The air inside the Forsaken Mines Gate was thick with mineral dust and low-grade aether. Han Tae-oh, wearing a dark Hunter outfit with the pitiful F-Rank Emergency Defense Vest stuffed beneath his chest armor, walked with meticulous caution. He held a basic mana lantern, not to see, but to hide the fact that he was constantly scanning the environment with his Basic Audit skill.
The patrol group consisted of two C-Ranks (including the team leader, Hyun-woo) and two B-Ranks. All were experienced, but none held the lethal focus of the fifth member: Lee Ji-hoon, the Regressor.
Ji-hoon walked point, his back a rigid, powerful statement of authority. He hadn't spoken a word to Tae-oh since the main gate, but every step he took felt like a loaded threat.
Tae-oh navigated the tight, unstable corridors, constantly correcting the team's route based on his Audit.
"Wait," Tae-oh snapped, his voice tight. "The west wall. It's compromised. Take the lower route."
Hyun-woo glared, but Ji-hoon cut him off. "Do as he says," the Regressor commanded, his eyes still fixed ahead.
They continued. A few minutes later, the Audit skill flared red, signaling the main ambush point. [Flaw: Unstable Ceiling Panel System.]
"Halt!" Tae-oh yelled, pointing directly up. "The roof is rigged. There are three Stalker Worms waiting to collapse it onto us!"
This time, Ji-hoon stopped, slowly turning to face Tae-oh. He was waiting for Tae-oh's real move. The Regressor remembered this exact spot—this was where the original villain would distract the team to steal a valuable core.
But Tae-oh didn't move. Instead, he pointed to a cluster of small, glowing minerals on the wall.
"Hyun-woo-ssi," Tae-oh ordered, using his best managerial tone. "Use a controlled force blast on the red mineral deposit exactly five meters behind us. That will divert the stress wave."
Hyun-woo, baffled, followed the order. Boom! The controlled blast didn't shake the corridor. Instead, the force was neatly channeled into the worm nest, causing the ceiling to collapse outward, crushing the worms instantly without harming the team.
[Quest Alert: Defeated Trap Monsters (F-Rank). Reward: Virtue Points +50.]
Tae-oh wanted to scream. He was just trying to avoid being crushed!
The rest of the patrol stared at Tae-oh with silent, growing awe. Ji-hoon, however, looked only at the collapsed ceiling, then back at Tae-oh. His eyes were no longer cold—they were analytical, a terrifying fusion of fury and calculation.
They exited the gate an hour later, the patrol a resounding, efficient success.
Ji-hoon dismissed the team immediately, but stopped Tae-oh with a hand on his shoulder. His touch was not aggressive, but heavy—a physical warning.
"Seven days ago," Ji-hoon began, his voice low, "I returned to the past with one goal: kill the Han Tae-oh I remembered. The one who would ruin the world."
He stepped closer, his intense gaze locking onto Tae-oh. "You are not the idiot I remembered. You are an anomaly. You are an S-Rank strategist who woke up in an F-Rank body, and you are hiding your power by pretending to be a self-serving virtuous fool."
Ji-hoon leaned in, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper, meant for Tae-oh alone.
"I don't care about your past life, or your System, or whatever trick you used for that promotion. The Cataclysm is coming. Soon. And I need a weapon I can't trust but can't afford to discard. The world needs a brain like yours."
Ji-hoon pulled out a small, metallic card—a highly-restricted S-Rank Guild Contract.
"I am forming a black ops Regressor team to hunt the true threats. You will be my strategist."
He held out the card. "I will not kill you today, because your mind is too valuable. But understand this: I am not your savior. I am your rival in the truest sense. Every time you succeed for the Guild, you will be proving your terrifying capability. And every time you stray, you will prove my memory correct."
Ji-hoon's eyes hardened. "I know your future crimes. Your challenge is to outwit my knowledge. My challenge is to kill you the moment you fail."
Tae-oh looked at the contract, then at the man whose hatred was now twisted into a desperate, conditional reliance. He saw no choice. He had to accept the most dangerous, unstable promotion of his life.
"Fine," Tae-oh sighed, the defeated manager in him resurfacing. "I'll take the job. But I demand a fixed contract with a guaranteed annual core bonus and hazard pay."
Ji-hoon didn't smile. He just nodded, a terrifying acceptance.
"Welcome to the team, Traitor," Ji-hoon said, a promise and a threat rolled into one. "Let the game begin."