A Regressor's Appetite

Clap, clap, clap—! An abandoned factory. The facility that once produced paint and coatings had long since become a factory for summoning orcs from another world. Among the gates the Blue Eye organization had established in Korea, it ranked among the top ten in scale—one of their core strongholds.

There, Denar Panigial—the man known in Korea as the Evil Elder—stretched his arm forward and clapped loudly. His gaze locked straight ahead on a handsome man. The recipient of that stare continued fiddling indifferently with his phone.

“Hahaha! What a genuine pleasure. I’ve wanted to meet you for so long, and now we’ve finally crossed paths. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“......”

Denar’s exaggerated greeting met only silence. He felt the veins around his eyes bulge with irritation. From the very first exchange he already felt like he was on the back foot, and the heat of anger began rising inside him.

“Huu— Quite the impressive figure you’ve become. To sit there fiddling with your phone so arrogantly right in front of me.”

Denar cracked his neck left and right, advancing one deliberate step at a time. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The distance between them steadily closed.

“You certainly have a way with words. I’m genuinely surprised by that.”

Jo Giman kept typing one-handed while raising an eyebrow, as if truly impressed. Denar Panigial held overall command of the mission to summon the orc legions from another world. Because Jo Giman continued to disrupt his operations, Denar had analyzed the man’s behavioral patterns and taken the drastic step of opening teleportation portals at several key locations in advance. The cost of those connecting portals rose exponentially with their number; the damned kid in front of him had torn through them like they were his own backyard, devouring an astronomical quantity of mana stones in the process. But the target had finally been detected at a factory in Korea, leading to this direct confrontation.

In truth, Denar had never been one to lay such traps before. Compared to previous loops, his approach had clearly changed.

“Kekekekeke… Kahahaha! Exactly. You match the profile I drew in my head perfectly.”

Denar stretched his arms behind him and continued.

“At first I was only half-certain, but now I’m convinced. You know exactly who I am. Correct? You know what I’m trying to accomplish as well.”

“Oh— Your discernment has improved. I’ll grant you a little more time. I’m curious just how much you can surprise me.”

Though he claimed to be surprised, boredom still lingered in Jo Giman’s eyes. Denar found the expression deeply offensive. It was as if the man who had started the provocation was now saying the actual fight wasn’t entertaining.

“I doubt you’d give me your name even if I asked. Very well. There’s no need to exchange any more words.”

Denar realized that prolonging the conversation would only entangle him in the man’s schemes. He removed his robe with deliberate leisure and tossed it into his subspace.

Crack— Crunch—

Denar rolled his neck side to side, signaling the imminent start of battle. His eyes remained perfectly steady, showing he harbored not the slightest expectation of defeat.

Jo Giman gave a small smirk.

‘To stand before me with… that confidence of his never changes.’

Staring at Denar suddenly stirred his appetite. Jo Giman gripped his trembling arm and fell into brief thought.

‘I can’t eat him. I must endure.’

Denar was the pivotal figure linking the two worlds. Killing him would buy time away from the otherworld invasion. Yet the grand mage Falkai and his remaining disciples, having learned from Denar’s failure, would prepare with even greater precision over the coming years. Stronger enemies would eventually cross over—most troublesome among them the Avatar of the Blue Eye and the orc legion commander, Por.

‘Por… Damn it. I ended up recalling that filthy bastard.’

In the loop where he had identified Denar immediately and killed him, Jo Giman had encountered the orc legion commander after nine years of growth. Absurdly, he had suffered the humiliation of having his arm severed and being forced to flee. Of course that had been an early loop; such a thing was impossible now. Yet the horrific memory remained vividly etched in his mind, still tormenting him.

Not the Blue Eye itself, not even his right arm Falkai. The experience of defeat at the hands of the hunting dog they had raised—an orc—had made Jo Giman extremely wary of drastic changes. Moreover, at the end of that loop, after glimpsing the avatar the Blue Eye had dispatched from afar, he had judged resistance impossible and fled. In the end the avatar had hunted him for weeks before delivering the killing blow.

Even the current Jo Giman could not easily guarantee victory against that monster. He could not afford to give the Blue Eye time to gather power and recreate it. Since the grand mage Falkai and his chief disciple Denar also secretly sought to restrain the Blue Eye, it was wiser to keep them alive until the proper moment arrived.

‘I’ll end this with a light touch.’

Having firmed his resolve, Jo Giman simply waited in place for the attack.

Seeing him stand there completely defenseless, Denar’s vigilance soared to its peak.

Gooooooo—

The holy mana he emitted would have been suffocating for any ordinary ability user to even breathe in the same space. Yet Jo Giman remained completely unaffected. He was unmistakably an evil-aligned monster, wasn’t he? It was strange.

‘I see… Today may very well be my last.’

Even with that premonition upon facing the monster, Denar’s movements showed no hesitation. Excluding his master, he was the continent’s strongest holy knight, a man who had never tasted defeat.

Crunch— Crack—

When he saw his opponent’s face twisting into the hideous visage of an evil dragon, Denar became certain.

‘If I can just capture that bastard, our plan will be complete.’

Today I will fulfill the dying continent’s long-cherished wish.

With that vow, Denar quietly pressed his fist to his chest. An instant later his form vanished, reappearing dozens of meters behind Jo Giman.

“Hmm… Going for the back, are we…”

The unfamiliar pattern made Jo Giman’s eyebrow twitch. The man always began with an honest contest of strength and only revealed his true nature after the midpoint…

Jo Giman lightly blocked Denar’s opening strike, yet his face twisted involuntarily at the searing pain of a wing ripping free from his back.

Flutter——

A colossal wing dozens of times larger than Jo Giman’s body tore through his flesh and unfurled its overwhelming majesty.

“O God…”

Watching the arrival of evil, Denar quietly murmured a prayer.

Good and evil. In terms of mana inclination the opposition could not have been clearer. The battle between two of this world’s foremost powers continued until the sun had completely set.

Thud—

Denar fell in defeat.

Jo Giman gazed down at the unconscious man and considered planting it inside him, but ultimately shook his head.

‘It wouldn’t work on him anyway.’

He had already tried several times and failed. In this final loop he would refrain from foolish actions. Denar received such overwhelming favor from the god he served that he could not even contain it all within his own vessel. Anything carrying even a trace of the Seven-Headed Dragon’s power would be completely rejected.

“Huu— It’s rather warm.”

Even when facing the first-generation awakener Shayna Laine he had not shed a single drop of sweat, yet fighting Denar without killing him had proven no easy task.

Creeeeak—

The thick tail stretching behind Jo Giman gave a glimpse of how much of the Seven-Headed Dragon’s power he had drawn upon.

He sent a message to Jeong Ju-in ordering him to clean up the factory area. When he lowered his eyes again, Denar had vanished without a trace.

“Sneaky bastard, as always.”

Jo Giman had noticed the tricks during battle but chosen to ignore them. He shook his head and left the factory, which had been reduced to literal ruins.

Inside a barrier erected far from the abandoned factory, Jo Giman sat in the rear seat of a luxury sedan and indifferently scanned the materials Jeong Ju-in had delivered the previous day.

“The Dungeon of Nargul has been closed… Things are getting more absurd by the day.”

It seemed Lee Yeonhee had once again made a significant contribution. Still, considering the accelerated timeline, it remained within expected parameters.

“I suppose I’ll have to push a little harder.”

There was no particularly noteworthy information. The makeup of her summons had changed considerably, yet their numbers had dropped sharply compared to previous rounds. The one unusual detail was that she continued to use the pathetic skeleton soldier from her very first summoning.

“You somehow managed to raise a creature with rock-bottom potential.”

Apparently the skeleton had even taken the path of a mage, using Fireball and Levitation. The report added that its combat strength was now considered appropriate for its grade.

“The Fireball’s power is destructive… Pffft— Kekekeke— Isn’t this a masterpiece?”

It would be a fireball no larger than a basketball, yet because it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠such a rare type of skeleton the report had gotten overly dramatic. He had specifically ordered them to convey only the facts. Even Jeong Ju-in’s work wasn’t flawless.

“A dagger…?”

The skeleton soldier used daggers? A mage advancing in the thief class as well… That was rather unusual.

“Has she developed a hobby of dressing up her first summon? How interesting.”

She was undoubtedly sacrificing the growth of her other summons to raise that skeleton. He couldn’t fathom why she would do something so pointless, but it must have been that a singularity had activated after she passed a major turning point—perhaps the one where her face was horribly disfigured by acid.

‘Lee Yeonhee… You must be cautious with every single choice. Tsk, tsk—’

The one piece that had concerned him was displaying unexpectedly inefficient growth, while unforeseen developments were boiling up in other regions. It was as if the world were trying to maintain balance.

“Good. I’ve decided not to participate in that trivial competition scheduled for April.”

“……I will adjust the schedule accordingly.”

Jeong Ju-in, who had just climbed into the passenger seat after issuing orders to his subordinates, continued to faithfully fulfill his role as Jo Giman’s loyal right hand.

Jo Giman gently stroked his face, which had finally returned to its original appearance, and told the driver to head to the usual place.

Rattle, rattle, rattle—

“Hu— I held back too long… Time to enjoy myself a little.”

Having been unable to consume the top-grade Denar, he clutched his trembling arm while recalling the delicacies waiting in his secret sanctuary.

After clearing the week-long survival game, we were swarmed with interview requests the moment we stepped out of the gate. But when the members of the White Alliance all clamped their mouths shut as if by prior agreement, the reporters quickly abandoned us and rushed toward the other survivors.

Hunters usually craved attention, so one might expect disappointment when the media’s focus shifted. Yet the faces of those who had cleared the hidden dungeon and obtained artifacts were lit with nothing but bright smiles.

No Hayun gave us ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a surprisingly cool farewell outside the gate and immediately parted ways. Of course, it was because high-ranking hunters had come to escort her.

Yeom Tae-seok also said his goodbyes, handed over a business card while expressing his strong desire to team up again, and disappeared.

For some reason Bae Jua and Baek A-rin began massaging Yeonhee’s arms and legs while she sat resting, repeatedly warning her not to accept any contact from other party members.

“Remember what happened with Lee Yeong-cheol. You mustn’t accept people so casually.”

“That’s right-yong! Unless they’re as strong as No Hayun-yong!”

I had no intention of accepting anyone anyway, but deliberately invoking the murderer Lee Yeong-cheol—who had only been a one-time standard—was clearly an attempt to avoid increasing the number of people sharing the reward pie.

‘How many hunters on No Hayun’s level exist anyway… Good grief.’

Still, I didn’t dislike their behavior. If anything, it felt somewhat reassuring. Every hunter pursued financial gain, and the concerns they voiced were perfectly valid.

Afterward, all sorts of random people swarmed Yeonhee. One cable network wanted to cast her in a program that gathered beautiful hunters for meetings with high-ranking hunters. Another outright proposed a photo shoot.

“N-no thank you…!”

Though she stuttered, the firm will behind her refusal caused most of the eager solicitors to withdraw. Once I began escorting her in earnest, no one dared approach. The brief commotion ended there.

‘If it’s already like this at D-grade… we’re going to have problems.’

Even I felt a touch of anxiety. Yeonhee was needlessly beautiful! No matter how hard she tried to conceal it, her looks refused to stay hidden!

“Huu…”

Yeonhee leaned against me as though she no longer had the strength to stand. After giving the dungeon management staff a brief summary of events, our party headed home together.