Regression Is Too Much - Chapter 357



357 – Regression (5)

“… I am Guntar.”

“Really…?”

I desperately acted as ‘the old Kim Jun-ho’, squeezing out my memories. It’s not that long ago that I don’t even remember how I acted, but the density of the past time was so high, so please understand. It’s not that I’m stupid, I just did it because it was hard.

Of course, if you look at it objectively, there may have been some differences in my acting, subtle differences that the previous Cheonma would have been able to detect. From my perspective, I did my best, but from Cheonma’s perspective, there may have been differences.

“… Yes. I’m not feeling well, so can I rest for a while?”

“Oh, of course. If it really is Mr. Guntar…”

But that was only when he was a ‘normal Cheonma’. The current Cheonma must be incredibly complicated. An archangel, or a being of a similar nature, possessed ‘Kim Jun-ho’s’ body and showed himself by turning back time. Perhaps in his mind, an archangel = a being that can control time is imprinted. Perhaps the reason he has neglected Cheonma up until now is because he has been watching since he can control time.

Well… It’s not all true. I don’t know if Cheonma actually thinks like this. In any case, what’s certain is that Cheonma is currently ‘acting’ and because of that, he couldn’t see through my poor acting. That’s enough.

With this, Cheonma can’t act rashly. I don’t know what will happen to his memories when I go back further, but it will at least serve as a restraint to some extent.

What if he finds out someday? I don’t know, but he’ll probably think of it as a kind of test. When a person’s thoughts are focused on one side, it’s not easy to get out of that direction. I believe that this won’t permanently rehabilitate Cheonma, but at least it’ll be a temporary measure. At least I believe that it’ll prevent everyone who enters the 28th floor from being killed.

To be more specific.

First, Cheonma came to believe that the Archangel was still intervening.

Second, Cheonma has come to overestimate the power of the Archangel. This will eventually restrain his actions… That’s about it.

This concludes the measures taken against Cheonma. Now what remains to be done is:

“…return.”

Again, regressing.

**

It’s a bit awkward to say this about someone who’s already succeeded once, but honestly, this ‘regression’ is not something I can control. It was only when my magic, mind, and body all came together and the timing was perfect that it succeeded.

It’s not like ‘if you concentrate, you can succeed’. It’s literally ‘if you’re really lucky, once in a while’ success. Does that mean you can just try without using your brain? That’s not true. It’s not like you leave everything to luck and do it roughly, but if you concentrate and try, it’s ‘once in a while’ and you’re quite tired.

If I were a professional regressor, I would have just said, ‘It’s a difficult task, but I can do it easily since I’ve already done it.’ But I’m a low-level regressor with no talent and no real regression experience. It can’t be helped that I’m a bit clumsy.

“Ah… This sucks.”

What made this ‘regression’ process even more difficult was a kind of sense of inferiority.

This wasn’t a fight with anyone else. There were no external attacks threatening me, and there were no obstacles outside for me to overcome. If I did well, I would succeed, and if I didn’t, I would fail.

I know it’s hard. It can’t be easy to go down a path that no one has tried before. But I couldn’t help but feel inferior in my heart, thinking, ‘If it wasn’t me, but Choi Ji-won who had regressed… If it had been someone else…’

“Junho. Come on.”

Every time that happens, I go to Choi Ji-won, pull myself together, calm my mind, and try again.

Try… try… try again… rest… try…

When your head starts to feel dizzy, your mind starts to feel confused, and your mind starts to fill up with thoughts of wanting to give up. When those thoughts start to overflow and you don’t know what’s going on,

-You have entered the 27th floor.

“…under.”

I succeeded. I pushed myself to the limit and squeezed the country like a dry rag to succeed. When I think about it, it seems like it’s always been like this. It’s not that I have no talent to the point of giving up, but it’s not that I’m talented enough to succeed easily.

People who can only succeed if they always do their best and squeeze out the very limits. If you think about it… most people are like that. If everyone were to pull out everything they have, they would be able to do as well as I do. It’s just that I’m in a slightly better position.

Thanks to regression, opportunities are endless. There is plenty of time. There is no need to worry about opportunity costs.

“I’m going again.”

And that I have a life partner who always supports me.

In summary, I am luckier than others. I was lucky enough to get the trait of regression, and I was lucky enough to have great people around me. I was lucky enough to get a treasure that others could not get no matter how desperately they wanted it. A guy with nothing got rich quick.

“A little more… a little more focus.”

It would be right to use some of what we have received for the good of all. That is the moral I learned in school and the way of life I have chosen.

Again, focus. Repeat the regression. When I forget everything, the surrounding scenery feels different. To the past. Further back. Very slowly, the time it takes to return to the previous layer is getting shorter. It is progressing slowly like a snail crawling, but at least it is moving forward.

Does that mean I was always regressing? No. I didn’t have that much mental strength, so I had plenty of time to rest.

Looking back at the floors I had only seen in my memories brought up a certain sense of nostalgia. Ah, this happened here. That happened there. Ah, that 23rd floor gave me a little chills. If I don’t return quickly, my previous memories will disappear, and that would mean wasting all my time. It would also put a heavy burden on my mental power.

Anyway, even while resting, returning, resting, and returning repeatedly, I didn’t miss any small details. Isn’t this meticulousness my strong point?

“How is your memory?”

“… I remember everything that happened in the future. But what happened inside the tower is a bit blurry… I feel like I can’t see it well?”

First of all, Choi Ji-won’s memories were intact. She couldn’t remember everything that happened in the future (her memories of the tower were damaged), but she could recognize what had happened.

I was also wary that Michael Jeter might have written something like ‘The Regressor is turning back time’, but it didn’t seem to be the case. The world situation is going exactly as Jeter said. Of course, the mark itself in the book will remain forever. That’s something I can deal with later.

Of course, where there is light, there is darkness. That means Choi Ji-won’s memories were preserved.

“Doksoohee isn’t answering the phone.”

Dok Soo-hee’s memories were also maintained. Fortunately, the ‘Dok Soo-hee of the time when she suffered from mental illness and did not come out of the tower’ disappeared. That was completely gone, but Dok Soo-hee’s memories themselves will remain. There has to be some kind of connection.

“Hmm…”

The real problem is that she keeps not answering my calls. Of course, it’s like we’re back to the time before the ‘Michael Jeter and Dok Soo-hee battle’. In theory, there’s no reason for her to ignore my calls, but for some reason she doesn’t reply or answer my calls. But I also felt reluctant to contact Jeter and ask him to ‘arrange a meeting’.

This problem was also to be corrected later. Even if we took action now, if we went back further in time, it would all be undone. The contact itself was for the purpose of obtaining information, and a plan had already been made. There was no reason why we couldn’t push through.

Anyway, the process of moving into the past itself was smooth. To the past, to the past, and continuously to the past… There were various episodes with Jiwon here and there, and minor incidents like noticing small secrets I didn’t know about, or accidentally regressing to reality, but in the grand scheme of things, they weren’t important.

Back to the past, back to the past, further back. It had been quite some time, but I had not given up. And the fact that the regressor had not given up while there was a chance of it happening meant that it would definitely happen.

The place where I am breathing now is the 6th floor. I decided to do this. This is the final stage where I will focus all my mind.

“Go.”

Almost there. Gather all your concentration to the floor, and unleash your magic. Empty your mind. Unify your mind, energy, and body. Return. Return to the past. Definitely. This time definitely.

I didn’t open my eyes in the middle of the process to check my surroundings. I didn’t meet Choi Ji-won to heal my mind. I concentrated more than I ever had before, and spent enough time immersing myself in myself. I felt all my organs, muscle fibers, and blood. I felt my magic, soul, and heart.

I recognized myself. I was completely faced with the human being. That alone was enough for me.

And when I opened my eyes again.

“ah.”

The wind brushing past my nose. The grass swaying left and right with the flow. The familiar smell of the earth. The tall trees.

“Fuck! Where am I!”

I’m back.

“… tutorial.”

As a tutorial.