The Regressors are Trying to Kill Me - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Cough, cough!

I coughed violently as I crawled onto the Han River’s bank.

I almost died twice in one day.

Whether it was the dirty water or the trash strewn across the bank, a foul smell wafted from somewhere.

My wet hair obscured my vision.

I brushed it back irritably.

Then, I noticed a monster hiding among the bushes.

“Ribbit, ribbit…”

It was a Horned Frog the size of a compact car.

Sharp thorns covered its body from its eyes to the tip of its back, and it oozed a foul-smelling liquid.

Since no 【 】shaped information appeared, it seemed to be an inferior F-rank monster.

I stared at the Horned Frog with a newfound sense of wonder.

It had been a while since I’d seen such a low-level monster in person.

In the past, it would have sensed my presence and hidden as soon as I came within a kilometer radius.

I wondered why it was here.

It probably escaped from a Gate or swam up from the lower Han River.

It seemed that the Han River Management Office officials had missed it.

“…”

Even an inferior monster could be a threat to a non-Awakened.

Even though I was in a hurry, it was only proper to take care of it.

It wouldn’t be difficult.

Thinking so, I raised my right hand.

Swish.

I was about to use Law of Light, a technique Baekya is famous for.

Law of Light.

A light that incinerates all reason, returning everything to nothingness.

A power that could even distort the ‘laws’ of the Tower’s floors.

If I had used this technique, I could have annihilated Cheong Siyeol in one blow.

Even now, having died once, I had no intention of doing so.

It was an excessive power to use against a mere inferior monster.

“Huh?”

But nothing happened.

“L-Law of Light?”

Even after shouting it out loud, sacrificing my pride, nothing happened.

“Ribbit, ribbit?”

The Horned Frog glared at me.

The monster’s eyes, previously filled with the shock of being discovered, now gleamed with predatory intent.

“Law of Light!”

This shouldn’t be happening.

The monster should turn into a white light and scatter, and some of its mana should be absorbed by me.

That was the power my Constellation had bestowed upon me.

The Horned Frog opened its mouth as if mocking me.

Crack.

“Ribbit, ribbit!”

It seemed to be saying, “I thought you were something special, but you’re nothing.”

Seeing its mouth, large enough to swallow a person whole, I realized something was wrong.

Its tongue, as thick as a man’s arm, shot out like a bullet.

Swoosh!

“Argh!”

I was sucked into the monster’s mouth, wrapped around its waist.

It was dark, hot, damp, and smelled awful, like food waste.

“Law of Light! Light! Light!”

The monster raised its head and shook its neck, trying to pull my legs into its mouth.

I struggled, flailing my arms and legs as much as I could.

I had no idea why this was happening to me.

“Liiiiiggghht!”

Then, with a feeling of power draining from my entire body.

Flash!

Half of the Horned Frog’s plump body turned into a white light and scattered like fireflies.

Thump!

I fell out of the frog’s mouth and landed on the riverbank.

What just happened?

I thought I was exhausted from escaping the Han River, but now I didn’t even have the strength to lift an eyelid.

It was similar to the time when I first Awakened and used my abilities recklessly, resulting in mana exhaustion.

Could it be that I used up all my mana incinerating half of its tiny body?

Me, who could erase a kraken larger than a container ship with just a wave of my hand?

To think I didn’t even have this much mana.

It seemed I had truly returned in the body of an insignificant Awakened.

“Hahaha.”

I chuckled and then collapsed.

The sensation of the cement block against my cheek was rough.

Then, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

Wouldn’t a body with its left half missing fall over to the left?

I barely managed to open my eyelids.

I saw the remaining half of the Horned Frog’s corpse tilting towards me.

Tilt.

Oh.

Please, no.

The foul-smelling corpse toppled over me.

Splat!

I thought of my disciple, Cheong Siyeol, and muttered to myself.

Siyeol.

Even if you did it because of a curse, I never thought you’d make me Baekya suffer such humiliation.

When we meet again, you’ll get one solid hit from me.

As I laid there for a while, I felt some of the mana flowing into me.

It was the mana that had made up the left half of the Horned Frog I had incinerated with Law of Light.

Sizzle.

It felt as sweet as a sip of water after running a marathon.

I tried to push myself out from under the corpse, putting strength into my arms.

I had a long way to go.

With this level of Law of Light, I couldn’t dispel the high-level curse that Siyeol must be under.

I needed to grow stronger quickly by incinerating more monsters.

Wee-woo-wee-woo!

Just then, I heard the sound of police sirens in the distance.

* * *

“Achoo!”

“Why would you do something like that, especially at such a young age and as an Awakened?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“No, I apologize…?”

“It’s a scary world out there. Yesterday, the Sun passed away, and today, an Awakened jumps into the Han River…”

I sat in a corner of the police station, wrapped in a blanket, answering various questions.

“We collected all your belongings from the bridge, so check if these are yours. Dry yourself off a bit, and let us know when you’re leaving.”

“Thank you.”

The police officer handed me a wallet, car keys, a smartphone, shoes, and a shirt.

I had no way of knowing if these truly belonged to this body, but I accepted them as calmly as I could.

I opened the wallet and checked the name and resident registration number on the driver’s license.

Hong Ilha.

That was the name of my new body.

I thought we might be blood-related because we shared the same surname, but our ancestral homes were different.

Judging by his age, he was only twenty-one years old.

Twenty-one.

I felt both curious and sorry, wondering what circumstances had driven him to this point at such a young age.

Buzz.

Thankfully, the smartphone used fingerprint recognition for unlocking.

I opened a portal and saw his recent search history.

[Suicide fine 2 million won]

[Artifact scam]

[Compound interest]

I pushed aside the depressing search history and entered my name in the search bar.

[Baekya]

As expected, all the community sites were ablaze.

“I knew it.”

Not only YouTube comments, but also the Awakened anonymous community ‘Star Chatter’, the office worker anonymous community ‘Blinder’, and every other community were filled with my name and videos.

I clicked on the most viewed video on YouTube.

A news anchor in a black suit, trying to control his emotions, continued speaking.

[Breaking news. Hong Baekya, the Awakened who held the number one position in both Korea and the world’s Aitel rankings for the past 13 years, known as ‘the Sun’, has passed away. While the exact cause and time of death have not yet been revealed, some speculate about discord and conflict with fellow Rankers.]

I watched the next video.

[With the sudden death of the world’s number one, the whole world is in turmoil. The Minister of Gate Management and the Director of the Awakened Support Agency are currently repeating that they are under investigation. In some anonymous communities, a person claiming to be an employee of the Awakened Support Agency has stated that they currently have no information…]

I directly accessed the office worker anonymous community.

Hong Ilha must have used the same community because the app was installed.

I headed to the ‘Baekya’ board where people were discussing about me.

[I thought he was invincible.]

[Me too. I never thought he would die like this.]

[May he rest in peace.]

[I guess this board will die down now, huh?]

[I’m too young to know, but how many times did he save the country?]

[He defeated an S+ rank Great Demon 3 times and an S+ rank Dragon 5 times.]

* * *

“Then we’ll arrange for you to go home.”

“Hey, young Awakened friend, you shouldn’t be doing things like that. You need to live your life to the fullest.”

“I understand. Thank you for saving me. I really, really wanted to live.”

I left the police station and walked towards the building in the distance.

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, that building wasn’t mine anymore.

Baekya’s death was making headlines all over the world, and yet, what was I trying to do?

Jingle.

I checked the car keys in my pocket.

It seemed he had driven somewhere near the Han River bridge and then walked the rest of the way.

…But I had no idea where this body had parked the car.

I stood there blankly for a while before picking up my smartphone.

They say you can find anything with a search these days.

[Lost my car]

Search suggestions like “how to find my car” appeared.

I skimmed through the results and found that most cars these days have GPS, making them easy to locate.

This guy’s smartphone even had an app installed for it.

But having a map didn’t mean I could easily navigate.

I had no idea where I was.

Honk, honk!

There was no other choice.

It had been years since I’d walked around Seoul.

I was always chauffeured in the backseat of a Rolls-Royce Phantom.

[Route deviation.]

[Recalculating route.]

After wandering around in circles within a 3km radius for a couple of hours…

“Found it.”

I stood before a car so old that I couldn’t have imagined I’d ever be driving it.

Beep.

At least I knew how to unlock the car with the key.

“Mr. Kim, let’s go.”

I sat in the backseat of the driver’s side, wondering why the car wasn’t moving, until I realized there was no Mr. Kim.

Come to think of it, I was holding the car keys.

Click.

I moved to the driver’s seat and gripped the steering wheel.

But how do you start the engine?

Is the brake on the right or the left?

Fifteen years I’ve lived, Awakening at twelve and navigating the Tower and Gates.

I could ride a dragon, but I’d never driven anything other than chauffeured cars, helicopters, and private jets.

That’s right.

I didn’t know how to drive.

…Thinking about it, I didn’t even know where Hong Ilha, the owner of this body, lived.

No.

Wait, did he even have a house?

“This is crazy.”

I let out a hollow laugh, still gripping the steering wheel.

I had one more reason to find and kill those self-proclaimed Regressors.

To think they’d make me feel this helpless.

And Siyeol…

You’re getting another beating.

I know it’s not your fault, but I’m so annoyed by this situation.

“…Got it?”

I figured out where the house was by cross-referencing the address on the driver’s license— frequently visited locations on the Naver Map, and the home address on delivery apps.

“Have I been here before?”

The address seemed familiar for some reason.

It was quite far, and I had no idea how to get there by bus or subway.

So I took a taxi.

“Please take me here.”

“Alright.”

The address felt familiar, and now I knew where Hong Ilha lived.

I could see the prefabricated container houses in the distance.

It was a public housing support complex for those who had lost their homes and hometowns due to Gate Breaks.

On the internet, it was called a refugee camp.

I remembered when they were building this place, the Awakened Support Agency officials asked me to hold a charity party with other Rankers to pressure large corporations into donating.

I think I donated about 5 billion won myself.

If I hadn’t donated back then, I might not have a place to go today.

“We’re here.”

“Thank you.”

“It says your card has insufficient balance.”

“Ah. Then how about this…”

“That’s a transportation card. Come on, man.”

“Then how about this?”

“That’s a bank security card? Sir, you don’t have any money, do you?”

It seems he had a house but no money.

I couldn’t say anything and looked down.

“Well, that’s…”

To suffer such humiliation!

Me, Baekya, who used to spend tens of billions of won at artifact luxury stores!

I felt my eyelids twitching as I looked towards Hong Ilha’s house.

Was there anyone who could pay for me?

Probably.

I remembered checking the construction company bids to make sure my donation wasn’t misused.

Those container houses were for 2-3 person households.

It meant Hong Ilha didn’t live alone.

It was Monday afternoon, and the sun had already set.

Whether his housemate was a sibling, a lover, or his parents, they should be home around this time.

“I’m sorry. Would you mind coming with me? Or should I leave my smartphone as collateral?”

“Let’s go together.”

I headed towards the house with the taxi driver.

Naturally, I didn’t know the door code.

Ding-dong.

I pressed the doorbell, trying to appear as calm as possible.

Please, let someone come out.

Otherwise, I might end up back at the police station, or the poor taxi driver might not get paid.

Click.

The door opened in a matter of seconds.

“Brother? Where were you?”

A boy with long hair tied back— delicate face yet somehow resilient, stepped out.

He called me ‘brother.’

It seemed Hong Ilha had a younger brother.

A thin, white halo hovered above his head, indicating that he was also an Awakened.

Seeing this, I wondered why Hong Ilha had tried to commit suicide.

It didn’t seem like a situation where he had to work as a porter to pay for his younger brother and mother’s rare diseases, only to give up all hope as their conditions worsened.

If they were both Awakened, they could live comfortably even if they both worked as porters, right?

This question was soon answered.

“Yeah. Where were you? I was worried you might be dead.”

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you. We shouldn’t have bothered your brother.”

Two men in suits over floral shirts followed him out.

One was bulky, and the other was lanky.

…It seemed the visitors weren’t just the taxi driver.

The taxi driver’s face crumpled.

“You weren’t going to pay from the start.”

“No.”

“I won’t take your money, but don’t ever take a taxi again.”

As the driver sped away, I apologized inwardly.

I’m sorry.

It wasn’t my intention.

The lanky man asked politely.

“Customer. If you borrowed money, you need to pay interest. Isn’t today the due date for this month’s interest payment?”

I sighed inwardly.

I didn’t know why he borrowed the money or how much he borrowed.

But the fact that he tried to commit suicide instead of paying his debts, even with a family and being an Awakened, was a negative point.

My favorable impression of Hong Ilha was rapidly fading.

“I apologize. I just came back from jumping into the Han River, so my memory is a bit hazy.”

“What? The Han River? What are you talking about?”

“Hold on. I’ll explain later.”

I set my brother aside for now and dealt with the two men first.

“Could you please tell me again how much I borrowed from you and how much interest I need to pay today?”

“What?”

“Ha, really. I’ve seen all sorts of acts from people trying to avoid paying their debts, but this is a first.”

The lanky man and the bulky man looked at each other and clicked their tongues.

“We’re from Million Loans.”

“Customer Hong Ilha took out an artifact-secured loan of 850 million won the month before last. Last month’s interest was 27,625,000 won, of which you paid 20 million won, and this month’s interest is the rolled-over interest from last month plus an additional 3.25% monthly interest, making it 27,865,000 won.”

The interest was 27.865 million won.

Nearly 30 million won.

That was the price of a single high-grade potion, which I, the 27-year-old Hong Baekya, used to drink like water until a few days ago.

And for the 21-year-old Hong Ilha, it was enough to drive him to suicide.

And now, in the body of 21-year-old Hong Ilha, I was in a situation where I had to repay this debt.

Siyeol.

I cherished you like a son, but this situation is truly infuriating.

Three solid hits.

You’re getting three more hits.

———