The 7th-Run Regressor Collects Calamities - Chapter 35

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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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Episode 35. Incheon Gate (8)
One by one, two by two, hunters began walking out of the gate.
Park Jung-ho, standing at the very front of the control line, began counting on fingers that had stiffened with tension.
“One, two, three, four….”
The USAA hunters emerged first. Marcus limped out, supporting a wounded colleague.
“…seven, eight, nine….”
Then came the procession of Korean hunters and the stretchers bearing the injured. Im Jae-hyeok was wheeled out at the tail of the wounded column, flanked by a massive shield bearer.
His eyes were sealed shut, but his chest rose and fell with steady, measured breaths. The waiting medical team immediately surrounded the stretcher, checking his vitals.
Even so, Park Jung-ho continued his tally of the emerging figures.
Last came Eun Seo-jin with light, easy steps, and Song Ji-hu a half-pace ahead of him.
“…thirty-three.”
Park Jung-ho murmured.
“Everyone made it….”
At this impossible outcome, Park Jung-ho thrust both fists upward into the air. Something between a curse and a cheer escaped his lips.
“…we made it, we made it. Everyone made it!”
The hunters, soldiers, police, association personnel, and reporters stationed beyond the safety perimeter erupted in unison.
Hundreds of camera shutters fired at the hunters emerging from the gate.
“Full survival on an A-rank Variant Dungeon? That’s insane.”
“Get the brief out now! Start the broadcast!”
“Connect to the studio immediately! Air it first! No matter what!”
The jubilation lasted only a moment. Park Jung-ho shut his eyes, then opened them.
In a single second, the thick mask of the cunning association chairman had settled back over his face.
“Medical team! Transport the wounded to Hunter Association designated hospitals immediately! Priority to critical cases first! Then those injured in the Labyrinth!”
“Yes, yes, understood!”
“Security team! Push the media back to the secondary perimeter! No individual interviews with any hunters! The official briefing will be held in thirty minutes at the association!”
“Understood, sir!”
“And….”
Park Jung-ho lowered his voice to his aide standing beside him.
“Start drafting an internal incident report on the scout deployment. Polish over any sections that might look like manual violations. Make it airtight and meticulous.”
The aide grasped the implication at once and bowed his head.
Buying time to repackage and spin away his own critical miscalculation. That was how politics worked.
A bitter mistake had been made, but a clean recovery would preserve the association chairman’s reputation.
“Song Ji-hu. Where is Hunter Song Ji-hu?”
Park Jung-ho moved briskly toward Song Ji-hu.
There, framed by a sea of press cameras, stood the association chairman placing a reassuring hand on the shoulder of the hero who had conquered the A-rank Variant Dungeon.
That single photograph would be enough to bury the controversy over the reckless scout deployment and complete his political vindication.
But Park Jung-ho’s steps halted before Song Ji-hu.
Despite Park Jung-ho’s deliberate approach, Song Ji-hu’s gaze remained fixed on Im Jae-hyeok, who had been sent in with the initial scout team.
“Will he be alright?”
Im Jae-hyeok was loaded into an ambulance on the stretcher. Unconscious, but his breathing remained stable.
“We’ll need to run a full diagnostic at the hospital to be sure.”
“If anything abnormal is found—when he wakes up—please contact me immediately.”
“Yes? Yes, of course… understood.”
Even as the ambulance pulled away toward the hospital, Song Ji-hu’s eyes could not leave Im Jae-hyeok.
The expression etched on his face ran far too deep to be mere concern for a wounded colleague.
‘Are those two connected somehow? Could they be…? How would that even…?’
Park Jung-ho understood instinctively. Now was not the time to intrude.
So he quietly turned away, letting his gaze drift elsewhere.
A short distance off, association intelligence analysts were debriefing the Korean hunters—all except Song Ji-hu—on the dungeon’s interior situation.
Park Jung-ho drifted over and positioned himself behind one of the analysts.
“How did the Mental Contamination levels change?”
The analyst handed him a tablet showing the measured contamination results for each hunter.
“…what on earth is this? You double-checked, didn’t you?”
Park Jung-ho stared at the screen, his brow furrowing.
“Yes… these are the results of two separate checks….”
Except for the three initial scouts he had sent in, most of the other hunters showed contamination levels that were either stable or had actually decreased slightly.
“On an A-rank Variant Gate? And the numbers went down?”
“That’s why we’re running a third check now, just to be certain.”
“That doesn’t make sense. C-rank gates might show that pattern, but for A-rank contamination to actually decrease….”
A breathless laugh escaped Park Jung-ho’s lips. After finishing the chart review, he caught the shoulder of one emerging hunter.
“What on earth happened in there? What went on inside?”
One of the hunters who’d had someone grab his shoulder turned to see Park Jung-ho’s face and scratched his head.
“Song Ji-hu’s Mental Barrier… it protected us from start to finish.”
Park Jung-ho seized the other hunter by the arm, bewildered.
“Following Song Ji-hu’s instructions, we just… cleared the Labyrinth, took down the boss, and that was it.”
Another hunter stepped forward.
“Thanks to Song Ji-hu’s commands, we faced three bosses simultaneously without a single casualty. Honestly, we’re the ones who want to ask how he managed it.”
Park Jung-ho’s mouth fell slack. Every report he heard, every hunter he questioned—they all began and ended with Song Ji-hu’s name.
‘…Again, Song Ji-hu.’
Park Jung-ho exhaled deeply, silent.
According to the original contract, Song Ji-hu was supposed to remain in the safe zone at the entrance, merely casting a protective barrier.
But the reality was this monster of a C-rank hunter had dismantled the Labyrinth’s mechanics, opened pathways, and commanded the entire boss raid.
‘If this gets out to the media…’
Already struggling to maintain control, Song Ji-hu’s influence would far exceed the Hunter Association’s grip.
Song Ji-hu was becoming increasingly untouchable.
And the stronger Song Ji-hu’s voice grew, the weaker Park Jung-ho’s position became.
Dread rose to his throat, but he couldn’t show it.
‘For now, I’ll shower him with praise.’
Park Jung-ho bit the inside of his lip, steeling himself.
‘Checking him… that’s the next phase.’
***
At the same moment, inside USAA’s temporary tent.
Rick Wesley sat with his hands clasped, receiving reports from the hunters who’d entered the dungeon.
Marcus was the first to report, his tone unusually charged with excitement.
“Sir. Song Ji-hu—we must recruit him, absolutely.”
Marcus’s voice trembled. It was rare for a veteran A-rank hunter in his mid-thirties to have his hands shake with excitement.
“No matter what budget bleeds away, no matter what unreasonable conditions he sets—accept them all. That man is a rule-breaker for humanity itself.”
The other hunters who’d entered the dungeon nodded heavily, every single one in agreement with Marcus. Not a single dissenting voice.
“The Mental Connection skill—we’ve never seen or heard of anything like it. It’s not merely information sharing. It’s a two-way communication skill that works even inside the Labyrinth.”
“That’s not all. He moved as if he knew the Labyrinth’s pattern from the very beginning. It was as if he were the one who created this dungeon.”
Rick Wesley held up the paper the Korean Hunter Association had shared, marked with Mental Contamination readings.
“And on top of that—just by running the dungeon with him, the readings decreased.”
Rick Wesley’s eyebrows rose slightly.
He’d already known it, but hearing it spoken aloud sent chills down his spine.
“An average of 1.3… dropped, right?”
A hunter’s contamination level decreases after running an A-rank Variant Dungeon.
“It’s absurd. What more could we possibly offer…”
Rick Wesley leaned back into his chair. As he gazed at the ceiling, a wry chuckle edged with helplessness escaped his lips.
‘Here’s the mighty USAA, hanging on a C-rank Korean hunter.’
Rick Wesley was a man who carried weight even in American political and financial circles. He could access the White House hotline whenever he pleased—yet here he sat, wondering how to get closer to a single hunter.
But this was reality. The more you learned about him, the more new dimensions revealed themselves.
If America failed to forge a strong relationship with him, it would undoubtedly fall behind in the power struggle against other superpowers.
“…I’ll need to make him an offer.”
Rick Wesley murmured.
“Ollie’s second treatment session would be perfect timing.”
Marcus waited nearby, then asked cautiously.
“How do you assess the chances of success?”
Rick Wesley smiled slowly. A politician’s smile.
“Five percent.”
“…Pardon?”
“But there’s no reason not to go all-in.”
***
Once the surrounding area had been sufficiently cleared, compensation distribution began among the surviving hunters.
An Association staff member laid out the reward list.
“Sixty-seven High-Purity Mana Stones. One grade above regular A-rank. And three Ultra High-Purity Mana Stones equivalent to S-rank, plus six Unstable Variant Mana Stones.”
“Oh… just the mana stones alone would make for enough to divvy up, wouldn’t they?”
“And… various materials as well… but the main items are here: Variant specialty materials. A Weaver Sonic Core, a Fallen King’s Corroded Crown Fragment, a Predator Mist Crystal. One of each.”
With each item the Association staff member listed, smiles bloomed deeper on the hunters’ faces.
“And… this one we’re not quite sure about… there’s one item that looks like a black torn cloth with just a question mark on it… and various artifacts.”
For thirty-three people to divide, it was abundantly generous. More than one mana stone per person, with additional rewards more than sufficient to go around.
“Yes, Marcus.”
Just before the distribution began, Marcus raised his hand, and an Association staff member pointed to him.
“I’d like to transfer all compensation USAA would receive to Song Ji-hu.”
“Ah, well… do the other USAA hunters share this view?”
At Marcus’s words, the hunters in the tent stirred.
“Without Song Ji-hu, we wouldn’t have made it back alive. Furthermore, our Mental Contamination levels have decreased. USAA has already received sufficient compensation.”
An odd silence fell among the other hunters. Then someone spoke up in an awkward voice.
“Well… I’d also like to give part of my share to Song Ji-hu….”
“Exactly. Honestly, we survived because of Song Ji-hu.”
“That’s fair. We cleared an A-rank dungeon, so we can skip diving for a while anyway… and we all made it out alive.”
As the atmosphere tilted entirely in one direction, Song Ji-hu raised his hand.
“…Thank you all for your consideration.”
Unlike usual, Song Ji-hu rose from his seat with a softer tone to his voice.
“This is enough for me.”
What Song Ji-hu indicated was a torn piece of cloth marked only with a question mark, and one Weaver Sonic Core.
Eun Seo-jin also stepped forward, picked up a Fallen King’s Corroded Crown Fragment, and nodded.
“This one piece is enough for me as well.”
His calculation was that it could be used later when creating a weapon through Ryu Jin.
Rather, it was the hunters who looked confused.
“That… really… is that all?”
“You were essentially the sole contributor to clearing that A-rank Variant Dungeon….”
Song Ji-hu shrugged.
“Yes. It’s enough. Let the rest be divided among those who went in with us. And there are also people who were injured, so….”
The hunters didn’t know what to do.
They’d never seen a hunter decline rewards in this manner.
Normally, hunters emphasized their own merit and tried to claim a larger share.
‘But actually, this is more advantageous.’
Yet Song Ji-hu was confident that these two items alone gave him far more than the other hunters were receiving.
The first was image.
Song Ji-hu, who heals Mental Contamination. Song Ji-hu, who harbors no greed. Song Ji-hu, who doesn’t boast of his accomplishments. Song Ji-hu, who yields his interests to his comrades.
To face the Abyss Lord in the future, he would need to unite the entire Korean hunter society in a single direction.
‘The greatest weapon then will be trust. The trust that Song Ji-hu is different.’
Trust was built from small moments like these accumulating over time, and this single scene would carry greater weight than a thousand words.
The second was the Mana-Dense Region.
‘Even if it becomes known that we control the area where the Mana-Dense phenomenon occurs, suspicion will be diluted.’
When the world harbored such doubts, his appearance today—declining nearly all compensation—would serve as the strongest shield of all.
The third was the harm dealt to the Gardener, and this cloth item.
[Gardener’s Fragment]
The compass continued to vibrate, urging him to claim that cloth piece for himself.
7th Return: The Returner Collects Calamities
Author
: Song Tan
Publication Date
: July 13, 2026
Publisher
: Ace Sis Media Co., Ltd.
Editor
: Ace Sis Media Editorial Team
Address
: 10F Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work is published by Ace Sis Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder.
Without permission from the company and author, no part of this content may be used in any form or by any means.
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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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