The 7th-Run Regressor Collects Calamities - Chapter 68

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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 68. Showcase (3)
Once Zero Point’s Gate Conquest was confirmed, Song Ji-hu’s first move was to orchestrate a plan to set Han Do-yoon in motion.
“Good morning, Han Do-yoon! You’re in early again today?”
“My eyes just opened early for some reason!”
“There’s really no one as diligent as you are, I’m telling you.”
Han Do-yoon, without being asked by anyone, swept the area in front of the Main Gate with a broom, exchanging greetings with arriving employees.
Security duty didn’t start until eight, but Han Do-yoon always appeared by seven to match Yoon Young-su’s punctuality, sweeping the Main Gate, pulling weeds from the flower beds, and wiping dust from the signboards.
“Manager Kim, I heard you worked late yesterday. You should have some coffee.”
“You’re right about that. As soon as I get upstairs, I need to brew myself a strong cup in the Break Room.”
“But why were you working late? Lots of work?”
“Things suddenly piled up, and there’s negotiations with the Hunter Association to handle, plus paperwork and all that.”
“Well, make sure you get that coffee when you go!”
He memorized every employee’s name and asked about their circumstances, displaying pure-hearted kindness.
“Why’s your face always so bright, Han Do-yoon?”
Lim Jae-hyeok passed by, chuckling heartily as he patted the younger man’s shoulder.
“Because I work somewhere good!”
Lim Jae-hyeok chuckled, nodding as if satisfied.
“This guy, even his words are pretty. Let’s grab some soup and rice for lunch!”
“Really? Thank you so much! But things seem unsettled lately—do you have something busy going on?”
At Han Do-yoon’s question, Lim Jae-hyeok patted his Shield.
“Time to head into the Dungeon soon.”
Han Do-yoon’s eyes lit up at Lim Jae-hyeok’s words.
“Wow… you’re going to cut the time record again and come back, aren’t you? You were famous on the internet for it, right? People say it feels like a Speed Run when you go in with them.”
“Heh… if only it worked out that way!”
“Which Dungeon are you heading into?”
“Got a B-rank Dungeon lined up, they said. Ah, I’ve got to go now! Meeting’s going to start. See you at lunch!”
Lim Jae-hyeok burst into laughter, waved, and took the elevator up to the Top Floor.
“This is ridiculous, and I don’t like doing it one bit.”
Lim Jae-hyeok shook his head left and right, clearly uncomfortable.
Every time he talked with Han Do-yoon, he felt it—the problem was that he couldn’t bring himself to believe that face, those words, those actions were all lies.
“But last time I saw you, your acting was pretty good?”
Yoon Young-su, who had taken the elevator from the Basement, let out a faint laugh.
“I have to. If it helps the Guild Master….”
As they entered the Conference Room on the Top Floor, everyone except the two of them was already gathered.
“You’ve arrived.”
“Ran into him on the way up, so I softened him up a bit.”
“Since he’s been softened up, we should start moving. Leak some rumors about the Gate Conquest—the when and where. And there’s other information we need to spread as well.”
It was time to start laying the bait.
“Understood. We need employee backup anyway, so I’ll spread it as naturally as possible. But….”
Yoon Young-su answered, but his expression betrayed unease as he pressed further.
“Won’t it be dangerous? If we spread word that the Guild Master is entering the Gate… what if the Apostles try something?”
Worry was etched across Yoon Young-su’s face. The situation already carried enough risk, and deliberately feeding their intentions to the enemy’s ears made no sense to him.
“It’s fine. That’s exactly what we’re hoping for.”
The enemy making a move meant their full strength, their psychological state, and their current targets would all be laid bare before them.
“It’s not danger—it’s a perfect opportunity.”
Song Ji-hu already had the blueprint laid out in his mind.
‘The Shepherd and the Gardener can’t move. The only ones who can make a play are the Priest, Spider, and Butcher.’
The Butcher was out of commission. That left the Priest and Spider.
But the Priest doesn’t make direct moves. He manipulates others or orchestrates from the shadows.
Spider might be possible, but Spider isn’t an Apostle specialized in combat.
“There are a few things I need you to do instead.”
“Yes, sir!”
“While we’re clearing the Dungeon, have the Hunter Association station some personnel around the Gate. Protective forces included. If you mention Mental Barrier deployment, plenty of people will pitch in.”
If we looked too defenseless, it wouldn’t work. We had to make it look like a natural setup so the other side wouldn’t suspect the trap, and only then could we properly gauge their true intentions.
“At this point, they won’t be able to hold back. Let’s plant a few of our own people too.”
Matsumoto Leo clicked his tongue in admiration at Song Ji-hu’s plan.
“And… we’ve finished mapping Han Do-yoon’s daily patterns. He lives like a machine. It looks like he communicates via personal cell phone only. There doesn’t seem to be any analog contact.”
Ayase Haruka added her report.
“But… at certain times, his voice changes slightly.”
Her head tilted a fraction.
“At a certain point, when you listen to his voice, it feels like something that was hollow gets a bit more filled in? Like it seems more stable, wouldn’t you say?”
“Hmm… So the reports are coming along steadily.”
If I’d sensed something like that in the Fanatic, it had to be during the contact—when else could it be?
“I’m going to leak a total of three pieces of information.”
At that, all eyes turned to Song Ji-hu.
“The first is the Dungeon Clear schedule. I mentioned that earlier, so we’ll skip it.”
This was one hundred percent true. It was information anyone could learn with a little legwork, so there was no reason to mix in lies.
Because it was true, the more we verified it, the more trust we’d build.
“The second is truth mixed with falsehood.”
Song Ji-hu extended two fingers.
“I’ll mix lies into the information about Mental Contamination Treatment. The treatment cycle will be much longer than it actually is. The Rebound much more severe.”
In reality, thanks to Ryuu Jin’s item, the mental energy consumption had dropped significantly, and the treatment speed was something Song Ji-hu could control as he saw fit.
“The moment they learn treatment is slow, they’ll jump to conclusions. They might even become a bit more complacent.”
That was exactly what we wanted. For that very reason, I’d deliberately not kept to the treatment intervals with Ayase Haruka and Ollie Barkley—a minimum of three to four days, maximum a week.
More recently, even this rest period after the Yakumo Guild treatment served the same purpose.
“And the last one…”
A third finger extended, and Song Ji-hu’s lips curved upward.
“Is bait. Please spread the rumor that all the core of the treatment lies in the Special Ward’s equipment.”
Sealing off the Special Ward line as a general staff restricted area had been groundwork to package this very lure.
“People… the more you forbid something, the more curious they become.”
Wasn’t that human nature?
“If possible, I’d like to attract as many different fish as we can.”
“So… truth and lies mixed together… that’s why you prepared all this?”
Now Yoon Young-su finally understood perfectly why Song Ji-hu had locked down all the Ward facilities with restricted access and had him build a fake treatment room in the Basement.
“The preparations are all done. I plan to fill in the equipment here and there too. Once it’s complete, it’ll feel adequately sparse. And… I’m thinking of deliberately letting some people see the equipment being installed.”
“That’s perfect.”
Too tight, too perfect—that actually raises suspicion of fakery. But with the right amount of sloppiness, the right amount of concealment, whoever peeks will swear they’ve seen the real thing.
“But if information flows out too smoothly in one direction, it raises red flags. They’ll do cross-verification too.”
Song Ji-hu answered Matsumoto’s objection.
“That’s why I leak the real information about the Dungeon. And we also make the perimeter outside the Gate sharper.”
Song Ji-hu then looked at him and asked in return:
“If they confirm our presence in an actual Dungeon? That becomes verified information. And information leaking partially is good too. They’ll want to verify even more. Even if real information gets in later, they’ll doubt it. If fake information goes in, they’ll try to confirm it.”
Matsumoto Leo’s mouth fell open slightly.
He tried to put himself in the position of an Apostle and think through how he’d respond in this situation.
‘With no solid intelligence to work with, just a single Spy pushed through. In a situation where I have to verify everything leaking out—if repair equipment enters the building, Dungeon information is fact, and Mental Contamination Treatment is something I’ve personally experienced…’
At the end of that thought, Matsumoto Leo exhaled a long breath.
‘A terrifying man.’
Once you’ve verified a few truths, you don’t easily doubt the information that follows.
‘Insane… he’s absolutely insane.’
And the moment you realize truth and lies are mixed together? By then, it’s already too late.
‘So meticulous. Incredibly meticulous. Like someone who’s been rolling around in this world for decades.’
Once doubt creeps into a single piece of information, doesn’t the whole world start measuring everything by that standard?
Information warfare was ultimately about drawing the picture you wanted inside your opponent’s head. And Song Ji-hu was making the opponent draw that picture himself.
“But setting that aside… you’re not planning to take down the entire Abyss with just one Fanatic, are you?”
“Of course not.”
Song Ji-hu gave a light snort.
“Greed makes you fail. He’s not a key executive, just one Fanatic—wanting something big from just him is pure greed.”
Song Ji-hu looked around at everyone in the room and spoke.
“I just need to fool them once… as long as it goes exactly the way I want it to.”
Matsumoto Leo’s eyes narrowed. There was a look that wanted to probe what exactly that one thing was, but since he prided himself on knowing Song Ji-hu, he swallowed the question.
He figured Song Ji-hu would tell him when the time came.
Song Ji-hu fingered the Ring and thought about that single opportunity.
The critical moment. That one moment when every eye of the Abyss would be looking the wrong way.
For that one moment, Song Ji-hu was building this entire stage.
Of course, when that moment would come, what it would be for—only Song Ji-hu’s mind held those answers.
“Well then… everyone’s worked hard today.”
“Right, it’s already lunchtime. Jae-hyeok, why don’t you go eat with Han Do-yoon?”
“Sounds good. Hope I don’t get indigestion from it.”
“With your stomach, you’ll never get indigestion—enjoy the meal. And leak some information appropriately while you’re at it.”
Everyone dispersed to their positions, and as Song Ji-hu entered the Office, he spread Mental Sensing across the entire building.
“No rats, though…”
He fidgeted with the Ring on his finger.
“…This Ring is something else.”
He could definitely use his skills more broadly and more frequently now, without the slightest strain he’d felt before.
“Once I enter this Gate… I think Skill Evolution will be coming soon.”
After relentless effort, several of his skills were approaching proficiency level 100.
“When a skill ranks up to B-rank, something will change, won’t it…?”
This was his first time experiencing skill advancement, so he’d have to wait and see.
***
Yoon Young-su moved directly into action. He distributed seemingly coincidental information that would reach Han Do-yoon’s ears to his staff under the guise of work assignments.
“Oh… I’d actually heard we’d be heading into a Gate soon. So we’ve got work to do!”
“Yes, since this is our first backup operation, please make sure everything goes smoothly.”
“Will do! Don’t worry! I was actually wondering if we had enough work to keep us busy.”
The news that work had materialized spread through murmurs among the staff.
“Ah, and… on the day we head into the Gate, there will be some vehicle traffic at the adjacent building, but you don’t need to check on it even if you happen to see it. Please let the staff know they can ignore it too.”
“The Special Ward building?”
“Yes.”
“Got it! I’ll notify the staff!”
Yoon Young-su watched his staff move to disseminate the information.
He’d done everything Song Ji-hu told him to do, and now all that remained was waiting for those bastards to bite the bait.
The 7th Returnee Collects Calamities
Author
: Song Tan
Publication Date
: July 31, 2026
Publisher
: Asismedia Inc.
Editor-in-Chief
: Asismedia Editorial Team
Address
: 10F Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Email
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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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