I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 1

Episode 1

I blinked, once.

I was definitely lying on my wide bed, having returned home dead drunk after a celebration party with my colleagues.

What were we celebrating?

It was a party to celebrate preventing the ‘Great Cataclysm’ that had been predicted for humanity since the upheaval of 2010.

I was 56 years old.

It was a complete liberation that I welcomed in 2052.

As the leader, I was called ‘Nine Lord’ and was a hero to humanity.

Having protected the world with my colleagues, I was guaranteed wealth and a comfortable, prosperous life until the day I died.

Bravo, my life!

I was supposed to enjoy the rest of my life in comfort…….

The world unfolding before my eyes now is strange.

‘My body has become younger?’

The body I looked down at was completely foreign.

The hand with deepening wrinkles was gone, replaced by the elasticity of my younger days.

Moreover, my left ring finger, which I had lost like a medal in the ‘Shindorim Battle’ [a major disaster in Seoul] of 2030 when I was thirty-four, was intact. All ten fingers are there.

“…….”

I quietly looked around.

Rustle! Rustle!

A technician is wielding a rough butchering knife, dismembering a monster’s corpse on the spot.

The surroundings are in a cold space with no sunlight, but the musty smell is unmistakably the scent of a cave.

“Ah, that’s refreshing.”

Moreover, there was also a man squatting in the corner of the cave, smoking a cigarette and actively engaging in bowel movements.

‘It’s a dungeon!’

It was definitely a cave-type dungeon and the rear guard. [The area behind the front lines in a dungeon]

That’s why they can relieve themselves and butcher monsters without worry. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be so carefree.

Just in case, I looked at my body.

Then, a cheap-looking green waterproof boot caught my eye.

As expected, I was wearing a shabby cotton t-shirt and training pants, assuming my clothes would get dirty anyway.

‘A porter?’ [Someone who carries supplies and monster corpses in dungeons]

A combination of plain clothes and green waterproof boots, also known as the uniform of porters in the rear of the dungeon.

‘How on earth did this…….’

I was definitely drinking expensive wine worth well over 100 million won [approximately $75,000 USD] per bottle until just now?

This place, full of disgusting smells and musty energy, was definitely not it.

Right then.

“Hey, Kang Sinhwa. What are you spacing out about?”

A rough hand tapped the back of my head.

Turning around, I see a familiar face. Someone who had passed away a long time ago.

“Team Leader Kim? Team Leader Kim passed away…….”

“This newbie is saying all sorts of nonsense because he doesn’t know anything? Passed away? I’m alive and well, you rascal!”

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

I got up from my seat, stroking my reddened forehead from the fierce flick.

Is it a dream or a hallucination?

It doesn’t seem to be either.

I am completely immune to mind-manipulating abilities. So, it can’t be a hallucination.

However, all my senses are too clear and vivid to call it a dream.

Swish.

As a habit, I put my hand in my work pants pocket and grabbed a bulky means of communication.

A smartphone!

The ‘folding screen’ model that was released in South Korea in 2019 and gained explosive popularity.

It’s nothing compared to the 2050 holographic phone, but it was a convenience of civilization that was called cutting-edge at the time.

[January 25, 2020]

Looking at the date on the smartphone’s main screen, it was definitely 2020. There is no room for doubt.

‘Shit……. This can’t be happening? I thought I was going to enjoy wealth and relax in my twilight years, but I’ve returned to a past where I had nothing?’

A curse word came out first.

Me in 2020.

At this time, it had been a year since I awakened [gained supernatural abilities], but I had no special talents, so I only did physical labor.

An F-class Awakened with a slight aptitude for physical enhancement, but with clear limitations and no potential.

This is my current position.

From F to EX. [The ranking system for Awakened individuals]

It also means being at the bottom of the Awakened’s grade pyramid, which is classified into a total of 10 levels.

“Kang Sinhwa, aren’t you working? Are you not going to get paid today? We just need to finish up, so hurry up and move the Black Cow corpse, you rascal!”

“Yes? Ah, I understand.”

Without time to think carefully, I was immediately put into action.

At least the space wasn’t unfamiliar.

I don’t know how it happened, but it was certain that I had returned to the past of 2020.

This was one of the many dungeon sites where I worked at this time, and the memory is still vivid in my mind.

Even though time has passed, the body remembers the past.

I focused on the current task without thinking.

* * *

2 hours later.

“Sinhwa, tomorrow we’re gathering at Shindorim Station Exit 2 at 8 AM. Got it?”

“Yes? Shindorim Station? Didn’t that disappear?”

“What nonsense are you talking about? It’s in the White Zone [safest zone]. Sinhwa, what’s wrong with you today? Did you eat something wrong?”

“Ah, no.”

“See you tomorrow. Good job.”

Team Leader Kim tossed me a money envelope and disappeared.

Shindorim Station.

A place that was completely devastated in 2030 when a guy named ‘Raging Magus’ broke through dimensions and appeared.

The station, as well as the surrounding area, melted away and became a huge sinkhole.

It is also the site of one of Korea’s top 10 disasters, called the Shindorim Battle.

“It’s really 2020.”

I quickly shook off the spirit that was still wandering in the swamp of 2052 and synchronized it with the present.

No matter how much I think and worry.

It was certain that I had regressed [traveled back in time].

Too much time has passed to call it a dream, and hallucinations don’t work on me. The same goes for drugs.

However, the strange thing is.

“I’m not the regressor?”

I was included in the nine heroes of humanity called the Nine Lords, but there was a separate leader.

Nicholas Hagen.

He had consistently claimed to be a ‘regressor.’

I received a lot of help because he knew so much and told me all the means for growth.

Yes, Nicholas was the regressor.

‘Then Nicholas should regress, so why am I doing it?’

I have never missed the past even once!

Because I was definitely guaranteed a perfect retirement where I could enjoy wealth.

But, annoyingly, I’ve returned to this time when my life was the most insignificant.

“Ha, if you’re going to turn back time, you should have set it to 2010. Why 2020 so ambiguously…….”

My expression hardened.

2010, when I was 14 years old.

The world changed with a global cataclysm, and I suddenly lost my parents to monsters that appeared through the gate.

Even after time passed, I couldn’t even recover my parents’ bodies, leaving behind deep sadness and painful memories.

But what can I do?

Even if I regret it, the current time will not change.

Anyway, I roughly put the money envelope I received in my back pocket and took out my wallet.

At this time, I moved houses so often to make a living as a porter that I couldn’t immediately remember where I lived.

Looking back and forth between my resident registration card and Awakened registration card, it became clear where I lived.

“A one-room village in the Red Zone [most dangerous zone]. The days when I tasted all the bitterness, dirtiness, and humiliation of life. Shit.”

I spat out a curse word that I couldn’t help but say and started walking in the direction of my house.

To the north, you can see numerous skyscrapers and the products of splendid civilization soaring high into the sky.

But the place I have to go now is a slum on the outskirts of civilization where it is difficult to find even a proper street light.

Red Zone.

A lawless zone located outside the boundaries of the law, where the order of security reorganized by the cataclysm does not reach.

‘Damn it.’

I have to go there.

* * *

Rattle, rattle. Rattle, rattle.

The subway rattled so badly inside that I wondered if it had been properly repaired.

The setting sun felt more lonely than usual.

“…….”

Sinhwa’s expression was dark.

It was an expression filled with disappointment and sadness from falling from the highest point of life to the lowest overnight.

-This train will soon leave the White Zone and enter Geumjeong Station on Line 1, which is in the Yellow Zone [dangerous zone].

-No traces of the recently rampant ‘Black Cross Society’ have been found. We will drive without separate slowing down.

“That was close.”

Hearing the announcement, Sinhwa muttered while looking at the scenery outside the window.

The guards in charge of security in the Yellow Zone were seen packing their equipment and preparing to leave work one by one.

They are the guardians of the day, but they become thorough bystanders at night.

They are returning to their residences in the safe White Zone.

‘So much has really changed since the cataclysm.’

Due to the cataclysm of 2010, the existing order completely collapsed, and the order of the Awakened was newly reorganized.

Soldiers who were not Awakened and existing weapons that could not use dimensional energy became useless.

The power of the Awakened became desperately needed to protect people from monsters and maintain order.

The problem was the number of Awakened.

Regardless of the country, there was no country that could perfectly protect the entire territory with only Awakened.

So, the ‘World Awakened Association,’ which was launched transnationally, first took measures to divide residential areas.

That was the birth of the Zone.

“Was it this.”

Sinhwa took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. It contained information about each zone.

‘Consensus order, my ass.’

Sinhwa scoffed.

There was an organization that managed and supervised the order of the Red Zone itself.

However, most of them were criminal organizations. In other words, the Red Zone was a hellish world where evil laws were the law.

In short, the Black Zone was a more lawless zone than the Red Zone. It is a land of death abandoned by gods and people.

‘I lived in the Red Zone for 5 years.’

5 years of porter life.

Until I met Nicholas Hagen, all Sinhwa could do was carry heavy loads.

The pay was terribly low.

It was impossible to get a room in the White Zone or Yellow Zone, where house prices had soared.

In his previous life, Sinhwa lived in Dogok-dong in Gangnam, which is famous for having the most expensive land in the White Zone.

He even bought all the land and built a super luxurious detached house in the middle of the street!

But now?

“I can’t adapt, really.”

Rattle, rattle. Squeak, squeak.

I was heading home alone, leaving my body to the subway that was swaying at will, pushed by the cold winter wind.

-This train is entering Byeongjeom Station on Line 1, the entrance to the Red Zone.

-There was a subway terror attempt by the ‘Black Cross Society’ 1 day ago. Please be sure to pay attention to the surrounding area.

-The doors to get off are on the right.

One of the beggars who stepped out through the open door pointed at Sinhwa and laughed.

“Hehe, welcome to Hell Joseon [a derogatory term for South Korea]. I guess you’re also from the Red Zone. I wish you survival.”

It was the moment of arriving in full-fledged hell on earth.

“I just wanted to enjoy a well-being life! Is that a sin? Is that wrong? Aaaaargh!”

Sinhwa screamed.