I’m an Infinite Regressor, But I’ve Got Stories to Tell
chapter-189

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The Patriot II

That morning as the members of the National Road Management Corps arrived at headquarters (nicknamed the Tower of Babel or the Demon King's Castle), they felt an inexplicable emptiness.

"Why is it that the commute isn’t as annoying today?"

"Congratulations. You’ve finally lost it."

"Has the plaza in front of our workplace always been this clean?"

"It’s a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming. On days like these, adults like us should stay home and relax..."[1]

Just when they started doubting whether they had gone insane from overwork, someone pointed toward the plaza and shouted, "Oh! He’s gone!"

"Gone? Who is?"

"The crazy guy! Jo Yeong-su isn’t here!"

"Huh?!"

Yes. Jo Yeong-su—who held up a sign while shouting “Noh Do-hwa, step down!” every day, through rain and snow, through seasonal colds and strange viral infections—had vanished.

The members of the Corps were amazed. With just one person gone, the Tower of Babel plaza revealed its natural elegance.

"Wow, it’s so nice without that guy..."

"During lunch breaks, he’d always approach us while we were eating our sandwiches and start yelling."

For the first time since joining, the members of the National Road Management Corps experienced a peaceful commute.

Of course, happiness is fleeting, like summer ice cream—you can’t savor it slowly.

Exactly fifteen days later...

"Please take a look at this!"

"What?"

Thud!

With a beaming face, Jo Yeong-su returned to the headquarters of the National Road Management Corps and placed a large stack of documents on the reception desk.

"Uh..."

The receptionist was confused. The National Road Management Corps wasn’t a government body that served the public as their master. Naturally, there wasn’t a complaints office for civilians. (There was, however, a reception desk for patients seeking support devices from Noh Do-hwa personally.)

"Uh, Mr. Jo Yeong-su? What is this...?"

"This is a public opinion survey about whether Noh Do-hwa is suitable to rule the Republic of Korea as its leader!" Jo Yeong-su’s voice rang out like a lion’s roar, drawing the attention of the Corps members enjoying their lunch break in the lobby.

"A public opinion survey?"

"Yes! See for yourself!"

On the front page of the survey, consisting of 400 sheets of recycled paper, was written:

Republic of Korea's First Public Opinion Survey

Question: Do you believe that Noh Do-hwa, the head of the National Road Management Corps, was elected through legitimate democratic procedures as the de facto ruler of the Republic of Korea?

Very legitimate – 12.3%

Somewhat legitimate – 15.1%

Somewhat illegitimate – 5.5%

Very illegitimate – 1.6%

Indifferent – 59.7%

No response – 5.8%

The writing, densely packed and in pencil, was clearly handwritten. The paper was ragged, as if the text had been rewritten numerous times.

"Oh..." The receptionist blinked. "Um, what is this exactly...?"

"This is the survey data collected by personally visiting hundreds of Busan citizens!" Jo Yeong-su’s clear eyes gleamed with enthusiasm.

For the record, although it doesn’t matter, Jo Yeong-su’s head was as shiny as his eyes at the time. Just saying.

"As you can see, 27.4% gave positive responses, and a whopping 7.1% gave negative responses!"

"Uh, well. Assuming the survey was conducted properly, isn’t the approval rating quite high...?"

"Currently, the Republic of Korea is essentially under Noh Do-hwa’s dictatorship! In such a situation, over 7% of the people risked their lives to express their opinions! It’s a figure that cannot be underestimated!"

"Dictatorship..." The receptionist glanced around, startled.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the Corps members, who by now were accustomed to Jo Yeong-su’s antics, didn’t blame the receptionist. They simply gave him a look that said, "Here we go again."

"This is the voice of the people, the cry of the masses! The National Road Management Corps must not ignore the public sentiment that boils like lava beneath the surface!"

"It seems to me the public sentiment is saying they ‘don’t care.’ With almost 60% of the responses, isn’t that the true sentiment of the residents...?"

"Are you saying the 7% voices aren’t even voices or people?"

"What? No, that’s not it—"

"Are you saying it doesn’t matter if we ignore the opinions of only 7%? Is that the universal stance of the National Road Management Corps, which should be concerned about the country’s foundation and the voices of minorities?!"

"Okay, okay, Mr. Jo Yeong-su! I’ll pass the information to the commander! Will that be all?"

"Please dooooo!"

By now, you might be wondering. How did I, the Undertaker, overhear the above conversation and narrate it with such omniscience?

The answer was simple. A mysterious patron was secretly supporting Jo Yeong-su, the embodiment of Korean democracy.

[I think it makes sense.]

It was none other than the Saintess herself... who expressed her support for Jo Yeong-su!

[While I don’t agree with restoring the already fallen Korean government, it’s good to have an institution that listens to public opinion.]

"But isn’t there SG Net?"

[Only Awakeners can access it. It’s hard to say that the opinions of ordinary people are fully reflected anywhere. I also can’t conduct a proper survey of public opinion because I can only share the perspectives of Awakeners.]

"Hmm."

[Mr. Undertaker, you always warn against Awakeners’ superiority. I think it’s a good opportunity to listen to the voices of ordinary people.]

"If the Saintess wishes for it..."

The Saintess had firmly pressed the "subscribe and like" button for Jo Yeong-su the YouTuber, and she shared his every move with her friend, me.

To be honest, I wasn’t particularly interested. If there was one person on the Korean Peninsula with the least nostalgia for the Republic of Korea, it was me. To prevent misunderstandings, it wasn’t because I was what they call a "national critic." I had a much simpler reason than the fierce political battles waged by those internet personas.

"I don’t remember anything!"

It happened before my fourth cycle.

I must have fulfilled my military duty as a healthy SCV. I probably experienced the wanderings and conflicts typical of my age and may have had my own opinions, or echoed others’, about the nation of Korea. And all those memories had plunged into the sea of oblivion. Unless the Dragon King under the sea of Inwang helped me, there was no way those memories would return.

"I don’t even know my parents' faces or where my hometown is, so why would I have nostalgia for Korea?"

Therefore, to me, the words of the old-timer... no, of Jo Yeong-su were as foreign to me as an alien language.

Create a constitution?

I was 100% sure that the moment a constitution was written, anomalies would corrupt the text. There was no way anomalies would pass up such an attractive prey as a "sequence of letters that all citizens must respect." I’d bet my hand that the first line would be corrupted to read, "① The Republic of Korea is void ② The sovereignty of Korea belongs to anomalies, and all deaths come from anomalies."

Voting? Majority rule?

Oh my, how amazing. From the moment you put paper in the ballot box, you’ll find votes from "humans who shouldn’t exist!" The miracle of the total voter turnout inexplicably reaching 146% would surely unfold.

"Why are you deliberately increasing vulnerabilities exposable to anomalies? Are you masochists?"

Vulnerabilities should be minimized as much as possible.

Reduce government organizations to the National Road Management Corps. Concentrate the power of the Corps on Noh Do-hwa. From my perspective, I only had to manage Noh Do-hwa to prevent her from being infected by anomalies.

Why do I build guild members focusing on Awakeners rather than ordinary people? Is it simply because Awakeners are more capable? No. It’s because the Saintess can monitor Awakeners 24/7. Even if they fall victim to anomalies, the Saintess’s Clairvoyance allows for immediate response. In contrast, ordinary people don’t have that. The risk of being caught off guard and falling prey is far too high.

Risk management. My strategy as a regressor was thoroughly focused on responding to anomalies.

"It’s truly incomprehensible."

Although I refrained from touching Jo Yeong-su out of consideration for the Saintess, I occasionally mentioned him when chatting with Noh Do-hwa.

"It would be understandable if he merely longed for the environment of the civilized times, but it’s strange to feel nostalgia for Korea as a nation itself."

"Well, isn’t nostalgia created by mixing those two emotions...?" Noh Do-hwa countered. "We used to live like humans."

"I understand that. But Jo Yeong-su is something else entirely. Even if I don’t remember exactly, was it really a country worth longing for so deeply? It’s not even something you miss after it’s gone..."

"Hm."

Click.

Noh Do-hwa chuckled as she clipped her nails. As a former civil servant of Korea, she always placed a trash can on her lap to catch the clippings as she trimmed her nails.

"So you’re that kind of person..."

"...?"

What did she mean by that?

In any case, both the Saintess and Noh Do-hwa were unexpectedly tolerant of Jo Yeong-su’s mischief. The other Awakeners weren’t much different. Everyone despised Jo Yeong-su, but no one actually made him "disappear." They could have done so anytime they wished.

Living without family or friends, unaffiliated with any guild, dwelling in the slums of Busan, moving between the National Road Management Corps and Samcheon World’s free meal centers, while denouncing the "dictatorship" of both organizations.

He spent his days collecting scraps of paper. Because he needed paper to create his "opinion surveys."

Even so, resources were scarce in the world, so Jo Yeong-su had to write out the survey questions on his opinion polls with a pencil.

Republic of Korea's Fourth Public Opinion Survey

Question: In Pyongyang, Korea, a puppet state called the Eastern Holy State has been established, and the National Road Management Corps has not released any official statements about them. Do you think the Eastern Holy State should be recognized as a state?

Republic of Korea's Eleventh Public Opinion Survey

Question: This year, as a countermeasure against typhoon and monsoon damage, the government forcibly relocated citizens from the southern island areas of Korea. Do you think the National Road Management Corps can infringe on the freedom of residence and relocation in a national crisis?

Republic of Korea's Twentieth Public Opinion Survey

Question: Do you think guild leaders' authority can be established without democratic agreements or discussions? If so, do you think guild leaders have a certain amount of duty to the people?

I wish I could show you these questionnaires. In a sense, they’re truly fascinating.

On the recycled paper, whole lines were marked out with pencil strokes Jo Yeong-su had made several times. Like this.

Sometimes, he found some whiteout somewhere and covered the text, only to write over it once more. □□□(like this).

Sometimes, he tried to erase words, but the quality of the eraser and paper weren’t up to par, and the paper would tear with a riiip, and so he’d write next to the torn holes. ■■■like this.

So, if I were to reproduce Jo Yeong-su’s opinion surveys as accurately as possible:

Republic of Korea's NineteenthTwentieth Public Opinion Survey

Question: With the growing disparity in infrastructure between cities, ■■a small number of guild leaders are concentrating power.Do you think guild leaders’ authority can be established □□ without democratic agreements or discussions? If ■■■■■so, do you think guild leaders have a certain amount of duty to the people?

A tattered rag.

And he used the same opinion survey multiple times, noting the responses of participants with small marks next to each answer. Like this:

Authority is established – 11111 11111 11111 11111 11111 11111 111

Jo Yeong-su returned to his shack, counted the tallies one by one, calculated statistics, and finally wrote the percentages on the "final draft." Like this.

Authority is established – 66.3%

He then submitted these "statistics" and "public opinions" to the National Road Management Corps.

Over durations as short as fifteen days to as long as over one hundred, Jo Yeong-su conducted surveys.

Years later, a curious phenomenon occurred.

"Dictator Noh Do-hwa, step down! Step down! Step down!"

The landscape of the Tower of Babel plaza had changed just slightly.

The sight of Jo Yeong-su holding a protest sign, clad in the relic armor inscribed with the Korean Constitution, shouting for Noh Do-hwa to step down, remained unchanged.

The sighs of the National Road Management Corps members commuting to and from work also remained unchanged.

However, there was now a cardboard box placed in front of Jo Yeong-su’s feet.

"Mister, here’s some used paper—"

"Dictator Noh Do-hwa, step dooown!"

"Good luck—"

The National Road Management Corps members dropped "used paper" into the cardboard box as they left work.

One sheet. Another sheet. Yet another.

As if leaving bills for a poor street guitarist.

"Hey. Isn’t it kind of creepy how Team Leader Yu Ji-won can keep the same expression 24/7?"

"Dictator Noh Do-hwa, step down! Step down!"

"That’s why she’s the operations team leader. I heard she keeps the same expression even when dealing with problematic members."

"Dictator Noh Do-hwa, step down! Step down!"

"No matter how good the treatment and salary are, I couldn’t join the operations team..."

"Dictator Noh Do-hwa, step down! Step down!"

"What about having army stew today?"

"Oh, army stew sounds good. I’m in."

Laughter and chatter.

The National Road Management Corps members, now fully accustomed to Jo Yeong-su, conversed amongst themselves as they passed through the plaza.

Until the sun set and Yu Ji-won was the last to leave, Jo Yeong-su continued to call for Noh Do-hwa’s resignation. Of course, Yu Ji-won didn’t spare him a glance and left.

"Ack, gak, eugh. My bones..."

By the time night fell and Jo Yeong-su returned to his shack. His hands were full with thick stacks of recycled paper.

The volume of those papers was the size of the territory held by the current "Republic of Korea."

Footnotes:

[1] A reference to the iconic line from Sans’ boss battle of the video game Undertale: “It’s a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming... On days like these, kids like you... should be burning in hell.”