The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 119

119. The Flesh Prison (2)

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

Water droplets formed in my hair and dripped down.

I was completely soaked.

“…….”

I looked up.

Meandering flesh, like pig intestines, was randomly tangled and pulsating.

This was Park Ji-soo’s brain.

And countless air bubbles were fluttering in this space.

The air bubbles seemed to have self-awareness, avoiding me when I tried to touch them.

And a man with a very familiar face was collapsed in one corner.

I approached the man.

The man was naked and dead.

He was so emaciated that his ribs were showing.

He died with his eyes open, blood vessels burst, swollen and red.

Most of all, his hair was sparse as if it had been burned, and his scalp was covered with bruises.

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

“…….”

Lee Se-beom wasn’t the only one.

A woman who died in the same way was next to him.

It was such a gruesome sight that I couldn’t help but frown.

At the same time, the stench here assaulted my nose.

As I stood there, staring at him, I heard a sound again nearby.

Squish. Squish.

The sound of bare feet walking, shaking off the water.

Now I could tell who it was without looking back.

“Do you know why I brought you here?”

Park Ji-soo stood next to me, looking down at the dead Lee Se-beom.

“I needed someone who could completely accept my life, my memories, my pain. This man couldn’t do it. He went crazy and died alone in my infinite memories. In just one day. Well… he lasted a while. The woman next to him died with her brain exploding in just two hours. So, do you know why I was looking for you now?”

“……Do I need to know?”

“Puh… No, no. You don’t have to know. You’re going to share memories with me anyway. We’re going to be truly 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 left for him now.

Park Ji-soo began to stroke the back of my head.

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

Pop.

At that moment, a part of her memory entered my head.

-A dark and narrow room of 3 pyeong [approximately 10 square feet]. Park Ji-soo, a lower elementary school student, bending over and watching a cartoon. Outside the room, the sound of dishes breaking, Park Ji-soo’s parents shouting at each other at the top of their lungs.

And the feelings that young Park Ji-soo felt while watching TV, all came into me.

“…….”

Lonely, empty, and bitter.

It was such an unbearable feeling of loneliness.

Drip.

Then, a drop of tear ran down my cheek and landed on my chin.

‘…Tears? Why?’

I wiped the tears that flowed down with my palm.

It was never my intention.

I didn’t feel any emotion while looking into her memories.

But my brain, which accepted this memory, seemed to express the emotion of ‘sadness’ outwardly.

Like a computer program.

“Se-beom covered his head in pain even when he was hit by only one drop. You’re different? As expected.”

Park Ji-soo hugged me from behind and began to touch every part of my body.

I swept the air bubbles with my palm again.

Pop, pop, pop, pop.

This time, dozens of memories flowed into my head.

At the same time, all kinds of emotions flooded my heart and then dissipated.

Once stored, the memories continued to gnaw at me.

It was like recalling a shameful past.

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

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

It was as if I really became Park Ji-soo.

I was getting to know her life.

My expression changed every time I saw a memory.

Since dozens of memories came in per second, my expression continued to change like a broken panorama film.

I felt strange.

I felt like throwing up.

“Puh…! Ugh!”

My legs were shaking.

Even with just a few drops, it was difficult to endure mentally.

“Haa…!”

Cold sweat ran down.

Even while complaining of mental pain, I continued to hear Park Ji-soo’s voice.

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

The voice… Park Ji-soo’s voice.

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

Damn it… It’s a disgusting voice.

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

It throbbed as if someone was squeezing and releasing my head.

My head was too hot.

It felt like I had a lot of hot packs on my head, so hot that I felt like I was going crazy.

-Si-on. Please know. Please. How hard it is for me. Right? Do you know? Just hang in there a little longer. Just a little more. Hang in there. Huh?

Keuheuheuhe…!

I finally screamed.

“Kkeuaaaaaaaak…!”

And after a time of endurance that felt like eons, I was able to come to my senses again.

* * *

“Haa… Haa…!”

My legs gave way and I fell forward.

Thud-!

An unknown sticky liquid wrapped around my whole body.

The liquid slowly soaked my body and began to melt all the clothes I was wearing.

It wouldn’t be gastric acid. My skin isn’t melting.

What is this liquid….

“…….”

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

It was to get a hint to escape the ‘Flesh Prison’ from Park Ji-soo’s memories.

But the memories that flashed through my head just now were completely unrelated to those.

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

Even a few drops attacked me with tremendous pain.

It seemed almost impossible to accept all of this.

Now my body was naked and half-submerged.

‘…Damn it.’

I only raised my eyes and looked up.

Countless memory bubbles were coming towards me.

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

The situation was truly the worst.

I couldn’t think of a way out.

And again, I heard a voice.

“You endured…?”

Park Ji-soo’s voice echoed behind the squishing sound.

“You really endured…?”

Her voice got closer.

After that, Park Ji-soo pressed her body against my back.

I could hear her breath nearby.

“Amazing… You’re really amazing… Your brain… has no limits?”

She continued to speak sadly, matching her lips to various parts of my back.

“Ah… Finally… I met you. No one has ever understood me. I have lived silently alone in that hellish world. No one is on my side. No one. No one understands me. So, you have to be there. I’m glad I… chose you. The only person who can perfectly understand my life. That’s… That was Kang Si-on. Only you can understand my life. Only you can save me! It’s Kang Si-on after all. You endured. You endured. Si-on. You’re really amazing. Si-on! You’re really amazing. Ah, so lovely. How can there be such a person in the world.”

Her lips came back to my neck.

Park Ji-soo carefully asked in my ear.

“Can you… do more?”

At that moment, memory bubbles came.

There were so many that the ones far away looked hazy like steam.

“More. More. You’re mine. You’re my person…!”

Countless more memory debris than before came to me.

* * *

In a dark room.

Young Park Ji-soo was watching TV, covered in a blanket.

Only the light emitted from the TV was reflected in Park Ji-soo’s black eyes.

The voice of the cartoon Police Man on TV was heard.

-Police! Man! I’m dispatched to children who need help anywhere! Okay, assistant! Let’s go out today too! Catch the bad criminals!

The Police Man knocked down the criminal wonderfully.

The Police Man’s ultimate move with handcuffs.

Colorful colors began to pour out, and soon the criminal was helplessly caught.

-Kahak! I was caught!

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

Following the sound of dishes breaking, the mother’s scream was heard. And the stepfather’s loud voice, banging and acting out, was also heard.

Listening to the sounds of the stepfather shouting at Park Ji-soo to buy him alcohol and the mother sobbing, Park Ji-soo cheered for the Police Man.

-Police Man! Next episode preview! Okay, okay! Next week is the Christmas special!

-If you send a letter with your story to the address below, the Police Man will visit you on Christmas Day! Uahaha! Children. Should I support you a lot? Oh, by the way, I can’t give gifts to crying friends, so keep that in mind! Umhothothot! Then see you again at this time next time! Police- Man!

Young Park Ji-soo prayed inwardly.

She bit her lower lip tightly, pinched the inside of her thighs, and held back her tears.

The Police Man won’t give gifts to crying children.

Park Ji-soo wrote a letter with all her heart.

-Police Man. I really didn’t cry this time. I held it in. So you’ll definitely grant my wish, right? My wish is for the Police Man to kill my stepfather. My address is Anyang-si Manan-gu, Gyeonggi-do [city and district in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea]….

But the Police Man was a liar.

Even when Christmas came, the Police Man did not come to save Park Ji-soo.

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

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

After that day, the father only drank alcohol every day.

Drinking, drinking, and then one day.

The stepfather called Park Ji-soo, who was a middle school student.

It was dawn, and the living room was dark.

Park Ji-soo slowly approached the stepfather barefoot.

The stepfather said.

-Come here.

Park Ji-soo, who was a middle school student, slowly approached the stepfather.

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

After experiencing that day, Park Ji-soo reported the stepfather to the police.

However, the police tried to close the case, citing mental weakness and lack of evidence.

The stepfather knelt in front of Park Ji-soo.

Then he started crying and begging with both hands.

-I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I made a mistake. I was drunk and out of my mind. Please forgive me just once. Please forgive me just once. Ji-soo. Ji-soo! It’s Dad, Dad. I’m your family.

Again, the stepfather shouted.

-Hey, you X bitch! I said I’m sorry! You try drinking alcohol! Are you in your right mind! Huh! Huh! You’ll starve to death without me! Who are you living on the money of! Whose money!!! I should have thrown you away when your mother ran away. I raised you without throwing you away! Huh? Your mother and you! You’re the same bitches. Bitches to be killed. Dare to the head of the family…!

He said again, sobbing.

-I’m sorry. No, I was so out of my mind. Ji-soo. Please think about it again. Dad. Dad doesn’t want to go to jail. There. Only real criminals go there, right? I, I was a mistake! A mistake isn’t a crime, right? And above all, I’m Ji-soo’s dad, Dad. Family, huh?

The voice of the Police Man, no, the police officer, was heard.

-Student. Let’s end it well, ‘family’ to ‘family’. If you make things bigger, you’ll only get annoyed. Looking at your family situation. There’s no one to take care of you. You’re a little old too. I don’t think they’ll accept you well in the facilities either. Are you okay?

The police officers kept saying that word, you, you, you, you, you, you.

Park Ji-soo felt disgusted by that word.

Well, well.

It’s going well.

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 five years in prison.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The stepfather was sentenced to 5 years in prison and went to prison.

-Ah, that’s not good. If it’s 5 years. He’ll be out soon. He’ll come out soon and….

Others can never understand.

This is because each person has a different life, gender, personality, and, above all, environment.

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

Park Ji-soo had really lived alone for a long time.

Not physically, but psychologically.

It was like crouching alone in a terrible darkness.

Even though she was clearly alive, she couldn’t see a reason to live.

Even if she turned her head, lowered it, or raised it, everything was just terrible darkness.

Even the hand that someone reached out to her was dark.

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

If others are smiling at her, the urge to kill rises in her heart.

If others look down on her, she is convinced that even the kindness they have shown her so far was hypocrisy.

A conviction that no one will ever understand her.

And the conviction that others are no different from her.

Pretending to be happy on the outside, pretending not to have any worries.

Insignificant hypocrites.

Park Ji-soo’s irrational sexual desire arose from the idea of judging hypocrites.

Even though they didn’t do anything wrong… It’s fun!

Those couples who are better off than her.

The sight of them being stripped naked, mercilessly attacked, and brutally destroyed!

The sight of them not being saved in the end and dying in despair!

Park Ji-soo’s slaves, scattered and imprisoned in various parts of the city, will not be saved for the rest of their lives, just like her, and will starve to death there in despair.

-You too… You too…! Do you think you know now? Do you understand my feelings even 1 percent? Why should only you be happy? You are also unhappy. Be unhappy!

When the world was destroyed, Park Ji-soo thanked God for the first time.

-If I’m unhappy, others should be unhappy too.

Park Ji-soo is happy now.

At least for the past few years since the league started, she felt that she was alive in this world.

And she met Kang Si-on.

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

There were countless memory crystals around.

“You had a hard time too, right?”

Park Ji-soo asked Kang Si-on.

She was crying.

All of Park Ji-soo’s memories flowed into Kang Si-on and came out.

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.

Can’t even one of them understand her?

This brain of Kang Si-on was a brain that could withstand all of her emotions.

Perhaps he was the only man in this world who could withstand her emotions.

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

Emotions that would drive a human crazy.

All of Park Ji-soo’s resentment from the past 20 years flowed into Si-on.

“Right? Right??? How miserable my life has been! You understand me! You can be there for me! At this moment, you know my life, right! You fully accept and understand me, right! Ah-! Si-on! Si-on……!!!”

After all the emotional transfer was over, Kang Si-on opened his eyes.

Then he uttered his first words.

Kang Si-on’s one word to give Park Ji-soo heartfelt comfort.

* * *

“……No.”

* * *

Behind the dry voice, there was a roar.

Crash-! Charrrrrrrrrrrrrr-!!!!

The countless memory crystals that had been trapping Si-on collapsed.

His body, which was supposed to live forever in the prison of memories, came out into the world again.

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

One was for Park Ji-soo herself to cancel the skill.

The other was for Kang Si-on to accept and endure all the memories himself.

Of course, Park Ji-soo never canceled the skill.

Kang Si-on’s appearance, now liberated, was completely different.

The haggard face from before was nowhere to be found, and he was emitting a majesty close to that of an absolute being, floating in the air.

Around him, shattered memory crystals fluttered like snow.

Park Ji-soo trembled as the countless memory crystals fell on her.

‘…No way. It can’t be…! No… No…!’

Only 7 hints about the artifact in 13,998,103 memories.

Kang Si-on, who was exploring Park Ji-soo’s memories, finally found the weakness.

“Found it.”

(To be continued in the next episode)