The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 179

179. Dongjak District War (1)

Lee Ho-seung nervously fiddled with his rat jerky and asked the senior next to him.

“What’s famous in Dongjak District?”

At Ho-seung’s question, the senior tore off a piece of rat jerky and asked, “Huh? What about Dongjak District?”

“No… I mean, they said our 079th unit is attacking Seoul’s Dongjak District this time. So, I was wondering what’s famous there.”

The senior chewed the rat jerky thoughtfully. “Dongjak District has Chung-Ang University, the National Cemetery, Boramae Park… But aren’t you from Seoul?”

“Ah, yes. I’m from Busan. I did live in Seoul, but the practice room was near Dongdaemun. I never really left that area.”

“Hoo, practice room? Were you an idol? Somehow… you don’t look like idol material.”

Lee Ho-seung chuckled. “I’m a singer. Just a singer who sings and plays the guitar. Well, idols are singers too, I guess.”

The senior nodded as if he understood. “Ah, really? Let’s hear your songs sometime. Me too. Anyway, the first round started in Busan, huh? You came a long way from Busan. I heard the Suwon road is blocked. How did you get here?”

At the senior’s question, Ho-seung gripped his spear tightly, smiling bitterly. “I was sold on a slave ship. There’s a Naga [mythical serpent-like beings] slave ship connecting Incheon and Busan.”

The senior pursed his lips, expressing sympathy. “…Hoo-boy. You must have suffered a lot.”

“It’s nothing.”

While they were talking, the training instructor shouted, “Meal’s over! Everyone gather!”

At the instructor’s voice, people who had been sprawled out and resting picked up their weapons and stood up.

The senior got up first and offered his hand to Lee Ho-seung. “Let’s go, singer-songwriter.”

Lee Ho-seung smiled and took his hand. “Yes.”

The training instructor lined up nearly 100 citizens.

Lee Ho-seung was participating in this war as a regular infantryman.

Jin Jae-hee had offered him the opportunity to work inside the palace, but he refused.

He wanted to do what he could.

Lee Ho-seung had no special abilities.

He wasn’t strong like Jin Jae-hee, nor did he have the dignity and status of Kang Si-on.

The only thing he could do to help Man-gyeong was to find what he could do and do his best.

The training instructor began the afternoon training. “We’ll start by learning shield techniques to protect ourselves from the enemy’s archers. Man-gyeong’s shields are usually car doors. They’ll block arrows, but they can’t stop bullets.”

“Then what happens if the enemy shoots guns?” a young woman asked. The instructor answered very naturally, “You die, I guess.”

The young woman simply lowered her hand.

The training instructor looked at everyone. “When you go to Seoul, there are two things you must avoid: guns and Artifact Players [individuals with supernatural abilities]. Don’t even try to fight them. You won’t stand a chance. Especially Artifact Players. Fighting them is like shooting a fighter jet with a pistol. Surviving by running away is also important for us regular infantrymen.”

Lee Ho-seung mulled over the instructor’s words. “Surviving by running away…”

The instructor was currently in charge of training, but he would be the commander in the event of war.

The lives of the 100 people gathered here depended on his words and actions.

Currently, most of Man-gyeong’s instructors were veterans who had experienced the Man-gyeong-Dong-an War.

Therefore, their words had credibility.

“Listen carefully. This isn’t the kind of war you’d see in historical dramas or modern warfare. It’s a bit different. Surviving is better. The course of the war will be determined by special forces like Players and Ogre units anyway. We just need to take over the occupied territories. I don’t know when the war will break out in the next few days, but be prepared. Trust me and follow me.”

“Yes!”

Lee Ho-seung, lost in thought, missed the timing and shouted late. “…Ah, yes!”

The instructor conducted a few more drills and then dismissed the group.

Today was the last day of the 79th unit’s three-day training.

The people dispatched from Man-gyeong for training were now ready to return home.

They came out of the training ground and approached the Ogre bus.

This place was Pangyo.

It would take at least three hours to get to Man-gyeong.

The senior who boarded the bus said to Ho-seung, “Busan. How about a drink with the new Light Brew when we get back today? I want to hear your songs too. I have a friend who has a guitar.”

Light Brew was an alcoholic beverage made with technology that Choi Myung-joon brought from Bitnam.

Of course, it wasn’t as artificial and stimulating as soju [Korean distilled spirit] or beer, but it had a kick, so it was quite popular in Man-gyeong.

Lee Ho-seung barely climbed onto the bus. “Ah, that’s great. I’ll pay.”

“No way. I’m not a senior who would make his junior pay. At times like this, you just say, ‘I’ll gratefully drink it.’ And you have to get paid for the performance.”

Lee Ho-seung smiled. “Then I’ll gratefully drink it, Senior.”

“Good. That’s the spirit.”

The senior patted Ho-seung’s back twice.

The Ogre pulled the rope connected to the bus, and it began to move along the road.

The sun was setting.

Lee Ho-seung looked at the sunset and imagined the war he would be participating in as a regular infantryman.

* * *

I started a strategy meeting with the commanders of each military unit.

The military commanders were:

Choi Myung-joon, commander of the Elite Squad.

The Special Commander in charge of the Ogre Unit.

Daegijang [Great Flag General], who bundled 10 units into 1 unit.

Commander Hwang Min-jae, the general commander of each Gijang [Flag General], and Jin Jae-hee, commander of the newly created Artifact Ability User Unit, and her deputy commander, Jung Hyun-soo.

Jung Hyun-soo, who had gathered information by fighting in enemy territory, opened the discussion. “When the war starts, we must first neutralize the enemy’s Artifact Players. That’s how the infantry can advance.”

He pointed out places where enemy Artifact Players were likely to be: Geumcheon, Gwanak, Seocho, Yeongdeungpo.

“The enemy’s Artifact Players will not be easy to deal with. Of course, Commander Jin Jae-hee will win, but we can’t neutralize everyone overnight.”

Perhaps Metro would also be prepared for Man-gyeong’s invasion of Dongjak.

Invading Dongjak and Gwanak and surrounding the Seocho and Gangnam areas was a strategy anyone could think of.

But my goal was not to go to Seocho, but to cross the Han River and take over Yongsan and Jongno.

According to Choi Hyun-ji’s intelligence, the only Han River bridge that survived was the Mapo Bridge.

The Mapo Bridge connected Mapo-gu through Yeouido.

Occupying Yeouido was essential to cross the Mapo Bridge.

That way, we would subdue the Northern King and cause a division in the enemy forces.

We were at an advantage in urban warfare.

We had excellent Artifact Ability Users, Elite Squads, and Ogres specialized in urban warfare.

The variable was the enemy’s Artifact Ability Users, but there was no particular concern on our side, because Jin Jae-hee was there, as Jung Hyun-soo said.

She would slaughter them all.

There was a discussion between Hwang Min-jae and the Gijangs. “Then, as planned, the troops from the 1st Gijang to the 5th Gijang will go up on Line 1, and the 6th Gijang to the 10th Gijang will cross from Gwacheon to Gwanak along Line 4.”

“Seoul National University seems to be the enemy’s forward base.”

“We will crush it with Ogres. We must first dispatch Artifact Ability Users to neutralize the enemy’s Ability Users.”

“When the war starts, there will be a fierce battle between Artifact Ability Users first.”

“What about the guys ambushing in Gwangmyeong?”

When a Gijang asked, Jung Hyun-soo replied, “The reason it took me so long to return to Man-gyeong was because I was wiping out the ambush forces in Gwangmyeong and Bucheon. I didn’t see anyone hiding until the last day I pulled out. They probably don’t know I’ve withdrawn, so the enemy hasn’t come in yet.”

Jung Hyun-soo had been hunting hunters in the Gwangmyeong and Bucheon areas until now.

But I couldn’t agree with the idea that there would be no enemies there now.

The enemy forces would clearly recognize that Jung Hyun-soo had withdrawn.

I looked at the map spread out on the desk. “How many Artifact Ability Users belong to our force?”

Jin Jae-hee answered, “81 people. 35 of them have combat abilities. 46 have non-combat abilities.”

At best, only 35 Artifact Ability Users had combat abilities.

I didn’t know the exact number of Ability Users that Metro and the Northern King forces had, but it was true that they had more than us.

At that time, Jin Jae-hee looked at me. “It’s okay. They’re just a disorganized mob anyway. Except for that person.”

“…That person?”

He was the only person among the commanders gathered here that Jin Jae-hee and I knew.

He was one of the most powerful Artifact Ability Users in Seoul.

S-class Player, Kwon Jong-hyun.

His ability was near-infinite life force. He was said to be a fighting-style Player who made good use of that ability.

He had encountered Jin Jae-hee in his previous life, but they couldn’t come to a conclusion.

That was the extent of Jin Jae-hee’s explanation.

‘There’s no way Kwon Jong-hyun would side with the Metro forces or the Northern King.’

This was why I hadn’t taken any special action even though the Metro forces were waging a siege at Lotte Tower.

They can’t beat Kwon Jong-hyun.

No matter how overwhelming the number of soldiers and the number of Artifact Ability Users mobilized, they would not be able to capture Lotte Tower, which Kwon Jong-hyun was defending.

That’s how it was in my previous life.

In fact, the final boss of the third round is Kwon Jong-hyun, not the Dragon.

The Dragon can be killed if certain conditions are met, but Kwon Jong-hyun cannot be killed.

That was the biggest obstacle.

What I wanted was one thing.

That Kwon Jong-hyun doesn’t come forward.

If Kwon Jong-hyun doesn’t participate in this war, we will be able to win the Metro conquest war.

I looked at the map and reorganized the plan. “Two weeks later, when Choi Hyun-ji returns, we will begin full-scale war preparations. Listen carefully.”

I distributed roles to each top commander.

Ha Yoon-ha and Jung Hyun-soo would defend Man-gyeong.

Man-gyeong was an iron fortress.

Car walls were built around the outskirts of the city.

In addition, the city itself was managed separately, so even if the first gate was breached, it was easy to defend.

In preparation for the worst, Jung Hyun-soo was assigned as the defense commander, and Ha Yoon-ha was given responsibility.

Jin Jae-hee and Choi Hyun-ji would primarily neutralize the enemy’s Artifact forces based on powerful Artifacts.

If modern warfare is an air war, this league is an Artifact war.

I had no choice but to expect their outstanding performance.

Once the Artifact war was over, it would be the turn of the main force and Choi Myung-joon to step up.

I had no intention of dividing the army in all directions.

My army is a spear.

It will only stab towards the goal, not swing around.

It was necessary to remind them of the purpose of the war.

I said to the commanders, “This is different from the wars in past history. It is a war with a clear purpose. Our purpose is those two monsters. Just think about killing those two monsters. Do you understand?”

At my question, the commanders answered strongly. “Yes!”

“The moment the center collapses, they will surely be annihilated. Trust me and follow me. I will lead you to victory.”

And I announced one more important thing. “In this war, I will also be at the forefront, with Jin Jae-hee.”

I am also an Artifact Ability User.

I needed to test the skills I acquired from Bitnam.

Jin Jae-hee looked surprised, but I was steadfast.

I would end this war with my own hands.

* * *

Early dawn before the sun had risen.

In the city center, where only silence prevailed, Jin Jae-hee soared.

Against the backdrop of the navy-blue dawn sky, she shone.

The goal was the enemy’s key Player.