Not A Regressor - Chapter 18

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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 18
Black Star Society (1)
“…Hm?”
The young man tilted his head as if he hadn’t expected such a remark.
“You’re selling that?”
It was uncommon for someone to sell a Holy Relic that hadn’t even been attuned to yet.
“Yes. It doesn’t seem to have the performance I was looking for. There’s no particular change even when I touch it. And….”
Yujin swept his gaze across five figures clad in black robes, his expression warm and affable.
Suspicious-looking individuals emanating an ominous aura.
A murderous, bloodthirsty atmosphere flowed from them—the kind one would sense from a professional killer.
‘What is this.’
I didn’t need to see more to understand.
Yujin shrugged lightly and continued with practiced ease.
“Surely your lives are worth more than a Holy Relic, wouldn’t you say?”
“…Pardon?”
The young man tilted his head as if confused by what I was saying.
Then,
“Ha, haha!! Hahahaha!! There’s been a misunderstanding!”
He burst into laughter, clutching his stomach.
“A misunderstanding?”
“Haha, yes. That’s right.”
The young man, tears streaming down his face, wiped his eyes with the edge of his robe and nodded.
“Well… it’s true our Guild’s attire is rather gloomy. It’s the Guild Master’s inexplicable sense of style, you see.”
He removed the black robe that covered his entire body.
Beneath it was light armor—the kind most Awakeners preferred to wear.
“It’s certainly true that Awakeners sometimes turn to banditry inside Gates… but at least we don’t engage in such things, so you needn’t be so cautious.”
“Ah, I’ve made an unnecessary assumption.”
Yujin bowed apologetically, as if embarrassed.
‘A misunderstanding?’
I chuckled inwardly.
‘What nonsense.’
The vivid killing intent I felt when I first held the Holy Relic in my hands.
The suspicious appearance of figures concealed entirely in black robes.
And most of all.
‘That aura flowing from this Holy Relic—it’s identical.’
A sinister, viscous energy that clung like tar—ominous and malevolent.
I could be certain because I had just absorbed the ‘Power of the Black Star’ contained within the Holy Relic through the Black Heaven.
‘These bastards.’
They possessed the same ‘Power of the Black Star’ that dwelled within the Holy Relic.
“Haha. The world has become so unsettling these days that I’ve committed a rudeness.”
“No, not at all. We’ve heard warnings about being wary of other Awakeners rather than monsters inside the Gate.”
“Hmm. Well, I suppose that’s fair.”
Ojin extended the black chalice once more with a sly grin.
“This. You said you needed it, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I do need it, that’s true.”
“If you offer a reasonable price, I’ll sell it to you right here.”
“Hmm. Is there a particular reason?”
“As I mentioned earlier, it seems like a useless ability. If I hold onto it carelessly and it turns out to be a 1-star or 2-star Holy Relic, I might have to sell it for even less, wouldn’t I?”
I was indirectly stating that I wanted at least the value of a 3-star Holy Relic or higher.
“Ha ha, when you put it that way, you’re absolutely right. Fine. We’ll buy it.”
The young man smiled brightly and rummaged through the pockets of the robe he’d discarded.
“How about we exchange it for this?”
What he pulled out was a Holy Relic Stone slightly larger than a fist.
The purity was so high that it didn’t just emit a blue light—a subtle, radiant blue glow flowed from it.
‘Wow, damn.’
A Holy Relic Stone of that size and purity would easily fetch hundreds of millions without any exaggeration.
At minimum, 200 to 300 million. If I picked a day with favorable market conditions, I could even get 400 million.
‘That’s the price of a high-end foreign car.’
With that much, I could take several more steps—no, several leaps closer to my
goal.
We can get one step, or rather a few steps, closer to reaching it.
“Hmm… well, that should be sufficient.”
I clutched my trembling chest, suppressing my excitement, and nodded calmly.
A bright smile spread across the young man’s face.
“Then the deal is done.”
I exchanged the Holy Relic Stone he offered for the black chalice.
“Phew, hehe. Finally….”
The young man holding the black chalice chuckled, his shoulders trembling with glee.
Of course, the black chalice I’d given him was nothing more than an empty shell—all its power had been absorbed by the Black Heaven—but fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice.
“Well then, I’ll be on my way.”
“Yes. Thank you for the good deal.”
After exchanging a light bow with the young man, I turned toward the entrance of the Cavern Chamber, where dense stalactites jutted upward.
“Kkhk, phew.”
I desperately suppressed the laughter threatening to burst from my lips.
‘Damn, I can’t believe I managed to hook such a perfect sucker with such perfect timing!!’
How disappointed I’d been when the Holy Relic I’d obtained through grueling effort turned out to be an empty shell.
And now, conveniently, a sucker had appeared and purchased that empty shell for hundreds of millions. There couldn’t be a better stroke of luck.
‘Puhehehehe!!’
I walked forward with a spring in my step, my mind erupting with vulgar laughter.
Of course.
I wasn’t foolish enough to simply walk out of here.
‘Shadow Veil.’
I activated the Shadow Veil to completely erase my presence, then concealed my body among the densely clustered stalactites.
Flattening myself against the ground like an insect, I crawled back to the Cavern Chamber where I had discovered the holy relic.
‘Those bastards. No matter how I look at it, something’s off about them.’
I needed information—what purpose drove them to seek holy relics, and what exactly was this power of the Black Star?
‘And.’
Another puzzle.
‘…Why now, not six days from now?’
I furrowed my brow and retraced the memories that had flowed into me from Lee Shin-hyuk.
According to Lee Shin-hyuk’s memories from the first cycle.
‘A holy relic is discovered in this Gate six days from now, on the twenty-first.’
Yet these robed figures in black had arrived the moment the Gate opened, as if they already knew a holy relic lay dormant here.
‘Well, they said they came with a purpose, so they must have known.’
But I couldn’t determine how they’d arrived the instant the Gate opened.
They couldn’t possibly have the memories of a regressor like me, so it was likely they possessed some ability or artifact to locate the power of the Black Star.
In any case.
‘If I hadn’t come, these bastards would have taken the holy relic.’
The timeline doesn’t add up.
According to Lee Shin-hyuk’s memories, a holy relic shouldn’t be discovered in this Gate for another six days.
There were two possible explanations.
‘Either the future has changed for some reason.’
Or the holy relic discovered on the twenty-first is not the black chalice but something else.
‘I’ll figure it out by watching.’
I hid myself among the tightly clustered stalactites and activated the stigma of Canis Major.
My senses heightened across my entire body, and I could hear the conversation between the robed figures.
“Why didn’t you kill him, Yujin?”
Yujin.
That must be the name of the young man I’d made a deal with earlier.
“Heh heh. This is a newly opened Gate, after all, isn’t it?”
“…Yes.”
“Other Awakeners will soon flock here, and it would be troublesome to leave unnecessary traces.”
“We can dispose of the body perfectly well….”
“There’s no harm in being careful, is there?”
Yujin’s narrowed eyes opened slightly.
“Yes, sir! You’re absolutely right!!”
“Haha. Thank you for understanding.”
He smiled brightly, gazing at the black chalice in his hand with eyes full of longing.
“The age of stars passes, and the day when the Black Stars shall reign over the heavens draws near.”
As if performing on stage, he spread both arms wide and spun his body in a complete circle.
“Those arrogant Constellations will all face the consequences of their sins.”
“By the grace of the Black Star!”
“Glory to the Black Star Society!”
Four figures in black robes prostrated themselves flat on the ground.
Yujin picked up the discarded robe with a satisfied smile.
“The Black Stars themselves will surely smile brightly upon your loyalty.”
“We shall follow the guidance of the Black Star!!”
“Hehe. Oh yes. You did bring the holy relic to exchange, correct?”
“Of course.”
One of the black-robed figures rose from the ground and retrieved something from within their garments.
A chalice-shaped holy relic emanating a soft blue luminescence.
With a light push off the ground, he leaped onto the stone statue and inserted the holy relic he had brought into the space where the black chalice had been removed.
“Then let us depart.”
“Yes!”
As Yujin turned, the black-robed figures followed in his wake.
“Oh, that’s right.”
Clap.
He clapped his hands as if remembering something.
He turned to address one of the black-robed figures.
“You remember the face of the person I made a deal with earlier, yes?”
“Yes.”
The black-robed figure who received his gaze bowed deeply.
Yujin continued with a faint smile.
“Hunt them down and kill them.”
Casually.
He issued the command as if it were nothing.
“I shall obey your command.”
“Ah, of course, you understand it must be done outside the Gate, yes?”
“Of course.”
The black-robed figure who received the order hurried toward the Cave entrance.
“Haha. Then we should also report to the Executor.”
The remaining three figures in black robes walked toward the Cave entrance alongside Yujin.
“….”
Five minutes passed after the black-robed figures completely disappeared from sight.
Oh Jin slowly rose from where he had been crouched between the stalactites.
“…The Black Star Society.”
It was a name I had never heard before.
‘Those bastards are definitely suspicious as hell.’
Could they be some kind of illegal Guild operating in the shadows?
From their actions, they seemed more like some sort of cult.
“This warrants further investigation.”
Listening to them prattle on about black stars dominating the heavens and Constellations paying the price for their sins, these were clearly no ordinary threats.
“So that’s how it happened, then?”
I gazed at the Holy Relic embedded in the statue’s brow and let out a soft chuckle.
A question that had been nagging at me finally found its answer.
‘The future didn’t change at all.’
The Holy Relic that Lee Woo-hyuk’s Guild members had discovered six days later was actually a substituted one, swapped out by the Black Star Society.
‘So that’s why she said something felt off.’
Just before Lee Shin-hyuk’s memories cut off.
I recalled the last words I’d heard.
The Bespectacled Woman reporting to Lee Woo-hyuk had definitely said at the end that something felt wrong.
“Of course it would feel off.”
I reached toward the Holy Relic embedded in the statue’s brow.
Even though they’d managed to swap it with a Holy Relic of similar size, there was still a palpable sense of incongruity compared to what had originally been embedded in the statue.
“I’ll take this too.”
I extracted the azure chalice from the statue’s brow and placed it inside my sling bag.
‘Blackheaven isn’t reacting this time.’
It seemed it had been responding to the “power of the black star” dwelling within it, not the Holy Relic itself.
“Kyahahaha! Sweet, sweet indeed!”
I’d sold the hollow Holy Relic for a valuable Holy Relic stone and obtained another Holy Relic that had been used for the substitution.
‘Well, since it was just a substitute, it’s probably only a 1 or 2-star Holy Relic at best.’
But that was still something.
Even a 1-star Holy Relic goes for around ten million won.
“Now then.”
I stretched lightly and retrieved the spear I’d hidden between the stalactites.
“Time to catch that lackey who’s been digging away so diligently.”
The mysterious figure in the black robe who had rushed ahead to pursue me.
It was time to extract answers to the questions still lingering about him.
* * *
“…What?”
The man shrouded entirely in a black robe furrowed his brow.
“Why is there no trace?”
Following orders, I’d searched for traces of the man I’d encountered in the Cavern Chamber, but nowhere could I find evidence of him leaving through the Gate.
I re-entered the Gate and meticulously combed through the labyrinthine Cave.
But.
“…What in the world is happening?”
There were traces of him entering, but absolutely no sign of him leaving.
‘Damn it.’
I bit my lip with an anxious expression.
Yujin’s bright smile flashed through my mind.
“Ugh, ugh…”
If I reported that I’d lost the trail, there was no way he’d let it slide.
“Damn it! Where the hell are you?!”
Thud!
Unable to contain his rage, he stomped his foot heavily against the ground.
Flutter! His black robes billowed dramatically.
And then.
“━Right here, actually.”
Through the fluttering folds of the black robes,
a spear blade pierced forward like lightning.
-Squelch!!
“Gack! Cough!!”
The man in the black robes’ eyes went wide.
He trembled uncontrollably as he stared at Yujin, who had emerged from inside the Cavern Chamber, his expression one of disbelief.
“Peek-a-boo, you bastard.”
Snicker.
Yujin twisted the spear piercing through the man’s abdomen roughly, grinning wickedly.

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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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