The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 112

112. The Bet

The sound of cheers echoed throughout the theater.

Beings were ecstatic about Mankyung’s victory and the emergence of a new star.

However, among them, one being couldn’t smile.

“…Why?”

K asked, staring at the screen.

When the Absolute One didn’t answer, K turned around and repeated the question.

“I can’t understand it. How dare a mere human defy my scenario…! And an ability awakening, Absolute One? Isn’t that a violation of the rules?”

K trembled as K looked at the Absolute One.

The Absolute One remained seated on the throne, watching the screen intently.

Then, K chuckled.

A very sweet and alluring laugh echoed inside the VIP room.

The Absolute One clapped slowly, praising K.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

“No. Excellent work, K. You have a very keen eye. Your choice of that man, your leadership in this war, and your orchestration of this situation are all excellent. The process doesn’t matter. Whether it’s a failure or a success, this scenario you’ve created is a truly remarkable achievement. Ah, how can a human be like this? Breaking a scenario designed by a demigod and achieving feats that even the gods couldn’t foresee. Hahaha.”

The Absolute One stood up from the seat.

Then, K slowly walked to the Absolute One’s side and watched the screen.

They were silent for a while.

The Absolute One spoke first.

“Are you upset?”

“……”

“Are you upset that a mere human has seen through your scenario?”

“……”

K clenched K’s fist.

And K answered carefully.

“…Yes. I am upset.”

“Don’t worry, K. Look at the results you’ve achieved.”

The beings were cheering enthusiastically.

Regardless of the process, K’s streaming service was a huge hit.

Nevertheless, K couldn’t quite accept it.

Because K’s plan had been perfect.

The possibility of Park Ji-soo’s defeat had never even been considered.

It hadn’t mattered how solid Mankyung’s Bisan-dong defense line was.

Given enough time, the player from Dongan could have swept away Mankyung’s defense line entirely.

But a new Awakened appeared in Mankyung.

Even though this was a clear violation of the rules, the Absolute One had remained silent.

That was the cause of the first setback, and the second was Park Ji-soo’s inaction.

‘Why, why? Why on earth? Why? Why?’

Park Ji-soo didn’t move.

It was beyond K’s expectations.

In fact, even those who supported Park Ji-soo were greatly disappointed, and some even left the stadium.

Park Ji-soo was a key player with core abilities within the league.

K was supposed to play a key role in the final round, where the biggest battles would take place.

That was how K’s main scenario for Park Ji-soo was designed.

K had cherished Park Ji-soo and guided K to the third round, designing K to absorb Kang Si-on and ‘develop’.

In the middle of the first round, the administrator intervened to save Park Ji-soo from being assaulted, all to make K the top predator in the scenario.

Park Ji-soo’s ability might not have been the strongest, but K had the greatest efficiency.

From the beginning, Park Ji-soo was only interested in K’s own pleasure, so K wanted K to sacrifice Kang Si-on and awaken.

If that had happened, Park Ji-soo could have grown into a top predator.

But the story didn’t go as K intended.

This was the first time in the league’s history of thousands of years.

‘….’

K was angry.

K’s scenario had been completely blocked by an inferior race, less than a cockroach.

Then the Absolute One said.

“Let’s make a bet.”

It was a rare proposal from the Absolute One.

K quickly composed K’s expression and looked up at the Absolute One.

Eagle-like, fierce eyes were looking down at K.

“Eliminate that person within the third round.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“If you eliminate that man from the league within the third round, I will give you an upper-level letter.”

“Upper…?”

A, B, C.

The upper-level letter class held an absolute position even within the league.

It was an area that all managers desired, and a position where they could receive tremendous benefits from the Management Bureau.

K had no reason to refuse.

The upper-level letter was a class that even managers who had served here for thousands of years could not achieve.

Moreover, the Absolute One’s proposal to eliminate Kang Si-on.

K accepted it as a test from the Absolute One.

In fact, if a manager set K’s mind to it, eliminating one human from the league was easy.

K knelt before the Absolute One.

“Certainly.”

A manager eliminates a player.

This was the first time in the league’s history of thousands of years.

Instead, the Absolute One set one condition.

“But if you lose, give up your eternal life.”

K flinched at the Absolute One’s voice.

“I look forward to it.”

The Absolute One turned around and walked away, ending those words.

For a manager, giving up eternal life meant death.

Death has different values for each dimension’s beings.

Just as the value of a cockroach’s life is different from the value of a puppy’s life.

The difference between the value of a human’s life and the value of a manager’s life was even greater.

But K had no intention of refusing.

Because it was a bet K couldn’t lose.

“Yes.”

K’s bright red lips twitched.

* * *

Three days had passed since the Battle of Bisan-dong.

Mankyung was under reconstruction, and the pursuit team did not stop advancing into Dongan across the Anyangcheon Stream.

Today, Kang Si-on’s unit captured Buheung High School, which was Park Ji-soo’s forward base, and now the advance team has arrived near the Beomgye Station defense line.

Kang Si-on returned to Ilbeonga.

Walking among the citizens who were restoring the city, K asked the Chief of Order.

“Did you find Park Ji-soo?”

“We are doing our best.”

“What about the number of captured enemies?”

“Approximately 2,000. As you ordered, they are all locked up in schools.”

“What about handcuffs? Are they not enough?”

“We are using cable ties to replace the insufficient quantity.”

Kang Si-on walked with the Chief of Order and looked at the warriors huddled together in the alley.

All of them had their hands tied and were bound in units of 10.

The soldiers mocked those warriors.

“Ptoo-!”

“Damn warrior bastards!”

“You’re worse than beasts. Here, you must be thirsty. Open your mouths~ Drinks are coming in~”

Gurgle-.

“Hehehe. Hey, aim for the mouth. Why are you so weak?”

“Be quiet. This year has a bad look in K’s eyes. I’ll shoot K in the eyes. Huh? Don’t close your eyes? Don’t close them. Look at me again like you did earlier.”

The captured warriors had no choice but to endure without saying anything.

The soldiers had deep resentment towards the warriors. That’s why they continued to harass them.

Kang Si-on and the Chief of Order stopped there for a moment and watched them.

Then, the soldier who had been giggling was startled to find the lord and jumped up.

“Hey, hey, hey! Hey! Lord. Lord!”

“How is it~ Is it cool~ Hehehe. What, what?! Oh! L, Lord!”

Flutter-.

The soldiers who had been mocking the warriors until just now approached Kang Si-on in an orderly manner and bowed their heads.

They trembled, afraid of being scolded.

“……”

“……”

But Kang Si-on had no intention of criticizing their actions.

However, the prisoners of war captured would later become citizens of Mankyung.

Each of them would become a valuable labor force, so their lives had to be spared.

At the same time, the soldiers’ fatigue and stress, hostility and resentment towards the warriors had to be relieved.

If they could relieve their minds by doing such things, it was right to let them do so.

In a way, that was the reward for the soldiers.

But there had to be a certain line.

Sexual crimes, sadistic violence, and torture, etc., would be prevented in advance by discussing with the Chief of Order.

After going through appropriate procedures, the prisoners would live in Mankyung in the future. No, now in the integrated Anyang City, as second-class citizens.

Second-class citizens would be used as labor for the development of power by differentiating them from existing Mankyung residents.

Thud.

Kang Si-on replaced the answer by placing K’s hand on the soldier’s shoulder.

Then K walked away again.

* * *

The warriors retreated across the Anyangcheon Stream to Dongan-gu.

Their defeat was nothing short of miserable.

Because they were too busy running away without even having the basic formations of an army.

The war had now reached its end.

All that remained was to subdue the remnants and capture Park Ji-soo.

Two days had passed since the victory in the Battle of Bisan-dong.

The status of war damage in Mankyung was roughly organized.

●Total casualties: 2,316 people:

1,059 dead, 756 injured, 501 missing.

●Damage status:

1 ogre, 103 crossbows and bows, 4,512 bolts and arrows, 1,045 assault weapons, 854 Molotov cocktails, 89 shields.

The reason why Mankyung’s clerks were able to produce accurate statistics like this was thanks to the Chief of Order’s natural work ability.

Because K had accurate figures for weapons and resources in advance, K was able to calculate by subtracting the amount that was lost after the battle.

This information was immediately conveyed to Lord Kang Si-on.

“Most of the injured are unable to fight and many are on the verge of death.”

“……”

Kang Si-on and the Chief of Order were talking in front of the ogre’s corpse, which had crashed into a building and died.

“Currently, there are approximately 3,500 available troops, and the remaining troops are currently returning to Mankyung to rest.”

Flip-.

Si-on flipped through the paper clipped to the chart and continued to listen to the report.

K was surrounded by escorts.

This was to protect the lord from possible enemy snipers.

“General Commander Choi Myung-joon is currently leading an elite force beyond Bisan and advancing to the vicinity of Beomgye Station, and Jin Jae-hee is waiting behind K.”

Flip-.

Si-on flipped the paper again.

The list of the dead was densely written.

This was also the work of the Chief of Order.

There are more than 30 clerks directly under the Chief of Order alone.

The clerks collect all management matters and information belonging to the force in this way, write the information on paper, and report it to the lord.

The reason they were able to process such a vast amount of information was because they remained inside the police station and handled office work instead of fighting.

“When will you attack again?”

The Chief of Order asked Si-on.

Si-on covered the chart again and handed it to K, and the Chief of Order politely received the chart from Si-on.

Si-on looked at K and opened K’s mouth.

“I have to do it right away. There won’t be any problems. Dongan is now at the level of annihilation, and there is no power left to defend against our attack force. I will annihilate them all within a week and bring Park Ji-soo’s head.”

“…Wouldn’t it be better to accept surrender instead? Further civilian damage will put a strain on maintaining the force in the future.”

Si-on nodded at the Chief of Order’s opinion.

“That would be the best. But I don’t think Park Ji-soo will surrender.”

The Chief of Order was convinced by Si-on’s words.

Because K had also seen Park Ji-soo.

Park Ji-soo is by no means someone who would easily bow K’s head to others.

K will fight to the end and try to protect Beomgye.

To put it nicely, K has K’s own sense of responsibility, and to put it badly, K is just stubborn.

But it doesn’t matter what Park Ji-soo does.

Kang Si-on guaranteed it.

The war is over.

“Don’t worry. The war is over. Chief, please focus on rebuilding the force. I will attack Beomgye with 1,000 soldiers. Return the remaining soldiers to their original positions and have them start working again as you wish.”

After the war, two things returned to the lord.

The first is war damage recovery and approval rating management.

The second would be the enormous war benefits gained by taking over Dongan.

The territory will also more than double, and everything will change, including resources, population, and weapons.

And above all, K will be able to obtain information about the ‘location of K’s younger sibling’ promised by K.

Si-on didn’t want to dawdle either.

The subjugation will continue immediately.

And the good news came quite early.

A soldier ran to Si-on from afar and knelt down.

“Park Ji-soo… Hidden place. I think I found it…!”

(Continued in the next episode)