The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 144

144. City of the Dead (2)

Undying beings, zombies.

There used to be two cities here.

Uiwang and Gunpo.

Over the past three rounds, the field boss here, the ‘Witch,’ has been slowly collecting corpses to create another life form.

In fact, the ‘Witch’ was an alien creature selected by the administrator.

The Witch is an entity that uses the dead as nourishment to create plants that will serve as the planet’s lungs.

In short, they are beings who worship the planet.

The giant, lush forest trees spread here were all made from the residents of ‘Uiwang’ and ‘Gunpo.’

When those alien plants grow for a certain period, they bear a fruit.

That is the Green Dragon’s egg.

Humans were the materials to raise the Green Dragon.

But when the Green Dragon died, the Witch began to capture humans again.

To revive the Green Dragon.

In the midst of that, he stepped into the forest.

A person with an overwhelmingly beautiful soul.

Kang Si-On.

‘He must be used as a material for the Green Dragon. Then, a very powerful Green Dragon that can burn even the universe will be born. Absolutely. I must eat that man.’

The Witch pushed the expedition team hard.

The Witch’s dark magic could not only turn the dead into plants but also temporarily inject souls into the dead to revive them.

That was the zombies.

Dead, but not dead; rushing to die, but an immortal being that can never be killed.

Clatter-! Slice-!

Jin Jae-Hee’s Holy Sword slashed horizontally, cutting down all the rushing zombies.

It was a powerful attack that should have burned away any living creature in an instant.

But they did not die.

The zombies, with their torn flesh reattaching, rushed at Jin Jae-Hee again.

It was different from Park Ji-Soo’s cells.

Park Ji-Soo’s cells disappeared once cut, but these guys did not die even when cut.

The expedition team was exhausted.

It was a battle that had been going on for two days.

The entire forest was burning, and hundreds of trees were broken and fell.

The blood shed by the zombies alone formed streams, creating a river.

But Jin Jae-Hee never strayed from Kang Si-On.

Without moving even a single step, she protected Kang Si-On until the end.

Because losing him here was something she didn’t even want to imagine.

Even if Jin Jae-Hee was okay, the other expedition members were in a different situation.

“Sleepy… I feel like I’m going to collapse right now…”

Choi Hyun-Ji nodded off.

Choi Myung-Joon desperately grabbed Choi Hyun-Ji’s hair.

“Damn it! Hold on!”

“For two days already… without even drinking water… just fighting…”

Jin Jae-Hee glanced at Kang Si-On, who was lying down, panting.

A shield of light was cast around him.

Of course, she thought about running away.

No matter how strong she was, it was difficult to fight against immortal beings.

But they cannot escape the forest until they kill the Witch.

That was the trap of this quest.

The Witch first seduced Kang Si-On, who was the brain of the expedition team, and then slowly tried to devour the remaining members.

‘Just because Si-On can’t fight… we’re being pushed this hard.’

Jin Jae-Hee realized once again what kind of existence Kang Si-On was to them.

-Gyaaaaaaa…!

-Guyaaaaaaak!

-Gyagyagyagyak! Gyaaaaaak!

Numerous ghoul zombies surrounded the expedition team.

“Oh my, you’re quite impressive.”

The Witch’s voice, crossing the blood-red river, was seductive.

Jin Jae-Hee bit her lower lip and glared at him.

The Witch is an intangible being.

She had tried to cut her down dozens of times, but it was useless.

She was indeed a field boss set by the administrator.

If they defeat him, there will be a huge reward corresponding to it.

But defeating him itself is almost impossible.

Jin Jae-Hee wiped the blood flowing from her mouth with the back of her hand and glared at him again.

“But is this the end? It was enough to enjoy the game.”

The Witch smiled, confident of victory.

“You can’t escape.”

At that time, Choi Hyun-Ji staggered and lowered her head, and the Witch continued.

“You won’t be able to defeat me either.”

She looked at Choi Myung-Joon, who was standing on the other side, but it was the same. He was pretending to be strong, but there was a limit.

Having checked them all, the Witch smiled.

“You will die here.”

Jin Jae-Hee’s recovery was fast, but it was still too much for her to face the Witch alone.

The Witch looked Jin Jae-Hee in the eye and declared again.

“I am your death.”

…But Jin Jae-Hee could not give up.

She will protect him.

Kang Si-On.

She firmly raised her Holy Sword again.

The zombie ghouls rushed towards her all at once.

She, who was emitting a light so strong that it would blind the eyes, swung her sword.

As if squeezing out all the remaining strength.

And at that moment.

Thud thud thud thud thud-!

All the zombie ghouls rushing at the expedition team fell like dominoes.

“…?!”

Jin Jae-Hee was startled and stopped moving.

Her sword had not even touched them.

It meant that it was not Jin Jae-Hee who had defeated them.

At that time, Jin Jae-Hee’s shield, which boasted absolute strength, was broken.

Crack-. Shatter!

She slowly turned around.

And Kang Si-On was standing there.

“…Si-On?”

But somehow, it didn’t seem like Kang Si-On.

* * *

Beyron.

The place where celestial beings reside.

There was nothing in common in the appearance of those gathered there.

But they were all enthusiastically cheering while watching the video that appeared in front of them.

“Amazing! A monster that controls the mind! Are they trying to make them kill each other?”

“Jin Jae-Hee is obsessed with Kang Si-On, so this is such a tragic show… Ah, it’s fun! It’s so much fun!”

“K! K was the administrator of the Gyeonggi area. To set up such a stage. It’s a really amazing show!”

The beings uttered all sorts of exclamations at K’s ingenuity.

K smiled secretly as he watched them.

‘Good. It’s a perfect plan, even if I say so myself.’

K decided to cleanly admit his past mistakes.

At first, K regarded Kang Si-On as just someone to be used under Park Ji-Soo.

However, the wit and schemes that Kang Si-On had shown so far far exceeded his expectations.

So this time, he had to correct it.

Administrators are the producers who run the show.

They were artists who prepared stage sets in the area they were in charge of and created shows with the league participants within them.

K was both covering up his mistakes and fulfilling his duties as an administrator.

The variable called Kang Si-On.

He was turning the crisis called Kang Si-On into an opportunity.

At that time.

A being approached K.

“K! What’s going on? Last time, you clearly said you didn’t have high expectations for Kang Si-On?”

A being with countless arms.

The being asked K with an excited expression at the unexpected development.

It was a being that K knew well.

He especially liked battle scenes and was one of Beyron’s big spenders.

K immediately bowed his head and said.

“Well. I don’t have much to say for the sake of future fun, but I would like to ask you to look forward to the future development.”

The being’s expression brightened at K’s words.

“Good! K’s show has always been the best! I’ll bet that Kang Si-On will be eliminated from this forest!”

The being shouted loudly as if to be heard by others.

At the being’s shout, the other beings also started shouting noisily as if they couldn’t lose.

“Then I’ll bet that Kang Si-On will survive and get out of the forest!”

As the stakes increased, K’s expression became more and more triumphant.

K, who was watching the beings chattering, looked back on what he had arranged for last.

‘It’s still going so smoothly.’

K’s plan itself was simple.

Jin Jae-Hee, the biggest obstacle to eliminating Kang Si-On.

Separate her from Kang Si-On.

And make the two enemies.

Jin Jae-Hee was one of the strongest players in the entire Korean league, but for some reason, she was protecting Kang Si-On with almost obsessive devotion.

In that case, all he had to do was prevent Jin Jae-Hee from protecting Kang Si-On, or induce her to kill him.

The Witch was the means to that end.

The Witch who manipulates time and mind.

The Witch succeeded in exploiting a very small gap in Kang Si-On’s firm mind.

It was not an easy process even for the Witch, a sub-boss level monster from another dimension.

In conclusion, the Witch had bound Kang Si-On’s mind.

Now they will kill each other.

‘It’s perfect because I even have insurance.’

K thought with a satisfied smile.

The Witch was a monster proficient in time magic, so she made the time in the forest flow differently from the outside.

Even if Kang Si-On’s party defeats the Witch and leaves the forest, the time outside will have already passed by several years.

Wasting several years in a league where one hour a day is precious is a fatal loss.

Even if they somehow return to Mangyeong, other forces that have grown strongly will destroy Mangyeong.

A smile never left K’s lips.

Even after reviewing it again, there were no gaps in his plan.

K is a veteran administrator.

He was a worn-out administrator who had conducted numerous leagues and numerous rounds.

No disruptive species had survived in her grasp so far, and K was confident this time as well.

‘If it weren’t for an administrator like me, it might have become uncontrollable long ago.’

Administrators are prohibited from directly intervening in the league.

This was the case when they directly threatened the players’ safety.

The administrator’s area is only ‘setting the stage’.

Placing newly added monsters, terrain, and resources in the right place at the start of the round.

That was the best way to direct the drama of this stage.

If the designer rashly intervenes directly in the show.

That would be a really boring show.

And the fate of an administrator who designs a boring show is only to give up immortality.

In the first round, it is exceptionally allowed to encourage disruptive species to participate in the league and proceed with the show smoothly, but after that, direct intervention is strictly prohibited.

After the second round, K also only placed quests and terrain.

He had only placed other minor elements and had never directly intervened to restrict the players’ actions.

In the end, in order to eliminate Kang Si-On, he had no choice but to set up the stage of the third round in advance as a murder drama to kill Kang Si-On.

He also placed monsters with extreme disadvantages for Kang Si-On in the expected path.

He also arranged the quests of the surrounding forces in advance so that they would pay attention to Mangyeong.

All of them were stage sets that administrator K had set up to eliminate Kang Si-On in this round.

Meanwhile, while K was thinking about his plan, the beings’ interest was still not waning.

“It’s still a shame. I liked that player, Kang Si-On.”

“The person in charge of the Gyeonggi area was K, right? I’ve been a fan of K’s shows since before, and K never makes boring shows! More interesting people will appear in the future.”

K approached the beings he was talking to with pleasant compliments.

“You flatter me. I am just doing my best to ensure that you can watch an interesting show.”

“Oh, you’re even humble despite your abilities. I just came from watching the Gyeongsang League, but it wasn’t fun at all.”

“Really? I came from watching the American League, and it was still worth watching. But this friend kept saying that the show K planned was the most fun, so I came here. It’s an amazing show as I heard!”

K bowed deeply to the beings.

The beings were pleased to see K like that and bet a huge amount of Geran [in-game currency].

“Good! K. I look forward to it in the future.”

“K. You’re a talented administrator, so why are you only managing such a small place? You could direct a more amazing show in a bigger pond.”

“You flatter me. I am just doing my best in the mission given to me. But if I were to have more authority and be able to show you a more enjoyable show, there would be nothing more pleasing than that.”

K’s nose grew higher and higher at the praise of the beings who were immersed in the show.

The more authority you have, the higher the chance of having the name of an upper character [a being of higher status].

If he could only have the name of an upper character.

‘Ah… Absolute Being. Now I know your will.’

The Absolute Being promised K that if he eliminated Kang Si-On in this round, he would give him a name made of upper characters.

He also heard that if he couldn’t keep it, he would take away his immortality, but K didn’t even think about that.

It was just a matter of eliminating one player, even though he was exceptionally intelligent.

‘You were simply testing my abilities before promoting me. I understand your deep meaning now. Ah! You are so considerate… Then, I, K, will prove it with an overwhelming show!’

K walked forward to the beings with a confident stride.

Then he stopped in a polite manner.

This place is a concert.

He is the conductor.

An orchestra that plays admiration and cheers with his show.

As K stood in front of them and paused for a moment, the beings all turned their attention to K.

What kind of joy will K, who has shown them such an interesting show, bring them next?

The players all looked at the conductor.

K quietly raised his arm.

The basics of ensemble are to match the very first beat.

K strongly waved his raised arm in the air and opened his mouth.

“I won’t keep you waiting long! I, K! I will continue to work hard to provide you with an enjoyable show!”

“K!, K!, K!!”

The beings all chanted K’s name.

Following a constant beat under K’s precise direction.

K felt joy as he watched that scene.

‘Ah, this is it. More. Be more enthusiastic! Until this shout reaches the Absolute Being!’

K knew.

Soon, the Witch’s magic would take effect.

A crimson curtain was drawn on the video behind K.

A classic curtain decorated with a classic gold frame.

Even though the video they were immersed in was covered, the beings did not complain.

Just when that curtain is opened again.

When the next direction comes in.

They will play cheers loudly again.

The beings all paid attention to their conductor.

“Everyone! What fate will Kang Si-On face? One of the strongest players was always by his side, but will she be able to protect Kang Si-On until the end? If Kang Si-On loses himself and goes on a rampage, will she kill Kang Si-On? What genre can we define this show as? Drama? Or action? Or romance?”

The beings shouted enthusiastically.

The heat of the beings rushed to K’s face.

K put on a strange smile and opened his mouth again.

“K! The genre of this show is K! I will confidently say. Everyone! Please enjoy it! And please remember. The fantastic show created by K! My name is K. I am the administrator of the Gyeonggi area in this league!”

K bowed politely.

At the same time, the curtain opened.

It was perfect timing.

The climax.

K conducted the beings’ thunderous applause.

‘Applaud! In front of the great show!’

But.

Unlike what he had expected, clear dissonances erupted here and there.

“Huh? What, what’s going on!”

“Hey K! Something’s wrong! I think we missed something important just now?”

K, who had been bowing his head, was flustered by the beings’ outcry and raised his head.

‘What? What does that mean…’

K hurriedly turned his head towards the video being shown behind him.

Kang Si-On was there.

He was clearly supposed to be attacking his companions while being mind-controlled by the Witch.

But now Kang Si-On is. No, ‘he’ was no longer Kang Si-On.

* * *

Beyron.

VVIP room.

Deep inside the Absolute Being’s room.

The Absolute Being quietly looked around.

There was a vast space without land, walls, or ceiling.

A dark world as quiet as the universe.

This was a space only for the Absolute Being that neither administrators nor beings could enter.

In the distance, colorful stars were shining, and celestial bodies of terrifyingly vast size were passing by.

The Absolute Being was standing in the middle of it.

The Absolute Being faced the huge display case right in front of him.

There, some models were densely displayed.

The Absolute Being approached one of the models.

[Universe No. 127-42]

[League Winner No. 127-42-08. ■■■■]

A gray skin and a small body.

The model with a large head, a thin neck, and slender arms looked like what is commonly called an ‘alien’ on Earth.

It was one of the Absolute Being’s favorite models.

It was an exciting league, and a lot of meaningful data could be obtained during the league.

The Absolute Being passed by the model with a satisfied expression and raised the corners of his mouth.

Then, he stood in front of another model that he particularly cherished and stared at it.

[Universe No. 127-9710]

[League Winner No. 127-9710-12 Kang Si-On]

A model that looked like it was made after Kang Si-On.

A human male with shaggy hair.

Even the cold eyes that calmly looked straight ahead.

The Absolute Being still smiled with satisfaction, thinking that the model reflected the real thing well.

Universe 127.

The Absolute Being wondered if the same person as the model would win in other universes besides Universe 127.

But he soon shook his head.

Thinking was no longer meaningful.

Before long, he would be able to witness it clearly with his own two eyes.

(Continued in the next episode)