The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 91

#Episode 91. Resolution (3)

“Enemies around Beomgye Station have begun to move.”

“Approximately 2,000 mounted troops are gathering near the border towards Bisan.”

“The road to Dongan is blocked by enemies, and we haven’t been able to contact our informant for two days.”

“……”

Reports came in every 10 minutes.

Sion listened silently to his subordinate’s reports.

He didn’t say a word.

The last report was that Hayunha, an allied informant, had been captured.

Sion’s clenched fists trembled.

Choi Hyunji, who was nearby, was also startled by the news of Hayunha’s capture.

“……”

The rain continued to pour, and raindrops on the window frame dripped steadily.

Choi Hyunji bit her lower lip.

After a moment of silence, the subordinate bowed again and left the office.

Sion sat in his chair like a statue, lost in thought.

Without any orders, without moving at all, he breathed evenly, thinking, thinking, and thinking again.

“Just… I need some air.”

Leaving those words, Choi Hyunji went out.

Neither Sion nor Jaehee stopped her.

As Choi Hyunji left, Sion carefully opened his eyes and reached for the desk.

Sion’s hand, trying to grab the water glass, continued to tremble.

Jaehee’s eyes were fixed on his hand.

The fingers trembled slightly as they held the water glass.

Carefully bringing it to his mouth and drinking.

The way his Adam’s apple moved up and down regularly.

Even the slight stream of water flowing down between his lips.

Jin Jaehee’s eyes turned back to his face.

His thick eyelids were shaking.

Although she couldn’t see his eyes because of his shaggy bangs, she could guess his emotions.

The feelings of a monarch facing a large-scale war.

Those complex emotions intersected haphazardly, and his heart would be pounding strongly.

Fear, anxiety, anticipation, worry, desire.

Those who reign bear that much responsibility.

‘……’

There was nothing Jin Jaehee could say to him.

No comfort, no sympathy, no words at all.

The decision is up to the monarch.

How much impact have the decisions of monarchs had on human history over the past several centuries?

How much have the wrong decisions of monarchs changed human history, sometimes even causing destruction?

Kang Sion now had to make a decision, and today was the starting point.

Jin Jaehee silently placed her hand over Sion’s hand on the desk.

The trembling of his hand was transmitted directly.

Only then did Sion raise his eyes and look at her.

It wasn’t a purposeful gaze.

He was just looking.

At that moment, a group of soldiers entered the office.

Clatter-.

Thud!

Jaehee was startled and pulled her hand away.

The 2nd Army commander bowed to Kang Sion and said urgently.

“We are ready. We need to send troops to Bisan-dong first. Let’s go.”

The subordinate’s report that all preparations were complete.

With that voice, Sion’s hand stopped trembling.

The emotions that had shaken him until just now also had to be forgotten the moment the war began.

Like athletes in the starting blocks of an Olympic relay.

“……Let’s go.”

He now got up from his seat and walked forward.

The soldiers followed behind him.

Jin Jaehee remained seated, waiting for Sion to leave the room.

A pre-battle speech awaited them.

* * *

The hallway leading out of the police station.

Mangyeong’s executives stood against the walls on either side of the hallway, waiting for me to come.

As I passed, they naturally fell in behind me.

Light streamed from the end of the dark hallway.

No one spoke out loud, and only the sound of footsteps echoed steadily in the hallway.

At the end of that hallway, the newly completed monarch’s platform came into view.

Below the platform, Mangyeong’s central street stretched out.

The residents’ livelihoods and a huge crowd were visible at a glance.

As I left the police station, heavy rain naturally poured down on my head.

A soldier brought me a black umbrella, but I refused.

Because I wanted to get rained on with them.

My steps up to the platform are heavy.

The residents of Mangyeong gathered here.

Those who wield weapons.

The white-haired elderly.

And a crowd of children.

The crowd was just getting rained on.

No one avoided it, and no one turned their eyes away from me.

None of them spoke out loud.

They were all waiting for my words.

I closed my eyes once and then opened them.

Suddenly, or perhaps naturally, Junho’s face came to mind.

‘……’

There wasn’t a day that I didn’t think of him.

Anytime, anywhere.

I have risen to this place, this position, to meet Junho.

Everyone gathered here, they may not know, but they are the people to find my younger brother Junho.

I was scared.

I vaguely remembered Junho’s face, but that young voice.

‘……’

That voice, that young voice that comforted me, I couldn’t remember.

What kind of voice was it?

What kind of tone, pitch, the voice of Junho who called me kindly, what was it like?

The voice that ran to me and told me I had worked hard when I came home from doing odd jobs every day.

The voice that woke up before me in the morning and kindly set the table and shook me awake…….

The last day I saw my brother.

That is, the day before this damn League started.

That voice of my brother, who told me to work carefully today and come back early, hugging me in his arms.

‘……’

……I can’t remember it now.

I was very anxious that I might forget Junho’s face someday.

If I had known this would happen, I should have taken a picture.

When he clung to me and asked to take a 5,000 won four-cut photo [a cheap photo booth picture], I should have taken it.

I resented myself that day for holding my complaining brother in my arms and coming home because I thought that 5,000 won was a waste.

Large raindrops on my hair ran down my cheeks and gathered on my chin.

I walked forward.

As I moved, the residents of Mangyeong naturally split to both sides.

I led the executives of the force and approached the walls of Mangyeong.

Everyone’s eyes followed my footsteps.

I climbed the wall and looked at everyone.

Everyone was visible from here.

Several citizens in the apartment windows.

Several citizens on top of scrapped cars.

Several citizens on the rooftop.

Several citizens on the bridge between the rooftops.

And all these citizens surrounding me.

I made eye contact with them and confirmed their resolve.

Finally, my tightly closed lips parted.

* * *

The rain poured down heavily.

Everyone was focused on the platform.

Sion’s voice echoed here.

“We will face a great death.”

“……”

“Some will die, some will be injured, and some will lose loved ones.”

“……”

“Why are you here?”

No one answered.

“Is it because you want to live?”

Some are here because they want to live.

“Or is it because you have a purpose?”

Some are here because they have a purpose.

“Or did you just come here as your feet led you?”

Some are here for no reason.

“Why?”

Sion did not get excited even in front of this large crowd.

He was explaining his story to the crowd, point by point.

“Is there a reason why you have to fight the approaching monsters, build this wall with weapons, shovels, and hammers, and fight Dongan? You could hide in every corner of the city right now. You could run away without participating in the war right now and survive. Why have you been preparing for war with them for the past few months while living here? Why do you have to risk your lives to fight for the force? What is the reason?”

Sion was asking the crowd an important question.

Mangyeong is a force determined by the system.

It was not a regular country that had survived with a long history and tradition like South Korea.

This place was simply a group of survivors gathered together.

So there was a lack of unity.

Because they had no driving force or justification to unite.

But Sion wanted to ask them.

Why they had to face a great war here.

But Sion knew that, and everyone gathered in this square knew it.

And Sion kindly reminded them of the answer.

“You must have seen hope here.”

Hope.

The hope that you can live as a normal human being in Mangyeong.

This was taken for granted in a normal country.

But after the world was destroyed, these countries completely disappeared.

In a world where people die like flies.

Mangyeong was the only place where you could live like a human being.

The monarch, Kang Sion, was the one who founded such a force.

You will die anyway if you leave Mangyeong.

The residents of Mangyeong can live as ‘humans’ because they are in Mangyeong.

You have to protect Mangyeong.

You have to defend Mangyeong.

You have to defeat those Dongan thugs who are trying to occupy Mangyeong.

That’s how we live like humans.

That was the driving force, and it was Article 1, Section 1 of Mangyeong as defined by Sion.

Now, neither Sion nor the residents of Mangyeong had anywhere to retreat.

Only war.

“You must have had a future in mind in this Mangyeong. For me? For the force? No. For you. You are fighting for this city that you want to live in. Protect it. With your strength. We will defeat the warriors of Dongan and reclaim our original hometown of Anyang. And in this city that we have protected. We will live. Nothing can be gained without sacrifice. Who we are. How we have survived to this point. We will let them know exactly how angry we are.”

Thrill.

From the tips of my toes to the top of my head, as if electrified.

The crowd’s emotions were already at their peak.

Everyone in this place was swayed by Sion’s words.

Sion’s speech was devouring all their emotions.

The events of the past few days flashed before my eyes.

Round 1 was a human massacre.

Round 2 was a terrible and brutal natural disaster.

And now in Round 3, they faced a great war of death.

Family, colleagues, lovers, and friends who had been dying by their side.

Workers who were brutally massacred by Dongan’s human hunters.

Friends who were mercilessly slaughtered by Dongan’s looters.

All those people flashed by.

It was the past round that had been fought so desperately.

And this was the war that would produce the results of that fight.

To protect the only hope in this ruined world that they had built.

Mangyeong’s soldiers will gladly take up arms.

They will gladly give their lives to fight.

Because if it’s not here, they will surely face a miserable death someday.

Sion came down from the wall after finishing his speech.

And went back the way he came.

The crowd split in two, giving way to the monarch.

Sion now walked among them.

At that time, a short-haired boy in the crowd muttered.

“Let’s fight……!”

The boy’s forehead was torn, and tears welled up in his eyes.

He was about fourteen or fifteen years old.

But his gestures, eyes, and determination were no different from those of adults.

The boy had lost everything.

His youngest sibling when Round 1 started.

His mother died of frostbite during Round 2.

And his only remaining younger sister was brutally murdered by Dongan’s human hunters while fetching water.

The boy wanted to fight.

The boy wanted to kill all of Dongan’s warriors with Kang Sion.

The boy’s name is Jeong Hyunsoo.

Jeong Hyunsoo said again.

“Let’s fight…… Let’s fight……!!”

At first, it was a small voice that was drowned out by the crowd’s breathing.

Nevertheless, Hyunsoo did not stop.

The boy wanted to show the monarch ‘Kang Sion’.

Our determination.

Our attitude towards fighting.

Now Hyunsoo began to shout at the top of his lungs.

“Let’s fight……! Let’s fight……! Let’s fight……!!!”

When the boy did not stop, the adults around him began to join in.

“Let’s fight…… Let’s fight……!”

“Let’s fight…… Let’s fight……!!!”

“Let’s fight!!! ……Let’s fight!!!!!!”

Their determination began to spread like wildfire.

Now their chant, which the boy had started, became a medium for expressing everyone’s agitated emotions.

“Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight!!!”

“Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight!”

“Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight!”

They shouted at the top of their lungs at Sion as he walked.

“Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight!! Let’s fight! Let’s fight!!!”

So that Sion, who was walking through the crowd again, could hear, no one was silent and everyone shouted.

“Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight!!! Let’s fight!!!”

“Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight!!!”

“Let’s fight! Let’s fight!!! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight! Let’s fight!!!”

The crowd, spitting blood and saliva, looking at each other, sometimes looking at the monarch, shouted.

Let’s fight.

Everyone was shouting only one word.

The word to fight.

The word to fight against the enemy, to fight for our hope, for the force.

Their shouts, along with the rain, echoed throughout the city.

Everyone surrounding Sion was screaming at the monarch.

In that magnificent shouting of people, Sion faced their resolve.

Their resolve was important to Sion.

He could have issued a general mobilization order immediately and forcibly conscripted them.

Sion wanted them to truly ‘fight’ for themselves.

That there would be a future for us only if we won the war.

Their firm resolve will soon lead to combat power.

The power of ‘persuasion’ that Manager K tested Sion in Round 1.

Sion had the power to persuade people and the power to lead people.

Sion’s most powerful weapon and an unapproachable, powerful ability.

The ability to draw out the anger of the residents and the excellent insight to use it.

He is the monarch, Kang Sion.

Now Sion will lead them and win the war.

Walking through the crowd that was shouting, Sion faced the executives of the force again.

Everyone gathered in one place, waiting for the monarch’s command.

And Sion commanded.

“Issue a general mobilization order.”

At the monarch’s command, the system responded.

A notification window appeared in front of everyone’s eyes.

The monarch’s absolute authority, the edict, was issued.

[‘General Mobilization Order’ issued to all citizens according to Article 2, Section 2 of the Edict.]

[All residents, production, and weapons belonging to the force are mobilized for war materials.]

[+11,907 people (troops)]

[+3,239 (weapons)]

Everything in Mangyeong was converted into combat power for the war.

Even now, the crowds of Mangyeong, or rather the soldiers, were looking at Sion and shouting.

Their shouts were loud enough to be heard by the warriors of Dongan.

In that shout, time finally passed midnight, and the non-aggression pact ended.

As expected, as soon as the treaty ended, the warriors of Dongan declared war on Mangyeong.

Sion ordered without hesitation.

“Immediately begin defending Bisan-dong. As of this moment, each army commander is granted the right to engage.”

A dark red notification window began to burn red in front of him.

Soon, a spear and a sword made of two holograms collided with each other.

* * *

[The term of the non-aggression pact between Mangyeong and Dongan has expired.]

[You can now declare war on each other.]

[The monarch of Mangyeong has declared war on Dongan!]

[The monarch of Dongan has declared war on Mangyeong!]

[D-1]

[We wish the monarchs good luck.]

(Continued in the next episode)