Chapter 294
Chapter 294
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 294. Regeneration
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Yoo Daon found her body utterly wondrous.
It was commonplace now, but whenever she got hurt, her body simply reverted to normal.
And that wasn't all.
She didn't even need to eat if it wasn't necessary. She knew that if she starved, her body would just reset.
Finally,
"...Ow."
She rubbed her side and let out a pained groan.
As a frontline member of the HR Team, she never skipped her daily workouts.
And the most frustrating part was that, despite all that, her body wasn't particularly well-developed.
No joke—it was frustrating to that degree.
But sometimes, like now, muscle soreness lingered.
She didn't fully understand how her regeneration worked in the first place.
Still, unable to ignore her own body, she researched various books and came to a realization.
Her regeneration was different.
The regeneration she'd seen in books or movies always had consistent descriptions.
'The damaged body grows back new, or wounds heal.'
But hers was different.
Dodging a punch, Yoo Daon glanced behind her.
Her body had burst open multiple times from the blows of that monster swinging at her now, but there was remarkably little of her blood around.
Just faint traces visible only on close inspection.
It should have painted the area bright red by now.
A hypothesis was gaining strength in Yoo Daon's mind.
*
"Give us an explanation. An explanation."
"Yeah, Jaeheon— Whoa! Damn it! If you don't explain, I won't know what to do either!"
Eileen stared at me in disbelief, and Yoo Daon shot me a bewildered look before dodging a flying fist.
"As Eileen said, it's not fully formed right now."
It was a bit absurd for them to demand explanations in this situation, or for me to give one, but if others suddenly started talking like I do, I'd probably be just as baffled.
So, how should I explain it?
*'Actually, this being that might be my little sister wrote its weakness right in front of my eyes, and eating it seems to be the answer.'*
*'I saw it clearly with my own two eyes, and eating it looks right.'*
Neither was a good response.
"We can't kill it right now."
In the end, I had no choice but to explain fully.
I looked at the two of them with eyes pleading, *Do we really have to do this?*, but they didn't seem like they'd listen unless I explained properly.
"You've both seen it, Daon, and you know it too, Eileen—I sometimes use a trump card."
"Right."
"Yeah."
Yoo Daon muttered while dodging another attack, and Eileen nodded while firing her gun.
"But I only have one use left. So it has to be certain. If we kill it and even the shell breaks open, we're done for."
"What does that have to do with you getting eaten? Yoo Daon over there could get eaten instead."
"Yeah! I could get eaten!"
Yoo Daon nodded at Eileen's words, but I shook my head.
"That won't work."
"Huh?"
"It's me it wants as food."
They both already knew that.
"For whatever reason, it wants me."
If it wanted Yoo Daon, it wouldn't keep missing her head and torso like this—it would have already parasitized her.
"Daon."
"Yes."
Yoo Daon nodded, and I looked above her head.
[Name: Yoo Daon]
[Age: 23]
[Trait: Immortality]
[Talent: Regeneration (Undefined)]
[Background: You must think about the source of the regeneration.]
[Weakness: If you just die as you are.]
The source of regeneration?
That was new.
I recalled Yoo Daon's regeneration.
Her body reverting like time rewinding.
"Daon, if you reset me—"
"I can do it."
Yoo Daon cut me off and nodded.
She stared straight at me.
"Yes, Jaeheon. I think I can reset you. Probably."
"...How?"
"Just do it right."
After answering Eileen, Yoo Daon looked at me.
"But I'm still worried you'll get hurt. We have to consider if I fail..."
"Daon."
I drew my gun.
"Yes?"
"I feel the same about others, but I believe you'd protect me even if the world ended, Daon. Honestly, even if you couldn't, it wouldn't matter."
If you're not risking your life in this line of work, that'd be the real joke.
Yoo Daon's face grew paler as she listened. As if I'd touched something I shouldn't have, her hands trembled slightly before she looked at me.
"Th-that's..."
"So don't blame yourself if you do your best and it doesn't work."
She looked like she'd beat herself up if she failed, so I said it preemptively just in case.
"Anyway, here I go."
I drew my gun provocatively and charged at Butterfly's Mother.
"Hup...!"
Anyone watching would think it was suicide.
Charging an enemy with just a handgun.
But,
-...!
A new emotion appeared on its face, which had been swinging its arms in rage until now.
Fear.
Fear of the unknown, but also learned fear.
Especially if it was fear of death.
Butterfly's Dream had already tasted my Critical.
Meaning Butterfly's Mother already knew that if hit by my bullet, it could die.
So, I had to move like I was about to use a Critical.
"Hup...!"
I jerked my body forward roughly, raising the gun high.
Closing the distance as much as possible, holding the gun like I could kill it any second,
I entered its range.
Not my effective range—Butterfly's Mother's range.
And fortunately, it moved just as I'd predicted.
It reached out a hand.
"Gah...!"
Immense pain gripped my throat, and my feet lifted into the air.
"Guh, guh...!"
It had grabbed my throat and hoisted me up.
I looked down at it,
And it whistled sharply, as if calling something.
A massive larva would emerge and enter my throat next.
Normally.
"You idiot, of course...!"
I twisted my lips into a sneer, provoking it on purpose.
"You killed your child with your own hand...!"
The moment I finished speaking,
"Gah!"
Agonizing pain shot through my throat.
Its eyes blazed with fury as it glared at me, then it thrust its hand toward my neck, stabbing something in.
"Urk...!"
A claw.
Its claw pierced my neck, and with the sensation of some liquid being injected, my vision went black.
I heard someone calling me, but even that faded soon.
At the same time, information began flooding my mind.
[How to survive.]
[How to reproduce.]
[How to overcome this crisis.]
I ignored the voice in the corner of my mind and sank into thought.
There was something called hive consciousness.
It refers to judging all situations through collective thinking rather than individual thought, mainly used by species like ants that prioritize the group's benefit over their own.
And right now, I was linked to that hive consciousness.
Normally, my consciousness might have been swept up in the countless others, unable to make proper judgments.
Restricting individual actions for the group isn't hard.
But now was different.
"..."
My vision was pitch black, but I could tell.
This hive consciousness was empty.
Aside from me, Butterfly's Mother, and a few unknown adult signals, it was like a hollow void.
And that meant...
I looked up ahead.
Butterfly's Mother stood there.
"There's nothing—"
Before I could finish, excruciating pain stabbed through my head.
"Agh, urgh...!"
After heavy drinking, it feels like someone drills a rod into the center of your head and twists.
A headache three times that intense overwhelmed me,
[I know the way.]
My mouth opened against my will.
[I found a way to save us.]
It opened again.
Amid the headache threatening to shatter my mind, my final thought was one.
Right—Yoo Daon—
In that instant, a translucent window appeared.
[Yoo Daon's talent is revealed.]
[Talent: Regeneration (Time)]
*
The claw sank into the man's throat, and Yoo Daon widened her eyes.
From here on, the man's life was in her hands.
"...A sweet smell."
She murmured, opening her eyes.
Everyone has a 'peak state.'
It could be youth, health, or a combination.
And Yoo Daon always reverted to the time when she was in her absolute 'peak state.'
"..."
Yoo Daon looked at her hands.
The time of her peak state.
A simple yet complex concept.
But it was easy to think about.
Her body right now was in its peak condition.
Even if it strayed slightly from human norms toward Butterfly's Dream.
"..."
Eyes closed, Yoo Daon took a deep breath.
The good news was that her body didn't consider the foreign substance part of its 'peak state.'
The bad news was that the altered body afterward was deemed fine.
A sweet smell pierced her nose from her own body.
"...Good."
She let out a sigh of relief.
After parasitization? That didn't matter much.
What mattered was that she could save the man.
Yoo Daon opened her eyes.
The man was on his knees clutching his throat, and the monster stared intently at the scene.
"Eileen."
"Tell me quick."
Eileen responded sharply to Yoo Daon, who exhaled softly.
"Let's go save Jaeheon."
Mimicking the man's speech, she smiled.