The 7th-Run Regressor Collects Calamities - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 14. First Gate (2)
“The debuff really doesn’t seem to be affecting him at all?”
“That’s… impossible? I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“He healed the Mental Corruption too, didn’t he? Something’s definitely different about him. Maybe his skills are special or something….”
Bewilderment spread across the hunters’ faces.
The Dungeon Compulsion was a law that applied without exception to every hunter.
The only difference was whether it felt strong or weak—it was impossible not to feel it at all.
“Hunter Song Ji-hu, you’re not feeling anything?”
Yoon Young-su asked carefully.
“No, I’m not feeling anything. It seems the Mental Barrier is just the default state for me.”
Yoon Young-su’s hands trembled. Mental Barrier, Mental Corruption Healing, and now a hunter freed from Dungeon Compulsion?
How many times could one man defy common sense?
Song Ji-hu himself was sensing something peculiar. When he’d first entered the Gate and stepped into the dungeon, he’d prepared himself mentally to unfold a Mental Barrier.
‘Strange. Definitely strange.’
Through six cycles of life, he’d faced dungeons countless times. Each time, the Dungeon Compulsion had applied to him as well. But now….
He felt nothing.
‘The Mental Dive and the Compass… could it be them?’
A faint vibration emanated from his pocket. The old brass Compass inside was trembling in rhythm with his heartbeat.
Thrum-thrum-thrum—!
Before he could gather his thoughts, a deafening roar thundered in the distance, and the ground shook.
“Let’s move. Looks like it’s started.”
Following Yoo Heon-sik’s command, all the hunters except Yoon Young-su began moving toward the City Wall.
As they reached the City Wall, spectral knights were preparing for battle.
“Prepare for combat! They’ll breach any moment! Regroup at the Castle Gate! The gate’s about to give!”
The City Wall was on the verge of collapse, and the remaining knights were pitifully few.
In the desperate situation, despair and fear were written plainly on the faces of fewer than two hundred knights.
“This is supposed to be a B-grade dungeon? Those Association bastards….”
“Yeah… this should be A-grade at the very least.”
Crash—!
The Castle Gate lurched violently with the impact, threatening to shatter instantly. Fragments of the gate tumbled down, and the knights raised their swords.
“Hold the line to the end! This is the solemn command of His Imperial Majesty!”
In the trembling voice of the knight standing at the very front, barely concealed terror was evident.
Boom—!
“Everyone, battle stations. Ranged fighters to the center, melee in a triangular formation.”
The hunters formed the Formation at Yoo Heon-sik’s command.
“Keep the formation as tight as possible, and use the knights as shields while we fight. Eun Seo-jin, you’re free to move as you see fit.”
“Understood.”
“The gate’s collapsing! Brace yourselves!”
The knights raised their shields, and at that same moment the Castle Gate fractured, and enemies poured through.
“For His Imperial Majesty!”
The knights surged forward to hold back the enemies, and the hunters followed slowly behind them.
In Song Ji-hu’s eyes, the enemies appeared as congealed trauma and putrid emotion made manifest.
“Mental Entity clusters….”
In the end, every dungeon in the world was a trap scattered by the Abyss Lord to harvest sustenance.
Shing—
Eun Seo-jin drew her Dual Swords. Frigid air erupting from the blades froze the frost-covered ground.
“Shall I begin?”
Song Ji-hu nodded briefly and gave his command.
“Go. I’ll handle myself.”
Whoosh—!
Eun Seo-jin’s form blurred. In a flicker, a blue arc tore through the air, and the cluster of enemies rushing at the front was bisected.
Crack-crack-crack—!
Shards of ice burst forth, piercing through the enemies’ armor. After three years away, her movements were as seamless as ever.
“Insane… she really is S-grade….”
The hunters watching from behind stood with slack jaws, dumbstruck by combat on another dimension entirely.
“Come to your senses! This isn’t a spectacle!”
With Yoo Heon-sik’s shout, the full battle commenced.
“Hold the line as much as possible!”
“Yes!”
As they pressed the enemies back beyond the City Wall.
“What… on…earth….”
Every face hardened at the sight of enemies streaming in without end.
Beyond the City Wall, the plains stretched empty nowhere—only a writhing mass of creatures converging to breach the fortifications.
“Everyone conserve your stamina as much as possible.”
“Damn it all… I’d believe this was A+ rank even if someone told me.”
“This is a nightmare. They won’t die, and the numbers keep climbing.”
As the endless battle raged on, Song Ji-hu positioned himself at the rear of the formation and activated his Mental Detection Skill.
The landscape of the battlefield shifted instantly. His eyes still registered the chaos of blood and flesh, but his senses were reading something invisible.
Waves of emotion radiating from the creatures.
Rage, hatred, despair—and above all, something far more intense:
Obsession.
The black masses pouring through the shattered Castle Gate, the knights defending this fortress.
All of them locked in command, repeating their assault forever.
‘How intriguing.’
Song Ji-hu’s eyes narrowed.
A particularly strong resonance emanated from a single point among the creatures—a larger presence mingled with the common soldiers. A commander, perhaps.
Turning his attention to the knights, he deployed Residual Thoughts, and the final emotions of the dying washed over him like a flood.
‘Your Majesty… the order… I must… obey….’
‘My family… will they… be safe….’
‘I’m terrified… I cannot… flee….’
Song Ji-hu’s brow furrowed at the raw, unfiltered emotion.
“Gahhhhh!”
A ranged dealer providing support fire from behind fell to his knees, screaming as invasive thoughts drove into his skull.
Song Ji-hu softened the Debuff with a Mental Barrier, but couldn’t block it entirely. The strain of prolonged combat was wearing his mental reserves thin.
‘Thought Projection.’
As Song Ji-hu extended his hand, a silver wave of calm and tranquility rippled outward from his fingertips.
“…?”
The dealer who had fallen to his knees lifted his head. The terror etched into his face had faded slightly.
“Somehow… I feel better all of a sudden?”
“Me too. What is this? My head suddenly feels clear.”
Murmurs spread among the Hunters. Song Ji-hu nodded.
‘It works.’
Thought Projection could elevate his allies’ combat strength. Simultaneously, Mental Detection revealed enemy positions and intensity, while Residual Thoughts allowed him to glean fragmented battlefield intelligence.
When a Mental Barrier made contact with enemy Mental Entities, it inflicted damage—but that was the limit.
‘No real offensive power.’
Song Ji-hu reached his conclusion coldly.
‘Combat relies on experience alone….’
Slash!
Eun Seo-jin’s blade carved through an enemy, but a faint tremor appeared at the end of its arc.
“Hah… hah….”
Even she was beginning to labor under the weight of her three-year absence, her breathing growing ragged.
“How long is this supposed to last?”
“Damn it! The enemies aren’t decreasing!”
“This is serious! There’s no end to them!”
Screams erupted from all sides, and Yoo Heon-sik clenched his teeth. They were only holding the line because Eun Seo-jin was here.
The Mental Barrier made the Debuff manageable, but sheer numbers left them helpless.
“How are we supposed to break through this….”
When someone muttered in despair,
“Reform the Formation.”
Song Ji-hu’s cold voice cut through the chaos.
“What?”
Yoo Heon-sik turned, bewildered. Song Ji-hu was already moving toward the front line.
“Use the collapsed City Wall as your defensive position. Limit the vanguard to two fighters, and rotate the rest for rest periods.”
“Wait, what do you—”
“No time.”
Song Ji-hu passed Yoo Heon-sik, drawing his sword.
“I’ll take the vanguard. Eun Seo-jin, conserve your strength for now.”
“Yes, understood.”
Yoo Heon-sik blinked. Song Ji-hu? The vanguard? A Hunter who’d only just arrived today?
And why was Eun Seo-jin accepting it so naturally?
“Wait a moment. Song Ji-hu is a Psychic-type Hunter, isn’t he? And it’s his first Gate at that….”
A Hunter casting spells from the rear ranks interjected urgently, but Song Ji-hu had already firmly blocked the gap in the shattered City Wall.
“This is insane…!”
Yoo Heon-sik cried out. A Psychic-type Hunter—the only one in the world who could heal Mental Corruption—standing at the front lines of a Gate? It was no different from suicide.
But.
Whoosh—
Song Ji-hu’s blade cut through the air. Cleanly. Economically.
His body moved faster than his thoughts. He severed the neck of the charging enemy, pierced the heart of the next, carved through the torso of a third.
Each motion flowed without waste.
Three movements. Three enemies fell.
“…….”
It was familiar. This sensation. The weight of the blade in his palm, the heavy reverberation that climbed his wrist after each cut—the muscle memory of thousands of repetitions remained untarnished, whole.
Song Ji-hu flicked the blade lightly. He dulled the enemies’ movements with a Mental Barrier, then struck again.
“What are you standing there gawking for? Get your heads in the game!”
Song Ji-hu turned and called out sharply to the other Hunters.
“I told you to change Formation. One vanguard fighter attached to me, the rest rotate for recovery. Once your stamina’s back, you swap with me.”
“Yes, understood!”
Yoo Heon-sik scrambled to relay the orders, but command had already wholly shifted to Song Ji-hu.
Thanks to the City Wall’s rubble, the gap for entry was narrow. Just wide enough for two people to stand and seal it completely.
“This is definitely working better.”
“Why didn’t we do this from the start?”
“Who could’ve guessed there’d be this many enemies?”
“His tactical awareness is absurdly fast. Is he really just newly licensed as a Hunter?”
“Maybe he’s one of those Hunters the Association cultivates? The guy who came for briefing today was the Association Chairman’s secretary. Yoon Young-su.”
At the continued murmuring, Song Ji-hu let out a quiet laugh. It seemed the community would be thrown into uproar again once they Cleared this Gate.
‘Something’s off.’
Setting aside idle thoughts, Song Ji-hu gazed beyond the City Wall at the endless stream of enemies pouring in.
‘The Clear condition can’t just be defeating all the enemies.’
After two failed attempts at conquest, it had been upgraded to A-Rank, but if the measurement device had rated it B-Rank, then that was the correct assessment.
Yet if this were a B-Rank Gate, the current force should be capable of annihilating all enemies. But the sheer numbers here transcended that category entirely.
‘What if the goal isn’t to defeat the enemies at all?’
Such Gates weren’t common, but they existed. After all, a trap created by an Abyss Lord meant the Gate itself held more than met the eye.
‘When this Gate was Cleared before, it took multiple total party wipes before deploying several S-Rank Hunters to finally eliminate all the enemies.’
There had to be a different Clear condition beyond simply defeating the endless stream of enemies.
Song Ji-hu recalled once more the Gate’s name, the background description, and the Clear conditions.
‘The knights are bound by command. The enemies the same. Both merely repeat endless combat… But what if.’
Song Ji-hu’s gaze turned to the knights clashing with enemies, then beyond the shattered City Wall to the command flag within.
‘What if the knights and the enemies aren’t separate? What if the Gate itself exists for a single purpose?’
Puzzle pieces began clicking into place in his mind.
‘There are Gates like that. Gates that require a specific objective to be achieved.’
Another enemy fell. As Song Ji-hu swung his blade, he felt the subtle vibration of the Compass trembling in his pocket.
The answer was nearly complete.
The Seventh-Time Returner Collects Calamities
Author
: Song Tan
Publication Date
: July 13, 2026
Publisher
: ACES Media Co., Ltd.
Editor-in-Chief
: ACES Media Editorial Team
Address
: 10F Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work is published by ACES Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder,
and its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and author.
This e-book is protected by copyright law, and unauthorized reproduction or duplication may result in legal liability.
UCI
: G720:N+A129-20260709064

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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