The Heroine Stole My Regression-Chapter 122
After witnessing Cheon Yeoul’s growth right before my eyes, I couldn’t help but feel oddly motivated myself.
I immediately got up, straightened my posture, and sat down on the floor to catch my breath.
“I can’t fall behind.”
Her growth was great, but letting her surpass me? That was a problem.
No—actually, it wasn’t a problem. It was just my pride.
I wanted Cheon Yeoul to get stronger. There was no risk in that.
I began checking my basic mana control from the ground up.
With deep breathing, I slowly and consciously drew mana, focusing down to even the subtlest currents.
This space was saturated with divine power, making the mana flow feel clearer than ever.
Once.
Twice.
Slowly and precisely, I paved the pathway again.
After about five rounds of mana pathing, I felt all the strength drain from my body.
Manipulating mana was always a taxing task, and I had run it through my whole body—so, in a way, it was only natural.
I flopped back down on the ground.
And in front of me…
“Haa… haa…”
Cheon Yeoul was also lying down, catching her breath.
She turned her head slightly toward me.
Her face was tired, but her eyes had a playful lift to them.
Our eyes met.
“Vacation’s just around the corner, huh?”
Her voice had a strangely excited tone.
She wiped off her sweat, smiling mischievously.
I nodded slowly.
“Yeah, it is.”
One semester had flown by in a whirlwind.
So much had happened, both inside and out.
I smiled back and replied.
A short silence.
We both breathed, letting a few quiet moments pass.
Then, Cheon Yeoul carefully spoke up.
“Are you… going anywhere during vacation? I’m totally free~.”
I shook my head.
“Not really. I had plans, but they got canceled.”
Now, I had nothing scheduled.
“Reeaally~?”
Cheon Yeoul stretched out the word oddly as she asked again.
I briefly considered asking her on the spot.
But I still had to check with Kang Arin, and I needed to confirm the location of Cheon Yeoul’s Fragment.
It was a bit early to set a promise.
“Reeeaally~?”
“…What?”
Her tone got longer, and a mischievous smile spread across her face.
“Tch. Never mind.”
Then she changed her expression and lay back down.
Good.
At the very least, I had unintentionally confirmed that Cheon Yeoul had no vacation plans.
That was enough for now.
***
The next evening.
I quietly opened my laptop at a café, breathing in the night air for the first time in a while.
I hadn’t really used it much since enrolling, but today, I was seriously compiling some necessary information.
The goal was clear.
Identify the current locations of the Fragments—excluding the ones I had already acquired—and determine whether they were obtainable.
My own Fragment buried on Baekdu Mountain had been easy to retrieve, but the others needed thorough checking.
First up, Yu Hana’s Fragment of Order.
To put it simply, it was buried somewhere in China.
A vaguely defined neutral zone—not claimed by any country. In truth, anyone who had the rights to it could dig it up.
No complicated political interests involved. As long as you secured the rights properly, it wasn’t hard to access.
In short, it wasn’t owned by the Chinese government.
So, if I went there and made the effort, I could get it.
But Kang Arin and Cheon Yeoul were different stories.
Kang Arin’s Fragment of Emptiness was in the Pentagon.
No explanation needed.
It wasn’t something easily obtained.
At my current level, there was no available route in. The only possibility would be outside of research season.
If it wasn’t the research period, there might be a way… just maybe.
Cheon Yeoul’s Fragment of Desire.
That one was currently in the Vatican.
The problem wasn’t just the location.
If the Fragment hadn’t been discovered yet, the situation might be better.
If.
But if it had already been discovered by the Vatican Order, then access would become extremely tedious.
I wasn’t high-ranking or famous enough yet to sit at a negotiating table with the Vatican.
I was still a rookie, after all.
Of course, if Cheon Yeoul—Arcadia’s Saint—were to act directly, things would get a little easier.
Since Arcadia worships a deity that’s in a sisterhood pact with the Vatican’s god.
But even then, it would require a lot of time, explanation, and complicated procedures.
So I had to confirm the status of both.
First, the Vatican.
The Holy Grail.
If it hadn’t been identified, the tourist reviews had to include it.
The Holy Grail is the very physical form of the Fragment of Desire. If they realized that, there’s no way they would leave it exposed.
I searched the articles.
“There it is.”
Found it.
The travel blogs were flooded.
Each tourist had photographed it from different angles, but the Holy Grail was clearly visible in all of them.
A golden cup gleaming inside a glass case.
That was enough.
It meant they hadn’t realized what it was.
The issue was that touching what was inside the glass without authorization could still be considered theft…
Doesn’t matter.
A slow smile crept across my lips.
All Cheon Yeoul had to do was touch the Grail.
Then everything would fall into place.
That covered the Fragment of Desire.
Next…
I shifted my focus to the Pentagon, to the United States.
I combed through portals, news sites, research papers, conference schedules—every possible source of information.
Kang Arin’s Fragment had immediately become a national research asset upon discovery, and the U.S. had been conducting studies and demonstrations ever since.
But the problem was this:
Occasionally, the Pentagon would enter a complete blackout period, cutting off all external access.
Only top-level government and military researchers were allowed inside during that time.
During these periods, even internal personnel were confined to assigned research buildings.
No one in, no one out. Most researchers even went dark entirely.
If the vacation overlapped with one of those blackout periods… it would be completely impossible.
So I combed through the social media of famous researchers.
[I won’t be reachable for a while!]
[Going dark. No inquiries, no DMs.]
[I’ll be back soon!]
Every single core researcher’s Twitter, blogs—everything—was filled with notices of upcoming radio silence.
“Ah…”
I let out a sigh.
This was hopeless.
Access was impossible.
So in the end…
It would have to be Cheon Yeoul.
I quietly repeated her name in my head.
***
The final guild experience before the end of the semester.
There had been around five experience sessions so far, but I hadn’t gone on a single dispatch.
But that didn’t mean the time had been wasted—I’d gained a lot.
Things like the guild system, their structured training environments… There was a lot to learn.
Some of it might even be worth implementing at Vanquisher.
Today was the final day of the program.
And as tradition dictated, the last day meant sparring with the Maengho guild members.
As a result, everyone had gathered in the gym with visibly unenthusiastic faces.
All participants were wearing the skin-tight tactical suits.
These suits measured impact intensity and determined the results of the match accordingly.
I wasn’t exempt. I was wearing one too.
For reference, I had sparred with Jeong Taegon, the team leader of Team 2, Maengho.
“Ha ha ha! I thought kids these days were all weaklings, but you're different!”
Even after the sparring match, Jeong Taegon didn’t leave my side.
My shoulder, which he had struck, was still aching.
“Ah, yes.”
I gave a polite smile and answered vaguely.
But my eyes were already on the next matchup.
Next up was Kang Arin.
This time, her opponent was the youngest member of Team 6, Serpent.
“Watch carefully.”
Kang Arin said to me as she headed for the stage.
Her smile was brimming with confidence.
“Yeah, I’ll be watching.”
I definitely planned to watch very closely.
Her opponent was a professional Hero, so they were bound to be strong—but this was a great opportunity to observe Kang Arin’s recent growth.
Kang Arin had a very clear indicator.
Her most distinct trait—
“Protective Qi (Hoshinganggi).”
The pinnacle of mana control.
It required not only delicate mana control, but a massive reservoir of mana as well.
Condensing and refining mana, then wrapping it around the body.
Eventually, she would wield Protective Qi to its absolute limit, using it as a weapon.
For now, it didn’t need to be full-body.
Just the fist was enough.
That would be the beginning.
I took a quiet breath and watched the two take their positions.
Of course, it would be difficult. In terms of difficulty, it surpassed even Cheon Yeoul’s dual casting.
I tried not to get my hopes up too much.
And the moment the battle began, Kang Arin closed her eyes.
“…Huh?”
I immediately had to abandon my expectations.
Shhhh—
The next moment, a thick, dark crimson aura surged around Kang Arin.
Refined mana condensed around her fist.
Gasps and murmurs of awe rippled through the spectator seats.
Even the professional Hero opponent instinctively stepped back in surprise.
Kang Arin was boldly knocking on the door of a high-level state.
Then in an instant—
Bang!
Kang Arin gathered her aura, then dashed straight at her opponent.
The opponent flinched, trying to react on instinct, but Kang Arin was faster.
Crash!
With a crisp sound, her fist struck cleanly into the opponent’s abdomen.
BEEEEEP.
An alert rang out across the arena.
The tactical suit registered the blow, clearly declaring the result.
Kang Arin turned her back to the opponent and slowly walked toward the audience.
Then, she looked straight at me—her eyes locking onto mine—with a mischievous smile.
Anyone could tell just how much effort and accomplishment was behind that smile—how deeply it stemmed from her hard-earned confidence.
But even as I looked at that smile, a sense of regret lingered.
“What a shame.”
No matter how much Kang Arin grew…
A trip to the United States was out of the question.
All I could do was watch her progress from here, in this place.
With a bitter curve of my lips, I raised my hand and waved.
That was the only way I could respond to Kang Arin’s smile.
Chapter 122
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