Regressor Instruction Manual

Chapter 1518. Extinction (28)

It would be just as stupid to call an unconscious guy an idiot, but what could I even do here? I could clearly see him doing something unbelievably stupid. I could say with certainty that the value of a single Ryu Han could amount to more than a third of the forces here.

It was nonsense, a comedy even, for a named character to throw himself into the flames just to protect the extra allied soldiers.

If there were actually a commander who would throw away a named character like that, they would surely go down in the history of continental warfare as the most pathetic, idiotic, and incompetent commander among the incompetent.

“...”

“...”

‘Damn it, things were going well, but now... that thing’s broken again...’

Wasn’t it the same when he was about to face the Holy Sword Hero in the final battle? At the time, he broke down and ended up ruining everything. Now that this was happening to me, too, I finally knew what Commander Jin was talking about.

‘Machines are bound to break.’

As for whether he simply wanted to protect those troops or he saw in them the Holy Sword Hero or Commander Jin from the tutorial dungeon, I had no idea, but Ryu Han was swinging his sword to protect them. Why couldn't he realize that maintaining his own personal space would be more helpful for the allies’ survival?

“Great Warrior!”

“The Great Warrior has made his move!”

‘You guys seriously need to shut up.’

Of course, it was undeniable that the scales of the battlefield were now turning in our favor, thanks to his presence. After all, the passive Ryu Han had finally become active.

More pigeons were dying and were being driven off the battlefield, but he would certainly hit his limits. In fact, it was only a matter of time.

No one could hold back a rushing flood alone. Of course, Ryu Han was an irregular with the power to swim against that current, but he could do that only by himself. It was physically impossible for him to drag everyone else up with him as well.

Even without looking at him, I could already imagine his end. He would run around swinging his sword, foolishly draining his own stamina, and in the process of filling the gaps in the wall, he would be wounded.

Many pigeons would die in that process, but in the end, he, too, would be buried under them and lose his life. It was ironic that he was headed for a fate similar to that of the mad hero, but then again, I couldn't really say for sure...

‘Maybe that’s his dream.’

It was hard to say whether this should be called a meaningless death or a meaningful one. I couldn't make that decision so easily. Personally, I couldn’t shake off the thought that he was an idiot, but to someone else, his death could look different.

What really mattered right now was that, out of the cards I held, the strongest card ended up being broken. I had effectively lost the perfect bodyguard, someone who could have served as insurance if I came face-to-face with First Ki-Young. Of course, I still had Alps, Ha Yeon-Soo, and Lee Chang-Ryeol, but there was a clear difference between pieces that one could throw away at any time and pieces that were not disposable.

‘This is driving me seriously insane.’

The fact that this happened right when I needed to start tracking down First Ki-Young made it all the more painful. Part of me wanted to watch the situation a bit longer, but I instinctively knew I had to move now, or it would be harder for me to move later.

While Ryu Han was rampaging on the battlefield, attracting everyone and First Life Ki-Young's attention, I had to take care of things on my end as well.

‘Damn it.’

“Miss Alps!” I called out.

“Y-yes?” Alps answered.

“Follow me!” I ordered.

“Yes, sir!”

I immediately spotted Alps moving over this way with Shiro. She couldn't stop glancing back, probably uneasy about leaving behind the people she had been fighting alongside with. I hesitated briefly as well, as I knew just how important the role she could play on this battlefield, but there aren’t any other options.

Naturally, I scanned the surroundings with both the telescope and Mind’s Eye. The Nest was still a complete mess. I checked every corner of the room, but First Life Ki-Young is nowhere to be found. Instead, what I found was...

“...”

“...”

‘Mikael?’

The sight of a blond man grinding his teeth comes into view.

‘This bastard... When did he get here?’

It looked like he only realized where I was and exactly where I was headed after the ark lifted off. He had already been on his way to Mesla Castle, so the moment he saw the ark crash into the nest, he had to have flown straight here.

I needed to offer Mikael as a sacrifice, so meeting him again inside the nest would be ideal, but who could have expected him to show up this quickly and at such perfect timing at that?

“I think I’ll be fine. Join the battlefield, Miss Alps,” I told her.

“Pardon...? Sir?” she asked.

“That’s an order. Rejoin the fight,” I said.

‘You’ll just get in the way.’

“What? But—”

“I’ll be safe, so don’t worry. Please go. They need you out there,” I interrupted her.

“Sir! Sir!”

I could hear her calling out for me from behind, but I had to reach him first.

‘I can’t afford to drag some dead weight around.’

It wouldn’t be beneficial for him to find out that I had regrouped with my companions from the second life. In Mikael’s memory, Lee Ki-Young was supposed to endure everything alone and swallow his misery in silence.

Being comforted and fussed over by the guild members did not suit Hedgehog Ki-Young at all.

‘You’re not supposed to expect much from the quiet, brooding type anyway.’

I was not exactly compatible with the blond types, anyway...

‘If you’re going to use one as a hunting dog, a short-haired blond is the right fit.’

I picked up my pace.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Push forward! Move!”

“Sir! Wait, please, just a second!”

“Close ranks! Shield formation, close ranks!! It’s the voice of God! I can hear it!”

“Barrier! Put up the barrier!”

“Raise your shields! Make a path!”

Moving wasn’t that difficult. I could throw out low-rank quests to the ones in front of me and use them to form a wall. Even the pigeons that had been relentlessly targeting me earlier had disappeared at some point, probably distracted by Ryu Han. Since I was crawling the whole time, there was no way they could easily spot me.

It wasn’t even my first time dragging myself across a battlefield like this, and at this point, it almost felt familiar. Of course, that didn’t mean there was no danger.

No matter how many walls I had built with quests or how carefully I avoided things, I couldn’t completely block stray arrows, spells, or the pigeons who had forced their way through the gaps.

The key was to keep things right on the edge. The crisis could not look staged; it had to look natural, as I was waiting for the right moment for him to step in.

‘Where are you?’

Damn it...

‘When are you getting here?’

The distance between us was rapidly narrowing. By now, he ought to have realized that I was crawling away, but the idiot kept his head up like he had a cramp in his neck, refusing to look down.

Just then...

“Aaaah!” I screamed, staring at a zombie pigeon baring its grotesque teeth at me.

Mikael finally noticed me, and I heard a swoosh. When I blinked, the upper half of the zombie had vanished. I turned without thinking and saw Mikael. He was standing there, tracing some strange shape in the air with his fingers while looking straight at me.

‘Magic? A skill? Holy power?’

I didn’t even know what to call it, but it was something he had never had before. It was obvious that he had changed drastically.

‘So he pulled it off.’

'Damn... he actually erased it. I can't tell if his appearance changed all that much. But I can say that his hair has taken on more of a platinum sheen, or maybe he gives off a bit of a sacred aura now...'

However, one thing was certain—He had shed the limits of mortality.

Of course, it wasn’t like he had truly descended here. Just manifesting on another continent would require an absurd amount of holy power, and there was no way the system would allow that to happen, but it was undeniable that he was no longer human.

I didn’t know what kind of shortcut he’d used, but it looked like he’d devoured Michele and brought back a portion of his true power with him. Naturally, it made him look like a viable sacrifice—no, whether as a sacrifice or not, he could be used somehow.

“Mr. M-Mikael...?” I muttered.

“...”

“...”

The moment he saw my face, he moved toward me right away. As he moved, the upper halves of the zombie pigeons blocking his path vanished. His face looked... pretty terrifying.

“Mr. L-Lee... Lee Ki-Young...” Mikael mumbled.

Judging by everything so far, this was the moment he ought to blow up. I could practically picture it. I imagined him shouting at me, asking if I had lost my mind in a fit of frustration and anger.

I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for it... but...

“T-thank God.”

Rather than yelling, he pulled me into a tight embrace. He did not scold me or get angry; he just seemed relieved that I was alive. No, it almost felt like he was trying to reassure me instead. It was like he was saying that he knew why I had done something like this and that he was telling me that it was all okay.

He wasn't actually saying anything, but his emotions were coming through anyway. It was a different reaction. Honestly, it was kind of refreshing, and it wasn't bad, but...

‘But damn, this kind of sucks. I don’t like this calm, mellow stuff...’

It wasn't really my style.

‘It feels off... ugh...’

Still, it wasn't like I could just push him away. For now, the right move was to let my guard drop and cry. Wait, I felt like it'd be too much to do this kind of melodrama in the middle of a battlefield, but scenes like this always go uninterrupted, which was always convenient. This was practically the rule here, and Mikael was probably taking care of the nearby pigeons, anyway.

‘Go with the backstory of the heroine with amnesia.’

“I... hic... I just... I can’t remember anything...” I cried.

‘So I just came here without thinking.’

“Really... I don’t remember anything... All of a sudden... I can’t remember anything... about Hyun-Sung... about everything we’ve been through... I can't even remember their faces... I can’t remember anything... heuk... hic... so... so...” I rambled.

‘I really can’t remember.’

“Heuk... heuk... hiccup...”

‘Throw in a little hiccup too.’

'As an excuse, it’s completely absurd. Seriously, how is anyone supposed to believe that I suddenly forgot Hyun-Sung’s face, summoned the ark, and rammed it straight into a pigeon nest with an army in tow?'

For him, however, he could easily accept it, as he was witnessing the soft and defenseless side of the spineless Baby Hedgehog Ki-Young.

In his mind, Lee Ki-Young was small, harmless, impulsive, and a walking tragedy with every miserable trait rolled into one. If anything, it looked like the symptoms had gotten worse while we were apart.

'That’s just how people are, the more someone tries to talk you out of something, the more you lean into it, and in this case, it wasn’t just someone nearby; someone sharing the same body with him was trying to stop him.'

No wonder the fragile hedgehog only got more fragile. He had lost comrades before, so he knew how terrifying it was to forget about those comrades. In other words, he understood my feelings even more.

“Mr. Ki-Young...” Mikael muttered.

“I really... can’t remember. Nothing... I just came here without thinking because I couldn’t remember anything... heuk... hic...” I said.

The more I repeated myself, the faster I was spiraling into the abyss. He gripped my shoulders even tighter, like he was trying to comfort me.

‘Huh?’

“...”

“...”

‘Who's that? Wait... isn’t that Kim Hyun-Sung?’

“...”

“...”

‘You’re Kim Hyun-Sung, aren't you?’

Just then, I saw Kim Hyun-Sung staring at us from not too far away.