Regressor Instruction Manual

[Due to sudden unforeseen circumstances, we’ve had to shave off 20% of our teams site-wide. The ‘cream of the crop’ members will replace lesser qualified ones and will improve quality and upload speed for the series overall. This includes some members in RIM. (3/3)]

Chapter 501: The Cliché: Growing Soon After Collapsing (4)

I roughly expected a meltdown.

Since Kim Hyunsung had gotten hit against the wall by Limur, he no longer looked sane.

When they pulled out the troops and retreated, his eyes were out of focus, and he was in a strange state throughout their journey to base 17.

I was worried that he might have really hurt his head. However, he had no visible trauma.

‘Fuck.’

As such, the candle burned on both ends even more.

One of the biggest benefits of my plan was walking on a successful path with the lovely regressor.

While I pictured a happy future where the two of us walked hand in hand, reality often disappointed. What was being shown on the screen was Kim Hyunsung, who had become a completely ruined person.

It wasn’t unreasonable to feel anxious in various ways. He was breathing, but he didn’t look alive at all. Those dead eyes were evident.

“Now… I’m tired…”

Nobody was talking to him, or asking him anything.

However, his murmurs continued, making him seem like a desperate patient.

If I looked at him closely, it wasn’t that he had ceased to stop thinking and talking. It was akin closer to his soul being completely lost.

It would be most appropriate to say that he muttered without even being aware of it.

I had heard stories of people being so shocked that they suffered from aphasia or something like autism. However, I never thought I would actually see such a thing myself. In the first place…

‘Was that such a shock?’

I thought about it. Of course, I understood.

I didn’t know what Kim Hyunsung exactly thought of me, but what was clear was that he had already given me the best rating possible.

Although Kim Hyunsung was awkward in expressing himself, I could decipher that much.

It was undeniable that he cared more about me than those included in his first timeline, such as Kim Ye-ri, Cho Hyejin, and Park Yeon-joo.

Bringing me luxury bags like the Chanelia Hermes that I carried and all kinds of goods was already a famous story within Lindel. They even created such bullshit rumors that more than half of the Blue Guild Master’s salary was used to give the Vice Guild Master gifts.

There was a time when he had sent me a legendary-grade skin beauty slime gel, and there was a time when he had obtained everything for me, from a healthy elixir to an unidentified wild ginseng root that was good for men.

He had also gotten me items that could be used as catalysts, as well as special grades that were difficult to find even in the black market.

In short, I had seen more gifts from Kim Hyunsung than his own face.

Of course, at first, I suspected that it might have been a result of a desire to capture talent.

However, I couldn’t suspect him anymore after checking with my own eyes that the guy changed as time passed. I didn’t know exactly how much, but if I were to exaggerate a little, he might have felt like my brother.

‘That’s a good word. Brother.’

Since our relationship hadn’t been built carelessly, I smiled and felt even more satisfied.

There had been many incidents and many things we had gone through together.

I had saved him from a crisis, and he had saved me in return.

When we were drinking or talking together, we took off the serious masks we were always wearing, and it was natural to think about each other with respect.

I thought about the lovely regressor’s heavy load that others couldn’t seem to understand.

Some things came to mind when I heard him saying he was tired.

For several decades, in the first round and the second round, he had been carrying a massive burden alone for several years. It was only natural to feel mentally damaged in some way.

Why wouldn’t he be scared, lonely, and having a hard time just because it’s him? Of course, he would’ve wanted to run away.

The duty to save the continent was too heavy to be imposed on just a single individual.

To him, he probably thought a colleague who carried the heavy load with him might have been Light Kiyoung.

It was different from Kim Hyunsung’s method, but I was certainly sharing the burden imposed on him.

Externally, I was a messenger chosen by the Goddess, but to him, I would have been seen as someone who only thought about the future threats he was aware of and tried to prepare for.

Regardless of the reason and the result, Light Kiyoung was certainly a friend who carried the same burden as Kim Hyunsung.

Kiyoung was his friend, brother, colleague. That same person who wanted to protect others by throwing his life, someone who could not be replaced with anyone, suddenly became corrupted and wore a mask.

He probably thought that everything was all his fault.

For Kim Hyunsung, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to have a meltdown.

I wasn’t sure, but he might have been shocked enough to think that that mask might be from the first round…

He might have wanted to run away from all that was happening.

‘Or maybe he’s scared.’

Kim Hyunsung might think that he could lose Lee Kiyoung in that fight because he had the trauma of being backstabbed several times by masked trash and losing the people he cared about.

Even in the first round, everything he valued collapsed and disappeared. It wouldn’t be farfetched if he thought the current situation could lead to the same results.

There were a lot of things to guess about, considering I wasn’t sure exactly what the guy was thinking.

Was he having a meltdown because he thought that I might be the masked trash?

Was he not able to withstand the heavy burdens imposed on him and eventually collapsed?

Or was he just really scared to lose me?

He wouldn’t prioritize me over the world. I wasn’t convinced that he would simply hide like a coward because he was afraid that he might lose me.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what the answer was, either. Perhaps it was even all three.

One important thing was that the incident made his mind hide in a turtle shell.

It didn’t even seem like he had noticed that I came to my mind for a second.

‘Fuck. I know that our goal is important, but it’s also important to raise this bastard up.’

He shouldn’t be collapsed like that for the sake of my plans and the future.

‘Fuck. How do I do this?’

No matter how hard I tried to think of a way to execute my plans without him, nothing came to mind.

I wished he could break through this himself, but it was difficult to expect that in the current situation. Something had to come from outside to stimulate him.

‘I don’t actually have to deal with it myself, but…’

There were many people around Kim Hyunsung anyway.

Wasn’t it the heroine that helped break that kind of egg in the usual clichés?

‘Park Yeon-joo, Cho Hyejin, Kim Ye-ri.’

Kim Ye-ri was a little bit too weird to consider her a heroine, but she was the one that he believed in and cared about.

Meanwhile, Park Yeon-joo and Cho Hyejin were openly competing for the position of his advisor and wife. Of course, Cho Hyejin had been dumped once, but she was still close to him.

Perhaps it would be better to let him rest that day. After spending a day at base 17, he might do something.

As expected, starting the next morning, I began to see people starting to move.

Almost as if they thought they had to help him to come back to his senses slowly, they came into his room and slowly talked to him.

-Guild Master.

-…

-About dinner…

-…

-I’ll just leave it here.

Cho Hyejin was the first to lose.

-Oppa…

-…

-Are you okay? You are, right?

-…

Kim Ye-ri was the next.

-Blue Guild Master, do you feel better today?

-…

-The fact that things are going a little bad… I understand, but please, hold on. It won’t be easy, but we can save him.

-…

-It’s not your fault. I hope you don’t blame yourself for what happened this time.

Park Yeon-joo lost as well.

-The Vice Guild Master will be safe. Clearly, at the end…

-…

-It’s not your fault. Yes, it’s not your fault. The Vice Guild Master probably wouldn’t want you to look like that. At least…

-…

-…

-…

-Sigh, I’ll come to visit you again.

Cho Hyejin was defeated once more.

-You have to take revenge. Will you be still like this, oppa? Are you really going to stay still like this?!

-…

-Wake up. Please… please come to your senses… I-I am so scared. Sniff, really, hic, I’m so scared.

-… I’m tired.

-Sniff, please, wake up… please…

-… I’m done now…

Kim Ye-ri was the fifth loss. Again, Cho Hyejin was the sixth, and Park Yeon-joo was the seventh.

‘Fuck, this is a huge problem.’

More days continued to pass. The three women only continued to lose.

Even though I heard some lines that could make me sad, Kim Hyunsung didn’t even flinch. He continued to skip meals, staying only in his room.

At that point, it wouldn’t be strange to think he had locked himself in the subconscious.

I didn’t have any psychiatric skills, so I didn’t know what’s going on, but what could I do?

I wondered if he was wandering in the unconscious like the protagonists in old shonen. I was indeed aiming for that in the beginning, but I didn’t think it would have that much of an effect.

I thought he would stand up on his own at the right moment, but it had reached beyond that level. He completely hid in the closet.

‘It’s ruined. Fuck, it’s ruined…’

Kim Hyunsung’s world might have stopped, but of course, the real world didn’t.