The Tales of an Infinite Regressor

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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Chapter 202

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The Wicked One V

6

The National Highway Management Team’s Conference Room.

"I'm sorry…"

Oh Dokseo knelt down and raised her hands.

The members gathered in the conference room looked at her with disdain. Only a teenager's fresh, youthful brain could bear the shame and humiliation that made Oh Dokseo's deltoids tremble.

"Pfft. Pffft…"

Sim Aryeon, one of those summoned to the meeting, threw verbal jabs, feeling smug after a long time.

"A, a fallen one... A reawakened one who fell into depravity because they didn't want to write. When I was defending against the anomaly wave as the Saintess of the North, they said I also fell… But Oh Dokseo, you’re even less of a human being than I was. Please, grow up a little mentally. If you live like a child, it’s a nuisance to those around you."

"Damn it…"

Oh Dokseo trembled.

To be publicly recognized as 'someone with a mental age younger than a notorious villain' was nothing short of miraculous. The achievement of such a feat must have moved her.

Noh Doha, the commander of the Highway Management Team, was also present in the conference room. She looked at me, resting her chin on her hand.

"Doctor Jang. Can someone really fall into depravity for such a stupid reason…?"

"I’m just as taken aback, as it’s the first time I’ve encountered something like this. But I’d say it’s more than likely that an Alien god meddled in this."

"An Alien god…?"

"In my opinion, Oh Dokseo's inexplicable slump and burnout are a form of curse stemming from the 'The Admin of All-Play.'"

Tigers leave behind their pelts when they die, and an Alien god leaves behind traces when subdued.

In the past, it would have been perfectly understandable to describe this as something close to ‘afterimage’. However, that too has succumbed to a yearly affliction similar to Oh Dokseo's, making it no longer a common analogy.

Anyway, it's fundamentally difficult to eliminate anomalies like alien gods.

At best, they can only be sealed.

No matter how well you seal a jar in a kimchi refrigerator, a slight funky smell will always leak out. Similarly, sealing an Alien god results in various side effects.

Oh Dokseo, who carries the laptop of The Admin of All-Play in her inventory all the time, is constantly exposed to such a curse.

"Ah, so just as the leader of Baekhwa High Guild occasionally exhibits a split personality, Oh Dokseo also experiences a slump…?"

"Yes. Perhaps the AI has changed, making it more dependent on itself, unable to write without it. I suspect it’s trying to wrest back control from Oh Dokseo using various means."

“R-right! That’s exactly it!”

Oh Dokseo shouted urgently.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that she was crying out in despair.

“I could never truly want to stop writing…! I’ve always wanted to help you! In the past! Even now! But that wicked Alien god keeps getting in my way…!”

At that moment, Sim Aryeon murmured from the side.

“Oh. Could it be… Is my compulsion to keep villainy on SGNet, no matter what I do, also influenced by an Alien god? I always thought it was strange, but now it makes sense…”

“……”

“……”

Oh Dokseo was silent. We were silent too.

And as if nothing had happened, I spoke.

“Oh Dokseo. You must be starting to manifest the power of a fallen one by now.”

“H-huh? Power?”

“Yes. When the Saintess fell, she could stop the world’s time forever, and Tang Seorin could command an entire city like her limbs. You’ve likely been granted a power of a similar level.”

“……”

“You must know what it is by now, right? You’ve probably realized that you’ve become a fallen one yourself.”

Oh Dokseo hesitated.

“I do, but…”

“Tell me what it is. You don’t have to keep kneeling.”

“O-okay.”

Oh Dokseo took out a laptop from his backpack.

“Honestly, I’m not entirely sure yet… but I did notice this phenomenon.”

True to its nature as a cursed artifact with strange technology, the laptop booted up in less than 0.1 seconds.

Soon, an AI chatbot appeared on the screen.

――――――――――

>> Please enter a prompt…

※ GPT-MSYH may make mistakes. Don’t neglect cross-checking.

――――――――――

“This… When I used this to write novels in the past, the writing was a bit sloppy, wasn’t it?”

“It was.”

“Yeah… But as I wandered through the void, leveling up, the AI gradually improved without me realizing it.”

“Really?”

“Yes… In fact, I asked the AI for ways to overcome my slump, and it advised me to explore the void to gain more experience. Now that I think about it, that too was probably part of the Alien god's plan to restore itself.”

So that’s what happened.

Oh Dokseo turned his head.

“Aryeon, could you play rock-paper-scissors with me for a moment?”

“Huh? Okay, sure.”

“I’m conducting an experiment. I’ll throw paper, so you throw rock. My ability only activates when I win.”

“Ah, got it. I understand.”

“You get it, right? I’m throwing paper, you’re throwing rock. Ready, set, go!”

Oh Dokseo threw rock, and Sim Aryeon threw scissors. Both had nonchalant expressions.

“So, I just won against Aryeon, right? Now, here’s what happens when I score a 'victory' over someone.”

Oh Dokseo typed on the laptop.

――――――――――

>> Describe what will happen to Sim Aryeon within the next 2 minutes. Exclude death and injury, respect character traits, minor embarrassment only.

――――――――――

Ding-ding.

After a slight hesitation, the AI-MSYH quickly generated sentences.

――――――――――

MSYH >> Sim Aryeon, the legendary healer, secretly welcomed today's incident, though she didn’t show it outwardly.

‘I think Oh Dokseo has gotten a bit too full of herself recently.’

‘I could also easily fall and become immensely powerful, if I wanted. I only hold back because the Guild Leader told me not to.’

‘I should log into SGNet anonymously and tell everyone how much of a nuisance Oh Dokseo is as an author.’

‘It’s for the public good!’

――――――――――

All eyes in the conference room focused on Sim Aryeon.

Sim Aryeon jumped in shock.

“Wha- I never had such thoughts!”

“……”

"……."

"Everything is a lie! You all know how much I cherish Dokseo! W-What a vile anomaly! How could you spread such slander and defamation about me…!"

AI-MSYH's response wasn't finished yet.

Tiddick-tick-. More lines followed.

――――――――――

MSYH >> Of course, the petty nature of Sim Aryeon was completely seen through by the Heavenly Demon, Oh Dokseo.

‘How pitiful and tragic!’

‘When criticizing the great, they talk of the world's unfairness, and when criticizing the small, they point out personal incompetence.’

‘They are a breed that sees shadows rather than light wherever they go, so in truth, it’s as if they have no eyes. Even if they do, they might as well not, for though they live, they are like dust in life.’

Such extraordinary insight was indeed the wisdom of Oh Dokseo, the Heavenly Demon, who was born a scholar and later became a warrior, embodying both literary and martial virtues.

――――――――――

The gaze of everyone in the conference room focused on Oh Dokseo.

"N-No! It’s just that the data happened to accumulate in such a way that I keep appearing as the Heavenly Demon, that’s all!"

"……."

"Anyway, this isn't important. It’s not important at all. Just look at the next sentences!"

They looked.

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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――――――――――

MSYH >> Heaven is fair and just, bestowing fortune upon the virtuous and misfortune upon the base.

Thus, at that moment, Sim Aryeon, though she stood still, suddenly sneezed. Startled, she tried to explain herself, but then she alone stumbled and fell, landing on her rear, perfectly summarizing her life in this farcical moment.

――――――――――

Just as Sim Aryeon blinked in surprise.

“Ah-Ahchoo!”

She sneezed. Achoo! Achoo! The sneezes wouldn’t stop, and soon she was looking around with teary eyes.

“W-Wait a minute! I’m sorry! I-I-Achoo! A-Achoo! It’s just that some dust suddenly got into my nose, and I can’t stop sneezing….”

At that moment, while stumbling around, Sim Aryeon’s foot caught on the chair leg.

“Heh? Eh?”

Thud!

Sim Aryeon, who always ranked last in physical ability alongside Noh Doha among the guild members, easily lost her balance and fell.

“Ow! Ow, it hurts….”

A low groan filled the conference room.

No one had touched her, yet she had managed to put on a solo show of clumsiness.

The conference room members, who had witnessed the entire sequence of events, all turned to Oh Dokseo.

“Hmm….”

Oh Dokseo removed her hat and scratched the back of her head.

“So, this is my ability… or rather, my authority as a fallen one. I can control the actions of the opponents I’ve defeated… or more precisely, I can ask the AI what will happen and find out….”

[Scenario Writing].

A new power as a fallen one: the ability to ‘predict’ what would happen in the world and then ‘force’ that prediction to come true.

That was the newly acquired authority of the fallen one.

7

At first, it was just a simple pastime.

Or perhaps a way to find some motivation, using the AI, Oh Dokseo confessed.

――――――――――

>> I can’t shake this slump. How can I regain my motivation for writing?

MSYH >> Slumps are a common struggle for many.

MSYH >> An author’s asset is experience. Why not try experiencing something broader than what most people go through or delving deeper into experiences that are common to most?

MSYH >> There are pros and cons to everything in the world. What might be poison to some could be a field of medicinal herbs offering endless new experiences for a writer.

――――――――――

On the surface, the AI’s advice was reasonable.

Oh Dokseo felt reassured because the response was ordinary enough that anyone could have given it.

It was advice that didn’t require an anomaly to come up with.

――――――――――

>> I’m afraid of the void. I’m terrified of the anomalies. Gaining experience is good, but the experience is as sharp as thorns, and as it accumulates, thorny bushes grow inside my heart.

MSYH >> What might be a great wound to one might be nothing to another. This varies depending on one’s mindset and strength.

MSYH >> Strengthen your mind. Define yourself as a strong person and actually build strength that approaches that of a strong person. The strength of the Awakened is closely linked to their mental state.

MSYH >> As a first step to building your mental muscles, how about defining yourself as the ‘Heavenly Demon’?

――――――――――

Like many other anomalies, The Admin of All-Play slowly eroded Oh Dokseo’s mind.

Whether in the void or not, Oh Dokseo practically lived with her laptop in hand.

Even the saintess, who always closely watched the Awakened, failed to detect anything unusual.

When she saw Oh Dokseo typing on the keyboard, she simply thought, ‘She’s working hard to overcome her slump.’

It would be rude to peek at a novel that hadn’t been published yet.

――The ‘first reader’ of Oh Dokseo’s work was not the saintess, but Doctor Jang.

So, the saintess didn’t pay attention to the sentences written on the laptop screen.

For a full 7 years.

――――――――――

>> How can I consume the hidden opportunities in this void?

>> Is there a way to maximize absolute defense abilities?

>> I feel bad seeing Doctor Jang these days. Can you tell me how to avoid overlapping schedules with him as much as possible?

>> Regarding how to defeat Cheon Yohwa.

――――――――――

As a result.

Oh Dokseo, who was once just a half-baked prophet, became more complete.

Thus, the fallen one, the ‘Ghostwriter,’ was born.

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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