The Regressed Blood Knight’s Strategy

Chapter 175

When Kane opened his eyes again, he was inside a high-rise building.

“Where am I?”

A spacious, luxurious living room.

Elegant sofas and a television.

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, he could see the bustling cityscape below.

“Is this my future?”

On the table lay a family photo.

A picture with his grandmother.

Looking around, everything in the room was exactly to his taste.

Especially the VR headset.

It was a more advanced version than the one he remembered.

“What kind of trial am I supposed to face here?”

When he did the Present quest, it had ended after he resolved the incidents that had occurred.

But now?

He had no clue.

What was this?Nôv(el)B\\\\jnn

How was he supposed to break out of this future?

Deep in thought, he pondered.

“Should I try going outside first?”

Kane took the elevator down.

As soon as he stepped out, a crowd of people waiting outside rushed toward him.

“It’s Han Chanyul!”

“Ahhhh!”

“Blood Knight, please look this way!”

Cheers erupted.

He was momentarily stunned.

“Blood Knight?”

Why was this term being used?

He turned his head to the woman who had called him that and asked,

“Did you just call me the Blood Knight?”

At his question, the woman burst into tears.

“T-The Blood Knight spoke to me….”

She didn’t know what to do with herself.

Kane was the one caught off guard by her reaction.

What’s with her?

Why is she reacting like that just because I asked a question?

It was then.

A man who appeared to be a journalist thrust a microphone toward him.

“Mr. Han Chanyul, there’s a rumor that you’ve been using the abilities from the game War of the Gods: Infinite Defense. Is this true? If so, does that mean those abilities are your awakened powers?”

What on earth was this nonsense?

He was just an ordinary person.

A non-awakened individual.

A regular office worker who enjoyed playing games in his room.

And yet, “awakened powers”?

‘Come to think of it, my small studio apartment changed into an expensive, luxury condo.’

This place was the most expensive apartment complex in Seoul.

A place where only celebrities and young chaebols live.

Yet here he was, stepping out of such a place.

Doesn’t that mean that, in the future, he somehow bought and lived in this incredibly expensive apartment?

‘For a regular office worker like me to afford this, the only explanation is if I hit the jackpot in stocks. Or if I awakened and became a hunter.’

To confirm his conclusion, Kane asked the reporter,

“Am I an awakened?”

“Pardon?”

The reporter looked dumbfounded.

Just from his expression, Kane could tell the truth.

In the future, he had indeed awakened.

“Could you describe my ability more specifically?”

At his request, the reporter quickly responded,

“Mr. Han Chanyul, you use skills that manipulate blood. It’s speculated that you’ve inherited the blood swordsmanship and blood magic of Kane Rehinar, a character from War of the Gods. For instance, the ‘Blood Rain’ technique you displayed against the Black Ogre or the ‘Blood Wave’ used against the Crocodile King, a boss-tier monster, strongly resemble Kane’s abilities.”

The reporter’s words opened up a flood of speculation.

He had somehow gained the exact skills of Kane Rehinar.

‘Did this start after I saved my grandmother in the past?’

Back then, he had merely used mana to save his grandma.

He’d thought of it as nothing more than a trial from the gods—a fleeting moment of happiness.

But now, the past and the future were connecting.

How was he supposed to interpret this?

‘When I complete the four trials and return to reality, will these connections remain? Or will everything go back to normal once the trials end?’

He was confused.

He couldn’t predict what kind of outcome awaited when all of this was over.

Suddenly, he found himself thinking about Ray.

“By any chance, is there any other hunter who uses skills from War of the Gods?”

“WHAT! Are you saying there’s someone besides you as well, Mr. Han Chanyul?”

“Sounds like there isn’t.”

If Kane’s skills had been transferred to him, it stood to reason that Ray’s would have done the same.

Why wasn’t Ray here?

It felt like he needed to meet him.

“Well, I’m busy, so I’ll be going now.”

With a push off the ground, his body shot forward at incredible speed.

Before anyone could react, he vanished without a trace.

The reporter and the crowd stared in shock at the spot where he had been.

* * *

Kane stood in front of a building.

The headquarters of SG Group, the wealthiest corporation in South Korea.

This was where Ray, the youngest son of the group, belonged.

“His name was Min Kyungsoo, wasn’t it?”

Kane entered the building.

All eyes turned to him.

Murmurs rippled through the crowd.

“Isn’t that Blood Knight Han Chanyul?”

“What’s he doing here?”

“Does he have a meeting with the company?”

“If it’s the Blood Knight, wouldn’t it be a top-secret meeting? There’s no way they’d let him roam around like this.”

“I heard he avoids media exposure, though.”

Amid the whispers, a man who appeared to be a high-ranking employee approached him.

“What brings you here without an appointment?”

“I’m looking for someone.”

“Someone from our group?”

“Yes.”

“I wasn’t aware anyone here was close to the Blood Knight. Who is it?”

“Min Kyungsoo, a team leader here.”

At his words, the expressions of everyone present froze.

‘What’s with their reaction? Was he some kind of troublemaker?’

However, the response he got was entirely unexpected.

“Team Leader Min was fired.”

“Fired? The youngest son of SG Group?”

“Have you not seen the news…?”

“I haven’t. Tell me what you know.”

The man began explaining the situation with SG Group.

The corporation had built its fortune by producing energy from mana stones.

But their greed knew no bounds.

They had attempted to force ordinary people to awaken by harnessing the energy of mana stones.

While having more hunters in the country might seem beneficial, the side effects were severe.

It drained their life force, causing them to die within a year or two.

Despite this, SG Group carried out clinical trials on civilians.

Those who awakened were hired as security personnel for the company, only to be discarded after a year or two of use.

With a large number of hunters wielding extraordinary power, SG Group sought to maintain dominance and authority.

When this came to light, numerous hunters banded together to overthrow the group’s founder and his descendants.

An evil conglomerate that sought to sustain its wealth and power by exploiting hunters.

This was the reason for Min Kyungsoo and his family’s downfall.

“I had no idea about these circumstances.”

“Forgive me for saying this, but even your powers, Mr. Han Chanyul, could have been a result of the Min family’s actions.”

“Is there a connection between SG Group and the game War of the Gods?”

“The game was developed and funded by SG Games, an affiliate of SG Group.”

Kane nodded in understanding.

Kane couldn’t fully grasp the situation but felt like he understood the gist of it.

SG Group had used mana stone energy to power the game, and those who played it, like himself, had awakened powers.

“There must be others like me.”

“That list is highly classified, but it seems reporters have caught wind of it and are currently digging into War of the Gods.”

“Is there any way to find Min Kyungsoo?”

“We’ve cut ties with him as well. Last I heard, he was living as a homeless person near Seoul Station. But that was some time ago.”

“Thank you. I’ll take it from here.”

Kane left SG Group’s headquarters and headed toward Seoul Station.

“How am I supposed to find someone in this vast area?”

Frustration welled up inside him.

He lacked detailed information about the future and had only recently found himself in this place.

There was no choice but to search on foot.

As the evening wore on, the number of homeless people increased.

Kane had already looked up Min Kyungsoo’s face online.

He now understood why Ray had said he wanted to return to reality and preferred it over Teverland.

Young, wealthy, and talented.

It made sense why Ray had no attachment to the game world.

“I hope he’s here.”

Kane walked around, examining each face.

Then, he spotted a man who, despite looking disheveled, had an air of dignity about him.

Kane approached and spoke.

“What are you doing here?”

Min Kyungsoo lifted his head.

Kane’s eyes widened at the first words out of his mouth.

“Kane!?”

“You recognize me?”

Min Kyungsoo—or rather Ray—had been looking for him?

More than that, it seemed their rooms were somehow connected.

Ray’s delighted reaction upon recognizing him confirmed as much.

“What happened to you?”

“You’re one to talk! You said you lived in a studio apartment near Dongdae Station! I tried to find you to ask for help, only to hear you’d already moved. Do you know how much trouble I went through?”

Kane couldn’t believe Ray’s situation.

If Ray could use his skills, why was he living as a homeless person?

And did he have no intention of clearing the future room?

Kane couldn’t fathom why Ray was in this state.

“For someone who calls himself a chaebol, where did you leave your brain?”

“Don’t provoke me—I don’t even have the energy to get angry.”

Ray sighed deeply, a strange thought crossing his mind.

This was the future room he had chosen for himself.

But how was Kane here?

“Didn’t you enter the present room?”

“I did.”

“Then how are you here?”

“I cleared the Room of Present and moved on to the Room of the Future.”

“What!?”

Ray looked shocked, his expression saying, Already?

* * *

Kane shared his talks with Ray, recounting how SG Group fell from grace.

He explained what he had learned while searching for Ray, including articles he had found during his late-night search about SG Group’s forced awakening project.

“So you’re saying our possession of these game characters might be connected to SG Group’s awakening project?”

“Possibly. But no one knows for sure.”

“From what you’re saying, to clear the Room of the Future, we have to stabilize the disrupted energy balance… But what if that’s not the answer?”

“Then we’ll have to find another reason. There’s no way I’m wandering aimlessly here forever.”

“Of course not! No way I’m staying in this failed future. I will return to reality!”

Ray clenched his fists, determination burning in his eyes.

Kane then brought up something that had been bothering him.

“There’s something I need to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Why haven’t you used mana?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking why you haven’t used Ray Hatzfeld’s abilities. If you had, you could have escaped this miserable life long ago.”

Ray stared at Kane in confusion, his eyes gradually widening in realization.

And then came the bombshell:

“Wait… I can use Ray’s abilities?”

“You can, if you put your mind to it. I managed to do it.”

“Son of a—!”

Ray had spent a considerable amount of time in this world, unlike Kane, who had only spent two or three days in the Present Room trial.

Ray, by contrast, had endured an entire month in the Room of the Future.

This discrepancy in the passage of time became evident to Kane after piecing together the dates Ray had angrily mentioned.

“Next time, try using your head. Wasn’t it you who told me to contact you if I ever made it back to reality? This isn’t exactly helpful behavior.”

“How was I supposed to know I’d end up like this? And I never even considered the idea that I could use the games abilities in reality!”

“You’ve had no encounters with mana beasts here, have you? If you’d been in a life-or-death situation, your abilities might have manifested instinctively. Bad luck, I guess.”

Kane’s blunt observation left Ray grimacing like he’d swallowed something foul.