Not A Regressor - Chapter 102

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I Am Not a Regressor Chapter 102
The Swindler’s Path to Victory (4)
‘Where could he be?’
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Cheon Woo-sung leaped across building rooftops alongside the Owl Faction members, searching for Park Geon-woo.
Whether he’d ascended to the heavens or descended into the earth.
No matter how thoroughly I searched the surroundings, Park Geon-woo was nowhere to be found.
“Where on earth could he be….”
As I gnawed at my lip with growing anxiety.
-Bzzzzzz!
The communication orb tucked in my pocket vibrated.
“…!”
I channeled mana into it to check—it was a message from Park Geon-woo.
Cheon Woo-sung hastily lifted the orb.
-W-Woo-sung, sir!!
The orb’s surface reflected Park Geon-woo, drenched in blood.
A vivid blade scar slashing across his right eye.
Thick eyebrows, a stubborn mouth, and prominent cheekbones jutting out.
Unmistakably Park Geon-woo.
-Huff! Huff!
The screen shook violently—he was clearly in the midst of fleeing.
-I-I’m sorry! Black Lion got involved, and I got caught….
“We can discuss that later!”
I had no time to listen to Park Geon-woo’s pathetic excuses.
“Where are you right now?!”
-I’m escaping through the Sewers!
So that’s why I couldn’t spot him from above.
“How many pursuers are on your tail?”
-Huff, huff! Fortunately, no one’s caught up to me yet!
Park Geon-woo stopped in place and surveyed his surroundings.
The image visible through the orb showed only eerie silence.
There was no sign of anyone pursuing him.
“Phew.”
A relieved sigh escaped Cheon Woo-sung’s lips.
At least the pursuers hadn’t caught up—that was one burden lifted.
“Head to the location I’m about to give you.”
-Yes, understood!
“Keep the communication open.”
Cheon Woo-sung monitored Park Geon-woo’s movements in real time, issuing instructions.
‘I need to meet him before the pursuers catch up.’
Upon meeting him, I had to choose: rescue or eliminate.
‘…I should eliminate him, shouldn’t I?’
Park Geon-woo was my right arm, my most trusted subordinate.
But now that the Association knew his face, I couldn’t afford to let him live.
‘Even if I forgave him, Father would never forgive this mistake.’
Cheon Do-yoon showed no mercy to subordinates who failed him.
It would be kinder to end Park Geon-woo’s life by my own hand.
“….”
Sorrow flickered in Cheon Woo-sung’s eyes.
Park Geon-woo was the longest-serving subordinate within the Owl Faction.
He was my only true confidant, the one who understood my intentions best.
‘There’s no choice.’
Cheon Woo-sung closed his eyes tightly.
The pain cut as deeply as severing my own arm.
But Park Geon-woo’s mistake was too grave to warrant mercy.
‘This is….’
Crunch.
Cheon Woo-sung clenched his fist with raw force.
A conversation I’d once shared with Park Geon-woo surfaced in my mind.
‘A noble sacrifice for the greater cause.’
Yes.
Just as Park Geon-woo had said, this was a noble sacrifice.
To save far more lives.
‘Once I seize the Association… I’ll be able to protect far more people than I do now.’
Before the terrible calamity of Awakened Users.
I could save them all.
-We’ve, we’ve arrived!
“Wait there quietly.”
Cheon Woo-sung moved forward with unwavering resolve burning in his gaze.
The location where I’d hidden Park Geon-woo was a Safe House known only to me within the Black Star Society.
There was no risk of pursuit.
“Let’s go.”
Dozens of Owls moved in Cheon Woo-sung’s wake.
My direct unit, assembled from the strongest warriors within the Owl Faction.
With this level of force, even unexpected complications could be overwhelmed through sheer power.
-Splash, splash.
We passed through the moisture-laden Sewers toward the Safe House.
Nine years ago.
The location where a Gate incident occurred during subway construction, halting the project.
Now an Abandoned Underground, forgotten by nearly everyone.
There━
“Hm?”
Only a silence as profound as death lingered in the air.
“Where are you right now?”
Cheon Woo-sung brought the communication orb in his hand closer as he spoke.
-….
“Park Geon-woo? Where are you right now!”
Breaking through the prolonged silence.
-W-Woo-sung, sir.
A voice trembling with fear poured through.
-You really did come to save me, right?
“….”
-You’re not… planning to kill me to silence me or anything like that, are you…?
Cheon Woo-sung’s expression twisted harshly.
‘Has he hidden himself away now, afraid of dying?’
How pathetic for someone claiming to be a high-ranking Special Investigator.
“Ha ha. Don’t worry, Park Geon-woo.”
Cheon Woo-sung continued in the most measured tone he could muster.
“Think back on the time we’ve spent together.”
As graciously as possible.
“All the blood and sweat we’ve shed to follow the will of the Black Star… Park Geon-woo, you are my most cherished friend and my only true confidant.”
Like a Venus flytrap exhaling a sweet fragrance.
He lured his prey forward.
“Even if you made a mistake this time, I have no intention of blaming you. Yes, you were unfortunately caught, but the plan to release the Demonic Beasts and assault Guro-dong succeeded, didn’t it? Even after being captured by the Association, you never spoke the will of the Black Star….”
With a warm smile.
He spread both arms wide.
“I have no intention of killing you, so come out without worry.”
Rustle.
As if responding to his words.
Someone emerged from the darkness.
Not Park Geon-woo.
A presence that should never have been here.
“━So it really was you, the culprit.”
A low, gravelly voice.
An elderly man of diminutive stature fixed him with a piercing gaze.
Cheon Woo-sung’s eyes widened as he stumbled backward.
“…H-Han Tae-ho?”
Why was the Association’s old viper appearing here?
“Honestly, I didn’t want to believe it.”
Han Tae-ho clenched his fist roughly.
“No matter how cunning you are… I never thought you’d be the type to draw a blade against the defenseless.”
But.
Cheon Woo-sung had massacred hundreds of people.
He had thrown himself into an irreversible sin.
“Cheon Woo-sung. I’m placing you under arrest as the orchestrator of civilian massacre and terrorism.”
“….”
Cheon Woo-sung’s shoulders trembled faintly in disbelief.
A sinister dread crawled down my spine, spreading through my entire body.
‘The fact that Han Tae-ho is here…’
There was only one possibility to consider.
“Park… Geon-woo…!”
He had betrayed me.
Turning his back on the Black Star’s will, he had dug a trap to preserve his worthless life and dragged me out.
How else could Han Tae-ho have walked out as if waiting here all along?
“You… you… you sacrilegious wretch!!!!”
Cheon Woo-sung shrieked savagely, his face twisted like a demon’s.
“How dare you! How dare you think you can survive after turning your back on the Black Star’s will?!”
Rage boiling like a volcano surged to the crown of my head.
Both eyes bloodshot crimson.
Eyes gleaming with vicious hatred stared into the darkness beyond.
“Come out! Show yourself!!”
Park Geon-woo was likely cowering cowardly somewhere beyond that darkness.
“You seem to be under a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?”
“Park Geon-woo, you said? The executor of this terrorist incident.”
Tsk.
Han Tae-ho clicked his tongue lightly and continued.
“That man died long ago.”
“…What?”
Dead long ago? That made no sense whatsoever.
I had been communicating with Park Geon-woo himself just moments ago—how could he possibly be dead?
“That’s nonsense….”
“I never expected you to fall for such a crude disguise.”
“A crude… disguise?”
Cheon Woo-sung’s gaze shifted toward the figure behind Han Tae-ho.
“Crude?! I spent three whole hours just on makeup for this!”
There stood Han Manager, disguised as Park Geon-woo.
“That’s… a disguise?”
A hollow laugh escaped involuntarily.
While the scar near the right eye and the shape of the lips showed some effort, that was all there was to it.
It was a disguise so shoddy that even calling it amateurish would be generous.
‘No.’
What I saw
what I spoke with
what led me to this place
was not Han Manager disguised as Park Geon-woo.
“You seem rather anxious yourself.”
No.
That’s not it.
‘That was… the real Park Geon-woo.’
There’s no way I could have been mistaken.
No matter how desperate or anxious I was.
There’s no way I wouldn’t have recognized Park Geon-woo.
“True. You seemed quite flustered when you first contacted me in a panic.”
“…What?”
I contacted him first?
“What do you mean by that?”
No.
I didn’t contact him first.
It was only
Park Geon-woo who escaped that sent me
a message first.
“…What the—”
Step by faltering step.
Cheon Woo-sung retreated with a sickly pale expression.
━Something is wrong.
Something critical.
Something fatal.
So twisted that I cannot fathom where it began to unravel.
Warped.
‘It’s different.’
My memories
don’t align with the words flowing from Han Tae-ho’s mouth.
‘What… what’s happening?’
A sense of alienation washes over me.
An invisible colossal hand manipulates my movements and Han Tae-ho’s like a puppeteer controlling marionettes—a sickening sensation.
“Perhaps we should end this conversation here?”
Footstep, footstep.
Another silhouette emerged from the darkness.
A young man with eyes as cold as ice.
A beastly aura, incongruous with his cold gaze, permeated the surroundings.
“…Black Lion.”
That wasn’t all.
The Special Investigators from the Association and the guild members of Valhalla Guild as well.
They were all waiting for him here, having laid a trap in this very place.
‘Damn it!’
Even Han Tae-ho and the Special Investigators alone were formidable opponents whose outcome he couldn’t predict, and with Valhalla Guild now involved, he couldn’t face them with his current strength.
‘Not here…!’
So pathetically.
So utterly futilely.
I couldn’t be captured.
“Go! Owls, charge forth!”
After buying time by sending my subordinates forward, I spun around urgently.
“Don’t let him escape!!”
Black Lion pursued him from behind.
-BOOM!!!!
A terrifying explosion shook the interior of the abandoned subway.
* * *
“Hah! Hah!”
Limp, limp.
Cheon Woo-sung, drenched in blood, staggered forward as though he might collapse at any moment.
“Ugh…!”
A deep sword wound slashing across his ribs.
Combined with countless smaller wounds, over dozens of injuries covered my body.
‘Still, somehow I managed to escape.’
Cheon Woo-sung bit his lip and surveyed his surroundings.
Thanks to my subordinates throwing themselves in the way to block, I had managed to escape.
“I need to… contact Father quickly.”
I muttered with a trembling voice and took another unsteady step forward.
Then.
“So you were in a place like this?”
Beyond the passage shrouded in darkness.
A pair of blue ghostly flames burned brightly.
“You, are…”
Cheon Woo-sung’s eyes widened.
Park Geon-woo.
The figure walking toward him from beyond the passage was unmistakably Park Geon-woo.
Not Han Manager in his crude disguise.
The face I had seen through the communication crystal.
That very face.
“…Who… are you?”
Clack, clack, clack.
My teeth chatter as soul-devouring terror grips me.
“Who the hell are you?!”
I scream as if my very being is being torn apart.
“Me?”
Park Geon-woo’s lips curl into a smirk.
“Who knows.”
I tilt my head slowly.
Squelch.
My face warps and distorts with a sickening sound.
Skin melts away, muscles twist and contort.
“…Ah.”
Park Geon-woo’s face becomes Han Tae-ho’s face.
Han Tae-ho’s face becomes Lee Woo-hyuk’s face.
Lee Woo-hyuk’s face becomes Cheon Woo-sung’s face.
In the blink of an eye, my face cycles through countless identities.
“Who do I look like to you?”
Hehehehe.
A chilling laugh echoes through the air.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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