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Rich Bond II
There wasn't anyone who understood the geography of the Korean Peninsula as much as I did.
Even Kim Jeong-ho, the creator of the Daedongyeojido[1] map, would have to concede to me. I'm not kidding; he never traveled all over the country. I even went to an abandoned inn in Onyang to catch an Udumbara.
Since the creation of the National Road Management Corps in the 54th cycle, the navigation app in my head had become increasingly accurate with each update.
No matter how capable Noh Do-hwa was, it was impossible for her to manage every road in the country due to a lack of personnel and resources.
There had to be exactly one road connecting each city to the next, and even then, they could only be restored to a single lane.
Tunnels, in particular, were dangerous.
If they hadn't already collapsed, they were at risk of doing so soon. If they were still intact, they were even more dangerous because dark, pitch-black tunnels were the perfect habitat for monsters that loved them.
The Korean Peninsula, with 70% of its land covered in mountains, had favored tunnels, which made this issue critical.
Ah, but it's not as bad as Japan. Their tunnels are a real nightmare. I'll talk more about that later.
Anyway, the National Road Management Corps had to find routes bypassing every tunnel to connect cities. If that was too difficult, we'd have to carve out new paths through the mountains.
This project was called the "Road Streamlining Operation".
It was nearly as challenging as a national policy-level project.
"Awakener Undertaker, please handle this."
Naturally, this plan was entrusted entirely to me.
"Understood."
I didn't complain to Noh Do-hwa. I was planning to take on this project from the beginning.
For instance, when considering the most effective way to create a one-lane road from Busan to Daegu, the word "effective" didn't just mean minimizing travel time. Time was relatively low on the list of priorities.
The most important factors were how far the road was from monster lairs and whether it offered guaranteed security and surveillance. Securing as many rest points or "midway stations for the patrols to camp safely" was also essential.
Ideally, it was better to be close to a drinking water source, but not too close to dams, which could collapse at any moment. If you didn't want to end up like Eulji Mundeok[2], you needed to avoid dams. Bridges weren't even worth mentioning.
In short?
"There’s too many things to worry about for one project."
Indeed, I was the only one capable of handling this. No matter how smart someone was, drawing a convincing road network while sitting at a desk was useless. What could anyone do about the fact that all available maps were outdated relics from before the Gate incident?
Ultimately, I had no choice but to go on foot. While we had some satellite images, they didn't provide the kind of detailed information we needed.
But who else could afford to travel all over the country in this ruined world? Only the infinite regressor.
"I look forward to working with you, Saintess."
[Yes, Mr. Undertaker. I'll support you.]
In the 54th to the 56th cycle, I explored every nook and cranny of the country until my feet ached, filming a road movie along the way.
Sometimes, I traveled with patrols, but I mostly traveled alone. I never felt lonely since I could chat with the Saintess via Telepathy.
If I wrote a travel journal based on these three cycles, the title would be something like ‘I'm an Infinite Regressor in This Ruined World, but I'll Enjoy Traveling Alone With the Saintess's Voice’.
It might be boring from a story perspective since there weren't many major incidents, but personally, I loved these three cycles because I met so many ordinary people instead of Awakeners. I made many meaningful connections during that time.
"Uh, this road... isn't this the right place?"
Kim Si-eun.
I first met the former football player's son in the 54th cycle.
"Excuse me."
"Whoa! G-gosh!"
A young man dressed for travel leaped in surprise.
He was between being a boy and a young man, but he looked younger because he was quite short. He had been standing in front of the Changwon Tunnel, nearly burying his face in a map that had been unfolded and refolded countless times. He had a backpack that looked a bit too big for his small frame.
In short, he looked like a typical backpacker from head to toe.
"Who are you?"
But instead of a walking stick, he carried a spear.
He aimed the spear at me, but it seemed pretty shabby. He had probably taped a dagger to the end of a stick himself, creating a 100% homemade spear.
To be fair, this style was trendy among backpackers these days. If you didn't want to hear "Traveling without a spear? Is the end of your trip going to be in a monster's stomach?" you'd better follow the latest trend.
"I'm sorry for startling you. I'm an Awakener member of the Samcheon World Guild, who took part in the Ten Legs Subjugation."
"Awakener...?"
The young man looked at me warily, but there was also a hint of curiosity.
After the Ten Legs Subjugation, ordinary people became much more welcoming to the awakened, treating them like American war veterans after World War II.
Residents around Seoul treated Awakeners especially well. The young man must have come from that region, as he at least tried to be polite.
"Uh, I'm sorry. I was so surprised..."
"It was my fault for talking to you from behind. Don't worry about it. But this tunnel is collapsed, so it's better not to try passing through."
The young man looked frustrated.
"What? Why?"
"Isn't the entrance already collapsed?"
I pointed to the Changwon Tunnel. The surrounding area was overgrown with bushes and trees, untouched by civilization. Only the cracked asphalt and tunnel entrance barely held onto their past claim.
The young man spoke in a meek voice.
"It seems like at least one person could squeeze through..."
"I wouldn't recommend it."
"Why not?"
"There's a high chance that monsters are living inside."
"Ah."
Even this brave young man, traveling with just a staff and a backpack, was immediately discouraged by the word "monster."
"Then, why are you here, awakener?"
"A missing person's report came in from around here. Many people have been caught trying to pass through, thinking they could make it alone. I'm planning to block it off completely."
"My goodness."
"It's dangerous. Please step back."
I collapsed the tunnel in front of him. A ghostly wail echoed from deep within, but I paid it no mind. The noise was probably just slimes bursting.
"So you really are an Awakener!"
The young man, realizing I wasn't a fake, finally let his guard down.
To clarify, he probably didn't believe in the goodness of the Awakeners but rather acknowledged that it was pointless to be wary of someone strong enough to collapse the tunnel with a single blow.
In this broken world, having an objective assessment of oneself was crucial to living without stress. In that sense, this young man was well-adapted.
"Where are you coming from?"
"Oh, I originally lived in Asan."
"You walked all the way from Asan to here? Alone?"
"Haha, yes."
He sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
"My mother is from Daesan-myeon, Changwon. Do you know Daesan-myeon? Anyway, I was going to stop by there before heading down to Busan. I thought using the tunnel would be the fastest route, but I had no idea it was a slime dungeon."
"Is your mother still in her hometown?"
"Oh no, she passed away seven years ago."
A familiar sound rang in my heart. The sound of my affinity for this young man rising.
No need to hide it.
Me, the Undertaker, wasn't necessarily old, but I was the kind of guy who would shed tears at the mere mention of family love. A regressor's weakness was always love.
"Did you decide to travel because you wanted to see your late mother's hometown?"
"Yes!"
"That's admirable. It must have been obvious you'd struggle on this trip."
"Oh, it's nothing compared to how much my mother struggled to raise me."
Affinity +200 points!
By now, I had already decided that I'd ensure this young man made it to Busan safely. I needed to stop by Busan to see Noh Do-hwa anyway. An extra companion wouldn't be a burden.
"I was planning to head to Busan after collapsing this tunnel. If it's okay with you, would you like to travel together?"
"Really?"
His face brightened at my offer.
"Yes. My name is Undertaker. That's not my real name, but a moniker. It may be a short trip, but let's take good care of each other."
"Let's work together! My name's Kim Si-eun. Please feel free to speak casually with me."
"Okay, looking forward to it, Si-eun."
"Yes, hyung!"
We shook hands. I had to bend my back slightly because of our height difference.
Honestly, I didn't realize at the time that the Kim Si-eun in front of me was that Kim Si-eun.
There was an understandable reason for this. To explain it in one sentence: I had forgotten the name Kim Si-eun over time.
Sure, I depicted it as if I always remembered the football player Kim Joo-chul's last words in this story. But, as I've emphasized before, that kind of consistency was only possible because I edited the story.
I had met Kim Joo-chul in the 4th cycle and Kim Si-eun in the 54th, with over 500 years between them. How could I possibly remember events from a time when I hadn't yet mastered [Complete Memory].
"What's your father like?"
"Huh? My father?"
I first sensed something odd when we were setting up camp that day.
Kim Si-eun frowned as if I had asked him about a mythical beast.
"Uh... I'm not sure. I don't remember!"
I was mindlessly spreading my sleeping bag when I suddenly became alert.
His attitude while answering my question, the way he dragged out his words, was all too familiar to me.
"Wait a second. This might be a rude question, but I'll ask since I'm also an orphan. Do you not remember anything about your father?"
"Huh? Oh, uh..."
"Has your mother never mentioned him, or have you never asked her about him?"
"...Nope. Why?"
"And you've never thought that was strange?"
Kim Si-eun looked at me with his round, squirrel-like eyes. There wasn't a hint of doubt on his face. He even seemed to find it odd that I cared.
Why?
Because not thinking about something that doesn't exist is the most natural thing in the world.
"Yeah, that's right."
"......"
I sighed and gazed up at the night sky from our campsite for a long time.
Fate is tenacious and terrifying.
"Si-eun."
"Yes?"
"When we get to Busan, let's stop by somewhere with me."
Meeting Kim Si-eun was nothing short of a miracle.
I'm not exaggerating or throwing the word around lightly. Like all miracles, this one wasn't a sudden event out of nowhere; rather, it was the product of many conditions coming together seamlessly.
We could infer these conditions from the personal information Kim Si-eun had shared.
"You worked in Asan before the Gate incident?"
"Yeah. I had a relative running a huge supermarket in Asan. I just did some part-time work there!"
What caught my attention wasn't the work itself but the region of Asan.
Readers who are knowledgeable about Korean geography may already have gotten chills at the mention of Asan.
To explain briefly, Asan in South Chungcheong Province encompasses an area known as Onyang.
Yes, Onyang—the location of the abandoned inn where the Udumbara World Tree first bloomed.
If I hadn't subjugated the Udumbara, the residents of Asan would have inevitably been infected by the virus, given their proximity to the origin. Although I never ran the calculations, when the World Tree had fully bloomed, Asan's civilians would have been 99% annihilated.
――And that death toll would have included Kim Si-eun.
Even if he had miraculously avoided infection, things wouldn't have improved. Ten Legs, the only Michelin Guide inspector on the Korean Peninsula, would have taken care of him.
No matter how much the New Budhha Virus promised humans immortality, if your head was severed and brain destroyed by Ten Legs, that was the end. Until the allied guild forces exterminated Ten Legs, all humans in Korea were no more than a chef's choice on Ten Legs' dining table.
For Kim Si-eun to have survived and embarked on this journey from Asan to Changwon to Busan with his homemade spear, certain conditions needed to be met. These conditions could be laid out like a quest list in an RPG:
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[Kim Si-eun Survival Route Requirements]
1. Exterminate Ten Legs: If not exterminated, they'll head south from Seoul, and Kim Si-eun will die.
2. Exterminate the Udumbara World Tree: Kim Si-eun was among the early victims of the virus. If not destroyed immediately after the regression, his death can't be prevented.
──────────
Without me, the regressor, clearing this route would have been impossible.
Was Kim Si-eun the only one in Korea in this position? Many people were in the same boat. Take Dang Seo-rin, for instance. Despite persistently pestering me to be a witch friend, she could only ensure her survival by eliminating Ten Legs.
Defeating boss-level monsters was akin to unlocking previously "locked" regions. Kim Si-eun was like an NPC that could only be freed by eliminating Ten Legs and Udumbara.
Of course, this analogy is only a comparison to a game. In reality, the world wasn't a game, and humans weren't NPCs.
Thus, humans must bear the responsibility appropriate to their kind.
"...So."
After hearing my full explanation, Kim Si-eun furrowed his brow.
"You're saying I had a father named Kim Joo-chul and that because of Undertaker's Time Seal, I've completely forgotten everything about him?"
"Yes. More specifically, not just you but everyone's memory of him has been erased."
"What kind of power is that?"
Kim Si-eun looked incredulous.
To a normal person, his reaction made sense. But [Time Seal] was quite a reasonable power. In this world, there were even powers that grew stronger based on the amount of trolling you did online.
Ordinary people often assumed that Awakeners were like RPG characters, but in reality, there were far stranger abilities.
"Anyway, I might be mistaken, but from my perspective, it seems highly likely that you're Kim Joo-chul's son."
"Hmm, I don't really feel..."
"Have you ever shown any interest in football?"
Kim Si-eun hesitated.
"...No, I haven't."
"Kim Joo-chul was a former football player. If you've lost all memory of your father, then it's likely you've lost most memories related to football too."
"But there are a lot of people who aren't interested in football."
"True, but having no memory at all is a different story. Have you ever watched the World Cup? Not even once? Or come across any videos or articles about Korean players playing abroad?"
Kim Si-eun fell silent.
"Kim Joo-chul is sealed in a stadium in Busan. If this is all just a misunderstanding, I apologize in advance, but I think it would be worth following me to see the truth."
"......"
His hesitation didn't last long.
Footnotes:
[1] Daedongyeojido is a large scale map of Korea produced by Joseon dynasty cartographer and geologist Kim Jeong-ho in 1861. A second edition was printed in 1864. One source describes it as the "oldest map in Korea".
[2] Eulji Mundeok was a military leader of early 7th century Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, who successfully defended Goguryeo against Sui China. He is often numbered among the greatest heroes in the military history of Korea.
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