Not A Regressor - Chapter 140

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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 140
The Land Abandoned by Stars (2)
The limousine carried us to a sprawling private estate on the outskirts of Osaka.
It was a place where traditional Japanese houses lined the grounds as if we had stepped into the Edo period itself.
As I surveyed the surroundings, feeling as though I had arrived in Kyoto rather than Osaka, I noticed Japanese characters written in elegant calligraphy on a signboard hanging beside the gate.
‘How am I supposed to read this?’
Even with the translation device, it couldn’t convert written characters, so I had no way of knowing what was written.
I photographed the characters with my smartphone camera and ran them through a translator.
‘Kuroshi?’
A Japanese word meaning ‘black ox’.
“Is Kuroshi the name of your organization?”
I asked the young man named Koshiro, who had come to guide us.
The youth with a menacing appearance and a regent-style perm answered in a cheerful voice that didn’t match his looks.
“Yes, that’s correct! Our oyabun is an awakener of Taurus, so he chose the name Kuroshi!”
How could an organization be named something so ridiculous?
“That’s a… memorable name.”
“Hahaha! Doesn’t it feel like the spirit of a true man?”
I wondered if he knew what that term meant in South Korea.
Well, of course he didn’t, which is why he was reacting that way.
‘Anyway, an awakener of Taurus, huh.’
No matter how much this place was called the land abandoned by stars, to lead such a large organization, the boss would need to be at the level of the Zodiac Twelve Palaces.
While thinking such thoughts and following behind Koshiro.
“Hey, Kwon O-jin, did you hear? These guys are yakuza?”
Ha-eun, who had been following beside me, grabbed my arm and whispered in a low voice.
“I didn’t know either.”
“I mean, why would they introduce us to yakuza?”
Ha-eun let out a hollow laugh and shook her head.
She seemed taken aback by the unexpected situation, but there was no sign of fear in her expression.
‘Well.’
No matter how ominous the yakuza seemed, for a 9-star awakener like her, they would feel like nothing more than neighborhood punks.
In fact, even I felt no sense of fear.
Only bewilderment.
“This way, please.”
Screeeech.
Koshiro, who had been leading the way, opened a long sliding door that seemed to be over ten meters wide.
“Oyabun! I’ve brought our guests!”
Koshiro entered and bowed at a ninety-degree angle.
In the spacious room, which was the size of a classroom, men in black suits with menacing expressions sat lined up on both sides, while in the center sat a man in a yukata, positioned in seiza with the bearing of a pine tree.
A scene commonly seen in yakuza films.
‘So that must be Sakaki Ryo.’
Kwon O-jin gazed at the man seated at the head of the table.
Hair cropped short in a half-shaved style.
A vivid scar etched across his left eyebrow and muscles straining against the loose yukata exuded an imposing presence.
He was a man whose charisma was intense enough to dominate the entire room.
As I inwardly marveled that a yakuza boss truly carried a different aura from the very start.
“Koshiro.”
Sakaki Ryo, who had been sitting motionless like a wooden statue, finally opened his mouth.
And then.
“—You foolish bastard!!!”
Kwoom!!
A roar that shattered the air itself.
An invisible shockwave erupted, striking Koshiro’s bowed body with devastating force.
“Gack!!”
Koshiro’s body lifted into the air from the impact, spinning three full rotations before crashing acrobatically into the ground.
“What, what is this?”
Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, Ha-eun’s eyes widened as she looked back and forth between Koshiro embedded in the sea and Sakaki Ryo.
Sakaki Ryo sprang to his feet, his gaze burning hot enough to ignite as he fixed it on Koshiro.
“How many times must I tell you that a man does not bow so carelessly!!!”
“I, I apologize, boss!”
“Your voice is too weak!!”
“I apologize!”
“Louder! Shout with the spirit and conviction to shake one’s very soul!!!”
“I apologize aaaahhhhh!!!”
“That’s it! That’s exactly it, Koshiro!!”
Sakaki Ryo, who had been sitting with a stern expression, broke into a grin and rose from his seat.
He walked over with heavy footsteps and helped the fallen Koshiro to his feet.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m perfectly fine, boss!!”
“That’s right! That’s what family does!”
He patted Koshiro’s back enthusiastically and burst into hearty laughter.
“You’ve worked hard attending to our guests! Go rest inside for the night!”
“No, boss! I want to work more!”
“You foolish idiot!!!”
Pow!!
Once again, Koshiro’s body floated through the air.
“Gack!!”
“A true man knows how to rest properly when the opportunity presents itself!!”
“Ah, understood!”
“Your voice!”
“Understood aaaahhhhh!!”
What the hell are these guys doing?
I stared at the absurd comedy unfolding before my eyes, my mouth hanging open.
Ha-eun leaned in close and asked in a hushed voice.
“Kwon O-jin. Is the yakuza always like this?”
“No, something seems off about these guys.”
“Are they really yakuza?”
“…I’m not sure.”
I had come expecting fierce and brutal gangsters, but what stood before me looked like they’d stepped straight out of some B-grade yakuza video game.
“Anyway, they don’t seem like bad people.”
“Though they are strange.”
So this was what Cheon Sang-gil meant by their distinctive personalities.
“I’ll be heading in now, boss!!”
“Get some rest and I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“Yes!!”
Koshiro gave a light bow, closed the sliding door, and headed outside.
Sakaki Ryo turned and extended his hand toward me.
“I apologize for the rudeness in front of our guests.”
At least he was aware that it had been rude.
“It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Kwon O-jin.”
I managed my expression carefully as I grasped Sakaki’s hand.
From his calloused palm emanated a strange, scorching energy.
“The Wolf of Lyra Constellation! I’ve heard rumors about you a few times! So you came seeking me on the elder’s introduction?”
“Yes.”
“Kahahaha! I owe the elder a great debt. Welcome!”
Sakaki burst into hearty laughter, shaking our clasped hands up and down.
Perhaps because he was an awakener of Taurus with unmatched strength, my arm dangled like a balloon in front of a newly opened shop as Sakaki held it.
“Boys!! Bring out two more tables!”
“Yes, boss!”
One of the men sitting in a row stood up and rushed off somewhere.
Within seconds, he returned with two elegant low tables and set them down in front of Sakaki’s seat.
“Come here and sit comfortably.”
Sakaki gestured toward the tables.
‘Sit comfortably there?’
I let out a quiet laugh as I sat at the table.
With menacing-looking yakuza lined up on both sides of me, there was no way to feel at ease in this atmosphere.
“How has the elder been doing lately?”
“He’s in excellent health.”
“Haha! Of course—the Tamrang Star couldn’t possibly lose its light!”
“How did you two come to know each other?”
A member of the Seven Stars and the boss of a yakuza organization.
It was a combination difficult to imagine easily.
“Are you aware that Japan doesn’t have many Awakeners?”
“Ah, yes. I’m aware of it.”
“The situation has improved now, but back then, there were so few Awakeners that monsters would roam through the city centers in packs. It was quite dire.”
It was something I already knew well.
It was also the reason Japan earned the derisive epithet of “the land abandoned by the stars.”
Normally, a country with as few Awakeners as Japan would have simply vanished from the map entirely.
Though I suppose one could call it a blessing in disguise.
Because Japan had few Awakeners, it also had few Gates, which allowed the nation to avoid complete erasure from existence.
“At that time, I was actively building the Self-Defense Militia and fighting monsters… but honestly, it was a hopeless battle.”
Sakaki Ryo continued with a bitter smile.
“That’s when I met the elder.”
“Did Cheon Sang-gil drive away the monsters for you?”
“No, that wasn’t it.”
Sakaki Ryo shook his head.
“Then…?”
“Instead, he taught us how to fight the monsters.”
Taught us?
“You mean he taught you skills?”
It wasn’t impossible for one Awakener to transmit skills to another, but that was only possible when they shared the same constellation.
Since the method of handling mana differed for each stigma, skill transmission was fundamentally impossible between different constellations.
From what I knew, Cheon Sang-gil was an Awakener of Capricorn.
He wasn’t in a position to teach Sakaki Ryo anything.
“He didn’t teach us skills exactly. To be precise, he showed us how to handle stigmas… no, ‘showed’ isn’t the right word. He made us ‘realize’ how to handle stigmas.”
He made them realize how to handle stigmas?
“…Is that possible even with different stigmas?”
“That’s precisely what makes the elder so remarkable.”
Sakaki Ryo’s eyes gleamed with respect as his lips curved upward.
“In any case, thanks to his teachings, our Self-Defense Militia was able to drive back the monsters.”
And that Self-Defense Militia eventually became the organization known now as Kuroshi.
“I see.”
“What’s your relationship with the elder?”
“Well…”
There wasn’t much I could say about my relationship with Cheon Sang-gil.
We’d only met once and had a conversation—that was all.
“Haha! If it’s difficult to answer, you don’t need to say anything. The elder wouldn’t have sent you to me without good reason.”
“Thank you.”
I gave a light nod.
“So… what brings you to seek me out?”
“Have you heard of the Black Star Society?”
“Of course. Those bastards have been causing quite the ruckus lately.”
A chill of killing intent crystallized in Sakaki Ryo’s eyes.
Seeing the murderous aura that settled in his gaze, Kwon O-jin lifted the corners of his mouth in a grin and continued with a resolute tone.
“I came here to eliminate the Black Star Society.”
“Hooh.”
His eyes gleamed with intrigue before a hearty laugh erupted from him.
“I was just wondering what kind of help I should offer the old man’s guest, but it seems there’s no need for that!”
He brought his fist down on the low table with a resounding thud and continued.
“We’ve been hunting those demonic bastards ourselves!!”
Demonic bastards, indeed.
I wasn’t sure what the Seahorse Faction had done in Japan, but it was clear they had committed deeds befitting the “Black Star Society”—unlike the Leech Faction led by Isabella.
‘If our objectives align, this conversation will move quickly.’
If I could cooperate with the Kuroshi organization, hunting down the Seahorse Faction would become far easier.
“Then, shall we cooperate with each other?”
“Excellent!”
Sakaki Ryo accepted the proposal without a moment’s hesitation.
“With the wolf of Lyra Constellation at our side, nothing could be more reassuring!”
Kahahaha!!
Whether excited by the unexpected ally that had materialized, Sakaki Ryo burst into laughter so loud the room seemed ready to collapse.
With each crescendo of his laughter, the bulging muscles visible through the gaps of his yukata pulsed with a reddish hue.
“What are you all doing?! Bring the sake at once!!”
“Yes, right away, boss!”
“Bring the Muji! Prepare the Muji!”
“Ah. But that’s the one your wife treasures….”
“You stupid fool!!!”
“Gyaaahhh!”
Crash!
One of the organization members caught by the shockwave was sent flying backward.
“A true man never looks back! Just tell my wife later that Koshiro drank it in secret!!”
“Th-that kind of method…!!”
Where did manhood go, you brats.

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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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