Chapter 4: The Regressor Who Carries the Memory of a Destroyed World

The eyes of the guild members rolled back. Turncoat? Plunderer? They didn’t even know what those terms meant. No, those words didn’t even register in their ears.

All they could see were the broken mana stones, which couldn’t be compensated for even if the porter’s body were sold.

“Y-y-you! You piece of trash!”

Did this piece of trash dare to steal the morning’s earnings?

Heat rose to the top of their heads.

Some of the members, including Han Joo-ik, drew their artifacts.

“Leader, are you going to let this guy off?”

The guild leader, who had hesitated for a moment, also summoned flames in his hand.

“Don’t think you’ll die easily, you insect.”

This guy needs to die. After all, it’s his own doing. He dug his own grave, so he should die accordingly.

Corpse? When the gate resets, it will disappear. Just report to the association that Park Shin-hyuk was killed by a monster, and that’s it.

“Dare to be a porter, huh.”

They had no intention of losing.

Park Shin-hyuk, who had recently been confirmed as an F-rank Hunter.

The rest of the guild members were composed of three E-ranks and six D-ranks.

The situation was extremely favorable. Not only were they numerous, but the difference in Hunter ranks was vast. A difference that could never be overcome. And if his ability is [Inventory], there’s nothing more to say.

It was incomprehensible why he was acting so recklessly.

All the guild members thought this.

“...”

Until Park Shin-hyuk took out the artifacts entrusted to him.

“What...?”

When he pulled out a sword and a spear from his inventory and held them in both hands, a strange sense of unease suddenly arose.

It was clear he had never held them before, yet they suited him perfectly.

As if he had been using these weapons all along.

“Y-y-you...”

Even the eyes of the guild member, Lee Sang-gil, reflected this. Seeing Park Shin-hyuk holding his own weapons, his anger flared up.

‘You insect, give them back right now!’

Such curses only circled in his head, unable to easily escape his lips.

For some reason, he couldn’t understand.

Was it because this guy could easily wield the spear with one hand, which others needed both hands for?

Or was it because the sword, which looked much sharper than when he held it, gave off a foreboding aura?

The combat senses honed over five years, the senses that all guild members acknowledged, warned him that this porter was dangerous and to back off.

His feet wouldn’t move.

“After all, he’s alone! Kill him!”

Even with the guild leader’s agitated command, they still hesitated.

Finally, his feet moved after Han Joo-ik passed by him.

He felt like there should be someone in front of him, whether a comrade, a shield, or an example.

This judgment was correct.

Thud—

A dull, fleshy sound.

The spear blade protruding from Han Joo-ik’s chest and back.

“Aaah!”

The spear that pierced Han Joo-ik was the one Park Shin-hyuk was holding.

A spear over 3 meters long.

Its overwhelming range stopped Han Joo-ik’s charge far from Park Shin-hyuk.

“Die! You bastard!”

Han Joo-ik, filled with rage, swung his sword, but—

Whoosh—

It only sliced through the air.

The long sword, with the spear still embedded in his body, couldn’t even approach Park Shin-hyuk.

“F-f-uck! Now!”

Han Joo-ik dropped his sword and grabbed the spear with both hands.

A common tactic to draw attacks from other guild members while holding the spear.

At that moment, Park Shin-hyuk’s spear glowed.

“Ability?”

The spear, infused with mana to its limit, glowed blue.

The extreme use of mana, which seemed like a new ability to Lee Sang-gil, was unprecedented.

Boom!

A flash of blue light.

Half of Han Joo-ik’s body disappeared.

“...”

“Han Joo-ik! H-hold on!”

Jumping over Han Joo-ik, who was collapsing and spitting blood, another guild member rushed at Park Shin-hyuk.

Thanks to the time Han Joo-ik bought, the guild members entered the range of the spear.

In close combat, a long spear would be nothing but a hindrance.

They thought optimistically.

Almost simultaneously, Park Shin-hyuk’s spear turned into a shield.

A momentary switch using the inventory.

The guild members, caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the shield, couldn’t alter their attack trajectories.

Bang!

All attacks from the left were blocked by the shield.

And on the opposite side.

The right.

The sword in Park Shin-hyuk’s right hand glowed blue again.

“Get out of the way!”

A long, blue trail cut through the air.

Everything in its path was severed.

“Aaaah!”

Their blood splattered in all directions.

“F-f-uck!”

It took only three strikes. In just three strikes, three members were either dead or about to die.

“Mad...”

Every time Park Shin-hyuk swung something, someone died. It seemed something was seriously wrong.

“R-run.”

Now, not only Lee Sang-gil but everyone was retreating.

They all lost their fighting spirit and took a step back.

And that step back turned into a desperate flight when Park Shin-hyuk drew a bow.

As soon as he nocked an arrow, Park Shin-hyuk released the string.

The arrow, shot without aiming, flew straight.

It was a direct shot, not a parabolic one.

The arrow, which didn’t deviate at all, hit all the guild members.

The power of the arrow, glowing blue, was far beyond a simple projectile.

Bang!

The sound of the arrow exploding, not a bomb.

A shockwave visible to the naked eye immediately upon impact, and the guild members’ limbs were severed and floated in the air.

“Aaaah!”

The fleeing guild members fell one by one.

From the moment Park Shin-hyuk drew the bow to the guild’s disintegration, it took only 10 seconds.

After that short time, only one person remained.

The guild leader, who had been looking for a chance to throw a fireball from behind, quickly dispersed the flames in his hand before the string was aimed at him.

“Wait! Hunter Park Shin-hyuk!”

He smiled, just like Park Shin-hyuk had a few minutes ago.

“I’ll really serve you diligently if you spare me!”

“...”

Park Shin-hyuk still didn’t respond.

* * *

20230923

The password for the two-room apartment where I lived 20 years ago.

It was the day the gate first opened and the anniversary of losing my parents and younger sister, so it wasn’t hard to recall.

Ding-dong—

I cautiously stepped into the dark house.

The feeling of entering the house was unfamiliar. Although the password was always the same and familiar, the memory of this house was vague. After all, it was a house I lived in exactly 20 years ago.

Click—

It took a while to find the light switch by feeling the wall.

When the light turned on, the room was revealed. One bed, one refrigerator, one wardrobe. There was nothing else, and that was all in the 12-pyeong two-room apartment.

“...”

It was barren.

Even in a one-person living space, there should be a few electronic devices, but the refrigerator was a tiny wine cooler.

“Is there anything...”

Inside the refrigerator, there was only one bottle of mineral water. Although I had been drinking groundwater dripping from the ground until yesterday, this still felt strange...

“I lived a tough life.”

I tried to recall where I spent my considerable salary while hydrating.

There were no memories of socializing, indulging in luxury, or making donations.

Only the memory of saving up for a decent artifact, like I did in the previous guild, remained.

If it weren’t for the refrigerator, it could have been a survivor’s hideout. The state of the house made it clear.

“Perhaps...”

The reason for this in the past was to purchase D-rank or higher artifacts, which cost over a billion, not the scraps given by the guild.

D-rank artifacts. Like Han Joo-ik’s shield and one-handed sword, Lee Sang-gil’s bow and quiver, and other combatants’ two-handed swords, maces, and spears.

The items in my inventory now.

“Still doing well.”

Reflecting on the future, the choices I made at this time were correct.

The more artifacts I can handle, the greater the advantage.

The diversity of weapons can provide means to deal with various situations.

◇ Weapon Mastery: When the mastery level of the equipped weapon is higher than the opponent's, the mastery effect of the equipped weapon increases by 100%.

The practical system effect was also superior.

A full 2x. Under the same conditions, I would always gain an advantage in exchanges.

Although it was conditional that I must have a higher mastery level than the opponent, since I was the highest at the brink of death, it could be considered a constant effect.

This was also true for the current regression.

I opened the skill window.

◇ Weapon Mastery (0/18): A significant increase in the mana conduction rate for each weapon.

...

I already felt this in the previous battle, but indeed, the mastery from my previous life was maintained.

“Mastery, mana.”

Things that can only be improved through training and repetition, not gate rewards.

Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that these things came with my memories.

It was a fortunate event, of course.

Even when preparing for the regression, I didn’t expect this much.

However—

“Is it time to do it now?”

Perhaps [mana] and [mastery] are enough to fill the gap.

The synergy with the inventory, which can store multiple weapons, is also not bad.

Although the D-rank guild members were not ideal as a test group, the fact that they surpassed Hunter ranks was undeniable.

With nine of them, it wasn’t just a guess...

“Phew. Let’s take a shower...”

I threw the blood-stained clothes into the laundry basket and headed to the bathroom.

A complete mirror, unseen for a long time.

The reflection was not much different from my memory.

The aging of Awakeners is very slow, and as someone who prepared to be an actor, my body was already well-maintained.

My long limbs were filled with dense muscles, and my abs were clearly defined.

Not Hulk-like bulging muscles, but lean, well-balanced muscles were clearly visible under the bathroom lighting.

“Not bad.”

A well-balanced body is more suitable for using various weapons. The strength that Awakeners lack can be compensated for by mana to some extent.

In game terms, a hexagonal stat distribution suits me, and I was glad that I didn’t need to build my body from scratch even after regressing.

Shower—

I prepared for the next step.

Even after years without a hot shower, I only washed off the blood and returned to the room to open my notebook.

Thanks to the memory vault, the memories after today are vivid. They are etched in my mind. While yesterday’s events are vague, tomorrow’s events can be recalled minute by minute.

“3, 6, 9, 15, 18, 21, and 36.”

Even the lottery numbers mentioned in passing in the news can be recalled clearly if I trace them by the week.

“Just in case, let’s write them down...”

Information about the future is priceless, so now is the best time to record important things while my memory is so vivid.

I opened my notebook and wrote down the future.