The Regressor Only Protects Me

Chapter 32: Cold

Lee Chung-chun's reconnaissance team spent two hours clearing snow to reach their target destination.

Although they patrolled the same area daily, the snow that accumulated overnight had to be cleared every morning.

For this reason, the three at the front of the reconnaissance team carried shovels and continued to dig through the snow.

Engaged in labor akin to hard physical work, they headed toward Anyang City's largest commercial district.

Anyang First Street.

Finally, they arrived just as the sun reached its peak at noon.

In the bone-chilling cold, the midday sun offered them a brief respite.

Before officially entering First Street, Sergeant Lee Chung-chun gave his team a moment to rest.

When they took breaks, they always had to enter a building.

The streets were teeming with monsters.

“Phew.”

Lee Chung-chun exhaled a cloud of smoke as he puffed on his cigarette, gazing at the expanse of First Street outside the window.

At last, they were about to step into Anyang's largest commercial district.

Until now, they had scavenged and procured food around the outskirts of the area, but they now had to venture deeper.

While the number of citizens increased by the day, the food supply did not.

The reconnaissance team was their only hope.

Their success was crucial.

Even though the world had ended, Lee Chung-chun continued to fulfill his duty as a police officer.

A police officer's duty was to protect the property and lives of citizens.

After finishing his cigarette, Lee Chung-chun commanded the team to move forward.

Shhhk!

He pulled out his telescopic baton.

Those who had rested steeled themselves before entering the commercial district.

This was a crucial food supply hub, meaning it would undoubtedly harbor predators and monsters on an entirely different level.

This might have been Lee Chung-chun's assumption, but everyone agreed.

The abundance of food also meant an abundance of predators targeting it.

Lee Chung-chun pressed his body tightly against the corner of a building, surveying the wide eight-lane road ahead.

Silence. Stillness.

And the sound of the wind blowing.

The silence bred fear.

Dozens of police colleagues had fallen in the line of duty so far.

Their sacrifices were noble in this national emergency.

But Lee Chung-chun no longer wanted to lose another colleague.

No matter what, they had to secure the food within First Street's commercial district.

Lee Chung-chun's heart pounded wildly.

His pupils shook as though an earthquake rumbled through them, and his breathing grew heavy.

It was an uncontrollable fear of death—an instinctive terror every living creature experienced.

"I can do this. I will do this. Let’s go."

As he stuck close to the wall in tension, a man approached him with steady footsteps.

It was Kang Sion.

There was no trace of fear in his gait.

“W-wait! Hold on a second!”

Lee Chung-chun tried to stop him, but Kang Sion had already stepped onto First Street’s wide road.

Kang Sion entered the eight-lane road first, followed by Jin Jae-hee.

Seeing them unafraid, Lee Chung-chun leaned against the wall and watched their backs.

At that moment, several tendrils shot out from the snowfield on the left.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

It was the monster that had killed his fellow officers.

Startled, Lee Chung-chun shouted at the two ahead.

“Danger!”

Before his warning even reached their ears, the tendrils flew toward them with incredible speed.

But his warning was unnecessary.

Slash!

Jin Jae-hee effortlessly severed the incoming tendrils with her sword.

It was clean and simple.

With just one swing, the tendrils collapsed limply against her blade.

As if nothing had happened, the two continued walking forward.

“…Huh.”

Lee Chung-chun could only sigh in disbelief at the remarkable sight.

The first place they entered was a convenience store near the entrance of First Street, where a part-time worker's corpse lay across the counter.

As soon as Lee Chung-chun arrived at the convenience store, he used his radio to contact the base.

About thirty minutes later.

A group of people carrying sacks arrived, trudging through the snow.

Clearing the path to this location had taken hours, but following that cleared path took the group less than thirty minutes.

The police officers and citizens carrying sacks began packing food systematically.

Clearing out the small convenience store took less than an hour.

According to Lee Chung-chun, the food from one convenience store could feed the entire police station for a day.

Hearing this, I glanced toward the counter.

Jin Jae-hee was taking packs of cigarettes from the display and stuffing them into her bag.

Not satisfied with just that, she crammed cigarettes into every pocket she had.

I watched her silently and then asked Lee Chung-chun another question.

By then, he was already smoking a cigarette.

“How many people are involved in the food retrieval effort?”

When I asked, Lee Chung-chun gave me a blank look before shaking off the ash from his cigarette and answering.

“About forty people. Among them, twenty-nine are police officers. We’re split into two teams—one for reconnaissance and one for food. Each team has about ten members.”

The smoke from his cigarette drifted into the air.

Inhaling the smoke, I began coughing uncontrollably.

I wasn’t used to cigarette smoke.

Seeing this, Lee Chung-chun turned away and apologized.

“Ah, sorry about that. I normally don’t smoke, but… well, here I am.”

Despite being older than me, he turned his body away to smoke more discreetly.

I waved my hand dismissively.

“It’s fine. But I’d like to know more about how your station is organized.”

“The station… you mean?”

“Yes. How did the police make it through the first round?”

Honestly, it was something I had been curious about since arriving here.

Each building didn’t seem to follow a different theme, nor did it seem like this one was exempt from the first round.

The police officers and the civilians under their protection mostly seemed alive, and there were no signs of battle.

It was in stark contrast to the shopping mall, which was full of corpses, battles, and bloodstains.

Lee Chung-chun pondered for a moment, his cigarette still in his mouth, before finally replying.

“We held a vote.”

“A vote?”

“Yes. About what to do. You know, things like that.”

Crunch.

He extinguished his cigarette against the glass door of the convenience store.

He turned to look at me.

Placing both hands on his hips, he gazed out the store’s window and continued.

“We killed a thug. On the third day. Finding the king was something we detectives are specialized in after all. Fortunately, the king was a thug locked up in our holding cell. When he resisted, we killed him. We didn’t treat this as mere terrorism or someone’s prank. Above all, this was a decision made collectively and sanctioned by the chief.”

“I see.”

He put the cigarette pack into his pocket and started walking away.

But I blocked his path.

Looking up at him, I saw that his pupils trembled slightly, as if he were nervous.

“What about the second one?”

The unrevealed king.

I hadn’t heard anything about the King of the Black Team.

Lee Chung-chun met my gaze, then shook his head.

His voice wavered slightly.

“I’d rather not talk about that. I’m sorry.”

Forcing himself to walk away, he exited the store.

I watched his retreating figure.

There was one thing I needed to confirm.

How much of their sense of justice these officers still held.

From the police’s perspective, I was a murderer.

I had killed dozens in the shopping mall and shot others with a gun.

The police should have arrested me, and I had no place being in their station.

Yet surviving this far without committing such acts was statistically impossible.

Would the police see us as criminals or as ordinary disaster survivors?

Judging by his reaction.

It seemed they, too, had things they wanted to hide.

Perhaps I should feel relieved.

This made things easier.

I followed him out of the convenience store.

There, dozens of sacks filled with food were piled up.

People hoisted them onto their backs and began moving one by one toward the police station.

The snow-covered road.

A long procession stretched out across it.

The right to distribute food belonged solely to the assigned police officers.

Priority went to citizens and officers who participated in reconnaissance missions.

Additionally, those in the reconnaissance team received an extra bathroom privilege and one food stick compared to the general populace.

It was their compensation.

Inside the police station, at least, plastic sticks were used as currency.

The total number of sticks reached around 1,000 and was sourced from a nearby stationery store.

They were children’s toys, but no one here knew what kind of game they were meant for.

The value of food hadn’t been standardized yet.

One cup of instant noodles could be worth one stick, or a past-expiration lunchbox might be worth one stick.

After the second round began, the police distributed food freely for the first couple of days but soon adopted a controlled distribution system like the one they use now.

It was a directive from the police chief.

Around 5 p.m., when the reconnaissance ended, a long line would form on the fifth floor.

The starving people looked pitiful, and the stench was overwhelming.

“The bathroom situation is the worst. There’s not much solid waste due to the lack of food, but urine is a serious issue,” Lee Chung-chun said as he walked alongside the line.

Kang Sion and Jin Jae-hee followed behind him.

“Our reconnaissance team can manage since we take care of it outside, but inside, we have to melt snow every day to feed it into the purification system. If there were only a few dozen people, it wouldn’t be much of a problem. But as you know, there are 741 people here.”

Ignoring the long line, they moved straight to the front.

It was a privilege of the reconnaissance team.

They had the right to claim food first.

Inside the noisy distribution center, the day’s reconnaissance members were already selecting their food.

The food was neatly organized in a storage area, mostly arranged by the officers handling internal tasks.

Kang Sion picked a meal box rich in carbohydrates, Jin Jae-hee selected a frozen whole chicken from a convenience store, and Lee Chung-chun grabbed some bread.

“Of course, indiscriminate urination outside is not an option. It would get out of control,” Lee Chung-chun remarked.

Returning to his seat, he unlocked his personal drawer with a key and placed the bread inside.

Lee Chung-chun continued speaking to Kang Sion and Jin Jae-hee.

“So, you’re saying you’ll keep working with the reconnaissance team?”

“Yes,” Kang Sion replied, while Jin Jae-hee nodded silently.

“Alright then.”

Clack.

Lee Chung-chun opened another drawer, pulled out a folder, and moistened his fingers with his tongue a few times before flipping through the papers.

At the bottom of a list of hastily scrawled names, he added their names using a Monami pen.

Kang Sion glanced at the name tags of the reconnaissance team.

Some names were crossed out.

These were members who had died during reconnaissance missions.

After writing down their names, Lee Chung-chun jotted brief descriptions and personal information about them.

He then extended his hand to the two of them.

Kang Sion shook his hand first, followed by Jin Jae-hee.

“Then, I look forward to working with you. The police will handle the most dangerous tasks first, so don’t worry too much.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

“Reconnaissance departs daily at 7 a.m., after the morning roll call. For now, take some rest. You’ll need to recover your strength for tomorrow.”

“Alright. We’ll do that.”

Kang Sion and Jin Jae-hee avoided the long line and descended to the lower floors.

Lee Chung-chun leaned back in his chair, gazing absently in the direction they had gone.

“They’re unusual.”

He murmured to himself.

Most survivors tended to have lots of questions.

Kang Sion also asked many questions.

But unlike others who asked when they’d be rescued, what the government was doing, or whether the police had any plans to resolve the crisis, Kang Sion didn’t do so.

That was the normal kind of questioning.

But Kang Sion neither showed fear nor sorrow.

He was calm, as if he had prepared for such a disaster in advance.

At first, Lee Chung-chun’s attention had been drawn to Jin Jae-hee, but now his focus shifted more toward Kang Sion.

Kang Sion’s boldness during the recent reconnaissance.

Jin Jae-hee’s swordsmanship abilities.

“They’re worth keeping an eye on.”

He took a sip from a bottle of cold water.

It felt like the chill reached down to his throat.

Even inside the police station, each exhale produced visible breath in the freezing air.

Manan Police Station, 2F

When the sunlight disappeared and darkness enveloped the city, the residents of the station lived by the faint light of the moon.

Occasionally, someone would light a candle, but candles couldn’t withstand the constant drafts of freezing air for long.

Cold winds slammed against the windows, making a loud noise.

Coughing and groaning could be heard here and there.

The cold was merciless.

Some people, even strangers, pressed their bodies close together to share warmth.

Two elderly couples sitting on the floor beneath me shivered as they tried to endure the cold.

I silently watched them while chewing on frozen grains of rice from my meal box.

The elderly couple had laid out cardboard on the floor and were relying on a single thick padded jacket to stay warm.

No one offered to help them.

Not even me.

Helping someone here was equivalent to inviting death for both parties.

Survival in this place was all about enduring.

I glanced around.

As I watched people struggle in pain, I thought about how the police’s sense of order was bound to collapse sooner or later.

When order breaks down, a new leader emerges.

I couldn’t rise to the top immediately, but I needed to gradually solidify my position.

First, I had to earn their trust, just like I had done at the shopping mall.

Crunch.

I chewed the rice as I pondered my approach.

How to create an environment where everyone depended solely on me, where nothing could function without me.

“Kang Sion.”

Jin Jae-hee, who was laying out a sleeping bag, called my name.

I looked at her and asked.

“Where did you get that?”

“On the way here, from the soldiers’ transport vehicle. There was only one, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Oh.”

On the way here, Jin Jae-hee had rummaged through a transport vehicle.

“I grabbed a few things from the military gear inside. A field shovel, a sleeping bag, and this.”

Swoosh.

The moonlight reflected off a blade, catching my eye.

It was a military-issue combat knife.

“The blade is sharpened. It’ll pierce human skin easily.”

Jin Jae-hee handed me the combat knife.

I took it and slipped it into an inner pocket.

The night deepened.

I put the last frozen grain of rice and sausage into my mouth.

It felt like my palate was freezing.

I decided to let it thaw slowly in my mouth with saliva.

Jin Jae-hee, having arranged the sleeping bag, got in and lay down.

I lay down beside her.

I tucked my nose into the collar of my padded jacket.

Even so, the cold seeped into every part of my body.

Then, Jin Jae-hee tapped my left arm.

“Get in. I opened two heat packs.”

“What?”

“You won’t fully recover your strength and body heat like this. Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin proper training. I’ve already decided where to train based on today’s reconnaissance. You need to regain your strength. And just so you know, I don’t go easy during training. It’s lucky we found this sleeping bag today. You need to sleep warmly to recover.”

Hearing her, I stared at her silently.

Then, glancing at the sleeping bag, I spoke.

“It looks cramped.”

“It’s fine. You’re small.”

Jin Jae-hee replied casually, her face sticking out of the sleeping bag.

I thought for a moment before squeezing into the sleeping bag with her.

I had to remove my padded jacket to fit inside.

It was tight.

The smell of the sleeping bag was musty.

There was a faint scent of cigarettes and a slight hint of blood.

Taking all that in, I burrowed further inside the sleeping bag.

Thanks to the heat packs she had opened, it was quite warm.

The combination of the sleeping bag, the heat packs, and our body heat maintained a steady warmth.

It felt like being cradled in a snug cocoon.

In this freezing building, the small sleeping bag was our only refuge.

We lay in opposite directions from each other.

Without time to dwell on anything.

The rare comfort lulled me to sleep.