A Regressor’s Tale of Cultivation Chapter 860 Chapter 857: Side Story - Island Survival (2)

"Now, from this moment, we will start the 7th game."

Before long, the Cuttlefish game reaches the seventh round.

"Are you okay, kid?"

"Heheok...yes."

Kim Hae-sol, working as a team with the person named Yang Ji-hwang, managed to keep winning and advancing.

Her luck was extraordinary.

For instance, in a dice game, the numbers she rolled never fell below four, and even in games of chance like coin tosses, the desired side always landed face up.

Kim Hae-sol had lost once or twice, and spurred on by Kim Runi, had entered the losers' revival match and emerged victorious, but...

Yang Ji-hwang, without such interventions, had consistently survived with a frightening momentum.

And in this Cuttlefish game, Kim Hae-sol had already identified the individuals likely to survive and decided to help four or five people for sure.

"You seem intent on saving those four or five people you mentioned earlier. Is there a particular reason?"

Kim Hae-sol nodded at Yang Ji-hwang's inquiry.

"Yes. Actually, the vast majority of the participants who entered this game don't seem like ordinary people. Most are victims of drug addiction, gambling... or they've worked in morally questionable places... but the people I want to save lived diligently and were scammed, or they ended up here with no other recourse... they are those kinds of individuals. So, I believe it would be good if people like them could live... that's why I'm helping as much as I can."

"Hmm, is that so?"

Yang Ji-hwang nodded, then posed a question.

"Then, what about you?"

"Pardon?"

"In your judgment... do you seem like someone worthy of surviving?"

"Uh..."

Kim Hae-sol felt a bit awkward at the words and responded.

"Honestly, reflecting on my life, I don't believe I've committed any truly terrible deeds..."

"Hmmm..."

Yang Ji-hwang nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that's how it appears to me as well. Alright, make sure you get out alive."

"Hehe, you too, noona."

"Hm... Well, I don't particularly care if I live or die."

"Pardon?"

"In your assessment, what do I seem like?"

Kim Hae-sol was taken aback as Yang Ji-hwang leaned closer, her gaze meeting his.

"Um... you're a bit too close."

"Look into my eyes."

"Pardon...?"

As Kim Hae-sol met her gaze, he felt an inexplicable, ominous premonition.

'What... is this? A murderer? No.'

Kim Hae-sol recognized the feeling emanating from murderers or individuals whose hands were stained with blood from their professions.

A chilling, somber sensation.

'No, no...'

However, the aura he perceived from Yang Ji-hwang was different.

It shared a strange similarity in texture but was infinitely more unfathomable.

Not merely the degree of having blood on one's hands a few times, but like a human who had engaged in literal mass slaughter.

For instance... it felt akin to watching footage of dictators like Hitler or Stalin.

'No, it's not even that.'

In footage of Hitler or Stalin, he sensed something like a pitch-black abyss, but the karma he felt from her was, paradoxically, cosmic.

It was on such a colossal scale that it felt less like murder and more like a natural disaster.

"I, I..."

"I know your nature is kind. I find people like that quite appealing. So, allow me to offer a piece of advice... should a situation arise where you must choose between saving me or agonizing over such a decision, choose to abandon me without hesitation. Regardless of what befalls me, do not trouble yourself over it."

"..."

"Your response?"

"I, I will. But noona... from what I gather, you seem exceptionally skilled at this game, so won't you likely secure victory?"

"Of course, I will win. But I'm speaking about what happens subsequent to the victory. So..."

She offered an unsettling smile that he couldn't comprehend.

"For example, something unexpected could occur after I win, correct? In such an event, if a situation arises where your duty is to save me, and even if you feel compelled to do so, do not look back and flee. I am not someone you can save."

"..."

"Answer me."

"...I, I will."

Kim Hae-sol responded as if ensnared by that ominous smile.

She was beautiful.

Yet, simultaneously, she radiated an unknown, ominous aura.

Thump, thump, thump...

Kim Hae-sol placed a hand over his rapidly beating chest, pondering the exact nature of the ominousness he felt emanating from her.

"Then the seventh Cuttlefish game is... hide-and-seek!"

As the host clapped his hands, a hulking figure clad in a mask ascended the platform.

In the brute's grasp was a massive chainsaw, and its menacing buzz echoed, suggesting it had stepped right out of a notorious slasher film.

"From this moment on, you must all conceal yourselves throughout the island. For two full days, your objective is to evade this 'It'. Should you successfully outrun capture for the entire two days, you are victorious! However, if you fail... who knows if a losers' revival match will even be offered. You have to stay alive first, after all, to even consider a rematch."

Upon hearing the host's decree, all the remaining survivors gulp audibly. The five individuals Kim Hae-sol has managed to protect so far press close to him, their faces etched with anxiety as they fixate on the approaching chainsaw-wielding figure.

"Naturally, since this game's penalty isn't merely 'testing a reagent,' but rather a matter of life and death... you will also receive a most exceptional benefit. Are you curious?"

"...Yes..."

Recognizing the disadvantage of remaining silent when the host speaks, the survivors respond with hushed tones. The host, with a clap, continues their explanation.

"The benefit is this: If you successfully combine your strengths, or perhaps hunt it down, or even devise traps to neutralize this 'It'! The individual who contributes the most significantly to its capture will be declared the winner of the Cuttlefish game, claim the prize money, and be released immediately. As for the rest of you, you won't be winners, but those among you who survive this round will be permitted to depart the island without any monetary reward. Of course, should you wish to remain on the island, we will gladly allow you to participate in the next game, and we even intend to offer special incentives. Sound appealing?"

A murmur ripples through the crowd at the host's words. Some begin to huddle together, earnestly discussing strategies to capture 'It'.

Kim Hae-sol, however, trembles, a chilling premonition gripping him from the aura of 'It'.

'Everyone has lost their minds. That thing... it isn't human!'

A strange, unsettling feeling emanates from the tagger. It's the same disturbing sensation he experienced from the tentacle monsters the organizers created from those they 'punished'.

Kim Hae-sol resolves that once the game commences, he will lead the group of survivors he is responsible for, ensuring they remain hidden and secure.

"Everyone, first..."

Just as he attempts to voice his strategy, a suggestion arises from the group Kim Hae-sol had saved.

It's Mister Park, the man who claimed to have been scammed and dragged here. "H-Hae-sol... In my view... that tagger appears menacing, but... if we had tools, I believe several of us could manage to capture him, what do you think? For instance, if we could obtain ropes or nets... we are on an island, so there should be a dock, and if we head toward it, it seems likely we could acquire such items... how does that sound?"

"Mister, why are you suggesting this? We should be focused solely on escaping with all our limbs intact!"

"B-But they said if we just catch him, they'll give the winner's prize money... Let's all catch him together and split it, Hae-sol. Even if we can get released... we've come all this way, so just leaving empty-handed feels like a bit of a waste, doesn't it?"

"Mister! Have you lost your mind!?"

Yet, it isn't only Mister Park; all the other survivors whom Kim Hae-sol had rescued nod in agreement.

"Honestly... at that level, doesn't he really seem catchable...?"

"It's just one person, Hae-sol. And is it really going to be some superhuman monster like in the movies? If several of us can throw ropes or a net from a distance... we can catch him."

"Wh-Why is everyone acting like this...?"

A dawning realization strikes Kim Hae-sol; something is terribly wrong.

They were indeed individuals who had been unjustly brought here.

However, their eyes were progressively succumbing to the avarice the Cuttlefish Game instilled.

The notion that, having survived this far, they absolutely could not leave without acquiring something, ignited into greed, boiling in their gazes.

'Th-This... no. If we charge at that tagger, we're all going to die.'

Just as Kim Hae-sol shudders, sinking into a grim premonition, Yang Ji-hwang places a hand on his shoulder and smiles.

"Don't worry too much. He looks easily catchable."

"N-Noona, why are you saying this too!?"

"Ah, I'm just saying this preemptively, but... I'm not really planning on some team battle. I intend to capture it myself, so later, no asking me to share the prize money, okay?"

Yang Ji-hwang states this as a warning, her gaze sweeping over the others who follow Kim Hae-sol, rather than focusing on Kim Hae-sol himself.

At her pointed remark, Mister Park scoffs.

"Miss, don't go getting in our way for no reason. If you come begging us for help later, that would be a problem, understand?"

"Kekek."

As if finding something amusing, Yang Ji-hwang ignores him and retrieves the ballpoint pen from the previous game, idly spinning it on her finger.

"Now then, ladies and gentlemen. The Cuttlefish game's the seventh act, the 'hide-and-seek' game begins! The 'It' will not move from this auditorium for twelve hours, so during that time, please hide yourselves tightly all over the island."

Wiiiing!

With those words, the tagger lifts the chainsaw with a vicious air and starts to approach the people.

For twelve hours, it cannot go outside the auditorium, but it can 'hunt' those inside the auditorium, and the people are also allowed to try hunting the tagger.

Of course, since most survivors have no weapons yet, they try to retreat for now and run outside the auditorium.

It is then,

Vioooom, shwook!

Pukwak.

A sound like something tearing through the air rings out.

The next moment, the inside of the auditorium freezes.

A ballpoint pen that someone throws drills straight through the tagger's neck and rips open the carotid artery.

"Kkeuk, kkeureureureuk!"

After a while,

The tagger spits up bloody phlegm from behind the mask and collapses on the spot.

They are dead.

"..."

"..."

Everyone, with faces gone cold and with looks that say they do not understand, looks toward the place the ballpoint pen came from.

There, Yang Ji-hwang wears a sneer and is crooking her finger.

"I caught the 'It', huh? Send the prize money to my account."

"...Ah, ahahaha...yes, congra...tulations."

It seems even the host is seeing something like for the first time, as their voice is a little flustered.

"Th, then, the winner of this installment of the Cuttlefish Game is Ms. Yang Ji-hwang, here!"

The host claps with a dazed expression, and the agents bring boxes in from outside the auditorium.

"Inside these boxes are your personal belongings. Phones, wallets, bags, and so on are all in here. Those who are leaving, please take your belongings from the boxes. However, this is a place where you can't get a signal to the outside anyway, so even if you turn your phone on, it won't do you any good. Now, those who will participate in the next game, receive the handout, read it, and follow the agent over there to line up. Those who are leaving, please come to the boxes."

At those words, Yang Ji-hwang goes to the boxes without hesitation, takes out her phone and handbag, and immediately turns on her phone and checks something.

"Hey, host. When do you pay the prize money?"

"Ah...the moment you are confirmed as the winner, the transfer to your account goes through immediately."

"Hm...oh, it's real."

She opens a mobile banking app, checks that the money came in, and smiles as if satisfied.

"You took out the taxes, right?"

"Yes, even the National Tax Service won't make an issue of it. The Cuttlefish Game proceeds by the will of those high-ranking people...wait. How is the banking app...hey, you didn't turn on the signal jammer?"

"The...the signal jammer is running without issues. Our phones don't work either."

"Huh? Then how..."

It is when the host approaches her with a puzzled face, trying to find out how Yang Ji-hwang is checking the transfer in her banking app.

Shukwak!

Yang Ji-hwang pulls something from her handbag and swings it at the host.

The next moment, a thin red line appears on the host's neck, and then the host's head drops away from his neck.

Cheolpeok—

Hwiririk!

What Yang Ji-hwang pulled out is a small jackknife.

She swings the jackknife with a sneer and laughs.

"Ah...that feels refreshing. You pissed me off by grabbing people and making them do this game or whatever nonsense, but I endured it since you said you'd pay... Now that I got the money, there's no need to endure anymore, right?"

A thick killing intent settles in her eyes.

While the agents still cannot grasp the situation and just stare at her blankly, she snatches the host's microphone and opens her mouth.

"To all the surviving survivors. And to all you organizers who dared to kidnap me up and make me play this annoying game until now. And to the hosts who put on this bullshit moronic game, and to the high-ranking audience who watch the arena in comfort on this island.

"We are all people who are playing a death game. But honestly, since earlier, haven't you found it boring to play childish games like towel passing, tug-of-war, dice, coin tossing, and tag?"

She kicks the face of the chainsaw killer lying nearby, boots the faceless mask the chainsaw killer is wearing up into the air, catches it, and puts the mask on her own face.

The moment Kim Hae-sol sees that, goosebumps start rising over his whole body.

'We, we need to run:'

What is standing there now is not something like the 'older-sister participant he got close to inside the game' that he knows.

Within Kim Hae-sol's vision, a peculiar divine spirit materialized, adorned in a silver ritual crown and ceremonial robes, its face concealed by a mask. This spirit was one that delivered judgment.

The swing of its blade of judgment held an unknown outcome for anyone caught in its path.

Just as Kim Hae-sol, by sheer instinct, recognized the masked Yang Ji-hwang as the 'divine spirit of judgment' and initiated his escape.

Tang, tadatang!

Only then did the agents snap back to awareness, unleashing a barrage of gunfire upon her.

Moments later, blood erupted from her entire body, yet something peculiar seemed to have taken hold of her.

"Hey, you damn fool, how could you fire that!?"

A small syringe was lodged within her.

"I-I'm sorry. The host died, so I panicked and fired..."

"Tch, if she mutates, we'll have to subdue her all over again!"

It was a small syringe ampoule, discharged from a tranquilizer gun.

Kim Hae-sol instantly grasped its nature.

'Th-That serum that transforms one into a monster?'

In their haste after the host's sudden demise, the agitated agent had mistakenly fired the wrong substance.

However, Yang Ji-hwang, struck by the serum, did not transform into a creature of tentacles.

Instead, a sinister laugh escaped her lips as she addressed them. "Then, from this moment on. For you, the audience who have grown weary, I shall commence the 'true' death game. Since hide-and-seek has already concluded, we shall continue with it. 'It' shall be me, and all of you merely need to run with all your might. The game's end condition is... either everyone on this island vanishes except for me, or I disappear. So... shall we begin hide-and-seek now?"

Bo-oong!

With an immediate flourish of her hand, she unleashed her attack.

Her hand morphed into a gleaming silver sword, and in an instant, she bisected the nearby agents.

"Wh-What... a compatible subject!? Damn it, run! She's a serum-compatible subject. Inform the compatible-subject response team to hurry over..."

Pukwak!

The apparent leader of the agents hastily conveyed an order to someone, but in the next instant, he too was cleaved in two by the sword she wielded, meeting his demise.

Her brutal onslaught didn't cease with the agents' lives.

Another participant, situated closest to her.

A participant, an operator of an illegal gambling den, an individual Kim Hae-sol hadn't made a particular effort to save, had his neck severed, ending his life.

Squirm, wriggle...

Concurrently, from the droplets of her blood, other iterations of her began to emerge, swathed in silver bandages, one of their hands transformed into a sword.

"Uh, uaaaaaaaah!"

"Run awayyyyyy!!!"

Kim Hae-sol and the remaining survivors commenced a desperate flight from the genuine death game.

***

"D-Damn it, all audience members! This is an actual emergency. Please proceed calmly to the Heliport under the guidance of the agents. A helicop