The Regressor Only Protects Me Chapter 119

Episode 119. Physical Prison (2)

When I opened my eyes again, it was another space.

Water droplets formed and fell from her hair.

I was soaking wet.

“… … .”

I raised my head and looked up.

The twisted flesh, like pig intestines, was tangled and throbbing in a disorderly manner.

This was Park Ji-soo’s brain.

And in this space, countless air bubbles were swirling.

The air bubbles seemed to have self-awareness, dodging me when I tried to collide with them.

And there, in one corner, was a man with a very familiar face lying down.

I approached the man.

The man was found dead, naked.

He was so thin that his ribs were visible.

He was dead with both eyes open, and his blood vessels were swollen and bright red, perhaps from bursting blood vessels.

Above all, his hair was in patches as if it had been burned, and his scalp was covered in bruises.

The man was Lee Se-beom, who played the first round with me.

“… … .”

It wasn’t just Lee Se-beom.

There was also a woman who died in the same way.

It was a gruesome sight that made one frown.

At the same time, the smell of rotten smell tickled my nose.

As I stood still and stared at him, a sound was heard again from nearby.

Thud. Thud.

The sound of walking with bare feet, shaking off the moisture.

Now I can tell who it is without having to look back.

“Do you know why I brought you here?”

Park Ji-soo stood next to me and looked down at Lee Se-beom, who had died.

“Because I needed someone who could completely accept my life, my memories, my pain. This man couldn’t do that. He went crazy and died alone in my infinite memories. And in just one day. Well… … I held out. The woman next to him died of a brain explosion in just two hours. So now you know why I came looking for you?”

“… … Should I know?”

“Phew… … No, no. You don’t have to know. After all, you will share memories with me. We will truly become one.”

Park Ji-soo took two steps back.

I was still looking down at Lee Se-beom.

He and I may have been friends in the past, but I had no feelings for him now.

Park Ji-soo started caressing the back of my head.

I reached out and pricked one of the air bubbles with my finger.

Pong.

At that moment, some of her memories entered my head.

-In a dark and narrow room measuring 3 pyeong. Park Ji-soo, who looks like he’s in the lower grades of elementary school, is bending over and watching a cartoon. Outside the room, the sound of dishes breaking, and Park Ji-soo’s parents yelling at each other at the top of their lungs.

And all the emotions that young Park Ji-soo felt while watching TV entered me.

“… … .”

It was lonely, empty, and miserable.

It was a truly unbearable feeling of loneliness.

Brrrrr.

At that moment, a teardrop ran down my cheek and clung to my chin.

‘… … Tears? Why?’

I wiped away the tears that flowed down my face with my palm.

He was never my doctor.

I looked into her memories and felt no emotion whatsoever.

But my brain, which accepted this memory, seemed to have expressed the emotion called ‘sadness’ outwardly.

Just like a computer program.

“Sebeom would cover his head and cry in pain if he got hit with just one drop. You’re different, aren’t you? As expected.”

Park Ji-soo hugged me from behind and started touching every corner of my body.

I swept the air bubbles away with my palm again.

Pong, pong, pong, pong.

This time, dozens of memories flowed into my head.

At the same time, all kinds of emotions came and went in my heart.

Memories that were once stored began to continuously eat away at me.

It was as if he was recalling a shameful past.

When people recall their shameful or sad past, they experience tremendous emotions and mental pain.

This was several times more painful than that? No, dozens of times more painful.

As if I really became Park Ji-soo.

I was getting to know her life.

Every time he looked at a memory, his expression changed.

With dozens of memories per second, my expression kept changing like a broken panoramic film.

I felt strange.

I felt like I was going to throw up.

“Phuhuhu… …! Ugh!”

Both legs were shaking.

Even though it was only a few drops, it was mentally difficult to endure.

“ha……!”

Cold sweat ran down my face.

Even as she complained of mental distress, Park Ji-soo’s voice continued to be heard.

-Do you understand now how hard it was for me?

The voice… …. Park Ji-soo’s voice.

-I have never been happy for a single day since I was born.

What a fu*king… … . disgusting voice.

-I asked for help every day. Every day. But no one helped me. Why, why? Was I a human who shouldn’t have been born?

It felt like someone was pulling my hair and releasing it.

My head was so hot.

My head was so hot, it felt like a hot pack was placed on it, I was going crazy.

-Zion, understand. Please. How hard it is for me. Right? Do you understand? Just a little bit more. Just a little bit more. Just a little bit more. Okay?

Khuhhhhh… … !

He finally let out a scream.

“Kkaaaaaaaaaaaaah… …!”

And after what felt like an eternity of patience, I was able to come to my senses again.

* * *

“Haa… … . Haa… … !”

My legs gave out and I fell forward.

Crunch!

An unknown sticky liquid enveloped my entire body.

The liquid slowly soaked my body and began to melt away all the clothes I had on my body.

It can’t be stomach acid, because the skin isn’t melting.

What the heck is this liquid… … .

“… … .”

There was one reason why I reached out and looked into Park Ji-soo’s memories.

In Park Ji-soo’s memories, it was to get a hint on how to escape the ‘physical prison’.

But the memories that just flashed through my mind were completely unrelated to those things.

It was all about Park Ji-soo’s miserable past.

Even just a few drops sent excruciating pain through me.

It seemed nearly impossible to accept it all.

Now my body was naked and half-submerged.

‘……Shit.’

I just raised my eyes and looked up.

Countless drops of memory were coming to me.

If I accept all that, I will go crazy like Lee Se-beom.

The situation is absolutely dire.

No way out came to mind.

And again the voice was heard.

“Did you hold out… …?”

Behind the clanking sound, Park Ji-soo’s voice rang out.

“Did you really hold out… …?”

Her voice came closer.

After that, Park Ji-soo covered my back with her body.

Her breathing could be heard nearby.

“Wow… … . Wow, you’re really amazing… … . Your brain… … has no limits?”

She continued to speak longingly, kissing various places on my back.

“Ah… … . Finally… … . We’ve met. Up until now, no one understood me. I’ve lived alone and silently in that hellish world. No one is on my side. No one. No one understands me. That’s why I need you. I made the right choice to choose you… … . The one person who will perfectly understand my life. That… … . That was Kang Shi-on. It was you. Only you can understand my life. Only you can save me! That was Kang Shi-on after all. You held on. You held on. Shi-on. You’re really amazing. Shi-on! I, I’m really amazing. Ah, you’re so lovable. How can there be such people in the world?”

The lips came around her neck again.

Park Ji-soo asked me carefully in my ear.

“Can you… … do more?”

At that moment, memory drops came to me.

There were so many that the distant ones appeared hazy, like water vapor.

“Do more. For me.”

Countless drops of memories filled the surroundings, incomparable to the first.

The drops slowly gathered together and began to form a transparent wall.

“More. More. Because you are mine. Because you are mine… …!”

A countless pile of memories came to me, incomparable to anything before.

* * *

In a dark room.

Young Park Ji-su was watching TV with the blanket over her head.

Only the light from the TV reflected on Park Ji-soo’s black eyes.

In the cartoon on TV, the voice of the policeman was heard.

-Police! Ma’an! I’m going to help children wherever they need help! Alright, assistant! We’re going out today! We’re going to catch bad criminals!

The policeman took down the criminal with flying colors.

A policeman’s finishing move of pulling out handcuffs.

A torrent of bright colors began to pour out, and soon the criminal was caught without a trace.

-Khahaaak! I got hit!

At that moment, in the living room, the new father and mother were shouting at each other.

The sound of plates breaking was followed by the sound of mom screaming. Then came the loud banging and tantrum of my new stepfather.

A new father yelling at Park Ji-soo to buy him some alcohol, and a mother sobbing.

Hearing those sounds, Park Ji-soo cheered for the policeman.

-Policeman! Next episode preview! Alright, alright! Next week is the Christmas special!

-If you send a letter with your story to the address below, the police man will come to visit you on Christmas Day! Hahaha! Children. Do you have to support them a lot? Oh, and by the way, I can’t give presents to friends who cry, so keep that in mind! Umhahahaha! See you next time! Police-man!

Young Park Ji-su prayed inwardly.

I bit my lower lip hard, pinched my inner thigh, and held back my tears.

Because the policeman won’t give presents to a crying child.

Park Ji-su wrote the letter with sincerity.

-Policeman. I really didn’t cry this time. I held it in. So, you’ll definitely grant my wish, right? My wish is that Policeman kills my new dad. My address is Manan-gu, Anyang-si, Gyeonggi-do…

But the police man was a liar.

Even on Christmas, the policeman did not come to rescue Park Ji-soo.

After Christmas, in early spring the following year, my mother ran away.

He ran away alone, leaving Park Ji-soo behind.

From that day on, my dad drank alcohol every day.

One day, while I was drinking and drinking,

The new father called Jisoo Park, who was now a middle school student.

It was dawn and the living room was dark.

Park Ji-soo approached her new father little by little, barefoot.

The new father said.

-Come to work.

Jisoo Park, who was a middle school student, slowly approached her new father.

That night was a living hell for Park Ji-soo.

After what happened that day, Park Ji-soo reported her new father to the police.

The police attempted to close the case, citing mental weakness and insufficient evidence.

The new father knelt before Park Ji-soo.

Then he started to cry and clap his hands together.

-I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I made a mistake. I was drunk and out of my mind. Please forgive me just this once. Please forgive me just this once. Jisoo. Jisoo! I’m your dad. I’m your dad. I’m your family.

Again the new father shouted.

-Hey you X-bitch! I told you I’m sorry! Have a drink too! Are you out of your mind! Hey! Hey! You’ll starve to death without me! Whose money are you living on! Whose money!!! When your mother ran away, you should’ve been abandoned too. I raised you and didn’t abandon you! Huh? Your mother and you! We’re the same bitches. Bitches who should be beaten to death. How dare you… the head of the household… !

He said again, sobbing.

-I’m sorry. No, I’m just so out of it. Jisoo. Think about it again. Dad. I don’t want to go to jail. There. Only real criminals go there, right? I, I was a, a mistake! Mistakes aren’t crimes, right? And above all, I’m your dad, Jisoo. I mean, family. Huh?

A policeman’s voice, or rather a police officer’s voice, was heard.

-Student. Let’s end it on good terms, as a ‘family’. Even if you make a big deal out of it, it’ll only bother you. When I look at your family situation, there’s no one to take care of you. And you’re a little old. I don’t think the facility will accept you well. Are you okay with it?

The cops are talking about that damn thing, myself, myself, myself, myself, myself, myself.

Park Ji-soo found that word disgusting.

Good, good.

It’s going well, you know.

Finally, the judge’s voice was heard.

-However, considering that the defendant was in a state of mental weakness at the time, he is sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Land! Land! Land!

The new father was sentenced to five years in prison and sent to prison.

-Ah, that won’t work. If it’s a five-year sentence. You’ll get out soon. You’ll get out soon, and then me… … .

Other people can never understand.

This is because each person’s life, gender, personality, and most of all, environment is different.

Park Ji-soo thought that no one in the world could deny this fact.

Park Ji-soo has been living alone for a very long time.

Not physically, but psychologically.

It felt like I was sitting alone, curled up in absolute darkness.

Although he was clearly alive, he saw no reason to live.

Whether I turn my head, look down, or look up, everything is just pitch black darkness.

Even the touch of someone’s hand was dark.

No matter what others say, it only sounds like pretense.

When others laughed at him, the urge to kill welled up inside him.

When others look down on you, you realize that even the kindness they have shown you up until now was fake.

The conviction that no one will understand you.

And the confidence that other people are no different from oneself.

Pretend to be happy on the outside, pretend to have no worries.

A bunch of worthless hypocrites.

Park Ji-soo’s irrational s*xual desire arose from the thought of judging hypocrites.

I actually didn’t do anything wrong… … but it’s fun!

Those guys who live better than me.

The sight of him being stripped naked, beaten mercilessly, and then left to his own devices!

The sight of him dying in despair, unable to be saved in the end!

Park Ji-su’s slaves, who are scattered and imprisoned throughout the city, will starve to death there in despair, without being saved for the rest of their lives, just like herself.

-You too… … . You too… … ! Do you think you understand now? Do you think you understand even 1% of how I feel? Why should you be the only ones who have to be happy? You are unhappy too. Be unhappy!

When the world was destroyed, Park Ji-soo was the first to thank God.

-If I am unhappy, other people should be unhappy too.

Park Ji-soo is happy now.

At least since the league started and the last few years, I’ve felt alive in this world.

And then I met Kang Shi-on.

Like the space of the universe, the two were floating.

The surrounding area was filled with countless memory crystals.

“You had a hard time too?”

Park Ji-soo asked Kang Si-on.

She was shedding tears.

All of Park Ji-soo’s memories flowed to Kang Si-on and then escaped.

Now Kang Si-on knew all of Park Ji-soo’s feelings.

But he doesn’t say anything.

“Thank you. For understanding me.”

Park Ji-soo wanted someone to understand her.

There are as many people in the world as there are ants.

Could it be that not a single one of them understands him?

Kang Si-on’s brain was a brain that could endure all of his emotions.

Maybe he was the only man in the world who could hold back her feelings.

In fact, Kang Si-on received all of Park Ji-soo’s emotions.

Emotions that would only be normal for a human to be crazy.

All the ill feelings Park Ji-soo had felt for the past 20 years flowed into Zion.

“Right? Right??? What a miserable life I’ve lived! You understand me! You can do it for me! At this very moment, you know my life, right? You completely accept and understand me, right? Ah-! Zion! Zion… … !!!”

After all the emotional transplants were over, Kang Shi-on opened his eyes.

And then he uttered his first words.

Kang Si-on’s one word of sincere comfort to Park Ji-soo.

* * *

“……no.”

* * *

Behind the dry voice, there was a loud noise.

Wow! Clang …

The countless crystals of memory that had imprisoned Zion collapsed.

His body, which was destined to live forever in the prison of memory, has once again emerged into the world.

In fact, there were only two ways for Kang Shi-on to be released.

One thing is that Park Ji-soo herself cancels the skill.

Another thing is that Kang Shi-on accepts all the memories on his own and endures them.

Of course, Park Ji-soo has never cancelled a skill.

Now that he was liberated, Kang Shi-on’s appearance had completely changed.

The haggard face from earlier was nowhere to be found, and he was floating in the air, radiating the majesty of a being close to the absolute.

Around him, shattered crystals of memory scattered like snow.

Park Ji-soo trembled amidst the countless crystals of memories falling upon her.

‘… … That’s ridiculous. It can’t be… … ! No… … . No… … !’

Just 7 hints about the artifacts that were in 13,998,103 memories.

Kang Shi-on, who was exploring Park Ji-soo’s memories, eventually found her weakness.

“Found it.”

(Continued in the next episode)