The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 68

Two days had passed since the edict was declared.

I leaned against the railing on the police station rooftop, extending my hand.

A small snowflake twirled and landed on my palm.

At the same moment, a drop of water also fell.

I looked at my damp palm and then up at the sky.

Six months.

K had said that six months had passed since the League began.

I hadn’t been counting the days, so I never knew exactly how much time had passed.

It was lunchtime, and people were gathering below the rooftop, taking their breaks.

I had ordered them to clean until the system was fully operational.

Only a minimal armed force was assigned to monitor and guard Dongangu; the remaining personnel were all投入 [tōnyū – thrown] into cleaning operations.

They were cleaning up corpses and bloodstains, restarting broken boilers, and organizing residences.

I also saw three elderly people and two children pulling carts full of food transported from Ilbeonga.

The elderly people, along with the children, boiled water in a large pot to heat the packaged food.

It was lunch preparation for the workers.

It was a way of assigning various odd jobs to those who were too weak for strenuous labor.

I could hear their voices from here.

The children shouted, holding instant rice and 3-minute curry pouches heated in water.

“30 minutes left for lunch!”

“Lunch!”

“Has the time already come for that……?”

“Ugh…… it’s cold.”

The workers who were clearing snow shivered and talked to each other.

Even though it was sleeting, the perceived temperature didn’t change much.

The city was still cold.

I rubbed my chilly hands together and then accessed the Lord’s Market.

Gold,流通 [ryutong – circulation] in the Trading Market, is currency used in transactions between players and lords; ordinary people cannot use it.

You earn gold through monsters, dungeons, quests, and trades.

There were no weapons or items in the market that didn’t fit the League’s rules.

Firearms, explosives, electronic products, and various modern products were prohibited items, so there was a sales window, but you couldn’t purchase them.

Basically, the items that lords and players put on the market were products that could be made in a destroyed world.

“…….”

I scrolled down and looked at the market rankings.

[Regarding small-scale electricity supply using solar heat. I’ve been working as an electrical engineer and in solar energy for 30 years.]

It was another lord’s product, ranked 2nd in sales, selling for 120,000 gold.

Information sharing about knowledge was also active.

[Apocalypse Basic Medical Technology. I’m from Seoul National University’s medical school. I share all the information I can within limited medical equipment.]

It was ranked 3rd in sales, selling for 110,000 gold.

It seemed that a surviving doctor was earning gold by sharing their knowledge.

[Monster Encyclopedia Chapter 1: 47 types of monsters I’ve discovered. I’ll update it periodically, so you won’t regret your choice. Photos o, Videos x]

It was ranked 4th in sales, selling for 105,000 gold.

Since the second round started, this player had been continuously observing monsters and creating and selling an encyclopedia based on them.

‘……Should I buy this?’

[Purchase Monster Encyclopedia for 105,000 gold.]

[Successfully purchased!]

[Remaining Gold 244,000]

It’s good to buy necessary items.

There were surprisingly various items in the market.

Basically, the programs inherent in the system had text along with videos.

There were quite a few players who didn’t care about the means to earn gold.

Items that couldn’t help but make you frown.

[My slave. Video of them barking like a dog. They do everything I tell them to.]

[Anyone want to see my slaves~~! Eating feed buried in the ground ㅋㅋㅋㅋ [kkkk – Korean laughter, similar to ‘lol’]]

From sex videos to videos of people using people like slaves.

The naked man in the video was kneeling, bound, and his body was covered in wounds.

The purchase cost per item was only 100G, but the number of downloads was overwhelmingly high.

‘…….’

The man in the video, a face I’ve seen somewhere.

I couldn’t check in detail because his eyes were covered, but it was quite familiar.

But I didn’t pay any more attention.

‘……It doesn’t matter.’

After the brutal world arrived, the lords and players who held power were expressing their repressed desires.

Posts looking for people were also frequently seen.

They were separated families, but each result was 惨酷 [sankoku – cruel].

In most cases, they couldn’t be found, and even if they were found, they weren’t readily reunited.

They were demanding a price.

They were setting unreasonable conditions for the price of life, or they were killing and mocking them for ‘fun’.

Finding Junho in this community was absurd.

‘……Players are five thousand. Lords are also about five thousand. A total of 10,000 people.’

This was a community of about 10,000 lords belonging to South Korea.

I had to think about how to actively utilize this community.

Anyway, the items I posted were currently achieving overwhelming results in the market.

[Apocalypse Boiler Manufacturing Method has been sold.]

[+90,000G]

The moment I confirmed it was sleeting, I immediately sold the boiler manufacturing method.

Sleet.

This meant that the season when boilers were no longer needed was coming.

There may be cold days in future rounds, but I thought selling the manufacturing method now would generate the most significant revenue.

In fact, 90,000 gold was quite a high amount.

Of course, it couldn’t be compared to taming Ogres.

Taming Ogres.

The current price is 800,000G.

Even compared to the 2nd ranked item in the Trading Market, which was 120,000G, it was an overwhelming amount.

But I had no intention of selling this technology right now.

‘……I can’t hand this over at the moment.’

Ogres are, in a word, asymmetric power.

Thinking of it in modern terms, it was like nuclear weapons.

But if I easily handed this over to other forces, it could lead to severe consequences for the balance of power.

Taming Ogres was now almost at the end.

Only my closest aides were still taming Ogres near Ilbeonga.

I don’t want to earn a lot of gold.

I want to win this damn League.

To do that, I needed a more effective way to kill more people.

A more vicious and terrible method than using Ogres.

“…….”

At that time, I heard footsteps.

Jin Jaehee came to my side and leaned against the railing next to me.

She naturally put a cigarette in her mouth next to me.

I glanced at her.

She lit the cigarette and asked me while holding it in her mouth.

“Why? Is there something you want to say?”

“…….”

Jin Jaehee avoided me and exhaled cigarette smoke to the opposite side.

Her black bobbed hair also fluttered along with the cigarette smoke.

I stared at her silently and then looked back at the city and said.

“I have a question.”

“Yeah.”

Puff-.

The sound of exhaling cigarette smoke.

I smelled the cigarette and asked.

“So. What are you going to do now? You should have confirmed it by now. I have obtained the qualifications of a lord. If you’re a returner, you should have your own plans. What do you want to do to me? And what are you going to do?”

It was something I had been thinking about for a while.

The reason why she, who knows the future and has the most advantageous conditions as a returner, had to stick with me.

Jin Jaehee would have been able to reach the final round with her abilities alone.

I thought it was because of the skill that the previous me had placed on Jin Jaehee, but the important thing was her thoughts.

Now that I have obtained the qualifications of a lord, I had to ask her sincerity.

Because now she and I had to face bigger forces and a more brutal world.

Because we were in a position where we might have to rely on each other the most while giving up being human.

“Tell me now.”

At my question, Jin Jaehee was silent for a while, holding the cigarette in her mouth.

* * *

“Tell me now.”

“…….”

At Sion’s question, Jaehee was a little surprised, although she didn’t show it.

It was because he already knew that she was confirming it.

In fact, Jaehee had been silently watching and helping Sion as he obtained the qualifications of a lord.

The only reason Jaehee was helping Sion was one.

That is to turn the world back.

It is an unchanging fact.

In her previous life, her mission was only one thing.

To protect Kang Sion, who was the Great Lord.

Because she believed that only Sion could turn us all back.

That belief has continued until now.

The Kang Sion who is here now may not know, but Jin Jaehee knew better than anyone how great Sion was in his previous life.

She stays by his side because he needs her.

That was Jaehee’s answer.

But she didn’t answer that way.

“My goal is to end this League. That’s all. And you were the closest person to that goal.”

“…….”

Now Sion was silent at Jaehee’s words.

But Sion’s silence didn’t last as long as Jaehee’s.

“What if I make a choice that doesn’t fit your goal? I originally thought the world should be destroyed. I still think the same way now. Rather…… I feel relieved. When the shopping mall branch manager died, when the police chief died. I was happy. Is that the goal you want?”

“…….”

Jaehee stared at Sion silently.

Even though the world was in this state, his appearance was still very young.

A young and pure soul.

He looked really young.

But his voice was never young.

“I don’t know how happy your life was. But at least for me, life was about enduring.”

I know.

Even if she didn’t confirm it again, Jaehee already knew.

His voice, every single word, pierced her heart.

All the stories had already been exchanged between the two.

From the tone of voice, the way of speaking, to the intonation.

Jaehee already knew everything.

And again, the scene from that time came to mind.

The scene of Kang Sion covered in blood, dying.

“I hated it. Everyone except me. It felt like only I was having a hard time in the world. It felt like only I was born wrong. Everyone except me looked happy. I’ve thought countless times that I wish everyone was unhappy.”

Sion didn’t say his story out loud.

But now Sion was telling his story to Jaehee.

He was telling his sincerity to others.

Whatever it was, this was a big change.

“And now my wish has come true. Now I only need my brother. If you help me find my brother, I’ll help you with what you want. So tell me. What should I do now……?”

Sion was now looking Jaehee in the eye.

Sion wanted to hear her sincerity.

Without sincerity, there is no trust.

And that question was too simple for Jaehee.

Jaehee was hanging her head.

With her bangs and back hair falling down, Sion couldn’t read her expression.

She muttered.

“……I never.”

This was a story from a previous life that Kang Sion didn’t know.

To Jaehee, Sion was already an overwhelming presence compared to the countless masses below.

The existence of Kang Sion was already a ‘savior’ to her.

It is said that for some people, a single word from others can change their lives.

That’s what Jin Jaehee was like.

Slaughter weapon, Jin Jaehee.

It was Sion who allowed such Jin Jaehee to live as a human.

Jaehee has a purpose.

A grand dream of returning everything to its original state.

And that purpose was ultimately planted by Sion.

Kang Sion achieving his dream was ultimately what she wanted.

So what now.

“…….”

Jaehee bit her lower lip, trying to continue her words.

Jaehee was also unable to speak rashly about her story.

She was still hanging her head and muttering.

“……Artifact.”

“What?”

At that moment, her hand began to ripple with silver light.

The silver lights gathered in her hand and created a sword.

The brilliant light soon began to fill the police station rooftop.

The workers who were engrossed in their work below the police station also looked up at the rooftop at the brilliant light.

Jin Jaehee got up from the railing and walked to the center.

She naturally threw away the cigarette.

There was a mountain behind the police station.

Sion turned around and looked at her.

Jin Jaehee, who had walked to the center of the rooftop, took a deep breath.

“Now you just focus on getting stronger. You have talent. I’m sure of it. Artifacts are the power of God. It’s a powerful force that humans can’t even imitate.”

Sion frowned.

It was because it was already content he knew.

It was an answer far from the question he had asked.

But Jin Jaehee continued without paying attention.

“Yes, as you said, I’ve been testing you so far. This was an unparalleled opportunity for me. So I can’t miss it. The manager said it’s been 6 months, but in reality, 6 months in the League is a really short time. That’s why I’ve only been observing. And one more thing. Once the League starts, the human body doesn’t grow beyond a certain point.”

“Doesn’t grow……? What do you mean? Does that mean that even after several years, a child remains a child?”

Jin Jaehee only turned her head and looked at Sion.

He was still leaning against the railing.

“Well, I don’t know. At least the players I’ve seen become beings who no longer age once they reach a certain level of growth. So whether it’s 6 months or 6 years. Maybe even 60 years. Time becomes meaningless after the League starts. That’s the power of God. So don’t pay attention to time in the future. It’s meaningless.”

With those words, Jin Jaehee looked forward again.

“Anyway, the lords you’ve faced so far are just ordinary people. You haven’t met a player yet. But now it’s different. It’s going to be completely different. Players are different. They are monsters and humans.”

At that time, Jin Jaehee took a 발도 [baldo – drawing sword] posture, holding the shining sword.

And she swung the sword towards the mountain covered with snow in front.

Seo-eong!

The sound of cutting through the wind very simply echoed throughout the area.

The workers who were cutting trees at the foot of the mountain to prepare firewood were startled and fell backward.

“U…… Ueot……!”

“Aaaaaaack……!”

The mountain covered with white snow split in half, and snow and soil flew up in the direction the sword was swung.

A long and sharp pit was dug in the ground cut by the sword.

The workers were 넋 놓고 바라만 보고 [neok nohgo baraman bogo – staring blankly] for a while at the sight.

Jin Jaehee canceled the artifact.

The sword naturally disappeared from her grasp.

S-class player.

Their power was beyond what could be called human.

“Information about the League that can’t be compared to other lords and players. Monsters. Players. I’ll tell you all that information from today onwards. It’s one year. For one year, you just focus on learning information about artifacts and the League from me. If I’ve only been watching by your side so far, now I’ll be 뛰겠어 [ttwigesseo – running] on the field with you.”

“…….”

Sion was also leaning against the railing, looking at it.

As she said, this was far beyond human ability.

He turned his head again and looked down at Jin Jaehee.

Jin Jaehee finished speaking with a determined tone.

“……And we’re going to win this damn League.”

(To be continued in the next episode)