The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 134

134. The Road to Gunpo (3)

Chururururp-!

A black substance enveloped Choi Hyunji’s entire body like armor, and her hand extended outward, sharp as a blade.

Choi Hyunji swung her hand with such force as if to cut down the opponent in front of her in one blow, but stopped abruptly the moment she identified who it was.

“Ugh…! I’m sorry…! Spare me…!”

“……!”

Before her was neither a ghost nor a monster.

A child with hair grown long to her ankles.

The child whimpered and flinched.

Then, the child repeatedly bowed her head.

“Sorry…! I’ll live…! I’ll live……”

It was clear at a glance that her hair wasn’t intentionally grown out.

With a grimy face as if she hadn’t washed in days, and her body barely covered by a few leaves, she could hardly be considered a civilized person.

It was as if she were looking at someone from a primitive tribe.

What was peculiar was that the child was speaking Korean.

The child held out an object in her hands to Choi Hyunji.

It looked like a green sea cucumber(?).

‘A sea cucumber……?’.

The child mumbled with her small lips.

“Water-eating hippo… Water… eats……”

“Water… You’re calling it a water-eating hippo……?”

That was definitely the name of a dehumidifying tool to put in the closet [a brand name for a common household dehumidifier].

The child began to use gestures.

“Water-eating hippo. Likes water. Sees. Eats water. Sees. Eats water!”

The child wet her forearm with water from the stream.

Then, she placed the sea cucumber on her forearm.

The sea cucumber quickly sucked up the water on her forearm.

The child made a fuss.

“Sees. Eats water. Eats deliciously. Eats water. Water gone. Eats water. No cold. Cold dangerous. Herbs expensive! Eats water!”

“Okay, okay, okay, I get it. Just a moment.”

Choi Hyunji couldn’t understand exactly what the child was saying, but she knew from the context that she was offering it as a towel.

She carefully took the sea cucumber from the child.

It had a slimy texture, like pig intestines.

Choi Hyunji had already covered her entire body with the black substance, so she didn’t really need a towel.

After all, the black substance absorbed the moisture left on her skin.

But she couldn’t ignore the child’s sincerity.

Choi Hyunji removed the black substance from her forearm and placed the sea cucumber there.

Then.

“Puhahahahahaha-! Ah, crazy! Ah, it’s so ticklish! Ah, wait!”

Choi Hyunji quickly removed the sea cucumber.

The sensation of it sucking up the water was incredibly ticklish.

“It’s okay. Bearable! Good! Won’t die! Endure. Water-eating hippo. Cold not good! Water-eating hippo!”

“No, no. I’m okay. Now.”

Choi Hyunji returned the sea cucumber to the child.

It was then.

“Hana! Run away!”

A man, similarly dressed in leaves and with long hair, jumped out of the bushes on the opposite side and blocked the child.

The man threatened Choi Hyunji with a growl.

“Get lost! Don’t come any closer!”

“Hana! It’s okay! Hana! It’s okay! Doesn’t hurt! Doesn’t hurt! It’s okay!”

“Be quiet! Hana! Step back!”

“Hana! It’s okay……”

The man held a spear and aimed it at Choi Hyunji.

Choi Hyunji frowned and looked at the man’s spear.

Honestly, it wasn’t threatening at all.

What the man was holding was a very crude weapon made of vines and stones.

It looked like it would break if you flicked it with your finger.

Besides, even though the man looked relatively adult-like, he seemed to be a teenager who couldn’t be more than twenty years old.

“……Haa.”

Choi Hyunji made an absurd expression and then sighed deeply.

She had been nervous for nothing.

She felt ashamed of herself for being a little scared, even for a moment.

Choi Hyunji, feeling drained, was about to summon the black substance that covered her entire body when she realized she was still washing.

She waved her hand at the man.

“Hey-. Go away over there. Let me get dressed.”

But the man wasn’t one to obey.

“Don’t move!”

“Ah, I get it, so go over there. Let me get dressed.”

“I said don’t move!”

Despite Choi Hyunji’s words, the man still didn’t let his guard down.

Choi Hyunji soon made an annoyed expression and moved the black substance.

Chwarururuk-.

Thorns sprouted from the black substance that enveloped Choi Hyunji’s body, and it soon transformed into a grotesque creature.

Kugugugugu…….

It became so large that it created small splashes of water.

Like a black alien creature from an American superhero movie.

Choi Hyunji bared her teeth and threatened the man.

“Get lost.”

“Hiiiik……!!”

Of course, it was a joke.

The black substance could transform into any form the user set, making it perfect for scaring opponents.

Choi Hyunji inflated the black substance greatly.

Soon, a round sphere was created around her.

‘Okay……. I’ll just put it on in here.’

Choi Hyunji passed the man to pick up her clothes.

But at that moment.

A very powerful force was felt.

It wasn’t coming from the man holding the crude stone spear.

It was from about 200, no, 150m away.

And the distance was constantly narrowing.

Incredible speed and unbelievable power.

Choi Hyunji immediately deployed a barrier.

Towards the man and the child.

Chwajwajwajwajwak-!!!!!!!

The surrounding tree roots were swept away in an instant, and a fierce gust of wind blew as if a storm had passed.

As the wind subsided slightly, a figure was seen approaching Choi Hyunji’s group.

It was Jin Jaehee.

She swung her sword with all her might at the man holding the stone spear, but it wasn’t the man who blocked it.

Hwirik-. Kkaaaang-!

Two huge forces collided.

The returner Jin Jaehee and.

The player Choi Hyunji.

Choi Hyunji knew that Jin Jaehee would swing with all her heart.

That’s why she also blocked the attack with all her heart.

Soon, all the objects in the area began to be destroyed around the two women.

“…….”

“…….”

A moment of silence passed between the two women.

The first to speak was Choi Hyunji.

She smiled wryly, sweating profusely.

“Sis……. Please take it easy. I almost died.”

“……What was that scream?”

“A mistake…….”

“…….”

At the word mistake, Jin Jaehee finally sheathed her holy sword.

Choi Hyunji also clenched her trembling hands tightly and withdrew the black substance.

‘She’s a monster. Seriously…….’

It was an incredible power.

Choi Hyunji imagined what it would be like if Jin Jaehee was her enemy right now.

That would be truly terrible.

The figures of Choi Myungjoon and Kang Si-on coming down behind Jin Jaehee were visible.

Choi Hyunji looked behind her.

The man and child who had almost been attacked were lying on the floor, shivering.

* * *

I followed Choi Myungjoon down to the base of the roots.

Cheolpudeok-!

Each time I walked, water splashed everywhere due to the damp moss on the ground.

This was another space beneath the roots.

It was a beautiful space like a painting, but the unidentified moths and blood-sucking insects that filled it were still hard to get used to.

The expedition rushed to support after hearing Choi Hyunji’s sudden scream.

But when they encountered Jin Jaehee and Choi Hyunji, who had arrived first, the situation was completely different from what they had expected.

What was with Choi Hyunji were not monsters, but some primitives.

I approached them.

“Who are they?”

“Should we call them natives? Or natural people……?”

Jin Jaehee looked at the two people lying on the floor and answered silently.

I turned my head and asked the two.

“Who are you?”

Then the child raised her hand and answered.

“Hana! Hana! Name! Hana!”

“Quiet, quiet, be quiet……!”

The man next to her was very frightened and poked the child’s side.

Their speech was awkward, and the clothes they wore were crude.

At a glance, they were children who had lived far away from civilization.

“Do you live here?”

I asked the boy who seemed a little older.

The boy sobbed and nodded.

“We’ve always… lived here. We were born here. But you guys… invaded our territory.”

“……You live here? I didn’t see any villages.”

“Village?”

“Yeah. It’s all lush forest, and there were no traces of people.”

I looked up.

The trees covered the sky so densely that I couldn’t tell if it was day or night.

The pillars of light coming down between the leaves were so clear that it was dark here.

Then the boy who had fallen pointed to the sky with trembling fingers.

I looked in the direction the boy’s finger was pointing.

A man was standing among the dense branches.

He was aiming this way with the bowstring drawn.

The man shouted.

“Stop! Who are you? What is your purpose? Why did you come here? If you do anything foolish, I’ll shoot you right away.”

“Oppa! Oppa! Oppa!”

Then the girl who introduced herself as Hana ran out.

The man shouted again.

“Stay still! Hana!”

“Haeueue……!”

“Answer in three seconds! You invaders! One……!”

“Hana! Hana?”

“Hana! Be quiet! What are you doing! Take care of Hana!”

“Ah, yes. Yes! Hyung!”

The boy who received the man’s instructions ran out and took care of Hana.

‘He doesn’t seem to be a member of the force. So, is it a tribe living as a family unit? Anyway, I need to find out more.’

In order to get out of here and go to Suwon, the help of the natives who lived here was essential.

I looked at the man on the tree again.

His sharp arrowhead was still aimed at me.

“Why don’t you take care of yourself rather than worrying about others?”

“What……?”

And at that moment.

A sharp blade was aimed at the man’s neck.

A cold voice was heard that made the man’s back feel chilly.

“If you move a finger, I’ll kill you. Drop your weapon.”

It was Jin Jaehee.

Before he knew it, she had moved behind the man and was aiming at his neck.

The man sweated profusely and dropped the bow he was holding.

And slowly raised both hands and said.

“Please…… just the children. Please. I won’t do anything foolish.”

Jin Jaehee took him down from the tree, and I slowly approached the man.

* * *

The man who introduced himself as Chaeng said to Kang Si-on.

“So, you were just passing by?”

“Yes.”

“No, I heard a scream. I thought you were attacking us…….”

Choi Hyunji shrank back at Chaeng’s words.

She couldn’t bring herself to say that she screamed because she was scared of ghosts.

Chaeng sighed in relief.

“That’s a relief. There are a lot of escapees coming from the north these days…….”

“Escapees?”

Kang Si-on looked up at him and asked.

Chaeng nodded.

“Yes. A big war must have broken out in the north. Most of those who escaped here were injured. Wanderers, please be careful too. There seems to be a terrifying lord in the north. According to the escapees, he has shaggy hair like a lion’s mane, and brown eyes that would make even the devil back down…… Ah, he looks just like you, wanderer. Now that I see it, your eyes are no joke.”

“Lord of Terror. Scary……! Leads monsters, like, that!”

“…….”

A terrifying lord.

Was that perhaps referring to himself?

Kang Si-on shifted his gaze forward.

‘I wasn’t that scary.’

Chaeng turned around a huge tree and guided the expedition.

“This way. Come up.”

And there was a tree trunk staircase that seemed to have formed naturally.

The expedition followed Chaeng up the trunk staircase.

Chaeng, who was walking at the very front, suddenly turned around and smiled.

“Welcome. This is our home. Bitnam.”

As Chaeng stepped aside, a ray of light poured down on the expedition.

Si-on momentarily shielded his eyes with his hand from the sunlight.

And the sight that appeared the moment he lowered his shielded hand slightly as he adapted to the light was truly spectacular.

“…….”

If an elf forest existed, would it look like this?

The residents of Bitnam, who had built a village on the trunks, were picking tree fruits here and there.

The children were playing on the huge tree trunks like slides, and the elders were sitting on the tree stumps under parasol-sized leaves, avoiding the heat.

Not only humans but also monsters with fluffy fur were together.

The cute furry monsters ran peacefully among the residents, and the residents stroked them kindly.

Throughout the forest, rays of brilliant green light reflected by the leaves fell.

It was such a beautiful sight that it was no exaggeration to call it a gift from nature.

If the world changed only in this way, the thought briefly crossed my mind that it might be a blessing rather than a disaster.

“Ooh!”

Choi Hyunji pursed her lips and exclaimed.

Chaeng smiled and said to Kang Si-on.

“We welcome you as guests. Please rest comfortably.”

(To be continued in the next episode)