Chapter 2
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Companion II
Shin Noah
The same phenomenon repeated in the 24th and 25th iterations.
I had to experience the world-line where Old Man Sho died a full three times.
The only difference from other iterations was whether I had a single companion or not. Yet the perceived difficulty increased fivefold, sixfold.
It made me realize just how much I had been relying on Old Man Sho in so many ways.
Finally, the 26th iteration.
"I'm sorry."
Old Man Sho handed me coffee the moment he saw my face.
There had been a cafe in the old Baekje Hospital building. He seemed to have predicted I would come running, helping himself to the empty cafe to brew coffee.
The cafe au lait Old Man Sho made was truly delicious. Perhaps around the 11th iteration? That would be thanks to the skills passed down from a barista back then.
"Let me see your face, old man."
I spoke in German. By the 26th iteration, I too could recite poetry in foreign languages.
"So you forgive me?"
"7, 7, 7."
"……?"
"Do you know what these numbers mean?"
"…Casino slot machine jackpot?"
"No. It's the time from iterations I endured without you, old man. Added together, it's 21 years. Shit, after not seeing you for over 20 years, I'm starting to forget your face. Let's talk face to face."
"……."
Old Man Sho seemed at a loss for words.
I sat across from him and downed the coffee. At this point, I could raid any cafe for coffee beans, but even this was something I couldn't drink for five years because it didn't exist.
For me, who had lived 7 years in the immediately previous iteration before dying, it was a welcome luxury. Drinking real cafe au lait instead of the imitation assembled by alchemists after so long was an incomparable treat.
Like this, regression didn't only have bad aspects. Coffee. Fresh draft beer. Cigarettes. Friends and colleagues who hadn't died yet……. Being able to experience them vividly again was incredibly important to me.
"21 years……. How strange. From my perspective, less than an hour has passed since I last saw you."
It didn't seem that way for Old Man Sho.
More precisely, the most precious thing was missing from his list of 'things I can experience vividly again.'
"But I understand. I haven't seen my wife's face for over a hundred years either. I know exactly how it feels."
"……."
"You can see a face in photographs. You can hear a voice by playing back a few saved videos. But even so, there's a dry well inside me that never fills."
The ominous premonition didn't miss.
If this were like any other regression story, Old Man Sho would have held onto his sanity, I would have discovered some miraculous solution within the time limit, and the elderly couple might have reunited across more than 100 years.
"I want to see my wife in person."
But as I said, my story is not a success story but merely an aftermath of failures.
Old Man Sho's spirit had collapsed. He had taken his own life three times in less than 30 seconds just to talk to his wife. There was no way for me to save him.
"You understand me, don't you? You of all people. So, use your ability on me……."
"No."
I refused firmly.
Just as Old Man Sho had a innate talent for swordsmanship, I too had acquired various abilities beyond regression. There would be opportunities to mention my abilities in detail later.
The ability Old Man Sho was referring to now was 'Time Seal.' And I had absolutely no intention of activating it on my companion before me.
"You know, old man. Being sealed in time is the end. The absolute end. No matter how much you regress, the seal doesn't break."
"I know. But I could talk to my wife in a dream."
"You'd just repeat the same day forever."
"How is that different from our situation right now?"
This time, I was the one at a loss for words.
"…Still, no. I can't lose my most powerful ally like this."
"Then let's do this."
Had he predicted I would react this way? Old Man Sho immediately proposed Plan B the moment Plan A was rejected.
"You keep challenging yourself until you find a solution. Until you can save everyone in Seoul within one minute of regressing. Or, until you admit it's all impossible and give up like me."
"What about you, old man?"
"I'm tired. Truly…… I'm exhausted. So, I'll just rest for a while until you reach a conclusion."
That night, Old Man Sho took his own life.
That was what he called 'rest.'
"…Good heavens."
As an Awakened who had reached the realm of Sword Star, Old Man Sho could simply burst his own head by exploding his aura. It must have been a painless death.
The 27th, 28th, and 29th iterations passed with no change.
Old Man Sho was found with his life gone on the rooftop of the cafe building where the hospital used to be.
When I cleared the dungeon at Busan Station and visited the cafe, a cafe au lait was always steaming on the table where we had our conversations.
A note was placed under the coffee cup.
-How about giving up soon, friend?
I smiled bitterly.
"…I've ended up with a regular cafe I visit once every ten years or so."
I imagined the life of my comrade.
For Old Man Sho now, a lifetime consisted of about 10 to 20 seconds of conversation with his wife. And 10 minutes brewing cafe au lait for an old comrade who would come looking for him.
That repetition hadn't changed even now, when the 29th iteration had led to the 1183rd iteration. One body on the rooftop. One cafe au lait on the table.
I didn't know which was crazier—the regressor who had repeated his life over 1000 times without taking his own life even once, or the regressor who had taken his own life ceaselessly over 1000 times.
But as the iterations continued, something did change. It was the content of the conversation between Old Man Sho and his wife.
「Thank God! You finally answered the phone!」
「Emmett? What's going on? I'm at a conference right now…….」
「I love you. Adele. I love you. I love you, forever.」
Perhaps to listen to the conversation repeatedly before ending his short life. Old Man Sho always recorded his calls with his wife. Thanks to that, I could eavesdrop on what the elderly couple discussed each time.
「I love you, Adele……. I love you.」
For the first 10 or so regressions, there was no particular change. Old Man Sho desperately tried to convey his love to his wife.
But after passing the 30th iteration, the content of the calls began to change little by little.
「Adele, actually I'm repeating my life. The world is going to end. But I still love you.」
「My god. Did you drink? Why are you being like a child? Hmm? Wait, Emmett. There's a strange sound from the sky…….」
Regression.
「Do you remember? 20 years ago in Turin. I went under the bridge and picked a yellow flower for you. What was that flower's name?」
「What? You called just to ask that?」
「Please answer me, Adele. If you don't answer, I'll die.」
Regression.
「Sorry. What was your younger brother's name again?」
「Maximilian, but why…….」
「Ah! Right! Maximilian! Haha, I'd forgotten that! Thanks!」
「Sigh……. You're impossible. Hmm? There's some sound from the sky…….」
It was amazing.
As the regressions continued, the calls Old Man Sho had with his wife gradually shifted from one-sided delivery to something closer to real conversation.
Of course, they were calls that lasted at most 20 seconds before cutting off, but when pieced together, it really seemed to constitute an actual conversation.
「I've never liked Maximilian from before.」
「Hah? Suddenly?」
「He doesn't think family is important at all! He's got a twisted way of thinking. He only pretends to listen when he's in front of you.」
「Emmett? Wait. That's strange, there's a sound from the sky…….」
「Honey, do you remember Christmas? Your brother brought someone saying she was his girlfriend back then. Answer honestly. Maximilian is actually gay, isn't he?」
「Hah? Suddenly? Why bring that up now on the phone……. Wait, Emmett. Something's weird. There's a sound coming from the sky.」
「As expected! My intuition is never wrong. Adele. Your brother was definitely gay!」
「Good heavens! Emmett, what are you suddenly saying?」
「No, I have no prejudice whatsoever. It's just that I feel hurt that you and your brother assumed I wouldn't be understanding and kept it a secret all this time.」
「This is crazy. What are you……. Wait, hold on. Let's talk about this in person later! There's a strange sound from the sky.」
「Adele. We need to have more open minds with each other! I'm not some closed-minded old man like your father!」
If one disregarded the fact that the elderly couple's lives were 'paused' in between, what they were having was without a doubt a two-way conversation.
"The old man had a point too."
In the end, I had to admit it. As Old Man Sho had said, this was indeed 'rest.'
As the iterations continued, as the calls grew longer, life returned to Old Man Sho's voice, and memories of the past he had long forgotten were revived. Now, it seemed even the fact that this world was ending wasn't particularly important to him.
Yet even so, Old Man Sho didn't stop taking his own life. Or, to describe it from his perspective——he didn't stop continuing to talk with his wife.
Eventually, around the 500th iteration, I stopped eavesdropping on Old Man Sho's calls. The content was becoming too intimate for an outsider to presumptuously listen in on.
I can confidently say I had absolutely no desire to know the old man's sexual preferences.
The old man probably couldn't even imagine that I was clearly monitoring his call history.
But I never missed stopping by the building to drink cafe au lait at the start of each iteration.
Emmett Schopenhauer. A comrade I was with 'briefly' in a past now distant.
The cafe au lait he brewed had become a kind of ritual for me, a rite of passage to steel my mind and think 'Ah, let's do our best this iteration too.'
This was still the same now, facing the 1183rd regression.
A note was still placed under the coffee cup.
-Haven't given up yet, friend?
Well. Honestly speaking, I had given up.
But I didn't want to honestly confess that to this young fellow (now that my age was overwhelmingly greater). I'd tell him eventually, but at least for now, I wanted to be a bit petulant.
I'd spent thousands of years alone, so surely I could be this much of a brat.
'…Come to think of it, what kind of conversation is he having with his wife now?'
Curiosity struck me.
I decided to collect Old Man Sho's smartphone and listen to the recorded call for the first time in ages.
When I pressed the play button firmly, Old Man Sho's characteristically lively voice blasted out.
「Honey! I always told you to drink zero soda! Sugar is bad for your health!」
「What?」
I held a sip of cafe au lait in my mouth, listening to the bickering playing like background music in the shop.
It was delicious coffee.
- Companion. End.
An infinite regressor telling stories.