The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 102

102. Anyang Station: All-Out War (3)

A battle between Players.

It was like a large-scale event orchestrated by the system’s administrators.

To the ‘Beings,’ a bloody war between ordinary people held little appeal. It was neither fun nor interesting.

Such battles had countless precedents in human history; they could simply ‘replay’ them.

Therefore, this moment was significant.

And, the moment Jin Jaehee’s silver sword was swung at the Haetae.

Numerous ‘Beings’ cheered.

* * *

The Haetae’s body began to vibrate.

The severed pieces of flesh gathered one by one, reforming into a whole.

The monster, its body restored piece by piece, quickly revived and stood before Jin Jaehee.

“…….”

Even though the monster had revived, Jin Jaehee didn’t even blink. Instead, she launched her next attack.

This time, her sword aimed for the Haetae’s neck.

Seeing this, the Haetae blocked with its right arm. Jaehee’s blade pierced straight into the Haetae’s thick forearm.

Thwack!

Blocking a sword with a hand.

It seemed an impossible feat, but the Haetae accomplished it.

It seemed to have chosen to sacrifice its right arm rather than its neck.

In reality, Jin Jaehee’s blade had cut through the Haetae’s right arm and was now embedded in the monster’s armpit.

However, the Haetae showed no sign of pain as it swung its double-edged saw at her.

Whirr-! Thwack!!!

The space where she had been standing was split in two.

Jin Jaehee instantly leaned forward to evade.

But the monster’s attack did not stop.

Each time it attacked, another hand stretched out from the Haetae’s severed right hand.

Whirr-!

‘……The split right hand?’

Thump-!

The monster’s newly grown hand instantly grabbed Jin Jaehee, who had lost her balance.

Jaehee tried to break free, but it was no use.

It was a grip like a bear’s.

The Haetae cocked back the double-edged saw it held in its other hand.

It intended to cut through Jin Jaehee and its own right arm in one swift motion.

And it did just that.

With the sound of air being torn apart, the monstrous saw blade cut through the Haetae’s right arm and Jin Jaehee.

Whirr-! Slice-!

“…….”

But Jin Jaehee’s figure was an illusion. Jin Jaehee appeared behind the Haetae, who was looking around to find her after she disappeared.

With a chilling gaze, she slashed the Haetae’s back.

Slash-! Slice-!

A large, diagonal wound opened up on the Haetae’s broad back.

Furthermore, her strike, which had pierced through the monster’s back, collided with the exterior wall of a building, causing it to collapse.

Rumble……! Crrr…….

The Silver Star Sword is an S-class artifact that can cut through anything.

Its true potential had not yet been fully realized due to her lack of proficiency.

Thanks to that, the Haetae was able to move again.

The monster raised its massive arm and swung it, and Jaehee blocked it with her blade.

It was a flawless defense, but Jaehee couldn’t help but be pushed back by the monster’s immense power.

Jin Jaehee’s body soared into the air and flew towards the battlefield where warriors and soldiers were entangled, crashing into a scrap car in a distant corner.

Bang-!

“…….”

Swish-.

Wiping the blood flowing from her lips with her hand, Jaehee stood up.

In her blurred vision, the Haetae was striding towards Jin Jaehee with heavy steps.

Holding a massive double-edged saw in one hand, it indiscriminately sliced through anything in sight, whether it was a soldier or a warrior.

Even so, the Haetae’s gaze was fixed on Jin Jaehee.

‘……Considerable skill. Probably a core Player from Doan [a rival faction].’

She gripped her sword again and assumed a stance.

It was the basic stance of swordsmanship.

If the Haetae was a core Player from Doan, she had to capture it here.

Even capturing just one Player would be a huge advantage for Mangyeong [Jaehee’s faction].

A battle between Players is like a contest of the combat power of both forces.

To use an analogy from chess, it’s not just ordinary pawns, but cannons, knights, rooks, etc.

The death of a core Player in a force means that its strength is weakened by that much.

In the end, the side with more Players and a stronger army will win this league [a competition between factions].

Therefore, Jin Jaehee had to win at all costs.

She had to turn the tide of the battle by defeating that monster.

Thump…… Thump…… Thump……!

“…….”

The Haetae walked up to Jin Jaehee and stood before her.

A gigantic and massive physique.

The monster’s body was soaked in the blood of warriors and soldiers.

The battlefield continued to be a scene of bloody clashes, and Jin Jaehee gripped her sword tightly.

Whoosh.

To ordinary people, it just looked like Jin Jaehee gripped and released the handle of her sword with her right hand.

But in that brief moment, Jaehee put her heart and soul into slashing the Haetae’s body.

No matter how strong the Haetae was, Jin Jaehee was a Regressor [someone who has returned from the future].

There was no way an ordinary Player could withstand an all-out attack from a Regressor.

The Haetae’s upper body was slashed diagonally and collapsed to the ground.

Rumble……!

The monster’s body was completely bisected.

Jin Jaehee turned her back on the separated body and walked forward.

It was to defeat the remaining warriors of Doan and win the battle.

But this time as well, the Haetae began to move again.

Flick-. Flicker…… Flick-.

Black threads began to connect with each other from the Haetae’s upper body.

And soon, the Haetae stood up and looked down at Jaehee again.

‘……Threads?’

A strange light flickered in Jin Jaehee’s eyes.

How on earth? She had clearly cut it perfectly, so how could it come back to life?

At that moment, she realized one thing.

The Silver Star Sword can cut through anything, but that doesn’t mean it’s an instant kill.

It was then.

Faint threads flew in from the side.

Flicker-. Snatch!

The threads instantly snatched Jin Jaehee and gripped her.

“……Huh?!”

The Haetae, who had somehow risen again, held up its double-edged saw and tried to cut Jin Jaehee.

But there was no way she would just stand still. She used her strength to sever the threads attached to her body.

The threads could be cut somehow if she exerted force.

But the threads that the Haetae spewed out kept flying in endlessly.

Flick flick- Flick-!!!

Black threads flying in from all directions.

They were called black ‘threads,’ but they were ridiculously thin and invisible to the eye.

The Mangyeong soldiers and Doan warriors who were hit by those black threads collapsed helplessly.

Sharp threads that could slice through the skin of ordinary people like pudding just by touching it.

Such deadly threads were spewing out all over the battlefield.

Afterward, the Haetae rushed at Jin Jaehee.

‘Is its entire body made of threads? If not…… Could there be a manipulator?’

Snip, snip, snip.

The threads continued to graze Jin Jaehee’s skin. Each time, small and large wounds appeared.

Before long, her entire body was covered in blood due to the cuts.

There are over 5,000 types of artifacts that have been identified.

No matter how much of a Regressor Jin Jaehee was, she couldn’t know all of their abilities.

But there was a way out.

Jin Jaehee stopped moving and drew her second Silver Star Sword.

Crrr……!

Now, she held two Silver Star Swords in both hands.

And a silver cross-shaped mark appeared on her cheek.

Players can control and upgrade their abilities.

, which allows the use of basic artifact abilities.

, where the performance is greatly enhanced from the basic abilities.

Even Jin Jaehee didn’t know about the existence of yet.

The league is now in its second year.

In just two years, Jin Jaehee had reached .

In her previous life, she was only able to manifest in her fifth year, so this was a considerably rapid growth.

And ordinary Players are no match for a Player who has unlocked .

The reason is simple.

Because they are overwhelmingly strong.

Jin Jaehee, who had entered Awakening 1, stared at the Haetae with cold eyes.

‘I don’t know what that monster’s identity is. But first, I’ll cut it all to pieces.’

Slash slash slash slash slash slash slash slash slash slash slash-!!!!!!

“…….”

Jin Jaehee swung her silver swords in all directions, instantly cutting down all the flying threads.

The blades of the silver swords were about to fall out due to the overwhelming force of the attacks.

The onslaught of the awakened stage attack engulfed the Haetae in front of her. The monster’s body was indiscriminately cut to pieces, disintegrated like powder, and scattered in all directions.

Now, it was impossible to regenerate by connecting it with threads.

“Phew-ha……!”

Jaehee, who had exhausted her strength, took a deep, ragged breath.

Her mind was dizzy, and all the bones in her body ached as if they were about to shatter. Her hands were still crossed, gripping the silver swords with their blades missing.

Although she had defeated the enemy, Jin Jaehee did not let her guard down. She turned her head to survey the surrounding situation and looked at the monster’s corpse.

‘……No blood is flowing.’

Even though the Haetae had been torn to pieces by countless sword strikes and died, there wasn’t even a drop of blood or a bloodstain around it.

This meant only one thing.

‘From the beginning, that monster wasn’t human.’

From experience, there was something else that left such traces when cut.

A corpse or a doll.

Based on the evidence so far, the Haetae’s body must have been a puppet doll made of threads.

‘If so, then the main body must be somewhere else.’

Jaehee looked around.

‘Where is it……?’

Three warriors who were caught up in Jaehee’s attack and torn to pieces.

Warriors and soldiers pointing knives at each other and fighting on the ground.

A bleeding soldier climbing on top of a passenger car tank and hammering away.

Warriors gathering in groups of three and stabbing spears into already fallen soldiers.

Some warriors cowering and hiding under scrap cars.

A warrior rushing at her but soon being stopped by a soldier.

The Haetae’s manipulator was nowhere to be seen.

At that moment, Jaehee saw the finely cut black threads moving somewhere.

It was in the direction of Doan’s gathering place.

‘Was it being controlled from a considerable distance? If so.’

Tap-!

She immediately left the battlefield.

‘I have to go as high as possible.’

Only then can she figure out the destination of the threads.

But there wasn’t enough time to climb the building using the stairs.

That’s why Jin Jaehee shouted.

“Hey-!!!”

To Choi Hyunji.

Her voice echoed through the warriors and soldiers in the midst of battle.

Startled, Choi Hyunji instinctively raised her head like a meerkat.

“Huh?”

“Buoyant material!”

Choi Hyunji flinched for a moment at the sudden use of informal language.

And.

“Uh…… What……? Buoyant…… Material? Hey?”

Suddenly, buoyant material.

Choi Hyunji herself had never said it. But looking at her eyes, Jin Jaehee seemed to already know Choi Hyunji’s skill.

She was pointing her finger at the sky.

Soon, Choi Hyunji realized Jin Jaehee’s intention and took out the black substance.

Swish- Chwaak!

Choi Hyunji’s black substance quickly approached Jin Jaehee and created a foothold, and she stepped on it and ascended into the sky.

‘Good. At this rate. I can avoid our allies’ defense lines too.’

Jin Jaehee lowered her hand to her waist.

At the same time, she leaned her upper body slightly.

Then, another Silver Star Sword was gripped in her hand.

A Player’s abilities are not infinite.

The same goes for Jin Jaehee.

Perhaps this attack will exhaust all of her mental strength.

‘……Accurately slash in the direction the threads are flowing.’

The awakened power was already on a different level than it was two years ago.

The monsters wouldn’t know about the existence of this power.

After confirming the direction in which the black threads were gathering, Jin Jaehee swung her sword as it was.

Whoosh-!

It was a simple movement, but the spectacle created by that simple movement was by no means simple.

Slash slash slash-! Slice-!

The entire upper floors of all the buildings in front were cut off.

The cut-off remains of the buildings poured down on the alleys.

Those remains fell on the Doan warriors who were ambushing in the alleys.

“Ugh…… Ughhhh!!!!”

“Kyaaaaaaack-!”

“Gyaaaaaaaaack-!”

Thump, Rumble, Thump!!!

The strike that had cut off several buildings at the waist continued to extend and flew in the direction where the threads were gathering.

Jin Jaehee, who had exhausted all of her strength, slumped down on Choi Hyunji’s buoyant material.

“Hoo…… Hoo…… Hoo…… Hook…….”

Even while letting out faint groans, her eyes shone coldly as she gazed at the direction in which the strike had flown.

The battle continued, and the victory or defeat had not yet been decided.

And the enemy’s offensive was still fierce.

But there was no need to worry.

The Doan advance party without a Player would be nothing more than a disorganized rabble.

And now that the Player had been eliminated, Mangyeong’s total counterattack, led by Choi Hyunji, would begin.

Then Choi Hyunji appeared.

She looked at Jin Jaehee, who had collapsed powerlessly.

She was only panting, unable to even answer, having exhausted so much strength.

Choi Hyunji said nonchalantly to Jaehee in that state.

“Yeah, yeah…… Little sis.”

“Hoo, Hoo, Hoo…….”

Choi Hyunji activated her artifact.

Then, the black substance began to envelop her arm.

“……I’ll earn my cola money.”

Flick-.

Choi Hyunji threw the can of cola she was holding into the air.

Tap-.

But it wasn’t the cola that fell to the ground first, but Choi Hyunji.

The ensuing Choi Hyunji’s one-sided massacre devastated the enemy’s main force.

(To be continued in the next episode)