The 7th-Run Regressor Collects Calamities - Chapter 71

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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 71. A Stroll (3)
The outer fence of Zero Point.
Three shadows melted into the darkness and vaulted the fence in utter silence.
The man in front checked his wristwatch. According to the night patrol schedule Han Do-yoon had provided, there was precisely a fifteen-minute security gap in this sector starting now.
The objective was to complete everything and extract within ten minutes.
‘…Going in.’
They were the elite of Abyss—operatives who had never once been caught in their entire career. For that reason, infiltrating this startup Guild’s building was barely more than an evening stroll compared to their experience.
At least, that was what they believed. The startup Guild’s security was, after all, predictable.
Nothing more than Hunter Association standard-manual-level systems padded with money, plus hired guards.
With an insider already secured, there was no variable that could cause failure.
Their confidence certainly had solid grounds—except that all those grounds had been carefully laid by Song Ji-hu for them to walk into.
“Approaching the building.”
Then someone drew near to them.
“Ten minutes remain. Follow me.”
Han Do-yoon, who had joined them, swiftly crossed the desolate industrial zone. Beneath the pale moonlight, he weaved between the crumbling ruins, precisely avoiding every surveillance camera’s blind spot as he approached the rear of the main building.
Han Do-yoon had spent the past several mornings memorizing the patrol routes perfectly. When shifts changed, where officers smoked, which person cut corners on which sections—every detail.
‘Camera blind spot secured. Entry route clear.’
Han Do-yoon gave a hand signal, then punched the Master Code he’d obtained into the security panel.
Beep—
The heavy steel door swung open, but no alarm sounded.
The four slipped through quickly, and Han Do-yoon checked the surroundings before quietly pulling the door shut behind them.
Satisfaction flickered across the infiltration team’s faces.
“Let’s finish fast and get out.”
Thanks to Han Do-yoon’s diligence and competence, the infiltration team descended the stairs toward the basement without a shred of doubt.
Beep—
The code was entered once more, and the basement door opened in a single smooth motion.
‘If every infiltration were this easy, life would be beautiful.’
The point man thought to himself.
“We’re here.”
Before the special treatment chamber in the basement.
The moment the final, largest, and heaviest metal door swung open, the infiltration team held their breath.
Somewhere in this room lay something that posed a threat to those they served.
The restricted-access zone they’d only seen in reports. The core sector of Zero Point where the impossible happened—Mental Contamination treatment.
“Too bad it’s not a demolition op….”
But for a greater future, reconnaissance took priority over destruction.
‘This is the place.’
Thick shielding doors and mana-dampening barriers. Precision monitoring equipment revealing itself as the door opened, documents covering every surface of the desk.
No one installed these kinds of facilities in just any room.
“Exactly as imagined….”
“Stop chatting. Move fast.”
The infiltration team dispersed throughout the space. Each member photographed the manufacturers of every device in their assigned sector, hacked equipment, and gathered data.
One operative recorded the entire ward’s layout on a Recording Orb.
“There are treatment records.”
“Get the documents in clear, legible shots.”
The treatment data was so vast and meticulous it took their breath away—machine operational logs, Mental Contamination Levels by patient and date, maintenance schedules broken down to the day.
Forged documents meticulously composed over several sleepless nights. There was no room for suspicion anywhere.
Their gaze shifted to the center of the ward—the empty space where a patient’s bed should have been.
A void where something ought to exist. Around it lay only a thin film of dust, and several bundles of Cable thick as an adult’s forearm sprawled haphazardly across the floor.
“Hmm….”
One operative ran his hand over the bolt marks on the floor.
“Something pretty large….”
The floor bore drag marks from something heavy being pulled toward the door. Along one wall, a Tool Box used for the disassembly lay still unpacked.
“The core equipment appears to have been right there.”
A faint groan escaped from somewhere.
The most crucial thing had been removed from its place.
‘…The core module is gone?’
Brief bewilderment flickered through the team—had the mission failed? But the infiltration leader’s mind shifted gears quickly.
‘No. Its absence itself is the biggest intelligence we could get.’
The commander frantically flipped to the last page of the maintenance log.
[Core Module—Repair and Mana Circuit Recalibration in progress.]
Beneath it, the faint impression of words pressed by ballpoint pen was visible.
[Europe transport, estimated one week consumption, Guild Master’s visit schedule.]
The squad leader’s mouth twisted upward in a smile.
This was it. This single memo was why tonight had happened.
“We’re leaving.”
The infiltration team, finished with photography and recording, exchanged glances and began erasing all traces of their presence.
Eleven minutes. One minute over the original plan, but that was acceptable.
Then, in reverse order through the same corridors, from room to room. They vanished into the darkness without leaving a single trace.
While the others headed toward the outer fence, Han Do-yoon locked the door, reset the code, and returned to his post as if nothing had happened.
The alarm never sounded once.
Tomorrow morning’s security logs would show no irregularities either. Not in the patrol reports, not in the access logs. Everything would be recorded as simply another ordinary night.
The infiltration team vanished into the darkness certain of perfect success, unaware that everything they carried away was, in fact, a beautifully wrapped gift.
***
Immediately after the intruders’ presence slipped beyond the detection range.
Song Ji-hu rose from his seat and approached the office window. The surroundings were utterly silent.
When morning came, Kage’s report would land on his desk. The infiltration team’s specific escape route, the liaison vehicles they used, their safe houses—all of it.
There were two pieces of information they would be certain of: that treatment was conducted by machinery, and that the machinery was no longer here.
Now the real game began. They would move to find that repair facility in Europe, and they would still keep their eyes on him.
‘Thanks to that, I have a reason to move too.’
The overseas business trip permit that Yoon Young-su had wrested from the Hunter Association.
“And… the Mana Concentration Phenomenon on top of it.”
Even the smokescreen to blind them was perfect.
Song Ji-hu drew a Compass from his coat. Above the Compass still wandering aimlessly, a window appeared.
ㄴ The Gardener
ㄴ The Shepherd
ㄴ Spider
If things moved according to the board Song Ji-hu had laid out, they could reduce the number of Apostles by one more.
***
Two days after the infiltration team’s visit, Zero Point was sunk in a languid routine.
Employees hurried in for work, Han Do-yoon greeted people earnestly at the front gate, and Ryu Jin struck his hammer.
It was a morning as utterly peaceful as yesterday—no different at all.
The community had stirred briefly over Song Ji-hu casting a Mental Barrier on the Hunters who had come to help with the B-rank Gate’s rapid-clear record.
But even that commotion wasn’t newsworthy by Zero Point’s standards. Like the sea before a storm, the Guild lay quiet.
The first sign came from Ryu Jin’s Smithy.
The flames in the forge burned with unusual clarity and intensity.
“…That’s strange.”
Ryu Jin scratched his soot-blackened cheek, tilting his head.
“I didn’t add more mana catalyst. Why’s the fire like this?”
But Ryu Jin had much work to do, so he continued on without concern.
The second sign came from the Training Ground.
Lim Jae-hyuk, loosening up lightly, repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists, tilting his head in puzzlement.
“Hasn’t the Buff worn off yet?”
His body felt strangely light. Beside him, Eun Seo-jin, who was swinging her sword, also sensed that the aura shimmering at the blade’s edge was denser than usual. She simply said nothing about it.
And the third sign.
Ayase Haruka, walking down the corridor with Matsumoto Leo, abruptly stopped in her tracks.
Then she gazed quietly down at the ground.
“The earth is singing.”
“…Haruka?”
Tension flashed across Matsumoto Leo’s face. He wondered if she’d heard another ominous prophecy.
But the eyes of Ayase Haruka, looking at Matsumoto Leo, were clear. Her pupils trembled with wonder rather than fear or dread.
“You’ll think it was right to stay here. Leo. That song is very loud and very warm.”
She slowly lowered herself to her knees above the floor and placed her palm against it.
“This land will soon awaken.”
And in the office.
Song Ji-hu was looking down at the grounds through the window. The red circle on the calendar on his desk was for today.
‘Right on schedule. This life, too.’
The day the world’s qi would awaken from deep within the Ley Line of this land.
“I didn’t expect to secure such a vast property, though….”
He had secured this land before, but across all his previous lives, this was the first time he’d acquired land this expansive.
Song Ji-hu called for Yoon Young-su.
“You called for me?”
“Please strengthen access control across the entire facility. Double the fence security as well.”
“Pardon? What’s happened so suddenly….”
Song Ji-hu offered no explanation.
Beyond the window, in the center of the construction site where the Training Ground was being built, the air began to shimmer in an eerie, unnatural way. An enormous mirage rose up, warping space itself.
“Oh, oh…!”
Yoon Young-su pressed his face against the window in shock at the sudden development, while Song Ji-hu simply smiled faintly.
“It’s here.”
“Oh, we should prepare at once….”
“Take your time. This is what was meant to happen, and it’s happening now. For now, just calm the staff.”
“Yes!”
Now the mana across Zero Point’s entire grounds swirled with visible density, announcing the true beginning of the Mana Concentration Phenomenon.
A pale silver luminescence rose from the ground like mist. With each breath, a crisp and overwhelming vitality seeped deep into the lungs.
That sensation every Hunter knew in their bones. The world’s spiritual energy was gathering toward this place, moment by moment.
Outside the open windows, staff members murmured in trembling voices.
“This is… the Mana Concentration Phenomenon, isn’t it? I’ve only ever seen it in books….”
“Wow… this is the first time I’ve actually witnessed it.”
“Really… it’s beautiful. It’s like stars are blooming from the earth and pouring up into the sky, you know?”
Staff members who had stepped outside the building raised their phones, eager to photograph the Mana Concentration Phenomenon.
Meanwhile, the phenomenon had already progressed past its midpoint. Beyond the broken windows of an abandoned building, a bluish cluster of mana rose and filled the space.
In every crack of the fractured asphalt, firefly-like particles emerged and drifted through the air.
A ruined wasteland being reborn as the most sacred ground in the world. A miraculous transformation.
Yoon Young-su searched the internet, pulled up search results, and began taking several dry swallows in succession.
The Mana Concentration Phenomenon.
Across the entire world, this phenomenon had been confirmed in only three places.
The United States, England, and China.
And when Yoon Young-su checked what had become of the organizations established in those three locations, his hands began to tremble violently.
The United States had its government itself, England had the Queen’s Knights, and China had the Abyss.
All of them had grown into massive Guilds. Guilds that wielded influence over the global Hunter society.
And those locations themselves became sanctified ground for Hunters. A mere skyrocketing of real estate values was beside the point.
The greatest value lay in this: breathing in a Mana Concentration zone amounted to training itself.
In other words, a Guild located in a Mana Concentration area operated on an entirely different scale.
For this reason, the existing three locations were guarded by their respective nations like treasures. If related incidents arose, they would not hesitate to wage war.
And now, the fourth such site—
—was blooming anew beyond the window.
The 7th Returnee Collects Disasters
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 agreement with the copyright holder,
and the content may not be used in any form or manner without permission from the company and author.
This e-book is protected by copyright law; unauthorized republication or reproduction 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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