How To Use Regressors

31 – Attempted Murder Incident of a Trainee

After finishing the demonstration and returning to my dorm, it was quite late when someone came to visit me. Judging by their appearance, it seemed to be another trainee.

“Are you Mr. Lee Yoon-seong by any chance?”

“Ah, yes. That’s me. What can I do for you…?”

“Well… I don’t have any business with you personally, but a member of the Hwashin Clan wants to meet Mr. Lee Yoon-seong privately.”

“At this hour?”

I checked the man’s status window and confirmed he was indeed another trainee like me, with fairly ordinary stats.

“Are you referring to Director Kang Sung-jun, by any chance?”

“No, it was someone else. They were wearing the emblem of the Hwashin Clan, so it must be a member of the clan. They asked me to convey the message to Mr. Lee Yoon-seong and meet at the location they mentioned.”

“…. Where is the location?”

Upon arriving at the designated spot, I found a man with a dagger strapped to his waist.

[ Name: Joo Seung-hwan ]

[ Age: 29 ]

[ Occupation: Bone Breaker (Legendary Grade) ]

[ Title: Anger Management Disorder, Monster of Avid ]

[Unique Traits]

Bone Destroyer (Legendary Grade) – When a weapon cuts through an opponent’s flesh and touches their bones, it triggers a small explosion at that point. Increases Strength permanently by 4.

[Traits]

Master of Dagger Combat (Heroic Grade) – Significantly enhances understanding of dagger combat.

Master of Dagger Throwing (Heroic Grade) – Greatly improves understanding of dagger throwing.

Mana Blade Enhancement (Heroic Grade) – Allows temporary infusion of mana into the dagger for use.

[Attributes]

Strength – 90 Agility – 84

Stamina – 84 Luck – 63

Mana – 71 Resistance – 70

Checking his status window, he realized that he was not as strong as Kang Seongjun or Yun Yeonbo, but he was definitely a top-tier individual.

“Why… is this person looking for me?”

Based on appearances, it seemed he wasn’t an instructor, but possibly affiliated with the Hwasin Clan. He couldn’t fathom the reason for this personal meeting.

“Um… are you the one who called for me?”

“Ah, you’re Lee Yoonseong, the trainee, right?”

“Yes.. that’s right…”

“I have something to say about joining the clan. It’s an important matter, so I wanted to talk to you privately for a moment…”

“Ah, I see.”

‘… What? Why not Seo Yooju, but me?’

I had a moment of unpleasant thoughts, but unless this person was crazy, it couldn’t be like that. The graduation ceremony hadn’t finished yet and I was still a student.

“This place is a bit crowded, so… would you mind following me for a moment? It seems to be about the clan…”

I hesitated for a moment. It felt a bit strange.

While I was hesitating, the man spoke.

“It’s an important matter for both Seo Yooju and Yi Yoo-hyun, the students.”

“….. I understand.”

I followed the man and it turned out to be a small alley. It was surprising that there was such a place inside the educational institution.

“So, can you tell me what this is about?”

“…….”

I was staring at the man’s back while he stood still and maintained silence.

“Um…?”

The man turned around to look at me and spoke in a different tone from before.

“… Tell them that after this meeting, you’ll immediately meet with the clan master and refuse to join. Of course, exclude Seo Yoo-joo and others, just you.”

I was extremely bewildered. I couldn’t believe that the thought I had just crossed my mind was true.

‘… Is he crazy?’

This is still inside the training center. Are they really going to do such crazy things?

“…. What do you mean? Cancel the membership?”

“You… I saw you during the demonstration. You’re not just below average; you’re a complete moron. We can’t accept someone like you into our clan.”

‘Ugh…’

I already felt terrible during the demonstration, and now this idiot is getting on my nerves.

If I can’t resolve things with this guy here and now, he’s likely to cause trouble even after joining.

But if I lie and say I want to cancel my membership now, I don’t know what this guy might do afterward.

I’m not a trainee then, so I won’t have any protection. If I want to resolve this, I should have done it now.

I didn’t want to engage in a conversation with someone who clearly wasn’t normal, but I decided to speak in the hope that some level of communication might work.

“Why… are you going to such lengths? Can I not show promise in some other way after joining?”

“…. Hahaha! You? Someone like you? Maybe you don’t know because you’re still a chick, but if that’s what you thought, you should have chosen a production or support job. If you had been an emotionalist, an alchemist, or a blacksmith, things would have been different.”

“…….”

“You useless bastard. Those who are in combat positions but have no talent are all equally worthless. You are likely to be one of them.”

The man continued to speak.

“When I spoke to the Clan Master, he said that Seo Yujoo requested to recruit you as a cost for recruiting herself and others. Do you have no pride?”

“Ha.”

Of course, I thought that Seo Yujoo would have recruited me as a cost. However, hearing it directly from someone else’s mouth feels different from what I inferred.

“It’s fucking ridiculous.”

Suddenly, a chuckle escaped my lips.

“…Kuk.”

“This bastard… How dare he laugh?”

“Puhuhu!”

Unable to control his anger, the guy’s face twisted.

It was obvious that I needed to resolve this issue. Unless I was prepared to part ways with my party members, I had to get rid of this bastard in any way possible.

“Whether it’s through physical means or social retaliation.”

Suddenly, the guy’s title came to mind.

Anger Management Disorder.

“I have to use this.”

If you have enemies in life, you have to eliminate them by any means necessary. It was the same on Earth, but even more so in a place where your life is on the line.

“Damn it… This is so ridiculous.”

“… What?”

“No, why did I cancel my enrollment? After hearing what you said, I should definitely join.”

I guess he didn’t expect me to react like this, as he was momentarily speechless.

“You idiot. What are you doing? Do you even know our clan master?”

“How dare you! You dare speak of our clan master like that?”

“Our clan master may be wise, but you’re just a little pest. Why are you acting like this?”

Suddenly, he punched me in the stomach.

Thud!

“Ouch…! Ugh… Uwaaaah!”

‘Okay.’

“This filthy bastard!”

“Uwweeeeek… Pfhh… Pfhh… Cough…!”

“Still smiling?”

Suddenly, he drew a dagger and smacked my face with the hilt of the dagger.

Ouch -!

“Aaaaaargh!”

“Keep on smiling. A guy who can’t grasp the situation…!”

“Darn it… it hurts too much.”

While my method of dealing with things might be like this, it’s not about getting severely injured or dying.

However, my brain rejected the body’s plea. Though my body screamed to stop the pain, fortunately, my brain commanded as I intended.

“Sh… you… moron…! Pfh… Tch.”

The spit mixed with blood that I spat out stuck to the guy’s face.

“…….”

He brought down the hilt of the dagger onto my right arm.

“Kwajik -“

“Aaaaah!”

Seemingly ending at the breaking point, the guy’s arm bone shattered, as if there was still a trace of thought left in him.

“Aaaaah!”

It was unbearable, trying to stifle the screams due to the excruciating pain, a pain he’d never experienced before.

As the guy aimed the blade towards me, he spoke, “Next, I’ll stab. Say you’ll cancel your membership…!”

Even if he said so, he probably wouldn’t directly stab me. Considering his nature, I might still end up dead.

“Bone Destroyer (Legendary Grade) – When a weapon penetrates the opponent’s flesh and touches the bone, it causes a small explosion. The strength attribute permanently increases by 4.”

If I were on the verge of death, they could take me to a priest for some kind of remedy, but if this attribute were to trigger, no one would know if I’d survive or not.

“But this is what I wished for.”

I also understood how he utilized his abilities to attack.

“Master of Dagger Throwing (Hero Grade) – Understanding of dagger throwing significantly increases.”

He probably usually attacked enemies by throwing daggers. While the explosion might not affect him, I was almost certain it would affect him to some extent.

No, there was no other way but this certainty.

Anyway, there was no safe way to deal with a tyrant like this.

If he dragged me somewhere for treatment, any actions I took against this guy would be in vain. If he forced me to undergo treatment, all the deeds I suffered from this punk would be water under the bridge. In that case, any evidence that he intimidated me would disappear.

I had to shake him off and escape with obvious wounds that anyone could see.

I hesitated for a moment due to the pain I would face in the near future, but eventually, I resolved myself.

“Anyway… there’s no other way.”

As the guy aimed the dagger at me, I thrust my intact left arm into the blade.

“Huh?”

Bang!

Boom!

He never expected me to do something like this, unable to avoid the explosion. Holding the dagger with the hand exposed to the shockwave, he staggered backward.

However, my condition was far from unscathed.

Crunch!

My left arm, shattered into pieces by the explosion, fell to the ground.

“Ugh… Ugh… Cough…!”

My face, which bore the brunt of the explosion right in front of me, was far from unharmed. Experiencing such physical pain for the first time in my life.

Fortunately, the explosion was a small one, so thankfully my head didn’t blow off.

“Crack…. Sniff….”

However, the plan did not go as I had expected. It was because I was in no condition to move.

“Is this… how I die?”

My consciousness started to fade. It felt like my eyes were closing.

“I… I need to escape…”

“Son of a… bitch… cough…. pfft…”

I couldn’t believe I ended up looking like this, being caught by some crazy bastard, so I burst into laughter.

As my eyes slowly closed, just before losing consciousness, I saw Inyeong running towards me. Maybe she heard the sound of the explosion and someone found us.

And then, I lost consciousness.

******

After returning to my lodging, I noticed that Yoonseong was not there, so I asked Yuhyeon.

“Yuhyeon, where did Yoonseong go? He wasn’t here when I briefly left.”

“Um… hyung? Yoonseong hyung was called by someone and went outside…”

“…. Who called for Yoonseong, no, Yoonseong-ssi?”

“Yes, another student came and said something to Yunseong hyung…”

Who could be calling Yunseong at this late hour? I couldn’t understand.

“Did you happen to hear what they were talking about?”

“Um, I’m sorry. I didn’t hear it clearly, but I only heard the words ‘Hwasin Clan.'”

I had a bad feeling. Yunseong was never personally called by the Hwasin Clan. If there was something to inform about, they would have called me.

“… Do you know in which direction he went?”

“I’m not sure… It felt like he went outside, not inside the building…”

“Okay, thank you. I’ll go out for a bit, Nuna.”

“Yes, Yooju nuna.”

After hearing Yoo Hyeon’s words, I started looking around outside. But no one was in sight. It was already late and usually, they would be active inside the building.

After searching for Yunseong for about 10 minutes, I sensed a faint explosion sound and a weak magical reaction. It seemed to be quite far away.

I gathered magic in my legs and ran towards the direction where the sound came from. I usually didn’t store magic in my body since I didn’t have much, but now was not the time to consider such things.

I ran, not because I was out of breath, but because of a bad premonition, my heart pounding.

“Please… No, it can’t be… What could have happened…”

I checked thoroughly. So far, there were no elements that could harm Yunseong in this round.