Regressor Instruction Manual

“Hahahahaha."

“Hahahaha!”

“You’ve taken your joke too far! Hahahaha!”

“Hahahahahahaha!”

They were treating me like a child ignorant about the world.

‘These idiots are getting on my nerves.’

“...”

“...”

“So, hahaha! So, what does the genius commander plan on doing? Are you going to read another book? Hahaha.”

They’ll mock me no matter what I say, but I can't stay quiet. Regardless of whether they mocked me or not, I needed to show that I was right. For now, I had no choice but to tell them the plan that even I thought was ridiculous.

“My party is going to use Harizel as our base. We’re going to purchase information about a dungeon from a guild that’s selling it for cheap in order to raise funds. While Rohen is focused on the Demon King’s Castle, we’re going to clear a Level 3 dung—”

“Hahahahaha!”

“Hahahahahahaha!”

“Hahahahaha!”

“I see. Yes, you should start with a Level 3 dungeon!”

“Hahahahahahaha!”

They weren't even trying to hide it anymore. Bringing laughter to the tense meeting room was a remarkable achievement, but this wasn’t what I wanted.

As a rookie, I couldn’t help but feel confused.

“Uh… ah… S-So…” I stuttered and lowered my head out of shame.

I tried to explain the evidence that could support the argument I had made earlier with a barely audible voice, but of course, these jerks weren’t going to listen to me.

Someone with a tender heart would probably cry in this situation, and the wound in their heart would be so deep that they would never recover from it.

However, I had always been a stubborn one, so I didn’t lose courage even amidst the mocking.

Of course, it was also because…

Boom!

It was also because I knew William was going to slam his hand on the table.

The room immediately became quiet, as no one had ever laughed.

William’s red face showed everyone his fury.

It was probably because the owner of the Flower and Fertility Familia was being ridiculed, or he couldn’t stand the laughter in the meeting room, but I knew he was going to step in.

He was so passionate that I was grateful for him.

“I’m sure I…” William paused.

“...”

“I'm sure I told all of you that Mr. Lee Ki-Young is a member of the Flower and Fertility Familia,” William continued.

“...”

“Can I consider your actions just now as an insult to the Flower and Fertility Familia?” William asked.

‘This is nice.’

Normally, they would take control of the meeting, but these people had to have thought that his threat was a warning. They started talking slyly, as if trying to show that they were a member of the five major familias.

“I’m sorry, Mr. William.”

“It looks like we went a bit too far.”

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to,” William said.

‘They just don’t want to apologize to me.’

Their twitching eyebrows indicated that they were feeling uncomfortable, but they weren’t dumb.

“I’m sorry.”

“We took the joke a little too far.”

“I’m sorry, Genius Commander. Did we offend you?”

Their apology was completely different from when they apologized to William.

“Please understand, Genius Commander. If you were here a bit sooner, you’d understand our reaction,” Francoise said.

“...”

The arrogant fool then added, asking, “Before we hear that brilliant plan of yours… I want to ask a question. Do you really think there will be an expedition in a world where danger doesn’t exist?"

“...”

“In this place, the more dangerous the expedition is, the more rewards you will earn. Are you saying all of that while knowing how the Flower and Fertility Familia developed? How can we not laugh when a member of the familia, who had made the biggest contribution during the invasion of a mainstream monster, is saying such things?”

“That’s…” I mumbled.

“At the time, everyone said it was impossible, but William managed to achieve it. Genius Commander, experts like you all said that it was impossible. When they said we needed to retreat because we had no chance, it was William, the city’s hero, who turned the tables with a swing of his sword.

"Do you really think that the others here are any different from him? There are Level 3 players who cleared Level 5 dungeons, and there are familias who defeated a drake, despite not knowing how to defeat it at the time,” Francoise said.

‘They’re bragging just because they took down a few drakes.’

“Chance, impossible, and danger are words that we've heard so many times… it’s pretty funny…” Francoise mumbled.

“...”

“If you think you can figure out everything about Rohen just by reading a few books, you’re mistaken. Do you think we’re stupid?” Francoise asked.

‘Yeah, you are stupid.’

“No one here thinks this dungeon is going to be easy. Not enough information? It happens, but if we don’t do anything just because we know nothing, how can we get the information we need? Sure, we may look stupid in your eyes since you have such a smart brain.

"It’s fine if you think we’re a bunch of reckless, careless fools because most of us never properly learned military tactics. But you know, we remember the lessons we learned while getting to where we are today,” Francoise explained.

“...”

“Nothing will get resolved if we don’t face it head-on,” Francoise said.

“...”

“And we won’t get anything out of it. We can’t climb the ladder, and we’ll always remain in the same place. Do you…” she paused.

“...”

“Understand what I’m saying?” Francoise asked.

The idiot looked pretty satisfied after her lecture.

A few of the other idiots were agreeing with her words, with their nostrils flaring. It seemed like they were trying to cosplay as tough guys, but in my eyes, they survived because they were just lucky.

I was sure they had gone through the process of increasing their chances of survival by becoming stronger and wearing powerful items, but that was all. Their command system was primitive, and the process of preparing for hunts and expeditions was so underdeveloped that it was hard to take them seriously.

To put it bluntly, the only reason they had survived this long was that they had yet to meet an opponent that they couldn’t handle. I was sure that one wrong move and half of these guys would die.

Monster invasion? Level 5 dungeons? Drakes instead of dragons? I had no idea how many mainstream events they had experienced so far, but the Demon King of Sunset wasn’t an opponent that they could handle by taking chances.

Would they be able to say the same thing even while standing before a being they couldn’t handle? Even if they were prepared, it wouldn’t be enough, but they actually wanted to decide after facing him first?

Rohen wasn’t a world where one could try again upon death.

'If you die, that’s it.'

If they wanted to know his attack patterns as well as the size of the dungeon, they had to establish a safe zone within the grayish sunset zone.

“But…”

“No matter what you say, we’re not going to listen to you. Ah. I’d like to apologize for my rudeness earlier. It was just… funny. Now do you understand why we laughed?” Francoise asked and glanced at William.

It was like she was asking what he thought. She wanted to know if he agreed with them and if he was one of them.

‘You’re not leaving your roots, are you?’

'Even if every one of them turns against me, Will won’t. You’re on my side, right?'

Of course, I didn’t need to worry. It seemed like the effects of the mocking incident were still there because he wasn't staring at them in a kind way.

“Are we wrong, William?” Francoie asked.

“...”

“...”

Just then, a bombshell was dropped, and the impact was devastating.

“The Flower and Fertility Familia will stay out of this,” William said.

Their reaction was obvious.

“What?”

“Are you serious right now?”

“Really, Master William?”

“Haa…”

“How foolish.”

“Could you at least tell us the reason?’

“Mr. Lee Ki-Young has already told you the reason. The Flower and Fertility Familia cannot gamble on things where the results are uncertain,” he answered.

“I can’t believe you would say that… Haa… Those aren't exactly the words you’d expect from the city's hero.”

“We already lost many comrades and family members. We gained many things because we tried and tried again, but how could you forget that we lost many things, too? I finally realized that I can’t keep living life on the edge, like walking on a tightrope,” William explained.

“You’ve become a coward.”

They gnashed their teeth, and their reaction made it seem like someone was going to die soon. To make things worse, I could hear screams everywhere. They just didn’t want their powers to weaken because if the most influential familia refused to join them, then the strength of their alliance would weaken.

“This is absurd!”

“We have an alliance! How dare you back out at the critical juncture? Are you out of your mind?!”

“Can we consider this as your way of breaking the alliance?”

“Ha! How ridiculous. Master William, are you truly planning on entrusting the fate of our alliance to this lunatic?”

“...”

“...”

“Lunatic?” William said.

“...”

“I’m sure I made myself clear that Mr. Lee Ki-Young isn’t a guest. He’s a family member of the Flower and Fertility Familia. If you insult him again…” William paused.

“What else would you call him except a lunatic? Why should we listen to the words of an idiot who doesn’t know anything?!”

William was a guy full of principles, but he would never show respect to thugs who were daring enough to insult his family. He looked as if he were going to stand up this instant and remove his gloves.

If Emilia hadn't held him back, he would have really removed his gloves.

“Watch what you say.”

“You… You really want to fight?!”

“Stop! Please stop! There’s no reason for us to fight here. Whoo… I knew this was going to happen someday—tsk. We’ll give you time to think, Master William. Are you really not going to participate in the upcoming expedition?” Francoise asked.

“Not right now,” William answered.

“Tsk, tsk… It’s sad, but it looks like this is where our alliance ends,” Francoise said.

“That’s what I wanted,” William said.

“Keep in mind that even if you visit later, the alliance will no longer be available for you,” Francoise warned.

William stood up as if her warning wasn’t worth answering.

Despite the fact that Emilia was feeling anxious, he still bowed toward me.

“I’ll apologize in their place. I don’t know what to say…” William said.

“...”

“No, I should be—”

Bam!

The door was kicked open, and we heard an urgent voice.

"U-Urgent news!” the messenger exclaimed.

“What?”

“The King of the Underground Familia has entered the grayish sunset zone,” they announced.

“Damn it! Those jerks are already making a move?”

“They failed to create a safe zone… in the grayish sunset zone. Most of them are missing… a-and there’s… only o-one survivor…” they stuttered.

‘See? I knew that was going to happen.’

“They’re overwhelmed by fear and are suffering from hallucinations. I-It happened… within twenty minutes… of entering the grayish sunset zone…” they added.

“...”

“To make things worse, they haven’t encountered the Demon King of Sunset… They’re saying that they encountered… a woman wielding a spear while riding a black dragon,” they added.

‘The round one's going to be tough…'