The Regressed SSS-Rank Supporter Who Turned Dark - Chapter 45

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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 45
For a moment, I doubted my own ears.
Leave the store? That was just another way of saying let him die.
“What are you saying, Uncle?”
“Let’s rest. I’m exhausted.”
Kim Sang-eung answered in a hoarse voice.
It wasn’t from the aftereffects of Giseolchung’s attachment, but rather from a weariness that seemed to penetrate his very soul.
“You’re still young and vibrant, sir. You’re in your prime. My own father is still active in the field, you know.”
“Well… sigh.”
Kim Sang-eung exhaled a long plume of smoke that he’d drawn deep into his lungs.
The acrid smoke dispersed into the mist around us.
“You know what?”
“What?”
“Awakening doesn’t make everything better.”
“…?”
“I thought becoming a Hunter would improve my life. Earn more money, receive better treatment.”
“Ha.”
“Just joking. Sigh. When I first awakened and became a Hunter, I thought I could crush and devour all the monsters myself. I believed I could eliminate every last one and end this endless war. Sigh!”
“Ah.”
I too had harbored such thoughts before returning to the past…
“But after a few years passed and I looked back, all I’d done since awakening was kill people.”
“…”
“I killed so many. I never bothered to count, but it’s easily over five hundred. Sigh. It started about three years ago. Doubt crept in. I couldn’t tell anymore if I was a Hunter fighting for humanity or a butcher of men. I felt like a slaughterman.”
I understood what he meant.
Before becoming an instructor at the Special Armed Forces Training Institute, Kim Sang-eung had served as a special operative under the Defense Strategy Department, and during that time, he’d assassinated countless Hunters.
“I wondered what I was doing. So I quit. I didn’t want to kill anymore. I hated my own ability—the fact that I had to consume blood to grow stronger.”
“That’s understandable.”
“At first, I tried to focus on hunting monsters, but as you’ve seen, my ability has no real connection to monster hunting.”
“I understand what you mean.”
“So I decided to just teach greenhorns at the Special Armed Forces Training Institute and live quietly, but who could have predicted something like this would happen. With my own hands… sigh.”
“…”
Now I understood.
Why Kim Sang-eung had sought to end his life.
The image of corpses—Marine Corps Special Search Unit members and Hunters—strewn across the ground flashed through my mind.
It seemed our Bravo Team wasn’t the only ones who’d witnessed that horrific scene.
“You remember, don’t you?”
“Every single day…”
Those infected by Giseolchung retain perfect memory of what they’ve done.
After all, Giseolchung’s function is merely to incite the host’s murderous impulses.
“I lost consciousness briefly when swept away by the tidal wave. I think that’s when it happened.”
“That’s not Uncle’s fault, is it?”
“Regardless, it was something I did with my own hands. How could I face my comrades….”
Grrk!
Kim Sang-eung clenched his teeth.
Yet no matter how strong a man might be, he cannot completely suppress his emotions.
“Ugh, uhhhhh!”
“….”
I could only watch silently as Kim Sang-eung wept.
There were no words that could comfort him now.
* * *
About ten minutes passed.
“Get up.”
“….”
“I understand it’s hard, but you can’t stay like this. You’re a Navy Special Forces operative.”
I deliberately mentioned the Navy Special Forces UDT/SEAL to remind him of Kim Sang-eung’s fighting spirit and the unit’s motto—never surrender under any circumstances.
“What are you talking about UDT for? You haven’t even enlisted yet.”
Kim Sang-eung glared at me.
“Stop wallowing in guilt. If you throw away your life over something you did while infected with Giseolchung, isn’t that just pathetic?”
“You brat…!”
“Stop complaining and get up. What are you doing in the middle of a war?”
I said that, but I understood why Kim Sang-eung had reached his psychological breaking point.
Years of killing people had accumulated immense mental stress, and this incident had finally caused it to burst forth.
Most people would have gone mad long ago, but the fact that he felt such guilt was actually proof that Kim Sang-eung’s mental fortitude was far greater than imaginable.
“Come on, when I say three, you get up. One, two….”
“Enough. I’d rather die than accept help from a snot-nosed kid like you. Ughhhh.”
Kim Sang-eung gritted his teeth and tried to push himself up, but it was futile.
Stagger!
“Ughhhh!”
“I told you not to push yourself.”
“Let go!”
But stubbornness alone wouldn’t change anything.
“Why are you just standing there? Help support the instructor.”
“Yes, sir!”
Oh Tae-kwon, the largest among us, quickly stepped forward and supported Kim Sang-eung.
“Ughhhh.”
Yet Kim Sang-eung could barely maintain consciousness before he collapsed.
Even though Undina’s healing had perfectly restored his severed arms and the knee joints that had been split in half….
“His life force was depleted far too severely, Master. All the red vital energy flowing through his body has been drained….”
“I see.”
It seemed she was referring to massive blood loss, so I searched for a vitality ampoule, but unfortunately it was shattered.
“Does anyone have a vitality ampoule?”
The Bravo Team members shook their heads.
Kim Sang-eung’s plate carrier didn’t contain any vitality ampoules either.
At least Oh Tae-kwon’s backpack held an emergency medical kit and a roll-up stretcher made from synthetic plastic—a small mercy.
I first checked the blood type patch attached to Kim Sang-eung’s combat uniform.
Type O.
‘Same blood type as me.’
I retrieved a blood collection needle and transfusion pack from the emergency kit.
In a pinch, I drew my blood into the transfusion pack and administered it to Kim Sang-eung.
“Anyone type O?”
“That’s me.”
Park Seok-ho pointed to the blood type patch affixed beside his shoulder.
“You’re next after me.”
“Yes, sir.”
Park Seok-ho nodded.
“You know how to perform transfusions, sir?”
Ra Si-hyun asked me.
“You just watched me do it—why ask?”
“Did you graduate from medical school?”
“No.”
“Then nursing?”
“Political Science and Diplomacy.”
“And you still know how to perform transfusions?”
“Why not?”
“Well, it’s just….”
The rookie seemed genuinely astonished by how deftly I executed the transfusion.
Tactical Combat Casualty Care.
TCCC for short.
It’s a subject taught even at the Special Armed Forces Training Institute.
Of course, most people who excel at it are Supporters.
“Where did you learn it?”
“Family education.”
“Excuse me?!”
“My household is pretty rigorous.”
“….”
I’d meant it as a joke to lighten the mood, but seeing everyone’s faces grow pale, it clearly fell flat.
…Why is my sense of humor so terrible?
‘Now I just need to find Ho-bin.’
The real problem was navigating through the fog teeming with monsters while carrying a patient on a stretcher—an undertaking that felt impossibly burdensome.
But I couldn’t just sit here and wait for reinforcements either.
Being ambushed by multiple monsters in such an exposed area was hardly a pleasant prospect.
Yet with such pathetic forces, I couldn’t very well attempt to breach the Gate that had caused this catastrophe.
‘Better to fall back to the Special Operations Bureau and hold out inside the building.’
It seemed like a reasonable choice.
The Special Armed Forces Training Institute was constructed with thick concrete and bulletproof glass.
Moreover, it would surely have abundant supplies—rations, ammunition, various ampoules—as well as vehicles like cars and motorcycles.
“We’re heading back to the Special Operations Bureau. Everyone follow me.”
Before I’d even finished speaking, Ra Si-hyun opened her mouth.
“Keep a thorough watch on your surroundings, maintain spacing so we don’t lose each other, and keep checking positions. If you need to fire, let me know beforehand.”
“….”
Why did she keep stealing my lines like this?
It was somewhat exasperating, but I didn’t bother objecting.
As long as she didn’t cross the line, how she acted wasn’t my concern.
* * *
Minister An, watching the situation unfold at the Defense Strategy Department, grew increasingly anxious as no reports came in.
Three hours had already passed since the Special Task Force was deployed, yet Jebu Island remained silent.
The one silver lining was that the civilians who had boarded the Chinook helicopter just before the Fog Maze descended had returned safely.
“Minister, the Fog Maze is expanding its territory.”
Lim Captain urgently reported to Minister An.
“At this rate, the Fog Maze may even encroach upon the mainland.”
“…How vicious.”
Minister An bit his lower lip firmly.
While he didn’t know what entity was creating the Fog Maze, if it continued expanding its territory at this rate, South Korea would find itself in an untenable position.
Yet attempting to breach the Gate was impossible, since this crisis had originated from a dimensional rift in the middle of the sea, not on land.
With unknown monsters potentially swarming that vast ocean, dispatching a Raid Party recklessly was out of the question.
No matter how powerful a Hunter might be, the moment they fell into the sea, they’d be torn to shreds by aquatic monsters.
So to attempt a Gate breach, at minimum the Fog Maze would need to dissipate, or alternatively, a tactical nuclear strike would be necessary to sweep away the monsters first.
Only then could Hunters safely approach and attempt to breach the Gate.
“Perhaps we should wait until the next tidal shift, sir.”
“The next tidal shift would be… two hours from now.”
“Yes, Minister.”
Lim Captain pointed to the map.
“When the tide opens, we could deploy ground forces through Jebu Road and escort those evacuating, couldn’t we?”
Jebu Road.
The path connecting Jebu Island to the mainland that emerges when the tide recedes.
Since it was a straight concrete road, one could reasonably expect the Fog Maze’s spatial distortion to be weaker there than in other areas.
“It seems that’s our only option at this point.”
“Realistically speaking, yes.”
“What of the Hunters in Seoul?”
“Quiet. They’re all absorbed in discussions about Supernova on HunterLink.”
“That’s a relief.”
Minister An’s expression softened as though a weight had lifted from his shoulders.
We were living in an era of unprecedented chaos.
Any nation still maintaining its system had to remain vigilant against Hunter uprisings and coups every single day of the year.
It had become commonplace for governments to crumble and regimes to collapse at the hands of a handful of powerful Hunters.
The world had long since ceased to be one where mere civilian law enforcement could sustain a nation.
“The moment Jebu Road opens, we need to be fully prepared to deploy Hunters alongside ground forces. And….”
Minister An continued.
“Even if ground forces are deployed, the top priority remains Cha Eun-sung’s rescue. Crisis management comes after. Do you understand?”
“I will keep it in mind.”
Lim Captain answered with firm resolve.
“Two hours from now. The next tidal window may be our first and last chance.”
Minister An muttered this to himself before attempting to place a cigarette between his lips, only to wear a look of dismay.
His cigarette pack was empty.
Ever since the crisis had begun, he’d chain-smoked whenever he had a spare moment, and now an entire pack had vanished without a trace.

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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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