Regressor Instruction Manual

Chapter 1267. Hee-Ra of the First Life (1)

I knew I would bump into someone familiar here, but I hadn't expected to run into a key figure so soon. What was even more surprising is that it was Hee-Ra noona—someone whom I hadn’t seen in a long time—even in the second life.

‘The atmosphere is really intense...’

Perhaps it was just me, but the first life felt more fitting for her than the second life. Cha Hee-Ra in the second life felt like a beast that had broken free from the cage, but the Cha Hee-Ra in the first life felt like a beast who had never been in a cage.

The fact that she didn’t seem to care about restraining her bloodlust or aura made me tense up instinctively. The others weren’t much different. The members of the Red Mercenary Guild following behind her had the faces of seasoned warriors who had faced death time and time again.

It was obvious that they took pride in their group, including Cha Hee-Ra.

At a glance, they gave off such intense bloodlust that one could mistake them for the brigade. They didn’t seem to be hiding how dangerous they were. In fact, it felt like they were advertising it. Perhaps it was proof that they were always aware that anyone could be their enemy, and what made it a bit amusing was...

‘Her overall combat prowess is high.’

Their average stats were remarkably high. I also saw traits that I hadn’t seen in the second life, along with a variety of titles. Things like the Slaughterer of some place or the Mad Beast of some place.

Of course, they were still no match for the current version of Cha Hee-Ra, who had become the Red God of War, but this was the first life, so I had to compare her to the Second Life Cha Hee-Ra before the War on the Outer Gods.

Upon recalling Hee-Ra noona’s stats at the time, I realized that her overall stats in the first life were slightly higher. Although they had sacrificed the development of the continent as a result, and they lacked a solid process when it came to doing just about anything, the endless wars had raised the average prowess of the key individuals.

The members of the Red Mercenary Guild were no exception. This explained how the psychopathic murderer, Jung Jin-Ho, was able to fight Rafael. Those mediocre and weak bastards...

‘They were probably already dead and gone. Or they're about to die real soon.’

I finally realized how they managed to hold their ground even against the Outer Gods.

In any case, Hee-Ra noona and the members of the Red Mercenary Guild were talking to each other as they moved quickly across the streets. I heard jarring voices that sounded like someone scratching or scraping something.

“Where did they say it was again?” Cha Hee-Ra asked.

“I heard they’re closing in as we speak,” a member replied.

“Shit... if this ends up being another goddamn waste of time... whoo... How many times has it been now? Everyone’s causing an uproar everywhere just to catch one brigade... Wouldn’t it have been better for just the few of us to handle it? Don’t you think so?”

“...”

“They’ve got the numbers, but most of them are dead weight, right? How much longer do we have to listen to them say that they’re closing in, damn it,” Cha Hee-Ra complained.

“I’ll take care of it right away,” a member said.

“Once we get there, they’ll probably just come up with a bunch of excuses about how they lost them. Those bastards,” Cha Hee-Ra said.

“I’ll make sure this gets handled,” a guild member said.

Just then, our eyes briefly met. For some reason, I wanted to look away. Whenever I met Hee-Ra noona’s gaze, I would often look away, but today, the urge to look away was even stronger than usual.

Still, the instinct to impress someone strong came first. Before I knew it, I was grinning while wearing the pure, innocent expression of a child.

‘Either way, it’s important to establish a connection.’

She was someone who could provide me with what I needed while I was active here. If something were to go wrong later, they’d probably throw a fit and demand ID checks or whatever... but Hee-Ra noona could vouch for me completely.

Even if she were to refuse to do that, it would never hurt to stay on her good side.

Thus, I clenched my fist and gave her a round of applause, as if I were cheering her on.

‘You can do it, Hee-Ra noona!’

I wondered if running over to cheer her on was a bit over the top, but if I were going to flatter someone, it'd be better for me to go all in.

I had to go far enough that someone would think, 'Isn’t this a bit too much?'

Perhaps it was because I was in a child’s body, but my actions didn't feel unnatural at all. As soon as I started running over, the members of the Red Mercenary Guild immediately grew wary of me...

“Y-You can do it! You got this, noona!” I shouted with sincerity.

What I had in mind was the story of a child who lost their family to those wretched brigade scums and somehow survived alone. It didn’t take long for that kind of heart-wrenching, impossible-to-ignore backstory to take shape.

“Wait,” a guild member said.

“It’s okay, let him go. He just looks like a kid,” Cha Hee-Ra said.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Hang in there, noona! Make... them pay!” I shouted.

Hearing a child ask for revenge was a little creepy, but considering the times, it was not unreasonable at all.

‘But it’s not working since I’m a kid...’

After staring into my eyes for a brief moment, the group disappeared without a word.

A wave of disappointment washed over me.

‘Damn it, if only I were ten years older...’

“Hyung,” Rafael called out.

“Ah! Mr. Rafael,” I greeted.

“They’re... the Red Mercenary Guild,” he said.

“Did you see them?” I asked.

“Yes, so it’s true. I never thought parallel worlds could actually be real... It’s not that I didn’t believe what you said, but I was skeptical. The master of the Red Mercenary Guild just now was definitely a different person. She was missing two fingers...” Rafael answered.

“...”

“Actually, they're the same person but different at the same time. There’s something really strange about this place. Of course, she’s nothing compared to the current master of the Red Mercenary Guild, but still—”

“Miss Ah-Young and Mr. Ki-Mo...” I said, interrupting Rafael before he could go over something I had already explained before.

“They’re still inside. It’s kind of noisy in there... and strange... and right now... I’m feeling a bit unsettled...” Ahn Ki-Mo said.

“Ah...”

‘He was... looking for them.’

For a moment, I almost forgot the reason we came here.

‘We came to find Rafael’s party.’

The injured were gathered at the infirmary, so those people would most likely become one of the patients in the infirmary.

It wasn’t just the tens where the patients were located, as there seemed to be reasons to poke around elsewhere, too. At times like this, it was only right for me to offer words of comfort.

“You don’t have to worry too much since Miss Park Lian is gathering information,” I said.

“Ah... I see.”

“From what I’ve heard, there are camps like this all over the place... There’s a good chance Mr. Joo-Hyuk is staying in one of those camps,” I added.

“Ahhhh... I see,” Rafael said.

“We might also be assigned to the tracking operation, so I think we can start searching for clues when that happens,” I told him.

“...”

“...”

“He’s probably safe, right?” Rafael asked.

‘Of course he is.’

“Of course,” I answered.

He was probably dead and being burned at the campfire over there, but no one wanted to hear such a depressing story. Moreover, Hunting Dog Lee Joo-Hyuk and Miracle Priest Marian weren't dumb enough to go down that easily.

The moment Rafael disappeared, they probably sensed that something was wrong and ran away immediately, or if they were unlucky, they could have been captured by the expedition team.

At least, it didn't look like Jung Jin-Ho had killed them. They probably weren’t in the position to chase after a fleeing hunting dog.

I noticed Rafael’s expression lightening a bit at my comforting words.

“Then... until then...”

“For now, it would be best to remain at the camp since there’s information we need to gather from various places. If the group manages to track down the brigade’s trail, we’ll move together then. Until that time, splitting up to gather information seems like the most realistic plan here,” I explained.

“Ah... I see. I’ll do that,” Rafael said.

‘Maybe I need to give him a guideline.’

Considering what Ahn Ki-Mo and Gook Minji had shown earlier, they were certainly reliable, but Rafael and the others ddin’t seem very helpful for this kind of work. Since he could mess things up by babbling, keeping the group small sounded like a good call.

Right when I was about to talk to Rafael again...

“Hyung... the members of the Red Mercenary Guild are here,” Rafael said.

I turned and saw three or four people walking toward us. I didn’t want to believe it at first, but seeing them walking toward us made me sure that they wanted to talk to me.

‘As expected... Hee-Ra noona won't just abandon me...’

Rafael looked a bit nervous, thinking that our cover was blown.

‘I knew this was going to happen.’

“Hey, you,” someone said. As expected, he sounded extremely commanding.

“...”

“You, what’s your name?” one of the guild members asked.

“I-It’s Lee Ki-Young,” I answered.

“Are you a survivor from the neighboring village?” he asked.

“Y-Yes,” I said.

“Be at that tent over there by eight tonight,” he informed me.

“Pardon?”

“Didn’t you hear me? I said to be at the tent in the middle by eight tonight,” he repeated.

‘You like me, right? Right?’

“It’s the Mercenary Queen’s order. Don’t be late, not even by a second,” he added.

Of course. I would never be late, but how come they couldn't even bother to say anything? All they told me was to be at the tent by eight tonight.

There had never been a tyrant like them, but it was usually best to obediently follow the words of someone strong, especially when that person was Hee-Ra noona.

However, Rafael seemed unsettled by their actions. Just a few minutes ago, I told him not to act rashly, but judging by his expression, he looked like he was ready to do just that.

Sure enough, he revealed his trademark look of justice and clenched his fists.

“He’s still a kid, and it hasn’t been that long since he lost his family. By doing that...” Rafael trailed off.

‘Don’t do it, man. Don’t do it.’

“Who are you?” one of them asked.

“I’m the guardian who found this child. We’re currently traveling together. I don’t know what business she has with him so late in the night... but shouldn’t you at least provide an explanation?” Rafael questioned.

He looks like he had some bad ideas brewing in his mind. Cha Hee-Ra probably just wanted to have a simple talk and perhaps ease some of her loneliness, but he was treating Hee-Ra noona as if she were some kind of freak.

“Do you want to die?” one of the members threatened.

‘But why are these guys overreacting?’

He only said a few words... so why are they pulling out their weapons? Once again, I realized these guys had no sense of civility. It seemed like they had been living by the law of brute force, as the members of the guild immediately surrounded Rafael.

They seemed ready to slit his throat.

‘Seriously, no law, no conscience, no morals.’

Our little gray dove looked just as dumbfounded by the whole situation, and his face was frozen in disbelief. If even Rafael, who once had his wild era, was reacting like that, then these bastards were the real deal.

“Say one more word and I’ll chop your head off,” they threatened.

Rafael’s hand moved slowly to his waist.

‘No, don’t do that. You shouldn’t.’

“Bastard, how dare you...”

‘Fael... don’t do it.’

Naturally, I grabbed his hand.

“It’s okay, hyung. Don’t do this,” I said.

'It's just going to be some small talk and well-wishes. I can just keep her entertained. Hee-Ra noona loves it when people act cute. Even in a world where law and morality have crumbled, do you really think our Hee-Ra noona will hurt anyone?'

Back in the day, people with power used to enjoy watching the younger ones perform for them, and our noona had power in her hands.

Worried that she would cancel the meeting, I nodded hurriedly and said, “Okay!”