The 7th-Run Regressor Collects Calamities - Chapter 81

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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 81. Jonathan Walker (2)
The black crystals that had encased his entire body crumbled like sand, pattering softly to the floor.
The abnormally swollen muscles subsided, and the twisted skeletal frame clicked and shifted back into place with a series of dull pops.
Over the skin that had been rotting away beneath a sickly crimson toxin, human color began to return.
“The Calamity state… reversing… it can’t be….”
Rick Wesley wiped his eyes and took in the sight of Jonathan Walker.
Finally, Jonathan Walker’s face began to return. Soon, there was nothing in the chair but an ordinary elderly man.
At peace, as if he had set down every burden and fallen into deep sleep.
“Ollie….”
Jonathan Walker’s eyes opened quietly.
“Yeah, I’m right here. Don’t make me say it twice….”
Ollie Barkley bent down and lowered himself on one knee beside the chair. Jonathan Walker smiled faintly, a slight lifting at the corners of his mouth.
“So you’re complaining? You’ve grown a lot. Tsk, tsk….”
But Jonathan Walker’s breathing was shallow, precarious as if it might cease at any moment.
Everyone in the room sensed instinctively that his time was running out.
“Seven years ago. The Arizona Gate.”
“Yeah.”
“You called out the wrong coordinates… so we had to carry our gear another two kilometers.”
“Hey, that was because the Compass you brought was a piece of junk.”
“Making excuses.”
Jonathan Walker’s shoulders trembled as he let out a dry, rasping laugh.
Ollie Barkley’s throat tightened; he couldn’t bring himself to answer. Instead, he squeezed Jonathan Walker’s hand—large and now drained of strength.
“…That dry meatloaf they served in the base cafeteria every Tuesday.”
“The one that felt like chewing on a tire. The most tasteless hunk of meat in the world.”
“Yeah. …Weird. I want to eat that right now.”
…….
There was no grand or solemn deathbed speech. No shining glory, no lingering regret, no weighty final charge to those left behind.
Only the trivial, time-worn joke that could pass between two people who had crawled together through years of blood and strife—the most petty and yet the most profound thing in the world.
Jonathan Walker’s gaze turned one last time toward the white ceiling of the bunker.
His eyes softened with a falsely gentle smile, as if beholding something inexplicably warm and comforting.
“Ah, it was fun. You…”
Jonathan Walker looked at Ollie Barkley. And smiled.
“Come back slowly… like you did in Arizona….”
His shallow breath ceased.
Instead of the usual mechanical beep, a single line of text rose quietly across the center of the screen.
[Contamination Response: Eliminated]
Rick Wesley turned off the machine. It was not the death of a Contamination that had become a Calamity. It was the death of one man—the hero Jonathan Walker.
And a camera mounted in the corner of the room had captured every heartbreaking moment.
“It was… too late to save him.”
Song Ji-hu spoke in a measured tone, and Rick Wesley shook his head.
“No… Jonathan died as a man, not as a Calamity. Thanks to you.”
Rick Wesley fell silent for a moment.
“Jonathan Walker was a hero.”
After a long pause, when Rick Wesley finally spoke again, he seemed to have reached a resolution.
“And in the name of this nation, we will honor him with the highest dignity befitting a hero’s final farewell.”
He gazed at Jonathan Walker, sitting peacefully in the chair as if asleep.
“The official report will be in the line of duty. An honorable death in combat during an operation to save civilians. All details related to the Calamity will be permanently sealed as top-secret material.”
This way, the United States would not have hunted down a hideous monster—but rather lost a noble hero with honor.
Once this crisis was over, a flag-draped casket would be carried forth with solemnity; the National Cemetery would ring with rifle fire in salute; his place in history would be secured.
“Bro….”
Ollie Barkley picked up a Shield Fragment from among the crystals scattered beside Jonathan.
The shard bearing the emblem of an eagle and stars—half-destroyed—he thrust deep into the inner pocket of his shirt.
“We need to move… there are still many comrades out there.”
Ollie Barkley’s eyes, fixed on Song Ji-hu, burned with an intensity unlike any before.
“And we need to tell them. Who they are. What they really are.”
“Who they are?”
Rick Wesley looked between the two of them, as if wondering what they were discussing.
“In time… you will come to know naturally.”
“Yes… in time….”
Ollie Barkley clenched his teeth hard, his jaw set tight.
***
At the same moment.
Somewhere in the United States. A vast Harvest Field stretched out before them. Crimson-red lights drifted through the air so slowly they formed an almost luminous cluster.
“Ah… such an abundance of harvest….”
Each of the dozens of crimson-red lights hanging in the void was a harvested soul.
“At last… the time draws near for him to awaken.”
The Administrator trembled with delight, his entire body quivering. Even now, in this very moment, the field continued its endless cycle of expansion and harvest.
“Let me see… hmm…?”
And then, noticing an entire section of the Harvest Field suddenly vanish without a trace, the Administrator rushed toward that spot in alarm.
“What…?”
Silently, it had simply ceased to exist. It was impossible.
“The Harvest Field… how could this….”
If the Hunter connected to that field had died, a signal should have come through. The field should have opened, and the fully ripened soul should have been drawn upward.
All souls were to be harvested and offered as sacrifice to awaken him.
From the moment of harvest, there was no escape. Once connected to a Harvest Field, only one fate remained—to be consumed.
Yet one of the finest specimens, carefully cultivated over years, had simply vanished.
“An error? The location… S-Rank… Jonathan Walker?”
The Administrator rummaged frantically through the field, checking every possibility, but everything appeared normal.
“No… it’s not an error….”
For the first time, a crack of unease threaded through his voice.
“Zero Point? No… it should still be out over the ocean. There were no signs of it…. What is this?”
The Administrator began scrambling to find the cause, panic rising in his chest.
“Could it be… that machine has spread? No… if it had spread, the Harvest would have been dealt with long ago… regardless, I must inform them.”
This had to be reported to the Apostles. An unexpected variable had emerged in what should have been a flawless Harvest. And it was heading in a decidedly wrong direction.
The Administrator’s gaze shifted to the field before the second large harvest.
“Las Vegas… I must verify it in person.”
The Administrator hastily gathered his things and began making urgent calls.
***
A coffin sat in the center of a sealed chamber.
The Underground Bunker was dimly lit, its air cool. A large American flag draped across the entire coffin.
There were no gun salutes, no trumpets, no honor guard, no mourners. Only a handful of personnel, nothing more.
A long silence stretched on.
“The funeral service itself….”
It was Rick Wesley who broke the silence.
“Will be held once this crisis has been sufficiently contained. With full honors at the National Cemetery. At the same time, we’ll correct all the falsehoods that have spread across the internet and media.”
Song Ji-hu nodded. These were things that had to be done.
The first was restoring the honor of the deceased. The second was breaking the will of the Abyss.
They had tried to make Jonathan Walker a monster beyond control, to instill fear throughout the global Hunter society.
And there were people with personal reasons as well.
“Our mourning ends here.”
Ollie Barkley turned his body. He slung the armed pack from the wall over his shoulder and slipped a revolver into his holster.
Ammunition had been resupplied. Then, as though containing a rising bloodlust, he pulled his cowboy hat down firmly.
“Zero Point will land at a Nevada airport. Estimated time of arrival is six hours from now.”
Rick Wesley checked his wrist terminal as he spoke.
“Six hours.”
Song Ji-hu closed his eyes for a moment, organizing the timeline in his mind.
“Once the plane lands, my movements will shift to public information….”
Song Ji-hu spoke calmly. Still, he was grateful to have stopped what had been the largest spark—the Jonathan Walker incident.
What mattered wasn’t Jonathan Walker’s rampage itself, but the cascading consequences it would have triggered.
…….
Rick Wesley’s expression grew complicated. He had many questions, but from Ollie Barkley’s reaction and the atmosphere, it was clear this wasn’t the moment to ask.
“We need to handle as much as we can before then.”
Matsumoto Leo pushed off from the wall where he’d been leaning and spoke.
“So we’d better hurry.”
Song Ji-hu checked his watch and pulled a Compass from inside his jacket.
“Let’s finish as much as we can in these six hours.”
The needle of the brass Compass trembled faintly, pointing in a specific direction.
And floating above the Compass were the words: the Gardener.
‘As expected. Now that things are stirring, she’s come to handle it herself.’
A thin smile spread across Song Ji-hu’s lips.
“As it happens, Nevada has one too. A Hunter on the verge of rampage.”
Rick Wesley pulled up a holographic status board as he spoke. Several red dots blinked simultaneously across a map of the continental United States.
“The last contamination reading we have is 91. But communications are down… The location is a house in the middle of the desert, though….”
Song Ji-hu’s eyes fixed on the red dot marking Nevada.
“First, let’s stabilize the Hunter on the verge of rampage. Then we head to Las Vegas and deal with the rest.”
“The helicopter is ready.”
The rotor blades of the USAA’s specialized transport helicopter screamed to life. Just before takeoff, Song Ji-hu glanced down at his wristwatch from his seat.
[Time Remaining: 5:40]
Beside him, Ollie Barkley slowly spun the cylinder of his revolver. A soft metallic click sounded.
“Bro.”
Song Ji-hu looked at him.
“This time… let’s not be late. No matter what.”
***
The city viewed from above was grotesque. The neon of the brightest street on Earth flickered in patches, and the massive billboards of the Strip lay shattered across the ground.
– The Las Vegas lockdown is currently in progress. The city being what it is, the evacuation is taking longer than expected….
Song Ji-hu nodded at Rick Wesley’s voice crackling through the earset.
Bang!
A massive explosion erupted from the edge of the city.
– Hell, I was thinking of visiting once this was all over. Guess that’s not happening.
Matsumoto Leo muttered as he stared down at the sprawling chaos below.
– Let’s just get it done quickly. The less we leave standing, the less there is to rebuild, right?
– Fair point.
The helicopter touched down at a temporary USAA facility set up outside the city.
The waiting commander rushed forward, and Song Ji-hu thrust the card Rick Wesley had given him at him.
“Black Ops Team confirmed! The vehicle is ready over there! We’ve got a driver standing by!”
After verifying their credentials, the officer saluted and immediately led the three to the waiting vehicle.
Thunk! Thunk!
“Move out!”
The moment the three climbed in, the officer pounded on the trunk lid and shouted.
Inside the vehicle, Song Ji-hu opened the file Rick Wesley had sent.
[Kate ‘Sheriff’ Langford, 47 years old. S-Rank Mage]
Her alias was the Sheriff.
“An S-Rank Hunter who guards Nevada. One of the earliest Awakeners.”
Matsumoto Leo whistled low as he flipped through the file.
“Twenty years defending Las Vegas alone. That’s impressive.”
Song Ji-hu’s gaze lingered on what came below. The record of recent months.
Four months ago, a partner died. Two months ago, internal Guild division left her effectively stripped of command authority.
Three weeks ago, media reports that she’d ordered a cover-up of civilian casualties, followed by her withdrawal. Then came a retraction—recorded as such.
‘Spider’s handiwork.’
Of course, people barely noticed the retraction.
It took merely four months to isolate a person who had defended a city for over a decade.
Eventually, the black SUV came to a halt in front of a desolate, dilapidated house in the middle of the desert, where the neon of the city was barely visible in the distance.
A dwelling far too weathered and humble for someone called a city’s hero. Every window was boarded up from the inside with steel.
Stacks of takeout boxes sat piled up in front of the entrance, untouched for days and hardened.
And from within, a single, very savage presence could be felt.
“She’s in there….”
Song Ji-hu muttered bitterly and knocked on the door of the house.
The Seventh Regression Reincarnator Collects Calamities
Author
: Song Tan
Publication Date
: August 20, 2026
Publisher
: ACES Media Inc.
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 Acis Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder,
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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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