Not A Regressor - Chapter 2

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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 2
The Charlatan (1)
‘A Star of Heavenly Reversal? A Regressor?’
What kind of nonsense was that?
‘If a regressor means someone who returned from the future…’
Then they had made a grave mistake indeed.
He wasn’t someone who had returned from the future—he was uncertain whether he would even survive until tomorrow.
No, there was no need to think that far ahead.
At this rate, the fangs of the monsters surrounding him would tear him to shreds in less than five minutes.
‘Stay calm. Don’t panic.’
As someone who wasn’t even an Awakened One, I had to think faster, perceive more clearly, and make decisions more decisively than anyone else to survive in this nightmarish world.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry, and forced my mind to work.
The first thing I needed to do was.
‘Understand what the hell kind of situation this is.’
Oh Jin’s eyes gleamed sharply as he gazed at Lee Shin-hyuk’s charred corpse.
A few hours ago.
I recalled the memory of when I first met him.
* * *
“Well then, shall we find a suitable mark today?”
An afternoon like any other.
I stretched my sluggish body and moved forward.
I wandered toward the Gate, a place frequented by novice Awakened Ones, glancing around.
“Oh.”
Awakened Ones loitering in front of the Gate, searching for party members.
One person in particular caught my eye immediately.
‘Perfect.’
Leather armor laden with unnecessary decorations and thigh guards.
The two-meter spear he held in his hand was clearly an expensive item, its blade shimmering with a faint blue light like an afterimage.
I approached the young man at a leisurely pace, who seemed to be insisting he was different from the ‘novices’ loitering about.
‘Is this my eighth year doing this?’
Eight years ago.
Just after I escaped the hellish Orphanage, when I was searching for a job to survive.
As if the heavens were playing a cruel joke, this time the entire world became hell.
‘What a fucked up world it’s become.’
Since the first rift was observed at the North Pole.
Gates connecting to an alien dimension appeared across the globe like a collapsing dam.
Monsters poured out from the Gates, and humanity was helplessly swept away by them.
By the time more than half of Earth was overrun by monsters.
━Constellations, transcendent beings, appeared.
They bestowed stigmas upon humans, granting them the power to fight monsters.
Thus was born the “one who comprehended the stars”.
Superhuman beings commonly called Awakeners.
I never became an Awakener, though.
A world transformed.
In the endless chaos and calamity, there were few ways for an orphan who hadn’t even become an Awakener to survive.
But.
I survived.
“Oh my~ I can tell at a glance that someone like you shouldn’t be in a place like this!”
Scraping and clawing.
Sucking the lifeblood from others like a leech.
That’s how I survived.
“And you are…?”
“I am Kwon Jin-o, a 1-star Apostle of Aquarius.”
“A-Aquarius?!”
The young man’s eyes widened dramatically.
Well.
It was certainly surprising enough.
Aquarius was one of the constellations of the Zodiac Twelve Palaces, ranked among the highest of the hundreds of constellations.
“An Apostle of the Zodiac Twelve Palaces… I’ve never actually met one before.”
“Ah, even if I’m from the Zodiac Twelve Palaces, I’m still just a lowly 1-star, so what’s the big deal?”
I laughed warmly, making light of it.
“But may I ask your name…?”
“Ah! I’m Lee Shin-hyuk, a 2-star Apostle of Compass.”
“An Apostle of Compass!”
I clapped my hands together and let out an exclamation.
“Incredible! A stigma that freely commands all directions and bearings! I’ve heard that Awakeners of Compass can wield even the most difficult weapons as naturally as their own limbs!”
“Haha. It’s not quite that impressive. Compared to the stigmas of the Zodiac Twelve Palaces, mine is nothing.”
Though Lee Shin-hyuk tried to appear indifferent, I could see the corners of his mouth twitching upward.
I have an eye for reading people that’s absolutely flawless.
Seeing Lee Shin-hyuk react exactly as I’d predicted, I let my lips curl into a smile.
Good, then.
Now that I’d chosen my prey.
Time to get to work in earnest.
“Haha! Since we’ve met like this, wouldn’t you consider forming a party with us?”
“A party… you say?”
Lee Shin-hyuk looked flustered, as if he’d never expected an Awakener from the Zodiac Twelve Palaces to propose forming a party first.
“I’m naturally all for it, but what about you, Jin-o…?”
Jin-o.
A simple alias—my real name Oh Jin written backwards.
One might think such a clumsy disguise would be easy to see through, but ironically, such crude aliases are often the hardest to detect.
‘The darkest place is always beneath the lamp.’
Who would suspect a con artist of using such a crude alias—merely their real name written backwards?
‘And more than that.’
Most of the Awakened I’ve deceived never even realize they’ve been swindled until the very end.
‘I must drain them without ever being discovered.’
To these superhuman Awakened, I am nothing but a mosquito.
A mere weakling who could be killed in an instant if caught drawing their blood.
‘I should lay some groundwork here.’
I opened my mouth to speak to Lee Shin-hyuk, who was watching me with a puzzled expression.
“Well… it’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but I’ve never had much talent for wielding the power of stigmas.”
I scratched my head and continued, feigning shame.
“Honestly, it’s difficult for me to fit into other parties.”
“Ah.”
Lee Shin-hyuk let out a short exclamation and nodded.
For Awakened, it mattered not only how powerful the Constellation that granted their stigma was, but also how skillfully they could wield the stigma itself.
“So even after awakening for over a year, I’m still stuck at 1-Star…”
I sighed as if lamenting my situation.
The rank system among Awakened was called ‘Stars.’
It was a concept similar to levels.
In this ranking system, which ranged from 1-Star to 12-Star, how skillfully one wielded their granted stigma was an important evaluation criterion.
“A year, you say… that is indeed quite long.”
Lee Shin-hyuk swallowed and nodded.
On average, it took about six months to advance from 1-Star to 2-Star.
“It’s all because I’m lacking.”
“Not at all, Oh Jin. It hasn’t even been a full year yet. I’ve heard that sometimes people fumble around at first, but once they achieve one promotion, they rise rapidly.”
Lee Shin-hyuk spoke in a comforting tone.
“Haha. Thank you.”
I smiled brightly and bowed my head.
As I lowered my head, my eyes gleamed with sharp intensity.
‘Well, that groundwork should be enough.’
With what I’d said, even if I wasn’t immediately useful in party play, they’d be lenient enough to overlook it.
‘Now then.’
Should I lay down a bit more bait?
“The moment I first saw you, Lee Shin-hyuk, I felt something.”
“Ahem. W-what kind of feeling are you talking about?”
“You have… a remarkable talent that sets you apart from other Awakened.”
“Talent, you say…?”
“Yes. I’m quite confident in my ability to read people.”
“Ha, haha. Well… I did advance to 2-Star a bit faster than other Awakened, just a tiny bit faster…”
“Exactly!! I knew it!!!”
Each time she clapped her hands excitedly, Lee Shin-hyuk’s lips curled upward in a bright smile.
Even though Awakeners granted stigmas by Constellations were superhuman, their essence remained human.
Naturally, they felt good and exhilarated when praised.
“So, what do you say? Shall we form a party together?”
“Well, before that…”
Lee Shin-hyuk turned his head with a slightly awkward expression.
There was a customary ritual that Awakeners meeting for the first time typically performed before forming a party.
A ritual that was somewhat embarrassing for two grown men to do.
“Then shall we verify each other’s stigmas?”
Oh Jin asked as she casually removed the armor she wore over her chest.
When Awakeners meeting for the first time formed a party, it was an unspoken rule to verify the stigmas inscribed above the left chest.
“Yes, of course.”
Lee Shin-hyuk also removed his leather armor and pulled down his shirt.
Below his left collarbone.
The stigma of Compass was visible.
“Confirmed.”
Now it was her turn.
Oh Jin pulled down her shirt below her shoulders, just as Lee Shin-hyuk had done.
The stigma of Aquarius, clearly inscribed on her left chest, was revealed.
“Wow… so that’s the stigma of the Zodiac Twelve Palaces…”
A deep exclamation escaped from Lee Shin-hyuk’s lips.
Oh Jin let out a quiet laugh as she watched him gasp in admiration.
‘Right, after all the hardship I went through to carve it, there’s no way he’d recognize it as fake.’
When she first decided to take on this task.
It was a fake stigma she had carved herself by gouging out flesh from her chest with a blade.
At least by appearance alone, there was no way to distinguish it from the real thing.
“Ha, it’s rather amusing to verify stigmas just for entering such a low-rank Gate.”
Lee Shin-hyuk, having adjusted his clothes back in place, spoke with a bitter smile.
“Even if it’s low-rank, you never know what might happen if you let your guard down. This much is only natural for an Awakener.”
Oh Jin replied with a shrug.
The Gates they were about to enter were mostly low-rank, where 1-star monsters appeared, and very occasionally 2-star monsters, but in terms of fatality rate, it was actually among the highest.
‘Newly Awakened rookies often die trying to act tough on their own, after all.’
Still, Lee Shin-hyuk was at least not someone who could be called a ‘rookie.’
“Then, let’s go in.”
“Yes.”
Having formed a party with Lee Shin-hyuk, Oh Jin stepped beyond the Gate.
Her vision shifted, and a dim Forest spread out before her eyes.
The Forest, which exuded an eerie atmosphere, was densely overgrown with grotesque trees that could not be found on Earth.
She ventured deep into the Forest, avoiding the other Awakeners gathered in small groups near the entrance.
-Crunch.
Rustle, rustle.
Along with the sound of vegetation swaying, yellow eyes gleamed from within the grass—a monster’s gaze.
Lee Shin-hyuk gripped his spear and lowered his stance.
“Wait a moment.”
I grabbed his shoulder just as he was about to charge at the monster.
Lee Shin-hyuk turned to look at me with questioning eyes.
“Allow me to cast a buff before we engage in combat.”
Awakeners who bore the stigma of Aquarius lacked direct combat prowess but specialized in support abilities like healing and buffs.
Lee Shin-hyuk nodded with an “ah, of course” expression.
“Yes, please do!”
“Constellation of Aquarius—Albail, I call upon thee.”
I spoke the incantation in a low voice, my expression perfectly serious, eyes closed.
Whoooosh!
A faint shimmer of light burst forth from my left chest.
‘It’s just a tiny LED hidden beneath my clothes that I switched on.’
But to any observer, it would appear as though mana from the stigma was flowing outward.
“Grant starlight to illuminate the darkness before this humble apostle’s path.”
I spread my reverently clasped hands wide, extending both arms outward.
Glittering particles of light scattered toward Lee Shin-hyuk.
“《Lake’s First Light》.”
It resembled scattering glitter into the air.
Well.
‘Actually, it’s just glitter mixed with fluorescent paint that I’m scattering.’
In the dim forest, the blue fluorescent dye mixed with the glitter shone all the more brilliantly.
“This is….”
“Phew. The most basic of buffs. How does it feel?”
“Hmm.”
“You may not notice significant changes immediately. However….”
“No.”
Lee Shin-hyuk gazed down at his body with a serious expression.
He unfurled and refurled his fingers gripping the spear one by one, continuing in a low voice.
“I can… feel a change.”
Huh?
Really?
“At first my throat tingled, but now my whole body feels warm.”
He swallowed the glitter.
That’s not good for his body.
“It’s like each individual cell is coming alive—such a wondrous sensation.”
Is he hurt somewhere?
“So this is the power of the Aquarius stigma I’ve only heard tales of!!”
That’s not it.
“Thank you for the buff, Jin-oh! Now it’s my turn to show you what I can do!!”
Let’s go!

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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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