How To Use Regressors

2 – Episode 2 – Tutorial (2)

‘… It’s nighttime?’ The fact that it was nighttime was a huge problem. Surviving would already be difficult during the day, but at night? ‘There’s no guarantee that the monsters we just fought were all of them. There could be more outside… Damn it!’

It’s hard to find your way in the dark when there is little to no light.

From the moment she escaped the building, she needed to find another place to rest, and it became twice as difficult in the darkness.

‘Have the others already fled to a different place?’

The sounds of people dying inside the building gradually diminished.

If a little more time passed, those monsters would come out in search of new prey. She had to hurry and find another place before that happened.

‘First, I’ll go up the slope. Higher ground is better than lower ground.’

There was a path leading upwards, so she quickly moved to a new spot.

As I thought I had managed to escape quite far, I began to catch my breath, which I had been holding in.

“Heck… Heck… Hoo…”

The hellish situation that had come upon us so suddenly, and the fact that I hadn’t been consistent with my exercise routine, made me feel my stamina depleting rapidly.

Images of people dying inside the building and the face of the injured woman I had left behind came to mind.

“Uweeeek… Uwack… Hoo…”

I’ve been through tough situations on Earth before, but what I experienced this time was on a different scale.

It was a situation that could easily be called hell. The recent scene drenched in blood made me feel nauseous.

“Such thoughts won’t help… I need to focus on surviving now. This is not the time for such useless thoughts.”

Creak –

“……!”

I began to break out in cold sweat at the noise I had just heard. If it was a monster… the thought was horrifying.

“Hey…”

“Whew…”

Fortunately, it was a person. It seemed to be a man slightly older than me, wearing glasses.

“Did you escape too? If it’s okay with you, it would be nice if you could stay with us, the people who escaped together…”

It seemed like there were others who escaped together, even though I ran away alone.

“Shouldn’t I join the others…?”

Being alone in a situation like this is very dangerous.

Actually, more than that, I just didn’t want to be alone in this sudden crisis.

“Oh… Yes. Thank you. Do you happen to know how many people are gathered?”

“Including myself, there are four of us. It would be great if there were more people… but the situation was really bad. We hurriedly escaped from the building and met outside…”

Where could those four people have gathered? Still, it seemed much better than being alone, so I decided to follow them.

“For now, just follow me. There’s a hidden small space. The others are waiting there. Haha, I’m really awkward, I didn’t even introduce myself. I’m Jo Byung-ok.”

“I’m Lee Yoon-seong. Please feel free to speak informally. You seem older than me though.”

“Haha… I’m more comfortable with formal speech. I used to work in sales on Earth, so I’m used to it.”

Still, talking to someone else made me feel a little less tense.

“Are the others doing okay? The situation was so terrible, I’m sure they must be really shocked…”

“At first, I wasn’t in my right mind either. Honestly, I’m still very shaken. But, even though I can’t say everyone is completely fine, they have calmed down a bit, so you should be okay.”

As we walked and talked in low voices, we arrived at the small open space.

As the man had described, there were three people waiting in the courtyard. An older lady, a man who appeared to be in his early twenties, and a young woman.

“Have you arrived?… But who is this…?”

The young woman spoke to Byung-ok. She looked to be in her early twenties, and from her appearance, she gave off a college student vibe.

“I spotted her nearby and brought her along. This is Mr. Yoon Seong. And this is…”

“…Hello. I’m Kim So-young. Nice to meet you.”

“Hello. I’m Lee Yoon-seong. Nice to meet you.”

I opened the woman’s status window.

[Name: Kim So-young]

[Age: 23]

[Occupation: Not yet decided]

[Title: None]

[Unique Trait: Calm Judgment (Rating in progress) – Capable of more rational judgment in crisis situations.]

[Attributes]

Strength – 08 Agility – 09

Endurance – 08 Luck – 10

Magic – Resistance

“…The status window seems ordinary. And now that I think about it, I should check Byung Ok’s status window too.”

Because the system called the status window was unfamiliar and my mind was so scattered, I didn’t even think to check it when we first met.

[Name: Cho Chanho]

[Age: 29]

[Occupation: Intermediate Inspector (Rare grade)]

[Title: None]

[Unique Abilities]

Silent footsteps (Measuring grade) – Reduces the chance of being detected when approaching someone.

Murder Festival (Measuring grade) – As the number of murders increases, temporarily increases strength and agility. However, the maximum increase in abilities is 10. Additionally, if there is blood nearby, you can use it to heal yourself. Self-healing using your own blood is impossible.

[Abilities]

Understanding of Intermediate Swordsmanship (Rare grade) – Increases understanding of swordsmanship to some extent.

[Attributes]

Strength – 16 Agility – 18

Stamina – 15 Luck – 05

Magic – 00 Resistance – 10

“Damn.”

Kim Soyoung looked extremely bewildered at the sudden curse I let out.

“You…?”

“Oh… no, it’s not. It’s just that my legs are hurting a bit… I might have walked too much… Haha.”

“Damn, what’s going on? It’s not Jobyeongok, it’s Jochanho? Why the alias?”

Cold sweat began to trickle down my back. Deceiving her about my name was one thing, but what really stood out was that my abilities exceeded the average, and the fact that I already had a profession and unique characteristics.

“A quiet step I can understand, but having more than one unique characteristic is astounding, and the name of the characteristic is ‘Carnage Festival’?”

Just from the name of the unique characteristic, you could tell that this guy was far from normal.

“I shouldn’t have followed him. Damn, I should have checked his status right after we first met… This foolish guy!”

No, on the contrary, I wondered what would have happened if I had rejected his proposal when we first met.

The fact that he was carrying a sword and his stats were much higher than mine was concerning. If I had rejected his offer earlier, this crazy guy might have suddenly turned hostile and drawn his sword.

“Maybe it’s better this way. There are five of us, so he won’t dare do anything reckless… I should seize the opportunity to break away from the group.”

For now, I calmed my surprised heart and checked the status of the other two.

[Name: Moon Kyungshil]

Strength – 08 Agility – 07

Stamina – 07 Luck – 08

Magic – 00 Resistance – 05

[ Name: Cha Hyun-jin ]

[ Age: 20 ]

[ Occupation: Not yet changed. ]

[ Title: None. ]

[ Unique Traits ]

Strong Will (Grade Measurement in progress) – You possess a strong determination and do not easily give up when faced with challenges.

[ Abilities ]

Physical Strength – 10, Agility – 12

Endurance – 14, Luck – 10

Mana – 00, Resistance – 08

“I don’t need to see the lady… This one’s ability stats are not bad.”

Even though Jo Chan-ho has monster-like ability stats, and it’s said that 10 is the average value for adult men’s ability stats, so this level is decent. As for me, my ability stats are just not good…

“Nice to meet you, young man. My name is Moon Kyung-sil.”

“My name is Cha Hyun-jin. I think you’re my older brother, so feel free to talk. There’s a seat here, so please sit.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Suddenly, a small clapping sound is heard.

“Alright, now that we’ve introduced ourselves, even though this place is far from the building, since monsters could come, how about we take turns sleeping to keep watch?”

“I’m fine with that, hyung.”

“Hmm… Byung-ok-ssi, do we really need to take turns keeping watch?”

Crazy talk. Does this lady even realize what she’s saying?

“Haha… I know it’s hard, but we have to, Auntie. I’m sure everyone is tired and exhausted, but monsters could reach this place.”

“If Byung-ok-ssi says so, then…”

“Then who should go first, Byungok oppa?”

It seemed like Cho Chanho was leading the conversation and many others were relying on him.

I can tell this guy is a bit of a troublemaker due to my ability, but others can’t. If it weren’t for my power, I wouldn’t have known he was using an alias.

“I brought up the topic of night shifts first, so I’ll take the 3rd shift. It’s the hardest time to stay awake in the middle.”

“Byungok, no need for you to do it if you don’t want to… I’d rather take the 3rd shift…!”

“No, it’s fine. Um… Then, Soyoung and the lady can take the 1st and 5th shifts. Hyunjin and Yunseong, can I ask you to take the 2nd and 4th shifts? Is that okay?”

“Yes, hyung.”

“We’ll go with that, Byungok.”

The order of night shifts doesn’t matter to me anyway. I can’t sleep comfortably in the first place.

While others might not know, I know that this guy isn’t Jo Byungok but Jo Chanho, so is he implying that I can sleep peacefully because I know what this crazy guy might do while he’s asleep?

“I’m not sure exactly what this tutorial is supposed to entail, but since we need to move tomorrow for sure, it’s important to get some sleep. Sleep will help us adjust. So, waking up every hour should be enough. Soyoung, can you wake up Hyunjin in an hour?”

“Yes. I understand, Byungok oppa. But I have one question.”

“What is it, Soyoung?”

“How do we check the time? Like, exactly what time…”

“Well, since none of us have phones, we can’t know the exact time, so just wake them up when you think an hour has passed. We’ll be able to tell when morning comes as the sun rises, anyway.”

“I understand.”

Everyone, except for the person pacing back and forth, found a suitable spot and began to settle down and lay down.

“……”

Although some time had passed, the sound of everyone tossing and turning could still be heard, indicating that today’s events were too terrible.

If someone could sleep soundly in this situation, they must be strange. It would be impossible for someone who had been living a normal life in society to suddenly be thrown into an unknown place and have to experience homelessness to adapt quickly.

From a little distance away, the sound of someone holding back tears could be heard. It was coming from the direction where Hyunjin was.

“Sniff… Woof…”

Although everyone heard the sound, they pretended not to. Among them, Hyunjin was the youngest.

Of course, I didn’t have the luxury of crying. I was preoccupied because of Jo Chang-ho.

As the time passed, I felt a gentle touch on my shoulder.

“Mr. Yoonseong, it’s your turn.”

My drowsy mind suddenly became alert. Was I so tired? I didn’t even notice when this guy approached me.

“Yes, yes… Mr. Byungok, please go to sleep. You’ve worked hard.”

“Haha, no, it’s alright. Then, please take care of it, Mr. Yoonseong.”

Seeing Jo Chang-ho lying down to sleep made me worry.

‘Should I run away now?’

I thought it would be less dangerous to pretend to be a comrade of the monsters who might kill me from behind than to be a human who could betray me while appearing as a friend.

Of course, this could just be my groundless worry, and in reality, this guy Jo Chan-ho could be a decent person unrelated to murder. But if he’s a normal person, he wouldn’t hide his name.

‘It’s too dangerous to stay with him no matter how I think about it. But what about the others?’

Rejecting the idea of taking the others and running away from Jo Chan-ho. It wasn’t about whether it would succeed or fail, but rather, there was no chance that people would abandon Jo Chan-ho and follow me. They were different from me, who could see the status window, and many of them were relying on Jo Chan-ho.

‘Besides, there’s no guarantee that Jo Chan-ho is really sleeping. He could be pretending to sleep.’

It was no joke to worry about the monsters, doubt and be cautious of the same people, so the mental fatigue was serious.

‘And how did Jo Chan-ho get his profession? So far, except for Jo Chan-ho, no one had a profession.’

Thanks to the unique characteristic, I could recall the status window I saw once. Just to make sure, I called up Jo Chan-ho’s status window.

[ Name: Jo Chan-ho ]

[ Age: 29 ]

[ Profession: Intermediate Inspector (Rare Grade) ]

[ Title: None ]

[ Unique Characteristic: Silent Steps (Measurement in Progress) – Decreases the probability of being detected when approaching someone.

Murder Festival (Measurement in Progress) – As the number of murders increases, strength and agility stats temporarily increase. However, the maximum increase in stats is 10. Also, if there is blood nearby, you can use it to heal yourself. However, self-regeneration of blood is not possible.

“Intermediate Swordsmanship Understanding (Rare Grade) – Increases understanding of swordsmanship to a certain extent.”

[Attributes]

Strength – 16 Agility – 18

Endurance – 15 Luck – 05

Mana – 00 Resistance – 10

“When this guy approached, what I didn’t notice was probably due to his quiet footsteps… So, did he purposely make noise during our first encounter? Why?”

I just can’t figure this guy out. He could have remained silent, so why did he deliberately make noise, and how did he acquire his profession, gathering people like this?

“Damn… just looking at this guy’s smiling face irritates me. I can’t read his expressions.”

It seemed like about an hour had passed unnoticed. Since there was no way to know for sure, I got up from my seat and went to wake up Kyungsil Ajumma.

Tap, tap.

“Ajumma, it’s time to get up.”

Kyungsil Ajumma rubbed her eyes and woke up from her nap.

“Hmm… is it that time already?”

“Yes, Ajumma.”

“Yoonseong, there’s only an hour left until we have to move. Can you give me a few more minutes?”

“Oh…?”

“What is this crazy woman saying…?”

“Oh, it’s because I’m tired… Mr. Yoon must be tired too, but he’s young.”

“This crazy woman, I couldn’t even get a wink of sleep! Even though I won’t be able to sleep because of Jo Chan-ho, I just want to lie down and rest.”

“Haha… Auntie, I need to sleep too. I’m sorry. I’m just too tired.”

“Oh, maybe you misunderstood because you don’t have a watch? I don’t think it’s my turn yet…”

“What is this woman saying now? Ugh…”

Frustration welled up in me in this situation, and I barely suppressed my harsh words.

“No, hold back… Arguing here won’t solve anything anyway.”

Arguing is meaningless when you’re not dealing with someone who can understand. Arguing with someone who can’t even engage in a conversation is the most futile thing.

Above all, if I argue with this woman right now, Jo Chan-ho will wake up.

“… Auntie, then I’ll come back in 30 minutes. You have to change then.”

“Oh, thank you. Mr. Yoon.”

Since there was no point in continuing the conversation, as this woman didn’t seem to listen, I quickly ended the meaningless conversation.

I returned to the seat where I had been restless.

“Damn it…”

“If it wasn’t for Jochan-ho, you would’ve been dead, you son of a bitch.”

It was truly a shitty day.