The Regressor's Suspicion
The greeting had changed, ever so slightly. "Ah~ Yeonhee. It's been a while."
"... H-hello."
Jo Giman offered Yeonhee the same greasy, obnoxious greeting he always used. He seemed to notice the chill that had settled over her demeanor; a sharp glint flashed through his eyes for a brief instant. Then his footsteps halted abruptly, and his head began to turn toward me with a slow, ominous creak.
Are we shooting a horror movie or something...
Jo Giman had definitely sensed something different about me. He stared straight through me, unblinking.
I never expected him not to notice. The real question is how much of my power he'll manage to read.
He scanned me from head to toe, mana rising around him, then tilted his head in confusion.
Keep walking. Just get lost already.
"A summon I've never seen before, Yeonhee? It feels strangely familiar... Don't tell me this is that skeleton soldier I saw back in the studio apartment?"
"......"
Yeonhee kept her lips sealed, but Jo Giman nodded as though that was answer enough.
"...... Hmm. I see. This is... quite surprising. A skeleton that has evolved into a form I've never witnessed before..."
Jo Giman circled me once, then turned his gaze away.
Whew— Is it thanks to Minor Perception Inhibition? He's not showing much of a reaction.
I had felt something unsettling when he walked around me, but I cautiously clung to the hope that he wasn't taking my growth too seriously.
"Jo Giman."
Kang Yeonsu, who had been watching over us, spoke his name with crisp precision. They weren't on friendly enough terms to casually use each other's names in public, so Jo Giman turned to her with a faintly displeased look.
"What?"
"Hoo... That contract you made with Yeonhee before—"
"?!"
Just as Yeonsu moved to press him about the contract, an entity brimming with colossal mana plummeted from the sky to the ground.
Kuuuung——!
⊳ Whoaaaa!! It's Master Jung-gil!!
⊳ Hope has finally arrived!
⊳ Waaaah!! Seeing him in the flesh!
If Jo Giman's arrival had rated a thirty, Hyeon Jung-gil's entrance shot well past ninety.
That old man really does have a flair for showmanship. Always acting so dignified, too.
Seeing a welcome face, I grumbled pettily to myself.
"......"
I didn't miss the way Jo Giman's eyebrows twitched the instant Hyeon Jung-gil made his grand entrance.
His heart is the size of a millet grain. He can't stand seeing anyone receive better treatment than himself. A pathetic man who can't act his age.
Jo Giman. Looking back across his previous lives, he had never been particularly intelligent, nor had he shown any remarkable talent for thorough preparation. His combat sense wasn't exceptionally sharp, either. He was the type to simply overwhelm opponents with absurdly high specs and call it a day. His strength was most likely the accumulated result of power gained across six lifetimes.
Hmm...
The more I analyzed it, the more one question kept surfacing.
Why did the Seven-Headed Dragon choose a bastard like him as its avatar?
It was a recurring doubt. The evil deity known as the Seven-Headed Dragon surely had its own criteria, yet I couldn't understand it. If we were talking pure capability, wouldn't Nam Yong-seok of the Succubus Domain or Cha Jin-hyeok with his gravity control have been better choices?
Hmm...
Then again, granting the absurd ability to relive seven lives might have come with restrictions on the selection of an avatar...
I tried to rationalize it that way.
Kang Yeonsu and Jo Giman, whose attention had been briefly stolen by Hyeon Jung-gil, stopped talking as if on cue and hurriedly returned to the temporary command center. Hunters in positions of authority gathered for a short meeting and soon agreed to subjugate the monster. It had been decided the moment Jo Giman and Hyeon Jung-gil arrived, but the meeting was held to satisfy those who valued proper procedure and prevent any future complaints.
During that brief meeting, Jo Giman was thinking.
That monster is definitely the work of Denar Panigial, that bastard. Cunning little shit. When exactly did he pull the schedule forward? I destroyed dozens of gates so they shouldn't have been able to receive proper support from their world. Did they find another way to gather strength?
It was something that had happened once per loop in previous rounds, but this was far earlier than expected. The monsters Denar summoned were always comparable to Great Calamities. This time, because it had been prepared in haste, it didn't seem to reach that level. The problem was that the monsters he called forth were always different.
So even he can't specify which monster to summon.
That was why he had ordered Park Jin-gon to report in real time. The information he received indeed contained data on a monster he had never seen before. Remembering the time he had nearly panicked after thinking things would be fine without him, Jo Giman had cut his "consumption" short and rushed over.
I took a hit, but returning immediately was the right decision. That monster... there's something strange about it. If I hadn't come, things would have gone very wrong.
He didn't care if hunters died. But if too many died and caused drastic changes, that was something Jo Giman wanted to avoid. He needed to maintain a proper balance.
Sigh— That son of a bitch Denar has completely ruined my schedule.
Knowing roughly where Denar's hideout was, Jo Giman felt like flying over and beating him senseless, but he calmed himself with the thought that handling future problems in advance wasn't a bad idea. Besides, he hadn't observed Lee Yeonhee for over two months, so a check-up was necessary.
A drake emitting an unfamiliar black smoke, a completely transformed skeleton soldier, and even a hunter with rabbit ears possessing S-rank potential.
Nothing but unknowns. I've never seen a beastman woman like that before. Did someone who should have died survive as a singularity?
Jo Giman swallowed as his eyes traced Baek A-rin's firm thighs.
I'll taste the rabbit later. Is that drake shadow-attribute? Then it's likely specialized in special mobility.
The Lee Yeonhee of previous rounds could never have imagined running away no matter what happened, but the woman blankly staring into space over there might as well have been an entirely different person.
Thinking it would be troublesome if she fled on the drake, Jo Giman continued his thoughts.
That monstrous woman... Even without the growth section where her face gets ruined, her progress is far faster than last time. Still, considering the growth of other hunters, it's not at a shocking level. It's rather ambiguous.
More unsettling than the difficult-to-judge Yeonhee was the skeleton hiding its power beside her.
That skeleton soldier. According to Jeong Ju-in's information, it took the mage route, didn't it? Yet the aura it's giving off is closer to a swordsman. And it's not just the appearance that's changed. There's an unknown energy coiled tightly inside. But I can't tell what it is.
That was all he could discern. The skeleton soldier had an eerily faint presence that made it difficult to gauge its capabilities. There was no way a mere skeleton soldier could skillfully conceal its aura, which only made the situation harder to understand.
I'd like to examine it with the Ghost Eye. But that damn Yeonsu woman keeps interfering. I can't just kill her either. How annoying.
Jo Giman had tried to activate his Ghost Eye while circling Ilwol earlier, but Kang Yeonsu had completely blocked it with a powerful wall of mana.
The way that Kang Yeonsu bitch is protecting it proves there's definitely something there. That skeleton... I'll need to crack its head open and check.
Jo Giman decided that once this subjugation ended, he would seize the skeleton soldier from Lee Yeonhee and find out exactly what had changed. Since it was the form of Yoon Han-gyeol that he always assumed with Mimicry, even if he showed his face to Lee Yeonhee, she would never suspect it was him.
Depending on the results... I may need to dispose of Lee Yeonhee ahead of schedule.
Everything was already twisted beyond recognition, and none of his original plans were proceeding in order. The idea of profiting inside the Giant's Dungeon while she held back the orc legion might as well be scrapped entirely. The dramatic scenario where he appeared heroically atop the righteous hunters' achievements and sacrifices—including hers—to clean up the orc army would need revising as well.
...
I watched Jo Giman emerge from the meeting with an indifferent gaze.
Hmm... Something feels... off.
His aura when he entered the meeting and when he came out was subtly different. It was a paper-thin change, but the sense that he was now conscious of me—could that be my imagination?
...... I'd better prepare for the worst-case scenario. There's no telling what he'll do... I might really need to use all ten lives.
As soon as the meeting ended, Jo Giman approached Hyeon Jung-gil, who was floating in the air deep in meditation, and spoke with polite deference.
"Guild Leader Hyeon. I intend to use Thousand Thunder Palm..."
"...... Understood. Let's begin at once."
Jo Giman was a true all-rounder, so versatile that it was difficult to name any ability—including swordsmanship and magic—that he could not wield. Hyeon Jung-gil was a pure swordsman who had devoted himself exclusively to the blade. Though it was not publicly known, the two had unofficially coordinated during several monster subjugations. Their breathing matched surprisingly well, and they shared a mutual recognition of each other's skill.
Of course, alongside that recognition, Jo Giman also envied, resented, and feared the man. He was someone who would eventually die on his own, and an important figure in preventing the world's destruction. Jo Giman had never consumed Hyeon Jung-gil before, but this time he was considering it.
Better to eat before he withers away. Even if it means taking the penalty.
Thousand Thunder Palm
Jo Giman rose into the sky and stretched one arm upward, chanting an unknown incantation. Massive energy began to gather across the area. Even though it was morning, several kilometers were plunged into deep darkness, as though every light in a theater had been switched off.
The hunters, already familiar with Jo Giman's abilities, did not panic at the sudden gloom. Instead, their eyes sparkled with anticipation at the chance to witness the skill widely regarded as the strongest lightning-attribute technique in existence. Everyone lifted their heads to the sky, eager to see the finishing move that had earned him consideration as Korea's mightiest hunter.
Hyeon Jung-gil briefly stepped out of his unique domain and drew his beloved sword from subspace.
Oooooooo———
The sword, crafted from materials obtained during the subjugation of the Great Calamity Bazuki, glowed with pure white light from hilt to tip. The moment Hyeon Jung-gil unsheathed it, the black monster suddenly began to twitch.