The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 3

#3. World’s End (3)

For humans, the desire to survive is the most fundamental need.

The emergence of monsters robbed people of the ability to fulfill that basic need.

And now, people began to experience the primal fear of becoming ‘prey,’ a deeply ingrained instinct in mammals.

They realized that humans, like any other animal, were simply meat.

Humans were once again in a position to be eaten, not to eat.

The situation inside the mall was rapidly deteriorating.

“Get out of the way, you fuck!!!”

“Aaaaaah! Don’t push!!!”

“Uwaaaah! Aah! Aah!!!”

People were crowding at the entrance.

Driven by a desperate desire to survive, they lost all reason and fought to open the doors.

They had become creatures driven solely by the instinct for survival.

Even though the monsters hadn’t actually killed anyone yet, the situation was spiraling out of control.

Thud! Thwack! Crunch!

Several people fell in front of the entrance.

Some lost their balance and were trampled underfoot by the surging crowd.

Sion, frantically searching for another exit, finally reached a different stairwell.

He watched the chaotic scene at the entrance and then turned away.

The mall had a limited number of entrances.

Most entrances were on the first floor, connected to the underground parking lot for cars.

But this was the 7th floor above ground.

Assuming there were about 1,000 people inside the mall, everyone in a panic would be thinking the same thing.

Escape to the first floor and get out.

And if hundreds of people stampeded to the first floor, it would surely be a living hell.

Sion strode back and examined the stairwell he had been in before.

‘The black mist hasn’t come in yet.’

It was an unbelievable sight.

The mist-like gas could easily seep through the narrow door gaps.

But the mist still hadn’t entered.

Once he started analyzing the situation rationally, he began to see a possible solution.

Sion covered his mouth and nose with a sweat towel he used at the construction site.

He took a deep breath and slowly opened the stairwell door.

Clang! Screeeeeech-.

A putrid smell filled the air, stinging his nose.

And the sight before him was astonishing.

The black mist was surrounding the walls, frozen in place.

Literally frozen.

The mist wasn’t moving forward or spreading out.

It was a phenomenon Sion couldn’t understand with his current knowledge.

Sion slowly approached the wall.

The wall was rippling slightly.

At the same time, a foul odor continued to emanate from it.

A towel was no match for the stench.

It smelled like rotting corpses.

The texture was unknown.

A bizarre ‘woooong~’ sound could be heard.

It felt like experiencing a vibration with his whole body.

The black mist was simultaneously covering the outer and inner walls of the building.

This meant that the entire building was enveloped in this black mist.

‘……It’s not threatening.’

The grotesque creatures outside this black smoke might be a threat to humans, but at least this black smoke itself wasn’t.

Sion slowly and cautiously walked back to where the people were.

The people were still arguing in front of the opposite stairwell.

There were at least dozens of them.

Sion lost interest and plopped down on a nearby chair.

He could tell from what he had observed and felt so far.

That there was nothing he could do right now.

Something had to change.

And that change happened sooner than he thought.

A woman was leisurely looking at clothes in the children’s clothing store.

She had a calm expression.

It was an odd sight.

No human could be so calm in this situation.

The woman soon walked over to where the people were.

“Excuse me, everyone, could I have your attention?”

The woman called out to the people.

* * *

I moved a little closer to where the woman was.

There was a woman wearing revealing clothes that were almost embarrassing and an eye patch with strange patterns.

The woman slowly approached the panicked people.

“Disruptors, everyone. Focus on me! Let’s get this over with quickly.”

The woman’s voice instantly caught the attention of the people.

The woman’s voice was bright.

It was in stark contrast to the others who were terrified.

That woman seemed to be the manager of this damn extermination policy.

The people who were crowded at the entrance began to look at the woman one by one.

Only then did the woman smile brightly and shout.

“Hello! Disruptors, everyone! I’m Manager K, dispatched from the Universal Ecology Management Headquarters! Nice to meet you.”

Everyone there looked at K with flushed faces.

K bowed politely and then continued to speak.

“Now, now, everyone! You don’t have to be so scared. This is just a policy. You are just following the policy as living beings belonging to the universe. So this is not a disaster but a policy! Now, let’s repeat after me?”

No one followed.

When K saw that the citizens there didn’t respond, she softened her expression and continued to giggle.

“Oh? No one’s following me… Ahahaha. Well, anyway, I don’t like boring things, so let’s start quickly! Let’s see… what should we do first…”

At that moment, a woman who was looking at K from the escalator said in a fearful voice.

“Plea… Please… Can’t you just let us go? I… I don’t know who you are… We haven’t done anything wrong… Why are you doing this terror…”

K was looking into a strange paper book and didn’t seem interested in the woman’s words.

Then the woman knelt down and pleaded with K.

“Please… Please… I have a baby in my belly. So…”

As the woman knelt, the nearby citizens who had been sobbing began to plead as well.

Everyone was begging with both hands.

As the sound of sobbing filled the air, K finally reacted.

“Hmm. That’s right. I forgot for a moment that humans only try to avoid the situation they face. I clearly told you earlier that this was to enhance your sense of reality.”

Thwack-!

Only then did K close the book and look at the woman.

It was an unpleasant smile.

“Okay. Then, before the full-scale Round 1, let’s select those who will not comply with the extermination policy.”

Whirr-.

As K drew a circle in the air with her finger, areas with [O] and [X] signs appeared in the store.

The people were in an uproar.

“Article 1, Paragraph 3 of the Universal Ecosystem Disruptor Disposal Act. All disruptors have the right not to comply with the policy. That right must be guaranteed by the manager… Because there is such a clause, I, as your manager, must guarantee your choice.”

Some people showed faint smiles.

K, looking at the smiles of the people, also slightly raised the corners of her mouth.

“Then, those who will not comply with the extermination policy, please move to the left with the X based on my position. Those who will comply with the policy, please move to the right with the O. The time is… well. About 5 minutes? I’ll give you.”

Thwack! Pop!

When K snapped her fingers, a colorful digital clock appeared in the air.

It was a clock with a clown pattern, and the clown was laughing grotesquely.

[Kehehehehekek-! Bug. Move! It’s morning. Kehehehehekek-! Bug. Move! It’s morning.]

Then K was startled and stammered.

“Ah, cha-cha. This is my alarm clock. Again.”

Thwack!

When she snapped her fingers once more, a normal clock finally appeared.

The clock was pointing to exactly 5 minutes.

“Kh, khm! Now, please choose. There’s not much time left. The monsters will rush in!”

The monsters?

I frowned at K’s words.

There was cruelty in that grotesque laughter.

People hesitated and moved their positions one by one.

Most of them flocked to the [X] choice, indicating that they would not comply with the policy.

Some people who had maintained neutrality soon walked to [X].

I also got up from my seat and headed to the choice without hesitation.

It was the [O] choice.

When I entered the choice, I turned my head and looked at the [X] choice.

The people there were all looking at me.

Everyone had a flushed expression.

They were glaring at me as if they couldn’t understand at all.

Among the people here, no one had chosen the [O] choice.

“Interesting result. I never thought it would be so extreme.”

K approached me in the [O] choice with a smiling face.

And she circled around me.

“Player, is there a reason why you chose ‘O’?”

K asked me even though she knew the answer.

I didn’t feel the need to answer, so I remained silent.

Then the people in the [X] choice started talking to me one by one.

“H, hey! Are you crazy?! Are you dying to die?”

“Yeah! We can’t follow this crazy policy. Come over here quickly.”

“Listen, I’m a soldier. The safest way to deal with terrorism is to comply with the perpetrator’s demands first.”

“Yes, student. Come here quickly!”

Some with incomprehensible expressions.

Some with pathetic expressions.

Some with worried expressions.

Everyone was pale and looking back at me.

But I stuck to my choice.

If you think about it a little, it was a very easy problem.

“3 minutes left~.”

As time passed, the citizens became more agitated and began to persuade me.

“Hey! Student! Stop being stubborn and come here!”

“Yes! Why are you doing this! Let’s listen to that terrorist first. That’s how the police or firefighters will come!”

Police, firefighters.

It was an interesting remark.

I have no obligation to save them.

Even if I save them, it doesn’t mean they’ll be on my side.

I wasn’t a nice guy.

The world is not a place where you can live just by being nice.

Whether the world ends or not.

“Leave him alone! Why bother persuading a guy who wants to die?”

It was the middle-aged man who had been picking a fight with me in front of the stairwell.

At those words, one or two of the citizens who were trying to persuade me stopped talking.

The man’s muttering could be heard all the way here.

“Crazy bastard. These days, kids ruin their lives because of their own opinions. Tsk tsk. I didn’t have any opinions back then.”

I don’t know why he had so much dissatisfaction with others.

The man unreservedly revealed his hatred for me, whom he had met for the first time today.

I didn’t react.

No, there was no need to react.

Because that man would die in 3 minutes anyway.

At that time, a voice echoed in my head.

I was a little surprised, but I didn’t show it.

-Player, can you hear me?

I raised my head and looked forward.

There was K, grinning and looking at me.

I frowned.

K said.

-Hey~. I’m bored, so shall we play a game? A special game just for you and me.

I didn’t answer.

But K was still grinning and conveying her voice.

-From now on, if you can bring more than half of these citizens to the ‘O’ choice, you win. If more than half are in the ‘X’ choice, I win.

-Even if you lose the game, there are no disadvantages. Let’s just do it for fun~ fun.

K shrugged.

-But I dare to guarantee that if you win the game, I will give you a beneficial item. You know that I’m not lying, right?

I glared at K.

K was also looking at me.

There didn’t seem to be any reason to refuse her offer right now.

But I was curious about her intentions.

As a manager, I was just another insignificant disruptor [someone who goes against the norm].

Why did she specifically pick me?

Because I was the only one who chose the [O] choice?

There must have been a higher level of decision than that.

I glanced at the timer.

There were 2 minutes left.

I had to persuade the many citizens here within 2 minutes.

I opened my mouth.

“Everyone in [X] will die.”

Only then did the citizens turn their attention to me, one by one.

I turned my gaze away from K and looked back at them.

“Come over. To [O].”

I said simply.

At this moment, if I try to explain in detail, they will think of me as a strange man.

There will definitely be someone who will latch onto my words and argue.

Yes, like that old man.

“What do you believe in? Have you finally gone crazy?”

The moment the man took the bait, I quickly lifted the fishing rod [seized the opportunity].

“If we don’t play this game, we’ll die.”

“If we play the game, we’ll die. That woman said it. She said we don’t have to play the game if we don’t want to!”

“If we don’t play the game? Will they send us home nicely?”

Of course, that could be the case.

K didn’t say anything about what would happen after the choice.

But if you look at the incident a little more, it was a very easy problem.

Even a child could easily understand the intention.

Most of the people here are not mentally normal right now.

In other words, they cannot look at the incident rationally.

If you can’t think rationally, your judgment will be biased towards emotions.

“If we play the game! Then will they send us home? This bastard, really!”

“If we play the game, our lives can be extended…”

“Who are you! Are you one of them?! I think that woman just made eye contact with you…! You’re one of them too! You X bastard! I knew it! Everyone! This bastard is one of them! Kill him!”

The man interrupted me and shouted loudly.

He was very agitated and shouted so loudly that the store was filled with echoes.

He needed someone to vent his anger on.

And he chose me, the youngest and easiest target.

He was a pathetic man.

“Die alone if you want to die! Where are you trying to incite people! A bastard like you is ruining the country…”

“Shut up and listen.”

When I spoke, the atmosphere cooled down.

I looked straight at his face and continued to speak.

The man was dumbfounded and widened his eyes.

“We were selected as ecosystem disruptors. Disruptors are species that threaten the ecosystem and must be subjugated by life forms that have seized civilization. That’s what that word means. We are those disruptors. In other words, if you think about it, we have been dominated by a higher life form that cannot even be compared to Earth’s civilization. The significance of this policy is to kill all but a small number of humans. But that woman who was dispatched as the manager is saving us because she opposes this policy? That’s not going to happen. Because that’s an action that goes against the policy.”

“Puh-huh-heup!”

Seeing K laughing out loud as she listened to the story, my hypothesis seemed to be correct as well.

And from that moment on, the citizens in [X] hesitated and began to cross over to [O] one by one.

“We are not in a position to choose. If we choose to avoid the policy, the probability of survival is very low. On the other hand, if we follow the policy, we can live for now. Why, we haven’t even started Round 1 yet.”

“You… you…!”

“…Right now, that woman is just playing a simple gamble against us, and the answer has already been decided. So the choice is [O].”

I finished those words and looked at the timer.

The timer had 15 seconds left.

“If you still don’t understand even after explaining this much, it’s better to just die here. Like you.”

“You X bastard!!!”

The man was furious, but the situation was on my side.

“T, that person is right, isn’t he?”

“Y, yeah… I think he’s right!”

“Q, quickly!”

People started moving from [X] to [O] one by one.

At first, the younger generation took the lead in crossing over, but soon the majority of people crossed over to [O].

“W-wait??!? Are you guys crazy??!! You believe that crazy bastard’s delusion?!?!!”

The old man was flustered and tried to stop those around him, but there was no change in people’s choices.

When there were 5 seconds left on the timer, there were less than 10 people left in [X].

I looked at the old man.

He hesitated, but he didn’t cross over.

And the timer number soon pointed to ‘0’.

Only then did the old man reach out his arm towards [O].

“Ah, wait.”

But it was already too late.

Puh-buh-buh-buh-bung!!!

The old man’s body in front of me burst in all directions.

A moment of silence followed the horrific sight of his whole body bursting into chunks of meat.

But it was only for a moment.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaak-!!!”

“Euaaak! Eueueueuaaak!!!”

Sharp screams echoed from everywhere.

Their finely burst pieces of flesh wriggled and lay on the floor.

I calmly wiped the blood that had splattered on my face with my sleeve.

And then I heard applause.

Clap-. Clap-. Clapping clapping clapping.

K was smiling and clapping as she approached.

“Bravo! Amazing. Player. You won.”

K was smiling, but I couldn’t smile at all.

(To be continued in the next episode)