The Regressor Only Protects Me Chapter 121

Episode 121. Jin Jae-hee (1)

Jin Jae-hee followed the sphere.

The sphere moved in one direction and hit a fleshy wall.

‘Over there?’

Jin Jae-hee raised his sword straight towards that place and then brought it down straight away.

Swish-. Swish!

As if cutting the skin with a scalpel, the huge endothelium split in two.

It was a blood vessel.

The sphere continued to move forward along the gap.

Inside the dark passageway, which was as dark as an abyss, lights began to shine here and there.

Like a highway milestone in the middle of the night.

Jaehee frowned as he looked at the brightened interior.

“Eeeeeeeee… … !”

“Kaaaaaaaaa… …!”

At the bottom of the blood vessels, countless Park Ji-soo’s cells were all looking at Jin Jae-hee.

They had the appearance of Park Ji-soo and were colored black, white, and red.

Although it wasn’t a weapon, its long claws and sharp teeth were threatening enough.

At that moment, Park Ji-soo’s voice filled the hallway.

“Kill him… … ! Kill him!!! Kill that bastard!!! Tear him limb from limb and bring him to me!”

At that moment, the cells that had gathered like a swarm of ants began to fly towards Jin Jae-hee.

“Kill, kill, kill!”

“Kill me, kill me!”

“Kill, kill, kill, kill!”

“Kill me!!! Kill me!”

The blood vessels began to fill with the screams of the monsters.

The cells surrounded Jaehee and tried to subdue him at once.

“… … .”

Jin Jae-hee quickly looked around, searching for a way out, and soon clenched both hands.

I realized it.

That he is not the type to analyze situations and fight like Zion.

He’s the type that just breaks things.

Ever since she was little, and more than 20 years later in high school, she has tried to solve things with her fists rather than words.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a guy bigger than you or a bunch of bullies from the next school.

Jin Jae-hee has tried every sport since he was young, and thanks to that, his fighting skills surpass those of most adults.

She was what people commonly call a ‘tong’.

container.

She was a girl known for her fists in high schools around Busan.

* * *

Past life.

2019, rooftop of Seongji High School in Nam-gu, Busan.

A group of bullies were surrounding a female student.

Among them, a large, distracted male student clicked his tongue and said.

“Whoa- Me. F**k. What the? … … Ma! Are you fu*king kidding me? You little Busan girl? Ha, really. You little brats… … . You’re not even kidding me.”

For an 18-year-old, he has a bulky and fat body and a tattoo that extends from his chest to his elbows.

They were clearly wearing school uniforms, but judging by the way they were smoking cigarettes with their mouths open, they were clearly bullies.

The boys were sitting on the rooftop with their group, while on the other side, Jin Jae-hee, 19 years old, born in 2001, was standing alone.

He was wearing a school uniform on top, but his bottom was in gym clothes.

Her short hair fell just below her shoulders.

And he looked around with both hands confidently in his pockets.

The male student looked at Jin Jae-hee and snickered, provoking her.

“You’re so good at fighting. You came alone, didn’t you? … Go away? If you don’t want to get beaten.”

Jin Jae-hee turned his eyes and looked at the group of bullies and said.

The savory Busan dialect was exchanged between them.

“You guys… … . They came rushing in. Oh, you said you were going to die. When I stood up. Dingdongdang Karaoke hallway. Around 6 p.m.”

“What? Gasna. Your son was the one who caused trouble first.”

“If you’re going to get beaten just for looking at someone, do you really have to live with your eyes glued to the ground? You said you were going to make a half-crippled person out of them and come find me if you had any complaints? To me. That’s why you came.”

Jaehee unbuttoned the sleeves of his school uniform and began to fold them.

“I didn’t know you were Gasna. But this is not the case. Bring Musma. You turn it off. I… … don’t fight Gasna.”

Rattling-!

The male student with a heavy body got up from his seat and approached Jin Jae-hee one step at a time.

He smoked a cigarette, laughed heartily, and looked down at Jin Jae-hee.

“Wow-. Gasna. It’s so pretty. Is it really true?”

The difference in physique between the two was clear.

Jin Jae-hee was also tall for a girl at 172 cm, but she was smaller than the boys.

But, Kangdagu was different.

Jin Jae-hee asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

“Then, is it okay if the daughters fight each other?”

“What is it?”

Whirik-. Kwajik!!!!!!

The sound of two eggs breaking apart.

“Kuaaaaaaah… … !”

Jaehee kicked the boy’s groin.

At that moment, tears welled up in the boy’s eyes.

“The first strike wins, you son of a bitch.”

After that, the thugs rush towards Jaehee.

“Hey. Cover them all at once!”

“Eww!!!!”

“This thorn is crazy!”

A rumor that spreads like a legend among Busan high school students.

The legend of 23 to 1.

Believe it or not, it was just a rumor, but one thing is certain: Jaehee was more serious about fighting than anyone else.

A rooftop where fists are thrown.

When Jaehee single-handedly defeated eight of them, the rest got scared and ran away.

Jaehee was so injured that there wasn’t a single spot on his body that was healthy, but he laughed heartily.

“You’re being a jerk. You fu*king idiots.”

Jaehee wasn’t a so-called gangster or bully, but he used more violence than gangsters on those who messed with his friends.

So, from middle school until I graduated from high school, we kept fighting and before I knew it, we were good at fighting.

… … Of course, studying was a failure.

When she graduated from high school, her grades were at the bottom of the entire school.

* * *

“Whew-.”

Jaehee spat on the floor.

There was a little blood in the saliva.

At that time, Ho-seung, who was nearby, asked cautiously.

“Jaehee, are you okay?”

Late at night, Jaehee was sitting in the playground gazebo with his friends.

Ho-seung, Cheol-ho, and Min-ji looked sad.

It was because they were worried about Jaehee, who was called out to fight because of them.

Ho-seung lowered his head while fiddling with the strap of his guitar bag.

“I’m sorry… … . I got in trouble for nothing… … .”

“What is there to be sorry about?”

At that moment, Jaehee raised his head, looked at Hosung, and smiled bashfully.

“Those punks. If you leave them alone, they’ll come at you again and fight. You have to step on them so they won’t touch you again. I kept thinking that I’ll take care of them someday, I’ll take care of them. Today, they caught me.”

“……sorry.”

Jaehee has always been like that.

A friend who, when a friend gets hit somewhere, runs over and beats up the guy who hit him.

Jin Jae-hee, Lee Ho-seung, Kim Cheol-ho, Park Min-ji.

The four were neighborhood friends who had lived in the same apartment since they were young.

The four of them always played together.

When they were young, smartphones were not common, so there were not many PC rooms or other entertainment options like there are for kids today.

As for things to do… … there were only arcade games and playgrounds in front of the stationery store.

The relationship between the four was that close.

As we grew older, there were times when we neglected each other, but true friends knew how to think of each other even when they grew apart.

And the four had one dream.

Minji remained silent for a moment, then looked at Jaehee again and spoke.

“Jaehee, you. Have you quit music now?”

“… … .”

Jaehee’s eyelids fluttered when he heard that voice.

* * *

music.

In her life, which consisted only of exercise, sleep, and fighting, music was the only ‘color’.

The beginning was really simple.

I think it was when I was in middle school that we all started singing together.

Strangely enough, all four of them loved music.

They liked it so much that whenever the four of them got together, they would go to karaoke.

From elementary school to middle school and high school.

The beginning was Cheol-ho.

The idea was to form a band.

Our own band.

At first, we were playful and suggested that each of us do what we were good at.

At that time, Jaehee was chewing on his short legs and snickering.

What kind of third-rate youth drama are we filming?

But the four of them, who were sincere to each other when it came to music, eventually formed a band.

The start wasn’t bad.

I was invited to a youth festival and even appeared in a YouTuber’s video.

Of course, in the YouTube videos, Jaehee stood out more for his looks than his music.

Before you knew it, your friends were majoring in music and your friends were applying to college.

Hosung plays the piano.

Cheol-ho plays the guitar.

Minji is a bass.

Although it might be a little funny to others, Jaehee was a vocalist.

Jaehee had a really nice voice.

Gentle melodies, calm tones, and even a good sense of rhythm, although not innate.

Ho-seung, Cheol-ho, and Min-ji fell in love with Jae-hee’s appearance.

Jaehee was really pretty.

Whenever I sing.

For Jaehee, who had only exercised for the first time, music became a medium that could add color to his life.

But the dream didn’t last long.

High school principal’s office.

The homeroom teacher sat Jin Jae-hee down and spoke.

On the desk was her September mock exam report card.

“… … Jaehee, you. You can’t go anywhere this semester. Don’t even dream of early admission because of your attendance, grades, and most of all, school violence. It doesn’t matter if you win first place at the sports festival or receive awards in various competitions. You have a record of school violence. You should start preparing for regular admission right now… … .”

School violence.

It wasn’t because Jaehee was bullying other kids.

All he did was beat up some bullies who were doing thuggery at school.

Unfortunately, the parents of the bully were well-known politicians in Busan, and Jin Jae-hee barely received a suspension from high school thanks to the victims’ statements.

“You sing too?”

The homeroom teacher continued, placing the student records on the desk.

“You’re doing pretty well?”

“… … .”

“Jaehee, look at the news these days. Even famous singers lose their music careers of decades just because they were perpetrators of school violence. You know?”

“Teacher, I… … .”

“I know. I know. You’re not a thug. But that’s how the world sees you. Fists… … don’t solve anything. Nothing. It all comes back to you.”

“… … .”

“Even the art schools that no one knows about these days require you to take Korean, English, and math, and choose two of them… … You have to get a 12. Not to mention physical education schools. Physical education schools look at grades more. It’s a mess.”

The homeroom teacher glanced at Jaehee’s September mock exam report card.

Korean 9, English 9, Math 9.

“… … Even if I guess, it’ll come out better than this. Even if I guess. Jaehee. Or, line it up in 3. The final subjective answer in math is always one of -1, 0, or 1. So guess this one too. Oh my. The teacher teaches all sorts of things to the students, dude.”

“… … .”

“I’m saying this because I really feel bad. Because I feel bad. Listen carefully, okay? There are still two months left until the college entrance exam. Honestly, let’s study at least the basics of Korean love and social studies. Don’t try to understand it. Just memorize it. Do you know what comb-pattern pottery is…?”

Jaehee cowered and answered the teacher’s surprise question without confidence.

“Rabbit… …? Animal.”

“Hey… … ! Gasuna! Are you really a third-year high school student in South Korea?!? Your homeroom teacher is a Korean history teacher! Oh my. You’re really driving me crazy! You should go to a bookstore first, and read the reference books I’m talking about… .”

… … Hesitating, hesitating.

Jaehee didn’t listen to what the homeroom teacher said next.

In the end, Jaehee didn’t go to college.

It would be more accurate to say that I can’t go.

Jaehee was not good at studying, no, he didn’t want to study, and in Korean society, not being able to study meant not being able to do what he wanted to do.

So she ended up.

‘Let’s give up.’

Jaehee gave up on music and his future career when he was in his second year of high school, and was now living that way.

Jaehee entered the uphill road leading to the house where the streetlights were blinking.

This place was quite far out of Busan, so there were no cars or people passing by.

Bang-!

I even threw away the can I found while passing by.

Swish-. Swish-.

I even swept the ground with my slippers for no reason.

Then I looked around.

Beyond the guardrail, the sea in front of Busan was visible.

In the dark night sea, the lights of fishing boats were lined up along the horizon.

It was as if someone had accidentally dripped white paint in a straight line onto a black piece of paper.

Although Busan’s famous Gwangan Bridge and Haeundae Beach are absent here, it still has its own charm.

Whenever Jaehee got lost in thought, he always looked at the sea.

The only good thing about living in Busan is this.

“… … .”

Jaehee turned his head and looked at the apartment.

I didn’t want to go home.

Because I didn’t want to see my father disappointed.

But I had to go in.

Because there was a curfew.

Jaehee, who was looking at the apartment, picked up the can he had thrown away earlier.

And instead of going to the trash can, I headed towards the sea beyond the guardrail.

“… … Live however you want.”

Phew-!

The can she threw flew far away and landed on the beach.

It flew quite far.

* * *

Phew!!! Swish, swoosh, swoosh.

Blood spurted everywhere.

Jaehee swung the cell back again, cutting its neck.

Every time she swung the holy sword, Park Ji-soo’s cells fell like fallen autumn leaves.

Phew!

Jaehee thought as he struck the chin of the cell rushing at him with his right fist.

‘Why me… … all of a sudden… … .’

I couldn’t understand.

Why did memories of the past suddenly come to mind at this very moment?

It seemed like someone was deliberately reminding me of this.

My current self and my past self were in conflict.

The image of him practicing singing while playing the acoustic guitar, and the image of him cutting down cells that were rushing to kill him.

A figure drenched in sweat from hitting a sandbag, and a figure covered in blood and wrapped in silver.

“Haa… … . Haa… … .”

father.

And then I remembered that familiar name.

‘… … .’

Jaehee was remembering those days long ago as he cut through the cells.

But even as she recalled the memories, her body did not stop for a single moment.

Following the sphere of Zion, cutting through the cells, I finally cut through the first weak point.

(Continued in the next episode)