Not A Regressor - Chapter 157

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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 157
Interlude – The Price
“Mmm….”
After freeing Vega from the shackles of Divine Law.
Kwon O-jin returned home and slept for ten hours straight.
‘I’m still a bit tired.’
Kwon O-jin kept his eyes closed as he lay in bed, pulling the soft blanket closer.
Though he had awakened from sleep, his entire body felt sluggish and throbbed with pain, making him reluctant to leave the bed.
‘Even with Hydro Affinity, this kind of fatigue and internal injuries won’t heal.’
Getting more rest seemed the wisest course here.
‘That said, the aftereffects aren’t too severe.’
With his eyes still closed, Kwon O-jin shifted slightly to assess his condition.
Of course, his entire body throbbed as if being torn apart, and exhaustion had accumulated to the point where he could barely control his movements.
But for the price of using an irregular technique called ‘Heukcheon’, this level of penalty was practically negligible.
“O-jin, are you still sleeping?”
Creak.
The door opened carefully, and Ha-eun’s voice reached him.
Kwon O-jin kept his eyes shut and his mouth firmly closed.
“He’s already slept for ten hours… Is this bastard dead?”
Ha-eun crouched beside the bed and held her hand in front of Kwon O-jin’s face.
Confirming the gentle breath from his nostrils, Ha-eun exhaled in relief and gazed intently down at Kwon O-jin’s face.
For over five full minutes, she simply stared.
‘What is this noona doing, staring at someone who’s sleeping?’
Kwon O-jin felt the persistent gaze and cracked his eyes open slightly.
He could see Ha-eun resting her chin on the edge of the bed, gazing at him intently.
“Hehe. O-jin’s sleeping face is so cute.”
Unaware that Kwon O-jin had awakened, Ha-eun giggled softly as she observed his sleeping face.
After watching over him for more than five minutes, she apparently grew bored and began poking his cheek with her fingertip.
“Hihihi.”
She poked his cheek with a playful laugh.
“The fact that he doesn’t wake up even with this… he’s completely knocked out, right?”
She swallowed hard, a mischievous smile spreading across her lips.
After glancing around for a moment, Ha-eun lifted the blanket slightly and slipped underneath.
The sensation of limbs coiling around him like a serpent.
Embracing Kwon O-jin’s body as if hugging a bamboo wife, Ha-eun gently rested her head on his chest.
“Sniff sniff.”
With her face buried in his chest, Ha-eun inhaled his scent like a puppy.
As if inhaling some intoxicating drug, she breathed in his scent deeply, and her body trembled.
Ha-eun’s cheeks flushed crimson.
Holding Kwon O-jin close, she squirmed as if desperate for the restroom.
“Haah….”
A faint, strange voice drifted through the air.
‘This is insane.’
Kwon O-jin kept his eyes shut, his body rigid as a board.
Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
There was no way I could calmly fall back asleep in a situation like this.
But opening my eyes would make the current situation far too awkward.
‘So much for sleep tonight.’
A deep sigh escaped my lips.
It was during this intimate (?) moment with Ha-eun.
[I have arrived!]
“Kyaaaaaaaaaah!!”
Thwack!!!
Ha-eun, who had been lying on the same bed, shrieked and kicked her legs wildly.
“Cough!”
My body slammed against the wall, bounced off, and ricocheted onto the floor like a rubber ball.
“What, what is it? What happened?!”
I wore a bewildered expression, as if I’d been jolted awake from deep sleep.
Ha-eun offered me an awkward smile.
“Um… V-Vega suddenly appeared and I got such a fright.”
[What nefarious deed were you engaged in that startled you so?]
Vega’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.
Ha-eun’s head shook back and forth like a fan.
“N-Nefarious? Nothing of the sort! I was just watching O-jin because he wouldn’t wake up and I was worried something might be wrong!”
[Hmm.]
Vega remained unconvinced, tilting her head slightly toward me.
I rubbed the spot on my head where I’d hit the floor and shrugged as if I had no idea either.
[Well… I shall let it pass for now.]
Vega fluttered through the air and perched directly on top of my head.
[How is your body?]
“Still a bit tired, but much better.”
I got up and stretched lightly.
Muscles that had been dormant for over ten hours began to move slowly, like a rusty machine being oiled.
[….]
Vega watched me stretch intently, her lips pressed firmly shut.
Her gaze held complex emotions as she repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists.
“What’s wrong?”
[…There is something I wish to verify.]
“Verify? What do you mean?”
Vega fluttered over and gently tugged down the hem of the t-shirt I was wearing.
A Lyra Constellation stigma was clearly etched across his left chest.
She reached out her small hand and traced the stigma.
Crack!
In that instant, a small spark erupted from her hand and seeped into the stigma.
A faint smile appeared on Vega’s lips as she gazed at the stigma with a serious expression.
“What, what is it?”
Sigh.
Vega exhaled a relieved sigh instead of answering.
Kwon O-jin furrowed his brow at her seemingly odd behavior.
“Is something wrong?”
No, it’s nothing. I seem to have been mistaken.
Vega shook her head quickly as she replied.
I wondered if she was lying, claiming she wasn’t in pain when she actually was.
“You’re not forcing yourself to be fine again, are you?”
Ha-eun also examined Kwon O-jin with suspicious eyes.
“I’m really fine.”
It wasn’t an empty reassurance to comfort her.
My body still felt sluggish and ached in various places, but it wasn’t painful enough to make movement difficult.
It felt like the day after unloading and loading packages from a delivery truck.
Of course, it was still difficult to move properly, but for the price of using an irregular technique called “Gaecheon,” I was remarkably unscathed.
The aftereffects from when I first used Exceed were far more severe, come to think of it.
Back then, I had been unconscious for three days straight, but this time I hadn’t even lost consciousness.
That’s fortunate.
Vega, who had been carefully examining Kwon O-jin’s body, offered a gentle smile.
Still, your fatigue hasn’t fully recovered, so rest well for a few days.
“Got it.”
Part of me wanted to rush to the training hall and loosen up my body, but since there might be other aftereffects, I decided to obey Vega’s words without complaint.
“Then since Vega’s back, let’s throw a celebration party!”
Ha-eun’s eyes sparkled as she suggested a party.
Oh? I didn’t know you would welcome me back so grandly.
“Well, with that annoying fly buzzing around gone, it’s been a bit lonely, you know?”
A fly?! How disrespectful!
“Heh, when you’re flying around like that, you’re exactly like a fly, what else.”
You insolent wretch!
“It’s a woman, not a wretch, you know~?”
Ha-eun bickered with Vega and giggled.
After going back and forth like that for a while.
“I’m glad you came back safely. And before that… thank you for saving me.”
Ha-eun smiled brightly and reached out her hand toward Vega.
Vega snorted and flew down to land on Ha-eun’s palm.
“Don’t misunderstand. I wasn’t protecting you—I was protecting my child’s offspring.”
“Since when did you develop a tsundere complex?”
“Tsundere? What does that mean?”
“You know, acting cold on the outside while being fond of someone on the inside.”
“What, what are you saying? I have never done such a thing!”
Vega, sitting gracefully on Ha-eun’s palm with her legs crossed, folded her arms and turned her head away sharply.
Ha-eun grinned and poked Vega’s cheek repeatedly with her fingertip.
“That’s exactly what a tsundere does, though.”
“I told you it’s not!”
“Aww, is our goddess pouting~?”
Ha-eun giggled and tickled Vega’s ribs as she sat on her palm.
Probably no one else in the world would treat a Constellation with such casual familiarity.
“In any case… you’re quite impudent, girl.”
“Hehe. Sorry. I was just happy to see you after so long.”
“Well, I suppose seeing you again after all this time isn’t entirely unpleasant either.”
The two women began chatting away, asking about what they’d been up to, as if they’d never quarreled at all.
‘I can’t tell if they get along or not.’
Still, watching them chat like this, they didn’t seem to have a bad relationship at all.
“Hey, do you have anything to do tomorrow? Want to take Vega and Riak somewhere fun?”
“No. I have somewhere else to be tomorrow.”
“Huh? Where are you going?”
Kwon O-jin pulled out a box that had been carefully stored in a drawer.
Inside was a rectangular card that looked like a passport.
Kwon O-jin held up the card and spoke.
“I’m going to Paradise.”
“Paradise? Why there?”
“There’s something I want to discuss properly with Cheon Sang-gil.”
I was curious about what the “enlightenment” he’d given to Sakaki was.
But more important than that was the identity of the “serpent.”
‘I need to figure out who this serpent is and why they gave me that warning.’
Kwon O-jin placed the Paradise entry token on top of the serpent-marked tablet he’d obtained from Cheon Do-yoon’s room and the serpent-marked tablet he’d extracted from Sosuke.
“Hmm. Then let’s go together. I’m damn curious about what Paradise is like anyway.”
“Got it. Let’s go together tomorrow.”
“I shall accompany you as well.”
A party formed on the spot.
“Well, since we’re going to Paradise tomorrow…”
Ha-eun smiled and lifted Vega up with both hands.
“Today let’s have a blast eating and drinking with our goddess!”
“Aah! What are you doing!”
“While we’re at it, let’s call that bastard Riak too!”
[Understood, I shall.]
A welcome party was held, driven by Ha-eun’s excitement at meeting Vega after so long.
At the party where Riak also participated, Ha-eun regaled Vega with tales of sightseeing in Osaka with Kwon O-jin, teasing her mercilessly.
“Did you eat takoyaki with O-jin? I had some and it was absolutely delicious!”
[I too! I wish to taste it as well!]
“Hmph! A true warrior should swing their fists one more time rather than waste time eating… So, where exactly can one obtain these takoyaki?”
After the lively party where Kwon O-jin, Ha-eun, Vega, and Riak gathered together for the first time in a while ended.
“Phew! That was fun~!”
Ha-eun patted her bloated belly and flopped onto the sofa.
Riak and Vega had already returned to the Star Palace when it was time.
She turned to look at Kwon O-jin, who was cleaning up, and spoke.
“By the way, that technique where you shoot out that dark energy blast—”
“Heukcheon.”
Even so, it was a power that held the fate of the world, yet calling it a dark energy blast seemed a bit much.
“Ah, right. I’m glad it doesn’t have much aftereffect like I thought.”
As she said.
The cost of using Heukcheon was not that great.
“It’s a bit dangerous while using it, though…”
The sensation of my soul melting into thick dark clouds.
It was certainly spine-chilling dangerous—if I lost focus for even a moment, I would be swallowed whole by Heukcheon.
“But at this rate, I think I can use it as a finishing move.”
Since there were no problems during the two uses, I thought it would be fine to use it a third time.
“Our O-jin has become a total broken character. With just that technique, you’d crush anyone at 9-star or below, right?”
“Well, yeah.”
Just thinking back to the fight with Cheon Do-yoon made it easy to understand how abnormal Heukcheon was.
Unless they were a 10-star awakener or higher, I didn’t think a 9-star awakener at this stage could defeat me using Heukcheon.
‘And I’ve grown even stronger since then.’
For some reason, the power of Heukcheon had also grown stronger.
“Now those Black Star Society bastards are just child’s play!”
“Still, you should use it carefully. There might be awakeners at 10-star or higher.”
Isabella alone was at least a 10-star awakener.
Against someone of her caliber, I couldn’t guarantee victory even using Heukcheon.
“But still, having one completely broken technique is reassuring!”
Ha-eun giggled and picked up the remote, turning on the TV.
A bald middle-aged man appeared on the screen, performing various ridiculous tricks in an absurd pose.
“Ah, damn it.”
Ha-eun frowned as she watched the bald man, letting out a crude curse.
“What?”
“That bastard. Doesn’t he look like the Orphanage Director?”
“Really?”
Kwon O-jin turned his gaze toward the television, studying the Bald Man.
‘Does he look like someone?’
He tilted his head, summoning the face of the Orphanage Director from his memories.
The man who had beaten him relentlessly, day after day.
The face of the Orphanage Director he had despised so thoroughly.
“━Huh?”
And then.
He realized it.
‘What…?’
No matter how hard he tried to recall.
No matter how many times he retraced his memories.
The Orphanage Director’s face would not come to him.
“….”
Kwon O-jin stared blankly at the television, his expression hardening.
No matter how much time had passed since leaving the Orphanage, it made no sense that the Orphanage Director’s face had faded from his mind.
“Ah, uh.”
It wasn’t just the Orphanage Director’s face that eluded him.
Fiery crimson hair blazing like flames.
The beautiful girl’s face—the one who had completely transformed his life.
Her memory.
Had not.
Remained.
‘So this was the real price.’
Kwon O-jin clenched his fists tightly, biting down on his lower lip.
A hollow laugh threatened to escape as the crushing sense of self-loathing washed over him.
After living such a wretched existence, how had he not understood this sooner?
There is no such thing in this world as power that comes easily, as convenient strength without cost.
“What’s wrong with you, O-jin?”
“It’s nothing.”
Kwon O-jin smiled faintly and sat down beside her.
“He really does look just like that bastard of an Orphanage Director.”
“Right?! That gloomy expression is exactly like that asshole’s!”
Kwon O-jin stared intently at Ha-eun’s face as she spoke passionately, her words laced with curses.
Overlaying her face onto the girl’s visage—the one he could no longer remember.
Again and again.
Again and again.

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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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