The Regressor Only Protects Me Chapter 71

#Episode 71. City within the City: The Case of the Wanderer (2)

“Absolutely not… … .”

Even though Choi Hyun-ji offered her double the amount of money for her accommodation, the old woman refused to talk about the monarch.

Crunch. Crunch.

Choi Hyun-ji sat at the table and stirred her food with her chopsticks.

And he picked up some unidentified food with his chopsticks.

“What is this?”

As the round progressed, the survivors no longer ate the food of the old civilization.

As the round progressed and food became scarce, the survivors each found different ways to supplement their nutrition.

Even for Choi Hyun-ji, who had been to many different powers, the food she was holding in front of her was incredibly out of this world.

Stir-fried tentacles of snow nepenthes sprinkled with a generous amount of red pepper powder… …?

It looked like the root of a green onion, but it had fine hairs like pig skin.

Because it is seasoned in a similar way to kimchi.

Choi Hyun-ji crumpled her expression and swallowed it down her throat.

Clink-.

The texture was like chewing on a long skewer with lots of dandelion seeds stuck to it, but the generous sprinkle of red pepper powder gave it a familiar taste.

‘Real Koreans make everything with kimchi.’

Who would have thought that they would even make kimchi and eat the byproducts of a monster?

In addition, a bowl of mashed sweet potatoes, three pieces of seasoned rat meat, and a bowl of bone soup made by boiling rat bones.

A meal like this was the typical diet of the local residents.

Rat meat was something that other factions had eaten a lot, so they were used to it.

Rats are fertile, easy to raise, and, most importantly, are an excellent source of protein.

Although it is chewy, many people enjoy its rich and unique flavor.

Choi Hyun-ji looked into the distance while chewing on rat jerky.

The residents were each taking a break during the holiday.

Some people were putting dry boards into drums, children were running around the streets, and the women of the village were gathered together and drinking cups containing a suspicious liquid.

‘A peaceful, systematic, yet somewhat exotic atmosphere.’

I thought it wasn’t bad.

Because I thought that a showy peace was better than one that couldn’t even be shown.

This place was clearly different from the other forces that Choi Hyun-ji had seen so far.

At least there was ‘laughter’ here.

‘Perhaps the ruler of this faction will be the player who will dominate the third round. Who on earth could it be?’

Basically, the trading market used by monarchs and players is generally ‘anonymous’, so it is impossible to specify the monarch here.

But if it’s a place that lists famous products, you can probably guess.

‘Where… …what invention did this monarch make?’

It is impossible for a monarch not to use the trading markets.

There must be something.

The Wanderer is a player who gathers information.

Information was their greatest power.

And then, seeing the being she encountered right away, Choi Hyun-ji was able to tell who the ruler of this place was.

“Oh, really?”

Daughter- tang-!

Choi Hyun-ji walked out into the street without even realizing that her dishes had spilled.

It wasn’t far away.

At first I thought it was part of a building.

But it was a living thing.

“Ogre… … Wow-.”

Kkujik… …Bam!

A creature as large as a villa was crushing a car like a can.

And then, carrying the flattened car on his back, he piled it up between the buildings.

This was a wall.

It would have been normal to make it out of stone, but the ogres were building a wall out of crushed passenger cars, stacked one on top of the other.

Ogres were the monarch’s slaves.

“Hahaha… … Ah, crazy.”

Choi Hyun-ji, faced with that unbelievable situation, silently clutched her head.

And I was sure.

At least among the monarchs Choi Hyun-ji has seen, this is the one with the most progressive development.

“Ha-. This is getting really fun. At this rate, it’s faster than the development rate of southern Seoul. And that’s before the third round even starts… … . Oh, crazy. Wait. What if… … ?”

Choi Hyun-ji had to meet the ruler of this place as soon as possible.

* * *

Man-gyeong is a city in a ruined world where law and order coexist.

All the residents here called each other comrades.

And there was no one who did not work.

As time passed, Zion’s power became more systematic and stronger.

For the past year, Zion has been pouring its efforts into establishing internal order as well as city building.

The result is this.

A group that is more systematic, stable, and progressive than any other force.

Everything in the world today was accomplished by Zion.

A natural leader.

A capable monarch.

Even though it’s already been a year, his approval rating still remains above 90% for this reason.

Of course, Zion has not been solely focused on urban development over the past year.

Because Jaehee and Zion’s biggest goal was personal training.

And the effort paid off.

The second force of Manan.

For the past six months, those who have grown as powerful as Zion’s forces have been expanding their territory, using Anyang Elementary School as their capital.

There has been no friction with them so far.

Because they feared the power of Zion.

But now Zion wanted to cause friction.

A year has passed now.

The expedition force to subdue the Second Manan Force consisted of about 30 people, but most of them were there to sort out the situation after the battle.

The attack force consists of only two people.

Kang Si-on and Jin Jae-hee.

They were now standing on the roof of an apartment building across from their capital.

“The defenses at the entrance are stronger. It would be better to go back.”

Jin Jae-hee first checked the battlefield situation and spoke to Zion.

Zion was silently observing the elementary school next to her.

There were many people living in tents pitched in the playground.

And I also saw something unusual.

It seems that it was a secret weapon that the Manan Second Force was making.

Most of the troops were gathered at the entrance to the elementary school, and the rear area was relatively unguarded.

It seems that they only focused on guarding the front lines to keep in check the first force, which was probably the power of Zion.

“I’ll distract them from the main gate first. You attack the rear with your weapons.”

Zion, who had been quietly listening to Jin Jae-hee’s explanation of the operation, only then shook his head.

“What would be the point of doing that?”

“meaning?”

A cold wind blew.

Zion’s bushy bangs fluttered.

“The point of coming here today is to check the results of the past year, right?”

“… … Yeah. That’s true, but.”

Jin Jae-hee answered in a low voice.

Today’s expedition is not simply a battle or war between forces, but an experiment.

How strong has Kang Shion become, and what are the performances of his weapons?

But when Jaehee actually faced his enemies, he was worried about his body.

“What’s most important is how far I can use my now-strengthened artifact against humans. My opponents are not the minions of Manan-gu, but the warriors of Dongan-gu.”

“huh.”

“Anyway, this time I’ll do it. I’ll subdue the enemy’s combat forces. I’ll colonize the rest and build farms on the playground. I value my personal abilities, but I also value the development of the force. Please keep that in mind.”

“huh.”

“Join up with Choi Myung-jun and come to the rear. We’ll be going now.”

With those words, Zion turned around and tried to leave the rooftop.

Zion, who was holding the doorknob, looked at Jaehee again as if something had come to mind and finished speaking.

“And if something happens, you’ll save me, right?”

Zion could go to the battlefield without any worries because she was there.

After saying that, Zion left the rooftop.

Squeak, thud.

Jaehee, left alone on the rooftop, stared at the tightly closed rooftop door in silence for a while.

And then the weapon finally started moving.

The creature was crouching between the buildings, its huge body hunched over.

Daughter-.

And then he raised his head with a cheerful bell sound.

* * *

The Manan 2nd Force has been thoroughly keeping the 1st Force in check for the past year.

They also realized that during the second round, only one force would survive in the Manan region.

So it was only a matter of time before the two forces clashed.

“Move quickly! Put that over there. Huh?!”

The monarch of the second generation was formerly the principal of an elementary school.

He came up with an ingenious plan.

Force 1 is a huge force with a wall built by stacking sturdy passenger cars.

In comparison, the total population of the 2nd force was around 1,000 people, and even those were all old or young people who had not been trained for combat.

That’s why the principal was making a ‘catapult’.

Over the past year, all of the force’s manpower has been devoted to the development of this very catapult.

In addition, they manufactured fire bombs and bows, and built defensive structures.

They had to produce such powerful weapons to stand up to the 1st power.

“Okay. Okay. This is enough.”

The principal looked at his catapult and smiled happily.

It was a giant catapult made by remodeling a city bus.

Since the catapult basically had no fuel, it had to be pulled by a person, but the important thing was the function of throwing a stone.

“Hey, try pulling it!”

Ddddddddd… … .

At the principal’s command, the former faculty members pulled the rope with all their might.

The catapult’s pole and joints were both obtained from a local hardware store.

In a city bus without a roof, when the catapult’s pole was lowered to the ground near the rear wheel, the prepared iron plate was inserted between the two windows of the city bus.

Thud-!

Then it became fixed.

Of course, everything was manual.

At least twenty people were deployed, both to carry the iron plates and to pull the ropes.

The existence of the catapult was the headmaster’s only hope.

‘If only I had this… … ! If only I had this… … !’

The headmaster thought that if only he had a catapult, he could live a great life like other monarchs.

In reality, the information community between monarchs and players had the exchange of information as its primary purpose, but there was often a level difference between the monarchs.

If there are great monarchs with tens of thousands of people, there are also small monarchs with only a few hundred people at most.

It’s an inferiority complex.

The principal felt inferior to the other monarch who monopolized all power.

Especially to Kang Shion, the first monarch of Manan.

“Okay-. Now it’s war! Let’s go!”

The principal shouted to everyone gathered in the playground.

He thought that if he could just demonstrate the power of his catapult, the monarch of the first power would surrender.

The catapult looked so huge and majestic.

But that was just his own illusion.

thud-!

At that moment, a huge ground shaking echoed throughout the stadium.

“What… … !”

The principal momentarily lost his balance and staggered.

The ground shook again.

thud-!

The ground shook again and again.

Thud, thud, thud-!

The ground shaking was slowly coming towards this place.

Everyone gathered in the playground glanced around.

And the being that had terrified everyone finally appeared from afar.

“… … .”

“… … .”

All the residents gathered in the playground were frozen in front of that tremendous majesty.

He dropped the weapon he was holding and his legs also dropped.

Some people were falling backwards, others were losing their will to fight and sobbing.

-Goooooooo… … !

A monster with wounds all over its body.

The overwhelming body seemed to be at least 10 meters tall, and the electric pole it was holding was covered in blood.

And the ogre was being controlled by a man.

thud……!

The man was sitting on the ogre’s left shoulder.

Boom… … ! Boom… … !

Around the man and the ogre, numerous spheres were rotating along a certain curve.

The man was looking at the palm of his right hand.

The principal, who had been staring blankly at the sight, was startled and ran away.

“Hey, hey… … Hey. Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey… … ! Battle ready… … !!”

“Yes… … Yes! Principal!”

“I told you not to call me that, sir! Now I’m a monarch!”

“Just surrender… …! Headmaster… … !”

“What are you talking about!”

Achievements over the past year.

I don’t know who that guy is, but it was a good thing.

This was a good opportunity to test the power of the catapult.

“Can you guess?”

“Yeah, I guess I should try. But the definitive answer is… … .”

“It has to match no matter what!”

“Yes… … Yes!”

As the ogre slowly approached, the soldiers of the second force also began to move busily.

They were busy preparing for their own battle.

But the ogre and the man sitting on his shoulders were anything but ‘prepared for battle’.

Again, this is an experiment.

It was an experiment to see how powerful the Ogre could be, as well as a test of the results of the past year’s training.

Zion carefully took out another servant.

A bell with a command engraved with the pattern of three. When Zion shook it, a unique bell sound rang out.

Ding-, ding-.

It was a signal to attack.

-KUAAA …

The sound of the bell and the monster’s roar echoed throughout the city of the Second Power.

At the same time, a ‘fireball’ flew towards the ogre.

That’s how Zion’s experiment began.

(Continued in the next episode)