The Regressed EX-Class Martial God Decided to Become a Thousand-Star Hunter - Chapter 26

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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 26
26.
The orcs, their wits scattered for a moment, cried out.
“Shrieeek—! That… that bastard…!”
“A-attack him…!”
“A-attack! Shrieeek—!”
Yet for all their words, not a single one of them could manage a proper step forward.
The orcs—a race of valiant warriors.
Even they had been, if only for a moment, overwhelmed by the martial prowess Ju Do-gyeom displayed.
But it was only a brief respite.
Roooarrr—!
Gripping the throttle once more, Ju Do-gyeom hefted the Great Halberd onto his shoulder and spoke in a low, deliberate murmur.
“What, have you grown cowardly? This hardly befits an orc.”
That taunt—small as it was, yet somehow resonating across the entire space—scraped raw against the orcs’ wounded pride.
“Shrieeek—!”
“Kill him—! Shrieeek!”
“Somehow, I’ll end you with these hands… shrieeek!”
Ju Do-gyeom laughed inwardly.
‘Come at me.’
The battle ahead would be grueling, but the gains would be worth it.
Strength surged through his muscles, his senses amplified to a fever pitch, a sensation bordering on transcendence.
The first wall in all martial arts—what they called the 6-Star threshold.
And beyond it, something glimmered in his awareness.
The exhilaration of true combat, met for the first time in an age, ignited his entire being.
Whoooosh—!
The motorcycle surged forward, and Ju Do-gyeom’s Great Halberd swept back into the fray—when it happened.
Boom—!
High above, somewhere within the Fortress’s interior, a blue flame burst forth into the sky.
A Signal Flare.
The ritual was complete. Kim Han-yul had fired the all-clear signal.
‘Faster than I expected.’
Satisfaction flooded through him.
Yet there was a pang of disappointment.
He’d been so close to crossing that threshold.
‘Well… there’s no rush.’
Having come this far, he would reach beyond it soon enough.
He was a Returner, after all.
Ju Do-gyeom poured strength into his left arm and wrenched the motorcycle’s handlebars, turning away from the orcs.
Screeeeech—!
The motorcycle shrieked and forced itself into a violent drift, reversing direction.
Then—
Whoooosh—!
It rocketed forward again, exhaust roaring.
The orcs, eyes wild with fury, gave chase.
* * *
Having retrieved Kim Han-yul, Ju Do-gyeom broke free of the Fortress.
“Get it back,” he commanded.
With that final word, he wrapped one arm around Kim Han-yul’s waist and leapt forward.
Startled, Kim Han-yul nonetheless obeyed, reaching out to recover the motorcycle rolling across the ground.
The machine, wreathed in blue light, returned to her through her mana.
With Kim Han-yul secured in his arm, Ju Do-gyeom dove into a gap between the trees and undergrowth beyond the Fortress walls, crossing the distance in a single bound.
『Skill: Ten-Thousand-Mile Chasing Wind Divine Method (3-Star) has advanced.』
“Shrieeek…!”
“F-faster…!”
The orcs pursued Ju Do-gyeom beyond the fortress walls, but could only watch his receding form in frustration.
None of them rode a Dire Wolf.
Perhaps a handful of the elite guard in the inner citadel possessed them?
With such thoughts, Ju Do-gyeom drove deeper into the forest.
At some point, he ceased using the Lightness Skill.
Before them lay a vast expanse of woodland, and within it—invisible to the eye—he sensed a Barrier of Qi.
It wasn’t only Ju Do-gyeom who sensed it.
“Is this the end of the Dungeon?”
Kim Han-yul, who had felt the vivid magical resonance, spoke in astonishment.
Ju Do-gyeom nodded.
“The Orcs won’t chase us this far.”
“They’re not as persistent as Goblins, right?”
“You know your monsters well.”
Ju Do-gyeom answered briefly, tilting his head toward the sky—then laughed softly.
‘Losing my sight has its inconveniences, I’ll admit.’
So he asked.
“What color is the sky right now?”
“Ah… that is, well. Still blue.”
“Did the Offering go as planned?”
“Yeah, I made sure of it. Just like you said—I poured that deadly poison from the water dispenser in front of the goddess statue, and it vanished instantly. Magic, I figure?”
Magic isn’t entirely wrong.
They call it divine magic, after all.
Ju Do-gyeom was nodding when—
“But the statue was broken in half. That’s still okay, right?”
Ju Do-gyeom tilted his head.
“The statue was damaged?”
“…Did you not know?”
This was a detail Dang Ho hadn’t mentioned to him.
‘A variable?’
It could happen.
Ju Do-gyeom spoke matter-of-factly.
“As long as the Offering was performed correctly, there’s no problem.”
“What? That’s got me really worried.”
Her words said one thing, but her voice carried no tremor, no particular emotion.
Ju Do-gyeom found himself laughing as he spoke.
“You’ve adapted faster than I expected, Kim Han-yul.”
“…No, well. I’m still worried sick about it, you know? Do you realize that if you do something strange on this team, I’m the only one who can stop you?”
“You’re the only teammate I have.”
“Exactly~”
“You’re doing well.”
“Huh?”
Kim Han-yul was taken aback by his answer.
She’d expected to be ignored as usual, not praised.
It felt strange.
Without meaning to, she twisted her body—her toes tapping against the ground.
“Right, I… well, it’s good you know. Honestly, it’s hard to say anything to someone who seems to know and do everything…”
“I’m not a god, Kim Han-yul. So far I’ve managed because luck has favored me, but…”
It was just before he finished speaking.
Rumble—!
Thunder cracked suddenly across the sky.
Ju Do-gyeom looked up at the heavens.
Kim Han-yul spoke.
“It went dark all at once. Rain’s coming soon—what do we…”
Kim Han-yul fell silent mid-question.
She’d just realized that the clearing where they stood was a rare expanse of open ground within the forest.
Ju Do-gyeom nodded.
“Deploy the Bunker.”
“Got it. Our leader really does have everything planned out, doesn’t he? I was counting on it.”
“…”
Ju Do-gyeom smiled faintly and nodded.
Kim Han-yul quickly summoned the Bunker with her Materialization Skill and spoke.
“So now we just go inside and—”
Her words trailed off.
Her eyes widened.
“That… Leader. There’s only one room and one bed?”
“…?”
“……?”
“Is something wrong?”
“…….”
Ju Do-gyeom’s eyes remained steady and unshaken.
Watching him, Kim Han-yul twisted her trembling lips and spoke.
“No……thing…….”
“Good.”
Without hesitation, Ju Do-gyeom stepped into the Bunker.
Kim Han-yul watched his retreating figure and let out a deep sigh.
“Really not the kindest team leader.”
And so both of them entered the Bunker.
Not long after the door closed,
a cool, heavy downpour began to fall.
* * *
Whoooosh—!
Waking at the sound of water, Ju Do-gyeom looked around.
His body lay on a soft, spacious bed.
It puzzled him.
He was certain he’d been on the floor before falling asleep.
Since he wasn’t the type to feel uncomfortable in such conditions anyway, he’d simply collapsed where he was.
As his confusion deepened,
Bang!
A door opened and closed, and Kim Han-yul’s voice reached his ears.
“You’re up?”
As he sat up, he saw Kim Han-yul emerging from the shower room inside the Bunker, her hair still damp.
She patted her hair with a towel—apparently part of the provisions she’d brought along—and continued speaking.
“I set up the Mark Two outside like you said. This rain really doesn’t affect machinery, I guess? No special debuffs or damage alerts.”
Ju Do-gyeom nodded.
“Even so, prolonged exposure can cause corrosion damage, so it’s best to collect it when the rain lets up. Besides, the Orcs won’t be moving in weather like this anyway.”
“Roger that!”
“But I’m sure I remember falling asleep on the floor…….”
“I moved you. Well, honestly, it’s a Bunker I built, but you asked me to prepare it. Sure, a member can sleep on the floor, but it doesn’t look right for the leader to be lying around like that, you know?”
“I didn’t mind at all.”
“It bothered me. I was bothered by it.”
Kim Han-yul continued complaining as she dried her hair.
As she reached out her hand, threads of light gathered, and another Materialization Skill activated.
At first glance it resembled a gun, but its function was entirely different.
It was a Hair Dryer.
“……Did you really need to materialize that?”
“If you asked me to bring it all the way to the Bunker, who knows what might happen?”
Fair enough.
She seemed quite thorough in her preparations.
From the shower facilities installed in the Bunker to the towels, blankets, and essentials crammed inside.
In fact, Kim Han-yul had quite a knack for being prepared.
And so, while drying her hair, she suddenly found herself wondering.
She couldn’t help but question it.
‘……But why didn’t I think to set up two beds?’
There were two people.
And they were male and female, no less.
‘……Am I stupid?’
Well, it happened sometimes.
Forgetting something obvious that should have been obvious.
Kim Han-yul decided not to make a fuss about it.
By the time she finished drying her hair and turned off the Hair Dryer,
Ju Do-gyeom asked again.
“Did I seem sick while I was asleep?”
“…….”
A flinch.
Kim Han-yul shook her head, her body tensing.
“How would I know? You seemed to be mumbling something in your sleep, though.”
“It’s a side effect of the Divine Water Internal Power Technique. Using the Explosive Power Technique puts strain on the body—it’s unavoidable.”
“…….”
Kim Han-yul fell silent, watching Ju Do-gyeom.
He was rising from the bed with the same composed expression he always wore.
His vision hadn’t returned yet—his dark eyes still clouded by a hazy mist.
Yet deep within them, light flickered unmistakably. Kim Han-yul was about to speak when he beat her to it.
“Thank you, Kim Han-yul. I rested well because of you.”
Ju Do-gyeom spoke first, then moved to lean against the wall in one corner of the floor.
Whoooosh—!
Outside, the downpour continued unabated.
* * *
‘When will this rain stop?’
It felt like a full day had already passed.
Through the thin crack that served as a window in the Bunker,
Kim Han-yul retrieved her summoned monster, the Mark Two, and made her way to the refrigerator.
Among the provisions she’d packed, something caught her eye immediately.
She hesitated, glanced sideways at Ju Do-gyeom, then reached for it.
The cool, tingling temperature of the aluminum can against her palm.
A beer.
Kim Han-yul held it up and asked,
“Team Lead, would you like—”
“I’m fine. We don’t know when the rain will stop.”
“……Team Lead, your eyes really aren’t working, are they?”
“I can tell by smell.”
As if that made sense.
‘……Though I’m the one without a sense of smell right now.’
Kim Han-yul quietly slipped the beer back into the refrigerator.
She decided she couldn’t drink it while he was watching her like that.
Instead, she grabbed two cans of soda and went to sit beside Ju Do-gyeom, offering him one.
He shook his head again.
“This isn’t beer.”
“I know. I simply prefer not to drink it.”
“It tastes good, though.”
“…….”
A brief silence fell.
Now Kim Han-yul understood.
When Ju Do-gyeom was like this, he simply didn’t answer.
Such a bleak, joyless man.
‘Though he does joke occasionally…….’
Thinking this, she opened her mouth again.
“If you’re going to use a dangerous skill like the Explosive Power Technique, I wish you’d warn me beforehand.”
“That’s impossible. Tactical decisions in combat shift by the moment—there’s no way around it.”
“……I know, I suppose.”
“I wasn’t considerate regarding the bed and room. I’ll be more careful.”
“No, that’s—I didn’t think about it either.”
Kim Han-yul scratched her cheek.
She spoke again.
“Then at least tell me after combat ends. I didn’t become a team member just to watch you push yourself alone.”
Of course, her past self had been the same way.
Because she was the team lead, she’d made many concessions, thinking she ought to show consideration to her teammates.
She’d taken it as natural.
She believed responsibility came with position.
But now, seeing it firsthand—
‘——watching him lying there alone, fever burning through him, groaning in pain——’
She’d suddenly grasped just how heavy a burden he carried.
It struck her all the more because he was a man who rarely showed emotion.
How much must it hurt for him to make such sounds?
So she’d said nothing, even though she’d witnessed it.
She sensed he’d dislike it intensely if she mentioned it.
And even now, though she’d phrased her words this way, she suspected he would refuse.
But.
“All right.”
He nodded more readily than she’d expected.
Kim Han-yul, her expression startled, had no choice but to press further.
“I thought you’d refuse?”
“Under normal circumstances, I would have.”
“Under normal circumstances?”
“I was scolded once before for bringing up something similar.”
Scolded?
This man?
She couldn’t believe it—her eyes went wide.
Ju Do-gyeom let out a soft laugh.
“He was always talkative, that one. Come to think of it, Kim Han-yul, you’re the same way.”
The feeling came to her then.
A woman.
Kim Han-yul finished her soda in one long gulp and spoke.
“Mm… I see. That’s a relief.”
She rose from her seat with calm composure, crushed the empty can with all her strength, and tossed it into the recycling bin tucked in the corner of the Bunker.
Clang!
The sound rang out quite loudly.
Kim Han-yul, returning to the bed as if the noise meant nothing, spoke with a smile.
“I’m going to get some rest. Let me know if anything comes up.”
“Understood.”
Ju Do-gyeom answered flatly.
Kim Han-yul fixed him with a quiet stare before pulling the blanket over her head.
‘Like he’d know.’
The rain continued to fall without pause.
* * *
It wasn’t just a day.
Several days had passed.
The rain was still coming down.
Kim Han-yul couldn’t help but ask.
“Will it… actually stop?”
Ju Do-gyeom said nothing.
Dang Ho had said it would stop.
He’d been clear about it.
Seventy-two hours at most, he’d said.
Yet no matter how he calculated, more time than that had already passed, and the rain showed no sign of letting up.
In Ju Do-gyeom’s mind.
The words Kim Han-yul had spoken—”half-broken goddess statue”—surfaced unbidden.

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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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