Chapter 12: Regression and Transmigration

After a long, circuitous journey, Hyeonwol finally set foot on the threshold of Wolsigak’s main headquarters in the evening with a weary face.

He was finally able to remove his thin, light blue long robe and don a thicker, warmer black outfit.

The person who had come out to the front gate with the clothes upon receiving advance notice was Wolsigak’s Deputy Head—Yoon Je-eun.

Having learned that Hyeonwol had gotten caught up in complicated affairs, she had been restless at his delay, far longer than expected.

“Kang Ryun!

How could you just watch the Head running around in this weather like this!

Couldn’t you have at least taken off your own clothes and draped them over him?”

Though middle-aged, the robust woman was not only exceptional at handling information but also a peak-level martial arts master.

With movements as quick as her skills warranted, she draped the black robe over Hyeonwol’s shoulders and immediately began scolding Kang Ryun.

“I’m sorry, Mother… but I came out without an outer garment myself, ow!

That hurts!”

“Calling this one a guard!

And I told you to call me Deputy Head.

You only call me Mother when you’re trying to worm your way out of trouble, you brat!

Do you think I don’t know that outside you’re all ‘Deputy Head this, Deputy Head that‘!”

With the warm squabbling between mother and son as background noise, Hyeonwol slipped his arms into the black robe, serenely took out his pipe from his bosom, put it in his mouth, and turned his gaze to the sky.

Perhaps it was because so many things had rushed at him.

Though he had surely looked up at the same sky during the day, it felt like seeing it for the first time in ages.

As the tobacco burned and a pain-relieving effect spread through his body, he regained some composure.

Hyeonwol looked down at the girl clinging tightly to his side.

After the chaotic situation from earlier had settled, Seol Cheon-yu had vanished like a ghost, unilaterally announcing that he needed to report to his sect and would visit again later.

Wrapping the still-trembling child together in his long robe, Hyeonwol walked into the inner courtyard and spoke.

“Je-eun.

It seems I’ll need to stay in my quarters for a few days, so let me use a spare room.

And please prepare some food.

The child says she hasn’t eaten for days, so make it something mild.”

“Understood.

What are you doing, you brat Kang Ryun!

Hurry along to the kitchen and inform them!”

“Ow ow ow, I’m going.

I’m going!”

Hyeonwol finally felt some stability and let out a laugh.

Having been tense for the first time in a long while since going to war, he wasn’t in great condition, but work needed to be done.

Passing through the outer courtyard that handled Wolsigak’s overall affairs and entering the inner quarters of the residential area, he smiled satisfactorily at the Head’s room, which was cleanly tidied despite his long absence.

It was reassuring to know someone always looked after his accommodations.

Before entering the inner room, Hyeonwol put away his pipe, having dispersed the smoke, and turned toward Yoon Je-eun, who had taken it upon herself to act as guard in place of Kang Ryun, who had been chased off to the kitchen.

“Please give me that report you said was urgent, albeit late.”

“Ah, before that…

His Highness the Crown Prince stopped by earlier today.”

“…I happened to hear about that.

I’ll contact His Highness separately.”

At Hyeonwol’s distinctly haggard complexion, Yoon Je-eun wore a worried expression.

The Hyeonwol she knew, no matter how exhausted, would burn even brighter and tackle work—he never had such a wilted seaweed-like face—though harsh, no one was there to point it out either.

“Please sit down first.

I heard you had a difficult day today.

By the way, Head, that child is…”

“Ah.

This child has also suffered for a long time; it seems her body is stiff from excessive tension.”

The nameless Blood Cult child was still clinging tightly inside Hyeonwol’s black robe, trembling with only her eyes showing.

Yoon Je-eun guessed that was why Hyeonwol couldn’t sit down, but before that, she was worried that if she reported in this state, the child would hear everything.

Catching on, Hyeonwol waved his hand weakly.

“Anyway, it’s fine.

I’ll sit when the food comes, but first, the information.

Is it about the Demonic Cult?

Did you spot Seol Cheon-yu below the Ten Thousand Great Mountains?”

“…That as well, but there’s intelligence that the old cult leader has retired and the young cult leader—Seol Cheon-yu—has been inaugurated as the new Heavenly Demon.

It’s almost certain.”

“…….”

Hyeonwol barely managed to grab hold of his fleeing soul.

Damn original story.

Nothing matched!

Surely, at this time, young Seol Cheon-yu should have been causing trouble, finely adjusting his political schemes and martial displays to gain recognition from the other Demonic Cult elders as a successor to one elder.

Despite cult intelligence a few months ago that he had risen to young cult leader as the official successor, he had thought it couldn’t be.

But now he had already ascended to cult leader, and on top of that, he was tracking the Blood Cult—which in the original story had been scheming against the Demonic Cult—and appearing in the martial world?

And why had the old cult leader supposedly retired?

His head throbbed, but beyond pressing his brow, there was no recourse.

No….

Well.

If the protagonist grew faster than the original development, that was a good thing if viewed positively.

But the reunion had been too sudden and unexpected….

And Seol Cheon-yu, smiling so freely the whole time—Hyeonwol wasn’t that oblivious—had been quite… harmful to his psyche.

How could it be otherwise when the chilling scene from the end of his previous life still vividly appeared in his dreams?

For Hyeonwol, the memory of the young, innocent Seol Cheon-yu he had briefly encountered decades ago was insufficient to counteract this.

The sensation of the cold blade piercing near his heart frequently surfaced, and as time passed, it only added strength to that nightmare.

Still, there had been gains from today.

Hyeonwol steadied his mind positively again and slowly knelt before the child, who was still watching cautiously.

Putting on his kindest smile, he began trying to appear harmless.

Fortunately, his appearance was a conventionally handsome type that people of all ages and genders didn’t dislike, so Hyeonwol’s tricks usually worked well.

“Come to think of it, I never asked your name.

What is your name?”

“Th…that is…”

“No one here will hurt you, and you won’t go hungry.

Speak comfortably.”

“I, I don’t really have a name….

No.

I do have one, but it’s…”

The small child, having lost the warmth she had been clinging to because Hyeonwol was now positioned in front of her, began hesitating even more.

Hyeonwol patiently waited for the child to calm down further.

At his composed demeanor, she soon seemed to settle a bit and quietly opened her mouth.

“Please call me Lin…”

“That’s a lovely name.”

Yoon Je-eun added a word.

She seemed to have felt pity for the child trembling like an abandoned animal.

Hyeonwol nodded along with her, putting on a gentle face, then brought up the main topic with a somewhat determined expression.

“A-Lin, I’m sorry to ask while you must still be confused, but there’s something I need to confirm urgently.

Did you know Seol Cheon-yu from before?”

Lin, having been in an extreme environment for a long time, hadn’t yet properly regained her senses and couldn’t immediately grasp Hyeonwol’s intent.

Perhaps thinking she would be interrogated about the Blood Cult she had belonged to, the child answered with a puzzled face.

“W, well, because he was the leader of the Demonic Cult that was our target of operation… his appearance was naturally…”

“Not that.

I mean the ‘protagonist’ Seol Cheon-yu.”

The child’s mouth fell wide open.

After stammering for a moment, her voice soon filled with shock and joy.

“Could you be a transmigrator too?”

So it was transmigration.

Quickly understanding, Hyeonwol smiled warmly and replied.

“You’re Korean, right?

Let’s eat first.”

***

As if proving she hadn’t eaten for three days, the moment the food arrived, Lin devoured each dish heartily.

Her grateful chopstick movements were thoroughly vigorous, a sight that warmed those watching.

As expected, rice gave Koreans strength.

Having filled her stomach adequately, the child, having regained some light in her eyes, began to be curious about many things, and Hyeonwol also had much to ask Lin.

Lin seemed to have been bright by nature; though she must have been exhausted, she regained a cheerful demeanor almost without trace.

After Yoon Je-eun withdrew, saying they should speak comfortably, their first conversation was about each other’s circumstances.

“What?

The head of Wolsigak says you weren’t transmigrated but reincarnated?

And even regressed?

I just… I was reading some lousy webnovel on my phone, and then everything went dark, and next thing I knew, I was transmigrated here.

I didn’t regress or anything….

When I realized I’d entered someone else’s body, the original owner’s memories gradually surfaced.”

“Ah… do you remember roughly when that was?”

“It’s hazy since I was really young, but it was probably over ten years ago.”

“I see….

It doesn’t seem related to my regression, then.

Understood.

Then could you tell me what happened afterward?

Of course, I’ll also tell you everything without hiding.”

“Of course!

What benefit would there be in hiding things?

So, I was… just one of the ordinary orphans kidnapped from various places to be raised as martial artists in the Blood Cult.

When I was young, I was too busy training and surviving to properly figure things out, so at the time, I had no idea what kind of world this was.

But I realized when I was tasked with infiltrating the Demonic Cult disguised as a peasant family.

When I saw the appearance and name of the promising rising star and likely next cult leader within the Demonic Cult—Seol Cheon-yu.

For some reason, when I transmigrated, most memories of my original self in my original world became hazy, but I remembered the novels I’d read quite well.”

“I see.

Memories being hazy… I have that too.

You must have been through a lot, truly.”

“Haha, I’ll return that sentiment to you.

Anyway, please speak comfortably!

Since you even regressed, you’re definitely older than me, and you’re my lifesaver….

I really thought I was going to die right there, caught by the actual protagonist!

Like some common extra….”

Hearing foreign words for the first time in decades, Hyeonwol newly felt the reality of the world he and Lin knew.

Hyeonwol had never once thought this world they were in was merely a created one; it was too familiar and precious, and he no longer wished to return to his original world, to which he had no great memories or attachment.

Still, sensing the reality of another world made him feel somewhat unfamiliar.

Hyeonwol, briefly immersed in sentiment, continued his thoughts.

A reincarnator who had regressed once, and a transmigrator.

Though their situations seemed to have nothing in common, they shared one biggest commonality.

Neither had ever been mentioned in the original story—they were minor characters.

What meaning did this hold?

“Then I’ll speak comfortably.

Having lived long in this world, this side is more familiar….

Thank you for being considerate.

However, I think you’ve probably already guessed… the original story seems to have changed a lot.

Do you have any information you know?”

“Ah!

Right, right.

I was too flustered earlier and forgot.

I was also incredibly surprised, but honestly, I have no idea.

Surely, Seol Cheon-yu becoming young cult leader should have happened after he came of age at least…

And seeing that he immediately inherited the cult leader position because the old cult leader even retired, the internal situation seems to have progressed much faster and more intensely than in the original.

Besides, Seol Cheon-yu discovering clues about the Blood Cult and starting to raid their base was years later….”

“Wait, you mean you know the developments after Seol Cheon-yu emerged into the martial world?

The serialization went that far?”

“Yes?

Yes….

As far as I remember.”

Before Lin, tilting her head, Hyeonwol quickly racked his brain.

He didn’t suspect Lin of hiding anything or distorting the truth.

When he first saw her, the child had trembled purely from fear of death, and before the lifeline she happened upon, she showed pure relief.

Hyeonwol was more capable than anyone of discerning the truth in such attitudes.

Yet there was a discrepancy in their memories.

The serialization Hyeonwol remembered definitely cut off right after Seol Cheon-yu emerged into the martial world, but the serialization Lin remembered included developments after that.

Hyeonwol slightly furrowed his brow.

Was this simply due to the time difference—that his reincarnation and Lin’s transmigration occurred at different times?

Or had the timeline before his regression influenced things?