The Regressor Is A Former Call Center Agent

Chapter 03 – SHADOW IN THE ALLEY

Three days later, Zhavri was hidden behind a stack of crates at the mouth of the alley, Wisp tucked into the new leather sheath at her hip. It was 9:57 PM — three minutes until Ji-hoon’s shift ended. The air was cold and still, and the only light came from the convenience store’s neon sign, casting a green glow over the wet pavement.

'Here we go,' she thought, tensing as she saw Ji-hoon walk out of the store, pulling his jacket tight. He had a bag of food in one hand and his phone in the other, scrolling through something — but she didn’t think much of it, just focused on the task ahead.

He turned down the alley, and that’s when it happened.

A cold wind blew through, and the neon light flickered out. In the darkness, Zhavri heard a low growl — quiet at first, then growing louder. She activated her Precognition (Basic) skill, and for a split second, she saw it: a tall, lean creature with no visible form, only a shadow that moved on its own, claws like obsidian glinting in the faint moonlight.

Shadow Stalker.

Ji-hoon froze, his phone clattering to the ground. “Who’s there?” he called out, his voice shaking. “Come out — I’m warning you.”

The growl echoed again, closer this time. Ji-hoon took a step back, tripping over a trash can. “No,” he whispered, his eyes wide with terror. “What is that?”

The Shadow Stalker lunged.

It moved so fast Zhavri could barely see it — a black blur that slammed into Ji-hoon, sending him crashing against the alley wall. He cried out as its claws tore through his jacket, leaving deep gashes in his arm. Blood seeped through his shirt, and he scrambled backward, his breathing ragged with fear.

'He’s freaking out just like I remember,' Zhavri thought, her hand moving to Wisp’s hilt. 'Not yet — I have to wait. His system’s about to wake up.'

The Shadow Stalker circled him, feeding on his fear — Zhavri could see it growing bigger, its claws sharpening. It lunged again, aiming for his throat. Ji-hoon threw his arms up to protect himself, his eyes squeezed shut — and that’s when the system window flashed in the air above him, bright enough to light up the entire alley.

SYSTEM ACTIVATED: WELCOME, PLAYER.

USER: JI-HOON PARK

CRITICAL DAMAGE DETECTED — UNLOCKING EMERGENCY SKILL: SHADOW SIGHT.

Ji-hoon’s eyes snapped open, and they glowed with a faint blue light. “I… I can see it,” he muttered, staring at the Shadow Stalker like he’d never seen anything before. He grabbed a broken piece of the trash can lid from the ground, his hands still shaking but his gaze now sharp.

“Player?” he whispered, looking up at the floating words. “What the hell is going on?”

The Shadow Stalker lunged again, but this time Ji-hoon was ready. He rolled out of the way, swinging the metal lid hard — it hit the creature square in the side, and it let out a high-pitched shriek that made Zhavri’s ears ring.

It stumbled back, and Ji-hoon charged, driving the sharp edge of the lid into its chest. The Shadow Stalker writhed and hissed, then dissolved into a cloud of black smoke that vanished into the night.

Ji-hoon collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily, his blue eyes fading back to normal. He looked at his bloodied arm, then at the empty alley — and then his eyes widened as he saw someone stepping out from behind the crates.

“Lee Zhavriyana?”

His voice came out softer than he intended, and heat immediately rose to his cheeks. He’d had a crush on her since the start of the school year — the quiet girl with the fuchsia eyes and butterfly-cut hair who always sat in the back row, never talking much, always keeping to herself. To see her standing here now, in the middle of all this chaos… it felt like a dream and a nightmare rolled into one.

He jumped, grabbing the lid again out of instinct, but his hands were shaking for a different reason now. “What are you doing here? Did you… see that?”

Zhavri walked over, pulling a bandage from her bag. Her movements were calm, confident — nothing like the quiet, timid girl he’d watched from afar in class. “Just passing by,” she said, kneeling down to wrap his arm. “Heard a noise. And yeah — I saw it.”

Her fingers brushed against his skin as she tied the bandage, and Ji-hoon’s face burned even hotter. He had to look away, staring at the wet pavement, his heart beating faster than it had during the attack.

'Why is he blushing?' Zhavri wondered, a small flicker of confusion in her mind. 'In the manhwa, they never even mentioned me — he didn’t even know I existed. So why is he acting so… nervous?'

She pushed the thought aside and finished wrapping his arm.

“You know what this system thing is? What ‘player’ means?” Ji-hoon asked, his voice barely a mumble.

She looked up at him, her fuchsia eyes serious. 'I know exactly what it means,' she thought, a tightness in her chest. 'I know what happens next — the small attacks getting worse, the world slowly unraveling. And I know that in the story I read, I was just a nobody who never made it past this point.'

But out loud, she just said: “I know enough to know you’re not imagining things. And that you should be careful from now on.”

He stared at her, not satisfied with the answer but too flustered to push harder. “Careful? Why — is there more of those things out there?”

Zhavri stood up, pulling Wisp slightly from its sheath. She glanced at the sky, where a single star was peeking through the clouds. “There’s always more,” she said quietly. “Just… stay alert. Trust your system. It’ll keep you alive when you need it to.”

Her own system window popped up beside his, but she quickly looked away before he could read it:

LEVEL UP! YOU ARE NOW LVL 5.

SKILL PROGRESS: PRECOGNITION (BASIC) → 50% COMPLETE.

REMINDER: CATACLYSM INITIATION IN 359 DAYS.

Ji-hoon looked back and forth between her face and the system window that was updating for him:

LEVEL UP! YOU ARE NOW LVL 2.

SKILL UNLOCKED: SHADOW SIGHT (BASIC) — CAN SEE INVISIBLE CREATURES.

NEW QUEST: FIND OTHER PLAYERS.

He leaned forward slightly, his voice low and breathless. “Wait a second… are you a player too?”

Zhavri just gave him a small, tight smile, then turned to walk away. “Like I said,” she called over her shoulder, heading toward the alley’s exit. “I know enough.”

She didn’t look back, but she could feel his eyes on her — part confused, part curious, and part something else she couldn’t quite place. 'I don’t get it,' she thought, pulling her jacket tight against the cold. 'In the manhwa, he didn’t even know I existed. So why does he look at me like that? Maybe… maybe changing my own fate is changing more than I thought.'

Behind her, Ji-hoon sat on the pavement, staring at the spot where she’d disappeared. His face was still bright red, and he touched the bandage on his arm — remembering the feeling of her fingers on his skin. “Lee Zhavriyana,” he whispered to the empty alley. “I have so many questions.”

The next morning, Zhavri walked into class just as the bell rang, her bag slung over her shoulder and Wisp hidden inside. She headed straight for her usual seat in the back row — but stopped when she saw Ji-hoon already sitting there, his arm in a sling, looking like he’d been waiting for her.

His face immediately flushed bright red when their eyes met. He fumbled with his notebook, nearly dropping it on the floor. “H-hey,” he stammered, trying to sound casual but failing miserably. “I… I saved you a seat. Not that you asked! I just… thought maybe….”

He trailed off, staring at his desk like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Zhavri’s confusion grew — she’d never had anyone save her a seat before, let alone look this flustered around her. 'What is going on with him?' she wondered, a small smile tugging at her lips despite herself. She sat down beside him, setting her bag down gently. “Thanks,” she said quietly.

Ji-hoon glanced up at her, then quickly looked away again. “About last night….” he started, then paused, swallowing hard. “I know you said you don’t want to talk about it, but… I just need to know if what I saw was real. The shadow thing. The system.”

Zhavri looked out the window, watching the rain start to fall. “It was real,” she said, her voice low enough that only he could hear. “But that’s all I can say right now.”

Before he could ask more, Ms. Kim walked into the classroom and closed the door. Ji-hoon sighed, but he didn’t push it. As the teacher started her lecture, he kept stealing glances at Zhavri — the girl who’d appeared out of nowhere in his darkest moment, the girl who knew more than she was letting on, the girl he’d been crushing on for months.

'I’ll find out what she’s hiding,' he thought, gripping his pen tightly. 'Even if it takes me all year.'

Zhavri felt his eyes on her and shook her head slightly, still confused. 'A year,' she thought, remembering the system’s reminder. 'That’s all we have. Whatever’s going on with him, we’ll figure it out later. First, we have to survive.'