The Legendary Regressor Devours the Tower - Chapter 67

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 67
“Han Jin-woo!”
Upon receiving word that Han Jin-woo had returned safely, Han Geon-woo rushed out of the Apartment.
The moment he spotted his younger brother, he came sprinting over in a panic.
“I thought you were dead for real.”
“Haa… Be more careful where you go.”
“I never expected you’d be kidnapped, of all things.”
Han Jin-woo scratched his head awkwardly.
It felt strange seeing his normally terrifying older brother genuinely worried like this.
“But why do you smell like you pissed yourself?”
“Ahem.”
His pants had dried, but the stench hadn’t quite gone away.
“I had no choice — there were no spare clothes to change into.”
Normally he carried extra clothes wherever he went, but the sudden crisis had made him forget.
Jang Byung-jun had offered him clothes while recovering the corpse, but Han Jin-woo had recoiled in horror and refused, so he’d been stuck in the same outfit.
“Did you… actually wet yourself?”
The worry in his eyes shifted to something like contempt, and Han Jin-woo’s face flushed crimson as he snapped back.
“I’m a Non-Awakened! You don’t stay dry in a situation like that!”
“You’re right. It’d be strange if you hadn’t died in a situation like that.”
Seong Un’s backing made Han Geon-woo nod in understanding.
“You’re right… Thank you, sir. Thanks to you, Jin-woo was able to come back safely.”
“Thank this one too. If he hadn’t been there, we might all be dead.”
Seong Un pointed to Seo Jae-pil standing behind him.
“Even… Seo Jae-pil?”
“What? That bastard was trying to curse me out, wasn’t he?”
Seo Jae-pil looked at Seong Un with displeasure.
“He was.”
“No, sir… That was just a slip-up back there.”
“Regardless, he played a role in saving your brother. If you’re going to thank him, do it properly.”
There had to be a clear distinction between private and public matters.
At Seong Un’s firm stance, Han Geon-woo bowed ninety degrees toward Seo Jae-pil.
“Thank you for rescuing my brother.”
Seo Jae-pil’s expression softened at the genuine gratitude.
“Well, sure.”
“Manager Jang, do you happen to have any vacant units in the Apartment?”
There was no guarantee another kidnapping wouldn’t happen.
Until they grew stronger, these two needed the protection of the Association’s umbrella.
“Of course. Actually, wouldn’t it be better if you moved in right away?”
“Would that be possible?”
Han Geon-woo’s face lit up.
Their current place was nice enough, but it couldn’t compare to the Association’s luxury units.
Move into an Apartment like that?
It was almost too good to be true.
“……But it would be farther from school.”
Han Jin-woo, on the other hand, wasn’t enthusiastic about the offer.
For one thing, he wasn’t even Awakened, and the commute to and from school would be longer.
He’d already lost so much study time to the kidnapping.
To make up for even a fraction of those lost hours, he needed to get home and sit at his desk as soon as possible.
“We’ll handle your transportation. And we’ll arrange the best private tutoring for you.”
Han Jin-woo’s eyes began to sparkle.
He’d never even dreamed of private tutoring, given how tight their finances were — he couldn’t even afford hagwon. But private tutoring?
“Really?”
“Yes. The Association will cover all expenses, so please don’t worry.”
“……Then that sounds good.”
“Then I’ll consider it decided and send people to your home to help with the move. You’ll have luggage to transport.”
* * *
And so Han Geon-woo and Han Jin-woo moved into the Apartment.
The twelfth floor — four stories higher than the eighth floor where Seong Un lived.
True to his word, Jang Byung-jun had arranged high-end private tutoring for Han Jin-woo, and word was that he was managing his commute as well.
And then a change came to Seo Jae-pil too.
“Seong Un, should I just leave Horus?”
“Leave?”
Horus was a named guild ranked eighth in South Korea.
I couldn’t help but ask why he’d consider quitting such an organization.
“I’m just a bit envious.”
“Envious of what?”
“Of Han Geon-woo living on the twelfth floor.”
“Ah, because the Association takes such good care of him?”
“No, that’s not it… It’s just that no one challenges him.”
“Got yourself kicked out?”
Seo Jae-pil nodded, a bitter smile playing at his lips.
“I acted on my own without the guild’s permission, apparently.”
The kidnapping incident at Dobongsan National Park.
The Association had shared information with the cooperating guild, and in that process, word reached Horus that Seo Jae-pil had assisted Seong Un.
Horus imposed disciplinary action on the guild member for acting independently in a dangerous situation.
The discipline included a week-long climbing ban and a ten million won fine.
“Got off light.”
“Light? Hell, first they were all over themselves saying they had an Irregular as a friend, and now look at them.”
“It’s a difference in position.”
“Whose side are you on? You could’ve died if it weren’t for me.”
“I’m neutral. And what’s with you acting so righteous after pulling a cowardly stunt?”
“Cowardly? You bastard—you dare talk like that to your benefactor?”
“Then join the Association.”
There were plenty of cases where people voluntarily left their guild and transferred their affiliation to the Association.
It was something he could do if he chose to.
“Yeah, I’ll do that.”
Seo Jae-pil nodded as if he’d been waiting for those words.
“What, so you’d already made up your mind?”
“Of course. I’m just going to stick with you.”
Watching Seong Un face off against Ruslan this time had shown him something.
That it wasn’t mere luck that had landed him an EX++ rank.
Back then, he’d thought that even as an Irregular, Seong Un would die to Ruslan.
Seo Jae-pil, who had climbed as high as the thirteenth floor, couldn’t even read the man’s movements properly.
Yet Seong Un’s eyes never lost their fighting spirit, and though he’d resorted to underhanded tactics, he’d managed to claim victory.
‘I should invest in him.’
This wasn’t just about leaving because of discipline.
In half a year—no, less than a year—Seong Un would surpass him entirely.
With such potential, it was worth abandoning Horus to transfer to the Association.
“Do as you like.”
“Okay! So what happened with that kidnapper bastard?”
“It went down the way I expected.”
“Expected?”
“Yeah. The family in the photographs—they vanished without a trace. Someone must’ve taken care of them.”
“Ah…”
It was assumed that the moment Ruslan left for South Korea, his wife and daughter were killed by the employer’s hand.
When Curse Magic severed Ruslan’s lifeline, it was something he’d already anticipated to some degree, so he wasn’t particularly shocked.
Still, Seo Jae-pil couldn’t hide his regret.
What wrong had they committed to deserve death?
“The problem is we can’t apprehend the Reheln bastards.”
Anger rose in the wake of that regret.
“What? They were trying to kill you!”
Hadn’t he clearly heard the name Reheln from the one who’d taken the contract and carried it out?
“There’s no solid evidence.”
He’d learned it was Reheln’s doing through Ruslan.
But that was only circumstantial at best.
Even though they’d recovered an Artifact from them, there was almost nothing revealed in the investigation.
Since he couldn’t use it immediately, he’d left the examination to Woo Min-chul.
‘This is just a shell.’
It was a single-use Artifact—once Disguise was activated, the internal energy would dissipate and vanish.
It was different from any Artifact Seong Un had known, so he could tell it was a prototype.
Moreover, every component had burned away cleanly, making investigation impossible.
“Why can’t we just grab the guild master and torture a confession out of him?”
“Might as well declare war while we’re at it.”
Reheln is Russia’s representative guild.
A reckless attack on such a guild would bring severe sanctions from Russia itself.
“So you’re saying I should just let the ones who tried to kill me off scot-free?”
“For now.”
“For now?”
“Yes.”
There was a question Seong Un had carried since the kidnapping began.
Over thirty people had crossed into the country illegally—how had the Association and the guild not caught wind of it?
It was too large a number to dismiss as mere oversight.
‘There’s likely a spy on the inside.’
Whether it was the guild’s doing or internal sabotage within the Association itself remained unclear.
‘Seong Un, I’d appreciate if you could give me time with this matter.’
Choi Hyuk appeared to share the same thought, his expression hardening.
‘Yes, I’ll be counting on you.’
‘Don’t worry too much. I’ll resolve it as quickly as possible.’
He made clear he would handle it personally, and not long after, Choi Hyuk explained the situation in a grave voice.
An executive within the Association had been found dead.
The investigation revealed he was the one who’d facilitated the illegal entry.
When Ruslan failed his contract, he’d silenced him with the same Curse Magic.
“Damn… fucking bastards.”
“For now, we watch and wait. They struck first against someone who was staying quiet, so we need to repay them properly.”
“Call on me whenever you need!”
“Sure. You won’t get cold feet and run, right?”
“Hmm… what if I start thinking it’s not a good idea?”
“Then get out.”
“Ha! I’m joking! I’ll help no matter what, so just speak a little more favorably, yeah?”
“Speak favorably?”
Seo Jae-pil grinned and nodded.
“Yeah. If an Irregular puts in a word, the support we get could be pretty generous, don’t you think?”
“You bastard, you got a taste of money at Horus and went crazy?”
Seong Un laughed teasingly and threw the jab back.
“Still, I’m the Irregular’s benefactor—this much should be possible!”
Seo Jae-pil raised the ante and puffed out his chest openly.
“You know what? Why don’t you just move here?”
“To this apartment?”
“Yeah.”
Ruslan, who had come over on contract, had attempted to eliminate Seong Un.
It seemed they’d decided to nip him in the bud since recruitment appeared impossible from the start.
Seong Un had a premonition that this attempt would not be the last.
“You’re saying they might target me again?”
“It’s not impossible to imagine.”
“True enough. Then let’s use that as leverage and squeeze them even harder!”
“Keep your voice down. They’ll hear everything outside.”
“Come on, the soundproofing in here is solid, right?”
Seo Jae-pil gave the wall a light tap with his hand.
Tap. Tap.
With specialized acoustic treatment, there was no way sound would leak through.
Seong Un smiled faintly and pulled out his smartphone.
“I’m joking. I’ll let the Association chairman know, so go visit the Association.”
“Yes! That’s what I’m talking about, brother! This is why you gotta have good friends.”
* * *
At the same moment.
Igor Volkov, the guild master of Reheln, read through the report with a lukewarm expression.
“So it failed?”
Before him stood the man who had submitted the report.
The very man who had commissioned Ruslan.
He answered with a voice thick with tension.
“I apologize…….”
“Tch, I laid out the whole feast, and you can’t even finish the job I handed you?”
He’d sunk a fortune into it, supporting them with Artifacts too.
“I should have prepared more carefully……. My judgment was lacking.”
“It’s done. What’s happened is happened. The real question is—there’s nothing that will lead back to us, right?”
“Actually……. It appears Ruslan mentioned our guild’s name.”
“Tch, damn fool. He revealed the client’s information? And to the target himself?”
“I never imagined he would resist Curse Magic.”
Ruslan’s Curse Magic had taken over ten minutes to activate.
A Curse that would forcibly stop his breathing if the contract failed.
But the activation had been delayed as he resisted it.
In the process, he’d carelessly spilled critical information.
“It doesn’t matter. Even if he mentioned Reheln, the Koreans won’t be able to use it as evidence.”
Just because that fool had mentioned Reheln didn’t mean the Korean operatives could turn it into proof.
They’d simply dismiss such drivel—a dying man’s last words—as slander.
“Yes. When Ruslan departed for South Korea, we exterminated his family entirely, erasing all traces. You needn’t worry.”
“What about the others?”
A considerable number had infiltrated South Korea.
To slip in undetected and deceive so many eyes, they’d needed local collaborators.
Since Reheln had been mentioned, they had no choice but to eliminate the man who’d done most of the work arranging the infiltration.
“I’ve activated the Curse. By now, he should be found as a cold corpse.”
“Well done. Proceed with preparations for the next operation.”
“Understood.”
The man took the report and left the guild leader’s office.
Alone now, Igor Volkov drew a cigarette from his pocket and placed it between his lips.
‘It’s a dangerous gamble, but now is the only time to eliminate him.’
Just recently, the Irregular had cleared the seventh floor at EX++ Rank.
He was becoming a monster with each passing day—elimination had to happen now.
‘Once that beast crosses over to the United States, the chance to catch him drops to zero.’
The United States—currently holding its own sovereignty alone.
If such a nation offered an astronomical sum and succeeded in recruitment, the gap would only widen catastrophically.
So the roots had to be pruned now, before they could spread.
‘He can’t stay in his homeland either. Alchemy must never rise to supremacy.’
Igor exhaled a plume of cigarette smoke and tapped away at the calculator with focus.
An Unprecedented Returnee Devours the Tower (Serialized)
Author │ Yeon I-yo
Publisher │ Kim Joo-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 401, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Ace Techno Tower 8th)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Yeon I-yo 2026
※This work has been published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder. No part of the contents may be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the company and author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————