Chapter 172 – Battle's End (2)

“I can grant you what you desire.”

The man with cross-shaped pupils spoke.

Did he take the silence as acceptance?

The man with cross-shaped pupils.

No, Kei began to explain his plan.

He despised modern humans, and he believed the Regressor felt the same.

He sought to shatter the order of modern society and, further, to bring the Demon King he served into this world.

The Regressor, recovering inside the capsule, listened to Kei’s story without a word.

A wave of drowsiness washed over her.

The accelerated regeneration from the recovery process was likely causing significant fatigue.

The Regressor slowly closed her eyes.

It didn’t matter if she listened to Kei or not.

After all, she had heard the same story countless times before; it was simply tedious.

He considered himself a true leader, believing that sacrificing comrades and people alike was all for a noble cause.

Hearing Kei’s plan, the Regressor let out a dry laugh.

His cross-shaped pupils.

The power of the True Eye was something she had lent him.

The reason was simple.

He needed that power to be able to find her.

The fact that Kei had learned of the Regressor’s existence, that he had sought her out—all of it…

The Hero who repeatedly thwarted his plans.

A Regressor who had reached the truth through repeated lives could surely defeat that monstrous Hero.

To Kei, the Regressor was the key to his revolution.

But there was something he didn’t know.

The revelation he believed in was a fake.

In other words, Kei was already dancing in the palm of the Regressor’s hand.

Unaware of this fact, Kei was rejoicing as if he had obtained the ultimate cheat key.

“We will defeat the Hero. Without him, nothing can stop us.”

At Kei’s words, the Regressor offered a faint, mocking smile.

Humans lost in delusion are foolish. And foolish humans believe they are clever.

The Regressor moved Kei according to her plan.

The result was failure.

The Hero of this timeline was strong, even without having recovered his full power.

It was an unexpected deviation.

But it didn’t matter.

The Hero was injured, and she could recover quickly.

She headed toward the route the Hero would take.

His destination was obvious.

Even with his battered body, he would head to where his comrades were.

Even knowing that going there now was a suicidal act, he wouldn’t hesitate.

The Regressor waited for the Hero.

Having experienced numerous timelines, she knew how he would move.

At least, that’s how it should have been.

He didn’t come.

It was strange.

In other timelines, the Hero had definitely passed this way.

It was then.

She felt a colossal power erupt behind her.

The sight of a golden blade, as if illuminating the ashen world, soared toward the sky.

The only one who could create such a spectacle was the Hero.

The Regressor moved.

This was different from previous timelines.

She didn’t know why the Hero’s route had changed.

No, on second thought, she had been complacent.

He was different from others. He had never moved the same way in every timeline.

But this time, it was too different.

Was it because the future where he should have been ambushed by Kei’s group here had changed?

She looked toward the place where the battle was raging.

Monsters trying to break through the encirclement and hunters trying to stop them.

At the forefront of this fierce battle was the Hero.

The 6-star monster, Jeon Woo-chi, had already reached Phase 3.

Too fast.

It was a flow that had never occurred before, and the Regressor felt bewildered.

She hesitated.

She had to make a choice.

Usually, she could see the answer sheet for the choices she made. But this time, she couldn’t see anything clearly regarding the Hero.

A change, different from any previous timeline, seemed to have occurred in the Hero.

She activated the True Eye.

Several uncertain futures were predicted.

The Hero survives the explosion, but suffers a fatal wound. Yet, in the end, he still beheads the 6-star monster.

Every possible future showed the same process, yet each led to a different end result.

The Regressor knew why the Hero was fighting so desperately.

‘Katrinne L. Ellybelle.’

Just childish, just foolish, just pathetic and weak.

A being who could do nothing.

The sight of Katrinne filled her with an unknowing hatred.

If only that thing hadn’t existed in the first place, none of this tragedy would have begun.

And yet, she shamelessly leaned on the Hero’s kindness, acting like a spoiled child.

Even that childishness was self-righteous and selfish.

‘Hoo.’

She suppressed her anger.

The original plan had gone awry. Now, she had to proceed with a revised method.

In this future that had become unpredictable, she chose one path.

‘If it’s already been twisted…’

The initial plan had already failed. That meant only the next plan remained.

The Regressor forcibly unlocked several of her achievements.

From achievements that were not hers, yet in her possession, a massive amount of system algorithms poured out.

They were meaningless to her, but for the Hero, it was different.

The Regressor entered the Inventory Field created by the Hero.

As she entered his domain, she felt the illusion of a warm embrace enveloping her cold body.

She raised her hands and formed a hand seal.

Since things had already gone this way, she decided to try a different approach this time.

***

A 6-star monster is trying to self-destruct?

I can probably neutralize most of the damage, so I’ll be fine.

But can everyone else here survive it?

The answer is no.

Most of them will probably die.

Right now, the majority of South Korea’s most renowned hunters are gathered here.

So what would happen if this many hunters were to be wiped out?

No, even before that.

My people are here.

If I can’t store them in the Inventory Field, I’ll destroy the Seonbi before it explodes.

I found the optimal solution for the current situation.

There was no time, so just as I was about to react…

-■■■■ □□□□ is sharing data.

-[Yes / No]

A message suddenly appeared before my eyes.

‘The Regressor?’

The one who attacked me with Kei is here right now.

She’s invading my space.

‘How?’

Even in this urgent situation, the question of this incomprehensible event came first.

-Data transfer will now commence.

I definitely hadn’t accepted, but the data began transferring on its own.

Through the system.

-Script language is being executed.

-System installation will now begin.

Suddenly, everything froze.

In this world, only I… only my consciousness seemed to accelerate.

What I saw in my vision were various programming languages repeating and arranging themselves in a set algorithm.

At least, what the Regressor sent me didn’t seem to be malware.

I opened my eyes again.

My accelerated consciousness returned to normal, and I looked at the 6-star monster, swelling up to explode.

-You have received an achievement.

-The limit on your magic power has been unlocked.

-The limit on your stats has been unlocked.

-A forgotten ancient swordsmanship has been restored.

The transferred data was rapidly interpreted and began to settle into my body.

All Awakeners connected to the system have their own individual programs.

And since they have distinctly different codes, they are not compatible with each other.

However, the data I had just been forcibly given was integrated without any issue, as if it had been mine from the start.

The Inventory Field suddenly expanded, stretching out.

The field spread to every place my sight could reach.

I could feel everyone touching the Hexa Blocks.

-“I can’t die, my family, my wife…!”

Someone’s voice, which I shouldn’t have been able to hear, reached me.

-“I have to support the Team Leader…”

I could see Kim Tae-yang rushing toward me, seeing my crisis.

Friend Shield?

He thinks that with his Super Regeneration, he’ll fare better than me.

His thinking was flawed.

There was no guarantee that the exhausted Kim Tae-yang could use his Super Regeneration ability again.

And one more thing.

I’m a better tank.

-“He’s fighting that thing… alone?”

I could see Yeomje, wielding a spear of blue flames like a whip, fighting with gritted teeth.

-“He fought well, but is this the end?”

Watching the self-destructing monster, Kaldoma was preparing for the explosion.

-“I didn’t get to eat bulgogi this morning. What about the half bottle of soju I saved?”

What is Ang-hyeong even thinking about in a situation like this?

I could hear the thoughts of the people around me.

No, to be precise, I could feel everything within the Inventory Field I had spread out.

The voices of people sobbing that they wanted to live.

A hunter gritting his teeth and swinging a broken sword to save his comrades.

I could see young students from the Hunter Academy, dragged here under the guise of civilian support, defending the rear lines.

Things I shouldn’t be able to see. Things I shouldn’t be able to feel. Things I shouldn’t be able to hear.

I understood perfectly well just how vast my domain had become.

The moment ended.

“Domain Declaration.”

My will was imbued into the domain I had unfurled.

At that moment, the light began to fade from the monster’s body, which had been trembling on the verge of explosion.

“Huh…?”

People were bewildered, seeing that the monster wasn’t self-destructing.

Instead of exploding, the dokkaebi vanished like dust.

“…!”

Even the 6-star boss monster, the Seonbi, was watching its own expanding body shrink.

Now I understood.

Why a power like this existed.

What the Regressor had transferred wasn’t a share of her power or some kind of buff.

I don’t know the reason, but this is my power.

“This…? What have you done!”

The Seonbi was panicking at the unexpected situation.

Its original plan was probably to self-destruct and then quickly regenerate its body.

It was trying to defeat me by putting its own life on the line.

Sorry, but I’m overflowing with power right now.

The Seonbi burned a red talisman in mid-air. The ashes surged toward me as if they were alive.

*BOOM, BANG!*

I heard the sound of the ground where I stood collapsing as the energy grazed past my body.

The Seonbi frantically moved its hands, unleashing a barrage of attacks.

Dozens, no, hundreds of crimson-black beams of light began to pour down on me.

I could feel the trajectory of every attack.

So very naturally.

I readjusted my grip on the Holy Sword.

Filled with magic, the Holy Sword drew an arc through the air.

I felt the Seonbi’s form retreat, leaving an afterimage as it dodged.

I knew. Where it was headed, where I needed to go.

*Slish!*

The Holy Sword precisely split the Seonbi’s body in half.

Black smoke billowed into the air, and system messages appeared.

-You have successfully hunted the 6-star boss monster, Jeon Woo-chi.

-You have leveled up.

-You have leveled up.

-You have leveled up.

-…………………….

-You have leveled up.

-You have leveled up.

-You have acquired a Unique item.

-You have acquired a Legendary item.

***

The field, which had been turning into a dungeon due to the boss monster, stopped being corrupted and began to revert to its original state.

There were no monsters left here now.

The people, who had frozen for a moment watching the enemies vanish in an instant…

“Fuck…!”

“I-it’s dead? It’s over?”

The people’s screams and cheers were laced with curses.

Some collapsed, sobbing, while others prayed.

A sense of relief at having survived and a sense of accomplishment at having won filled the survivors.

Slowly, everyone’s attention turned to one place.

The blade of the golden Holy Sword, formed of magic, had not yet faded.

Standing atop a pile of countless dokkaebi corpses, the man who had defeated a 6-star boss: Deliveryman Lee Hyunbin.

Looking at him, people felt a wide array of emotions.

Without anyone starting it…

“Waaaaah!”

A roar of cheers erupted.

Here was the first man to hunt a 6-star monster alone.

In their own country, in their own place.

“Wow! That’s… insane! Kimuraaaa! Did you see that? You saw it, right?”

Yume, a normally laid-back S-rank hunter from Japan, excitedly slapped her companion’s back over and over again.

“You’re excited about this?”

“Why? Why? Whyyy?”

Seeing her thoughtless reaction, Kimura’s face twisted miserably.

At least, his face wasn’t twisted because Yume was hitting his back.

‘Does she not understand?’

To hunt and be hunted.

That is the law of this world.

For a monster to rank up, it must hunt a hunter.

Conversely, the person who defeated a 6-star monster would gain an absurd amount of experience.

‘Having such an absurd monster in a neighboring country will be detrimental to Japan.’

Kimura’s expression darkened.

The hunters abroad watching this through illegal streams were also witnessing the unbelievable situation.

It wasn’t just hunters who were watching this situation.

‘So a ruling class has emerged in this dimension as well.’

A lifeform from another dimension with blue skin. A scout, commonly called an Observer, was hiding its body stealthily.

‘I will return to make an accurate report.’

Just as the Observer was about to move, it felt as if someone was looking at it.

It turned its head.

A long-haired woman in red Justice Armor.

Her face was obscured by red static.

‘What is this?’

There was no way she could see it in its stealthed state. But the woman was walking toward it.

In that instant.

“!”

The woman vanished.

It thought it felt a sudden chill on its neck, but then a burning pain shot through it.

It wanted to scream.

But it couldn’t.

The Observer saw. Its own body. No, the lump of flesh that used to be its body, falling to the ground.

Only the Observer’s head remained, dripping blood from the end of its white spine.

The Regressor’s red static cleared.

The cross-shaped pupil that manifested in her right eye held a strange light.

*Fwoom!*

An energy called the Holy Cross completely obliterated the Observer’s head and body, leaving not a single trace.

She dusted off her hands. Then, she looked at the Hero, who was receiving the cheers of the crowd.

She didn’t know if she had done the right thing.

She had only returned the power that was his in the first place.

That was why she had fought until now.

The Regressor walked away from the Hero, putting on the Justice Armor’s headset.

-“Don’t you know that stories turn to trash the moment they become an eye-power battle?”

Thinking of the pupil power she herself used, the Regressor gave a sad smile.

-“Hey, you don’t trust me?”

I do.

-“Don’t worry. I’m here.”

The Regressor replayed it.

-“Don’t worry. I’m here.”

She played it again.

-“Don’t worry. I’m here.”

Again. And again.

His voice, which she listened to on repeat whenever she wanted to hear it.

And there was only one thing she wanted to say.

“Liar.”

This is the last round.

This time, she thought.

I will change the future. No matter what it takes.