313 – The Returner’s Fight (32)

Guntar stumbled out of the room. Trash flies through the air, and polite shouts echo through the hallway.

“Come out, you slaughtering trash, Cheonma!!!”

“Call that damned b*stard Cheonma!!!”

“Give Guntar back!!!”

Guntar frowns. It’s because his own trauma has been stimulated, but to the Suin, it looks more like a threatening expression. The flying chunks of trash and the curses grow stronger.

But Guntar doesn’t give in. He raises his head, bares his teeth, and glares. He speaks in a scratchy voice.

“… What are you saying?”

“Cheonma!!!”

“I’m really… Guntar. It’s not like that.”

“… What?”

“It’s just… something bad happened. That’s why I was resting. Cheonma, what do you mean?”

“Huh?”

The cat Suin in the lead opened his eyes wide. He was the one who had been throwing trash most passionately until just before.

“Why, why?” As

the other water man nagged the cat, pushing it with his elbow, he stammered.

“W-Your speech…”

“Your speech?”

“You’re back to normal?”

The reason the cat water man was surprised was simple. Guntar’s speech was quite similar to the Guntar he remembered. When they had met before, his speech had been stiff and indifferent, not typical of Guntar. Now, the details were a little different, but… it was quite similar. It was a little different, but it could be because time had passed.

You might think that the cat water man had been somewhat naive, but the water man race was originally naive.

“What?”

“Are you really the real Guntar?”

“Have you come to your senses?”

The cat water man’s voice was loud enough for the entire crowd to hear, and immediately everyone started to stir. This was because the cat water man was Guntar’s old friend, and he was the man who had supported the claims of the Oriental who had brought them here.

“It was definitely… when I saw him before… his speech was strange…” ”

“It’s been a while. Friend.”

“Do you, do you remember me?”

“Of course.”

If Guntar had suddenly called the cat Suin’s name, he might have been suspicious. However, just like before, just like he always did, the way he called him ‘friend’… It really seemed like the Guntar of the past had returned.

-Trrrrr.

A teardrop fell. Could it really be…

‘It happened.’

Of course, this was all Cheonma’s work. It was thanks to Cheonma telling the fake Guntar what to do.

Cheonma had been with the real Guntar for quite some time, and he knew most of Guntar’s speech patterns and even their relationships. It wasn’t that Cheonma had asked first out of interest, but because he remembered the chatty Guntar talking to himself.

In other words, Cheonma’s memories themselves weren’t much different from Guntar’s. As a result, the fake Guntar was able to act similarly to the original Guntar.

“What, if it’s the real Guntar…”

“Hmm…”

The suspicious gazes that had been directed at Guntar shifted all the way to the Asian human. The Oriental, who was receiving everyone’s attention, was not very flustered…

“Really?”

It wasn’t a look of confusion. Only a little joy and surprise filled his expression.

“Is there a way for us to verify this? About the memory?”

“I, I’ll ask…”

The cat man stepped forward and asked Guntar a question. Guntar seemed to hesitate for a moment, but managed to answer normally, and after a few questions, the cat man smiled with joy.

“It’s really, really Guntar! His amnesia has definitely improved!”

“Really?”

“It’s really Guntar?”

“Then… why did you call us here? You said you needed help, so we came…”

Again, the discontented gaze turned to the Oriental man for a moment.

“Didn’t I say there was a way to cure Guntar?”

“…”

“And now, it worked! How is it! You kept my word!”

“I, is that so?”

“That seems to be the case…”

“Then why did you ask me to bring the rope and the electric shock device?”

“I told you in case you needed it! It was just in case, but fortunately, I don’t have any use for it!”

“Hmm… That’s right?”

However, that doubt eventually subsided under the joy of Guntar’s return. The water people were a relatively simple race, and they were easily satisfied. The man’s way of speaking and atmosphere were also quite strange. The reason

they gathered was for Guntar. The water people basically liked brave people, and many of them liked Guntar, who had created his own legend in the arena. They gathered because they thought Guntar had become a different person, and they wanted to fix that. Was Guntar better? Then there was no reason to fight, and no reason to be angry.

“I told you from the beginning! Shock therapy by swearing and getting angry would be effective!”

“T-That’s what happened.”

“So, Guntar is back?”

“Shall we disperse?”

“Let’s eat something! Together! I’ve only heard of Guntar, but this is my first time seeing him in person!”

“Hahahaha! Great!”

The hallway quickly turned into a festival atmosphere. The trash rolling around on the floor was quickly cleaned up by androids, and instead of curses, there were bright smiles and laughter.

“Ha, haha…”

The fake Guntar laughed. It was because he felt like he had become the real Guntar, and because he felt like he had overcome one of his traumas. Yes, I am the real Guntar. People acknowledge me. This momentary joy was likely to come back as a bigger trauma later, but at least for now, Guntar was enjoying the joy.

‘…’

Meanwhile, Cheonma himself, who was watching from the inside, didn’t realize it.

-Ssss.

His soul had just smiled. It wasn’t the cruel smile he usually wore, nor was it a mockery of the struggling enemy. It was just a pure smile that came from the joy of having won.

A sense of accomplishment. For the first time in a long time, Cheonma felt a sense of accomplishment. For a long time, victory had been a given for Cheonma. Although he had lost to the Archangel, it was an exceptional situation. For Cheonma, winning was a prerequisite, and ‘how’ he won was much more important.

But now was different. He had lost. He had been forced to regress several times, and had to bend his pride in order to win.

He had sacrificed his pride. But he had finally won. He had finally been able to change the future. At least now, he didn’t hate the disgusting weaklings or the fake Guntars who interfered with everything. The joy he felt was that sparkling and pure.

But did Cheonma know? The fact that the trigger called ‘intense emotion’ didn’t activate this time because he was so happy.

Because of that, Cheonma’s memories weren’t maintained, and one of the regressors was very flustered.

And as a result… the fact that the regressor made a big decision.

“I’m so glad that the madness was cured! Mr. Guntar!”

– Crack!

The feeling of being hit hard on the back, enough to pierce through the fur. Cheonma’s soul, where the afterimage of a smile remained, was instantly distorted by bewilderment. He had just been intoxicated with a strong sense of accomplishment, and since the control of his body had passed to the fake Guntar, he couldn’t react.

Back. That crazy Asian had just hit Cheonma’s back with a full swing.

Was it intentional? I don’t know. It was a speed that was somewhere between a joke and sincerity. It was the Maginot Line allowed to a ‘rough arena man’. His expression was also similar to usual. It didn’t seem like he had induced Cheonma’s regression.

So… was it just a joke? Because of that human’s simple prank, now, Cheonma bowed his pride for the first time, and now, regression? Really?

Burning anger. Deep murderous intent. Because of that crazy human, how dare he, now…

Of course, the context is wrong. He didn’t return after being hit on the back, but time went back after being hit on the back. Cheonma had no way of knowing.

His consciousness was clouded. His consciousness was clouded, but Cheonma’s anger was clumping in his chest.

That guy… will kill no matter what.

***

Separate from his anger toward the Asian, Cheonma repeated the same behavior after that. Bowing his pride was not an action befitting of ‘Cheonma’, but he acknowledged that this situation was exceptional enough that he couldn’t take care of his pride.

Also, after thinking about it carefully, he realized that if he did it again, it would be over. He didn’t know how long this power would bind him, but it didn’t seem like it would disappear right away.

Cheonma didn’t return for three days. He was wounded by the strange men in the hallway, and he didn’t return to the past. He was recognized as one of the strongest players in the arena, and was respected by other beastmen.

However, that did not solve all the problems. The crazy oriental man insisted that he should always have another beastman attached to him, as he might become mad again. As a result, Cheonma always had to coach the fake Guntar. Another problem was that there were only a few ways to regain his strength. Cheonma could only regain his strength by fighting, but the problem was that he had to act like Guntar even when fighting. He

could stop acting after regaining enough strength, but it was impossible right away. There was a time when he regressed because he fought too much like ‘Cheonma’. But it was okay. Little by little, he seemed to have found a solution to adapt to this crazy situation. He

appropriately played Guntar, regained his strength, and escaped the tower. Cheonma saw the solution. The solution to escape the tower.

‘If what you guys want is nonviolence. I will gladly join you.’

Of course, Cheonma himself mistakenly believed that this was the angels’ intention. Of course, the fact that he was mistaken is not important. Since intelligent beings usually make mistakes.

What is important here is… The fact is that Cheonma has become accustomed to regression. He has taken regression more ‘naturally’ and has now begun to think of ways to use him.

“It seems Cheonma has started gathering information.”

“I thought a regressor should gather information, right? I’m not weird.”

Everything was according to the ‘real’ regressor’s plan.