The Heroine Stole My Regression

27 – The Fragment (3)

It was a night of snow so heavy, a person could be buried alive. Kang Arin, heedless, sprinted through the furious blizzard.

In the city, where all the lights were extinguished, just one—the top floor of its tallest building blazed brilliantly.

“Faster… faster…”

Though her breath came in ragged gasps, Kang Arin didn’t even wait for the elevator, taking the stairs in a ferocious climb. Her steps grew more frantic with each passing moment.

– Slam!

Bursting through the door, there he was, the one she adored.

Jeong Haein.

He was meticulously cleaning the blade of a spear, as usual, maintaining his weapons.

As if nothing were amiss, calm as he ever was.

Kang Arin called his name, her voice trembling with tears.

“Haein…”

Jeong Haein, upon seeing Kang Arin enter, offered her that uniquely radiant smile of his.

And as he smiled, Kang Arin’s heart constricted further.

Jeong Haein glanced quietly at his watch before speaking.

“I’m sorry.”

He placed the spear down and rose from his seat.

“I woke you up, didn’t I.”

He slowly approached Kang Arin.

Tears welled in her eyes. Breathing heavily, she asked in a desperate voice.

“You said you’d go alone…”

Jeong Haein offered a bitter smile, nodding.

“Yes. I have to be the one to go.”

“Me too… I want to go too. Please, let me come with you.”

He approached Kang Arin slowly, placing his hands on her shoulders as he spoke.

“You know I can’t.”

The war board behind him was filled with names, packed tightly together.

Yu Hana, Cheon Yeoul, and Kang Arin. The three names were together, but Seong Siwoo’s name was nowhere to be found.

Meanwhile, Jung Haein was alone, dropped into the heart of Africa. On a front line buckling under the enemy’s advance, he was destined to be the final defense.

“You all have to kill the devil. You, with the power of the Fragment, must go.”

Jung Haein’s smile didn’t waver, but it held a certain desolation. Kang Arin shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

Damn Fragment.

That was the root of the problem. She wanted to tear the thing embedded in her body right out.

Or that other Fragment, the one that belonged to that b*stard who’d vanished.

“Then what about you, Haein? What happens to you…?”

Jung Haein cut her off.

“As long as I hold out, won’t you all do a good job?”

His voice was consistently calm.

Kang Arin rushed to speak.

“We can find the Fragment quickly. Right now, Yeonggwang is combing the earth like they’re picking lice…”

“…The Fragment, there are only four.”

His voice was resolute this time.

“How… How can you be so sure…”

Jung Haein slowly smiled, looking at her. His gaze was unwavering.

“When have I ever been wrong?”

Kang Arin burst into uncontrollable sobs. She grabbed onto him, weeping.

“Everything will be alright.”

That’s what he said.

And that split-second decision would become a regret that dominated her entire life.

Kang Arin suddenly bolted upright.

Gasping for breath, she looked around. Her heart pounded wildly, and beads of cold sweat dotted her forehead.

‘Again…’

It was the same nightmare, always.

She cupped her face in her hands, battling to steady her trembling breath.

– *Swish*

A subtle sound brushed past her ear. Instinctively, she turned her head.

And there, sat the man she loved more than life itself.

He was by the crackling fire, meticulously cleaning his spear.

“Haein…”

Quietly, she whispered his name.

Jung Haein looked up, his gaze meeting hers. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes, quickly replaced by an expression of remorse.

*He shouldn’t look like that.*

“Forgive me.”

He set the spear aside and rose to his feet.

“I must have woken you. Was I too loud?”

In her dream, he was marching towards a cold, inevitable death.

But here, now, he was alive, breathing, radiating warmth from the flickering firelight.

Kang Arin clenched her jaw, making a vow within the depths of her heart.

Never, she would never repeat the same mistake.

*

“It’s true, they’re significantly weaker compared to modern times.”

I said to her, stretching in front of the mountain lodge.

“Even so, we can’t afford to let our guard down…”

But she didn’t seem to be paying much attention.

Squatted down, chin resting on her hand, she simply watched me stretch.

“…What are you doing?”

I asked her.

She stood up, answering with nonchalant ease.

“Just admiring the view. Shall we go?”

And then, she pulled fingerless gloves from her pocket, slipping them on.

“…Let’s.”

‘Stretching is for those soft fools who live without tension.’

The old man’s words echoed endlessly within me.

For a student of her caliber, this time was, frankly, unnecessary.

No intentions of venturing near the Celestial Lake today.

A gradual approach was the plan, utmost.

Minutes of weaving through the trees later, a vast open space materialized before me.

A tranquil expanse blanketed in pristine white.

I closed my eyes, sensing the current.

Slowly drawing the spear from my hip, I uttered a brief command.

“Prepare for combat.”

“Mm,”

Kang Arin responded tersely, positioning herself close behind me.

The moment the spear cleared my side, the snowfield stirred.

The covering snow billowed upwards, gradually revealing a pair of azure eyes.

As if two sapphires, embedded in the snow, glared intently at me.

A colossal form emerged.

A massive creature cloaked in snowy fur, a snow leopard.

-Krrr…

Judging by the fur’s color, not a subspecies. Strong, but manageable.

Besides, Kang Arin is behind me.

‘First strike advantage.’

The snow leopard is inherently swift and aggressive.

However, its defensive capabilities are comparatively weak.

Therefore, what needs to be done immediately is—

“Kang Arin, can you manage a curtain?”

-Swish!

Before I could even finish, mana coalesced at her fingertips, unfurling a blackout curtain.

Perfect darkness, allowing sight outwards but concealing us from view.

I marveled at its refinement.

But there was no time for admiration.

Dealing with the creature before me took precedence.

The snow leopard seemed bewildered by the sudden appearance of the black barrier.

For a fleeting moment, then a subtle shift. A lowering of its stance in minuscule increments, the creature coiled tight, poised to erupt in response to any threat.

I raised my spear, contorting my body to its very limit.

Every muscle bowed like a drawn bowstring, gathering all possible tension.

And then, releasing that stored energy, I hurled the spear and launched myself skyward.

A maneuver, of sorts, born of _Gungshintanyeong_—bowed body, springing shadow.

-Thwack!

The spear tore through the darkness and vanished.

The snow leopard, as if anticipating, evaded the projectile with startling speed, leaping upward.

Its reaction was nearly instinctive.

But, where it leapt, I already waited.

“Here.”

My body, launched into the air, perfectly aligned with the leopard’s trajectory.

From my fingertips, a whirlwind of ash-grey mana coalesced, sparking a torrent of *ganggi*.

“Comin’ at ya!”

The *ganggi* technique, unleased at last.

That ash-grey mana, condensed into a fist, descended upon the snow leopard’s head.

-Boom!

A deafening impact echoed, and the leopard slammed headfirst into the snow.

The surrounding snow erupted in a shockwave, revealing the frozen earth beneath.

But, a creature like this would not be felled so easily.

It was already struggling to rise, preparing to retaliate.

I shouted from mid-air.

“Kang Arin!”

My cry sliced through the air, and Kang Arin hurtled across the snowfield towards the snow leopard.

The snow leopard was barely managing to regain its footing.

In that instant, before it could react, Kang Arin’s palm connected with the space between its eyes.

-Tick.

Silence descended.

A flawlessly executed palm strike. Touching the creature’s forehead.

No grand explosion of mana, no threatening roar.

At first glance, it seemed like a mere touch of the palm.

But I was falling through the void, watching it all unfold.

‘Impressive…’

-Grrrrrrr-crunch!

The snow leopard’s body vibrated, the sound of bones shattering from within echoing across the clearing.

A chillingly gruesome sound.

‘Dark Burst.’

I watched her attack.

The technique she used forcefully injected mana, ripping apart and destroying the enemy from the inside.

Seeing the snow leopard’s eyes grow dim, I was certain of its death.

I landed lightly on the ground, approaching her.

She looked down at the snow leopard’s corpse, casually brushing the snow from her hand.

“Not bad, huh?”

At my voice, she turned her head to look at me.

Her face held a peculiar smile.

“I’m in first place, after all.”

She answered nonchalantly.

*

The path to the Heavens was being paved faster than expected.

My condition after consuming the mystic elixirs was better than anticipated, and Kang Arin’s assistance was flawless.

Honestly, she was docile today.

I always thought she would seize the initiative and order me around, but this side of her was unexpected.

A satisfying battle always puts me in a good mood.

We captured and devoured a wild boar in the wilderness.

We didn’t forget to smoke some of the meat, preparing for a week’s worth of rations.

As we returned to the mountain cabin in the evening, rain began to pour down madly outside the window.

A completely different sight from the morning, when the snow had piled up high.

The weather here was definitely abnormal.

Then, a flash of light filled my vision.

-KRAKoooM!

“Well, now.”

Even lightning begins to crackle.

The roars of thunder and lightning showed no sign of stopping.

I turned to prepare myself for sleep.

But there, Kang Arin was, trembling, her hands clamped over her ears.

‘Ah, damn it.’

Her appearance stirred a tempest within my mind.

Kang Arin carried a trauma.

On a day much like this, consumed by thunder and lightning, her mother was brutally murdered by a Ma’in.

A common trope, perhaps, but this memory was etched into her soul with a singular depth.

Thus, she fears the rumble of thunder. And here, with no earplugs, no nothing, it’s even worse.

Later, she will tear that Ma’in apart with her own hands, conquering her trauma.

But, now, we’re only in the story’s opening act.

The fact that I was the one who created that setting surfaced in my mind, stirring a strange sense of guilt.

‘She won’t be able to sleep…’

Tomorrow, we must ascend to even greater heights.

If she can’t rest properly, it will severely hinder our exploration.

I approached her cautiously.

“Are you alright?”

She looked up.

Her eyes rimmed with red, her gaze wavering.

She was trying desperately to appear fine, but her demeanor seemed all the more precarious.

A heavy weight of obligation settled within me.

In that instant, she quietly opened her lips.

“Could… could we sleep together?”

Her voice was endlessly low, and trembling.

“Huh?”

“Just… for a little while. Just be beside me.”

She lowered her head, speaking again in a hushed tone.

My mind went blank for a moment.

Before Kang Yu-seong was tainted by the Demon, he would soothe his little sister in just this way.

Even though she was a grown woman now, no base desires stirred.

Her appearance was just… precarious.

“… Alright.”

In the end, I quietly lay down beside her.

As if waiting, she burrowed into my embrace.

-Inhale… exhale…

She buried her face against my chest, inhaling deeply.

That warmth, that close proximity… I couldn’t help but tense.

-KRaaaCK!!

Thunder and lightning crashed again.

But she remained engrossed in breathing me in.

Sensing something amiss, I asked cautiously.

“… You okay?”

Her body flinched, startled for a moment.

Then, almost immediately, she burrowed deeper into my arms, trembling.

And then, again.

-Exhale…

*Tch.*

Seemed like getting a peaceful night’s sleep was out of the question.