The Regressor Only Protects Me

Chapter 17. Thoughts

1st floor, the Red Team’s base.

As the notification window announced that the Flag Monster had been defeated, small cheers echoed here and there.

“Ah.”

“Thank goodness. We succeeded.”

“Sion, you’re amazing. You’ve done it again!”

“Really, what a relief.”

People expressed their joy and relief.

They showed their gratitude toward me, and I silently gazed at the notification window among them.

I couldn’t understand it.

It wasn’t the result I had intended.

It was the first unintended outcome since coming to this place, making it all the more bewildering.

If Jin Jae-hee truly obtained the flag on her own, it was undoubtedly a great gain for us.

We had achieved success without any casualties.

But the problem came next.

I rubbed my forehead.

The situation had grown complicated.

“Damn it.”

The outcome was favorable overall.

However, it disrupted the plan.

I had planned to ascend to the 9th floor with the main force to crush the Blue Team’s momentum and buy time.

The strategy, which required a day or two to minimize allied casualties and effectively subdue the Blue Team, was now meaningless.

There was no point in attacking again in this situation.

With the Red Team already in possession of the flag, there was no reason to take unnecessary risks.

Of course, I still wanted to end the first round quickly, but this case was different.

Now, the priority was to buy time.

The possibility of them attacking us directly was high.

The thought made it impossible to fully relax.

I immediately called for the sentries.

They promptly responded to my words, lifting their heads.

“All three of you, move to the 3rd floor right now. If you detect any movement from the enemy, report back immediately.”

The elderly man and two young girls hurried up to the 3rd floor without even responding.

After they left, the rest of the people chatted amongst themselves, enjoying a brief moment of peace.

But I couldn’t relax and enjoy that peace.

I had to think.

Two problems were laid before me.

The King of the Black Team and the next move of the Blue Team.

First, the King of the Black Team.

What was that person doing now?

Were they even a real person?

Were they nearby?

They must exist since they participated in this special game.

I shook my head at the thought.

“Don’t get stuck on simple questions.”

Even thinking about the next move was enough to make my head feel like it was going to explode.

I decided to think simply.

If the King of the Black Team were hiding in the Red Team, it wouldn’t make sense for them not to have killed me yet.

That’s because everyone in the Red Team knows I’m the King.

Of course, there were people who joined from the 2nd to the 6th floor.

They didn’t know yet that I was the King.

There was still a possibility.

I needed to monitor them discreetly.

“Wait.”

A thought flashed through my mind, stopping me in my tracks.

If I thought about it further, it might actually make sense for the King of the Black Team to remain hidden.

The Black Team’s presence wasn’t marked on K’s map.

That meant the Black Team was an “unrevealed” third faction.

“Why weren’t they visible on the map? Could they have been given an advantage?”

Whether the Black Team had been granted an advantage was uncertain.

The nature of any potential advantage for the unrevealed faction was also unclear.

However, the existence of the Black Team was undeniable, and it was also true that they weren’t visible on the system map.

Given that, it was reasonable to assume they had been given an advantage.

I quickly counted the people around me.

Including myself, there were precisely twenty-eight of us in the Red Team here.

Adding the three sentries and Jin Jae-hee on the upper floor, that made thirty-two.

“Even so, the possibility cannot be ruled out entirely.”

If the gun K gave me was intentional, the King of the Black Team might have received a corresponding benefit.

If that benefit was a trait that rendered them undetectable in the system window…

“They could be hiding here.”

The moment that thought hit, chills ran down my spine.

My thoughts leaned toward the most likely scenario.

If the King of the Black Team had received an advantage that made them undetectable in the system window, I wouldn’t be able to distinguish them using it.

That meant the King of the Black Team could be among the 32 members of the Red Team.

The odds were fifty-fifty.

They might be lurking among the Red or Blue Teams, waiting for the perfect timing to strike.

“That’s how the Black Team survives.”

I darted my eyes around, quickly scanning the people nearby.

Suddenly, everyone around me seemed like an enemy, their gazes sharp and piercing.

It felt as if every eye was solely focused on me.

I was in a situation where, even as external enemies hadn’t been entirely eradicated, I also had to consider internal enemies.

I couldn’t think of a way to deal with internal threats at the moment.

The worry continued to gnaw at me.

At the same time, I had to make a decision regarding the Blue Team.

Everything was a tangled mess, like yanking on one thread only to have several others unravel.

Even after the overwhelming victory in the last battle, I couldn’t laugh.

I was afforded no mental respite.

What move would Kim Dong-gil make next?

If I were Kim Dong-gil, what would I do at this very moment?

I shifted perspectives, trying to think from his position, then from mine, devising countermeasures.

After some calm deliberation, I concluded that Kim Dong-gil would never leave me alone.

He must already realize that time worked against the Blue Team, so he would likely launch a full-scale attack.

My head throbbed as if someone were squeezing my brain with both hands.

And then, the event struck.

“They’re here again!!!”

The elderly man’s cracked voice echoed throughout the store.

It hadn’t even been five minutes since the elderly man and the children were sent on sentry duty.

“They’re coming this way!!! They’re heading straight here!!! Oh my!”

Everyone turned to look at the elderly man, and my heart began to race faster.

As expected, Kim Dong-gil moved as I anticipated.

They wouldn’t take more than five minutes, no, three minutes to arrive.

“Sion! What should we do now?!”

“Should we grab our weapons first?! What do we do, Sion?!”

Now, everyone was looking at me.

Not just consciously, but truly, everyone was looking at me.

Each pair of eyes was fixed solely on my face.

“Hyung, what should we do now?”

“Our fire extinguishers are all used up! What do we do now?!”

“Oh my! What are we supposed to do?!”

Even as I was thinking, their voices rang in my ears.

My head was flooded with countless scenarios and their requests, all jumbled together chaotically.

I couldn’t focus solely on “thinking.”

I kept failing to decide as countless “moves” swirled in my head.

Meanwhile, their ceaseless voices grated on my ears unbearably.

For a moment, I even felt a surge of disgust toward them.

“Sion, what do we do if they break in?”

“Sion, what should our spear-throwing unit do? Just tell us!”

“Sion, what about the night watch?”

“Sion.”

“Sion, Sion!”

“Sion! Say something already!”

The three syllables filled my blank mind.

“Sion,” “Sion,” and “Sion” whirled like atoms in a chaotic storm.

SionSionSionSionSionSionSionSionSionSionSionSionSionSionSionSionSionSion.

Was I even still Kang Sion?

The line between my sense of self and reality blurred, and I fell into confusion, followed by unease and anger.

“Why only me?”

Why was I the only one thinking and worrying?

Couldn’t they stand on their own without me?

Were they infants?

I wasn’t obligated to protect them.

Why was I the only one burdened with everything?

Why was it always just me, always me…

Me… me…

As everything went black, two hands suddenly appeared from the darkness.

Slap!

“Get a hold of yourself.”

“Ah.”

Her hands were on both my cheeks, and soon a stinging sensation began to spread.

The woman in front of me was Lee Joo-yeon, and she wore the most serious expression I had ever seen on her.

“Do as you want. We’ll just follow you.”

It felt as if I had woken up from a dream.

I carefully looked at her.

Our eyes were at the same level.

“What are you worried about? You’re our King. And a King does whatever he wants, doesn’t he? Like… Louis, was it? Louis the Tenth?”

“Fourteenth, noona….”

Lee Joo-yeon turned to Saebom, seeking confirmation of her statement.

Lee Saebom silently shook his head.

“Haha.”

A twitch pulled at the corner of my lips.

What nonsense.

The title of ‘King’ was nothing more than a temporary role assigned by the Administrators, and I was originally just an ordinary day laborer.

That title didn’t grant me the authority to manipulate the members of the Red Team however I wanted.

They only followed me because they chose to trust me.

But.

At this moment, that ridiculous remark struck a chord in me.

“That’s right! Hyung! Do as you think is best.”

A male student shouted courageously, and voices rose from here and there.

“If it weren’t for Sion, we wouldn’t have survived this far.”

“Don’t feel burdened, Student. We’re ready.”

“That’s right! Let’s fight! Let’s do this!”

Now, I could clearly hear all of their voices.

Ha.

A hollow laugh escaped me.

There was no need to think deeply.

We were like pieces on a chessboard, and if I planned with ‘death’ as a premise, we would all end up dead.

Everyone here, including myself, had already been detached from the rules of the old world.

This place was the wild.

And to survive in the wild, sacrifices were necessary.

I had momentarily forgotten that.

We no longer had human dignity; only the dignity of animals remained.

And the dignity of animals is survival.

The members of the Red Team were ready to accept sacrifices for that survival.

What was I even thinking?

I wasn’t some historical figure who achieved peace.

That kind of justice was only applicable up until a week ago.

To me, justice was simply ensuring that the majority survived.

A complete victory?

There’s no such thing.

Even Napoleon, who conquered Europe.

Even Genghis Khan, who dominated the world.

They couldn’t achieve victory without sacrifice.

Once I let go of all the burdens, I regained my composure.

I gave them a command.

“Everyone, get into formation. Hurry.”

Only then did smiles spread across their faces.

They moved swiftly and systematically to their positions.

This place had originally been a barricade designed to handle Goblins effectively.

But now, it had to serve the purpose of defending the fortress.

Although this was an unplanned battle, the geography was still in our favor.

I climbed onto the barricade.

Soon, everyone stood ready, gripping their weapons and focusing on a single point.

A heavy silence descended.

Within that silence, their footsteps began to echo faintly.

Thud, thud, thud… thud! Thud!

The slow footsteps gradually drew closer until they were near enough to fill the air.

It felt as though they were present in every space around us.

I opened my inventory and grabbed the gun.

I could feel the solid weight of it in my hands.

For the last time, I addressed them.

“Do not hesitate. The moment you hesitate, it will be you who dies.”

And then their footsteps grew even louder.

Clang-!

At that moment, the door to the left staircase opened.

There stood the main force of the Blue Team, armed with kitchen knives and axes.

At the same time, more members began pouring in from the escalator.

It was a pincer attack.

5th floor.

Kim Dong-gil shouted.

“Divide the group into two! Attack the escalator and the stairs simultaneously!”

At his command, the people split into two groups and moved out.

The troops led by Kim Dong-gil rushed directly down the staircase.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!

Even with dozens of people, their collective footsteps merged into a deafening noise.

One of his subordinates asked Kim Dong-gil.

“Branch Manager! Isn’t this a bit reckless to charge like this?”

Kim Dong-gil ignored the question and continued running at the forefront.

For now, the Blue Team still had the advantage.

That was an undeniable fact.

This was now an all-or-nothing situation.

It wasn’t about how many troops they could preserve, but simply about winning the game.

They just needed to get closer.

If they could get close enough, the Blue Team, with its numerical superiority, would win.

“Even if it’s lower than the 1st floor, it’s the basement. And the basement works in our favor.”

Ultimately, even if the Red Team retreated to the basement, they’d be like rats trapped in a cage.

This battle was the last one.

Kim Dong-gil was determined to win this fight and escape.

He would leave this damn shopping mall behind.

And he would reclaim his social status.

A luxury foreign car.

A wife nine years younger than him.

Two precious daughters who resembled him.

A 75-pyeong luxury penthouse in Gangnam worth 12.5 billion won.

Two buildings.

Luxury watches.

Luxury clothes.

Hundreds of subordinates who followed him.

Classmates who admired and respected him.

All of that was what Kim Dong-gil rightfully deserved.

For too long.

His life, spent studying in a cramped room, waiting for the day he would finally triumph in life, was just beginning to see the light. He couldn’t fall here.

A tear glistened in the corner of his left eye.

Kim Dong-gil was desperate.

More desperate than anyone else.

He was clawing his way out of the abyss.

The final staircase came into view.

Beyond it lay the 1st floor.

Kim Dong-gil rushed down and threw open the staircase door.

Clang!