The Regressor Can Make Them All-Chapter 360

With the fight over the UD Group’s new business venture confirmed to have ended with Se-Hoon’s victory, it was now time to move to production. After all, even Wurgen had admitted his defeat.

However, because of the delayed schedule due to Se-Hoon’s intervention, the specialized equipment project was pushed forward rapidly to recover the losses. Naturally, as the one in charge of delivering the equipment, Se-Hoon became quite busy.

“Amir! We urgently need some Winterglass. Can you help?”

“Yes? Well, that’s no big deal. How many do you need?”

“Two thousand.”

“Oh, wait. I think I have some other business to... agh?!”

To increase the production speed of the core material, Winterglass, Se-Hoon roped in Amir, who was idling around. However, one person alone couldn't meet the order quantity within the deadline.

So Se-Hoon just gathered more.

“Luize! Could you also lend a hand?”

“What if I say no?”

“Then I’ll just ask someone else—ouch!”

After some pouting and poking Se-Hoon in the side, Luize was tasked with enhancing the stability of the Winterglass in order to reduce the defect rate. With her help, the production speed started picking up, so Se-Hoon moved on to the processing phase.

“Am I supposed to keep stirring it like this?”

“Not exactly. You need to maintain a steady flow to prevent the darkness mana from clumping together. It’ll also help you control your mana better, so keep at it.”

“Excuses to make me do all the hard work...”

“Tsk, tsk. Doubting a friend’s intentions, are we? This hurts my feelings.”

“...”

With a strained expression, Sung-Ha continued stirring the giant cauldron filled with dense darkness mana, aging the Winterglass. The stirring allowed the crystals to better absorb the mana, turning them into a dark bluish hue, which Se-Hoon then collected and sent down the production line.

“Tired yet?”

“Nope.”

“Great. Keep it up.”

The next stage was Erika, who came the moment she received Se-Hoon’s message. She, without error, precisely infused the Winterglass with her spell.

After her, all of the preliminary work was now done, allowing him to move onto the crafting stage, where three people split the work.

“Should I carve it like this?”

“Hmm... Try shaving a little more here. The inscription is sticking out slightly.”

“Is this how you want me to enchant it?”

“Perfect. Keep going just like that.”

Meirin processed the Winterglass, engraving spells onto them, while Lea strengthened their stability with enchantments. Se-Hoon would then inspect for defects and stack them up neatly, completing the process.

“Done yet, boy? Tsk, you're so slow, I swear...”

“Just two hundred more to go, and we’ll be done. Seriously, I can’t believe you’re taking revenge like this...”

“A deal is about how well people compromise with each other. Forget it; I'll take what you’ve made so far. Oh, and here’s an additional order for four thousand pieces.”

“Wait, what—”

What Se-Hoon had thought would take just two days dragged on for nearly a week, only ending when the undead were deployed to all the Danger Zones assigned to the UD Group.

Of course, that meant the ones he had recruited under the pretense of “just a little help” had actually been conscripted for five days of overtime.

That was why he organized a dinner party to appease their rising hostility.

“Ahem. Great job over the past week, everyone. But you know what they say: hard work builds charac—”

“Go die!”

“You piece of trash!”

His attempt at light humor was immediately met with scorn and insults. He even had to duck, just in time at that, to avoid flying objects. Making a quick retreat, he then just watched his acquaintances eating.

Hmm... Seeing everyone gathered like this is kind of surreal.

The very people who made names for themselves in their various fields in the last timeline were now helping him with mundane tasks. Even Jake and Aria, who weren’t involved, would likely have come if asked.

With them and the others I’ve considered... I’ve gathered most of the key pieces I need.

Now, it was just a matter of nurturing his hand and deciding who they’d face. In fact, if their foes were the same as before, Se-Hoon was confident he could win. Unfortunately, the butterfly effect had already proven to have drastically changed the future, making it difficult to rely on experiences.

They're acting much earlier than before, too. It’s about time to take action.

The first plan that came to mind was an expedition to the remaining Great Demon Realms to eliminate the Harbinger Shards. While directly clashing with the Demon Force would be risky, removing the major variables—the Harbingers of Destruction—was the most effective strategy.

But our current forces aren’t quite enough.

Unlike the Demon Force, whose goal was to engulf the entire planet in the Abyss of Demons, humanity needed to care about the battlefield’s condition during a fight. To survive, they had to approach every deployment cautiously.

Tsk. I wish we could push forward more aggressively.

What could he do aside from forging equipment and teaching new techniques, though? As Se-Hoon pondered over it, the table grew noisy.

“What the hell are you saying?!”

“The fact you're yelling already proves you’re guilty. You're just jealous we’re getting closer.”

“You little—”

Watching Luize’s face contort in fury at Amir’s teasing smirk, Sung-Ha chimed in calmly from the side. “Let’s get this settled first. Do you want to be her friend or her older sister?”

“Well, if you ask me, she’s probab—”

“Hey, step outside for a moment.”

Despite appearances, the trio was bickering cheerfully. To the side, Erika, Meirin, and Lea were also chatting naturally or discussing Se-Hoon, having grown close during their work.

It was a scene that Se-Hoon couldn’t have imagined before regressing, making him chuckle softly.

Well, I’ll just take things one step at a time.

With the work complete, a bit of rest seemed justified. Relaxing, Se-Hoon casually sipped his drink at the edge of the table, waiting for the grumbling about him to subside.

“Se-Hoon.”

“Hmm?”

Looking over at Lea, Se-Hoon took the neatly folded blueprint she handed him from her void pocket.

“This is the revised design of the schematic I showed you before my retreat. I've learned more about the Puppeteer and even developed my unique skill now.”

“Ah, that one.”

The enchantment device, Sphere—modeled after the Celestial Sphere that had been designed by Lea's father, Dane Claude—was also an important piece of equipment for Se-Hoon.

It’s both a weapon and a catalyst for the Puppeteer’s downfall.

The Sphere could interfere with her puppets, and thus could significantly weaken Puppeteer’s power. However, if it fell into enemy hands, it could bring unknown consequences.

In the worst-case scenario, it could bring about Puppeteer’s prime in her hands, decades earlier than it had in the previous timeline, making caution essential.

Let’s see...

Se-Hoon unfolded Lea’s revised schematics, examining them closely.

“...”

Watching from across from Se-Hoon, Lea waited anxiously. Then, the moment she had been waiting for arrived—Se-Hoon finally finished carefully reviewing every detail of the design.

“There are a few mistakes in the schematics, but fixing them won’t be difficult.”

Se-Hoon glanced at Leia and smirked at her tense self.

“It’s a pretty terrifying piece of equipment.”

Having witnessed the clash between the Dream Demon and Puppeteer in the Pleasure District firsthand, Lea had been focused on creating something that could neutralize Puppeteer’s abilities and give her the power to defeat her.

Then, during her recent retreat, she unlocked her unique skill, Phase Manifestation. Perhaps that was what had helped her make her breakthrough, allowing her to create something beyond Se-Hoon’s expectations.

“I usually don’t make definitive statements like this, but... if you can build this thing properly, you could probably defeat Puppeteer on your own.”

“R—really?”

“Of course. With something like this, how could you not?”

While Lea’s new design maintained similar principles as the original Sphere, which was a device that used simple enchantments to create resonance effects that enhanced the capabilities of other equipment, it was fundamentally different.

If completed, its performance could easily reach Legendary tier. In all aspects, it was an extraordinary piece of equipment.

“But it won’t work.”

It wasn’t without problems.

“What do you mean?”

“First of all, finding materials capable of handling these functions alone will be extremely difficult. And secondly, this device has incredibly demanding usage requirements.”

“Ugh...”

“The first issue aside, since the materials can theoretically be found with enough effort, the second problem makes it simply unusable at the moment.”

Even Lea’s earlier improvements to the Sphere had created usage conditions that required significant skill, which Se-Hoon had already advised her to improve. Yet the new version was on an entirely different level still.

If Lea completed it and used it to fight the Puppeteer as she was now, the aftermath would be catastrophic. At best, she would end up in a vegetative state; at worst, she would die.

“It might sound like it’d work if you’re okay with dying as long as you can get revenge, but that’s only if your body holds up to begin with. So my recommendation is to adjust the performance—”

“No.” Lea shut him down, her tone resolute. “If this can guarantee that I’ll take her down, I want to make it exactly as it is.”

“...I suppose that makes sense.”

Since the equipment was specifically designed to defeat the Puppeteer, compromising its effectiveness would defeat the purpose. Acknowledging her determination, Se-Hoon offered an alternative.

“In that case, your options are to work on your capabilities or design additional equipment to assist with the activation.”

“Hmm. Should I try using something like an elixir...?”

Mulling over ways to strengthen herself, Lea’s eyes sparkled, seemingly having come up with an idea.

“What about the Tower of Heroes?”

“The Tower of Heroes?”

“It’s the best place for rapid growth. I’ve gotten stronger since last time, so I think I could climb it much faster now.”

Se-Hoon frowned slightly.

Although breaking through the barriers in the Tower of Heroes often did result in significant growth, for advanced heroes, the risks also increased dramatically as they approached the upper floors.

The early stages wouldn’t be a problem, but... it’s still not ideal.

Just as carelessness in battle could lead to death, climbing the Tower of Heroes was no different. If Lea’s climb was limited to the lower levels, she might gain a small boost, but even that could cause her to end up in a difficult situation.

“Not until you hit a plateau. It’s too dangerous for now.”

“Ugh... You’re probably right.”

Lea nodded, understanding but disappointed. In the past, humanity's survival had hung in the balance, pushing heroes to climb recklessly. Right now, however, such urgency no longer existed.

“Alright, I’ll focus on designing the auxiliary equipment for now. And maybe get some more training in,” Lea said, taking back the schematics with a resigned expression.

“If you can, try consulting Professor Rebecca. She’s been an enchanter for decades and probably has solid advice on training.”

“She’ll probably nag me to death... but I’ll talk to her. Thanks.”

Watching Lea return to her seat, Se-Hoon fell into deep thought.

The Tower of Heroes... It’s not a bad option in our current situation.

There weren’t many methods to strengthen himself and his allies rapidly, and the Tower was one of the few. Its major drawback was the danger, but even that wasn’t without potential solutions.

But does that old man plan to spend his entire life only researching?

Recalling how Ludwig had once claimed he was working on a way to link the Tower of Heroes with reality, allowing climbers to ascend safely, Se-Hoon realized that since then, there had been no updates.

Was Ludwig just slacking off in his research, hiding away in Babel and pretending to work? Just as this thought crossed his mind—

“Do you have a moment?”

A voice rang in Se-Hoon’s ears.

Se-Hoon flinched. The timing was so precise that it felt as though Ludwig had read his mind.

However, he quickly recovered and lowered his voice to respond. "Yes. What is it?"

“There’s been a bit of a hiccup in preparing for the second semester’s evaluation exam. I was hoping you could help.”

“The second semester evaluation exam?”

Se-Hoon raised an eyebrow. Normally, evaluations were conducted at the end of the semester, and there were still several months left before then.

“Babel has changed a lot recently, so it’s time to revise the exam format as well. What we’re planning now is part of that effort.”

“Ah, I see.”

Given the partnerships formed with the UD Group and Pilgrimage Church, changes to the evaluation process made sense.

“So, what do you need from me?”

“We’re going to remodel the Tower of Heroes.”

“That’s—wait, what?”

Unable to believe his ears, Se-Hoon blinked rapidly in shock.

“It’s a fifty-four-year-old relic. Don’t you think it’s time to renovate it?”