The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 29

＃29. Government Lapdog (1)

The police-controlled faction.

As expected, they were still expanding their power based on the Constitution of the Republic of Korea.

To be based on the Constitution meant that, at least within this faction, minimal human rights were guaranteed.

And guaranteed human rights meant that I could grow stably.

For now, it would be the most suitable hiding place for me.

While confronting the police, we were able to join them without much difficulty.

In fact, from the moment I first saw them, I thought it wouldn’t be difficult to get inside.

The police were gathering survivors on the streets, and we were survivors found during their patrol.

Of course, it wasn’t without its problems.

The sergeant, who was walking ahead, turned back slightly and said to Jin Jaehee.

“……Still, you have to be careful with that sword. You must never expose the sword outside inside the police station. Understand?”

He was talking to Jin Jaehee, but she didn’t seem to care about what he said.

The sergeant shook his head slightly at her reaction and walked on.

The police station wasn’t far from here.

As soon as I saw the police station, I let out a small sigh.

A huge fortress.

The walls surrounding the police station were reminiscent of a huge fortress.

There were villas and studio apartments around, but no building was big enough to compare to the police station.

The police station was the center of control in this area.

The sergeant approached the barricade in front of the police station’s main gate.

Then a police officer saluted him.

“Loyalty. You’ve worked hard.”

As expected.

Saluting meant that they were still complying with the regulations.

The entrance was surrounded by several layers of barricades.

Not makeshift ones like we made at the shopping mall, but steel barricades manufactured in a factory.

Several police officers stood guard behind the barricades.

The police officer, after finishing the inspection, immediately opened the barricade.

“Welcome. This way.”

The sergeant walked ahead, leading me and the other survivors.

There were many police forces.

They were all armed with guns and batons.

Before entering the police station, the sergeant stopped the people.

“We will be conducting a brief search of your belongings. This is for internal security, so please cooperate.”

Several police officers approached to search our belongings.

Then Jaehee looked back at me, as if asking for my opinion.

I nodded.

I didn’t want to make them enemies right away.

To use them, I had to gain their trust.

Two male police officers came and searched my body.

A female police officer approached Jin Jaehee.

Then the female police officer found the real sword and pointed at it.

“This is not allowed.”

When the female police officer tried to take it without knowing anything, Jin Jaehee nervously shook off the female police officer’s hand.

As Jin Jaehee made a move, the surrounding police officers instantly drew their guns and aimed.

The atmosphere instantly turned cold.

At that moment, the sergeant who brought us here waved his hand and calmed the police officers.

“It’s okay. I authorized it.”

“Sergeant, what……?”

One of the police officers, with a question, asked while aiming his gun, and the sergeant scanned Jin Jaehee and answered.

“I thought she would be suitable for the reconnaissance team. Every person is precious. Lower your guns.”

At those words, the police officers cautiously lowered their guns, though still suspicious.

Only then did Jin Jaehee remove her hand from the sword hilt.

“Let’s go up. Are you hungry? We’ll prepare a meal for you.”

At the word ‘meal,’ some people’s faces lit up.

We followed the sergeant up to the police station.

* * *

The Manan Police Station had 5 floors above ground and 2 floors below ground.

The areas where the rescued citizens lived were from the 2nd to the 4th floor.

First, we moved to the 5th floor and conducted a simple interrogation.

It was a trivial investigation.

What the situation was like outside, whether there had been contact with the government, whether there had been contact with monsters.

Sion and Jaehee both consistently answered ‘no.’

Then, we moved to the assigned residence with the sergeant.

They went down to the 2nd floor.

The inside of the police station, which used to handle civil complaints, was now a residential area for citizens.

At a glance, there were over 200 people crowded into a space that seemed to be about 100 *pyeong* [approximately 3,300 square feet].

Men and women, young and old.

That was the phrase to use in this situation.

They spread out meager bedding, and some used their clothes to make small tents.

Somewhere, they were heating water with a gas burner, and children who had lost their parents were huddled in a corner, watching the newcomers.

People huddled together, shivering from the cold.

They looked like baby birds waiting for their mother bird on a cliff.

We had to watch our step as we walked.

Because people’s belongings were scattered everywhere.

“The citizens are using up to the 4th floor, and our police forces are using the 5th floor as their residence. We haven’t been able to secure more residences yet, but we will be securing more in the future. The reconnaissance team will have to work hard for that. You two can use this place. Since you’re siblings, you can use one spot…… no complaints, right?”

The sergeant introduced them to a narrow space under the fire hydrant heading to the 2nd-floor staircase.

Next to them was an elderly couple, in front of them were young men, and to their right were two orphans.

A space too narrow to even stretch out their legs.

Moreover, they had to live close to people they didn’t even know.

It was extremely poor.

“We are controlling the restrooms. Here. Take both of these.”

The sergeant handed Sion two plastic sticks.

They were red and blue.

The sergeant handed Jaehee two sticks as well.

“You can submit the blue stick to our controller when you use the restroom. You can submit the red stick when you distribute meals.”

“Are you saying we can use the restroom once a day and have one meal a day?”

Sion looked at the sticks and asked back.

The sergeant nodded and replied.

“Yes. That’s how we control it. Food is scarce, and above all, the restroom problem is the most serious…….”

The sergeant closed his eyes and then sighed deeply.

When we were at the shopping mall, we could use the restroom freely.

Until then, the city’s water supply hadn’t stopped.

But now that Round 2 has started, it seemed that the water supply was blocked.

“It seems the water isn’t working?”

Sion said, looking at the restroom beyond the sergeant.

As the sergeant said, two police officers were guarding the restroom.

And when using the restroom, citizens could enter by handing over a blue stick.

The restroom line was long, even though it was only used once a day.

“We’re currently melting snow to replenish the water, but the manpower problem is very serious.”

“…….”

Sion thought as he listened to the sergeant.

Indeed. The whole world was covered in snow, so there couldn’t be a water shortage.

But the problem was that manpower was needed to melt the snow, and those people were being wasted on very useless labor.

The restroom was an act of protecting the minimum dignity as a human being.

Even if the situation had come to this point, they wouldn’t want to take off their pants and defecate outdoors.

Because they were still human.

They wouldn’t be able to give up that right.

But those things didn’t resonate with Sion.

“Every morning at 6:30, we conduct a headcount and roll call. We’ll give you a pair of those two sticks again during the roll call, so please keep that in mind. Everyone is cramped, and everyone is struggling. Let’s endure it a little longer and overcome this together.”

“Do the citizens here do nothing?”

Sion called out to the sergeant who was turning back.

The sergeant turned around and looked at Sion.

“Not right now, but.”

The sergeant waited for Sion’s words.

But Sion frowned as he looked at something in front of him.

And after looking at it for a while, he looked at the sergeant and said.

“I understand.”

Sion had a conversation with Jaehee.

The sergeant stared at the two people for a while and then moved on.

* * *

5F, Police Officer Residence.

“Sergeant, you said the woman had a real sword?”

Ignoring the words of the young lieutenant, Sergeant Lee Cheongchun went up to the 5th floor and took off his police cap.

Then he sat down on a chair and leaned back as if exhausted.

5th floor of Manan Police Station.

Like the general citizen residence, this place was also full of bedding on the floor.

Men and women were stuck together, sleeping or resting.

Police officers also received two sticks and had to submit the sticks when they wanted to eat or go to the restroom.

This was a directive issued by the police chief.

Sergeant Lee Cheongchun sat on the chair, tilted his head back slightly to rest, and then got up.

Squeak-.

The hinge of the chair made a loud noise.

The young lieutenant said to Lee Cheongchun.

“Sergeant, I’m asking if the woman had a real sword?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t she a dangerous person? Why did you let someone like that in?”

The young lieutenant followed behind Sergeant Lee Cheongchun.

Lee Cheongchun headed to the office warehouse on one side of the office.

There were no doors there, and the entrance to the office warehouse was blocked by a desk.

To distribute food, everyone had to submit a red stick here.

Sergeant Lee Cheongchun was no exception.

He placed a stick on the table, and the police officer sitting across from him took it and placed a pet bottle containing bread and water on the table.

Lee Cheongchun took the bread and water and returned to his seat.

The lieutenant, who was still next to him, kept talking loudly.

“Sergeant. What if that crazy psycho from 2 days ago happens again?”

2 days ago.

Two young men found by the Manan Police Station reconnaissance team, which had set out to find survivors, caused a riot here.

Two people died and four were injured due to the stabbing.

The two young men are now locked up in the basement 1st-floor detention center.

The lieutenant was worried, keeping in mind that the police station’s morale had fallen as a result.

Lee Cheongchun sat down and chewed on the bread.

There was a family photo on one side of his desk.

Lee Cheongchun looked at the photo and took a sip of water.

The water made by melting snow was stored in pet bottles one by one.

The lieutenant put his hands on Lee Cheongchun’s desk and snapped somewhat nervously.

“Sergeant…… please……! I really don’t know. What should I do?”

“Team leader. After 20 years of police work…… you can tell just by looking at a person’s eyes. Whether that person will harm us…… or be beneficial.”

“Haa…… Sergeant! That’s just a hunch.”

“Yes. Team leader. Will you trust my 20-year hunch?”

Lee Cheongchun chewed on the bread and looked up at the young lieutenant.

The lieutenant was making a distressed face as if frustrated.

He was a young lieutenant from the cadet school who had only been at the police station for a year.

In terms of rank, he was higher than Lee Cheongchun, but in terms of experience, Lee Cheongchun far surpassed him.

The young lieutenant slightly lifted his police cap and scratched his head vigorously.

Dandruff fell off every time he scratched.

It had been a long time since he had washed.

No one cared about washing or hygiene anymore.

The lieutenant, who was contemplating something, removed his expression and carefully asked Lee Cheongchun.

“You’re not going to bring her to the reconnaissance team, are you?”

“I’m going to bring her to the reconnaissance team.”

“……Yes?”

The lieutenant looked at Lee Cheongchun as if surprised, but Lee Cheongchun finished eating the bread and closed his eyes to rest.

“Sergeant. Sergeant……?”

Lee Cheongchun put his feet on the desk and fell asleep without saying a word.

It was a 14-hour continuous shift.

Lee Cheongchun didn’t chase away the drowsiness.

“Haa-.”

The young lieutenant sighed deeply, leaving Lee Cheongchun alone.

* * *

I took Jin Jaehee to the staircase, where there were relatively few people.

Then I explained what I saw to her, and she asked me back with a surprised expression.

“A quest window?”

It was a window that was not visible to others.

I looked at it indifferently and replied.

“Yeah. A quest window.”

“World boss or hidden dungeon? What kind is it? No. More than that, what’s the border color?”

Jin Jaehee rattled off unknown words.

Her expression was full of genuine bewilderment.

“……Gold.”

“Gold?”

She put her hand on her chin as if trying to recall something and fell into thought.

Jin Jaehee didn’t seem to know about the window either.

Perhaps the me in the previous life deliberately didn’t tell her.

But the quest window in front of me was not a hallucination.

It meant that it was a personal quest given only to me, not one intervened by an administrator or a third party.

Among the contents written in the quest window, my eyes were particularly drawn to the reward section.

“What’s the content?”

Jin Jaehee asked again, and I hesitated for a moment before answering.

I judged that there would be nothing different even if Jin Jaehee knew about this.

But this quest was definitely a huge advantage for me.

“The content is…….”

(To be continued in the next episode)