Regression Guidelines For the Supporting Character-Chapter 24

Still leaning against Kwon Taehyuk, I glanced over at the Ronik Guild members.

The ones who had been trying to approach me clicked their tongues and turned {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} away once they realized I was with Kwon Taehyuk.

Yeah, good thing I came here.

"...What exactly are you doing?"

Kwon Taehyuk narrowed his eyes, looking between me and the Ronik Guild members.

I clicked my tongue and straightened up under his frosty stare.

Seriously, he notices everything way too fast.

"I just didn’t want to use my skill on those guys."

When I answered honestly, Kwon Taehyuk gave me a look of pure exasperation.

"You could’ve just refused. Didn't you already declare in the meeting that you’d only be supporting the Circle Guild?"

"Well, sure. But I doubt those guys would respect my decision. You know how it is—someone like me, a weak B-rank supporter, can’t easily say no to those kinds of demands."

Some scumbag hunters liked to throw their weight around and pressure supporters into helping them.

I was used to it, but ordinary supporters often couldn’t refuse, too scared of retaliation if they said no.

"If that’s the case, ask Hunter Ryu Sunghyun for help."

Understanding immediately, Kwon Taehyuk nodded toward Ryu Sunghyun, who was chatting with Kim Suho a little ways off.

"There's no need for you to come to me. Ryu Sunghyun is an S-rank dealer. He can handle this. You're acting as a supporter for the Circle Guild during this raid, so it’s his responsibility to protect you."

"Mm... well, yeah, you're right."

Kwon Taehyuk frowned at my half-hearted response and turned away without hesitation.

I watched his retreating figure for a moment before turning my gaze to Ryu Sunghyun.

'Kwon Taehyuk’s not wrong.'

It was completely normal for a dealer to protect their assigned supporter.

There were few supporters, and even fewer who were any good. In dungeon raids that lasted several days, a supporter was practically essential.

Demand was high, supply was low—inevitably, battles broke out over them, and the few supporters they managed to bring along were guarded fiercely.

Since I was assigned to the Circle Guild, it made sense that Ryu Sunghyun should be the one protecting me. But...

'It’s not like I don't know that.'

I had lived through it enough before regression—watching the Circle Guild exhaust themselves protecting me.

Ryu Sunghyun, being not only an S-rank but the Vice Guildmaster, had suffered especially.

To be honest, before regression, I wasn’t even a good supporter.

Just a B-rank, with mediocre skill efficiency, and a body no stronger than an average human’s. I got tired easily.

Every time I watched Ryu Sunghyun and the others getting treated like trash just because they defended me, it made me sick.

There were even bastards who tried to recruit me right in front of Ryu Sunghyun.

As if they really needed me. They didn’t. They just figured it would be easy to steal a supporter from a weak guild.

'If they made that much noise over a B-rank, if it gets out that I’m S-rank now...'

It would be complete chaos.

No matter how I looked at it, using Kwon Taehyuk was the right move.

I didn’t want to burden Ryu Sunghyun again, and Ronik Guild wasn't scared of him anyway—it wouldn’t help much.

Should I just keep ignoring Kwon Taehyuk’s warnings and stick close to him?

He had too many eyes on him to blatantly shove me away.

While I was glaring at the distant Kwon Taehyuk in frustration, someone suddenly grabbed my finger with a small hand.

"Huh?"

"......."

It was Cha Sahyeon, who had quietly snuck up to my side.

I had only stepped away for a moment to shake off the Ronik Guild, but she hadn't even waited and followed after me.

"Come here."

I bent down, and Cha Sahyeon immediately reached out her arms, clinging tightly around my neck.

"Geez, you're so clingy. I’m a little busy right now, you know."

Well, to be fair, I hadn’t been able to give her much attention since entering the dungeon.

It was a crucial time to make an impression on Kwon Taehyuk and Ryu Sunghyun—and I hadn’t expected Ronik Guild to be here, either.

Hearing my teasing mutter, Cha Sahyeon flinched slightly.

And then, in a quiet voice, she said,

"...Don’t go."

"What?"

Resting her head on my shoulder, Cha Sahyeon stared up at me intensely.

"Don’t go."

"...!"

For a moment, it felt like a strange light flickered in her green eyes.

At the same time, a deafening alarm rang out in my ears.

Ding, ding, ding, diiing!

《Warning! Progress of the Seed of Catastrophe has changed!》

《Warning! Progress of the Seed of Catastrophe has increased!》

《Warning! If the Seed of Catastrophe exceeds 50%, exercise extreme caution!》

《A Sudden Quest has arrived!》

《Sudden Quest: Prevent the Seed of Catastrophe’s Progress》

[SUDDEN QUEST: Prevent Additional Progress of the Seed of Catastrophe]

You must calm the villain to prevent further progress. Until then, the 'Villain's Rage' effect is active.

Villain’s Rage: Monster spawn rates increase dramatically due to the influence of the Catastrophic Aura.

"This is..."

While I stood there stunned, overwhelmed by the flood of system windows and sudden quest alerts—

BOOM!

A deafening explosion shook the ground like an earthquake.

Dust rained from the ceiling.

The hunters, who had been resting, started murmuring uneasily.

"Uh, what was that?"

"The ground's shaking!"

Tak, tak, tak, tak!

Screeeeech! Screee!

The sound of something sharp scratching the ground—and then a wave of monstrous cries approached at terrifying speed.

"Wh-what the hell...!"

"Monsters! A wave of monsters is coming!"

"There’s too many of them—ugh!"

BOOM, BOOM!

Between the surging mass of spiders and monsters, a massive foot appeared.

A towering ogre nearly eight meters tall, with gray skin and a monstrous build, bulldozed through walls like they were paper, charging forward like a berserk bull.

"That—that thing only comes out in the boss room!"

"There’s too many! We can’t hold them back!"

"Run! Just run!"

Dozens of hunters turned and fled in the opposite direction of the monsters.

I tightened my grip around Cha Sahyeon and sprinted as fast as I could.

'Villain's Rage? So that means... this kid’s angry right now?'

This chaos—because Cha Sahyeon got upset?

And what's this Catastrophic Aura? Could it be that all the increased monster spawns so far were also because of her?

'No, wait, more importantly—'

Gritting my teeth, I pulled up Cha Sahyeon’s status window while running.

[User Info: Sahyeon (Villain)]

Age: 22

Main Skill: Living Shadow (B-rank)

Title: The Master of Shadows

Attack Power: B-rank

Attack Speed: B-rank

Movement Speed: B-rank

Agility: B-rank

Special Characteristics▼

└ Seed of Catastrophe (36% Progress)

You’ve got to be kidding me—it only went up by 1%?!

Judging by the system's panic, I thought it had jumped by 10%.

Should I be relieved it was only 1%, or horrified that just a 1% increase caused this mess?

I double-checked the sudden quest details.

So, calming Cha Sahyeon would stop the monster onslaught?

'Wait a second... The Catastrophic Aura draws monsters in?'

Meaning, as long as Cha Sahyeon was here, monsters would keep chasing us?

A shiver ran down my spine.

"This way!"

"Quickly, in here!"

Hunters were rushing into a room reinforced with a thick iron door.

Once inside, they could probably block the monsters temporarily and find another route.

But if I brought Cha Sahyeon inside...

The monsters would just keep coming, no matter what.

My heart pounded violently.

Feeling the warmth of Cha Sahyeon in my arms, I bit my lip hard.

'What do I do?'

Even if she was the cause of all this, there was no way I could abandon her now.

But dragging her into that room full of hunters?

I couldn’t do that either.

There was only one choice left.

'Ha... my damn luck...'

I let out a deep sigh—yet another lament since meeting Cha Sahyeon.

Then I veered sharply to the right.

Screeech! Scree!

Follow curr𝒆nt nov𝒆ls on fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com.

Boom, boom!

The monsters and the ogre thundered after us, the sounds never getting farther away.

Glancing back mid-run, I confirmed it—

the entire wave was locked onto me and Cha Sahyeon.

"What the hell—!"

"Cha Seohu Hunter!"

Kwon Taehyuk and Ryu Sunghyun looked stunned as they spotted me sprinting toward the right passage, away from the others.

Hey, it’s not like I’m doing this because I want to!

Swallowing tears, I ran straight past them into the darkness where no one else had gone.

[Main Quest: Successfully clear a B-rank or higher dungeon with the villain. (Remaining Time: 3 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes)]

[Sudden Quest: Prevent Additional Progress of the Seed of Catastrophe]