The Regressor is too Powerful in Martial Arts – Chapter 12

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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The incident that in the original history should have been called the Yeouido Disaster, or the Greenskin Wave as people now called it, passed by without any particular casualties.

That didn’t mean that the people’s vigilance had disappeared.

There were many who thought that it was fortunate that it was stopped without any particular damage, but after seeing such an abnormal situation like four different species emerging from a single gate at once or monsters pouring out from inside a gate just a few hours after it appeared, there were almost no one who thought positively like ‘Ah, since there were no casualties, it’ll be the same in the future.’

‘And it was just Korea that had no casualties. Other countries, where similar things had happened, were said to have suffered considerable damage, right?’

Because of that, the so-called nationalistic “guk-ppong*” YouTubers were running rampant, but let’s move on from that….

In any case, due to this incident, voices of concern began to emerge, wondering if the Black Fog would attack humanity more aggressively.

Of course, the Black Fog had overexerted itself with this incident, so it would be quiet for about 10 years to recover, but at this point in time, I was the only one who knew that.

‘Still, for a while, it’s better for everyone to be tense and think that something else might happen.’

Right now, humanity’s biggest enemy was indeed the Black Fog, but besides that, there were also criminals called Villains.

Compared to the Black Fog, their threat was on a cute level, but that was only because the object of comparison was an entity that had almost destroyed humanity… Villains were also clearly a threatening existence.

‘Especially to my mother, who’s a civilian….’

I clenched my fist as I recalled my mother, who had been kidnapped back then by Villains who coveted my abilities.

…I was willing to forgive the petty criminals who simply didn’t register their information with the association, those who became Villains by carrying out private justice, and those who didn’t touch civilians… The so-called Villains with a story or who didn’t cross the line.

But I could never forgive those who had crossed the line by systematically kidnapping or slaughtering people and conducting human experiments.

Well, even as I thought that, there wasn’t much I could do right now.

‘I know that Villains pop out from all over the place, but it’s not like I remember all that information.’

My memory had improved thanks to the internal energy gathered by the Divine Art of Harmony circulating in my head and activating my brain to use psionic powers, but it was impossible for me to recall information that I didn’t even remember in the first place.

The Villain terrors I remembered… were only incidents that were on the news for at least several days… For example, I only had information on things like terrors in which numerous people were caught up, or serial murders where the culprit was not caught.

‘In the first place, from the moment I stopped the Yeouido Disaster, that information has also turned into mere reference material.’

Whether small or large, the actions I took would definitely affect the world.

For example, it could bring about a positive result where an Awakener who was saved thanks to me this time prevents a Villain’s crime later on.

For example, it could bring about a result where a Villain who thought that Korea’s Awakeners were more outstanding than expected would think twice before committing a crime.

…For example, it could bring about a negative result where a Villain commits a crime with a more meticulous plan than before my regression in order to avoid the eyes of the said outstanding Awakeners.

I couldn’t be sure which of the above results my actions would cause.

Well, this was something I was prepared for.

Since I had changed an event that had a great impact on the world like the Yeouido Disaster, the future would flow in a completely different direction from what I knew.

“……”

In the first place, I was affecting the world in other ways besides just the Yeouido Disaster.

As I thought that, I turned my eyes to the Awakener System’s messages.

The messages continued without end.

It meant that someone was using the numerous techniques and knowledge I had registered in the Awakener System’s database.

Although I didn’t know who was using them.

Thanks to this, I was receiving an enormous amount of points every day.

And I had roughly decided on where to spend these points.

I was thinking of using the points on the Awakener System itself.

Strengthening myself was meaningless.

I had thought about that too, but if I ate something like a spirit elixir for no reason and the harmony of my body and internal energy was disrupted, it would result in a loss for me instead.

Rather than that, it would be much safer for me, and the quality of my internal energy would be higher as well, if my body developed naturally as the Divine Art of Harmony operated within my body while slowly accumulating internal energy.

For that reason, I had no intention of strengthening myself through points.

‘I was greedy for a weapon before, but… For now, the Orc Chieftain’s sword that my doll has is enough.’

Before my regression, my previous sword had absorbed a lot of blood and had become close to a demonic sword, but I was basically someone who used a fundamentally old sword back then.

Compared to that, the Orc Chieftain’s sword was a masterpiece.

Though the Orc Chieftain’s sword was also, in fact, a sword with nothing special to it besides its durability.

‘…And I have a separate sword that I want.’

Besides that, I had also thought about improving the doll, but for the time being, I didn’t even want to look at it, so I decided to pass on that for now.

‘For that reason, I was thinking of strengthening the Awakener System, but….’

However, the Awakener System was an existence that resided not only in me, but in people all over the world.

Therefore, strengthening the Awakener System required an astronomical amount of points.

It was an amount that would likely take even me, whose usage fees were being settled in real time, several years to collect.

‘It’s not like this is the only way to earn points, but….’

I had no intention of earning points to the extent of cutting into my training time.

Well, it would be fine.

‘If I keep collecting points at this rate for a few years, it should be possible to strengthen the Awakener System.’

However, in this case, I had no particular idea on how the Awakener System would improve if it was strengthened.

Although my guess was that the Awakener System would arbitrarily evolve itself into the form it deemed most necessary to save humanity.

“Hoo… Are these the major things that’ll happen in the future?”

Ah, besides things that will happen in the future, there was one thing that was currently in progress.

It was the fact that an epithet had been attached to my doll that had appeared in Yeouido.

‘Just as Lee Ha-eun was called Serenity in the future, I expected that an epithet would be attached since I had rampaged so spectacularly, but….’

Artist.

That was the epithet attached to my doll.

From what I heard, it seemed that such a moniker was given to it because my doll had killed the monsters in a very artistic way.

‘What on earth kind of person recommended such a title?’

It wasn’t a title I liked, but at the same time, it wasn’t one I couldn’t understand.

At least my act of annihilating the group of ogres and trolls or slaughtering all the goblins and orcs with the ‘Ten Thousand Flowers in a Rain of Petals’ was said to have looked like a spectacular play to others.

For a similar reason, there was a rumor going around that said that ‘Comedian’ had existed as a candidate for the epithet.

And it went without saying, but there was a heated debate about the treatment of my doll, which had been given such a title.

‘It’s interesting. Though it’s a meaningless debate.’

One side said that since it was an existence that hadn’t even registered its information with the association and had only shown itself for a moment before disappearing, it should be classified as a Villain.

The other side said that the law itself, which stated that all Awakeners must register their information with the association, was an absurd law, and that it was excessive to classify someone who had committed no other crime as a Villain just because it wasn’t registered, and that rather, considering its achievements, it should be treated as a hero.

Like that, the self-proclaimed experts appeared on TV every day and held such meaningless debates.

‘In the first place, even if it’s classified as a Villain, who’s going to let themselves be caught? And even if it’s treated as a hero instead of a Villain, who’s going to be happy about it?’

Well, I could roughly guess the reason why they were continuing such a debate.

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“Let’s play Awakeners!”

“Then I’ll be the Artist!”

“No, I’m going to be the Artist!”

On my way home after training at the school training ground after my classes, which was around the time my mother got off work.

I saw children at a kindergarten playing while saying such things.

‘Good grief….’

The game of Awakeners was nothing special.

It was a game of pretending to fight by dividing roles into Awakeners and monsters or Villains.

However… a smile appeared on my face when I saw the children saying they wanted to play the role of the Artist among the Awakeners.

“Hm? What’s wrong, Geon-woo?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. I’ve just been hearing a lot about this person called the Artist lately.”

I made that excuse to Lee Ha-eun, who looked at me strangely.

Then, Lee Ha-eun puffed up her cheeks.

“You’ve been like this since you were little. It’s not that funny to me, but you laugh by yourself….”

“Sorry, sorry.”

To say since I was little… I’m still little now, but let’s move on from that.

“Come to think of it, Geon-woo.”

“Hm?”

“That person called the Artist, he looks a lot like you, Geon-woo.”

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

Well, of course.

It was my future self, so of course he would look like me.

As I was smiling with that thought, Lee Ha-eun clapped her hands as if she had come to a conclusion and spoke.

“I got it! Geon-woo, you were laughing like that because the Artist looks like you, right? Am I right?”

“Yeah, you’re right. As expected, Ha-eun is smart.”

“I got it right!”

I smiled while looking at Lee Ha-eun, who was smiling brightly like a child her age.

When she first entered elementary school, she was so timid that she couldn’t even talk to children other than me, but she has brightened up a lot since then.

As I was thinking that, we had already arrived at the apartment complex where we lived.

It meant that it was time to part ways with Lee Ha-eun.

“Geon-woo, see you tomorrow!”

“Yeah, okay.”

I said that to Lee Ha-eun, who was heading towards her house, and then headed to my own.

I opened the locked front door and spoke.

“I’m home.”

“Geon-woo, are you here? Wash your hands and come eat some tangerines.”

“Okay.”

I saw my mother, who had returned home a little earlier than me and was doing housework, and then, as my mother had said, I went into the bathroom, washed my hands, and came out to the living room.

Of course, I didn’t forget to put my bag in my room.

“You have to eat dinner, so you should eat in moderation, okay?”

“Yes.”

I said that while looking at the back of my mother, who was cooking, and while my hands and mouth were peeling and eating tangerines, I focused my mind elsewhere.

“Hoo…. I don’t think I can do this for long either….”

I muttered that through the mouth of my doll, which had just discovered a dungeon.

This was because I was mentally tired from handling two completely different tasks at the same time: my main body pretending to study while attending class at school, and the doll searching for dungeons.

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T/N – Damn, that’s some insane multitasking! I could never do multiple tasks at once for long and yet so many in novels, like this MC, can control their clones while doing something else. Crazy.

Also, I like how the MC immediately thought about upgrading the Awakener System with points, and how it’s actually possible to do so. Kinda makes me wonder if other people have tried improving the system too, and how many know that it’s possible?

Lastly, really? The Artist? What a lame ass title.

If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.

*Guk-ppong (국뽕) is literally translated as “country-high”. It’s a slang term used to describe blind, excessive, and often irrational nationalism or patriotism. The word, when dissected, is quite interesting. Guk (국) means “country” or “nation” while Ppong (뽕) is a slang term derived from “Philopon” (ヒロポン), the Japanese brand name for methamphetamine. In slang, “ppong” refers to the high or euphoric feeling of being on drugs.