Not A Regressor - Chapter 238

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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 238
A Hero for the Small Ones (8)
“So that’s how it was….”
Kwon O-jin glanced around, letting out a hollow laugh.
The ordinary people who had been huddled inside the protective barrier, trembling with fear, had vanished without a trace—the space now eerily empty.
Io, whom I had risked my life to rescue, was gone as well.
All that remained in place of the civilians was a single beautiful woman with deep green hair.
The sight of her was like… scattered fragments coming together in one place, crystallizing into the existence known as Rebecca Bell.
“So this was all an act from the very beginning?”
“Hehe. Sorry for deceiving you.”
Rebecca smiled brightly and playfully stuck her tongue out.
If Io grew up, in about ten years she might look exactly like that.
Even though her body had matured, somehow Io’s face kept overlapping with this image in my mind.
“But we’d have to be completely insane to actually let ordinary people participate in the tournament, right?”
“….”
Fair point.
I had thought something was off from the beginning.
Still, the fact that they had entered a ten-year-old child into a tournament to select the Seven Stars—bearing the title “Humanity’s Hope”—was suspicious in itself.
“Does Gemini’s ability include creating duplicates?”
The Gemini ability I knew about was the power to freely manipulate flora and vegetation.
I understood it as the ability to freely attack and defend using tree trunks, roots, seeds, and the like, so the sudden mention of duplicates caught me off guard.
“This is my unique skill.”
Rebecca shrugged and nodded.
Kwon O-jin clicked his tongue lightly.
‘How did I not notice this?’
Even if I hadn’t known she could create duplicates, I had been completely oblivious and dragged along the entire time.
For someone with over ten years of experience as a professional (?) con artist, it was deeply humiliating.
“We gathered a few weeks ago and practiced so the other participants wouldn’t catch on,” Allen said with a wry smile as he approached.
They had deliberately created urgent situations and fostered fear to hide the fact that the Seven Stars were participating.
“Was cutting off the arm for that reason as well?”
“Ah… yes. I admit it was somewhat excessive. Jason probably had professional medical staff standing by immediately.”
Kwon O-jin chuckled and nodded.
No matter how much they needed to deceive the participants, severing an arm was clearly crossing a line, but thanks to it, I hadn’t managed to see through that the Blue Knight was Allen.
“But it had to be done that way.”
Rebecca continued in a gentle voice.
“That’s the only way to discover a ‘gem’ like you in the mud.”
She approached Kwon O-jin and extended her hand.
“Welcome to the Seven Stars.”
Rebecca smiled warmly.
Rebecca smiling broadly.
Kwon O-jin exhaled a long breath and took her outstretched hand, pulling himself to his feet.
“Ugh….”
Perhaps it was the release of tension.
Pain surged through his body like waves, washing over him from every direction.
“Ah, wait just a moment.”
Rebecca Bell snapped her fingers lightly.
Crack, crack, crack.
Wooden vines erupted from the ground, and massive leaves like banana fronds wrapped around Kwon O-jin’s body.
“It’s not quite as good as Aquarius, but Gemini has some healing ability too.”
A green sap flowed from the leaves, drenching Kwon O-jin’s body.
The pain subsided rapidly, and he felt his wounds beginning to regenerate.
Despite her claim that it was inferior to Aquarius, the speed at which his wounds healed was quite remarkable.
“By the way, are you really an 8-Star? You haven’t even achieved physical reconstruction yet, right?”
Rebecca Bell asked with sparkling eyes, her tone full of excitement.
For some reason, her expression reminded me of how Io’s eyes used to sparkle, and I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
“I don’t believe there’s such a significant age difference between us.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
Rebecca Bell muttered that it had just become a habit, then burst into bright laughter.
“Then should I call you oppa?”
“…Isn’t Rebecca Bell actually older than me?”
Judging by appearances alone, she looked to be in her early twenties at most.
But from what I recalled, Rebecca Bell was older than Ha-eun….
“Aw, oppa. Would you say such things to a beautiful lady?”
Rebecca Bell spoke with a playful voice and a wink, while Allen looked at her with an expression of utter exasperation.
Perhaps because they were both from the United Kingdom, the two of them seemed quite familiar with each other.
“Oppa… oppa… hmm, it just doesn’t feel right on my tongue. I like ‘mister’ best after all!”
Having arbitrarily reached her conclusion, she lightly patted my back with a smile as bright as spring blossoms.
From my perspective—suddenly being called “mister” by a woman older than myself—that smile wasn’t particularly welcome.
‘It doesn’t really matter what I’m called anyway.’
Kwon O-jin let out a short sigh and extracted himself from between the leaves.
“Oh, you could stay a bit longer.”
“We should be leaving soon.”
I couldn’t stay here indefinitely.
It bothered me that I’d been played along with the Council’s theatrical performance.
“Hehe. Then I’ll guide you out, mister!”
Rebecca Bell grabbed my arm with a mischievous smile and pulled me along.
It felt strange to hear such a cute nickname from someone who looked like a full-grown adult, but since Rebecca Bell herself was so charming, it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.
* * *
“Congratulations.”
As we exited through the warp device, Olivia bowed respectfully toward Kwon O-jin.
Thick-framed glasses and neatly tied hair.
The woman who had screamed so desperately on the broadcast moments ago now exuded such a businesslike atmosphere that it was difficult to believe they were the same person.
“Kwon O-jin, you have passed the Council’s examination with distinction and have been selected as a member of the Seven Stars.”
“But that broadcast earlier was serious, wasn’t it?”
“That was… ahem. I apologize.”
Olivia, now finding the whole affair rather embarrassing in retrospect, cleared her throat awkwardly and avoided Kwon O-jin’s gaze.
“This is a fraud! This is absolutely a fraud!”
“What was that broadcast about then!”
In the Banquet Hall, candidates who had heard the broadcast and rushed outside were now lodging fierce protests against the Council representatives.
Several of the candidates were even engaging in physical altercations as they voiced their objections to the Council.
“Enough.”
Allen’s voice cut through the chaos, cold and measured.
At his single word, the tumultuous Banquet Hall fell silent and frigid.
“The Seven Star Council does not simply select Awakeners who can hunt more monsters faster.”
Allen’s voice continued through the chilling silence.
“The Seven Stars are seven luminous stars that shall become humanity’s hope and illuminate the path ahead.”
Allen swept his piercing gaze across the candidates.
“Do you truly believe you can call yourselves humanity’s hope?”
“….”
The candidates stood speechless, as though their mouths had been sealed.
Allen passed by them without another word, as though they were beneath further discussion.
Kwon O-jin, feeling awkward lingering in such a place, quickly followed Allen out of the Banquet Hall.
“The Baptism of Stars will take place at the Star Palace one week from now. Vega and Deneb will likely participate in the ceremony as well.”
Allen turned back to address Kwon O-jin as he walked ahead.
“Vega, I understand, but Deneb is unexpected.”
“Haha. I must apologize for Deneb’s rudeness at that time.”
Allen offered a bitter smile and released a short sigh.
“Even Constellations possess emotions. I believe the accumulated stress from an incomprehensibly long period of time was expressed in an unfortunate manner.”
“Well, I’ve already heard the circumstances.”
Being the weakest among the Polaris, Deneb had apparently been constantly compared to Vega and Polaris.
I’d heard that among the Constellations, Deneb was treated somewhat as a nepotistic appointment.
“But regardless of what anyone says, Deneb is Polaris. As a Constellation, he does not allow personal emotions to interfere with his duties.”
Kwon O-jin nodded in agreement.
Though Deneb possessed a childlike personality, I knew well that he was not so foolish as to forget his responsibilities as a Constellation.
“Well then, I have learned much from you, Kwon O-jin. For the next week, you are free to rest here at the Hotel or return home and rest as you wish.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Kwon O-jin nodded and headed toward Ha-eun, who was waiting for him.
“….”
Allen watched Kwon O-jin’s retreating figure intently.
Olivia approached him.
“Allen. There’s still one vacant seat among the Seven Stars, so we’ll need to convene the Council again soon….”
Thud!
“Allen?”
Allen, staggering, crashed against the wall.
“Haa, haa!”
Allen pressed his forehead with one hand, breathing heavily.
He’d barely managed to block Kwon O-jin’s final attack, but the impact hadn’t fully subsided.
‘If I hadn’t blocked it with my sword….’
Allen let out a bitter laugh and wiped the sweat from his brow.
“What kind of monster have you created, Vega?”
A chill ran down Allen’s spine, and he swallowed hard.
“Allen! Are you alright, Allen?!”
Olivia called out urgently, watching Allen lean against the wall, breathing heavily.
“Rebecca! Please heal him quickly…!”
Olivia turned her head to call for Rebecca.
“…Rebecca?”
But Rebecca, who had been following behind, had already vanished somewhere.
* * *
“I can’t believe it! I knew he’d make it!”
In the hotel room, Ha-eun hugged a sofa cushion and kicked her legs excitedly after seeing the news that Kwon O-jin had been selected for the Seven Stars.
“So now Kwon O-jin won’t be called by his old name anymore~”
Ha-eun’s eyes sparkled with joy like a wife celebrating her husband’s promotion.
She got up from the sofa and opened the trunk she’d brought.
“Let’s see… they said they give a special gift when you become one of the Seven Stars.”
What she carefully pulled from the trunk was a suggestive piece of lingerie adorned with dangling lace.
Ha-eun swallowed hard as she held the rather daring undergarment in her hands.
“This bastard… he’ll absolutely love this, won’t he?”
The design was embarrassingly revealing just to look at.
But wasn’t it only right to do something like this for Kwon O-jin, who had brilliantly secured a seat among the Seven Stars, surpassing such formidable competitors?
“Tonight will be… hehehehe.”
Ha-eun’s lips curled upward as she imagined what would happen later that night.
“Alright, since I’m doing this event anyway, tonight I’ll show Kwon O-jin the charm of his Elder Sister!”
She’d been thinking she needed to display her maturity and allure as an elder sister, since Kwon O-jin had recently been treating her like a younger sibling or someone he needed to protect.
Ha-eun, now dressed in the lingerie, loitered near the entrance, waiting for Kwon O-jin to arrive.
Thump, thump.
The familiar sound of footsteps echoing from afar.
‘He’s here!’
Ha-eun quickly turned off the lights and switched on the mood lighting.
She leaned against the wall, striking an alluring pose with the most seductive expression she could muster.
-Creak.
The hotel room door slowly creaked open.
“Hehe. Did our little one arrive?”
Ha-eun opened her eyes languidly, her voice dripping with seduction as she whispered.
When I slowly turned my gaze to catch sight of Kwon O-jin’s startled expression.
“…Huh?”
“Hmm?”
My eyes met those of a girl who appeared to be around ten years old.
The girl with hair streaked with green highlights gazed at Ha-eun in her undergarments and broke into a wide smile.
The girl turned her head toward the corridor and shouted at the top of her lungs.
“Uncle! There’s a naked older sister here!”
Ha-eun’s anguished scream echoed throughout the hotel.

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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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