Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 419

419

I Am Different From You

While heading from Nudia to the Holy Prussen, Zion continued to receive reports.

The development near the border, which had been steadily progressing even before the final battle, continued through the week of rest before departing for the Holy Prussen, and the month it took to reach their destination today.

The reports indicated that everything had progressed very quickly in that short amount of time.

Especially while Nudia was focused on the recently reclaimed royal palace, Zion initially ordered the influence of Klausen to be exerted discreetly, and then, once he judged that the royal palace was somewhat organized, almost openly as the Nudia royal family returned to the palace.

‘Nudia probably wants to show that the kingdom is stable after finishing the palace cleanup and tell the people to return to their places.

But it won’t be that easy.’

The battle in Nudia was over, but the war was not.

Even now, the Allied forces were not returning to their respective homelands but advancing towards the Holy Prussen.

Considering that most of the refugees were from the east and south, they would want to stay as far away from the horrors of war as possible, and in that sense, the area near the border, the farthest from the war, was the most reliable place for them.

Moreover, Klausen’s soldiers treated them much more warmly than the soldiers of Nudia proper, taking care of them and providing generous support, so they couldn’t help but harbor vague expectations from the helping hand they received in those difficult circumstances.

‘That’s why I dragged it out.’

Zion slowed down the movement of the army, delaying Nudia’s recapture of the royal palace by several days. Even after that, he made sure the march was never too strenuous, moving in a flamboyant and deliberate manner as if advertising that the war was not yet over.

If only the Hispana and Nudia forces were here, the Nudia officials might have given sidelong glances, hinting that it would be better to get the army into the Holy Prussen quickly and end the war.

However, the northern warriors, beastmen, and even elves were also present.

Though their origins or races differed, they all considered themselves descendants of light and comrades who had fought bravely against the celestials, so they were busy building friendships with each other while heading to the Holy Prussen.

‘They won the battle, the enemies ran away with their tails between their legs, and when they look around, they see strange people riding horses, beastmen beside them, and elves behind them, so the Nudia soldiers and command staff will think the slower march is a good thing.

Building friendships is essential in the military, after all.’

Instead of being moved by reading the biography of Admiral Yi Sun-sin [a famous Korean admiral] as a child, Zion learned a lesson.

In the military, you need to get in line and make friends, or you’ll be in trouble.

So, Zion wanted to applaud them, seeing them doing such a righteous thing.

—Some villages are already completed.

Security is stable, and with the hope and support poured in, it’s burning like firewood thrown into a dying fire.

—

A letter from the Margrave of Lichten, who had been silently supporting as always while his son was achieving another great victory on the battlefield.

Originally, it should have been filled with worries about his son wandering the battlefields, but now he seemed to have acknowledged how pointless it was to worry about Zion, and the worries had greatly decreased.

Of course, he still couldn’t erase the parental concern of ‘Take care of yourself.’

—Once this war is over, I will hand over the Margrave title to you, whether you accept it or not.

So please, I beg you, stop wandering around and stay home for a while.

I trust you’re not saying this now because I told you to stay home too much when you were young and go out and do something.

—

It’s ending this time anyway, Father.

There’s nothing more to do now.

As far as I know.

Zion folded the Margrave of Lichten’s letter neatly and put it in his pocket.

“Who is it?”

“Father.”

“Ah.”

It was Kim Yoo-hyun, not Rishiki, who spoke to Zion.

Originally, he should have been suffering from Ekaterina today as well, but he was saved a few days ago.

Unable to endure, Kim Yoo-hyun almost begged Lilith to take Ekaterina off his hands.

He was the strongest in the world, pleading to deal with that crazy woman for even a few days, saying that this wasn’t right for him either.

Unlike Shaiella, who showed some conscience and came to torment him every four days, Ekaterina tormented Kim Yoo-hyun every morning and evening.

Asking him to fight, to beat her up thoroughly, to show her his strength.

‘I’m going crazy.’

He was really angry, and at one point, Kim Yoo-hyun even drew his sword, contemplating, ‘Should I kill her?’

However, he was secretly weak to those with whom he had formed a bond, so he couldn’t bring himself to do it and just groaned, having no choice but to beat up Ekaterina.

Clearly, he was the one hitting and wielding the sword, causing injuries, but somehow he was the one suffering, and he was starting to get tired of it, so he eventually requested rescue from Zion.

—Ask Lilith.

I gave her some protein yesterday, so she’ll be in great shape now.

—

Lilith was glowing, her skin glistening overnight from how much protein she had been fed.

Originally, she was going to refrain from it until the war was over, but the women, thinking that it was all over now, took turns openly seducing him whenever they had the chance.

Zion wasn’t a stone, nor was he a selectively impotent man like Kim Yoo-hyun; he was just a human man with a slightly above-average brain.

In that situation, how could he just watch as women with outstanding beauty wagged their tails right in front of him!

Of course, he had to let them down beautifully and eat them all up without leaving a single drop.

—Hmm, I don’t like punishing crazy lizards.

But I ate a lot, so I should do some work, right?

That way, I’ll have a reason to be filled up again later!

—

Lilith flew off happily, saying she had a good opportunity.

Ekaterina pouted, saying it wasn’t Kim Yoo-hyun, but she reluctantly put aside her disappointment, knowing that the highest-ranking demons were also a delicacy, and went far away to cause a ruckus before returning.

“He is a good man.

The Margrave is.”

“Too good for a son like him.”

Even Kim Yoo-hyun acknowledged him, but he was the Margrave who was killed by his own son.

In the novel, he would have been shedding tears of blood in his grave, watching the completely collapsed Hispana, but now that everything had changed, he was a father nagging his son to please come home.

‘If you look closely, this Zion Klausen guy had a decent brain, but his personality was messed up.

He had a huge inferiority complex, was jealous, narrow-minded, and had so many problems.’

If his body was crippled and his brain was also crippled, he wouldn’t have tormented Kim Yoo-hyun so much.

The character Zion Klausen grew tremendously because of one man’s hatred, who was determined to follow Kim Yoo-hyun, whom he considered an enemy, to the ends of hell.

“I don’t think so.”

However, Kim Yoo-hyun suddenly said that, and Zion turned his head, saying, ‘Huh?’

“What did you say?”

“I’m talking about what you said about him being too good for you.

I don’t think that’s the case.”

“…”

“Even if you are not a saint, as you say, it is clear that you are sincere in your words to take care of your people.

That you do not waver in any situation.

That alone makes you a great person to me.”

I wonder if the owner of this body knows that you hate him so much and that you will not forgive this body and kill it.

Zion thought, staring at Kim Yoo-hyun, whom he had now completely made into a helper.

“Don’t be mistaken.

I’m just an ordinary person, even if you’re not.

I’m just someone who takes advantage of people’s weaknesses and thinks more about myself and those around me than others.

If I had to classify myself, I’d say I’m closer to an evil person.”

“Good and evil are relative, aren’t they?

I may be the most evil being in the world to my enemies, but I’m called the Sword of Hispana to those around me.”

It seems that his eloquence has increased without him knowing it, as he has been with me.

Zion inwardly sighed at Kim Yoo-hyun’s surprisingly logical words.

“It was short but long.

Even I didn’t think I would change like this in about two years.

I think it’s been a long time since I’ve trusted someone like this.”

“The word ‘long time’ means that you used to be like that.

Are you going to tell me about your past?”

For the record, Zion had not said a word about the Murim world [a world of martial arts] since crossing over to this world.

He had hidden his past so thoroughly that he had not even told Lucia, to whom he had given his body and mind, about that part.

‘For Kim Yoo-hyun, that past is his fault, his weakness, a humiliating memory he wants to forget, and his ugly self.

He doesn’t even want to think about it.

There were dozens of times more bad things than good things.’

If Kim Yoo-hyun were to talk about his past, it might be worth seeing.

Of course, it was a bit awkward that the person he was telling the story to was Zion, not Eos or other women.

“Are you curious?”

Hey, you.

Who would want to ask if you make that kind of face while asking if I’m curious?

Anyway, his martial prowess is fraudulent, but I don’t know why his mentality is so weak.

Eos didn’t die, and all the other close people are fine, but if he shows such a weak side, it will be tiring for me, who has to wield the sword called Kim Yoo-hyun!

“No.”

I already know all the stories anyway.

More than 80% of them are depressing, regrettable, and frustrating past stories.

In this world, Kim Yoo-hyun only fed the readers sweet potatoes [a metaphor for frustrating situations] when it came to thinking or making decisions, but in the Murim world, he was weak and trusted people too easily, so he only fed the readers sweet potatoes to the point of madness.

Zion, who was also a reader before Zion Klausen, didn’t want to hear those frustrating stories again.

He would probably shout, ‘Hey, you idiot!’ at Kim Yoo-hyun while listening.

“Why are you interested in other people’s pasts?

I don’t want to hear it even if you tell me.

I feel like I’m just adding another debt.

I feel like I have to tell my story too.”

“You don’t have to.”

“That’s enough.

Don’t talk about it.

You should just bury your past in the past.

If there is a memory, you can take it out of your memory and look at it for a while when you are having a hard time, but let’s not think about the hard stories.

I don’t understand why you would try to think about the hard times when it’s hard to live like this now.”

“Some people say they learn a lesson from it.”

“Most people only get a sense of defeat and deprivation from it.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not a magnanimous person, so if I were to recall my past, I would probably slap myself in the head.”

Zion’s last words were to lighten the slightly heavy atmosphere.

Kim Yoo-hyun, who noticed that, deliberately wore an exaggerated smile.

Of course, Zion scolded him for deliberately smiling for no reason.

“What happens now?”

Zion realized that this was a question of whether he should step up and kill them all again.

Sha had not yet joined this side, and despite suffering such a crushing defeat, quite a few people were holed up in the sanctuary, shouting that they would rather fight and die for the light than be captured alive by the sinners and suffer humiliation.

If the top-ranking celestial, except for Sha, was now the only one left, but that one was still a threatening force, everything would be clean if Kim Yoo-hyun stepped up.

“What do you want to do?”

Zion deliberately returned the answer to Kim Yoo-hyun.

Now that Kim Yoo-hyun had completely entered the center of Hispana, breaking away from the outskirts, he had to be able to confidently express his opinions at times.

“If you give me a boring answer like ‘I’ll do as I please,’ I’ll call Lilith right away.

I’ll tell her that you’ve decided to have a deep relationship with Ekaterina again.”

“Please bear with me.”

Kim Yoo-hyun couldn’t bring himself to be cruel enough to kill Ekaterina, and it wasn’t enjoyable to keep slashing and beating her up, so he asked for a little rest.

After hearing Zion’s warning, the strongest in the world pondered for a moment before carefully opening his mouth.

“To be honest, I don’t think there’s any need to fight anymore.”

Oh?

“Why?”

“We’ve fought enough, gained enough, and lost enough.

Completely annihilating the enemies here would be good in the short term, of course, but it doesn’t suit you, Zion.”

“Doesn’t suit me?”

“That cruel appearance, that appearance of pushing the enemy without a place to retreat.”

He’s definitely grown.

It seems he roughly anticipates what Zion wants.

Should I applaud him for being so great? But that seemed like too much, so Zion decided to stop.

“Sometimes I can show a different side of myself.

What’s so good about always showing the same side?”

“There are times when you show that different side, but it’s always only been around the people close to you.

And the image you show in official settings has always been the same.

It doesn’t matter whether that’s your real self or not.

If the world accepts it as right, then it’s done.”

“I hate riddles.”

“You were the one who asked the question first.”

Kim Yoo-hyun shrugged his shoulders once and continued.

“You said I couldn’t answer that I would do as you please, but since you seem to have already made a decision, I will give that answer.

I will do as you ‘intend.’”

Our protagonist’s sense has improved a lot.

Zion smiled, muttering inwardly.

As Kim Yoo-hyun said, Zion had already thought everything through and made a decision.

All that was left was to decorate the final act of this play in a splendid manner.

And that splendor would be created not by CG [computer graphics], but by the reality created by the strongest in the world.

“Kim Yoo-hyun, sorry, but let’s use your strength one more time.

Of course, there’s absolutely no bloodshed, so don’t worry.”

—

Toc—.

When the celestial who was checking on Ru’s condition stepped forward, Sha looked at her, meaning to ask how she was.

The celestial woman replied that it was still difficult for her to even support her body.

Her physical injuries were a problem, but she was even more broken mentally.

“Okay.

Thank you for your hard work.”

After sending her back, Sha moved towards the top of the wall.

This place, called the sanctuary, was a huge fortress and castle.

The survivors screamed that they would make this the last stand, that they would all die rather than be captured alive by the sinners, expressing their will to fight.

Sha and a few celestials tried to stop them, but the celestials, elves, soldiers of the Holy Prussen, and followers of the Light, who had lost countless comrades in battle, were no longer in their right minds.

They would kill one more enemy when they came and fall for the light.

‘This is definitely not the right thing to do.’

She wanted to persuade them even now, but since there were those who were leading the army this way, it was obvious that they would not listen to her properly.

For the opponent to have led the army here meant that they would either kill them all or take the surrendered ones and use them as spoils of war.

That’s why the last remaining ones were all rushing to fight.

“Sha, Sha.”

One of the few celestials who followed her urgently spoke to her.

When Sha looked at the celestial, meaning to ask what was wrong, he opened his mouth with a gloomy look.

“The enemies have just reached the front of the sanctuary.

A large army… leading a large army.”

Finally, what was coming had come.

Thinking that, Sha tightly closed her eyes.

―――――――Author’s Note―――――――

Recommendations are always a great help!