The Tales of an Infinite Regressor

Chapter 34 – Taxpayer I

[Translator – Jjsecus]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 34 – Taxpayer I

It’s often said that in modern Korean fantasy, the appearance of bureaucrats is so frequent that it’s almost suspicious.

“Hello – Oh, are you here to enter the gate? Can I see your Hunter license?”

“Oh dear. It seems my license has expired, sir. In that case, I can’t let you in. Please hurry to the Hunter Management Office to renew it.”

“What? Just this once, could you let it slide? Huh, who does this person think we are?”

For example, “Gate Management Official.”

Driven by their love for East Asian bureaucrats to the point where even Yama, the ruler of Hell, applies a bureaucratic system, these bureaucrats are enthusiasts.

If they were true East Asians, instead of feeling fear at the monster wave, they should, through education, establish a national system of Great Monster – Mid-Level Management Monster – Low-Level Management Monster by lamenting, “No, those barbaric monsters are still ignorant and unfortunate, unable to awaken to civilization!”

How could you make exceptions in the midst of such chaos at the end of the century, with the exercise of strict national law?

Of course, in our world, there were no Gatekeepers, but there were other types of civil servants.

“Doctor.”

“Yes?”

“It’s almost June. Have you filed your comprehensive income tax return with the National Tax Service?”

“Oh.”

I snapped to attention at Noh Doha’s words.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s already that time. Thank you for reminding me.”

“Huh. If you procrastinate because it’s bothersome, it’ll give you a headache later. You’ll just collect it whenever you want. Once you finish your work today, why don’t you rush to the tax office…?”

“You’re right. Well, I probably won’t be able to pay my taxes anyway… I’ll just handle it quickly and come back.”

That’s right.

In an era where the military’s rage that once burned youth was forgotten, and the parliamentary badge of honor was buried in the sand, and nobody cared about such things anymore, in an era where survival had become a vulgar joke—

The National Tax Service still existed.

Today, let’s talk about the last legacy of the South Korean government, the traces of the collapsed building, a trivial oddity called the ‘National Tax Service Tax Office.’

2

*Katalk*

[PR/N: I think it’s Kakaotalk, I could be wrong tho.]

The first time I received that familiar yet unfamiliar Katalk notification was in the 56th session. It was a spring day on May 4th.

“…Huh?”

At first, I thought my ears were playing tricks on me.

Ever since Earth’s genre spectacularly shifted to apocalypse fiction after the collapse of the drift, words like ‘phone,’ ‘text,’ ‘communication,’ and the like were deleted from our human language dictionary.

“Did you just hear a Katalk sound?”

With a feeling of disbelief, I opened my smartphone.

But of course. Almost a year later, the red letters [1] boldly stood out above the Katalk app.

I hurriedly checked the message like a kindergarten student receiving a text for the first time.

――――――――――

[Notification arrived]

“South Korea Falling Again”

“A Nation of Citizens Dying Together”

An electronic document from the National Tax Service has arrived.

Hello. We would like to inform you on behalf of the National Tax Service.

May is the month for filing and paying comprehensive income taxes each year.

As the National Tax Service has already calculated the comprehensive income tax for you, please check the information below and conveniently file and pay via the ARS phone call (☎4444-4444).

■ Inquiry about filing: ☎444

――――――――――

“……”

After checking the message, my expression seemed to ease compared to before.

In other words, it could be said that the tension had lessened.

“Ugh, seriously? What the heck. It’s like a ghost message.”

Ghost message.

Since the end of the century, strange occurrences like this had occasionally appeared. It was also due to electronic devices, including cell phones, being treated as Class 1 hazardous substances.

It was an era of fierce competition where even ghosts struggled to survive.

To stand out even a little bit and appeal with a different personality, one had to aim for a variety of breeds, not just ghost messages, but also ghost calls, ghost websites, ghost radios, ghost televisions, and so on.

In reality, the only safe communication network in the Korean Peninsula was SGnet, but considering that even SGnet had been contaminated by ‘hero syndrome’, the whole world was a safety blind spot.

And the method of dealing with these ghost messages was surprisingly simple.

“Ignore them.”

Just brush them off.

There’s an English proverb that says curiosity killed the cat. Nowadays, curiosity has leveled up, and not only cats but also humans are often hunted.

In the first place, during this period, you couldn’t even find government organizations, let alone the National Tax Service, on the Korean Peninsula. Naturally, ignoring messages urging you to file your comprehensive income tax was the right answer.

But the very next day.

“Oh, brother. Did you receive a message?”

“Huh? What message?”

“That’s a tax payment message from the National Tax Service. SGnet is going crazy right now.”

“…You got it too?”

The situation had changed a bit.

“Oh, um, I… I got it too. A letter.”

“What? A letter?”

“Yes, um…”

Hesitantly, Sim Aryeon handed me the letter. The envelope was already open. Glancing quickly at the letter, it contained the exact same content as the notification message.

“…This is becoming a serious issue.”

A sense of foreboding slowly crept up. It felt like cold fingers tracing the spine.

“That, that’s right? I thought the guild master was joking, but Seo Gyu and you received the same message, so…”

“Where did you find the letter?”

“W-When I woke up, it was lying on the bed. Right next to the pillow…”

There was no need to mention it, but the security of my guild’s hideout was at an insane level. While it was true that Koyori had completely destroyed the guild in the 89th run, that was Koyori’s weirdness.

Even if it were not Lupin himself but Lupin’s grandfather, it would have been impossible for him to leave a letter in Sim Aryeon’s bedroom without evading my surveillance.

If the opponent was human, that is.

“I received the same message too.”

The testimony from Saintess sealed the deal.

“I woke up this morning, opened the front door, and found a letter wedged in the gap.”

“What about the other Awakeneds?”

“The same phenomenon is happening all over the country. People with smartphones received notification messages, while others received letters.”

Saintess’s usually emotionless voice lowered even further, becoming more grim.

“And, Doctor Jang, the more important fact is that no one witnessed the moment the letters arrived.”

“Excuse me?”

“In other words, no one observed the appearance of the postal delivery person who delivered the letters.”

That’s how Saintess put it.

This morning, it was an incident that occurred in a guild in Incheon that Saintess was monitoring through “Clairvoyance.”

This guild, while not as sturdy as mine, had a fairly solid hideout. The hideout was located underground and consisted of several layers of steel doors and several guards.

In simple terms, it looked like this:

――――――――――――――――――

■ ♙ ■ ♙ ■ ♙ ■ ♙ ■

Door Guard Door Guard Door Guard Door

――――――――――――――――――

The guards took turns standing watch, maintaining a constant vigil. In other words, this guild always had “personnel who never slept.”

Yet, this morning, as soon as the guild members opened their eyes, without exception, they all found mail under their pillows.

“….”

“The same message was sent not only to the Awakeneds but also to ordinary people. Doctor Jang, in my judgment, this ‘National Tax Service comprehensive income tax letter’ is not your typical anomaly.”

[Translator – Jjsecus]

[Proofreader – Gun]

“It’s not your usual oddity.”

“Yes. It’s certain that this is an anomaly that affects the entire Korean Peninsula.”

I couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.

…Even if it meant becoming a ghost, there was an unidentified entity trying to squeeze taxes out of people.

3

-Anonymous: Tried calling the National Tax Service as it said in the notification lol.

If we were to pick the most important virtue for surviving this turbulent end of the century, it would be caution in crossing the stone bridge and not just crossing it blindly.

However, among the Awakeneds, there were occasionally daredevils who lived their lives leaving their senses at the gate. Typically, such individuals were the first to book tickets for the Samdocheon ferry, but occasionally there were perfectly healthy rare species.

The author of the certification post that appeared on SGnet was one of these extremely endangered species.

-Just like the notification said, I called 4444-4444. People around me strongly advised against it, but who cares, right? lol

-When I dialed the number, the call actually went through? It rang for a while, and then, after a few seconds, the call connected. An operator? A receptionist? Anyway, it was a mechanical voice.

-I don’t remember exactly, but it probably said, “This is the National Tax Service ARG application declaration center. Please select the service you want.”

-Then, a weird screen popped up on my smartphone. The background was red, and the text was white. This is a screenshot I took.

The post included an image file attached by the author.

――――――――――

National Tax Service

National Tax Service ARS Application Declaration Center

[1. Comprehensive income tax declaration]

[2. Additional corpse tax declaration]

[3. Non-declaration of slave operation establishment]

Data charges may apply in 3G, LTE environments.

――――――――――

The image file was grainy with noise scattered throughout. The combination of red background and white text was visually striking.

This went beyond a shaky stone bridge and was more like tap-dancing on it, yet surprisingly, the author of the certification post didn’t stop there.

-As soon as I saw the words “additional corpse tax” and “slave operation establishment,” I gotta admit, I was a little scared lol. This is the first level of fear right here.

-The most intact ‘comprehensive income tax declaration’ was clicked. Anyway, since it was about income tax, it was also mentioned in the notification.

-When I clicked, there was noise, and then an operator’s voice came on, saying to enter my resident registration number. It had been so long since I entered my own resident registration number that I almost forgot it lol.

-It really felt like I was actually paying taxes, but at the very end, it asked for payment to be made to an account. But damn, where are the accounts these days? Even if I had one, the banks aren’t doing business, so how would I send the money? lol

-Fortunately or unfortunately, you can also go directly to the tax office to pay. They told me to go to the “Pocheon Tax Office.”

-This is the second point of fear… The thing is, I actually live in Pocheon lol. How do these scammers know where I live? lol

-But as far as I know, the tax office in this neighborhood collapsed a long time ago, so I don’t know why they’re telling me to go there. I’ll go check it out later and post an authentication post.

The post ended there.

Naturally, the comments exploded with negative reactions.

-Anonymous: What kind of idiot calls them??

-KoreanVillage: Another one bites the dust.

-[National Highway] Officer: Make sure to post the authentication post.

-Anonymous: If it’s Pocheon, aren’t all the Awakeneds there part of the same guild? It’s like they have everyone’s information?

-LiteratureGirl: There are still people like this alive….

-dolLHoUse: Fool.

-[Satisfaction] CookingQueen: Human life is precious. Desires are fleeting. Aren’t there more important things in life than trying to attract attention from others?

└Anonymous: As expected, CookingQueen, your words are too kindㅠㅠ.

-[White] 6th Grade High School: Eeeek.);;

-Anonymous: This scumbag is 100% doomed. I’d bet my entire fortune on itㅇㅇ

I didn’t blame the post author.

Instead, I decided to take advantage of this opportunity.

“Seo Gyu, I’m going to Pocheon for a bit. Watch the house while I’m gone.”

“Huh? Pocheon? Why all of a sudden… Oh, is it because of the authentication post on SGnet?”

“Yeah. It’s a newly emerged national emergency, but we need to confirm.”

“Wow… Brother, you’re really diligent.”

I lightly prepared myself and immediately headed north. It didn’t feel like much of a distance from Seoul to Pocheon by my standards, and Pocheon was also the area where Sim Aryeon used to work as the ‘Angel of Healing’ back in run 50. It was a familiar neighborhood in many ways.

I arrived in Pocheon in just a few hours. And during my visit to the tax office, I unexpectedly encountered someone.

“Huh?”

“Hmm?”

A sturdy physique. Short, neatly groomed sporty hair. He seemed excessively robust to be living through the post-apocalyptic era.

A young man who seemed to embody the concept of ‘growing up straight and true’ in reality.

“Oh, um. I’m sorry. You seem to recognize me… I’m not very good at remembering faces in general. Where did we meet?”

The young man didn’t recognize me. Instead, there was a slight sense of caution, as if he was wary of a stranger he hadn’t seen in his neighborhood.

But I possess the [Perfect Memory] ability as a congenital insider. Thanks to it, I could recognize most Awakened. Especially in this case, the other person’s face was quite familiar.

‘Isn’t this Lee Jooho?’

Lee Jppho.

He was the victim of his father’s humiliation by ‘KoreanVillage Villain’ Sim Aryeon in run 50. Yet he was also forgiving enough to forgive Sim Aryeon.

The compassionate young man stood there with a backpack, heading towards the Pocheon Tax Office. He held a smartphone in his right hand.

Glancing discreetly, I noticed the familiar SGnet homepage on his smartphone screen.

‘No way.’

Suddenly, a realization struck me.

“…Were you the one who wrote the authentication post?”

I always feel it, but…

The world is truly small.

[Translator – Jjsecus]

[Proofreader – Gun]

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