The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 76

#76. Double Operation (2)

As the forces of Manan and Dongan clashed, Dongan’s warriors tightened security along the border.

Watchers were stationed throughout the buildings, monitoring Manan-gu and preventing reckless crossings of the Anyangcheon River.

Anyang City was home to more than just members of established factions.

Some survivors belonged to no group, still hoping for rescue with their families.

Others, also unaffiliated, wandered beyond the borders, moving between the various factions.

These people were commonly called wanderers.

Their shared trait was their exclusion from any faction, roaming the ruined city.

They formed shantytowns along the riverbanks and eked out a living there.

Within the Dongan-controlled area of the Anyangcheon River, a space like this existed, housing an unknown number of people.

This was Bisan, the area between Manan and Dongan.

Ruled by Madam, Bisan was rife with gambling, prostitution, and human trafficking.

Despite this, it was geographically located within Dongan’s territory.

Night.

In the darkened city of Bisan, the light from torches and bonfires burned brighter.

Dongan’s laborers and warriors, along with wanderers, were either eating rat meat or gambling.

A child gnawing on a dried rat tail, like jerky, gazed up at the sky.

“……”

The child, still looking up, tugged at the sleeve of a nearby woman.

The woman was engrossed in a gambling game, using cigarettes as stakes.

“Mom. Mom. Shooting star.”

Even as the child pulled, the woman didn’t respond.

So the child shook her sleeve more insistently.

“Mom, Mom! Shooting star……!”

“Ugh-! Shut up!”

Swoosh-!

The woman shoved the child away without a second thought.

The three men gambling with the woman burst out laughing.

They eyed the pot and clicked their tongues.

“Sis. What to do? Hehehe……! Gwang-bak [a high-scoring combination in Korean card games], meong-bak [another high-scoring combination], pi-bak [yet another high-scoring combination]. Just looking at it, it doesn’t seem like the cigarettes piled up there will be enough…… What to do?”

A stack of cigarettes sat beside the gambling table.

Since cigarette production ceased after the collapse, most factions used them as ‘currency’.

Wanderers, unaffiliated with any faction, also bartered with cigarettes.

And alongside gambling, prostitution could also be paid for with cigarettes.

With the fall of the state, a primitive era had returned.

If the woman failed to win back her stake, both she and her child would be sold into slavery.

The man revealed a Bi-gwang [a specific card combination] from his hand, showing it to the woman.

Three Bi cards were laid out side by side on the table.

“What to do……? Huh? Hahaha…… Ah, I mean, you should have stopped when you were ahead.”

“……Wait. Wait. Ah, I haven’t lost yet.”

“Haha. Oh, geez. Well, first give me one Pi [a type of card].”

The man snatched a cigarette and lit it.

Thick smoke filled the space above the gambling table.

The man looked at the trembling woman and said, as if offering friendly advice with a chuckle.

“You know? There’s a saying that you should never give up until the end. But you know what? I don’t know what the hell that means. You have to know when to give up to move on to the next level. If you don’t give up until the end, your life goes to hell~ Sis.”

Tremble, tremble.

The woman hesitantly pulled out a plum blossom Pi card.

Her only hope was to combine it with a plum blossom Hongdan [another card combination] to score points.

But the man thoroughly crushed her faint hope.

Tak-.

The man stuck the plum blossom Hongtti [a specific card] on his forehead.

“Did you think I’d give this to you……?”

“Ah…….”

The woman’s face instantly fell.

“Hahahaha! ……Oops, it fell.”

Tak-!

The man stuck the fallen plum blossom Hongtti back on his forehead.

The game was over.

The woman had bet her entire life, and in the end, she had lost everything.

She had tried to recover it all through gambling, but she gained nothing.

“Okay~ Take the kid to Madam and sell the woman off.”

“Yes- Hyungnim [term of respect for an older male]!”

The man’s gang moved toward the woman’s child.

The child’s desperate cries filled the air, and the woman immediately prostrated herself, grabbing the man’s pants.

“Ah-, Ah! Wait. Wait! Let the child stay with me. Please, I beg you……!”

“Hey. Come on, why are you acting like an amateur? Seriously. Damn. How can you take a kid with you? Huh?”

Tak, tak.

The man squatted down and tapped the woman’s cheek lightly.

He bared his yellow teeth and smiled as he finished speaking.

“……Our Madam will be busy now.”

Being sold as a slave and becoming ‘busy’ meant a bleak future.

In this world without human rights or laws, becoming a slave was a terrible fate.

A small number of players, those considered strong in this world, were known to buy slaves.

The man and his gang were slave traders.

“Ah…….”

“First, we have to shave all the hair off your body. The person at this transaction hates hair, you see? We don’t know how to wax, so we do it by hand, stitch by stitch.”

The man threatened, brandishing a razor and scissors.

“Please…… Just my son……”

“You’re still talking about your son. Shut your damn mouth, think with your brain before you speak. Huh? I said no!”

“Aah-!”

The man grabbed the woman’s lips and shoved her aside.

Leaving the woman who had fallen powerlessly, the man chuckled.

Meanwhile, the woman’s son was struggling in the arms of the man’s subordinate.

“Okay, let’s go when everything is settled~”

The gang began to tie up the woman, and the child was destined to be sold.

In any era, gamblers often face a miserable end.

Of course.

The same was true for the man who had preyed on the woman.

The man’s laughter echoed through the tavern.

Shuk-.

And something flashed past in an instant.

At first, he thought a fly was buzzing nearby.

But then blood began to flow from the man’s neck.

“Huh……?”

The man touched the blood and wiped it away repeatedly.

But the bleeding wouldn’t stop.

The sphere, which he thought had only grazed him, had pierced his neck.

“Huh……? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? What?”

The man, terrified, looked around, blood gushing from his wound.

His gaze landed on a boy sitting silently in a corner of the tavern.

A black-haired woman sat beside him.

The boy wore a black bucket hat, obscuring his face.

The boy was Kang Si-On.

Since only the man’s gang, the woman and child, and the boy were present, he quickly understood the situation.

“You…… You……?”

Stagger- Collapse!

The man soon collapsed to the side.

He was losing consciousness from blood loss.

He couldn’t even scream.

The man’s subordinates, witnessing the scene, immediately drew their kitchen knives.

“Wh, what!!!”

“Who are you!”

The subordinates hesitated, unsure how to react.

The child, held by one of the subordinates, broke free and ran to his mother.

Si-On’s attack had been silent and swift.

The tavern was already filled with his spheres.

“Haa…… Haa…… Haa……!”

The woman hugged her child, tears streaming down her face, looking around in fear.

Just then, one of the gang members, gathering his courage, charged at Si-On.

However, after a year and a half since the artifact had been activated, no ordinary person could stand against a player.

Pow pow pow pow! Kuung!

The gang member was riddled with Si-On’s spheres and collapsed.

Si-On only had to move his fingers to subdue him.

Thump-!

Si-On rose from his seat, his hands still in his pockets.

He walked toward the remaining gang member.

Jaehee, sitting opposite him, didn’t move.

“Hi…… Hick……!”

Clatter-!

The man was so frightened that he dropped his kitchen knife and fell backward.

As Si-On approached, he begged, tears in his eyes.

“Pl, pl, please save me……! I’ll give you as many cigarettes as you want.”

In the man’s eyes, Si-On was the embodiment of fear.

Si-On’s gaze, from beneath the bucket hat, was overwhelming.

The man couldn’t help but feel crushed by his power.

Eventually, the man wet his pants.

Gurgle, gurgle-.

Pee soaked the floor.

Si-On spoke to him.

“The person at this transaction?”

“……Yes, Yes?”

“Does that person mean the Madam here?”

“Yes, Yes, Yes…… Yes yes!”

The man nodded vigorously, looking up at Si-On with a hopeful smile.

Si-On removed his bucket hat and said, his eyes emotionless.

“Then, go and tell her.”

“Yes…… Yes! If you save me…… Wh, whatever……!”

The gang member nodded frantically.

Si-On finished speaking.

“The lord of Manan wants to see her.”

* * *

Anyang City’s Bisan-dong was a strategic point connecting Manan-gu and Dongan-gu.

The Bisan Bridge, located there, linked the two regions.

Si-On had originally crossed from the mart in Bisan-dong to Manan-gu.

Now, Bisan-dong was controlled by Dongan-gu.

The Madam who ruled Bisan-dong was under the command of the lord of Dongan, specializing in human trafficking.

Despite being under his command, Madam maintained her own independent village and system.

Many wanderers considered her an independent lord, except that she lacked the power to issue edicts within the system.

To Madam, the lord of Manan, Kang Si-On, was an intriguing figure.

The fact that he had come all the way to see her piqued her interest.

“…….”

Consistent footsteps echoed in the hallway.

This was the shopping mall where Si-On had played his first round.

He had returned to meet Madam.

Clunk-!

“Ah-! Welcome. Oh my~”

Madam opened the door where Kang Si-On was waiting and entered.

A plump body that seemed to fill the entire room.

Madam slowly walked and sat opposite Si-On.

Squeak.

As Madam settled into the chair, her attendants placed a cigarette in her lips.

“I heard a great person came, so I stopped playing and came right away. Oh my-. But I wonder what the lord of Manan needs from me.”

Madam wore heavy makeup.

She was the only one in her faction who did.

Her power was considerable.

Bisan-dong was a transportation hub in Anyang, a place where many wanderers passed through.

Her group specialized in mercenary work and human trafficking, drawing on the skilled players and experts who flocked from various cities.

It was also the location of Anyang City’s largest market.

While gambling and prostitution dominated the market, there was also a unique food culture and a wide variety of goods being traded.

Many of the wanderers who traded with Mangyeong came from here.

Madam’s subordinates set up items in front of Si-On’s desk.

A glass of wine, a tissue, a Zippo lighter, three cigarettes, five biscuits.

They arranged everything neatly and poured soju [Korean distilled spirit] and beer into Si-On’s glass, mixing it with metal chopsticks.

The same items were placed on Madam’s desk.

It was a gesture of courtesy between faction leaders.

In this era, alcohol and cigarettes were the ultimate luxuries.

Madam raised her glass of somaek [soju and beer mix] and said.

“Drink up. My subordinate is amazing at somaek ratios. Anyway, welcome. Si-On-nim. We welcome you.”

Gulp, gulp-.

Madam emptied her glass of somaek in one go.

Si-On frowned and put down his glass after matching her drink for drink.

Si-On frowned and put down his glass and asked.

“But. Is it okay to meet me so easily like this? If the lord of Dongan finds out…….”

Si-On had expected it to take much longer to meet Madam.

She was, after all, part of the Dongan-gu faction.

But things had worked out smoothly.

“Ah-. Don’t worry. What can I do? Besides, it’s not like I’m doing anything strange with you, and the lord of Dongan is busy because he’s at war…… Ah! Now, I heard he’s injured?”

Madam covered her mouth and laughed.

Trickle, trickle.

Somaek was poured into Si-On’s glass again.

Beer foam filled the glass.

Soju streamed through the foam.

“But, I’ve always been interested in the lord of Manan. Well…… I don’t have the qualifications of a former lord, and I’m not a player either. The only thing I can boast about is my business skills? So I was attached to the lord of Dongan and protected. Ah-, Ah. So I’m telling you not to be too wary of me. No matter what anyone says, I like the former lord.”

Gulp- Gulp-.

Madam was already on her third glass and continued to speak.

In modern terms, she had already consumed 150,000 won [Korean currency] worth of alcohol.

“Bridge, boiler, water mill, cart, city, what…… etc. The achievements you’ve made are admirable. Ah, really. Even if your faction’s size was only half the size of Dongan’s, I would have joined you in an instant…… It’s a shame.”

Si-On hadn’t touched his alcohol since the second glass.

He had something he needed to say to Madam.

“Ah, of course, I really respect Si-On-nim, I like you, and I really wanted to meet you. You are completely my star. Anyway, well, that’s that…… Haa.”

Thud.

Madam’s expression changed abruptly.

She looked at Si-On and said quietly.

“But, this isn’t just a friendly visit, is it?”

The atmosphere shifted instantly.

Madam was still smiling, but her displeasure was evident.

Because she was, above all else, a merchant.

(To be continued in the next episode)