The Broken Possessors of the Infinite Regression Academy - Chapter 176



Chapter 176 – Aria – 2

“Why do you think the power in Mira’s memories and the power used here are so similar? Wouldn’t it be more correct to accept that it’s because the two worlds were created by the same creator? That would be the reason why there are so many similarities between the two worlds. Or maybe she just recycled the settings from the first work because she was too lazy to write the settings.”

Aria made an expression that was almost mocking.

“Do you remember when we went to the area annihilation magic class together at the beginning of the semester and Mira-san immediately improved it the moment she saw it? Why did the magic circle feel like she had seen it somewhere before?”

‘So that’s why it felt familiar.’

I’m not sure if it’s right to say “reverse settings”, but if it’s because it’s the same author’s work, then it makes sense to some extent.

The divine power of Gwangchang would also be a similar case. That would be the reason why he was able to bestow divine power on people in place of the dead goddess.

“Isn’t that woman too much? She’s the one who made Mira go through such a hard time because of her, and yet she just mentions it. It means she was hiding something from Mira.”

I remembered Laura, who sometimes seemed troubled by certain words. Her expression of worry and concern, along with her answer that she could not remember. It seemed like this was what she could not remember.

“Like you?”

“… … Maybe.”

Aria belittled Laura by saying that she didn’t say anything on purpose, but I think a little differently. It’s possible that the memories from the old world are also included in the sealed memories.

It’s been close to 1500 times, and I still haven’t accepted it, for fear of not being able to withstand the shock.

“So I don’t know what you want me to do.”

“Hey, aren’t you surprised? I hid it from you on purpose. Aren’t you angry?”

A look of bewilderment came over his face. It was as if he genuinely thought I would be angry if I knew the truth.

“Why me? It could be that I’m in a sealed memory, or it could be that I simply didn’t think that the two worlds could be the same. And if I have to trust one of you, Laura, or you who didn’t end it with Laura and brought in other unrelated people to ruin it, I’ll trust Laura. Not you, Aria.”

“I think it’s too early to talk about faith. My story isn’t over yet. Of course, there’s another reason why I brought them here. A reason that even Mira-ssi can’t help but understand.”

“Is that guy convinced again?”

“I told you that persuading Ms. Mira is that important. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be explaining it in such detail.”

Aria sent me an earnest look, asking me to please believe her.

“It’s true that I forced Laura to regress. I kept thinking about what the best revenge would be, and I thought it would be to slowly go crazy while experiencing the world I created and threw away with my own hands. Just like I almost went crazy on my own. I wanted to make her suffer for the same amount of time I suffered and was in pain. Didn’t I end up like that just because I lost interest?”

“How can you be sure it’s really because of Laura?”

“How can you be sure that’s not the case?”

“Are you trying to nitpick even the most trivial of words?”

“No. I want you to think about which came first to me: the conviction that it was right or the conviction that it was not, after wandering alone for over a thousand years in a world where time had stopped and meeting the creator of that world.”

It was a problem that didn’t even need to be worried about. When I frowned, Aria smiled.

“It’s exactly as Mira thinks now. At the time, I didn’t really care. All I could think about was the fact that the person who created this world abandoned me for fun. So I made the time I had written with my own hands repeat endlessly, causing despair, and I made it so that I could savor the feeling of losing my body’s freedom by gradually robbing me of my strength. The face that collapsed in despair as the rounds repeated was really the best.”

Despite the creepy content, the smile on his face remained the same.

“When our Creator, who could not endure his situation, finally sealed all of his memories and became Laura, a mere character in a novel, I thought I had finally succeeded in my revenge.”

The corners of his lips that had been smiling slightly lowered.

“… …until the world stops again.”

“It stopped again?”

“Yes. Mira, you will never know how desperate I was and how much I cried back then. I thought I had finally achieved my revenge, I thought I had finally gained my freedom, I thought I could finally live my true life, but in fact, it wasn’t like that. I realized the reason only after absorbing the next fragment. Mira, what do you think the reason is?”

Aria continued speaking immediately, as if she didn’t even expect an answer.

“Because this world is only half-baked. It was created from the beginning for the ‘real humans’ outside, so if there are no ‘readers’ to read it, it will stop.”

An answer that emphasized the words real human and reader. These were words that allowed us to understand how Aria viewed herself and this world.

“Miss Mira. Can we even say we’re alive like this?”

“… … .”

“In a world where time cannot even pass without real humans in the outside world, can we really be said to be alive when we must remain frozen forever without real humans? Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to call us mere consumables?”

“… … .”

“Ms. Mira said earlier. There are other victims besides Laura, so how can you trust me? That’s right. You wouldn’t trust me. It’s natural for you to do that. But, Ms. Mira.”

Those eyes looked at me longingly again, their blue pupils moist.

The moisture soon turned to water, and a single drop of dew ran down her right cheek. The dewdrop on her chin sparkled pitifully in the light.

“I wanted to live.”

“… … .”

“I wanted to create my own future normally, rather than going crazy and lonely in a world where only I could move.”

“That’s-”

“But it was impossible with my own strength. This is a world where time does not pass without readers, and I can only bring people in from the outside, but I cannot touch the world beyond that. All I can do is to repeat the already completed time endlessly so as not to be thrown back into that cold time.”

“… … So you brought someone else besides Laura?”

“Yes, that’s right. We needed a real human, a reader who could maintain time in this world. The first person we brought was Ha Yoon. When his mind started to fail, we brought Kang Ye Na, and then we brought Yoo Chae Won.”

The last one didn’t suffer much thanks to finding Mira-san, Aria added shortly.

“It means that someone has to suffer in the end. How long do you think such an imperfect world can last?”

“I don’t know. All I wanted was for the world to remain imperfect. It’s better than me going crazy in a world where everyone has stopped. Oh, of course, from my perspective. If I could have done more, I would have… … With my abilities, I can bring them back, but sending them back is impossible. But Mira-san, you’ve seen the prologue of this novel.”

From noble mtl dot com

A tearful smile appeared on Aria’s face. It was an eerie smile that she had seen once before.

The blue eyes that had been filled with tears had returned to their original state. It felt like a lie that I had shed tears just a moment ago.

“Ms. Mira. I was first possessed by a novel and then returned to my original world. What are the odds that I’ll see the prologue of another novel written by the same author? And that’s the prologue of a female-oriented yuri romance novel, not a male-oriented one, that was hastily concluded with the first part a long time ago? Is there any other word that can explain this encounter other than fate?”

‘It’s fate… … .’

The reason I deliberately looked into female-oriented yuri romance novels was because I thought it was the genre furthest from dark fantasy.

The reason I didn’t know it was the same author was because I wanted to avoid thinking about anything related to the novel I was reading. I hated the contradictory structure that I had to think about in order to avoid it.

“As soon as I sensed the power I felt from Mira-san, I realized that if she were there, she could make this world a real human world. That’s why I’m trying to convince Mira-san in any way I can. It’s impossible on my own.”

“Then why have you kept your identity a secret until now?”

“You want me to ask a person who suffered so much while being called a savior, who ended up killing the humans he was trying to save with his own hands, annihilating all other life forms, and destroying an entire world, only to return to his original world, covered in all kinds of trauma, to save our world?”

“… … .”

I think it would be fortunate if, rather than granting my request, he didn’t curse and tell me to get out immediately.

Now, after living here for nearly 20 years, and interacting with four people in the same situation as me, I have overcome my trauma in my own way. If it were me in the past, I would have thrown a fit as soon as I heard the word “savior.”

“So I’m sorry, but I waited until you, Mira, could feel affection for this world. So that you would want to help this world, so that you would want to save us after hearing the truth. I’m really sorry for deceiving you until now. But I was also very desperate, right? If I miss this opportunity, there will be no next time. So I’ll ask you again. Please help me, Mira.”

Aria asked cautiously.

“Without Mira, this world would stop again. Mira’s family, Beatrice, Meligor, Nika, and Leona. Everyone’s time would stop again. I can’t solve this alone. Otherwise, I’d have to bring back the readers like before.”

It wasn’t an empty promise that I had waited until I could give my heart to this world, as the names of the people who had been by my side flowed out of his mouth. The purpose was obvious.

“I’m really sorry for dragging other people in without permission. If you want, I can erase your memories, and if you ask for an apology, I’ll do it hundreds or thousands of times. So, please help me.”

“how?”

“Just give me the power that you have, Mira. Then I will truly fix this world, and once I have completely finished everything, I will give it back to you. I know how to transfer the power.”

I stared at Aria, who was no longer smiling like a tearful laughter, but was smiling with her usual bright smile. Aria was smiling like that, but at the same time, she was making very earnest gestures.

“……good.”

“Really?! Thank you, Mira! Thank you so much!”

A brighter smile appeared on her face. It was the brightest I had ever seen Aria.

“Instead, I have something to ask you.”

“Yes, of course!”

“You said you would take my power. Will you give it back to me after I’m done with everything?”

“Of course I will. It’s power I borrowed, so of course I have to return it.”

Aria nodded vigorously.

“There’s no lie in what you’ve said so far, right?”

“No. I swear. You don’t trust me? Even though I explained everything to you?”

“Trust me. Except for exactly 1%. So, I just need you to fill in that 1%.”

“How?”

I summoned a spear in my left hand. There was no point in hiding it anymore. Aria tilted her head and looked at me like this.

“You may or may not know, but the lighthouse has a special function. You probably didn’t know about it because it had no use in the old world.”

“What special feature?”

“Truth determination.”

He held out the spear he was holding. Of course, he made sure that the center of the spear was pointed at Aria, not the tip.

“Hold on. I’m going to ask you the question again, and you just have to give the same answer you gave me just now. There’s nothing false about what you just said.”

“… … What if there’s a lie mixed in?”

“There’s no need to tell you. You’ll find out soon anyway.”

“… … .”

“This is the last 1%. If I can confirm that what you said is not a lie, I will hand over the power.”

That’s a lie. Gwangchang didn’t have that kind of function.

There were just too many things in what Aria had just said to make me believe her. It may not be all lies, but it may not be the complete truth either.

“What are you doing, not catching me? You just said with your own mouth that you didn’t lie. Then why hesitate?”

If I caught you, I would seriously help you out. Whether you were really telling the truth or you weren’t fooled by my bluff.

But I was sure that if that was a lie, Aria would never be able to hold the light spear.

“… … As expected, you didn’t trust me.”

Aria muttered slowly.

At that moment, the sky turned black. The flowers that had bloomed profusely on the ground all withered. The entire visible space turned into a land of death.

Aria opened her mouth in the dead world.

“This is why I don’t like people who are quick-witted.”