The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 167

167. Assembly (1)

The bells, filling the sky above Man-gyeong, were ringing in unison.

– Assemble.

It was the order Kang Si-heon delivered to all ogres belonging to his faction.

His ‘bell,’ which had begun to spread from the summit of Suri Mountain, was now permeating every corner of the city.

The market, the palace, and even the border regions were no exception.

Citizens who encountered the bell for the first time looked up at it with curiosity, and soon, a mystical event unfolded.

Ting- Ting-.

A clear and refreshing bell sound.

The sound captured the attention of every citizen.

This mysterious and strange event occurring throughout the faction was a signal flare announcing that everything was about to change.

Ogres walking the streets.

Ogres building the walls.

Ogres dining in the corpse disposal site.

Ogres grazing in the fields.

Ogres guarding the palace.

The ogres, each scattered with their respective roles, all raised their heads and gazed at one place.

Suri Mountain.

At their master’s call, the ogres obeyed without question.

A massive monster force that followed only one man with the most powerful authority and the most formidable dignity.

As they began to move, their footsteps shook the heavens and the earth.

The ogres began to assemble.

Centered around the Suri Mountain Pension, they gathered to serve their master.

No bell sound or whip could stop the assembling ogres.

The citizens’ attention was focused on the direction the ogres were moving.

The ogres slowly advanced in one direction.

Watching this scene, all the citizens soon realized.

The reason the ogres were moving.

They came to know that the true hero had returned.

* * *

Suri Mountain Summit, the Pension.

Thump… Thump… Thump.

A strong vibration, enough to shake the entire building, echoed.

The vibration was growing irregularly, becoming closer.

The agents who had been monitoring the hero at the pension armed themselves and gathered on the lobby floor.

The cooks, masseuses, and secretaries were all armed with knives.

“What’s going on? Shouldn’t we report this?”

“I don’t know either. Where’s the hero? Where is the hero?”

“He’s in his room. He hasn’t stepped out since last night.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Go check again.”

At the masseuse’s command, the secretary took a knife and ran up to the second floor.

The vibration was still growing louder and more magnificent.

Something was definitely approaching the pension.

The question was soon resolved.

As its identity was revealed.

The moment the amplitude of the vibration amplified further, a deep darkness fell on one side of the lobby, even though it was broad daylight.

The agents inside were startled and looked at the window where the darkness had fallen.

-…….

-…….

-…….

There, gigantic and magnificent ogres were aligned, surrounding the pension.

The agents who looked up at them instantly lost their will to fight and gaped.

At that moment, someone came down the stairs.

A slow and dignified gait.

A gait that was terrifying in a different sense from the ogres.

The secretary who had run up to the second floor was bleeding and collapsed in the hallway. The person who had subdued her was none other than Kang Si-heon.

He commanded in a low tone.

“If you don’t obey…”

The agents hesitated at his voice. But they couldn’t move after hearing his next words.

“…I will kill you. Every single one of you.”

As soon as those words fell, they immediately dropped their weapons and prostrated themselves.

They bowed their heads and submitted to the overwhelming presence.

All it took for Si-heon to subdue them were two words.

That’s how Si-heon made them realize.

Who the true king of Man-gyeong was.

* * *

As the bell rang, Choi Hyun-ji shouted, overwhelmed with emotion.

“Wow, wow, King! King, king! King! Heu-eoeoeoe…! He’s finally here…!”

Choi Hyun-ji looked up at the bells floating in the air with tearful eyes.

Jin Jae-hee, who was also looking up at the bell, smiled faintly.

‘Amazing. As expected.’

Jin Jae-hee wasn’t just impressed by his method.

Of course, spreading the artifact spheres throughout the city to regain power was also an excellent strategy.

Without using decrees, Kang Si-heon showed his power to all the citizens and was able to create the most ideal result.

But she was surprised by something else.

It was the shape of the sphere.

The bell shape had an astonishingly beautiful curve, as if crafted by a meticulous artisan.

This was an amazing development.

To be able to delicately shape a crude sphere into a bell that could produce sound meant that the technology to handle artifacts had advanced several stages.

“He’s really the best! Woo-ha-ha…!”

Everyone inside the stadium could only stare at it, as if they had lost their souls.

At that moment, an ogre on the outskirts of the stadium began to head somewhere, dragging its heavy body.

The trainer nearby shook the bell he had, but the ogre didn’t respond. It just kept moving forward as if possessed by something.

It was because of Kang Si-heon’s absolute command over the ogre.

The so-called absolute command.

Gil Dae-heon also had no choice but to look at the bell.

‘Is this even possible for a human…?’

Overwhelmed by Kang Si-heon’s unexpected abilities, Gil Dae-heon exclaimed in admiration, forgetting even the emotions he had held until now.

As the sound of bells filled the sky, a citizen in the stadium shouted.

“The hero has returned!”

He was a first-generation free citizen of Man-gyeong. His cry soon stirred all the citizens around him.

“A hero…?”

“Could it be Kang Si-heon?”

“Really? He’s here? There have been false rumors like that often, you know?”

“This time it’s real.”

“Abilities on this scale… definitely, only he can do it.”

All attention was focused on Kang Si-heon.

Kang Si-heon was still trapped in the Suri Mountain Pension, but as he intended, everyone in the faction couldn’t help but think of him.

All the people in the faction focusing on Kang Si-heon, and sorting out the current chaotic atmosphere.

That was his purpose.

Gil Dae-heon was sweating.

‘No. This can’t happen.’

Gil Dae-heon looked back and forth between his subordinates in the stadium and Jin Jae-hee.

‘I need to wrap things up quickly and return to the palace. The department head will take care of this.’

As the situation was flowing strangely, he had to wrap up the surroundings as quickly as possible and return to the Land Department Head.

Gil Dae-heon took out a fillet knife from his pocket. Then, he removed the bracelet with the red gemstone embedded in it from his wrist and activated the artifact’s ability.

Meanwhile, Jin Jae-hee, sensing the power of a strong artifact, looked at a man in the audience seats.

It was Gil Dae-heon.

Having identified Gil Dae-heon, Jin Jae-hee could immediately recognize that he was the instigator of this incident.

Jin Jae-hee looked at Choi Myung-joon beside her. He was busy beating a gladiator to death.

“Hey, Choi Myung-joon. Can you take care of all the remaining small fries here?”

Crack-!

Choi Myung-joon answered, slamming his fist into the gladiator’s face.

“These guys? Piece of cake.”

“Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

Now, Jin Jae-hee trusted Choi Myung-joon enough to entrust him with tasks.

She walked forward.

Slicing down the gladiators who rushed at her, jumping over everything that got in her way, she moved to punish the instigator of this incident.

Her murderous intent spread around her.

The suffocating murderous intent was enough to make them flinch and make way.

Finally, Gil Dae-heon entered the arena, and he too was looking at Jin Jae-hee.

Gil Dae-heon’s fillet knife began to curve and writhe.

“No matter how famous you were in the past… can you beat me now that your abilities are sealed? Huh?! I’m a player [someone who has awakened special abilities].”

At that moment, Gil Dae-heon’s fillet knife lashed out at her like a whip.

He had the ability to make everything he touched elastic.

The fillet knife he held bent like rubber and slashed at Jin Jae-hee.

Whoosh-. Slice!

Jin Jae-hee didn’t dodge.

Rather, she clashed her sword against the savagely approaching fillet knife.

Clang!

With a sharp friction sound, the fillet knife wrapped around again, threatening Jin Jae-hee.

But this was what Jin Jae-hee intended.

Shuk-.

“?!”

Jin Jae-hee put down the sword she was holding and moved to the other side.

The fillet knife wrapped around the sword, and Jin Jae-hee used that time to pick up another sword.

This was the gladiators’ battlefield.

The floor was covered with numerous weapons.

Gil Dae-heon was momentarily flustered, but he realized that the situation hadn’t changed anyway.

He was a player.

Therefore, he could defeat Jin Jae-hee, whose abilities were sealed.

“So what are you going to do!!!”

Whoosh-. Whoosh-!

Gil Dae-heon swung the fillet knife at an even faster speed than before.

And Jin Jae-hee moved with an even more overwhelming and faster speed than before, dodging the attacks.

The splendid movements of a born swordsman.

Jin Jae-hee parried his fillet knife, and when she dropped her sword, she grabbed another one.

Each time the attack was repeated, she repeatedly grabbed and dropped her sword.

While steadily approaching Gil Dae-heon.

Thanks to the competition between the two, the gladiators who were caught in the vicinity were cut down and killed.

Jin Jae-hee and Gil Dae-heon didn’t care about that at all.

Jin Jae-hee approached Gil Dae-heon faster with her amazing movements.

Gil Dae-heon had no choice but to grit his teeth.

‘This… damn it!’

Clearly, Gil Dae-heon himself was using the artifact’s ability, but he was being pushed back by Jin Jae-hee.

Jin Jae-hee twisted her waist to avoid his attacks, and she slipped away using her ankles.

In addition, she lightly lowered her head to avoid the fillet knife.

There was elegance in her movements as she repeatedly avoided the fillet knife.

After dodging dozens of attacks, Jin Jae-hee was able to arrive in front of Gil Dae-heon with a small sword.

Gil Dae-heon, who faced her right in front of his eyes, turned pale and screamed.

“Ugh… Kyaaaaaaaaak!”

The scream was only for a moment.

Jin Jae-hee swung her sword, and a diagonal cut was drawn on Gil Dae-heon’s neck.

Whoosh-. Slice!!!!

“Keuheok…?!”

Gil Dae-heon was an artifact ability user.

Jin Jae-hee knew that he wouldn’t die from this alone.

She slashed the place she had cut again.

Slice-!

Twice was not enough.

Slice-! Slice-!

Three times, four times, five times. Six times.

Cutting, cutting, and cutting the same place again.

She cut and cut again until the hardened neck bones of the awakened human broke.

Slice-!

With a chilling sound, his neck finally fell off.

“…….”

Gil Dae-heon was brutally defeated and fell backward.

They thought they had a perfect plan to tie up Kang Si-heon’s group, but that was arrogance.

There were two things they didn’t expect.

Kang Si-heon was much smarter than expected.

And Jin Jae-hee was much stronger than expected.

Jin Jae-hee stabbed her sword into the fallen Gil Dae-heon’s stomach and turned around.

There, Choi Myung-joon was twisting the neck of the last remaining underling.

With that, the situation was over.

* * *

The Palace of Man-gyeong.

Due to the irregular rumbling of the ground, the ministers immediately got up and looked around in a flustered manner.

“What is it? Is it an earthquake?”

“An earthquake in the Korean Peninsula? Don’t tell me it’s a boss monster?”

It wasn’t just the ministers of Gangnam who were flustered by the sudden rumbling.

Lee Seok-jin, who had been sitting still and watching the situation, was also the same.

‘What is it.’

At the unexpected rumbling, he first looked at Ha Yoon-ha’s reaction.

Her expression was also quite flustered.

Creak-!

Lee Seok-jin pulled out his chair and left the conference room.

The Gangnam ministers shouted at his sudden action.

“Where are you going?! The meeting is still in progress.”

“Shut up.”

“W-what?”

Lee Seok-jin, who had been bending over backward to please them, suddenly changed.

He left the conference room and went up to the rooftop, where he could see the entire area of Man-gyeong.

Two subordinates urgently approached Lee Seok-jin and reported.

“All the ogres belonging to the faction are moving. They seem to be heading to Suri Mountain.”

“We can’t contact our agents in Suri Mountain. Something seems wrong.”

“…….”

Lee Seok-jin put his hands in his suit pants and frowned as he went up to the rooftop.

If the subordinates’ reports were true, then something must have gone wrong.

But Lee Seok-jin wasn’t one to leave things wrong as they were.

So far, the faction had been flowing well according to his will, and even if the hero returned, nothing would change.

Lee Seok-jin was thinking of overcoming this crisis and creating the Man-gyeong he wanted.

It was then.

Bang-!

The rooftop door opened, and a cold wind hit Lee Seok-jin’s face.

And Lee Seok-jin was momentarily stunned and could only look at the scenery of Man-gyeong.

“…….”

His pension on the summit of Suri Mountain.

Centered around that place, hundreds of ogres were gathered, surrounding it.

Since ogres were dozens of times larger than humans, they could be seen with the naked eye, no matter how far away they were.

The sight of the ogres surrounding the Suri Mountain area like sphinxes guarding a pyramid was truly magnificent.

Lee Seok-jin was momentarily stunned and watched this.

In fact, there was nothing he could do right now.

At that moment, a group of people followed Lee Seok-jin.

Everyone seemed surprised by the magnificent scenery of Suri Mountain, but the most surprised of all was Ha Yoon-ha.

Her eyes turned red, and soon she covered her mouth with both hands.

“…….”

Ha Yoon-ha’s legs gave way, and she collapsed on the spot.

She choked back her sobs.

“…….”

But she couldn’t do that forever.

Ha Yoon-ha, who had been controlling her emotions and overcoming the adversities of the past.

She finally burst into tears at the return of the hero she had so longed for.

“He’s back, the hero…!”

“Hero. Hero!”

Before they knew it, the ministers of Man-gyeong, who filled the rooftop, prostrated themselves towards the summit of Suri Mountain.

They were all moved to tears. Lee Seok-jin was the only one standing on the rooftop without bowing his head.

He smiled helplessly and muttered.

“I’m screwed.”

(Continued in the next episode)