The Heroine Stole My Regression

30 – Harmonization (1)

They seemed to decide on their descent as soon as they found nothing of note on the sacred peak.

It wasn’t my concern, so I started down first, only to find them hurrying to catch up behind me.

“… Is this alright?”

The issue, though, was that the team was following me, not Woo Jang-hoon.

Woo Jang-hoon trailed silently behind, detached and far back.

“Of course, it is~”

A female hero, presumably from support, edged close beside me.

I recognized her face, having seen her on TV a few times, it seemed.

A pretty face coupled with a lively air.

Her name…escaped me.

“We almost died back there, you know? Because of that person back there…”

She glanced back at Woo Jang-hoon with a furtive glare.

Her gaze openly held anger and dissatisfaction.

“But, are you perhaps a student? Gaon, maybe? Or Kalos?”

“Gaon.”

Her eyes sparkled at my answer.

“I’m from Gaon too! Can I drop the formalities?”

She grinned playfully as she continued.

“If you wish.”

“Thanks! But how did you climb so high? There are so many monsters, and even just two days ago, it wasn’t this…well, not this imposing…”

She regarded me with curious eyes, continuing her chatter.

Polite speech, it seemed, had been her restraint.

The descent was much smoother than expected.

Monsters were scarce.

Even when they did appear, they were all feeble creatures, posing no real threat.

We continued down, unhindered, until we reached the foot of the mountain.

A throng of people had already gathered there.

Broadcasting reporters, guild personnel, agents from the Hero Association.

They had all rushed here at once to investigate the strange phenomenon occurring at Mount Baekdu.

A chaotic scene.

Dozens of camera flashes erupted, reporters thrusting microphones forward in a frantic dance.

-Have you discovered any fragments?

-What are your thoughts on this incident?

A barrage of questions rained down.

All eyes were fixed on the Lotus Team.

And thanks to that, I could slip through the crowd almost unseen.

That was the plan all along, why I came down with them.

A lone figure, especially one appearing so young, would have drawn attention.

But with the Lotus Team, the focus would naturally gravitate towards them.

‘Thanks.’

Seizing the opportunity, I melted into the shadows and headed for the terminal.

Then, a familiar face caught my eye.

‘Kim Gil-kyu?’

He was an operative with the Association, the one who picked me up during the negotiations regarding Iano’s Tomb.

He saw me, his face blank for a moment, before he reached out a hand in haste.

“Jung Hae-in-ssi…!”

But at that instant.

The surging throng pushed against him.

He tried to grasp me, but his hand only sliced through empty air.

The distance between us widened in a heartbeat.

I vanished swiftly into the mass of people.

He had a good sense, as expected of someone from the Association.

I waved once, as he receded into the distance, a smile playing on my lips.

And silently, mouthing the words.

‘I’m going.’

Getting caught right now was not part of the agenda.

*

Arrived at Mount Baekdu on Saturday, popped back out on Monday.

Seemed like the timeline had been twisted something fierce.

Naturally, school was out of the question today.

Living the life of a most diligent student, I was.

Therefore, it wasn’t the school I was now headed toward.

“Crowded, as always.”

This was Yeouido. In reality, and in this world too, the place overflowed with people.

High-rise buildings crammed the streets, and hung from them, the signs of various guilds.

The difference, however, lay in the center.

A penthouse of a scale clearly on another level, a colossal estate, stood tall.

And I stood now before it.

Before the enormous gate, I reached out a hand to press the buzzer.

-Click!

But no need for that,

the massive iron gate vibrated low and opened on its own.

Seemed the internal detection system had identified me first.

Passing through the entrance, a widely spread garden came into view.

Well-manicured walking paths and a fountain,

and off to one side, even a small pond and a gazebo.

Beyond the building, it was a space so quiet and still, one could scarcely believe it was in the heart of the city.

A space that reflected his taste.

The main building was still further on.

A structure one could only reach by passing through the garden.

As I quietly went to move my feet, on one side of the yard

a silhouette comfortably reclined on a sunbed caught my eye.

‘Ugh.’

I quietly headed for the building, trying not to wake her if I could…

“Haein…?”

Yet, her senses were keen as ever.

I halted, a subtle expression on my face.

She lifted her sunglasses slightly, glanced at me, and then,

“Haein-ah!!”

She shouted, her voice brimming with welcome.

And then, she bolted upright from the sunbed, dashing straight towards me.

-Clutch-

Reflexively, I tried to dodge, but it was already too late.

Without hesitation, she seized my arm and embraced me fiercely.

“It’s been ages, since entering school~ Didn’t you go to class today?”

A familiar scent of perfume brushed my nose.

Her name was Sung Ara.

A member of Vanquisher.

I barely managed to extricate myself from her embrace, stating my business.

“Is anyone inside right now?”

Sung Ara patted my shoulder, smiling brightly, then lightly placed a finger on her lips.

“Hmm… Only Gae Gwangcheol… and me.”

The people I most needed were the Old Man and Park Gwangcheol.

‘So Mr. Gae Gwangcheol is here.’

“What about the Old Man?”

“He was just picked up by the Association in a car. I think it’s because of Baekdu Mountain today? He’ll be back soon, probably.”

It seemed better to wait.

“Thanks, I’ll head inside.”

“Let’s go together~”

Together, Sung Ara and I opened the entrance to the penthouse.

It was quite noisy inside.

“Ah… damn it… Hey Sung Ara, did you touch my drone again?”

An angry voice echoed from across the entryway.

Park Gwangcheol.

Emerging from the living room with a drone in his hand, he caught sight of me passing through the entrance.

Instantly, his movement froze.

His eyes widened.

And for a long moment, he just stared at me.

Normally, he would have already been laughing and playfully greeting me.

But he said nothing.

Strangely, so terribly quiet.

“You… who are you?”

His words followed, and I furrowed my brow.

“Didn’t you take your meds?”

Next to him, Sung Ara stared at Park Gwang-cheol, dumbfounded.

But he remained fixed on me, pressing hard on his temples, his face contorted.

After a moment’s contemplation, he finally spoke softly.

“… It’s Hae-in, alright.”

His gaze sharpened.

“Hey, you punk. What did you do?”

It seemed he’d noticed the change in my body.

So, I told them the truth.

Because if anyone, I could trust them.

“I think I absorbed that shard.”

Their eyes widened at my words.

“What…?”

The air solidified, chillingly.

*

I completed the physical examination through the machine Park Gwang-cheol built.

The conclusion: there were no issues with my body.

And to confirm anything beyond that, I stood in the center of the underground combat training ground.

Before me, the massive training dummy.

The dummy I’d personally set as the benchmark.

-Hae-in, you’re really going through with this?

Fundamentally, it possessed ‘Dark’ attribute mana within its core,

Making it difficult to inflict proper damage with typical attacks.

Later, if Sung Si-woo absorbed a shard and shattered this dummy, it would be taken as proof that he had fully assimilated the shard.

I decided to verify that standard with my own body.

-Difficulty level 7, Acid Reaper commencing.

Beyond the training ground, behind reinforced glass, Sung Ara and Park Gwang-cheol watched me.

Worry and tension simmered in their gazes.

The difficulty of the training dummy was set to 7.

A level requiring at least two active heroes of the 5th stratum to even stand a chance.

Considering that the average stratum of Gaon graduates hovered around 4, this was a formidable opponent.

I had deliberately set the difficulty higher than usual.

While I was stronger than Seong Si-woo,

more than anything, I wanted to confirm if the Fragment had truly been absorbed into my body.

-3, 2, 1

-Begin.

The grotesque silhouette twitched, then lurched into motion.

And—

-Kiee-ee-ek!

The dummy shrieked, charging towards me.

My vision expanded instantly.

Intuition, evolved into 『Unified Perception』.

Reading the battlefield with even greater precision.

Dodge.

My entire body reacted on its own.

Its attack was incredibly swift, an attack that would have landed squarely under normal circumstances.

-Swoosh!

I closed the distance immediately, swinging my spear.

But the dummy contorted, deflecting my attack.

In that instant, the very tip of my spear, which it couldn’t quite evade, grazed its body.

-Tzzzzzz

‘!’

The dummy’s dark-attribute core smoldered minutely.

This meant the spirit-extinguishing energy of the Fragment had permeated my body completely.

‘The confirmation is complete.’

And, I kicked off the ground immediately, launching myself into the air.

Full-power javelin throw.

It was my most confident technique.

The instant I braced myself to throw the spear—

“…?”

Abruptly,

an unidentified impulse surged within my mind.

Reflexively, I twisted my stance mid-air.

-Hey, what are you doing!

Park Gwang-cheol’s shout reached me.

But I was already surging forward, wringing out my mana.

‘This is….’

A technique I absolutely shouldn’t be able to use.

Catenaccio.

My body, right now, was attempting to manifest the original work’s most difficult spearmanship.

My heart pounded. The reason was unknown, but,

‘I can do it.’

Strangely, a conviction took root.

I unleashed mana from every pore.

And, using it as a foundation, wove clones molded in my image.

It was still imperfect.

Only three clones materialized in the air.

But this was enough.

No instruction, no command was needed.

What I intended to do, where to aim.

I already, knew.

Together with the created clones, I surged toward him with all my might.

One spear.

And three magical spears,

-Pabababak!

simultaneously pierced him.

– *Thump!*

The pile crashed down.

“Haa…haa….”

I caught my breath, slowly lifting my hand, staring down at my palm.

My heart, it still hammered like a madman.

‘The test…’

It was a success.