Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Troll Seed II
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Shin Noah
3
Thanks to the Saintess, I successfully pinpointed the location of the villainous Goryeo Jang.
It would be nice to say that I moved right away and took her down… but in reality, it took a bit more time.
A reggressor's schedule is always packed tight, like that of a superstar actor who's just started getting national acclaim.
No matter how infuriating the villainous Goryeo Jang was, I had far more urgent matters piling up.
I needed to upload 'Aura Demonstration Video (Advanced Edition)' to SG Net with a burner account, reorganize the Korean Awakener Alliance, go on a gourmet tour in Busan, prepare for the Meteor Shower… and so on.
No joke—my calendar was booked solid all the way to Year 7, counting from my regression starting point.
In the end, it took nearly half a month to carve out time to meet 'NewlyRegistered'.
Even this was barely squeezing in some leeway.
I asked the Saintess (more precisely, through the Saintess of National Salvation, the constellation she was role-playing as) to set up the meeting place and time.
When I arrived, there was a muscular young man with broad shoulders waiting.
"NewlyRegistered?"
"Ah… You're ZERO_SUGAR, right?"
"Yes. Nice to meet you. Feel free to call me Undertaker."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Lee Joo-ho."
We shook hands.
A sturdy grip.
I could feel the lean muscle of someone forging their way through a harsh world on their own terms.
As a side note, I personally believe that a person's character shows more in their hands than their face.
"By any chance, are you a teacher?"
I glanced casually over his shoulder.
"Ah."
Lee Joo-ho smiled awkwardly.
The place we met was an elementary school playground. More accurately, it was an elementary school—split right down the middle.
Peek-
From a pile of junk that a used car dealer would have already scrapped, tiny children were peeking at us.
When our eyes met, they ducked their heads like squirrels.
Cute.
Lee Joo-ho scratched his head.
"Yes, well… For now, I'm in charge of teaching the elementary kids."
"That's impressive in times like these. Mind if I call you Teacher?"
"Oh, no need. Just call me comfortably. I wasn't a teacher to begin with."
Lee Joo-ho gave a wry smile.
"I was just a math tutor working for a cram school for a salary… but somehow, I ended up being the only one left to stand at the podium. After finishing guild work in the morning, I handle teaching in the afternoon as well. And, uh, one other guild member of ours is covering the school nurse, art teacher, and librarian duties."
"Oh…"
Let me say this upfront: at this point, my favorability toward Lee Joo-ho had already broken through Level 5.
What was this guy? An angel?
"Ah. By the way, ZERO_SUGAR, it's hot out, and you came all this way—must've been tough. If you're thirsty, have some of this at least…"
As he said that, Lee Joo-ho offered a Zero Coke.
Ever since the Gate incident, everyday goods like this had always been treated like treasures.
He must have prepared a zero-sugar drink on purpose, noticing my ID 'ZERO_SUGAR'. A man who knew how to turn intangible goodwill into tangible substance.
"Oh…"
Favorability Level 6 achieved.
"How did you… Well, I won't refuse. Thank you, I'll gladly have it."
"Haha. Good thing. I figured you'd like it, seeing your ID."
"Of course. It's been so long, it feels even nicer. And belatedly—my condolences for your loss."
"Yes. Thank you."
We sat side by side on a bench in the half-ruined elementary school playground.
To reintroduce: the young man's name was Lee Joo-ho.
His area of activity was Pocheon-Yeolwon. The current meeting spot was Pocheon.
The guild Lee Joo-ho belonged to wasn't up to par with AAA-class giants like Three Thousand Worlds or Baekhwa Girls' High School, but it was solid in its own right.
That said, from my memory, it was a mid-tier guild that vanished like a ghost at some point. Not that there was only one or two such guilds these days.
"So, Undertaker…"
Once the small talk warmed up, Lee Joo-ho turned to me.
"You said you have information on Goryeo Jang."
"Yes. That's right."
Lee Joo-ho's dark eyes gleamed darkly. The rage of losing his beloved father must be burning like gunpowder in his heart.
Lee Joo-ho's lips twitched.
"Will you help me kill that bastard?"
Hm.
I set down the aluminum can.
"Whether to kill or not is for you to decide, Lee Joo-ho. My role is to get you to your destination."
"Destination… you say?"
"Naturally, the place where the villainous Goryeo Jang lives."
"……!"
Lee Joo-ho's eyes widened.
"In the world! You know where that bastard lives?!"
"Yes."
"How on earth… Ah. By any chance…?"
The words he swallowed were probably 'Are you acquainted with Goryeo Jang?'
I shook my head.
"Don't worry. I'm not just not acquainted—I've never even seen the guy's face."
"Ah."
It would turn out later that I'd unintentionally told a lie here.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to doubt you, ZERO_SUGAR. But then, how did you find that scum's location…?"
Obviously thanks to the Saintess with her [Clairvoyance] ability. Anyone who keeps listening to my story will gradually realize she's a total cheat of an awakener.
"I can't tell you that. But here's a hint: I learned it thanks to my awakening ability and the constellation I personally serve."
"Ah……."
"Will you come along?"
As I stood from the bench, Lee Joo-ho awkwardly followed suit.
He reflexively glanced toward the abandoned school. That is, toward the junk pile where the kids were hiding.
"Ah, uh, I didn't wrap things up because I didn't expect this… I have guild work and school duties. If it's okay, really sorry, but could you wait just a bit?"
"No need for that."
"Yes?"
I smiled brightly.
"It's really close from here."
The reason I'd adjusted my packed regressor schedule to make time for this incident.
"How close do you mean…?"
"Pocheon. You and the villainous Goryeo Jang—you're actually neighbors."
"……."
Lee Joo-ho's mouth fell open in a daze.
What was there to hide?
This incident was a lame quest that could be cleared with one effortless run.
4
[Turn into the alley on the right.]
[Next is the left alley.]
[Continue straight.]
The performance of the limited-edition navigation product 'Saintess'—usable only by me worldwide—was rock-solid. Thanks to it, I could find the way even with my eyes closed.
"……."
Meanwhile, behind me, the bewildered vibes from Lee Joo-ho following me didn't stop.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah, yes. Yeah… Just, the info was so unexpected…"
No wonder he was stunned.
Logging into SG Net meant the villainous Goryeo Jang was an awakener too. And since Pocheon wasn't a big city, all the local awakeners probably knew each other.
"Oh! Team Leader Joo-ho!"
Sure enough, as we walked, village vigilantes spotted Lee Joo-ho and greeted him.
In these times, vigilante groups were a must-have for every village. Following the latest trends, the vigilantes eyed the unfamiliar outsider suspiciously. That is, me.
"Excuse me, but what's your business in our neighborhood?"
Lee Joo-ho stepped forward instead.
"Ah, well… An old friend from hometown came up, so we're just taking a stroll."
"Your hometown friend? Wow. Rare friendship in times like these."
The vigilante opened the road barricade.
"Well, if you're Team Leader's acquaintance, no problem. Go on through."
Passing security, the streets got a bit neater. This must be Pocheon's equivalent of Gangnam Cheongdam-dong. Though the original Cheongdam-dong was now a wasteland.
"Um, ZERO_SUGAR. Is this really the place?"
Once we entered the neighborhood, Lee Joo-ho's already anxious voice started shaking even more.
"Why? Nervous?"
"To be honest… Yes. This is where our guild's awakeners mostly live. No guild members from elsewhere."
"Is that so? Then brace yourself."
"……."
Truth be told, whether Lee Joo-ho braced himself or not didn't matter much. After all, I'd come all this way because I wanted to see what the villainous Goryeo Jang's facial muscles looked like up close.
Unlike Lee Joo-ho, I had no intention of killing Goryeo Jang. Just beat her up moderately and warn her 'Don't troll on the internet again.'
"Here it is."
Soon, I arrived in front of a house. Red brick. Small front yard.
Not particularly luxurious, but living in a standalone house instead of communal dorms marked you as upper class in these times.
Lee Joo-ho's eyes wavered. As expected, it seemed like an acquaintance's house.
"My god."
"My constellation told me this place. The Saintess of National Salvation—you know her? The most trustworthy among constellations. Shall we check out the face?"
"Z-ZERO_SUGAR. Wait a sec…!"
Lee Joo-ho tried to grab my shoulder, but I'd already stormed into the house.
As befitting an awakener's hideout, the house had various security devices. But I slipped in like a summer mosquito.
Because the one who first proposed and implemented these security designs was none other than… me, the regressor.
Password? Traps? Puppeteer's special spiderwebs? None lasted even a second before my— the copyright holder's—presence, crumbling away.
"What the—"
I ignored Lee Joo-ho's shocked voice from behind. In infiltration ops like this, speed was key; once you breached, you didn't look back and finished fast.
If this world were a game, my profile would read [Primary Job: Regressor], [Secondary Job: Assassin (Thief)].
I reached the heart of the villainous Goryeo Jang's hideout in an instant.
"Hiee… Here it's blue, hehe…"
The villainous Goryeo Jang was playing around, painting on a canvas.
So absorbed in her painting she hadn't noticed my intrusion at all.
I approached right up behind her, and only then did her ears twitch!
"Hm? Who…?"
Critical hit to the nape. With aura as bonus option.
"Hiek."
Thud-
The woman in the white doctor's coat crumpled pathetically. Adjusting her fall to avoid the paint cans and land flat on the floor—that was my final courtesy.
Target secured. Mission complete.
Piece of cake.
"Hm?"
The problem started then.
Knocking out the villainous Goryeo Jang was fine, but when I finally checked her face, no way.
What was this.
"No…?"
The identity of the villainous Goryeo Jang, rolling her eyes in @ symbols on the floor…
Was one of the 399 survivors summoned to Busan Station waiting room, like Seo-gyu or me.
'Such a coincidence?'
399 wasn't a tiny number, so statistically possible, but amazingly, the villainous Goryeo Jang was someone even you listeners to my tale knew.
From the previous episode.
Do you remember the scene where our hot-blooded SG Guy, Seo-gyu, got his throat prettily sliced by the Tutorial Fairy?
-Eeeeeek!
There was one person drenched head to toe in Seo-gyu's blood back then.
"P-People died…! People! Eek, they're dead! Eeeeeek! People, they died…!"
Fleeing while scattering Seo-gyu's guts and blood, crossing the Busan Station waiting room and parting the Red Sea (just a bit redder than the original)—the culprit.
It was none other than Sim A-ryeon.
'…Why is she here?'
The world sure is small.
Infinite Regressor Tells Tales