The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 139

139. Forest of the Fallen (1)

“I’ll do it.”

I stepped forward and spoke.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to waste your energy for nothing.”

Jin Jaehee voiced her concern.

But it was time for me to test my own strength, to see how far I’d come.

I wanted to test my strength.

“I’m fine.”

I summoned the spheres.

The silver spheres orbited around me, responding to my will.

The Doo Gyeok-shini [a monster whose name literally translates to ‘Fallen Corpse God’] didn’t attack rashly, despite its fierce charge.

It seemed to sense Jin Jaehee’s power as well.

I slowly examined it.

Observation.

What I do best.

‘It’s intelligent enough not to attack rashly. High intelligence and numerous tentacles…….’

The appearance of its exterior.

The movement of the tentacles.

The number of tentacles.

I stored everything in my head.

Having finished my initial assessment, I moved slowly.

Without provoking it, circling around it.

Its body was round.

Corpses were stuck all over it, covering the surface.

Some were human, and some were from wild animals.

Some were not completely rotten, retaining the shape of their faces.

It was a truly gruesome sight.

I pushed through the bushes and emerged on the opposite side.

It didn’t twist its body or move.

It was still motionless.

Now I headed behind it.

Does it have anything that could be called eyes?

No, I don’t see any.

If it doesn’t have eyes to sense vision, does it have other sensory organs?

Could it be those tentacles?

If it perceives surrounding objects with hundreds of tentacles, it would have excellent close combat abilities even without eyes.

Then close combat should be avoided.

Of course, Jin Jaehee or Choi Hyunji, who can solve it with brute force, could directly confront it.

But my strength lies elsewhere. The way I have to fight is not with force.

If I were going to deal with it by force, I wouldn’t have stepped up.

Observation.

Everything comes from observation.

I went through the bushes and circled around to the opposite side of it.

But at that moment.

Swish-.

The tentacles lashed out, wrapping around the tree and threatening me.

I quickly sent out a sphere and dropped it into the nearby bushes.

Then its tentacles rushed into the bushes like piranhas tearing at prey.

Whoosh-!

‘As expected…….’

I slowly walked, avoiding the tentacles.

It hadn’t reacted much to small steps until now.

It only reacted when a strong object like a sphere collided with the ground.

‘Is its perception ability reduced at long range?’

With each step, I dropped a sphere, timing it precisely.

Then its attention was entirely focused on the spheres.

Taking advantage of the gap, I approached it and finally found a small hole that looked like its anus.

I frowned and looked at it more closely.

‘The outer surface is surrounded by a hard bone armor, making it difficult to penetrate. I need to precisely insert the spheres into that hole.’

The plan was set.

To induce an internal explosion.

Attract attention with the spheres while simultaneously infiltrating the remaining spheres into its body.

I went around it again and came back to where I was.

Jin Jaehee was still watching me.

I looked at her for a moment and then looked at the Doo Gyeok-shini again.

Then, I raised my hand and manipulated the spheres.

Whir-.

The spheres scattered in all directions, centered on the area where they were cast.

Like stars floating in the night sky at regular intervals.

My spheres spread throughout this area.

First, I touched the trees to create strong vibrations.

Then, I focused my mental power and spread the spheres in all directions.

Pitter-patter-!

The leaves began to flutter like snow as the spheres hit the trees.

Then it began to struggle.

The tentacles flailed in all directions, reacting to the vibrations it heard.

My footsteps were naturally buried in the vibrations created by the spheres.

I vibrated the spheres even more strongly.

And to grasp its durability, I directly struck it with some of the spheres.

As I had observed, it didn’t budge.

Because it had the bones of the creatures it had eaten stuck all over its skin, it seemed impossible to damage it with ordinary attacks.

And the anus I had just checked.

It was as small as a millet grain compared to its large size, but I wasn’t worried.

This was an opportunity to test the artifact control method I had learned from Jin Jaehee.

I gathered the spheres, lined them up in a row, and shot them straight away.

Aiming precisely at its weak point.

The spheres entered its body one after another.

The operation was a success.

The Doo Gyeok-shini began to writhe as if in pain.

-Kuaaaaaak! Kyaaaaaaaaak!

The Doo Gyeok-shini began to twist its body and destroy everything in the area.

It was now more difficult to avoid the branches and pillars that were sweeping in all directions than its tentacles.

Even in the midst of that, I didn’t stop watching it.

The artifact is a realm of concentration.

The moment it is disturbed even for a moment, the artifact will be canceled.

Pitter-patter-!

Hundreds of spheres were sucked into its body, and at the same time, its size gradually swelled.

1. 5 times, even 2 times larger than its original size.

And now.

Thud-!

I clasped my hands together and gathered the spheres.

The spheres that had been rummaging through its body were concentrated in one place inside its body.

“Hoo…….”

I took a shallow breath.

Concentration, add more concentration.

I imagined the image of destruction.

The moment I vividly imagined its body exploding.

BOOM-!!!!!!!!!!

* * *

It was amazing concentration.

Jin Jaehee, who had been watching Kang Si-on, swallowed hard.

Si-on’s ability was not something with great destructive power, nor did it have special advantages like buffs [temporary enhancements to abilities].

But Kang Si-on eliminated the Doo Gyeok-shini by exerting the maximum efficiency he could.

‘……You really are something.’

Jin Jaehee wore a faint smile.

This battle showed why Si-on was the only lord who advanced to the final round.

He proved it himself.

Thud-!

The Doo Gyeok-shini’s flesh scattered in all directions, and its blood mixed with the rain and poured down.

When the battle was over, the forest regained its tranquility as if nothing had happened.

“Hyung-nim!!! You’re amazing!”

Choi Myungjoon ran out and praised Kang Si-on.

Respect and faith from the bottom of his heart filled Myungjoon’s chest.

Kang Si-on felt his head throbbing and gathered the spheres.

The consumption of mental power was considerable because he operated hundreds of spheres at the same time.

But Kang Si-on approached Choi Myungjoon and Jin Jaehee with a posture that was not disturbed in the slightest.

“Hyung-nim! Here’s a towel. Let me wipe your body!”

Choi Myungjoon hurriedly ran up and wiped Si-on’s body.

The blood was slowly being washed away by the rain, but the pieces of flesh attached to his body remained.

Myungjoon sincerely removed and wiped away the foreign substances attached to Kang Si-on’s body.

Kang Si-on didn’t bother to refuse Choi Myungjoon’s kindness.

Originally, he would have immediately rejected this kind of fuss, but something more concerning than Choi Myungjoon caught his eye.

“Where are Chaeng and Choi Hyunji?”

At Kang Si-on’s question, Jin Jaehee stepped forward.

“Chaeng disappeared. Choi Hyunji is chasing him now.”

“Aigoo-! Hyung-nim. That disloyal bastard ran away after seeing that monster earlier. I’ll catch him and make him into minced meat!”

Kang Si-on waved his hand as if he didn’t like it.

Then Choi Myungjoon stepped back with a towel in a disciplined manner.

“Ran away? Chaeng knows how strong we are.”

Kang Si-on recalled the suspicious actions Chaeng had shown so far.

The kindness he had shown so far was genuine.

Whatever his ulterior motives, he hadn’t harmed Si-on and his party, and there was no falsehood in the kindness itself.

The reason why Kang Si-on hadn’t placed any particular restrictions on Chaeng, who was suspicious at a glance, was because he had considered those points.

He didn’t know what he was hiding, but at least Chaeng knew the strength of Kang Si-on’s party and must have clearly recognized that they could defeat the Doo Gyeok-shini to some extent.

“He crossed the line.”

Hiding ulterior motives could be tolerated.

In a world that had changed drastically, everyone treated each other with their own intentions.

But if those intentions eventually manifested into actions, it was a different story.

Until now, Chaeng’s suspicious appearances seemed to be a ploy to bring the Doo Gyeok-shini and his party together.

Turning a blind eye was now over.

Kang Si-on was not a person who left loose ends.

* * *

Chaeng was running.

Chaeng knew the geography of the forest as if he were looking at the palm of his hand, so he was able to quickly distance himself from the Doo Gyeok-shini and Kang Si-on’s party.

Chaeng checked that no one was around and sat down with a sigh of relief.

“Hoo! I didn’t expect the Doo Gyeok-shini to appear there. I was going to take them to the front of the Doo Gyeok-shini’s nest and slip away.”

Chaeng wiped away his sweat, panting heavily.

“When they suddenly stopped to rest right in front of the destination, I thought everything was ruined.”

Chaeng suddenly thought of Jin Jaehee’s face.

A human woman who seemed to have beauty sculpted into the form of a person.

“That human seemed strong, so she probably wasn’t harmed by the Doo Gyeok-shini. If they lose some strength appropriately……. Oops.”

Chaeng quickly wiped the saliva that flowed from his mouth without him knowing with his sleeve.

At that time, someone’s voice was heard in Chaeng’s ear.

“What are you doing?”

“Ahhh!”

Choi Hyunji.

She had tracked Chaeng with incredible speed befitting a player [someone who has gained special abilities in the game-like world they now inhabit].

Hyunji put her hands on her hips and said to Chaeng, who had fallen in surprise.

“Hey, you bastard. We’ve been together, but you abandoned us and ran away? Come here. This noona [term used by younger males to address older sisters or female friends] needs to take care of you.”

Choi Hyunji grabbed his shoulder, twisted his arm, and approached Chaeng.

It was clear that she was going to beat him up.

“W, wait a minute! N, no! I didn’t run away…….”

“You didn’t run away?”

“I, I, I came to request support from the village. If you go straight along this road, there’s a village. But my legs gave out, so I was sitting down for a moment.”

As Chaeng shouted in a flustered manner, Choi Hyunji stopped trying to beat Chaeng and glared at him.

“Really? If you go straight along this road, you’ll find Bitnam?”

“Yes, yes. Of course.”

As Chaeng rubbed his hands together and explained, Choi Hyunji lowered her arm with a suspicious look.

She had tracked him down, but she didn’t know the geography of the forest, so she couldn’t know exactly where Chaeng was going.

“What do you take us for? We can just kill that kind of monster.”

“Ah, haha. Still, I thought it would be good to prepare for the worst. You are valuable guests. Haha. Anyway, let’s go back to the party for now.”

“What? You said you were going to the village.”

“Yes? Yes. Ah. Because the guests said they could easily defeat the Doo Gyeok-shini…….”

Chaeng cursed inwardly.

‘X.’

If the Doo Gyeok-shini could be easily defeated, there weren’t many ways to deal with them.

Would things be different if all the hunters in the village rushed in?

Chaeng pondered over and over, but no good ideas came to mind.

At that moment, when Chaeng’s head was spinning furiously.

“Uh……. Uh……?”

“Why, what’s wrong?”

Chaeng raised his head and looked at Choi Hyunji.

Choi Hyunji was staring blankly at the other side of the forest.

Chaeng tilted his head, not knowing what was going on, and turned his head, following Choi Hyunji’s gaze.

“That. It’s the supplies that Mangyeong was supposed to bring next week……? No, but why are there so many…….”

What Hyunji was looking at was a pile of supply boxes.

One box a week.

Supplies prepared for Kang Si-on’s party to search the forest.

It was only time for the first supplies to arrive, but there were hundreds of supplies there.

(To be continued in the next episode)