The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 81

## Episode 81. The Meeting (2)

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

Park Ji-soo watched Sion and slowly clapped.

“Bravo. Excellent. Lord.”

Park Ji-soo didn’t stop clapping.

Her movements were slow.

Like a snake.

“I knew you’d be different from the other lords. My informants told me you seized power through a coup. Maybe you took control and sent me gifts because you were afraid of an immediate conquest. Smart. Ah~ you’re really smart.”

Only after those words did Park Ji-soo stop clapping.

And she pulled her chair closer to the desk.

“You want to swallow my power slowly, don’t you?”

Park Ji-soo came here to solidify the positions between the factions as well.

“But Lord. That’s meaningless. Right now, in Uiwang, a damn player is gathering forces and trying to dominate southern Gyeonggi.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know the details. I only know that the bastard is young. I also know he’s strong. You shouldn’t be thinking about taking my power right now, but rather devising a way to counter that crazy player. That goes for both you and me. In other words! We. Are. Not. E. Ne. Mies.”

Sion ran his hand over his mouth.

He couldn’t understand what Park Ji-soo was talking about at all.

Not enemies?

In the middle of the 2nd round, the boundaries of the cities collapsed, and exchanges between regions took place.

It was the opening of the Warring States period [a time of intense conflict and competition between numerous states] on the Korean Peninsula.

“Listen carefully. Lord of Mangyeong. I can massacre all living things in my territory for my victory. I can use everyone, regardless of gender or age, as meat shields for my victory. But let’s think about it. Can you do that?”

Park Ji-soo said, looking at Mangyeong’s living base.

Park Ji-soo thought Kang Sion was a humane lord.

The overwhelming approval rating supported this.

“Let’s do this. My real intention is the integration of Anyang. No, no. Unification! Let’s go with unification. There’s even a song, right? Our~ wish~ is~ unificaaation. Unificaaation~”

Park Ji-soo hummed a song.

Sion frowned at the singing.

Park Ji-soo didn’t stop talking.

And she took something out of her pocket and showed it on the desk.

It was a red shining ore.

It also looked like a jewel.

“Do you know what this is?”

“…….”

“Resource.”

“Resource?”

“Yes, resource.”

Park Ji-soo put down the ore and lit a cigarette again.

Click-.

The guard next to her naturally turned on a Zippo lighter.

Park Ji-soo, who lit the cigarette, exhaled smoke and said.

“Human scientific development has been achieved through resources, right? Oil, coal, nuclear power, natural gas, etc. And this red gem is a new resource that has appeared in this world. It’s an energy source! Now, let’s think carefully. The system defines the river as a natural resource and uses it as a medium for territorial warfare between lords. Then what’s next? I guarantee it’s resources. You. You must have had some trouble with drinking water for a while. So……! That’s why you’re rebelling against me. Right?! Did I guess right?”

Rebellion.

Sion chewed on her words.

Park Ji-soo already thought of Mangyeong as her vassal state.

That’s arrogance.

Disgusting arrogance.

Park Ji-soo was still thinking of the past Mangyeong.

Grab-!

Park Ji-soo picked up the red ore.

When a person’s hand touched it, the ore shone even more and even shook a little.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I was just kidding! No, just, Lord of Mangyeong. So, I was just curious to see how Sion would react…… Anyway. The faction that wins the league will be the one that holds this resource. We are lords. The purpose of a lord is to make their forces strong. And this resource. It’s buried like crazy in our Dongan district. At first, I just thought it was part of a monster. But it’s different. This is God’s resource. It’s an alien mineral that stores energy so powerful that it can’t be compared to coal, oil, or gas. I think we should protect this. We are…… ‘Anyang citizens’ belonging to the same Anyang?”

Chik, jiji…….

Park Ji-soo put out her cigarette.

In the end, that was her purpose.

She was trying to win the upcoming rounds by keeping Sion, who had raised Mangyeong to this point, under her command.

To carry out the remaining rounds by peacefully uniting the forces without bloodshed.

In other words, this was a peace treaty, a proposal for an alliance.

If Mangyeong and Dongan were combined, the scale would be enormous.

Park Ji-soo wanted that.

Because she recognized and believed in Kang Sion’s abilities that much.

“How is it? Isn’t it an offer you can’t refuse? I’ll give you more power than you have now. What do you want? I’ll do anything. I have too many luxury goods?”

Honestly, it would be easy for Sion to just hand over his power to Park Ji-soo.

Sion’s goal was to integrate Anyang and find out the location of his younger sibling.

But.

If the world only went according to one’s wishes, there would be no war, and there would be no development of weapons.

“Will it really be like that?”

“……Yes?”

Park Ji-soo knew one thing and didn’t know two [idiom meaning she was only partially informed].

The system does not want ‘peace’ between players.

It wants the two forces to splash blood, fight, and kill each other.

In other words, it’s only a matter of time before the two forces collide.

Looking at the characteristics of the administrator so far, the game will never be set up in the form of peace that Park Ji-soo wants.

Even if that happens, Sion had no intention of joining Park Ji-soo’s forces.

How could he give up the power he had built up?

He wouldn’t let it go according to her intentions.

And right now, Kang Sion was very unpleasant.

Park Ji-soo was completely ignoring his power, the power that had grown so large.

Sion glared at Park Ji-soo and opened his mouth.

“Come in.”

As soon as his words fell, someone entered the meeting room.

Thump.

Park Ji-soo’s pupils shook when she saw him.

Park Ji-soo had expected what was happening in front of her, but she never dreamed that Kang Sion would come out like this.

The man walked over and stood next to Sion.

Sion introduced his identity.

“He is the lord of the third power in Manan.”

Thump-.

Sion got up from his seat.

Now Sion looked down at Park Ji-soo and continued speaking in a low tone.

“I will end the 2nd round now.”

As soon as Sion finished speaking, the lord of the third power knelt before Sion.

“……I surrender.”

The meaning was clear.

The third power of Manan had declared its surrender to Mangyeong, the first power.

The 2nd round ends at this very moment.

The 3rd round will begin soon.

That would make Park Ji-soo’s proposal to form an alliance to prepare for the 3rd round meaningless.

Park Ji-soo looked at Sion with a shocked expression, and Sion smiled faintly.

Unlike Park Ji-soo, Sion had plenty of time.

He had heard about the 3rd round from Jin Jae-hee, and preparations were steadily underway.

Negotiation? To form an alliance?

No way.

Ding-!

At that moment, notification windows began to appear in droves.

It was the starting point for the end of the 2nd round, the long and long ‘cold snap’.

* * *

Notification windows poured out in front of the two lords.

[3rd Round Ended]

[Surviving Forces: Manan 1st Force, Dongan 1st Force.]

[Congratulations!]

[Your forces have survived the ‘Cold Snap’.]

[The ancient ancestors feared winter. Winter was a season of death and hardship. The winter environment was like a huge ordeal from nature for living things.]

[But winter also means another beginning. The reason why January and February are in winter. Do you understand? It is the beginning of the new year, it is the preparation stage to prepare for spring!]

[Then, lords who have overcome winter. Are your forces ready to welcome spring?]

The system was still chattering about trivial things.

The administrator did not appear as in the 1st round.

But the notification window was still full of information about the end of the 2nd round.

Sion now decided the end point of the 2nd round himself.

He used the system himself, at the most perfect timing, and at the most advantageous timing for himself, to end the round.

“…….”

[Spring is a time of new life and prosperity!]

[Life that you have never encountered before will awaken from a long hibernation and wait for you.]

Brightly shining notification windows.

Kang Sion too.

Jin Jae-hee too.

Park Ji-soo too.

I couldn’t say anything in front of it.

[Do you know what predators do first after waking up from a long hibernation?]

[It’s about filling their hungry stomachs first.]

[Respected and great lord.]

[Please protect your people from the existence of that hungry predation.]

[We will announce the theme of the 3rd round!]

[The theme of the 3rd round, it is ‘Predation and Prey’.]

Kung……! Kung!!!!!!!

It was then.

The entire building shook, and Park Ji-soo staggered.

Her guard rushed in and supported Park Ji-soo.

But Sion, who already knew all this, was calm.

He sat calmly and watched Park Ji-soo’s actions.

In fact, Park Ji-soo was vaguely aware of it.

But it’s really just ‘vaguely’.

Knowing about the future and vaguely predicting the future are worlds apart.

Uiwang was still in the 2nd round, but the Gwacheon area had entered the 3rd round.

And as you head towards Seoul, the amount of snow decreases significantly, and bizarre monsters are easily found.

They were all monsters that had been hibernating under the snow piled up to the height of the building.

So, if there were only monsters that did not ‘hibernate’ in the 2nd round, then from the 3rd round onwards, ‘all monsters’ exist.

In other words, only half of the monsters have appeared so far.

Thump-! Creak-!

Park Ji-soo immediately got up from her seat, opened the window, and looked beyond the castle walls.

Surprisingly, Kang Sion, the lord of Mangyeong, had been building castle walls throughout the past 2 rounds.

Did he predict this would happen, or was it a coincidence?

-…….

A swarm of unidentified flying monsters filling the sky.

Bizarre cries and appearances.

They were flying somewhere.

The number was so large that the shadows of the monsters were thickly laid on the ground for a moment.

Park Ji-soo could guess where the monsters were going.

The monsters are the battlefields of Dongan and Uiwang.

It will head to that place full of blood and flesh to be eaten.

Kang Sion said to Park Ji-soo, who was staring blankly at the sky.

“Dongan is in big trouble. You have to fight a war, and you have to deal with the 3rd round. You should be more concerned about the monsters than our Mangyeong. But what should I do? Did you build a castle wall to block them?”

“…….”

Park Ji-soo looked back at Sion with fearful eyes.

So far, Park Ji-soo has only kept Uiwang and Manan forces in check.

But as the 3rd round begins, she must also prepare for the monsters that are pouring out indiscriminately.

On the other hand, Kang Sion’s forces had already completed preparations for the monsters.

Sion was ready to swallow Dongan.

The superior-inferior relationship between the two was determined by this.

“You’re going to be busy from now on, aren’t you? You have to fight a war, build castle walls, and there shouldn’t be any friction with us.”

“…….”

Park Ji-soo’s pupils shook at Sion’s last words.

Friction.

Park Ji-soo didn’t want to make any more enemies.

That’s why she proposed an alliance to Kang Sion.

But with the difference in positions now clear, Kang Sion was recognizing Park Ji-soo as an enemy.

To be exact, as prey.

Kang Sion already knew.

That it was she who ordered the human hunters to harass the workers of Mangyeong.

And now she had come to insult him.

‘X발, X발, X발, X발……!’ [a Korean curse word, equivalent to ‘fuck’]

Park Ji-soo was in a very difficult situation.

Park Ji-soo’s position now was to kneel down and beg Sion.

Please don’t invade.

It was best for Sion to attack when his power was at its weakest.

Of course, Sion did not want to go to war with Dongan right away.

This was because he had not experienced the 3rd round himself.

“What do you want…….”

Park Ji-soo’s hand holding the window frame shook wildly.

Her shoulders were also shaking.

Sion came closer and looked out the window with her.

“……What do you want?”

With this, Sion completely dominated the forces in Anyang.

Park Ji-soo finally looked up at Sion, who had come to her.

Sion looked straight into her eyes and opened his mouth.

“Everything you have.”

Park Ji-soo only had to pay the price.

The price for what she had done to Mangyeong so far.

And for Kang Sion, the time for ruthless revenge that he had endured had come.

(Continued in the next episode)