The Regressor Only Protects Me Chapter 29

#Episode 29. Government Dog (1)

A force dominated by the police.

As expected, they were still expanding their power based on the Constitution of the Republic of Korea.

Being constitutional meant that at least within this power, a minimum level of human rights was guaranteed.

And having human rights guaranteed meant that I could grow up in a stable manner.

For now, this might be the best hideout for me.

During the standoff with the police, we were able to join them without much difficulty.

In fact, from the moment I first saw them, I thought it wouldn’t be difficult to get inside them.

The police were gathering survivors from the streets, and we were among the survivors found during that reconnaissance.

Of course, it’s not like there were no problems at all.

The officer who was walking ahead looked back a little and spoke to Jin Jae-hee.

“… … But you still have to be careful with that sword. You should never expose your sword inside a police station. Do you understand?”

He spoke while looking at Jin Jae-hee, but she wasn’t really interested in what he said.

The officer shook his head slightly after seeing her reaction and walked ahead.

The police station was not far from here.

As soon as I saw the police station, I let out a small sigh.

A huge wall.

The wall on the hill surrounding the police station was reminiscent of a huge castle wall.

There were villas and studio apartments nearby, but there was no building large enough to rival a police station.

The police station was the central location that controlled the area.

The officer approached the barricade in front of the main entrance to the police station.

Then the policeman saluted him.

“Loyalty. Thank you for your hard work.”

As expected.

Saluting meant that the law was still being followed.

The entrance was surrounded by several layers of barricades.

It wasn’t a makeshift barricade made in a shopping mall, it was a factory-made iron barricade.

A few police officers stood guard behind the barricade.

The police officer who finished the inspection immediately opened the barricade.

“Welcome. This way.”

The sergeant walked ahead and guided the survivors, including me and Jin Jae-hee.

There was a large police presence.

They were each armed with a gun and a three-pronged baton.

Before entering the police station, the officer called out to people.

“We will briefly inspect your belongings. This is for internal security purposes, so please cooperate.”

A few police officers came over to search my belongings.

Then Jaehee looked back at me and seemed to ask what I thought.

I nodded.

I had no intention of making enemies of them right away.

To use them, you had to gain their trust.

Two men approached and searched the body.

A female police officer approached Jin Jae-hee.

Then the policewoman found the real sword and pointed to it.

“This is not allowed to be possessed.”

When the policewoman tried to snatch it away without knowing anything, Jin Jae-hee nervously shook off her hand.

As Jin Jae-hee took action, the surrounding police officers immediately took out their guns and aimed them.

The atmosphere suddenly became cold.

At that moment, the officer who had brought us here waved his hand and calmed the police officers down.

“It’s okay. I gave you permission to possess it.”

“Class president, what…?”

When one of the police officers with a suspicious look asked with his gun pointed at him, the sergeant looked at Jin Jae-hee and answered.

“I thought you’d be a good fit for a scout corps. Every single person is precious. Put your guns down.”

At those words, the police officers, although suspicious, carefully put down the guns they had been aiming at.

Only then did Jin Jae-hee take his hand off the sword handle.

“Come up. Are you hungry? I’ll prepare a meal for you.”

The mention of food brought a smile to some people’s faces.

We went up the slope to the police station.

* * *

Manan Police Station was a five-story building with two underground floors.

The area where the rescued citizens lived was from the 2nd to the 4th floor above ground.

First, we went to the 5th floor and conducted a simple newspaper investigation.

It was an insignificant investigation.

What’s the situation outside, has there been contact with the government, has there been contact with monsters?

Both Zion and Jaehee consistently answered ‘no’.

Then they moved to the residences arranged along the slope.

They went down to the second floor.

The interior of the police station, which was originally a place to process civil complaints, has now become a place where citizens reside.

At first glance, it looked like over 200 people were crowded into a space that looked to be about 100 pyeong (approximately 330 square meters).

Men, women, old and young.

That word was used in this situation.

They spread out shabby bedding and some of them even used their brains to make small tents.

Somewhere, water was being heated on a gas burner, and children who had lost their parents were huddled together in a corner, watching the new arrivals.

People were shivering, huddled together in the encroaching cold.

The sight was like baby birds waiting for their mother bird on a cliff.

We had to watch our step as we walked.

Because people’s junk was strewn about haphazardly.

“The citizens are using the fourth floor, and the fifth floor is used as a residence for our police force. We have secured only these residences for now, but they say they will secure more residences in the future. The reconnaissance team will have to work hard for that. You two can use this. Since you are siblings, you can share a space… … You have no complaints, right?”

The slope introduced the two to a narrow space underneath a fire extinguisher leading to the second floor stairs.

Next to them was an old couple, in front of them were young men, and to their right were two orphans.

The space is so cramped that you can’t even stretch out both legs.

I also had to live in close quarters with complete strangers.

It was extremely poor.

“In the case of bathrooms, we control them. This. Both of you, please take it.”

The sergeant handed Zion two plastic sticks.

It was red and blue.

The sergeant also handed two sticks to Jaehee.

“You can submit the blue stick to our control officer when you use the restroom. You can submit the red stick when you are served food.”

“Are you saying I can eat once a day and use the bathroom once a day?”

Zion looked at the stick and asked.

The officer nodded and answered.

“Yes. That’s how we control it. There’s a food shortage, and the toilet problem is the most serious… … .”

The sergeant closed his eyes and then sighed deeply.

When I was at the shopping mall, I could use the bathroom freely.

Because until then, the city’s capital had not stopped.

But now that the second round had begun, it seemed like the capital had been blocked.

“It looks like the water isn’t flowing?”

Zion said, looking at the bathroom across the slope.

As the officer said, there were two police officers guarding the bathroom.

And when using the restroom, citizens could enter by handing over a blue stick.

The bathroom lines were long even though they were only used once a day.

“Right now, we are melting snow to supply water, but that too is due to a serious lack of manpower.”

“… … .”

Zion thought as he listened to the slope’s words.

Well, the whole world is covered in snow, so there can’t be a water shortage.

But the problem was that it took manpower to melt that snow, and that manpower was being wasted on completely useless labor.

Using the toilet was an act of maintaining the minimum dignity as a human being.

Even if things had gotten to this point, I probably wouldn’t have wanted to expose my butt and defecate outside.

Because they are still human.

I couldn’t give up that right.

But they didn’t really make a difference to Zion.

“Every morning at 6:30. We are checking the number of people and doing a roll call. Those two sticks will be distributed to each person in pairs during the roll call, so please take note. Everyone is cramped and everyone is having a hard time. Please be patient and let’s overcome this together.”

“Are the citizens here doing nothing?”

Zion called out the slope of return.

The slope turned and looked at Zion.

“For now, yes.”

The slope waited for Zion’s words.

But Zion frowned as he looked at something ahead.

And after looking at it for a bit, he looked at the slope and said.

“All right.”

Zion had a conversation with Jaehee about something.

The officer stared blankly at the two people and then moved away.

* * *

5F, Police Officer Residence.

“Sir. You’re saying that the woman had a real sword?”

Leaving the young police officer’s words behind, Police Officer Lee Cheong-chun took off his police hat as he went up to the fifth floor.

And then he sat down on the chair and leaned back as if he was tired.

5th floor of Manan Police Station.

Here, too, as in most residential areas, the floor was covered with bedding.

Men and women alike slept or rested, huddled together.

Police officers were also given two sticks, which they had to hand in when they wanted to eat or use the bathroom.

This was an instruction from the police chief.

Sergeant Lee Cheong-chun sat on his chair, tilted his head back slightly to rest, and then quickly got up.

Squeak-.

The chair hinges made a loud noise.

The young detective said to Lee Cheong-chun.

“Sir, did the woman have a real sword?”

“is it so.”

“Isn’t he a dangerous person? Why did you bring him in?”

A young detective followed behind Detective Lee Cheong-chun.

Lee Cheong-chun headed to the office storage area set up on one side of the office.

There was no door, and the entrance to the office storage room was blocked by a desk.

In order to distribute food, everyone had to submit a red stick here.

The same was true for Detective Lee Cheong-chun.

He placed a stick on the table, and the policeman sitting across from him took it and placed a plastic bottle containing bread and water on the table.

Lee Cheong-chun accepted the bread and water and returned to his seat.

The police officer who was still next to him started chattering and talking loudly.

“Sir, what if I act like that crazy psycho kid from two days ago?”

2 days ago.

Two young men were found causing a ruckus here by a Manan Police Station reconnaissance team that was out looking for survivors.

Two people were killed and four were injured in the stabbing.

The two young men are now locked up in a detention cell on the first basement floor.

The inspector was concerned that this would cause morale in the police department to drop.

Lee Cheong-chun sat down and chewed his bread.

There was a family photo on one corner of his desk.

Lee Cheong-chun took a sip of water while looking at the photo.

The water made by melting snow was placed one by one in plastic bottles.

The detective placed both hands on Lee Cheong-chun’s desk and snapped at him somewhat nervously.

“Class President… … Please… … ! I really don’t. What should I do?”

“Team Leader. After working as a police officer for 20 years, you can tell just by looking at a person’s eyes. Whether that person will harm us… or whether they will benefit us.”

“Haa… … Captain! That’s just a hunch.”

“Yes, Team Leader. Can you trust my 20-year intuition for once?”

Lee Cheong-chun looked up at the young detective while chewing his bread.

The detective had a sad look on his face.

He was a young inspector from officer school who had only been at the police station for a year.

Although he was higher in rank than Lee Cheong-chun, Lee Cheong-chun was far ahead of him in terms of career experience.

The young police officer lifted his police hat slightly and scratched his head.

Every time I scratched, dandruff fell off.

It’s because it’s been a long time since I washed it.

No one cared about things like washing or hygiene anymore.

The detective, who had been pondering something, carefully asked Lee Cheong-chun after hiding his expression.

“You’re not bringing me to the reconnaissance team, are you?”

“I’ll bring you to the reconnaissance team.”

“……yes?”

The detective looked at Lee Cheong-chun in surprise, but Lee Cheong-chun had finished eating the bread and closed his eyes to rest.

“Class president. Class president… … ?”

Lee Cheong-chun put his feet up on the desk without saying anything and fell asleep.

It was 14 hours of continuous work.

Lee Cheong-chun did not chase away the sleepiness that was creeping upon him.

“ha-.”

The young police officer sighed deeply at the sight of such a young man.

* * *

I took Jin Jae-hee and walked up the stairs to a place with relatively few people.

And I explained to her what I saw before her eyes, and she asked me back with a surprised look on her face.

“Quest window?”

It was a window that was invisible to others.

I looked at it indifferently and answered.

“Yeah. Quest window.”

“World Boss or Hidden Dungeon? What kind of thing is it? No. More importantly, what is the border color?”

Jin Jae-hee uttered a series of unintelligible words.

Her expression clearly showed genuine embarrassment.

“……golden yellow.”

“golden yellow?”

She rested her chin on her hand as if trying to recall memories, lost in thought.

Jin Jae-hee also seemed to not know anything about the window.

Maybe my past life’s me had deliberately kept it from her.

But the quest window in front of me wasn’t a lie.

It meant that it was a personal quest given only to me, without any intervention from an administrator or third party.

Among the contents written in the quest window, my eyes were particularly drawn to the reward section.

“What’s the content?”

Jin Jae-hee asked again, and I hesitated for a moment before answering.

I decided that it wouldn’t make any difference if Jin Jae-hee knew this.

But this quest was clearly a huge benefit to me.

“The contents are… … .”

(Continued in the next episode)