I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Whoosh!

I leaped and moved instantly toward the location where the voice had cried for help.

Because the Fog of Instant Death was so close, the person requesting help was in imminent danger.

I didn’t forget to activate my Steel Enhancement Talent as a precaution.

Saving lives is paramount, but I couldn’t rule out the possibility that the person was an enemy.

Especially in the Red Zone, heightened caution was necessary.

“Ugh… I’m sorry.”

“Let’s get out of here first.”

I immediately hugged him, leaped with all my might, and moved rapidly away from the danger zone.

Whooooosh!

At that moment, with only a slight delay, the Fog of Instant Death expanded again, instantly engulfing the spot we’d just vacated.

If I had hesitated even for a moment, the man would have perished.

Once we were a safe distance away, I set the man down and began to assess his condition.

But.

“Huh?”

A familiar face stared back at me.

‘Father Choi?’

A former colleague, more often addressed as Father Choi than by his given name, Choi Ji-hyeok.

He was a debuffer specializing in curse magic and necromancy, and we had worked together seamlessly.

He was also the colleague who had tragically lost his life to Mad Bear during the Shindorim battle, an event that had left me grieving for days.

“I’m sorry. I was curious about how serious the situation was, so I was poking around…”

“Looks like you were hit by a poisoned needle.”

“Yes. Fortunately, I managed to fend off the guy who shot it…”

Father Choi’s right calf was bleeding profusely and visibly swollen.

It was a paralyzing needle, a type of poisoned dart favored by terrorist organizations operating in the Red Zone.

While not immediately life-threatening, it caused instant paralysis in the affected area.

It appeared that someone, likely another Awakened One, had been lurking, planning to ambush him and steal his money or artifacts.

Looking at the deep gash on his left index finger, it seemed they had made off with a ring.

“Let’s start by counteracting the paralysis. If we don’t, it will gradually spread throughout your lower body.”

“Do you… have an antidote?”

Father Choi was sweating heavily.

I wanted to express my joy at being reunited with someone I had mourned in my previous life.

But this wasn’t my past life; it was my current one.

I had regressed, and naturally, Father Choi had no idea who I was at this point.

“I have something better than an antidote.”

I immediately concentrated mana in my salivary glands, instantly transforming the contents into a healing 침 [chim, a Korean word referring to both acupuncture needle and saliva, playing on the folk remedy concept].

“Puh, is this some kind of folk remedy…?”

Father Choi burst out laughing, as if he was about to spit.

Rather than being disappointed, he seemed amused by my unconventional approach.

It was the typical reaction I encountered whenever I used this talent on an Awakened One for the first time.

I didn’t take it personally.

“Thank you so much for saving me. You saved my life. I almost died.”

Father Choi leaned against a nearby sign, his eyes tightly shut.

His complexion was poor, as if he had been stranded in the same spot for quite some time.

“Just think of it as applying ointment. Don’t worry about what I applied.”

“Yes, I should.”

I evenly applied the 침 (ch 침, acupuncture needle; saliva) that I had spread across my palm to Father Choi’s affected calf.

Shaaaaa.

Immediately, a clear emerald light emanated, and energy began to permeate rapidly. It was a clear sign of a healing response.

“Ah?”

As expected, Father Choi’s expression shifted, indicating that he immediately felt the effects.

“How is it?”

“It feels slightly tingly, but I can feel the paralysis quickly subsiding!”

“It won’t be just that.”

“My stamina is also increasing!”

“It seems that folk remedies are effective.”

I playfully delivered the line as a joke.

Regardless, it was a relief.

After regressing, the first person I truly wanted to save was Father Choi.

In my previous life, I wouldn’t meet Father Choi for another seven years. Quite a bit later.

When we first met, I had noticed his discomfort while walking and asked him about it.

‘There’s a story I can’t tell about this limp. It’s a legacy left by my shameful past self.’

I didn’t press him further, assuming it was a past he preferred to keep hidden, but it seemed it was due to today’s events.

‘This must be the point of divergence that Nicholas kept mentioning.’

The point of divergence of regression.

It refers to how the future changes as I, having returned to the past, take actions I didn’t take before.

Nicholas had warned that the more these points of divergence accumulated, the more the future would deviate from the history he knew.

Minor points of divergence would have little impact, but major ones would undoubtedly alter the future.

‘That Nicholas is too cautious. So what if things change a little? It’s not like the entire future will be rewritten.’

I didn’t dwell on it much.

If he was truly afraid of altering history, shouldn’t he have insisted on living exactly as he had in his past life?

But then, what would be the point of regressing?

“Wow… Thank you so much! Does the saliva you applied have both detoxification and healing properties?”

Before I knew it, Father Choi had stood up straight and was bowing to me at a perfect right angle.

Being naturally polite and kind, this gesture was perfectly in character.

“That’s right.”

“I don’t know how to repay this favor. I don’t have any cash on hand… but I’ll give you this.”

Father Choi suddenly removed a ring from his right hand and offered it to me. It was an artifact.

It wasn’t a particularly efficient one. If I remembered correctly, it was a ring that enhanced debuff abilities.

In other words, it was useless to me.

I was never suited for ranged classes like buffers or debuffers.

It didn’t align with my preference for bloody, sweaty brawls where I felt truly alive while experiencing pain.

“It’s okay. I didn’t save you expecting a reward. I just happened to be there and had the ability to help, so I did.”

“But.”

“If you really want to repay me, buy me a drink later. You’re a priest, so you drink, right?”

“I do enjoy a drink.”

“Then it’s settled. I’d like to be treated to a delicious drink and some snacks as a thank you. How does that sound?”

“I’d be embarrassed to only offer that, but are you sure that’s enough? You’re the benefactor who saved my life.”

To be honest, I was far happier and more gratified by the fact that I had met Father Choi again.

Of course, he wouldn’t know that.

Father Choi was one of the few colleagues, besides Nicholas, who genuinely cared for and supported me in my past life.

He had sacrificed himself in the Shindorim battle to stop Mad Bear from ambushing me.

He was a precious colleague to whom I owed a lifelong debt of gratitude.

‘Perhaps I regressed to repay the debts of gratitude I accumulated in my past life. Of course, that’s not the only reason.’

I hadn’t felt much desire for relationships after regressing, but I was determined to save Father Choi no matter what.

To achieve that, it would be beneficial to start building a relationship now, instead of waiting seven years as before.

“If you make me a delicious somaek (소맥, a mix of soju and beer), I’ll gladly consider it repayment for my life. How about it?”

“Great! That sounds really good. Then, if you don’t mind, could I get your number?”

“Is this a guy hunt?”

“Haha. I’m a priest, so saying something like that could cause a scandal!”

I knew a few secrets that Choi Ji-hyeok was hiding. Of course, that was all.

There wouldn’t be any issues in our relationship.

Ten minutes later.

After confirming that the Seongbuk-bound Line 1 express train carrying Father Choi had safely departed.

I finally let out a sigh of relief and resumed what I had been doing.

Land purchase inquiry.

I still had work to do.

* * *

At the same time.

Watching Shin-hwa’s receding figure, Choi Ji-hyeok kept his eyes fixed on him until he disappeared from view.

When he had first been struck by the paralysis, he had assumed it was an injury that couldn’t be easily treated with any ordinary antidote.

So, if it was acceptable, he had planned to ask Shin-hwa to take him to the nearby Mosangol Cathedral.

There happened to be a priest he knew there who was quite knowledgeable about detoxification.

But Shin-hwa had effortlessly healed him on the spot without needing to seek help elsewhere.

The paralysis had instantly vanished, and vitality had quickly returned to his body, which had been on the verge of collapse.

It was all thanks to a special power that Shin-hwa had created using his saliva.

“Have I been too out of touch with the news lately?”

An Awakened One with that level of healing power and recovery would have to be at least A-rank or higher.

It was a world far beyond the reach of Choi Ji-hyeok, who wasn’t even close to D-rank yet.

“Thank you once again to my savior.”

Choi Ji-hyeok offered his thanks to Shin-hwa, who was already far away and out of sight.

Just then.

The dark clouds that had been covering the sky began to dissipate, and warm sunlight started to stream through the gaps.

“…….”

Choi Ji-hyeok carefully moved away from the window.

* * *

8 PM.

Even though I arrived 30 minutes earlier than the agreed meeting time, everyone except me had already arrived at the scene.

‘Looking at the team composition, it’s clear they’ve assembled a team with the intention of testing me.’

I chuckled as I observed the group guarding the dungeon entrance with the porters.

A-rank, Jeong Hun.

A-rank, Jin Bo-mi.

S-rank, Yoon Tae-ho.

S+rank, Seo Ye-hee.

All of the guild’s core members were present. It was likely that the remaining executives of the guild were at most B+ rank, making them unsuitable for this task.

“Shin-hwa-ssi!”

The first person to make eye contact with me was Jin Bo-mi.

“Hmm?”

Should I just greet her warmly?

Jin Bo-mi was waving her hands enthusiastically and hurrying toward me.

Was it yesterday?

She had asked me on 톡 (Tok, KakaoTalk) if she could call me 오빠 (oppa, older brother), and I had suggested that it would be more comfortable to maintain a polite distance.

Perhaps that was why, despite using the same title, she was treating me with more friendliness than before.

Of course, I understood her feelings well enough.

She must be grateful to me for saving her from the brink of despair. It must be that gratitude.

“I arrived earlier than the appointment because I had some preparations to make, but Shin-hwa-ssi also arrived very early?”

“I’m more comfortable waiting than making others wait. It’s a habit of mine.”

It wasn’t a lie.

Arriving at the dungeon in advance to feel the atmosphere and draw out the mana in my body.

It had been a routine, a ritual, for a long time.

“You don’t need to feel pressured about today’s raid. Leave the main attacks to us and just provide support as needed.”

“Are you telling me to watch?”

“We’d like you to take care of the smaller monsters. Their movement patterns are quite diverse.”

‘Look at this?’

They had clearly called me here to test me, but they were concealing their true intentions and talking about something else.

Well, it didn’t matter.

It was only natural for me to showcase my skills in a dungeon that I had been summoned to in order to evaluate my abilities.

If I needed to promote myself, it was definitely better to do it properly.

I smiled as I glanced back and forth at Jin Bo-mi, Jeong Hun, Seo Ye-hee, and Yoon Tae-ho, who were all staring at me intently.

‘You know you’re responsible if my value increases, right?’

The conclusion was simple.