The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 207

207. The Final Beginning (2)

The joint funeral became a national event.

For three days, reconstruction efforts were paused as citizens, soldiers, and even high-ranking officers attended the service.

Though they couldn’t all wear matching clothes, they held candles to remember those who had died in the war.

Hah Yoon-ha stood at the very front of the procession of mourners.

With Hah Yoon-ha at its center, the citizens began to circle the city of Mangyeong.

The crowd that gathered was enormous.

Though the joint funeral had originated with Hah Yoon-ha’s suggestion, it was a necessary undertaking nonetheless.

Ultimately, it provided great comfort to the people who made up the nation.

It was like the fishermen’s solidarity growing stronger after a great wave passes.

The united consciousness and shared values of the citizens of Mangyeong eventually became the foundation for rapid national reconstruction and growth.

Of course, Kang Jun-ho’s contributions accounted for a significant portion – say, 60% – of that progress.

Suwon’s robust finances and large population were more than enough to help Mangyeong thrive.

One month after the war.

Mangyeong grew beyond a nation and transformed into a great empire.

This growth was evident in its territory, population, economic power, and military strength.

Just as Suwon had Chairman Kang Jun-ho and its surrounding autonomous districts, Kang Si-on of Mangyeong rose to a similar position of influence.

Kang Jun-ho was the leader of a great empire centered around Suwon Castle, connecting Chungcheong, Jeolla, and Jeju provinces.

Kang Si-on became the leader of a great empire centered around Mangyeong, occupying southern Gyeonggi province and the Gangnam and Gangbuk districts in Seoul.

With this, Kang Si-on’s official title was promoted from national hero to Chairman overseeing the Seoul region.

This decision wasn’t made by the Mangyeong leadership, but by the Management Committee that oversaw the League [a governing body for the settlements and territories within the game/world].

* * *

Though the war was over, Si-on spent the past two months busier than ever.

Immediately after the war, the biggest problem was dealing with the aftermath.

That meant handling the prisoners and former residents of the Metro forces.

Reorganizing the territory, which had expanded several times over, proved more difficult than gradually growing the existing forces.

Hah Yoon-ha’s role was significant in that process, but above all, Jun-ho’s support was overwhelming.

Jun-ho visited Mangyeong almost every day.

Frankly, no matter how close Suwon and Mangyeong had become, it still took six hours round trip with current transportation technology.

But Jun-ho had flying skills surpassing even Jin Jae-hee, so visiting Mangyeong was as easy as going to the corner store.

My brother always came into my office with a smile.

“Hyung [older brother or respectful term for an older male]. Is there anything special going on?”

“Hyung. Want to go to Suwon for dinner? They caught a giant whale shark near Cheonan this time.”

“Hyung. This is some really good alcohol.”

“Hyung. Last week, I…”.

“That woman isn’t in Mangyeong right now, is she? Hyung? I just wish she wasn’t here.”

Every day, every day, every day.

He came every day without fail.

Of course, I’m happy. I couldn’t be happier.

It makes me happy no matter what anyone says that my brother visits me every day.

It also helps me a lot that he sends 10 carriages full of gifts every day.

But it was quite tiring to talk to my brother every day in the midst of my busy schedule.

Is this déjà vu?

Even before the League started, my brother used to pester me to play with him every day.

But I didn’t have much time to play with my brother because of my various part-time jobs.

My brother doesn’t seem to want that to happen again.

My brother placed something huge on my office desk.

Tung-!

I was reviewing business documents submitted by Hah Yoon-ha in my office when I looked up at my brother again.

I wondered what he had brought this time.

My brother opened his eyes wide and tapped the object, saying.

“…Hyung. Do you know what this is?”

“…What is it?”

“You’ll be surprised when you see it.”

My brother opened the lid of the black box.

The object inside was shocking.

It was Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

It was truly a beautiful sight.

The fact that the masterpiece I had only seen in books was in front of me felt a bit surreal.

“Authentic. Mona Lisa. How is it? Awesome, right? It’s a gift for you, hyung. Here. Here. It would be perfect in this corner of the office.”

Jun-ho pointed to one side of the office, next to a pot where plants were growing.

“Amazing… I guess.”

It was definitely surprising.

I got up from my desk and examined the Mona Lisa closely.

To be honest, I don’t know much about art appreciation, but I knew the value of this Mona Lisa to some extent.

I was also surprised that this Mona Lisa was preserved almost perfectly, and I wondered why this work was in Korea, and why Jun-ho had it.

I admired the work and asked Jun-ho.

“But why is this here?”

“I traded with the French forces. For 20 cartons of cigarettes.”

“France? You mean you can trade with foreign forces?”

“No. No. No matter how great my forces are, I can’t cross the sea. It wasn’t easy when I conquered Jeju Island either.”

“But how?”

“The community. I gathered foreign resources through the administrator [likely a game mechanic or AI]. But do you know what? Hyung? Almost all countries except Korea are still in the middle of Round 2.”

Round 2 was the Ice Age.

For me, the middle of Round 2 was when I was at the Manan Police Station with Chief Park Geon-woo.

It didn’t make sense.

Even if I thought very positively and assumed that the world was behind, I couldn’t understand why the gap was so wide.

Jun-ho said.

“So, in a way, the Korean Peninsula is the center of the Earth. I don’t know why either. According to the administrator bastards… there’s a very powerful force within the Korean Peninsula. The idiots don’t even know the reason themselves. So the administrators are implementing policies to suppress the Korean Peninsula. But hyung, I’m here. I’m not going to stop just because those bastards are suppressing it. Rather, the administrators are struggling. Those guys who used to control humans in the early rounds are all dead. Anyway, hyung, don’t worry. I’m going to make you the winner of this League now.”

“…Suppression, huh.”

What exactly is that powerful force?

I concluded that it was the appearance of ‘Jin Jae-hee’.

It was certain that something would change, for better or worse, with the appearance of the Regressor [someone who can return to the past].

And I glared at Jun-ho, who was talking to me.

“Hey.”

“Uh…? Hyung. What’s wrong? Suddenly…”

Jun-ho was startled and widened his eyes.

I warned my brother.

“Have you been swearing more lately?”

Jun-ho was now an adult, so I wasn’t going to tell him what to do about smoking or drinking.

But swearing was not allowed.

My brother quickly backed down.

“…Sorry. Hyung. I’ll be careful.”

* * *

Jin Jae-hee walked alone through the ruined city center.

She was in Teheran-ro [a major business district in Seoul].

As Mangyeong conquered the area south of the Han River, she was able to come here.

With Tancheon Stream as the boundary, Gangnam forces occupied the area where Lotte Tower was located, and Mangyeong occupied Gangnam Station, where Teheran-ro was located.

She walked along the road in between.

And soon she was able to reach the place where she had died in the past.

“…”

Jin Jae-hee silently looked down at the place.

Immediately after regressing, she had been running non-stop until now.

And finally, she was able to reach the League before her regression.

Even though the rounds were different, the timing was similar.

Originally, Kang Si-on and Jin Jae-hee should have died here around this time.

But the future had changed, and they both survived.

Of course, she lost a friend.

Immediately after the war, Jin Jae-hee went looking for Lee Ho-seung, but couldn’t find him anywhere.

What was a little strange was that there was no change in her emotions, even though she had lost a precious friend.

Like Lee Ho-seung, Choi Hyun-ji, and many others.

They left her side like that.

“…”

Jin Jae-hee stood in the center of the intersection and looked up at the towering buildings.

The symbols of Mangyeong were hung everywhere.

She wanted to grow in line with the changed flow.

Now is the perfect time to grow, as Kang Si-on needs time to expand and grow his forces.

There was only one method she chose.

It was to push herself into a more brutal and harsh environment.

She knew the best place to do Artifact training.

She had already told Kang Si-on that she would go on the path of training, and she was planning to leave as soon as she finished cleaning up south of the Han River.

The sound of gunfire was heard in the distance.

It was the sound of surviving Hunters resisting.

Jin Jae-hee headed there.

* * *

Bang-! Bang! Bang!

The sound of gunfire rang out in the city center.

They were the remaining Hunters who were rampaging, unaware that the Metro forces had collapsed.

The Hunter, who was left alone on the main street, shot at anyone he saw with his pistol.

His whole body was covered in wounds, but he resisted desperately.

Bang-! Bang! Bang!

“You bastards…! Don’t come…! Don’t come!!!”

In fact, it was more like resistance than rebellion.

The tide had already turned, and the remaining Hunter had no chance of winning.

Mangyeong’s elite troops hid behind cover, waiting for the Hunter to reload.

The Hunter, whose bullets had run out and was reloading, muttered with tears in his eyes.

“…Don’t come… Don’t come. Don’t come.”

The Hunter barely reloaded the magazine and aimed forward again.

But Mangyeong’s elite troops were already hiding behind cover.

The Hunter’s pistol sight shook wildly.

“Damn it… Don’t come…”

At that moment, something cut through the wind.

Whoosh-.

The sound rang out, and the Hunter felt his gaze falling abnormally to the side.

And he realized that someone had cut off his neck.

The Hunter’s neck rolled off and touched Jin Jae-hee’s toes.

She roughly kicked the neck away and looked around.

“…”

The elite troops who had been taking cover rushed to her and bowed their heads.

“What brings you to the extermination site?”

The elite troop leader asked her, and Jin Jae-hee did not answer immediately.

Several elite troops began to search the body of the Hunter whose neck had been cut off, collecting bullets and pistols.

“How far has the advance been made?”

“We have now occupied Mapo-gu [district in Seoul], and the extermination of the Gangbuk area is expected to be completed within a week.”

With Jin Jae-hee and the elite troops at the forefront, the mop-up operation was progressing steadily.

As the rounds progressed, the citizens lived with a single set of values.

Therefore, even if the Metro collapsed, many people thought of the surface as contaminated and resisted.

Of course, not everyone resisted.

Some of those who had been trapped in the underground came to the surface and surrendered.

Mangyeong protected them on humanitarian grounds.

Of course, it was inevitable to reorganize their identities and transfer them to Mangyeong for education.

The elite troop leader said to Jin Jae-hee.

“In fact, the extermination war is entirely carried out by the Ogres [likely a type of unit or soldier]. Look. The way they go out like that, they push forward no matter how much resistance there is.”

Jin Jae-hee looked in the direction the elite troop leader was pointing.

The Ogres were standing in a row, crushing everything.

In the first place, the Gangbuk and Gangseo areas were under the influence of the Metro forces, and there were many areas on the surface without a single decent building.

In particular, Gangbuk was like a ghost town, with only ruined city centers.

If the Ogres crushed them one by one like a farmer treading on barley, the remaining troops would lose their will to fight.

The Ogres were a great asset to Mangyeong.

And it was also the core of Kang Si-on’s plan.

Jin Jae-hee turned to the elite troop leader and said.

“Advance slowly. There must be no ambushes from behind.”

At her words, the elite troop leader bowed his head and took orders.

“Understood. Leave it to me.”

After that, the elite troop leader gestured and commanded his subordinates.

The elite troops clean up the land that the Ogres have trampled on.

The Ogres’ advance speed is comparable to that of modern tanks, and the effect is tremendous.

The Seoul occupation war was coming to an end.