◈ Everyone Else is a Regressor (10)

Chapter 2. It Seems Only I Can See (5)

Today, as usual, KiJun woke up sharp at 6 am, as precise as a sword. Glancing at the system message that appeared in the corner of his field of vision, he noticed his Charisma, which had grown to uncommon grade overnight, had increased from 1 to 23.

The mana he had barely managed to raise to uncommon grade through training in Steelization yesterday while breaking the main gate of the Demon Lord's castle with his shield. Reflecting on the strength he had laboriously elevated to uncommon grade by breaking the Demon Lord's castle gate moments earlier, it felt strangely smooth and effortless.

Moreover, even when his Charisma reached 99, he didn't have to perform missions like manipulating the Demon Lord to break through limits. He simply slept and woke up to find it had grown to uncommon grade.

Other heroes, who were afraid to verify their own stats through the status window, didn't even realize how envious they would be if they heard about KiJun.

'Am I really receiving one-on-one training against the Demon Lord, a formidable opponent unreachable at my current level, and simultaneously developing interpersonal abilities symbolized by the Charisma stat, all because of my contract with the spirit?’

In the desolate tutorial closed area without anyone around for the past three months, the theory he had developed about Charisma growth roughly felt like this.

According to what the Demon Lord had said, the most important stat for those proficient in Spirit Magic was Spirit Power, followed by Charisma and Mana. So, his theory wasn't entirely baseless.

"Hmm."

KiJun absentmindedly stared at his reflection in the river, trying to discern any changes. However, seeing his own face every day made it hard to notice subtle differences. At most, he felt like his impression had brightened slightly.

Well, considering he had been stuck with the same twenty-three-year-old face for the past fifteen years since he arrived in this world and his body didn't age due to the regression, even a slight change in his appearance was something to be excited about.

Thinking that his face was undergoing even the slightest change ignited a strange emotion within him.

—Contractor, are you okay?

Trying to focus and suppress the overwhelming emotion while washing his face, KiJun closed his eyes. At that moment, Lucy, who had been sleeping in his outer coat pocket, woke up and gazed at him.

"I'm fine. Just happy."

—Ah, it seems the quality of your mana has improved! I'm happy too. It seems that the stronger your mana, the stronger the power I can produce!

"Yeah, that's right. I'm counting on you from now on."

—Ahaha, it tickles!

KiJun decided not to correct Lucy's misconception, allowing her to continue her delusion. It didn't seem appropriate to voice his true feelings out loud.

He merely poked her with his finger, indulging her playful imagination, and then stood up to continue his morning run. Morning runs were an essential routine; he couldn't afford to skip them.

'Hmm?'

However, as he circled around the Demon Lord's castle and stepped further into the territory behind it, KiJun felt a strange sensation stimulating his senses. Was it because he was near the Demon Lord's castle? The Demon Lord hadn't mentioned anything like that, but KiJun kept a distance, wary of potential traps guarding the castle.

For a moment, a crazy idea crossed his mind: "Wouldn't experiencing traps firsthand be helpful for training?" But he shook his head and dismissed the thought. It seemed his brain had been tainted by the Demon Lord's influence.

—Ah, the Contractor also feels it. Something is stimulating my inspiration.

But suddenly, Lucy was saying something strange.

Without stopping his running, KiJun turned around and looked at her. "Have you felt this all along?"

—No, I just felt it earlier.

"...Why didn't you say anything?"

—If I pretended to know something you didn't, it wouldn't be good, right? And if there's something hidden, I thought you would be happier finding it yourself than having me tell you. Can I do that?

KiJun gently caressed her chin with his index finger, appreciating the thoughtful spirit.

"Thank you for letting me grow, Lucy."

—Of course, we're going to be here for a while…

"Yeah. But if there's an opportunity or danger that I might miss, please let me know immediately. Can you do that for me?"

—Naturally. I exist for the Contractor.

KiJun's Spirit Power stat had risen to 50 yesterday evening after training, a significant increase from the Rare grade's base of 1.

This could either be a trigger for him to detect something he hadn't felt before or, more likely, achieving a certain condition after all his stats, including Charisma, reached uncommon grade.

—So, what should we do? Shall we approach it?

"No."

Checking the time, KiJun said, "It's almost morning, so I need to wash up and eat breakfast first."

—Right, the Contractor left leftover curry from last night for breakfast, so we need to wake up and eat it!

"Exactly. Let's go."

KiJun decided not to correct Lucy's misconception and focused on boiling udon noodles.

Boiling udon was much faster than cooking rice, especially when he wanted to eat before the Demon Lord finished the curry.

"Can I eat this with noodles as well?"

"Try it, and you'll find out."

—Contractor, you're a genius!

Immersed in his cooking, he dished out the curry udon, garnishing it with chopped green onions.

When he offered it to the Demon Lord and Lucy, both of them shed tears of gratitude and devoured the meal.

KiJun had his fair share, feeling a sense of accomplishment even though his Cooking skill remained at level 99, stuck at common grade.

* * *

"I want to eat curry made by KiJun hyung… I yelled so loudly that time that even foreign players begged for some when he made a huge pot for the raid."

The second round had started, and it had been a week since he had revived and everything had begun anew. Realizing this, EunShin muttered to himself, hugging his growling stomach.

After contemplating whether he could find something edible in his vicinity, his eyes fell on a rabbit standing still in front of him, as if it had recognized him.

"Aren't you supposed to be hiding?"

"Kyu――."

Even though he made a sound, the rabbit just stared back, showing no signs of fleeing.

EunShin, contemplating whether to catch and roast it, instead pushed it away with his foot, eliciting a surprised "Kyu?!" from the creature.

Seeing the fleeing rabbit, EunShin felt a sense of déjà vu and remembered the faces of the people who recognized him without him saying a word. Just as he recalled those moments, a system message appeared in front of him.

—Perfectly deceiving even the most sensitive forest animals. Rare-grade skill [Stealth] has leveled up and become level 18.

—You have leveled up to 27.

Chuckling emptily at his naturally acquired skill that he hadn't even trained yet, EunShin laughed softly. He had been running through the forest for the past week, and somehow, his natural rare-grade skill and overall level were growing rapidly.

Considering his stats were still at level 1, it was quite surprising.

Thinking that when his stats were low, training might be effective, EunShin focused on honing his skills.

'Even though I'm pissed off that I have to go through that shit again, still, if I think I can get stronger, I feel a bit better.'

During the first round, if he had focused on his aptitude from the beginning, could he have upgraded his [Stealth] skill to legendary grade?

Instead of dying senselessly at the hands of the Demon Lord, could he have stabbed a sharp dagger into the Demon Lord's heart and saved his comrades?

Now, in this moment where everyone has failed and returned to the past, it was all meaningless speculation.

EunShin accepted the second chance given to him as his responsibility.

This time, he couldn't die so meaninglessly.

YeMin noona's shining talent, KiJun hyung's sacrifice and effort, Uncle Soo's pain and patience...

...He couldn't make JiHye's tears meaningless.

'Even if I have to do that.'

For JiHye, the mage of the party he was with during the first round, he had to obtain a Unique-grade Mana Circuit.

What he thought about taking action for her was not because he had feelings for her... no, it wasn't that...

It was just that the mana circuit was located near the tutorial area where they were.

Even during the first round, that ruin, which attracted a lot of attention and competition, was unfortunately missed due to the slightly delayed timing when their party obtained the information.

This time it would be different.

He was certain that there would be few people who could reach the ruin as quickly as he could at this time.

Above all, now that everyone had returned to their original state, the level of the warriors was too low to challenge the ruin directly.

But for him, who possessed a skill level of [Stealth] that was 'impossible' for beginners to have, passing through the ruin was not a difficult task.

"I remember it was somewhere around here... Ah!"

EunShin, who was running out of breath, discovered a group of people confronting each other a little distance away. There were more than ten people holding weapons, surrounding two women.

There was no need to ask who the surrounded ones were.

They were YeMin and JiHye, members of the party he belonged to during the first round.

"So what's your plan? You can't conquer the ruin anyway. I don't understand why you came here."

The moment he heard the voices of the group, EunShin suppressed the urge to shout.

Even if JiHye didn't have much magic power yet, YeMin wouldn't easily lose to anyone in a fight against several people.

"Do you not understand what I'm saying, YeMin? I'm saying let's form a party now."

"Us? With you? Why?"

No need to be impatient.

"I'll keep coming after you until the end, you get that? Do you think you're the only one who wants the Unique-grade skill? Huh?"

"There’s no use talking about this."

What he needed to do now was just approach quietly.

"Ugh, you think you're the strongest just because you did well in the first round? You tried to come out easily since we met, didn't you...!"

"Hey, let's just kill her. She wants the Unique-grade skill all for himself, huh?!"

Quietly, quietly, he approached them from behind.

"You filthy pieces of shit."

"Filthy? Know your place. You get bullied if you're weak!"

"Tch, you're all talk and no action."

"This is all... the result of learning. If I had a second chance, I would have done something different. I would really enjoy it if I tie a rope around their necks and drag them around..."

*Stab.*

He stabbed the throat of the man who was shouting the loudest with his dagger and pulled it out.

His [Stealth] skill was revealed by attacking the enemy, and it would be released when he killed the enemy.

But the higher the skill level, and if the enemy couldn't find his presence, the time to enter stealth mode again became shorter.

These bastards became frightened and crouched down, missing the moment of the assassin's attack, and so failed to detect EunShin's presence again.

Without hesitation, he killed the second target, stabbing his neck.

"These faces didn't appear in the final battle, so they must be small fry."

In the moment his anticipation wavered, the battle was already decided.

In that gap, JiHye gathered her mana and created a weak earthquake, disrupting the balance of the men. YeMin swiftly struck several blows, making their legs collapse.

"Pl-please spare us. We didn’t mean any of it...!"

"Just keep your mouth shut."

"Run away... ugh!"

EunShin killed the remaining men head-on.

"I'll kill them, noona, you two just watch."

"Fine. Thank you, EunShin."

"What, are you going to say something now?"

"Shut up, YeMin."

Unable to say what he wanted to, EunShin stammered, looking at JiHye.

Meanwhile, YeMin, who was watching the two, spoke with a knowing look.

"Your ideal type, perhaps?"

"No, it's not that."

"Oops, did I hit a sore spot?"

"YeMin keeps saying weird things. Don't pay attention to her, EunShin."

EunShin couldn't say anything and just mumbled, flustered, while JiHye pulled his hand and led him away.

"As there are three of us now, we should be able to clear the ruin quickly. Ah, right, did you eat yet?"

"Just... jerky is enough. I got used to KiJun's cooking, so I can't eat anything else."

"YeMin said the same thing. After clearing here, we're going to meet oppa right away."

Meeting with KiJun was also something EunShin was looking forward to.

That meant only Uncle Soo was left.

Seeing the knowing look of JiHye, EunShin sighed deeply as he watched the two people teasing him.

His heart was complicated, but for now, he decided to focus on the ruin in front of him.

No matter what ruin it was, he could die if he let his guard down.

KiJun said that much, and he understood it now.

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