The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 137

137. The Revealed Truth (1)

The forest night remained still.

The lodging where Kang Si-on and his party stayed was no exception.

Rustle!

Someone moved through the bushes around the quiet lodging.

A man with disheveled, long hair.

The man was watching Si-on’s group’s lodging in the dark.

Although it was dark without a single point of light, the man could see as brightly as in the daytime.

“My… my cola…!”

Faintly, the sound of the ‘guests’ mumbling in their sleep could be heard.

After grasping the situation of the lodging, the man hurriedly ran through the forest.

The man ran through the forest and arrived at Bitnam.

Even there, he went straight to the village chief’s house.

“They’ve definitely fallen asleep. They must be sleeping deeply since they were tired from wandering the forest.”

The village chief, who was sharply carving what appeared to be a shin bone, grinned broadly.

It was different from the hollow laughter he had shown before.

His mouth twisted open, revealing sharp teeth in a bitter smile.

“Yes. These are humans that the witch has specially ordered. There must not be even a single mistake. If we make a mistake, it won’t be the humans but us who end up in the witch’s cauldron.”

The other residents nodded as if in agreement.

Beautiful humans.

The witch only wanted beautiful humans.

Especially this time, there was a special instruction from the witch to capture the expedition team.

The residents of Bitnam were planning to prepare the expedition team as an offering to the witch.

“We are preparing without any setbacks. There was one woman with a striking, beautiful appearance, but wouldn’t you give us all the rest?”

Although it was a dark room, the man could brightly see into the village chief’s room.

There, villagers with dull yellow eyes gleaming in the darkness were huddled together.

They were all twisting their mouths open and drooling.

“Maybe they’ll hand over a few of them to us.”

“No, recently many humans have come here from the north.”

“If it weren’t for the witch, we could have just had that beautiful thing.”

“Ah-. The flesh is soft and the blood is sweet like honey.”

Their identities were ghouls [monsters that feed on corpses].

Monsters that tear human flesh and drink blood.

In particular, they liked to eat beautiful beings.

Ghouls are monsters that chase after beauty.

But until now, they had only eaten mediocre humans, not beautiful ones.

Because there was a witch with overwhelming power.

The village chief spoke to the excited residents.

“Everyone, calm down for now. They are not easy humans.”

The village chief was not a fool either.

There were countless players who had passed through Bitnam.

And the village chief and residents divided them into ‘those who can be eaten’ and ‘those who cannot be eaten.’

The criteria for dividing them was simple: the measure of strength felt from them.

‘We sent that wanderer named Kang Jun-ho away like that too.’

The village chief suddenly thought of Kang Jun-ho, who had passed through the village not long ago.

His strength was so overwhelming that it felt like he was being suppressed just by standing still.

He was going to the Dragon’s Lair, so at first, he thought they were crazy.

The Green Dragon, the owner of the forest, was not an easy monster to catch.

The village chief was sure they were dead.

‘To think they caught the Green Dragon. That monstrous bastard.’

The village chief shuddered as if he didn’t want to remember that time.

How much effort he had put in to get them out of Bitnam as soon as possible.

“Anyway, it’s right to just send away strong people like them. But there’s no more room to back down. If we miss the humans to offer to the witch this time, she won’t stay still. First, Chae-ng has examined their martial prowess, so let’s wait for Chae-ng.”

At that moment, the door to the village chief’s house opened, and Chae-ng and Hana entered.

“Chae-ng. Where have you been until now?”

“I’m sorry, Village Chief. Hana kept pestering me to go for a walk……”

“Chief! Walk! Forest! Fun! Hana! Not eat!”

Hana shouted, covering her mouth.

Chae-ng subtly poked Hana in the side.

However, the village chief waved his hand as if he didn’t care.

It seemed Hana had caused some trouble, but since Chae-ng had arrived, it was a priority to start the meeting in earnest.

“Chae-ng. Are these guests strong? Tell me what you’ve seen up close.”

“Yes. Village Chief. They are strong. So strong that I couldn’t react properly at first.”

The villagers murmured at Chae-ng’s words.

As the villagers’ murmuring grew louder, the village chief once again drew the villagers’ attention.

“Now. Stop. Stop. Everyone, focus. As I said before, no matter how strong they are, we can’t just send them away. Especially since the humans who came this time are the ones the witch has directly ordered us to capture.”

The village chief paused for a moment.

The villagers swallowed hard and listened to the village chief’s words.

A sticky silence settled in the room.

Soon, the village chief seemed to have made up his mind and continued speaking.

“It would be good to call that guy.”

As soon as the village chief’s words fell, the villagers’ faces lit up.

“That’s right! If it’s that guy…….”

“Guests! Die! Feast! Delicious!”

The village chief calmed the residents, who were about to become noisy again.

“Calm down, everyone. Calm down! It’s still too early. For a while, thoroughly disguise yourselves as kind residents.”

The eyes, gleaming with a dull light, were all shining with desire.

* * *

The forest, which had been as quiet as a mouse all night, woke up with the sunrise.

Chirp chirp.

The forest birds stretched their wings, which had been curled up all night, and made sounds.

The soft sunlight passed through the dense leaves and shattered.

Choi Hyun-ji, who woke up first, rubbed her eyes and opened the door of the lodging.

Choi Hyun-ji yawned lazily, as if the fatigue had not yet disappeared.

“He snores like a pig. A pig bastard…….”

Choi Hyun-ji looked around the inside of the lodging.

Thanks to the curtains made of woven grass, the inside of the lodging was still dark.

The members inside the lodging were all sleeping in their own ways.

Si-on and Jae-hee were so still that it seemed like they were dead.

On the other hand, Choi Myung-joon was in a bizarre position, as if he had done a windmill.

“Gurrruuugh! Gurrrruuugh!”

Choi Myung-joon was lying in a bizarre position and snoring.

Choi Hyun-ji glared at Choi Myung-joon with a terrible expression.

“He really does take up his size’s worth of space.”

Hyun-ji went outside and looked out at the forest as if she was fed up.

The path leading to Bitnam.

Far away on the path, a familiar-looking little boy was walking, groaning and carrying something on his back.

“Oh. It’s Hana, isn’t it?”

“Hana. Water came! Wash face! Good morning!”

Choi Hyun-ji smiled brightly and greeted Hana.

‘I threatened such a cute little boy.’

Choi Hyun-ji felt a little sorry looking at Hana, who was smiling purely.

Hana groaned and put the water she had drawn in front of the lodging.

“Everyone wakes up! Morning! Bright morning!”

Hana shouted in a cheerful voice.

At the pleasant cry of the child, the members rubbed their eyes and woke up one by one.

“Thank you, Hana. I’ll use it well.”

“Hehe. Hana! Work hard! Heavy! Tried hard! Wash in the morning! Smells later!”

Choi Hyun-ji gently pinched Hana’s cheek.

Hana also smiled happily and ran around the lodging.

As Choi Hyun-ji finished washing her face first, Si-on and Jae-hee, who followed, wiped their faces with water and shook off the remaining sleepiness.

“Feeling delicious! Morning!”

“Yes. Good morning.”

Kang Si-on briefly greeted Hana.

It was a greeting to reduce unnecessary suspicion, but Hana smiled brightly and accepted the greeting as if she didn’t know anything.

Jin Jae-hee glanced at Hana with eyes still filled with wariness.

At that time, Choi Myung-joon, who woke up late as the lodging became noisy, came out.

“Ugh-. What a day. I slept so long. Did you wake up too, hyungnim [term of respect for an older brother or male friend]! Kkeueueueu-!”

Choi Myung-joon stretched coolly.

And then he found the water bucket placed at his feet and.

“Oh! Wow, the service here is amazing. I drank a lot of alcohol yesterday, so my throat was parched.”

Choi Myung-joon picked up the bucket and gulped down the water inside.

The water that everyone had washed their faces in.

The members who had suffered from Choi Myung-joon’s snoring last night unanimously kept silent about the identity of the water he was drinking.

“Muscle pig. You are really……. There’s no hope for you.”

“Are you picking a fight from the morning?”

While Choi Hyun-ji and Choi Myung-joon were bickering.

Jin Jae-hee was feeling burdened by Hana, who was looking up at her with sparkling eyes.

“What?”

Jin Jae-hee asked, but Hana just kept looking up at Jae-hee.

Jae-hee, who had just woken up and was disheveled, was still beautiful.

The sunlight scattered between the leaves seemed to gather around her.

“Howaaa…….”

Hana stared blankly at Jin Jae-hee’s face.

Smooth white skin even in a harsh environment.

Skin glowing with healthy color.

A well-trained and balanced body.

Hana slowly approached Jin Jae-hee.

And then she grabbed Jae-hee’s sleeve and smiled.

“Looks delicious!”

Hana smiled and opened her mouth wide.

Then, clear saliva dripped from her open mouth.

It was a sight that anyone could see was drooling.

At Hana’s words, Jin Jae-hee’s expression, which had barely maintained a calm expression, hardened.

“Looks delicious?”

Jin Jae-hee, who instinctively sensed something strange, quietly reached for her sword.

Then Hana panicked and muttered.

“Ah, no! Wrong say! No…… Ugh!!”

At that moment, Chae-ng appeared from somewhere and snatched Hana away.

“Hahahaha! This kid. He’s clumsy with words, so he’s causing trouble. Hahaha!”

“Eup eup!”

Chae-ng gave an awkward smile and hugged Hana, blocking Hana’s mouth.

Hana struggled in Chae-ng’s arms and barely turned her head to open her mouth.

“Paha! Oppa [term for older brother]! Suffocating! Hana die!”

“You little rascal. How can you say rude things to the guests!”

“Sorry! Rude! Don’t like!”

Hana soon became tearful.

It seemed she was sad about being scolded by Chae-ng.

“Apologize quickly!”

“Okay. Hana! Good kid! Hate. Don’t like!”

Hana struggled out of Chae-ng’s arms and bowed to the group.

“Sorry. Words hard. Rude don’t like. Hate. Don’t like.”

Hana bowed deeply and apologized to Jin Jae-hee.

Chae-ng also pressed Hana’s head down and bowed together.

“I’m sorry. I need to teach her strictly, but I can’t be harsh on young ones. She’s still clumsy with words and hasn’t learned properly, so I hope you don’t take it too much to heart.”

Jin Jae-hee’s hardened expression softened at the sight of Hana looking so dejected.

‘Yes. At least there’s no lie in the way she apologizes and asks for forgiveness. Maybe I was too sensitive.’

Tears welled up in Hana’s round eyes.

Seeing that, Choi Myung-joon burst into a hearty laugh.

“You’re making that little kid cry. Anyway, you’re only good at swordsmanship, but other things…… Kuek!”

Jin Jae-hee kicked Choi Myung-joon with lightning speed.

Choi Myung-joon rolled ungracefully on the floor and then jumped up.

“Ah, damn it! Am I a soccer ball? Why do you keep kicking me!”

Whether Choi Myung-joon was jumping up and down or not, Jin Jae-hee ignored Choi Myung-joon and waved her hands, not knowing what to do with the apology of the young one.

“No, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

Jae-hee was not used to this situation.

The world was turned upside down, and pure things disappeared.

Whether they were young or old.

Only struggle and survival remained.

Apologizing, forgiving, such warm exchanges had now become unfamiliar.

That made Jin Jae-hee flustered.

‘I’d rather have a sword fight.’

While Jin Jae-hee was awkwardly flustered, Kang Si-on approached Chae-ng.

He was burying his face in a towel when he asked Chae-ng.

“Chae-ng. You said you would let us go to Suwon when it gets light. Please guide us.”

Chae-ng was distracted by Hana and Jin Jae-hee and then suddenly came to his senses.

“Ah! Yes! That’s right. I talked to the guides yesterday. And I roughly figured out the fastest way to get to Suwon. I don’t know if we can go. First, to the village chief……. Ah. You must be hungry. Have a hearty breakfast and leave right away. I have prepared a meal. Haha!”

Chae-ng laughed heartily and guided the group.

The group hurriedly finished their preparations and followed Chae-ng.

(To be continued in the next episode)