Regression Guidelines for the Supporting Character

Chapter 3

As far as I knew, Building B of the research institute consisted of 2 floors above ground and 3 underground floors. The 2nd floor had a corridor connected to Building A, and most of the Awakened needed for experiments were confined underground.

So the villain with the ‘Seed of Calamity’ that the system told me to find was likely to be somewhere in the underground floors.

‘The problem is that I have to find them within an hour.’

Of course, even if the system didn’t set a time limit, I’d need to find them before the Hunters arrived, but it would’ve been more generous than just an hour.

Clicking my tongue, I decided to search the floor I was on first. Looking at the guide sign on the corridor, this was the last floor, basement level 3.

The corridor was utterly deserted, as if all the guards had gone to Building A after hearing the alarm earlier. I occasionally found other Awakened locked in isolation rooms like me, but I left them alone since they’d be rescued by the Hunters arriving soon anyway.

“I’m not sure if I can find them in time.”

If that villain was locked up in one of those isolation rooms, there was no way to find them. It was impossible to open and check all those iron doors of the isolation rooms within an hour.

‘If you’re going to tell me to find someone with the Seed of Calamity or whatever, you should at least give me some help.’

As I was grumbling inwardly about the frustrating situation, it happened.

Ding!

《Sub-quest has arrived!》

Sub-quest: The More Hurried, The More Delayed (A-rank)

You must find the storage room on the 3rd basement floor and obtain a weapon.

Reward: Location of the villain marked

“What?”

I frowned at the sub-quest that appeared before my eyes with a cheerful notification sound.

“Couldn’t you have given me this quest earlier?”

I quickly checked the remaining time for the main quest. 1 hour 12 minutes.

There wasn’t much time to spare, but rather than aimlessly searching for a villain whose location I didn’t even know, it would be more likely to find them using the reward from clearing the sub-quest.

Above all, since it said the storage room was right here on the 3rd basement floor, I should be able to find it soon if I just look around a bit more. The entrance to the storage room should look different from the isolation rooms.

First, I continued walking in the same direction. The corridor was straight, so I only had two choices anyway: go back or move forward.

After walking for about 10 minutes, as I expected, an automatic door made of opaque glass appeared at the end of the corridor. Seeing the card key device installed next to it, it seemed only authorized personnel could enter.

“This is clearly the storage room.”

I needed a card key to enter, but it was too late to get one now. With time already tight, I couldn’t go around looking for an institute employee with a card key.

Could I break it? I wasn’t yet familiar with the hidden skill, so it was difficult to gauge the extent of my strength properly.

‘I’m an S-rank dealer now, so I should be able to break it.’

Unless it was made with top-grade items, it should be possible. After taking a short deep breath, I lifted one foot and kicked the glass door hard.

Clang, crash!

The cracked glass door fell backward entirely. Then it hit the floor, shattering into pieces with a piercing sound that echoed widely.

“Oh.”

I was surprised that the glass door fell out with less force than I thought, whether it was just an ordinary glass door. Isn’t this too noisy? It’s like shouting to the whole neighborhood that an intruder has come.

“W-What?”

“Who the hell is that?”

Sure enough, two managers who hadn’t left their posts despite the call rushed towards me.

Noticing the managers pulling out pistols from their chests, I moved quickly. Putting strength into my thighs and springing out like a coil, the manager with the gun shouted with a bewildered face.

“W-What…!”

Bang, the bullet fired wildly by the manager grazed right past me and lodged in the floor.

In the blink of an eye, I reached right in front of the manager, grabbed the wrist holding the gun, and struck the face with my other hand.

“Ugh!”

The manager who let out a short scream collapsed.

This was hand-to-hand combat possible not just because of increased strength, but because all overall physical characteristics were S-rank.

I threw away the body of the unconscious manager and crushed the item-made pistol with my foot. I needed a weapon, but a gun wasn’t very useful for me with all physical abilities at S-rank.

“Uh, uh…”

With his colleague falling in less than 10 seconds, the remaining manager stepped back with a pale face. Then, as our eyes met, he started to run away frantically as if he’d seen a ghost.

Boom!

“Gah!”

I grabbed the fleeing manager’s shoulder from behind, threw him to the floor, then landed a punch on his temple, and he passed out with a choking sound, just like his colleague.

I wanted to ignore him and let him run away because it was pitiful, but it was better to subdue him rather than letting him go and bring others, which would complicate things.

What can I do? This is your fate. Still, I’m kind enough not to kill you.

Next time, don’t work in illegal research institutes like this and live honestly. Before that, you’ll probably have to do some jail time after being caught by the Hunters.

After thoroughly destroying the remaining pistol found while searching the second unconscious manager, I entered the storage room with light steps.

The interior of the storage room was quite high-ceilinged and spacious, perhaps combined with the upper floor. It looked like a logistics warehouse, with boxes placed on tall shelves, and various items were contained in the boxes.

“Wow, this is crazy.”

I took out a box placed on the nearest shelf. It was full of various gems.

“These are all artifacts and magic stones, aren’t they?”

These gems could be used as various items when set into accessories like rings or necklaces. Among them, gems with strong magic power were worth their weight in gold.

‘This is no joke. I must take these with me.’

I needed money to handle the guy with the Seed of Calamity on my own. This is all for world peace, so everyone will understand, right? Yeah, of course.

First, I needed a bag to carry all these gems and had to find a weapon, so I looked at other boxes.

As I searched here and there, I found a box containing clothes on a shelf in the deepest part of the storage room.

“Is this… a durumagi?”

The clothes I took out of the box were indeed a durumagi, no matter how many times I looked at it.

The snow-white durumagi made of fluttering fabric darkened to a deep blue color towards the bottom, and the sleeve part was wide.

‘Judging by the power I feel, it’s at least A-rank.’

Since the institute wouldn’t keep an ordinary durumagi, this must be equipment used by Hunters. Moreover, seeing that it was deliberately placed inside the storage room, it’s likely to be top quality.

After finishing my assessment, I quickly slipped my arm into the sleeve of the durumagi. After putting on the durumagi like a coat, I searched other boxes.

As I expected, this shelf seemed to contain only top-grade items and equipment, as powerful objects came out one after another. Of course, various weapons came out too, and the weapon I chose was a longsword.

“I’ll go with this.”

The sword in a pitch-black scabbard had a gold ornament attached to its hilt.

The reason I chose a longsword among various weapons like guns, bows, and daggers was that this was the weapon I was most familiar with. Before regressing, what I had learned a little was handling this longsword, and the person who taught me also used a longsword.

‘If I have to keep working from now on, it would be better to use a longsword.’

Wearing the durumagi and holding the longsword in one hand, I poured the gems I had found earlier into an inventory bag that I had barely found after searching other boxes.

The bag was a hip sack that fastened to the waist, but it had an artifact gem embedded on the surface that converted it into an inventory item, allowing it to hold far more items than its size suggested.

After gathering all the equipment, weapons, and precious gems that would sustain me in the future, I left the storage room humming a tune.

As soon as I stepped into the corridor, passing through the glass door I had broken when entering, a new system message appeared before my eyes.

Ding!

《Sub-quest: The More Hurried, The More Delayed (A-rank) Cleared!》

《Sub-quest clear reward will be given.》

《The villain’s location will be marked from now on.》

“Oh.”

As the system window announcing the quest clearance appeared, a green dot appeared in my field of vision. The round green light blinked from above, and text floated alongside it.

Villain’s current location: Central Research Lab, 1st Basement Floor

“What? They were all the way up there?”

No wonder I couldn’t find them. If it weren’t for the sub-quest, I would have ruined everything just searching useless isolation rooms.

‘More importantly, the Central Research Lab… that’s not a good place.’

Recalling what the Central Research Lab was for, I narrowed my eyes and quickened my pace.

Main Quest: Meet the villain with the ‘Seed of Calamity’. (Time remaining: 48 minutes)