The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 7

Reunion (2)

“How do you know I have a brother?”

His eyes held no emotion.

Jaehee felt a chill down her spine.

She knew.

She knew that pushing Sion, who was always cautious, into this situation so rashly would be dangerous.

Especially when it came to his brother, she knew he would react sensitively.

But bringing up his ‘brother’ so abruptly was Jaehee’s plan.

Sion always considers his goals and chooses the best approach, no matter the situation.

Jaehee knew how Sion would perceive her after witnessing her skills in killing monsters and seeing her with the Jin Sword.

Sion would try to keep Jaehee by his side.

She had proven to be the strongest here in terms of combat.

However, he would question how she obtained that power and scrutinize her every move.

That’s why she didn’t hide it.

The fact that she was a Regressor [someone who has returned to the past].

The moment she hid it, Kang Sion before her wouldn’t trust her.

And Jaehee also needed Sion.

Whatever the case, Kang Sion was the man who had come closest to winning in her previous life.

This was the quickest way to gain Kang Sion’s trust and become his ally.

Originally, she would have hidden the fact that she was a Regressor and moved cautiously.

Slowly becoming Kang Sion’s greatest ally and navigating through this damned game.

But she couldn’t do that.

This might be Jin Jaehee’s last chance.

‘…As expected, he acquired the revolver early on.’

Jaehee only lowered her eyes to look at the gun.

The barrel of the revolver pointed at her temple felt cold.

Sion asked again.

“How do you know? Are you deaf?”

His voice was cold and sharp.

Sion would really shoot.

She knew that much from her past life.

Jaehee thought.

If she died here, it would all be for nothing.

Thud.

The cigarette butt naturally fell from Jaehee’s lips and landed on the ground.

She slowly rose from her spot.

The gun followed her as she stood up.

Kwon Kyungsoo stood awkwardly beside them, watching the two.

‘…A, a gun.’

It was a shocking sight for him.

No, everyone there was frozen, staring at Sion with the gun.

In South Korea, possessing a gun meant being involved in criminal activities.

It was strange for an ordinary person to possess a gun in the first place.

But in Kyungsoo’s eyes, Sion was just an innocent young man in his early twenties.

He didn’t seem like a bad person at all.

In the nerve-wracking silence, Jaehee said to Sion.

“Let’s move the location.”

It wasn’t something that an unspecified number of people should hear.

Sion nodded.

He didn’t want to reveal his brother’s situation either.

* * *

I followed the woman, maintaining a certain distance.

The gun was still pointed at the woman’s head, and she had her hands up.

Turning the corner towards the bathroom, I walked down the dark hallway.

I said to her as she walked.

“Stop. Now talk.”

At my words, the woman stopped in her tracks.

And said.

“Put the gun down.”

I refused.

“No.”

I couldn’t waste bullets.

If that woman was an enemy, I would pull the trigger without hesitation.

Maintaining a certain distance, I watched her every small movement.

“Last chance, talk.”

I didn’t want to waste time.

I didn’t want to have meaningless conversations with her here.

But the woman continued as if to show off.

“Where should I start?”

The woman’s voice was calm and didn’t tremble.

As if she had expected this to happen.

It wasn’t a voice one could make while having a gun pointed at them.

I asked.

“How do you know about my brother? Tell me that first.”

I examined the woman’s face closely.

She wasn’t family or a relative.

Our brothers didn’t have a family in the first place.

She wasn’t a neighbor, nor someone I had only encountered once.

Could she be Junho’s teacher?

No.

The teacher was a man when I went to Junho’s parent-teacher conference once.

And she couldn’t be such a young woman.

The woman said.

“Because I knew. Before coming here.”

The woman’s words lacked sufficient basis.

We went back and forth with our words.

“I don’t know you.”

“Even if you don’t know me, I know you. And your brother too. Only his name, though.”

“That’s nonsense. Even if you know my brother, you wouldn’t know I’m his brother, and we’re not even acquainted.”

“We are acquainted. At least to me.”

“If you’re playing word games, stop it. I don’t want to joke around right now.”

“Neither do I.”

Spin-.

The woman suddenly turned around.

I gripped the gun handle even tighter.

The woman was looking into my eyes, and I was still aiming at her forehead.

And her following words were nothing short of shocking.

“I Regressed.”

“What?”

“I’m in the middle of my second game.”

“…….”

Only then did I take my eyes off the sights and look at her.

Swish-.

There was the woman, revealing her forearm.

There were numerous clear knife scars on the woman’s forearm.

“We met several years ago in my time. Seven years from now in the current timeline. We first met around Seongnam and went to the finals, but we both died in the end.”

“…You want me to believe that?”

Honestly, I didn’t want to believe it.

“I know what kind of past you have. I can’t know everything, though.”

“Cut the crap.”

“We have to win this league. I’ll help you.”

“Shut up.”

“Trust me, Kang Sion. This is the last time. There’s no turning back now.”

“Be quiet!”

“I’ll help you find your brother. I can do it.”

“…….”

After the argument, a moment of silence fell.

The gun was still pointed at her forehead, and the woman tapped her chest with her palm, saying.

“I won’t hurt you. I can find your brother. I know the way. I’ll definitely be of help to you. You have to trust me. And you know this isn’t just a terrorist attack, right? This is a game run by the Gods.”

She was appealing to me.

Begging me to trust her.

But I couldn’t believe her.

No, in fact, I was open to any possibility.

The sudden black smoke.

And the alien monsters pouring out of that smoke.

The giant eye floating in the sky.

Even the status window.

I couldn’t believe everything that was happening before my eyes, but this was reality.

And when I looked at the phenomena with all possibilities open, it wasn’t impossible to believe the woman’s words now.

If so, she had to take her own test.

“If you’re a Regressor, you’d know my past, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Then tell me. If you’re a Regressor, you’d know. Tell me the answer you need to say now.”

The woman swallowed and nodded.

My damn past.

If her words were true, if she was a colleague who had shared my life, she would know.

The dark past of our brothers that I had never told anyone.

Thump, thump.

My heart started beating faster.

It was strange.

I was the one pointing the gun, but I was the one getting nervous.

Why?

Why is that?

Because I guessed that she really knew about my past?

No, or for some other reason.

As if time had stopped, everything started flowing slowly.

Her parted lips slowly opened and uttered a word.

“…Aunt.”

“Stop.”

Stagger-.

I felt a little dizzy.

I lowered my head slightly, and my breathing became heavy.

It was a dark past that I had never told anyone.

That was enough.

I could trust her to some extent.

At least that she came from the future.

“Okay. I’ll believe you. For now.”

“Okay. That’s a relief.”

The woman seemed relieved and lowered her hands.

I coldly said to the woman.

“But don’t act friendly so easily. It’s not like I completely trust you.”

“Okay. I understand.”

I lowered the gun.

And opened my inventory to put the gun away.

Whether I believed her or not, it didn’t matter.

The woman in front of me now, whether she was a Regressor or not, was an important key to getting through the first round.

Somehow, I just needed to get to my brother.

If this woman could help in the process, that would be a good thing.

Spin-.

I turned around to go back to where the people were.

At that moment, I became curious.

I turned back to look at her.

“You said this is your second game, right? And that you know me.”

The woman nodded, and I asked again.

“Then what happens to my brother in your past life?”

It was perhaps the most important question.

The woman stopped following me.

Then, after a moment of thought, she opened her mouth.

“It might be better not to know. Are you still curious?”

My hands trembled slightly.

But I never took my eyes off her.

And quietly nodded.

Then the woman took a breath and said.

“Do you know about the butterfly effect? The phenomenon where the future changes completely due to a very small change.”

“Yeah.”

“Listen carefully. Keep in mind that the future can change just by hearing this fact. But if you still want to hear it, I’ll tell you.”

I was a little scared by those words, but I had to know.

“Yeah. Tell me.”

My heart was pounding, and she said calmly.

“He probably died.”

“Ah.”

A gasp escaped my lips without me realizing it.

For a moment, I felt dizzy, as if I was about to collapse and burst into tears.

My hands were shaking wildly, and I couldn’t bear to look at her.

‘Calm down…….’

It’s not too late to vent all emotions after everything has happened.

Now is the time to be calm.

That’s what happened in the past life.

It was still an event that had nothing to do with me.

The future of my brother that the woman spoke of was a result that had not yet been realized for me.

I had to be calm.

I clenched my fists until the veins turned blue.

Then the woman took a step towards me and said.

“But that doesn’t mean you can be sure he died.”

“……?”

Only then could I face her.

She had already come to me.

“When I met you, you were a man without emotions. So, to be exact, I can’t know for sure, I’m just guessing. You probably wandered the fields after losing your brother.”

“…….”

“So don’t give up. You don’t know anything yet. Before I came here, I wanted to find your brother, but… you know. I only know your brother’s name. I don’t know his face or appearance.”

The woman paused, as if waiting for my words.

I lowered my head again and looked at the construction site safety shoes that were worn out.

Is it a lie or the truth?

No, it’s not.

What if it’s a lie, what if it’s the truth?

Even if all the truths I face now are not true, there is no way.

There is no way to leave the shopping mall right now and go home.

I am trapped here, and I have to win this damn game.

The conclusion does not change.

I will definitely win this game, survive, and go home.

And save my brother.

Even if it’s just a corpse.

In the process, the strength of the woman in front of me will be a great help to me.

I turned my body and headed out of the hallway.

It was time to approach the people now.

Then, the woman called out to me.

“My name. …Jin Jaehee. You don’t know it.”

I just turned my head and answered the woman who was introducing herself.

“…You don’t need my introduction, right?”

“Yeah.”

With those words, I walked again.

Thud, thud.

With my shoulders slumped, my vision was blurry.

I’m in a state where I don’t even have the luxury to be sad right now, but for some reason, when it comes to things related to my brother, I couldn’t control myself.

I repeated in my mind.

Thud!

I hit my thigh with my fist.

Slap!

I also slapped my left cheek with my palm.

I repeated in my mind.

Survive, survive.

That’s all I have left.

Then I heard footsteps.

The person who came around the corner was a female student.

The female student caught her breath and said to us.

“Um… um…! I’m sorry! But I think you should come out quickly now…! Um… over there!”