Chapter 12: 3rd Cycles First Day

Chapter 12: 3rd Cycles First Day

Blink.

I awoke and stood up.

"Another regression, it seems."

Maybe there won't be any more regressions.

That's what I thought.

"Is it an endless cycle of regressions after all..."

But the more I regress, the more I lean towards the idea that my ability is not a single or finite regression, but an endless cycle of regressions.

"Damn it."

I shook my head and looked around.

Whoosh!

Section Chief Jeon's hand flew towards me.

I swiftly dodged his hand and moved mine.

Papapap!

With a speed too fast to see, I struck Section Chief Jeon's pressure points.

"Wh-what..."

I quickly shut his mouth as it was annoying, striking another pressure point to silence him.

Due to the rapidity of my movements, not only Section Chief Jeon but also the onlookers were clueless about what just happened.

"What's going on? Section Chief Jeon..."

"Why is he like that?"

I casually touched Jeon Myeong-hoon's shoulder and said,

"He seems to be paralyzed."

"Oh no, what a situation! We should quickly massage his body."

"Oh, I know a herb that's good for paralysis. I studied herbal medicine."

I pulled up a sleeping herb with its roots and brought it to Jeon Myeong-hoon.

"Section Chief Jeon, you are paralyzed right now. In such a situation, if you keep being paralyzed, it could be really serious. You must take this immediately. If you stay paralyzed, you might become permanently disabled."

I approached Jeon Myeong-hoon, discreetly releasing the pressure point to enable him to move his mouth.

"Wait a moment! Get the dirt off it!"

"No! This herb is most effective in this state, and if you don't take it now, the efficacy will drop. I'll shake off some dirt, but you must take it quickly! Otherwise, you could end up permanently disabled!"

I emphasized the risk of permanent disability while bringing the dirt-covered herb to his mouth.

Jeon Myeong-hoon, although grimacing, eventually had to chew and swallow the herb along with the dirt.

Crunch, crunch, crunch...

The sound of chewing dirt was oddly satisfying.

'Take it as an honor, it's quite good for vitality after all.'

Of course, it had no effect on paralysis.

It's good for vitality and has a sedative effect.

Soon after, Jeon Myeong-hoon fell asleep.

I released the pressure point that had paralyzed him.

"What a day. Weird things keep happening, and now Section Chief Jeon is like this..."

"His body must have been tense because of the strange occurrences."

I made up some conversation, then looked around and said,

"It's strange, though. I know quite a bit about trees, and all the trees around here are species that are hard to find in Korea."

"Hmm, is that so? Anyway, where did our company car fall..."

"We're stranded."

I said the trees were not Korean, gradually intending to imprint that this world is not our world.

"It seems we are stranded, so I'll go see if there's a village or a road nearby."

"Hmm, how will you do that?"

I shrugged and quickly climbed the tallest tree nearby.

'I have no internal energy, but...'

Climbing a tree is possible with physical strength and agility.

Especially since I developed the ability to climb high places while learning infiltration skills in my past life.

Whoosh!

I quickly climbed to the top of the tree, pretended to look around a few times, then swiftly descended.

"You, how did you..."

"What did you do before?"

"Wow, Deputy Manager Seo, that's amazing."

"Did you do some kind of sport?"

"That's incredible..."

Director Kim Young-hoon, Chief Oh, Deputy Manager Kang, Deputy Manager Oh, and Manager Kim admired my athletic prowess in turn.

"Oh, I used to climb trees a lot as a kid."

"Still, your athletic sense seems very good."

"It's nothing. But I did see from up the tree. There are no villages or roads in sight."

"Heavens, you're not joking, are you?"

"Yes, I don't want to spend the night outdoors either. There's really just forest around here."

At my words, the others sighed in disappointment.

"It seems we're stranded. It's about to get dark, so let's divide into teams to look for the car and a place to stay nearby."

"Alright, let's do that."

Knowing they would insist on finding the SUV, I divided the teams and sent some to search for the car.

I went with a few others to the cave I stayed in before.

Buzz, buzz!

I shook off my distractions and unfolded the Severing Mountain Swordsmanship.

The sword technique was refined by my Young-hoon Hyung-nim in the previous life, adding 12 more moves to the original 12.

I unfolded all the derived moves and auxiliary techniques from the 24 techniques of Severing Mountain Swordsmanship.

Sharp sounds of slicing air echoed in front of the cave.

Swish!

My wooden sword sliced through a falling leaf.

Suddenly, as I watched the scene, a surge of determination rose in me, and I approached the floating leaf, swinging my sword again.

Because I didn't infuse my internal energy into the sword, the leaf simply flew upward upon being struck by the wooden sword.

"More, more...!"

I cleared my mind of distractions.

Chasing the leaf, I continued to execute my swordsmanship.

The 24 moves of Severing Mountain Swordsmanship.

86 derivative techniques.

Combination moves, variations.

Numerous strokes extended from my hands.

At some point, I realized I was constantly swinging my sword at a single leaf, enraptured in ecstasy.

"Just a bit more, just a little more..."

It felt like my body was being absorbed into the martial art.

"Is this... enlightenment?"

Buzz, buzz!

Seemingly within reach, yet elusive.

Just like how I couldn't catch that leaf without internal energy.

For how long did I swing my sword mindlessly?

Suddenly, I realized dawn was breaking.

I had been up all night.

"Just a little more, just a bit more...!"

One more step was all it took!

Dawn breaks.

Slash!

Swoosh!

My plain wooden sword cleanly sliced through the hovering leaf.

Not a withered leaf, but a fresh green one.

"I'm almost there, almost...!"

Then, suddenly, I felt my left arm trembling.

"This is..."

Ignoring the trembling and continuing with the sword dance, or stopping for a moment.

"No, it can't be. Enlightenment is just around the corner...!"

My eyes became bloodshot.

But my arm trembled too much.

"Damn it...!"

Eventually, I had to put down the sword.

"Gasp... Huff...!"

And then, I understood why my arm trembled.

Because I'm a regressor.

At this time, at this moment.

Knowing what's about to happen.

I had involuntarily anticipated the pain of the fox soon to bite my arm and trembled in advance.

"Damn it!"

I picked up the sword again and resumed the sword dance.

However...

Enlightenment did not come.

As if it had run away the moment I dropped the sword.

"Damn it!!!"

What was I afraid of?

What exactly?!

The path to the peak was right in front of me!

I bit my lip hard enough to bleed.

"If I see the the Way (Dao) in the morning, dying in the evening is of no concern ()!"

I felt aggrieved.

A once-in-a-lifetime enlightenment, carelessly lost due to needless fear.

"Aaaaaah!"

I screamed and deeply resolved in my heart.

From today onward, even if I die in the evening, I will not give up the Way I could attain in the morning.

Holding the sword, I made this vow.

***

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