Five Time Regressor Walks the King’s Path - Chapter 28

Chapter 28

I was able to reach it in a single shot, walking down a road that had surprisingly few people.

Entering the door, there was a middle-aged woman in a white gown.

She looked at me with her eyes barely open, peering over her glasses, and soon she wore a light smile.

“Welcome, Mr. Ha Chun-Sung. You shouldn’t wear handcuffs when you meet people, so take those off.”

The moment she said that, I lightly tore off the handcuffs.

Then, when I pulled out a chair in front of her, Lee-Han and Sung-Ah stood next to me.

The rest seemed to be waiting outside.

“How was it, coming here? When I heard the news, I purposely asked people to stay away.”

“No wonder there weren’t any people.”

“I tried being a little considerate. Isn’t the human gaze the most uncomfortable thing?”

With a chuckle, she placed some juice in front of me.

“I’m Lee Ju-Hee, the head of the Phantom Research Institute. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Ha Chun-Sung.”

After I briefly greeted Lee Ju-Hee, she turned her attention to the people next to me.

“It’s fine for Mr. Lee-Han and Ms. Sung-Ah to leave.”

“But, Chief…”

“It’s okay.”

“Aunt Ju-Hee, don’t put your hands on Chun-Sung. I really need this kid.”

Sung-Ah went outside with Lee-Han after giving her parting words.

Lee Ju-Hee smiled broadly while watching the two.

“I heard already, but a Phantom Ending has really begun. There are often Phantoms with appearances on the human side, but it’s the first time I’ve seen one with my own eyes.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s only half complete.”

“I know. I called you because of that fact.”

Lee Ju-Hee put a kit in front of me as she said so.

“I made it in a hurry. It’s a kit that can tell whether you will become a Degenerate God or not afterward.”

She made such a thing in a short time.

Lee Ju-Hee walked around wearing a bitter smile as I looked at her strangely.

“I made it since I thought I could distinguish whether or not a Phantom would become a Degenerate God, but all I found out was that every Phantom has the potential to become one. Thanks to you, I’ll be able to see the light just this once.”

Is she trying to say that the Phantom Hunters also tried to find a compromise with the Phantoms?

“If the Degenerate Gods weren’t the cause of the epidemic, we wouldn’t have a reason to do this.”

I got the kit from Lee Ju-Hee, still smiling bitterly, and put my finger into it.

At that moment, blood flowed into the kit with a stinging sensation, and Lee Ju-Hee heard it and confirmed with a light smile.

“Congratulations. It says you have no chance of becoming a Degenerate God.”

Lee Ju-Hee said so as she opened a can of juice and continued questioning me.

“Now, what are you going to do in the future? Are you going to continue your Phantom Hunter work?”

“For now.”

“Ms. Sung-Ah will be happy. It seems she’s taken a liking to you. I’d love to study you if I could, but it’s a shame that Ms. Sung-Ah already left her threat behind.”

“Ho Sung-Ah must be in a pretty high position here.”

“It seems you don’t know? Ms. Sung-Ah is the first daughter of the fourth Phantom Hunter family, Baek-Ho. In terms of force, it’s the most famous family. Recently, the Baek-Ho family has been looking for strong men as successors. It probably came to that since Ms. Sung-Ah, the legitimate successor, doesn’t seem to have much interest in hunting Phantoms.”

I did think she was a woman from a high position, but I’ve been linked to quite a few important people right from the start.

And to find a successor for such a family…

I might have to talk to Sung-Ah about this.

“What about Lee-Han?”

“He’s the only son of the eighth family, Heuk-Ho, famous for their spearmanship. Not as good as Ms. Sung-Ah, but Mr. Lee-Han also comes from a good background.”

That’s why the masked guys were so troubled.

“It’s common knowledge amongst Phantom Hunters, so it’s weird you don’t know.”

When Lee Ju-Hee looked at me questioningly, I casually tapped my forehead.

“When the Phantom encroached on my body, my memories faded away. It’s quite ambiguous, and I even forgot the location of the headquarters.”

With my natural lies, Lee Ju-Hee looked suspicious for a moment, but ultimately retreated.

She probably didn’t want to get involved.

“I want to ask you one thing.”

“I’ll answer anything I can.”

“Do you know where the phantom called the Preeminent Fury is?”

Lee Ju-Hee paused after hearing my question, with an expression as if she was unsure if I was seriously asking her that.

“You’re not planning on going to the Preeminent Fury, are you?”

“I’m going.”

“Crazy. Suicide. Have you forgotten all about the Preeminent Fury too?”

“Should I say I forgot? I have no memory at all, but right after my body became like this, I was told to visit the Preeminent Fury.”

Lee Ju-Hee had a strange expression when I talked with a moderate mixture of lies.

“Is there some reason for the Phantoms to gather around the Preeminent Fury?”

It seemed to have created a new misunderstanding, but it was none of my business.

Because that’s not what I wanted to know.

“Who is this Preeminent Fury?”

“They are the biggest enemy of us, the Phantom Hunters. A Phantom that even the strongest Phantom Hunter, Ho Baek-San, couldn’t kill. It’s no exaggeration to say that Phantoms began to confront humans because of that one.”

Then she crushed the can she had finished.

Ho Baek-San, the strongest Phantom Hunter… And this woman was giving me the information I needed.

‘Was she the narrator of this world?’

What she told me was basic common knowledge in this world, but I listened silently, guessing what her role was.

“Originally, the purpose of Phantom Hunters was only to hunt Degenerate Gods, not Phantoms. However, from the moment the Preeminent Fury decided to confront humans, numerous Phantoms began to attack humans. As a result, Phantom Hunters were destined to fight not only the Degenerate Gods, but also the Phantoms.”

Lee Ju-Hee took a small breath and covered her face, as if she didn’t even want to imagine it.

“For some reason, it’s currently resting. But if the Preeminent Fury moves again, there’s no one left to block it anymore. Ho Baek-San is also dying of infectious diseases, so please don’t do anything that would anger the Preeminent Fury.”

Lee Ju-Hee spoke with the tone of a request. I pondered her words before speaking.

“Sorry, my common knowledge is lacking. Can you help me? With books or classes.”

She looked a little relieved when I obediently acquiesced.

“I will register you for classes for prospective Phantom Hunters starting tomorrow. Take those and fill in your common knowledge.”

“I’d love to.”

There was no reason to refuse when they were offering information.

“Then we’ll contact you. Thank you for your time. If you go outside, the guide will come.”

With those words, I got up from my seat and began to walk outside.

When I glanced back at Lee Ju-Hee before opening the door, she mouthed, “Don’t touch the Preeminent Fury,” until I left the room.

“You’re back? Did anything happen?”

When I came out, Sung-Ah was waiting in front for and made a fuss.

I left her alone and talked to Lee-Han, who seemed to be able to communicate.

“I requested to take a preliminary Phantom Hunter class to study why I became like this, and about the Phantoms. Oh, and there’s no possibility of me becoming a Degenerate God.”

“Yeah, we also received the news via text. They said if one of us accompanied you it wouldn’t be a problem for now.”

“Me! Me! I want to go with you!”

Lee-Han smiled bitterly and nodded as Sung-Ah raised her hand in a voracious manner

“Okay. Sung-Ah will accompany you and I’ll go report. Ha Chun-Sung, you should also go and rest for today.”

After leaving the two, I followed the guide and entered the room that Lee Ju-Hee prepared.

It was a simple room with only one bed.

I slumped down onto the bed and looked down at my right arm.

They said this arm, having undergone Phantom Ending, was definitely transmitted by Authority.

‘The day passed by quite quickly, but there was a lot of important information.’

I slowly began to reflect on the information I got today.

Phantoms, Preeminent Fury, Phantom Hunters… I imagined the world of this Floor once more.

‘I was familiar with the information that was forcefully injected, but this Floor still had an exceptionally large amount of information.’

Sword Queen. I can see why you’ve been on the safe zone Floor gathering information for so long.

It was an easier challenge than the witch’s grievance, but seemed more difficult to break through all the Floors.

‘It is bad to move recklessly on a Floor like this. It’s best to gather as much information as possible as it comes. Until we find out the location of the Preeminent Fury, the target of the Floor.’

Having concluded so, I first decided to sleep.

I knew that there would be a disturbance if I disappeared from here right now, so this world’s Ha Chun-Sung decided to behave.

* * *

The next day, I headed to the preliminary Phantom Hunter class with Sung-Ah, who had been here since the morning.

Sung-Ah was smiling as we walked down the corridor and watched as every student bowed their head as soon as they saw her.

Sung-Ah definitely seemed to be a high-ranking person in this world.

They showed interest in me, who was walking with Sung-Ah, and rumors spread quickly after attending the preliminary class.

“A Phantom?”

“No, they said he’s a half-turned human.”

“Is there such a thing as a half-Phantom? Isn’t it just a humanoid Phantom? Why’s such a dangerous…”

“Sung-Ah is taking him around, so there must be a reason.”

It had already been three days since I learned the common knowledge of this world, one by one, amid many words.

Compared to the topic of conversation for the past three days, my classmates were slowly losing interest in me, maybe because I only attended classes.

But there were people interested in me besides the prospective Phantom Hunter kids.

It was the current Phantom Hunters.

Some of them often came to visit me and examine my condition of becoming a half-Phantom. They also held discussions with each other.

Perhaps thanks to my calmness over the past three days, the vigilance against me seemed to have decreased little by little.

But above all, I was originally a Phantom Hunter in this world.

Although I was in F-class, their vigilance seemed to have faded faster because I had a career as a Phantom Hunter.

‘Ah, I’m starting to dislike it.’

Maybe it was because I stayed calm listening to classes for three days, but I started to get tired of just waiting around.

‘Sword Queen said her group had already collected information. It seems this Floor is one that can only be cleared with time.’

For me who had been drilling through the Floors with simple ignorance, this Floor was more boring than I’d expected.

Eventually, I became just a Phantom Hunter with a half-completed Phantom Ending, even in the eyes of other Phantom Hunters. As usual, I entered the preliminary Phantom Hunter class with Sung-Ah.

And I soon doubted my eyes.

“Oh, isn’t this Mr. Ha Chun-Sung?”

“Bambi.”

“Haha. It’s Grand Wizard again, but it’s better to be called like that.”

I didn’t expect him to catch up with me.

Well, Bambi was also a veteran regressor.

It wouldn’t have been that hard to get here.

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