Chapter 262

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

The Mastermind XIII

I opened my eyes.

The moment I did, I realized I was in a divine realm. At first glance, it resembled an ordinary classroom, but this was the domain created by Infinite Void, which had consumed the Mastermind.

This was the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end.

“It’s been a while, sunbae.”

Infinite Void sat with its back against the chalkboard.

“Or should I say, we’ve met again after only a fleeting moment? How are you feeling right now?”

It took me a moment to respond. “It feels like I’ve relived my life from the 1st cycle all the way to the 688th.”

“Hahaha. That’s not a feeling. That’s just a factual description.”

The scenery outside the classroom windows was surreal. Each window showed a different scene. Through one, a vivid blue sky stretched out endlessly while another revealed a galaxy swirling across the darkness. In some windows, it was summer, and in others, autumn or winter.

“Facts? Don’t be ridiculous,” I scoffed. “What you’ve shown me is nothing more than an illusion.”

“Hmm.” Infinite Void smiled faintly as it asked, “Are you so sure?”

“......”

“You, sunbae, remember two timelines. One where Infinite Void was merely an Outer God, a target to be hunted and destroyed.”

A piece of chalk moved on its own, drawing a screeching line across the chalkboard. Soon, a second, parallel white line followed.

“And another where the elder twin, Cheon Yo-hwa, existed as your companion and strategist, always by your side. In this timeline, I was both Infinite Void, the Outer God, and Cheon Yo-hwa, the human.”

Timeline A.

Timeline B.

Either way, both led to the scene I was witnessing now.

“Now you remember both. Why not ask your Complete Memory to figure out which one is real?”

“Of course, the timeline where you are an Outer God is the real one...”

My chest tightened painfully.

“You seized the power of the simulated universes in the 688th cycle. That’s how you were able to show me this false illusion.”

Even as I spoke, my heart ached.

The figure before me—the mischievous, cunning elder twin—was undoubtedly the same person I had spent countless cycles with.

My soul, which retained every memory, whispered this truth to me.

“Perhaps. But that’s not a settled matter, sunbae,” Infinite Void said with a smile. It was the exact same expression I had seen on my student’s face countless times across the cycles. “This is a matter to be decided from now on.”

What nonsense was it spouting?

“I told you, didn’t I? Once you Time Sealed me, the Mastermind’s perfect Miko, I’d be erased from the world.”

Ah.

“That’s right. If I, the elder twin of Timeline B, am sealed in time, the world will revert to Timeline A.”

“......”

“People will forget me. Even my younger sister, Yo-hwa, won’t be able to remember me. The events I participated in will transform into events that occurred without me.”

Just as it had been for others who were sealed.

Even if a son forgot his soccer-player father, his life would continue without disruption. Similarly, even if Cheon Yo-hwa ceased to exist in this world, nothing would change.

Her achievements would become someone else’s accomplishments. Her words attributed to someone else’s whispers.

“The distinction between past and future is meaningless, sunbae. The choice you make now will loop back through the wheel of cycles, shaping both your past and the present moment.”

The timelines would merge.

The gaps would be filled.

The story would be rewritten.

“Didn’t you ever find it strange? Why, as soon as you established the foundation for the Regressor Alliance, you always rushed to Baekhwa Girls’ High School?”

It’s because, originally, you were the twins’ tutor. The bond you shared with them made it natural for you to try and rescue them.

―So said Infinite Void.

“How did you manage to subdue me, Infinite Void, in your first-ever attempt at infiltrating Baekhwa Girls’ High School? Was it because I was a weak Outer God? Or...”

Or because you had already uncovered my weaknesses through some means. As a regressor, you had an ally who was deeply familiar with the school’s secrets. You waited until you were strong enough, until you wielded the blade Do-hwa, until you had enlisted the fairies. Then, you struck at the perfect moment.

An excellent strategy. A testament to your patience.

As a result, Infinite Void, the Outer God, was defeated so easily it bordered on being absurd.

―Or so the girl before me claimed.

“That is my story.”

The girl placed her hands over her heart.

“The one who lived as a priestess in a cult, who stood faithfully beside the Regressor, who worked harder than anyone to help you hunt Outer Gods... This is where it ends, sunbae.”

My heart pounded ominously.

“This is the end, sunbae.”

“Infinite Void...”

“If you see me as an Outer God, it’s only natural to use Time Seal here to eliminate me. After all, I’m a threat. This is the perfect opportunity to erase the one responsible for this broken world. You’re not going to refuse, are you? Or... do you see me as human?”

My heart wouldn’t stop racing.

“If I seem human to you... please respect my will. Accept that this is the only way to conquer the Mastermind, sunbae.”

“......”

“Haha. Don’t look so down. In a way, I’ve bet everything on you.”

A bet?

“What? Did you already forget? You promised me, sunbae. You said you wouldn’t give up, no matter what.”

“You...”

“Yes. I believe it too. Someday, you’ll find the key to undo the challenge of the Time Seal. No matter how many hundreds of cycles it takes, or how many thousands of wheels must turn, I know you’ll succeed.”

Infinite Void gave a shadow of a smile.

“When that day comes, you’ll treat me as human. You won’t have any other choice.”

“......”

“So this is my final move.”

Somewhere, I thought I heard the sound of chains clinking.

The source of the noise—it was my own chest.

Every word the figure before me spoke felt as though it was being etched into my soul until that promise became a shackle, binding my heart.

“Not another Anomaly. Not an Outer God. I believe the one who will ultimately claim victory in this world is you, sunbae. I have unwavering faith in that.”

“......”

“That’s why I won’t betray you. I won’t stab you in the back. I won’t pull some foolish stunt like the Admin of the Infinite Metagame. I’ll simply create a final destination, just for you. When everything ends, I’ll remain as a human who contributed to your victory.”

I realized it then.

It really was checkmate.

No matter what I did, I couldn’t help but see the figure before me as human. It didn’t matter whether she had been born as an Outer God or as the elder sister in a cult. She had claimed the title of “human,” the proof of kinship with me, not through anyone else’s acknowledgment but by her own hand.

What kind of human could devise such a strategy? How could anyone make it a reality?

And yet, the girl standing before me had done exactly that. She had conquered the Mastermind. She had broken the seal confining her in Cheon Yo-hwa’s body. She had deceived even herself and conquered Infinite Void.

She had conquered the Regressor.

She was an Awakener.

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“Don’t be too sad,” she said again.

With an exaggerated “Oooshyaa!” she jumped up from the desk.

“I’ll always be here. Even if I’m sealed away and everyone forgets me, you’ll still remember, won’t you? You can come visit me every now and then.”

She took a step toward me. Then, with the same boldness she had shown as my student during tutoring sessions, she reached out and grabbed my trembling hand.

“Do it.”

“......”

“Seal me. Save the world. Find a way to break the seal. And someday, bring me back from here.”

I trust you.

The moment I heard those words, I had already begun casting Time Seal.

The galaxy and the seasons visible outside the windows began to freeze. The curtains billowing in the breeze, the strands of the girl’s hair—everything slowed.

“Remember this, sunbae.”

Through her hand, I could feel her heartbeat. Even that steady rhythm began to slow.

“From the next cycle onward, Infinite Void will no longer have ‘me’ as its personality. The possibility of me ever existing will be completely eradicated. The only thing left on the fourth basement floor of Baekhwa Girls’ High School will be a mindless husk of an Anomaly...”

“I understand.”

“My disappearance might destabilize my sister’s mind a bit. Please take care of her...”

“I will.”

I knew instinctively even then. She was offering me her final words of advice.

“Even if I disappear, there might still be contradictions. It’s unavoidable. Think of it as the ache after a wisdom tooth is removed.”

“......”

“I’m sorry... I couldn’t figure out why you can’t remember anything before the 4th cycle.”

Her red eyes met mine directly. Even on the brink of annihilation, her gaze was infinitely calm and composed, calculating every possibility for what would come next.

“But every effect has a cause.”

“......”

“Maybe your memory loss from the 1st to the 4th cycle isn’t a curse but a blessing.”

“A blessing?”

“Yes. From the 1st to the 4th cycle, you’ve created something called ‘four spaces of sealed time.’”

My eyes widened.

“Maybe you’ve already experienced the 688th cycle hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of times. And maybe, in this very moment, you realized that the only way to defeat the Mastermind, an unbeatable Outer God, was to create gaps in your memory.”

“...!”

“Using those gaps, you forged a causality where the elder twin Cheon Yo-hwa could become the Mastermind’s Miko. Do you understand? Because your canvas was blank, you could paint anything on it.”

The girl squeezed my hand tightly, steadying its tremors.

“You have four blank canvases. I can’t be sure, but I believe those canvases are your ultimate weapon against the Outer Gods.”

“Through these gaps, you can rewrite reality, inventing a causality that allows you to defeat even the undefeatable.”

“Exactly.”

It was a terrifying realization.

Sensing my shock, she carefully chose her next words.

“You’ve used one canvas to seal me, the Mastermind. By rewriting your past. Well, technically, I made the choice for you.”

“......”

“But there are still blank spaces in your memory. Who left you the Silver Bells? What is Go Yuri? And most importantly, who advised you to intentionally create this amnesia between the 1st and 4th cycles?”

“You—”

“It wasn’t me.” She took my other hand in hers as well, clasping it even tighter in her grip, and she said, “There’s someone else. Another entity.”

That was true.

Thanks to her, I now remembered being the twin sisters’ tutor, but most of my memories were still shrouded in mist.

For instance, I might not have been the only one on that KTX train heading to Busan. In the tutorial dungeon at Busan Station, it felt like a certain someone else had been there with me.

Her brow furrowed slightly. “I’m sorry. I wanted to save Old Man Schopenhauer too, but forcing such drastic changes to causality was impossible.”

“Ah...”

“It was already a miracle to weave together a timeline that honored your journey up to the 688th cycle while simultaneously creating something new.”

To deny the Mastermind’s existence was to manipulate the universe as if it were a simulation. Yet, to erase an Outer God like the Mastermind, I had to honor the singular reality of my universe.

“That’s why the only picture you can paint on this canvas is your shadow.”

“My... shadow?”

“Yes. Don’t forget. This blank canvas, this shadow—it’s your divine realm.”

The girl, who had been serious until now, suddenly smiled brightly.

“Oh! I’ve said everything!”

“......”

“Honestly, you don’t have enough strategist characters by your side, sunbae. Phew, now I can finally relax.”

“......”

“Haha. Sorry for dropping out like Old Man Schopenhauer. The rest of your life is going to be tough, but you’ll just have to suffer through it. That’s what being a regressor is all about.”

Time began to freeze.

This classroom, this divine realm, and the girl’s domain were becoming eternally severed from reality.

To create the most beautiful hell imaginable.

“Ah.”

The girl looked up, gazing at her galaxy above, and sighed.

“Yo-hwa. My name.”

Yo (寥). Desolate.

Hwa (化). Transformation.

“To grow lonely and desolate.”

From the galaxy, a voice seemed to emerge. Perhaps it was nothing more than the sensation of her heartbeat, transmitted through our joined hands, that I simply interpreted as words.

Something beyond sound resonated, carrying the girl’s final testament as if singing her last poem:

Here lies the loneliest place in the universe of all creation.

The most desolate place.

The most colorless void.

A world outside the world, thus emptiness.

A time beyond time, thus absence.

Yet still the pinnacle humans endlessly imagine, dream of, and long to reach—thus karma.

I, born as Infinite Void, have come to know time.

Here, all things cease.

Even the infinite regress of logic that thinks of itself, and then of itself again, will stop breathing here.

I, having known time, now return to Infinite Void.

To the moment, the time, the void,

I can now finally say these words:

Be still. You are truly beautiful.

It might have been nothing but a sound I hallucinated.

The girl before me might also have been nothing more than an illusion or a shadow. Forgotten by the world, her existence was something even I could easily dismiss.

“Yo-hwa.”

But I didn’t deny her.

To remember—that was my life.

Hearing my voice, hearing me call her name, Cheon Yo-hwa looked at me. Her crimson eyes widened.

“Yes.”

Cheon Yo-hwa smiled.

“Thank you for teaching me what it means to be human, sunbae. In the past, in the future, and here in this place―”

And thus,

“I love you in this very moment.”

Time stopped.

Anomaly: The Mastermind

Aliases: Simulated Universe, Heavenly Kingdom, Infinite Labyrinth, Fog of War, Soul Harvester, Brain in a Vat, Hollow Earth Hypothesis, IF Scenario, Descartes’ Demon

Threat Level: Lv. 5 Outer God

Subjugation—COMPLETE

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