The Regressor Only Protects Me Chapter 162

Episode 162. An Unexpected Reunion (2)

Jin Jae-hee's eyes were shaking wildly.

“Hoseung, you.”

She ran out and hugged Ho-seung, who had fallen.

Bam-!

His body was as cold as if he was embracing a large block of ice.

His body was trembling.

Jaehee felt like she was about to burst into tears, but she checked on his well-being first.

The prisoners around her slowly stepped back at her attitude. Jaehee continued to check Hosung’s condition.

“Are you okay? You… … !”

There wasn't a single spot on his body that was clean.

It didn't look like a simple wound caused by prisoners trampling on him.

There were marks of a whiplash, signs of fire, three or four teeth were missing, and one of his eyes was missing a pupil.

It was the appearance of a person who had been wandering as a slave for a long time.

Jaehee grabbed Hosung's shoulders and spoke in a sad voice.

“Ho-seung… … . Ho-seung, you… … . What happened to your body? What happened? What about the others? Min-ji, Cheol-ho. Didn’t they come together?”

At that moment, Hosung's low voice was heard.

“… … Is this a dream?”

Jaehee shrugged his shoulders at that voice.

One of Ho-seung's eyes was still unfocused and shaking, losing focus.

After their first eye contact, Ho-seung continued to avoid Jae-hee's gaze.

“At first… … I looked for you… … . You. You were always in the same room, unless I woke you up… … . You didn’t even wake up.”

The voice of the powerless champion continued to echo mournfully through the prison.

“No matter how many times we knocked on the door, you weren’t there… … We thought you were dead… … . Without you, what would the kids do… … . They were so sad. They were heartbroken. I guess we needed you more than we thought.”

“… … .”

Jin Jae-hee just listened to him silently.

In her past life, she won rounds with her friends.

Even though she was not a regressor, she survived by being active in the area's sphere of influence with the power of an S-class artifact.

Of course, friends other than Jin Jae-hee were not chosen by the artifact.

That's why most of them went out and found things they could do under her protection.

But Jin Jae-hee's absence in the apocalypse was too big for them.

The relationship was headed toward ruin.

Like any other fugitive, they ran like mad from monsters and madmen, but there was a limit to that.

All of the friends who were close to him like family died, and Lee Ho-seung, who eventually survived, wandered like a madman until he was captured as a slave and finally ended up here.

This was the result of Jin Jae-hee's choice.

If she had stayed with them, this misfortune would not have happened.

Lee Ho-seung said, swallowing his tears.

“… …Why are you here?”

“… … .”

“I’ve been looking for you for so long… … Cheol-ho is looking for you… … ! Cough!”

Ho-seung couldn't finish his last words and started spitting out blood.

Ho-seung didn't resent Jae-hee for not protecting them.

He was resentful that she had suddenly disappeared.

The strength in Jaehee's hand that was holding Hosung disappeared and he fell to the floor.

Instead, Ho-seung now grabbed her top tightly.

“Where have you been? Where have you been? We promised to be together forever… … . Why… … . Why did you disappear without a word… … . Why… … . Why. Why… … .”

“… … .”

“You could tell me… … . You could come back… … . If it were you. I knew you’d survive. In this damn world. But why didn’t you come back… … . Why… … . Are we supposed to be sad?”

I expected it.

After returning, the day she first came up from Busan to Anyang.

That this action would change his future.

Even if her friends died, she was prepared to accept it.

At the end, her grand dream of putting everything back to the way it was was waiting for her.

It was just a bad dream.

I kept brainwashing myself into thinking it was a bad dream that I wouldn't wake up from.

But the death of a friend I faced.

No matter how many times I vowed to myself, it was difficult to endure.

"sorry……."

Even just saying that one word was unbearable pain for Jin Jae-hee.

A great sadness came over me that I could not describe in words or thoughts.

Jin Jae-hee lowered her eyes and looked at his profile.

I wanted to make an excuse.

She spoke urgently, even though no one was chasing her.

“It’s okay now. Since you met me again… … , now I… … , again, you… … !”

At that moment, Lee Ho-seung cut her off.

"no."

The moment Lee Ho-seung denied it, the atmosphere became even more tense.

“Nothing is okay. It’s all over. Minji, Cheolho, my parents. The studio we used to go to. The dreams we had together… .”

Only then did Ho-seung look at her with tearful eyes.

The two looked at each other like that for a while.

“… … It’s all over.”

Ho-seung muttered as he got up from Jae-hee's embrace.

I didn't say anything to anyone in particular.

It was something Ho-seung had been saying out of habit for the past five years.

“Please kill me, someone. Please.”

Then he walked weakly towards the opposite wall.

The prisoners who had been silently watching the two naturally made way for them, and Ho-seung sat down, leaning against the wall.

He remained still, his head bowed.

Like someone slowly dying, breathing irregularly.

Jin Jae-hee remained in that spot and bit her lower lip hard.

Let the blood flow down and cling to her chin.

Today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow passed without the two of them speaking again.

* * *

“Your colleague went to 3rd floor?!”

The bald woman asked in surprise.

Choi Hyun-ji nodded and said.

“Is it that dangerous there?”

“Of course! That’s where all the worst criminals go. You damn criminals.”

When the bald woman spoke while gritting her teeth, Choi Hyun-ji thought her words were not very convincing.

The woman with the bald head was also locked up here because she committed a crime.

Of course, he was unjustly imprisoned.

She continued, biting into the bread.

“But in the end, you have to win 7 times in the Colosseum to be forgiven and leave here?”

“That’s right. Basically, you get the resources, but people like me are a little different. Only impatient people can’t rot away in prison their whole lives, so they run out and die first.”

“That’s right… … If you just didn’t go to the stadium, that would be the end of it. Why are you risking your life to go?”

“That’s right. That’s right. I don’t understand. I’m saying that once you get used to life here, it’s okay.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure someone will take care of it.”

Choi Hyun-ji put the last remaining piece of bread into her mouth and looked at the iron bars on the other side.

There, Choi Myeong-jun was exercising with his upper body exposed and a man sitting on his back.

Choi Hyun-ji called him in a rough tone.

“Hey. Pig.”

“Phew-. Sob!”

Choi Myeong-jun, who was called a pig, pretended not to listen to her and raised his upper body again.

“Hey, pig!”

“Don’t talk to me, woman. I’m getting out of here.”

“Didn’t you hear what this person said? If you go to the Colosseum, you’ll almost certainly die.”

“Keep quiet. I’m sick of being a prison guard.”

For Choi Myeong-jun, prison must have been a truly miserable place.

All he wanted to do was get out of here quickly and go see Kang Shi-on.

“Then you have to use your head. Your head. Hey- pig. Stop it.”

“It’s noisy. I can’t concentrate.”

“Ah- Hey! Listen to me, please?”

"shut up."

“Ahhh! Is that brain full of muscles? That idiot.”

“Mojiri is exercising. Shut up when I say something nice.”

Choi Myeong-jun lowered his upper body again with strength.

His muscles were shaking as if they were alive.

“… … Ah. We really can’t communicate.”

Choi Hyun-ji scratched her head.

Ever since she was imprisoned here, she had been thinking about escaping constantly.

Choi Hyun-ji had her own plan.

But to put that plan into action, Choi Myeong-jun's power was needed.

Choi Myeong-jun didn't listen to Choi Hyeon-ji.

“Enough! Go and die or not. Do whatever you want!”

Choi Hyun-ji turned her gaze away from him, feeling annoyed for no reason.

But soon she glanced at him again and muttered.

“That idiot… … .”

* * *

'What could it be?'

The water droplets on the ceiling hung precariously, then eventually fell to the floor.

The water droplet hit a small puddle and created waves.

Jin Jae-hee looked at his reflection in the puddle and thought.

'What the heck?'

Then, he raised his head slightly and looked at Lee Ho-seung, who was lying on the other side.

Since coming here, Lee Ho-seung has been lying curled up on his back as if he has given up on life, only breathing faintly.

I barely drank water and didn't eat any food.

It's not that I don't understand his feelings.

When he lost him in his previous life, the feeling of loss was immense.

But what is it that you are rejecting yourself for now? It's not like you're upset or anything.

It was like seeing my little brother.

Feeling frustrated, Jin Jae-hee got up from his seat.

“Eek-! I’m, I’m sorry!”

“Oh, I didn’t steal it!”

For no reason, the other prisoners were so scared that they cowered.

Regardless of how the prisoners reacted, Jin Jae-hee approached him step by step.

Lee Ho-seung felt something huge approaching him, so he crouched down and raised his head.

and.

Snap-!

“How long are you going to keep doing this? How long?”

Jin Jae-hee grabbed the fallen Ho-seung by the collar and helped him up.

Ho-seung was flustered by her sudden behavior and was at a loss for words.

“Wh, what are you doing?!”

“How long are you going to act like an idiot?”

“What’s your business…? Whatever I do. Just do your own thing!”

“You idiot.”

Phew!

Jin Jae-hee kicked Ho-seung's shin.

Ho-seung fell to the floor in unnecessarily painful pain.

“Ahhh! Oh!”

Jaehee shouted at him excitedly.

“So what! What do you want me to do? Didn’t I have my own circumstances? And wherever I go, whatever I do! I’ll take care of it. Are you like my father or something? What are you meddling in?”

Jaehee pretended to be strong, but after losing his father in the fire, he was very depressed as if he had lost everything in the world.

Just like Ho-seung now, if his friends didn't take care of him, he wouldn't eat and would stay in his room all day long.

So, Ho-seung and his friends took care of Jae-hee every single day without fail.

So Jaehee suddenly disappeared… … .

“This gorilla… … ! You’re developing a habit. I… … told you. Fix that fist-pumping personality. You can’t function in society.”

“Don't meddle.”

“What am I…? Who was I to stay in my room all day like I was going to die!”

“Who asked you to meddle?”

“If you don’t meddle! If you don’t meddle! Are you telling me to just sit back and watch as you get ruined?!”

“I told you to do it as you see fit. I’ll do it as you see fit!”

Jaehee shouted as if it was unfair, and Hosung had no intention of losing either.

The two began to yell at each other.

It was a common scene among old friends.

Because we were friends, we could overlook the small mistakes that usually happen, but once it happens, all the accumulated grievances come out like a flood.

“You’re supposed to do it on your own?! I packed your meals every day, and I even did your laundry! You were just lying under the blankets all day. Minji even helped me wash you!”

“What, what?! When did I… …?!”

Jaehee's cheeks turned red at Hosung's decisive move.

“Okay. Okay. If you’re going to make a fuss even if I take care of you, then it would have been right to just leave you alone. Whether you die or not.”

After saying those words, Ho-seung turned around and started walking again.

Jin Jae-hee clenched his fists and exhaled roughly.

And then he shouted at him as he turned back.

“That’s right! I’m doing it too! Right now… … !”

At those honest words, Ho-seung stopped walking for a moment and looked back at Jae-hee.

At that moment, Jin Jae-hee, who could no longer bear it any longer, grabbed Ho-seung by the collar even more roughly and pushed him against the wall.

bang-!

Jin Jae-hee opened both eyes wide and stared at Ho-seung's frightened face.

The two people were standing close to each other, looking into each other's eyes.

Jaehee tried hard to swallow his emotions and said.

“Look at me. Look at me.”

At Jaehee's words to look at herself, Hosung's eyes scanned her face.

“Are you done?”

"what……?"

“Are we finished?”

“It’s over… … . I lost everything. Everything… … .”

“What’s over? Nothing is over. I’m alive. You’re alive. Yes. I’ll be honest. After my father died, I honestly didn’t know why to live. But who’s gone is gone. I decided to accept my father’s death. You did that, didn’t you? You idiot. You said that now that you’ve lost your father, you should just live your life… … ? Do you know how much strength that gave me?”

Ho-seung's eyes shook.

“But look at you now. Your words are one thing, your actions are another. We met. We’re both alive. You just have to live properly from now on. You have to survive even if you beg, you have to survive even if you’re like X, you have to survive even if you have to trample on others!!! Life is about enduring, my father always said. So hang in there, you idiot. Grit your teeth and hold on. Just like you told me. Yes. Just like you guys helped me on the day I was going to die, just like you said… … .”

“… … .”

Slurp-.

Jaehee's hand that was holding Hosung's collar slipped away.

Jaehee's hands naturally grabbed Hosung's shoulders, and she whispered while resting her forehead on his forehead.

“Don’t show me your weak side. Don’t show me your weak side… … .”

Jaehee's voice gradually became quiet.

There was silence for a while.

Jaehee, Hosungdo, and all the prisoners locked in iron bars were silent.

But Jin Jae-hee didn't know.

That her words had just struck a chord with the prisoners.

At that moment, the iron gate opened and armed guards began to rush out.

Jaehee and Hosung looked at the guards, and the guard glanced around the third building and shouted.

“It’s a match! Gladiators whose names are called now, come forward and prepare.”

The guards started calling out names one by one.

The one whose name was called became thoughtful.

Jin Jae-hee and Lee Ho-seung were also included in those names.

(Continued in the next episode)