The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 180

180. Dongjak District Battle (2)

Gwanak District.

This place was a wasteland.

It was territory belonging to Metro, but because they didn’t come above ground, the city was devastated.

In Gwanak District, which was once filled only with corpses, the sounds of people living began to be heard once more.

It was the sound of gunfire and screams.

A hunter wearing a bulletproof helmet and gas mask, armed with a rifle and bow, was sweating profusely.

He barely tracked the flashes of light with his eyes, muttering.

“W-Where am I……?”

“Sergeant Cho!!!”

Someone called out to Sergeant Cho, but he couldn’t hear anything.

“Where am I……. Where is it……?”

“Sergeant Cho! Get a grip!!!”

“Fucking hell. I can’t see. I can’t see anything.”

Sergeant Cho dropped his rifle.

Clang-!

The sound of the rifle hitting the cement floor was deafening.

Sergeant Cho covered his head.

“I can’t see, how am I supposed to shoot……. I can’t see……! I, I have to run. I have to run!!!”

Sergeant Cho let out a piercing scream, but the moment he took a step back.

Whoosh- Slash!

The Holy Sword flew from the sky and beheaded him.

The hunters gathered on the rooftop were startled and aimed their guns at the Holy Sword.

But only the Holy Sword had flown, and there was no sign of the one who wielded it.

The hunters turned their guns away from the Holy Sword and aimed at the empty air.

The enemy was surely somewhere in the air.

But that was the hunters’ delusion.

Light began to gather on the hilt of the Holy Sword, and a hand, elbow, shoulder, chest, and face appeared.

The hunters were startled and tried to turn their guns back to shoot her.

Whoosh- Slash!

Everyone was cut down by the Holy Sword she wielded.

A few hunters who survived her attack fired their guns.

“D-Die!!!”

Tatatatatang!!!

Jin Jaehee rolled to the side to avoid the bullets, then threw the Holy Sword at the hunter who was spraying bullets at her.

The Holy Sword pierced the hunter’s gas mask and stuck into the outer wall behind him.

The hunter dangled like a piece of meat stuck to the wall. Jin Jaehee quickly approached, pulled out the sword, and slashed the hunter next to him.

“H-Hik-! S-Save me!”

“It’s a monster!”

The hunters began to run away, but Jin Jaehee didn’t let them escape.

She beheaded the last one for good measure.

Slash-!

The fleeing hunter’s neck was cut, and his head rolled on the floor.

“……”

On the rooftop littered with butchered corpses, Jin Jaehee breathed evenly.

She looked over the railing at the scenery of Seoul National University.

‘It’s strange.’

Nowhere, in any place, was there an Artifact ability user from the enemy.

They should have deployed a defense force in Gwanak to protect Dongjak, but they didn’t. She was wrong.

There were no Artifact ability users here.

Moreover, the hunters’ armaments were not uniform.

Only a few were holding guns, and even they didn’t have many bullets.

‘Are they trying to lure us? Or.’

Jin Jaehee stopped thinking.

A sphere flickered in her vision.

From the distant sky, Kang Si-On approached.

He had learned how to float using the spheres.

By attaching very small spheres to the soles of his feet and back, so small they were barely visible, he could fly like Jin Jaehee.

Of course, he wasn’t as fast as Jin Jaehee.

He said he came up with this method when he was trapped in the pension.

Thud-.

Kang Si-On landed on the rooftop full of corpses and looked at her.

“Did you take care of everything?”

“Yeah. But it’s too strange. There aren’t even any Artifact ability users, let alone a defense force. They must know we’re going to Dongjak. Could it be a trap?”

“No. It’s different.”

At that moment, hunters on the rooftop of the opposite building began to shoot at Kang Si-On and Jin Jaehee.

Clang clang clang-!

The bullets hit the railing and scattered in all directions.

Kang Si-On immediately lowered his stance, spread his palms, and sent spheres flying towards them.

The spheres flew instantly and completely crushed the enemies.

The hunters let out a short scream and died on the spot.

The players of Mangyeong below also entered the university one after another.

The hunters were no match for the players.

Even if a player was hit by a hunter’s bullet, it wasn’t a fatal wound.

They had a level of recovery that was different from ordinary people.

Kang Si-On’s subordinates were doing their best to occupy Seoul National University.

Jin Jaehee opened the battle at the forefront, and Kang Si-On, who followed from the rear, began the occupation with his subordinates.

The number of hunters deployed at Seoul National University was small, and it took less than an hour to occupy the university.

Holding onto the railing, Kang Si-On looked around the scenery of Seoul National University and asked.

“Where were we?”

“You said it wasn’t a trap.”

“Ah, right. Rather than a trap, it must be that they’re confident.”

“Confident……?”

“They pre-emptively deployed Artifact ability users who can move quickly to observe the area. There are no ambush troops, only a few monsters. This is definitely their forward base, but they must have abandoned it and gone somewhere. According to our reconnaissance, there are no defense lines built in Dongjak either. The only possible scenario is that they have hidden ambush troops near Seocho and Geumcheon to raid Mangyeong.”

At Kang Si-On’s words, Jin Jaehee asked with a worried tone.

“If they’re targeting Mangyeong, wouldn’t it be better to retreat and defend it?”

At her question, Kang Si-On pondered. Players were conducting mop-up operations throughout the university campus according to Kang Si-On’s orders.

Watching them, Kang Si-On opened his mouth.

“We’ve confirmed it over the past five years.”

“……”

“Ha Yunha will protect it. Besides, Jung Hyunsoo is there too. As you know, Jung Hyunsoo is currently considered stronger than Choi Hyunji.”

Moreover, the assets of the Dongwang forces and the reserves earned from cigarettes and alcohol will be of great help to them in defending the city.

The key to war is supply, and Mangyeong was the most abundant supply depot.

Kang Si-On did not station a defense force out of complacency.

He ordered the most powerful garrison to be formed to thoroughly defend Mangyeong.

Now, what Kang Si-On and Jin Jaehee had to do was decided.

To become a spear.

A spear that would sever the enemy’s vital point.

Kang Si-On turned to Jin Jaehee and concluded.

“Issue a charge order to Choi Hyunji in Gangdong, and advance the main force’s ogres. We will occupy Gwanak as it is.”

“……Okay.”

Without arguing, Jin Jaehee immediately shot the Holy Sword into the sky.

The three Holy Swords cut through the sky, stopped, and emitted light.

The flashes emitted by the Holy Swords were bright enough to be seen from afar.

Against the backdrop of the dawn sky, Jin Jaehee quickly rotated the Holy Swords, drawing a shape in the sky.

* * *

Three triangles were drawn in the sky above Seoul.

The shape was clearly visible to Ha Yunha in Mangyeong as well.

‘Three triangles. Garrison forces maintain current position. Main force begins advance.’

It was a pre-arranged signal.

Of course, since the enemies could recognize it as it was drawn in the sky, the meaning of the signal would change every day.

Ha Yunha turned to look at Jung Hyunsoo.

Jung Hyunsoo was sitting at the edge of the car barricade, staring at her.

Ha Yunha frowned.

“What.”

“……Aren’t you scared?”

“……What nonsense are you talking about.”

Ha Yunha walked to the edge of the barricade.

She looked at the ogres gathered outside the barricade.

It was a spectacle.

The ogres were sitting along the barricade in the same posture, and the infantry units of Mangyeong were also lined up together.

10,000 infantry, 300 ogres.

This was the largest gathering of troops in Mangyeong’s history.

The commanders of the infantry were waiting for orders, looking only at Ha Yunha.

Jung Hyunsoo stood next to her and asked.

“What about the war? I remember you were quite traumatized even during the war with Dongahn.”

Ha Yunha had been captured and imprisoned by Dongahn soldiers in the past war.

She was too young at the time, so it was bound to remain a trauma for her.

That was why she avoided war.

In the turbulent past five years, Mangyeong had avoided fighting.

But now they had to fight.

Ha Yunha looked at the soldiers and asked Jung Hyunsoo in a low voice.

“What about you?”

At her question, Jung Hyunsoo chuckled and replied.

“Me? Well……. I’m so brave. I used to sweep through the battlefield, and now I’m not afraid of battle…….”

“Liar.”

At Ha Yunha’s words, Jung Hyunsoo closed his mouth.

Jung Hyunsoo looked at Ha Yunha.

A fierce impression.

Eyes full of determination.

Hair fluttering.

Ha Yunha looked at Jung Hyunsoo and said again.

“Liar.”

“……You.”

“You must be scared too. You wouldn’t have slept comfortably for years fighting in the heart of the enemy. The guilt you feel killing enemies. The frustration you feel when your comrades die. I know it well. Because when you came back and I took your hand, the memories were shared.”

As she continued to speak, Ha Yunha’s voice became sorrowful.

Jung Hyunsoo looked at his hand.

When she first shook hands with him, she wasn’t wearing the red gemstone.

Jung Hyunsoo couldn’t say anything.

Her ability was to see the memories of others.

So Ha Yunha knew too.

When Jung Hyunsoo continued to fight in that dark and fearful war for years.

Every night, before falling asleep next to the corpses of his comrades, he secretly shed tears.

“It’s okay to be afraid. It’s natural. But if you can’t draw your sword when you have to, that’s just stupid.”

At that moment, Ha Yunha strongly gripped the hilt of the sword she was wearing on her waist.

Thud-.

Ha Yunha’s voice no longer trembled.

It was strong like a solid rock and majestic like a brave tiger.

“If you overcome fear, it becomes courage. Just like you did.”

At the end of fear, Jung Hyunsoo gained courage.

He gained courage because he didn’t want to lose.

Because he didn’t want to lose his father.

Because he didn’t want to lose his comrades.

He became more determined and stronger.

The greatest driving force to win a fight was ultimately courage.

Ha Yunha shared the same feelings as Jung Hyunsoo.

She put strength into drawing the Emperor’s Sword.

The blade slowly came out of the scabbard.

The light reflected on the blade sparkled.

Ha Yunha, who was slowly drawing the sword, powerfully pulled it out completely at the end.

Swoosh-!

The beautiful blade was shining along with the golden decorations.

Jung Hyunsoo stood in the same place as Ha Yunha and looked down at the soldiers.

The assembled soldiers looked up at the Emperor who had drawn his sword.

Five years.

Five years of waiting for the hero to return.

Because the hero had returned, Mangyeong was complete.

With the hero, there was no fear.

Now there was only the courage to defeat the enemy.

Thrust.

Ha Yunha pointed the blade at them.

The emotions of those driven to the brink of death are more uplifting than fearful.

The pupa endures the harsh winter, and when spring comes, it breaks out of its shell and becomes a butterfly, freely fluttering its wings.

They had overcome the winter.

They had lived crouching for a long time.

Avoiding war, waiting only for the hero to return.

Again, the hero would save us from this ordeal.

They had endured with only that belief.

And now it was time to spread their wings.

She commanded the soldiers who were only looking at the Emperor’s blade.

“Advance.”

Behind the Emperor’s command, the bell rang.

At this, the ogres who were sitting raised their heads and stood up.

The ogres advanced. The soldiers followed behind.

The earth shook.

They were ready to trample Seoul.

* * *

Top of Lotte Tower.

There, a man was sitting with Seoul as his backdrop.

The man held a small dragon in his arms.

He stroked the dragon with his right hand.

The dragon trembled as it felt his touch.

The man said in a low tone.

“Pony, it seems like something is happening in Seoul.”

The man’s eyes were directed towards the distant city.

Something was coming in a line across the horizon.

The man looked at it and said.

“Pony, what could it be? Are the soldiers coming again?”

“Purrrr.”

The dragon seemed uninterested in the man’s words and snuggled further into the man’s arms.

“Soldiers are bad guys. They are beings who try to harm Pony.”

The man stood up.

Lotte Tower was the largest building in South Korea that had not yet collapsed.

The man started Round 1 at Lotte Tower.

And he tried to kill everyone in Lotte Tower and kill himself too.

But he had survived until now.

The man’s Artifact was Predator.

He gains lives and the power of the people he eats, depending on the number of people he has eaten.

So he was alone. But at the same time, he was also 30,000 people.

His name was Kwon Jonghyun.

He was the person Kang Si-On was most wary of.

Kwon Jonghyun hugged Pony tightly and said.

“Don’t worry, Pony. I’ll protect you. No one can hurt you. No one.”

(To be continued in the next episode)