Not A Regressor - Chapter 185

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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 185
A Holiday in Rome (1)
“Mmm.”
Sweet breathing drifted to my ears.
Sunlight filtered through the window cracks as I opened my eyes, and I turned to look at Ha-eun sleeping soundly with her arms wrapped tightly around mine.
Long eyelashes, a delicate nose bridge, skin so flawless it seemed it would slip away if I touched it.
I smiled faintly and reached out to gently caress Ha-eun’s cheek.
“Mmm…?”
Ha-eun shook her head as if tickled, then slowly opened her eyes.
Our eyes met.
“Did you sleep well?”
“I couldn’t sleep well because of someone.”
Ha-eun pinched my side lightly with a playful smile.
A sweetness so cloying it could rot teeth flowed between us.
“….”
“….”
Without either of us moving first.
The moment our lips drew close.
[I am here!]
Pwoooong!
Vega appeared in midair with a strange sound effect, spinning her body in a full circle and spreading her arms wide.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
Ha-eun screamed and kicked me away.
My body was hurled roughly, crashed into the ceiling, then performed a spectacular aerial flip before landing with a thud on the floor.
[…What were you doing?]
“…Nothing.”
I got up, rubbing my aching stomach.
It seemed like every time Vega appeared, something like this happened.
[Hmm.]
Vega frowned with a displeased expression and flew over to land on my head.
[Have you resolved the Suhoseong matter?]
“Well… more or less?”
Two people died and one became critically ill.
But since I destroyed the Living Armor, which was the main culprit, it could be considered resolved.
[Could you explain to me what happened?]
“Of course. Oh, but what about absorbing Deneb’s divine power?”
[Hehehe. Who do you think I am? Making that foolish brat’s divine power my own is child’s play.]
Vega drew a V-sign with her small hand and shrugged her shoulders.
I chuckled and explained everything that had happened while she was away.
As I laid out the story of Suhoseong, the Living Armor, the Snake, and the Toad Faction, Vega’s expression changed moment by moment.
[Purging members of the Black Star Society itself… The Snake Zodiac’s child is truly a terrifying existence.]
“Well, factions exist for a reason, don’t they?”
[Did you completely eliminate that Living Armor beast?]
“Of course! I showed up at the perfect moment and finished it off!”
Ha-eun puffed out her chest proudly in response to Vega’s concerned question.
[Hmph. I know what humans call someone like you.]
“Huh? What do they call me?”
[Let me see… Ah yes! A kill-stealer! That’s what they call you!]
“You little thing!”
Insulted by the label “kill-stealer,” Ha-eun scowled and reached toward Vega, who was perched on Kwon O-jin’s head.
Vega flew up to dodge Ha-eun’s hand.
[You remain utterly disrespectful. Have you considered how sad Eltanin would be if he knew?]
“How would I know? I’ve never even met him.”
For reference, Eltanin is the name of the Dragon Zodiac’s Constellation.
“What? You’ve never met a Constellation even once?”
Kwon O-jin, who had been quietly observing the two women bicker, wore a surprised expression.
He had no memory of her speaking about the Dragon Zodiac’s Constellation, but he never imagined she’d never even seen one.
“Well… actually, I did try to visit once. But….”
Ha-eun scratched her head and sighed.
“He was sleeping.”
“Sleeping?”
“Yeah. Snoring away. Completely oblivious to the world.”
“Then you could visit again next time.”
“He just kept sleeping. For years straight.”
Ha-eun clicked her tongue and shook her head.
[Well… Eltanin follows the habits of dragons befitting his constellation. Once he enters his dormant period, he doesn’t wake easily.]
“Then how did he grant the stigma?”
[It seems he found his compatible awakener at first and granted the stigma before falling asleep.]
So that was why there were so few awakeners bearing the Dragon Zodiac stigma.
[In exchange, he must have bestowed a particularly potent stigma. Just looking at Ha-eun, she possesses power that doesn’t fall short of the Zodiac Twelve Palaces, does she not?]
“Ah. So that’s why it was like that.”
I had always thought Ha-eun was unusually strong compared to the recognition of the Dragon Zodiac stigma.
Even in this case, Choi Yu-mi, who was also a 9-star awakener, couldn’t do anything against the Living Armor, but Ha-eun brought it down.
[Still, to push yourself so hard with such severe internal injuries… How much more must you torment me before you’re satisfied?]
Vega wore a stern expression and flicked Kwon O-jin’s forehead.
“I’m planning to rest properly until my internal injuries heal anyway.”
[Of course you will.]
Internal injuries—direct damage to the mana circuits through which the stigma’s mana flowed—were never something to be taken lightly.
Just as forcing movement with broken bone fragments could cause permanent damage even after the bones healed, continuously overusing mana while suffering internal injuries would destroy the mana circuits.
‘I wish this could be healed quickly with something like a potion.’
Unless it was an Elixir, no amount of expensive potions could heal internal injuries, no matter how costly.
Kwon O-jin’s ‘Hydro Affinity’, which made his body nearly semi-immortal, was no exception.
When it came to recovering from internal injuries, nothing worked better than time itself.
“Anyway. Kwon O-jin will need to rest for a while, and you should too, Vega. Want to go somewhere fun with us? We’ll bring that mutt along too.”
[A mutt?]
“I’m talking about Riak.”
[Calling the Celestial Star’s familiar a mutt….]
Vega pressed her forehead as if her head ached.
Riak, who was called the ‘Heavenly Wolf’ among the Constellations and whose power was acknowledged by all, reduced to a mutt.
[You truly are… yourself.]
Vega gazed at Ha-eun and offered a faint smile.
Every time I saw her clinging so closely to Kwon O-jin, it made me feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Yet for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to hate her.
“So, are you going or not?”
[Where were you thinking of going?]
“Well? I haven’t decided yet.”
Ha-eun tilted her head thoughtfully, running her fingers along her lips, then snapped her fingers as a good idea struck her.
“How about we go abroad? You were really upset when I went to Japan with Kwon O-jin just the two of us before.”
[I was not upset!]
“Oh, is that so~?”
Ha-eun covered her mouth with one hand and grinned mischievously.
A vein bulged prominently on Vega’s forehead.
[You, you, you insolent thing!]
“Aaaah!”
Crackle!
Ha-eun shrieked as a small bolt of lightning burst from Vega’s hand struck her.
Just as the two women were about to begin their second round.
Ding dong.
The doorbell chimed throughout the house.
“Huh?”
“Were we expecting someone?”
Kwon O-jin tilted his head and opened the door.
“Hello, Kwon O-jin.”
Standing at the entrance with a long box in her hands was Isabella, smiling brightly.
“I was so surprised when you disappeared without a word before.”
“….”
Her voice was kind enough to make one’s lips curl upward just from hearing it.
Yet for some reason, a chill spread down my spine.
“I, I had no choice because my internal injuries were too severe.”
“Oh my. Is that so? I must have forgotten. Are you feeling better now?”
“I’m much better now.”
Though not completely healed yet.
While Isabella and Lee Woo-hyuk handled the aftermath and I rested with Ha-eun for a few days, my internal injuries improved considerably.
“Hehe. You have no idea how worried I was. Despite such severe internal injuries,
you
even drove the motorcycle back yourself?”
Oh.
Damn it.
“Well, that’s…”
“What if you’d gotten into an accident?”
Isabella patted Kwon O-jin’s shoulder with a pretty smile.
She looked like a chef inspecting whether sashimi was fresh, making my shoulders flinch involuntarily.
“What did Cheon Sang-gil say?”
Kwon O-jin hastily changed the subject.
“Tamrang Star is away, so I couldn’t report directly to him.”
“He’s away?”
“Yes. It seems The Snake’s pursuit is still ongoing.”
“Is that so?”
Perhaps he’d obtained some clue about The Snake.
“Still, I made sure to inform the Cheonhye Guild side to keep that area under surveillance.”
“Anything else?”
“Well… a few of the guards who were on watch recently fell asleep on duty and received disciplinary action. But they said nothing was actually missing.”
“Several people fell asleep?”
Kwon O-jin furrowed his brow.
It was possible for someone to doze off while on watch.
‘But not just one person—multiple people?’
And members of the Cheonhye Guild, supposedly South Korea’s finest?
“Something feels off.”
“Yes. I found it suspicious too, so I investigated… but I can’t find any leads. Nothing showed up on the CCTV or the surveillance relics either.”
“Hmm.”
It was strange, but with no casualties and nothing missing, it was impossible to continue investigating an incident with no clues.
“What about Lee Woo-hyuk?”
“He’s taking care of Hyun-bin. His body has recovered, but… he seems to have suffered significant psychological trauma.”
“I see.”
He’d been full of expectations about becoming the second Seven Stars, only to fail spectacularly right from the start. It was understandable.
‘Now what about Shou Xing.’
Oh Hyun-bin was out due to psychological shock.
With two dead, nearly half of the seven positions were now vacant.
‘I’ll need to talk to Cheon Sang-gil about this later.’
Kwon O-jin clicked his tongue and gazed at the long box Isabella was holding.
“What is this?”
“Ah. I brought it for Kwon O-jin.”
I wondered if she’d prepared yet another absurdly expensive gift.
“Kwon O-jin’s spear was damaged this time, wasn’t it?”
She opened the long box as she spoke.
Inside lay the jet-black spear that the Living Armor had wielded.
“This is…”
“I thought it would suit Kwon O-jin best.”
Kwon O-jin slowly examined the spear Isabella handed to him.
A spear roughly two meters long with an extended blade.
‘Not bad.’
As Kwon O-jin grasped the spear, his eyes widened at the sensation of it fitting perfectly in his palm.
“This spear isn’t an ordinary one.”
“If it’s not ordinary?”
“It’s an Ego Weapon—one that possesses its own consciousness.”
“Huh.”
An Ego Weapon—a weapon that possessed consciousness of its own.
It was a precious item ranked among the highest tier of sacred relics.
“Can I really just take something like this?”
“Hehe. You were the one who contributed the most this time, Kwon O-jin.”
Isabella smiled brightly and nodded.
“And…”
She stroked the jet-black spear with one hand as she continued.
“I tried channeling my mana into it, but it seems it doesn’t recognize me as its ‘master.'”
“You, Isabella?”
“Yes. It appears I don’t have the right stigma for wielding a spear in combat.”
“…”
Well.
Even if the Aries stigma could be excused, would it reject the Leech stigma as well?
‘No. In this case, I’d say it didn’t recognize me even if it did.’
After all, she was merely playing the role of an ‘Aries Awakener.’
“Then let me test whether I can use it.”
“Be careful. Its temperament seems quite violent.”
Kwon O-jin nodded and slowly channeled mana into the jet-black spear.
Crackle, crackle!
Blue lightning blazed at the spear’s tip.
‘What?’
Kwon O-jin examined the spear with surprised eyes.
He’d only channeled a modest amount of mana, yet the lightning burning at the spear’s tip was far larger than he expected.
‘Mana amplification.’
A short exclamation escaped Kwon O-jin’s lips.
True to form for an Ego Weapon.
It possessed remarkable capabilities.
“Huh?”
It was Isabella who found herself taken aback, watching Kwon O-jin summon lightning with such effortless simplicity.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, no. It’s just… much more docile than I expected.”
She gazed at Kwon O-jin with a bewildered expression, apparently having not anticipated such a lack of resistance.
“But for an Ego Weapon, there’s no voice or anything like that?”
Kwon O-jin spoke while gently twirling the obsidian spear.
“Perhaps a sense of self hasn’t fully developed yet.”
“I see.”
He closed his eyes briefly and focused on the spear, but detected no movement that suggested any distinct consciousness.
“Thanks. I’ll use it well.”
“It’s not even mine, so don’t mention it.”
Kwon O-jin smiled with satisfaction as he spun the obsidian spear in a complete circle.
‘It’s a shame the size doesn’t shrink.’
The inconvenience of carrying it was a major drawback of the spear—
Whirr, click!
The moment Kwon O-jin thought it inconvenient, the obsidian spear transformed into the shape of a small folding knife.
“…So it really does have a sense of self.”
Kwon O-jin let out a brief exclamation as he gazed at the spear, now transformed into a knife roughly fifteen centimeters long.
At this size, it could be easily carried anywhere.
“By the way, Kwon O-jin. You mentioned you’d take some time to rest while treating your internal injuries, correct?”
“Yeah. That’s the plan.”
Isabella’s eyes sparkled as she grasped Kwon O-jin’s hand.
“Then let me invite you to our family’s villa! There’s a place that’s excellent for treating internal injuries!”
“Where is it?”
“It’s called San Fruttuoso. It’s a beautiful coastal location, so it would be perfect for resting.”
The coast?
“Of course.”
Isabella’s lips curved upward as she glanced subtly at Ha-eun’s chest from behind Kwon O-jin.
“I’ll invite Ha-eun as well.”

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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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