The Regressed SSS-Rank Supporter Who Turned Dark - Chapter 46

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

#Episode 46
The Special Armed Forces Training Institute I had returned to was eerily silent.
Both people and monsters seemed to have drained away like a receding tide.
Yet with each step I took, corpses caught beneath my feet.
Grotesquely mangled bodies and monster remains were scattered everywhere….
‘That startled me.’
I locked eyes with a corpse whose skull had been crushed, brain matter oozing out.
Of course, it didn’t bother me.
I’d grown accustomed to witnessing such horrors.
In truth, carnage of this scale was nothing compared to a true catastrophe, so it stirred little emotion in me.
Merely startled—I’d still eat well and sleep soundly.
A corpse?
Just meat.
No need to assign meaning to it.
When alive, they have names, stories, and interact with others through laughter and tears—but death ends it all.
Thud.
I nudged a corpse aside with my toe and continued walking.
This is what happens when you work as a Hunter.
Witnessing, hearing, and feeling so much death gradually numbs you.
But our cute little fledglings couldn’t manage that.
“Ugh.”
“I, I don’t feel well.”
My teammates writhed in distress, their faces a sickly pallor.
Yes, that’s how it goes.
For a while they won’t eat, tormented by nightmares and unable to sleep.
But eventually they’ll overcome it and grow accustomed….
It’s quite rare for Hunters to develop psychological issues or break down over something like this.
I don’t know why.
But what’s certain is that Hunters possess superior stress resilience compared to ordinary people, not just physical ability.
I suspect Hunters were born to oppose those mysterious invaders who attacked Earth.
Though I can’t claim Hunters dedicate themselves purely to humanity.
“Doesn’t this bother you at all?” Ra Si-hyun asked me.
Ra Si-hyun asked me.
“What do you mean.”
“It’s horrifying.”
“Not particularly.”
“Even with all these corpses lying around?”
“It’s just meat—why should I care.”
“I, I see…?”
“It’s the same as a dead bird on the roadside or a deer hit by a car.”
“….”
Ra Si-hyun pressed her lips firmly together.
She seemed tired of my answers, but that wasn’t my concern.
She’d come to think the same way soon enough.
“This way.”
Continuing to walk through open terrain was too dangerous, so I headed toward the nearest building in sight.
‘Not bad.’
It happened to be the Instructors’ Dormitory, so I could reasonably expect to find weapons and some provisions inside.
Beep!
The door was locked, but Kim Sang-eung had an access card in his possession, allowing us to enter easily.
The interior was silent as a tomb, with no signs of monster intrusion.
I claimed a room on the second floor.
“Draw the curtains. Kill all the lights. Leave just that one lamp on.”
“Yes.”
Whoosh!
Click!
Light discipline was essential in a dimensional rift zone.
Monsters could be drawn toward the glow.
“Kim Seung-hye.”
“Yeah.”
“Take Oh Tae-kwon and find some weapons and provisions. I’ll stay here and watch over the instructor.”
“Got it.”
After giving orders to Oh Tae-kwon and Kim Seung-hye, I turned to Park Seok-ho.
“Come here and roll up your sleeve.”
“Yes, sir.”
I drew blood from Park Seok-ho and transfused it into Kim Sang-eung.
“And you….”
I was grateful we had two O-type blood donors, and I turned to look at Ra Si-hyun.
“Yes?”
“Never mind.”
I’d been about to order her to watch the window for anyone approaching, but Ra Si-hyun was already peering outside through the curtains.
‘Let me catch my breath and think for a moment.’
I leaned my back against the wall.
After hours of continuous movement, alternating between combat and travel, my stamina was depleted and fatigue weighed heavily on me.
Hunters are still human, after all.
We need to eat, drink, and rest to keep moving.
Though once you surpass 7-Star rank, you transcend human limitations and become something superhuman.
* * *
As I’d anticipated, the Instructors’ Dormitory contained plenty of useful supplies.
We secured several rifles and ammunition, along with various provisions and bottled water stored in the refrigerator.
“Just eat enough to maintain your blood sugar. Ration the water too.”
Consuming large amounts of food in a situation like this was never wise.
Many hunters made this mistake, believing blindly in healers’ restoration abilities—a dangerous gamble.
No matter how exceptional a healer’s abilities were, they couldn’t completely replace surgical intervention.
Consider being wounded and requiring emergency surgery.
If your stomach was full of food… you could easily die on the operating table.
There was a reason surgeons required fasting beforehand.
“So what do we do now?”
Ra Si-hyun asked me between bites of her sandwich.
“We hold out here. When the tidal window opens, we escape.”
“We’re not waiting for reinforcements?”
“That’s just asking to die sitting down.”
“But the Defense Strategy Department—”
“They’re doing their best, I’m sure.”
“Then why—”
“You’ve seen it yourself. This isn’t a situation where reinforcements can arrive.”
“Right.”
“When a dimensional rift occurs, rescue operations often become impossible. Don’t wait for someone to save you. Remember this: self-preservation and escape are always the priority, no matter the circumstances.”
“I’ll remember.”
Ra Si-hyun and the other Bravo Team members nodded in agreement.
“I’m going to rest my eyes for thirty minutes. You all do the same.”
I managed to close my eyes for exactly thirty minutes, catching what little sleep I could.
The team members huddled by the windows, keeping watch outside.
‘…Like a meerkat colony.’
These rookies stood guard with such tension, as if monsters might appear at any moment.
“Heh.”
I let out an involuntary chuckle.
“You’re awake. Would you like some water?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Noticing me stir, Ra Si-hyun brought me a bottle of water.
“How can you sleep in a situation like this? Oh, I’m not being sarcastic at all, so please don’t misunderstand—”
“I’m not.”
“Good then.”
“To answer your question… what else am I supposed to do?”
“Huh…?”
“A person needs to eat, drink, and rest to fight. We’re not machines.”
“That’s true.”
“Staying tense and keeping your eyes wide open won’t stop monsters from coming. If they come, they come. If we die, we die.”
“I don’t think I could be like that.”
“Don’t be so sure. You’ll manage it when the time comes.”
I stirred awake, moving my body this way and that before leaving the room.
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll take a look around, so just rest here.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“This place isn’t exactly safe either.”
I headed to the Building Lobby and surveyed the outside.
Given the hour, the darkness persisted, and the thick Fog Maze obscured everything from view.
‘I should try to find Jung Ho-bin. But do I have the capacity for it?’
Judging coldly, abandoning Jung Ho-bin was the rational choice.
I had no idea where he’d been swept away to, and I couldn’t rule out the possibility he was dead.
‘I’m sorry, but I have no choice but to give up… wait.’
A sudden thought struck me, and I touched my waist.
The Helkiyan card and the Search card came into my hands.
‘If I use these well, I might be able to find survivors.’
It was worth a try.
The Aether consumption was a burden, but I’d secured several bottles of Etherium Ampoules from the dormitory, so it seemed manageable.
“You called for me, Master? Hehehehe.”
“We greet you, Young Master.”
My spirits.
Helkiyan from the Helkiyan card and Lumos from the Search card appeared and greeted me.
“Can you find survivors and bring them back here?”
“Of course. So you’ve finally decided to make use of us? Kekeke!”
Lumos’s white eyebrows twitched.
Helkiyan’s response lacked courtesy, and I could see the irritation in my expression, but given the circumstances, I held my tongue.
“Could you go with him?”
“Of course, Young Master.”
Lumos glanced at Helkiyan before answering.
“If you judge it to be dangerous…”
“My. Is the Master concerned for our very lives? Hehehehe.”
Helkiyan smiled wickedly as he spoke.
“Set aside such worries. Even should we meet such a fate, we shall not remain away from your side for long.”
“That’s reassuring then. Ah, wait a moment.”
On impulse, I summoned the spirit from the Luck card and cast a blessing upon both Helkiyan and Lumos.
If their fortune improved, the probability of finding survivors would increase as well.
“We shall return, Young Master.”
“Do not worry and rest easy.”
Helkiyan and Lumos departed the building and vanished into the fog.
‘I’ve done what I can.’
I turned back without hesitation.
With my spirits dispatched, there was no need for me to venture outside and invite danger upon myself.
Now I had no choice but to leave it to the survivors’ luck and the Patrollers’ abilities.
* * *
After sending out the Patrollers.
Kim Sang-eung remained unconscious, but color was returning to his face, so it didn’t seem like there was any serious problem.
‘About two and a half hours left. I should move out thirty minutes before the deadline.’
I was roughly sketching out an escape plan in my mind when—
“Hyung-nim, the fog is clearing up?”
“What?”
At Oh Tae-kwon’s words, I peered out the window through the curtains.
The fog that had been so thick I couldn’t see even an inch ahead was slowly dissipating.
After continuing to observe, it hadn’t completely cleared, but had thinned to about half its density.
“Is it calming down?”
“We’ll have to wait and see.”
I was answering Kim Seung-hye’s murmur when—
“Help me! Help me!”
A young girl’s voice rang out.
“Huh? There!”
Kim Seung-hye pointed out the window through the curtains.
The distance was roughly fifty meters.
A young girl who looked to be about four or five years old was wandering outside.
“Oh no! What do we do!”
Startled, Kim Seung-hye was about to rush out when—
I grabbed her wrist.
I seized her wrist.
“Let go.”
“What…?”
“Just leave her.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Exactly what I said.”
I tightened my grip on her wrist.
If she bolted out, things would get complicated.
“You’re telling me to leave a little girl alone in that dangerous place?”
Kim Seung-hye’s voice grew harsh.
“Help me! Is anyone there? I’m so scared! Help me! Please!”
The girl’s desperate cries drifted faintly to us.
“Let go.”
“I can’t let go.”
“Then…”
Kim Seung-hye was trying to wrench her wrist free from my grip when—
“Huh? There.”
Park Seok-ho pointed toward the window.
A Trainee-Dressed Man burst from the building across the way, sprinting toward the Young Girl.

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