The Regressor is too Powerful in Martial Arts – Chapter 26

—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
—————————————————————–

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

The reward Yeon Mi-rae received from the Awakener System when she learned the Heaven-Defying Divine Art was a special privilege where the closer she was to me, her master and the object of her faith, the more her current abilities and growth rate would increase.

Here, an increase in growth rate also meant an increase in the speed of internal energy accumulation.

Yeon Mi-rae, in order to utilize this to the fullest, had a tendency to always be by my side when doing qi circulation.

And to reduce the distance between us as much as possible, she often did qi circulation while holding me in her arms.

“…Hoo….”

“……”

And unlike me, Yeon Mi-rae was still inexperienced.

If she was disturbed while doing qi circulation, her internal energy could scatter, and if things went wrong, she could even suffer from Qi Deviation.

Therefore, so as not to disturb her as much as possible, I quietly entrusted my body to her when I was being held by her.

On one hand, I observed her body to check if she was doing qi circulation properly, and at the same time, to minimize external stimuli, I would also put up a qi barrier around us to reduce noise.

I wonder if Yeon Mi-rae knew that I was helping her with such utmost devotion?

‘…She probably knows. Since she’s a genius.’

Even if she was inexperienced by my standards, she was definitely a genius.

She probably knew what I was doing even while practicing qi circulation.

Right after Yeon Mi-rae finished one round of qi circulation, someone knocked on the door of the room we were in.

Knock knock.

“I’m coming in, okay?”

Of course, it was my mother.

My mother said that as she knocked on the door, and then came into the room while holding a plate of cut fruit.

Oriental melons today, I see.

“Are you learning that aura cultivation method well, son?”

“Yeah. I’m doing well.”

My mother, who knew me and Yeon Mi-rae as aura ability users, thought that we were using an aura cultivation method.

An internal energy cultivation method and an aura cultivation method were strictly different techniques, but ordinary people would find it difficult to see the difference.

In the first place, the aura cultivation methods that frequently appeared in Korean fantasy stories were influenced by martial arts novels, and I had also referred to aura cultivation methods for a considerable portion of my internal energy cultivation method when I was creating it.

The main difference lies in the type of energy being accumulated and where that accumulated energy was being stored.

‘Of course, I’m confident that the level of this one is much higher.’

Anyway…

My mother didn’t find it strange to see Yeon Mi-rae hugging me.

My mother was told that since I was still young, problems could arise if I accidentally used aura incorrectly, so Yeon Mi-rae was teaching me by directly moving the aura herself.

Yeon Mi-rae had made that excuse before I could say anything.

“Still, you shouldn’t be too clingy to your Mi-rae noona, okay? Noona said it’s okay, but originally, boys and girls shouldn’t hug each other carelessly. Got it?”

“Yeees~.”

…There was a lot I wanted to say, but since I was at an age where the concept of boys and girls was just starting to form, I answered like that for now.

“You too, Mi-rae. If the child is being clingy, you need to know how to push him away.”

“Don’t worry. This is just a part of training.”

My mother also said a word to Yeon Mi-rae, and the latter answered with a smile.

Seeing the slyly smiling Yeon Mi-rae, my mother let out a sigh and then said to us.

“You have to put the plate in the sink when you’re done with the melons, okay? I’m going to the supermarket.”

“Yes.”

“Take care.”

My mother put down the plate on the floor and then left the room.

And a short while later, I felt her presence leaving the house as the front door opened.

“…Haaa….”

‘How old is my mental age now, and yet I have to listen to this kind of thing….’

I thought that and scrunched up my face.

Perhaps finding my expression amusing, Yeon Mi-rae said to me.

“Little Geon-woo? Would you like to be clingy in this Mi-rae noona’s arms?”

“……”

“…I’m sorry.”

She had just been joking, but when I stared at her without a word, Yeon Mi-rae immediately bowed her head and apologized to me.

She had realized that I was genuinely angry.

My anger dissipated at her quick apology, so I let out a sigh, got out of Yeon Mi-rae’s arms, speared a melon with a fork, and brought it to my mouth.

“You eat too.”

“Yes.”

Yeon Mi-rae, watching my expression, brought a melon to her mouth.

I asked her.

“How’s school these days? Have you finished adapting? Don’t tell me you’re still uncomfortable?”

“Haha… I’m still uncomfortable these days. The atmosphere is the complete opposite of my previous school, so….”

The school Yeon Mi-rae had attended before…

And the school she had transferred to this time…

Both were ordinary Awakener-specialized high schools.

But Yeon Mi-rae was saying that the atmosphere was the complete opposite.

‘To be precise, she probably feels that way because the gazes directed at her have completely changed.’

The previous school was where they had insulted and ostracized Yeon Mi-rae as a half-wit.

But there was no way that anyone would insult or ostracize her at her current school…

Because the ending of the school she had been at before had become famous.

Well, even if there hadn’t been the incident where the entire school was ruined, there was no way there would be a reckless person who would dare to do such a thing to an Aura Blade user.

Though Yeon Mi-rae seemed to be uncomfortable with that atmosphere.

“…Well, that can’t be helped.”

I said that and turned on the computer.

Since my mother was also out at the supermarket, I intended to look for news on the internet.

Though it was news, it was mostly similar content.

That someone from the Association had embezzled a certain amount of money, or that they had caused losses to Awakeners through unjust means….

In other words, it meant that the Awakener Association was under attack by the media.

‘This is also something we caused.’

The exact cause was a post Yeon Mi-rae had uploaded to her personal SNS account.

As I said before, Yeon Mi-rae and I always cleared an average of about 3 dungeons a day after eating dinner.

And we tended to dispose of all the byproducts from the dungeons through the Association’s market.

We were trying to sell the byproducts at the Association’s market, but one day, the Association’s employees tried to pull a fast one on us.

…It wasn’t that they were trying to embezzle money or anything, but that they were trying to investigate Yeon Mi-rae’s exact strength.

‘The employees who were there at that time… were a spiritmancer, a psionicist who used psychometry, and a psionicist who used mind scan, I think.’

The spiritmancer and the psychometry ability user tried to analyze the residual traces left on the byproducts, and the mind scan ability user tried to read Yeon Mi-rae’s thoughts to find out exactly how strong she was.

Of course, their attempts ended in failure.

In the case of the spiritmancer and the psychometry ability user, I had burned away all the energy like mana that remained on the byproducts with Samadhi True Fire, so they couldn’t get any information from there.

The mind scan ability user simply couldn’t get any information because I had set up a mental barrier in Yeon Mi-rae’s mind.

The only information they could get was, at most, that their abilities didn’t work on Yeon Mi-rae.

‘I had no intention of just watching their actions.’

After informing Yeon Mi-rae of what had happened at that time, I had Yeon Mi-rae write a post related to the said incident on her SNS.

That the Association had mobilized those three to dig up her information.

Of course, no matter the fact that it was the Association, what they had done was strictly illegal.

There was a saying that it was temporarily permitted when some security law was applied, but that was only permitted in cases targeting criminals.

But the Association had shamelessly done such a thing to a regular Awakened.

It was possible that they had done similar things not only to Yeon Mi-rae, but to other people as well.

There might have been those who, not wanting to antagonize the Association, had kept quiet even though they knew they were doing such things.

But it was different now.

“They say more evidence of corruption has come out? It seems like they’re being thoroughly exposed.”

Yeon Mi-rae, who was next to me, asked that while looking at the computer screen.

“It’s only natural, if you think about it. Since they caused such a nuisance to an ‘unaffiliated Aura Blade user’.”

“What?”

“…Your value is greater than you think.”

An individual Aura Blade user, who was as good as a tactical weapon…

And a strong person who was still young, unaffiliated, and might be among the top ten in Korea even at this point in time.

A talent whose future was even more anticipated because she was still young.

No matter the fact that it was a state agency, the fact that they had touched her was a big problem…

Because it had created a situation where she could leave Korea and immigrate if things went wrong.

‘There’s no way the Association didn’t know that, but for them to pull such a trick… they must have looked down on Yeon Mi-rae because she was still a high school student.’

In an instant, the Association became a traitor that had tried to sell off a strong Aura Blade user to a foreign country.

In that situation, it was a natural thing for the guilds or unaffiliated Awakeners, who had many complaints about the Association that was abusing its power just because it was a state agency, to use all the connections they had to attack the Association.

In the end, the people who currently occupied the executive positions of the Association would have no choice but to step down, and after that, those positions would be filled with guild or Awakener-friendly figures.

‘It’s not like all the guilds are clean, but… Still, it’s better than before.’

Because the guilds were not one.

If by some chance a guild tried to exert influence on the Association, it would have to compete with other guilds.

The guilds, to avoid such a burden, wouldn’t easily exert their influence on the Association.

So, ironically, an Association filled with guild-friendly figures would actually be in a position closer to neutral than before.

Though a complete eradication of corruption would be difficult.

“Hoo… This is tiring.”

As expected, politics was difficult.

It was an environment where it was difficult to distinguish who was an enemy and who was an ally, and where one had no choice but to choose the lesser of two evils to avoid the worst.

It was to the point where pre-regression me had thought that it was more comfortable to cut down monsters for several days without sleeping properly.

Yeon Mi-rae, who saw me feeling a headache like that, placed her hand on my head.

Her hand was strangely cold.

“…What are you doing…?”

“Stealth technique practice. You also taught me a method to lower my body temperature, didn’t you?”

“Didn’t I also say not to use that often since it’s not good for your health because it slows down the body’s metabolism?”

At my words, Yeon Mi-rae took her hand away and said slyly.

“Then lie down and cool your head. You look very tired.”

“…I guess I should.”

Hearing Yeon Mi-rae’s words, I was about to lie down on the bed when…

Vrrrng….

Suddenly, Yeon Mi-rae’s smartphone vibrated.

At that, Yeon Mi-rae naturally checked her smartphone and froze.

“…What’s wrong?”

“Could you take a look at this for a moment?”

Yeon Mi-rae said that and showed me the screen of her smartphone.

Wondering what it was, I looked at it, and saw a request for emergency support.

“…Robbery suspects, most of whom are presumed to be veteran Awakeners, have appeared? Currently holding a hostage situation, so support is requested?”

“What’s important is the location.”

At Yeon Mi-rae’s words, I lowered my eyes and checked where the place that had requested support in the message was.

As an emergency support request had been sent to her, it was a place that wasn’t far from our apartment, and….

“…A large supermarket.”

I recalled what my mother had said earlier.

[You have to put the plate in the sink when you’re done with the melons, okay? I’m going to the supermarket.]

“……”

“……”

Yeon Mi-rae and I made eye contact.

She had probably come to the same conclusion as me…

…The conclusion that my mother was in danger.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

T/N – Well now, that’s quite cliche. Still, it’s plausible considering how much the MC has done already to alter the course of history. Butterfly wings and all that.

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