The Regressor Can Make Them All

Chapter 564

Lea took Se-Hoon’s advice and immediately cut back on her research hours and threw herself into a wide range of hobbies for leisure.

She bought and read books she had never seen before, learned skills she had never once tried her hand at, and traveled across the world while enjoying the journey itself.

She had tried countless hobbies, and among them all, there was one she enjoyed so much that it stood out above all else.

“So, how old are you, Se-Hoon?”

The only regressor in this world, Lee Se-Hoon—talking with him was her favorite activity of them all.

“All of a sudden?”

Se-Hoon frowned slightly, his hands stopping mid-setup of the tent at the campsite; he looked next to him, where Lea had sidled up, squatting down and resting her chin in both hands to look at him.

“Well, once I realized you’re older than me, I got curious. It’s not like it is something you need to hide anyway, right?”

“Well… that’s true, but…”

“Since we’re already here, don’t you think we should just lay it all out and decide how we should address each other?”

Seeing Lea urge him on, her eyes sparkling, Se-Hoon realized she had not one bit of intention of backing down.

It doesn’t actually matter… but this feels like things could get awkward really fast.

No matter how similar they might look in terms of age, once she learned his actual age, an inexplicable distance would likely form between them. And right now, in their situation where they had to rely on each other to survive, such awkwardness was unwelcome.

“I’ll tell you later.”

“And when exactly is later—”

“Okay. This conversation ends here. Go organize the luggage. Once the tent is set up, we’re grilling meat right away.”

Pushed along by Se-Hoon’s hands, Lea clicked her tongue softly as she stood up.

“You’re more sensitive about this topic than I expected. Hmm, I might have to play the long game.”

“Wait. What did you just say?”

“Nothing~”

With that, the topic of Se-Hoon’s age was brushed aside; however, Lea’s curiosity about the world before his regression didn’t stop there.

“You said Professor Meirin knows about your regression. Were you guys that close to each other before your regression, too?”

“…”

“For you to tell her something you kept secret from everyone else, you two must’ve been really close… wait, could it be—”

“It’s not like that.”

“Not like what~? Huh? Why can’t you finish—agh.”

Seeing Lea grinning as she teased him, Se-Hoon grabbed her cheeks and pulled, putting an end to it with an exasperated expression.

She’s enjoying this more than her hobbies…. Sigh… should I just spill a bit?

He’d kept things secret out of concern that information might leak to enemies up until now, but there was no need for such a worry in their current world. Thinking that, Se-Hoon looked at Lea and her bubbling curiosity about the world before the regression—and him—then let go of her cheeks.

“Fine. If you’re that curious, I’ll tell you,” he resigned.

“Really?”

“But you only get one question per day. And I won’t answer anything I feel uncomfortable with. Got it?”

Lea paused, stopping herself from firing off a barrage of questions, then nodded.

“Hmm… okay. One per day, right?”

“Right.”

“Then who was your first lov—”

“Nope. That’s going to be a pass. Your question for today has now been used up.”

“Hey!”

From that day on, Lea’s questions came every single day. She avoided overly personal questions as requested, but Se-Hoon inevitably slipped with some of those things naturally during their conversations.

“So Dean Ryu and Luize were regulars even before your regression. No wonder it looked like you were familiar with them…”

“A master–disciple relationship, huh. Then I guess Professor Meirin is out of the question… actually, wait, maybe you prefer that kind of stuff?”

“You stopped her from becoming a Harbinger of Destruction and one of the Ten Evils? If she ever finds out later, that’s going to be huge.”

It was a given that talking about pre-regression events would lead to stories about people connected to them, which would then flow back into stories about Se-Hoon himself. Of course, being about himself, Se-Hoon could have cut things off at any point.

But he didn’t bother.

After all, the more Lea learned about him, the more psychologically stable she seemed to become.

Why is she even enjoying this so much…?

Was it because he was the only one who was truly “real” in this world? Or was it simply because the existence of a regressor fascinated her? Pondering what it could be as he told Lea a story about the Three Dogs, Se-Hoon abruptly stopped when Lea’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Hey, how did you even get close to the Three Dogs in the first place?”

“How did I get close to them?”

“Although it isn’t true now, it sounds like all three of them had pretty flashy records before you regressed. Murder, terrorism, collusion—you sound like you could go on forever.”

With a look of fascination, Lea recounted their stories while baiting a new hook.

“That’s why I was wondering. I thought you hated people like that.”

From Se-Hoon’s stories, it was clear the three were complete outcasts that were despised and scorned by both humanity and the Demon Force alike.

“…”

That was all true, so Se-Hoon remained silent. He just stared out at the lake where their fishing lines were cast until he was ready.

“…I saw a glimpse of myself in them.”

He, who was known as a hero that constantly saved the world now, could hardly be called a good person before he regressed. That had been a time when he would use any means necessary to avenge his parents. And after that, he became Meirin’s disciple, who operated in both the light and the shadows.

Naturally, that meant he had clashed with the Heroes Association and ended up on their wanted lists more than once. Objectively, that made him not much different from the Three Dogs.

“Of course, I was still way better than those guys, but fundamentally we were the same…? What is that look on your face?”

Se-Hoon’s brows furrowed upon noticing Lea staring at him with a strange look in her eyes; he couldn’t comprehend it.

Just as he noticed, though, Lea smiled slightly.

“It’s just like I thought. You’re the same whether it’s then or now.”

“Huh?”

“You couldn’t just stand by and watch people like me mess things up, right?”

Whoosh!

Lea swung her fishing rod wide, casting the hook toward the center of the lake.

“You’re giving your all to not repeat the mistakes of the past. That hasn’t changed, then or now.” Her voice was calm.

“…”

Their conversation fell silent, both watching the two fishing lines gently swaying side by side in the lake.

Like that, a long while passed until Se-Hoon murmured something in a small voice.

“Thank you.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“…”

“It was too quiet; I couldn’t hear you~ Don’t tell me you’re trying to avoid your true feelings when the mood’s this good—”

Splash!

Before she could finish, Lea was yanked up into the air and straight into the lake by a gigantic, tens of meters long fish that had taken the bait. Seeing that, Se-Hoon blinked blankly for a moment, then let out a small laugh.

“Nice catch.”

From that day’s conversation onward, the distance between the two grew even closer, and before they knew it, six months had passed. Lea grew used to having more leisure time than research hours, and spending every day together came to feel natural.

She had finally shaken off the pressure of results and was freely continuing her research—

“Se-Hoon… What do you think about borrowing the geocentric model?”

A new idea popped into Lea’s head out of the blue.

“The geocentric model? Isn’t that a fringe idea even in Celestial Magic? Can it really be applied?”

“As long as we center it on the Tower of Heroes instead of Earth, I think it could work. According to the Pioneer Corps’ investigations, there haven’t been any facilities like the Towers found on other planets, right?”

“…So?”

“So, if we build the formula on the premise that the Tower of Heroes exists only on Earth. Then, using the concept of geocentrism, we could manipulate all celestial bodies in the universe…”

At that moment, the entire world began to move as though it had been waiting. That insight of hers, a spur-of-the-moment idea, had become the first button fastened in the remodeling of the Golden Ring.

「DL Research Institute’s HT Relay has been successfully installed in the Alpha Centauri System this afternoon. Connected to the Tower of Heroes, the HT Relay is a composite structure designed to accelerate terraforming and further strengthen Earth’s connectivity…」

「The Ether Neural Network is a technology that will bring about a tremendous revolution not only for humanity but for the universe as a whole. It stabilizes unstable mana arrays across space and enables universe-scale spell formulas once thought impossible…」

「The Model World Observer is effectively no different from creating an entirely new world. We are witnessing the moment humanity steps into the realm of ‌divinity.」

The new concept was rapidly refined into a theory; new technologies derived from it continued to evolve, and even higher-dimensional ideas were uncovered. Eventually, humanity—fueled by the singularity named Lea Claudel—arrived at the edge of the universe where the Golden Ring stretched without passing through the Abyss of Demons.

“Model World No. 89506… Regression observation successful.”

That was the moment everything became ready to be turned back.

***

The central plaza at the heart of Babel, where there was once nothing but the Tower of Heroes stood, housed the research facility developed by Se-Hoon and Lea.

Woong!

An enormous magic circle blanketed the entire plaza, centered on the Tower of Heroes. Countless magic arrays spread not only across the ground but through the air itself, encircling the Tower, with runic phrases that formed spells swimming between them.

“Initiating final checks.”

“All relay reception sensitivity values are nominal. Ether neural network connection confirmed.”

“Gravitational wave algorithm recalibration in progress. Completion in three minutes.”

Researchers stationed throughout the plaza manipulated magic arrays, large and small, as they began the final inspection.

So it’s all finally ending… Lea watched it all with a complicated expression.

What she once thought lay only in a distant future, what she had longed for every single day in the puppet world, was now right in front of her. It should have been the happiest moment of her life, yet instead of joy, Lea felt only pressure.

Rather than an end… it feels more like a beginning.

She had confirmed the activation of regression countless times through the Model World Observer, now capable of perfectly recreating a mini universe… yet her heart refused to settle. If anything, she was more nervous than ever, afraid that her own mistake might ruin something she had succeeded at so many times in experiments.

Ugh… I shouldn’t be thinking this

In the original world, her being nervous would have only affected her alone—here, though, she couldn’t be certain what kind of events her negative thoughts might trigger. If she unconsciously thought something like “I don’t want to do this,” misfortune could immediately pile up and delay everything.

I can’t let that happen. Think positive… positive thoughts…

While Lea pressed on her temples and took deep breaths, Se-Hoon returned after finishing the final check on the Sphere and immediately made a dubious expression.

“What are you doing?”

“Huff… huff… deep breathing… cough, hack!”

Despite trying to steady her breathing, Lea ironically choked before bursting into a fit of coughing. She was clearly not in her right mind, making Se-Hoon give her a wry smile and pat her back.

“Doing something you’re not used to just makes you more tense. Just try behaving like you always do.”

“B-but…”

“You know what, never mind. I’ll handle it.”

Thump!

“Agh?!”

The moment Se-Hoon lightly struck her back, Lea coughed dryly as color returned to her face. Using Soul Honing, he had manipulated the blood flow throughout her entire body to forcibly calm her tightly wound nerves.

“What about now? Does it feel a bit better?”

“Ugh… somewhat…”

Lea nodded, looking exhausted. That sight of her, so worn out even before starting, made Se-Hoon fall quiet.

“Does this make you that nervous?”

“…Yeah.”

The fate of the world was on the line—and the final stage of the plan had to be completed by Lea alone, without anyone’s help. No matter how prepared she was, nerves were inevitable.

Commencing an operation like this might not be good…

Was there some way to calm her down? Thinking for a moment, Se-Hoon quickly hit upon an idea.

“Come to think of it, you haven’t asked your question of the day yet.”

“Huh?”

“Go on, ask whatever you’re curious about. Today, I’ll allow you to ask me any question—and I’ll give you an answer no matter what.”

“Any question?”

“Yeah. No matter what.”

Hearing that, Lea immediately forgot her tension entirely as her eyes lit up.

If it were now, she might even get answers about his age before the regression… or maybe something even more personal. She quickly tried to recall all the things she’d been curious about, but a question suddenly surfaced in her mind above it all.

“What kind of relationship did you have with me before your regression?”

Perhaps he hadn’t expected that question, as his eyes widened slightly.

He quickly calmed down, however, and answered with a bitter smile, “None at all. We were strangers.”

Se-Hoon had never met Lea even once before. At most, he had occasionally heard her name on the news. If he hadn’t regressed, they would have remained complete strangers.

“That’s what I thought.”

Lea wasn’t particularly surprised. After all, she had already guessed as much through their conversations—but more importantly, that was the answer she had hoped for.

“And yet, you still trusted me.”

Not because of some prior relationship, but because he trusted the person who stood before him now. Feeling his sincerity, Lea closed her eyes, then opened them again and looked at him with unwavering resolve.

“Then there’s no way this can fail.”

She seemed like an entirely different person. Se-Hoon couldn’t help but smile at her newfound composure.

“Director. All final checks are complete,” a researcher reported, having approached them.

With the moment arriving, Se-Hoon and Lea looked at each other and then simultaneously faced forward and spoke almost in unison.

“Shall we?”

“Let’s finish this.”