The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 33

33. Alligator Turtle Swamp (1)

It had been four days since Kang Si-On and Jin Jae-Hee were assigned to the reconnaissance team.

Only one day remained until the artifact was scheduled to be opened.

During that time, they had undertaken five reconnaissance missions, and no monsters were found.

One peculiar thing was that from the moment Kang Si-On and Jin Jae-Hee joined the reconnaissance team, there had been no casualties.

This was news that the police would normally celebrate, but everyone recognized it wasn’t a simple coincidence.

Swoosh-!

A dagger flashed towards Jin Jae-Hee’s side.

However, she easily dodged it and tripped Si-On.

Thud!

Kang Si-On fell forward, face-planting in the snow.

“Slow and weak. Even if you had stabbed me, you wouldn’t have been able to kill me in one go. Again.”

Si-On raised his head and brushed the snow off his face.

Then, he stood up and faced Jin Jae-Hee.

“Don’t try to overpower your opponent with brute strength. Physical limitations can’t be overcome, no matter how skilled you are.”

“…….”

Si-On looked around, then abruptly swung his dagger.

But Jae-Hee blocked it and twisted his arm behind his back.

Just like Kwon Kyung-Soo had subdued Kang Si-On in the shopping mall.

“Kuh……!”

“Remember when you were defeated by Kwon Kyung-Soo in the shopping mall? If Kwon Kyung-Soo had decided to kill you, you would have died on the spot, helpless. Remember, if you intend to kill your opponent, you must not hesitate, not even for a moment.”

Jin Jae-Hee released his arm, and Si-On immediately struck backward with his elbow.

But Jin Jae-Hee dodged that too, slightly tilting her head.

And once again, she tripped him, causing him to fall.

Thud-!

Kang Si-On fell forward again.

Already, the area was marked with his falls.

“Stop attacking without thinking. In battle, your opponent is already anticipating your moves. Remember that everyone who fights you is potentially stronger than you.”

Si-On wiped the snow off his face again.

Then, he stood up and clenched his fist.

In his grasp was a dagger.

Jin Jae-Hee, seeing Kang Si-On’s eyes, said,

“Yes. That’s it. That look of wanting to kill your opponent, no matter what. When attacking, you must not hesitate for even a moment.”

Kang Si-On took a deep breath and attacked again.

He fell several times and got up again several times, doing his best to land a single effective hit on Jin Jae-Hee.

But the gap between them was clear.

She was a warrior who had been on the battlefield for ten years in her previous life, and Si-On now was at a level that didn’t even reach that of an ordinary person.

But there was progress.

‘His growth is definitely fast,’ Jae-Hee thought while facing Si-On.

Even considering that he hadn’t received any formal training until now, his growth rate was remarkable.

He was achieving things faster than she had when she was young.

Si-On had said that he started training three years after the league was held [presumably a fighting league or competition].

Until then, Si-On had only played the role of a strategist, leading the group.

But even though Si-On started training later than Jin Jae-Hee, he was at a similar level to her when they met later.

Jin Jae-Hee helped Si-On to quickly develop his strength.

If he started now, there would definitely be an effect in the final round [again, presumably of a competition].

“More.”

Jin Jae-Hee demanded that he show no mercy when attacking her.

Kang Si-On accepted the request.

He kept rushing at her with the determination to really kill her.

But no matter how many times he swung, the result was the same.

Lee Chung-Choon, who had been staring at the two of them, blew out cigarette smoke.

The reconnaissance team had completed their morning work and were taking a lunch break.

They must have been digging in the snow all morning, but the two of them always trained whenever they had time, showing no signs of fatigue.

Lee Chung-Choon wondered how they could replenish their energy.

“I guess being young is the best,” Lee Chung-Choon muttered to himself.

Normally, just enduring the cold would be exhausting.

That was normal.

But the two of them had been moving every day since they came here.

Their adaptability was on a different level from other people.

It was as if they had thoroughly prepared for this.

They were looking to a more distant future.

Looking at them made him feel like he was the one who wasn’t normal.

Lee Chung-Choon dropped his cigarette on the snow and got up.

He checked his wristwatch.

The time was almost 1 p.m.

It was time to raid the second store.

“Everyone, let’s get going.”

Lee Chung-Choon approached the people who were exhausted and sitting down to rest.

* * *

I kept a close watch on the situation while training with Jin Jae-Hee every day.

We searched all the stores at the entrance of Ilbeonga [likely a district or town name].

Their harvest was not limited to food.

Blankets, medical supplies, tableware, stoves, oil, etc.

They took everything they thought they would need.

Five additional people were assigned to each team.

Originally, citizens were reluctant to go on reconnaissance missions, but after seeing that there were no casualties for several days and receiving additional allowances after reconnaissance, their minds changed.

Just yesterday, several people volunteered to go on additional reconnaissance missions.

The situation had changed.

It wasn’t the direction I wanted, but I wasn’t worried about it.

Eventually, continued reconnaissance would cause casualties.

The moment casualties occurred, the citizens would once again express their dissatisfaction with the current police leadership and avoid reconnaissance.

Anyway, I was just waiting for that and dealing with what I had to do now.

Finding monsters to be used as human labor was difficult.

I was trying to proceed with domestication.

Among the wolves in nature, a select few were domesticated by humans and became the dogs of today.

Cows, pigs, and sheep left meat and leather for humans.

I don’t know about cats.

Why they were domesticated by humans.

Therefore, if this world is a world made of nature from another dimension, there will definitely be individuals that can be domesticated.

I needed to examine them first.

If those few individuals succeed in domestication and become labor within the force, the power of the force will become even stronger.

It could also be used as a tool of war.

But I know it’s not going to be easy.

Even now, there were no monsters to be found, even if you washed your eyes and looked.

Jin Jae-Hee’s words to me, “The world is wild,” didn’t even make sense now.

Why.

Why is it that only this place has so few monsters?

There must be a reason.

All I could see was snow piled up deeply.

‘……Is there a predator here that other creatures fear?’

Honestly, that’s all I could think of.

Animals detect and evacuate danger in advance with their superior sense of smell, hearing, and sight compared to humans.

Some dogs and cats know in advance that an earthquake is coming and evacuate.

Humans have developed their brains, and other animals have developed their senses.

So, the reason why there are so few monsters around here is due to their animalistic senses.

Moreover, the closer you get to the center of Ilbeonga, the fewer snow nepenthes [likely a type of monster] that occasionally popped out of the snowfield.

Reaching that thought, I realized that it was quite dangerous to just leisurely carry food around here.

But I have Jin Jae-Hee, and if they were in danger, it would be welcome on my side.

Because if the mortality rate during reconnaissance increases, the police and citizens will gradually become exhausted, which will lead to dissatisfaction with the leadership.

What I want is, after all, conflict between classes.

Just like when England colonized India, I will create a time when they collapse on their own and the leadership is replaced.

“We have some time left.”

“Yes. What are you going to do, Chief?”

The people carrying sacks full of supplies waited for Inspector Lee Chung-Choon’s words.

He looked at his wristwatch with a cigarette in his mouth, then looked at the center of Ilbeonga.

“It would be best to go to the hypermarket. But today, let’s just search that building first.”

The people’s eyes followed the direction Lee Chung-Choon pointed.

A 6-story complex building.

The first floor had a cafe, and above it were an all-you-can-eat buffet, a meat restaurant, a karaoke, and the last 5th and 6th floors were a hotel.

It was truly a treasure-like building.

The people let out a short sigh when they saw the building.

“We can get some bedding from the motel. It’s so cold these days.”

“Coffee would be good too. Caffeine is a stimulant.”

“Buffet, meat restaurant. The weather is cold, so most of the food will be preserved, right?”

“Haa. How nice would it be if we could grill meat.”

Everyone added a word.

Lee Chung-Choon looked around at the reactions and ordered them.

“Then, let’s take the sacks we have now to the station and come back.”

The people agreed with his words.

After delivering the food to the food team, we gathered again on the first floor of the complex shopping center.

“Then, let’s go in.”

At Lee Chung-Choon’s words, everyone entered the building one by one.

* * *

The people each held sacks and swept away all the items in the building.

It looked like a feast for thieves.

Si-On took only his fair share.

Since food was the most important, he took half-rotten frozen meat, vegetables, cold noodles, and noodle strands from the meat restaurant.

And he picked up several canned goods.

The food was in good condition.

It was possible because the weather was generally cold.

The food he took was thrown straight down to the first floor through the window.

The people were taking care of the food, and the work was progressing smoothly.

One strange thing was the corpses here.

Most of the corpses were missing parts of their bodies.

If they had died fighting each other, there would have been wounds, but nothing like that could be found.

It was as if some huge creature had torn off and eaten parts of their bodies.

“…….”

Si-On continued his search with that question in mind.

The meat restaurant table located by the window.

Si-On approached the two corpses that had died and frozen there.

Both corpses were missing their upper bodies.

Si-On was searching through the corpses’ belongings to see if there was anything useful.

“…….”

Si-On raised his head and looked at the building across the window at the feeling of being watched.

The window of that building was broken.

And two or three women were standing in the gap where the window was broken.

They were all wearing masks and were armed.

The women stared at Si-On and then disappeared out of sight.

Si-On frowned as he looked at them.

He didn’t know if they had disappeared after looking at him or for some other reason.

“Why?”

Jin Jae-Hee approached him and asked.

Si-On looked at the building across the street and then turned his gaze away.

Then, he grabbed the woman’s handbag among the corpses and replied.

“No. Nothing.”

Si-On took a lighter and a hairbrush from the handbag.

It had been an hour since they searched the building.

The sun was setting and the twilight was illuminating the streets.

They were searching a little more dangerously than usual.

But it was a big harvest worth taking the risk.

The amount of food that was normally harvested in three days came out of this building.

Inspector Lee Chung-Choon looked outside and soon said to the people.

“Let’s go back now. It could be dangerous. It seems like it’s snowing harder.”

Some people made a sound as if they were disappointed.

They were on the 4th floor, and Lee Chung-Choon was about to walk out first.

“Inspector. There, that.”

At that time, a man stopped Lee Chung-Choon.

A young man with yellow hair.

Lee Chung-Choon stopped abruptly and said.

“Yes. What is it?”

“Ah, I’m going to go to the bathroom. Can you wait a little bit?”

“Ah, yes. I’ll wait on the first floor.”

As Lee Chung-Choon was about to step out the door again after saying that, the man grabbed Lee Chung-Choon again.

“Ah, that’s it. Inspector. Can you stay here for a while?”

“Yes……?”

Lee Chung-Choon looked back at the man as if he couldn’t understand.

Then, the man looked around and said again.

“Ah…… It’s embarrassing. Honestly, given the situation…… a monster might pop out from somewhere…… I should be asking kids to do this. I’m a little…… Yes…… I’m scared. To go to the bathroom alone.”

“……Are you asking me to go to the bathroom with you?”

“No, no! Just stay on the 4th floor. Yes.”

Lee Chung-Choon looked at his watch.

The sun starts to set around 5 p.m., and the sun sets at 6 p.m.

It’s 5:10 now, and we had to leave this building by at least 5:30.

Lee Chung-Choon left the man and said.

“Come out in 10 minutes.”

“Yes, yes. Of course. Hahaha.”

The man smiled brightly and ran to the bathroom.

The people stayed on the 4th floor while the man who ran to the bathroom was gone.

The man who ran to the bathroom kept calling Lee Chung-Choon like a child.

“Team leader. Are you there???”

“Team leader. You can’t go anywhere???”

“Team leader. Team leader!”

Lee Chung-Choon and the people were taking a little rest or smoking, and Lee Chung-Choon answered out loud every time he called.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand him.

If he couldn’t go to the bathroom when he returned to the police station, and if he had to take care of his business alone in a building where a monster might pop out from somewhere, he would be scared.

Lee Chung-Choon smoked a cigarette and waited for him.

The yellow-haired man walked out of the bathroom exactly 12 minutes later, laughing.

“Hahaha. Ah, I’m sorry. My poop was so frozen that it was too hard. I thought my hole was going to tear.”

Lee Chung-Choon looked at his wristwatch and dropped his cigarette, saying.

“Let’s go. We really have to go now.”

“Yes, yes. I understand.”

The yellow-haired man put his hand on the wall and rubbed it.

It was that moment.

Crash-!!!

The man’s body disappeared in an instant.

To be exact, only one foot flew into the air and fell to the ground, and his torso, including his head, disappeared.

It was such a sudden event that the people watching couldn’t come to their senses for a moment.