Regression Guidelines for the Supporting Character

Chapter 2

“What?”

I blinked several times and muttered.

“What the hell is this?”

I frowned at the ominous feeling that washed over me.

A main quest following a hidden quest? Are quests going to keep popping up like this from now on?

“And this time there’s even a time limit.”

Giving only two hours to someone who just died and came back to life?

It was ridiculous, but the reward I received for clearing the hidden quest was too good to ignore. I carefully examined the time-limited quest.

Main Quest: Meet the villain with the ‘Seed of Calamity’ implanted. (Time remaining: 1 hour 58 minutes)

You must meet and become allies with the villain implanted with the ‘Seed of Calamity’, who is trapped somewhere in the laboratory.

Seed of Calamity

The being implanted with this seed will become a great calamity in the future.

Anxiety, pain, and anger are the best fertilizers for the seed. When the seed germinates and blooms, it awakens as a great calamity.

Even if the being implanted with the seed is killed, the seed does not disappear but transfers to another host.

“Wait a minute, this…”

If this description is correct, could the person I need to save within two hours be… the same great calamity I met before my regression?

My heart turned cold.

The thick smell of blood and flying ash, and between them, those deep green eyes and black hair. 

I have to save that man who took dozens of lives with a single wave of his hand? No, before that, he’s here? In this laboratory?

It was the moment when my ominous premonition became reality. My face contorted horribly.

“…I can’t do this.”

Save the one who killed me, of all people? The one who killed not only me but also my precious ones?

I could just ignore this quest given by some unidentified system. But as soon as I made that decision, a new message appeared.

* Warning! If you fail to complete the quest within the time limit, the quest will be marked as failed.

Quest Failure: Occurrence of Great Calamity

“Huh…”

I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at the system’s apparent plea not to kill the villain.

So… if I don’t save him, the great calamity will occur instead? And if I do save him, the great calamity won’t happen?

“Shit.”

I clenched my fist and cursed. It felt like someone was choking me.

How much should I trust this system? Should I really believe those words and save someone who will become a great calamity in the future with my own hands?

Time remaining: 1 hour 43 minutes

The red text showing the remaining time blinked rapidly, as if urging me in my conflicted state.

I rubbed my face and pressed my aching eyes hard. Cold sweat trickled down my temple.

Time remaining: 1 hour 32 minutes

Time was passing too quickly. It was far too little time to make up my mind to do something I absolutely didn’t want to do.

“Haah.”

I let out a deep sigh from the bottom of my heart and raised my head.

“I’ll do it. I just have to do it, right?”

Yeah. Maybe it’s for the best.

First, I’ll save him with my own hands and then keep watch to make sure the seed doesn’t germinate. If a problem arises, I can stop it myself, right?

It’s still in the seed stage and hasn’t become a great calamity yet, so it should be much weaker than before the regression. Now that I have an S-rank skill, I should be able to handle it on my own.

Alright. Having made my decision, I stood up abruptly.

There was still a lot of information I hadn’t checked, but now wasn’t the time to leisurely read my status window. I had to succeed in this quest first, putting everything else aside.

‘For that, I need to confirm if I’ve really become stronger.’

The S-rank skill obtained from the hidden quest.

I would need this to clear out the guards scattered throughout the laboratory and meet the so-called villain. Just as I thought that…

Ding!

《The sun has set and night has fallen.》

《Hidden Skill: Silver Protection can be activated.》

《Do you want to activate the skill?》

“Oh.”

Does it even tell me when I can activate it? Surprised by the system that was much more convenient than I thought, I immediately replied.

“Activate.”

Crackle!

“…!”

As soon as I uttered the word “activate,” a pure white current began to flicker, enveloping my body.

A tingling pain raced from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. I bit my lip and fell to my knees on the floor, overwhelmed by the pain that had taken over my entire body. My hands, scratching at the floor, grew larger and thicker.

“Huk…”

Fortunately, the pain didn’t last long. I slowly raised my body, which had been hunched over, while taking rough breaths.

I easily noticed that my field of vision was much higher than usual. Not only my vision, but my body itself had grown thicker bones and firmer muscles.

I quickly checked my appearance in the mirror. The mirror reflected a face with more pronounced features than my original appearance.

The most surprising point was that my hair, which had been ordinary black, had turned to a white-gold color, almost platinum blonde.

‘Is it because the skill has changed?’

Awakened ones often experienced physical changes due to their skills. Especially with abilities as strong as this, the changes manifested in the body were more pronounced.

The white-gold hair reminded me of the moon hanging in the sky. Well, it wasn’t bad. It made my impression look sharper too, which was good.

‘But somehow it feels familiar. As if I’ve met someone like this before.’

As I was looking in the mirror, fascinated, a new system message appeared before me.

《Hidden Skill: Silver Protection (S-rank) [Activated]》

《Strength: F-rank → S-rank》

《Attack Power: F-rank → S-rank》

《Attack Speed: F-rank → S-rank》

《Movement Speed: F-rank → S-rank》

《Agility: F-rank → S-rank》

Is this… the body of an S-rank hunter?

I clenched and unclenched my hand visible before my eyes. Not satisfied with just that, I tried striking the wall right next to me hard as a test.

Boom!

With a loud noise, the wall cracked at once, and debris fell with a thud. Despite crushing the solid cement wall, I only felt as if I had struck tofu. The hand that hit the wall remained unscathed without any scratches.

“Ha, haha.”

Only then did I realize that I had truly become S-rank. Laughter flowed out involuntarily from the rising elation.

Originally, I was a B-rank hunter, but because my skill was that of a supporter, my physical condition was the same as an ordinary person’s. That’s why I couldn’t do anything when the great calamity devoured the guild members I considered family.

But now it’s different. With this skill, I can become S-rank every night. Not just as a supporter like in my previous life, but as a formidable dealer with enhanced physical abilities.

“What was that noise in there?”

“Hey! Number 70!”

Having heard the sound of the wall breaking, the guards pounded on the iron door from outside.

“Huu…”

I took a short deep breath and lifted my foot. Then I kicked the iron door hard.

Crash, Bang!

“Argh!”

The iron door, with all its joints torn off by the strong force, fell off in a crumpled state. The guard who had been standing close to the iron door screamed and rolled on the corridor floor.

As I walked out into the brightly opened corridor thanks to the fallen iron door, I saw one guard with his mouth wide open and another who had fainted after hitting his head on the iron door. The guard who had been alternately looking at me walking out leisurely and his unconscious colleague finally grasped the situation and shouted.

“Y-you crazy! What the hell are you!”

The guard pulled out the baton hanging at his waist and raised it high. I calmly watched the baton being swung at my head and reached out my hand.

Thwack, the thick baton was caught precisely in my grasp. Seeing his attack so easily blocked, the guard bulged his eyes and put even more strength into his arms. But even though he trembled with exertion, the baton in my grip didn’t budge an inch.

If it had been my original self, I would have taken a direct hit to the head from this baton, or at best, barely dodged it. But now, with all physical abilities at S-rank, there was no need for that.

Crack!

Smiling deeply, I applied a bit more force to the hand holding the baton, and the baton, which was probably made from materials extracted from monsters, shattered instantly.

The guard was shocked, his face turning pale at the sight of the baton that had snapped like a twig.

“Hello?”

With a belated greeting, I drove my fist into the guard’s solar plexus.

“Guhk!”

Even though I tried to control my strength as much as possible, the guard flew into the air and crashed into the wall. Wham, the guard slumped down the wall and dropped his head.

‘Hmm… he’s not dead, right?’

I scratched my cheek while watching the guard twitch with his head down.

It’s troublesome even with enhanced strength. I worried that I might have hit him too hard, given how difficult it was to control this power. Still, guards should at least be A-rank or B-rank in physical grade, so he probably wasn’t dead.

“Oh dear. I shouldn’t have broken the baton.”

I regretfully looked at the baton that had become completely unusable with its middle snapped, then threw it behind me.

I didn’t know where the villain implanted with the ‘Seed of Calamity’ was, but this laboratory, though illegal, had extremely good facilities and a very spacious interior. The guards I just knocked out were also on standby in dozens.

Even with enhanced physical abilities, it would be difficult to rampage through this place without any weapon. Moreover, I still didn’t properly understand this power, so I needed a weapon as insurance.

Regretting again that I had rashly destroyed the baton, I looked around. I needed to find another guard, knock him out, and take his weapon, or if not that…

Wee-wee-wee! Wee-wee-wee!

“…!”

It was at that moment, as I was clicking my tongue and organizing my plan. An alarm sounded throughout the building, and an urgent announcement blared from the speakers installed in the corridor.

-Intruder alert, intruder alert! All guard personnel move to Building A! I repeat. Intruder alert! All personnel move to Building A immediately!

“Intruder?”

At that announcement, memories of the past I experienced before dying flashed like lightning.

Before my regression, I had been kidnapped and forcibly confined in this laboratory. Other awakened ones were in the same situation. This was the crazy laboratory that kidnapped wandering awakened ones who were orphans without affiliations and used them for experiments.

Then one day, this place was suddenly attacked. Thanks to the joint assault by guilds that had discovered the existence of the illegal laboratory, the building collapsed, and the captured awakened ones were able to be freed. The laboratory staff were caught one after another.

‘Is that attack happening now?’

I couldn’t imagine it would be now, as I couldn’t tell the date or time while confined in solitary.

‘This is the best opportunity for me, isn’t it?’

I looked around the corridor filled with alarm sounds and quickly moved. There was no time to waste. If my memory was correct, the hunters who had stormed in from the guilds would push through Building A and reach Building B in no time.

Before that, I had to find the villain implanted with the ‘Seed of Calamity’ in the empty Building B.