The Regressor Only Protects Me

Chapter 26. Beyond the Boundary (1)

“Winter.”

I quietly murmured K’s words.

Winter had long tormented living creatures.

Winter brought bitter cold and death to life.

Insects met their end before winter arrived, and some mammals spent winter in hibernation.

Even until the modern era—or even now, in some regions—winter remained the season of death.

My current life was no different.

Pipes froze, or heating didn’t work, forcing me to sleep in padded jackets under layers of blankets.

Or I had to leave the faucet running to prevent the pipes from bursting.

What about the elderly?

Winter was even harsher on them.

The death rate among elderly people living alone was the highest in winter.

Winter, in this way, signified death for living beings.

I cautiously extended my hand.

A single, small snowflake landed on my finger and melted.

The streets were filled with frozen bodies.

A woman, dead while holding her child in her arms inside a car.

A young man buried under the snow after clinging to a streetlamp for warmth.

People frozen in seated positions, for reasons unknown.

And even a corpse hanging from a streetlamp.

Whether it was the act of others or suicide, I couldn’t tell.

But I doubted someone would climb a streetlamp just to end their life.

At the same time, I thought that there might be a “monarch” in this street as well.

“Haa—.”

When I exhaled, my white breath scattered into the air.

Feeling a rustling sound, I looked down and saw a finger.

The frozen finger crumbled easily when I stepped on it.

It had been seven days since we stayed at the shopping mall.

During that time, the world had undergone drastic changes.

“This winter will be harsh and tedious.”

K spoke as she took a step onto the snow-covered asphalt sidewalk.

She then turned around and met my eyes.

“Anyhow, you’ve all safely made it through Round 1. Now, we’ll officially begin Round 2. It’s similar to Round 1, but there’s a goal this time. That goal is to survive in this frozen city.”

Crunch, crunch.

K approached us.

With each step she took, the snow sank heavily beneath her feet.

“Did you know? In the distant ancient past, when the concept of time had not yet been established, humanity couldn’t even fathom when the season of winter would end.”

K stopped and stood in front of a frozen statue of a boy.

The boy’s mouth was open, and his confused right hand was stretched out in front of him.

“That’s why winter approached as a calamity. Perhaps winter was a trial imposed by the Earth. A trial of nature where only those who could survive, those deemed worthy, could welcome the spring.”

Then, K leaned against the boy’s head.

“Will you all endure it? You, who have lived in the comfort of heated homes, within the fence of safety?”

Snap!

At that moment, the boy’s neck broke under the weight of K leaning on it.

The boy’s neck fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

Frozen blood clumped together on the cross-section of the neck.

“Oh my. So fragile.”

K nonchalantly moved to the other side.

This time, she leaned against a car and continued speaking.

“Let’s unlock the artifacts. Starting from Round 2, each Player’s artifact will be activated.”

Buzz—.

A small cube box floated above K’s right hand.

The cube box hovered above her hand, spinning in circles.

“Artifacts are divine gifts granted only to selected Players. They range in grades from S-tier abilities to F-tier abilities. But you shouldn’t waste their abilities recklessly. There’s a cooldown period, after all.”

At that moment, K’s cube box split into multiple small square boxes and floated in the air.

The split boxes scattered high into the sky, and one of them approached me.

“Artifacts will be distributed collectively to the selected Players within the area within a week from the start of Round 2.”

Through the box, I could see K with her hands stuffed in her pockets.

I turned my gaze to her.

K smiled brightly and said.

“Good luck, Player.”

The box in front of me naturally entered my inventory.

As K finished her words, her body began to disperse like mist and vanish.

That’s when it happened.

Rooooooooooooar—!

Hearing a familiar cry, I placed the cube box on my hand and looked up at the sky.

There, a massive whale was flying.

Its body resembled that of a whale, but it had eight fins.

Those fins fluttered like butterfly wings as the whale soared through the sky.

That whale’s eyes.

They were the same black eyes I had seen reflected in the smoky window back at the shopping mall.

Back then, it was a being of terror, but at this moment, the whale was breathtakingly beautiful.

It was the first time in my life I had seen such a beautiful creature.

Its cries, its appearance—everything about it was beautiful.

The whale flew between the buildings and eventually disappeared over the opposite mountain ridge.

All of us gazed blankly at the whale until it vanished.

The survivors in the shopping mall returned to the store.

Each of them donned thick clothes and gathered the necessary supplies.

Sion layered his clothes and wore a white padded jacket on top.

It took roughly an hour to prepare.

And as if it were prearranged, they gathered on the first floor again.

Lee Joo-yeon wrapped a red scarf around the surviving middle school girl and spoke to her.

She was the young girl who had killed the surviving man from the Blue Team.

“Want to come with me?”

The girl shook her head.

Joo-yeon fell silent, looking a bit regretful, then gently patted the girl’s head.

“Okay. Do you have somewhere to go?”

The girl nodded.

Joo-yeon smiled at the girl’s determined expression.

Lee Saebom had put on a thick padded jacket and slung a sports bag over his shoulder.

All of it came from the products in the shopping mall.

Then he spoke to Joo-yeon.

“Let’s go, noona.”

“Ah, okay. I’ll come.”

Joo-yeon, while moving toward Saebom, couldn’t take her eyes off the girl left behind.

The girl, wrapped in the red scarf, silently watched Joo-yeon from where she stood.

Saebom handed another sports bag he had been holding to Joo-yeon.

Joo-yeon took it without a word and set off on the path.

There, Kang Sion and Jin Jae-hee were waiting.

Saebom approached them and said.

“We’re heading north. Our home is in Seoul.”

“Alright.”

Sion replied indifferently, showing little interest.

In truth, he simply wanted to part ways quickly.

He needed to find his younger brother.

Saebom alternated his gaze between Jae-hee and Sion, then nodded.

Saebom felt a sense of futility at Sion’s cold demeanor.

“We’re off.”

With that, Saebom left with Joo-yeon.

The siblings’ footsteps left two tracks.

Soon, they disappeared down the opposite street.

They probably intended to follow the national road northward.

Sion glanced back at the girl with the red scarf left at the shopping mall entrance, then resumed walking.

Jin Jae-hee silently followed me after that.

I was crossing the bridge along the road.

Even though it was called a bridge, it was just a two-lane road built to cross a railway.

But the middle part of the road had completely collapsed, and snow was piled thickly on top of it.

Until I took a step forward, I couldn’t tell whether there was solid ground beneath me.

I walked cautiously, one step at a time.

With each step, I could hear Jin Jae-hee’s voice from behind me.

“There’s probably a monarch of the streets here.”

Jin Jae-hee continued speaking, whether or not I responded.

“In other words, the group that was designated as being on the streets, not inside buildings, during Round 1. They’re likely the most powerful force in Round 2. Honestly, walking so openly on the streets like this is dangerous. Keep that in mind.”

I trudged through the snow, half-listening to her words.

No—if I were being honest, I was letting most of her words go in one ear and out the other.

“First, we need to establish a base. It would be better to choose a small villa that’s easier to defend rather than a large building. You shouldn’t compare Round 2 to Round 1. The dynamics will be completely different.”

Crunch—!

Suddenly, my foot sank deeply into the snow.

In an instant, I lost my balance and fell forward.

In front of me was a sheer drop.

My heart sank.

But my body didn’t fall—it was suspended in mid-air, as though held by something.

“…….”

After catching my breath, I turned my head.

Jin Jae-hee was holding onto my arm, preventing me from falling.

Judging by her voice earlier, it seemed like she had been following me from a fair distance.

Yet, somehow, she had reached me in time to grab me and keep me from falling.

Without any sign of strain, Jin Jae-hee resumed speaking.

“Be careful. Don’t think of this as the world you used to know. I’ll teach you little by little, but even after years, no one has uncovered all of this world’s secrets. Not even you in your past life.”

Guided by her hand, I stood back up.

Then, Jin Jae-hee walked ahead of me.

She was likely clearing the path for me.

“Think of the city as a wilderness. Never let your guard down. From the moment the League began, we humans became the lowest rung of the food chain.”

Jin Jae-hee moved ahead through the snow, creating a path.

Thanks to her, I could follow her steps more easily.

But I didn’t thank her, nor did I feel particularly grateful.

My mind was entirely consumed with thoughts of my younger brother.

As Jin Jae-hee’s explanations continued (most of which I wasn’t listening to), and as we waded through the snow, something flew in from the left.

Whoosh, slash—!

I was aware of it, but I couldn’t see it clearly.

When I turned my head to the left, there was a plant with tentacle-like vines writhing and bleeding, its sap spraying across the white snow.

Jin Jae-hee had already drawn her sword.

Before I could even register what had happened, Jin Jae-hee had sensed the danger and sliced through the monster that had lunged at me.

Shing—snap.

Sliding her sword back into its sheath, Jin Jae-hee began explaining.

“Snow Nepenthes. It hides in the snow and extends its tendrils to grab prey when it appears. And if it sees something shiny, it’ll go berserk and attack. A normal person wouldn’t even have time to react.”

“…….”

At that moment, Jin Jae-hee stopped in front of me and tore off the zipper from my padded jacket.

Snap.

With her immense strength, she removed it as easily as opening a can lid.

Rustle, rustle—.

The tendrils slithered back into the snow.

If Jin Jae-hee hadn’t been following me, I would have died here before even reaching home.

A fierce snowstorm howled, and visibility was so poor that I could barely see 10 meters ahead.

The world that had changed in just a few days was one that even the most adaptable humans couldn’t easily accept.

Winter.

Suddenly, that word terrified me beyond reason.

Each step toward the villa felt heavier.

The scenes of slaughter I had witnessed at the shopping mall kept replaying in my mind.

My younger brother, Junho, must have participated in the game too.

I hoped my brother was alive, but more than that vague hope, I was more terrified of how I might feel when I finally confirmed his condition.

“……I need to hurry.”

I trudged ahead of Jae-hee, crossing the bridge.

It wasn’t far to my house.

Once I crossed the bridge and walked about three blocks through the alley, I would see the villa.

Its name was even “Sarang Villa.”

“Hoo…….”

I panted for breath.

What should have been a ten-minute walk had taken two hours.

The entrance was covered in snow, and a few unfrozen corpses were sprawled near the villa.

The closer I got to the house, the faster my heart pounded.

I came to a halt.

The survivors from the shopping mall had all scattered, but only one woman had followed me.

Jin Jae-hee.

She was watching me, as if observing, from about three steps behind, slowly closing the distance.

I didn’t pay much attention to her.

I looked ahead.

Cracks ran through the building, and white alien vines were wrapped around its exterior walls.

Some small animals, which I had never seen on Earth, grazed on the grass in the distance.

They looked similar to deer, but their antlers glowed with a mysterious light.

The deer didn’t seem to pose a threat, but when I took one more step closer, they scattered.

Before entering the villa, I took a deep breath and turned to Jin Jae-hee.

It seemed she had no intention of leaving.

“Don’t come in here.”

My voice trembled and lacked strength.

She probably couldn’t hear me clearly.

Even so, Jin Jae-hee nodded.

After confirming her nod, I descended the stairs.

At the bottom of the dark staircase was the home my brother and I shared.

Unit 101.

I turned the doorknob, but it was locked.

I opened the flowerpot on the left and retrieved the spare key.

The key was still there.

Grasping the key, I unlocked the door.

Click.

The lock disengaged, and I carefully turned the doorknob.

Feeling tense, I applied some strength and pushed the door open.

Creak—.

The hinges made a loud noise.

And through the slightly open door, a foul stench wafted out.

My anxiety surged.