Regressor Instruction Manual

Chapter 1570. A New Normal (25)

— I have no intention of dancing to your tune.

"???"

"No, I’m really telling you the truth. I’m not making this up; it’s real," I said, trying to persuade him.

— Fine. I understand. But... is that all you came to say?

‘This bastard seriously doesn’t believe a word I’m saying...’

"I’m serious. Ah, this is so frustrating! Seriously! It literally just happened. Just now. There really was a guy in the Republic branch’s Bengioa Order capable of hypnotizing others, okay? They were raising religious extremists here.

"I guarantee you, there are probably people all over the Republic who got hypnotized. There are as many of them as grains of sand!"

‘Though... even I have to admit that it sounds weird when I say it out loud...’

"That hypnosis guy apparently got a mob ring called the Ring of Cognitive Alteration that Lucifer created a long time ago... I mean, it’s an item with a grade that is apparently unmeasurable, but he said he couldn’t even remember when he got the ring himself.

"Anyway, Lucifer’s followers had been searching for the owner of the mob ring, and eventually, they managed to make contact with that hypnosis guy. They were even waiting for me to visit the church.

— ...

"In the end, I went there pretending I had fallen under hypnosis. That hypnosis guy yanked my hair and kneaded my cheeks like dough, causing all kinds of chaos. It actually hurt, but more than that, it felt disgusting, you know what I'm saying, right?

"Ah, anyway, I even got to see one of Lucifer’s followers there. Thankfully, Hyun-Sung showed up at just the right moment. Otherwise, it could have been a disaster."

— ...

"And apparently that wasn’t even the only mob ring. Besides the Ring of Cognitive Alteration, there are three more mob rings with different abilities attached to them. The item effects were so absurdly powerful that it was honestly shocking.

"To exaggerate a little, if that hypnosis guy had been just a bit smarter or if those bastards had been given a little more time, this incident wouldn’t have ended as some minor one."

— ...

"He was saying things like, ‘It is common sense to take off your shoes before entering the private prayer room.’ The crazy part is that people actually got hypnotized by that. It’s simple and effective. Honestly, it wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to call it a cheat item."

— I have no idea what kind of nonsense you’re babbling about... Is it considered common sense these days to believe such ridiculous lies?

‘See? Damn it, I knew this bastard wouldn’t believe me.’

Even after returning to the lodging with Kim Hyun-Sung, I kept trying to explain my injustice and the danger threatening the continent, but just as I had expected, he wasn’t even pretending to listen to me. Honestly, it sounded pretty absurd even to my ears.

‘A hypnosis guy, a damn mob ring, and a Ring of Cognitive Alteration. No matter how you think about it, doesn't it sound kinda insane?’

If Commander Jin were to say the exact same thing to me, I would laugh it off. Besides, it wasn’t like I had lied to Commander Jin only once or twice before. I never thought a day like this would come, but it really felt like I had become the boy who cried wolf.

The timing was already bad enough, but the content itself sounded way too ridiculous as well.

— Looks like you’ve truly reached the end of the road. If you were going to bluff, I'd expect something a little more convincing rather than such an absurd lie... It seems that the creativity inside that petty little head of yours has finally run dry, or perhaps you’re simply that desperate. Well? Can’t see any other way out?

"No, Commander Jin, I’m being serious right now..."

— I already have a rough idea of what you're trying to do here. That little scheme to stir up public opinion. You're planning to gather the extremists and clean them out in one fell swoop, aren't you? In the end, things seem to have turned out fairly well. I could actually see the public's opinion shifting on the Benigoa Net you've created...

"..."

— Yes, rallying support for this peace treaty wasn’t a bad accomplishment, but that’s all it was. Public opinion is merely public opinion. If you want to persuade me, you’ll have to bring me something a little more convincing. For example, something like me officially giving an interview. Have you read it?

"Of course, I read all of it. I mean, you made some fair points, and honestly, I almost found myself convinced, too, but that’s not the issue right now."

— Even with all that chaos going on, you still had time to read my interview?

"No, I read it before all this mess happened. And it’s not like it takes that long to read. Ah, come on, you already decided not to believe me... You just flat-out decided you weren’t going to believe anything I'd say."

— If you were in my position, would you believe yourself?

"..."

"Ah... come on, I get that it sounds hard to believe. Even I think that it sounds ridiculous, but this time, I’m really not lying. Haa... damn it, this is frustrating. Just wait a little. You’ll only believe me if I shove evidence in your face, huh? My credibility’s seriously that bad?"

I shoved the door open and desperately searched for Priest Benet.

“Priest Benet? Ah... where the hell did that old man go? Damn it,” I said.

“...”

“Hypnosis Guy!” I called out.

“...”

“Hypnosis Guy!”

A door burst open not far away, and Hypnosis Guy revealed himself. I had given him a room at the inn and stopped paying attention to him, but just as I had expected, it looked like he hadn’t even considered running away.

‘Honestly, running away would be a crazier move.’

Of course, I already had plenty of safeguards in place.

“O-Over here! I’m here. O Monarch of Lust and Eternal Sleep... did you call for me?” Priest Benet answered. It looked like he had properly washed himself from head to toe just like I told him, so I gestured at him to come closer.

“Come here for a second.”

“Pardon?”

“Are you deaf? I said come here for a second. Actually, no. Forget it. I’ll go to your room instead. If you go into my room, I’ll have to air it out and disinfect everything again. Open the windows first. Air the place out,” I said, instructing him.

“O-okay...” he answered.

“But you really didn’t even think about running away, huh?” I asked.

“I-I’ve already bet everything on you. I may have gotten hold of a strange ring, but honestly, I was never capable of committing some grand evil scheme in the first place.

"Working with those bastards stressed me out so much I even started losing hair... I don’t know what’ll become of me now, but honestly... what’s the point of living like this anyway?” he replied.

“Don’t overdo it by trying to make me pity you. I’m not interested in hearing your life story. Just hurry up and open the windows first,” I said.

When I cautiously stepped into his room, I immediately saw the mess inside. I distinctly remembered it being perfectly clean just a few hours ago, so I honestly couldn’t understand how it became this disgusting so quickly, but for now, I simply sat down in a chair tucked into the corner of the room.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to sit down?” I asked, patting the seat next to me.

“Ah, yes! I’ll sit down!” he answered.

“Take the ring out again,” I said.

“Ah... okay.” ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

‘Take one picture.’

“Look over here for a second,” I instructed.

‘And one picture of the hypnosis guy too... Hmm... still feels a little lacking.’

“Try pulling it like you did earlier,” I said.

“Pardon? E-Excuse me?” he questioned.

“You pulled on my cheek earlier, remember? Do the exact same thing again,” I said.

“I-If you do this, it’ll put me in a difficult position, O Monarch of Lust and Eternal Sleep...” he argued.

“Ah, hurry up and pull on it already so I can take a picture and send it to Commander Jin. This time, pull even harder than before,” I instructed him.

“...”

“What are you doing? Are you being serious right now?” I questioned.

“O-Okay... understood.”

Naturally, I could see the bastard stretching my cheek out just like before. Even after the camera clicked once, he still didn’t let go of my cheek, so I glared at him. Of course, the guy immediately released my face in a panic.

I glanced toward the mirror. As expected, my cheek had turned bright red. After zooming in on the reddened cheek and taking another picture, I pressed the send button. When I nudged the hypnosis guy sitting beside me on the sofa, he flinched and hurriedly stood up from his seat.

‘Feels like he still won’t believe me even with this...’

I sent the pictures on impulse because it felt like I needed some kind of evidence, but looking at them again, they looked sloppy. The mob ring didn’t look like some Unmeasurable-grade numbered item at all. Instead, it looked like a cheap ring one would randomly find on the ground.

‘Still... this picture definitely boosts the credibility a lot...’

Even without any explanation, one would nod unconsciously at a mere glance at this hypnosis guy. The picture practically screamed creepy villain. His unpleasant face and sinister-looking smile only made it worse.

Even Ahn Ki-Mo immediately said that the guy looked exactly like a hypnosis creep.

He probably wouldn’t even try to understand the mob ring or the perception-rewriting stuff, but he’d definitely understand upon seeing the guy's face.

"I sent a picture. Take a look."

— Do you really have time for pointless nonsense like this?

"..."

"See? I told you I was right. I’m not lying about this, okay?"

— ...

"..."

— What an unpleasant picture. Don’t ever send me garbage like this again, Lee Ki-Young. freewebnøvel.com

"Wait, Commander Jin."

— I’m fairly certain I already told you I have no intention of indulging your little games. There’s nothing more to discuss, so I’ll be closing the communication cha—Wait, I have something I need to handle right now. I’ll contact you later when I have time.

"Wait, this isn’t the time to talk about contacting me later! I’m telling you that a real threat to the continent is coming, damn it! Apparently, the head of Lucifer’s followers is even more handsome than Kim Hyun-Sung! I’m planning to handle what I can on my side, too, and I’ve already unleashed the foreign press. Your side should—"

Click.

‘Damn it. Stupid jerk. Shit.’

“...”

“...”

‘He even blocked me?’

I angrily hurled the hand mirror toward the wall, and I saw Priest Benet flinch in response to it. Naturally, he cautiously observed my face, seemingly debating whether he ought to speak first or not, but eventually, he opened his mouth. “I-It didn’t go well?”

“This bastard won’t believe a word I say. Damn it. No, actually, maybe this works out better. I was planning to pull these people out and stir things up anyway. Mister, gather everyone together,” I ordered.

“Pardon?”

“The people you planted suggestions in, obviously. How many are there? Well, there must be quite a lot. The people hypnotized by the Hypnosis Guy are one thing, but there's no way that there are only a few people who got swept up in everything, too, is there?

"If you were to gather all the extremists, you’d easily have tens of thousands of them, wouldn’t you?” I asked.

“I-I’m not really sure...” he muttered.

“Stir people up on Benigoa Net, too. You’re good at that kind of thing, right?” I asked.

“...”

“...”

“Forgive me... O Monarch of Lust and Eternal Sleep... this foolish servant can’t understand what exactly you’re trying to say... M-My apologies. If you could explain in a little more detail...” he requested.

“Gather everyone together and rally them as discreetly as possible. Dig into Lucifer’s people, too, and while you’re at it, let’s give Commander Jin a headache,” I told him.

“???”

“I mean, gather people in front of Commander Jin’s estate and hold a rally. Make sure you properly register it with the Republic authorities, too. Damn it. Gather every person you possibly can. And I’m telling you again, don’t let anyone realize that you’re involved in this. If Lucifer’s side catches on, the whole thing will go to waste.

"There are three people who specialize in this kind of thing, and they’ll be moving separately, too,” I explained.

“Ah... O-Okay!” he answered.

“Make sure it’s done properly. Properly. You understand what I mean, right?” I emphasized.

“Yes, I understand perfectly,” he said.

“...”

"..."

And then, I said, “Hey."

“...”

“Yes?”

“I think you did your job a little too well...” I commented.

“I-I honestly didn’t expect this either,” he replied.

Roughly sixty thousand protesters appeared, opposing the peace treaty, while another seventy thousand protesters showed up to counter them in support of the peace treaty.

A total crowd of well over a hundred thirty thousand people filled my line of sight. They screamed while waving picket signs and voice-amplifying artifacts.

Park Deok-Gu stood in the midst of it all. He was on a platform and was enthusiastically thrusting his fist toward the sky while wearing a bizarre headband.

"SEE THE TRUTH!!! SEE THE TRUUUUUTH!!!"

"WE OPPOSE THE PEACE TREEEAAATY!!! WE OPPOSE IT!"