Chapter 100
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The Sharer I
Shin Noah
1
Perhaps while listening to my story, you might suddenly find yourself harboring such doubts.
'Aren't the people all too noble?'
Indeed. Setting aside the Saintess who has reached a practically inhuman realm, people like Dang Seo-rin (excluding her witch cosplay), No Do-ha (excluding his personality), and others—those in my vicinity (excluding Sim A-ryeon) belong to quite the noble category.
But such suspicion has the cause and effect reversed.
- How do the people gathered near this person happen to be noble and competent one and all? (X)
- Ah, this person goes around selectively meeting only noble and competent people! (O)
I too have passed through a history of brutal betrayals. Fucked-up personalities, humans aiming only for chances to backstab, filthy and incompetent characters……
It was by filtering and filtering again through such scum that I finally arrived at my current relationships.
"Say, Uncle."
"Hm?"
So when Oh Dok-seo asked this on some day during the 669th iteration, I was a bit flustered.
"Now that I think about it, Uncle, you barely hang out with the early members anymore? You only meet people like Dang Seo-rin and No Do-ha every day."
"Early members? Who are you talking about? If you mean Old Man Xiao……."
"No, no. You meet the Sword Saint in the 6th iteration. I mean the real early members. Jung So-hee. Kim Si-woon. Kids like Uehara Shino."
"Ah."
"In [Omniscient Regressor's Perspective], those people only appear in the very beginning and then aren't mentioned at all later on? Why don't you meet them anymore?"
"……."
I tasted a truly unfamiliar feeling. Like hearing the name of a friend from elementary school I'd forgotten all this time.
"I don't remember."
"Huh?"
"I don't remember. I gained [Complete Memory Ability] in the 5th iteration, but I mainly hung out with them in the 4th iteration, didn't I? From my perspective, that's already a story from thousands of years ago."
"Ah……."
"It seems the novel you read includes stories from before the 5th iteration too."
"Yeah, well. Something like that……. Actually, the 1st and 3rd iterations were treated as really important. It went on hiatus right at the part where I entered Baekhwa Girls' High School and encountered someone called Mugan."
"Hm."
Then that meant at this point, Oh Dok-seo had 'read' my life corresponding to the 1st through 117th iterations.
From my current perspective, this iteration was the 660th. Meanwhile, only 'me up to the 117th iteration' was observable to Oh Dok-seo.
In other words, Oh Dok-seo was chasing after my life with a gap of about 500 iterations.
'The longest jet lag in the world.'
[Omniscient Regressor's Perspective] was an irregularly published work. Just because my iteration turned over didn't mean it was published regularly like modern web novels.
It wasn't because the author had some stress management ability office workers would find outrageous—claiming a slump and skipping five days of the week.
It was simply that the 'conditions' for publication were different from other novels.
'When major anomalies were defeated, [Omniscient Regressor's Perspective] especially saw increased publication volume.'
The Ten Clans. Udumbara. Meteor Shower.
Especially when Mugan's subjugation was achieved, [Omniscient Regressor's Perspective]'s publication volume fluctuated drastically. Naturally, the knowledge possessed by Oh Dok-seo, the sole 'reader' of [Omniscient Regressor's Perspective], gradually increased as well.
Compared to the Oh Dok-seo of the 555th iteration who thought the Ten Clans were the final boss at best, the Oh Dok-seo of the 669th iteration possessed an overwhelming amount of information.
Of course, there were still many parts lacking compared to me. But Oh Dok-seo had knowledge I didn't have.
"Actually, I want to ask you something, Dok-seo. What happened between me and those early characters."
"Huh?"
"Because I don't properly remember a single thing. I roughly know what kind of people they were, but I don't know what happened in the 4th iteration. No, no one knows, including me. Unless you tell me."
"Uh……. Then should I tell you? It's been about a month since I read the beginning of the novel so I remember it somewhat spottily……."
"Doesn't matter at all."
"Then……. Okay, got it. Wow, being asked by the protagonist to tell his own story feels really weird. Amazing. I don't think this kind of scene has ever appeared in any creative work."
Oh Dok-seo cleared his throat.
"Um, alright. Anyway, so what happened was……."
"Wait. No need to tell me right now."
"Hm?"
"I'll ask the you of the next iteration. There's a much better method than just hearing it as a 'story' from you from the start."
"……?"
Oh Dok-seo tilted his head.
"…Uncle, what the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
It was exactly this kind of bullshit.
2
"Hey, you fuck! What kind of bullshit is that!"
"Hwaaah……."
The next iteration. The 670th iteration.
At the waiting room of the 'Busan Station Tutorial Dungeon,' just like always, SG Man Seo Gyu's spirited cursing rang out.
The face of Fairy #264 who received the insults to his face was also still dumbfounded. The expressions of hundreds of civilians weren't much different.
It was the hometown of the infinite regressor—more nostalgic than my birthplace I could barely remember, yet not missed—the hometown of the infinite regressor.
I approached Oh Dok-seo and greeted him in the latest MZ generation fashion.
"Hewwo. Nice to meetcha. Hewwo-hewwo."
"Hiek! P-Protagonist……!"
Obviously, since MZ referred to the Millennial generation (1980s, 1990s) and Z generation (2000s, 2010s) grouped together, my greeting method was indeed the latest style.
Apparently in the past there was controversy over how to group a whopping 30 years of time together, but personally I found it puzzling what the problem was.
I grouped my life in 1,000-year intervals.
Honestly, isn't 30 years just a moment?
But apparently it came out of nowhere for Oh Dok-seo.
"Wh-wh-why are you coming to me!"
"Please calm down, Mr. Oh Dok-seo. I am aware that you read [Omniscient Regressor's Perspective] with me as the protagonist. However, that is a lie, and merely a means for aliens to brainwash you……."
"……?"
"My name is Jang Ui-sa. In the secret society Library Association, I am called the Black Book Palace operative. You must trust me completely……."
"……!"
The most fun game in the world. That is, Oh Dok-seo teasing time—I savored it for about 10 minutes.
During that time, SG Man's head exploded (sorry, Seo Gyu), Sim A-ryeon proved she was a scream attraction, and 398 survivors fled in all directions.
Only Oh Dok-seo and I remained. Right now people hadn't noticed at all because they just witnessed murder right in front of them, but actually the convenience store, souvenir shop, and vending machines placed in the waiting room were the real sweet spots.
I went around the convenience store and shops, picking up only as much as I needed.
As always, I didn't forget to take a silver bell from the souvenir shop and put it in my pocket. And I poured out all the currency I had to completely empty the vending machines of drinks.
"So……."
Ah, Oh Dok-seo had also invested his entire fortune in the vending machines. Oh Dok-seo, who had heard all the truth from me, glared at this side with a venomous expression.
"So you're saying that in an iteration long before, I formed an alliance with Uncle? And right now in the 670th iteration, Uncle is asking for my cooperation to experience 'as similar an experience as possible to the 4th iteration'?"
"Correct."
"…Hey, Uncle. It's confusing in many ways, but let me ask this first. Why the hell did you pull a prank like that earlier?"
"Hm. Dok-seo. Try imagining this. You're living your reality earnestly, and someone comes along bragging that this world is actually a novel and they know the entire plot. How interesting is that? Wouldn't you naturally want to play a prank?"
"I have absolutely no idea……."
Well, demanding that level of sophisticated sensibility from a severe web novel otaku, terminally hipster, end-stage chunibyo patient kid was a bit much.
"But……. Isn't it already too different from the 4th iteration since you're going around with me like this? I'm an extra whose name isn't even mentioned in [Omniscient Regressor's Perspective]."
"Tut-tut, an extra? That's nonsense. That's just because 'that novel' hasn't reached the 555th iteration yet. In the 555th iteration within the novel, you'll appear as a major character from the beginning."
"Oh……."
"Anyway, I'm not hoping for exactly the same progression as the 4th iteration either. Just similar is enough. I just want to experience the memories I've lost."
"Well, if that's the case……. Ah. Here they come."
Oh Dok-seo muttered with a tense look.
Footsteps were approaching from the other side of the waiting room. Seven people.
At the front of the group, a man in his 20s wearing a Hawaiian shirt was holding a wooden club. When he saw us, he scowled deeply.
"Huh? What's this. There are people here?"
Lee Baek.
A human who would be eliminated in the latter half of the tutorial if left alone. His awakened ability was E-rank too. Not much different from an ordinary person.
That was all I remembered, but Oh Dok-seo seemed different. The kid quickly stood on tiptoe and whispered to me.
"It's Lee Baek. The guy who'll lead the biggest and roughest group in Busan Station. Because of him, Uncle suffered terribly from the 1st iteration on."
"What? I did?"
"Yeah. Always inciting people, creating their own class hierarchy……. Since Uncle caught his eye, he turned your companions against you to betray you. Anyway, he created all the cancerous developments in the early part. I seriously considered dropping the series because of that bastard."
"Oh."
I couldn't imagine at all that I would be toyed with by some ordinary E-rank guy in his 20s. It was so fascinating that rather than feeling unpleasant, I was intrigued.
"What are you whispering about among yourselves? Huh?"
It seemed Oh Dok-seo and I whispering to each other didn't sit well with Lee Baek. He approached while waving his club around.
The other followers trailing behind Lee Baek had equally vicious looks. They probably knew each other even before being summoned to the tutorial dungeon? Mostly from back alleys.
"How did I act in the 4th iteration?"
"Waiting by the vending machines here, and when Lee Baek approached, I just slit his throat right away."
"What? Just killed a person like that?"
"Yeah. It was practically the first refreshing scene in [Omniscient Regressor's Perspective]. Without that scene, I really would've dropped it."
"The me of the 4th iteration was quite a savage person……."
"Hey, mister in the t-shirt! And you little brat in the hat! Can't you hear me talking?"
The moment Lee Baek came within five steps, I strode forward. I arrived right before his nose.
"Can't hear me——you say?"
Smack. I struck his Adam's apple with my palm and knocked him out. He didn't die. His vocal cords were just severed so he'd feel the sorrow of separated families.
"Huh?"
The rest of his companions' eyes went wide, but they didn't need to suffer dry eye syndrome from maintaining that pose for long. It took exactly 3 seconds for all the followers to faint while experiencing vocal cord destruction.
"…Wooow."
Oh Dok-seo's exclamation came belatedly.
"Are they dead? All of them?"
"No, I only destroyed their vocal cords. They'll live as mutes for the rest of their lives. You said he's good at incitement and politicking, so sealing his voice alone will be sufficient penalty."
"Wow, really. Wow. Uncle really rolled through hundreds of iterations. The genre completely changed to an overpowered protagonist story. Where did that loser cancer character from the beginning go……?"
"Tut-tut. That's too much slander. Anyway, what's the next development?"
"Ah. You get injured on your arm from dealing with these seven people here, right? In Busan Station, the only healers are Uehara Shino and Sim A-ryeon. But Sim A-ryeon is……."
"Her healing is at Madecassol level. At this point."
"No, even so it's way better than Madecassol. Anyway. Since her performance is vastly inferior compared to Uehara Shino, Uncle makes Uehara Shino an ally……."
I followed Oh Dok-seo's guidance and enjoyed the nostalgia trip.
'Come to think of it, I think I used to rate Uehara Shino higher than Sim A-ryeon in the past.'
It was a novel experience.
Shall I say it was the process of chasing a mirage that only remained vaguely as déjà vu, a past I had long forgotten—one step at a time.
Even for me who remembered everything thanks to [Complete Memory Ability], the feeling that there was still an unknown past wasn't bad at all.
It must have been a mysterious experience for Oh Dok-seo too.
"Eek. Uncle, how are you so good at Japanese?"
"Hm?"
"You just talked to Uehara Shino in Japanese. Originally you couldn't speak Japanese so you used a smartphone translator……. Ah, right. You said you lived for thousands of years. Then I guess foreign languages would be easy……."
"……?"
Uehara Shino tilted her head while watching our conversation. In the distant past I thought she was an S-rank agent, but in the current iteration she was merely an alchemist classified as B-rank at best.
A connection from the past who was naturally eliminated from my party members. A remnant of time.
"……."
"Jang-san, is something the matter?"
"No, nothing at all. More importantly, we're challenging the mid-boss tomorrow, so get some good rest."
"Ah. Yes."
We cleared the tutorial following the sequence of the 4th iteration.
Gathering survivors, demanding food and medicine from the fairy as mid-rewards, killing the seven bosses one by one, and so on.
For me who already knew how to forcibly open the 'exit,' it was utter waste of time, but at the same time, it was time travel.
Of course, there was one crucial difference from the 'original' 4th iteration. A past history that could never, under any circumstances, be repeated.
"Umm, normally from today on, I'd meet with survivors and use [Time Seal] on those who want it……."
Glance. Oh Dok-seo peeked at my reaction.
"…I guess I can't follow along for this. Because, the people Uncle used [Time Seal] on would all already be trapped in crystal monuments, right?"
I stood blankly staring at the Busan Station restaurant area. It was a place I hadn't visited in quite a while.
Tombstones.
Crystal monuments visible only to my eyes stood in a row along the restaurant corridor. Thanks to that, to my eyes it was closer to a cemetery than restaurants.
The remains of people sealed in 'the happiest day of their lives' by my ability.
I quietly kept my mouth shut and put my hand in my pocket. Jingle—I felt the texture of the silver bell.
Oh Dok-seo asked cautiously.
"Um, Uncle…… right now, can you see them? The monuments."
"Yes."
"Can you tell me how many there are altogether?"
"Well. I'd have to count the monuments in this restaurant, but I can tell you exactly the number of monuments in the entire Busan Station dungeon. I memorized that. It's 101."
"……."
Here, a total of 101 people's dreams, 101 portions of the afterlife, 101 tombstones were sleeping.
Indeed.
The number of civilians originally summoned to the 'Busan Station Tutorial Dungeon' was not a vague 399 or anything like that.
It was 500 people.
It started with 500 survivors.
Among them, 101 people were time-sealed by me.