The Regressor Can Make Them All-Chapter 278

“...You’re saying that I stole your technique?”

Staring at Se-Hoon, who was trying to remain calm, Meirin shook her head.

“I’m not accusing you or anything. I was just asking. You’re making it sound like I'm trying to pick a fight here.”

“And what if I had thought you sounded like you were picking a fight with me?”

“Well, I just said that I am not. So there’s no problem now, right?”

Hearing Meirin’s sly tone, Se-Hoon narrowed his eyes.

Her tone is just like I remember it. He couldn’t help but recall the way her words had always irked him. She had a peculiar, annoying way of speaking that managed under his skin countless times.

Feeling nostalgic, Se-Hoon chuckled inwardly at the thought as he replied, “You can speak whatever nonsense you want, but I'd appreciate it if you could at least make some sense.”

“Hmm...”

Meirin tilted her head slightly with a cigarette between her lips, observing Se-Hoon's calm demeanor.

“Strange... you should've already caught on to what I'm getting at by now.”

Just as she mentioned, Se-Hoon knew what Meirin was hinting at. In fact, he'd been expecting a confrontation ever since the moment they first crossed paths. It was just that he had no intention of bringing it up himself.

There's no need for me to play the obedient disciple in this situation.

It usually was the one with questions who started the conversation, after all. Thinking such thoughts, Se-Hoon simply stared back in silence, watching Meirin hold her gaze.

And soon enough, she let out a resigned sigh. “Fine, fine. You're just waiting for me to ask, huh?”

“Depends on what you're going to ask.”

“Alright, let's start with your Blood Art.”

Dragging over a chair, as if she were uncomfortable standing, Meirin casually plopped down before continuing. “Basically, you know how heart rates vary from person to person, right? Even if the rate is the same, the structure, form, and nature of the blood can be completely different for each individual.”

“...”

“And in your case... they’re exceptionally well organized. You’ve optimized the flow to match the characteristics of your body and blood... oh, hold on.”

Noticing the cigarette in her mouth had almost burned out, Meirin casually pulled out a fresh one and tried to light it by transferring the remaining flame from the old cigarette.

Seriously...

Se-Hoon couldn’t help but feel amused by her meticulousness. Even if she really liked how he'd lit the first one, seeing her go through such effort felt oddly pitiable.

Shaking his head at the sight, Se-Hoon snapped his fingers, conjuring a small flame at his fingertips.

“Here, I'll light it for you,” he offered.

“Oh? Thanks.”

Leaning forward, Meirin lit her cigarette before continuing. “Anyway, as I was saying... you've created the required optimal flow. But the problem is, your patterns are too varying.”

“Varying?”

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

“Yeah, and I’m not talking about temporary changes caused by your emotional fluctuations. It’s something deeper, more fundamental. Essentially, it’s like your body is split into multiple parts.”

Gesturing toward her own body with her index finger, Meirin began tracing patterns in the air as though drawing a diagram.

“Of course, such a case is not entirely unheard of. Those who possess multiple types of elemental mana often have patterns that shift based on which mana they’re currently channeling.”

“Then there should be no issue, right?”

“Normally, yes. But in your case, there are too many patterns. Way too many.”

Her eyes, dark and serene, gazed at him with a steady intensity. But in the face of such a dense gaze, Se-Hoon simply gazed back, unflinching.

“I can observe at least six patterns in your body. And it’s not because you’re using six types of elemental mana. You’ve probably been adjusting your body to match the different situations you’ve found yourself in. That isn’t something a normal human can do.”

“...”

“To put it simply... it’s like you’ve been changing your clothes every time you do something different—whether it’s looking at your phone, sitting on the couch, eating, or going to the bathroom.”

“...”

It was a clumsy analogy, but it hit the mark. The core principle behind Soul Honing was partitioning one’s body into different pieces and reassembling them in real time to maintain optimal efficiency.

“There aren’t many people crazy enough to attempt something like that—except for me.”

She paused, clearly grappling with the absurdity of what she was witnessing. Having spent years refining the single technique she’d kept to herself, seeing someone else perfect it was jarring, to say the least.

“I believe I’ve explained enough now. So tell me. Where did you learn this?” She sounded genuinely curious rather than accusatory.

Organizing his thoughts, Se-Hoon finally spoke. “As you saw just now, the Seeker’s soul resides within me. In short, I have multiple souls sharing this body.”

“Hmm...”

“Because of that, my soul is often unstable, which leads to my body spiraling out of control. To fix that, I researched ways to stabilize it and ended up with this current form.”

Meirin narrowed her eyes slightly.

“So, you’re saying it was just a coincidence?”

“Partitioning the body and reassembling it when needed—it’s hard to pull off, but anyone can come up with the idea.”

“...”

Meirin chewed on her cigarette in thought, her expression gradually softening. And soon, she came to her own conclusion.

“Okay. Then, have you ever written the methodology behind your technique anywhere?”

“No.”

“Taught it to anyone?”

“...No.”

Getting the answers she wanted, Meirin made a surprised face, as if she had come to some realization.

And upon seeing her reaction, Se-Hoon countered with a question of his own. “Just to confirm... your technique isn’t so simple that someone could steal it by watching, right?”

At his words, Meirin made another surprised expression before biting down on her cigarette and exhaling a long sigh.

“I never imagined that there’d be another genius like me in this world... I guess the world is bigger than I thought.”

“...”

“I apologize for doubting you earlier. That was my mistake.”

Though she sounded gruff, Se-Hoon knew her well enough to recognize that it was a genuine apology; her bluntness was simply a part of her nature.

She’s not one to make empty apologies after all.

Knowing Meirin, if anything had struck her as suspicious, she would have kept digging until she found the truth. So since she apologized, it was clear she accepted his explanation, meaning he wouldn’t have to worry about her suspecting him of stealing the technique again.

The important part is the next step, though...

Contemplating over how she would act with the newly accepted information, Se-Hoon heard Meirin mumbling to herself while flicking her cigarette.

“Though... hmm... Maybe not... But still...”

Se-Hoon’s eyes gleamed.

“If you’ve got something to say, just say it.”

Looking toward him, Meirin hesitated momentarily before shrugging and answering. “Well, since you lent me your light, I suppose I owe you. I was just thinking of some advice.”

“Advice?”

“You said earlier that your soul became unstable, and you developed this technique to fix it, right?”

Seeing Se-Hoon nod, Meirin scratched her chin thoughtfully.

“Well, your method isn’t bad in itself. As you keep refining it, your unstable soul will gradually become more pure and balanced. But the actual issue comes after that.”

“What comes after...?”

“What do you think will happen when the multiple souls within you merge into one? Because they’re not entirely separate entities, both sides will inevitably end up influencing each other.”

Meirin tapped her temple lightly before looking up at Se-Hoon.

“Regardless of whether you want to preserve yourself or fully resurrect that quirky soul you're housing, it won’t end well, as both will end up diluted. That’s the first problem.”

“...”

“The second problem arises if the issue with your soul stems not from internal factors but external ones. To put it simply, an external impurity may be tainting your soul.”

Se-Hoon’s eyes glinted. The mention of unidentified impurities in the soul was eerily similar to the situation he'd been struggling to deal with after regressing.

“You and I both choose to strengthen our souls along with our bodies, enhancing the amount of control we can exercise over it.”

Abandoning the option of increasing the external influence their soul could exert, both Se-Hoon and Meirin had opted to push the amount of internal influence their soul had to the extreme.

“But to achieve that, our souls must be perfectly pure, making having an unwavering standard that can shield your synesthetic mindscape from outside influences a must.”

“...”

But if a tiny impurity were to infiltrate, it would gradually alter the standard. You might not notice it at first; however, it’s just like how a small drop of water gradually erodes a rock over decades. In the end...”

Meirin blew a long puff of smoke, illustrating the eventual dissipation.

“When that happens, your meticulously honed body becomes a curse. It will continuously resist the impurity while your soul tries to embrace it. Inevitably, they will end up conflicting with each other, and at that moment...”

She mimicked an explosion with her hands, exhaling another cloud of smoke.

“So, it’s best to get rid of any impurity as quickly as possible. You might even need to restructure your entire body to do so. However, if you do...”

“It brings us right back to the first problem.”

“Exactly.”

Se-Hoon frowned, realizing the gravity of the situation.

This is a real dilemma...

In short, the impurities that had tainted his soul after the regression posed two major problems.

First, they limited his use of certain techniques, like Blood Arts or Bond Recreate, both key elements of Soul Honing. Second, his body could collapse one day, according to Meirin.

It may be fine for now, but if I keep using the Blood Arts or Bond Recreate, things will eventually go downhill.

The only way to prevent such a thing was to remove the impurities from his soul. But that, too, came with risks.

He could lose the new skills he had gained after gaining the impurity, which potentially even included the powers he'd learned from the Perfect Ones.

Though it’s just pure speculation for now... it does seem likely.

Mulling over whether he should stick with his pre-regression skills or embrace the new ones he acquired, Se-Hoon fell deep into thought. But before he could get anywhere, Meirin interrupted his thoughts.

“Oh, do you even know exactly where the problem is coming from?”

“Huh?”

“Those who actively try to strengthen their synesthetic mindscape, like us, tend to think the world revolves around us. Because of that, when something goes wrong, the first thing we do is look for external causes.”

Meirin’s calm gaze settled on Se-Hoon.

“What I’m saying is, you should first consider whether that impurity really is because of an external source.”

As her words sunk in, memories flashed through Se-Hoon’s mind.

[The bond with the host is Lv. 1.]

Before he regressed, his own bond level had been blank. That was why, up until now, he focused solely on the monumental event of ‘regression,’ assuming it was the source of the impurity.

But what if the impurity had existed before that?

If it was because of the impurity that I was able to regress...

His mind raced. He wondered if something had changed in him during the final moment before the world ended. His thoughts quickly spiraled, but just then, Meirin interrupted by tapping his hand.

“Fire.”

“...?”

Taken aback, Se-Hoon sighed before conjuring another flame, lighting the cigarette Meirin now held between her lips. She was looking up at him like a baby bird waiting to be fed.

“Mmm... yup. This is good.”

Watching her savor the puff she took from her cigarette, Se-Hoon extinguished the flame on his fingertips.

“Do you have any tips on how to solve it?”

“Tips, huh.... I guess the simplest way is to suppress it.”

Exhaling a puff of smoke, Meirin leaned back in her chair, her eyes fixed on him.

“You can’t solve every problem that comes your way. In that case, you just have to set up a safety net to keep things under control. Of course, it’s not like that’s something simple to create.”

“A safety net...”

Thinking about how the problem involved the soul and the synesthetic mindscape, Se-Hoon wondered what he could craft to suppress the impurity.

“If you don't like that method, you could attempt to identify the source of the impurity and address it directly. You could also try to reconstruct your body from scratch. Other than that... oh, this could also work.”

Remembering something, she held out her hand, and soon, a thin cut appeared on her palm. From it, blood then welled up and quickly crystallized into a ruby-like shard.

Drip-

In the blink of an eye, a blood-red crystal had formed in her hand.

Se-Hoon’s eyes widened. He recognized it as an application technique of Demonic Blood Art.

“Is that...?”

“It’s a crystal formed by embedding a part of the soul into blood. You can try to purify the impurity with this.”

Se-Hoon stared at it in curiosity.

She’s utilizing the soul’s characteristic of wanting to maintain purity.

With it, he could cancel out his impurity by pitting it against the crystal. It wouldn’t be easy, but it was definitely doable.

Wow... I didn’t even think of this. But then again, I would have needed two people proficient in Soul Honing to pull this off.

It was a method only possible because of his reunion with his master.

Amazed, he instinctively reached for the crystal, but Meirin pulled her hand back first.

“Ah-ah~”

She wagged a finger playfully, a teasing grin on her face.

“This is legendary tier material, you know. I’m not going to hand it over for free.”

Se-Hoon frowned. “What do you want in return, then?”

“Hmm... What do I need...”

Meirin stroked her chin in thought. However, Se-Hoon knew she was just pretending, a tactic to see how desperate he was.

The best way to convince her right now should be...

Though it was a bit of a loss, Se-Hoon decided to be bold, given it was their first reunion in a long time.

He held up his fingers.

“Huh? Don’t tell me you’re going to offer me your little flame...”

Fwoosh!

One by one, a flame ignited at the tip of all five fingers, each glowing with a different flame. And not long later, Meirin realized the subtle differences between each.

“Work, rest, pre-meal, post-meal, and sleep.”

“...”

“The flame I’ve been using to light for you so far is just the plain flavor. Are you sure you don’t want these?”

Staring wide-eyed at the flames, Meirin froze before suddenly biting down hard on her cigarette.

Fwoosh!

In an instant, the cigarette flared up and burned away, startling Se-Hoon.

Were these not enough?

He wondered if trading her cigarette lighters for her soul crystal had been too ridiculous, but just as he was about to propose another offer—

Click.

Pulling out a metal cigarette case from her coat, Meirin popped five cigarettes into her mouth all at once.

She leaned toward Se-Hoon, wiggling her fingers.

“Advance payment first.”

And upon seeing his master’s eyes sparkling with excitement, Se-Hoon couldn't help but think to himself that his master could be so embarrassing sometimes, drowning in her absurd sense of pride.

Maybe I should just keep her as a friend this time...