The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 30

#30. Government’s Dog (2)

I explained the quest window that had appeared before me to Jin Jaehee.

[Quest: Government’s Dog]

[Achievement Progress:

● Achieve a citizen comfort level of 30% or higher (current level 3%)

● Resolve continuous food supply routes (0/1)

● Achieve a police force internal available labor force level of 100% (current level 20%)

★ Reward: Achievement Points – 150]

I recited every phrase without missing a single detail.

Jin Jaehee’s expression darkened.

She pondered for a moment and then said to me.

“Achievement Points are the scores of the Sovereigns [powerful players or leaders in the game]. And Achievement Quests usually unlock in the mid-to-late game. Most achievements require you to issue ‘Declarations’ or ‘Edicts’ [official pronouncements or orders]. Of course, you can use them early on, but the fact that you, who don’t even have a faction yet, have obtained them is a bit… hard to accept.”

No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t call this the mid-to-late game.

Achievement Points that should be obtained in the mid-to-late game were now appearing before my eyes.

Simple system error?

That didn’t make sense.

It was a system created by a divine being with overwhelming power, enough to bring the world to this state.

It was hard to imagine that such a system would have errors.

In the end, this quest window in front of me could only be seen as a benefit given solely to me.

As I came to that conclusion, another question arose.

Why me of all people?

Jin Jaehee pondered for a moment and then shook her head.

“No matter how much I rack my brain, there’s no similar case in my past life. Even if we consider it an error, that doesn’t make sense. For now… it’s definitely a huge advantage.”

“A coincidence?”

Jin Jaehee immediately shook her head at my question.

“Absolutely not. There’s no such thing as coincidence in the Administrator’s system. There must be a reason why you were given such an advantage.”

Those words only amplified my anxiety.

Why did the Administrator give me this benefit?

And was this a benefit only for me?

I couldn’t know anything.

It was all a mystery.

“…I understand. If it’s an advantage, I’ll consider it a task to be cleared as a top priority.”

“Yeah. That’s good for now. I’ll help too.”

Either way, solving this would give me a great advantage, so there was no reason to delay.

And if these Achievement Points were valuable as the Sovereigns’ scores in the mid-to-late game, then I needed to start collecting them now.

But before that.

There was something I had to do.

“First, I’ll look for my brother.”

There was a high probability that my brother had come here.

The reason I originally headed here was also because I suspected that my brother might be here.

Jin Jaehee said to me.

“Should I help?”

“No, it’s okay.”

It was just a 7-story building anyway.

I would be able to find out my brother’s whereabouts in a day.

I put down the bag I was carrying and walked through the crowd.

* * *

“Kang Junho, about this tall. Yes.”

“Have you seen a kid named Kang Junho? About chest-height to me. Short hair.”

“Excuse me, but I have a question.”

“Yes. About this tall. Thirteen years old. Yes. If you see him, I’m on the 2nd floor.”

Kang Sion spent the whole day going around the police station.

There were quite a few people in the police station.

If there were roughly 200 people on one floor, and all four floors were packed with survivors, then there were about 800 people in this building.

He went around asking all 800 people about his brother’s whereabouts.

But his brother wasn’t there.

Sion’s brother, Junho, had not come to the Manan Police Station.

The basement was controlled by the police officers, so he couldn’t approach it.

They said it was for maintaining confidential security, but there was no reason for Junho to go to the controlled area.

From the 2nd to the 4th floor.

He asked almost everyone, and all he got were answers that they had never seen him.

Sion grabbed a high-ranking officer who was walking nearby and asked.

“Has anyone who came here left again?”

“…Yes. Well. Leaving is free. Some people left because they didn’t follow our control… and there were deportations too.”

The police officer answered in a sleepy, subdued voice and then left again.

In the end, Sion couldn’t get the answer he wanted from anyone.

Of course, he might have been here and left again, but the probability was slim.

His brother was young, and children want to be with adults in fearful situations.

Even if he left this place right now to look for his brother, it might be a foolish thing to do.

As Jin Jaehee had said, he was a weak existence right now.

He was a candle in the wind, and he had to become stronger to find his brother.

Artifacts, personal status windows, quests.

Now was the time to carry out the given tasks.

‘Don’t be impatient.’

If you’re impatient, even things that could work won’t.

Sion repeated that to himself.

By now, the scenery outside the window was covered in deep darkness.

The night in a city without electricity was so dark that it was terrifying just to look at.

The huge silhouettes that suddenly popped out from between the clouds, occasionally illuminated by the moonlight, were beyond mysterious and almost spiritual.

As Sion looked at the magnificent sight, he felt like he understood why the people of ancient times imagined divine beings when they saw whales, giant squids, or natural disasters.

As Sion was looking at the scenery outside the window, a police officer came down the stairs, spotted him, and said.

“It’s almost curfew. Please return to your assigned area.”

Sion looked at him.

He was a young police officer.

At most, early 30s.

Sion stared at him for a moment, then nodded and went down to the 2nd floor.

There, people were preparing to sleep, relying on portable lights.

It was like a scene of refugees sleeping together in a gymnasium during a disaster.

Sion squeezed into a spot and headed to his assigned area.

Jin Jaehee was sitting there, waiting for him.

As Sion sat down, Jaehee naturally asked.

“Your brother. Did you find him?”

She whispered, but the words were loud enough to hear, as the distance between them was close.

It was unavoidable, as Sion and Jaehee were mistaken for siblings and assigned to the same space.

Sion shook his head.

Then Jaehee immediately looked elsewhere.

Everywhere was filled with faint groans, coughs, and the sound of people tossing and turning.

Right next to Sion, a man was sleeping, and an old man was sleeping near his feet.

Sion looked at the old people who were sharing a single padded jacket and said to Jaehee.

“I’m going to carry out the quest from tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“I have a method in mind.”

“I’ll follow you. But you have something you need to do too.”

“What is it?”

“You’re going to train whenever you have time.”

“Train?”

As Sion asked back, Jaehee was silent for a moment before opening her mouth.

“Yes. Training. Your body is still too weak. So, you need to be able to protect yourself in case I’m not around. It’s training for that.”

Sion nodded silently.

Because he agreed with her words.

Jin Jaehee was still looking ahead as she said to Sion.

“It’s going to be really hard. I won’t go easy on you. It’s all to protect you.”

Jaehee shrank her body a little.

Sion glanced at Jaehee once and then looked away.

Then he slowly lay down.

Sion seemed to close his eyes for a moment while lying down, then looked up at Jaehee and said.

“Sleep. You need to replenish your energy.”

Jaehee was crouching in her beanie, smoking a cigarette and looking around.

Then she closed her eyes a little and answered him.

“I’ll sleep. After you fall asleep.”

“……”

Sion thought about Jaehee’s words for a moment, then gave up.

Because he was too tired from today, and sleep was pouring in.

Sion soon fell fast asleep, and Jaehee lay down next to him only after confirming that there were no dangerous people around.

Round 2, Day 1 was over.

It had only been a week and a day.

‘…….’

Jaehee stared blankly, recalling her past life, and soon fell asleep.

Their sweet sleep didn’t last long.

6:30 AM.

The police officers started shining flashlights and waking up the sleeping people.

* * *

Controlled life.

It was the way of life for those who were oppressed by powerful authorities.

1st floor parking area.

At 6:30 AM, before the sun had risen, all the people inside the police station came out here and lined up.

It had snowed heavily all night.

The snow didn’t stop even during the roll call.

I went down the stairs and walked through the crowd.

2nd floor, 3rd floor, 4th floor.

They were lined up according to their respective floors.

People were desperately resisting the cold, huddled together.

“2nd floor! Please line up. It’ll be over soon. Line up!”

“Mister! Don’t sit down, get up. Hurry.”

“Okay! I’ll call out your names one by one. Ji Seokho? Kim Yongpyo?”

Police officers shouted here and there at the people who had lined up.

Jin Jaehee and I went into the line and stood in a suitable spot.

To be honest, I couldn’t think straight because of the cold.

It felt like below -10 degrees Celsius [14 degrees Fahrenheit].

Without even being conscious of it, my teeth were chattering and clashing wildly.

The cold.

It was pain.

Most people here probably hadn’t felt this kind of cold before.

Would it be different for those who had been to the military?

Anyone would have a hard time enduring the cold in this harsh environment.

“Lee Jongwon! Song Seungbo! Kang Jinseok!”

Starting from the front row, a police officer started calling out people’s names, handing out two sticks [likely used as tokens for resources or rations], and checking the number of people.

My vision was dizzy because of the cold.

It felt like my hands and feet would freeze at any moment.

At that moment, something was poked into my right pocket.

Swish-.

“……”

When I put my hand in my pocket, I felt a hot pack.

I turned my head and looked back.

There was Jin Jaehee, wearing a beanie pulled down to the tip of her head.

Jin Jaehee had poked the hot pack into my pocket.

She brought her head a little closer to me and whispered.

“Don’t let anyone else see it. Here, hot packs are more precious than gold. That’s a hot pack that lasts for over 30 hours. Tell me when it gets cold again. I’ll replace it with another one.”

With those words, Jin Jaehee turned her head again.

At that moment, I thought it was fortunate that she was a well-prepared Regressor [someone who has returned from the future or another timeline].

The feeling of shivering from the cold until just now melted away with just one hot pack.

At this moment, I thought that hot packs were the greatest invention in human civilization.

Then, a police officer came to me and handed me two sticks.

“Kang Sion.”

“Yes.”

“Receive two, and the person behind you is Jin Jaehee?”

I received the two sticks that the police officer handed me.

I hadn’t used the bathroom or food yesterday, so I had a total of 4 sticks.

The police officer gave sticks to Jin Jaehee and disappeared back into the back row.

The wait in the cold was beyond boring and felt like a chemical warfare gas chamber.

1 minute felt like 1 hour, it was a terrible wait.

Before I knew it, the police officers who had finished checking the hundreds of people went up to the platform one by one.

They were wearing batons and pistols and controlling the people.

Some police officers smoked cigarettes in front of it, and soon a man walked out from the police station.

I melted my hands on the hot pack and looked up at the platform.

The dark gray sky where the sun had not yet risen.

The back of the heads of countless people in the front row.

The swirling snow.

The flashlight beams emitted by the police officers.

And a man went up to the platform.

He was an older middle-aged man.

Even though the situation had come to this, the man who went up to the platform maintained a neat attire.

He said in front of the people.

“Citizens. Day 5 has dawned. We are currently continuing to attempt communication with headquarters and are complying with government directives. I understand that you are all very tired, both physically and mentally. But we, the police, will never give up until the end, and we will protect the property and safety of you citizens to the end. Yesterday, 30 more people came to our police station. Also, 12 people left without permission. What I dare to ask of you citizens is… outside is hell. Everyone. Already, 12 of our police officers and 22 members of the volunteer defense force have died in the line of duty while performing reconnaissance missions. Even if this place is difficult, and boring, and painful. Please trust us, the police. You must follow our control. We, the police, will surely return you to the warm embrace of your families, to your homes.”

As an old man started clapping once, weak applause soon erupted here and there.

It didn’t make sense to applaud in this situation, but there was no doubt that what they were relying on was the police in front of them.

Even though their lives were controlled like this, there was only one reason they were satisfied.

Like the police chief said, outside this place was hell.

This police station was the only space where they could live a human life.

But despite their enthusiastic support, I couldn’t applaud.

The man on the platform receiving the applause of the citizens.

The chief of the Manan Police Station.

I was planning to eliminate him and take over this force.

“Hoo-.”

A pure white breath was exhaled.

The snow was pouring down heavily from the sky.