Five Time Regressor Walks the King’s Path - Chapter 31
Chapter 31
The village where he was born and raised was dying from an epidemic.
People fell ill one after another once the Degenerate Gods only heard of in rumors actually attacked the village.
And the disease took people in an instant.
“Mother, I’m back.”
The boy entered the old house holding a sword dripping with blood and a wild bird.
The house hadn’t been maintained for a long time so it was a mess, and his mother was slowly dying.
The mother suffered from the epidemic. She was dying and had lost her eyes, ears, and her organs were twisted. Despite her son approaching, she couldn’t even respond.
That was how the boy lived. He would use a dry towel to wipe down his mother’s body, covered in cold sweat, and eat the bird he caught.
He had a friend of the same age who lived next door, one he’d been close to since childhood and always went to the mountains with. They died.
There was a lady who always greeted him brightly and picked persimmons from the tree in front of her house. She died.
There was a small shop owner who yelled when the children in front of the game consoles were noisy, but would also hand out candy. They died.
News of the boy’s father, who left to find medicine to fight the epidemic, had been cut off.
And the following year…
The boy’s mother died.
That’s how the boy became alone.
“Tsk, all the villagers are dead.”
And the year after that, a group visited the village.
As they covered their mouths with a cloth and looked around the village, they clicked their tongues upon realizing all the villagers had succumbed to the epidemic.
The thought that it would not have been like this had they arrived earlier came to mind, but traveling around the world had limitations.
“Oh, there’s a person!”
At that moment, they spotted a boy trudging down the street.
They knew the boy was diseased, of course, but they weren’t cold enough to leave a survivor to perish.
They covered their bodies with aura to fend off the epidemic and rushed to the boy to question him.
The epidemic that spread throughout this town was a fatal disease that blinded the eyes, deafened the ears, and twisted the intestines.
Nevertheless, the boy was fine.
His clothes were a mess, and it’d been a while since he’d washed up, but the child showed no signs of infection.
In addition, despite the village’s collapse and lack of food for a prolonged period, his body looked healthy.
“This child…”
“Yes, it’s a peculiar constitution, one that’s innately spreading aura throughout the body.”
There were occasionally cases like this, people born with a special constitution.
In fact, though the boy was unaware, aura was flowing throughout his body.
The woman who approached the boy questioned him with a kind smile.
“How old are you, boy?”
“Eight years old.”
“…Eight?”
And the boy’s answer shocked them.
Although he was relatively small for a boy due to lack of nutrition, he looked to be at least fourteen years old in their eyes.
But he said he was eight years old.
Those gathered said he might’ve just mistaken his age, but the man at the group’s center was different.
He had noticed that the boy was born with overwhelming strength beyond the level of an ordinarily strong man.
“We’re taking this child.”
“What? Why?”
“I’ll raise him as a Phantom Hunter. He has more than enough talent.”
Recognizing the boy’s talent, the man lowered his posture to make eye contact with the child.
“What’s your name, boy?”
“Ho… Baek-San.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect this village. Even so, won’t you help me so this won’t happen to another village ever again?”
The man then stretched out his hand to the boy.
“……”
The boy didn’t answer, but he did take hold of the man’s hand.
Ho Baek-San was taken in by the Phantom Hunters, and following their teachings, has since grown into a Phantom Hunter himself.
Kang Min-Hyuk, the center of the group and the current leader of the Phantom Hunters, was right about Ho Baek-San. The boy had even gone beyond his expectations, as Ho Baek-San absorbed his skills as a Phantom Hunter.
Through combining that with his overwhelming body and unusual constitution that naturally handled aura, Ho Baek-San became the strongest amongst the Phantom Hunters.
“I want to go around by myself.”
Then Ho Baek-San asked Kang Min-Hyuk to stand alone.
Certainly, it was difficult for other Phantom Hunters to keep up with Ho Baek-San, and there were cases where he suffered damage while rescuing Phantom Hunters in danger.
Therefore, he decided that it was better to hunt alone.
“Baek-San, don’t just look at the present. Phantom Hunters should be a group. You can’t block everything by yourself.”
“Villages still disappear because of Degenerate Gods. I don’t think it’d be right to hold me back when time is of the essence. Plus, the Phantom Hunters have you, Brother Min-Hyuk. I’m just one member.”
When he heard that, Kang Min-Hyuk let out a disappointed sound.
Ho Baek-San had struggled alone to survive in that collapsed village when he was a child, and had forgotten how to socialize with people. It was the same when it came to the Phantom Hunters.
Nevertheless, Ho Baek-San was the first to rush to save others when a dangerous situation occurred. He had a sense of duty.
When he helplessly watched his mother die and lost his village, it was seared into his mind that it should never happen again.
“Please, Brother Min-Hyuk.”
Kang Min-Hyuk hoped that Ho Baek-San would change, little by little, while with the Phantom Hunters.
However, Ho Baek-San was much stronger than others, and only became more isolated.
In the end, Kang Min-Hyuk agreed. Ho Baek-San left the group and began hunting Degenerate Gods alone.
After Ho Baek-San left, various opinions began to clash within the group.
“Phantoms are also those who will one day become Degenerate Gods. What do you mean, we should just wait and see?”
“Don’t you know that Phantoms don’t harm humans?”
“Then are you telling me to keep my eyes open and watch as they become Degenerate Gods and cause another epidemic? How long are we going to chase after the backs of the Degenerate Gods?”
Phantoms fall when enraged with the world and become Degenerate Gods.
Therefore, if you kill a Phantom before they become a Degenerate God, you can prevent it from even happening.
They were arguing about such things.
However, Kang Min-Hyuk, the leader of the Phantom Hunters, didn’t accept it.
But most of the Phantom Hunters came from villages destroyed by the epidemics of Degenerate Gods, or those who had lost their families and held a grudge.
A few, like Kang Min-Hyuk, didn’t have any grudge against Phantoms. The complaints gradually piled up.
And at the end, the grudges burst like a broken dam, splitting the Phantom Hunters into two.
Those with Kang Min-Hyuk were Phantom Hunters who only targeted Degenerate Gods, while the other group of Phantom Hunters also hunted Phantoms.
Kang Min-Hyuk was opposed to catching the Phantoms, but it wasn’t like he didn’t understand, so the two groups were eventually completely separated.
At that time, Ho Baek-San was hunting for Degenerate Gods.
None of the so-called gods could stop him, and he saved countless villages.
When he stopped by a village, he arrived at a secluded house.
It was an old house that was about to collapse, but it was quite large.
As he was just in need of a place to rest, he entered it, but soon saw a strange sight.
There were children.
Young Phantoms and human children, to be exact.
“This is…”
“Who are you?”
The moment the curious children approached Ho Baek-San, a fire suddenly fell in-between them.
When Ho Baek-San looked at the fire that fell just short of his feet, he saw a woman with red, tied-up hair.
She was fiercely staring at Ho Baek-San, and seemed to be the guardian of the children.
“Go away, human. This place isn’t for you.”
Hearing the woman’s words, which made it sound as if she wasn’t human, Ho Baek-San realized she had to be a Phantom.
“I’m sorry. I thought the house was empty.”
He raised both his hands to show he had no intention of fighting, while her brows were sharply raised.
Ho Baek-San asked her questions while looking at the children around her.
“Are you raising Phantoms and humans together?”
“It’s none of your business.”
“I’m just curious.”
Wary of Ho Baek-San’s attitude of pure curiosity, she soon clicked her tongue and muttered.
“They’re all the same, just children who were left alone.”
Alone. Ho Baek-San showed a subtle reaction to the word.
For a child, being alone meant they had lost their parents.
That’s what it meant.
But the children looked bright.
Unlike he, who lived his entire life without laughter, these children were so bright and fearless they approached complete strangers.
If they, like him, had lost their parents, then they shouldn’t have been like that.
“……”
Feeling something wrong in his heart, after a while, Ho Baek-San was kicked out by the woman.
However, shortly after being kicked out, Ho Baek-San visited the house again.
His footsteps often headed to that house, chasing after the knot in his heart.
But he didn’t go in or anything of the sort. He simply left food in front of the house without saying a word.
It was during a time when food was difficult to obtain due to various problems, such as war, hunger, and Degenerate Gods.
During such a time, the food left by Ho Baek-San was irresistible. The children were full thanks to the food he left.
For nearly five years, it was a regular occurrence. Little by little, the owner of the house, that woman, began to open her heart to Ho Baek-San. During the fifth year, when he was about to leave food behind again, she appeared before him.
“Are you just going to leave food behind again?”
“Because I thought you didn’t like me very much.”
“It seems like you’ve never socialized even once in your life. It’s scarier to just leave food like this for five years. I’d rather talk to you.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve often heard that.”
“…Just come in. It’s hard to hide it now, when the children treat you like Santa. They’re determined to catch you someday.”
Ho Baek-San blinked at the mention of Santa. He saw her entering first, hesitated, and followed her.
“Oh, who is it?”
“It’s the first time Mom’s brought someone!”
“Are you husband material?”
“It’s who you guys always talk about, Santa.”
She sighed and replied to the chatter of the children gathered from all over the house.
Hearing her reply, the children’s eyes sparkled, and they began to flock around Ho Baek-San.
“Mister, are you Santa?”
“Thanks to you, there’s delicious food every day. It’s good even though Mom can’t cook!”
The children were brighter than they were five years ago.
At first, when faced with such children, Ho Baek-San wore a bitter look. Soon, though, the corners of his mouth slightly rose.
“That’s a relief.”
That day, for the first time since he’d lost his mother, Ho Baek-San smiled.
Even if it was very feeble.
