Regression Guidelines For the Supporting Character-Chapter 39: 5. The Second Rift

Before heading out to stop the rift incident, there was something I had to do. Something that might even be more important than the rift itself.

Before leaving the office, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) I crouched down to meet Cha Sahyeon’s eyes.

“Kiddo.”

Cha Sahyeon, who always wore a half-vacant expression when not talking to me, tilted her head at my call.

“Let’s make a promise.”

“Promise?”

“You don’t want to stay here alone waiting for me, right? You want to come along.”

“.......”

“Then you have to make a promise with me. And you have to keep it, or I won’t take you.”

Glancing at me with an anxious expression, Cha Sahyeon asked in a reluctant voice.

“...What’s the promise?”

“If I touch — uh, no, if I hold hands with other people, don’t get mad. And behave properly when I tell you to.”

Cha Sahyeon’s eyes instantly turned cold. Why the hell was a kid glaring so murderously?

I couldn’t afford to lose ground here. I responded even more firmly.

“If you don’t promise, you’re staying here. You’ll have to wait alone until I get back.”

“No.”

“Then promise you won’t get mad.”

“...Don’t want to.”

“If you don't want either, what do you expect me to do? Pick one.”

“.......”

“Quick. Stay here, or come along and stay with me.”

I intentionally rushed her before she could think too deeply. Cha Sahyeon, pouting and furrowing her brow in dissatisfaction, anxiously hesitated, worrying I might really leave her behind — and finally slumped her shoulders and said,

“What if I get mad anyway? I can’t control it.”

“You have to try. Everyone else does.”

“It’s hard......”

“Life’s hard. Deal with it.”

Maybe it sounded dramatic, but Cha Sahyeon wasn’t an ordinary kid.

If she couldn’t control her emotions, the Catastrophe would  arrive even faster — and that would mean the end of the world. So, more than anyone else, Cha Sahyeon had to learn to regulate her emotions properly.

“Kiddo.”

Still... she wasn’t wrong, either.

Even adults struggled with controlling anger. I myself tended to explode physically when I got pissed off.

Cha Sahyeon’s hypersensitivity whenever I made contact with others stemmed from her unstable psychology — the constant fear of being abandoned.

Forcing and suppressing it wouldn’t solve anything.

“That’s why, if you keep your promise, I’ll buy you another present.”

“Present?”

“Yeah. This time, whatever you want. We’ll go shopping together.”

The moment she heard the word ‘present,’ life sparked in Cha Sahyeon’s big eyes. Both her cheeks flushed a rosy pink.

“Really?”

“Really. And even when we go, except while working, I’ll stay with you the whole time. I’ll even bring snacks. How about that?”

When I asked with a grin, Cha Sahyeon’s cheeks visibly turned redder, and she hurriedly nodded.

“I-I’ll go. I’ll keep the promise.”

Seeing how serious she looked, I patted her head. Successfully persuading Cha Sahyeon as planned, I let out a breath of relief inwardly.

“I’ll trust you, then. Let’s go?”

“Yeah.”

Straightening my knees, I held the kid’s small hand. Cha Sahyeon, still blushing, looked up at me with sparkling eyes.

Meeting that gaze gave me a strange feeling.

It was a face that seemed to think I was the center of the world — as if only I mattered.

“.......”

Had I ever received unconditional affection like this before?

My stomach churned. Suppressing the strange feeling rising to my throat, I quickly looked away.

***

I took the car Kwon Taehyuk had sent and headed to the rift appearance site, Uidong, Gangbuk-gu.

The car climbed near Mount Bukhan and stopped in front of an area cordoned off with prohibition tape. Getting out of the car with Cha Sahyeon, I looked around.

This place, near the Uidong Valley, had the vibe of a quiet countryside village — and had often been used as a drama filming location in the 1980s.

Now, due to the rift, large guards were stationed to block civilian access, and only Yesung Guild members and Bureau officials bustled about.

“Welcome, Guildmaster Won.”

Just then, a secretary who had been waiting nearby approached and politely greeted me.

A familiar face — he was Kwon Taehyuk’s secretary, who I had seen several times before. Apparently, he had been dispatched to meet me.

“This way, please.”

Following the secretary past the guards blocking the entrance, I moved inside.

Inside, even more hunters were visible than from the outside.

Except for the Bureau officials, everyone here must have been Yesung Guild hunters. Just as Kwon Taehyuk said — determined to prevent civilian casualties, they had mobilized a serious force.

Walking past the hunters toward an even deeper area, I spotted a familiar back.

Unlike last time, where he had been dressed sharply in a suit, Kwon Taehyuk now wore a white shirt and a black leather chest harness.

“You have to leave in 10 minutes.”

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“There’s still three hours left. What's the rush?”

“It’s dangerous.”

Kwon Taehyuk was conversing with someone.

The person blocked from my view by the secretary came into sight as I moved closer.

“Don’t worry. I know how precious my life is too.”

A soft, gentle voice — completely different from Kwon Taehyuk’s rigid tone — brushed past my ears. At the same time, white hair gleamed under the sun.

The face revealed under the snow-white bangs was stunningly beautiful. Clear skin without a single blemish, a small face, and large, well-defined features — like a doll. But the tall height and broad shoulders made it clear at a glance that he was a man.

At that moment — though it was our first meeting — a strange sense of familiarity made me halt.

Ding!

[User Information: Eun Woojeong (Main Character)]

Age: 30 years old

Main Skill: Chain Summoning and Control (S-rank)

Title: The Spider King

Attack Power: S-rank

Attack Speed: S-rank

Movement Speed: S-rank

Agility: S-rank

Special Notes▼

└One of the Main Characters to Stop the Catastrophe

‘......What?’

Wait a minute, this status window— I’d seen it before. The one who had the title "The Spider King" was definitely...

[We told you, didn’t we? We’re an information group. Of course we’re curious about who you are.]

The leader of the information group “Spiderweb.”

And now, the same status was showing above this man.

Stunned by the contents of the status window, I stood frozen. Sensing my arrival, Kwon Taehyuk turned around.

“Cha Seohu Hunter.”

“.......”

“Cha Seohu Hunter?”

“Ah, yes.”

Snapping out of it at Kwon Taehyuk’s second call, I awkwardly approached the two.

“You seemed to be in the middle of a conversation, so I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“It’s fine. Please come here.”

After dismissing the secretary who had guided me, Kwon Taehyuk, looking resigned, introduced me.

“This is Cha Seohu Hunter, Guildmaster of Won Guild. Cha Seohu Hunter, this is... actor Eun Woojeong.”

As he reluctantly introduced himself, the man, Eun Woojeong, smiled brightly at me.

“Nice to meet you. Should I call you Guildmaster Won?”

Eun Woojeong extended a hand as neat and delicate as his face. Suppressing the chaotic emotions inside me, I shook it.

“...Just call me Cha Seohu Hunter. That’s enough.”

“All right, Cha Seohu Hunter.”

Following the slight upward curve of Eun Woojeong’s lips, I also smiled as if nothing were wrong.

‘Last time, neither his name nor age showed. Maybe because I’m seeing his real face without a mask, hidden information is now revealed?’

Eun Woojeong— I knew him very well.

He had exploded in popularity as an actor in recent years. You couldn’t avoid him even if you tried — whether on TV commercials or street billboards.

And yet, he was the leader of Spiderweb. It made sense — both had white hair and similar physiques.

Still, I hadn't even suspected they were the same person because...

Eun Woojeong, being a celebrity, frequently changed his hair color through dyeing. Even in the refrigerator commercial airing lately, he had brown hair.

More importantly—

‘Why... why can’t I feel any power from him?’

The leader of Spiderweb I fought back then was definitely an S-rank hunter. I had personally confirmed it through battle — through his skills and overwhelming presence.

It even said so in the status window: S-rank, Chain Summoning and Control.

Yet right now, facing Eun Woojeong... he felt like an ordinary civilian.

Not just someone with a low rank, or a supporter like me — but a complete non-Awakener.

And I also knew — publicly, actor Eun Woojeong was an ordinary person.

The palm I held in the handshake felt chillingly cool.

As we shook hands, I met Eun Woojeong’s eyes up close.

The main reason even a celebrity-indifferent guy like me remembered Eun Woojeong was those distinctive eyes.

His gaze — so striking that the phrase “gem-like eyes” sprang naturally to mind — held two distinct colors.

A brilliant golden hue like midday sunlight, and a clear blue like the sky, swirled together, half and half.

Even in an era when diverse hair and eye colors appeared post-Awakening, such eyes were still rare.

And then there was the vivid beauty mark under his eye.

Altogether, a face that irresistibly drew the eye.