Not A Regressor - Chapter 175

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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 175
Summons (4)
A silence as heavy as death draped the room like a curtain.
The gazes of Jegal So-young and Isabella Colgrande, seated on either side of Kwon O-jin, crossed through the empty air.
“You’re Jegal So-young, correct?”
A soft smile.
Isabella gazed at Jegal So-young with a beautiful smile in her eyes.
She brushed her lustrous platinum hair gently behind her ear and spoke in a measured voice.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I’ve heard you’re quite skilled among the Sagittarius members.”
“Oh, thank you. I’ve also heard much about the Saint of Rome.”
Jegal So-young smiled back.
To anyone observing their expressions and conversation alone, it seemed like a warm exchange—as if they were sharing coffee and pleasant conversation at some cafe.
‘Damn it.’
But Kwon O-jin, caught between them, could feel it acutely.
The fierce battle of nerves unfolding between these two women.
‘One wrong move and this explodes.’
Jegal So-young was manageable.
Though I didn’t know her well, she didn’t seem like the type to resort to violence if things went awry.
‘But.’
Isabella was different.
The Leech Queen. The blood-mad witch.
Recalling the crazed look she’d displayed at the docks that day.
I couldn’t predict what she might do if things didn’t go her way.
‘If the first regression’s future holds true, Isabella is the one who destroys all of Italy.’
How many people lived in Italy?
A million? Ten million?
Even with the population decimated by the monster catastrophe, tens of millions of people must have been living there.
Even if it happened in the first regression, she was a witch who slaughtered tens of millions without hesitation.
‘Though if I think about it that way, I’m the one who slaughtered billions.’
Regardless.
The fact remained that if Isabella decided to act right now, she could easily kill everyone in this room.
Tamrang Star? Black Lion? The Apostle of Lyra Constellation?
None of it mattered.
‘She’s the woman who killed a 9-Star Awakener in a single strike.’
Honestly, even using the ‘Heavenly Path,’ I had no confidence in facing Isabella.
Kwon O-jin swallowed hard and watched Isabella.
The key here was to avoid crossing her in any way.
‘For now, I’ll just observe the situation more carefully.’
I watched cautiously, feeling as though I were walking on thin ice.
“I think Jegal So-young would work better paired with Choi Yu-mi rather than Kwon O-jin.”
“Hmm. And why is that?”
“Jegal So-young has excellent archery skills and could support Kwon O-jin from behind, but fundamentally, Kwon O-jin doesn’t fight using only a spear. He fights by utilizing wires to freely shift positions from close-range to long-range combat.”
The explanation continued in a measured tone.
“So rather than supporting those constantly shifting positions from behind with a bow, I believe my stigma—which can concentrate power into Kwon O-jin—would be the best fit.”
“I agree with that assessment.”
Kwon O-jin quickly seconded Isabella’s opinion.
“In fact, I’ve partnered with an awakener from the Sagittarius constellation once before.”
“Oh, you mean the broadcast with Jerry Kim, right? I watched that too.”
Jegal So-young nodded with sparkling eyes.
At the mention that she’d even watched the broadcast, Kwon O-jin swallowed a dry gulp.
He’d thought she was being overly forward, but it seemed she’d been quite interested in him from the start.
“At that time, I came to the same conclusion as Isabella—that my combat style doesn’t mesh well with Sagittarius.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yes.”
“But wouldn’t that be precisely because your partner was Jerry Kim?”
Jegal So-young rested her elbow on the table, propped her chin in her hand, and smiled with confidence.
“You shouldn’t compare me to him just because we share the same constellation.”
“That’s—”
“If it were me, I’m confident I could adapt to everything—whether Kwon O-jin is soaring through distant skies on wires or engaging in close combat with his spear.”
She probably wasn’t bluffing.
The Black Rose, Jegal So-young.
A globally recognized awakener couldn’t be compared on equal footing with a mere streamer.
‘But that’s not what matters right now, is it?’
It might not be me soaring through distant skies—it could be your neck.
“Still, I think it’s better to go with Isabella on this operation. We’ve already synchronized our movements before.”
“Hmm. It seems you care quite a bit for Isabella.”
She narrowed her eyes and examined Isabella from head to toe.
Skin as white as snow.
Beautiful platinum blonde hair like melted gold and sapphire-blue eyes, and despite her gentle impression, sensual crimson lips that gleamed with deep color.
Even another woman would be captivated by such beauty.
‘I’m not lacking in appearance either.’
Of course, compared to Isabella, there was a slight… no, a microscopic difference.
But she had never felt inferior in appearance anywhere.
After all, “Black Rose Jegal So-young” commanded worldwide fame not just for her skills but for her looks as well, didn’t it?
Thinking of how men lined up just to exchange words with her, she couldn’t really lose to Isabella in comparison—
“Huh?”
Then.
As Jegal So-young carefully examined Isabella’s appearance, one detail caught her eye.
She’d been wearing a loose nun-like habit that had kept it hidden until now.
‘What the—what is that?’
A midriff so voluminous it made my jaw drop.
Her breasts commanded my attention with such devastating presence that I couldn’t fathom how such a slender waist could support them.
“Is something wrong?”
“Oh, no. It’s nothing.”
My head bowed of its own accord.
I’d never thought myself lacking in physique either.
‘This is cheating.’
If it were merely absurdly large in size, that would be one thing.
But seeing those beautifully sculpted lines rising defiantly against gravity, I felt the fortress of my self-confidence crumble to dust.
“Hmm. You asked earlier if I care for Isabella, didn’t you?”
Kwon O-jin continued in a measured tone.
“Yes. Of course I do. She’s given me so much.”
She gifted me an entire apartment, after all—that definitely counts as giving me a lot.
“Isabella is… a very important person to me.”
One misstep and my head would be crushed—she couldn’t possibly be unimportant.
“Oh, Kwon O-jin?”
It was Isabella who seemed surprised by his words.
She stared at him with wide, round rabbit eyes.
Her large eyes glistened with moisture.
“I didn’t know… that you thought of me that way.”
Isabella trembled slightly, her expression overflowing with joy.
‘What the hell?’
Kwon O-jin’s face filled with bewilderment.
He hadn’t expected such an intense reaction from those few words.
‘Surely… this won’t make her cling to me even more, will it?’
No way.
If people fell for each other so easily over just a few words, why would anyone in the world struggle with romance?
Right?
I’m right, aren’t I?
“I want to be on the same team as you, Kwon O-jin. If you say no, I’ll quit Shou Xing.”
Damn it.
I was right, wasn’t I?
“That’s… that’s unreasonable.”
“I don’t care if it’s unreasonable. I can’t do Shou Xing without you.”
“….”
Jegal So-young bit her lip firmly.
Since she’d committed herself to Shou Xing for personal reasons, she couldn’t simply stand by and watch it fall apart over something so trivial.
“Sigh. Fine, fine. So I’ll team up with Yu-mi instead, is that it?”
Jegal So-young stepped back with a sigh of resignation, as if she’d given up.
The suffocating tension that had pressed down on the room began to dissipate.
“Heh heh. It seems Kwon O-jin here is quite popular.”
“Kwon O-jin is an impressive person, after all.”
Cheon Sang-gil gazed at Kwon O-jin with warm eyes, amused by how things were unfolding, while Lee Woo-hyuk nodded and added his own comment.
Kwon O-jin felt a strange mixture of pride and unspeakable embarrassment, and hastily changed the subject.
“By the way, Tamrang Star won’t be participating in this operation, will he?”
“This old man has other matters to attend to.”
“Other matters, you say…?”
Cheon Sang-gil answered Kwon O-jin, who tilted his head in confusion, in a low, measured voice.
“I’m thinking of hunting The Snake.”
“…Pardon?”
The Snake?
Did that mean the Serpens Queen had come to South Korea?
At the mention of “The Snake,” I noticed Isabella’s shoulders beside me tremble slightly.
“Heh heh. Don’t make such a serious face.”
Cheon Sang-gil continued, lightly stroking his beard.
“Weren’t both the Owl Faction and the Seahorse connected to The Snake?”
“Are you thinking the Toad Faction’s illegal entry into South Korea was under the orders of the Serpens Queen?”
Cheon Sang-gil nodded.
“It could be nothing more than an old man’s wild guess, but still.”
“Hmm.”
The Serpens Queen might be in South Korea.
‘Did I speak too hastily?’
The thought flickered through my mind for a moment, but I quickly shook my head.
Since Cheon Sang-gil was personally hunting the Serpens Queen, the likelihood of encountering her during this operation was low.
Besides, the connection between the Serpens Queen and the Toad Faction was merely circumstantial to begin with.
“Then shall we form teams like this: one group with Isabella, myself, So-young, and Yu-mi, and the final group with Woo-hyuk and Hyun-bin?”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
“I-I’m fine with it too.”
Lee Woo-hyuk and Oh Hyun-bin nodded without particular objection.
In fact, considering the party’s balance, this combination was the best option.
“Then we’ll depart as soon as Yu-mi returns.”
I said this while taking a sip of the now-cooled green tea.
Though less than ten minutes seemed to have passed, I felt more exhausted than after training for ten straight hours without rest.
“B-but will it be alright? Just the six of us… Wouldn’t it be better if each guild dispatched personnel?”
Oh Hyun-bin trembled slightly, his eyes glistening with tears.
Lee Woo-hyuk gazed at the frightened Oh Hyun-bin and offered a faint smile.
“I’ll protect you, so don’t worry.”
Perhaps Lee Woo-hyuk was projecting his own past onto the sight of Oh Hyun-bin trembling in fear.
He looked at the boy with distant eyes and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
“And the Awakeners gathered here aren’t people who would worry about mere demonic beasts, are they?”
Oh Hyun-bin carefully lifted his head at Lee Woo-hyuk’s words.
Five Awakeners entered his vision, including Cheon Sang-gil.
Shou Xing.
A specialized organization created by Tamrang Star to subjugate the Black Star Society.
Since they had only just met for the first time, they didn’t know much about each other yet.
But one thing was certain.
“Yes! That’s, that’s right! We’re Shou Xing after all!”
The Awakeners of Shou Xing were all composed of exceptionally skilled individuals.
Oh Hyun-bin himself, despite being underestimated due to his delicate appearance and personality, possessed skills remarkable enough to be called the “Miracle Healer” within the Guild.
What about the Black Rose, Jegal So-young?
She was an Awakener of the Zodiac Twelve Palaces, evaluated as possessing top-tier abilities even among the 8-star rank, just like Lee Woo-hyuk.
Choi Yu-mi, bearing the stigma of the Phoenix constellation, wasn’t a Zodiac Twelve Palaces-level Awakener, but she had already reached the 9-star rank and completed the reconstruction of her body as a high-tier Awakener.
And then there was Black Lion Lee Woo-hyuk, who had few Awakeners comparable to him in domestic recognition, and Isabella Colgrande, the Saint of Rome, who had gained worldwide fame beyond South Korea.
Finally, there was even Kwon O-jin, who bore the stigma of Polaris itself.
“Hehe. Maybe someday we’ll be called the Second Seven Stars.”
Oh Hyun-bin flashed an innocent smile and clenched his fists tightly.
How much ridicule had he endured because of his delicate personality and appearance until now?
‘Things will be different now.’
The boy who admired heroes gazed at Lee Woo-hyuk with eyes shining like stars.
Lee Woo-hyuk gently patted the brown shaggy hair of Oh Hyun-bin as if impressed by him.
“Then shall we depart?”
Not long after, Choi Yu-mi returned, having changed clothes.
Kwon O-jin set down his teacup and rose to his feet.
“Hmph. Acting like a leader when we haven’t even decided on one?”
“Hehe. Once this operation is over, would you like to have dinner with me?”
Choi Yu-mi and Jegal So-young each spoke a word and headed outside.
On the faces of those heading out to hunt the vicious demonic beast that had struck terror into the Incheon region, there was not a trace of tension.
Thus.
The first operation of Shou Xing, an organization that would soon shake not just South Korea but the entire world, was initiated.

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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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