The Tales of an Infinite Regressor

Chapter 42 – The Former Watcher IV

[Translator – Jjsecus]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 42 – The Former Watcher IV

6

By the way, most of the proper nouns I use in the main text are ones I created myself.

It’s not like I have a god complex that gives me the right to name everything. It’s just that I happened to witness most of these phenomena firsthand.

Think about it. Who else but me could have witnessed the transformation of an Awakened into a monster in real time?

Therefore, the phenomenon of ‘corruption’ and the term ‘Fallen One’ were terms I had to come up with on my own.

But it wasn’t just terminology I had to come up with. Whenever powerful boss-level monsters appeared, I also had to write up strategies for defeating them.

I hope others don’t make the same mistakes as me.

So, here and now, I’ll write up a strategy guide in preparation for the Fallen One, the monster created when one of the strongest Awakeneds, the Saintess, falls into corruption.

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[Fallen Saintess]

[Executor Route: Route Liberation Conditions]

1. Minimum of 15 years passed with the Saintess still alive.

2. The number of civilian victims witnessed by the Saintess exceeds ‘at least’ 1 million. Especially if the number of times witnessing helpless elderly or children dying or being tortured exceeds 100,000.

3. The Saintess masters the usage of Aura.

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Commonly known as the ‘Executor Route.’

If any of these conditions are not met, the Executor Route will not occur.

This knowledge comes from numerous regressions. In fact, Conditions 1 and 2 are nearly identical, so it’s fine to consider them the same.

Whether SGnet exists or not is not important. Even if the means to distribute videos online is blocked, the Saintess won’t stop the ‘executions.’ It’s just that the location of the executions will change.

If the online video distribution is blocked, the Saintess won’t hang the bodies in underground parking lots but will hang them in city squares instead. If even that is not possible, she’ll write confessions of the sins on paper and attach them to the corpses like posters.

Have you ever seen the sight of bodies hanging in city squares in 12 cities across the country on the same day?

Again, the Saintess is a multi-talented Awakened bordering on fraudulent. She should never be underestimated.

The best course of action is to never enter the Executor Route in the first place. But if it happens, she must be subdued as soon as possible.

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[Executor’s Abilities]

1. Time Stop

2. Telepathy

3. Clairvoyance

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Let’s start with an explanation of Time Stop.

Our time and the Saintess’s time aren’t the same.

To me, even if just one day has passed, it could be two days, a week, a month, or even a year for the Saintess. With each passing second for us, the Saintess gets what seems like an eternity of opportunities.

For example, right now.

“Oh no…!”

Avoiding thousands of bullets and dozens of axes altogether was impossible. I ran with all my might, but like clothes getting soaked in a drizzle, or even drenched in a torrential downpour, I was soaked in the onslaught.

I managed to ward off the attacks with my aura, but the aura was far from infinite. My mental strength was gradually depleted in real-time.

“I think Doctor Jang’s combat abilities are remarkable.”

As the battle continued, hundreds of footprints accumulated on the ground.

In front of me. Behind me. All around.

Footprints I hadn’t stepped on and hadn’t seen were gradually closing in on me.

“But how long can you hold out?”

The Saintess’s aura seemed infinite.

Despite unleashing countless attacks just moments ago, the Saintess, without showing any signs of fatigue, once again directed dozens of axes at me with aura flowing individually for each one.

A logically unreasonable use of aura.

“Are you replenishing your aura while time is stopped?”

“Yes.”

The Saintess’s indifferent tone pierced directly into my mind. Even though the tone was the same as usual, it sounded malicious to my ears for some reason.

“I rested for ten days and recharged. While Doctor Jang was standing still, I rested deeply.”

I cursed inwardly. In essence, it was like fighting with infinite HP and MP cheats enabled.

‘This must have been how Ten Clas must’ve felt when facing me.’

I couldn’t recall how I felt facing the Ten Clans, but from their perspective, I was a being who kept coming back to life no matter how many times they killed me, shouting for a rematch. They probably wanted me to stop cheating.

I felt just like that right now. Unintentionally, my monster sensibilities were growing rapidly.

However, just like my regressions, the Executor’s Time Stop ability wasn’t perfect. There was definitely a weakness.

‘If she kept attacking me while time was stopped, she could have easily subdued me, but she didn’t do that.’

Not doing that meant she couldn’t do it.

Above all, the Saintess used throwing axes as ranged weapons rather than direct melee weapons like swords or spears. She stubbornly preferred ranged combat over close-quarters combat.

This probably signifies a loophole in the Time Stop ability.

And although the Saintess just claimed she “rested deeply for ten days,” it was likely just boasting.

In this era, firearms and ammunition were not abundantly stocked. Gathering those rare resources, bringing them here, and firing them at me would have consumed considerable time.

It might have been just a moment for me, but during that time, the Saintess would have been preparing her attacks nationwide.

Of course, it wouldn’t matter if she stopped time completely for a year, or even ten years. But even for the Saintess, that would be challenging.

Living alone for several years in a world where no one moves or talks would be difficult.

At least occasionally, releasing time every ten days or so was essential; otherwise, the Saintess’s mental strength would quickly deteriorate.

Thus, battling the Saintess was like playing a shooting game, or perhaps a bullet hell game.

Even closing my eyes for a moment, countless bullet patterns obstructed my view. The game was about avoiding the saturation of bullets and the onslaught of axes somehow, and ultimately getting close to the Saintess to make a “touch.”

The clear conditions might seem excessively difficult, but unfortunately, the Saintess’s gimmick was not over yet.

[Kwaaaah!]

[Translator – Jjsecus]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Startled-

I staggered at the sudden blast that came from my left auditory sense. Had the Saintess finally resorted to bombs instead of just guns?

But it was strange. I quickly turned my gaze to check, but I couldn’t find any explosions no matter where I looked.

Naturally, the momentary pause in combat was quite deadly. In that moment of my flinching, countless bullets poured onto my body.

My whole body vibrated. My head felt dizzy. It seemed that the residue of the aura had diminished considerably due to the recent blow.

‘What was that explosion just now?’

I quickly moved while pondering incessantly. Before I could even deduce the identity of the explosion, a new noise tore through my brain with a force that split my eardrums.

[Eeeeeeek-!]

My expression twisted. The sound, like scraping metal against metal with sharp fangs, was discomforting, especially since my senses were more heightened than the average person’s.

But amidst the rain of bullets from all directions, there was no way a sound like scraping metal could be heard so loudly.

‘Telepathy ability!’

I gritted my teeth. This was the noise the Saintess directly inserted into my head.

“Wasn’t telepathy only supposed to transmit voices?”

“As I mentioned, my ability grows over time. I can replay any sound I remember. Shall I play a song for you?”

Damn it.

If the Saintess were to become a radio DJ herself, I’d gladly listen and even send fan letters. But the problem was that the DJ was currently causing auditory harassment to me.

The explosions and the grating sounds weren’t the only things tormenting me.

[Doctor! I’ve come to help!]

This was a hoarse voice.

Although I knew logically that the person behind the voice wasn’t here, my body couldn’t help but react. Taking advantage of my hesitation, a barrage of bullets once again poured over the barrier of aura. It was maddening.

[Hyung-nim!]

It was Seo Gyu. I ignored him with clenched teeth.

But the next moment, when I heard a whispering voice right next to my ear, I thought I was truly going crazy.

[Guild Leader?]

It was none other than Koyori’s voice. Goosebumps spread all over my body.

‘They’re turning on me.’

There wasn’t even a villain as villainous as this. As much as I knew the Saintess well, she knew me equally well.

Closing my senses was useless. How could I escape telepathy that directly hit my brain?

In the end, I couldn’t even trust my own hearing. I continued the battle in a state of heightened senses.

[No matter how much you run, it’s pointless, Doctor. Have you forgotten that I’m still revered as a Constellation by others?]

I opened my eyes wide. What?

[As soon as the battle began, I designated you as the ‘target for extermination’ to awakeners nationwide. Of course, I also announced the location. When I checked with Clairvoyance, hundreds of awakeners were converging here.]

“All the awakeners love me!”

[No, only 50% of the Awakeners like Doctor. The majority of the strong ones are in that 50%, but there are also many among the remaining Awakeners who have been eyeing Doctor. Like the Swordmaster of Yuldo Kingdom. Now that I’ve proclaimed ‘Doctor has fallen’ under the name of the Constellation, even if temporarily, there’s a pretext.]

“Tang Seorin…”

[Of course, I didn’t send messages to the leaders of the Three Thousand Worlds Guild and their surroundings. The National Highway Authority Chief is the same. But just in case you’re disappointed because neither of them were invited, I prepared a surprise gift for Doctor without his knowledge.]

This is insane.

“Please, say it isn’t Koyori!”

[As expected, Doctor knows me well.]

My head spun. Dealing with the fallen Saintess was already unbearable, and now Koyori was joining the fray? Were they really intent on submerging the Regressioner in Regressioner soup?

[We have three hours left.]

It’s like adding a time attack to a bullet hell game. Maybe it was just a bluff to make me anxious, but who knew.

In the end, when I summed up the Saintess’s abilities, it was as follows:

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[Executor’s Abilities]

1. Time Stop: A near-infinite attack capability while being able to dodge enemy attacks at any time. However, it is estimated that the time stop is released when there is ‘direct contact with the opponent.’

2. Telepathy: Originally, it only transmitted the Saintess’s voice, but as the ability upgraded, it changed to ‘sound reproduction’ entirely. It can reproduce not only the voices of others but also noises such as explosions.

3. Clairvoyance

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How do I defeat this?

Honestly, even if I declared it unbeatable, there was nothing to say.

“…”

But there’s always a strategy.

I always thought there was no solution when facing the Ten Clans, Udumbara, or the Milky Way for the first time. However, as seen with Udumbara, sometimes the problem is solved in completely unexpected ways.

I gave up.

More accurately, I gave up on beating the Saintess.

Instead, I erased the aura that had been covering my entire body all at once.

“…!”

I could see the Saintess’s eyes widening in the distance.

[Translator – Jjsecus]

[Proofreader – Gun]