Chapter 242
Chapter 242
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 243
Chapter Title: A Regressor's Hint
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Kim Chang-hyun's words left me momentarily dazed.
...This life is ruined.
It was a loaded statement.
Of course, it could just be his habit of saying it whenever his plans went awry.
I'd used expressions like that myself before falling into this world.
But to me, who had already sensed something off about Kim Chang-hyun, those words carried a different meaning.
They sounded like he assumed there would be a next life.
At that moment, Kim Chang-hyun spoke again.
"...How hard I fought to hold on."
His voice was laced with a pained sigh.
He seemed to know in advance what was about to unfold.
Seeing that, a flurry of thoughts raced through my mind.
Kim Chang-hyun's suspicious behaviors.
His tone that suggested he already knew me.
What Shinbi had said about 'traces of regression' when she saw him.
And now, his readiness as if he'd anticipated the evil dragon's appearance.
Putting it all together, a suspicion about Kim Chang-hyun's true identity surfaced in my head.
"...No way, a regressor?"
It all fit perfectly if that was the case.
The possibility of regression had long been proven in this world anyway.
My mind was a whirlwind when Kim Chang-hyun suddenly stood up.
"...At least next time it'll be different, humanly speaking."
With those words, he walked off somewhere.
I blinked blankly, watching his retreating figure disappear.
I wanted to follow him, but it was time for Lee Seo-jun and the evil dragon to clash.
I had to get back to my original spot before it was too late.
Pushing aside my questions about Kim Chang-hyun, I returned to where I'd been.
Kwaaaaang—!
As soon as I arrived at the scene, I saw a building crumbling.
The evil dragon, whipping through the sky, spewed black mana breath from its maw, setting the ground ablaze.
Those who couldn't escape were swept up in it, losing their lives in an instant.
The Hunter Association wizards who had rushed in tried to hold it back, but they were no match for the evil dragon.
"Kwaaaak!"
"S-Save me...!"
A horrific scene that made my eyes sting.
Right before my eyes, countless people and wizards were dying.
"...What the hell, how is it this strong?"
I already knew from the original story that the evil dragon was powerful.
But its strength now far exceeded what I'd imagined from the text.
No, at least in the original, the association wizards had dealt some damage to it...
The scene unfolding before me looked like the evil dragon was just toying with them.
At some point, even the association wizards lost their will to fight, halting their attacks and gazing up at the evil dragon in fear.
The evil dragon looked down at them, beating its massive wings.
[Humans. Do you really think your pathetic magic can stop me?]
At the evil dragon's words, the wizards' eyes lost focus.
They had completely lost their fighting spirit.
"...We can't win that."
I desperately wanted to rush in and help, but the helplessness of having to just watch made my fingertips tremble.
That's when I felt a powerful surge of mana from afar.
The evil dragon sensed it too, turning its head toward the source.
In the distance, a man gripping a sword of light approached with a stern expression.
Mature, yet still strikingly handsome.
The man's identity, exuding overwhelming pressure just by his presence, was 25-year-old Lee Seo-jun.
Lee Seo-jun took in the hellish landscape around him and grimaced in anguish.
[...You've finally come. I've been waiting.]
The evil dragon gazed at Lee Seo-jun and murmured quietly.
Hearing it, I felt a twinge of doubt.
According to the original story, the evil dragon and Lee Seo-jun's encounter that day was practically coincidental.
But the evil dragon's words now carried the nuance that it had known Lee Seo-jun would come here.
Lee Seo-jun, scanning his surroundings, asked with a hardened face.
"...You were waiting for me?"
[Yes. I've waited years for this day. To meet you, Lee Seo-jun.]
Lee Seo-jun's hand trembled slightly on his sword.
"...You killed all these people just to meet me?"
[Worried about the dead? No need. They were fated to die swept up in our meeting anyway.]
"What kind of nonsense is..."
Lee Seo-jun gritted his teeth. Soon, powerful mana enveloped his entire body.
Paat!
At the same time, Lee Seo-jun vanished.
His speed was too fast to follow with the eye.
A moment later, he reappeared above the evil dragon's head, as if teleporting.
Startled by the swift movement, the evil dragon rapidly beat its wings to evade.
But Lee Seo-jun's sword swing was even faster.
As he slashed through the air, a semicircular blade of light shot out.
Paaat!
[Graaaargh!]
The blade left a long gash on the evil dragon's wing.
Watching the battle, I felt a chill run down my spine.
This was the first time I'd seen 25-year-old Lee Seo-jun fight.
And it sent shivers on a whole different level from the novel's descriptions.
"Huap—!"
Lee Seo-jun, who had dropped to the ground, vanished again. Moments later, he appeared beneath the evil dragon's belly.
He swung his sword, sending another semicircular blade toward its underside.
Pshuuuk!
[Groooar!]
A massive wound opened on the evil dragon's belly, black blood spilling to the ground.
It was an attack of overwhelming destructive power, but the evil dragon's hide was too tough for a fatal blow.
That was the limit of sword qi projection rather than direct strikes.
[...Kuhuhu. Not ordinary after all.]
Ominous black mana poured from the evil dragon's body once more.
With a massive flap of its wings, it ascended high into the sky.
To a height where Lee Seo-jun's attacks couldn't easily reach.
"...Tch."
Lee Seo-jun clicked his tongue and lowered his stance, preparing for the evil dragon's next move.
Then, the black mana emanating from the evil dragon coalesced into a sphere.
The intense mana compressed into the orb before launching toward Lee Seo-jun.
It was fired at such speed that evasion seemed impossible.
Kwaaaaang—!
A massive explosion rang out, smoke billowing up.
The black smoke that had enveloped Lee Seo-jun was swept away by a gust of wind and dissipated.
He had deployed a mana barrier to block the attack.
Then, crouching low, Lee Seo-jun kicked off the ground and soared into the sky.
Srak!
[Graaaack!]
One of the evil dragon's wings was severed, crashing to the ground with a thud!
The wingless evil dragon seemed about to plummet, but black mana rose, forming new wings to halt its fall.
It was a battle on an incomparably higher level than anything I'd seen before.
On a whole different plane from the diseased beast subjugation last time, perhaps?
[Impressive...]
The evil dragon chuckled lowly.
[...To think I'd feel this thrill against a human.]
New power began emanating from the evil dragon's body.
Its red eyes glowed fiercer, and its massive frame started to grow even larger.
A situation from the original story.
The [Second Berserk] was beginning.
And in my previous life, Evil Dragon Cruas had triggered its second berserk, leading to Lee Seo-jun's death.
Which meant Lee Seo-jun's death was imminent.
According to the original, the evil dragon dies by Lee Seo-jun's hand, so intervention by someone else at this moment was likely.
...With that tension, I watched the battle.
Having completed its second berserk, the evil dragon filled its maw with mana and unleashed it at Lee Seo-jun.
Paaaaang—
Lee Seo-jun tried to dodge the oncoming mana cannon by charging forward.
That's when it happened. A powerful mana grip rose and clamped down on Lee Seo-jun's foot.
...
Panic flashed across Lee Seo-jun's face.
And I wasn't the only one startled.
I couldn't help but be shocked by the situation. Binding an opponent's foot with mana?
...Did the evil dragon have that ability?
It was a power never described in the original.
At the same time.
The mana from the evil dragon's maw blasted the spot where Lee Seo-jun stood.
Kwaaaaang!
"...Insane."
I cursed under my breath as I watched the fight.
Strong.
Too strong.
Its combat prowess was on another level, enough that I'd believe it was a different evil dragon from the one in the original.
With that level of power, I doubted even ten S-Rank wizards could subdue it.
><、o o.
The smoke cleared from where Lee Seo-jun had stood, revealing him collapsed on the ground, covered in blood.
Whether he'd lost his life, Lee Seo-jun lay motionless, showing no reaction. No mana emanated from him either.
"...No way, is he dead?"
Is this Lee Seo-jun's end?
Then the evil dragon's voice echoed again.
[Bloodline of the one who chases freedom...]
The one who chases freedom.
Probably referring to Jin Cheon-woo. Did the evil dragon know of him?
[You harbor no malice toward me... but your existence is a seed that will one day disrupt the world's laws...]
a..
A seed that disrupts the world's laws?
[With the massive currents converging on you now, the world's fate will shift greatly depending on your survival. I merely sought to prevent that...]
The evil dragon muttered, then paused before speaking again.
[Don't resent me. It is the will of the world.]
That's when it happened.
A powerful aura began emanating from Lee Seo-jun's body, which had shown no mana at all.
It was an alien energy I'd never sensed from him before.
[!]
Lee Seo-jun rose like a zombie.
Despite injuries that should have immobilized him, his body moved as if puppeted by the alien energy.
It didn't look like it was moving by his own will.
[Bearer of death... a fragment of the 'Power of Immortality'...]
Lee Seo-jun swung his sword.
Sword qi shot out, slicing off the evil dragon's wing.
[Graaaack...]
Lee Seo-jun kept swinging relentlessly. Sword qi flew continuously, forcing the evil dragon to deploy a barrier to block.
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
Explosions rang out nonstop.
The evil dragon held out as best it could, but its barrier shattered.
Then, the evil dragon gathered black mana in its maw once more, squeezing it out. Lee Seo-jun swung again, ignoring the motion.
In that instant, the evil dragon fired the mana at him.
Kwaaaaang!
Lee Seo-jun was swept by the mana and collapsed again.
I could instinctively tell.
This attack had finished him.
[Grooo... Fortunately, an incomplete power of immortality... enough to even alter fate...]
The evil dragon's black mana reformed into wings, arduously keeping it aloft.
Though victorious in battle, the evil dragon had taken heavy damage too.
Groaning in pain, it vanished somewhere.
I stared blankly at the empty sky where the evil dragon had departed. The unforeseen turn left me unable to think.
Lee Seo-jun's death unfolded in a way utterly different from what I'd imagined.
I slowly walked toward him.
Lee Seo-jun lay as if peacefully asleep, his face serene.
"...Lee Seo-jun."
My mind was in turmoil.
I already knew he possessed a fragment of the 'Power of Immortality,' obtainable only by those who'd experienced death through Jin Cheon-woo's experiments.
But I never expected it to revive him midway like this.
I'd thought there was some hidden variable in his death—someone's intervention.
But no.
There had been no interference in Lee Seo-jun and the evil dragon's battle.
...The evil dragon was simply far stronger than described in the original.
Shortly after confirming Lee Seo-jun's death, the world shifted again.
I was in the back hills of Ganghwa Island.
The spot before I'd used Dimensional Observation.
I gazed blankly at the pitch-black sky and checked the time.
9 PM.
The same as when I'd first attempted Dimensional Observation.
Hours had passed in that other dimension, but not a second had elapsed here.
Returning to peaceful reality from such a shocking ordeal brought an indescribable sense of disconnect.
[Dimensional Observation used successfully!]
[Achievement 'Dimensional Observation' unlocked!]
[Reward: 'Ability Condition Change Ticket' acquired.]
['Ability Condition Change Ticket' can be used via external privileges.]
"Ability Condition Change Ticket?"
A new type of reward I'd never seen. It wasn't in the point shop either.
I checked it immediately.
[[Special] Ability Condition Change Ticket(???)]
Type: Special
Description: Select one trait or skill to alter its restriction conditions. Power changes according to the new conditions.
...So, a ticket to change an ability's limitations.
In this world's laws, some powers grow stronger with harsher restrictions.
Like the insane mana cost of 'Rune Binding.'
Or the short duration of 'Instant Acceleration.'
Or the Battle Maniac's 3-day cooldown.
Even 'Blessing of the Moon,' which only activates on full moon nights, that I'd eyed before.
...This Ability Condition Change Ticket seemed to let me tweak those conditions to my liking.
The Regressed Extra Becomes a Genius