Chapter 395
In every aspect of life, there were both advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages:
The ability to roll the dice again at any time and take on a ‘retry’ was a perk of being a regressor, like me, the Undertaker.
Forgetting and moving on even if one failed, granting ‘wound immunity,’ was the perk of amnesiac, Cheon-hwa.
However—
"Oh? Yo-hwa, why are you here...?"
"Ah, Teacher! I've decided to set up a branch of Baekhwa High School for Girls starting today in Busan!"
"A branch?"
"Yes! Haha, it's nothing grand. I just spoke with the highway superintendent to set up a temporary student council room on one corner of Babel Tower’s rooftop."
"..."
All advantages, when flipped, were bound to become disadvantages in their entirety.
"But... Yo-hwa."
"Yes!"
"It’s hard to bring up, but..."
"Oh, come on, we're teacher and student. You can tell me anything!"
"The temporary building under construction... the spot for the container box is, from my perspective, precisely where my [Time-Sealed] epitaph is located."
"Oh? Ah, is that so?"
"Yes. I’m sorry, but could you set up the temporary building a bit to the side instead of there?"
"Hmmm—."
"..."
"Why, Teacher?"
Disadvantages:
Until the dice was rolled again, until the round was reset, the regressor was perpetually dogged by traces of failure.
The amnesiac was forced to accept the results of failure without even realizing that they had failed themselves.
"I can't see it, and frankly, I have no desire to. But if you need to visit, you can just come into the student council room! You're always welcome with me!"
"..."
"Oh. I plan to stay more at the Busan branch than Sejong for various tasks for a while. Hehe. Please visit often, Teacher!"
Yo-hwa’s red eyes were smiling.
——Access had been restricted.
I was Yo-hwa's teacher. Within the barrier of Infinite Void, we had spent several years alone together.
Naturally, the light and shadows hidden within the beloved pupil’s smiling eyes were as readable as holding them in my hands.
I had just been forbidden from meeting ‘Cheon-hwa.’
That night.
[There's confusion even within Baekhwa High School itself.]
I immediately attempted to contact the saintess to grasp the situation.
“Are you saying it was a unilateral decision made by the student council president... Yo-hwa?”
[Yes. Not even the vice president or secretary, nor any of the executives at Baekhwa High School knew.]
[Yesterday, out of the blue, Miss Yo-hwa met with Miss Noh Do-hwa alone and negotiated.]
[Miss Noh Do-hwa was perplexed too, but decided it was unreasonable to oppose Baekhwa High School over just yielding a bit of the Babel Tower’s rooftop, so they provided the container.]
It was fast. Too fast.
From the beginning, the quickest in judgment and action within the regressor alliance had been Yo-hwa.
She was different from her sister, who constantly calculated variables from behind to weave grand stratagems.
The younger of the twin sisters devised plans in real-time as soon as a strategy was established—or once they had entered the battlefield.
She was known as the Operations Leader.
Failing to consider Yo-hwa’s characteristic impulsiveness was my mistake.
In less than 24 hours, the rooftop of Babel Tower fell under the watchful eyes of the Baekhwa High School student council president.
If Yo-hwa was on our side, as when she came as reinforcements during the Leviathan subjugation battle, she was an unfailing advantage.
But in the current situation, it felt like the breathing room on our side was gradually being squeezed.
“What is Yo-hwa doing right now?”
[She's on the roof. Continuously.]
“...”
[She keeps exchanging messages with Baekhwa High School guild members in Sejong through me.]
[It’s my personal judgment, but.]
[I think Miss Yo-hwa truly intends to stay alone at Babel Tower for the time being.]
[Um, Undertaker.]
[What on earth happened within the Time’s Seal?]
“...”
Reverse scale.
In a human heart, there were invisible scales covering it, and among them, there existed one that stood unnaturally.
"I'm sorry. Please let me know immediately if Yo-hwa leaves her spot."
[Yes. Of course.]
Many, including the person themselves, were often oblivious to what their reverse scale was precisely. Some went their whole life without realizing it.
For Yo-hwa, her reverse scale was the existence of her already lost twin sister.
[I'm sorry. Mr. Undertaker.]
[We've attempted to bring her into the conference room through Miss Noh Do-hwa and tried various methods, but Miss Yo-hwa isn't budging at all.]
[On the contrary, she... well, she doesn't seem to trust my words.]
[I think she had the assurance from the beginning that efforts were being made to drag her elsewhere.]
“...”
[Only when she’s accompanying you, Mr. Undertaker, to go elsewhere, does Miss Yo-hwa move from the roof.]
A warning.
A low-quality siren echoed feebly inside my mind.
“Hehe. It's nice being around town with you like this, Teacher! Sigh, I really wish I settled in Busan instead of Sejong…”
“There's Inunaki Tunnel, isn’t there?”
“Yes, but! Please understand your student's heart, wanting to be as close to you as possible!”
“Then why don’t you just move and live in my guild hideout altogether?”
“Ah.”
“Aryeon always says the same thing. Unless she's working in Pyongyang, she stays tucked away in the hideout all day. There’s always a guest room ready for you too.”
“Ugh! Such a sweet offer...! My heart is pounding... What should I do, Teacher?”
“What do you mean what should you do? Just come in as if you're getting a villa and—”
“Do you really want to meet?”
“...”
“Why, Teacher? I'm right here, aren't I?”
“...”
“Sneaky.”
“...”
“I keep feeling regret lately that I was too far away. While Sim Ah-ryeon operates even farther, in Pyongyang. I also went up to help as reinforcements when the northern frontline was dangerous. A little, sneaky.”
Warning.
Yo-hwa wasn't the only one who had lost a family member to the [Time-Seal].
Long ago, there was an episode about the soccer player Kim Joo-chul, where his son Kim Si-eun was also mentioned.
As the presence of a father was erased and distorted from the outset, Kim Si-eun lived a life traversing the country.
Such was the era—travel was synonymous with suicide, and Kim Si-eun wasn’t even satisfied with domestic travels; he ventured to the Japanese archipelago.
As if desperately searching for something.
Kim Si-eun never truly loved his father, the soccer player Kim Joo-chul.
Kim Joo-chul was a gambling addict. Unable to forget the glory of his past, he resorted to violence and abuse against his family.
Yet, even simply losing such a man and family, Kim Si-eun's life was irrevocably altered.
Even when it was a family he did not love.
…When someone loses a dearly beloved family member, how much more twisted does the survivor's life become?
"Teacher?"
"Teacher."
Warning.
Despite that, I trusted my student and believed the issue could be resolved through dialogue.
Giving up was always the easiest solution. It was merely a stopgap measure. Therefore, I attempted to have a conversation.
"Haha."
"So... what are you saying?"
"I have a twin sister."
"And my sister really, really liked you. She even wanted to save the world with you, sacrificing her very soul."
"And if all of this unfolded according to her plan, she was incredibly, incredibly smart, wasn’t she?”
"What’s that about! Haha."
I attempted to converse.
"I can't do that. Uh-huh, I can throw my life for you a hundred, a thousand times over—but."
"To calculate hundreds of loops as variables and plan with one’s life. I don't have that kind of mind."
"Even though I look just like her."
"And our voices are the same."
"Even our scent is the same."
"But she's much smarter than I am, right?"
Attempting a conversation—
"So that's why you’re drawn to ‘that’ version of me, right?"
"What do you call this? Hmm, there was a term for it. Oh, right! It's called an ‘upgrade’! This is what they call an upgrade, isn’t it? Haha."
"Hmm. Facing challenges like this isn’t bad. I actually like it. Because, you know, I can just prove myself through battle. But... she’s not here, is she?"
"She doesn’t actually exist in this reality."
"She's dead, more assuredly than mere death."
"So, with what are you fighting? How do you fight?"
“Don’t you think it’s unfair?”
Attempt.
"Then what am I supposed to feel?"
"Should I feel guilt for not recognizing a family's sacrifice for you and the world, or sadness for losing my sister?"
"Am I supposed to feel sorry and sad about a family I never had?"
"Shouldn't it be the opposite?"
"I’d like you to apologize. To me."
Warning.
"Getting permission from you doesn’t end it. It means I existed. But I'm not a regressor like you, and I don’t have complete memory capabilities, so there's no way for me to recover my memories."
"Disappearing on her own and now expecting us to just accept it?"
"If both you and I accept it, she really becomes ‘Sister,’ you know."
"No."
"You’re the worst."
"Cheon Yo-hwa is me, Teacher... Right?"
Warning.
"Look. Teacher. This is Busan. It’s the city you protected. This town."
"I'm the only one who can walk here with you hand in hand. I am the real Cheon Yo-hwa, not some illusion that exists only in that unsettling classroom."
"Hand... it's warm."
"Yeah, Teacher. Just a little more..."
Warning.
"Teacher, look at this. I got injured the last battle."
"Here—. On the nape of my neck. Can you see it?"
"What? No, I didn’t ask Sim Ah-ryeon to heal it. I wanted to keep it."
"Why, you ask... Haha. My wounds don’t disappear even after 24 hours, you see?"
"They might heal, but."
"They never ‘reset’ without a trace. Never."
"It's okay to come closer. Actually, I wanted to show you this. Yes, up close."
"Teacher."
"My teacher—."
Reset.
The conversation was a failure. A colossal failure. A fumble.
Until that round ended, Yo-hwa never left my side. Neither the role of the student council president nor the power of heading a top guild in the Korean Peninsula mattered anymore.
Baekhwa High School collapsed.
The organization had originally relied on the charisma of one student council president. Having lost their queen, the bees scattered, and the Highway Department and Samcheon World absorbed the members.
Once, a former vice president of Baekhwa High School did come crying. But Yo-hwa's expression didn’t change.
All I could do was take responsibility for Yo-hwa until the end of the round and accept her.
Reset. Then—
“...”
The next round.
I sat at the desk in the classroom. In front of me sat Cheon-hwa. As soon as the new round began and the situation was somewhat sorted, she came to the New Territory.
"Ah—"
Hearing the whole story from me, Cheon-hwa, the older sister of the twin, sighed deeply.
"Yeah… so that's how it went. Hm. I’m sorry, Senior. I’ve really given you a painful role."
"It's alright. This kind of thing hasn’t only happened to Yo-hwa."
"Huh? Oh, indeed. It’s true that mentally unstable comrades always leaned on you, Senior. Still, I’m sorry."
Cheon-hwa mumbled.
"My sister is right. This is the price of using the [Time-Seal] whimsically. Back then, I was so busy eliminating the hidden threat that I thought it was the best option."
“…”
"Honestly, even this is fine with me! Wow—. The fact that you remember me as a human is a gamble that succeeded against horrendous odds, right? And if I even won the heart of your lovely sister? That's like hitting a 5-star on a single pull in a gacha. Haha."
“…”
"You don't have to tell Yo-hwa anything about me, Senior. I do have my sense of shame—. I don't want to be a burden that harms my sister's mental health! Yep!"
Leave it as is.
Abandon it.
Just as it has always been.
After all, no one knew.
Yo-hwa could never know that she had a sister. Similarly, Cheon-hwa couldn't remember that she had given her sister an indelible scar.
It was a story that no one in the world knew, save for me.
"...."
If I chose to close my eyes to the matter, I could leave it as if it never happened. As a blank space. As a void.
"Cheon-hwa."
"Yeah?"
"This classroom where you're sealed, it's modeled after the classroom in Baekhwa High School, right?"
"Uh... yeah. But, why do you ask all of a sudden?"
And doesn’t that resonate with the entire life of a regressor?
The fact that Yo-hwa wasn’t just a necromancer of zombies but a child who simply wanted to save a few more friends.
The fact that Yu Ji-won wasn’t a power-mad psychopath, but someone searching for a person she met one summer.
The fact that the constellations didn't exist and were just someone playing a role to save others.
Much like the Old Man Scho, if I alone chose to close my eyes, these truths would remain hidden from everyone else.
Inherently, void was a world only to those who wished to understand it, and others were human only to those who wished to see them.
I personally believed that a regressor was someone who sang of loss.
"In this round, I haven’t saved Yo-hwa yet. By now, she’s likely struggling, trapped in Baekhwa High School."
"Yeah. That's why I hope you get to her quickly."
"And as you know, to subdue the dormant traces within there, you endure until the world shrinks to the size of Baekhwa High School, then move into the void within the void."
"...."
"I will summon you to the Void Baekhwa High School."
"...!"
Cheon-hwa’s eyes widened.
I continued my declaration.
"There, I will reunite you and your sister."