Sleepwalker II
I barely, truly barely, managed to hold onto my sanity, which was on the verge of escaping from my skull.
‘It wasn’t an assassination…?’
Then, did my hideout with a security level 6, constructed with all the knowledge of a regressor, mean nothing?
What about the ever-vigilant Poison Surveillance System, painstakingly set up by gathering all the awakened ones with medical abilities like Uehara Shino and Sim Ah-ryeon?
Or the Ultimate Weapon - Fortress Train - Galaxy Express 999, which I created despite causing immense stress to Dang Seo-rin?
Indeed. It was all useless. All of it was a waste.
From the perspective of my 1183rd cycle, the 24th cycle me was nothing but an utter fool.
Especially that railgun fortress; it became such a black mark in my history that I wouldn’t mention it in any future stories.
‘Then what on earth did I die for? What caused my death?’
Confusion. Agony. Pain.
My brain was still hardened, buried under preconceived notions. To reach the idea that ‘maybe monsters don’t need a fixed form? Maybe even the [phenomenon] of starlight in the night sky could be a monster? Perhaps the word monster is somewhat inaccurate, and it would be better to use the term "anomaly" instead,’ my brain needed to become more flexible.
Right. If you don’t know, you suffer.
But even my 24th cycle self wasn’t so foolish that he couldn’t reach the conclusion that ‘something very strange indeed happened that night.’
And so, back to the 7th year.
“Wow. Undertaker, look over there―”
“Yes. It’s a meteor shower. It usually appears around this time of year. Enjoying the view, aren’t you?”
“…What? You seem a bit irritable today. What’s been bothering you all day?”
It’s because our death is sealed on the day the meteor shower falls.
But I couldn’t reveal that regressor knowledge to Dang Seo-rin. Naturally, without a reasonable explanation, Dang Seo-rin left in a huff.
Determined to apologize someday, I looked up at the night sky, unable to handle my own tension and nervousness.
‘I won’t sleep tonight.’
Click.
I drank the secret Lotte canned coffee I had saved for this day, keeping my eyes vigilant.
I chose the location with great care: the summit of Bongrae Mountain in Yeongdo, Busan.
To reach this place, one would have to step on the strings laid out by the Puppeteer like spider webs, alerting me to any intruder. Unless, of course, the intruder fell straight from the sky.
The night sky was still adorned with a beautiful meteor shower.
…….
“Huh?”
Wait a minute.
When I took a walk with Dang Seo-rin earlier, it was 9 PM, so based on that time, it has already been…….
Hasn’t it been six hours of the meteor shower?
‘Is it normal for a meteor shower to last this long?’
It wasn’t just a trickle, either. It was like a heavy downpour in summer, with thick streaks of starlight continuously crossing the night sky.
And the streaks were getting thicker.
“…….”
Chills ran down my spine.
Unknowingly, I dismantled my disguise and stood up.
“Shit. No way, right?”
Of course, that “no way” was correct.
From now on, humanity had to fight and defeat the starlight from space, and this was the new quest assigned to the regressor.
Yeah. What could I expect from this shitty game?
Accurately describing the moment the world ends is something few people can do.
More precisely, as far as I know, there were only two people in this vast world capable of such a feat.
The Saintess with [Time Stop]. And me, the [Infinite Regressor], the Undertaker.
The Saintess, no matter how suddenly an incident occurred, could call out “Time” and meticulously record the situation, and I could simply turn the wheel of regression.
But unfortunately, at this time, I hadn’t even exchanged names with the Saintess.
Therefore, I had to witness the world-ending scene caused by the meteor shower alone.
“Stars… are getting closer?”
Boss battle, against the Meteor Shower. Phase 1.
First, countless starlights start pouring down from the night sky.
If you are very far from the meteor shower’s impact point, your chances of survival are high. The meteor shower is not a real meteor shower. It’s a monster. It falls infinitely slower compared to actual meteors.
If you’re standing near the impact point? You can only offer your condolences. You’re already 99% dead.
The 25th cycle me fell into this category.
Because the area that the meteor shower first decided to fall on was none other than Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea.
“Damn it.”
From the Ten Legs, to Udumbara, and now to the meteor shower, I couldn’t help but feel a growing respect for the legendary Dangun in my heart. Is the geographical position of the Korean Peninsula real?
The only consolation was that, well, you could experience something quite mystical just before dying.
-Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
A melody delicately plucking the heavens.
-Shining like a diamond in the sky.
Phase 2 of the boss battle began.
I quickly descended Bongrae Mountain.
Despite it being the middle of the night, people were outside, or poking their heads out of windows to watch the night sky.
It must have been due to the surreal scenery and the ethereal melody.
“What’s this? A song?”
“Where is it coming from?”
“Speakers…? No, that can’t be right.”
Murmurs.
After the collapse of civilization, humanity’s biological rhythm reverted to the Stone Age. Almost all humans were forced into a good child’s lifestyle, falling asleep as early as 9 PM.
Considering that, the scene before me was certainly abnormal.
-From the eastern sky, to the western sky.
Even with a little exaggeration, the celestial song from the meteor shower carried a rhythm engraved in the DNA of modern humans.
“Doesn’t it seem familiar?”
“This is a lullaby!”
“What? A lullaby?”
“Yes! It’s hard to hear because of all the noise, but it’s a lullaby. That, what was it? Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star!”
“Ah.”
Mozart’s lullaby. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.
Although the lyrics may vary by nation and people, it’s a song so instinctively recognizable that almost everyone can identify it.
-Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
Listening to the lullaby drifting serenely from the sky, while the stars drew nearer and nearer, one might forget that we were being invaded by one of the most dangerous monsters in the world.
But as all humans gazed blankly at the night sky, the melody broke, and pieces of the world were torn away.
-Vvveeeeiiiiiing!
“Argh! Damn it!”
“Is it an air raid siren?”
“No, the government’s gone and the speakers are broken, so what….”
People grimaced and covered their ears at the sudden siren. Fortunately, it stopped shortly after, but we mustn’t let our guard down.
That sound was the indicator that the monster had entered a new phase.
Phase 3, commence.
-Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
-Shining like a diamond in the sky.
Whoosh――
The previously slow-falling meteors all converged over Busan at once.
Twisting into a beautiful, bright white arc, each star held its own unique pitch, spreading like wings.
I arrived at the guild headquarters of Samcheon World around this time. Some guild members, including Dang Seo-rin, were outside the train station.
I shouted urgently.
“Dang Seo-rin!”
“Huh? Undertaker? Why are you here at this hour….”
A look of irritation crossed Dang Seo-rin’s face briefly, probably remembering our earlier argument.
But there was no time to dwell on that.
“It’s a monster!”
“What?”
“That starlight! It’s a monster!”
“……!”
As soon as she heard my words, Dang Seo-rin’s expression changed. Not as a friend on a gourmet tour, but as the leader of the Samcheon Guild Alliance and the Samcheon World guild master, her face turned fierce.
“That’s absurd! It’s just a phenomenon.”
“What phenomenon? Even though most scientists are employed inside monsters, no one has ever announced the existence of meteors that sing lullabies for over six hours while falling slowly from space!”
“Wait. Then, how the hell do we…?”
I understood the unspoken question Dang Seo-rin swallowed.
[Then, how the hell do we stop that?]
It took only a few words to break the fixed ideas about monsters, proving that Dang Seo-rin was faster than anyone else in this regard.
But in every other respect, we were already too late.
-From the eastern sky, to the western sky.
Thud.
Dang Seo-rin and I turned our heads simultaneously. Thud. One by one, the Samcheon World guild members who had been standing guard around us fell to the ground like scarecrows.
Even Dang Seo-rin couldn’t help but be shocked.
“What――”
“Damn.”
It wasn’t just the guild members. Thud. Thud. Citizens who had come out to admire the rare night sky view, and people who were listening to the low-quality lullaby through their windows, all collapsed as if fainting.
“Are they… dead? All of them? Just like that?”
“No.”
I approached the nearest guild member to check their condition.
“…They’ve fallen asleep.”
“What?”
“Literally, they’re in a state of sleep. It’s hard to believe, but the whole city is falling asleep right now.”
I slapped the guild member’s cheek, but they didn’t even flinch. Even after channeling aura, there was no response.
I groaned.
“It seems that not only the starlight but also the lullaby itself is a monster. It probably has a [Forced Sleep] effect. The moment we hear the lullaby, it’s over. It’s a damn situation. We need to escape.”
I immediately decided to abandon the city.
“Escape?”
“Yes. Dang Seo-rin, we need to leave this city quickly.”
I grabbed Dang Seo-rin’s wrist. She felt unusually light.
“If we stay here, we’ll soon fall asleep too. Then there will be no one left to report this phenomenon or the monster.”
“…….”
“We have to struggle until the end. It’s not over yet. Let’s go, Dang Seo-rin. Hurry.”
At that moment.
The night sky turned bright white.
Blindingly, blindingly bright.
Dang Seo-rin, whose wrist was held by me, looked up dazedly.
“Ah…….”
White night.
Phase 4 of the boss battle.
And the final phase.
“…It’s too late. Undertaker.”
“…….”
“Something strange has been happening lately. People who were usually fine became anxious and irritable. Undertaker, you knew… this would happen, didn’t you?”
“No, I didn’t. I just guessed something would happen tonight. I never imagined the countless starlights would be monsters.”
“Hmm, sorry. I should have taken it more seriously.”
“…I’m the one who should apologize.”
I murmured.
“I promise I won’t do this ever again.”
“Heh. Okay.”
Dang Seo-rin chuckled as if she had heard a funny joke. I hugged her tightly.
The sky, bleached white, was filled with the lullaby, mingled with static noise.
More twisted and stuttering than before, the lullaby now sounded like noise from a broken radio.
-Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
-Shining like a diamond in the sky.
The light approached.
As my vision grew brighter, instead of awakening, my eyelids became increasingly heavy.
Dang Seo-rin might have felt the same. She blinked her eyes slowly while hugging my back. Perhaps, instead of hugging, she was collapsing toward me.
“Undertaker.”
“…Yes.”
“I, actually…”
Flash―――
The world turned white before my eyes.
The night sky, the city, Busan’s waterfront, the collapsed bridge in the middle, the beach. Dang Seo-rin’s face. Shadows. Breathing.
Even the world.
That was my 25th annihilation.
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