BXBX NOVEL Chapter 37 – Father and Son II
Chapter 37 – Father and Son II
Chapter 37 – Father and Son II
3
There’s no one who knows the geography of the Korean Peninsula as well as I do.
Even Kim Jeongho, who created the Great Map of the East, would have to concede to me. It’s not a joke; he didn’t even cover the whole country. I mean, I went all the way to a closed-down inn in Onyang just to catch a glimpse of Udumbara!
Since the establishment of the National Road Management Authority in the 54th run, my navigation app in my head has become even more sophisticated.
No matter how capable Noh Doha was, it was impossible to manage all the roads in the country. There was a shortage of manpower and resources.
Roads from city to city had to be limited to just one, and it had to be restored to just a single lane.
Tunnels were particularly dangerous.
They were either already collapsed or at risk of collapsing in the future, making them dangerous. And if they were intact without collapsing, they were even more dangerous. Because dark and gloomy tunnels… were terrain that monsters especially loved and went wild for.
With 70% of the country’s land being mountainous, the Korean Peninsula’s preference for tunnels was fatal.
Oh, of course, not as much as Japan. Their “tunnel” situation is really serious. I’ll deal with that separately later.
Anyway.
The National Road Management Authority had to find ways to bypass all the tunnels and connect city to city. If it was too difficult, they had to carve out new roads, even if it meant cutting through mountains.
The so-called “Road Clearance” operation.
It was a project almost at the level of a national project.
“Doctor Jang, thank you for your hard work….”
Of course, this plan was entirely entrusted to me.
“Got it.”
I didn’t complain to Noh Doha either.
This project was originally assigned to me.
For example, if you had to go from Busan to Daegu, which road should you prioritize as a single lane for the most effective route?
Here, “effective” didn’t simply mean taking the least amount of time. Rather, time was a relatively low priority factor.
The most important thing was: how far away from the monsters’ lairs? Are the territorial boundaries clearly secured? Especially, how many rest points, “middle checkpoints where patrol units can safely camp,” can be secured?
If you want to be a bit more ambitious, it’s better to be closer to a water source. But since dams could collapse at any time, it was better to stay far away from them if you didn’t want to risk being swept away. There’s no need to mention bridges.
In other words?
“This project has too many aspects to consider.”
Yes, that’s right. Only I could handle such a task.
No matter how smart someone was, sitting at a desk and trying to draw up a convincing road network was useless. What could you do when the map spread out on the desk was so old? All the maps we could get our hands on were antiques made before the Gate Incident even happened.
In the end, there was no alternative but for me to personally go out and explore. Sure, there were a few satellite photos, but considering the very detailed parts that could not be discerned from those alone, it wasn’t enough.
But in a world like this, where everything had gone to ruin, who else could roam around the entire country like it’s a walk in the park? There were two only infinite regressors.
“I’ll be counting on you from now on. Saintess.”
[Yes. I’ll support you.]
From the 54th to the 56th run, I traveled all over the country, sweating profusely, filming Road Movies exploring every nook and cranny.
Sometimes I moved with patrol units, but most of the time, I wandered around alone. Well, I wasn’t that bored because I could always chat through telepathy with the Saintess.
If I were to compile the travelogue of these three runs separately as a side story and publish it, the title would be something like “I’m an Infinite Regressor in a World That has Gone to Ruin, but I’ll Travel Leisurely with the Saintess’s Voice Alone.”
There might not be many big events story-wise because of that, but personally, I quite liked these three runs. It was refreshing to meet more ordinary people rather than Awakened. I made quite a few connections during this time.
“Oh, is this the road… Isn’t this it?”
Kim Sieun.
My first encounter with the one, who was the son of a former professional soccer player took place in the 54th run.
“Excuse me.”
“Whoa? You scared me!”
A young man in travel attire jumped in surprise.
Whether to call him a young man or a boy, he was a man of that age range. He seemed particularly small in stature, which gave off that impression.
Until I spoke to him from behind, he was standing still in front of the Changwon Tunnel. He was practically burying his face in a map that was much larger than his face, unfolded and worn out from being folded and unfolded countless times. His oversized bag, which seemed a bit bulky on his small frame, was especially impressive.
In short, he looked like a typical backpacker from head to toe.
“Who are you?”
The only thing that was a little different was that instead of a staff, he carried a spear.
He pointed the spear towards me. But the spear looked a bit shabby. It was clear that it was a homemade spear made by tightly wrapping a dagger with duct tape around the end of a staff.
Actually, that was a trend among backpackers these days. If you didn’t want to hear remarks like, “What, traveling without a spear? Is your final destination inside a monster’s belly?” you had no choice but to follow the latest trends.
“I’m sorry for surprising you. I’m a guild member of the Three Thousand Worlds Guild and an Awakened who participated in the Ten Clans Extermination Battle.”
“Awakened…?”
The young man’s eyes were filled with caution, but there was a hint of curiosity, like he was thinking, ‘Should I hear this guy out?’
Since the Ten Clans Extermination Battle, people’s attitudes toward Awakeneds had become much more accommodating. It was similar to how Americans treated veterans returning home after World War II.
The residents near Seoul were especially hospitable to Awakeneds. The young man seemed to be from that area or at least tried to be polite in his speech.
“Um. I’m sorry. I startled you…”
“It’s my fault for suddenly speaking from behind. Don’t worry about it. But it’s better not to cross this tunnel because it’s collapsed.”
The young man’s expression turned grim.
“Huh? Why, what’s wrong?”
“Can’t you see? The entrance has collapsed.”
I pointed at the Changwon Tunnel. With no civilization to maintain it, the area around the tunnel was overgrown with bushes and shrubs. Only the cracked asphalt road and the tunnel entrance barely hinted, “This used to be our territory.”
The young man’s voice faltered.
“But still, one person might be able to squeeze through somehow…”
“I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“Why not?”
“Because there’s a very high chance that monsters… I mean, creatures inhabit it.”
“Ah.”
Even for a young man traveling in this harsh world with just a staff and a backpack, the word ‘monsters’ held a power that made him want to give up everything.
“So, um, why are you here, Awakened?”
“A missing person report came in around this area. I figured someone like you would be fine, but there have been quite a few cases of people getting into trouble like the one you’re in. So, I decided to block it off completely.”
“Wow.”
“It’s dangerous, so you should step back.”
I collapsed the tunnel in front of the young man’s eyes. Ghostly screams echoed from inside the tunnel, but I paid them no mind. It was probably just the noise from the slimes bursting.
“You really are an Awakened!”
Now that the young man witnessed that I wasn’t bluffing about being an Awakened, he finally relaxed his guard.
Just to clarify, it wasn’t because he suddenly believed in the kindness of Awakeneds. It was more like he humbly acknowledged the fact that no matter how cautious he was, it wouldn’t matter against an Awakened powerful enough to demolish a tunnel with a single stroke. In order to live without unnecessary stress in this broken world, it was quite important to have an objective evaluation of oneself. In that sense, the young man was quite well adapted to this world.
“Where are you coming from?”
“Oh, I’m originally from Asan.”
“No way. Did you walk here from Asan? Alone?”
“Haha. Yes.”
The young man scratched his head as if feeling awkward.
“My mother’s hometown is Dae Sanmyeon in Changwon. Do you know Dae Sanmyeon? It’s in Changwon. Anyway, I stopped by there and were planning to head down to Busan. I thought using this tunnel would be the fastest way, but who knew it was a slime dungeon…”
“Is your mother still in her hometown?”
“Oh. No, she passed away seven years ago.”
In that moment, within me, the familiar sound effect rang out again, tingling. It was the sound of my liking for the young man increasing.
What could I hide?
I, Doctor Jang, wasn’t old enough to cry at the word “filial piety,” but I was a man who could shed tears at the actions. Even if I inserted familial love instead of filial piety, it would have been the same. The weakness of regressors was always love.
“Did you decide to travel because you wanted to see your mother’s hometown at least once?”
“Yes!”
“That’s really admirable. It must have been quite a challenging journey.”
“Oh, it’s nothing compared to what my mother went through raising me.”
Plus 200 points for likability!
At this point, I had already decided to safely take the young man to Busan. After all, I also had to visit Noh Doha’s face in Busan. Adding one more person to the group wasn’t a burden at all.
“I was planning to go down to Busan myself after breaking this tunnel. If it’s okay with you, would you like to go together?”
“Really?”
The young man’s face lit up at my suggestion.
“Yes. My name is Doctor Jang. It’s a pseudonym. It’ll be a short journey, but please take care of me.”
“I’ll do my best! My name is Kim Sieun! But, please just call me Sieun.”
“Sure thing. Nice to meet you, Sieun.”
“Yes! Big brother!”
We shook hands. There was quite a height difference, so I had to bend slightly at the waist.
Honestly, I’ll confess.
Until this moment, I had no idea that the Kim Sieun in front of me was ‘the’ Kim Sieun.
There were unavoidable circumstances hidden here. To summarize a very long and verbose explanation in just one line, the truth was that I had forgotten the name Kim Sieun all this time.
Of course, in this run, it was depicted as if I continued to remember the legacy of the soccer player Kim Joocheol. But as I’ve emphasized, such consistency was merely the result of my editing the text.
Meeting Kim Joocheol was in the 4th run, while meeting Kim Sieun was in the 54th run. Between these two points, there were more than 500 years of time. How could I recall the past from a time when I hadn’t even acquired [Complete Memory]?
I started to feel strange, a sense of unease, when Kim Sieun and I were preparing for camping together. It was the day when my odd feeling, a sort of discomfort, started to kick in.
Kim Sieun, upon receiving my question, furrowed his brow. It was as if he was asked about his thoughts on a mythical creature like a unicorn.
“Um… Well, I’m not sure. I don’t really know.”
“Why? Did something unpleasant happen when you were young?”
“No, it’s not that… Um. I just can’t remember!”
I absentmindedly unfolded the sleeping bag and then suddenly opened my eyes wide.
The attitude Kim Sieun showed while speaking just now. The slightly elongated tone at the end of his sentences, it was a kind of response that was very familiar to me.
“Wait a minute. It’s quite an impolite question, but since you’re an orphan anyway, I’ll just ask it directly. Do you not remember anything about your father at all?”
“Huh? Um, yes….”
“Has your mother never mentioned anything about your father? Have you never asked your mother about him?”
“…No. But why?”
“You’ve never thought it was strange?”
Kim Sieun looked at me with round, innocent eyes, devoid of any suspicion. Instead, there was a hint of coldness in his gaze, as if to say that I was the strange one for even caring about such things.
Because.
It was so natural not to think about something that didn’t exist.
“Yes. You’re right.”
I sighed deeply.
And for a long time, I gazed up at the night sky above the camping site.
The connections in the world were indeed tough and terrifying.
“Sieun.”
“Yes?”
“Let’s stop by somewhere together with me when we go to Busan.”
4
Meeting Kim Sieun was nothing short of a miracle.
Well, I didn’t exaggerate the word ‘miracle’ in a grand sense. Like all miracles, this encounter was not a sudden event that burst out of nothingness, but rather it happened due to the delicate intertwining of existing conditions.
The details of those conditions could be deduced sufficiently from the personal information Kim Sieun himself disclosed.
“You worked in Asan before the Gate incident, right?”
“Yes. My relative actually ran a really big mart in Asan. I did some part-time work there!”
The part that caught my attention here was none other than the mention of ‘Asan’ as a location.
If you’re a Korean geography whiz, you might have sensed a hint of unease from the moment Asan was mentioned.
To briefly explain, when it comes to administrative divisions, Asan in Chungcheongnam-do includes the area called Onyang.
Yes, Onyang. It was the area where the closed inn, the place where the world tree ‘Udumbara’ first bloomed red, was located.
If Udumbara hadn’t been eradicated by me, the residents of Asan would have inevitably been infected by the virus. It was unavoidable, as it was too close to the epicenter. Although I haven’t done the math, it’s likely that when the world tree fully bloomed, 99% of the civilians from Asan would have perished.
――Kim Sieun would have surely been included in that list of casualties.
Even if miraculously avoiding the virus, the situation wouldn’t have improved. Because there were the Ten Clans, the unique Michelin Guide judges of the Korean Peninsula.
Even if the Divine Virus guaranteed immortality to humanity, if one were to succumb to the Ten Clans and have their mind destroyed, there would be no hope. Until the Guild Union Army eradicated the Ten Clans, all humans on the Korean Peninsula were simply dishes on the omakase menu of the Ten Clans.
In short, for Kim Sieun to survive and embark on a journey from Asan to Changwon to Busan with a homemade staff in hand, several conditions were necessary. If we were to neatly display these conditions like an RPG quest window, they would be as follows:
──────────
[Kim Sieun Survival Route Liberation Conditions]
1. “Subdue the Ten Clans.” If the Ten Clans are not eradicated and you head south from Seoul, Kim Sieun will die.
2. “Subdue the World Tree ‘Udumbara’.” Kim Sieun is one of the people infected in the early stages of the virus. If you do not immediately eradicate Udumbara after regression, you cannot prevent Kim Sieun’s death.
──────────
If I, as the regressor, hadn’t existed, the difficulty level for clearing would have been unimaginable.
Where else could you find someone like Kim Sieun on the Korean Peninsula? Countless people were in the same situation. Just looking at how they were constantly pestering me to be their witch girlfriend whenever they had the chance, it was clear that, in reality, they were individuals who would only be guaranteed survival once the Ten Clans were eliminated.
Subjugating boss-level monsters was akin to unlocking newly sealed areas one by one. Kim Sieun was like an NPC unlocked only in routes where the Ten Clans and Udumbara were slain.
Of course, all this explanation was metaphorical, as the real world wasn’t a game. Actual humans weren’t NPCs.
Therefore, there were responsibilities that humans must bear.
“…So, um.”
After hearing my explanation, Kim Sieun narrowed his eyes.
“You’re saying that I had a father named Kim Joocheol? Because of the sealing by my brother, Doctor Jang, I lost all memories of my father.”
“Yeah. To be more specific, it’s not just you, but everyone’s memories that have been erased.”
“Wait, are there abilities like that?”
Kim Sieun looked bewildered, as if he couldn’t believe it.
He reacted like this probably because, in reality, [Time Seal] was a fairly logical ability. In this world, there were abilities where the more you provoked on the internet, the stronger your healing ability became.
Most ordinary people mistakenly thought that awakening individuals must have RPG-like abilities. But in reality, there were all sorts of bizarre and grotesque abilities.
“Anyway, it could be a mistake, but from my perspective, it seems highly likely that you’re Kim Joocheol’s son.”
“Well, I really don’t feel…”
“Have you ever shown any interest in soccer during your life?”
Kim Sieun paused.
“…No, I haven’t.”
“Kim Joocheol was a former soccer player. If you’ve lost all memories of your father, then you’ve probably lost a significant portion of your memories related to soccer as well.”
“But there are plenty of people who aren’t interested in soccer.”
“True. But having no memory at all is a different issue. Haven’t you ever watched the World Cup? Not even once? Have you never come across videos or articles about Korean players who played overseas?”
Kim Sieun fell silent.
“Kim Joocheol is sealed in the stadium in Busan. If this is all just my mistake and misunderstanding, then I apologize in advance. But I believe there’s value in you coming with me to confirm the truth at least once.”
His deliberation didn’t last long.