A Regressor’s Tale of Cultivation Prologue

I am a citizen of a civilized Earth.

This was the sentence I muttered to myself whenever I had a spare moment.

"I am from a civilized society, cough, cough!"

If I hadn't constantly reinforced that identity, my mind might have shattered long ago.

"Oh my, Mr. Seo. My mother wanted you to have these."

"I appreciate it."

"Don't mention it. Just focus on recovery so you can get back to making soap!"

The young woman from the Ju family next door set a basket of steamed potatoes down beside me before scurrying back to her home.

Fifty years.

Half a century has passed since I was stranded in this wretched world.

Cough! Hack!

I collapsed back onto my bed, overtaken by a coughing fit.

I remember it clearly; it was the day of our corporate retreat.

I was traveling to the workshop alongside Director Kim and my other coworkers.

A massive landslide swept us away, and by the time we regained consciousness, we were trapped in a bizarre land.

There were foxes with three tails as large as houses.

Giant serpents with dual heads and crimson scales roamed the earth.

And then there were the figures soaring through the clouds, brandishing swords.

It was a realm that mirrored the martial arts novels I used to skim through.

Despite the strangeness of this environment, we managed to adjust.

Most of my colleagues seemed to thrive here.

With the exception of me.

Director Kim, Chief Oh, Section Chief Jeon, Deputy Manager Kang, Deputy Manager Oh, and Manager Kim were all in that same vehicle.

Within a mere three days of our arrival in this martial world, Section Chief Jeon, Deputy Manager Kang, and Chief Oh drew the attention of high-ranking Cultivation Sect experts and were taken in as disciples.

By the fourth day, a mysterious individual claimed Deputy Manager Oh as his own bloodline and spirited her away.

That same evening, an elder arriving on a massive mechanical puppet noticed Manager Kim’s hidden potential and took her with him.

In the end, everyone was recruited by some Sect or powerful Cultivator, leaving only Director Kim and myself behind.

However, Director Kim possessed an innate genius for martial arts.

Even without formal Cultivation methods, he spent six months working manual labor with me before purchasing a low-grade martial arts manual from a street hawker. Through sheer talent, he ascended to the level of a top-tier master and ventured deep into the martial world.

A decade later, I heard news that he was ranked among the top ten martial artists globally.

By the twenty-year mark, he was recognized as one of the three greatest masters alive.

After thirty years, he reached the pinnacle of the world, founded the Wulin Alliance, and served as its inaugural leader. After maintaining peace for ten years, he vanished.

The rumors suggested he had ascended to a higher plane of existence.

Just like that, destiny played its hand.

Three of the seven who fell into this world became elite disciples of renowned Cultivation Sects.

One was discovered as the kin of a mysterious figure.

One was scouted by a mechanical monster for her unique gifts.

And one realized his dormant martial potential.

Everyone found their path to greatness.

Everyone but me.

Cough! Cough! Hack!

I possess no innate talent, no special attributes, and no hidden powers.

Section Chief Jeon was gifted with a rare constitution known as the 'Heavenly Golden Thunder Body'...

Deputy Manager Kang awakened a unique spiritual root called the 'Ghostly Yin Transforming Immortal Root'...

And Chief Oh was born with the 'Unique Holy Body'.

On that fourth day, Deputy Manager Oh manifested a strange power to manipulate the weather.

After she departed with the mysterious man, Manager Kim also unlocked a unique ability that allowed her to perceive everything within ten miles even with her eyes shut.

Director Kim and I watched these miraculous encounters and otherworldly blessings in awe.

We stayed together, clinging to the hope that a similar fate awaited us.

But neither Director Kim nor I ever developed special roots or extraordinary abilities.

Having no understanding of how this martial world functioned, the two of us spent six months performing backbreaking labor in the marketplace.

Then, at the six-month mark, everything changed.

Unable to endure that lifestyle any longer, Director Kim spent his entire savings on a basic martial art meant for physical conditioning.

He mastered it in only three months and became a true martial artist.

After that, he joined a courier service to gain access to more sophisticated techniques, quickly evolving into a formidable warrior before heading out into the wider world.

He left me all alone.

I continued to hope that I might stumble upon a fateful encounter of my own.

I waited to find a hidden talent.

I prayed to awaken a unique ability or manifest a spiritual root.

I survived in this world fueled by that tiny spark of optimism.

But...

Ten years went by.

Twenty years passed.

Thirty years vanished.

Nothing ever happened to me.

Forty years. Fifty years.

Cough! Cough!

I am nothing more than an old man perishing from a common cold.

"I am... from Earth... Earth..."

Now, I mutter to the empty air just to ensure I don't lose the memory of my home.

I have become a senile, rambling old fool.

"Huff... Huff..."

What was the purpose of our arrival here?

Why were they all granted unique bloodlines, roots, and genius talents?

Why was I excluded?

"Did I truly gain nothing at all?"

During my fifty years in this land, I mastered the local tongue.

I learned literacy, toiled as a laborer, and eventually managed to find a place to stay.

I earned my keep by producing soap from lye.

The soap was a commodity in this world, which resembled medieval China, but it wasn't enough.

Once thieves plundered my production secrets and started their own manufacturing,

My business withered away.

To survive, I had to supplement my income by gathering herbs, distilling liquor, and taking every odd job available.

The weight of it all was suffocating.

For some reason, I cannot stop the tears from falling.

'Why... why me...'

Was it simply because I wasn't the chosen one?

No, that wasn't the only reason.

Even without being chosen,

Even without being a special person,

I gave everything I had and lived as hard as I could.

My past flashes before me in a blur.

The grueling effort to learn the language.

The struggle to master reading and writing.

The pain of saving enough to buy a tiny plot of land.

The backbreaking work of building a home on that dirt.

The process of integrating into the village and befriending the locals.

The attempt to use Earth's knowledge to sell soap.

Establishing that small shop.

But then, third-rate martial artists stole my trade secrets and opened their own stores.

My customer base dwindled to a few loyal regulars.

Life became a struggle again, forcing me into the mountains to chop wood and pick herbs.

Just as things began to stabilize, bandits descended on the village and stripped me of everything.

I spent my remaining days scraping by on whatever work I could find...

'Why... did I... after working so hard... have to lose everything...?'

I did my absolute best in this world.

Yet, this world rejected every effort I made.

'What more do you want from me?!'

I wept at the injustice of it all, sobbing quietly in my bed.

It is winter.

I am bedridden with a fever.

My body has reached its limit.

My vision is fading.

'If only... I had more chances... just one more...'

In the freezing heart of winter,

I lie in my sickbed, bringing my fifty-year struggle to an end.

That was the conclusion of my first regression.

"Cough! Huff!"

I snapped my eyes open and lurched upward.

The sensation is vivid.

I remember the moment I closed my eyes on that bed and surrendered to the dark.

I remember the exact second the warmth left my body and I died.

I was dead.

So why...

"Am I... still alive?"

I jumped at the sound of my own voice.

'This... this voice...!'

I looked down at my hands.

They weren't covered in the wrinkles and age spots of an old man.

They were the hands of a youth, vibrating with health and life.

I was wearing clothes that definitely didn't belong to this world—the blue shirt and sweatpants I had on back on [Earth].

I scanned my surroundings, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Oh dear, Du-ya..."

"What's going on?"

"Where... where are we?"

Director Kim, Chief Oh, Section Chief Jeon, Deputy Manager Kang, Deputy Manager Oh, Manager Kim...

The realization hit me.

'I've regressed!'

And in that same heartbeat, I understood the truth.

A shiver ran down my spine.

'I didn't come to this world without a gift.'

I have awakened the power of regression!