The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 192

192. Three Days (3)

Lee Ho-seung slowly opened his eyes.

A girl with a red scarf around her neck was wiping something with a rag.

Looking closer, the girl was scrubbing Lee Ho-seung’s urine with the rag.

With her bare hands.

Lee Ho-seung was startled and jumped up.

“?!”

Clang-!

However, his movements were restricted by the iron chain around his neck.

Woo Ji-hye, who was wiping Ho-seung’s urine, looked at him with surprised eyes when he got up.

Lee Ho-seung couldn’t see Woo Ji-hye well because his vision was blurry.

Woo Ji-hye seemed to realize something, took out glasses from her pocket, and handed them to him.

Lee Ho-seung carefully took the glasses and put them on his eyes.

Only then did everything appear bright.

This place was as dark as an underground coal mine, but thanks to the lanterns that were lit intermittently, everything that needed to be seen was visible.

Lee Ho-seung thought.

‘The Metro forces’ underground…’

He had only heard rumors, but facing it in person was eerie.

Metro citizens who only lived underground.

Having barely seen sunlight for several years, their skin was almost as white as jade.

Woo Ji-hye carefully asked.

“Are you okay?”

Lee Ho-seung was still feeling confused, so he couldn’t immediately answer her.

He fiddled with the collar around his neck a few times, as if it was uncomfortable.

Then, Woo Ji-hye said apologetically.

“I had no choice if I wanted you to live. The old man said he would kill you right away if I didn’t put a collar on you…”

Woo Ji-hye trailed off.

Lee Ho-seung covered his head and pondered.

Soon, he asked her.

“How long… have I been unconscious?”

“About four or five hours.”

“The, the soldiers of Myeongyeong? They should be on the ground. Did they invade?”

“I heard this morning… that they went back down the mountain without any particular gains.”

This was a big problem.

Lee Ho-seung was now completely separated from the main force.

According to Kang Si-on, they would launch a general offensive in three days, but it didn’t seem possible to get out of here within three days.

Woo Ji-hye took out food from a snack box and said.

“More than that, aren’t you hungry? I brought some food.”

What she handed him was something that looked like naan bread.

Lee Ho-seung was reluctant to accept food from a Metro forces’ hunter.

Since Woo Ji-hye’s pistol was actually on the desk, he couldn’t carelessly accept food from an enemy, given the threat emanating from the pistol.

But then, Lee Ho-seung’s stomach churned.

Grumble-.

Woo Ji-hye looked at the naan, then took out Lee Ho-seung’s bag.

And she took out rat jerky from it and handed it to him.

Woo Ji-hye said with a smile.

“I know. It’s hard to accept food from an enemy. But still, eat it. You’re hungry.”

Woo Ji-hye smiled bashfully.

The lantern light illuminated her face, and the smile was truly beautiful.

Lee Ho-seung’s wariness crumbled at that smile.

Then, he chewed on the rat jerky.

Not only that, but he also began to stuff the naan that Woo Ji-hye had handed him into his mouth.

* * *

Woo Ji-hye watched Lee Ho-seung devour the food and asked.

“Are you from Myeongyeong, oppa [older brother]?”

“…Oppa?”

When Lee Ho-seung asked, Woo Ji-hye covered her mouth with both hands and apologized.

“Ah, I’m sorry. Are you perhaps younger than me?”

“Ah, no. It doesn’t look like it. No, it’s just that the title feels a bit awkward.”

“…That’s a relief. I was worried I had made a mistake.”

Lee Ho-seung felt full after eating his fill.

But his situation hadn’t changed.

He was still chained up and a prisoner of the Metro.

Lee Ho-seung asked Woo Ji-hye.

“But why Myeongyeong?”

At Ho-seung’s question, Ji-hye smiled a little and continued.

“I’m from Anyang.”

“Huh?! Really? But why are you in the Metro…”

Lee Ho-seung was so surprised that he shouted.

Woo Ji-hye chuckled and nodded.

Then, she began to introduce herself.

“I fought in the 1st round in Anyang [the initial outbreak/disaster]. The hero of Myeongyeong now is Kang Si-on, right? I spent it with him.”

To have spent the 1st round with Kang Si-on, the hero of Myeongyeong.

That was quite shocking to Lee Ho-seung as well.

In fact, Lee Ho-seung had learned about Kang Si-on’s history even when he was in Myeongyeong.

At that time, he had naturally heard about Kang Si-on’s 1st round story, and it was said that only five people survived there.

If that’s the case, then excluding Kang Si-on and Jin Jae-hee from those five, there would only be three left.

The fact that the girl with the red scarf in front of him was one of those three was honestly hard to believe.

Lee Ho-seung adjusted his glasses and said.

“Wow, that’s really surprising.”

“I was also surprised when I heard that oppa became the hero of Myeongyeong.”

“Then you could have been with Kang Si-on at the time. Why did you separate?”

“I went to Sadang to find my grandmother. But well… I don’t really want to talk about what happened in the 1st round.”

Woo Ji-hye smiled bitterly and lowered her head.

In fact, there was something common to everyone in the League [group of survivors/fighters].

That was that everyone didn’t want to remember the 1st round.

Because most of them lost their families at that time.

Lee Ho-seung heard Woo Ji-hye’s words and thought this was an opportunity.

He thought that if he coaxed her well, they might be able to return to Myeongyeong together.

Lee Ho-seung asked.

“…Then don’t you want to go back to Myeongyeong?”

Unexpectedly, Woo Ji-hye answered that question firmly.

“I don’t want to go back that much.”

“Ah… Why? If you spent the 1st round with the hero, you could get a share if you go back to Myeongyeong.”

Lee Ho-seung tried to persuade Woo Ji-hye as much as possible.

The only way for him to get out of here was to persuade her.

But Woo Ji-hye was firm.

“I’m not that interested in status or wealth. Besides, I like the people here too… If the Metro and Myeongyeong reconcile and can travel back and forth, there is someone I want to find.”

“Who is it?”

“The person who put this scarf around me.”

Woo Ji-hye said, slightly holding the red scarf around her neck.

In fact, this underground coal mine was quite hot.

Including Woo Ji-hye, the man who had attacked Lee Ho-seung was also wearing short sleeves and shorts.

But Woo Ji-hye insisted on the scarf.

This red scarf had a special meaning for her.

The woman who put this red scarf around her neck at the end of the 1st round, when she was about to give up everything, was kind.

That kindness was something that could no longer be found in this world.

The people around her who protected and believed in Woo Ji-hye now were far from kind.

Lee Ho-seung swallowed hard and asked.

“What’s her name?”

Then, Woo Ji-hye scratched the back of her head slightly and smiled awkwardly.

“I don’t know. I don’t even remember her face anymore.”

“Ah…”

Lee Ho-seung nodded slightly and remained silent.

Woo Ji-hye added the last words.

“The person who gave me this red scarf will surely be kind even now. I believe so.”

“I hope so.”

Lee Ho-seung quickly adapted to Woo Ji-hye’s gentle voice and kind-looking impression.

Woo Ji-hye was, after all, the Metro’s hunter who had protected him before he died absurdly.

Lee Ho-seung recalled the story he had shared with Jin Jae-hee before coming here.

Lee Ho-seung had told her that he didn’t know the meaning of life, but he was still living thanks to her.

But Lee Ho-seung felt like he knew the meaning of life the moment he met Woo Ji-hye.

Warmth.

The warmth of people.

The warmth of giving up a seat to an elderly person on the bus.

Volunteers carrying briquettes to help the underprivileged.

People who can help those in need and cry with them.

Lee Ho-seung had seen that warmth in Jin Jae-hee, and now he confirmed it in the woman in front of him.

The world has changed.

A world where you die if you don’t kill others.

A world where humanity cannot be found.

Lee Ho-seung had been looking for that humanity all along.

And he could know the answer by looking at Woo Ji-hye.

Lee Ho-seung smiled slightly and said to Woo Ji-hye.

“You are kind.”

At those words, Woo Ji-hye looked a little surprised and then lowered her head.

Woo Ji-hye’s voice rang out softly.

“…Not at all.”

“Huh?”

But Lee Ho-seung couldn’t hear Woo Ji-hye’s words to the end.

The burly man who had knocked Lee Ho-seung unconscious was walking back here.

The man had a rifle slung over his shoulder.

Lee Ho-seung was very nervous at the man’s appearance and stepped back.

The man grabbed Woo Ji-hye’s pistol on the desk and handed it to her.

“It’s a sortie order. Ji-hye. Let’s go.”

“…Yes. Uncle.”

Woo Ji-hye received the rifle, slung it over her shoulder, and gathered the boxes around her and piled them in front of Lee Ho-seung.

Woo Ji-hye leaned her face over the boxes and firmly told Lee Ho-seung.

“Never make a sound, no matter who comes. Our code is um… Kiwi. Keep quiet until I say Kiwi. If other hunters see oppa, they will kill you.”

Lee Ho-seung swallowed hard and nodded.

Woo Ji-hye smiled at his nod.

“See you later.”

She left only those words and covered the boxes with a blanket.

Now Lee Ho-seung was crouching alone in a completely dark space.

He waited and waited.

Until Woo Ji-hye returned.

* * *

A dark corridor.

This place was a space created by the assault-type monster Dudu, and it was now being used as an underground passage for Metro hunters.

Kim Kang-seok looked back at Woo Ji-hye, who was walking next to the passage, and sighed.

“You’ll regret it someday. To have compassion for the enemy.”

Woo Ji-hye didn’t answer Kim Kang-seok’s words.

She just walked forward silently.

Already many hunters were walking in a line along the narrow passage.

The commanders of some hunters shouted at their subordinates.

“We! Will surely occupy Myeongyeong and survive. That is the order God has given us. Don’t hesitate! We must win!”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

At the commander’s enthusiastic shout, the hunters answered in unison, short and thick.

As Woo Ji-hye and Kim Kang-seok approached, the hunters with rifles parted like the Red Sea.

Woo Ji-hye and Kim Kang-seok walked into the space between them.

Again, the commander’s voice was heard from the megaphone.

“Listen carefully! When you go up to the ground, first find the remaining bullets from your comrades’ corpses! And when you find the bullets! Don’t fire, bring them to the unit! I’ll say it again! When you go up to the ground…!”

Woo Ji-hye walked among the hunters and went to a room.

This place was structured like an ant tunnel, with several rooms in one passage.

The room was dark, but there was a doctor under the lantern light, and someone was lying in front of him.

When Woo Ji-hye entered the room, the doctor in the room laughed like a madman and said.

“Myeongyeong’s player. Jeong Hyun-soo. He finally defeated the Red Devil. Wow-, haha. Shall we give him a round of applause?”

Woo Ji-hye looked down at the Red Devil lying dead on the bed.

His whole body was electrocuted to death.

He was a colleague who hated and opposed Jeong Hyun-soo so much, but in the end, he couldn’t overcome Jeong Hyun-soo’s wall.

At that time, a female commander in military uniform entered the room where the Red Devil was dead.

She handed four magazines, each with 30 bullets, to Woo Ji-hye and Kim Kang-seok, respectively.

“Although the Red Devil is dead, Jeong Hyun-soo seems to have taken a lot of damage too. Even if you encounter him in Myeongyeong, you will be able to win. More than that, is the Pope’s special order going smoothly?”

The woman looked at Woo Ji-hye and asked.

Woo Ji-hye silently looked at the Red Devil’s corpse, then sighed softly and said to the woman.

“Killing ‘Jin Jae-hee’?”

The commander woman nodded.

“Yes. With the abilities of the two of you, it will be possible. You must kill Jin Jae-hee. That is the order that the Pope has specially given to you.”

“…”

“…”

When the two didn’t answer, the commander woman said again.

“If you can’t kill Jin Jae-hee, there is no future for our Metro forces. That bitch is the strongest player in the League who even cut the Mapo Bridge in one stroke. The story that the Pope heard from God was that if there is no Jin Jae-hee, Myeongyeong will collapse. So you must kill Jin Jae-hee. Among the players left in the Metro forces, you are the last hope.”

Woo Ji-hye listened to the commander’s words, combined the magazine with the pistol, and pulled back the bolt.

After confirming that there was no problem with the pistol, Woo Ji-hye glared at the commander.

Woo Ji-hye’s voice was quite threatening.

“I know. Stop talking.”

It was a nervous answer, but the commander woman couldn’t say anything back to Woo Ji-hye.

Currently, the most core figure in the Metro was Woo Ji-hye.

“Jin Jae-hee… I will definitely kill her.”

Woo Ji-hye left only those words and left the room.

Kim Kang-seok followed Woo Ji-hye out.

The path Woo Ji-hye was taking was cleared by the hunters.

And she was also receiving the respectful gazes of the hunters.

The red scarf moved steadily with her steps.

A stream of light was pouring in from the distant passage.

Beyond that light.

So when Woo Ji-hye climbed the last tire stairs, light poured into her eyes.

“…”

Again, the ruined 모습 [state/sight] of Myeongyeong was revealed.

Woo Ji-hye put on a gas mask.

Gas mask, red scarf, pistol.

Woo Ji-hye was the supreme leader of the hunters.

And she was also a problem solver.

Myeongyeong soldiers with spears rushed out from the opposite street.

Woo Ji-hye shot the pistol without hesitation.

Bang-! Bang-!

(To be continued in the next episode)