The Tales of an Infinite Regressor

[Translator – Helga]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 79 – Questioner I

1

Let me just say up front that today’s episode will feature a lot of Q&A, question-and-answer format.

With that in mind, let me start with a light question for you all.

Q) Among all the survivors on the Korean Peninsula, what do humans despise the most? (Difficulty: Easiest)

There was a survey on this topic on SG Net once.

The competition was fierce, but here are the top 5 contenders:

1. The Lonely Gourmet. “Ten Clans.”

2. Because of this guy, all electronics and computers stopped working, making life miserable. Commonly known as the “Gremlin.”

3. Shows up at every crossroads asking if you’ll save the one on the right or the left. “Trolley Dilemma.”

4. Can’t go into detail, but a mysterious being with pink hair whose name starts with “Ko” and ends with “ri.” (Nominated by coercing Seo Gyu and manipulating the votes.)

5. “Tutorial Fairy.”

After a four-day survey, the results were announced.

A) “Tutorial Fairy.” – 82.7%

Candidate number 5 won by a landslide!

Supporters hugged each other in joy, praising the winner with one voice and one heart.

-Anonymous: Fairies<

[Translator – Asura]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Depending on the culture or the person, it might be called ‘Aura,’ ‘Ki,’ ‘Yoki,’ etc., but the point was the same: when infused into a kitchen knife, it cut fruit beautifully.

This mysterious energy was like excrement; the longer it stayed in the body, the stronger it became.

In martial arts genres, there was the term ‘gapja’—

Equivalent to 60 years, a martial artist who accumulated 60 years’ worth of inner strength was naturally respected as a master.

This setting perfectly reflected the desirable trait of East Asians to rank by age.

And who am I, Doctor Jang? It’s not exactly something to brag about, but by around the 30th turn, I had been breaking the record for human lifespan every day.

Moreover, I even had a skill called [Continue], which allowed my muscles and inner strength to be preserved even through regression.

So?

“Hey, fairy. I’ve got a gift for you.”

“Huh? A gift? What is it, gloomy human?”

“Smash.”

“What?”

Wham! Whoosh-!

The Tutorial Fairy’s head was launched into the air at the same tilted angle.

Had any missile enthusiast in Pyongyang witnessed this, they would have clapped their hands in envy at the power.

“Aah.”

On that day, when I first took down a fairy with a single strike, I couldn’t hold back my tears of joy, behaving immaturely for my age.

How long and arduous had those years of humiliation and oppression been!

The regressor who evolved from muscle-bound to inner strength-bound was indeed formidable. I became unsatisfied with just Busan Station and wandered around the voids all over the country, harvesting fairy heads.

“It’s Doctor Jang! Doctor Jang is here!”

“Eek? The mad fairy hunter!”

“Everyone, run! If you get caught by that human, you’ll lose your head too!”

“Run! Run! Ruuun!”

Powerful combat skills? Fancy martial arts? Who needs that?

With 5, 10, or 20 turns’ worth of inner strength, there’s not much in this world that you can’t do. (Though it’s not absolutely everything)

After all, a highly developed normal attack is indistinguishable from a combat skill.

Without any special techniques, just relentlessly stabbing with aura, my overwhelming power left the Tutorial Fairies dazed.

“W-why are you tormenting us like this? Filthy human! Vile human! What did we ever do to you…!”

“Well. It’s true you haven’t done much. Just, you know, discriminatory remarks, gaslighting, threats, confinement, torture, murder, genocide, that sort of thing.”

“If I sued, I’d win!”

Which country’s court, I wonder.

“Anyway, all of this is slander! Defamation! We were just following the orders of our monarch, helping your inferior humanity adapt to the void as quickly as possible! You should be grateful…! Yes! You should be thanking us!”

“Wow. Imperialists always sound the same, no matter their history or species. Hmm? Wait, monarch?”

I was boiling fairy broth when I tilted my head. This was big news.

“Hey, you guys have a monarch?”

“Of course!”

The fairy, tightly bound above the boiling pot, raised its head proudly and declared.

“In any society, members must naturally relinquish their rights, and this is the collective will of the fairies! Our monarch is the sole legitimate ruler representing our will! Ignorant humans wouldn’t understand!”

“…?”

At the time, I didn’t know, but fairy society was actually divided between republicans and royalists. This fairy was a thorough royalist.

But what did it matter? I was always a cultured person who respected others’ political leanings to the utmost.

Therefore, I completely disregarded the fairy’s political philosophy and slapped its face several times.

“Eek? Eek! Eek!”

“Hey. Who are you yelling at? Look, Mr. Fairy. Don’t you see the pot boiling here? I’m going to make broth out of you and serve it to your fellow fairies.”

“Gyaaak! Gyak! Gyaaak!”

“Eek? What barbarity! Call the Fairy Rights Committee right now!”

“Unless you want to take a dip in the River Styx, answer my questions quietly. Now, do you have a leader who ordered you to run this tutorial using humans?”

“Eek! A leader? Watch your mouth! You should refer to him with respect and reverence as our Monarch, human!”

“Okay. So that bastard is the one responsible for wrecking this world.”

“Huh? What are you talking about…?”

“How do I meet this so-called Fairy Monarch? I’d like to see his face.”

“Meet him? Are you saying you want to meet the great Fairy Monarch with that lowly face of yours? Heh heh heh!”

By the way, that weird sound was the fairy’s distinctive laugh. No, really. They laugh like “heh heh.”

“Sorry, but that’s impossible!”

“Hmm.”

“The Monarch is a transcendent being! The singular embodiment of our collective will! There’s no reason for him to come down and dirty himself with this miserable world!”

“Really? So even if I turn you into fairy stew right now?”

“Heh heh! Even if you kill this individual and slaughter all the others stationed in Korea! The Fairy Monarch will never! Ever! Appear before a lowly human!”

“Is that so? Then I guess I’ll have to test that.”

“…?”

Time passed. I, Doctor Jang, the inner strength-bound survivor of the apocalypse, returned after gaining exactly 10 more turns’ worth of inner strength through repeated regressions.

And then, I captured all 101 Tutorial Fairies remaining in Korea.

[Translator – Helga]

[Proofreader – Gun]