Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 23

“So that’s what happened.”

That was all Count Lichten said as he silently listened to Zion’s story, the contents of his teacup growing cold.

Questions swirled in his mind—why hadn’t he been told sooner, did his son not trust his own father, and why did it have to be a demon? But the Count simply let out a small sigh.

There was no point in asking for reasons now, and Lilith had been a great help regardless, so pressing the issue wouldn’t paint a pretty picture.

“You were trapped in the temple my father was investigating.”

“I was forcibly held there, too. I almost disappeared forever.”

At Lucia’s words, Lilith grumbled and slurped her tea.

Then, she met Kim Yoo-hyun’s intense gaze.

“···.”

“···Lower your eyes. You’re dead, for real.”

“I don’t want to.”

Lilith’s forehead creased with a vein mark at Kim Yoo-hyun’s immediate response.

She had already been beaten up in their previous duel, and now that her opponent kept provoking her, her irritation was steadily rising.

“···.”

Lilith was practically growling, while Kim Yoo-hyun wore an expression of amusement.

Zion, watching them quietly, felt a sense of déjà vu.

In the original story, Lilith would blush and avoid eye contact if Kim Yoo-hyun even looked at her, but now she was growling like a dog ready to bite.

“Kyak!”

“Whoa, Lilith. Please don’t actually bite.”

Even though she was a succubus, she was still a demon, and her aggressive side emerged whenever she felt ignored.

The sight of a woman with captivating beauty suddenly trying to bite someone caught Count Lichten off guard, and he spoke up.

“More importantly, Zion.”

“Yes, Father.”

“The reason that woman appeared in your dreams is because you summoned her, is that right?”

“That’s correct.”

“Then how did you end up summoning the Succubus Queen into your dreams?”

“That’s···.”

Zion stopped himself from answering and slowly looked around.

Count Lichten, Lucia, Kim Yoo-hyun, and Sebastian standing quietly behind them.

Zion Claussen, the man who might become the next Count, was, in fact… A man with zero mana sensitivity, unable to wield or contain even a single particle of mana.

They didn’t know he was essentially mana-impaired.

‘Should I tell them?’

He believed it was best to hide weaknesses from everyone, even family.

When Zion, or rather Lee Ji-hoon, lived in his original world, he had seen many people who casually turned others’ weaknesses into weapons.

No matter how strong someone was, once a weak point was revealed, people would relentlessly exploit it.

Perhaps that was a natural survival instinct for humans.

They would put on a trustworthy face while looking at you, but then stab you in the back when you turned around.

That was how they pulled down those above them and took their place.

In the era of endless competition, he believed that no human could escape that simple truth.

‘···I can’t hide it forever anyway.’

These weren’t people he could just see once or twice and then say, ‘It was unpleasant meeting you, let’s never meet again!’

One was his father, one was his helper, and the other one was…

‘I can’t tell if that bastard is friend or foe.’

In the novel, Kim Yoo-hyun was a slightly mentally unstable but overpowered protagonist, but watching him up close, Zion couldn’t even begin to guess what he was thinking.

It was fortunate that he knew whether that bastard was a mastermind or not; if he didn’t, he would kneel before Lilith and beg her to kill Kim Yoo-hyun.

“Hoo.”

Having made up his mind, Zion let out a heavy sigh to create a more serious atmosphere.

Thanks to that, Count Lichten, Lucia, Sebastian, and even Kim Yoo-hyun, who pretended not to care, were subtly focused on Zion’s next words.

“I can’t wield mana.”

“···What?”

“Excuse me?”

“···?”

Even Count Lichten was surprised, which meant that the original Zion Claussen must have kept that fact a secret.

Or perhaps he avoided appearing before the knights altogether to prevent such a weakness from being exposed.

The Count, feeling sorry for his increasingly strange son, hadn’t been able to properly guide him.

“Zion, what are you saying? That’s···.”

“It’s not that my sensitivity is lower than others. I simply can’t wield mana at all. My sensitivity is zero.”

“Ah···.”

At those words, Count Lichten let out a sigh with a devastated expression, as if he had just heard, ‘You have terminal cancer. You have three months to live.’

In fact, not being able to wield mana was equivalent to having a severe defect in this world.

Even ordinary people were born with at least a minimal amount of mana sensitivity.

That was why the overall average skill level of everyone in this world was so high.

But the eldest son of the Claussen County couldn’t wield mana at all.

This was a significant weakness when discussing succession, and it was a critical issue directly related to survival.

“So I begged Lilith to do something about it, and she appeared with a bang! That’s the end of the story, Father.”

“So, that’s what it was. I see, I see. And I didn’t know··· I didn’t know··· Ah···.”

Count Lichten was heartbroken.

Now he understood why his son had hidden himself so much.

He must have felt he couldn’t trust anyone, having to endure with such a significant weakness.

The Count felt ashamed of himself for not knowing his son’s great struggles.

“But it’s okay.”

Zion continued in an indifferent tone.

“It’s not like I have a physical disability because I can’t wield mana, and there are many capable people around me. I have Lilith for magic, and Lucia is right here.”

As he said that, Zion subtly took Lucia’s hand.

Lucia’s face flushed red at the unexpected gesture, but she didn’t pull her hand away.

‘Magic is important, but Lucia’s real strength lies elsewhere. I need to develop that from now on.’

In the novel, Lucia suffered from severe PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder] and showed unstable behavior because of this Zion Claussen.

But this time, it’s different.

She’s by his side instead of Kim Yoo-hyun, who was indecisive about women, and he knows what her true talent is.

“Hey! Why don’t you hold my hand? Hold my hand too! Hand, hand, hand!”

Lilith flapped her hands as if demanding him to hold them.

She looked like a cat rushing over and hissing when its owner petted another pet, and Zion burst into laughter.

“Anyway, I’m fine. I’m actually worried because it seems like I’ll have too much to do from now on.”

He was planning to create a proper mess.

He thought it would be wise to only touch the parts that followed the novel’s flow, but somehow, the story was getting twisted in all directions.

If that was the butterfly effect of him becoming Zion, if a single flap of his wings would turn into a typhoon, then Zion thought it would be better to start with a typhoon from the beginning.

Leaving Count Lichten, who couldn’t hide his heavy expression despite Zion’s comfort, Zion left the room.

Normally, Lilith and Lucia would have stuck to him right away, but he left them behind after throwing them the bait of discussing ‘magic’ together.

“Kim Yoo-hyun.”

After walking down the hallway for a while, Zion stopped abruptly and spoke.

The man who had been following him at a distance, suppressing his presence, stopped as well.

“You know what you did wrong, right?”

“···.”

“I clearly told you to stop the enemy’s knights. If they took the rear of the main force, we would be split in half and melt away like broken ice.”

“···.”

“I admit that the female knight you faced was strong, and that capturing her was more important. But with your skills, you could have held all of the enemy knights, including her, right?”

“···How can you be so sure?”

Kim Yoo-hyun finally spoke.

Zion let out a light sigh and turned slightly.

“Lilith told me. She said you’re quite strong. She said that even though you struggled a bit, you could have faced all of the enemy knights at that time.”

“I just wanted to fight a strong opponent.”

“Don’t think that kind of excuse will work on the battlefield.”

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not your subordinate, nor am I a soldier or knight of this place; I’m just a guest.”

“Don’t misunderstand. Good. I’ll make sure to return those words to you right now.”

Zion turned completely and stood facing Kim Yoo-hyun.

He didn’t care about Kim Yoo-hyun’s cold, eerie gaze.

“You’re the one who’s misunderstanding, Kim Yoo-hyun.”

“···What did you say?”

“You’re mistaken if you think you can get away with the excuse that you enjoy fighting, and that you can hide behind your rough and violent swordsmanship. Deep down, you don’t want to kill anyone, do you?”

For a moment, sparks flew from Kim Yoo-hyun’s eyes.

His right hand moved slightly, as if threatening to draw his sword if Zion said another word.

But Zion didn’t stop.

“I’m saying this because it seems like you’re hiding your hesitation and deluding yourself into thinking you enjoy fighting, Kim Yoo-hyun. If you really don’t want to kill, it’s better to swing your sword without hesitation at important moments. If you keep hesitating, your people will be the first to die.”

Kim Yoo-hyun, who always showed a cold-blooded demeanor and was called the iron-blooded man by the heroines.

But in reality, his inner self was filled with a reluctance to kill and a fear of the fading identity of Kim Yoo-hyun.

Because of that, he hesitated to kill someone and had to watch his friends and his people die before his eyes.

Some readers called such a protagonist a cancer, and others called him a kid, but Zion thought that if an ordinary person suddenly fell into a strange world and was forced to take up a sword, no matter how talented or how hard they tried, they would have no choice but to be like that.

“You speak as if you know everything, Young Master.”

Kim Yoo-hyun spoke in a voice that was cold with anger.

“I’ve wandered countless places where death and life are intertwined. Are you saying that to me after living a comfortable life in a safe place and experiencing such a tragedy only once?”

“As you said, maybe I’m similar to you. But I know this one thing for sure.”

“What is it?”

“I’m not a protagonist who has to give lessons or inspire. I’m not a good guy. I’m closer to being a bad guy. So there’s no need to hesitate. I just want to live, and I want to live and enjoy what I’ve achieved with my people. So, to live, I’m going to do whatever it takes from now on.

“Young Master! Young Master!”

The Lion Knights Commander’s urgent voice came from the end of the hallway.

It seemed that what he had expected had happened.

“I’m here, Commander. What’s wrong?”

“It’s a disaster. According to the report that just came in, the forces of the Nudia Kingdom have just crossed the border.”

“···I thought that would be the end of it, but I guess not.”

“It seems they were already preparing another force.”

Normally, Nudia, which had suffered a massive blow, should not have moved for a while.

But they immediately reorganized their forces and pushed back in reverse.

It was as if they were preparing a second attack force.

“This isn’t good. We haven’t been back to the castle for long, and half of our soldiers are injured.”

“Right now, the Count···.”

“Commander.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“Do you happen to have a stringed instrument in the castle?”

“···Excuse me?”

The Lion Knights Commander had a bewildered expression.

The enemy had crossed the border, but why was he suddenly looking for an instrument!

“Go find one for me. And I’ll go see my father separately.”

“Young Master, what are you thinking?”

“Who knows?”

Zion chuckled and moved his feet.

Now that he had decided to survive properly, all that was left was to put it into action.

‘Even if I have a zither, I don’t have a fan, so I wonder if it will look cool!’

The author, who was inspired by his comment, used this event once later.

The start of a chicken game to see who was the biggest coward.