The Tales of an Infinite Regressor

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 149

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Strategist I

1

It's the 593rd turn.

After pulling out Oh Dokseo from the Busan Station Tutorial Dungeon, I immediately formed an alliance with the Saintess and launched the operation.

Today's enemy was none other than the Outer God.

There was no time to waste.

"I'm sorry. Normally, I would have put in a lot of effort to form a stronger rapport with you, Oh Dokseo. But this time, I have to hurry a bit."

"Oh, uh... okay..."

Oh Dokseo's reaction was somewhat reluctant.

Of course, it was. If a normal person realized that "a regressor in a novel has possessed a book and knows everything about them," they couldn't help but feel a bit of fear.

A world shattered by anomalies.

The realization that the situation was something they had read about in a novel not long ago, and the resulting confidence.

But that confidence crumbled immediately the moment the tutorial started, all because of me. Oh Dokseo was almost unable to take advantage of the benefits of ‘Previous Knowledge’.

How could they not feel uneasy?

Oh Dokseo exhibited leadership when dealing with people she considered complete strangers.

But with acquaintances she deemed close, she went so far as to reveal her weaknesses, to the point of being excessive.

A child carrying a mental imbalance.

And I was existing on the delicate scale of Oh Dokseo's twisted balance, with a presence that was neither a total stranger nor yet someone they were truly close to—'a character from a work of fiction.'

Instead of forming a bond while leisurely clearing the tutorial, I had practically dragged her out of the Busan Station Dungeon.

"So, um... Doctor Jang?"

"You can just call me Mister."

"No, but calling you Mister when we've just met is a bit... You're not old enough to be called Mister yet... Anyway, why did you bring me here?"

My heart stung just a little bit.

It was something I was used to.

"Oh Dokseo, have you ever heard of the genre called Speedrun?"

"Huh? Speedrun?"

Most people play games for enjoyment.

But there are also people in this world who love speed itself. The "ppalli-ppalli" (hurry-hurry) mentality deeply rooted in the DNA of Koreans is something commonly found worldwide, at least in the context of gaming.

- A little faster.

- Clear it quicker than anyone else!

Speedrun. Also known as RTA (Real-Time Attack).

A type of play where clearing the game as quickly as possible is the ultimate goal.

Sometimes, this involves using glitches in the game to shorten the time.

For example, in my case, making the "Hate Pill" and "Savior" anomalies collide was a kind of glitch play.

Countless gamers go through repeated failures just for a single speedrun record, striving to achieve the title of "the fastest player in the world."

I'm no different.

"Oh—"

Oh Dokseo looked up as if recalling something.

"Now that you mention it, I think I've seen a video of something like that on YouTube. An American cleared the community center achievement in Stardew Valley in just two hours... yeah."

"Exactly."

I pulled out my laptop.

"In this world, there is an anomaly on the level of a Outer God called 'The Logout Game.'"

And then I explained.

As concisely as possible. Yet, in a way that was tailored to Oh Dokseo, using words and sentences that would allow her to fully understand what kind of anomaly "The Logout Game" was.

This explanation method was perfected after several trials and errors.

Oh Dokseo was shocked multiple times, saying things like "What?" and "No way—how could such an anomaly exist?" But within ten minutes, she had a relatively clear understanding of the situation.

Oh Dokseo looked down at the laptop on the table.

"So, this laptop is...?"

"An item left to me by the Outer God. It's a perk given to the player who kept struggling until the moment the server was about to shut down. And it's also the only clue that can defeat 'The Logout Game.'"

Click.

I opened the notepad, the only program installed on the laptop.

From the 135th turn, where [The Admin of All-Play] first destroyed the world, to the current 593rd turn, the text in the notepad had never changed.

[W h a t i s t h i s w o r l d?]

A simple sentence.

But not an easy question.

Oh Dokseo furrowed their brow.

"What is this world...? What's this supposed to mean?"

"It's a battle to take control of our world."

"What?"

"Listen carefully. That Outer God defined this world as a 'game.' anomalies on the level of Outer Gods each have their own way of defining the world."

I spoke calmly.

"If you want to define the world, you need power to back it up. [The Admin of All-Play] introduced numerous features like status windows, leveling up, and a logout system to prove that this world is a game."

"Ah..."

"Thanks to these mechanisms, people finally accept and understand that 'this world is a game.' I describe this as 'being possessed by an anomaly.'"

In the Magical Girl Alliance, they referred to the same phenomenon as kamikakushi.

"In other words, anomalies can never deny the mechanisms they create. The moment they abandon them, the magic that ensnares people disappears."

"Oh... I think I'm starting to get it...?"

"[The Admin of All-Play] defined themselves as a game operator. So, they can only perform actions that are permitted to a game operator."

For instance, why was Sim Aryeon able to resist the 'Logout Game,' even when individuals with extraordinary mental strength, like the Saintess of Noh Doha, were easily 'logged out'? Why was Sim Aryeon the exception among us?

The reason was simple.

- Huh, reality? Enduring time? You think you're so happy right now that you don't need the internet? Are you stupid? Guild Leader, are you really that stupid?

- Here, inside this smartphone screen, is reality! This is the truth!

Sim Aryeon didn’t treat the 'Logout Game' as a mere game.

Just as she fully immersed herself in SGNet activities, Sim Aryeon also fully immersed herself in the 'Logout Game,' which had turned the world into a void.

For Sim Aryeon, quitting SGNet was impossible. Even in the utopia of Busan created by Tang Seorin, Sim Aryeon never stopped participating in the community until the very end.

Similarly, if Sim Aryeon started playing a game, quitting that game would also be impossible.

For her, such an act would be tantamount to dying in the real world.

――Therefore, [The Admin of All-Play] could not eliminate Sim Aryeon.

It was impossible to forcibly delete the account of a user who was so deeply immersed in their game without any justification or reason.

As with all anomalies, the Outer Gods always had weaknesses.

"I am the one who denied until the end that this world is a game."

"You, Doctor Jang?"

"...Yes. Though it's not the best analogy, from [The Admin of All-Play]'s perspective, you could say I'm the malicious critic who bombarded their game with one-star reviews, calling it a terrible and boring game."

To a Outer God, I was an enemy they desperately wanted to eliminate.

So, that anomaly responded with, "Well, why don't you try making your own game, then?"

The meaning of the text in the notepad file on the laptop was precisely this.

"[If this world is not a game, then what is it?] To be precise, the Outer God is asking me this question."

"Ohhhh..."

Oh Dokseo's eyes sparkled with curiosity.

I wanted to use the [Mind Reading] function to gauge Oh Dokseo's thoughts, but I restrained myself. I had promised long ago never to do that again.

"The showdown between the Outer God and me is simple. If I type [This world is a game], I lose. It would be like waving a white flag and surrendering."

"And the victory condition?"

"I have to come up with an answer that the Outer God can accept—no, an answer they cannot help but accept."

And.

So far, I had failed to provide this "correct answer" on the laptop.

[I This world is a material reality.]

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Gun]

[I This world is endlessly repeating.]

[I This world is devoid of anomalies.]

And so on.

I had tried various answers, but the Outer God did not accept any of them as correct. There was no discernible change.

Simply forcing my wishes through strength had no meaning.

Just as I resisted the 'Logout Game,' the Outer God could resist the 'Regressor.'

Neither of us was strong enough to impose our will on the other, but we were strong enough not to be unilaterally forced by the other.

A stalemate. A tie. A deadlock.

"But Oh Dokseo, your appearance has given me hope."

"Huh?"

Oh Dokseo was startled.

"M-Me?"

"Yes. I am a regressor, and you are akin to a book-bound soul. Both of us occupy an 'exceptional position' in creative works. In other words, we are close to being the protagonists. Even if we're not, we hold roles significant enough to be treated as main characters."

"...."

"That's why this kind of trick becomes possible."

Click, click.

I tapped the keys on the laptop.

The black wave of letters spread across the white notepad file.

[This world is a 'speedrun' game live stream.]

Oh Dokseo muttered dazedly.

"A speedrun game live stream...?"

"You mentioned watching something similar on YouTube, so it should be easy to understand."

I pointed at Oh Dokseo.

"Oh Dokseo, you are this game's 'protagonist' character."

And then I pointed at myself.

"I am the 'player' controlling the protagonist character, you, through the computer."

"...."

"Character and player. Sometimes they're considered one, but strictly speaking, they're always separate. However, both are treated as 'exceptional beings' within the game world."

"I'm the protagonist. And... you're the player controlling me."

"Exactly."

I nodded.

"The Outer God defined this world as a 'world within a game, where only characters exist.' That's why people easily logged out. They were possessed by the anomaly, believing that this wasn’t the death of their actual selves as players, but merely logging out as characters."

"......"

"We need to directly refute the Outer God's strategy. Both you, the character Oh Dokseo, and I, the player, must coexist. In other words, this world isn’t just a place where only 'logged-in' characters exist――."

"...but a world where players, real human beings who can 'log out' at any time, also exist. The coexistence of characters and players. You're trying to define the world that way, right?"

I smiled.

"You catch on quickly. Exactly."

I showed the picture I had prepared in advance.

"Whether viewed on a computer monitor or a smartphone screen, a 'game live stream' usually looks something like this."

The picture could be summarized like this:

――――――――――

[Game Screen]

[Game Screen] [Streamer’s Face]

[Game Screen] [Streamer’s Face]

――――――――――

A format commonly seen on YouTube.

"The streamer’s face and upper body usually appear in the bottom right or left corner, while the rest of the screen shows the game being played."

"Right."

"Naturally, the streamer represents the player. The characters on the game screen are just that, characters. But the crucial point is that 'in the format of a game live stream, characters and players coexist.'"

"......"

"If we define this world as a game like the Outer God does, there's no way to resist being logged out. But, if we succeed in defining it not as a 'game' but as a 'game live stream'... we can neutralize the Outer God."

I folded the picture.

"This format should be familiar even to someone like you, who mainly reads novels. 'Constellation-based stories' often follow this format."

"...Yeah. The Omniscient Regressors Viewpoint was also a constellation story."

"So, what do you think, Oh Dokseo? Would you join me in taking down [The Admin of All-Play]?"

I extended my hand.

Before Oh Dokseo could reflexively reach out to grab my hand, I said something that needed to be said first.

"It won’t be an easy fight."

"......"

"You’ll have to follow my directions, Oh Dokseo. The tasks I give you will be quite difficult. There will be frightening and disgusting things aplenty. Fighting against the Outer God will be truly, truly tough."

Oh Dokseo remained silent.

"Still, this is... the best scenario you could come up with, right?"

"...As of now."

"Then, I’ll trust you."

Oh Dokseo took my hand.

"Let’s clear this crappy game together."

"......"

I slowly nodded.

At that moment:

[The fastest speedrun in the world. Let’s begin.]

Oh Dokseo flinched, blinking and looking around with a "Huh? Huh?" But there was no one around us.

A highly unemotional voice.

Of course, it was the Saintess’s telepathy.

[The game I’m attempting this time is called the 'Logout Game.' It’s a game created by a strange company called The Admin of All-Play.]

But I hadn’t arranged for Oh Dokseo to meet the Saintess on purpose.

In this 593rd turn, the Omniscient Regressors Viewpoint that Oh Dokseo had read hadn’t progressed to the point where they met the Saintess.

So, to Oh Dokseo, the voice in their ear must have genuinely sounded like 'a constellation narrating a game live stream.'

"Uh, um- Mister, what is this...?"

I smiled.

"I told you, didn’t I?"

[This game has many issues, but that doesn’t mean I can’t achieve the fastest clear.]

"We’re in the middle of a game live stream."

[And among them, the character named Oh Dokseo, with the trait of 'Book Possession,' may not have exceptional stats right now, but they have tremendous potential. Perfect for a speedrun.]

"Oh Dokseo, I’ve done a lot of preparation for this turn."

The Saintess's voice flowed softly.

[Logout Game Speedrun.]

[Now, let’s get started.]

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Gun]