The Regressed SSS-Rank Supporter Who Turned Dark - Chapter 75

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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 75
Gu Tae-il had suffered from appearance inferiority since middle school.
Even during his years as a washed-up internet streamer in adulthood, and even after receiving Ether’s blessing to become a Hunter, Gu Tae-il’s disposition never changed.
Perhaps because of this, Gu Tae-il was perpetually obsessed with money, power, and muscle.
Without such obsessions, he couldn’t bear to exist with himself.
For someone like Gu Tae-il, his current vitality-drained appearance was precisely the past version of himself he had despised so thoroughly.
Withered, twisted skin.
A diminished, skeletal frame.
Muscles shriveled like a deflated balloon.
“Ah….”
Gu Tae-il collapsed.
It was the despair of one who had witnessed everything built across a lifetime crumble to dust.
“How… how did I end up here… guzzling soy sauce in front of cameras… crawling like a dog and barking… doing every degrading thing imaginable… only to arrive here… sob… sob….”
Gu Tae-il wept aloud.
“Ugh.”
I wrinkled my brow with undisguised revulsion.
My handsome face laid bare every trace of contempt and irritation.
“So all that effort just to live like that—is that what you call ability….”
“What do you know.”
Gu Tae-il glared at me with bloodshot eyes.
“I know plenty.”
A cold sneer played at my lips.
“A pathetic wretch dependent on others’ gazes for your entire existence. Yet you trample on others to fill your own ego—a disgusting maggot.”
“Shut up, you bastard….”
“A worm that can’t even metamorphose.”
“…!”
“That’s what you are. Something meant to be….”
My words tore Gu Tae-il’s rotten soul to shreds.
“Defective.”
A consistent assessment.
“….”
Gu Tae-il remained silent for a moment, then crawled toward me.
“What is it.”
I asked, bracing myself for a possible ambush.
“A grenade, give me a grenade if you have one….”
“A grenade?”
“A bomb would be even better….”
“What nonsense is this.”
“I don’t want to die like this… I’d rather be blown to pieces….”
“….”
“Burn me if you want… tear me apart… please….”
Gu Tae-il clung to my pant leg, pleading even as he slowly died.
Just how much did he despise his own existence? It was beyond what ordinary people could even fathom.
And my response to his desperate plea was….
“Why would I?”
“Please… I’m begging you like this….”
“Let go.”
I kicked Gu Tae-il away.
“Just die as you are. It suits you perfectly.”
“Suits me…?”
“Absolutely.”
“….”
“There’s probably some crime museum somewhere. Your current state would be perfect for taxidermy and display.”
“You… you cruel… bas—— gasp, haaack!”
Gu Tae-il drew in a sharp breath, then simply ‘stopped’.
As if time itself had frozen.
His head snapped to the side.
The leader of a criminal organization that once dominated an entire city remained in the form he had spent his entire life denying and despising.
Forever.
* * *
Surprisingly, Gu Tae-il hadn’t possessed much.
[You have obtained Claw of Malice.]
[You have obtained Life Essence Vial.]
[You have obtained Ether Essence Vial.]
“Nothing worth using.”
I was disappointed.
For someone who claimed to be the leader of the Nine-Tail Crew dominating Bucheon, I’d at least expected some fun in looting.
But aside from the bare essentials, not a single useful rune or item dropped.
“Tribute payments, perhaps.”
That might very well be it.
After all, the Nine-Tail Crew was just one of the subordinate organizations under the Incheon Alliance.
It was entirely possible that anything remotely valuable—items or runes—had been handed over as tribute.
Though I doubted a human trash heap like Gu Tae-il would have been particularly diligent about it.
“K-kill me! Please kill me! Argh! Aaaaagh! Aaaaaaaagh! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh―!”
From a distance, I heard Jung Mu-jin’s screams as he was being punished.
‘Seems like he’s quite busy.’
I decided not to interfere.
It wasn’t that I disliked witnessing cruel and gruesome sights.
I’d grown so accustomed to carnage that it stirred no emotion in me whatsoever.
‘Though I’m uncertain how effective it will be.’
Eun-sung was the one who had killed his comrades for his mother’s vengeance, caring nothing for the continuation of humanity itself.
I knew all too well what it meant to live as a vengeful spirit.
I understood perfectly what emotions surged through one upon finally achieving that vengeance.
I also knew that even with vengeance accomplished, the dead would not return.
‘Wait, or did they?’
Eun-sung’s expression went blank for a moment.
After achieving vengeance, I had traveled back through time, reuniting not only with Mother but with Father as well.
‘I’m the exception….’
Eun-sung scratched his head.
‘Ugh.’
From witnessing so much bloodshed, a faint dizziness washed over me.
I needed fresh air.
Eun-sung moved toward the entrance of the Underground Parking Lot.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
Defense Strategy Department Hunters and special forces operatives blocked his path.
“Get down!”
“Hands on your head! Get down!”
Dozens of gun barrels and aura blades trained on Eun-sung.
“Hold fire! Hold fire! Friendly! He’s friendly!”
Lim Captain rushed forward.
“Hunter Cha Eun-sung, are you injured anywhere?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Thank goodness.”
Lim Captain’s face was rigid, far more tense than usual.
It was likely because he understood all too well how grave the series of events Eun-sung had set in motion over the past day truly were.
“Kill me! Just kill me! Please! I’m begging you! Ahhhhhhhhh!”
Jung Mu-jin’s anguished screams echoed from a distance.
“Alpha! Bravo! Immediately….”
Lim Captain was about to issue an urgent command when—
Eun-sung gently placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.
“But….”
“I think it’s best to leave him be.”
“….”
“He needs time to vent.”
His voice carried an inexplicable weight that could not be defied.
“….”
Lim Captain fell silent.
For a soldier, turning a blind eye to vigilante justice was something that should never happen.
Yet given how dire the situation had become, was stepping in to stop it truly the right choice….
“All units, stand by.”
“Stand by.”
At Lim Captain’s command, those preparing to enter the Underground Parking Lot lowered their weapons.
“Aaaaaaahhhhh―!”
“Just kill me! Kill me already―!”
“Please, pleeeease―!”
Jung Mu-jin’s anguished screams echoed from afar, cutting off and resuming in an endless cycle.
How much time had passed?
The screams ceased.
Shortly after, Choi Yu-ra emerged from the Underground Parking Lot entrance, drenched in blood.
Soldiers and Hunters parted left and right, clearing a path for her.
“….”
Choi Yu-ra said nothing.
Yet her expression and gaze were remarkably composed.
She even appeared relieved.
“Cha Eun-sung.”
Walking in silence, Choi Yu-ra passed by Eun-sung’s side and spoke.
Eun-sung leaned quietly against the wall at an angle.
“…Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Eun-sung replied curtly.
“I repay my debts.”
“Debts…?”
“You saved me. The day we first met.”
“Ah.”
“I can’t live with unpaid debts.”
Eun-sung smiled brightly.
I had never forgotten it for a moment.
Before the regression.
That hand that had pulled me from the brink when I collapsed after losing Father.
* * *
A bench in front of the hotel, now a complete disaster.
Eun-sung and his group sat in a row, drinking milk.
Eun-sung had banana, Choi Yu-ra had strawberry, Doo-hyun had chocolate, and Oh Tae-kwon had coffee.
“Can’t you send me home? Mother must be very worried.”
Eun-sung muttered while exchanging messages with his family.
Though I wanted to return home immediately, I had to remain at the Battlefield until the Defense Strategy Department granted permission.
In truth, going home wasn’t the real issue.
With an incident of this magnitude, I could have been detained for months of investigation, subjected to years of trial, and potentially rotted in prison for life.
But that was merely the reality of the era before the Rifts emerged.
South Korea’s laws were notoriously flawed, but since the Rifts, they had become surprisingly flexible.
Various immunity privileges and plea deals were actively being arranged, so Eun-sung and his group didn’t have much to worry about.
They simply wanted to return home quickly and rest thoroughly.
– Young master.
Lumos’s voice whispered into Eun-sung’s ear.
‘Yes, sir.’
– This old man examined that building in detail.
Eun-sung’s ears perked up.
It seemed Lumos, the card spirit of the [Search] card, had discovered something.
– There appears to be a hidden chamber, young master.
‘A hidden chamber?’
– Yes, young master. There’s a space somewhere between the top floor and the one directly below it. I believe you’ll need to enter the building and find the entrance for more details.
‘Hmm.’
Eun-sung pondered.
“A hidden space, huh.”
“Pardon?”
Doo-hyun blinked, as if asking what that meant.
“What did you just say, brother?”
“Nothing, never mind.”
Eun-sung played it off and continued thinking.
‘I’m curious. Should I come back later? No. If the Defense Strategy Department finds it first, what good would that do?’
Though he desperately wanted to enter the hotel immediately and investigate, the watchful gazes around him were becoming uncomfortably intense.
Lim Captain and the Hunters from the Defense Strategy Department had surrounded Eun-sung’s group, forming a protective perimeter.
Of course, there was likely a protective purpose as well.
‘Should I give up?’
Just as Eun-sung was reluctantly clicking his tongue in disappointment.
– Would you like some help?
Helkiyan, the card spirit of the [Helkiyan] card, whispered.
‘You go instead?’
– No matter what, wouldn’t it be better for you to go see it yourself?
‘That’s true.’
– It will consume a significant amount of ether, but it doesn’t seem impossible.
‘Alright, good.’
Eun-sung accepted Helkiyan’s proposal.
‘How should I do it?’
– Please wait until an opportunity presents itself.
‘Understood.’
About five minutes passed.
Just as a group of special forces soldiers passed in front of Eun-sung’s group.
In a smooth motion, Eun-sung’s appearance transformed into that of a special forces soldier.
– Now, master.
Helkiyan, wearing Eun-sung’s appearance, settled onto the bench.
Stealthily.
Eun-sung, his head slightly bowed, slipped naturally between the passing special forces operatives.
At that very moment, Lim Captain’s gaze, which had briefly turned, drifted toward the bench.
What caught Lim Captain’s eye was Eun-sung, his expression worn with exhaustion, drinking banana milk.
In reality, it was Helkiyan, the spirit of the Helkiyan card.

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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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