Not A Regressor - Chapter 209

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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 209
The Serpent’s Head (2)
“What exactly kind of trace did you find?”
Kwon O-jin asked, narrowing his eyes.
-It would be faster to come see it yourself.
“…But.”
-Ah, don’t worry about the Snake Zodiac Queen. This old man hid out and surveyed the area for about a week, but fortunately it seems she’s already left.
“Hmm.”
Kwon O-jin swallowed a short breath and nodded.
If Cheon Sang-gil was this confident, it was safe to relax for now.
-You were the one who directly handled the demonic beast incident back then, weren’t you? I’d like your help with this as well.
“That may be true, but…”
Kwon O-jin fell into contemplation, his eyes narrowed.
A rift leading to the Demon Realm had appeared in the middle of the city—he couldn’t just sit idle with his hands folded.
Just as with San Fruttuoso, he had to act as quickly as possible before an irreversible catastrophe occurred.
‘What is this?’
An unpleasant sense of discord, as if gears weren’t meshing properly, washed over him.
“How is your body, grandfather?”
-Hm? Were there other people there besides you?
“Yes. I was with my sister and Isabella.”
-That’s fortunate. I was planning to contact Ha-eun and Isabella anyway.
This was certainly not a problem Kwon O-jin could solve alone.
“When should I go?”
-The sooner the better. It doesn’t seem like demonic beasts have emerged from the rift yet… but as long as the rift exists, who knows what could happen at any moment?
“That’s true.”
Kwon O-jin nodded and rose to his feet.
“Once preparations are complete, I’ll head there immediately.”
-Understood. I need to contact the guild, so I’ll hang up now.
Click.
The call ended.
“A rift leading to the Demon Realm… why would something like that suddenly appear in South Korea?”
Isabella asked with a rigid expression.
“The Snake is likely involved.”
“…Then isn’t going there right now too dangerous?”
“It’s not a problem we can ignore by doing nothing.”
A rift to the Demon Realm beneath the city was like sitting on a bomb that could detonate at any moment.
Well, even if that bomb did explode, the chances of Kwon O-jin suffering direct damage were slim.
‘I need to move to maintain the title of hero.’
If word spread that he had refrained from acting out of self-preservation, the reputation he’d built could crumble in an instant.
‘That can’t happen.’
I had keenly felt just how useful the name ‘Noe-rang’ was when Isabella and I coordinated our story to cover up the Demian incident.
Without the reputation that Isabella and Kwon O-jin had steadily built up over time, we could never have easily evaded suspicion in such a major incident—the death of a member of Seven Stars.
“And on a personal level, I’ve also gained a reason to pursue The Snake.”
“Is it because of the Heavenly Demon?”
“Yeah.”
The identity of the Heavenly Demon.
Probably only the Snake Zodiac Queen knew the truth about that identity.
“Hearing Grandfather’s voice, it really does sound like a serious situation.”
“Why? Is it different from usual?”
“Yeah. Usually, no matter how busy he is, he doesn’t speak in such clipped, essential phrases.”
That was true.
Now that I thought about it, Cheon Sang-gil had a manner of speech that was flexible at best, or slightly slick at worst.
Ha-eun, who had received intensive instruction under Cheon Sang-gil, would know this better than anyone.
“Let’s start by preparing what we need.”
“Got it. I’ll head home and shower first.”
“If you need anything, just let me know, Kwon O-jin. I’ll have Roberto get it for you.”
“Right. I guess we’ll have to eat the bento box later.”
“Hehe. Don’t worry—I can make it again anytime.”
Before departing for Sokcho, Kwon O-jin, Ha-eun, and Isabella each prepared their necessary equipment and checked their gear.
After inspecting the wire shooter, I drew out the spear that had transformed into a folding knife form and carefully wiped it down with an oiled cloth meant for blades (the spear shaft trembled slightly with each wipe, perhaps because it possessed consciousness).
I meticulously prepared the tri-colored bracelet and gauntlets, which I hadn’t used frequently in recent times due to lack of opportunity, then sat in brief meditation and conducted training to replenish the magical power that had been depleted.
“Is everyone ready?”
Fully armed, Kwon O-jin emerged into the living room.
In the living room, Ha-eun in skinny jeans and a rider jacket, and Isabella holding a large staff embedded with golden complementary stones, waited for him.
“Yes. We’re all set.”
“I’m a bit tired from getting beaten up earlier. But there’s no helping it.”
“Oh. Sister, that’s….”
“I know you didn’t expect this to happen. So stop making that guilty face.”
Ha-eun giggled and gently pinched Isabella’s cheek.
“…Oh.”
As if having her cheek pinched by someone else for the first time, Isabella touched her cheek with one hand, her eyes widening in surprise.
A gentle smile bloomed across Isabella’s lips as she gazed at Ha-eun with a bewildered expression.
“Let’s head out.”
“Should we not call Vega?”
“I’ll summon her when we get there.”
Since Vega’s time manifesting on Earth was limited, it was more efficient to summon her after we arrived.
“Got it! Let’s hurry over there and catch that snake or whatever it is by the tail—snap!”
Ha-eun stepped out the door with a cheerful gait.
* * *
“Hmm. Is this Sokcho?”
Isabella stepped out of the car and surveyed Sokcho with a slight frown.
The downtown area of Sokcho, which had suffered catastrophic damage during the demonic beast incident half a year ago, was still in the midst of reconstruction, unable to fully recover from those wounds.
“This is a city where people actually live… right?”
“It became like this because of the demonic beast attack your grandfather mentioned earlier.”
Ha-eun pulled out a cigarette from her jacket and placed it between her lips with a bitter expression.
During the demonic beast subjugation operation in Sokcho, the residents had been evacuated beforehand, so there were no casualties.
Yet there was no way to prevent the destruction of the homes where they had built their lives.
Since collapsed buildings couldn’t be rebuilt overnight, it would take considerably more time for the original residents of Sokcho to restore their livelihoods.
“Elder Sister, where exactly did that black pillar shoot up before?”
“Ah, over there.”
Ha-eun, who had been watching people walking listlessly along the street, extinguished her cigarette in a portable ashtray.
Beside the Expo Tower, which was still under construction, a massive earthen pit roughly 300 meters in diameter was visible.
An earthen pit created in the center of the city as if a sinkhole had occurred.
Around the pit, enclosed by a no-entry fence, an elderly man in traditional Korean clothing waited for Kwon O-jin’s group.
“Thank you for coming so quickly.”
Cheon Sang-gil extended his hand toward Kwon O-jin with a benevolent smile.
“Has the Cheonhye Guild not arrived yet?”
“They just contacted me saying they’re almost here.”
Cheon Sang-gil turned his body and stepped inside the no-entry fence.
From the depths of the earthen pit, which was bored so deep that the bottom was invisible, an unpleasant, murky energy emanated.
“…We have to go down into that?”
“That’s right.”
Cheon Sang-gil nodded quietly.
Kwon O-jin exhaled a sigh and waited for the Cheonhye Guild members to arrive.
“By the way, what are you planning to do with Suhoseong going forward?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“Three out of seven didn’t survive, did they?”
“Ah yes, that’s right.”
Cheon Sang-gil nodded as if recalling a fact he had forgotten.
“Well, casualties during operations are unavoidable, aren’t they?”
“That’s… true.”
His response was far more matter-of-fact than expected.
“Once this is over, I’ll try to recruit replacements. We can think about who to hire when the time comes.”
Cheon Sang-gil gazed down at the black pit as he spoke.
Kwon O-jin nodded and looked around the surroundings.
“By the way, didn’t Lee Woo-hyuk come?”
“I tried contacting him, but he said he’s entered closed training.”
“Closed training?”
“Woo-hyuk is also on the verge of reaching the 9-star level.”
That made sense.
It was about time Lee Woo-hyuk ascended to the ranks of high-tier Awakeners.
Whooooosh.
While we surveyed the pit’s perimeter and exchanged casual remarks.
Several large vans arrived around the pit.
Cheonhye Guild members dressed in modified traditional garments descended in a rush.
“Is everyone here?”
“Yes!”
The Cheonhye Guild members lined up with military precision and bowed respectfully toward Cheon Sang-gil.
“Then let us proceed at once.”
Cheon Sang-gil surveyed the Cheonhye Guild members before slowly moving forward.
A staircase roughly a meter wide had been carved into the surface of the massive earthen pit, which descended to an unfathomable depth.
Kwon O-jin and his party followed Cheon Sang-gil down the narrow staircase.
After descending approximately a hundred meters.
“Do you feel it?”
Cheon Sang-gil turned to Kwon O-jin and asked.
Though he hadn’t specified the subject directly, I understood immediately what he was asking.
Beneath the pit where the black pillar had once surged upward.
Sinister magical energy shimmered like heat haze from below.
“Yes.”
Even without invoking the Canis Major Constellation’s stigma, I could sense something profoundly ominous lurking beneath.
“That is the fissure this old man discovered.”
After descending another thirty meters, a small fissure roughly a meter in size came into view.
Unlike ordinary Gates, it rippled with a dull black luminescence.
“What did you mean by traces of the Snake?”
“Come here and look.”
Cheon Sang-gil gestured toward the area surrounding the black fissure.
There, an arcane circle bearing bizarre runes had been inscribed, and at its center lay a palm-sized seal bearing the serpent’s mark.
‘This is.’
I gazed down at the serpent-marked seal positioned at the circle’s center, my eyes narrowing.
Unmistakably.
It was identical to the seals possessed by Cheon Do-yoon and Sosuke.
‘Perhaps I should summon Vega.’
Her sensory perception excelled in matters like this.
I touched the silver pendant hanging from my neck.
With brilliant silver light, Vega materialized before us.
[Hmm? Where is this place?]
Sensing the unpleasant magical energy permeating the surroundings, Vega frowned and inquired.
I briefly explained the events of the day.
[A fissure leading to the Demon Realm, then….]
Vega gazed at the black fissure from which sinister magical energy emanated, her expression darkening.
[How did you find this place?]
“I discovered it while tracking The Snake’s trail. It seems this fissure has existed beneath this location for quite some time.”
[That is not so.]
Vega shook her head firmly.
[This is a fissure that was created not long ago.]
“Not long ago?”
[Indeed.]
“How recently?”
[I cannot say with certainty… perhaps ten days? It seems to be no more than that.]
So Cheon Sang-gil discovered this fissure only three days after it was created.
“….”
Kwon O-jin narrowed his eyes and examined the black fissure.
“What’s its condition?”
[Hmm. It’s maintaining a remarkably stable state.]
“Is there any possibility of demons or other creatures bursting out?”
[I cannot say it’s impossible, but the likelihood is low. Usually, creatures don’t burst forth from unstable fissures, do they?]
“That’s true.”
It was the same at San Fruttuoso.
Fundamentally, demons emerged from fissures only when the fissure’s state was unstable or in a rampage.
‘Then it should be safe for now.’
Kwon O-jin stepped closer to the black fissure and slowly extended his hand.
And then.
The moment his fingertips touched the black fissure.
Rummmmmble!!
The pit trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
“What, what is this?”
“Kwon O-jin!”
[My child!]
Ha-eun’s head whipped around in alarm, while Vega and Isabella called out to Kwon O-jin urgently.
Kwon O-jin quickly withdrew his hand from the fissure and spun around desperately.
But.
Crack-crack-crack-crack!!!!
Like a cracked windowpane shattering, the black fissure that had been merely one meter in size suddenly began expanding violently.
Five meters, ten meters, thirty meters.
The rapidly expanding black fissure swallowed everyone who had entered the pit in an instant.
“Damn it!”
Whoosh!
As the black fissure consumed his body, Kwon O-jin swiftly fired his wire shooter, wrapping the wires around Ha-eun and Isabella’s bodies.
As his body was pulled into somewhere, his consciousness flickered.
Within the fading consciousness.
—You’ve arrived.
Someone.
A voice brimming with elation.
A voice trembling with exhilaration.
I heard them whisper.
—I’ve been waiting for you.
Before I could even discern who owned that voice.
Kwon O-jin lost consciousness.
“Ugh….”
And when I opened my eyes, I found myself.
Within the Demon Realm.

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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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