I’m an Infinite Regressor, But I’ve Got Stories to Tell

WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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The Receiver I

Blink.I opened my eyes.

There was no unfamiliar ceiling.

Instead, there was an unfamiliar Go Yuri.

"………."

"Forgive me, but I happened to peek at the scene of you confessing so fervently to Dang Seo-rin. Whew—just watching had my own heart racing. Really now, do you perhaps possess a hidden skill, something like [S-rank Silver Tongue]?"

It was the worst prologue in history.

For the record, my head was resting on Go Yuri's lap. Someone out there might envy me, but I have never joined that sort of suicide-wish society.

Naturally, I straightened my back.

And was met by scenery just as unfamiliar as Go Yuri herself.

"Where… exactly are we?"

"As you can see, a deserted island."

Swaaah.

Lazy waves rolled in.

A sand islet with nothing but a single palm tree, not even an animal in sight.

A stretch of beach in the middle of the boundless sea, the kind Captain Jack Sparrow might have used for a steam bath, spread out before us.

I'd believed that escaping the lap pillow would help me get a handle on the situation—but no.

My faith and expectations are famous for betraying me.

"I'll ask again. How did I—how did the two of us—end up waking on a deserted island when moments ago I was with Dang Seo-rin?"

"Well, because Dang Seo-rin died, of course."

"…"

My heart lurched downward.

Go Yuri, meanwhile, spoke as if it were nothing remarkable.

"I had to push myself hard to save you, Guild Leader. When Hecate collapsed, the universe of the 173rd cycle collapsed with her. You and Dang Seo-rin's remains were both about to fall into a black-hole-like pit, so I—hiya, hiya!"

Go Yuri struck a pose like a mountaineer rescuing someone dangling off a cliff.

"Haaah, I barely pulled it off. I'm not trying to brag, but it was honestly exhausting."

"…I could have just died there."

"Yes. You'd like me to say it wouldn't have mattered, right?"

She smiled brightly.

"But, Guild Leader, doesn't it seem a little sad if the hero who saved the world receives no praise and is forgotten besides?"

"…"

"I think it's sad."

Pat.

She ran her fingers through my hair.

I tried to lean away, but she pulled my shoulder closer, shrinking the distance instead.

"I'm not a child—"

"No."

"The human heart isn't like the body. The heart you had at one, at five, at ten—those rings stack up as you grow."

"…"

"Even if you don't remember them, the marks remain. Being praised feels good, being patted feels pleasant. Being honest about those feelings is very important for humans."

Children are all ill-tempered. If they feel they were denied care, they'll surely take revenge someday. She giggled.

"Normally one of your other comrades would be next to you, but now there's no one. So I figured I should handle the praise in their stead."

"…"

"You really did splendidly. My goodness, sinking mighty Hecate! Amazing! I always believed you could do it."

It was odd.

I couldn't resist her grip.

Strange as it sounds, by letting her embrace me I felt not consoled but rather that I was the one consoling Go Yuri.

"…I'm not sure defeating Hecate deserves that much praise. I only laid my own heart over Dang Seo-rin's."

"Ah-haha."

The hand stroking my hair stopped.

And then—

"What on earth are you saying?"

Suddenly her eyes filled my vision. They were barely ten centimeters away.

Those pupils that always smiled were now staring at me from an unreadably close gap.

"Did Hecate look easy to you?"

"…"

"In case you didn't know, Guild Leader, Hecate is the Outer God of Paradox. She put her fingertips on every contradictory way voids and anomalies exist in this world."

Clamp.

The hands that had held my head and shoulder now pinned my skull between them.

"You purified that Outer God. No matter what strategy anyone devised, her magical shadow slipped away through absurd contradiction. You used every trick and barely, truly barely, caught her. Do you still not grasp the magnitude of that feat? Troublesome—very troublesome."

"…Right. Sorry. I spoke too quickly."

Slowly her eyes receded.

Far enough to see her full face, still smiling as always.

"No, I'm the one who's sorry. I guess starting the three-hundred-sixty-sixth day got me excited."

"Try to understand my side, I can't take your words at face value. I once let you trick me and ended up dead."

"Oh dear. Mmm, yes, I'll apologize for that too. But it's strange."

Her look asked, Strange how?

"Noh Do-hwa strangled you five times, yet you trust her fine. Isn't that discrimination?"

"No. With Director Noh Do-hwa it was karma. But you… wait."

My head whipped around.

"Five times? I'm certain Director Noh Do-hwa strangled me four times."

"Ah." She covered her mouth demurely.

"Oh dear, my mistake. You died only four times. Saying five was merely my foolish slip."

"…Are you telling the truth?"

"Absolutely! I swear on the honor of the Infinite Metagame."

Ah, so I am going to be strangled again.

Setting aside the factual violence against Infinite Metagame.

Only one task remained in this stage.

『Rescue the Saintess.』

In that respect Go Yuri's deed in saving me while the universe collapsed was enormous.

Had I died with Dang Seo-rin—

That momentary relief would have diverted me from helping the Saintess of the 267th cycle.

"I'm a bit late, but thank you."

"No problem, I wanted it too."

"Even so, several things puzzle me."

I looked around. The sea was a clear emerald.

Since civilization's fall the Yellow Sea and East Sea have remembered they're children of the Pacific, one shouldn't judge by the old standards.

"Where is this? The Unconscious Realm? Or the world of the 173rd cycle? Then where are my comrades?"

"It isn't the Unconscious Realm."

"And to match your sense of time, it isn't the 173rd cycle either."

"What? Another riddle—"

"Strictly speaking, this is the world of the 999th cycle, Guild Leader."

I froze.

"The 999th cycle? The one where I was drinking with Dang Seo-rin and suddenly everyone disappeared?"

"That's right."

She smiled sweetly.

"Strictly speaking, they didn't disappear. They all wentpop—wiped out in an instant by Hecate's grand magic."

"…Wiped out."

"It was a paradox."

Shhh—clear waves lapped.

"A world that is the 173th cycle and not the 173th, the 999th cycle and not the 999th—two runs overlapping. How could it stay intact?"

"…."

"While Hecate still held her Authority, it was fine. Sustaining paradox is exactly an Outer God's magic. But now her magic—"

Tap.She poked my chest.

"—remains only here."

"…Could the whole human race vanish so easily just for being paradoxical? My comrades aren't weak."

"Oh my, are you suspecting me?"

"A little."

She chuckled softly.

"Really, did Hecate look easy? The only reason we managed was that she was confined inside the vessel called 'Dang Seo-rin.'"

"…"

"By the way, the sea around this island? That's Leviathan's corpse, the blood that spilled when it went boom."

That meant Yu Ji-won was dead as well. So it really was the 999th cycle.

"…?"

A faint sense of wrongness pricked me, though I couldn't name it. Talking so calmly with Go Yuri felt odd.

Pushing that aside, I voiced the next question.

"Then what about the Saintess of the 267th cycle? She froze time in Hecate's sanctuary—'Nowhere'—right?"

"Yes. Thanks to that shaky seal she kept Hecate from griefing you with unfair endings."

"And now that Hecate has fallen, shouldn't the Saintess be free?"

"Ummm, about that."

For the first time since our crash landing, trouble showed on her face.

"As you know, the Saintess forcibly linked herself to Hecate, the Outer God of Paradox."

"So?"

"In other words, she inevitably became something close to a paradox herself. Oh, freezing time minimized the damage, but still."

"…"

Watching her skirt the point filled my neck with coiling dread.

"Sigh. With Hecate gone, there's no one left to govern paradox except the Saintess."

She pressed a hand to her cheek and sighed again.

"Call her Hecate's remnants, like how Yellow Turban rebels lingered after the uprising."

"Don't throw my own analogies at me. What exactly do you mean the Saintess became paradoxical? Explain so I—"

"U-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

A hearty laugh burst out behind me.

On what I thought was a two-person island, another presence—of course I spun round.

"At last! Finally! Liberation is here!"

And I saw it.

A slightly shorter figure, if the Saintess were younger, maybe a second-year middle-schooler, she would look like this, identical features, but a 'kid' standing proud, hands on hips, roaring with laughter.

"Behold!"

Tchakk!The kid struck a flamboyant pose.

"Absolute Spirit Leviathan is dead! Gone! The Form-Terminating Infinite Void shows not a hint of presence! Ahh! And that detestable foe—the Nightmare Abyss Nut—has vanished!"

"…"

"Now only I—only the rightful Leader of every void, I, the [Monarch of the Crimson Horse], shall rule this world! Ah-hahaha! Wahahahaha!"

"…"

Crrreak.My neck turned like a steampunk gear.

Pointing at the aqua-haired kid, I looked at Go Yuri.

"Don't tell me… that's…"

She gave a dazzling smile.

"Yes!"

"No, right?"

"It is!"

"Tell me it's not."

"Shall I swear on the Infinite Metagame?"

"See! I really am going to be strangled a fifth time! No, focus. Seriously?"

"Seriously-seriously."

She beamed.

"When the paradox struck, the void toxin of 'Saintess and yet not Saintess' occured—what do you think happened first?"

"Oh, please—"

"It's something you're already familiar with."

Potato. Potato sprout. Potato statue. That potato.

"Exactly! The Saintess split into separate personalities, each a [Constellation]."

"………"

"Wahaha-haha! Hrk—cough, cough! Bwah-ha-ha!"

Now beside me, the kid was slapping my backside.

She even wore an eye-patch, the classic chuunibyou accessory.

Anyone could guess whose influence made the Saintess manifest the [Monarch of the Crimson Horse] like this.

"And of course it's not just Mr. [Monarch of the Crimson Horse]. Ms. [Collector of All Anomalies], Ms. [Librarian of the Great Library], Ms.[Succubus of the Grand Arcade], Mr. [Morning Star of the Second Coming], Ms. [Understanding of Anguish]—they're all here, every one of them at least ocean-class! Congratulations!"

"…"

"Not that it's surprising, the Saintess was absurdly strong to begin with, and she spent practically an eternity linked to Hecate. Truly the strongest Awakener."

"…"

"So, Guild Leader?"

Her eyes sparkled.

"Isn't it fascinating?"

Shit.

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