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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: The Regressor
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‘Administrator, Administrator. Was that man the person you were talking about?’
[System Administrator: o(╥﹏╥)o]
‘No, you should have told me the moment we made eye contact…!’
Seora whipped her head around and dashed to the corner where Gong Haeyeon was. She didn't care if Song Hanna was looking at her with confusion from behind.
To think I'd run into that man here of all places.
The only consolation was that she had put her jacket and weapon into her inventory, and she had been wearing a gas mask back then. There was no way he could connect her to the person in front of the gate.
…I really hope so.
“What? What did you hear from the Association President? Who is that man, anyway?”
Unlike Seora, who wanted to keep as low a profile as possible, Haeyeon was brimming with curiosity. She kept peeking at the man who had arrived with the S-Ranks.
“Look at his face. Now that's a sight for sore eyes. But really, who is he? The way the S-Ranks are surrounding him, it looks like he's being escorted.”
At Haeyeon's mumble, Seora suddenly froze.
Right? Who is this man to be with the ever-so-precious S-Ranks?
Even the Administrator is concerned about him. Just who is he…?
‘Ah.’
The moment Seora, her curiosity finally getting the better of her, turned to look his way, her eyes met the man's. From a very close distance, with perfect clarity. Close enough to recognize everything about each other.
Both their faces hardened at the same time.
‘…What is this terrifying aura?’
The man was strong.
He was cloaked in such a deadly aura that she wondered how she hadn't noticed it when she first saw him in front of the gate. The magic power subtly radiating from him was overwhelming enough to momentarily stun Seora, who possessed SS-Rank mana sensitivity.
It hadn't been this intense even when she saw Song Hanna, who was protected by a top-tier Constellation.
‘Administrator. Who is that man, really?’
The moment Seora questioned the man, an information window popped up.
[The title ‘Contractor of the System Administrator’ is activated. You can check the information of the desired target.]
[Awakened Information]
Name: Kang Sejun (L-Rank)
Title: Wheel of the Eternal Cycle (EX), Omniscient Mage (L-Rank), Bearer of Hellfire (S-Rank), Indomitable Will (A-Rank), Humiliated Loser (A-Rank)
Class: Combat Mage — Fire Type
Contracted Constellation: Hourglass of Fate
Special Note: Regressor (5th Regression)
“…”
Seora doubted her eyes. How else could she believe the words before her?
‘What did I just see? A Regressor? A Regressor, you say?’
She could accept that he was an L-Rank. His aura was strong enough to make even her S-Rank skin tingle.
But a Regressor was a different story. And a fifth regression? Does that mean he's regressed five times?
No, I know the world has turned into a fantasy novel, but still. Time regression is possible…?
‘Administrator, Administrator. I think there's a system error. I'm seeing things. Don't you guys do system maintenance?’
Seora clung to her last shred of hope and questioned the Administrator.
[System Administrator: (;¬_¬)]
It looked away again. Seora had no choice but to accept that this was the truth.
‘This is crazy, for real. How can someone like that exist…’
However, Seora's shock didn't last long.
[System Administrator: ( ‘⌣’)/(´._.`)]
The Administrator was consoling her again. An ominous feeling once again enveloped her.
‘Wait a minute. Speaking of which, is that Veil of Protection working properly?’
I confirmed it works on S-Ranks, but does it work on L-Ranks… too?
Seora would soon find out the answer.
Because the fantasy protagonist Regressor was staring right at her with wide eyes.
‘Administratoooor! What am I supposed to do if you can't block the gaze of an L-Raaaank!’
I was planning to quit and play the 'hiding my true power' game, but I guess that's out the window.
No, isn't this the moment I need to be hiding my power more than ever?! If I get caught, I'm quitting that very day!
A series of sudden events caused Seora's mind to go into overdrive.
“You're really not an ordinary person, just as Section Chief Do said. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Song Hanna, the one leading the Association.”
At that moment, Song Hanna approached the man and extended her hand. The man, who had been staring this way as if his eyes would pop out, flinched and turned his gaze to her.
Seora really, truly, wanted to shower Song Hanna with kisses right now.
“A re-evaluation is definitely in order. Your rank… I have a pretty good idea.”
As the unofficial number one rank in the country, this was likely the first time Song Hanna had met someone stronger than her in Korea. A different kind of tension from before seemed to wrap around her body.
“I'll guide you to the evaluation room myself. Is that all right? Mr. Kang Sejun.”
But even in front of someone so powerful, Song Hanna remained confident.
Kugh, that kind of charisma isn't something just anyone can have.
“…Let's go.”
After a moment of silence, the man, Kang Sejun, glanced one more time in Seora's direction but followed Song Hanna obediently without another word. Seora breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Of course, I can't be completely at ease.’
He might ask Song Hanna about her somewhere else. Perhaps the secret she wanted to hide would be revealed through his lips.
Either way, it wasn't what she wanted, but it wasn't like she could just run out of here, grab the guy's hand, and make a break for it.
In the end, Seora slammed her head onto the desk.
And a short while later.
An astonishing system message appeared before the eyes of every Awakened in Korea.
[Congratulations! The first L-Rank Awakened has been born in Korea!]
Kang Sejun's rank, L-Rank, was announced along with his re-evaluation.
A true powerhouse, a rank above S-Rank, one of the very few in the entire world.
At last, the first L-Rank Awakened had been born in Korea.
Thanks to that, the office fell silent for a moment, but it was none of Seora's concern, as she already knew the truth.
She just hoped that fantasy novel protagonist would keep his mouth shut.
[System Administrator: ( ‘⌣’)/(´._.`)]
Of course, glaring at the infuriatingly annoying Administrator was a bonus.
‘Go away! I'm mad at you right now, so don't talk to me!’
[System Administrator: ʘ̥_ʘ!!!!!]
[System Administrator: ｡ﾟ･ (>⌓<) ･ﾟ｡]
She didn't care that the shocked Administrator was crying. If anything, she was the one who wanted to cry right now.
* * *
L-Rank Awakened.
Their existence, a level above S-Rank, was special enough to overturn the global balance of power.
There were only nine L-Ranks currently in existence, but the nations they belonged to had risen to become world superpowers, making the L-Ranks themselves a measure of strength.
Which meant that Korea, now welcoming its tenth L-Rank Awakened, had finally joined the ranks of those superpowers.
“The phones are ringing off the hook. I really want to just unplug them.”
“They keep asking who it is, but we need to know something to answer them. This is driving me crazy.”
Thanks to this, the Association was in chaos with calls coming from all directions. Newspaper companies, guilds, and even foreign corporations—who knows how the news leaked—were calling like crazy.
However, the Association President had taken the person in question away, so they couldn't give a proper answer.
“She could have at least left us some information. Ah, can't we just unplug the phones until then…?”
“Where's the Section Chief?”
“He's with the Association President. I think the S-Ranks who cleared the dungeon with him are there too.”
“Wow. Four S-Ranks, one A-Rank, and an L-Rank on top of that… Isn't the President's office going to get wrecked?”
At someone's amazed mumble, Seora sincerely wanted to correct them.
‘It's not four S-Ranks, it's five…’
It was probably better that they didn't know the truth.
“The community forums are going nuts too. This is no joke.”
Gong Haeyeon, who was browsing the forums next to her, clicked her tongue. Curious, Seora also quickly logged on.
[Title: Holy crap, an L-Rank appeared??? Is Hell Korea finally escaping hell?]
[Title: Where are you, L-Rank-nim? Please show us your glorious face just once.]
[Title: Why aren't those Association bastards answering the phone;;; I'm gonna die of curiosity.]
“It's really chaotic.”
Posts were flooding in in real-time. Seora clicked her tongue and scrolled down the forum, stopping when a particular phrase caught her eye.
[Title: (Graphic Image Warning) Was it the L-Rank Awakened who killed the Grade 2 dungeon boss?]
…Right. That did happen just before.
With the appearance of an Awakened who had even *regressed*, Seora had completely forgotten that she'd headshotted the boss monster.
[You guys know the boss monster that came out of the Grade 2 gate that opened today? It was a normal dungeon, but a breakout suddenly occurred.
I don't know what happened to the raid team that went in, but anyway, only the boss monster came out, so I thought we were screwed.
Then suddenly some kind of red space appeared and blew the monster's head right off;;; In one shot;;; I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me;;;;
But it looked like a skill, and it's one I've never seen before? None of our S-Ranks use a skill like that, so I was curious who did it.
But now that an L-Rank has appeared, I'm wondering if it was him. I saw the S-Ranks who showed up late taking some guy with them after the boss died. Maybe it was that guy?
FYI, I'm a cameraman, so I was there to cover the story, and this is a picture I took on-site of the boss monster with its head blown off. Posting it as proof in case you call it fake.]
[Comments]
?? What the? Is that the boss? Its head really got blown off? What kind of class makes that possible;;?
└Isn't the Association President capable of that? She loves crushing things with her psychokinesis.
└The problem is it wasn't the President. If she had shown up, the Tiger fandom wouldn't have stayed quiet x
└Speaking of which, the Tiger fandom was always running their mouths about their Tiger-nim being number 1. What are they gonna do now that she's been pushed down? Congrats on the fall lol
└Shouldn't L-Ranks be in a separate category? You have to look at the world rankings for them.
Ugh, seriously, graphic image warning;;;; I have a weak stomach, I just threw up;;;
└|OP|: Ah sorry, I added it to the title
That's insane. Our L-Rank really did that? How many L-Ranks can take down a Grade 2 boss in one hit? Almost none, right?
└Kyah, the patriotism is overflowing. Bartender! Another round of national pride over here!
└Is everything patriotism to you;;
└This is worth being patriotic about. One-shotting a Grade 2 boss really makes him one of the best in the world;;
└It's not even confirmed that the L-Rank did it, so don't get ahead of yourselves.
└|OP|: Right, it's not confirmed. I didn't see it clearly either, so it's just a guess. The Association will probably make an official announcement soon.
‘So this is what they're talking about.’
It was a good thing the L-Rank Awakened appeared. Otherwise, the forums would have been buzzing endlessly about the magical beast with the blown-off head. It was a relief they were mistaking him for the one who did it, but…
‘How long will this misunderstanding last?’
Kang Sejun was a combat mage, a fire-type at that.
His ability, which had exploded the Harpoon Snake's head, was completely different in nature. Any Awakened would surely notice the discrepancy right away.
‘Looks like I really can't live while hiding my power as a civil servant. I should quit as soon as this situation is sorted out.’
Seora began to discreetly write her resignation letter, ready to hand it to Song Hanna the moment she saw her.
* * *
“Congratulations on becoming Korea's first L-Rank Awakened.”
Song Hanna extended her hand to Kang Sejun. Sejun stared for a moment at her hand, which was covered in scars despite her captivating appearance, before silently shaking it.
“Thanks to you, Korea can finally join the ranks of the world powers. Which means love calls from overseas will be flooding in for you. So I'll ask you, Mr. Kang Sejun.”
“If I have any intention of going abroad?”
“If you do, tell me now. As the Association President, it's my duty to persuade you to never leave the country.”
