The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 36

The Queen’s room contained two glass cases.

One was empty, and the other held a woman.

The woman was bound hand and foot, completely immobile.

When she needed the restroom, she had to shake a string connected to a bell on the left with her teeth.

Clang-Clang-.

Then, two people would arrive, take her out, and escort her to the restroom.

Afterward, she was invariably locked back in the glass case.

She had to eat and sleep standing up.

It was the Queen’s personal collection.

She captured women and men who closely resembled her ideal types and placed them in glass cases.

Purely for display.

And the male glass case was empty.

“Why are you doing this?”

Sebum asked, sitting on a chair.

The Queen was lying on a luxurious bed.

The Queen was wearing only a gown.

Beside her head were snacks and drinks.

Sebum strained against the ropes binding his hands, but they wouldn’t budge.

The Queen was staring at a cage.

Inside the cage was a hamster she had raised since before the world’s destruction.

The hamster was diligently spinning its wheel.

The Queen watched it, then walked to the edge of the bed.

She took out a sweet potato from an old-fashioned oil heater.

Carefully peeling back the foil, steam rose.

The Queen handed it to Sebum.

“Want to eat it?”

Only then did Sebum meet the Queen’s eyes.

She had a youthful face.

In her early twenties, with short hair, like a college student.

She was petite, appearing to be around 160cm [approximately 5’3″].

She was attractive enough to be quite popular in her department.

Yet, she was the ruler of Anyang’s largest force in Dongan-gu, the number one power.

Sebum averted his gaze from the sweet potato she held and looked at his ‘chair’.

Two naked men and women were lying face down, and that was the chair.

They were trembling.

“Aren’t you going to eat it?”

The Queen’s voice came again.

Sebum looked back at the Queen.

She seemed no different from any other college student.

It was hard to believe she had committed such irrational and bizarre acts.

But the Queen was nonchalant.

“You must be hungry. You’ve only had water since you got here.”

The Queen approached Sebum.

She wrapped her hand around his right shoulder and pressed down.

The two men and women beneath Sebum let out faint groans.

“What’s the reason for doing this?”

The Queen hugged Sebum from behind, resting her chin on his left shoulder.

Her breath tickled Sebum’s ear each time she spoke.

“Does there have to be a reason?”

Crunch.

The Queen chewed the sweet potato, skin and all.

Sebum had to listen to her crunching right next to him.

Sebum squeezed his eyes shut.

Every minute and second here was agonizing.

Sebum needed to know the whereabouts of his sister, Jooyeon.

The Queen removed her hand from Sebum’s shoulder, walked to the bed, and sat on the edge.

The Queen continued casually.

“I just wanted to try it?”

“What…?”

Sebum stared at the Queen in disbelief.

She sat cross-legged and ate the sweet potato.

There was milk for the Queen on the table next to the bed.

“I just… I wanted to try it for some reason. I wanted to see something cruel. I was curious. The world is so boring, isn’t it?”

She put down the sweet potato, took a sip of milk, and continued.

“Like everyone else, going to school, meeting friends, going to karaoke, occasionally dating, eating pork cutlets, giving parents some allowance… Hiding under the blanket and watching webtoons [Korean digital comics], sometimes drinking… Repeat, repeat, repeat. Like a hamster wheel. Of course, I haven’t lived such an ordinary life. …Maybe?”

The Queen wiped the milk from her lips with the back of her hand.

Then she lay on her side and placed her fingers on the bed.

Her fingers began to walk, one by one.

“The hamster must be curious about what’s outside, trapped in that small cage, right? It’s the same for me. I’m just curious about things I can’t experience. What will happen if such a thing occurs…? If a couple who used to be married are now bound together and become a tool called a chair… Will they go crazy? Or will they persevere?”

The Queen’s tone was languid.

The Queen, who had been looking at her fingers, turned her eyes to Sebum.

“It’s boring, isn’t it? Experiencing and feeling the same things every day. Don’t you think?”

Sebum was grinding his teeth.

Red streaks of blood flowed from his lips, gathering on his chin.

Drip.

The blood that had gathered on his chin fell on the back of the man who was the chair.

Psychopath.

Mental patient.

Crazy bitch.

There were no other words to define the Queen.

Sebum said to her.

“You’re… insane.”

“No. I’m not insane.”

The Queen immediately retorted.

“You’re a crazy bitch. You’re a crazy psycho!”

“Really? I don’t think so. I’m just being honest.”

The Queen’s eyes sharpened.

“You’re the one who’s not honest.”

Knock knock.

At that moment, her door was knocked on.

A voice came from outside the door.

“This is the search team leader. May I come in?”

The Queen stared at Sebum for a moment, then said.

“Yes. Come in.”

The Queen carefully got up and hid herself in the warm, cozy blanket.

The search team leader, Lee Soo-eun, who opened the door and entered, bowed slightly before her.

It was respect for the Queen.

“Yes, Soo-eun. How are the cops doing?”

The Queen asked, only her face peeking out from the blanket.

The age difference between the Queen and Lee Soo-eun was clear.

If they walked together, they could be seen as mother and daughter.

Lee Soo-eun bowed her head slightly and continued.

“They have now entered Ilbeon-ga.”

“Ilbeon-ga?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Really?”

Ilbeon-ga was a bustling street that Dongan’s number one force, the force she led, was also aiming for.

If she could take Ilbeon-ga, her force would have no rivals in Anyang.

This power struggle ultimately hinged on food.

If she could secure food, she could bring Anyang under her control.

The Queen lay in the blanket, staring blankly at the ceiling, and said.

“Okay. Then, whatever.”

The Queen thought.

It was necessary to break the spirit of the Manan forces once.

The cops.

They could never be trusted.

The cops were a force that should disappear from the world.

“Execute all the remaining cops. And wrap their heads nicely and give them as gifts.”

At those words, search team leader Lee Soo-eun was silent.

But she couldn’t go against the Queen’s words.

Her edicts were absolute.

Lee Soo-eun bowed her head slightly again and accepted the order.

“Yes.”

It was then.

After those words were spoken, the chair Sebum was sitting on began to shake.

The man was trying to get up.

Sebum naturally rolled to the side.

The man approached the Queen, still bound, and knelt down.

“Please…! Please!!! I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Just my wife. Please.”

The woman who was the chair was lying on the floor, sobbing, and the man was begging with both hands.

The Queen raised her upper body slightly.

Her bare skin was revealed through the gown that was slipping down.

The Queen frowned and asked the man.

“Why should I?”

“Ho, ho, 혹시……! [Perhaps…!] If it’s about that incident…! I can explain everything… I really can!”

“I don’t need it.”

“Park Ji-soo. Park Ji-soo…! No, Your Majesty! Those people who were named as suspects in that case! Those bastards! Our chief received bribes and reduced their sentences. We just did what we were told from above… And my wife is innocent… Ah. Your Majesty.”

At that moment, two people came in and approached the police officer kneeling and begging.

Then the Queen opened her mouth.

“I know. Your wife. She’s innocent.”

“Ah… Then… Then why?”

Grab!

The Queen’s subordinates dragged the police couple away.

The Queen laughed.

Sebum, who saw the Queen’s expression clearly from beside her, or rather, lying on the motel floor, couldn’t help but be shocked.

“Oh my. How many times do I have to say it? I’ve forgotten all about that. Huh? I already know that the Korean police only take care of the perpetrators… And that the investigation process is sloppy… I know she’s innocent.”

The Queen rested her chin on one hand and smiled, raising the corners of her mouth.

The Queen had a look on her face that she was really enjoying herself and continued.

“It’s just fun. Don’t you think so? Sebum-ah.”

At that moment, Sebum felt fear for the first time in a human smile.

The Queen giggled and fell back.

“Ah. I’m a little bored. Edict.”

At her command, a holographic window appeared before her eyes.

[Dongan 1st Force, Ruler Park Ji-soo]

[Edict]

[Article 1, Clause 1: All members included in the force must obey the Queen’s words.]

[Article 1, Clause 2: All members included in the force must never call the Queen’s name or speak ill of her.]

[Article 1, Clause 3: All members included in the force must collect their weekly quota and offer it to the ruler.]

[Achievement points of 50 are required to open Additional Edict Article 2.]

The Queen, Park Ji-soo, continued to scroll through the hologram.

Achievement points of 50.

Points could only be obtained by completing quests.

She wanted to quickly earn points and establish her own laws.

“What should I do next?”

The laws stated in the edict are enforced by the system.

In other words, even if the Queen doesn’t see or feel it, the system automatically selects and notifies the Queen of those who violate the edict.

The ruler’s system was a powerful authority.

She used this system to quickly expand her power and has reached where she is now.

Park Ji-soo felt like she was going crazy with happiness.

The two weeks after the world’s destruction were happier than the 21 years she had lived so far.

Everything moved according to her will.

Like a game.

“Sebum-ah. How long are you going to lie there?”

Glance.

Park Ji-soo raised her head slightly and looked at Lee Sebum.

Lee Sebum was lying there, trembling.

Park Ji-soo smiled at him.

“Don’t you want to save your sister? Your sister must be being tortured right now… It must hurt. Right?”

“You X발 [a Korean profanity]…… You…… I will definitely kill you…….”

“Yes, yes. If you were the perfect top-tier man for me, you could have lived comfortably like the woman in that glass case. It’s a shame. But what can I do? You’re just upper-tier.”

The woman in the glass case flinched.

Park Ji-soo leaned back and finished speaking.

“Come up here. That’s an order.”

Sebum stopped in his tracks and didn’t move.

At that moment, a notification window appeared before his eyes.

[Dongan 1st Force, Edict by Ruler Park Ji-soo, Article 1, Clause 1]

[Article 1, Clause 1: All members included in the force must obey the Queen’s words.]

[Penalty will be imposed if not performed within 60 seconds.]

The penalty is death.

Sebum bit his lip.

Then he carefully got up and went to the Queen’s bed.

* * *

A total of 35 police officers who had been captured in Dongan-gu stood in a row and faced death.

The executioner of the 1st Force indiscriminately chopped the police officers’ necks with a massive disaster-relief axe.

The neck bones were not cut with one blow, so they had to be chopped two or three times.

The police couple who had been the chair were the same.

The people of Dongan 1st Force carefully packaged the police officers’ heads to prepare them as gifts.

They brought colorful boxes and wrapping paper from the stationery store and put the heads inside one by one.

They loaded them one by one into the wrecked car that ToonToon had brought.

To give as gifts to the police in Manan-gu.

* * *

We were able to arrive at the Manan Police Station after traveling for three hours.

Everyone was exhausted and on the verge of collapsing.

Two patrol officers guarding the police station discovered us and rushed out.

“Chief!!! You’re safe?!

“Chief!!! Ah, thank goodness.”

Two young police officers ran out and approached Lee Cheong-chun.

They didn’t care about us who came with him.

Jin Jae-hee and I passed by the tearful reunion scene and headed towards the building.

Rest was essential.

But Lee Cheong-chun grabbed me as I was about to enter the building.

“Just a moment. Sion.”

I stopped and turned to look at him.

Lee Cheong-chun stepped forward slightly and made a suggestion to me.

“Would you like to see the Chief? There’s a matter we need to discuss together urgently. I would like to seek Sion’s advice.”

“…….”

His voice was solemn.

Meeting the Chief.

It meant facing the leader of this sphere of influence.

The meaning of that was obvious.

It meant that Lee Cheong-chun was acknowledging me.

And this was proof that everything was flowing as I intended.

I was tired, cold, and wanted to lie down right away, but I answered him.

“Yes.”

(To be continued in the next episode)