The Regressor Only Protects Me - Chapter 21

Chapter 21. Guilt (2)

The sound of the girl’s sobs echoed, and Kwon Kyung-soo clenched his teeth.

Once again, someone had died right before his eyes.

This time, it was caused by a young student.

All this time, Kwon Kyung-soo had been powerless to do anything.

Even after witnessing such inhumane events, there was nothing he could do.

Faced with his own helplessness, Kwon Kyung-soo felt despair.

‘Damn it.’

Kwon Kyung-soo suppressed his emotions as he thought.

Perhaps Jin Jae-hee’s words were right.

His attempt to protect that person might have been driven by a shred of human sympathy and pity.

He might have consoled himself by believing that saving him was the right thing to do.

But that was a delusion of his own making.

At this very moment, after so many lives had already been taken, his flimsy sympathy convinced no one.

Not even the middle school girl before him.

He could only lament his own powerlessness in front of her.

“You.”

Jin Jae-hee called out to the trembling Kwon Kyung-soo.

Kwon Kyung-soo raised his eyes to look at her.

His eyes were bloodshot, the veins in them on the verge of bursting.

From deep within him, intense anger and emotions surged uncontrollably.

Jin Jae-hee, observing him coldly, spoke.

“You’re a nuisance. Watch yourself.”

Swoosh—Click.

After saying that, Jin Jae-hee sheathed her sword.

Then she walked away without another word.

She headed toward the spot where Kang Sion had collapsed.

Kwon Kyung-soo’s clenched fists trembled violently.

‘…Am I the bad guy? Am I the weird one…? You’re the strange ones. Have you all lost your minds? We’re human beings…!’

Kwon Kyung-soo desperately suppressed his emotions.

He bit his lower lip in silent frustration.

The surviving members of the Red Team took turns stepping onto the escalator.

The Red Team had decided to relocate to the 11th floor.

Lee Saebom had suggested it, and everyone agreed.

In truth, it wasn’t so much agreement as simple compliance.

At this point, no one was expressing their own opinions.

Sion was carried on Saebom’s back as they moved.

With Kim Dong-gil’s death, there were no longer any forces in the mall capable of opposing the Red Team.

In any case, this brought a brief period of peace.

Even as they moved to the 11th floor, they scouted the mall for survivors, but found none.

Above the 9th floor, fires still lingered, but they had mostly been extinguished by the sprinklers.

There were no survivors left in this mall.

Except for the twelve of them.

They reached the 11th floor.

It was a movie theater.

Scattered around were corpses from the first battle.

Most of them were likely victims of the goblins.

“The inside of the screening rooms would be good. At least there are seats there.”

People agreed with Kwon Kyung-soo’s suggestion.

They chose Screening Room 1 as their base of rest.

Even there, the room was filled with the corpses of goblins and humans alike.

Everyone, without exception, began clearing away the corpses.

Watching them, Jin Jae-hee spoke.

“Throw them in the elevator.”

Though people found her use of the word “throw” unpleasant, they ultimately followed her instructions.

There wasn’t a suitable place to store the bodies anyway.

Thud! Thud!

Jin Jae-hee opened the elevator doors.

It was a deep pit.

One by one, the bodies were thrown onto the stationary elevator roof.

The corpses piled up like Tetris blocks, quickly reaching the 4th floor.

The group returned to Screening Room 1.

There was nothing more they could do now.

With Kang Sion unconscious, everyone’s thought processes had stalled.

They had relied on Kang Sion and followed his lead, but now that he was incapacitated, no one stepped forward.

Meanwhile, Lee Joo-yeon continued to monitor Kang Sion’s condition.

Lee Saebom and Kwon Kyung-soo quietly watched from a distance.

Rip—Tear.

Joo-yeon removed the relatively clean cloth held in place by duct tape, revealing blood flowing down his thigh.

It was a deep wound, making it difficult to stop the bleeding.

Still, Sion’s condition had improved significantly.

“He won’t die, right?”

“He won’t… I think. But without a hospital… if we leave him like this, he won’t walk properly.”

Saebom’s question was met with a faint response from Joo-yeon.

Saebom, looking at her, spoke coldly.

“It doesn’t matter. Once we leave the mall, he’s not one of us anymore. He just needs to stay alive until then.”

“Saebom, you—”

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

Saebom glared at Joo-yeon sharply.

In truth, there was nothing incorrect about his words.

The siblings and Kang Sion had only known each other for about a week.

They weren’t even acquaintances.

For now, they were bound together by the “rules,” but the siblings had no reason to stay with Sion.

Joo-yeon lowered her head instead of responding.

“I’ll go find some food.”

Kwon Kyung-soo, who had been quietly listening, interjected.

Looking around, most of the surviving Red Team members were either lying down or hanging their heads.

It didn’t seem like anyone else would volunteer.

So Kwon Kyung-soo stepped out to search for food on his own.

As he opened the door to the screening room, Jin Jae-hee entered through the gap.

It seemed she had been somewhere by herself.

Kwon Kyung-soo gave her a slight nod, but Jin Jae-hee ignored him.

She went straight to Lee Joo-yeon.

Jin Jae-hee handed her a bandage she had been holding.

Startled, Joo-yeon looked back at her.

Jin Jae-hee handed over the bag she was carrying.

Inside were various medical supplies.

“Where… where did you get this?”

“I brought it. Anti-inflammatories, bandages, gauze—it’s all here.”

“Oh… thank you.”

Joo-yeon accepted the bag and inspected its contents.

The medical supplies were proper and intact.

Not quite hospital-grade, but sufficient.

Seeing this, Joo-yeon smiled and began tending to Sion’s wounds again.

She discarded the dirty makeshift gauze and poured an anti-inflammatory onto the wound.

Sizzle.

Sion grimaced but didn’t wake up.

Joo-yeon carefully covered the wound with clean gauze and wrapped it with a bandage.

Due to the remaining bleeding, she left the improvised tourniquet in place, tightening it further instead.

Fortunately, the dagger had missed his artery.

If it had hit, there would have been nothing Lee Joo-yeon could do.

“It’s a relief… really.”

Joo-yeon looked at the sleeping Sion and let out a pained smile.

Jin Jae-hee, observing her, spoke.

“If you need anything else, let me know.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

With that, Jin Jae-hee silently left the screening room.

Screech—

The door to the screening room, stained with blood, had corroded.

The grating sound of the rusty hinges was unpleasant.

She sat at the entrance to the screening room with a cigarette in her mouth.

It was the first time she had taken a break.

At the same time, she was guarding the screening room in case someone approached.

“Hoo—”

Smoke escaped her lips and dispersed into the air.

In the distance, corpses lay scattered, filling the air with a putrid stench.

Originally, Jae-hee hadn’t smoked.

At least, not until the fifth year of her previous life.

But no matter how much time passed, she couldn’t adapt to this cursed world or the disgusting stench of rotting bodies.

So she smoked several times a day, attempting to momentarily forget the odor.

Swish—

With the cigarette still in her mouth, Jae-hee curled into herself.

An endless string of lonely battles.

The first round was now nearly over.

The people in the screening room would think everything was finally done.

But they didn’t know.

The game had only just begun.

And,

The first round was nothing more than a trial version before the real game started.

“…….”

Jae-hee, crouched and slightly trembling, thought to herself.

If he died, it would all be over.

For now, her goal was to test him and protect him.

The reason she had left Kang Sion alone was part of that test.

She had only intervened in situations she deemed necessary.

After all, she needed to imprint upon this life’s Kang Sion just what she was to him.

But by trying to handle everything herself, she had nearly let Sion die.

She bit down harder on her cigarette, now bent out of shape.

“Get it together….”

Jae-hee muttered unconsciously.

There would be no second mistakes.

It was a daunting task.

But it had to be done.

When the second round began, she would set aside all emotions and move solely to protect Sion.

It was all to survive the game.

For that, she would kill as many people as necessary.

“…As many as it takes.”

With that thought, Jae-hee exhaled the rest of her cigarette smoke.

In the darkness, surrounded by corpses and the stench of decay in the movie theater.

Joo-yeon dozed off in front of Sion.

She hadn’t slept for hours.

Her physical exhaustion had reached its limit.

Saebom, watching her, called out.

“Noona.”

Startled, Joo-yeon jerked her head up.

She wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth and turned to him.

“Huh? Oh… why?”

“You’re misunderstanding something right now.”

“Huh?”

Saebom’s tone became serious.

At that, Joo-yeon immediately woke up fully.

It was the first time Saebom had spoken with such gravity.

He continued.

“We’re not a charity. We’re not a volunteer group. And we’re not obligated to save anyone. We’re not heroes, either.”

He recalled the earlier argument he had with Joo-yeon about Sion.

Saebom felt he needed to make things clear to her.

From his perspective, her actions until now had been nothing short of reckless.

“Why are you saying this, Saebom?”

Though he had shown irritation before, Saebom had never been angry with her.

At 27 years old, Joo-yeon was seven years older than 20-year-old Saebom.

Despite the age gap, Saebom had always been a devoted younger brother.

They had grown up in a wealthy household.

Joo-yeon had struggled academically and enjoyed playing and eating, much to their parents’ disapproval.

But Saebom was different.

He excelled in his studies, obeyed his parents, and showed immense potential.

Even so, he admired Joo-yeon.

In a household obsessed with perfection, she lived freely and unapologetically.

When he was bullied in elementary school, his high school-aged sister would always come to his school to confront the kids who hurt him.

No matter what.

No matter the situation, Saebom always sided with Joo-yeon.

But this time was different.

“We can’t afford to be good people.”

“But… you said it yourself. If this man dies, we’re done for too.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about!”

Smack!

Saebom grabbed Joo-yeon’s wrist firmly.

Seething with anger, he spoke.

“You’re not taking care of this man just because our lives depend on it, are you?”

“…What does that matter?”

“I’m saying stop being delusional!”

Saebom’s voice rose in frustration.

Some of the others shifted in their sleep but didn’t wake.

He continued, his tone sharper.

“This man… the one lying here…! He’s nothing more than a tool for us to survive in this place. And he’s using us as tools too. Am I wrong?”

“Saebom, you…! How could you say that?”

“That reaction—right there—is exactly the problem I’m talking about! Listen carefully, Noona.”

He pulled her wrist slightly, causing her to flinch in surprise.

Saebom had never shown this much anger before.

“The world where good people survive is over. I’ll save myself and you, no matter what. If that means following this man, I’ll do it. If it means killing people to survive, I’ll do that too. Why? Because it’s the only way for us siblings to live.”

“…….”

“So drop your personal feelings. Get rid of that pathetic sympathy. Don’t feel anything more than you have to for anyone. Stop being stupid! Does this warped world look like a joke to you? People are dying like flies out here!”

Joo-yeon lowered her head slightly.

“Be more rational, Noona. We’re us. He’s just him. He’s a man who knows how to weigh his options. When the time comes, he’ll abandon us without hesitation. I know this. I’ve known Kang Sion for a long time. Do you understand now?”

Slide.

At last, Saebom let go of Joo-yeon’s wrist.

A reddish handprint was left on her skin where he had gripped her.

Joo-yeon gently held her wrist.

It stung.

But more than that, her heart ached.

She stayed silent for a moment.

Then, lowering her head further, she spoke softly.

“Okay… I’m sorry.”

Kwon Kyung-soo had been silently listening to the siblings’ conversation.

He had returned three hours earlier after finding food.

Seeing that everyone was asleep, he carefully shifted his body.

Curling into himself to stay out of sight, he sat in one of the theater seats and held his breath.

He ground his teeth audibly.