The Regressor Can Make Them All - Chapter 596
Chapter 596
Buzzzzzzz-
Woken up by the low vibration near his ear, Se-Hoon turned onto his side to look at the culprit that was half-blocked by his pillow.
“Damn alarm…”
Seeing the phone beside his pillow announcing that it was seven in the morning without rest, Se-Hoon reached over to turn it off before rolling back onto his back to stare up at the ceiling.
I can’t believe I slept until the alarm went off…
Such a mundane thing was a strange experience to him, having never experienced it during the current timeline or the previous one. Half awake still, he just lay there blankly staring for a moment before finally getting out of bed.
Beginning his routine, he washed up in the bathroom and changed clothes…?
“Ah. I forgot to check.”
He remembered a forgotten step in his routine. Ever since the first major regression, he had made it a habit to examine both his mind and body first thing in the morning to confirm whether he was experiencing a dream or real, genuine reality.
To be honest, what had started due to his confusion caused by his first regression and his wariness toward the war against the Demon Force had ended up simply becoming a habit. Still, it was the first time he had forgotten to check entirely.
This is a first, too…
Had he finally let his guard down after a week of peace following the end of the war? Or had tempering his soul also refined his mind to the point it was strong enough to no longer confuse dreams and reality?
Pondering it, Se-Hoon turned his head toward the mirror in the dressing room to look at the man with a calm expression that was reflected.
“Hah. At this point, it’s probably the latter.”
Smiling to himself, Se-Hoon changed into the clothes Aria had given him and headed straight for the kitchen to eat breakfast.
“Let’s see…”
Looking over the side dishes in the refrigerator packed full with meals that Eun-Ha had prepared for him, Se-Hoon picked out a few things he felt like eating and quickly set up a simple breakfast.
Right before eating, though, Se-Hoon first lightly activated the power of Omniscience
“Akashic.”
Woong-
An orange aurora rose before Se-Hoon’s eyes, gathering in one place. A second later, a translucent window that looked like a system message appeared and displayed countless pieces of information.
[Number of people remaining in the Netherworld: 220,154,209.
Complete return estimated to take approximately 327 hours.]
[Reconstruction progress of the Six Great Demon Realms.
Black Sea, Abyss of Demons, Garden of Void, Forest of Repetition—Reconstruction complete. Additional environmental surveys are underway.
Silent Volcano—Reconstruction Progress: 48%. Ecological restoration plan under discussion.
City of Nightmares—Reconstruction Progress: 32%. Urban redevelopment under discussion.]
[26 members of the Innovation Faction of the board members of the Human Alliance are preparing negotiation terms to present to Lee Se-Hoon.
Goal: Taking the lead in the space colonization project.
No hostile intent detected.]
The Akashic Report. The most trustworthy information gathered by stealing a glance into the minds of all humanity.
Scrolling through the public announcements, classified documents, and secret meetings that had taken place from last night to this morning, Se-Hoon wore a peculiar expression as he ate.
It really is a fascinating power.
In exchange for sharing his knowledge, the power took knowledge in return. When facing an enemy using it, it felt nothing but insidious. However, after using that power for a week himself… Se-Hoon came to something he hadn’t expected.
It’s similar to a Blessing.
Before Se-Hoon had created Blessings, the powers of those who cleared the Tower of Heroes were independent powers that were nearly impossible for anyone other than the wielder to use.
In contrast, the power of Omniscience had taken root throughout all of humanity through Akashic, settling so deeply that people constantly wielded it unconsciously. That was practically identical to the framework of the Blessings.
Maybe Blessings were modeled after Akashic?
It made sense that he had unconsciously used the hidden structure of the Akashic to reinterpret the powers, which were then distributed throughout all humanity through the Akashic. That explanation would practically explain everything from how Blessings had settled so quickly to how his powers had been interfered with during the battle against the Seeker.
Hm, it more or less explains why Akashic itself grew stronger too.
When Se-Hoon had taken control of the Akashic away from the Seeker, the power had unsurprisingly not weakened and only continued to grow stronger. After all, the singularities propelling humanity into a new domain—the four Blessings—were all forms of “knowledge” that had originated from Se-Hoon himself.
If the Seeker seized the past, then I guess I’ve practically seized the future…
When the Blessings appeared, some people had thought that the standing of those who cleared the Towers and the heroes who almost rivaled them—especially Se-Hoon—would gradually weaken.
In fact, even Se-Hoon himself had thought that would happen one day. Little did he know, he would gain control of the Akashic and become the one who could control all of those variables.
“Wait. Should I really be happy about this…?”
With the Abyss of Demons gone, the possibility of destruction had vanished. Simultaneously, it had also become possible to intervene so that no new Perfect Ones would be born from the Towers of Heroes.
In simpler terms, Se-Hoon was now the only one who could determine the future of the world with his will.
“Tsk…”
Going over the extent of the power he now possessed, Se-Hoon quickly cast aside all of those thoughts. It wasn’t the time to dwell on such matters. Clearing his head, he quickly finished the dishes and washed them before heading out.
Whoosh-
Teleporting to Babel, Se-Hoon felt the wind that had grown even colder now that February had come. Walking through it, he looked down at the streets of Babel spread out below.
The streets were decked out so brightly that it looked as though some grand festival was being held. Of course, since it was still early morning, there weren’t that many people out and about, but the traces left behind here and there were enough to suggest just how dazzling the night before must have been.
It’s already been a week, and it’s still like this…
When the end of the long war was announced alongside the formation of the Human Alliance, it was only natural that the entire globe had been elated! Who wouldn’t be? The Abyss of Demons, which had caused chaos for fifty-five long, long years, had finally vanished! The war was over!
On top of that, those evacuated to the Netherworld were reviving one by one, feeding into the jubilation. It was no wonder that the celebrations had continued for an entire week.
Well, everyone’s suffered enough. I guess this much is fine.
Watching the faces of the people walking through the streets, overflowing with anticipation and joy for the future, Se-Hoon teleported away.
Whoosh-
“…”
Unlike the festive scene he had just seen, the hospital corridor he had arrived at was sunk in silence. Se-Hoon, too, just stared at the door in front of him quietly.
Knock, knock.
Even after a minute, there was no response. Sighing, Se-Hoon opened the door himself and stepped into the room filled with get-well gifts. And at the center of it all was the girl lying there as quietly as if she were taking an afternoon nap.
Se-Hoon walked straight to Lea’s side.
“…”
The war had ended, and the enemies that once threatened humanity no longer existed. Yet… Lea did not awaken from her slumber—the final problem Se-Hoon needed to solve.
“It really isn’t easy, even at the very end. Right?”
Wearing a bitter smile as watched over Lea, Se-Hoon turned his head and gazed out the hospital window at the sky… and the Golden Ring spread across it.
Until recently, he had not known why Lea could not wake. With the Akashic, however, that was no longer the case.
[The world has judged subject ‘Lea Claudel’ to be an error that lies outside its laws and is interfering.]
To restore the world manipulated by Puppeteer for Lea’s sake, Lea had created an enchantment that imitated the power of Regression to return it to its original state. And she had succeeded, turning the clock of the world back.
But because of that, the world—the Golden Ring—judged Lea to be a transcendent being who had bypassed its laws.
[However, the enchantment ‘Return to Origin’ applied to the body of subject ‘Lea Claudel’ resets that interference every second, resulting in a deadlock.]
The truth that the enchantment remained in Lea’s body—and that it was both the cause and savior of Lea—made Se-Hoon look at her with a complicated expression.
If the Golden Ring’s interference is the root cause, then the way to wake Lea… is simple.
Use the power of Regression on Lea and return her to the state she had been in before imitating regression with “Return to Origin,” before being swept up in the Puppeteer’s finale. If he simply did that one thing, the Golden Ring would judge that the error had been corrected and stop interfering. Lea could wake up immediately.
But… if I do that, the Lea who was with me will disappear…
From Se-Hoon’s perspective, erasing that entire stretch of time in order to save the current Lea was the worst choice imaginable. That was why he had spent every day until now continuing to search for another solution, yet no suitable answer had appeared.
I guess… there was that one option.
[To break out of this deadlock, one must interfere with and alter the Golden Ring itself.]
If he could not give up on Lea, then the only choice was to solve the problem by interfering with its root cause: the Golden Ring.
To do that… there were actually several possible methods. Like the Seeker, he could destroy the Golden Ring altogether; or, like when he created Se-Ha, he could make use of it indirectly. But neither would be easy.
Using the laws indirectly is one thing. Denying them outright is another.
If he did tear apart the Golden Ring and remake it as he pleased, what would even happen? While it wasn’t impossible per se, he couldn’t guarantee a single thing about either the benefits or consequences that would follow.
Rather than destroying it, he could alter the Golden Ring according to his own will. But then again, that also wasn’t an option because if he did that, how would he be any different from the new god the Seeker had spoken of?
For the past week, he had endlessly deliberated just like that.
“Hahhhhhhhh. What should I do…”
Nobody answered that question.
Looking at Lea sleeping peacefully, Se-Hoon rose with a bitter expression.
“I’ll come again tomorrow.”
With that, he stepped out of the room, closed the door, and teleported aw—
“Administrator, someone from the Special Operations Division has come to see you.”
The Special Operations Division?
Stopping in his tracks at Se-Ha’s words, Se-Hoon frowned in puzzlement. To be visited without prior notice by someone from the Special Operations Division, of all places. In the past, maybe, but with his current relationship with Gregory? He was genuinely caught off guard.
It’s not the remnants of the war… right?
There shouldn’t be any left, and even if there were, there was no way they would come looking for him themselves unless they had a death wish.
Thinking about it, Se-Hoon eventually gave up since there was no point in speculating further.
I’m heading to the workshop, so guide them there.
Got it!
With that, Se-Hoon teleported to the workshop, and shortly afterward, the investigator from the Special Operations Division appeared with Se-Ha.
The investigator had a sharp impression despite being hollow from exhaustion, and he… looked familiar? Observing him closely, Se-Hoon soon widened his eyes in surprise upon recognizing him.
“…Professor Lan Fei?”
Seeing the Hextech professor who had helped him in many ways right after his regression for the first time in months as an investigator was so unexpected that Se-Hoon could only stare in surprise.
Seeing that, Lan Fei gave a bitter smile.
“I resigned from my professorship not that long ago. I’ve now returned to duty as an investigator, so please speak comfortably.”
“Returned…?”
Se-Hoon’s expression turned odd. No matter where it was, for an investigator to have transferred to become a professor and then returned to his old post carried rather weighty implications.
“Don’t tell me… you were undercover in Babel?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Getting confirmation, Se-Hoon recalled the strange sense of incongruity he had always felt whenever they met back then.
I knew there was something unusual about him, but I didn’t think it would be because he used to be an investigator…
Since he had no memory of meeting him before his first regression, Lan Fei must have either remained in Babel until the end or kept his identity hidden even after returning to the Special Operations Division.
Realizing that meant Gregory must have ordered that infiltration, Se-Hoon gestured toward the sofa.
“Let’s sit down and talk first.”
“Understood.”
The two sat down as Se-Ha swiftly prepared tea for them before disappearing. When she did, there was a brief silence, then Lan Fei started their conversation.
“First of all, I sincerely apologize for coming without advance notice. Since it was an extremely confidential mission, I couldn’t visit you openly.”
“No, that’s fine. More importantly, if it’s a confidential mission, was… it the Association President who sent you?”
“Yes. He told me to deliver this to you.”
Nodding, Lan Fei took a letter from inside his coat and placed it on the table. It was an envelope with nothing particularly unusual about it, apart from a simple sealing enchantment.
Naturally, Se-Hoon looked at Lan Fei for an explanation.
And Lan Fei obliged.
“It is the President’s will.”
