The 7th-Run Regressor Collects Calamities - Chapter 70

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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 70. A Stroll (2)
It was quiet, and yet not quiet at all. They advanced with a strange, muted momentum.
Lim Jae-hyuk led, followed by Eun Seo-jin and Ayase Haruka, with Matsumoto Leo and Song Ji-hu bringing up the rear.
Lim Jae-hyuk’s stride was unhesitating.
[Hah… the more I use this Shield, the better it gets!]
The moment another skirmish ended, Lim Jae-hyuk launched into his running commentary.
[How does one even craft a Shield like this?]
With each of his remarks, Eun Seo-jin’s pace quickened, and her blade strokes grew even more merciless.
The monsters froze solid under the Frozen Soul Strike, then shattered like glass without so much as a cry.
Shards of frozen carcasses scattered in all directions, and before they could even settle, Eun Seo-jin had already pressed forward.
Her combat was silent, economical—except for Lim Jae-hyuk’s stumble in that first fight, the dungeon’s mechanics had yet to trigger once.
[Feels less like a dungeon and more like we’re just taking a walk.]
[That just means our coordination is flawless, doesn’t it?]
The sporadic battles left Lim Jae-hyuk little to do but hum his boredom aloud.
[Your mental stamina holding up?]
[Fine. No issues yet.]
Song Ji-hu maintained the Mental Link while layering on additional skills and fighting simultaneously—yet his temples remained unbothered. Satisfied, he absently stroked his Ring.
‘This is nice. Throw in the Coat and the difference is night and day.’
The Ring’s first live-combat test was, in a word, vindication.
In the old days, attempting all of this at once would have left his temples throbbing and blood streaming from his nose by now.
[Twelve on the right corner. Prepare for combat.]
Song Ji-hu issued the command through the Mental Link while signaling Matsumoto Leo and Ayase Haruka to ready themselves.
Matsumoto Leo, watching their display, felt a profound stir of confusion.
‘How do they maintain such perfect timing without saying a word? How is that even possible?’
A mere flick of Song Ji-hu’s fingers would redirect Lim Jae-hyuk’s Shield, while Eun Seo-jin would already be sweeping her blade through the next corridor before the order even came.
Unaware of the Mental Link, Matsumoto Leo could only marvel at their synchronization.
‘How much practice would it take to reach that level? If we could adapt it for my people, it’d be perfect….’
And so, the misunderstandings about Song Ji-hu continued to pile up.
Eventually, they reached the boss chamber. In the center of a vast cavern crouched something grotesque.
A large predator with atrophied eyes—a creature that hunted by sound alone, the very mechanism of Echo Cave incarnate.
“Eun Seo-jin. Handle this one. Finish it yourself, all the way through.”
At Song Ji-hu’s command, Eun Seo-jin pulled her mask up above her nose and approached with both blades extended, ready.
A chill began to emanate softly from beneath the mask. The signal of full power.
“And we just watch?”
“Hardly. We’re going to have our hands full too.”
Though they’d coasted this far, every single monster trickling in was pure Experience Points.
“Truth be told, I was getting antsy just standing guard the whole time.”
Matsumoto Leo unsheathed his blade.
“Kahahaha! Come on, all of you!”
Lim Jae-hyuk thrust his Shield forward and bellowed, and from every corridor they’d traversed, monsters came flooding in with a cacophony of cries.
“Hehehehe….”
Lim Jae-hyuk laughed as he shrunk the Shield and shifted his grip to the Hammer in his other hand.
“Let’s have some real fun now.”
What unfolded could hardly be called combat—it was outright domination, unfolding across every corner of the chamber.
The boss, a creature that hunted by sound alone, couldn’t even properly perceive Eun Seo-jin as she moved like a phantom, and could only flail its talons stupidly at empty air.
Her feet laid down a thin sheet of frost with each landing—not muffling sound, but freezing it before it could even be born. Ghostly in its quietude.
As the beast’s paw swept wide, Eun Seo-jin slipped through and raked the Royal Scar across its flank. The wound refused to mend.
Kiiiieeee!
To the creature, it was no different than being hunted by a specter.
The monster thrashed in panic, shrieking and lashing its tail, but the flood of reinforcements had long since been blocked at the entrance.
Crunch!
Lim Jae-hyuk’s hammer caved in the skull of a bat forcing its way through, hurling it to the ground.
“Easy, so easy!”
Buoyed by Ayase Haruka’s buffs, Lim Jae-hyuk threw himself into the fray with delight, while Song Ji-hu swept his Compass Strike across the bat swarm before him, clearing them in one stroke.
‘Wait, he’s Psychic-type, right? Usually that means support—so why is he this good in direct combat?’
Matsumoto Leo cut down the monsters pressing toward Ayase Haruka, all while stealing glances at Song Ji-hu.
‘His movements have no wasted motion. I’m sure of it—he’s definitely trained somewhere, just somewhere we haven’t found.’
Matsumoto Leo shook his head, trying to dismiss the line of thought. He’d already confirmed that Song Ji-hu was a mystery, after all.
And a boss without support was little more than a toy. Eun Seo-jin’s second blade, the Chilling Cold, delivered the finishing stroke.
Thiiissshhh—
Eun Seo-jin’s chill pierced through the monster’s heart, beginning to freeze its entire body.
Crack—
The moment Song Ji-hu drew his blade, the creature—now a complete ice statue—shattered into fragments and collapsed.
From start to finish, Eun Seo-jin hadn’t spoken a single word.
“Clear!”
Lim Jae-hyuk brought down the last pressing enemy and grinned widely, shaking the flesh from his hammer.
“Ahh—that was refreshing! You have no idea how pent up I was.”
Just before stepping out of the Gate after clearing it, Lim Jae-hyuk hummed to himself, releasing everything he’d been holding back.
“Let’s head out. I don’t see anything left.”
At Song Ji-hu’s signal, the five of them stepped beyond the Gate.
***
“Huh…? A glitch?”
The personnel stationed outside the Gate checked their watches the moment they detected signs of the Gate beginning to fluctuate, exchanging confused glances.
“It’s already done?”
“They’ve only been in there for less than six hours?”
Everyone let out hollow laughs—they’d cleared a typical B-rank Gate in less than half the standard time.
“Seriously… that’s incredible. They cleared this in six hours?”
“Ask the records office. What’s the fastest clear time on record for this Gate?”
“…Eleven hours.”
“Then what is this?”
No one had an answer.
The Gate shifted, and the party walked out at an easy pace.
“Five returnees confirmed.”
“Huh… Five people… all returnees accounted for.”
While the Hunter Association processed the post-clear procedures, the Hunters maintaining the perimeter stared at them in disbelief.
“Looks like they just smashed through with raw power?”
“That was the whole volume?”
“Look at the blood on them. They basically just swept everything clean and cleared it.”
“That’s actually amazing….”
Song Ji-hu organized his gear near the Gate and leaned against the vehicle, quietly opening his skill window.
[Level: 23]
His level was now 23. And finally, all of his skills had risen to B-rank.
Mental Sensing evolved into Mental Resonance—now able to detect the emotions and signs of corruption in nearby targets without direct contact.
Mental Barrier advanced to Unshakable Mind—its effect, range, and duration all substantially enhanced.
Residual Thoughts evolved into Memory Thread—expanding from simply reading simple emotions to being able to access brief fragments of actual memory.
Thought Projection advanced to Memory Imprint—now capable of not just sending simple emotions or impressions, but of vividly imprinting an entire memory.
Mental Link expanded from two people to a maximum of three, and overall combat capability had clearly upgraded across the board.
“Huh?”
As Song Ji-hu reviewed his skills, his trembling hands clicked on the description of one skill he’d thought would remain unchanged—only to find it had transformed.
[Mental Dive – EX-rank]
[(NEW) You may now perform a accompanied dive with one other person.]
“Accompanied… with one person?”
Song Ji-hu instinctively clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle the cry threatening to escape. This changed everything.
He now had the means to save far more people, far more easily.
‘That skill enhancement really paid off… the applications are going to be quite extensive.’
Of course, there was still a long way to go. His target wasn’t just B-rank—it lay far beyond.
“The procedures are complete. Shall we head back?”
Eun Seo-jin approached Song Ji-hu, who had been lost in thought, and spoke.
“Sure.”
“Straight home?”
“No, let’s head to the Guild first. We’ll disperse from there.”
As Song Ji-hu climbed into the vehicle, it slowly pulled away.
Through the window, watching the sunset fade into dusk, Song Ji-hu heard Eun Seo-jin speak quietly.
“It ended more quietly than expected.”
“Literally. They probably couldn’t have done much anyway.”
Song Ji-hu replied matter-of-factly.
“There were too many people keeping watch, and the risk would’ve been too high for them to make a move.”
While the heavy presence of the Association’s control personnel certainly played a role, one thing was certain: the information had been verified as genuine.
‘The difference between the Association confirming something and us double-checking it versus them sending information and the Association verifying it is just a matter of sequence—but it makes a world of difference in trust.’
For now, that was enough.
***
“Thank you all for your hard work. Take tomorrow to rest properly. I’ll see you the day after.”
The five who had returned to the Company Headquarters dispersed amid warm farewells from the staff.
“You’ve worked hard! You’re heading out right away, aren’t you?”
“Just need to handle some paperwork at the office, then I’m gone.”
The atmosphere was unsettled—each person packed up their gear and scattered to their respective homes.
About an hour later, Yoon Young-su also drove out of the Underground Parking Lot toward his lodgings.
Everyone assumed Song Ji-hu had also left with the evening departures. After all, it was right after clearing the Gate, and all the lights in the executive offices had been extinguished.
As the departure time passed and midnight drew near.
Every building’s lights were off, the heavy construction equipment sitting idle.
Only the night security personnel and automated systems remained operational in the profound quiet.
When even the light had vanished, leaving only moonlight hovering above the buildings.
“Finally….”
In the darkened executive office, Song Ji-hu—who had been sitting motionless in his chair—snapped his eyes open.
“They took the bait.”
Then he murmured softly in the darkness.
Song Ji-hu had not left. He had simply turned off the lights, erased his presence, and waited.
His Mental Sensing, now elevated to B-rank, had precisely caught several auras moving from this vast compound into the Medical Ward Building where mental corruption was treated.
“Right. If they were going to make a move, tonight was perfect.”
While all the key Hunters were knocked out from exhaustion—this was exactly the time.
“Four of them?”
One aura was familiar. Han Do-yoon.
Han Do-yoon, who had volunteered for the night shift, was moving outside his patrol route.
His movements were unhesitating.
Since security was only installed around the building and Training Grounds perimeter, those who had scaled the fence quickly merged with Han Do-yoon and converged on the building.
‘Auras like this—did the Abyss send people directly?’
These were not the kind of auras you’d sense from grunts like Heuk-cheon who only handled menial work.
A faint smile crossed Song Ji-hu’s lips. If mere nobodies had shown up, he would have actually been disappointed—doubting whether his own building’s security was really so pathetic.
Song Ji-hu sank deeper into his chair and issued no instructions to the security team.
‘Go ahead. Try your hardest to break through….’
He actually wanted their intrusion to succeed.
The CCTV feed hesitated for a moment, then began looping the same image, and the intruders quickly moved toward the stairs descending underground.
‘Yoon Young-su said he’d set it up properly….’
Everything had been arranged for this single moment. Now the audience was taking their seats on the stage.
Suddenly, he recalled what Eun Seo-jin had said at the Gate. That it had ended quietly.
It wasn’t that something hadn’t been done. It was that it hadn’t been done. Not yet. Not until this very moment.
A Seventh-Time Returnee Collects Calamities
Author
: Song Tan
Production Date
: August 14, 2026
Publisher
: Aces Media Co., Ltd.
Editor
: Aces Media Editorial Team
Address
: 10F, Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work has been published by Aces Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder,
and the contents may not be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the company and author.
This e-book is protected by copyright law, and unauthorized reproduction or copying 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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