The Regressor Can Make Them All

Chapter 480

“Phew…”

Returning to his dormitory in Babel from the Netherworld, Se-Hoon threw himself onto the couch without even changing his clothes.

“I’m completely drained…”

The fatigue hit him the moment his tension let up. He was fine physically, but it seemed all the deaths and resurrections—particularly Kwang-Soo’s and Meirin’s, respectively—had taken a bigger toll on his nerves than expected.

My physical abilities have improved way beyond my pre-regression level, but mentally… I feel like I’m just getting softer.

Briefly wondering if his evolving synesthetic mindscape had dulled the effects of Soul Honing, Se-Hoon swatted away the meaningless thoughts floating through his head. Instead, he just lay sprawled there across the sofa until something he had forgotten suddenly came to mind.

“Oh. I forgot to check out the hammer.”

Turning to lie on his back, Se-Hoon stared at the ceiling as he reached into his dream storage to pull out the new hammer he got from Meirin. The red hammer fit perfectly in his hand, like he had used it for years. But the force it radiated and its intense color, somewhere between flame and blood, made his eyes narrow.

This is definitely not the same as the Ember Hammer.

Only the overall shape was similar; the details and the power he sensed from within were completely different. Given that the personnel, skill level, and materials involved in its creation were all different from the past, though, that was only natural.

It looks well-suited for both combat and forging. The only issue… is its functionality.

Since it was still unfinished, no information message appeared to describe it—but that didn’t matter. He had the skills to assess its abilities without it.

Focusing, Se-Hoon channeled his mana into the hammer and began examining the embedded mana circuits and imprinted synesthetic mindscape.

“Hm… I see.”

Woong-

As the hammer pulsed with a crimson glow, Se-Hoon studied it. Then, a long while later, he mentally summarized what he had uncovered.

Synchronizes with the user’s body. Durability and strength are likely to be affected by physical condition.

Has high affinity with all elemental mana. Likely influenced by the inclusion of the Seeker’s Heart as a material.

Generates a disruptive pulse that collapses the mana array of objects—same as the Ember Hammer.

Can make contact and strike at the world itself. Dangerous.

“…This turned out way more terrifying than I expected.”

Going over it all, Se-Hoon looked at the hammer with a stunned expression. Physical synchronization, elemental affinity, and disruptive pulses—all similar to the Ember Hammer and could be attributed to the materials’ properties.

However, the last one—interfering with the world itself—was clearly a massive problem.

One wrong use of this could get me killed.

Considering that just interfering with a Perfect One triggered a fierce resistance, who knew what would happen if he tried to affect the world directly? Worst-case scenario, he could end up going to war with the entire world—with the Golden Ring itself.

I need to seal this function off.

No matter how useful it could be, nothing good would come from clashing with the world over it. Accidental activation had to be avoided at all costs, making Se-Hoon tweak the mana circuit.

Woong-

Examining the faint chain-like pattern emerging on the surface of the hammer to make sure the world-interfering functionality had been locked away, Se-Hoon gave the hammer one last look before storing it.

Now… what should I name this thing?

Unfinished weapons typically didn’t get names, but given everything tied to the hammer, Se-Hoon wanted to at least give it a simple label.

Seriously thinking it over, he thought for a moment.

“Genesis Hammer… yea, that should do.”

Starting today, he would build things step by step—until one day he completed the hammer and brought everything to a close. Liking the name, Se-Hoon stored the Genesis Hammer back into his dream storage and stretched out again on the couch.

I’ve checked everything I need to for now… Next up is the Planetary Reinforcement Project.

The more desperate the Demon Force became, the likelier it was they’d resort to extreme plans like using the entire planet as a hostage. That was why, before he took out the remaining Ten Evils and Six Great Demon Realms, he needed to finish preparations for planetary reinforcement.

The basic framework is mostly done…

The overall structure would be based on the Towers of Heroes, just with separated zones to prevent any clashes between the powers of Perfect Ones… which was easy to say. Whether it could actually be implemented was yet to be known.

Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

Even if he only borrowed small parts of the powers, each one was still a law that defined the world. If he bound such things together carelessly, he could destroy both the facility and Terra’s body.

In the end, it all comes down to how much time I’m willing to spend on this.

To eliminate every potential variable, he had to gather artifacts tied to all seven powers, then run experiment after experiment until he was sure they wouldn’t clash. In other words, it was a lot of work, which made Se-Hoon smile bitterly.

How could I not be tired after all this? Sighhhh.

Then again, there was no point in stressing too early since he didn’t even have all the materials yet. Wrapping that up, Se-Hoon thought to take a short breather and switched to checking his condition by opening his status window.

[Lee Se-Hoon]

[Strength – S (321) Stamina – S (328)

Mana – ■ (─) Agility – S (330)]

My stats don’t seem to have changed that much… huh?

While casually scanning his status message, Se-Hoon abruptly shot up from the couch. He had noticed that his mana stat, which had previously broken through to S+ grade and surpassed 350, now displayed a symbol he had never seen before and was even left blank.

What is this…?

He furrowed his brow. There hadn’t been an achievement message or flashy effects announcing that his mana stat had reached a new level. If he had simply surpassed a threshold and reached SSS grade, there would’ve been some kind of dramatic reaction from the system which would prove things were proceeding normally. But…

There wasn’t anything. Not even a number.

Taking everything into account, there was only one explanation: his mana stat had become something fundamentally foreign to the system—and by extension, the Golden Ring that created it.

“…”

Se-Hoon looked down at his own body, facing a phenomenon that he hadn’t encountered even before the regression.

There are… two possible causes I can think of.

The first was that his body was turning into that of a Perfect One. As Perfect Ones and system messages both came from the Golden Ring, if his transformation had been abnormal, it was plausible that a conflict had occurred.

And if that were the case, it would resolve itself once he chose a side—Perfect One or not.

However, that wouldn’t be the case with the second possibility.

If this happened because I’m a regressor…

If that was true, then the Golden Ring had likely flagged him as a fundamental error that shouldn’t exist in its world. His expression hardening at the thought, Se-Hoon stared at the status message that hinted he was now facing the worst-case scenario he could imagine.

Jumping to conclusions isn’t good, but… I should prepare, just in case.

As things were, there was a real chance he could be forced into a life-or-death showdown with the world before he even got a chance to use the Genesis Hammer properly.

Shooting to his feet, Se-Hoon’s mind raced to think of his next move. To evade or override the Golden Ring’s interference, he would need to first be able to recreate the exact phenomenon that caused it in the first place. Which, in a roundabout way, meant pushing forward with the Planetary Reinforcement plan.

To run some experiments right away, I’ll need to get power-infused artifacts from Ha Baek-Yeon and Jason.

The one who had washed her hands of everything after having her wish fulfilled or the other who knew nothing aside from farming fruit and punching things? Weighing the pros of whom to approach first, Se-Hoon quickly began leaning to one side.

I’ll start with Jason.

The power of Perception was something he already had a decent grasp of and could wield it to some extent, but the power of Premotion remained a vague concept to him. Plus, Jason had recently said he’d be focusing on training for a while. Se-Hoon thought that if he helped out, Jason might be more cooperative than Baek-Yeon.

Alright. Time to go.

Rudely awakened to the realization that it really wasn’t the time to be taking it easy, Se-Hoon immediately asked around for Jason’s whereabouts. And not long after, he received a reply from Gregory that led him to Niagara Falls, where Jason had reportedly been staying recently.

“I’ll cooperate.”

Standing silently beneath the roaring waterfall, Jason accepted Se-Hoon’s proposal the moment he finished hearing it.

“…You’re not going to hear the rest?”

Se-Hoon frowned. He hadn’t expected Jason to so readily accept the offer without a hint of hesitation.

“Was there anything important I missed?”

“Well… not really, I guess…”

Se-Hoon had offered to help with Jason’s training, and in return, Jason would provide an item imbued with his power of Premotion. The rest of what he had to say was just supplementary, nothing crucial unless Jason had questions.

“Then there’s no need to listen further.”

With that indifferent reply, Jason returned to his meditation under the waterfall, eyes closed.

“…”

Se-Hoon couldn’t help but make a skeptical expression.

This guy… something tells me he’s going to be a nightmare to teach.

Jason meditating under something as intense as Niagara Falls was already a red flag. And to think his intuition was giving him a bad feeling that things were about to get chaotic.

For now, though, Se-Hoon fell into thought to figure out just exactly how he was supposed to help train the eccentric Perfect One—

“…But there’s one thing you should know.”

Speaking up all of a sudden as if something had just occurred to him, Jason opened his eyes and looked up at Se-Hoon.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know what my power does exactly.”

“…Excuse me?” Se-Hoon blinked in confusion. “Isn’t it the power of Premotion? The one where you slip through gaps and just—bam—punch through?”

“No, that’s not quite right.” Jason shook his head firmly. “Like I said before, what you all call the power of Premotion is just a normal punch to me.”

Sensing the gap given off by his opponent and driving his fist into it—Jason saw that as nothing more than a fundamental combat skill. Labeling such a thing as the same as something like the power of Boundaries felt like an exaggeration to him.

“It may be influenced by some kind of power, but that alone doesn’t make it the power itself. That’s why I’m saying it isn’t.”

“…”

Se-Hoon furrowed his brow.

Now that I think about it… that does kind of make sense.

The other Perfect Ones’ powers were based on clearly defined concepts or domains, something they governed or embodied. In contrast, the power of Premotion was kind of just triggered if one could perceive the gap and strike it. In a way, it was more like a form of blessing than a true power.

So that means…

Jason had reached the realm of ascension without even realizing what his true power was—a realization that hit Se-Hoon hard. Rather than just a troublesome case, Jason would most likely be worse than even Wurgen.

“Um… can I ask you one thing?”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you remember what wish you had when you became a Perfect One?”

“Hmm…”

Despite being under the crashing water, Jason was seemingly lost in thought. And even when he spoke again, it was in a very plain tone.

“I wished for my fist to reach.”

“Reach where?”

“The top of the Tower.”

“And… nothing else?”

“Yes, nothing else.”

Hearing Jason’s unwavering reply, Se-Hoon sighed inwardly and rubbed his face.

We’re screwed.

No matter how simple Jason might be, there was no way he had reached the realm of ascension with such a shallow wish. That meant there had to be something deeper—something more intense and complicated—within him. But for some reason, he wasn’t aware of it.

If it’s due to some memory loss like Wurgen’s, that’s one thing…

But if it were like Li Kenxie’s issue—where the distortion in his synesthetic mindscape during the process of reaching the realm of ascension had left a twisted imprint that made self-awareness impossible—then the only remaining option was to use the Tower of Heroes to reshape his power itself forcibly.

But to even create that divergence point in the Tower of Heroes, you need a deep understanding of the existing power first… but Jason doesn’t even know what his power is.

They were in a situation where it was possible that Se-Hoon could never identify Jason’s true power, let alone alter it.

Left at a loss, unsure of where to even begin, Se-Hoon groaned quietly and sighed.

Let’s try to stay calm.

The situation was extremely tangled, but it wasn’t entirely hopeless.

There should still be clues left in the power of Premotion. I’ll just have to investigate those slowly.

It would take a long time, but then again, mastering a power had never been easy in the first place.

Resolving himself, Se-Hoon—

Vrrr-

A vibration buzzed from his pocket. Glancing down, Se-Hoon took out his phone and looked at the screen to see a name he hadn’t seen in a while: Ha Seon-Woo.

As the grandnephew of Baek-Yeon and an investigator from the Heroes Association’s Special Operations Division, Seon-Woo was someone he had exchanged greetings with, but with it only being occasional, it was odd for him to be calling out of the blue.

This doesn’t feel too good…

Narrowing his eyes due to the unsettling feeling that he was unable to shake off, Se-Hoon answered the call.

—Se-Hoon…

Seon-Woo’s weak, trembling voice echoed in his ear.

—My grandaunt… Ha Baek-Yeon… was murdered…