Regressor Instruction Manual

Chapter 1472. Continental War (52)

Jung Jin-Ho was in another world, and the fight between the young ladies and the Brigade members had also come to an end. The tangled threads that had left me at a loss over how to resolve them were finally starting to unravel.

Sung Ji-Hoon versus Ryu Han; Alps versus Valentin Alexandro...

‘Alps’ side should be fine.’

The Blue Guild wasn’t foolish enough to let Valentin Cowardsandro ruin their future. Of course, she had been showing such poor performance lately that it almost made me wonder if Shiro were the real Alps, but it wasn’t like she was recruited into the Blue Guild randomly.

During their first fight, she held the advantage in strength, so the outcome of the next fight was obvious without even watching it. The only task she needed to handle was breaking through Valentin Alexandro’s Endurance and stamina. In the end, the remaining problem was Sung Ji-Hoon and Ryu Han.

The atmosphere was no longer embroiled in madness like before, but the battlefield remained as fierce and bloody as ever.

"Aaaahhh."

"KILL THEM!!!"

"Ack... Ahhhh!"

The scene on the 4-2 Front wasn’t much different from what I had seen before coming here. The anti-war alliance either wanted to withdraw from the fight or were helping the wounded move, while soldiers from each camp thrust their swords and spears toward one another.

It felt as though half of them were fighting out of habit, so the heat of the battle had clearly mellowed out compared to before, which was at least some relief, but they were still technically fighting each other.

There was a huge difference compared to before—Sung Ji-Hoon was no longer shouting. He kept his mouth shut, and his gaze was fixed on Ryu Han, who was quietly looking around.

‘I thought they’d already be fighting, but apparently not. The progress is way too slow.’

It felt somewhat similar to the second battle, but since this was already the third round, I honestly just wanted to relax and watch. However, it was hard not to feel uneasy about leaving him alone.

‘Damn, no matter how I think about it, he’s going to get defeated.’

He had already gone through several awakening events, but strictly speaking, he was still just a kid. I had trained him and even built a strong foundation to keep him from being easily swayed by his emotions, but the Holy Sword Hero was still incomplete.

In terms of objective importance, he ranked above the young ladies. Unlike them, who hadn’t made much of a name for themselves, the Holy Sword Hero, Sung Ji-Hoon, was an important figure who would lead the continent in the future.

If he were to die suddenly in a place like this, the entire course of history would be thrown into chaos. Sure enough, he was breathing raggedly, looking agitated as he stared at Ryu Han. His eyes were filled with deep fury as he stared at his main enemy.

‘He doesn’t seem like that bad of a guy... He’s just being treated unfairly.’

To the Holy Sword Hero, Ryu Han was the root cause of all of this. The fact that people were pointing their swords at one another and the sudden collapse of the ground that led to a massacre... he believed every bit of it was the fault of the Republic’s First Seat, Ryu Han.

After going through repeated events that stoked his desire to carry out justice, there was no way a guy like him could simply let Ryu Han walk away. It was painfully obvious that the fate of the 4-2 Front would be decided by the battle happening right here.

"Ryu Han..."

The Holy Sword Hero quietly murmured the name of the absolute evil. Of course, Ryu Han didn’t answer him.

"Ryu Han!

"RYU HAAAAAAAN!!!"

If someone over there had also shouted “SUNG JI-HOON!!!” and matched his energy, it would have been a grand, fated clash between soul-bound rivals, but unfortunately, our Holy Sword Hero’s burning passion seemed unable to reach Ryu Han.

The so-called absolute evil simply held his sword and calmly scanned his surroundings. It went without saying that Sung Ji-Hoon charged at him. With steps faster and heavier than before, he rushed straight at him with his sword raised. And then...

Kabooooooooom! Crack!

With a thunderous crash, the two slammed their blades in midair.

‘This is that thing, right? The classic pushing-against-each-other-with-swords power struggle.’

It was a scene I felt like I had seen a million times before somewhere. Their swords were locked together, even pressed close enough that their faces were practically touching.

In the middle of that, the Holy Sword Hero shouted at the top of his lungs, “Ryu Haaaan!”

I had seen plenty of swordsmen all across the continent, but this was the first time I had ever seen such an absurd manga-like test of strength.

Was it just my imagination, or did it look like something staged by a subculture-obsessed nerd? It was such a cheesy, over-the-top moment that I started wondering if I had been looking at Sung Ji-Hoon with rose-tinted glasses all this time.

The only difference from those dramatic scenes was that his opponent wasn’t responding to the Holy Sword Hero’s energy at all. Honestly, that alone changed the whole picture.

‘Man... this is kind of embarrassing.’

"Stop the war right now!”

‘Like he could just stop it. And you really think it’ll end just because you tell them to stop?’

"..."

"Stop this war right now!"

"...

Craaaaack!

At this point, it honestly felt like that idiot Sung Ji-Hoon saw Ryu Han as the rival of his entire lifetime. To him, Ryu Han was probably an even worse villain than the Demon King, a kind of enemy and rival he’d never encountered before.

Well, it wasn’t like one could blame him for thinking that way. They’d already clashed twice before, and both times, Sung Ji-Hoon had lost.

The Holy Sword Hero had lost precious comrades, all thanks to Ryu Han.

Ryu Han had left him with countless wounds, and he had forced himself back up while carrying all that pain. For a guy who still hadn’t shaken off that main character mindset, who else could possibly suit the role of a destined rival better than Ryu Han?

Even though one side stayed cold and detached, the temperature just kept rising on the other side. It was so absurd that it almost made me laugh.

‘That guy... is seriously embarrassing to be seen with anywhere.’

I even found myself wishing Ryu Han would at least react to him a little. After the test of strength ended, the two of them looked at each other again.

"I’ll knock you down, Ryu Han."

At this point, I almost felt relieved that Ryu Han was basically like a machine. I'd say this with certainty—if Commander Jin were in Ryu Han’s position, he would run away immediately. Of course, it wouldn't be because he was scared, but because it was gross and annoying. It was something he just didn’t want to deal with.

He'd surely bolt away in disgust.

‘In that sense... yeah, he really is his destined rival.’

'Look at him, stubbornly ignoring all this... He’s not even thinking about anything. That’s what a pro looks like.'

It seemed that once wasn’t enough, as the idiot charged in again to try another contest of strength, but there was no way Ryu Han was going to humor something that inefficient twice. He slipped aside immediately and thrust his sword out.

‘He has to block that.’

"..."

‘Ji-Hoon. Damn it. Getting fired up is one thing, but you’ve gotta focus when it’s time to focus.’

"..."

‘Don’t get swept up in your emotions, damn it. Just do it like you practiced. Just like you practiced.’

In an instant, sword strikes shot out from all directions, and the attacks were so fast and sharp that an ordinary person wouldn’t even be able to react to them. Even Jung Jin-Ho had been wary of crossing swords with him, but...

"..."

"Aaahhh!"

Our Holy Sword Hero Sung Ji-Hoon let out a thunderous shout and caught the incoming blade. Without losing his own pace, he steadied his breathing and deflected every slash that came at him from blind spots.

For a moment, I couldn’t help but think that there was really no need for him to shout like that, but in the face of his tear-inducing growth, stuff like that felt trivial.

Sure, he had blocked Ryu Han’s sword before, but this time, it was fundamentally different. In the first fight, he couldn’t even react at all. In the second fight, he barely managed to parry and survive.

In the third fight, he was calmly maintaining his own rhythm and blocking each strike. It was visible—I could see the way Sung Ji-Hoon’s sword flowed like water. The way offense and defense happened at the same time went beyond merely natural; it felt almost refined, no perhaps even elegant.

‘Damn... he really is... a genius...’

“That idiot...”

‘...Is a genius.’

His rate of growth was astonishing. I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that there was indeed a reason that someone with that mindset and personality became the continent's hero. He was cutting through slashes too fast to even track with the naked eye; he was breaking through an immeasurable tide of blades.

It was incredible that just a bit of training and some light mental coaching could change someone this much.

"I can see it."

‘Don’t say lines like that.’

"I can see everything now, Ryu Han!"

‘That punk... damn it, it definitely isn’t some kind of act.’

"All the things I couldn’t see before!"

"..."

‘Yeah, damn it. I can see that you can see them. You don’t really need to explain it.’

He was even forcing things through with his sheer size and weight. Ryu Han, who looked like he would never give up space no matter what, was actually being pushed back and losing ground purely to raw strength.

If one thought about how Jung Jin-Ho had dug up all kinds of traps just to grab that guy by the head and slam him down into the ground, one could understand that the Holy Sword Hero was doing something incredibly ridiculous right now.

Of course, compatibility played a big role as well. Jung Jin-Ho was a bit weak against someone like Ryu Han, but against types like Sung Ji-Hoon, especially Kim Hyun-Sung, he was practically a perfect counter.

Even so, seeing Sung Ji-Hoon accomplish something Jung Jin-Ho couldn’t accomplish made me feel weirdly proud. I even caught myself thinking that there wasn’t really any need to watch over him anymore.

‘Isn’t this honestly unnecessary? He’ll handle him fine on his own, right?’

Before I knew it, my gaze drifted back toward Kim Hyun-Sung. It was a decision I made upon thinking that things would be fine for a bit. Honestly, my attention was drawn more to Kim Hyun-Sung walking the battlefield than to Sung Ji-Hoon putting up a fight alone.

I kept turning the Telescope, worried that he'd disappear again at any moment. Since it felt like there was nothing left for me to coach, idle thoughts started creeping in.

‘What the hell is that guy even doing here?’

Wouldn’t he make his next move soon, or show some other kind of action? I already told Lee Chang-Ryeol to keep a close watch and report anything unusual, but the problem was that there really wasn’t anything unusual at all.

He was just wandering the battlefield, watching the fighting. Aside from occasionally dealing with stray spells or arrows flying toward the doctor, he wasn’t doing much of anything.

Seeing that he was still there, it was obvious he had some business on this front, but he wasn’t intervening in the battle and was acting like some extra first-life version of himself.

‘I seriously can’t read this guy at all.’

My thoughts unknowingly drifted to what would happen right after this war. If it was something that would happen once the fighting finished on the 4-1 Front, where Kim Hyun-Sung was located, then probably...

“...”

‘Didn’t First Ki-Young at least stay to see the First Commander through to the end?’

I had no idea whether that was the right way to put it, but if I remembered correctly, he had a short conversation with him. I was pretty sure of that.

Boom!

‘Ah, damn it.’

“...”

“...”

Thinking that something had happened again, I turned my gaze back once more.

“...”

“...”

‘Yeah, I knew it. Damn it.’

I was an idiot for expecting anything...

‘People don’t change in an instant. Damn it, especially not you, you dumb idiot.’

Sung Ji-Hoon clutched the Holy Sword with trembling hands and with tears dripping down his face. His eyes were restless, darting around nonstop. On top of that, he was still facing off against Ryu Han.

“Haa... haa... haa...”

The idiot realized that I had disappeared. That was the only way to explain the look on his face.