The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 63

#63. The New Ruler (1)

The battlefield cleanup, which had lasted a full day, was now nearing completion.

The bodies of the fallen Special Forces members were collected separately for funeral rites, and the bodies of the police officers were also gathered.

The bodies of the police officers would be a gift for the ruler of the first power in Manan District.

Ten living police officers and dozens of dead police bodies.

Along with the police chief’s head.

What Zion could gain by sending the police bodies to Manan District was delaying the war with Manan District.

The scale of the Manan District forces was enormous.

The honorary police officers who had consistently gone on arrest missions to Manan District over the past month all said the same thing.

The closer they got to Manan District, the more they saw a systematic, apocalyptic city.

They formed groups, monitored this side from afar, and decorated the streetlights by hanging the heads of police officers.

The reason they used the expression ‘decoration’ was because hanging the heads really looked like ‘decorations’.

Just yesterday, Zion seized power.

If he were to be invaded from the outside in a situation where he had just finished fighting, Zion’s forces would not be able to withstand it easily.

So, for now, he needed to appease them by pretending to comply with the demands of the first power in Manan District.

By executing all the police officers and sending them as gifts. By meeting their demands to prepare for any possible surprise attacks.

It had only been a day since he had escaped from the clutches of the police chief.

The boiler was also broken, and time was needed to restart it.

Meanwhile, cutting off the police chief’s head was a really big deal for Zion and his forces.

And that was the same for Jin Jaehee.

Inside the police station’s washroom.

Swish- swish.

Alone in the washroom, Jaehee wiped her body with a towel soaked in warm water.

She couldn’t even think of pouring water over herself because of the cold, so she wiped her body with a towel.

Jaehee looked at her reflection in the broken glass.

A noticeably gaunt appearance.

Except for her face, her collarbone and below were covered in all sorts of scars.

Jaehee didn’t care much about the scars.

She just pulled her long hair, which reached down to her hips, forward and smoothed it out.

Until now, she had been too busy with thoughts and tasks to manage it.

Now she had overcome a small mountain.

She also had a little mental 余裕 [leeway/composure].

Considering the battles ahead, long hair would clearly be a hindrance.

Snip-. Snip.

She picked up the scissors that were on the soap dish and began to cut her hair.

Long strands of hair fell one by one onto the washbasin floor.

Soon, Jaehee had bobbed hair.

Looking at her shortened hair through the mirror, Jaehee thought.

‘After taking over Manan… that guy will start to move.’

At the same time as Zion gains the qualifications of a ruler.

His world and hers will be completely turned upside down.

In the end, this league is a power struggle between ‘Rulers’ and ‘Players’.

Now, how much to expand the forces is important.

The time has come for Jaehee to exert her power.

The strength of a regressor [someone who has returned from the future].

That is knowing what will happen in the future.

The numerous quests and achievements that Jin Jaehee knows.

And the players.

After seizing power, she finally gained the freedom to exert her power.

Now she will help Kang Zion dominate ‘Southern Gyeonggi’.

‘……There will never be another chance like this.’

Jaehee never wanted to miss the second chance she had been given.

She picked up the clothes she had hung on one side of the washbasin one by one and put them on.

The execution ceremony was scheduled to begin soon.

* * *

Clang, clang-.

The police chief, with his legs and hands tied and a gag in his mouth, slowly came down to the first floor.

There was Choi Myungjoon, who had been treated for his injuries and wrapped in bandages all over his body.

Even though the weather was approaching -20 degrees Celsius, he was shirtless.

Choi Myungjoon grinned and looked into the chief’s face.

The chief’s face was pale with fear.

Nevertheless, the chief couldn’t say anything.

The gushing blood was blocked by the adhesive, and the chief was panting and breathing only through his nose.

Looking at that face, Choi Myungjoon said.

“Hey. You thought you were the best here, didn’t you? The best is our 형님 [hyung-nim, older brother/respected leader]. You stupid bastard.”

Thoo-.

Choi Myungjoon spat on the chief’s face.

His blood-mixed saliva stuck to the chief’s philtrum [area between the nose and upper lip] and dripped down stickily.

At that time, Kang Zion and Jin Jaehee came down side by side from the second floor.

As Zion came down, Choi Myungjoon straightened up and bowed deeply.

“Have you arrived, 형님.”

“Have you arrived! 형님!”

Behind him, the Special Forces members followed Choi Myungjoon and greeted Zion.

The Special Forces were a group tightly united around Choi Myungjoon.

Because Choi Myungjoon controlled them like a gangster, they were showing Zion more loyalty than necessary.

Zion did not interfere with Choi Myungjoon’s methods.

Zion passed the chief and ordered.

“Drag him away.”

“Yes.”

Clang!

Choi Myungjoon grabbed the chief’s chain and dragged him.

The prisoner, Police Chief Park Geonwoo, hung his head and walked down the hallway leading to the guillotine.

The chief’s execution was carried out quickly.

There was no good in leaving the ruler for a long time.

A ruler is, after all, a leader defined by the system.

If he is kept alive for a long time, he is a potential threat.

Above all, they have the power of edicts and achievement points.

That’s why the chief had to be eliminated as quickly as possible.

At that time, a stone flew and hit the chief’s right temple.

Thwack!

“You wicked bastard-!”

The hallway leading to the guillotine was filled with citizens on both sides.

And as the chief left the police station, stones, bottles, and glass flew at him indiscriminately.

“You wicked bastard!”

“You deserve to die!”

“You devil!”

“Die! Die!”

It wasn’t that spies had been planted among the citizens, as the chief had done.

This was the citizens’ true anger.

The anger that had been suppressed until now.

With every step the chief took, stones, including all sorts of filth, flew from both sides.

Coercive instructions.

Forced labor mobilization.

Unfair distribution of resources.

Protection of a small privileged class.

He sacrificed everyone to satisfy his own greed.

In addition, there were charges of rape, assault, murder, intimidation, and confinement.

As such, the chief’s charges were numerous.

The chief’s face was broken and distorted by the stones.

His body was covered with filth thrown by the citizens.

The chief had to walk over shards of glass thrown by the citizens on the floor.

That’s how the chief arrived in front of the guillotine.

The guillotine that the chief had ordered to be made had finally become a boomerang and returned to him.

“Kneel.”

The Special Forces member in charge of the execution ordered the chief.

The chief obediently followed the order.

The Special Forces member grabbed the chief’s neck, brought it to the stand, and fixed it with a clamp.

Click-!

The sharp blade was now aimed at the chief’s neck.

His mouth was torn, and blood was flowing from his cheeks, which were connected by adhesive.

And at this moment, when everyone was paying attention, the new leader ascended to the guillotine.

There was no process of selecting a leader, and no stories were exchanged.

It was already the person that all the citizens gathered here thought of as their new leader.

“Everyone, listen.”

Kang Zion.

He was just a young man.

He had never led anyone in the original society, nor had he ever presented his arguments in front of a large crowd.

Day laborer, middle school graduate, orphan, poor, basic livelihood recipient.

These were the words that used to describe Kang Zion.

But now he shouted to the crowd.

“The police chief has forcibly exploited us until now and used all the power of the leader of the forces to satisfy his personal greed. As a result, we have been oppressed and suffered. Some have even chosen to take their own lives.”

Kang Zion walked to the guillotine.

Behind him, Jin Jaehee was following.

Kang Zion walked up to the guillotine and shouted next to the chief.

“Everyone. The world has been destroyed. The state can no longer protect us, and public authority has been paralyzed. We must first accept that fact. At this moment when the world has been destroyed, we need hope. Hope that we can live. And hope that we can look forward to tomorrow. Did the chief have such hope? Think back to when the chief ruled. Were you just afraid to open your eyes every day, or was there a future? Days continued when it was a blessing just not to die today. Isn’t that right? You have suffered enough and been hurt enough under such a chief, under an incompetent leader. You have endured enough. Look at the people next to you.”

At Zion’s words, the crowd all looked at each other.

How many days do they get to look in the mirror?

The crowd was quite surprised to see each other’s faces.

Because they looked so miserable.

Not only had they not washed for several days, but they had also been forced to work without eating, and their cheeks were sunken.

Zion said to them.

“Is that the reason we were born into this world? To allow people to live like people, that is the leader’s ability. But it will change as of today. The chief will be executed, and our forces will be different. Republic of Korea? Korean people? Sons and daughters of Dangun [mythical founder of Korea]? Forget it all. We are us. We will survive in our own way, and we will surely win this damn game.”

Zion’s words captivated the crowd.

Every word he uttered fascinated the crowd, stirred their emotions, and resonated deeply in their hearts.

The citizens, who had only suffered until now, were greatly moved just by having their position sympathized with.

The figure of Kang Zion was already like a father to them.

Even though he was only a twenty-year-old young man.

“The police chief will die today. This is my declaration that I reject the existing order. We will move towards a new world. In the process, we will punish all external forces that threaten our rights and our safety.”

Zion looked at the executioner.

The executioner nodded and grabbed the axe.

Thwack!

His axe blade was raised high into the sky.

Everyone was silent and focused.

Although countless citizens had lost their lives on the guillotine until now, the person in front of them now had a different meaning.

The enemy of all is meeting his death.

Then the executioner struck the rope with the axe.

Whoosh- Thud!

Whirrrrrrrrr- Thud!!!!!!

The blade instantly struck the chief’s neck.

“……”

“……”

“……”

Thud, roll roll……

The chief’s head rolled down and sat in front of the crowd.

The old man in the very front stared at it, then approached the chief’s head.

And carefully lifted the chief’s face with both hands and looked at it.

The chief’s face in the old man’s hands was terrified.

Thwack!

The old man raised the chief’s head high with both hands.

So that all the crowds gathered here could see.

Then everyone went wild.

“Wooaaaaaaahhhhhhh-!!!!!!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!”

“Wooaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!