
I read it again, and beneath item 2, the caution section suddenly glowed and became underlined.
Looking closer, I noticed an additional warning written in absurdly tiny letters.
※ Minor physical side effects may occur when using the Unconscious Space, but these are temporary and harmless to the human body, so please take note ※
“…”
[System Notification: Haha, w-why did this get written in such tiny letters…?]
[System Notification: System Error]
[System Notification: System Error]
“…”
[System Notification: The system detects intense fury radiating from the Fixed Returner’s silence!]
[System Notification: The system is flustered by the Fixed Returner’s rage!]
“…You bastard, can’t you disclose information properly?”
Next time I enter that Unconscious Space nonsense, I’m materializing Thirteen first. I have a feeling I won’t be able to let this go until I throttle that bastard with my own hands.
“Ha-jin, Ha-jin! Are you okay?”
“…We’ll talk later.”
I was about to say something more to Thirteen, but my parents’ worried voices from outside the door made me stop. I quickly rinsed my mouth again, hastily wiped away the cold sweat that had beaded on my face, and opened the Restroom door.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Must’ve eaten something bad. Suddenly felt weird.”
“Are you sure? Shouldn’t you go to the hospital?”
“I haven’t eaten anything since lunch. My face is all clammy though?”
“No, I’m better now. My stomach was queasy for a moment, but I feel fine after throwing up.”
I smiled and tried my best to reassure my parents, yet Mother continued to examine my hands and forehead with an expression brimming with concern.
“Mom, I’m fine, really.”
“Are you sleeping well at the company? Are they feeding you on time? You need to eat properly and sleep properly….”
“Come on, Mom. You know that even if you dropped your son in the middle of a desert, he’d find a way to build an aqueduct.”
“That won’t do. I’ll make you some porridge. That’s what you’re having for dinner.”
Porridge? What?
“Wait, Mom, didn’t you say you’d buy me chicken?”
“Chicken? How can you eat chicken when you have indigestion? You shouldn’t eat greasy food when your stomach’s upset.”
My precious chicken vanished because of a casual excuse I’d thrown out to reassure her!
As the world seemed to crumble around me and I found myself at a loss for words, Mother had already rolled up her sleeves and was pulling out the rice basket.
“Son, look here. Should I cut your hand for you?”
“…No. Just call me when the porridge is done. I’ll get some more rest.”
“Yes, rest more. You need to sleep when you’re not feeling well.”
Once Mother got going, no one could stop her. She was already lighting the stove. I gave up gracefully and shuffled back into my room, closing the door behind me.
“My chicken….”
I had lost my chicken. I think you can understand without explanation where the rage born from that disappointment and emptiness was directed.
[System Notification: …. (◑_◑);;;;;;;;;]
“Thirteen.”
[System Notification: …Yes?]
Silence settled softly in my cramped room.
“What will you compensate me with?”
I smiled. Just a faint one.

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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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