The Regressor Can Make Them All

Chapter 470

Martial Prowess—the Muren Monastery was an order that revered that above all.

Their absolute dedication to it was unique, but it had earned them immense renown not only in the hero industry but across the entire world. After all, they had built up a legacy of countless achievements on the front lines of battle, all in line with their philosophy.

However, what made them stand out from all the other factions was not those achievements: it was their active role in cultivating new talent.

“If you’ve got no money and no talent but still want to get stronger, then go to the Muren Monastery… as long as you don’t mind dying, that is.”

Every institution—be it training centers, associations, or corporations—sought efficiency and profit, selecting only the most promising individuals. The Muren Monastery, though, would accept anyone as a disciple as long as they showed resolve. Neither wealth nor talent mattered; everyone was generously taught the techniques the Monastery had spent a lifetime perfecting.

Of course, that also meant many often couldn’t endure the grueling training. In fact, few made it to the end, even out of everyone. Still, just offering such an opportunity free of charge earned them no shortage of praise.

They were so highly regarded that some even referred to the Muren Monastery as a “sacred land of martial arts,” which its appearance certainly helped to reinforce.

“Whoa…”

A colossal stone mountain stood alone in the middle of a plateau. Its jagged, sky-piercing silhouette was impressive enough, but what truly caught the eye was the structure built at its peak: a massive monastery carved directly into the mountainside.

“Every time I see it, I can’t help but think… this thing is ridiculously huge.”

Staring up at the building that easily surpassed two hundred meters, Se-Hoon clicked his tongue.

From the roof to the signboards and from the columns to the entrance, everything was several times larger than a normal structure. It was a place that looked more fit for giants than humans.

“Did you ever hear why they built it that big?” Se-Hoon asked, turning to Kwang-Soo.

“They say it was so that it could double as a fortress during wartime… but knowing the head monk, I’d say it was probably just his personal taste.”

“His taste, huh…”

Se-Hoon looked up at the monastery, now drawing nearer.

It’s been a long time since I last saw it intact like this.

The last time he’d seen it was before he regressed. Back then, it had been in ruins due to an assault by the Demon Forces when they officially started their invasion. Since then, it had been decades, which stirred complicated feelings within Se-Hoon.

But besides that…

As Se-Hoon walked forward, sifting through his memories of the past, he felt a sharp and unmistakable gaze from afar. Turning his head, he spotted a lone muscular monk standing squarely in the center of the massive front gate.

The monk was scarred from head to toe, with a body so solid it looked carved from stone rather than flesh: that was Tenzin, the head monk of Muren Monastery.

He came to greet us… in person?

Se-Hoon’s eyes filled with caution upon seeing Tenzin.

The man was no longer the hero who fought for humanity until his dying breath that Se-Hoon saw him as. Now, Tenzin was a possible conspirator with not just Doppelganger, but the Demon Force itself.

Raising his guard, Se-Hoon stepped forward alongside Kwang-Soo.

“You’ve come a long way. I am Tenzin, the head of Muren Monastery.”

Tenzin’s voice was deep and resounding, which would have intimidated most. Both Se-Hoon and Kwang-Soo, however, took it in stride.

“Lee Se-Hoon.”

“It’s been a while, Head Monk.”

“Indeed… It’s been—”

The moment Tenzin turned to Kwang-Soo, he shut his mouth mid-reply as his eyes widened.

“…Is something wrong?”

Feeling the weight of Tenzin’s intense stare, Kwang-Soo’s face stiffened. Thankfully, Tenzin’s gaze softened before he offered a faint, almost warm smile.

“You’ve freed yourself from a long nightmare. Truly, congratulations.”

“…”

Both Kwang-Soo and Se-Hoon blinked in surprise. Tenzin hadn’t even sparred with Kwang-Soo, yet he instantly found out the man had broken free from his inner demons.

Even if Tenzin was an S-rank, that level of insight was extraordinary.

“Thank you.”

“I sense you were helped by a good friend. Might it have been this patron here?” Tenzin wondered, turning to Se-Hoon.

And upon meeting his gaze, Se-Hoon calmly replied, “You could say I did most of it.”

“Oh… That’s quite remarkable for someone so young.”

There was sincere admiration in Tenzin’s eyes, clearly regarding Se-Hoon with growing favor.

He doesn’t seem to be hiding anything… but I’ll prod a little.

Meeting Tenzin’s gaze, Se-Hoon pondered his options. He wanted to probe, but he couldn’t afford to waste time on cautious probing when a fight could break out at any moment—which was the deciding factor.

“Master Tenzin, I have something I’d like to ask.”

“Go ahead.”

“Doppelganger, who is in the Cave of Trials—Sophia Green. Could you explain your relationship with her?”

The air grew still.

Woosh

It was only upon feeling the faint breeze brushing past the three of them that Tenzin recovered from his surprise and slowly closed his eyes. Then, when he opened them after a moment, his gaze had become calm and resolute.

“This is not a conversation to hold out here. Follow me.”

Promptly turning around, Tenzin walked into the monastery. Watching, Se-Hoon and Kwang-Soo exchanged a glance, then followed.

It looks the same as ever.

Se-Hoon looked around the building. Like the past, it was dim inside, despite the daylight. The only source was the sun rays through the holes in the ceiling, which cast a gentle glow like lanterns throughout the stone hallways.

As they walked, Se-Hoon’s memories were stirred.

They passed monks and disciples moving about the halls, all of whom had shaved heads and muscular builds like Tenzin. Compared to back then, the disciples were a bit more varied, but they were all still wearing simple robes and dressing freely.

The colorful crowd hasn’t changed…

A blank-faced man seething with murderous intent; a woman on the verge of tears; a man who looked like a hollow shell, already dead inside—those who came to the Muren Monastery were, without exception, driven by desperation. The raw emotions showed clearly on each and every face, making the disciples easy to tell apart from the monks.

If I hadn’t had a talent for blacksmithing, maybe I’d have ended up here too…

Feeling a faint sense of kinship, just like when he visited last, Se-Hoon studied the disciples.

“Do you know how many disciples reside within our monastery?” Tenzin asked, noticing Se-Hoon’s gaze.

“I heard it once exceeded twenty thousand during its peak.”

“Yes, that was after the Cold War. So many were burdened with grief and resentment…”

Tenzin looked over the monastery, recalling the past.

“But now… we don’t even have two thousand,” he calmly revealed.

“Not even two thousand?”

Se-Hoon was a bit taken aback. He could tell that their numbers had dwindled, but he hadn’t expected such a drastic decline.

“Did something… happen?”

“The blessings left by the Perfect Ones.”

“The blessings?”

Nodding, Tenzin elaborated. “With the Blessing of the Eternal, those who died unjustly were brought back. Then, the Blessing of the Sacred Lantern began showing people the right path. And when those took root in people’s hearts, the bitterness that once drove them here… began to fade.”

“Ah…”

“At this rate, I suspect all our disciples will be gone by the year’s end.”

Hearing that, Se-Hoon looked around the monastery once more. Although he’d recently experienced a number of unexpected butterfly effects, he still hadn’t expected one to reach even here.

It’s hard to deny that the future’s really changing…

Se-Hoon fell silent, mulling over the changes he had brought to the world. Without saying a word, he just followed Tenzin into his private chambers deep within the monastery. The room carved from stone was plain and sparse. All that was within were just a few daily necessities present, making it look far too humble of a place for someone considered an S-rank hero.

“I apologize for the discomfort.”

“It’s fine.”

“No need to apologize for something like this.”

Once Tenzin laid two cushions on the floor, Se-Hoon and Kwang-Soo both took their seats quietly.

“To speak of Sister Sophia, we must go back decades…” Once Tenzin also got settled, he began his story in a way that made him seem as if he had been waiting all along. “To the time when the Cold War began with the appearance of the Pilgrim.”

The arrival of the seventh to conquer a Tower of Heroes, Karl Andersen, brought the world into a cold war between humanity and the Demon Force. Both sides were conserving and increasing their strength to prepare for the long road ahead.

Naturally, that included Doppelganger, who targeted key figures to enhance her own power—and the very first target she chose was the Muren Monastery.

“Doppelganger appeared from the darkness and gave me two choices: train and nurture the heroes it had marked or die that night, along with everyone else, by its hand.”

“…”

“Of course, the first option was an insult to this temple. Such a thing wasn’t even worth considering. That’s why the only choice for me was the second—to stake my life and fight.”

Tenzin paused for a moment, his expression growing even more solemn.

“But just as I was ready to put my life on the line… I saw the face of a disciple within Doppelganger.”

Though its face, formed from a swirling black vortex, had no expression, Tenzin—who had seen countless disciples in his time—could read the emotions within clearly: a yearning for martial strength so fierce that it would sacrifice everything for it.

Tenzin had seen her, Sophia Green, inside Doppelganger and offered two choices instead.

“The first was the same as her second: to kill me and everyone here. But the second… I offered her the choice to stay in this place and train not as a monster, but as a disciple, as a human.”

“You… offered that yourself?” Se-Hoon asked in disbelief.

Despite the hint of accusation, Tenzin nodded without hesitation. “If what she longed for was not just power, but martial prowess itself, then she is no different from any other disciple.”

“Hmm…”

“However, to be honest, it might have been nothing more than stubbornness back then. Doppelganger had no real reason to accept such an offer, and I may have just been clinging to the Monastery’s principles to the very end.”

Even if the high-ranking monks and disciples who were present in the temple at the time had arrived, they would’ve only been able to hold the line—just barely. No matter what, the aftermath of the battle would certainly have wiped out the rest.

Knowing that too, Tenzin had quietly believed that only the intervention of a Perfect One could prevent the catastrophe, which made him give the offer. And as it turned out, the result was unexpected.

“However, instead of attacking, Doppelganger asked me a question. She wanted to know just what meaning training would have for her?”

Kwang-Soo stared intently at Tenzin, who was recalling the moment. Slowly, with quiet detachment, he repeated his words that day.

“‘You won’t forget why you came to desire martial prowess in the first place.’ That is what I told her.”

The reply had left Doppelganger in deep thought, falling silent. And by dawn, it had made its choice—its vortex-like face had transformed into that of a human. It was from that day on that Doppelganger—no, Sophia Green—began regularly appearing at Muren Monastery to train in the Cave of Trials.

“That is everything about Sister Sophia.”

Finished with his long story, Tenzin fell silent, like a man awaiting a verdict. Naturally, Se-Hoon and Kwang-Soo had each fallen into their own thoughts.

A heavy silence fell, but just as it threatened to continue indefinitely, Se-Hoon broke it.

“Understood. I’ll speak with her directly from here.”

“Th-that’s all?” Tenzin doubted Se-Hoon’s nonchalant tone.

“What else would you have me do? I’m not the Heroes Association President or anything.”

“Well, yes, but…”

Tenzin was completely flustered. In the eyes of the Heroes Association and the hero industry, Se-Hoon’s current standing rivaled—or even surpassed—that of the Perfect Ones. That had been why Tenzin had prepared to be judged for his ties to one of the Ten Evils, regardless of his reasons. Yet…

Is it really okay for it to end like this…?

To the monk who thought himself a sinner, Se-Hoon simply shrugged.

“If you want to hash out complicated matters like that, you can talk to President Gregory. I’m just here because I was curious.”

“I see. In that case…”

“Also, I plan to stay here for a few days. Just let me know where I should sleep.”

“Ah, yes, understood.”

Though conflicted, Tenzin rose from his seat and led the two to the guest rooms before leaving, still wearing a complex look.

“He acted like he was above it all, but…”

Recalling Tenzin’s insistence, like he couldn’t believe that was the end of it, Se-Hoon chuckled.

“What was that about?” Kwang-Soo asked, entering Se-Hoon’s room.

“What do you mean?”

“No matter the reason, he did lend a hand to the Ten Evils. And if that training actually helped her…”

“That’s probably not the case,” Se-Hoon denied, shaking his head. “You heard what he said earlier. That he told Doppelganger to train as a human and a disciple? In other words, he made her hold on to her humanity.”

Even if someone became a demon, they didn’t turn into a complete monster overnight. And as one of the Ten Evils, Doppelganger should have long since discarded every trace of her humanity. Yet, for some reason, she had clung to it until the very end.

In Se-Hoon’s eyes, Tenzin had merely helped solidify one side of her inner conflict.

“If she hadn’t trained at Muren Monastery, she would’ve turned into a monster long ago.”

The creature that absorbed the techniques and synesthetic mindscapes of heroes indiscriminately in its pursuit of enlightenment, known as the Destroyer of Perception. Having fought it before regressing, Se-Hoon knew it was a version of Doppelganger that had taken a different path—one that led to it losing all humanity.

“…Are you sure about that?”

“That’s what I believe.”

Kwang-Soo frowned at Se-Hoon’s conviction. Although he had also noticed something strange about Sophia back at the Black Arms’ base, he hadn’t imagined she had been preserving her humanity all that time.

Not that it really changes anything.

After all, even if the worst outcome had been averted, Sophia had still killed far too many people. To the victims, it didn’t matter whether the killer was a monster that lost its humanity or a human who acted for selfish reasons. For them, the task ahead remained unchanged.

“I’m going to take a look around the area.”

Sensing that Kwang-Soo had things to think about, Se-Hoon quietly left the room. While his suspicions toward Tenzin had subsided, he still wanted to check the area in case something happened.

Hopefully, she doesn’t plan anything stupid…

He had a feeling Doppelganger wouldn’t do anything rash after that conversation, but he couldn’t say the same for others—especially his master, Meirin.

With her, who was already following a different path from the one she had walked before, it wouldn’t hurt to stay cautious.

Well, I doubt Master would do anything reckless either, but… huh?

A familiar scent drifted past his nose. Turning toward the source of the scent, Se-Hoon immediately set off in that direction.

Soon, he stepped into a dimly lit area where the sunlight barely reached through the ceiling openings. And there, lying flat on a broad stone slab like some monk-turned-slacker, was Meirin puffing a cigarette.

“It’s been a while.”