Not A Regressor - Chapter 152

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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 152
First Date (2)
Osaka Namba Station.
The area around the station bustled with crowds, making it hard to believe that indiscriminate terror attacks by the Seahorse Faction had occurred just days prior.
“Wow, it’s packed with people. Just a few days ago, it was absolute chaos.”
“The terror attack happened a bit away from Namba Station.”
“Still, after something like that, everyone’s just going about their business like nothing happened.”
“Well… maybe they’ve gotten used to it?”
Japan had experienced monster attacks on urban centers frequently enough that the population had developed considerable resilience to such situations.
“Ahem. Yeah, for such a momentous first date, it’s definitely better than having the place look like a ghost town.”
Ha-eun cleared her throat unnecessarily, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
Today was their first date since becoming lovers with Kwon O-jin.
Their positions and relationship were entirely different from when they’d gone out together before.
‘First overseas trip! First date!’
Unable to contain her surging excitement, Ha-eun exhaled a sharp breath and dragged Kwon O-jin along.
“Wasn’t it Dotonbori? They say there’s so much food there—let’s hurry and check it out, O-jin!”
“Let’s take it slow, noona. We have plenty of time today.”
“What leisure time? Come on! We should dash around and see everything!”
She urged him forward with an excited laugh.
Kwon O-jin gazed at her spirited expression and chuckled softly.
Indeed.
Her excitement was hardly surprising.
‘Just a year ago, this would have been unimaginable.’
A cramped apartment filled with mold.
When I was caring for her, washing my body in cold water since hot water wouldn’t come out, unable to see ahead.
It was only a year ago that I couldn’t even comfortably walk around outside, let alone travel abroad.
Neither I nor she had ever dreamed we could come overseas like this, laughing and chattering happily on a date.
“Come to think of it, winter’s almost here already.”
Kwon O-jin smiled faintly, feeling the increasingly crisp autumn breeze.
Perhaps it was because so much had happened.
It felt like barely any time had passed since the year changed, yet winter was already approaching.
“Why? Are you cold?”
“No, it’s not that.”
“If you’re cold, I’ll hold your hand. Come on, give me your hand.”
Ha-eun smiled brightly and suddenly extended her hand.
Feeling an inexplicable tickle at her attitude, as if she were treating me like a young puppy, I grasped her offered hand.
Her hand, clasped in mine, was warm like a hand warmer.
“Warm, right?”
“Yeah.”
“It’ll be even warmer like this.”
I interlaced my fingers with Ha-eun’s hand.
A gentle warmth spread across our touching palms.
It wasn’t just the heat warming my body—the soft, silky sensation of her palm made my head burn.
“How does it feel holding hands with your older sister like this?”
“I’m thinking we won’t have to worry about heating bills this winter.”
“Damn it.”
At my crude remark that shattered the mood, Ha-eun’s eyes narrowed.
She kicked at a can lying carelessly on the street and shot me a sharp glare.
‘We had such a good moment going.’
This was no different from before we became lovers.
“So let’s just keep holding hands like this all winter.”
“…Huh?”
Caught off guard by my unexpected comeback, Ha-eun’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit’s.
“Ugh, cough! You little—you’re saying something cheesy again.”
“But you started it first.”
“Hmph. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Ha-eun shrugged and pulled my hand forward.
“Come on, let’s get going! We need to go drain Huk-woo’s wallet!”
“Roger that. He said to use it freely, so we’ve gotta get our money’s worth.”
Kwon O-jin and Ha-eun burst into giggles as we headed toward Dotonbori.
A food date enjoyed on someone else’s card.
Could anything in this world make the heart soar more than this?
A long market street stretching from the north exit of Osaka Namba Station.
We passed through streets lined with shops selling miscellaneous goods and crowded with people, arriving at a place where a river flowed.
Upon entering Dotonbori, the first thing we saw was a massive sign with a giant red crab model hanging from it.
Following that, a line of shops selling various street foods stretched out in a straight line.
“Wow! This street looks like it sells tteokbokki and sundae.”
Judging purely by atmosphere, it was exactly that.
“From their perspective, it’s probably similar.”
“So, O-jin, is there anything you want to eat? I don’t know anything about Japanese food.”
“Hmm… I’d need to have tried it before to know.”
Before awakening Huk-woo, my staple diet consisted of calorie bars designed purely for ‘survival’.
Ha-eun also mainly ate frozen hamburgers or sandwiches because they were convenient, so she’d rarely eaten Japanese food, which was relatively expensive compared to other options.
“Let’s just walk around for now and find something that looks good.”
“Sounds good.”
After all, the main reason we came here wasn’t to eat something—it was to enjoy a date with Kwon O-jin.
Kwon O-jin and Ha-eun walked slowly, taking in the sights around us.
A shop sizzling as it stir-fried noodles on an iron griddle, a shop grilling teriyaki chicken skewers over a flame—
As we looked around shops where the aroma alone made saliva pool in our mouths.
“O-jin, how about that one?”
What caught Ha-eun’s attention was a shop where dough was being rolled around in circular indentations.
I ran a quick translation app on the shop sign, which read “Takoyaki.”
“Smells good, doesn’t it? Want to try some?”
“Let’s go!”
Ha-eun approached the shop with eager steps.
As we drew closer, an appetizing aroma wafted through the air, tickling my nose.
Kwon O-jin placed an order with the staff member, who was crafting takoyaki with the precise, mechanical movements of a factory machine.
“Two takoyaki, please.”
“What toppings would you like?”
“Put on everything you can.”
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
For street food, the price wasn’t cheap, but with Sakaki’s card—a reliable weapon at my disposal—there was no reason to hesitate.
“Please wait a moment~”
The staff member poured the flour batter from a pitcher into the round indentations.
Sizzle!
The sizzling sound accompanied a fragrant, savory aroma.
With long tongs, they placed a generous chunk of octopus and pizza cheese into the batter.
Once the bottom of the batter cooked, they used a pick to flip it around.
The takoyaki, golden and cooked to the size of a ping-pong ball, was placed on a plate and drizzled with teriyaki sauce, mayonnaise, and bonito flakes.
As a final topping, finely sliced green onion and a quail egg mixed with sugar were sprinkled on top, finished with another dusting of cheese.
—Gulp.
I could see Ha-eun swallowing hard beside me.
Considering the quality of the food, the dishes we’d been served in Kuroshi were dozens of times more expensive than this street food.
But street food had its own unique appeal—that stimulating flavor and rough charm.
For Ha-eun and me, who’d mostly eaten cheap junk food, this felt far more familiar and appetizing than the expensive dishes we’d been served in Kuroshi.
“This looks damn delicious.”
Ha-eun received the plate full of takoyaki and stabbed one deeply with a long pick, popping it into her mouth.
“Ow, hot!”
The hot batter flowing from inside the takoyaki made Ha-eun purse her lips into a circle as she breathed heavily.
After cooling the takoyaki for about ten seconds, she began chewing.
The bold sauce and cheese flavor burst across her palate.
The quail egg mixed with sugar and the thinly sliced green onion danced in perfect harmony on her tongue.
“Mmmmm!”
Ha-eun let out a cry of inexplicable joy and swallowed the takoyaki whole.
“O-jin! This is seriously delicious!”
“Yeah, nothing beats street food for our tastes.”
My original plan to milk Sakaki’s wallet had taken a different turn.
But so what.
As long as it tasted good, that was all that mattered.
“O-jin.”
“Hm?”
Ha-eun pierced a takoyaki ball with a toothpick, blew on it gently to cool it, then popped it straight into my mouth.
Was this one of those classic romantic comedy moments—the “say ahhh” feeding scene?
“Here, eat your big sister’s pearl.”
What in the world was this woman saying?
“Your big sister doesn’t have any pearls.”
“If you look carefully, there’s one.”
“….”
Her dizzyingly flirtatious response left me gaping like I’d been struck. The takoyaki slipped right into my open mouth.
“Hehe, tasty, right?”
“It’s tasty, but I feel like I shouldn’t admit it.”
Someone please stop this big sister. I’m begging you.
“Alright! Once you’ve finished, let’s go eat something else!”
Ha-eun emptied the takoyaki plate and yanked me along by the hand.
I followed her in a daze, unable to shake the dizzying conversation from moments before.
“Let’s try that next, O-jin!”
Watching her pull my hand with such excitement, I let out a hollow laugh.
‘So this is what it’s like to get blindsided sometimes.’
Anyway.
I didn’t know who she took after, but this big sister’s wit was undeniably sharp.
* * *
We strolled through the Dotonbori streets, eating our fill of delicious food, stopped by a cafe for coffee, and played enthusiastically at an arcade nearby. Before I knew it, it was already five in the afternoon.
As the sun gradually sank lower, we found ourselves walking along the Riverbank.
“It’d be a waste to stay only here. Let’s explore somewhere else.”
“Sounds good. Where should we go?”
“Hmm… I looked it up online and found something called Denden Town? Apparently it’s famous.”
“Denden Town?”
I searched it up out of curiosity and found descriptions calling it the Akihabara of the Kansai Region, a second holy land for otaku.
Not that I had any particular interest in manga or anime.
“Let’s check it out.”
Since we’d been happily buying and eating various foods with Sakaki’s card, dinner felt unnecessary.
As we walked toward Denden Town to aid digestion, shops with manga and anime posters gradually began appearing around us.
“I don’t recognize any of this stuff.”
“Didn’t you barely watch manga and stuff even before?”
“I watched some back then. But I couldn’t after that incident.”
“…Ah.”
I furrowed my brow, remembering when she’d lost her sight from the curse.
“…ah.”
Kwon O-jin squinted his eyes, recalling the time when she had lost her sight after being cursed.
“Want to go take a look?”
“What’s the point? I can’t even read it anyway.”
Ha-eun shrugged and glanced around.
“What’s that thing over there that looks like a bowling pin?”
“I have no idea… I’ve never seen it before.”
The shop she pointed to displayed an enormous bowling pin painted with red and white stripes.
‘Ten…ga? What is that?’
Kwon O-jin and Ha-eun tilted their heads, staring at the storefront.
“Should we go inside and check it out?”
“Sure. I’m curious what they’re selling.”
Ha-eun nodded readily and stepped into the shop.
Ding.
As the clear chime of the bell echoed, what greeted them inside was—
-Hwaang! Red bean powder! Ginger tree!
Garbled Japanese spilled out as if the speaker’s translation was malfunctioning.
Even without understanding the meaning, it wasn’t difficult to discern what kind of establishment this was.
“Ah, damn it.”
….
Indeed, the shop’s interior was plastered with posters featuring an excessive amount of skin-toned imagery.
“This… was an adult novelty shop?”
Ha-eun’s mouth fell open in disbelief.

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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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