Chapter 173
Chapter 173
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 173
Chapter Title: ACT.31 The Chessboard in Hand (5)
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It was as if I could hear Seon Woo-jin cursing under his breath.
The fight against Paradise was already expected to drag on, but now there was no progress in finding the stigma mines either?
Naturally, it would arouse suspicion.
To avoid that, the Taegeuk Guild would have to reveal at least one mine.
That was what I was aiming for.
‘If they have no choice but to tell us, they'll obviously reveal the one with lower value.’
Paradise currently possessed a total of three stigma mines.
Of those, the one near Gyeryongsan had been collapsed, leaving two.
However, even in the original game, Paradise had possessed one stigma mine.
It was supposed to be discovered later, not at this time, but considering the current situation, they must have already found it.
And it was an incredibly massive stigma mine, one of the largest in the world.
‘And I already know where it is.’
With just a few words, I cornered them into a position where they would have to reveal the location of the other mine, which I had no knowledge of.
I waited for Seon Woo-jin's answer with a relaxed expression.
Seon Woo-jin lightly bit his lip and glared at me.
“...Understood. We will do so. We will do our best to ascertain the location.”
His glare was brief; Seon Woo-jin let out a small sigh and nodded.
I could tell he was clenching his fists tightly under the desk, even without seeing it.
‘He won't suspect that I'm saying this with malicious intent.’
He would suspect that something was off.
But since he couldn't figure out what was happening, he would be stressed by the situation continually turning against him.
Hwang Chan-jin was looking at Seon Woo-jin with an expression of contempt.
“Ah, and there are rumors of spies within the five major guilds colluding with Paradise, so it would be wise to be cautious.”
I drove the nail in the coffin, pretending to warn all the guilds.
I casually removed my hand from the Crystal Ball of Truth, making the motion just large enough not to seem unnatural as I put it away.
There were no lies in what I said.
This action would have deeply imprinted that fact into the minds of the guild masters.
While the other guild masters' expressions turned serious and they nodded at my words, Seon Woo-jin nodded with a complicated look on his face.
After that, the other guilds were assigned their respective tasks, and the meeting concluded.
However, there was still something left to deal with.
“I'll go on ahead.”
Hwang Chan-jin muttered just loudly enough for me to hear as he passed by.
He was telling me to resolve what needed to be resolved before coming.
I was planning to do just that anyway, so I quietly nodded.
I calmly observed the faces of the remaining guild masters.
The other three had left; the ones who remained were Seong Woo-hyeon and Lee Min-hwa.
The atmosphere suggested they both had something to say to me.
“Seong Woo-hyeon-nim.”
“...Yes.”
“Could you explain? Why your attitude toward me has become so hostile.”
Seong Woo-hyeon remained silent.
It seemed he couldn't easily bring himself to speak.
This time, I turned my head toward Lee Min-hwa.
“Lee Min-hwa-nim...”
“It's not because of what happened with Choi Seo-hee. Someone else took care of the target of my revenge. Of course, I was angry, but it was ultimately resolved. This is separate from that.”
As if reading my mind, Lee Min-hwa drew a clear line.
It had nothing to do with Choi Seo-hee.
In that case, I understood even less.
What reason did the guild masters have to not be friendly toward me?
Perhaps because the atmosphere had grown quite heavy, the children couldn't hide their unease.
“You said you had nothing to do with regression, right?”
“That's right.”
“Then could there be something else? Reincarnation, transmigration, possession...”
I had a rough idea of what was going on.
I had proven through Kim Ji-hyeon before that I wasn't a regressor, but they were still suspicious.
Whether I was one of 'that kind' or not.
It was understandable to have such suspicions. However, this was slightly off the mark.
‘Why?’
Why were they so wary of that?
If someone claimed to be a regressor, unless they were a complete tyrant, others would try to get as much help from them as possible.
There was nothing to be gained from being hostile.
And yet, the reason for their hostility.
What could it be?
“I'm not.”
I answered firmly.
Perhaps because I spoke so definitively, Lee Min-hwa also fell silent, lost in thought.
“I'd like to ask as well. Why are you so hostile toward regression?”
“...In the past, we were put in grave danger by a regressor.”
“What?”
Seong Woo-hyeon's words far exceeded my expectations.
“Overwhelming skill and charisma. Vast information. He was a great help at first and inspired many players. But at a certain point, he betrayed all of us for his own gain.”
Lee Min-hwa continued the explanation.
“Se-hyeon-ssi. You must know that your actions so far are enough to make one suspect you're a regressor. But we've already been backstabbed by a regressor, so we can't be friendly. Since you don't seem to be one of 'that kind,' it ends with just our suspicion. The other three were like that for the same reason.”
Lee Min-hwa let out a deep sigh.
Why the guild masters had suddenly become so hostile.
That question was answered cleanly.
“...”
But I, myself, was thrown into even greater confusion.
‘A regressor backstabbed the guild masters before?’
That's impossible.
Such a past doesn't exist.
Above all, the regressor I know isn't that kind of person.
Someone who, despite regressing countless times, dozens of times, and having his spirit worn down, always walked a righteous path like a hero from a comic book.
He certainly wasn't someone who would betray the guild masters, of all people, for his own benefit.
“Are you... certain that person was a regressor?”
“He claimed to be a regressor himself. As if to prove it, he knew so much. The locations where incidents would occur, the culprits, strategies for gates we'd never seen before... It was to the point that nothing but regression could explain it.”
“...By any chance, what was his name?”
“We don't know.”
“You don't know?”
“He never revealed his name. He said he didn't have one.”
I was even more clueless.
A regressor with such a personality.
I thought I only had to worry about the moderators, but now there's a regressor who didn't exist in the original game.
“I suppose you don't know where that regressor is or what he's doing now.”
“Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find a single trace of him since that day. Besides his voice, we know nothing about his appearance or name. He wore a peculiar mask. That's the only thing I remember clearly.”
“...”
I slowly rose from my seat.
The suspicion toward me had been more or less resolved.
It seemed there was no more information to be gained about this 'regressor' Seong Woo-hyeon and Lee Min-hwa were talking about, so there was no reason to stay any longer.
“You can trust me. I will never betray you.”
I said that to the two of them before leaving the meeting room.
The children, who had been anxiously watching, scurried after me and closed the door.
“Hyung. Regression, that's the thing, right? The one that shows up a lot in novels.”
Perhaps because my expression was stiff, Jo Min-woo forced a cheerful tone as he spoke to me.
“I've never seen a nice regressor...”
“That's because they have to be the protagonist or the rival. If a genuinely good person was in that position, nobody would read it.”
“That's true.”
“Even if that weren't the case, regressing means you failed. It's only natural for a person to become more ruthless. It's a given.”
And yet, the regressor from the original game was bright, cheerful, and kind.
That's why I hadn't been too concerned about the regressor.
This changes things significantly.
‘Regression’ is an EX-rank unique ability.
As the term 'unique ability' implies, only one regressor can exist.
‘Then, what happened to the original regressor?’
Because the power of regression is so strong, the original regressor also played an important role.
He had a significant part in the story.
But if that character has vanished entirely...
“Looks like you handled the matter with Xiao Hui.”
As if he had been waiting for me, Hwang Chan-jin approached the moment he saw me exit the building.
He had already erected a barrier around us to prevent our conversation from being overheard.
I glanced over at the twins walking ahead of me.
They were just outside the barrier, so it seemed they wouldn't be able to hear my conversation with Hwang Chan-jin.
When I gave them a small smile and gestured for them to wait, the children nodded.
“Your face is pretty stiff. Did things not go well?”
Hwang Chan-jin narrowed his eyes.
Quick-witted bastard.
I briefly considered telling him what I'd heard from Seong Woo-hyeon and Lee Min-hwa, but decided against it.
“No. Just have a few things to think about. It's nothing to worry about.”
“Is it related to what's about to happen?”
“No.”
“Then that's fine. We both have a lot to do, so let's just quickly exchange information.”
“Xiao Hui won't be cooperating with the Taegeuk Guild. I could tell just by looking at Seon Woo-jin's expression...”
I stopped mid-sentence.
A new system message had appeared before my eyes.
That much was normal.
[A Main Quest has been generated.]
[CH. 16 – Spear and Shield]
The one who seeks to destroy and the one who seeks to protect.
Which side will win?
Reward: 3500 Coins
Failure: The five major guilds will fall.
The problem was that this chapter wasn't supposed to appear yet.
‘Many things have changed from the original.’
Things had changed during the Disaster of Verdure, but the content had roughly followed the original game.
As the story's development gradually shifted, had the chapter titles and content also changed to something I didn't recognize?
Until now, I had tried my best to guide events to follow what I knew.
With Ignis, I had confidently acted because I'd experienced countless times in the game that clearing it that way caused no problems.
The point where things truly started to get twisted was because of the Disaster of Solitude.
The new regressor... I couldn't tell what kind of influence he was having, so he was an unknown variable.
‘It's Chapter 16 probably because the system recognized the Disaster of Solitude as Chapter 15.’
There should have been one or two more incidents before the war with Paradise, but perhaps because the appearance of the Disaster of Solitude naturally led to a clash with them, the timing was quite early.
The fortunate thing was that I wasn't unprepared.
As I suddenly fell silent, lost in thought, Hwang Chan-jin made a strange face.
“By the way, did you hear from Jun Bo-ra?”
“No. She came by, but I was busy with something else, so she just left.”
“It seems she went back to the eastern residential area to take care of her faction's backlog of work.”
“Well, she has been away for too long. You have to go back periodically to prevent problems.”
“That's not the problem.”
Hwang Chan-jin blinked.
“...The movements are unusual. That's what she said.”
“Movements?”
“It's a general observation. It seems Jun Bo-ra has been using her abilities and faction to gather information from various places.”
The east is close to Paradise's third stigma mine.
Because of that, minor problems with Paradise often occur, and with other factions present as well, it's a troublesome area overall.
On the other hand, that means it's easier to obtain information about the enemy.
“She said the Busan area is particularly strange.”
“Busan means Pentagon Eagle, right? With the Albatross in the skies over the Pacific, they can't come by plane, so they'd have to come by ship. But if they go above a certain speed, the Kraken is there, so they can't come quickly that way either, can they?”
“I thought so too, but she said information came in that 'reinforcements have already arrived,' so there's no harm in being careful.”
As if he had nothing more to say, Hwang Chan-jin spun around and disappeared.
Hwang Yu-jin was a short distance away in the direction he was heading.
‘...Reinforcements have already arrived?’
Not even a day has passed since Jacob died.
There's no way they could have arrived in Busan from the U.S. mainland in that time.
‘Is it a bluff, or do they have some other means?’
“Oppa, what did you talk about?”
“Yeah. You looked serious.”
“It's nothing. Just something to be careful about. Come on, let's go.”
As I was heading back with the children, Jacob's words suddenly came to mind.
L-Team.
That, too, was a name that didn't exist in the original.
‘I'll have Choi Yeon-soo investigate.’