I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 227

227

I shared a drink with Yoon-byeol at a fancy cocktail bar.

In a private VIP room, under soft lighting, Yoon-byeol and I sipped on smooth cocktails.

Was it a reward for the intense dungeon raid schedule?

Both Yoon-byeol and I indulged in fairly strong cocktails, giving our weary bodies a definite kick.

The conversation, as always, started with team management and sales settlements.

She was meticulous.

Yoon-byeol reported the current status transparently, to the point where I wondered if handling such details was even necessary.

I chided her, saying she didn’t have to go this far, but I was actually very satisfied inside.

Dealing with even the smallest details flawlessly meant that I could trust her with bigger tasks without question.

As the atmosphere ripened.

Just as a blush began to rise on Yoon-byeol’s face, she carefully changed the subject.

The way she kept pursing her lips suggested she had been hesitating to speak her mind for quite some time.

“Shin-hwa.”

“Hmm?”

“What do you think of a woman like me?”

“You mean, Noona [older sister or female friend]? You’re a pretty Noona who buys me delicious food and drinks.”

I knew what she was getting at, but I pretended not to know and dodged the question slightly.

Yoon-byeol’s strength is her excellent execution, but her weakness is that she doesn’t reveal her true feelings easily.

So, I intended to make her feel how frustrating it can be for the other person if she doesn’t express her feelings directly.

“Is that… all?”

“Narrow down the scope. If you ask vaguely what I think, of course, the answer will be vague too, right?”

“Is that so…?”

“Don’t beat around the bush.”

I said firmly.

When it comes to emotional topics, Yoon-byeol often asks questions in a way that she hopes the other person will figure it out and tell her.

It’s not a good habit.

If the person is clueless, they’ll never give the right answer, and she’ll never get the answer she wants.

“How do you see me as a woman? Like, as a girlfriend…?”

“Great. You’re really attractive. Especially Noona, you have a great sense of style. You’ve got a great figure for clothes, I should say?”

“Really?”

“It’s not easy to pull off clothes like that unless you work out and take care of yourself.”

“Like you, Shin-hwa?”

“I’m just a regular neighborhood guy.”

“If there were a neighborhood guy as fit and handsome as you, everyone would want to live there.”

“Hahaha.”

I don’t mind praising others, but strangely, hearing it myself always makes me feel awkward and embarrassed.

“Anyway, I think you’re a really attractive woman. Pretty, kind-hearted, and sometimes a bit clumsy—that kind of cute style…?”

“Then…”

“Yes.”

“…How would you feel about me as your girlfriend?”

I told her not to be vague, but I didn’t expect such a direct question to come flying at me.

Looking at her deepened gaze, flushed cheeks, and piercing stare, it seemed like a question she had been curious about even before we met.

I must be quite charming.

Well… I’ve never really thought of myself as ugly when I look in the mirror.

Anyway, Jin Bo-mi did the same before, and now Yoon-byeol asked me the same question.

A question about how I see them as a lover. Of course, there must be a fondness for me underlying it.

“You’d be the best. But.”

“But?”

“I don’t feel like meeting someone and sharing a passionate love yet. My heart is cold, I should say?”

“Am I not good enough?”

“No, absolutely not. It’s really hard to find someone as attractive as Noona anywhere. I mean it. No empty words.”

“Then why…?”

As with Jin Bo-mi before, I felt like I had to tell her about my painful past in response to this question.

Otherwise, she might not understand.

So, I told her the story of my deceased ex-girlfriend.

Of course, she died in my past life, but to me, who has regressed, it’s still a continuation of my memories.

I haven’t completely erased that memory yet.

Of course, in this current life, she is probably living well, as if to prove me wrong.

If you ask me if I want to meet her again and love her, I can answer that part definitively.

No.

I believe the reason she died in my past life was ‘because she met me.’

The outbreak that led to her death is just a ‘result’ of causality.

Perhaps if I meet her again in this life and fall in love, fate will take her away from me in another form.

How can I be so sure?

Of course, I can’t meticulously calculate the causal relationships and make a thorough judgment like Nicholas.

But my intuition tells me so.

I should wish for her to meet someone in this life who can promise her a more peaceful life than I can.

* * *

Two hours later.

“I’m sorry, Shin-hwa. Um… I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay, I just didn’t have the opportunity to talk about it, so I didn’t. Noona doesn’t have anything to be sorry about.”

I was escorting a heavily intoxicated Yoon-byeol back to the hotel.

In the first place, I wasn’t the type to get drunk easily.

Moreover, after modifying my liver in the early stages of regression, I became virtually immune to alcohol.

The alcohol was rapidly broken down in my liver as soon as I drank it, and the recovery was also fast, so I didn’t get drunk at all.

“Not knowing you had such a painful story, I stupidly asked you what you thought of me…”

“I said it’s okay. If you say the same thing one more time, I won’t even make these kinds of drinking sessions next time, okay?”

“Okay. Okay…”

The sound of Yoon-byeol’s heels dragging slightly on the floor was not pleasant.

Since she was barely able to support herself, I carried her on my back without hesitation.

“Just relax and let me carry you. You’re light.”

“Ahem…”

Yoon-byeol buried her face in my back, seemingly unaware that she was being carried, and smacked her lips.

I walked quietly for a while.

Yoon-byeol fell asleep on my back, and I walked silently towards the hotel.

“You’re really light. I keep telling you to eat more, but you only eat as much as a bird every day, so you’re so light.”

She pushes herself to the limit every day with training.

Moreover, she consumes a lot of calories because she is constantly moving even inside the dungeon.

‘Yoon-byeol will definitely achieve EX rank in this life, which she couldn’t achieve in her previous life.’

The outlook was bright.

I had high expectations for Yoon-byeol, who had the highest potential as an SSS+ ranker in her previous life.

Even if I retire, she will grow up wonderfully.

She had been diligently learning how to operate independently in dungeons under my hard training.

I was confident that she would do at least the basics, no matter which team she went to or who she worked with.

After a while.

Having arrived at Yoon-byeol’s room on the top floor of the hotel, I carefully opened the door and laid her on the bed.

I carefully took off her shoes, worried that I might disturb her deep sleep.

Even if she slept with her clothes and makeup on, I wanted to take off her uncomfortable heels.

But right then.

Thud!

Yoon-byeol grabbed my hand.

She seemed to be drunk just a moment ago, but it seemed like she had just woken up.

“…”

“…?”

Our eyes met.

Yoon-byeol’s moist eyes, looking up at me with a faint gaze, were definitely different from usual.

…Kiss.

And in a fleeting moment, Yoon-byeol lifted herself up and kissed me. It was a light kiss.

“Shin-hwa.”

“Hmm?”

“Can’t I stay with you?”

This Noona must have had a lot to drink. Of course… I knew what she meant.

If I were a real twenty-four-year-old young man, I might have been confused about what it meant.

But I, who lived a not-so-short life of fifty-six years in my previous life and regressed, could not be unaware of the meaning of this signal.

Yoon-byeol.

She is a really attractive and wonderful woman.

But at the same time, she was also my colleague. And above all, I still had a lot to do.

If I were to meet someone comfortably, I would like it to be at the point of retirement.

Right now, I’m overwhelmed just thinking about and preparing for things related to Nicholas and Sado or Leccero.

“Noona.”

“Yeah…?”

“Not yet.”

Was it because I wanted to leave room for possibility?

I also left a lingering feeling with the words ‘not yet’ instead of saying I didn’t like it or that I liked it.

It was also my honest feeling.

I still think that Jin Bo-mi and Yoon-byeol are really attractive women.

But I was negative about whether I would form a really deep relationship.

“Why…?”

Yoon-byeol’s eyes trembled.

With her personality, she might mistake what I just said as a strong rejection. She’s so shy.

But I couldn’t help it.

I wanted to be true to my heart.

Right now, the first and second priority was retirement.

And there were still too many obstacles left to overcome for that retirement.

“Sleep well. I really enjoyed the cocktails today.”

I carefully stroked her hair and lightly kissed the back of her hand.

It was a thank you for expressing her true feelings to me with a trembling heart.

“…”

I forced myself to ignore Yoon-byeol’s gaze looking at me with a faint expression and came outside.

I’m really sorry to her.

But I still had a lot to do.

* * *

The next day, night.

“If I come a few more times, I’ll be able to navigate the airport with my eyes closed.”

Shin-hwa arrived at Kansai Airport as planned.

His teammates were probably crossing the ocean and flying hard towards Incheon Airport by now.

Since it was a schedule that was not publicly disclosed, there were no people at the airport who recognized Shin-hwa.

Moreover, he was perfectly disguised with a mask and a hat pulled down low.

Shin-hwa immediately called Marina.

“I’ve arrived at Kansai Airport. This time, I’ll go directly to Team Osaka’s Sky Building.”

-Already? Didn’t you say you’d arrive tomorrow morning?

“I did. I thought if I told you the arrival time, you’d prepare a limousine and make a fuss.”

-So you lied?

“Well, you could say that. I hate making a fuss. I’ve had enough rest.”

-Of course. I can’t properly assist you in the Secret Dungeon without stamina.

“What about Toshio?”

-Oppa [older brother or male friend] is absent. He has a JSA [Japan Self-Defense Forces] joint raid schedule that came up urgently. It’s about a dungeon break.

“Is the problem big?”

-No. Don’t worry, it’s just for prevention.

“Okay. I’m going right away.”

He ended the call simply.

It seemed like he would be doing a two-person raid with Marina this time.

Anyway, two people were enough power.

Because he had returned with more upgraded skills than last time. He had become stronger beyond comparison.

But right then.

“Huh?”

Shin-hwa stopped like ice at the sight of one person who caught his eye from the front.

That was.

‘Yoon-ah…?’

It was Lee Yoon-ah, his old lover who had to part ways in his previous life.