The Heroine Stole My Regression

52 – Eve (5)

I opened my eyes. I was suffocating.

-Thump, thump.

My lungs constricted, the sound of my heart pounding in my ears.

My fingertips trembled. It felt like I had been holding out in deep water for an eternity, and barely managed to break the surface.

“Ah…”

The sound that escaped my throat was rough and cracked.

I was, alive.

Still, fragmented scenes lingered in my mind. Was it a dream, or reality?

I couldn’t tell the difference now.

But what I could say for sure was that I failed, or would fail.

I looked around. As I exhaled, the air settled heavily. Damp, clammy energy seeped into my skin.

Even the air that was sucked deep into my lungs felt heavy.

The walls were made of roughly hewn rock. Not just a naturally formed cave, but a shape that seemed to have been carved by something.

Scratched traces scattered here and there, fractured rocks laid out in uneven disarray.

Slowly, I lifted my gaze.

There was no sky.

Only a high ceiling remained.

A cavern shaped like a stone dome covered the space above.

And, lowering my head once more.

The colossal form that existed before my eyes.

It felt as though my breath had been stolen.

A body towering like a mountain of rock.

A vast silhouette, threatening to swallow the cavern whole.

Though still, an overwhelming presence emanated.

I knew who it was. I simply hadn’t anticipated meeting it so soon.

Giant scales gleaming crimson and black.

Even a sense of transcendence seemed to emanate.

Slowly.

It opened its eyes.

Red light rose within the darkness.

The Civilization Ender.

Aldebaran.

The primeval dragon stared down at me.

Again, I scanned my surroundings.

There were no weapons.

Even if there were, nothing would change.

Those crimson eyes swept over me.

I, too, sat still and waited.

“Was it… tolerable?”

A deep, weighty voice reverberated through the cavern.

Before losing consciousness, it had been a hallucinatory voice forcing itself into my mind, but now, it was clear.

The being dominating this space was speaking to me directly.

“I was dying, actually.”

I did not expect to face this so soon.

The original plan was to merely coax out the essence of Catastrophe.

The confrontation with him should have occurred after that, after preparations were complete.

But he seemed to react to the fragment’s mana more violently than anticipated.

Aldebaran bestows trials upon those who awaken him.

And I got the brunt of it.

I opened my mouth.

“What is this, exactly?”

It was genuine.

I was truly curious.

Aldebaran is a being that transcends the very flow of time.

Thus, his trials manifest in various ways. The most agonizing moment, or the most sorrowful.

He crafts scenarios where multiple emotions reach their zenith, forcing one to experience them firsthand.

Past, or future. And only those who endure can pass the trial.

And the fact that I arrived in this space meant…

[『Mind Like Still Water』 resists the ancient dragon’s trial!]

…that I had, to some extent, passed.

For the record, I almost bit the dust. Well, I did die a lot.

Regardless, it was an agony I never want to experience again.

But that’s not what I’m curious about.

I didn’t remember all the details of the trial, but one thing was certain: I had failed.

However, my state within the trial was different from my current self in many ways.

I hadn’t taken Iano’s elixir, I didn’t have the Vitality Bracelet, and most importantly, I didn’t have the fragment.

Furthermore, I was technically unskilled in several aspects.

And among all that, the most shocking thing I saw was…

…that three Apostles had arrived at the Vanquisher’s mission location.

Whether it was a future yet to unfold, or a fabrication the ancient dragon had pieced together from the information in my head, I couldn’t say.

But one thing was certain. If there really were three Apostles, the plans we’d laid so far would have to be completely revised.

Vanquisher and my strength alone would be woefully insufficient.

“Is this… futuresight?”

The gargantuan presence merely looked down at me, without a word.

“Or is this… just some jest?”

A crucial question.

But Aldebaran smiled, slowly.

-Even I do not know. Not even I can foresee.

I frowned.

-But does it truly matter?

-Ultimately, you desire to avoid that despair, wouldn’t you agree?

I inhaled sharply. He spoke the truth.

Even as a mere possibility, I had to prevent it.

I smiled, a bitter twist of my lips.

“So, then… might you lend me a bit of your strength?”

The primordial dragon slowly roused its form. A grinding of sharp scales against one another.

The rasping of bones shifting, awkwardly.

As its immense frame fully stretched, the cavern seemed to darken further still.

If the first trial tested my mental fortitude…

The second trial was a proving ground.

-That, is another matter entirely.

The ancient dragon rose to its feet.

The colossal form filled the cave to bursting.

Its crimson eyes bore into me.

I slowly stood.

-Clang!

A spear, flung from some unseen place, embedded itself in the floor.

Obsidian-black, a keenly honed blade.

Catastrophe.

Without hesitation, I lifted the spear. And surveyed my surroundings.

Likely, a place I would frequent in the days to come.

“Go easy on me, now.”

I charged forward, with all my might.

*

The hospital, operated by Glory, boasted top-tier facilities. And this, the highest level VIP suite, resided on its uppermost floor.

The room itself was thick with a heavy, taut atmosphere.

A man lay upon the bed.

Eyes closed, lost in a profound slumber.

And three women looked down upon him.

Their expressions, as they gazed, were each distinct, but ultimately mirrored the same inner concern for the man lying still.

-BANG!

The door burst open roughly.

Black hair, crimson eyes.

Wearing a neat, proper suit, someone plunged into the sickroom.

Kang Arin.

She hurried inside, immediately questioning the other women.

“That the one?”

Her finger pointed toward a window fashioned from obsidian, positioned on one side of the room.

Yoo Hana quietly nodded.

Then.

-CRASH!

-CRASH!

Without hesitation, Kang Arin’s fist slammed into the window.

But even with the fierce impact, the window didn’t budge.

Cheon Yeoul, with an indifferent expression, drew the blackout curtains across the room. An action conscious of preventing sound from escaping outside. And, a bonus, a shield to protect Jung Haein from that barbaric attack.

Kang Arin took a step back. And tightly bit her lip.

“You coming out?”

She spoke to the window.

To anyone observing, it would seem like madness, but surprisingly, the window responded to her words.

-Impatient, aren’t we.

Black smoke rose from the window.

Though unable to coalesce into a form, a voice flowed from within it.

Kang Arin stared intently at the smoke, questioning.

“What in heaven’s name is he doing?”

He’d been unconscious for five hours already.

The other women, though silent, were thinking much the same.

-It is a trial.

“Ah…”

A sigh escaped from somewhere within the room.

What worried them most were things of that nature.

To dismiss it as simply a trial… his life had been anything but pleasant. Plucking anything at random and setting it down would be enough to call it a horrific ordeal.

And none knew this better than they.

“When will it end?”

-Well, it appears he has just died for the 4,500th time.

A heartbeat.

The air inside the sickroom turned to ice.

Their eyes widened, all simultaneously turning to look at the shadowy figure and its spear.

And in those gazes–murder simmered.

Four thousand five hundred.

That number…it surpassed even the cruellest future they had foreseen.

“No…it can’t be…”

Hasion choked, hand flying to her mouth in disbelief.

Cheon Yeoul shot to her feet.

An explosive surge of blue energy erupted around her.

“Get him out. Now.”

Her voice was low, but the fury contained within blazed like a wildfire.

-That is quite impossible.

-Since this one intends to wield my power, I must respond in kind.

The voice was deep and resonant, like an echo from a cavern.

“Do you crave death?”

Cheon Yeoul’s gaze turned frigid. She felt a sense of urgency wash over her. She needed to awaken him, now.

All four women in that room shared the same thought. This was not a trial a human could possibly endure.

-It will conclude soon.

-And still, you don’t understand why this one must endure this maddening ordeal?

Black smoke emanating from the window twisted, sending out ripples.

-It’s the world’s suppression.

-The reaction, the backlash, from the flow you warped and distorted to your liking, this one bears it once more.

In that instant, the expressions of the four women in the room froze simultaneously.

-Of course, enduring it directly would be a hundred times worse… so, the implication is to wait… Oho.

Suddenly, the black smoke writhed strangely.

At the same moment, *crackle!*

With a sound like a sharp line being drawn through the air, the smoke seeped back into the window.

“…!”

She belatedly reached out, but it was already too late.

That instant. On the bed. A subtle movement was detected.

Jung Hae-in’s fingertips twitched.

Just a slight tremor, but the eyes of the four in the room snapped toward it.

And then, the man on the bed, abruptly sat up.

“Woah, damn, this b*stard’s strong, eh?”

It was a genuine, heartfelt mutter.

Catching his breath, Jung Hae-in slowly turned his head.

His gaze swept across the room, settling on the four women.

“Oh jeez, you scared me.”

Surprise flickered across Jung Hae-in’s face.

“…What are you girls doing?”

Within his lighthearted question, their emotions churned in an instant.