The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 51

#51. Declaration of War (1)

The police station was still shrouded in darkness before dawn.

An unusual number of police officers were gathered near the entrance.

I walked down the barricade along the hill.

As I descended, the police officers parted, creating a path as if the Red Sea was parting.

I glanced around, studying their faces.

Men and women alike were chain-smoking, and some couldn’t conceal their agitation, venting their frustrations.

I couldn’t immediately grasp the reason for their distress.

Why were the police officers so visibly angry?

“Chief, the administrator is here,” Kim Su-kyung announced, approaching the police chief, who was intently observing something.

The police chief turned, still clutching his cigarette.

His face was a mask of fury.

He took a few more drags and approached me, his annoyance palpable.

“This is an outright challenge! A challenge to justice itself! How can something like this happen in 21st-century Korea… even in the midst of a disaster?”

“What’s going on?”

“…Something unbelievable has occurred. Just look at this.”

Following his gaze, I looked toward the object of the police officers’ attention.

It didn’t take long to understand their anger.

-Purrrr… Purrr.

A deer stood there, its appearance striking.

To be precise, it resembled a deer, but its size and the magnificent antlers it bore were so immense and beautiful that it defied comparison to any Earthly deer.

And adorning those magnificent antlers were several human heads.

Not just one, but all the deer lined up behind it had human heads impaled on their antlers.

The human heads, hanging like grotesque Christmas ornaments, were frozen a ghastly blue.

It was a truly horrific sight.

-Purrr. Purrr.

The deer nonchalantly nuzzled its nose between its eyes.

It was grazing on the sparse, dry weeds growing there.

“What is this?” I asked the chief, my gaze fixed on the severed human heads.

The police chief took a drag from his cigarette, his voice trembling as he replied, “They were our people. Mostly police officers from Dongan-gu. Guys I’d see at *hoesik* [company dinners]. Ah, I mean, they’re our colleagues! But… But…! Some lunatic sent this to us. How dare they look down on the Korean police like this… Damn it…! We have to arrest all these sons of bitches. They need to face the judgment of the people!”

Police officers?

The chief began issuing orders to his subordinates, his voice still shaking.

Ignoring the chief’s outburst, I approached the deer.

Even as I drew closer, the deer showed no signs of wariness.

It was a monster that was friendly to humans, as I had previously confirmed.

In other words, a monster that could be domesticated.

The forces in Dongan, Anyang, had already begun the domestication process.

‘…There’s a promising lord on that side too.’

Domesticating monsters meant that they fully understood the game’s system and had begun to seriously engage in it.

It was the decisive difference between the 1st and 2nd rounds.

Until the 1st round, many people denied the system itself, but from the 2nd round onward, more and more people began to recognize and understand their situation and actively participate in the game.

That was the biggest change.

‘I need to hurry.’

I stroked the deer’s fur and examined the cross-section of the heads attached to the antlers.

They weren’t cleanly severed; there were traces of being struck two or three times in different directions.

Probably, with a mediocre blade, the neck couldn’t be cut through at once, so they had to strike it repeatedly.

That’s because there were no execution devices like guillotines in this world.

The executed would have died in tremendous pain.

And among the heads hanging in bunches, I spotted the head of a female police officer.

A colorful, patterned letter was stuck in the female police officer’s lips.

I took it out.

It was the kind of patterned letter paper an elementary school student would use.

Tteudeuk-.

I immediately opened the letter and scanned its contents.

The handwriting was scribbled, but it didn’t seem like a child wrote it.

Judging from the writing style, it seemed like a young woman.

-To the Manan Police Station, the people’s helpers! Loyalty, loyalty. I am the lord of the first force in Dongan-gu. Winter is coming; are you all warm and doing well? I’m doing ve~~~ry well? Did you receive the Christmas present I sent? Are you so touched that you can’t speak? Oh my, oh my. Don’t worry. I’ll send you gifts every day. But police officers, can I make a wonderful suggestion? It’s a really, really, really wonderful suggestion.

The letter continued on the back.

I turned the letter over and continued reading.

-You see, I don’t want blood. Really! Ah, I mean, I want to see your blood, but I don’t want to see the blood shed to see your blood. When I take over Dongan-gu, I will soon start sending my warriors to Manan-gu as well. If that happens… a really terrible tragedy will occur. I won’t say much. When I send my warriors, only your leader and the uniformed cops come out and kneel. The police chief… is he still alive? I hope he’s still alive. If only the chief comes out and becomes my precious puppy, there will be no bloodshed.

The letter ended there.

I put the letter back in the envelope and approached the chief.

The sound of snow crunching under my feet echoed in my ears as I walked.

Then, I handed the letter to the chief.

“W-What is this?” The chief took it while still smoking, and I calmly replied as he frantically unfolded the letter.

“It’s a declaration of war.”

A bloodbath would soon follow.

On a different level than the shopping mall incident.

The proud chief would never respond to her proposal, and I had no intention of accepting her demands either.

I am the one who will take over Anyang.

I had to find my sister somewhere in Anyang.

To do that, my forces would integrate Dongan-gu and Manan-gu.

First and foremost, what was most important to me was a monster that could be domesticated and a bridge…

“This little bitch…!” At that moment, the chief shouted.

The chief, who was looking at the letter, shook his hand wildly.

I called Kim Su-kyung, who had been quietly listening to the story from behind.

Officer Kim Su-kyung quickly ran to me.

I had to start the operation.

I was going to give them a really huge gift in my own way.

Through the ogre…

“Prepare everything I’m about to say by tomorrow.”

Kim Su-kyung nodded silently at my voice and began writing down the preparations.

It was then.

The police chief’s voice, which had calmed down a bit, interrupted my words.

“Wait a minute.”

He gently held the letter and approached Kim Su-kyung, ordering, “We need to arrest this bitch first. Conspiracy, intimidation, murder, confinement, obstruction of official duties, special injury—attach all the charges we can and form an arrest team.”

At that, Kim Su-kyung looked back at me.

I looked at Kim Su-kyung and said to the police chief.

First, I was going to persuade him.

“This is not the time to act emotionally. This is just a provocation, and if we fall for it, we’ll lose strength before we can even build up our forces. Right now…”

“This, this, this!” Bukbukbuk!

At that moment, the police chief tore the letter to shreds and threw the pieces at me.

The chief took a step towards me, poked my chest with his finger, and shouted, “We can’t just stand by in the face of this kind of ridiculous provocation…! The, the, the people there. They were all my colleagues. You know? There’s no negotiating with terrorists. This, this, this kind of bullshit…! Am I, am I supposed to just let it go? Hey! Administrator. Tell me!”

The chief was acting like a child, constantly poking my chest with his finger.

Should I say his personality has changed completely?

It was like he had multiple personalities.

The chief, who originally had a warm impression, became hideous when he frowned.

“Immediately arm yourselves with firearms and form an arrest team for Dongan-gu. What are you doing? Why aren’t you moving?”

“Ah, well. Chief. Handguns are not allowed…”

“Then, arm yourselves with truncheons! We have shields too. Why do I have to spell everything out for you?”

Suddenly, the chief shouted at the police officers around him.

“Everyone, pay attention!!!” At his shout, all the police officers snapped to attention.

The chief slammed his finger down in the air and yelled, “As of this moment, all police officers here will listen to the chief’s orders. The colleagues here were our family and our friends. Terrorists killed the police! The police must enforce justice to establish order. Do you understand?!!!”

“Yes… Yes!”

“Yes!!” At the chief’s voice, the police officers became disciplined and shouted in unison.

The police chief put on the police cap he had under his arm and muttered, “How dare they… kill the police…? You son of a bitch.”

Ppodeuk. Ppodeuk.

He went back to the police station, consumed by anger.

The police officers followed him up.

I watched his back.

At that moment, Officer Kim Su-kyung looked back at me as he followed the chief up.

After a brief eye contact, he followed him up.

He seemed worried about me.

“Hoo-.” I took a deep breath.

It was just a ridiculous provocation, but the chief reacted.

This was probably the result the lord of Dongan wanted.

The chief was foolishly moving as the enemy wanted.

“….” I turned my head again and looked at the deer.

The deer’s eyes were clear and bright.

I stroked the deer’s fur and thought.

I couldn’t just leave the police chief alone.

The time had come to bring him down.

* * *

Afternoon.

It’s been a long time since the meaning of the date disappeared.

In this world, they no longer count the days of the week and began to count time by events.

Also, only the concept of time in daily units remained, such as morning, forenoon, noon, afternoon, evening, and dawn.

I was sitting on the podium, looking at the scenery of the distant city.

Buildings that soared through the gaps in the city, which was covered in white snow.

Unidentified smoke was rising between those buildings.

And on top of Acro Tower, the largest building in Anyang, an unidentified monster was wrapped around the building.

Also, in the Hogye area, flames were creating huge plumes of smoke, completely obscuring the city’s sky.

The fire in Hogye had shown no signs of abating for several days.

Perhaps survivors were fighting for territory.

I knew this would happen someday.

Now that the world’s order has collapsed, outlaws will try to fight for their territory.

The same was true of the Dongan forces.

Those who wanted to become the new king in the new era moved quickly.

Because it is easier to occupy land without an owner than to occupy land with an owner.

Quickly swallowing up other forces that had not yet established combatants was the method of occupation they adopted.

I also had to come up with a plan to efficiently kill more humans to match them.

As that thought crossed my mind, I felt like a devil myself.

‘…Dongan-gu has a much larger population than Manan-gu.’

If we collide head-on, the police force will surely be annihilated.

Even if they are police officers who have learned basic suppression techniques or basic martial arts, they are different from groups formed to kill people.

Rather, soldiers would be better at it.

What we need to do here is to use asymmetric power.

Now, if the chief interferes with what I’m doing, I have to eliminate him.

I looked up at the sky.

The steam rising from heating the boiler continued to ascend.

The people belonging to the police station were moving busily day by day.

The police force has grown significantly in the past few days.

The steam served as a signal flare.

Many people followed the smoke and came here, and they became new members.

My primary goal of quickly uniting the survivors in the Manan-gu area to increase our power was being realized.

At that moment, someone shouted at me from behind.

“Hyung-nim!!! [Older brother/respected elder]”

Thud-!

I heard the sound of someone kneeling hard on the floor, hard enough to break their knees.

I turned my head slightly and looked at him.

It was Choi Myung-joon.

He was shirtless, wearing only pants, and holding a knife in his left hand.

Choi Myung-joon bowed to me.

He had been voluntarily imprisoned in the underground detention center until now.

“Hyung-nim, I’m sorry. I was short-sighted. After being scolded by you and reflecting on it, I realized that I dared to act without knowing your grace. Please forgive me!”

Choi Myung-joon bowed to me and asked for forgiveness.

I looked at Choi Myung-joon, who was bowing his head.

After Choi Myung-joon rebelled against me, he left the police station.

He had the naive thought that he could survive in this world alone.

But soon after, he faced the harsh urban environment and returned.

He asked me for forgiveness then too, but I locked him up in the detention center again.

The best thing for a disobedient puppy is a whip, not a carrot.

He was now reborn as a hunting dog who was more obedient to me than anyone else.

I stared at him for a moment, then turned my head back to look at the city.

Two or three people were coming to the police station.

It wasn’t just them.

The number of survivors who came here today has more than doubled compared to before.

‘If I could just turn all of them into combat power…’

That would be great.

They are combat power.

The system also defines it that way.

One in ten thousand, a special player is selected, and the rest become combat power.

Combat power that can solidify the victory.

The league is where selected players determine their fate, but in order for them to win, they needed the combat power that followed them.

What I needed now was that combat power.

It was now time to take over the police station in earnest.

The police chief and the city council member.

I will bring down the two and take over this group.

If the chief leads the police officers to respond to the declaration of war from the Dongan forces in the current situation, there was only one thing I had to do.

A declaration of war against the chief.

“Hyung-niiiim! I’m sorry. Really. I’m sorry. Please forgive me with just one finger! I beg you!” At that voice, I got up from the podium and approached Choi Myung-joon.

Choi Myung-joon was trying to cut off his little finger with a knife.

Hweek-.

I approached him and snatched the knife from him.

Then, I squatted down and looked down at him, who was prostrating himself before me.

I asked him, as if muttering, “Can you… kill people?”

“Hyung-nim…?” Choi Myung-joon, who had a tearful face, only raised his head and looked up at me while prostrating.

I said to him again, “Can you kill people for me?”

Pook-.

I stabbed the knife into the snow and looked down at him.

Choi Myung-joon looked at the knife and smiled slyly.

He chuckled and raised his head slightly, saying, “Yes…! It’s my specialty.”

Behind Choi Myung-joon, who was kneeling, dozens of people approached.

Choi Myung-joon carefully turned around.

They were about half of the members of the capture team he had formed.

And I had called them in to prepare for the uprising.

They were Choi Myung-joon’s special forces, who were gangsters.

They were all people who had been released from the detention center because of me.

And Choi Myung-joon would know them better than I did.

Now was the time to unleash the well-trained hunting dog.

“Prove it.”

At my voice, Choi Myung-joon looked up at me again.

Then, he gave me a faint smile and bowed his head deeply.

“Yes…!”

Choi Myung-joon politely pulled out the knife that was stuck in the snow.

(Continued in the next episode)