Damned 13th Regression - Chapter 2

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Ryuu

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DAMNED 13TH REGRESSION

Chapter 2: The Eighth Annihilation

It was the seventh regression.

The Demon King had faced his third death.

Babel crumbled, and the 390,000 surviving hunters returned to their original world.

Peace came to the world, and everyone lived happily ever after.

HAPPY ENDING.

Such an ending never arrived. Only a gruesome reality approached.

The returned hunters were a problem.

'Why don't they recognize me for my abilities? Those who would burst like ketchup with a single blow!'

'Is this all the reward we get? We risked our lives fighting!

Shouldn't they give us a proper house and enough pension for life instead of this communal apartment?'

'I don’t understand why I should follow these incompetent morons. I don’t even get why I should obey the law. They made it for their own benefit.'

Each hunter was strong enough to demolish mountains and carve canals.

They possessed powers akin to heroes, but they lacked the self-sacrifice and morality of heroes.

But that was okay.

Joo Gong-hyeok, who had already experienced this before, was there.

Together with the hunters he led, Gong-hyeok established the 'Hunter Countermeasure Surveillance Agency.’

And they exterminated problematic hunters.

Hunters who had caused annihilation in the past were naturally the first to be executed.

The Greek mythological monster with a hundred eyes.

Gong-hyeok’s avatar 'Argos' monitored the entire world in real time.

Long-range hunters like Marksman Jebe, Robin Hood, and Lightning God Taishakuten sniped and killed potential threats before they could cause trouble.

It was an absolute rule based on power and murder.

Not all returned hunters were troublemakers.

Many suffered from post-war stress disorders and various mental illnesses due to the painful survival struggle in Babel.

Originally, the dream god 'Morpheus' existed to cure mental illnesses over time.

But the handler of Morpheus, the second hunter who brought about annihilation, was executed.

Without someone to heal them, those hunters were confined in mental hospitals guarded by other hunters.

Ha Yeon-si, tormented by severe guilt and dungeon illusions, was also among them.

As the head of the surveillance agency, Gong-hyeok was dispatched to various places.

He calmed the Tibetan hunters pledging 'to give their bodies for independence.'

Negotiated on behalf of Pakistani hunters protesting 'against unjust oppression' with India.

Brought together Middle Eastern and Israeli hunters vowing 'to punish each other in the name of God.'

Then, it happened.

Starting from California, the world was covered in flower gardens.

White flowers, yellow flowers, red flowers, blue flowers.

These were flowers Gong-hyeok knew well.

Flowers of Growing Flesh, Flowers of Growing Bones, Flowers of Growing Blood, Flowers of Growing Souls.

Flowers of Growing Flesh regenerated flesh like cancer cells, Flowers of Growing Bones incessantly created bones. Flowers of Growing Blood poured out blood like waterfalls, and the enlarged souls from Flowers of Growing Souls burst out of the body.

People grotesquely transformed.

Some swelled into tens of meters of flesh, bones erupted out of their bodies, others became fountains of endless blood, and some turned into translucent souls screaming in agony.

An orchestra of pigs and monsters played the finale of the world.

"Yeon-si."

"Gong-hyeok oppa."

Even with her gaunt, pale face, Yeon-si was beautiful.

"What do we do about this...?"

The flower garden in the center of the California mental hospital...

I felt it when this garden engulfed the United States.

If I had shattered Yeon-si into pieces with a 12,000 km sniper shot using Marksman Hou Yi, Heracles, and Ra Djehuty in Jerusalem.

Perhaps the situation would have ended with just the North American continent consumed.

But I couldn’t. My hand trembled at the last moment, even with all avatars summoned and aimed.

I hesitated.

In those 2 seconds, the Pacific and Asia were overtaken by the flower garden.

"It's okay. It's not your fault."

I could have stopped this.

I let you become like this.

I lost the ability to comfort you.

I failed to notice until you became like this.

It's all my fault.

I don't know how her avatar ability went berserk in a ward meant to suppress it.

Maybe it was wrong to forcefully suppress the abilities of someone with a world-class avatar like hers.

One thing is certain, it's not her fault.

"Oppa, what should we do now...?"

I press my lips against her trembling ones.

It was our first kiss.

"I love you, Yeon-si."

"Gong-hyeok, oppa?"

"I love you."

In eight lifetimes, I never once told her I loved her.

I was too busy surviving.

No, that's a lie.

In the second regression, I abandoned her, consumed by wealth and harems.

After abandoning all desires and dedicating myself to saving the world, I didn’t have time for love games. I only focused on preventing the world’s annihilation.

“This must be a dream. It’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”

Her eyes slowly close.

I injected her with the venom of the Demon Archduke, Arachneia.

Why didn't I ever respond to her feelings?

The garden of colorful flowers disappeared.

I gently lay down Yeon-si's body.

"I love you, Yeon-si."

"In the many regressions to come, where I may have to kill you for causing annihilation, I don’t know how many times."

"But no matter when, I will tell you that I love you."

Squeeeeeeeek!

Crrrreeeaaak!

Leaving behind beings that could no longer be called human.

I raise a hand to crush my own skull.

On the outskirts of Seoul, the roads are half-destroyed from monster attacks. Amidst the ruins, the somewhat intact 'Saerom Children's Home' stands.

The orphanage is haphazardly expanded with makeshift wooden planks.

Despite its appearance, it’s a national orphanage.

With 6 million citizens dead from monsters, it houses minors with nowhere else to go.

The Demon King had even declared the annihilation of humanity. In a reality where the future couldn't be guaranteed, proper administration, public safety, and economy were out of the question.

The state was barely holding together with the military's strength. In such chaos, proper support for the orphanage was impossible.

As the sun sets, the world inside and out is rotting away. Yet, to Gong-hyeok's eyes, children shouting and playing seemed oblivious to such wounds.

"Look, I'll show you something cool with my avatar!"

"What is it?"

"Avatar 'Icarus' summon!"

Two boys banter, then one suddenly summons an avatar.

"Icarus. Reverse Gravity Ice Cream! Fly up, skirt!"

"Aaaaah!"

Just as the girls' skirts are about to flutter up from Icarus's 'Reverse Gravity,' Yeon-si rushes in and smacks them.

"Kids! You know not to use powers inside the orphanage!"

"Run! The ugly spinster is coming!"

"I am pretty and not a spinster!"