The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 133

133. Road to Gunpo (2)

Choi Hyun-ji instantly summoned her artifact upon sensing a sudden presence.

Swish-!

Her black object cut through the water, extending towards the source of the presence.

Water splashed, rippling outwards from Choi Hyun-ji.

There was no one where the black object had reached.

“……?”

She had clearly felt a presence, but there was nothing there.

‘Did I sense it wrong……?’

Having lived as a wanderer, Choi Hyun-ji had a superior ability to sense danger compared to other players, allowing her to prepare at any moment.

She looked around.

For some reason, it was a forest where even breathing felt unpleasant.

* * *

Choi Hyun-ji tugged at Jin Jae-hee’s sleeve like a younger sibling asking for a toy.

“Pleeease, my dear sister.”

“No.”

“I’ll give you some cola. Depending on the bottle cap.”

“I don’t need it.”

“It’s not that hard!”

“It’s not easy either.”

The two women walked behind Choi Myung-joon.

Jin Jae-hee had to endure Choi Hyun-ji’s whining the entire walk.

Jin Jae-hee silently stepped over tree roots, moving forward, while Choi Hyun-ji, following behind her, sighed deeply.

“This forest feels like it’s haunted. Like… I swear, something felt like it was attacking me from behind yesterday, you know? I haven’t even been able to shower because of it.”

“Then don’t shower.”

“How can I not shower? I sweat and feel sticky!”

“…….”

Jin Jae-hee stopped responding.

Choi Hyun-ji trotted up to her side and started begging again.

“Can’t we just shower together when I shower? We don’t have to shower together. Or maybe just watch? No, watching sounds a bit lewd… Just be a companion. Hehe. It won’t take long anyway.”

Jin Jae-hee frowned deeply and asked.

“Who’s going to protect Si-on if I’m stuck next to you?”

“Come on, it’s not like the King [Kang Si-on] is a toddler. What’s there to protect?”

Jin Jae-hee glared back at her at Choi Hyun-ji’s retort.

Choi Hyun-ji forced a smile and raised both hands.

“Ah, ah. I get it. Okay! I surrender. I won’t say anything anymore.”

Jin Jae-hee stared at her for a moment, then walked ahead again.

Choi Hyun-ji frowned from the back, muttering under her breath as she walked.

It was then.

Kang Si-on, who was walking in front, clenched his fist and stopped the expedition.

Kang Si-on looked ahead with a serious expression.

Jin Jae-hee walked past Choi Myung-joon and approached Kang Si-on.

“Why?”

“Look there.”

Jin Jae-hee followed Kang Si-on’s gaze to the same spot.

Soon, her eyes widened.

Like a painting, a modern civilization building was harmoniously blended with natural trees, vines, and flowers.

The rusted sign of the station hung precariously from the vines.

Traces of civilization were occasionally visible at the entrance, but they were all non-functional now.

The store in front of the station was also covered in strangely shaped plants, making it difficult to recognize its original form.

Choi Myung-joon picked up a magazine with a female swimsuit model on the cover, which was stuck on the store’s stand.

“Wow, it looks like everything edible has been looted, but this treasure is still left.”

Choi Hyun-ji looked at Choi Myung-joon, who was flipping through the magazine with sparkling eyes, with a look of disdain.

“Ugh, that perverted bastard. Even in this situation… Oh? A vending machine!!!!!”

Choi Hyun-ji discovered a vending machine next to the store and immediately ran towards it.

“Cola, cola, please be there.”

Choi Hyun-ji immediately tore off the vending machine’s exterior and began rummaging through the inside.

However, the inside of the vending machine was filled with deeply rooted tree roots, with only a few crushed and spilled cola cans rolling around.

“Damn it.”

-Thump!

Choi Hyun-ji kicked the vending machine hard in anger.

Then.

-Woooooooong.

The massive object, which they had only thought was a hill, rose up with a strange cry.

It was a beautiful sauropod monster with an emerald mane and a long neck.

Its appearance was like a Brachiosaurus.

The monster blinked its green eyes and looked at Kang Si-on and his group.

“F
X……. What is that…….”

Since no signs of aggression were felt from the monster, Kang Si-on and his group held their breath and lowered their bodies.

Soon, the monster disappeared into the forest with slow steps.

Each time it moved, a constant and slow vibration echoed throughout the forest.

Thump……. Thump…….

Kang Si-on and his group watched the scene in a daze for a while.

As the giant monster left, an even more astonishing sight unfolded.

The massive corpse lying in front of Uiwang Station revealed itself to the group.

“D, Dragon……?”

Choi Hyun-ji said with an admiring expression.

The dragon’s corpse.

A giant dragon’s corpse covered in green grass and moss like skin.

Choi Myung-joon also involuntarily expressed his awe.

“So this world really has gone to sh*t. It’s a real dragon? Wow. No, seriously, it’s really cool. This thing.”

“…….”

The spectacle unfolding before their eyes was too surreal.

Uiwang Station swallowed by the forest.

And the giant dragon’s corpse surrounding Uiwang Station.

At first, they didn’t understand why it was dead, but they immediately understood when they saw the massive hole in its abdomen.

The dragon had clearly been defeated by someone.

The expedition slowly approached the dragon’s corpse.

Corpses usually have a foul odor, but the dragon’s corpse emanated the scent of flowers and grass, rather than a foul odor.

The green blood that seemed to flow from the dragon’s corpse had permeated the surrounding land.

And near the places where the blood had permeated, unrealistically overgrown plants were growing.

Countless varieties of colorful plants.

Jin Jae-hee muttered next to Kang Si-on, quietly enough that the other two couldn’t hear.

“Green Dragon……. It’s certain.”

“The target of the Round 3 Lord subjugation quest?”

“Yeah. One of the seven colored dragons. It would have been difficult just to find it, but someone has already killed it.”

Kang Si-on carefully examined the Green Dragon’s wounds.

Then he asked Jin Jae-hee.

“You said that dragons couldn’t be killed by ordinary means, right?”

“That’s right. Honestly, I’m also… very puzzled right now. How could they use an ability that pierces the dragon’s scales? To pierce the dragon’s scales, you would need a weapon processed with red ore.”

Red ore.

A new energy source of this era that Park Ji-soo, the youthful lord during Round 2, had even tried to find and gather the veins of.

“And that red ore can only be refined by skilled technicians of the dwarf race…….”

“……Most of these races live in Incheon.”

“…….”

His thoughts became complicated.

Si-on looked around the Green Dragon’s corpse, then looked at Choi Hyun-ji and Choi Myung-joon, who were busy looking around. Then he asked Jin Jae-hee.

“You said your younger sibling passed through here, is there a chance they killed it?”

“You said your sibling is thirteen years old.”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know. At least I didn’t see your sibling in my past life. It probably would have been difficult for them to become strong enough to defeat a dragon already.”

Si-on organized his thoughts while listening to Jin Jae-hee’s voice.

One thing was certain with the corpse in front of him.

Someone had already cleared Round 3.

‘After hearing Jin Jae-hee’s words, the one we aimed for was the Red Dragon. I don’t know how long ago this dragon died, but that player must have caught this dragon and left the forest at least within 2 or 3 years.’

Si-on grabbed his throbbing head.

It wasn’t because his thoughts were complicated, but because his head had been dizzy and throbbing madly since he entered this forest.

Why is this happening?

Sometimes, faint shapes seemed to be visible between the trees.

When Kang Si-on staggered slightly, Jin Jae-hee was startled and supported him.

“Are you okay?”

“……Something’s wrong.”

He barely managed to speak, sweating profusely.

“……Is it related to the witch? It’s been like this ever since I entered this forest. It’s been like this since yesterday.”

“Let’s rest. Just rest. I’ll set up a base camp around here. It would be good to rest for a few days. Think of it as recuperation.”

“…….”

Si-on would have stopped her, saying he could go further, but he couldn’t move at all right now.

He eventually decided to follow her words.

Jin Jae-hee, who was holding Kang Si-on with both hands, kicked a stone on the ground with her right foot.

Thud.

The stone that flew away hit Choi Myung-joon’s head, who was looking at the dragon in the distance.

Thwack-!

Choi Myung-joon frowned and turned to Jin Jae-hee.

“Hey-! You Mi- Chin [crazy person]- Psycho- B*tch!!! Ah, making me crazy?! Am I your f*cking neighborhood dog?!”

Step, step, step.

Choi Myung-joon, who could no longer bear it, approached Jin Jae-hee, full of anger.

Choi Myung-joon growled.

“If you didn’t have abilities, you’d be nothing.”

“Even if I didn’t have abilities, I could just step on someone like you. I hate thugs like you the most.”

Choi Myung-joon rolled his eyes back and forth, genuinely threatening her.

“Should we try it? Us? Seriously? Fist to fist. No, knife to knife?”

“Instead of that, why don’t you worry about your brother?”

Choi Myung-joon’s bloodshot eyes went to Kang Si-on, who was next to her.

Kang Si-on was leaning on her, letting out a faint groan.

Choi Myung-joon’s eyes, which had been blazing like a lion, quickly softened like a puppy.

“Hyung [older brother]! No, Hyung! Why are you suddenly like this? Are you okay?!”

Choi Myung-joon took Kang Si-on from Jin Jae-hee and supported him.

Only then did she move to set up the base camp.

* * *

Choi Myung-joon was wandering alone in the forest, looking for wood to use as firewood.

‘That f*cking b*tch…….’

Thooey-.

Choi Myung-joon spat on the ground and recalled what had happened earlier.

‘Kicking a stone to hit me? On the back of my head? That little sh*t…….’

He was furious, but Choi Myung-joon knew very well.

If he were to fight Jin Jae-hee, he would be defeated in the blink of an eye.

But he couldn’t help but feel resentful.

‘I couldn’t even imagine this before the world turned upside down.’

Being ignored, beaten, and scolded was okay.

Because he had endured even worse junior life in the organization.

What Choi Myung-joon really couldn’t stand was something else.

When he was in the organization, Choi Myung-joon was the action leader, and all the younger members trusted and followed him.

That’s because he had that much power at the time.

But not now.

‘I’m really nothing here…….’

Choi Myung-joon recalled the old days.

It was a rough but fulfilling life.

Choi Myung-joon became a well-known figure in the underworld with just his fists.

-Myung-joon. You are the only younger brother I truly trust and rely on.

Big Brother.

Choi Myung-joon thought about his Big Brother.

Big Brother sincerely acknowledged him, and he also sincerely trusted and followed such a Big Brother.

A relationship where they had built the organization together from the bottom up.

They didn’t share blood, but the two were brothers.

Not a relationship that would collapse due to interests or deceit, like in a typical gangster movie cliché.

A relationship where they truly trusted and relied on each other.

When he first walked out of the detention center, Choi Myung-joon only had one thought: to return to Big Brother.

Of course, now he doesn’t even know if Big Brother is alive or dead.

But he was serving a new brother.

It was Kang Si-on.

But.

The same concern always plagued Choi Myung-joon.

‘Does Si-on Hyung trust me like Big Brother did?’

Even Choi Myung-joon, who didn’t have much education, could quickly figure out the answer.

‘Probably not…….’

Kang Si-on clearly said it. Choi Myung-joon was nothing more than a porter.

The reason is simple.

Because he lacks strength.

In this upside-down world, he really couldn’t be anything more than a porter.

‘If I had strength. Would Hyung have trusted me?’

Choi Myung-joon clenched his fist tightly.

He was confident that he could endure scolding, criticism, or even violence.

But the fact that he himself could not be anything flew into his heart like a dagger.

‘I want to get stronger. Damn it, I want to get so strong. Enough to be of help to Hyung.’

Why doesn’t he have an artifact?

Frankly, the fact that he was not genuinely helpful to Kang Si-on was more humiliating than being told off by people like Jin Jae-hee or Choi Hyun-ji.

Choi Myung-joon squeezed his eyes shut and began picking up branches.

He is a handyman.

A porter.

An errand boy.

Anyway, it was time to do what he could do now.

The best help Choi Myung-joon could give to his brother was just this much.

* * *

The base camp set up by Kang Si-on and his group.

And a small stream a little away from there.

Choi Hyun-ji was squatting there, rummaging through her bag.

“Mask pack~ Lotion, toner.”

Choi Hyun-ji hummed to herself, pulling something out from deep inside her bag.

In Choi Hyun-ji’s hand were toiletries.

And they were relatively high-end products.

Choi Hyun-ji scooped water from the stream with her hands and splashed it on her face.

Choi Hyun-ji rubbed her face a few times to remove the dust and squeezed foam cleanser into her hand.

Choi Hyun-ji, who generously applied the high-end foam cleanser that was hard to find these days, carefully began washing her face.

Choi Hyun-ji carefully washed her face, worried that her skin texture might be damaged, and soon smiled with satisfaction at her brightened face.

After that.

She took out a clean cloth to wipe her face and applied expensive toner, lotion, whitening cream, and essence without hesitation.

Choi Hyun-ji continued to hum and was engrossed in skin care.

At that time.

She felt another presence again.

‘Ah, sh*t.’

Choi Hyun-ji hunched her back like a startled cat.

It was very similar to that strange feeling she had the day before yesterday.

This feeling, this chill.

It must be a ghost.

Originally, ghosts only stick to and follow those who fear ghosts.

Choi Hyun-ji, who still firmly believed in countless ghost-related superstitions, covered her head with her arms and trembled.

And gradually, the presence got closer to her.

Choi Hyun-ji slowly turned around.

“Kyaaaaaaaaak-!!!!!”

“Euaaaak!? I don’t like it-!!!!!!!!!!!”

And two screams shook the forest.

(To be continued in the next episode)