The Regressor Only Protects Me

Chapter 27. Beyond the Boundary (2)

Anyang, an eight-lane road in the Gwacheon direction.

In the morning, the road would be filled with cars driven by office workers commuting from Gyeonggi Province to Seoul.

When the League began, it was during rush hour, and the roads toward Anyang, Uiwang, and Gunpo were completely jammed.

Lee Joo-yeon and Lee Saebom deliberately walked along the road filled with cars.

After the world ended, cars became nothing more than heaps of scrap metal.

Most people who had been evacuating abandoned their vehicles and disappeared somewhere.

Some remained in their cars, but they were now frozen corpses.

Saebom rummaged through people’s belongings with a large sports bag, collecting what they needed.

He began searching inside the cars.

From lighters to medical supplies, Swiss Army knives, cigarettes, masks, and batteries—he grabbed anything he thought would be useful.

Every time he picked something up, a notification window providing information about the item would appear.

Even as he grabbed items, the incessantly popping-up notification windows were driving Saebom crazy.

At the end of the road, there was a tank with a bent turret blocking the evacuation route for vehicles.

Beside it were three frozen soldiers who had perished.

Saebom climbed up and opened the hatch in one swift motion.

A chill emanated from the tank’s interior.

Inside, two soldiers lay dead.

In their arms were guns.

Saebom entered the tank and grabbed one of the guns.

But something felt off—it was too light.

As he examined it closely, a notification window appeared.

[This is a prohibited weapon.]

“A prohibited weapon…?”

He picked up the grenades and pistols the soldiers had as well, but the same notification appeared.

For some reason, it seemed that the League prohibited the use of weapons from the old world.

Just like in movies or dramas, he pulled the pistol’s slide and pulled the trigger, but the bullet didn’t fire.

‘What was that thing Kang Sion had…?’

Saebom couldn’t understand.

But thinking about it wouldn’t change anything.

Reluctantly, he exited the tank.

Before he knew it, Joo-yeon had approached and climbed up onto the tank.

“Did you find anything?”

“No, nothing.”

Saebom climbed down from the tank, and Joo-yeon followed him.

The city, after the League had begun, was eerily quiet.

Partly because the population had decreased, but also because most Players avoided showing themselves on the roads, wary of one another.

Surviving until the second round meant that everyone had cleared their own first round.

Clearing the first round, in other words, meant that they had killed someone.

‘It’s not a bad idea to be cautious of them. Not that we’re any different.’

The siblings continued walking down the road.

Even as she followed Saebom, Joo-yeon kept glancing over her shoulder.

Eventually, Saebom asked her, “What’s wrong?”

“Oh? It’s nothing… I’m just worried about that girl.”

The girl Joo-yeon referred to was the one they had given the red scarf to.

She was the only child who had survived the shopping mall.

Saebom frowned.

“It’s none of our business. Forget about it.”

“But—”

“Forget it, noona. You haven’t forgotten what I said in the shopping mall, have you?”

“…Yeah.”

Joo-yeon nodded slightly.

Saebom had told her not to regard others with pity or compassion.

“Focus on keeping ourselves alive first.”

Saebom grabbed Joo-yeon’s wrist and moved forward.

It was at that moment.

Joo-yeon grabbed Saebom’s head and ducked down.

Thunk!

“…?!”

The siblings pressed themselves against a truck, hiding from the threat.

What Saebom saw then was a massive foot.

A literal foot.

He couldn’t tell what kind of creature it belonged to.

But he was certain it was a foot.

The foot was large enough to easily crush a car.

It hadn’t been there before, but it suddenly appeared from the opposite side of the road.

Sensing danger, Joo-yeon had instinctively hidden with her brother.

She pressed a finger to her lips, signaling him to stay silent.

Saebom nodded slightly and focused on observing the foot.

Thud… thud… thud…

A bizarre cry echoed.

And as if searching for something, it bounced along the road.

Like a pogo stick, it hopped toward the truck where the siblings were hiding.

Thinking they were doomed, they suddenly heard the sound of a car door creaking open on the opposite side.

“Ahhh! Sorry! I’m sorry!”

“Kyahhh!”

“Run for it!”

Four people burst out of the car and ran in the opposite direction.

They were undoubtedly survivors from the first round.

Thud, thud, thud!

The massive foot bounded straight toward the fleeing people.

The siblings couldn’t see the actual scene.

Hiding in fear, they didn’t dare look at what was happening.

They could only hear the sounds.

Thud, thud, screams, squelching, and the sound of something being crushed flat.

Holding their breath, the siblings waited for the monster to pass.

The screams of people, a few cries, and the monster’s footsteps grew distant.

Joo-yeon was the first to lift her head.

She cautiously approached the place where the people had been.

Saebom followed her cautiously.

“….”

“….”

The siblings froze when they saw the crushed bodies.

Flattened against the asphalt were the mangled remains of people.

Blood, entrails, and flesh were smeared together in circular shapes.

From afar, it looked like four severely squashed pieces of gum.

“Ugh.”

Joo-yeon covered her mouth and turned her head away.

Saebom, on the other hand, looked toward the opposite street.

There, something transparent shimmered.

It wasn’t far from where they stood.

Saebom approached cautiously and touched it.

It felt like a window.

The air itself had solidified.

The siblings couldn’t escape this place.

This was another boundary, different from the shopping mall’s walls.

And while they were distracted by it, they failed to notice people approaching from behind.

When Saebom turned around, dozens of people wielding knives were advancing toward them.

What stood out was that they were all women.

And they were wearing masks.

The woman at the front pulled down her mask and smirked as she looked at Saebom.

“Found them… Haha. Today’s quota is met.”

* * *

Creak—.

A foul stench wafted through the crack in the open door.

The rancid smell prickled their noses, heightening their sense of dread.

Something stirred from inside the room.

My heart began pounding wildly.

I took a flashlight out of my pocket and shone it into the room.

Rustle. Rustle.

The room was filled with crumbs of ramen, half-eaten canned food, and empty PET bottles.

I grabbed a kitchen knife that had been left carelessly on the counter.

Then, I slowly approached step by step.

The door to the master bedroom was slightly ajar, and something was moving inside.

I opened the door.

Creak—.

“Rustle… rustle….”

“Chomp, chomp….”

Inside was my aunt.

Along with her was a young woman.

They had layered on so many clothes that their bodies were bulkier than an average adult man.

And the two women, devouring preserved foods like pigs.

Canned food, ramen, frozen dumplings, instant rice, drinks, and more.

All of it was the preserved food I had painstakingly gathered over the past few months.

I hadn’t stockpiled it in preparation for this kind of situation.

It was just that preserved and frozen foods were cheaper than healthy meals like steaming bowls of kimchi stew or soybean paste stew, so I had bought them.

On my way here, I had thought that it was fortunate I had stockpiled those foods.

If my younger brother were here alone, he could have survived for a while eating only preserved food.

I hoped my brother would have eaten the food I had stocked up and held out.

But that hope shattered when I saw the two beasts in front of me.

Rustle, rustle, chomp, chomp… slurp, chomp, chomp.

The two beasts didn’t even realize I had entered the room as they gobbled up the food.

They were no different from pigs.

They crushed the ramen into bits and mixed it like porridge in a plastic container, shoving it into their mouths with their hands.

Then, my aunt—no, the “pig” I once called aunt—looked at me.

The old pig stared at me blankly for a moment before shrinking back in fear and wailing.

“Sion… Sion-ah! Sion-ah!”

Then she suddenly crawled toward me on all fours and grabbed my pant leg.

“Sion-ah. Sion. Kang Sion! You’re alive! It’s been so long. So long!”

The old pig crawled back on her knees and dragged the younger pig by the arm.

“Yeyoung-ah. Yeyoung! Your cousin. It’s Sion. Kang Sion.”

“Ugh, let go! You’re bothering me while I’m eating!”

The younger pig pushed the old pig aside and continued to devour the food.

The old pig crawled back on her knees and grabbed my pant leg again.

I couldn’t say a word.

“Are you hurt anywhere? Hmm? Hmm? Hmm? If you haven’t eaten, come here and eat with us. Auntie made the food delicious.”

That?

That pig feed that’s not even fit for a meal.

Mixed with all sorts of rotting garbage and seasoned with your slobber?

“It’s cold outside, isn’t it? So cold. So cold. So cold. I’ll turn on the boiler. But first, eat this. Eat this first.”

The old pig, with four gold rings on her fingers, grabbed a handful of that unidentifiable mush and held it out to me.

I looked down at it with only my eyes.

The more she squeezed it, the more the food oozed out between her fingers.

“Why… why aren’t you eating? It’s… it’s delicious?”

I gripped the knife tighter.

My whole body trembled uncontrollably.

The monster’s face in front of me swirled wildly.

It was like watching black paint, once a small dot on a palette, being smeared haphazardly with a brush.

“Eat. Kang… Sion.”

“Kang… Sion… eat….”

“Sion………….”

Even her voice was fragmented.

Was this truly the same person I used to know as my aunt?

The aunt who took us in after our parents died, telling my brother and me not to worry anymore?

The woman who stole all our parents’ insurance money and abandoned us on the cold streets?

The reason my life started going off track—no, the reason it completely derailed—was my aunt.

Even then, I couldn’t forgive her, but I could at least acknowledge her as a human being.

I could endure it.

Just because I hated her or because she abandoned us didn’t mean I could kill her back then.

I had to take care of my brother, raise him.

But in this world, where my brother was supposed to be, where all the food I had gathered for him was eaten by these creatures—could they still be called human?

Even death felt like a generous punishment for them.

I suddenly remembered what Kwon Kyung-soo had said.

He said this world was hell, and he was escaping it.

But that was only half-right.

This world had always been hell.

It was the people struggling to escape it, like Kwon Kyung-soo, who created concepts like goodness and compassion.

They tried to escape hell through death, but the world they escaped to wasn’t heaven.

There is no heaven.

Only hell exists.

This world denies goodness.

In this world, you cannot survive with goodness.

That was the feeling I had at this moment.

I reaffirmed my resolve.

If this world was hell, I would gladly become a demon.

I wouldn’t deny becoming a demon.

I realized it again.

The reason I survived the shopping mall was that Kwon Kyung-soo refused to become a demon, while I became one.

“Sion… Sion-ah… aren’t you eating?”

Grab!

I grabbed the hair of the pig kneeling in front of me.

The old pig, her hair in my grasp, looked up at me, and I coldly asked.

“Where is Junho?”

The old pig pursed her lips, looking up at me.

“Ju… Ju… Junho? Hmm… where could he be?”

At that moment, I punched the old pig in the cheek.

Smack—!

“Kyaaaaah—!!!! Aaaaagh…!”

The old pig collapsed onto the floor, screaming in pain.

Meanwhile, the younger pig was still focused on eating.

I approached the old pig, who was sprawled on the floor.

I asked her again.

“Where is he?”

Grab.

I seized her hair once more.

The old pig, now trembling with fear, stammered.

“I-I-I don’t know! W-we were together, but… no, no. Our house got wrecked. Destroyed. Destroyed, so… we came here for food…!! Junho. That brat. No, that kid left. Said he was looking for you. T-three days ago. After the first round. Yeah. Yeah….”

“Why didn’t you stop him?”

I grabbed the pig’s cheeks with my hands and asked.

Her lips protruded from the pressure.

“Wh-why would I? There wasn’t much food left. The brat is useless now. In this world, he’d only be a burden. Right? Right? Sion-ah. You’re a man. An adult. This world is ruled by strength now. What use is a brat? Right? We—we can survive together. Right, Sion-ah? We’re family.”

Smack—!

I struck her cheek again.

The old pig screamed in pain, sprawled on the ground.

Finally, the younger pig glanced back at us.

Her cheeks were stuffed with food as she chewed.

“Tell me where he went. The exact location.”

“I-I don’t knoooow!!! Probably the construction site! You! You work at the construction site, don’t you?”

The old pig yelled, clutching her cheek.

The construction site was southeast from here.

It was in Uiwang, just below Anyang.

Suddenly, I remembered telling my brother where I worked a few days ago.

If I hadn’t told him, would he have stayed here?

I don’t know.

Gripping the knife tightly, I closed the door and approached the two women.