The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 151

151. New Power

It was a little past noon.

Citizens who had finished their morning duties poured into the market, and the city regained its vitality.

The market was crowded with not only humans but also dwarves, orcs, beast-kin, and many other races, all mingled together.

Mangyeong had become a multicultural city where all races mingled.

Moreover, within ‘District 1,’ encompassing Seoul and Gyeonggi [the province surrounding Seoul], it was arguably the most stable and peaceful city-state.

All of this was possible because Hayunha sat as Mangyeong’s lord.

If someone else had been ruling Mangyeong, it would have been absolutely impossible.

Hayunha was the third person to sit on the throne of Mangyeong.

When the hero who founded the city-state and created the basic framework of power was presumed dead, the Head of Order, his most trusted confidant, took over the position and was crowned in place of the still-young Hayunha.

However, she too died of an illness not long after.

After the death of the second lord, Mangyeong staggered haphazardly like a small fishing boat caught in a storm.

As the landscape between the forces rapidly changed with the start of the 3rd round, Mangyeong, internally unstable, failed to adapt and, of course, did not prepare.

In addition, unlike other forces waging wars of conquest, Mangyeong did not particularly expand its territory externally.

Protecting Anyang City, the central downtown of Mangyeong, was the immediate goal.

Even amidst this, the forces of Mangyeong were wary of each other, pointing swords and spears at each other.

The method that ordinary lords would take in this situation was war.

Because there is no more certain way to consolidate internal unity than to create a new common enemy.

It was true that external forces were becoming more threatening amidst the turbulent flow.

And already within Mangyeong, there were opinions that military power should be increased as soon as possible to participate in the wars of conquest.

But Hayunha’s thoughts were a little different.

War is always a structure in which a third party benefits.

Looking at World War II alone, the biggest beneficiary was the United States, which sold war materials all over the world, and in the Korean War, neighboring Japan achieved high economic growth based on it.

And in this era, the means to unite the citizens of Mangyeong as much as creating a common enemy was money.

Hayunha focused on that point and refused to participate in the war, declaring itself a neutral country.

After that, she began to persuade the forces of Mangyeong one by one.

“Our Mangyeong must prepare for the upcoming economic war, not a war of mere force.

Only if we unite now can we take this crisis as an opportunity to promote development into a superpower.”

Hayunha’s powerful speech in the parliament captivated everyone present, and the high-ranking officials of Mangyeong, who had been divided into factions, began to unite again.

She united Mangyeong with the goal of industrial development, not war preparation.

Mangyeong immediately began expanding its weapons factories, armor factories, and food production, and also greatly increased overall production.

As a result, the northern forces, who were in the midst of war, flocked to Mangyeong to continue trading.

Kang Si-on’s and the , which Choi Myung-joon had fostered in the past and Jung Hyun-soo now leads, were formed into mercenary groups to earn a large amount of foreign currency.

Hayunha didn’t stop there.

She embraced the refugees from each force who had fled the turbulent battlefield without any restrictions, and again used them as labor to increase the production of war materials.

In addition, she actively accommodated wanderers who had difficulty finding peaceful residences due to the war, creating the largest market in Gyeonggi.

And this later became the first step in the population growth of Mangyeong, which was close to 100,000 people.

As a result, Hayunha’s choice was a hundred times right.

The benefits that other forces gained through this great war were extremely insignificant, and only Mangyeong gained great benefits.

After the Great War, four central forces were formed around Seoul.

In the west, .

In the east, .

In the north, .

In the south, .

It happened two years after Kang Si-on disappeared.

The inter-district war, which had lasted for several months, left more casualties than the Mangyeong-Dong-an unification war.

The results of the war were as follows.

colonized under the pretext of continuing the foundation of Korea.

also lost the war with and had to give them some of Jamsil, where the Red Dragon’s Nest was located.

, which had experienced a bitter defeat, acknowledged the difference in power and joined hands with , which had declared itself a neutral country in the wave of war.

As a result, in District 1, a structure was created in which two allied forces confronted each other over one ‘Jamsil’.

Daehan Incheon-Gangbuk, Northwest Alliance.

Mangyeong-Gangnam, Southeast Alliance.

Jamsil was an important area where the 3rd round Red Dragon resided.

The goal of the Northern Alliance was to defend Jamsil and catch the Red Dragon,

The goal of the Southern Alliance was to recapture Jamsil and catch the Red Dragon.

Now, the 3rd round was coming to an end.

The defeated forces would lose everything, and the victorious forces would have the right to advance to the next round.

In the midst of a whirlwind of upheaval where not an inch ahead could be predicted, Mangyeong faced a great change.

Right now.

The hero who had disappeared for the past five years had returned.

* * *

“Hoo-”

I took a steady breath and crossed the last root.

The bright sunlight was shining on the expedition through the tree trunks.

It took quite a long time to get out of the center of the forest to the outskirts.

This was because we couldn’t just throw away the supplies from Mangyeong that had been accumulated over the past five years.

The rare luxury goods were worth a considerable amount just by taking them back to Mangyeong.

“This is the last one, Hyungnim [term for older brother or respected male figure],” Choi Myung-joon said, carving a mark on the last tree with a dagger.

Then, Choi Hyun-ji said from behind Choi Myung-joon with an exhausted expression, “Shouldn’t we take a break? Hoo-woo-woo-woo… It’ll take several hours to get from here to Mangyeong.”

Originally, it would have been enough to walk from Gunpo to Anyang (Mangyeong) in an hour, but the road was uneven after the world collapsed.

This was because the collapsed asphalt soared, and the buildings collapsed and blocked the road.

Of course, rest was necessary.

“Okay. Let’s take a break when we get out of the forest completely.”

“Waaa… Nice…” Choi Hyun-ji cheered in a deflated voice.

The expedition walked again.

That way, we were soon able to get out of the dense forest.

Finally, we were able to reach the area occupied by Mangyeong.

After getting out of the dense forest, the most noticeable thing was the enormous length of iron fences surrounding this area.

There was a sign on the iron fence that read [Absolutely No Entry: Those who enter will be punished regardless of the reason].

But such warning signs were not a big threat to us, nor did we have time to pay attention to them.

Choi Hyun-ji used a black object to make a bridge so that she could easily cross the iron fence.

“Now, if you go straight ahead, you’ll see Mangyeong. Or was it Hogye?”

“Hogye. That’s right,” I answered Choi Hyun-ji and got off the black bridge.

Then, naturally, the black bridge seeped into Choi Hyun-ji’s body.

After crossing the iron fence, there were several traces of people.

Stacks of supplies piled up like mountains and shabby makeshift huts came into view first.

As I got closer, I was soon able to see wooden tables and chairs scattered around.

And various metal weapons placed on them.

A report written as an attendance ledger and leftover food scraps scattered here and there.

Even some corpses collapsed in combat gear.

Judging from the circumstances, this place seemed to have been used as a border checkpoint.

And it seemed like it had been attacked.

I quietly picked up the iron sword that was on the wooden table and examined it.

It was of considerable quality.

Mangyeong seemed to have a blacksmith shop developed enough to produce iron weapons.

They were iron weapons that were used in the Middle Ages, but they were a great improvement compared to the crude weapons used during the war with Dong-an.

At this rate, Mangyeong’s development was quite fast.

I was already looking forward to how Mangyeong would have changed.

As I was looking around the border checkpoint, Jin Jae-hee cautiously approached and asked, “Have you found out anything about the skill? It’s a field boss’s skill, after all?”

She seemed to be asking me about the new skill I got right after catching the field boss witch.

I immediately opened the status window and looked at the skill, answering, “Not yet. I took a look at the details of the skill, but I haven’t used it because I was getting out of the forest.”

[Legion of the Dead] [S-Class] [Description: An ability created by the witch with a lifetime of effort. By injecting blood into the dead, they are revived for a certain period of time and made to attack the target chosen by the caster. Unless the caster cancels it or the mana is exhausted, the zombies live forever. ※Currently available zombies: 50]

But when I looked closely at the corpses lying around with the status window open, there was a red circle around the corpses.

I recalled the fact that in order to turn a corpse into a zombie, I needed not only mental power but also a certain amount of blood.

Then Jin Jae-hee seemed to be contemplating for a moment before speaking.

“…If you think about it simply, doesn’t that mean you can use the same skill as the witch?”

“I guess so. Those zombies.”

“It was quite annoying. Of course, it’s not destructive, but it’s a skill that can be helpful enough. Like the skill name, if you have high mental power, you can create a legion like the witch.”

“It’s overwhelming.”

“It’s an overwhelming skill,” Jin Jae-hee nodded as if agreeing.

I couldn’t judge yet how much of an advantage it would be to revive the dead and use them as puppets just for me, but I thought that at least in a simple numbers game, it would be able to show an overwhelming appearance.

As Jin Jae-hee said, this wasn’t a powerful destructive force in a one-on-one battle.

On the other hand, it could be used effectively in a battle of many against many.

Then Jin Jae-hee carefully asked me, “But that ‘disrupting order’ thing…”

“Uh.”

“In order to realize that, you have to completely neutralize the hostile forces, right?”

“Yes.”

I absolutely trusted the method I had in mind.

Because I believed it was the right path.

Because it would be the ending of this story that ‘no one expected’.

The upcoming 3rd round.

It had to be a round for that.

“Honestly, I want to agree with your opinion entirely, but if that situation comes, won’t the administrators intervene?”

“It’s about inducing intervention, why?” I looked at her and asked back.

“It’s about inducing intervention?”

“Yes. I realized it in this expedition. About the principle of how administrators intervene.”

In the end, the administrator cannot directly intervene in whatever the player does.

But they had the right to set the stage. Therefore, they could only intervene indirectly by setting the stage for the player.

If I could prevent everything that leads to that indirect intervention.

This league will now be able to move as I think.

The premise is simple, but it won’t be easy.

Especially important are three things.

The first is resources.

The second is the region.

The third is the overwhelming combat power of the forces and each individual.

If I can satisfy these three things.

I guarantee that they will indirectly intervene in the league. To keep me in check.

But if I block all that indirect intervention.

‘…It’ll be the end. Everything.’

That’s the ending of this league.

That’s the ending I set and created.

If I’ve been passively walking the path set by the administrators, it’ll be different now.

I looked at Jin Jae-hee and finished the story.

“And in the first place, the final round you mentioned…”

The inevitable death of me and her that she experienced.

“That will eventually flow in my way too.”

I was so sure.

(To be continued in the next episode)