The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 114

114. A Short Journey: Ha Yunha (2)

Early morning.

Sunlight began to filter through the ruined city.

And a woman’s piercing scream echoed between the buildings.

“Kyaaaaak-! …Ugh! Stop! Please, don’t! P-Please. Please don’t!”

“Stay still. Shh. Just be quiet.”

Thump-!

Startled, Lee Sueun threw off the coat that had been covering her and looked around, her heart pounding.

Turning her head toward the commotion, she saw a man rushing at Ha Yunha.

The man’s eyes were bloodshot and wild.

He began to tear at Ha Yunha’s top, his movements frantic.

“Stay still. I said stay still. Stay……”

“Please… I beg you. Don’t do this. Please……”

“You’re going to die anyway! You’re going to die anyway!!!”

Reacting instantly, Lee Sueun raised a wooden stick and struck the man on the head with all her might.

Thwack-!

“Cough…!”

The man cried out, blood welling as he stumbled to the side.

Then, he screamed as if in unbearable pain.

“Ughaaaaak! Son of a bitch! Seriously!”

Huffing and sobbing, Ha Yunha scrambled behind Lee Sueun, seeking protection behind her legs.

The man, with a split lip, wiped blood with the back of his hand and glared up at Lee Sueun.

“Captain… What is it? Huh? That hurt, you know.”

“…What are you doing here? Get out of here, quietly.”

Lee Sueun commanded the man, her grip tight on the wooden stick.

The man was a Warrior from Dong-an.

He glared at Lee Sueun with murderous intent.

Then, he laughed hollowly, a disturbing sound, and replied.

“What are *you* doing here, Captain? The police bastards are attacking Beomgye Station, crossing Buheung High School… What are you doing here with a kid!!! You should be fighting on the front lines! What are you doing here!!!”

“……”

The news that Kang Si-on’s army was attacking Beomgye Station hung heavy in the air.

Ha Yunha, who was hiding behind Lee Sueun, trembled at the news, but also felt a surge of hope.

Mangyeong is winning.

The fact that she stayed here and passed on information wasn’t in vain. It had made a difference.

Ha Yunha felt relieved, thinking she had helped Si-on in some small way.

At that moment, the man pulled out a knife from behind his back and aimed it at Lee Sueun.

“Captain… Playing the good guy now? I saw it myself, Captain… You killed a lot of people, didn’t you?”

“……It was the Lord’s command.”

Lee Sueun’s voice trembled, betraying her inner turmoil.

At the same time, her body was shaking. A subtle tremor that spoke volumes.

Ha Yunha, who was holding onto Lee Sueun’s clothes, could feel it clearly.

The man sneered, his expression twisted with contempt.

“So what? You couldn’t help it? Ah, no. It just means you’re the same kind of human trash as me. Who hasn’t killed anyone in this world? We can’t go to heaven anyway, and we’re definitely going to hell. Let’s have some fun.”

The man took a step towards Lee Sueun, the knife glinting menacingly in his hand.

Seeing this, Lee Sueun reached behind her and gently pushed Ha Yunha away, creating some distance. Then, she gripped the wooden stick she was holding even tighter, her knuckles white.

Lee Sueun had no intention of stepping aside. She would protect this girl, even if it cost her everything.

“Why are you doing this… Our Captain… Suddenly protecting people… Does that bring back your dead daughter? Everyone’s talking about it. You. Crying like a ghost every night? No, damn it. The kids are pissing their pants because of the old woman’s sobbing, not the monsters. Or is it something like that? Washing away your uncharacteristic guilt? Hey, you old hag. Just stick to one thing. It’s not funny.”

The man closed the distance, approaching Lee Sueun again, his words like venom.

“……”

“A villain is a villain to the end. If you understand… Old hag, step aside. I wouldn’t touch you even if you paid me.”

Lee Sueun muttered, her voice barely audible.

Just loud enough for Ha Yunha, who was right behind her, to hear.

“…Hide under the counter.”

“What the hell are you saying!”

Whoosh-!

The man rushed at Lee Sueun, wielding his knife in a wide arc.

Then, Lee Sueun screamed, her voice filled with urgency.

“Hide-!”

At her shout, Ha Yunha, understanding the danger, ran and hid under the counter.

Swish-!

The man’s knife narrowly missed Lee Sueun’s neck, a chilling near miss.

“Yeah. One of us is dying today! Huh!!!”

The man continued to swing his knife wildly, a frenzy of violence.

Ha Yunha, hidden under the counter, burrowed deeper, fear consuming her.

Then, she curled up into a ball and covered her head with both hands, trying to shut out the horror.

Cruel sounds of the struggle continued to echo from inside the store.

Ha Yunha trembled, covering her head, wishing it would all end.

“…I don’t like this. I don’t like this anymore.”

Crazy world, crazy people, crazy situations. It was all too much.

Ha Yunha squeezed her eyes shut and waited, praying for the sounds to stop.

The fight between the two didn’t last long.

* * *

“Huff… Hooo… Huff……”

Lee Sueun walked slowly, each step a testament to her pain and exhaustion.

Blood dripped from the knife wounds all over her body, staining her clothes, but she couldn’t stop. She had to keep moving.

Ha Yunha clung to her side, her face etched with worry.

Yunha brought a clean rag and tried to press it against Lee Sueun’s wounds, her hands trembling.

But Lee Sueun pushed Yunha away harshly, her voice strained.

Thud-!

Ha Yunha fell to the side, landing awkwardly, but she held onto the rag, refusing to let go.

Away from the dirt and grime piled up on the floor, she protected the clean cloth.

Ha Yunha, who got up again, steadily approached Lee Sueun and pressed the rag against the wound, her touch gentle but firm.

Then, Lee Sueun opened her tightly shut mouth, her expression softening slightly.

“I said it’s okay! Leave me alone!”

But this time, Yunha didn’t back down either. She stood her ground, her eyes filled with determination.

“No! Just stay still! You’re not a child! Why are you being so stubborn!”

Yunha wrapped Lee Sueun’s wound with a bandage, improvising with what she had.

It was nothing more than a clean shirt cut into long strips, but it was the best she could do.

Tightly-!

“Ugh……”

Lee Sueun let out a faint groan, and Ha Yunha pressed the wound even harder, trying to stem the bleeding.

The bleeding from her arm stopped to some extent, a small victory.

Ha Yunha immediately walked to the other side and began to bandage the wound on her other arm, her movements efficient.

“……”

Now, having given up resisting, Lee Sueun was quietly allowing Yunha to treat her, a silent truce between them.

Ha Yunha finished the treatment, tearing the shirt with her teeth, her brow furrowed in concentration.

“…Hoo… Hoo.”

After finishing the first aid, Yunha stepped back and looked up at Lee Sueun, her gaze filled with concern, and Lee Sueun also turned her head slightly to look at Ha Yunha, a flicker of something unreadable in her eyes.

Yunha stared at her for a moment, then took a step forward, her small act of bravery.

Originally, Lee Sueun was always in the lead, the protector, but now Ha Yunha was taking the lead, guiding them forward.

“Follow me. It’s nearby.”

Ha Yunha headed to the next Lord’s prison, her steps purposeful.

“……”

Lee Sueun quietly touched her wound and then followed her, her trust growing, however slowly.

* * *

Lee Sueun’s purpose was simple, yet profound.

To travel around the city and free the Lord’s slaves, offering them a chance at a new life.

It had been 13 days since she started traveling with Ha Yunha, an unlikely partnership forged in the fires of this broken world.

So far, 85 slaves had been freed by Lee Sueun and Ha Yunha, a testament to their courage and compassion.

And luckily, the two found cup noodles in the Lord’s warehouse, a small treasure in this desolate landscape, and decided to rest at a bus stop that still maintained its shape, a temporary sanctuary.

They made a fire between the stones, carefully arranging them to contain the flames, and placed a military helmet on it, repurposing it as a makeshift pot.

Lee Sueun brought water from somewhere, a precious resource, and poured it into the helmet.

Ha Yunha was in charge of keeping the fire alive, her small hands tending to the flames.

“Hoo-. Hoo-.”

Having seen it somewhere, she put her cheek to the ground and blew air towards the embers, coaxing them to life.

As the flames blazed up, Yunha coughed and shed tears from the acrid smoke, her eyes watering.

Lee Sueun tore open the cup noodles and put the noodles into the boiling water, her movements economical.

Then, Ha Yunha was startled, her eyes widening.

“Ah! You should put the soup base in first! That’s how the broth comes out better.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Shake, shake, shake-.

Lee Sueun shook the soup base over the noodles, ignoring Yunha’s advice.

Whether you put the noodles in first or the soup base first, it hardly mattered in the grand scheme of things.

The aroma of the ramen cooking deliciously in the helmet was truly the scent of paradise, a small comfort in their harsh reality.

Lee Sueun went around the ruined city looking for something to use as chopsticks, scavenging for the necessities.

Then, she tore off the wiper from an abandoned car and broke it to make chopsticks, ingenuity born of necessity.

Boil, boil, boil.

The ramen in the red broth in the helmet was cooking deliciously, a simple pleasure.

Yunha, who was looking at it, stared up at Lee Sueun, her expression thoughtful.

Lee Sueun said to Yunha, her voice gruff but not unkind.

“If you like it undercooked, eat it first.”

At that, Ha Yunha hurriedly started eating the ramen, her hunger overriding her manners.

Slurp, slurp.

Yunha ate the ramen well with the wiper chopsticks, her face lighting up with each bite.

Lee Sueun watched the scene, a subtle softening in her gaze, ate a few bites herself, and then put down the chopsticks, her appetite not as strong.

Yunha lifted the helmet whole and drank the broth, savoring every last drop.

Lee Sueun put a cigarette in her mouth and started smoking, a familiar ritual.

After tying her disheveled hair back with a rubber band, she smoked and asked, her voice low.

“But you. Aren’t you scared of me?”

This was the first time Lee Sueun had asked Yunha a personal question, a crack in her hardened exterior.

Yunha put down the helmet and looked at Lee Sueun, her eyes searching.

Her face was full of scars, a roadmap of her past battles.

There were traces of cuts from knives, as well as torn skin and burn marks, a testament to the violence she had endured.

Visually, it was an intimidating appearance, enough to scare anyone.

Like a ferocious bandit from a movie. No, more like a gloomy wandering knight who had been wandering around lawless areas for a long time, hardened by her experiences.

She was carrying a logging axe on her back, a symbol of her strength and resilience, and the energy she exuded was quite different from the other Warriors from Dong-an, a palpable aura of danger.

When Yunha didn’t answer for a while, lost in her thoughts, Lee Sueun blew out cigarette smoke and looked at Yunha again, her expression unreadable.

Yunha instinctively lowered her eyes, a sign of respect or perhaps fear, and answered, her voice soft.

“I am scared. You kill people easily… And above all, you’re from Dong-an. And you’re a Captain. I’m scared. Of the people from Dong-an.”

“Leave out the killing people part. That’s become familiar to everyone now.”

Like a student going to school, an office worker going to work, eating, or sleeping. It was just another part of life.

Killing is now a familiar thing in this world, a grim reality.

But Ha Yunha shook her head, her eyes wide.

“I’ve never killed anyone.”

“That’s impossible.”

“It’s true! I’ve never done that. I swear.”

“……”

It was hard to believe, almost unbelievable.

That there was a human being who had never committed murder since the League began, a beacon of innocence in a world consumed by darkness.

She wouldn’t have believed it no matter who said it, but Lee Sueun decided to believe it, a flicker of hope igniting within her.

Shake, shake-.

Lee Sueun flicked off the cigarette ash and lay down on her back, staring at the sky.

Crack, crack.

Sparks flew from the bonfire burning the helmet, creating a subtle noise, a symphony of destruction and survival.

Lee Sueun, who was staring at the sky, asked, her voice distant.

“What kind of person is your Lord?”

“My Lord? He’s a really amazing person. Really, really amazing. Do you know what happened? You know Round 2, right? The one that was so cold. But my Lord, you know? I thought he was my friend at first, but he’s so young-looking. Seven years older than me! Anyway, back to the point? My Lord did something to solve the cold……”

Ha Yunha began to list the Lord’s praises like a burst dam, her enthusiasm overflowing.

Lee Sueun didn’t listen to Yunha’s story, her mind elsewhere.

Lee Sueun was one of the few Warriors who had seen the face of the Lord of Mangyeong, a rare glimpse behind the curtain.

During Round 2, Lee Sueun had seen Kang Si-on when she went out on reconnaissance, a fleeting encounter that had left a lasting impression.

He was a fairly young man, younger than she had expected.

Ha Yunha, who had been talking about the Lord for a while, declared to Lee Sueun, her voice filled with conviction.

“Anyway, I’m not scared of you anymore.”

“……”

“You even covered me with a blanket yesterday.”

“……”

“Only good people do things like that.”

“……”

“And you helped me.”

“……”

“You’re the third kindest person I’ve ever met.”

Ha Yunha picked up the ramen crumbs stuck to the helmet with her finger and ate them, not wanting to waste a single morsel.

Kind person, kind and person.

Lee Sueun found those two words alien, foreign concepts in this brutal world.

Because she thought that what those two words meant no longer existed in this world, that kindness was a weakness and people were inherently selfish.

There is no kindness, and there are no people, only survivors.

Everyone is just a beast, driven by instinct and self-preservation.

There were some who occasionally looked like humans, wearing a mask of civility.

But even they would bare their beastly teeth and growl when placed in extreme situations, revealing their true nature.

Lee Sueun turned around, unable to bear the weight of Yunha’s words.

Ha Yunha was still listing the Lord’s praises, oblivious to Lee Sueun’s inner turmoil.

“…But then the Lord was dragging something. Do you know what it was? A huge……!”

“…I’m not kind.”

A low voice, barely a whisper.

Yunha looked at the back of Lee Sueun’s head, who had turned around, her expression puzzled.

“…I’m not kind.”

Lee Sueun repeated the same words in the same tone, a mantra of self-denial.

“…I’m not kind.”

Ha Yunha was silent, sensing the pain beneath Lee Sueun’s words.

Lee Sueun repeated what she had said like a broken robot, trapped in a cycle of self-reproach.

“…I’m not kind.”

Lee Sueun bent over and began to sob, her body wracked with grief.

She was holding a cross necklace tightly, a symbol of her lost faith and shattered innocence.

Ha Yunha had no choice but to remain silent at the sight, respecting her pain.

The bonfire began to die down, the flames flickering and fading.

Soon, night came, casting long shadows across the ruined landscape.

* * *

Screech- Thump!

The imprisoned people burst out with tears in their eyes, their faces etched with relief and gratitude.

“Thank goodness…! Ah……!”

“Thank you… Thank you, Captain.”

They bowed repeatedly and ran away in all directions, eager to escape their captivity and find safety.

Lee Sueun unlocked the iron lock and muttered, her voice weary.

“Is this the last one?”

Yunha, who didn’t mean to listen but couldn’t help but overhear, answered.

“Yes. It’s the last one.”

“Okay. You’re free too. If you go to Beomgye Station now, there will be soldiers from Mangyeong. If you’re a citizen of Mangyeong, you know where to go, right? Now go.”

Lee Sueun turned around without saying a word, her tone dismissive.

There wasn’t even a hint of hesitation, as if she couldn’t wait to be rid of Yunha.

“Ah, um, excuse me.”

At that moment, Ha Yunha grabbed Lee Sueun, who was walking away, her hand trembling slightly.

And asked cautiously, her voice filled with hope and uncertainty.

“Would you like to come with me? If it’s our Lord, you can become a citizen of Mangyeong too. I’ll help you. If I ask the Lord……”

“The Lord of Mangyeong… That brown-haired man?”

Swish-.

Lee Sueun turned around and continued to speak to Ha Yunha, her gaze intense.

“That man is a monster. If it’s for his purpose, he can easily throw away other people’s lives……”

“T-That can’t be true of our Lord!”

Ha Yunha interrupted Lee Sueun and shouted, her voice filled with disbelief and anger.

But Lee Sueun continued to speak firmly, her words unwavering.

“It can’t be true? Is that really so? If he really cared about you, he wouldn’t have sent you here, into this hellhole.”

Lee Sueun frowned and concluded, her expression grim.

“Don’t trust anyone. The person you trust won’t trust you.”

“……”

Leaving those words behind, Lee Sueun walked forward again, her silhouette disappearing into the ruins.

Walking between the buildings, she stopped for a moment and looked back at Ha Yunha, a fleeting moment of connection.

Ha Yunha was still standing there, looking at her, her expression unreadable.

But even that was only for a moment, and Lee Sueun hurried her steps, determined to leave the past behind.

She was now looking for a place to throw away her life, a final act of self-destruction.

* * *

The sun was setting between the half-collapsed buildings, painting the sky in hues of orange and purple, and it didn’t take long for Lee Sueun to disappear from Yunha’s sight, swallowed by the shadows.

“……”

Ha Yunha stood there silently, looking at the street where Lee Sueun had disappeared, her heart heavy with conflicting emotions.

Then she turned around, her decision made.

She was going to leave anyway, to return to the familiar comforts of Mangyeong.

There was something bothering her, a nagging feeling of unease, but Ha Yunha tried to ignore it, pushing it down.

She now wanted to return to Mangyeong, to the safety and security she had known.

She also wanted to see Choi Hyun-ji and the neighbors in the same neighborhood, to reconnect with the people she cared about.

Of course, she also wanted to hear the Lord’s praise, to bask in his approval and validation.

Yunha walked through the ruined city center, her steps hesitant at first but growing more confident with each stride.

It wasn’t difficult to see Warriors running around from time to time, patrolling the area, and unidentified small monsters were also poking their heads out here and there, scavenging for food.

Avoiding their gazes, Yunha arrived near Beomgye Station, took a deep breath, and rested for a while, gathering her strength for the final leg of her journey.

And then ‘it’ appeared, shattering the illusion of safety.

“Fi-nal-ly-. You’re- all- alone-?”

Thud-.

A hand suddenly appeared in the air and grabbed Ha Yunha’s neck, choking her.

“?!”

And the body of ‘it’, which had been transparent until now, began to appear, solidifying into a horrifying form.

A man with a torso so skinny that his ribs were exposed, a grotesque caricature of humanity. The monster’s hair was flying in all directions, wild and unkempt, and his legs, wearing only shorts, were so thin that they looked like they would break at any moment, fragile and weak.

But the monster’s eyes were completely different, burning with a malevolent intensity.

The monster licked its tongue, looking at Ha Yunha as if it would devour her at any moment, a predatory glint in its eyes.

“We’re… Hehehehe! The game we couldn’t play last time… Hehehehehe! We have to play it……? Kakakakak! It’ll be fun…… It’ll definitely be fun!”

The monster was the Player from Dong-an, Lee Jong-won, a twisted and depraved individual.

(To be continued in the next episode)