Let's talk about Oh Dok-seo, a web novel otaku, leader of nerd fashion, and a hipster with a case of chuunibyou syndrome.
As I mentioned before, I first met this character in the 555th run. Actually, we knew each other well before that, but we only forged a real bond in that cycle.
At the time, I regressed to the waiting area of Busan Station, as usual.
'I'm bored.'
Back then, I hadn't even acquired my web novel hobby.
Even someone like me, an optimist who could rank in the [Life's Most Optimistic Infinite Regressor] competition across all fiction, would get a little tired of reaching the 555th starting point. Wouldn't you get sick of even the world's most fun theme park after visiting 555 times?
Moreover, the waiting area of Busan Station was far from an exciting theme park. The best you could hope for was Seo Gyu yelling, "You fucking asshole!" loudly enough to ring through the hall.
There was one hidden secret in the waiting area, but that's for later.
'...Should I try Telepathy?'
This time, I decided to spice things up a bit.
Telepathy was an ability I acquired in the 554th run. I could listen in on the thoughts of beings less capable than me. The criteria for 'capability' were extremely vague, and the ability itself wasn't all that powerful, but it was worth using just for fun.
[Lee Jae-hee: My phone's not working?]
[Uehara Shino: Too many people. Can't breathe.]
The moment I activated Telepathy, the collective thoughts of the people gathered at the Busan Station waiting area flooded my ears. Some voices were familiar, while others were relatively new.
[Seo Gyu: Fuck, what's going on? This is bullshit.]
[Park Ye-dam: I should report to my boss...]
[Lee Baek: What the hell? Where's everyone else?]
[Go Yuri: Uh҉҉-oh҉҈-uh҉.]
[Jung So-hee: Leader? Leader, where have you gone?]
[Sim Ah-ryeon: Where am I? Who am I?]
[Kim Si-woon: Mom.]
For a moment, I felt dizzy.
Telepathy didn't let me focus on a specific target. When I activated it, I heard all the surface-level thoughts of those around me. Still, I could bear wading through them, and my first impression of using Telepathy at the Busan Station waiting area was…
'Not much.'
All I could hear were the same mundane thoughts.
'Well, I'm familiar with all these faces.'
I had already figured out nearly everything about the original members of the Busan Station waiting area. Their names, appearance, origins, and even the abilities they'd awaken later.
So no matter what these people did or thought, nothing surprised me. I could predict their thoughts just by looking at their faces, so Telepathy was practically meaningless.
'Of course, I can't read Go Yuri, as expected.'
I should never get involved with that child.
I walked away from Go Yuri and headed to a vending machine on the other side of the waiting area to leisurely grab a drink.
People around me gave me the stink eye, thinking, "What kind of person is so relaxed in this dire situation?" but I didn't care.
Later on, even these drinks would become rare. From their perspective, they'd just been summoned to the waiting area, but I'd returned to a world that was still relatively intact after 20 years of struggle.
"Ahhh."
After having gone without for so long, the Ceylon Tea tasted heavenly. It was so good that I quickly downed a can and bought another. After gulping down four in a row, people stared at me in disbelief.
[Lee Jae-hee: ...What's up with this guy? He's drinking it like it's the best thing he's ever had.]
[Jung So-hee: Ceylon Tea? Such sacrilege!]
[Park Ye-dam: The kid knows how to drink.]
[Sim Ah-ryeon: Where am I? Who am I?]
[Lee Baek: What's with this geezer's taste?]
Hmm. Lee Baek hasn't changed since the first run.
Even after listening again, nothing stood out.
Telepathy was a double-edged sword in that way. Right before using it, I would feel a rush of excitement, wondering what fascinating thoughts people might be hiding. But after listening, I'd be disappointed, thinking, That's it? Hence, ironically, Telepathy was the most fun right before activation.
There was nothing I could do about it. At this point, asking the original members to have a fresh mindset was unreasonably greedy of me—
[Oh Dok-seo: Wow. The Busan Station waiting area. I've seen this in a novel! Soon, the Tutorial Fairy will appear and blow off the head of the guy who swears.]
I guess not.
"Puha!"
I spat out my fifth Ceylon Tea. The drink, glowing like the sunset, splashed across the air, painting the world with its golden hue, and the people caught off guard gasped as they witnessed the setting sun race past seven hours ahead of schedule.
[Lee Jae-hee: Ack! Gross!]
[Jung So-hee: Disgusting. Horrible.]
[Park Ye-dam: Ugh, filthy guy.]
[Sim Ah-ryeon: Where am I? Who am I?]
[Lee Baek: Fucking hell, what a pig.]
The original members—who were always at odds over personality, origin, ideology, and beliefs—had finally come to an agreement. They accomplished the impossible, but at this moment, that didn't matter.
I whipped my head around.
[Oh Dok-seo: Let's see. The novel didn't have many illustrations, so it's hard to recognize people... Oh, but I can tell that guy is Lee Baek! Kim Tae-yang! Wow. That guy made the waiting area stage a nightmare...]
There she was.
Oh Dok-seo. A person who always wore a cynical expression and seemed aloof and detached throughout the 555th cycle. Her distinctive features included lifeless eyes, a hoodie, and a cap.
A frequent victim who often died in the Busan Station waiting area unless I intervened. For some reason, she was checking out her surroundings with an almost lively glimmer in her usually dead eyes.
[Oh Dok-seo: Well, no doubt about it. This is the prologue stage from the story I binged last night, Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint.]
Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint? Prologue?
[Oh Dok-seo: So, what's my ability? Status Window. Hey, Status Window. ...Status? Open? Ability Window? Skill Window? Wow. Not even a hologram pop-up when it's the latest trend? This is straight-up Status Window discrimination.]
Latest trend? What was she rambling about?
"You fucking asshole! What the hell are you talking about?"
"Ho-ho."
Whoops. I'd focused so much on Oh Dok-seo's thoughts that I couldn't stop Seo Gyu's head from being blown off.
'Sorry, Seo Gyu!'
Fairy Number 264 scored a kill for the first time in ages. As blood splattered everywhere, Sim Ah-ryeon and many others screamed.
Of course, all I felt was, "Wow, how long has it been?" rather than shock.
[Oh Dok-seo: Oh. The Tutorial Head-Blowing Man cliché, huh? They do all these old tropes but no Status Window?]
Oh Dok-seo wasn't fazed either.
She didn't seem shocked at all. I thought calling Seo Gyu the "Head-Blowing Man" was harsh, but oh well.
[Oh Dok-seo: Anyway. The only important thing in the Busan Station waiting area is how early you can grab the elixir hidden in Haeundae.]
How did she know there was an elixir in Haeundae?
[Oh Dok-seo: And the only Awakeners worth paying attention to in the waiting area is Uehara Shino. She's treated like garbage now, but she'll later awaken as a high-level alchemist...]
How did she know that?
[Oh Dok-seo: Uehara's the opposite of Sim Ah-ryeon. She's only useful until the prologue stage, but she'll be handy as a healer until then... Oh, there she goes. Right, she's a coward.]
How did she… Wait, Sim Ah-ryeon became useless later?
She was actually at her lowest now, but once SG Net was established, she'd rise like a phoenix to greet the vast expanse of the NET world.
There wasn't any time to nitpick the details. Oh Dok-seo kept spilling one fascinating thought after another like golden honey dripping from a Himalayan beehive.
[Oh Dok-seo: I should start buttering up Uehara Shino. Tsk. Breaking canon and creating an unstoppable original character isn't my style... but since I don't even have a Status Window, can't be picky, right?]
Breaking canon? Unstoppable original character?
As I said before, at this point, I had no knowledge of web novels. It was Oh Dok-seo over there who preached this hobby to me, so it was only natural that her thoughts sounded like a foreign language to me.
[Oh Dok-seo: But even Uehara Shino is only my second priority.]
[Oh Dok-seo: If there's one person to focus on here, it's definitely that man.]
At that moment, Oh Dok-seo turned to me. Sensing her gaze, I quickly looked away, and unaware that I was watching, she stared directly at me.
[Oh Dok-seo: There he is.]
[Oh Dok-seo: The protagonist of this world. Codename: Undertaker.]
?
[Oh Dok-seo: He's better-looking than I expected… wait, maybe the cover art was better? Hmm. Is he better in person? Hard to say. He resembles the cover a bit.]
??
[Oh Dok-seo: But don't be fooled by his looks. The Undertaker has experienced regression multiple times. He has no mercy or empathy.]
[Oh Dok-seo: He lives only for revenge against monsters, a typical regressor with nothing but hatred, and he's probably furious right now because he lost Dang Seo-rin to the Ten Legs in the last cycle.]
[Oh Dok-seo: He's just a madman. If he senses anything off, he might kill me on the spot. Better be careful around him.]
???
No empathy... hatred... fury? What?
Excuse me, but who is this person?
Dang Seo-rin hadn't died to the Ten Legs in the previous cycle. It was a formidable wall at first, but after around 20 runs, I could beat it in five minutes.
Could this person be…?
'Does she know the past me?'
That's when it happened.
[Oh Dok-seo: Hey, mister.]
"Hey, mister."
The telepathic and actual voices overlapped.
Oh Dok-seo's finger pointed at me. There were only about ten people left in the Busan Station waiting area, and except for me, everyone had huddled together.
"Mister, come over here. The fairy's made a fountain of blood, and everyone's bailed. We'd better stick together at least. Don't you agree?"
"Fairy Number 264 did nothing wrong! The seniors gave the wrong guidelines! In fact, Fairy Number 264 is a victim..."
"Oh, shut up. The adults are talking. Why are you interrupting?"
"Eek."
At the center of the survivors, Oh Dok-seo stood boldly with her chest puffed out like a leader.
Her audacity in challenging the Tutorial Fairy, whom everyone else feared, must have made a strong impression. In reality, Fairy Number 264 was just following the guidelines and felt no malice toward humans (except the bourgeoisie), so it quickly retreated.
"So? Are you coming over here or not, mister?"
"..."
Oh Dok-seo mumbled to me internally.
[Oh Dok-seo: Come on. Please, come over here. Without you, we're all dead! I know you lost your first love and the only guild leader you ever followed, Dang Seo-rin, and I know you hate monsters and the world sucks, but please save us!]
Honestly, I didn't fully understand half of what this kid was saying, and I had no idea what she had gotten wrong.
But one thing was clear.
'If I follow her around, this run is going to be a blast.'
There was another reason too—not just for the thrill but also because I might be able to use her to hunt down a certain bizarre sort of creature. But that's a story for another time.
Anyway.
I called up my memory of my ancient self from ages past, more than a thousand years ago. What expressions, glances, and tone had I used back then?
"...I won't follow you."
Was it something like that? Should be. Probably.
Even in my long regressor life, it was my first time acting the role of myself. It felt quite unusual, to say the least.
"I'll simply observe you."
"Ah. Well, do whatever you want." Oh Dok-seo snickered dismissively.
After looting a Silver Bell from the souvenir shop, I read her thoughts again.
[Oh Dok-seo: Wow, his voice is terrifying. Gives me chills... But escaping the Busan Station waiting area is nearly impossible without the protagonist. I'll have to butter him up somehow.]
Hmm.
She was certainly an interesting character.