Chapter 58

Chapter 58

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Ryuu

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◈ Everyone Else is a Regressor (58)

The werewolf's name was Gin, and he was 19 years old.

He had lived with his family in a forest village where the dense trees blocked the moonlight.

"You don’t get moonlight?"

"Werewolves transform into their wolf form and become more feral under the moonlight. We must avoid moonlight to maintain our humanity as much as possible."

"Then why are you here now?"

"Uh, I was out gathering food when those guys caught me..."

Gin was a pure-blooded werewolf born among them, but his parents were originally humans who were turned into werewolves through infection.

Upon hearing this, Herbert added in a cold voice:

"So they are indeed Vrykolakas. Lycanthropes don't get enhanced by moonlight, and crucially, they don't have the ability to infect others."

"Y-Yes, we are Vrykolakas. But we're different...!"

Those who had been controlled by their wild nature and fought in the army of Vrykolakas regained their senses after a certain incident. They escaped from the control of Vrykolakas along with others who shared their sentiments and fled to this relic.

"Why this relic? It’s full of the moon's energy."

"It was the leader of our group who decided. Determined to grow stronger and take revenge on the Vrykolakas who turned him into a werewolf, he found this relic where we could hide and grow stronger in secret."

"Did your parents not share that sentiment?"

"That's... Yes. My parents just wanted to escape from being like wild beasts. They cooperated with Quinodon out of urgency to escape from them..."

Quinodon, that was the name of the leader of the werewolf group that had entered this relic.

Being a long-living race like vampires, he was probably still alive, likely the Legendary-grade boss of this relic.

As KiJun quietly repeated that name, Gin continued his story.

After entering the relic, there were no issues at first, but soon, those who supported Quinodon's revenge began to oppress those who were passive or opposed.

Eventually, those who disliked fighting, like Gin's parents, hid deep in the forest to live quietly or researched ways to become human again, striving to escape the fate of being a Vrykolakas.

"Ha. Ah, it's just funny."

At this point, Armillca snorted, and as KiJun looked at her, she took a step back, crossing her arms behind her head nonchalantly.

Realizing that she was mocking him, Gin continued in a smaller voice.

"But they won't let us go. They try to pull us out to use as soldiers, and if they can't control us, they just turn us into obedient livestock."

"Livestock?"

"Turn us into wolves that can think of nothing but blood and battle. By using this."

Gin pointed to Herbert.

Specifically at a small stone that Herbert had picked up and was examining.

The members' eyes turned to him, and he, flustered, handed the stone to KiJun.

"It was rolling around the dead werewolf. It seems to shine peculiarly under the moonlight..."

"Yes, that's the Moonlight Stone, a stone that accumulates moonlight and enhances its power! It strengthens werewolves but rapidly erodes their sense of reason. Moreover..."

As he extended the stone, the werewolf averted his eyes and closed them, seemingly scared to elaborate.

"If swallowed... there's no return. You completely lose your sanity and become a rampaging monster."

Everyone fell silent at his words.

KiJun thought that the 'degradation into mere beasts' he had read about in the relic's information might not be just due to the passage of time.

"Scary, it's so pretty. Can I keep this?"

"No."

That this stone was key to this relic wasn't only KiJun's thought.

He immediately responded to Armillca reaching for it and stored it in his inventory.

"From now on, I will manage all Moonlight Stones. We can share them fairly after we leave the relic."

"So you say, but you’ll keep them all for yourself, won’t you, Leader――?"

Armillca, apparently quite taken with the Moonlight Stone, pouted as she spoke. KiJun snorted in response.

"I have no reason to covet this."

"Especially if it's a dangerous item that drives werewolves mad."

In also chimed in with a firm voice, supporting KiJun.

"It's better to keep them together and managed by the Leader. Even considering dividing them later, it’s the best option."

"That’s true―― but just you wait if you don’t share later."

"There won’t be such an issue."

Satisfied with KiJun's decisive handling, Herbert nodded and then turned to ask KiJun.

"Jun, it seems we've heard enough. What will you do now? Honestly, I don’t see how keeping them alive benefits us."

"Yikes!"

"But there's no need to kill them."

"Phew..."

As KiJun firmly shook his head in response, Armillca interjected.

"Are you kidding? Killing them gives us experience points!"

"Gulp!"

"The experience points won't be much, Swordsman. More important are reason and willingness to talk."

Fortunately, In also agreed with KiJun, arguing against Armillca.

"Even if they're from the Dark faction, if they have intelligence and no hostility toward the Light faction, we should observe them first."

"Haah..."

Every time the party members exchanged opinions, the young werewolf reacted, making his youthfulness more evident.

KiJun clicked his tongue and turned to ask Gin.

"You said they were researching ways to become human."

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In fact, he had been curious about this since earlier.

Herbert's face turned serious.

The rest of the party, including Armillca, also seemed to realize that KiJun's quest might not be mere fantasy.

"I don't get injured by silver anymore... But the problem is, now I can't transform back even without moonlight."

"Not becoming human, but overcoming a werewolf's weaknesses."

"Ugh."

"Wow―incredible! This is huge, Leader!"

Armillca jumped up and down, cheering.

"We can make a fortune if we extract valuable information from this! Great job not killing him, Leader! You're a genius!"

"Ha."

Herbert sighed in genuine contempt at Armillca’s swift change of attitude, from criticizing to praising KiJun.

KiJun was then sure that Herbert indeed had no interest in Armillca.

"Tell us more, Gin. How does your new potential as a werewolf relate to these attacks?"

Under Herbert's somewhat sharp interrogation, Gin clenched his fists tighter.

"That’s... I don’t know much, but they are also conducting research."

"Research to become human?"

"No, to surpass Vrykolakas."

"Pfft."

Armillca laughed mockingly again.

"No matter how much they grow, these half-breeds can never surpass the pure-blood Vrykolakas. You're saying werewolves bitten by Vrykolakas want to surpass the original werewolves?"

"You seem to know a lot."

"I despise werewolves, so I've thoroughly analyzed them! As an expert, I can tell you that werewolves turned by Vrykolakas aiming to surpass them is as nonsensical as them trying to become human!"

"They’ve found a way."

"Hmm?"

Skeptical, Armillca looked at Gin, who spoke with a resolved expression.

"Through... cannibalism. Especially, the heart."

"...I wish I hadn't heard that."

"Indeed."

The party members grimaced in unison.

Gin was now a target for werewolves seeking revenge on Vrykolakas, treated as a sort of elixir.

One thing was clear: keeping him around would ensure they wouldn’t need to hunt in this relic.

YeMin's party was engaged in battle deep in a dungeon with muscular humanoid monsters with hyena-like heads, called 'Gnolls,' and their bosses.

There were two bosses: the Gnoll Chieftain and his guard. Additionally, dozens of various types of Gnolls, enhanced by the chieftain's orders, attacked the party.

First, JiHye's area magic nearly wiped out the Gnolls. Then, the party advanced with EunShin and YeMin quickly taking down the remaining enemies, marking the Gnoll guard.

MokSoo blocked the Chieftain's advances, and JiHye's precise and powerful sniping magic, 'Lightning Spear,' attacked the guard―ultimately, YeMin's long sword mercilessly finished off the exposed guard.

Now only the Gnoll Chieftain was left, proving to be a tough opponent with its extraordinary vitality.

"Keeek!"

"Ah, so tenacious!"

Finally, JiHye's massive flame engulfed the chieftain's head, and EunShin's dagger, thrown with force, hit its heart.

YeMin's sword then successfully decapitated it.

"Pant, pant..."

Having confirmed the entry of experience points, YeMin, unusually tired, sat down nearby.

EunShin also squatted down, sighing and grumbling for once.

"So tough, was it Legendary-grade or something?"

"We saw the message; it was Unique, not Legendary... Wasn’t the dungeon boss supposed to be Rare-grade? Did the guild deceive us because we’re human?"

"No, even so, the guild deceiving its members doesn't make sense... Maybe its rank evolved recently? There hadn't been any clear records recently, right?"

As YeMin and EunShin quietly conversed, MokSoo, who had withstood the Chieftain’s attacks alone, finally set down his hammer with a sigh.

"Phew..."

"Uncle Soo!"

Worried, JiHye hurried over to him.

"Are you hurt?"

"I’m okay, the attacks were heavy. But this guy, not even a wolf, bit so much."

"You’re bitten?"

Gnolls could bite, given their hyena-like heads.

Though they could... JiHye felt uneasy hearing MokSoo's words.

"Uncle, let me see your wound."

"Hey! This kid doesn’t even know that 'men and women should not sit together after the age of seven'――"

"Stop pretending to be old-fashioned and hurry up and take off your armor!"

After forcing MokSoo to remove his leather armor, JiHye's face hardened upon seeing his wound.

She pulled out holy water she had bought at a high price from a temple, just in case, and carefully applied it to the wound.

Hisss―the wound hissed, black blood oozed out and burned away.

MokSoo also realized the seriousness of his wound and turned grim.

"...What was that?"

"A vampire."

JiHye murmured softly.

"The dungeon boss, the Gnoll Chieftain, was a vampire. Secretly, without anyone knowing."

At that moment, YeMin's party also grasped a clue about the vampire invasion that had started from the other side of the country.

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