Regression Guidelines For the Supporting Character-Chapter 259

“A lab? This place?”

Cover glanced around the dark hallway that stretched out before him.

The ceiling lights were all shattered, cobwebs stretched across every corner, and the floor was filthy to the point of appearing black, crawling with bugs.

If this had once truly been a laboratory, then it had clearly been abandoned for at least ten years.

“...Doesn’t look like they successfully developed anything, does it?”

“I thought so too.”

Eun Woojeong, walking ahead down the corridor, continued calmly.

“Until recently.”

“What?”

“We found this place two months ago. But I couldn’t check it out myself because of back-to-back shoots and some issues in China I had to take care of. So I left some members stationed here instead, just to gather information.”

Eun Woojeong pulled something from inside his jacket. It was a piece of paper, folded a couple of times, now pinched between his fingers.

Cover reluctantly took it and unfolded the sheet, which was covered in what looked like encrypted numbers.

“What is this?”

“Changes in aura levels detected in two locations.”

Eun Woojeong handed over the paper and kept walking, ignoring the rooms lining the corridor, all marked with rusted steel doors, heading straight ahead.

“Not sure if you’ve heard, but the number of disappearances in China has skyrocketed over the past few months. China already has a reputation for illegal zones and criminal groups, so missing persons aren’t unusual. But the recent numbers have been way beyond normal. While we were investigating that, one of my agents witnessed something.”

“Something?”

“To put it bluntly: a pile of corpses, stacked as tall as a man, and two suspicious men standing beside it. The key detail is that they vanished without a trace—along with all the bodies—within seconds.”

Cover furrowed his brow.

“You’re saying... they used a teleportation item?”

“It might sound ridiculous, but the odds are surprisingly high. You know how aura readings spike when such items are used, right?”

“You’re saying those numbers on this paper show that?”

“Yes. The normal baseline is about 100, but after those men and the corpses disappeared, the aura levels in that area shot up to 600 for about thirty minutes. There’s no doubt an item was used.”

“But you said that happened in China. What does that have to do with this place?”

“I told you—while I was too busy to come, I left people stationed here.”

Cover lifted his head sharply, already guessing what was coming next.

Eun Woojeong nodded at his expression, confirming it without saying another word.

“The lower section shows the aura fluctuation detected in this building. From 100 to 600. Same pattern as in China. The clincher? A hidden CCTV I installed underground caught the exact same two men and the pile of corpses appearing out of nowhere—right here. So either a teleportation item or something equivalent definitely exists.”

“Couldn’t one of those guys just have a warp skill?”

“Skills don’t cause that kind of fluctuation. And warping from China to a hidden basement in Korea in under a second? That’s beyond any skill’s capability.”

Cover recalled the handful of Hunters he’d seen who used warp-type skills.

Though colloquially called “warp,” most were actually skills that generated portals linking two locations.

The portals looked similar to dungeon entrances and functioned like doorways—you walked in one side and came out the other. Plus, there were range limitations. Just like Eun Woojeong said, no way you could use one to jump from China to Korea.

There were a few other warp-users, but none he knew of had capabilities beyond that.

“Fine. You’d know better than I would. Didn’t you say you were tracking warp-skill Hunters anyway?”

“Frankly, I still suspect you might be one.”

“I’m not.”

Would it kill this guy to believe someone for once? He’s so damn stubborn.

Like that ridiculous idea he keeps clinging to—insisting Cover’s sleeping with Cha Seohu. This guy sees the world however he wants and runs with it.

“Well, time will tell whether that’s true. But for now, there’s something else you need to see.”

They had arrived at the end of the corridor.

Set apart like a hidden feature, at the very back, stood a solitary door.

Unlike the other twisted and beaten-down metal doors, this one was white—spotless, without a speck of dust.

“This is the main lab. And...”

Eun Woojeong pulled something else from his coat and held it up for Cover to see.

“A keycard.”

“Wait.”

Cover’s gaze fixed on the keycard. After a moment, his eyes widened in alarm as he noticed the logo at the bottom.

Despite his startled reach for the card, Eun Woojeong handed it over without resistance, shrugging.

“Looks familiar, doesn’t it?”

“...What the hell.”

Under the brim of his cap, Cover’s pupils shook violently.

“Why is this here...?”

Nox Bio.

How could he forget that name—or that logo?

It was the research lab where Cha Seohu had been abducted and subjected to human experimentation for three months.

The place where he met Cha Sahyeon.

And that wasn’t all.

The sudden Rift that had opened at Gyeongbokgung—inside, they had lost track of a man tied to it all, someone going by the name Kwak Seunggyu.

Even though the researcher’s name printed on the keycard wasn’t Kwak Seunggyu, the lab name and logo—Nox Bio—were unmistakably the same.

“Tracking that teleportation item was supposed to be a personal matter for me. I didn’t think it’d tie into the lab you’re looking for.”

Eun Woojeong took the card back and unlocked the door, giving a short laugh.

“So? Starting to get interested?”

“Interested? You’re seriously asking that?”

“I’m fucking hooked. Nice work. I knew I could count on you. You know that, right? You really are the greatest intel agent of our time. Leader of Spiderweb, best information network in the world. I fucking love you. Now shut up and open the damn door.”

“...You’re unbelievable.”

Eun Woojeong muttered, visibly exasperated by Cover’s exaggerated praise—but not displeased.

Having finally gotten over his sulking after an hour, he pushed open the door and stepped into the lab.

The inside of the lab was surprisingly spacious and clean, completely at odds with the abandoned basement setting.

At first glance, it just looked like a dark, ordinary research space. But the black stains covering the floor stood out.

Bloodstains?

Everything else was clean—only the floor was dirty, and the stench here was especially foul, even for a basement.

“The pile of corpses you mentioned... looks like they were moved here.”

And likely other terrible things happened, too.

“Probably. This is the first time I’ve entered this room myself.”

“Then where the hell did all those bodies go? I don’t see anything here that could’ve been used for disposal...”

Cover muttered as he looked around.

Click.

A faint sound, like a switch being pressed, echoed from somewhere.

Both Cover and Eun Woojeong immediately looked down.

“Hmm?”

The floor was full of dried blood, but oddly, a portion beneath Eun Woojeong’s right foot had sunk just slightly—about the depth of a fingertip.

“Is that a hidden—”

RUMBLE!

Before Cover could finish, the underground lab shook violently.

The northern wall—the only one without a desk—began to twist and morph, and something familiar revealed itself.

At first, Cover thought it was a crack in the wall. But the moment he realized what it was, his face paled.

“What the fuck—it’s a dungeon gate!”

A dungeon break? In a place like this, right now?

How the hell is that even possible?

Startled, Cover instinctively stumbled back, trying to put distance between himself and the gate.

And then—

Click.

That same switch sound echoed again.

This time, the part of ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) the floor beneath Cover’s foot sank down.

His face drained of color as he grasped the situation. Just as he met Eun Woojeong’s masked gaze, the dungeon gate surged to life, unleashing a powerful pull.

“Ugh!”

“...!”

Caught off guard, Cover slipped. His face slammed into Eun Woojeong’s chest as they were both yanked forward.

“Ah, fuck! Shit—damn it!”

Cover flailed desperately, but there was nothing in the sterile lab to grab onto—no equipment, no handles.

In the end, pulled by immense gravitational force, the two were dragged into the dungeon gate, their bodies tangled together like one.

***

CRASH!

“Urgh!”

“Ugh!”

They tumbled across the hard stone floor—no longer in the lab, but inside the dungeon itself.

As if spitting them out like gum, the dungeon gate vanished without a trace, its job done.

“Ughhh...”

“Ah, my back...”

The force of the pull had been so intense that even the two S-ranks were groaning, clutching the spots where they’d landed hardest.

“That was rough.”

Eun Woojeong groaned, sounding genuinely exhausted for once.

Cover, propping himself up on both hands, blinked in stunned silence—then reality hit him.

Fuck.

They got dragged into a dungeon like this?

I have to get back before morning.

Getting Cha Sahyeon angry by breaking his promise was bad enough, but...

What happens if I’m still in here when the sun comes up?

Cold sweat trickled down his cheek.

“......”