Regressor Instruction Manual Chapter 201: Lee Kiyoung’s Hidden Camera (2)
“Are you really sure this is all right?”
“Of course. I have no idea when we’ll all get the chance to gather like this again. Once things start getting busy in earnest, time for running around together like this will only get scarcer. The newcomers alone are going to make things hectic, and… I think Hyunsung understands that, which is why he agreed to this dungeon trip.”
“Still….”
“It’s also a chance to clear our heads for a bit. Let’s think of it as a little outing after a long stretch of no breathing room. People need rest, too.”
“Hyung….”
For some reason, I could see Park Deokgu looking over here with a grateful expression.
He probably was almost certain that this dungeon trip had been planned because of him.
From his point of view, that reaction was only natural. A sudden dungeon expedition at a time like this? Anyone would have found that suspicious.
It had only been a few days since we’d had a bit of friction.
So it made sense that he’d think this sudden dungeon expedition of mine was a peace offering.
In reality, Jung Hayan was still keeping an awkward distance from Park Deokgu, and until the subject of this expedition came up, I hadn’t said much to him either.
On the surface, then, this was a reconciliation trip to mend a relationship that had gone a little cold.
That’s right.
Anyone would naturally think that.
He’d never dream that I’d planned all of this for a completely different purpose.
First Park Deokgu Awakening and Power-Up Plan.
Director: Lee Kiyoung. Screenplay: Lee Kiyoung. Assistance: Lee Jihye.
It was a real gift prepared for the guy after he’d been utterly crushed by Kim Yeri and sat there bawling his eyes out.
Well, maybe calling it a gift was a little cruel, but it was still, in my own way, a measure to give him what he wanted.
There were plenty of shortcomings in this guy, but the biggest problem I saw in Park Deokgu right now was…
Fourth advancement.
Among Blue’s party members, he was the only one who still hadn’t reached fourth advancement and was clinging to a rare-grade class.
I couldn’t say for certain why he still hadn’t advanced when he should’ve been overflowing with experience points from the Monster Wave, but I could only conclude that some kind of psychological wall was holding him back.
In fact, he was already dealing with a bit of mental strain and didn’t seem to have any clear solution in sight.
What I wanted to know was one thing.
When a crisis comes.
How does Park Deokgu react?
It was a trivial inference, but one worth thinking about.
He had never truly experienced a crisis.
Kim Hyunsung’s party was an off-the-charts group made up entirely of geniuses, and whenever Park Deokgu failed to pull his weight, everything was always solved by that other off-the-charts existence named Kim Hyunsung.
And it wasn’t just Hyunsung.
Jung Hayan’s protective magic would shield the rear before Deokgu could, and whenever a party member was in danger, geniuses would pop out of nowhere to rescue him from the brink.
Even in the Cursed Shrine, where we’d fought Yuliena to the finish, it had been Kim Hyunsung who handled the boss-level monster Yuliena by himself. In the Monster Wave as well, Deokgu hadn’t shown anything especially remarkable.
He had simply blended in naturally.
He may have filled his experience bar to the brim, but….
What if the system couldn’t judge him?
What if the system couldn’t decide what class to give him?
It was only a hypothesis.
Still, I couldn’t help but think it was worth testing. There were too many things bothering me to just laugh it off.
Even if he didn’t awaken a class or trait this time, it wouldn’t matter. If he felt his own lack in this expedition, it would become a little easier to get him to accept the serum. And if he still couldn’t overcome this, we could always make room for him somewhere other than the main party.
But…
There’s no chance of that.
There was no chance—zero—that he would give up on himself. Everything had been built on that assumption.
After sorting my thoughts out, I lifted the corners of my mouth slightly and spoke to him once more.
“That said, don’t let your guard down completely. No matter that this is a rare-grade dungeon, you always need to keep the possibility of an accident in mind.”
“Yeah. What Kiyoung-ajusshi said is right.”
“I know that. Hyunsung-hyung isn’t here this time, either. We definitely shouldn’t relax.”
“Of course I’m not telling you to tense yourself up too much. I deliberately bought a low-difficulty dungeon. Stay alert when you need to, but don’t rush around too frantically.”
“Ugh… you didn’t have to go and buy a dungeon for us in the first place….”
“The other guilds are all busy preparing for what comes after the Tutorial Dungeon opens. I got this one cheap, so don’t feel burdened.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
It was a smile that looked genuinely pleased, something I hadn’t seen in a while.
No, he usually did grin a lot because he tried not to show it in front of other people, but this time there was a bit of ease to it.
If I exaggerated, I’d say he almost looked liberated.
I didn’t know what was going through the mind of a guy who could, in his own way, be called timid, but at least he wasn’t acting like he had before, and that was a relief.
Not bad.
His condition wasn’t bad.
For now, it felt like what he wanted most was to restore his relationship with me and Jung Hayan.
Especially since he kept glancing at Jung Hayan so often, it seemed like he couldn’t stop worrying over the expression on her face as she silently chewed over the behavior guidelines I’d given her.
Tsk. Foolish bastard.
If anyone owed an apology for the last incident, it was Jung Hayan.
I didn’t know why he was the one looking for the right moment to apologize, but seeing him like that was honestly kind of cute.
When I casually turned my gaze away from him, the five party members joining this expedition came into view.
Me, Park Deokgu, Jung Hayan, Kim Yeri, and one priest who would be useful in all sorts of ways, especially if something unexpected happened.
Originally, I wanted to bring Sun Heeyoung, but the timing simply wouldn’t allow it.
Hwang Jeongyeon, who was on fairly close terms with Deokgu, was also deeply involved in Blue’s administrative side, so that was impossible as well.
In truth, I had thought Jeongyeon could be the centerpiece of this plan, but considering how awful her acting was, I decided it would be better if she simply stayed still.
Yuliena’s incident had already given me the answer.
Hwang Jeongyeon liked dramas, but when it came to acting, she was catastrophically untalented.
Of course, the rest of them weren’t any better.
Jung Hayan was already making Park Deokgu anxious with her awkward gestures and movements, and Kim Yeri, who said almost nothing and revealed nothing of her inner thoughts, was no better suited to acting.
Terrible acting.
That was why I’d brought in An Gimo, the priest transferred over from the Red Mercenary Guild. I needed someone who could somehow dissolve the awkward atmosphere Kim Yeri and Jung Hayan had created.
Just then, Deokgu happened to speak up at the perfect moment.
“Ah, now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve greeted the priest yet… if it’s all right, could you introduce us, hyung?”
“Is this your first time meeting him, Deokgu?”
“Well, yeah.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Deokgu. My name is An Gimo.”
“Ahhh. So you’re Gimo-hyung.”
“Haha. Yes. I’m with the Red Mercenary Guild, and by a twist of fate, I ended up joining you on this expedition.”
“Heeyoung’s been very busy, so I borrowed a little from our network.”
“Ahhh…. So that’s how it was.”
Deokgu seemed pleased enough that An Gimo had joined us. He liked meeting new people more than one might expect, and An Gimo, at least on the surface, had a friendly face.
“Thank you for joining us like this, Mr. Gimo.”
“Not at all, Mr. Kiyoung. Blue is an ally of the Red Mercenary Guild, and I happened to be terribly bored myself. I can’t begin to tell you what an honor it is to accompany the party that’s been shaking Lindel lately.”
“We just got lucky. We’ve only cleared one Heroic-grade dungeon and one rare-grade dungeon, that’s all.”
“What does it matter how many dungeons you’ve cleared?”
“Hahahaha….”
This guy’s natural….
And there was a reason for that.
I’d heard in advance that he had majored in theater, and though he’d never become famous, he’d supposedly spent years grinding it out around Daehak-ro.
He was originally supposed to be a combat cleric rather than an ordinary priest, but there wasn’t the slightest trace anywhere on his body that he had ever moonlighted as a melee class.
I didn’t know whether he was deliberately toning himself down, but at a glance he looked exactly like an ordinary priest.
That appearance alone was enough to qualify him for this trip.
The party set off toward the dungeon while chatting away in high spirits.
We could have taken a carriage and moved faster, but I figured walking and talking together would be better, so I even arranged a picnic-like atmosphere.
The only issue was that Jung Hayan was awkwardly avoiding Park Deokgu because of the pressure from acting, which made Deokgu uncomfortable.
Even better.
Rather than force some half-baked addition, this sort of position might actually be better.
Kim Yeri mostly stayed quiet and only threw out a few words here and there, but fortunately, it didn’t seem like she was taking too much from her friend’s influence.
Deokgu’s sociability let him get close to An Gimo in an instant.
We walked, then took long rests sitting down along the way, and even the camp we set up for the night had been given a lot of care.
We couldn’t drink much alcohol, but we still enjoyed the mood while having our meals and wetting our throats.
Up to this point, I could honestly say everything was more or less perfect.
Even I, with all my concerns, had finally gotten the chance to enjoy some leisure, so what more was there to say?
Good scenery and a good atmosphere.
The fact that we could enjoy good food like this at all was practically a blessing. What was unexpectedly amusing was that Kim Yeri turned out to be good at cooking.
“Training as a bride.”
That was her short answer when I asked why she was so good at it, and I could only quietly mull over the possibility that Kim Hyunsung really was trash.
Anyway, amid all sorts of conversation, the party gradually drew closer to the dungeon, and once the city had receded far enough that it would be hard to return easily, I gave An Gimo a subtle look.
The warm and cheerful rest period ended here.
It was about time to bring it up, I thought. Taking my cue, his voice rang out in the now quiet atmosphere.
“It looks like we’re almost there.”
“Yes. By tomorrow morning, we should be able to enter the dungeon, Mr. Gimo.”
“You said it’s a rare-grade dungeon, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Judging by the party composition, I don’t think there’ll be any major problems. With the people here, I’m sure you’ll be able to clear it with ease.”
“Well, that’s only natural. We’ve got hyung and Hayan-noona too….”
“But once you go into this area, you’ll need to stay a little more alert.”
“Ahhh…. You mean that matter.”
“Yes. So you were already aware, Mr. Kiyoung.”
I saw Park Deokgu looking back and forth between An Gimo and me, his face full of curiosity.
He looked as though he had no idea what we were talking about. An Gimo, seeing that expression, turned to him directly and continued.
“Ah, it seems Mr. Deokgu doesn’t know.”
“Doesn’t know what?”
“A few years ago, there was an incident in this area where an entire clan was completely wiped out. Officially it wasn’t publicized, but anyone who belongs to a major guild has probably heard of it at least once.”
It was a lie.
“Here in the vicinity?”
“Yes. At the time, Lindel didn’t make any official announcement about the incident, but… I imagine everyone who knows about it knows the details.”
“What details?”
“The Murder Brigade.”
For no particular reason, the air in the group grew quiet.
As the mood changed, I caught sight of Deokgu swallowing hard.
An Gimo, who was always smiling, also kept a slightly tense expression even as he spoke the words aloud.
This guy.
I’d brought him here because I’d heard he was good at acting, but anyone could see he was good enough to count as quite skilled.
Even knowing it was a lie, I somehow started feeling tense because of the atmosphere.
The way he was sweating and clenching both hands looked exactly like someone who feared the Murder Brigade bastards. His breathing had grown a little rough too, and his expression was nearly perfect.
This was what it meant to put your soul into acting.
This bastard… I want to recruit him.
Without even realizing it, the guy who had unleashed his acting soul continued speaking.
“They’re a murderer clan created by psychopathic killers who crossed over into the Holy Empire.”
To be precise, it was the clan that the late psychopath serial killer Jung Jinho would create in the future.
Thanks as always, Jinho!
I couldn’t help but feel grateful to the guy.