The Regressor Only Protects Me Chapter 39

#Episode 39. Artifact

Whether it was because of the long, tiring sleep or not, when I opened my eyes again, I felt refreshed rather than cold.

But the refreshing feeling was soon overtaken by the cold.

I slowly raised my upper body.

I was wearing so many layers of clothing that it was difficult to move my body.

When I woke up in the morning, what I could see with my blurry vision was Jin Jae-hee holding a sword.

At first, I was startled by the scene I saw as soon as I opened my eyes, but soon I realized that it was preparation for training, so I put my hand on my head and said.

“I was surprised.”

“I really have to do this now. I’ve been sleeping for 13 hours.”

“13 hours? Roll call.”

“From today, the two of us are excluded. That’s fortunate. One annoying thing is gone.”

I turned my neck slightly as I listened to her.

I loved the crackling sound every time I turned my neck.

Jin Jae-hee handed me a bottle of water.

I took the water bottle from her, took a sip, and sat down on the edge of the bed.

I checked the artifact that was supposed to be opened yesterday.

Inventory.

A place where you cannot put items from the general world, but only items specified by the league can be put in.

There was an artifact in the first cell there.

An artifact that has not yet been released.

I calmly clicked on the artifact box window and opened it.

Jin Jae-hee, who was watching the scene, said with a little surprise.

“It’s opening right away. Normally, when you open something like this, doesn’t it take a little while?”

“Even if you wait, nothing good will come of it.”

Pfft! Knock knock knock.

A small square box began to glow, shaking from side to side before exploding right before my eyes.

Looking at it, I felt a strange sense of emptiness.

‘Are you kidding?’

In this world where people die every second, the interface set up by the administrators was incredibly flashy.

Inside the box was a sphere of light.

When I grabbed it with my hand, the light naturally disappeared.

[Unlocks the artifact.]

[The player’s artifact is ‘Sphere’.]

-Artifact details

-Name: Old

-Active Skill: Move

-Grade: F

A simple status window.

Jin Jae-hee, who was looking at it, said to me.

“To make an artifact appear in front of you, just say ‘open’ with your mouth. That’s the system default setting.”

“Open.”

I followed her straight away and said:

Then the light disappeared and a small sphere floated over my palm.

It wasn’t a burst of light, nor was it transparent or colorful.

It was a dark gray, spherical object, like a steel ball.

“bead?”

I looked at Jin Jae-hee to ask what this was.

Jin Jae-hee’s surprised expression softened slightly and he answered.

“As expected, the ball has come out. It’s not a bad ability. I wouldn’t say it’s overwhelming, though.”

“What ability is it?”

“It’s easier to think of it as an energy ball. A clone that moves as you think. I don’t know much about the transformed skills. In your previous life, you were very secretive about your abilities.”

I listened to her words and looked at the dark gray sphere floating on my palm.

She sat down on the bed opposite me and slowly began to explain.

“Perhaps because it’s a growth type, the only thing it can use right now is moving. It might be difficult to move it right now… … .”

I imagined the sphere moving and gave instructions to send it flying with my finger.

Whirl-, swish.

Soon the sphere stretched out in a straight line and floated into the space on the left.

“Is the shape of a sphere unchangeable?”

I looked at the sphere floating in the air and then at Jin Jae-hee.

Her eyes were wide open and her mouth was slightly open.

I tilted my head slightly and waited for her to speak.

Jin Jae-hee said in a slightly trembling voice.

“That’s amazing. No, honestly, I’m surprised.”

“what.”

“Isn’t this the first time you’ve seen this today?”

“however.”

Whirik- whoosh.

Once again, I returned the ball to the space between Jin Jae-hee and me.

Jin Jae-hee was muttering something while looking at the ball.

“No. Maybe it’s natural… … Because you’re Kang Shi-on. Because you’re Kang Shi-on. Kang Shi-on… … No, so if it’s like this.”

“Don’t muddle through, explain it clearly.”

“Uh, yeah. Sorry.”

Jin Jae-hee, who had gathered his thoughts, took a deep breath and began to explain.

“Handling artifacts is quite a difficult task. Even I didn’t know how to use them properly for a year after the first artifact came out.”

“Why is this possible for me?”

Whirl, whirl-.

Now I’m spinning the ball around in the air.

Jin Jae-hee’s eyes began to spin around the sphere.

Her voice was trembling.

“Well, it’s a natural talent. In fact, your ability is closer to a later ability than an early ability. All growth types are like that. As you grow, the level of your artifact will gradually increase… … But aren’t you dizzy? Right now?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. But is the artifact an ability given to everyone?”

“No. As K said, it’s an ability that only special players can have. Once you’ve been given an artifact, it means the system has chosen you.”

I clenched my fist.

Then, the ball that had been spinning around stopped in midair.

Only then did Jin Jae-hee’s eyes stop.

I picked up the ball again and held it in my hand.

The outside was smooth.

It really was just like a steel ball.

Using this iron ball at my own will, I felt as if I had become a superpower.

“So? How do you train your artifacts?”

Jin Jae-hee, who had to answer my question in one breath, hesitated and had difficulty continuing his speech.

After waiting a moment for an answer, I frowned in frustration.

I put the ball on my index finger and twirled it around like a basketball and asked,

“what’s the matter?”

And then suddenly, curious about the destructive power of the ball, I threw it towards the left wall.

Whirlwind- phukk.

The ball vibrated when it touched the wall.

There were no cracks in the wall or any other reaction.

‘It has little destructive power, right?’

Shhh-.

I threw the ball again at Jin Jae-hee’s head.

Honestly, I thought she would avoid it.

Because she always detected my attacks in advance and avoided them.

When we were practicing the day before yesterday and when we were practicing yesterday, she told me to attack her whenever I wanted and to try to land a successful strike.

But as expected, the prediction went wrong.

Bam.

The ball touched her cheek, and her crushed cheek was slightly pushed out.

As expected, it didn’t seem to have any destructive power.

“It’s already… something… like… something… like… something.”

“what?”

I couldn’t hear well because Jin Jae-hee spoke in a hushed voice.

I asked again.

“What is the training content?”

“I already… … did everything… … .”

She answered, pushing the ball that had touched her cheek away with her finger.

I returned the ball to my hand and placed it on my finger.

The ball began to spin around on his finger again.

“You’re done, what do you mean?”

“You’ve already mastered a year’s worth of training like everyone else. So… … I think you just need to learn growth quests or other crafting skills. Yeah. Or get rewards from the hidden dungeon.”

I looked at her hesitating, then looked at the ball spinning on her finger.

A year’s worth of training from other people.

I mastered the artifact within a minute of opening it.

* * *

‘That’s ridiculous.’

Jin Jae-hee thought as he watched the ball spinning like a basketball on Zion’s finger.

‘… Is it because he’s a player chosen by the manager? No, no matter what, this growth is too fast. No. Can you even call it growth in the first place? He was a complete character from the start.’

Even among those who were chosen to receive an S-class artifact, there has never been a case where growth was this fast.

Right now, Jin Jae-hee has an S-class artifact.

S-class, blacksmith.

Black Sword was an ability that allowed her to no longer have to carry around a cumbersome sword.

Because he could take out the sword within the inherent system whenever and wherever he wanted.

But even Jin Jae-hee hasn’t been able to perfectly implement the artifact yet.

There is no complete definition of what implements an artifact.

The world is going to end and there are no scholars studying the phenomenon, so there are no related papers or articles.

However, most players think that there are two main abilities for artifacts.

The first is imagination.

It was the imagination that allowed one to use artifacts as weapons.

This imagination was an ability that required the mobilization of all the senses, unlike simply thinking with the head.

If there is a difference between the sword that Jin Jae-hee is trying to create and the actual sword, the ability will not be generated.

The second is intelligence.

Players named it intellect.

Intelligence may sound similar to mental strength, but they are concepts on a completely different level.

Intelligence is another power that the human brain can use, along with imagination and thinking.

The more you use the artifact, the more dizzy you will start to feel, and at the moment when you reach your limit, you will lose consciousness.

The role of intelligence is to determine how well the skill’s recovery and destructive power can be maintained.

This too was something that could only be achieved with innate talent and a sense developed through countless practices.

This is also the reason why Jin Jae-hee, who is currently a regressor, is unable to implement the skill.

Since I didn’t return with all my abilities when I regressed, I knew how to train artifacts to grow quickly, but I wasn’t a complete player from the start.

Zion is probably the only player in the league with such natural talent.

He was special.

‘… … Is it because I woke up from a deep sleep?’

However, Kang Shi-on mastered the two abilities above at once.

Rather, it was Jin Jae-hee himself who had to learn his artifact’s abilities.

Now all that was left for him to do was collect magic stones to level up the ‘spheres’ that were dropped by special quests or specific monsters.

But that was difficult at the time.

All of that was only possible after passing the early stages of the league.

Of course, you never know if you’ll discover a hidden dungeon.

“okay?”

Zion, who heard Jaehee’s words, did not think much of it.

As soon as he stopped thinking, the artifact that had been materialized also disappeared.

Zion asked Jaehee.

“So what are your abilities?”

Jin Jae-hee thought about Zion’s abilities and couldn’t answer right away.

Then Zion asked again.

“Jin Jae-hee.”

“Huh? Yeah. My ability.”

Jin Jae-hee swallowed hard and reached out his hand.

Black.

The first task was the embodiment of the sword.

Sssssss… …

A bright beam of light began to form in her hands.

Zion’s pupils, who had been quietly watching the scene, also wavered slightly.

It was a tremendous flash and shape.

The light soon began to take the shape of a sword.

“Ugh… … !”

For a moment, Jin Jae-hee almost lost consciousness, but he desperately held on.

I promised him that I would start training from today, so it would be embarrassing if I couldn’t even implement the artifact.

The light flickered more intensely.

Zion focused on Jin Jae-hee’s hand.

The blade, bridge of the nose, and even the handle were implemented one by one and began to shine.

It seemed that if I just did a little more, I might be able to successfully materialize the sword.

But it was still not enough.

“Phuha… … !”

Jin Jae-hee exhaled deeply as if he had just surfaced after a long dive.

Her forehead was covered in cold sweat.

Even though the temperature in the room was as cold as inside a refrigerator.

“Haa… … Haa… … Haa… … .”

Jin Jae-hee couldn’t catch his breath for a while.

It was rare in her past life that she unleashed this much power.

The reason I pushed myself so hard just now was because I didn’t want to disappoint Zion.

‘Haa… … In the end.’

But it failed.

It hasn’t even been an hour since Jin Jae-hee opened the artifact.

If she had this level of concretization ability, it was more than enough, it was extremely good.

Of course, it was nothing compared to Kang Shi-on.

“sorry.”

“what?”

“No. Just.”

Jin Jae-hee also couldn’t understand why she apologized to him.

She was the first to say that she was sorry because she thought she had disappointed Zion.

Zion spoke calmly to Jaehee.

“Don’t be sorry. It’s better for me if I don’t have anything to train for.”

At those words, Jin Jae-hee raised her lowered head and looked at him.

Zion looked at his hands.

Then I turned it over and looked at the back of my hand.

“Honestly, I haven’t been able to spend much time on artifact training. I’m the manager of this force starting today. That means I’m busy.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Jin Jae-hee was a docile lamb in front of Kang Si-on.

He looks really young.

But his voice was more majestic, low, and dignified than that of other monarchs.

“The monarch’s edict has probably been passed on to the citizens, so they probably already know about me. What I need to do is find and resolve the problems within the police station. If possible, gain their trust and increase their approval rating. It would be even better if I could complete the quest at the same time.”

Zion got up from bed.

And I zipped up the padding I was wearing all the way up.

“I’m going to look inside the police station. I’m going to go to the subway. I have the authority now.”

“I am.”

Jin Jae-hee tried to say something, but Zion intercepted her words by holding the doorknob.

“Don’t chase me around like a puppy. I know you’re a regressor and you want to protect me, but at least find something to do in a place like this. Artifact training would be good.”

“Oh, that’s it.”

Squeak-

Jin Jae-hee tried to say something again.

thud-!

But Zion left the room first.

Her lonely remaining hand stopped in the air.

Jin Jae-hee, left alone in the room, took his outstretched hand away and rubbed the cheek that had been pressed down earlier.

It didn’t hurt, but it was painful.

To some extent, I could see the growth potential in his abilities.

Jin Jae-hee continued to rub her cheek as if giving an egg massage and muttered.

“Open.”

Phew-!

A light flickered in his right hand.

It still exists only in the form of a faint light and is not perfect.

He was right.

How can you say you are protecting him when you haven’t even fully unlocked your own artifact yet?

‘… … I need to grow first.’

Jin Jae-hee remained in the room and began artifact training.

We need to grow quickly to protect Kang Shi-on.

(Continued in the next episode)