Chapter 523: Partial Confinement (1)

Regressor Instruction Manual

‘...’

‘Where am I?’

I saw an unfamiliar room upon waking up. The luxurious interior reminded me of my previous room, but for some reason, I wasn’t happy. To be exact, the room was almost the same as my previous room. The alchemist kit I often used was sitting in one corner, and the classic and antique furniture was there as well.

It was the same for my luxurious collection, which was displayed on one side of the room. The Chanel Hermes was there, and there were interesting-looking luxury items.

I didn’t know where they came from, but it was highly likely that Kim Hyun-Sung brought them here. No, I was sure that he brought them here when I saw that the displayed items were mostly bags.

He definitely thought that I liked bags because I was happy when he gifted me the infinity bag.

Obviously, my interest in the luxury items didn’t last that long because the room itself caught my attention. It was larger than my previous room.

‘What the…’

It seemed as if they had forcefully expanded the room because they were worried that I might feel suffocated being inside a small room. If I were to exaggerate a bit, it was so big that I could run around in it.

There was a chessboard on top of a large desk, and the chessboard looked as if an artisan had made it by hand the bookshelf attached to the wall was filled with books worth reading. It looked as if they had placed all this here so that I wouldn’t get bored, and I couldn’t help but feel anxious upon realizing it.

“What’s this?”

I got up slowly. My legs were unsteady, so I almost fell, but fortunately, my body still knew how to walk. I looked around while walking toward the door, and I reached out to the doorknob upon arriving in front of it.

Rattle, rattle.

“What’s going on?”

Rattle, rattle, rattle.

The door wouldn’t open, and I suddenly felt this sense of incongruity.

‘Where are the windows?’

I wanted to know what was going on outside, but there wasn’t a single window in this large room. If I were in a small room, I probably wouldn’t feel this sense of incongruity.

The room was huge, and unless the designer was out of his mind or was up for an extreme challenge, there was no way that they would design a room like this. I wasn’t sure of this, but I cautiously came up with one answer.

‘Damn it, am I in prison?’

I suddenly recalled my time at the Cursed Shrine with Jung Ha-Yan. However, I shook my head when I recalled Jung Ha-Yan’s figure that day. There was no way she would kidnap me and cause more trouble.

Naturally, I was just assuming things here, so I wanted someone to come here and explain what was going on to me. Dealing with the aftermath was more important than the result and the progression of the incident, so I naturally had many things to do.

I still had to apologize to the entire nation while crying, and there were some places I had to visit. I could already feel a headache coming when I thought about how difficult it would be to take care of the Federation, not to mention restore it.

The entire region could already be considered ownerless land, so it was important for us to make a decision about it. I also had to take care of public opinion as well as the continental joint training that was definitely gaining momentum right now.

‘I also need to reorganize things.’

I could ask Lee Ji-Hye to do it, but I couldn’t let her handle all of those issues. All of mankind had to unite to overcome the pain and recover, but Lindel’s three major guilds were at the center of everything.

I felt like sleeping due to the headache, but I couldn’t do that. I started tapping the bed with my finger as I thought about many things. Soon, the door was opened slowly. I looked in the direction of the noise and was surprised to see Sun Hee-Young.

Crash.

It seemed that she was surprised as well because she inadvertently dropped the flower pot that she was holding. It seemed that the small garden in one corner of the room had a manager. I wasn’t sure how I should react, so I smiled.

“M-Mr. Lee Ki-Young…” Sun Hee-Young stuttered.

I saw her running towards me with a surprised face. The tears that filled her eyes were rolling down her face, and she hugged me tightly. She reacted like someone who was hugging her lover who had just recovered from a vegetative state. I wasn’t sure of this, but she was probably the one who had been taking care of me all this time.

“Mr. Lee Ki-Young. Mr. Lee Ki-Young,” she repeated.

“Yes, I’m right here,” I said.

“Heuk… Mr. Lee Ki-Young,” she called out again.

“Yes, Miss Hee-Young. By the way… I can’t breathe…” I mumbled.

“Mr. Lee Ki-Young. Mr. Lee Ki-Young…!” she exclaimed.

She was still hugging me. I wasn’t annoyed or anything, but I really was having a hard time breathing. I tapped her shoulder, and her face turned red.

“Ah! Ah! I’m sorry…” she apologized.

“No, you don’t have to apologize, Miss Hee-Young. By the way, where am I…” I looked around.

“I’m sure you have many questions. I’ll contact the guild master right away. The others have been waiting for you to wake up. I’m glad. I’m really glad. Heuk…!” she said.

“...”

“Will you be fine if I check your condition first? Since you just woke up…” she trailed off.

“Yes, of course,” I answered.

I nodded slowly, and she examined me while crying.

I could feel her hand groping around in places that didn’t have to be checked, but it seemed that she was examining me properly based on her serious face. I was sure that I was fine, but I was even more relieved when I saw her examining me.

‘The physical exam is over.’

This examination couldn’t be more definitive. I arranged my clothes and looked at Sun Hee-Young again.

“I couldn’t find anything particularly wrong with you. You’re in great condition. I’ve been monitoring your condition, but I’m really glad that you’re okay, even though you’re already awake,” she said with a sigh.

“Right. By the way, Miss Hee-Young—” I started.

“Before that, aren’t you hungry? Drink some water first, and I’ll have them serve you porridge for now. It’s been a while since you’ve eaten, so it’s best to eat food that isn’t too heavy so your stomach can digest it. You can drink a potion as well,” she suggested.

“...”

‘I feel like she’s changing the subject.’

I tried to ask her again, but she would change the subject frantically. She was probably doing that because she knew what I wanted to ask her. It was obviously strange seeing her forcefully avoiding my questions, and it was even more obvious that she didn’t want to answer because she had never really been that great of an actor.

‘So you don’t want to tell me, huh?’

The one who brought me to this room wasn’t Sun Hee-Young or Jung Ha-Yan. To be exact, I was sure that they were part of it, but it was probably the entire Blue Guild, including him.

‘Kim Hyun-Sung, you bastard—’

My train of thought was interrupted by the faces I hadn’t seen in quite a while. I wasn’t sure what they had been doing before receiving the news just now, but they were armed, including Jung Ha-Yan and Park Deok-Gu.

They cried and ran toward me. Jung Ha-Yan was especially touched because her face was covered in tears and snot, but I could see that she had grown more mature than before.

“You’re awake,” Jo Hye-Jin said.

“It’s been a while, Miss Hye-Jin,” I greeted.

“It’s been a really long time, Sub Guild Master,” Ahn Ki-Mo greeted.

“It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Ahn Ki-Mo,” I said.

“Sub Guild Master…”

‘Yoo Ah-Young, Lee Chang-Ryeol, and the rookies…’

I saw Han Sora as well. Since Elena wasn’t here, she had definitely gone on a business trip to take care of the elves’ issues. I patted Jung Ha-Yan’s head, who was hugging one of my arms, and I saw new unfamiliar faces when I looked around.

‘Who are they…’

They were wearing the guild’s badge on their chests.

‘Who are they? Did they hire new guild staffers?’

However, their stats were telling me that they weren’t ordinary guild staffers.

‘Did they recruit new party members?’

I looked at the unfamiliar group in confusion. Kim Hyun-Sung grabbed my weak hand with an emotional look. I felt like I had seen him just a few days ago, but he was acting as if we hadn’t seen each other in ten months.

He was crying this time, too.

‘Stop crying, man.’

“You’re awake.”

“Yes. Where—I mean, Mr. Hyun-Sung. Can you… tell me what happened?” I asked.

“You don’t have to be worried about it, and the issue has been resolved,” Kim Hyun-Sung replied.

“I see…” I said.

“The demons appeared, and the Continental Union fought them. We managed to save you, and Benigoa appeared…”

‘I know that’s not all…’

“...That’s how we won. W-We managed to save you with the help of these people,” he stuttered.

At last, I finally realized why he decided to put me in this room. Everyone was in on this show. They were busy nodding at Kim Hyun-Sung’s ridiculously short story, and I could see that they were trying to prank me as if I were a fool.

I easily saw through what they wanted to do and what they were thinking. They were trying to limit my exposure to the outside world to control my recovery. They were probably thinking that I would get confused if I were to recover my memory too fast.

I wasn’t sure when they were going to reveal everything, but they probably thought that it was too early for any reveals.

‘Should I just tell them that I remember everything?’

It could be a better choice than dragging this on. I knew that they were going to act cautious, but they were being more cautious than I expected.

It was ridiculous how they were reacting to Kim Hyun-Sung’s every word.

Kim Ye-Ri, Ahn Ki-Mo, and Hwang Jung-Yeon were acting pretty well, but Kim Hyun-Sung, the director of this play, made things awkward by saying his lines as if he were reading them from a book.

“It has been quite a while since then, but pitch-black mana is still floating around outside,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

‘Stop lying, you bastard. There’s no dark mana floating around…’

“According to the experts, the mana could have a fatal effect on you,” he continued.

‘The setting is really bad.’

“So… I think it’s best if you remain here for the time being,” he suggested.

Kim Hyun-Sung was trying to create a believable story to shove me in here. Soon, he was done talking. I felt kind of anxious about what he was trying to do, but I thought that it wouldn’t last that long.

‘There’s no way they’ll lock me up in here, right? If I want to get some fresh air, I’m sure they’ll let me go outside. What’s the big deal?’

And just like that, two weeks passed by in a flash…

Damn it...