The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 115

115. A Short Journey Together: Ha Yunha (3)

“Hngh…! Ugh…! Haa!”

“Ah, that’s a good sound. That sound of writhing in pain…! I wonder what it would sound like to beg for death…?”

Squeeze.

Lee Jong-won grabbed Ha Yunha’s neck with both hands.

Ha Yunha struggled even more, kicking her feet.

At that moment, Ha Yunha’s ability activated.

The ability to see the memories of a target through skin contact for a certain period.

Through this ability, Ha Yunha was able to glimpse Lee Jong-won’s memories.

And Lee Jong-won’s memories were truly disgusting.

Lee Jong-won’s bizarre and depraved private life unfolded before her eyes.

“Keuheueueuk…! Heueueueueuk…!”

They were scenes so filthy they caused mental anguish.

Ha Yunha grabbed Lee Jong-won’s arm and tried to push him away.

But each time, Lee Jong-won gripped Ha Yunha’s neck even tighter.

“Save… me… please…”

“Ah-. No, no-. What’s the point of saying that now? Who’s coming? Kukukuk. There are no police. Finally, no police! This crazy world-. I’m so happy-.”

At that moment, Lee Jong-won clenched his fist and struck Ha Yunha’s right cheek.

Thud-!

Ha Yunha was thrown to the floor, and Lee Jong-won smiled as he watched.

“Fall into despair-. Cry-. Beg me to kill you-! It doesn’t matter, no one will come anyway. No one-. No one-! Puahaha!”

With that, Lee Jong-won rushed toward Ha Yunha.

Ha Yunha grabbed a small stone behind her.

She planned to attack Lee Jong-won with the stone to buy time to escape.

However, Lee Jong-won’s hand didn’t reach Ha Yunha.

Swoosh-. Slice!

At that moment, Lee Jong-won’s left shoulder was cut.

“Aaaagh!”

Blood spurted out, and Lee Jong-won staggered backward.

Lee Jong-won touched the wounded area with trembling hands.

Bright red blood smeared his fingers.

The blood vessels in his temples throbbed.

“Ah-. What- is it?”

Ha Yunha trembled and looked back.

There stood Lee Soo-eun, holding a logging machete.

Lee Soo-eun slowly walked past Ha Yunha and approached Lee Jong-won.

Lee Jong-won awkwardly raised the corners of his mouth and said to Lee Soo-eun.

“Captain-nim [term of respect, like ‘Sir’ or ‘Ma’am’]-. What is this?”

Lee Soo-eun didn’t answer.

“If the Lord-nim [referring to their leader] sees this. He’ll be very happy, won’t he? Huh? Hahaha-.”

“Go tell Park Ji-soo.”

Lee Soo-eun wasn’t at all intimidated by Lee Jong-won’s threat.

She had already confirmed that Do-an had no future.

Lee Jong-won gritted his teeth.

“Captain-nim-. Just step aside. Captain-nim isn’t even a player, are you? Can you-. Can you beat me?”

“Yes.”

Lee Soo-eun held the logging machete in both hands and then in one hand.

Then she slowly approached Lee Jong-won.

Lee Jong-won became even more enraged by Lee Soo-eun’s confident attitude.

He slowly activated his ability.

Lee Jong-won’s body gradually began to turn transparent.

“Then-. Give it a try-.”

Lee Jong-won completely disappeared.

No appearance, no sign, no breath could be felt.

Lee Jong-won had the ability to completely conceal his body for a certain period with an artifact [magical or technologically advanced item].

On the other hand, Lee Soo-eun wasn’t a player [someone with supernatural abilities].

But she knew very well what Lee Jong-won’s ability was.

“Kuhahahaha-.”

“Why? Can’t you see me?”

“How are you going to beat me? Huh?”

Lee Jong-won screamed from all directions.

At that moment, Lee Jong-won stabbed Lee Soo-eun in the back with a knife.

Stab-!

“X-sin [likely a curse word in their language]!”

“Kahaaaak…!”

While Lee Soo-eun collapsed, Lee Jong-won swung his knife at Ha Yunha, injuring her cheek.

Swoosh…!

Blood spurted from Ha Yunha’s cheek.

Lee Soo-eun turned in that direction and swung her logging machete.

Whoosh-!

But Lee Soo-eun’s logging machete cut through the air.

Lee Jong-won shouted again, squawking.

“X-sin! X-sin! X-sin! X-sin! X-sin!”

“Will you get hit? Will you get hit? Will you get hit? Will you get hit? Will you get hit?”

Lee Soo-eun glanced around.

But she couldn’t see anything at all.

Then she shouted to Ha Yunha.

“Run away when I give you the signal.”

“But…!”

Lee Soo-eun lightly ignored Ha Yunha’s plea.

She shouted.

“One, two- three!”

Thud-!

Ha Yunha immediately started running in the opposite direction.

But Lee Jong-won wasn’t going to let Ha Yunha escape so easily.

“Where are you going-! Let’s play-! With oppa [term used by a younger female to address an older male, often with a flirtatious connotation]-!!!”

Thud-!

Lee Jong-won stubbornly aimed at Ha Yunha, who was running away quickly.

But that was then.

Splash-!

“Argh-!”

Bright red blood splattered on Lee Jong-won’s transparent body.

Lee Soo-eun, who had injured her arm, received the blood in her palm and sprinkled it forward.

“You son of a b-!”

Lee Soo-eun squeezed blood from her arm again, filled her hand with blood, and sprinkled it in the direction of the sound.

Splash-!

“Ugh-! Ah, wait! It got in my eyes-! It got in my eyes-! Time! Time!”

Now Lee Jong-won’s body was roughly visible.

A body moving in the air with bright red blood on it. In particular, the area around his neck was covered in blood, so it could be clearly identified.

Lee Soo-eun approached Lee Jong-won in an instant.

Thud-!

The stone she kicked as she ran flew out randomly.

Arriving right in front of Lee Jong-won, she swung the blood-stained logging machete with all her might toward his neck.

Swish-. Crack!

“Cough!”

The logging machete cut Lee Jong-won’s neck in half, and at that moment, the artifact’s ability was released, revealing his appearance.

Lee Jong-won screamed in pain.

“Cough! Kahahaaaak! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak! F***, it hurts! It hurts! You f***ers!!! Ambulance! Police car-! Call an ambulance, you sons of b****es! Aaaaaaaaaaak! Save me! Someone save me-!”

Lee Jong-won flipped over on the floor and thrashed around.

Lee Soo-eun approached him.

She was also bleeding a lot.

Thud-!

She stepped lightly on the logging machete stuck in his neck and said.

“Who’s coming? In this world.”

“Cough-!”

“A guy like you deserves to die…”

After saying that, Lee Soo-eun put all her strength into her foot.

Crunch-!

Then, the logging machete stuck in his neck was pushed by the force and completely broke his neck bone.

Lee Jong-won died like that.

A terrible silence followed Lee Jong-won’s death.

* * *

Lee Soo-eun breathed heavily.

“Hoo… Hoo…”

It was because she had made a deep wound in her arm to hold more blood in her hand.

When an ordinary person fought a player, they had to be prepared to make enormous sacrifices.

But that didn’t mean you could win by making sacrifices.

She was lucky this time.

Drip… Drip… Drip drip drip… .

The blood that had formed on Lee Soo-eun’s arm fell to the floor at regular intervals for a while, and now it formed a stream and fell down.

Lee Soo-eun, who was looking at the blood, stood still and looked down at Lee Jong-won’s body, which was all that was left.

At that moment, tears welled up in her eyes.

She bit her lower lip with all her might.

“Keuheueup… Keuheueueu… Kkeueueueu…”

The woman desperately tried to hold back her tears, but it wasn’t easy.

She couldn’t control the sudden surge of sadness.

Then Ha Yunha ran over.

Rushing over, Yunha came to Lee Soo-eun and tore her top to tie the wounded area.

“Blood…! Ajumma [term used to address a married woman, can also mean ‘aunt’]… Blood, there’s blood…!”

“Keuheueueueu…”

Ha Yunha tried to treat Lee Soo-eun’s wound with tears in her eyes, but Lee Soo-eun just stood still.

Lee Soo-eun’s body shook slightly as Ha Yunha bandaged her.

“Ajumma. Just a little bit… Just a little bit more… I’m sorry. I’m too weak… I’m not helpful at all… Not at all…”

Ha Yunha tied the knot and wiped away her tears with her blood-stained sleeve.

Ha Yunha’s face was covered in blood because she had been cut on the cheek.

But Lee Soo-eun’s wound was more serious.

So much blood was coming out that she was about to die even if she stayed still.

Lee Soo-eun knew.

No matter how much Ha Yunha tried to stop the bleeding, she would soon die from excessive blood loss.

But Lee Soo-eun didn’t want to die like this.

In fact, she was a Catholic.

A devout Catholic.

If she were to die, she had to confess her sins to God before that.

Whether God really exists, whether this is the moment of the end foretold in the Bible.

She didn’t know, but she had to say it.

Lee Soo-eun said in a trembling voice.

“Aiya [exclamation of distress or frustration]… Just one thing. Just one thing. Will you listen to me?”

“Anything. Anything…!”

Ha Yunha was pressing down on the wound on Lee Soo-eun’s back with both hands, but the blood continued to flow.

Lee Soo-eun stood firmly in her place and parted her lips.

“I used to be a housewife… In the morning… I would prepare meals for the kids and my husband, do laundry, make side dishes, clean… It was a little hard, but I was… happy.”

“Blood… Heueuk…! There’s blood…”

Blood gathered thickly under Lee Soo-eun’s feet, forming a puddle.

Her face turned pale.

But she still didn’t stop talking.

She had to say it now.

The only person in this world who would listen to her story was this child.

“But girl… You too… Remember what the theme of Round 1 was, right? King Game. My family, you see… Went bankrupt during the IMF crisis [1997 Asian Financial Crisis], and gathered all the money we didn’t have and opened a chicken restaurant in a building with only one floor… It was a little better… We didn’t earn much… But still… Our family of three… Enough to make a living… That’s about it, right?”

“Ajumma… Can’t you stop talking now? Ajumma… Please… There’s blood.”

“But… But… In our Round 1… My husband… Is in the Hong Team [Red Team]… My daughter… Is in the Cheong Team [Blue Team]… And I… I…!”

Now Lee Soo-eun almost sobbed as she continued to speak.

She looked up at the sky.

It was a collapsed downtown, but the sunset was still dazzlingly beautiful.

“I… Was scared? My husband first… Took his own life to save my daughter… But I… Couldn’t do it in the end… I should have died too. I should have died to save my daughter… Cough!”

Lee Soo-eun spat out blood as she finished speaking.

But she was still standing on two feet.

Now Yunha had given up halfway and was just listening to her silently.

Sobbing softly.

Ha Yunha was feeling Lee Soo-eun’s emotions as they were.

At times like this, she hated her ability like crazy.

She could steal other people’s memories just by touching their bodies.

Ha Yunha was now completely swayed by Lee Soo-eun’s emotions, and she couldn’t help but cry because she was so sad.

In the end, Yunha saw all of Lee Soo-eun’s past scenes.

Lee Soo-eun comforting her husband, who had been laid off, by his side.

Scenes from her memories of her young daughter crawling to her.

The sight of Lee Soo-eun and her husband working in the kitchen, overcoming everything.

And the sight of her daughter serving at the chicken restaurant and smiling from the day she started wearing her school uniform.

Her daughter’s smile was the brightest when she told her that she had gotten a job.

Besides that, her daughter’s face was deeply engraved in Lee Soo-eun’s memory.

Her daughter, who always took the time on weekends to help Lee Soo-eun and her husband at the store.

The face of her daughter, who secretly comforted Lee Soo-eun as she sobbed, and so on.

“Heu… Heueueu…!”

Tears streamed down Ha Yunha’s right eye, and the next scenes followed.

Round 1, which came like a tragedy.

The scene of her husband dying in front of her eyes and the scene of her daughter’s head exploding and dying passed by one after another.

Lee Soo-eun wept madly in front of it.

The appearance of K, who appeared in front of Lee Soo-eun and congratulated her on passing Round 1, and Park Ji-soo, who appeared in front of Lee Soo-eun, who was trying to take her own life.

After that, Lee Soo-eun was used like a slave by Park Ji-soo.

As she went through the past Round 2 and Round 3, she sobbed every night.

The night of sobbing continued endlessly.

Lee Soo-eun continued her confession while bleeding.

“…I’m really sorry. I don’t even know what I’m doing now… I don’t know why I have to live… I mean, I… I killed a lot of people. By Park Ji-soo’s words… By his orders, I killed a lot of people… God the Father. God the Father…”

“Ajumma…”

“…I won’t be able to go to heaven, right? But I hope my daughter…! I hope my daughter goes… Heuaaaaa…”

Lee Soo-eun finally lowered her head and cried loudly.

“God the Father. God the Father… Please… At least my daughter. Please. Ah… I’m so sad. I’m really going crazy…! My heart hurts… Ah, forgive me… Please.”

Lee Soo-eun was now in more pain from the sadness that stung her heart than from the pain in her body.

From Round 1, Round 2, and Round 3, Lee Soo-eun had never escaped from that memory even once.

Lee Soo-eun was now spewing out all the pent-up emotions.

Lee Soo-eun had been maintaining her composure until now.

Lee Soo-eun honestly believed until she was a twenty-year-old virgin that middle-aged adults had no tears.

But when she actually became middle-aged, she realized that it was a blatant lie.

When she was young, she would burst into tears in front of others in the hope that others would comfort her when she cried, but adults hide somewhere secretly and shed tears.

Because they are ashamed of crying.

Lee Soo-eun cried like a child now.

She spewed out her tears like she was telling everyone to leave.

Then Ha Yunha said.

“She’s gone…!”

Surprised, Lee Soo-eun raised her head.

Ha Yunha wiped away her tears and said again.

“Ajumma’s daughter, and ajussi [term used to address a married man, can also mean ‘uncle’] too! And ajumma will go too. I’m going to do that. I’m going to win this league…! And go find God! …I’m going to argue with him. Ajumma, I’m going to let you meet your family again. So. Please live… For now…”

“…”

Lee Soo-eun didn’t even know the name of this child who was now offering her words of comfort.

But she didn’t need to know her name.

Lee Soo-eun had kept her distance from Ha Yunha until now.

Because she kept thinking of her daughter.

But now, facing death, she wanted to stroke Ha Yunha’s cheek once before she died.

Just like she did with her daughter.

‘Ji-hye… Ah, my beloved daughter. My daughter, whom I miss.’

Lee Soo-eun couldn’t make a sound now.

She had run out of energy and sensed death.

‘Forgive me…’

She couldn’t convey it in words, but she hoped that this heart would reach her daughter.

Lee Soo-eun slowly raised her hand and reached out towards Ha Yunha’s cheek, which was shedding tears.

“…”

“…”

But her hand didn’t reach Ha Yunha’s cheek.

Swoosh, Slice-!

Blood splattered everywhere.

“…”

Ha Yunha’s eyes, which had been facing Lee Soo-eun, slowly moved from the front to the lower right.

Lee Soo-eun’s head, which had been looking at her just a moment ago, was on the floor.

Lee Soo-eun’s arm, which hadn’t reached Yunha’s cheek, stopped in the air for a moment and then collapsed powerlessly to the floor along with her body.

Thud-!

At that moment, someone hugged Ha Yunha tightly from the side.

A familiar voice flowed into Yunha’s ear.

“Yunha! I’m glad… If I had been even a little later, something terrible would have happened…”

Yunha’s pupils shook like crazy.

It was Choi Hyun-ji who hugged Yunha.

Choi Hyun-ji wiped the blood from Yunha’s face with her hand.

It was the bloodstain that Lee Soo-eun couldn’t wipe away.

“Are you hurt? I was worried. I’m so glad. Do you know how worried I was…?”

“…”

Huddled in Choi Hyun-ji’s arms, Ha Yunha reached out to Lee Soo-eun’s body, which had fallen to the floor.

But she couldn’t reach it.

“Now tell the Lord and don’t go on dangerous missions. Or go out to Mangyeong with me. Ah-. You really… I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

Choi Hyun-ji’s words were no longer audible to Yunha.

She was confused by the rush of sadness.

“Haa… Haaaa… Heueueueu…!”

Squeeze…

She hugged Choi Hyun-ji tightly without saying a word.

Hiding her face in Choi Hyun-ji’s arms, Yunha spewed out her tears like crazy.

“Eueu… Eueueu… Eueueueueu…!”

Choi Hyun-ji stroked Yunha’s head as she cried in her arms.

(To be continued in the next episode)