The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 98

#Episode 98. Skirmish in Flames (1)

“They’re going to use fire now. We need to respond.”

I gathered the squad leaders and gave them instructions.

We were on the apartment rooftop, where all 36 squad leaders had assembled.

The squad leaders had done well to fend off the enemy’s relentless attacks so far.

But the real battle hadn’t even begun yet.

The main battle was at Anyang Station. I wanted to achieve results here before that.

The time was almost here.

There was no way they wouldn’t use fire.

I originally thought they would use fire from the start of the war, but the Dongan commander hadn’t used it yet.

Was he planning something else?

Surely he hadn’t just not thought of using fire until now.

Did he have a trick up his sleeve? Or did he bring so many forces that he didn’t need to use fire?

I couldn’t quite read the Dongan commander dispatched to Bisan.

So far, he had only used very ‘simple’ tactics.

‘At the level an elementary school student would think of… but it can’t be just that.’

He must have another plan.

“If they start using fire, we’re probably going to take some damage too.”

The squad leader of Building 201 said with a worried tone.

The squad leader of Building 105 agreed with him.

“It’s not ‘probably’… we’re all going to die. Fire spreads upwards. The smoke is dangerous too. It’s hard to breathe even if you inhale it for an hour. No matter how good our fire suits are.”

As the two squad leaders began to speak, the other squad leaders added their thoughts.

“Will the building be okay? Will it collapse…?”

“At least this is a new apartment building in Anyang, so it should be able to withstand it.”

“That’s the hard part. We shouldn’t just think about what’s good for us.”

“What if we use water?”

“No way. We don’t even have enough to drink. We’d need a huge amount of water to put out a fire.”

“Can’t we block it with the firewalls we installed? We also have fire extinguishers.”

“Firewalls only prevent the spread of fire; it’s hard to completely extinguish it.”

The atmosphere was chaotic.

I raised my hand to calm them down.

Then everyone shut their mouths and looked back at me.

“The firewalls should all be installed. Is that right?”

The squad leaders nodded at my words.

We had taken firewalls from the Anyang underground shopping center and several buildings and installed them every five floors, starting from the sixth floor.

In addition, we brought all the equipment that could extinguish the fire here.

Fire extinguishers, sand, fire suits, etc.

So even if they set a fire, we would be able to block it for a while.

But we can’t block it indefinitely.

The fire they set will eventually reach this rooftop.

One fortunate thing was that it had been raining in Anyang in short cycles since the end of winter.

The sky was full of dark clouds right now.

It looked like it would rain tonight.

“Listen to me.”

The 36 squad leaders were all looking at me.

Their faces, gathered around me, were full of determination.

First, I comforted them.

“The training we did for the past month was more brutal than the battles of the past three days. We expected the enemy to attack with fire, so we trained for that month, shedding blood and sweat.”

There was no way around it if the enemy used fire.

My subordinates had trained for the past month in preparation for a war of attrition.

But enduring it would only last a week at most.

That was the basis for my prediction that we would lose the Battle of Bisan-dong.

I couldn’t come up with a better defense plan than the current state.

But the goal was only one thing.

To delay them here as much as possible while minimizing the necessary sacrifices.

If we could tie up at least 20,000 Dongan soldiers from the Bisan-dong apartments here.

If we could stop those 20,000 with only 3,600, we could lead the battle at Anyang Station to our advantage.

I called out to a boy who was one of the squad leaders.

“Hyun-soo.”

“…Yes!”

A short-haired boy who was particularly small among the squad leaders.

The boy was carrying a long bow on his back.

The boy jumped up and answered again in a trembling voice as he looked at me.

“Yes, tell me. G, Lord.”

“…Can we win tonight?”

At my serious question, the boy shouted.

“Yes… Yes!!! I will win no matter what… for the Lord! For Mangyeong!”

“Okay. Don’t pee your pants like last time.”

“Ah… Ah. That’s…”

Small laughter was heard from the other squad leaders.

Hyun-soo glanced around, checking the other squad leaders.

Just throwing out a joke seemed to ease the tension of my subordinates.

I softened the atmosphere again through the boy’s pledge.

With this, the anxiety from before disappeared from the squad leaders, and their morale was boosted.

“Anyway, everyone. Do as you trained. We’ll be able to stop them.”

I instilled in them the confidence to win.

Of course, victory here in Bisan-dong cannot be guaranteed.

No, it’s almost certain that we’ll fail.

I predicted that Bisan-dong would eventually fall to Dongan.

But they would have to pay a huge price.

And that night, Dongan began their fire attack.

* * *

Building 206, 6th floor, staircase, the front line defense position.

Inside the dark staircase, the pungent smell of corpses vibrated from all directions.

Meanwhile, soldiers holding spears and crossbows were guarding inside the barricade.

A steady sound of footsteps echoed on the staircase.

15-year-old squad leader Jung Hyun-soo.

He was in the sixth grade of elementary school when the apocalypse began.

He was the same age as Kang Si-on’s younger brother, Kang Joon-soo.

But now he was over 170cm tall and looked like a full-fledged young man.

He was in charge of Building 206 under the Lord of Mangyeong.

Kang Si-on appointed him, recognizing his excellent archery skills.

At that time, a middle-aged man who was guarding the barricade discovered the boy and smiled broadly.

He was Jung Hyun-soo’s only remaining family.

“H, Hyun-soo, you’re here? Aren’t you hungry? Eat this. Your dad saved it for you…”

“…Shut up.”

Thump.

Hyun-soo grabbed his arrow, which was placed against the wall, and approached the barricade.

He naturally stood guard next to his father.

Hyun-soo’s father said to him.

“Hyun-soo, if anything happens, stay next to your dad. Okay? Don’t ever step out like last time.”

“…”

“Hyun-soo, even if you’re a squad leader, you’re still my son. Don’t step out too much. Keep a moderate line.”

“…Just.”

“Stay next to your dad when the battle starts. No arguing. How surprised your dad was when you went out without saying a word last time…”

“A, I get it! Stop nagging me!”

Hyun-soo shouted at the man and looked forward again.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand his father’s heart.

He had lost his mother and two daughters after the apocalypse.

After losing his youngest daughter, his father was particularly concerned about Hyun-soo.

He was his only remaining blood relative.

But Hyun-soo didn’t like that kind of father.

He was in puberty.

Hyun-soo tried to ignore his father’s words and looked at the staircase beyond the barricade.

‘…’

The length of the barricade was about 1m.

The corpses of Dongan warriors were already piled up countless times on the middle floor of the staircase.

Rats were wandering between the corpses.

Hyun-soo gripped his bow and aimed forward.

It had already been three days since he fought here.

It was like three years.

At that time, a woman came down the stairs urgently.

It was Jung Hyun-soo’s subordinate.

She said urgently.

“S, Squad leader…! The enemy is coming.”

Unlike her urgency, Hyun-soo asked calmly.

“…How many are coming?”

“They’re crossing the Anyangcheon River [a river in South Korea]. I think you should come to the observation floor.”

“I understand.”

Hyun-soo got up again and tried to follow her.

But his father grabbed Hyun-soo’s wrist and said.

“Hyun-soo, you have to be careful. If anything happens, come to your dad right away. You have to come right away…?”

“Ah-! I’ll take care of it myself. How old am I…!”

Slap-!

Hyun-soo shook off his father’s hand violently and went up the stairs with the woman.

Despite his father’s worries, Hyun-soo climbed the stairs again with a determined resolve.

Hyun-soo is the leader of Building 206.

He had a sense of responsibility as a leader.

If his father had his own thoughts, Hyun-soo also had his own thoughts.

Jung Hyun-soo had to protect this place.

That was the order that Lord Kang Si-on had given him.

Hyun-soo and his subordinate passed the 6th floor of the defense position and headed to the 13th floor.

Building 206, 13th floor, 1301.

It was originally a home, but now it was a crossbow base and an observation post.

There were already many soldiers there, waiting with crossbow arrows in their hands.

Hyun-soo ran quickly and examined the movements of the Dongan warriors beyond the window.

He received the binoculars that the woman handed him and looked beyond the Anyangcheon River.

The guys who crossed the river were moving towards here.

Most of them were holding shields to prepare for crossbow and arrow attacks, and others protected by them were holding buckets in both hands.

Probably oil.

It was as the Lord said.

Hyun-soo lowered his binoculars and said.

“First shooter, please aim only at the guys with oil drums.”

“Leave it to me.”

“Second shooter, same goes for you.”

“Yes.”

13th floor, 14th floor, 15th floor.

A total of 6 crossbows, two each.

And 3 crossbows in the defense position.

Building 206 was currently operating 9 crossbows.

The guys started to get closer.

Soon, the shooter began to shoot arrows at the warrior holding the oil drum.

Shwook-! Shwook-!

As the shooters of Building 206 began to shoot arrows, the shooters of Buildings 209 and 210 on the opposite apartment also aimed at the warriors holding oil drums and shot arrows.

6 units per building, a total of 18 crossbows for three buildings.

Since they fired 10 shots per minute, the firepower was enough to stop the guys.

Some of the guys holding shields also began to die from crossbow arrows, and most of those who were carrying oil dropped their oil drums and dropped them on the floor.

Hyun-soo, who was watching the situation, ordered the ammunition carrier.

“Fire arrows! Quickly!”

“Yes…! Here it is.”

Hyun-soo was handed a fire arrow with a burning arrowhead.

Si-on’s order was to detonate their oil in advance to block their entry route.

The core of this was Hyun-soo’s shooters from Buildings 206, 209, and 210.

Hyun-soo put the received fire arrow on the bowstring and pulled it straight away.

Chooooooook-.

Hyun-soo’s right arm was pulled back tightly.

The boy’s eyes were only on the oil spilled by the enemy.

Hyun-soo was a born marksman recognized by Kang Si-on.

And he had to demonstrate that ability now.

When the target came into the aiming point, Hyun-soo released the string.

Ping-!

The fire arrow was shot, cutting through the wind.

The fire arrow was made by weaving together Nepenthes vines [tropical carnivorous plants] and oil.

It would not go out in the middle of flying.

Against the backdrop of all kinds of shouts and groans, and crossbow arrows pouring down, one fire arrow flew in a straight parabola.

And soon the fire arrow was stuck in the oil spilled on the floor.

Pook.

Whirr-!!!!

The fire began to spread wildly.

The warriors around him were instantly engulfed in flames and died painfully while writhing.

“Kuaaaaaaak…!!!!”

“Aaaaaaaak!!!!”

“Aaaa…! Aaaaaaak!!!!”

They screamed, but no one helped them. Instead, the warriors with oil drums rushed towards the apartment recklessly.

Some even succeeded in pouring oil on the apartment walls.

As they continued to pour oil on the apartment, Hyun-soo shouted.

“Shoot! You have to kill them all now!”

At Hyun-soo’s command, the shooters aimed at the Dongan warriors and began to shoot non-stop.

It was Si-on’s strategy of ‘using the enemy’s weapons to defeat the enemy.’

Thus, the fifth siege between Mangyeong and Dongan began.

The guys continued to enter the apartment complex, using their overwhelming numerical superiority.

Mangyeong’s bowstrings did not stop and continued to shoot them.

* * *

I watched the battle.

Hiding in a secret place they couldn’t know.

Large fires soared near Buildings 206, 209, and 210.

At the same time, fires soared in the opposite complex.

The guys were using a double operation to attack the two defense positions of the apartment complex.

Looking at the window of Building 206, there was our ranged strike team constantly shooting arrows at the enemy.

As expected, the apartment complex quickly became a sea of fire.

The Dongan warriors who entered the complex were running around here and there, avoiding the arrows.

Their interest was only focused on entering the apartment and pouring oil.

Aiming for the unguarded rear of the enemy.

The key to this siege was me and the 300-man surprise attack team.

I became stronger through training with Jin Jae-hee, and I proved that power when I conquered the second power of Manan.

Since Mangyeong has a severe shortage of players, I chose to fight alone with Mangyeong’s soldiers.

And at this moment.

The moment when the enemies are clearly unguarded, thinking that ‘Mangyeong’s soldiers are holed up in the apartment and won’t come out.’

Now is the most appropriate timing to aim for the rear.

At this timing, I will stab the enemy in the back and cut off their supply route.

“Let’s go.”

Thump-.

I took a step forward.

Then hundreds of soldiers followed me.

They were all wearing fire suits. They were wearing gas masks on their heads and holding weapons in their hands.

The Dongan warriors who saw us hesitated and stepped back.

They were supply soldiers holding oil and shields.

“Uh…”

“Th, Those bastards…!”

You must be surprised.

You never dreamed that we would start a melee fight like this.

The result of carelessness is destruction.

And today I will be your destruction.

“Start the charge.”

(Continued in the next episode)