The Regressor Only Protects Me

Chapter 22. No Longer Human (1)

I cautiously opened my eyes.

The first thing I saw was, as expected, Lee Joo-yeon and Lee Saebom.

It was a sight I was now familiar with.

I had already experienced this twice in this place.

“Ah, you’re awake. Thank goodness.”

Lee Joo-yeon smiled with relief.

I slowly raised my upper body.

It felt like déjà vu, but I was certain this was the second time it was happening.

I had collapsed twice since arriving here.

And then I had risen again, like a zombie.

There was a blood-stained cloth covering my thigh, with bandages wrapped over it.

Looking at the wound, I asked.

“The situation?”

Joo-yeon, standing next to me, spoke as if in disbelief.

“Wow… you’re asking about the situation first in this state? Check on yourself first.”

At that moment, Saebom interrupted and answered on her behalf.

“You’ve been unconscious for about 10 hours. Today marks the sixth day. Your wound hasn’t healed completely. And the Blue Team is finished.”

“Finished? What does that mean?”

I touched the injured area as I asked again.

It still throbbed.

“The Blue Team is all dead except for their King. The Red Team has twelve survivors left. They’re all resting now. A few went out to get food.”

“The King?”

“Yeah, the Blue Team’s King isn’t dead yet.”

That meant the King of the Blue Team wasn’t Kim Dong-gil after all.

And it also implied that Kim Dong-gil had prepared some kind of contingency plan for himself.

Honestly, one person from the Blue Team wasn’t much of a threat anymore.

Whatever they tried, they wouldn’t be able to stand against the Red Team now.

I looked around.

Most of the survivors were hanging their heads, while a few smoked cigarettes one after another.

Some even managed to find alcohol and were drinking.

I was getting used to this, to the point where I could now tell who belonged to the Red Team just by looking at their faces.

Now the real issue was the Black Team.

“…Scouting?”

“We’re taking turns. To find the last King of the Blue Team.”

That’s why there weren’t many people left here.

Just then, noticing that I was awake, a few Red Team members approached me.

“Kang Sion, you’re awake?”

“Thank goodness… ah…”

“What should we do now?”

The members of the Red Team gathered around me.

They were asking me what to do next.

They were seeking my advice.

“Well.”

But I didn’t know either.

It was something I had to figure out from now on.

I tried to get up.

At that moment, I felt a small force on my arm.

Swoosh–, thud.

Even though it was just a slight pressure, I collapsed back down because of it.

I turned my head to see who it was.

“No.”

It was Lee Joo-yeon, gripping the hem of my clothes and pushing me back down.

She firmly said.

“Today, you have to rest no matter what.”

“…?”

When I gave her a confused look, Joo-yeon spoke even more firmly.

“Your wound hasn’t healed properly. If it opens up again, it’ll be a disaster. Until we find a proper doctor, you can’t move. You need to rest today, no matter what.”

“…I can’t do that. I need to get up quickly.”

As I tried to raise my upper body again, Joo-yeon pressed her finger against my forehead.

Even the slight push from her finger made my body collapse helplessly.

Lying down and staring at the ceiling of the theater, I realized how much my body had been worn out.

I was so weak that even a single finger could knock me down.

Suddenly, the faces of the siblings appeared in my line of sight again.

“If you absolutely need to rest, but insist on working, then I’ll have no choice but to stop you at all costs.”

Joo-yeon emphasized the words “at all costs.”

Under my head was a makeshift pillow, made by rolling up a thick padded jacket.

She continued, speaking directly to me.

“Also, the back of your head got cut. The wound wasn’t deep enough to need stitches, but… your physical condition is far from okay.”

“Alright.”

I shifted my body slightly and closed my eyes.

“Fine, I’ll rest.”

I definitely needed rest, and it was hard enough to move a single finger, let alone walk.

If I wandered around the shopping mall in this state, I’d just become easy prey for the Black Team.

“…”

When I closed my eyes, my younger brother Junho came to mind.

What was he doing right now?

I tried to think positively.

As long as Junho was alive, and we reunited, everything would be okay.

After meeting him, I would need to figure out how to survive from then on.

Junho had always whined about how much he hated going to school. What would he do now that school didn’t exist anymore?

In this destroyed world, should I create a school for him?

If possible, I’d want Junho to go into the sciences and become a respectable engineer.

If not, then maybe he could go into law or business.

Each day I spent on construction sites, I endured by thinking about my brother’s future.

It was my only hope.

Unlike me, Junho had to succeed.

A drowsiness crept over me.

Even in normal circumstances, I enjoyed this moment when I closed my eyes.

With no proper hobbies, sleeping had become my only source of enjoyment.

It was the only time I could forget everything and relieve my body’s fatigue.

As I lay there with my eyes closed for a while, I sensed someone approaching and tried to open my eyes.

But the person spoke.

“Just stay lying down.”

It was Lee Saebom.

Saebom slipped a gun into my hand.

As soon as it touched my palm, the gun disappeared naturally.

It had likely gone into my inventory.

Saebom spoke.

“While you were unconscious, Kwon Kyung-soo asked for that gun to be handed over to him.”

I almost opened my eyes in surprise but managed to hold back.

His calm words that followed surprised me even more.

Listening to his steady voice, I suppressed my emotions.

Finally, Saebom urged me sincerely.

“So, you need to focus on recovery first. Jae-hee said that Players selected as ‘Kings’ heal faster than others. That’s why you should rest for today.”

Saebom paused his words.

He was probably glancing around cautiously.

Then he added.

“Your surroundings will be guarded in turns by me, my sister, and Jae-hee… If you understand, just move your pinky slightly. Don’t answer aloud. We’re being watched.”

I moved my pinky slightly.

Soon, his voice grew distant.

Quietly, I clenched my fist.

It felt like I was letting go of some tenuous string I had barely been holding onto.

Anger.

No, more than that—just emptiness.

Sion closed his eyes.
To be precise, he pretended to sleep for about seven hours.

Meanwhile, Lee Saebom, Lee Joo-yeon, and Jin Jae-hee took turns guarding him.

Some of the Red Team survivors approached Saebom, who was awake.

“Student… take this. Aren’t you tired?”

A middle-aged woman handed Saebom a can of food and a bottle of water.

It was likely rations they had collected during several scouting missions.

Most of it came from preserved food that the Blue Team had hoarded.

Everyone had a few cans or food supplies with them.

Saebom accepted the canned food.

“Thank you.”

Since the possibility of poison was unlikely, Saebom accepted it.

He silently opened the can in front of the woman.

It was canned peaches.

Slurp, slurp.

Without a spoon, he drank the syrup directly from the can.

Watching him, the woman spoke.

“Why don’t you get some sleep? I’ll take care of Sion now.”

“I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”

Saebom quickly finished the canned peaches and set the can on the ground.

When he declined her offer, the woman smiled awkwardly and reached out her hand.

She tried to grab Saebom’s arm.

“Ah, don’t be like that. Just rest a little, okay?”

At that moment.

Thwack!

Saebom swatted her hand away.

The woman looked at him in surprise.

Saebom spoke coldly to her.

“Don’t touch me.”

“Ah… yes. Sorry.”

The woman, flustered, backed off.

She returned to the group gathered in one corner and sat down.

They whispered amongst themselves, occasionally glancing at Saebom while continuing to eat canned food or goblin jerky.

Watching them, Saebom clicked his tongue.

“Tsk.”

Saebom turned back to Sion.

Although his eyes were closed and his expression peaceful, he was definitely awake.

Saebom spoke softly, so quietly that no one else could hear.

“You don’t know me, but I know you. We were in the same class in middle school.”

Glancing at the gathered people, he continued.

To be more precise, he was observing them.

“When you disappeared after middle school, I honestly couldn’t understand why you had to make that choice. Judging by your clothes… you must have been working on construction sites.”

Saebom clenched his fists.

His emotions began to surge.

“You were my goal. My only hope. In my dull life, you were the only one better than me.”

Saebom looked back at Sion.

His expression hadn’t changed.

Lee Saebom was a genius.

Not just in a superficial sense—he was truly exceptional.

With a prosecutor father and a university hospital professor mother, Saebom grew up in a privileged environment where he excelled at everything: music, sports, academics, and art.

By the time he entered middle school, he was already over 170 cm tall and had outstanding looks.

Everyone around him considered him the epitome of perfection—a genius among geniuses.

He even appeared on variety shows, showcasing his talents.

With everyone’s respect and high expectations, Saebom inevitably grew arrogant.

To him, life was nothing but a boring existence.

Without challenges or goals, life inevitably felt dull.

But then, someone made Saebom feel like he had hit a wall.

That someone was Kang Sion, whom he met in middle school.

On the day the school rankings were announced, Saebom couldn’t believe his eyes.

[1st place: Kang Sion.]

[1st place: Lee Saebom.]

It was the first time he had been bested by someone.

Although they were tied for first place with perfect scores, it felt different.

Saebom had private tutoring, an ideal study environment, and every academic resource.

But Sion?

He simply focused on school lessons.

He had lost to someone like that.

And it wasn’t just academics.

Sion also took first place in the middle school gifted competition as the school representative.

He always came in first during school sports events.

He was on another level.

Saebom envied him and even admired him.

When Sion suddenly dropped out during their third year of middle school, Saebom was deeply shocked.

He had thought of Sion as his only friend, and now he was gone.

Saebom, who was obsessed with pursuing excellence, felt his purpose crumble when someone so gifted gave up on academics.

After that, Sion disappeared completely.

Saebom went on to lead a mundane life, consistently ranking first in high school and entering Seoul National University’s law school as the top student.

And then the world ended, and he met Sion again.

But the Sion he met was different.

He wasn’t the Sion of the past.

The Sion before him now was like a monster, chasing only goals—a reflection of the younger Saebom himself.

“Damn it.”

Crunch!

Saebom bit his fingernails.

As he continued biting them, he looked down at Sion again.

Admiration. And a goal.

Though he didn’t want to admit it, Sion was that to Saebom.

Saebom let out a short sigh and looked around.

The people in the theater were either whispering quietly or asleep.

As Saebom sank deeper into his thoughts of the past, it happened.

Boom!

Suddenly, the lights in the theater turned on.

Some startled people looked around in confusion.

Sion finally opened his eyes slightly.

On the theater screen, a blue hologram appeared.

[The King of the Blue Team has died.]

[Only two Kings remain.]

“What…? No way.”

Saebom frowned.

There were ten people here, excluding Jin Jae-hee and Kwon Kyung-soo.

No one else was left in the shopping mall.

That much was certain.

The Red Team had conducted thorough searches for survivors, spanning several hours.

And yet, the King of the Blue Team had just died.

At this moment.

It was an unbelievable result.

Next to him, Lee Joo-yeon, who had been dozing, woke up with a start, drooling.

“Huh, huh? What’s going on?”

She wiped her drool with the back of her hand and looked around.

Everyone was flustered and at a loss.

At that moment, Sion sat up again.

Though he seemed a bit dizzy and held his head, he spoke calmly.

“I don’t keep friends.”

It was a comment aimed at Saebom.

Saebom looked at Sion, who had just said that.

Sion held his head for a moment before looking back at Saebom and saying.

“That’s why I don’t trust people either.”

Sion got up.

Although he was still limping, he seemed much better.

He glanced at the Red Team members in the room.

Then, as if talking to himself, he muttered.

“This is tiresome. Let’s finish this.”

Sion’s words were chilling and sharp.

When he spoke of ending it, Saebom could already sense how brutal the conclusion might be.

The Sion up until now and the Sion moving forward.

Saebom felt a chill run down his spine.

Sion approached the Red Team.