Regression Guidelines For the Supporting Character

The closer I got to Sector A-12, the more people disappeared. The air reeked of smoke and rot.
A sign appeared ahead, scrawled in red letters: DANGER ZONE. I hit the brakes and brought the bike to a stop in front of it.

Screeeech.
A flimsy sign hung over the entrance, swaying like it would fall off any second. Beyond the loosely tangled barbed wire, I could see part of the ruined city.
The stench was probably from monsters. The smoke… maybe there had been a fire recently.

Fires breaking out in danger zones weren’t unusual. Monsters and criminals lived tangled together here, so no one batted an eye over a bit of smoke.
I parked the bike in a corner and stepped into the zone on foot. If I brought it in, I’d draw too much attention from the criminals hiding everywhere—and the sound might attract monsters too.
My goal was to rescue Cha Sahyeon, who was supposedly held somewhere in the church. That meant I needed to move quietly and quickly. I gripped the sheath in one hand and kicked off the ground.

Running across collapsed and crumbling buildings, I made my way toward the center, where the church was located.
Between the thick trees, I could finally see the church’s spire, topped with a cross—its distinctive architecture unmistakable.
And then—

Ding!
“……!”
A system alert I’d heard many times before echoed in my head as a status window appeared in front of me.

《Main Quest has arrived!》
《Main Quest: Reunite with the Villain (Remaining Time: 6 hours 59 minutes)》
[Main Quest: Reunite with the Villain]
Reunite with the villain somewhere inside the church within the time limit.
I let out a dry laugh as if the quest had been waiting for this exact moment.

“I was wondering why it hadn’t stuck its nose in yet.”
No way the System would stay silent for something like this.
Not bad, though. At least now I could track how much time I had left. Only 7 hours.

Doesn’t matter. If I don’t get him out before morning, it’s a failure anyway—and I’ll be dead along with him.
What bugged me was the choice of words. Why reunite and not rescue?
Technically, “reunite” wasn’t wrong… but it rubbed me the wrong way. I frowned at the quest window, and at that moment, I sensed an unfamiliar energy nearby.
“Are you the Hunter known as Cover?”

A masked figure cloaked in a black robe stood like me atop a thick tree branch, concealed from view.
Just like Eun Woojeong had said—a member of Spiderweb, here to observe the church.
“Yeah. What’s the situation?”

I asked for a report naturally, and after a brief pause, the figure bowed and began.
“We’ve identified approximately 60 personnel inside. No reinforcements have entered from the outside.”
“Their ranks?”

“Five are A-rank, around a dozen are B-rank. The rest are estimated to be C- or D-rank, including unawakened individuals. That last part isn’t confirmed.”
“Five A-ranks? And over ten B-ranks?”
“That includes non-combatants. We’re unsure about the ratio of combat to non-combat personnel.”

While listening, I looked down at the church building on the other side. Through the iron bars, I saw Hunters posted around the perimeter. The church windows were all dark.
“Do you have intel on the interior layout?”
“Not in detail. But we confirmed it has three floors—one above ground and two underground.”

So the church itself was just a front.
Cha Sahyeon must be held underground.
The non-combatants were probably researchers. Since they had him, they must’ve resumed whatever experiments had been paused.

Grrrk. My hand tightened around the tree branch.
Just a little longer… I just need a little more time and I can save him. He has to hold on until then.
Suppressing the rising anxiety, I asked:

“Anything else I should know?”
“…A strange energy has been detected on the second basement level.”
Second basement?

“Also, there’s no discreet way in. The only visible entrance is that one in front—and as you can see, it’s guarded. If you plan to enter, you’ll have to deal with both the guards and the Hunters inside… alone.”
That much was obvious.
I wasn’t expecting to sneak in anyway. There had to be a reason the lab bastards dragged Cha Sahyeon all the way here.

What I was curious about was the part they just mentioned.
“What exactly do you mean by ‘a strange energy’?”
“I’m not sure.”

Until now, the operative had been answering thoroughly. But suddenly, they clammed up, pretending not to know. I didn’t like that.
“Even for an intel group, how ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) do you collect this much detailed data without even entering the building? How did you do it?”
“I’m not at liberty to say.”

“Oh, ‘cause I’m an outsider? Even though I’m the one who made the deal with your boss?”
The operative tensed more visibly than before.
“…I don’t have the authority. I can only speak on what our leader has approved.”

“Hm.”
The way their shoulders were locked and how they didn’t ease up even at my smallest movements—looked like they were worried I might attack out of spite.
Not that I had the time or intention to.

Still, I got it. The operative was probably a B-rank at best. Judging by their role, their skills likely focused on recon.
If I drew my sword here, there’d be nothing they could do but run.
I know exactly how that kind of weakness feels, too.

And honestly… I did feel a shred of guilt toward Eun Woojeong.
Might as well be decent to this one on my way out. Smiling, I reached over and lightly placed a hand on the operative’s shoulder.
“Thanks. Really.”

“Uh, excuse me?”
“Because of you, I got a lot of help.”
“Um…?”

“I’m heading out now. When you see your boss, tell him I said he did a good job. Oh, and there’s a bike parked by the entrance—take it.”
“……”
I gave their frozen shoulder a couple of friendly pats and jumped down from the tree.

My face was hidden by the hat and mask, so they wouldn’t have seen the smile—but my soft voice should’ve come through loud and clear.
That should be enough to let that operative return feeling at least slightly relieved.
Man, I’m way too considerate for my own good.

Shrugging, I drew the sword from its sheath.
Enough pointless thoughts. It was time to move.
Sword in one hand, sheath in the other, I kicked off the ground and leapt over the spiked iron fence in one go—charging straight toward the target.

“Wh-What the—! Guh!”
Boom!
One of the guards looked up too late, and his head was driven straight into the pavement.

Gurk…
Grinding his skull into the hard cement, I didn’t pause before slashing at the second target nearby.
“Gah!”

Too slow to react, the second one was skewered straight through the heart.
I looked down at the two guards who had collapsed side by side and flicked the blood from my blade. A puddle was already forming from the blood spilling out of their bodies.
No choice.

I hadn’t wanted to kill them, but I didn’t have the luxury of sparing anyone right now.
I needed to cut through everyone and get to the deepest part of the facility. Leaving anyone alive would only tighten the noose around my neck.
Second basement level…

That’s where the strange energy was detected.
That’s where I was headed.
***

The dark laboratory glowed red, illuminated only by the machines still running. The whole room looked like it was soaked in blood.
“Ugh, this is fucking boring. Hey, J.”
A voice full of irritation shattered the silence. A man leaning against the wall, staring blankly at the machine, turned toward the call.

“How long do we have to stay here? Did you hear anything?”
The speaker had gone outside yesterday with him. As he grumbled, J slowly shook his head. Muddled green eyes glinted beneath his tousled, tawny hair.
“Tch. Just as I thought.”

The man sighed heavily.
Then he kept complaining without pause.
It was all whining about how long they were going to be stuck in this boring place. But J had no way to fix that, so he just listened quietly.

About thirty minutes later—
Beep. The lab doors slid open, and the Director returned.
“How’s the status?”

Her sharp heels echoed as she strode in. Her commanding voice cut through the red air.
Brushing her jet-black bob behind her ear, the Director walked in, and one of the staff members rushed over.
This one had been stationed by the machine for over 12 hours, recording everything nonstop.

“Yes, Director. The subject’s condition is as follows—”
Handing over the documents, the staff member continued.
“Heart rate and breathing are both unstable. Stress levels have reached their limit.”

“Excellent. Still restricting oxygen intake?”
“Of course.”
As their conversation continued, J turned back to look at the glowing machine.

A massive, specially treated glass tank. Filled to the brim with red liquid.
And submerged inside it—was a boy, looking around the same age as J.
“This is how it should’ve been from the start.”

The Director smiled, her eyes glowing with satisfaction.
“We shouldn’t have wasted time with tiny doses and injections. Should’ve thrown him in all at once. He would’ve awakened already if we had. All we did was waste time dicking around.”
The red liquid in the glass tank was a highly toxic solution she had barely managed to develop after extensive research. Just touching it caused agonizing pain.

And now, the boy’s whole body was submerged in it. If it weren’t for the paralysis effect, he’d probably be begging to die.
On top of that, the oxygen mask covering his mouth controlled his breathing to the extreme.
Unrelenting pain across his entire body. A brief moment of air, right as his heart was about to burst.

He couldn’t move. He could barely breathe. The overwhelming stress was inescapable.
And all of this had been prepared for one person.
“Just a little…”

The Director murmured with ecstasy as she looked up at the red-lit tank.
“Just a little longer…”
He would awaken. He would become the god who would end this unfair world.

As if responding to her voice, the boy in the tank tilted his head slightly.
Black hair drifted through the liquid, and his tightly shut eyes slowly came into view.