Everyone Else is a Regressor - Chapter 58

◈ Everyone Else is a Regressor (58)

Chapter 12. I’ll Carry This (3)

The werewolf’s name was Gin, and he was 19 years old.

He had lived with his family in a forest village where the dense trees blocked the moonlight.

“You don’t get moonlight?”

“Werewolves transform into their wolf form and become more feral under the moonlight. We must avoid moonlight to maintain our humanity as much as possible.”

“Then why are you here now?”

“Uh, I was out gathering food when those guys caught me…”

Gin was a pure-blooded werewolf born among them, but his parents were originally humans who were turned into werewolves through infection.

Upon hearing this, Herbert added in a cold voice:

“So they are indeed Vrykolakas. Lycanthropes don’t get enhanced by moonlight, and crucially, they don’t have the ability to infect others.”

“Y-Yes, we are Vrykolakas. But we’re different…!”

Those who had been controlled by their wild nature and fought in the army of Vrykolakas regained their senses after a certain incident. They escaped from the control of Vrykolakas along with others who shared their sentiments and fled to this relic.

“Why this relic? It’s full of the moon’s energy.”

“It was the leader of our group who decided. Determined to grow stronger and take revenge on the Vrykolakas who turned him into a werewolf, he found this relic where we could hide and grow stronger in secret.”

“Did your parents not share that sentiment?”

“That’s… Yes. My parents just wanted to escape from being like wild beasts. They cooperated with Quinodon out of urgency to escape from them…”

Quinodon, that was the name of the leader of the werewolf group that had entered this relic.

Being a long-living race like vampires, he was probably still alive, likely the Legendary-grade boss of this relic.

As KiJun quietly repeated that name, Gin continued his story.

After entering the relic, there were no issues at first, but soon, those who supported Quinodon’s revenge began to oppress those who were passive or opposed.

Eventually, those who disliked fighting, like Gin’s parents, hid deep in the forest to live quietly or researched ways to become human again, striving to escape the fate of being a Vrykolakas.

“Ha. Ah, it’s just funny.”

At this point, Armillca snorted, and as KiJun looked at her, she took a step back, crossing her arms behind her head nonchalantly.

Realizing that she was mocking him, Gin continued in a smaller voice.

“But they won’t let us go. They try to pull us out to use as soldiers, and if they can’t control us, they just turn us into obedient livestock.”

“Livestock?”

“Turn us into wolves that can think of nothing but blood and battle. By using this.”

Gin pointed to Herbert.

Specifically at a small stone that Herbert had picked up and was examining.

The members’ eyes turned to him, and he, flustered, handed the stone to KiJun.

“It was rolling around the dead werewolf. It seems to shine peculiarly under the moonlight…”

“Yes, that’s the Moonlight Stone, a stone that accumulates moonlight and enhances its power! It strengthens werewolves but rapidly erodes their sense of reason. Moreover…”

As he extended the stone, the werewolf averted his eyes and closed them, seemingly scared to elaborate.

“If swallowed… there’s no return. You completely lose your sanity and become a rampaging monster.”

Everyone fell silent at his words.

KiJun thought that the ‘degradation into mere beasts’ he had read about in the relic’s information might not be just due to the passage of time.

“Scary, it’s so pretty. Can I keep this?”

“No.”

That this stone was key to this relic wasn’t only KiJun’s thought.

He immediately responded to Armillca reaching for it and stored it in his inventory.

“From now on, I will manage all Moonlight Stones. We can share them fairly after we leave the relic.”

“So you say, but you’ll keep them all for yourself, won’t you, Leader――?”

Armillca, apparently quite taken with the Moonlight Stone, pouted as she spoke. KiJun snorted in response.

“I have no reason to covet this.”

“Especially if it’s a dangerous item that drives werewolves mad.”

In also chimed in with a firm voice, supporting KiJun.

“It’s better to keep them together and managed by the Leader. Even considering dividing them later, it’s the best option.”

“That’s true―― but just you wait if you don’t share later.”

“There won’t be such an issue.”

Satisfied with KiJun’s decisive handling, Herbert nodded and then turned to ask KiJun.

“Jun, it seems we’ve heard enough. What will you do now? Honestly, I don’t see how keeping them alive benefits us.”

“Yikes!”

“But there’s no need to kill them.”

“Phew…”

As KiJun firmly shook his head in response, Armillca interjected.

“Are you kidding? Killing them gives us experience points!”

“Gulp!”

“The experience points won’t be much, Swordsman. More important are reason and willingness to talk.”

Fortunately, In also agreed with KiJun, arguing against Armillca.

“Even if they’re from the Dark faction, if they have intelligence and no hostility toward the Light faction, we should observe them first.”

“Haah…”

Every time the party members exchanged opinions, the young werewolf reacted, making his youthfulness more evident.

KiJun clicked his tongue and turned to ask Gin.

“You said they were researching ways to become human.”

In fact, he had been curious about this since earlier.

Races in conflict in a confined space, werewolves struggling to escape their fate…

What if they could intervene and bring about some change?

There was no guarantee that quests wouldn’t arise just because they were from the Dark faction.

“Y-Yes, that’s right!”

Gin nodded frantically, his eyes gleaming behind his helmet, his gratitude for KiJun recognizing their efforts overriding his fear.

“My parents and the village elders have been researching for decades to find a way to turn back into humans… I was born a werewolf without a choice, but they’ve always been determined to let me live a human life, free from our wild nature, really, I… my parents…”

“Leader, you’re not actually believing this nonsense, are you?”

Armillca interrupted with a disgusted tone.

It was apparent from her previous reaction that she had significant disbelief in the possibility of werewolves turning back into humans.

“Changing one’s race isn’t as easy as flipping a switch. Once you become a werewolf, that’s it. Same with vampires. Once a human becomes a vampire, they can never go back to being human.”

“That would be a high-difficulty quest.”

“My goodness.”

Armillca, feigning a headache, pulled out another chocolate and bit into it, not forgetting to offer one to Lora with a gentle voice.

“The chances of success are slim. But there’s no loss. In the end, we can achieve our goal of entering this relic by moving together with Gin.”

“What does that mean?”

“Oh, really.”

As Armillca chewed her chocolate and retorted, Herbert replied instead of KiJun.

“The pursuit team is coming. This guy seems quite popular.”

“Eek, uh…”

“Is there something you haven’t told us yet?”

Herbert’s cold gaze swept over Gin.

Gin hung his head, clenching his fists tightly and trembling.

“That’s… they…”

―Found them!

―Grrrr… There are others with them!

Soon, the rest of the party could also see them.

Easily more than ten, and they were dressed similarly to the werewolves they had previously killed.

Considering they had not moved from their exposed position and were openly conversing, it was inevitable that the group accompanying the previously slain werewolves would find them.

―Inform the other wolves, he has humans with him, ugh!

Herbert quickly drew a small crossbow from his cloak and fired it with lightning speed, piercing the throat of one of the werewolves.

KiJun’s eyes widened slightly as he noticed the shining silver bolt cutting through the air.

“Silver?”

“Sharp as always. Yes, I always come well-prepared.”

Whether the crossbow had a rapid-fire feature or not, Herbert nonchalantly continued to shoot silver-tipped bolts, immobilizing the werewolves.

Vampires and werewolves shared a fatal weakness to silver.

As each bolt hit, clumps of werewolf fur fell off, and the smell of burning flesh vibrated through the air, confirming its effectiveness.

―Damn, silver arrows!

―Too fast――!

As bolts rained down like a shower, the werewolves panicked and scattered. That’s when Armillca, with a chuckle, leaped into action.

“Ei!”

―Swoosh.

With a sword that seemed to leap from its sheath, she dashed into the enemies―dancing lightly through their ranks, leaving a trail of destruction in her wake.

After shaking her sword in mid-air, she sheathed it without looking back, her demeanor both arrogant and seductive.

―Cough!

―Choke!

The next moment, all those in her path collapsed, spewing rotten blood, got completely annihilated.

Swift and deadly.

Her actions made it clear why she was a renowned mercenary in the big city.

“These are just minions, huh? Not much of a challenge.”

Armillca turned back, disgusted to see that the werewolves had left nothing behind, and rejoined the group.

Lora, who had been fawned over by her until now, seemed to have a slightly changed view of her, clapping softly.

“Wasn’t I awesome?”

“Very fast indeed… Oh, are you hurt? I can heal.”

“No, I’m totally fine. No way I’d get hurt fighting those.”

Pleased by the attention from Lora, Armillca grinned disgustingly and then turned her focus away.

KiJun, who had quickly lost interest in her, turned to Gin, who was now restrained by Herbert and nervously facing a silver arrowhead.

“So, what’s the secret you’re hiding?”

“That’s… they’re after me. Quinodon’s group, especially me…”

“Yes, I can see they’re chasing you en masse. But why?”

“Hold on, Jun. Something’s not right.”

At that moment, Herbert raised a hand to stop KiJun from getting closer to Gin.

“Normally, werewolves react strongly to silver, either burning or partially transforming back. But this guy is way too unscathed.”

“Th-That’s what I was about to tell you… So…”

Gin awkwardly stretched his neck and scraped his skin directly against the silver arrowhead.

Herbert, not intending to kill, recoiled in shock. Surprisingly, Gin only suffered a minor scrape without any further reaction.

Stunned, the group looked at him as he spoke in a hesitant voice.

“I mentioned we were experimenting to become human. I’ve achieved some results, albeit incomplete.”

“…What results?”

Herbert’s face turned serious.

The rest of the party, including Armillca, also seemed to realize that KiJun’s quest might not be mere fantasy.

“I don’t get injured by silver anymore… But the problem is, now I can’t transform back even without moonlight.”

“Not becoming human, but overcoming a werewolf’s weaknesses.”

“Ugh.”

“Wow―incredible! This is huge, Leader!”

Armillca jumped up and down, cheering.

“We can make a fortune if we extract valuable information from this! Great job not killing him, Leader! You’re a genius!”

“Ha.”

Herbert sighed in genuine contempt at Armillca’s swift change of attitude, from criticizing to praising KiJun.

KiJun was then sure that Herbert indeed had no interest in Armillca.

“Tell us more, Gin. How does your new potential as a werewolf relate to these attacks?”

Under Herbert’s somewhat sharp interrogation, Gin clenched his fists tighter.

“That’s… I don’t know much, but they are also conducting research.”

“Research to become human?”

“No, to surpass Vrykolakas.”

“Pfft.”

Armillca laughed mockingly again.

“No matter how much they grow, these half-breeds can never surpass the pure-blood Vrykolakas. You’re saying werewolves bitten by Vrykolakas want to surpass the original werewolves?”

“You seem to know a lot.”

“I despise werewolves, so I’ve thoroughly analyzed them! As an expert, I can tell you that werewolves turned by Vrykolakas aiming to surpass them is as nonsensical as them trying to become human!”

“They’ve found a way.”

“Hmm?”

Skeptical, Armillca looked at Gin, who spoke with a resolved expression.

“Through… cannibalism. Especially, the heart.”

“…I wish I hadn’t heard that.”

“Indeed.”

The party members grimaced in unison.

Gin was now a target for werewolves seeking revenge on Vrykolakas, treated as a sort of elixir.

One thing was clear: keeping him around would ensure they wouldn’t need to hunt in this relic.

YeMin’s party was engaged in battle deep in a dungeon with muscular humanoid monsters with hyena-like heads, called ‘Gnolls,’ and their bosses.

There were two bosses: the Gnoll Chieftain and his guard. Additionally, dozens of various types of Gnolls, enhanced by the chieftain’s orders, attacked the party.

First, JiHye’s area magic nearly wiped out the Gnolls. Then, the party advanced with EunShin and YeMin quickly taking down the remaining enemies, marking the Gnoll guard.

MokSoo blocked the Chieftain’s advances, and JiHye’s precise and powerful sniping magic, ‘Lightning Spear,’ attacked the guard―ultimately, YeMin’s long sword mercilessly finished off the exposed guard.

Now only the Gnoll Chieftain was left, proving to be a tough opponent with its extraordinary vitality.

“Keeek!”

“Ah, so tenacious!”

Finally, JiHye’s massive flame engulfed the chieftain’s head, and EunShin’s dagger, thrown with force, hit its heart.

YeMin’s sword then successfully decapitated it.

“Pant, pant…”

Having confirmed the entry of experience points, YeMin, unusually tired, sat down nearby.

EunShin also squatted down, sighing and grumbling for once.

“So tough, was it Legendary-grade or something?”

“We saw the message; it was Unique, not Legendary… Wasn’t the dungeon boss supposed to be Rare-grade? Did the guild deceive us because we’re human?”

“No, even so, the guild deceiving its members doesn’t make sense… Maybe its rank evolved recently? There hadn’t been any clear records recently, right?”

As YeMin and EunShin quietly conversed, MokSoo, who had withstood the Chieftain’s attacks alone, finally set down his hammer with a sigh.

“Phew…”

“Uncle Soo!”

Worried, JiHye hurried over to him.

“Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay, the attacks were heavy. But this guy, not even a wolf, bit so much.”

“You’re bitten?”

Gnolls could bite, given their hyena-like heads.

Though they could… JiHye felt uneasy hearing MokSoo’s words.

“Uncle, let me see your wound.”

“Hey! This kid doesn’t even know that ‘men and women should not sit together after the age of seven’――”

“Stop pretending to be old-fashioned and hurry up and take off your armor!”

After forcing MokSoo to remove his leather armor, JiHye’s face hardened upon seeing his wound.

She pulled out holy water she had bought at a high price from a temple, just in case, and carefully applied it to the wound.

Hisss―the wound hissed, black blood oozed out and burned away.

MokSoo also realized the seriousness of his wound and turned grim.

“…What was that?”

“A vampire.”

JiHye murmured softly.

“The dungeon boss, the Gnoll Chieftain, was a vampire. Secretly, without anyone knowing.”

At that moment, YeMin’s party also grasped a clue about the vampire invasion that had started from the other side of the country.