Broken Possessors of Infinite Regression Academy

“Answer me. Can you believe that I created this world?”

As soon as I heard those words, two possibilities came to mind. Laura could be the creator of this world or the author of the original novel.

Since she had said she created the world in the novel, both were theoretically possible.

I didn’t deliberate for long. Although the expressions were ambiguous when taken separately, when combined, they became quite clear. At least a god or a creator would never say such a thing.

‘So, you’re the author of the original novel…’

Before I could finish my thoughts, Laura smirked and raised her lip.

“Of course, you can’t believe it. I knew you wouldn’t. No matter how recklessly you run wild, You’re still…”

“A character in a novel?”

“A character in a novel… Huh?”

I interrupted her. There was no need to be polite anymore, so I used informal speech.

Blink, blink. Her eyelids blinked a few times. The crimson eyes regained some life. I was getting used to this surprised reaction.

Aside from Priscilla, who burst into tears when she met me, Rosalia and Elysier had also thought I was just a character in a novel when we first met.

“And the novel you wrote was a yuri romance novel, right? It’s a yuri romance novel, at least at first. Right?”

“What, what? You… How… How do you know?”

“You may be hearing this for the first time, but it’s the fourth time I’ve been asked this. I didn’t expect to be asked this four times, but here we are. I wonder what you’re going to use us for after putting us in this place.”

It didn’t seem like a story worth dying for, so I fixed the tray with magic. While I did that, Laura’s eyes darted back and forth.

“The fourth?”

“There are more of us who were dragged into this world than just you and me.”

“……”

Laura, shocked by my words, stood motionless for a while, then slowly looked down at her hands.

Clear tears began to fall from her eyes.

“Huk… Heuk…”

The droplets formed a line as they ran down her cheeks, soaking her palms.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… For writing this… For trapping you in this place… I’m so sorry… It was my fault…”

I didn’t expect her to cry, so I hurriedly went to her and comforted her, telling her not to blame herself.

To be honest, I was the only one among the four possessor who was fine, but I wasn’t insensitive or stupid enough to mention that in this situation.

Besides, it wasn’t Laura’s fault. She didn’t bring us here, and she didn’t write the novel with the intention of transmigrating people from the beginning, so there was no reason for her to feel guilty.

From her reaction, it seemed that Laura was also a victim of involuntary possession.

‘…… Then who brought us here?’

I expected the writer to be the mastermind, like a common cliché, but it turned out to be something else. My head was confused.

“Haaahhhh… Heuuuung… Kkuk, Haaaahhh… ”

Laura, crying and sobbing, crawled into my arms, and I hugged her, just as I had done with Priscilla.

The tears finally stopped when the sun had completely set and darkness fell. Laura lifted her head, her eyes still half-filled with sadness.

I cast a healing spell, and her eyes, still half-sad, were revealed.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“…… I don’t know.”

Kuuuk, Laura hugged my waist tightly.

In between sobs, she told me that she had originally hated everything in this world and wanted to destroy it. Of course, I didn’t care since I wasn’t supposed to be in this world in the first place.

I didn’t get to hear why she hated it so much.

“Let’s move to another room. It’s not really appropriate to talk here.”

“…… Can’t we stay here?”

“No.”

“Uh, yeah…”

Laura, exhausted from crying, nodded weakly at my firm refusal. She shook her head when I asked if she wanted something to eat.

Anyway, since I had her permission, I immediately called the servants. Soon, hurried footsteps approached. The footsteps stopped just in front of the door.

“Do you permit us to enter Your Highness’ bedroom?”

“…… Do as you please.”

The voice was still hoarse and raspy, but that was enough. The door opened energetically. Dozens of maids entered the room, maintaining their composure.

They alternated glances between the burned-out room and Laura, who was sitting on my lap with her clothes in tatters, looking confused.

“…… What happened here?”

The head maid, who had knocked on the door earlier, asked for an explanation with her eyes.

“It seems that the seduction of the Succubus was not completely removed. It was a minor accident that occurred while His Highness was using all his strength to suppress his lust.”

I gave them the excuse I had prepared beforehand. They were surprised to hear that His Highness had suppressed his lust with his will, as the Succubus’ seduction was usually irresistible.

“I understand. Do you need any additional treatment?”

“I’m fine now. Please just show us to a new room so His Highness can rest.”

“Yes. We will escort you.”

We were soon led to a new room. Laura was still in tatters. In between, she had been offered new clothes several times and even suggested to take a shower, but she refused each time.

“You should at least take a shower. Don’t you feel uncomfortable?”

“…… I don’t want to use these things. Absolutely not.”

Laura clutched the bedsheets as if she wanted to tear them apart. The once-white sheets were now stained with soot.

“Then change your clothes. You’re almost naked.”

The clothes she was wearing were still in tatters, barely covering her skin. Aside from the school uniform coat I had given her, she was almost completely exposed.

“It doesn’t matter if you see it or not. Or do you find me attractive? Do you want to see more? I can take it all off here. It’s an honor. I’ve never shown my skin to a man before. You’re the first. I showed my body to Dolores when she bathed me, but are you going to make a fuss about me showing it to a woman? ”

Laura, who had been spewing out words like a machine gun, suddenly realized what she was saying and quickly shrank back, nervously watching my reaction.

It seemed like her emotions had gotten the better of her, and she had blurted out something she didn’t mean to say.

“I’m, I’m sorry… I’m really sorry… I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry…”

“It’s fine, so don’t worry about it.”

Her eyes were welling up with tears, so I comforted her again. Laura tightly held my hand and took several deep breaths before finally calming down.

“Are you calm now?”

Kudduk, a silent nod instead of an answer.

“Good. I have a lot to say, but… First, I’ll ask this. Did you also experience a regression after  you were first possessed, or did your body forcibly move according to the original content when you tried to deviate from the original story?”

“…… I don’t think that’s a question I can answer.”

Laura held out the blue notebook she had cherished even when she lost consciousness.

“So, I’ll give this to you instead. You’ll understand when you read it. It’s too dangerous to accept all at once, so it’s sealed.”

“I can’t see anything.”

“No, you’ll see now. Come here. I’ll show you.”

I went to her side. As she had said, the pages of the notebook, which had been blank before, now had words pressed down on them.

“There were three seals on it. One to prevent me from finding the diary, one to allow me to regain only the superficial memories, and the last one to allow me to regain all my memories.”

“And the one who put the magic on it was you before you lost your memories?”

“Yes. To be precise, it’s not that I lost my memories, but that I gave them up.”

“You gave up your memories?”

“…… You’ll know when you read it. I can’t say more than that.”

Laura was firm. I took the diary and opened it to the first page.

[You? no, I guess it’s me. The fact that I’m reading this means that you’ve somehow escaped this damn regression or broken the narrative.]

[I put three seals on this diary. One to prevent me from finding it, one to allow me to regain only superficial memories, and the last one to allow me to regain all my memories.]

[The reason I sealed my memories was… I’ll be honest with you. I was scared. I didn’t have the strength to keep going. I was scared that I was gradually becoming Laura, not myself, scared that this regression would never end, and most of all, scared that I would give up.]

[The me who is reading this doesn’t know the situation of the me who is writing this, so I’ll explain. The time I spend acting like the original Laura is increasing. It’s not my will. It means my body is forcibly moving according to the original.]

[At first, it only happened occasionally, but now the time has increased to the point where I can barely move on my own for an hour a day. Even during that one hour, I have to grit my teeth and force myself to move as I wish. Do you know what it feels like to watch your body slowly being taken away from you? You don’t know, do you? It’s a good thing, that. It’s not normal, it’s a miserable experience.]

I glanced at Laura at this point. Her expression was stiff.

[Oh, by the way, I mentioned regression in the previous paragraph, didn’t I? I need to address this too. I thought that if I killed the Demon King, the regression would end, right? Because that’s how I ended the novel. Do you remember? But it wasn’t. No matter how many times I killed the Demon King, whether I killed her myself or with the Holy Sword, I always returned to the point where I was first possessed. And with each regression, I lost more control over my body.]

[So, I made a decision. Before my mind was completely broken, before I lost all hope, I decided to seal my memories. And I decided to repeat Laura’s life as the Crown Princess, which could go on indefinitely, and bet on the possibility that I would miraculously reach this point. Well, the fact that you’re reading this means my last gamble was a brilliant success, so give yourself a small pat on the back. Of course, I won’t remember it.]

[Here’s a question. Then, how many times did I repeat the regression to make such an extreme choice? I’ve drawn it in the next chapter, so count it if you have time. If not, just skip ahead.]

I turned to the next page as instructed in the diary.

There were clusters of four vertical lines and one horizontal line, drawn endlessly. The same pattern continued on the next page, and the one after that. It wasn’t until several pages later that I could finally see words.

[1463 times.]

[The reason I did this ‘annoying thing.’]

[No one could withstand the same time repeating that many times.]