The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 148

148. Order (2)

Jin Jaehee, cradling the unconscious Kang Si-On, navigated the devastated landscape.

She walked without a clear destination, driven only by the need to care for him and escape this place.

Even walking was a struggle for Jin Jaehee.

Wounds covered her body, and her left eye remained stubbornly shut, whether from blood or some other injury.

‘Choi Hyunji… Where is she…?’

Jin Jaehee scanned the surroundings as she carried Kang Si-On.

Ghouls and zombies lurked nearby, their teeth bared in threat, but fortunately, they couldn’t reach them.

Even when they lunged forward, they would recoil in fear, stumbling backward.

This was due to the radiant energy emanating from Kang Si-On.

Just then, Choi Hyunji, who had spotted them from a distance, hurried over.

She was dragging the unconscious Choi Myungjoon, wrapped in a black material, like a sack of potatoes.

She immediately became flustered upon reaching Jin Jaehee.

“Oh, what happened?! Did you guys turn into zombies? Any bite marks? Huh? Dongsaeng-nim [term for younger sibling or close younger friend]…!”

Choi Hyunji dropped Choi Myungjoon unceremoniously and rushed to examine Jin Jaehee for injuries.

Jin Jaehee calmed Choi Hyunji down.

Looking at Kang Si-On in her arms, she said,

“There’s nothing to worry about. He’s just asleep. Can you get me something soft over there?”

“Huh? Uh, uh, uh! A bed? Yeah. Yeah. I will. But, are you sure you’re okay?”

Jin Jaehee smiled reassuringly at Choi Hyunji, who was bombarding her with questions, and soothed her.

“Don’t worry. I’m fine now.”

Choi Hyunji’s black material slowly expanded, transforming into a marshmallow-like, fluffy shape.

Jaehee gently laid Si-On down on it.

He was sleeping peacefully, like a baby.

Jaehee watched him sleep, a soft smile gracing her lips.

She carefully brushed his hair, smoothing each strand.

‘What is this…?’

Choi Hyunji stood awkwardly, glancing back and forth between the two.

Just moments ago, Kang Si-On had been trying to kill Jin Jaehee.

Whatever curse or dark magic had possessed him, Kang Si-On had not only changed in appearance but had also become incredibly strong.

As if he had crossed over from another dimension.

And this transformed version of him had been attacking his comrades indiscriminately, whether consciously or not.

Honestly, from Choi Hyunji’s perspective, it was enough to make her head spin.

When she had tried to attack Kang Si-On, Jin Jaehee had desperately tried to stop her.

But if she left him alone, Jin Jaehee looked like she was about to die.

So, she had tearfully gone to take care of Choi Myungjoon, following Jin Jaehee’s last words(?).

But to return and find this situation.

‘What is this situation….’

It seemed to have turned out well, but she couldn’t shake off a feeling of unease.

Choi Hyunji clutched her head, trying to make sense of it all.

But before Choi Hyunji could gather her thoughts, the surroundings descended into chaos once more, accompanied by mournful wails.

-Kuaaaaaah….

-Krrr….

-Gyaaaaaaak….

Ghouls and zombies emerged from the ground, slowly advancing toward the expedition team.

Currently, Choi Hyunji was the only member of the team capable of fighting.

Facing an endless horde of zombies that would revive no matter how many times they were killed was a daunting task, but Choi Hyunji had a solution.

Before entering Mangyeong, the most crucial skill for a wanderer was ensuring a safe night’s sleep.

Living alone in the ruined city meant constant exposure to danger.

So, she had developed a method of creating a small house using her black material.

Choi Hyunji decided to put that experience to use.

She began by slowly allowing the black material to spread across the area.

Then, she channeled energy to give it a specific shape.

The black material initially formed a flat surface, walls, a ceiling, and a roof, and now it even created a bed, a makeshift table and chairs, and a clothes rack.

This was the ideal environment that Choi Hyunji had crafted for her life as a wanderer.

As the black house stood alone in the desolate ruins, Choi Hyunji breathed a sigh of relief.

The expedition team would be safe inside for a while.

The zombie ghouls surrounded the house, clawing at the windows.

Making strange, mournful sounds.

Meanwhile, inside the black house, Choi Hyunji woke up Jin Jaehee, who was nearby.

“You two, let’s stay here until you recover.”

At those words, Jaehee looked around.

A cozy house that resembled a cottage from a fairy tale.

It had a bookshelf, chairs, a desk, and even a stove, making it quite convincing.

Except that everything was black.

Jin Jaehee pointed to the zombie ghouls trying to reach in through the window frame and asked,

“Won’t those guys come in?”

“Huh? Ah, zombies? It’s okay. It can last for about a week. This ability is stronger than you think.”

“That’s a relief….”

“Dongsaeng, you should rest too. Honestly, you don’t even have the energy to talk, do you?”

“I don’t… have energy….”

Even as she spoke, Jaehee’s eyelids began to droop.

“Sleep. Sleep. Don’t worry about anything after this. Just go to sleep.”

The black material enveloped Jaehee and gently placed her on the bed.

“Oh, geez. I shouldn’t have stayed in Mangyeong back then… Relationships are such a pain. …Wait. But I feel like I’m forgetting something. Kang Si-On is here. Jin Jaehee is here. And me. Well, everyone’s here.”

Choi Hyunji muttered as she prepared to rest, completely forgetting about Choi Myungjoon, who she had left outside.

Jin Jaehee drifted into a deep sleep, listening to Choi Hyunji’s grumbling.

* * *

When I opened my eyes again, my body and mind felt refreshed, as if I had been reborn.

I don’t know if this analogy is appropriate, but it was similar to the feeling I had at home when the construction site was closed for three consecutive days due to a typhoon.

On days when I had to rest, I would always sleep all day long.

That’s exactly how I felt when I woke up from that honey-sweet sleep.

My body and mind felt so light.

Most of all, my head felt clear.

I don’t know how many days I slept.

What was certain was that when I opened my eyes again, Jin Jaehee was mercilessly beating me.

At first, I was taken aback, but when I thought about it again, there was no way she would attack me for no reason.

That meant it had something to do with the other me I met in my dream.

It was an important issue, but for now, I wanted to put aside the complicated thoughts for a while.

Really, just for now.

I really felt like I was reborn.

With all the worries and concerns gone, the path was now clearly visible.

The order of the universe.

The path to disrupt it.

I had finally figured out the answer.

Meanwhile, I had been hearing loud voices filling the house since earlier.

The black material was still wrapped around my body.

‘….’

I turned only my eyes while lying face down on the bed and saw black tentacles moving around everywhere in the house.

And soon, I began to hear my comrades’ voices.

“Add some cola. Like sprinkling salt and pepper on meat.”

“You cola-crazed freak. Please. Who puts cola on meat? Do you put cola in samgyetang [Korean ginseng chicken soup] too?”

“No, it’s an attempt. An attempt. Every dish starts with an attempt.”

“If you like cola so much, why don’t you just bury your face in cola and die?”

“Oh, that’s my wish.”

“Stop it. I’ll just do it.”

Jin Jaehee calmed the two down and started slicing something with a knife.

I sat up from the squishy black bed.

I wasn’t wearing a top, and I was wearing Choi Hyunji’s pants for the bottom.

Chureuk-. Chureureureuk-. Chureureureureuk-.

Various ingredients were hanging from the tentacles and moving back and forth between the kitchen and the living room.

They were probably all ingredients from the supplies that had arrived from Mangyeong.

Like that, the three of them, except for me, were bickering in the space that seemed to be the kitchen, arguing about whether I was right or you were wrong.

I swept my bangs up to tidy my hair.

At that moment, Choi Myungjoon, who was in the kitchen, found me and smiled brightly.

“Hyung-nim [term for older brother or close older male friend]!!! Are you awake!”

He bowed to me politely.

“Oh. You’re finally awake.”

Almost at the same time, Choi Hyunji also turned to look at me.

I looked at the two of them and gave them a relieved smile, indicating that I was okay now.

And finally.

Even Jin Jaehee, who was busy moving in the kitchen, turned around and met my eyes.

She gave a faint smile and said,

“…You’re awake?”

* * *

Someone had been knocking on the door since earlier, and the identity of that someone was none other than the ghouls.

These monsters kept knocking on the door for three days and nights.

Fortunately, no matter how much the guys knocked on the door, the sound wasn’t too loud thanks to the black object’s unique fluffy texture.

However, even if the sound wasn’t loud, it was definitely annoying.

The expedition team, who had been excited about having a proper meal for the first time in a while, sat around the table, and their patience began to run out due to the sound that seemed to be getting louder and louder.

Even in the midst of all this, Kang Si-On picked up his chopsticks, placed nepenthes [pitcher plant] seasoned with minced althaea officinalis [marshmallow root] on top, and chewed it carefully.

Various dishes were placed on the expedition team’s table.

The meat of an unidentified monster caught here, althaea officinalis nepenthes seasoned, and red soup made with about a quarter of ramen seasoning.

After waking up, Kang Si-On ate his meal quietly without saying a word.

However, the remaining three, except for him, were having a heated debate.

It was Choi Myungjoon who opened the gate.

“Ah, damn it. I can’t sleep a wink at night because of those zombie bastards. It’s so damn noisy.”

“Are you the only one having a hard time? I can’t even sleep comfortably because of maintaining the artifact.”

“But no matter what we do, they don’t die, right?”

“Yeah, dongsaeng. Yesterday, I got so annoyed that I made huge thorns grow out of the house and turned them all into honeycombs? But it didn’t work. Those guys don’t die. Those zombie bastards.”

“Complicated.”

“Don’t worry, Dongsaeng-nim. Still, we’ve been here for two days, and we’ve been safe, right?”

Choi Hyunji smiled and reassured him, but Jin Jaehee was very worried.

“The problem is that the time here is distorted. Si-On. Is there anything wrong with the status window?”

“Yeah. It’s still the same.”

Si-On stopped eating and checked the status window in response to her question.

It was more accurate to say that it hadn’t been updated rather than saying it was the same.

The lord’s status window showed the overall indicators of the force.

So, something should have changed even after a day, but the status window remained silent and the same.

It could only be thought of as not being updated.

Anyway, the time here flows slower than outside.

“Choi Myungjoon. How many weeks has it been since we entered the forest?”

“Ah. It’s probably been 4 weeks and… about 5 more days, Hyung-nim.”

“4 weeks and… 5 days.”

Si-On thought.

If it was 4 weeks here, at least 4 years might have passed outside.

Of course, the expedition team was just thinking as they pleased.

It was unknown whether 4 years had actually passed or 40 years had passed.

Si-On chewed on the skin of a vegetable that looked like a bell pepper and thought.

‘Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a problem with Mangyeong….’

If Mangyeong had collapsed, something would have changed in Kang Si-On’s circumstances as well.

But the fact that there had been no changes so far was proof that Mangyeong was still running smoothly.

That was a fact that could also be confirmed in the letter that Ha Yoonha had sent to the expedition team.

Tooey-.

Suddenly, Si-On spat out the vegetable skin he was chewing onto the plate.

Jin Jaehee, who was startled, looked at him and asked,

“What’s wrong?”

She was worried that Si-On might faint again, or that another transcendent being might come out.

It wasn’t just Jin Jaehee who was nervous.

Choi Myungjoon and Choi Hyunji, who were eating at the same table, were also the same.

But Si-On smacked his lips once and answered nonchalantly.

“…It’s bitter, so it’s too bad.”

“….”

“….”

“….”

At those words, Jin Jaehee let out a sigh as if she had lost her energy.

“Should I give you something else? Or even ramen.”

“It’s okay. No.”

Si-On frowned, still feeling the bitter taste in his mouth, and thought.

‘It’s strange.’

He had always chewed and swallowed even the most unappetizing food.

That was because he had felt deeply from a young age that food was precious.

He had resolved to not leave a single grain of rice when emptying his rice bowl.

‘I feel sensitive.’

A feeling that his five senses had become more sensitive.

Could this also be related to growth?

Si-On stared intently at his fingers holding the chopsticks.

There was nothing particularly different in appearance.

At that moment, Choi Hyunji looked at Kang Si-On and asked,

“So. King. What’s our next goal? We can’t go to Suwon either. We can’t go back to Mangyeong either. I don’t want to live seeing those guys’ faces for the rest of my life either.”

Choi Hyunji pointed to the zombie ghouls filling the window with her spoon.

Si-On glanced at the guys once, following her spoon, and answered,

“There’s no point in catching those zombies, and is the witch dead?”

“The quest isn’t cleared.”

“You said the quest changed, right? Kill the witch. But you said the witch is dead?”

At Si-On’s question, Jaehee carefully nodded her head.

“That’s right… In your hands.”

Si-On had heard from Jin Jaehee about what happened when he fainted, so he became more and more thoughtful.

“The witch is a field boss, and she doesn’t die from normal attacks. We might not be able to escape the forest until all those zombies are dead.”

Bang-!

Then, suddenly, Choi Myungjoon slammed the table with a fork and knife in both hands and shouted.

“Hyung-nim. Should I take care of them all? I’ll do it.”

“You can’t possibly defeat the guys that Jin Jaehee killed for three days and nights and they came back to life….”

“Ah. That’s. Yes… That’s right. Yes….”

Choi Myungjoon quickly became dejected and sat down.

At that moment, Choi Hyunji slapped her fist into her palm and joined the conversation.

“Ah, wait a minute. Do you remember what the witch said? Dongsaeng-nim?”

“What?”

“She definitely said it. With her own mouth. She wouldn’t die for ‘three days.’”

Jin Jaehee tilted her head.

“Did she?”

“She definitely said it! With ‘her own mouth.’ Definitely. She wouldn’t die for three days. Ah, wait, wait a minute. What day is it today? Choi Myungjoon woke up first, and Dongsaeng-nim woke up a day later, so. Yeah, today’s the last day.”

Jin Jaehee frowned slightly and asked back.

“Are you sure?”

“Ah, I’m sure. I’m sure. I’m completely sure. Today’s the third day. In terms of time, there’s about… 8 hours left.”

As Choi Hyunji said with a smile, Kang Si-On wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and got up from his seat.

“That’s good.”

He got up from his chair and walked in the opposite direction.

As he got up from his chair, the chair made of black objects soon disappeared.

“I had something to talk about. 8 hours is enough time to talk about it.”

The group stopped eating and looked at Kang Si-On.

And Kang Si-On’s words that followed shocked the group.

What he was talking about as ‘disrupting the order’ was.

(Continued in the next episode)