Apocalypse (5)

I'm back!

"I'm back, damn it!"

A cheer erupts. The daze that should come right after regression isn't there. Only the elation of having returned to the past fills the air.

The memory of being crushed to death with Mom is still vivid.

And yet, I came back...!

To a time when I can do something to keep that from happening!

"I have to fix this...!"

I have to use my regression ability to dig up information and somehow resolve this disaster. I don't care how many tries it takes. I'll keep trying endlessly, even if it's just to save the world—no, to save my mom and dad.

This is how limitless the power of regression is.

I will stop those giant bastards, no matter what.

Hoo.

I exhaled and collected my boiling fighting spirit.

Right now, this is just after I got off in Seoul. Back then, I wandered the streets looking for a good place to eat and ended up discovering the 'man entering the wall,' realizing it was the trigger for the giant apocalypse.

In the first loop, I died before I knew what hit me.

In the second loop, I tried to stop it, failed, and watched the world get shattered with my own two eyes.

And now, in the third loop?

"I do what I can."

I immediately kicked off the ground.

There was nothing to hesitate about.

Mom and Dad's death had been erased. But their voices were still vivid in my ears. It had been erased, but... what happened to Dad then? And did Mom feel pain in her final moment? Damn it, the more I think about it, the crazier I get.

For now, I need to find the man who goes into the wall.

I know the location, so finding him should be easy.

Huh?

Right then, someone parked a car up ahead. A man got out and started smoking. Smoking after parking your car?

But then.

A car?

The impulse that rose in me was something even I couldn't control. Everyone's probably imagined what it'd be like to play GTA in real life.

The man smoking his cigarette began moving little by little. He was focused on his phone, and I sprinted at full speed to reach the side of his car.

ㅡClunk!

I jumped straight into the driver's seat.

Car key confirmed.

I locked the door immediately.

"Huh, wha—?!"

I could see the man shouting in shock.

"I'm sorry!"

I'm really sorry, but I can't help it either.

Stealing a car like this isn't something a normal person does.

I really have no excuse, even if I had ten mouths.

But I have to.

If I've decided that, then I'll carry it out with a heart of steel.

"Blood is steel and the heart is glass."

Don't underestimate a regressor.

Because a regressor can calmly pull off even this kind of dogshit!

ㅡVroooom!

And so, the reckless driving began.

The man chased after me for a bit and then stopped.

He must have been dumbfounded too.

"I'm dumbfounded too!"

I shouted that while driving toward the bastard who was going into the wall. That bastard would definitely be there.

When I got close, sure enough, I could see the bastard shambling along.

"That son of a bitch!"

Just seeing him shamble like that sends my anger boiling!

Because of that bastard, I had to go through that kind of hell!

"Dieeeeeee!!!"

ㅡBwaaaaaang!

Let me say this in advance: this is a sudden-acceleration accident.

I slammed the accelerator hard.

ㅡKwaaaaaang!

I ran him over just like that.

ㅡKoooom!

Collision.

The huge impact left me unable to collect myself for a moment. The airbag went off, and pain shot through me. But it wasn't that bad. I clenched my teeth, shoved the airbag aside, and somehow opened the door and got out.

In the previous loop, I hit him with a dropkick, but it was useless.

But what if it was a car?

With that faint hope in mind, I lifted my head.

What I saw was.

Gwak.

The creature was running away unscathed, even after being hit by a car.

"What the fuck!"

To be fine even after getting hit by a car!

So in the end, brute force won't work!

Still, one thing was certain. No matter whether I used force or ran him over with a car, it didn't do jack shit. At least within what I could do, all of it was useless.

"Gwaaaaeek."

The bastard ran, and in the end, the same thing happened again.

ㅡSwoosh!

He went into the wall.

"A giant...!"

The giant broke through the building and burst out of it as if the building were some sort of cocoon. From the situation, it was clear that bastard was going into the wall to carry out some scheme.

Wait.

There were a tremendous number of giants.

Then does that mean there are that many bastards going into the wall?

I've only seen one... but let's keep that in mind for now.

Next plan.

Then what exactly is happening inside that building?

If I were an ordinary person, I would never have tried to find out. But I'm a regressor. A regressor who has decided to solve this crisis.

I have to find out.

I immediately ran toward the building's entrance.

"..."

For now, the building's exterior looked unchanged. The entrance too—well, I could see something like a desk beyond the glass doors. It's a big building in Gangnam, so they probably have security out front?

Let's go in.

Thinking that, I opened the door and stepped inside.

"Ah!"

As soon as I went in, I saw someone collapsed on the floor!

"You! Are you okay!"

Probably someone who had been sitting at the desk, but bloody froth was spilling from their mouth and their eyes had rolled upward.

Their body was trembling violently.

That wasn't all.

"Get a hold of yourself!"

There are lots of people collapsed all around!

Did this happen because that bastard went into the wall?

ㅡThump!

Then I felt some kind of wave. It was as if a gigantic sound wave swept through my body and struck my heart and brain.

"Ghh!"

I nearly fell over, but...

I held on.

ㅡDrip.

Blood is streaming from my nose.

Something is definitely happening in this building. The people collapsed here were probably hit by this too. Facing it directly made fear well up in me, but I made my decision. Even if I died, I would find out more.

I gave up on saving people.

This isn't what I have to do.

I went up to the second floor via the stairs.

And then.

"Ah...!"

I witnessed a truly bizarre phenomenon.

ㅡCreeeep.

The second floor interior was already twisted.

Bright-red living tissue.

Those grotesque things were bursting through the walls and ceiling. It felt like I'd stepped into a cave made of randomly sprouting living tissue.

Ugh.

I could see people collapsed all over the place, merging with the building.

ㅡThump!

The pulse grows stronger.

"Aagh...!"

I wanted to inspect it further, but it wasn't possible right now.

It felt like I'd pass out before learning anything else.

Looking closely, root-like masses of living tissue were spreading out. They were already encroaching on the stairs I had just come up.

Is it going to swallow the entire building like this and transform into a giant? That makes sense. If so, then I feel like I'm inside a giant's entrails right now.

"I can't take it anymore...!"

My head feels like it's going to split open. I wiped away the nosebleed, ran down to the first floor, and bolted out of the building.

"Damn it!"

I witnessed the bizarre phenomenon, but I couldn't learn any useful information.

"There's no time...!"

The giant apocalypse is about to break out.

This can't be stopped.

It's simply something that must happen.

Once it starts, it's impossible to stop.

Once the giants wake up, the military and everything else will all get smashed to pieces, and then not just Korea but the entire world will be destroyed.

After all the fleeing I did after the apocalypse, the fact that no foreign reinforcements ever came must mean conditions in other countries aren't good either.

"What am I supposed to do... the Bureau?"

Suddenly, something about the Bureau came to mind.

In fact, in the previous loop, I never even saw the Bureau while the world was falling apart. It was fully proven that they had no ability to solve anything.

Contacting them is pointless, but I have to do something, so I might as well try.

"Let's see, the business card."

I took out the business card I picked up when I left Cheongak Mary Hospital.

This should be faster than messing around with searches to track them down.

I called immediately.

-You've reached us. What is your business?

I escaped from Cheongak Mary Hospital.

-Escaped? You escaped! Congratulations! We'll send an agent right away! What's your current location...!

I'm in Gangnam.

I gave them the address.

But I witnessed another bizarre phenomenon here. Some guy slipped right into the wall, so I went into that building out of curiosity to check, and inside it had completely transformed into a grotesque space. Everyone was collapsed, and I also saw victims whose flesh was melting as they became one with the building. Please hurry. It seems extremely dangerous.

-What? Wait!

There was no need to keep talking.

I hung up immediately.

Right after that, I called Dad.

"Dad! It feels like a war broke out! I just got called up for reserve duty and dragged off to the military!"

-W-What?! What the hell are you talking about!

"It's true! The air raid siren is going to go off soon! I'm going to be in the military, so run as far away from Mom as possible! If you can, head toward Busan! I love you, Dad! Mom too! Let's definitely survive and see each other again!"

-You brat!

Call ended.

I wouldn't contact my parents anymore.

Because only sorrow would remain.

The moment I hung up, I moved to Mr. Kim Seonghan's mansion.

"I'm here at Mr. Kim Seonghan's request!"

I wondered if there was really any need to come all the way here, but my instincts were reacting very strongly.

There's something about the lady of this house.

Otherwise, there was no way she would suddenly vanish with a flash of light inside a limousine. I don't know what this means, but I think it's best to at least make a connection.

-Who is it?

The secretary's voice.

I explained it similarly to the previous loop, went inside, and showed the ring while explaining.

"Ah, ahh...! It's him!"

As a reward, I received a pendant made of black stone.

After that, I told them that, like in the previous loop, they needed to run away.

"Do you understand? You need to run as far away as possible."

"I understand. But if it's that dangerous, I think it'd be better if you came with us too. Leave immediately."

"I'm fine. I have things to do, so I'll be going now."

"Wait!"

I came out of the mansion.

The end of the world will begin soon.

I don't even have time to see the Bureau agent.

"Ha ha..."

Honestly.

It looks like trying to do anything in this loop is impossible.

I found things out, but I don't think they'll lead to a solution.

So what I have to do is.

"Survive."

Somehow.

Survive in this area, the epicenter of the incident.

What the giant is trying to do.

And how it moves.

I have to at least find that out.

"It's already over."

I had already accepted the end. This loop would probably end the same way as the last one. The giants would rise and trample the world.

This loop,

I'll just sacrifice it as a stepping stone for a solution.

From here on, countless people will die.

I didn't want to imagine it, but Mom and Dad will die again too.

But.

If I just sit there and take it, all I'll face is endless dead ends.

I have to do it.

I'm the one with the ability.

If I can regress, then using it is the right thing to do.

"Let's go."

I kicked off the ground and ran.

I'm going to survive until the very last moment.

I'm going to watch this world's end with my own eyes.