Not A Regressor - Chapter 24

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

I Am Not a Regressor Chapter 24
A Night Without a Perpetrator (1)
“…That’s all the information I have on Yujin.”
I handed the sketch I’d drawn of Yujin to Team Leader Han.
Drawing the montage hadn’t been difficult—I had considerable confidence in my manual dexterity.
“Thank you. I’ll deliver this directly to the Valhalla Guild.”
Team Leader Han collected the sketch with a short sigh.
“Quite the remarkable coincidence, though. An Awakener who had a confrontation with you, and the Valhalla Guild suddenly needs to find them urgently.”
“Did you hear why they’re looking for him?”
“No. I wasn’t told the reason.”
So they’re keeping Lee Shin-hyuk’s kidnapping under wraps.
Well.
Even with an alliance, it’s not something you’d discuss openly.
“Ah, that’s right.”
Clap.
Team Leader Han clapped his hands together.
“We’ve also received a direct support request.”
“A support request?”
“Yes. They didn’t go into details, but… they said the Association’s help is needed to establish an encirclement across all of Baekun Mountain.”
An encirclement.
‘He’s really going all out with this.’
Lee Woo-hyuk’s execution was even better than I’d anticipated.
“You’re not obligated to participate, but….”
“I’ll participate.”
I answered without hesitation.
I needed to go to Baekun Mountain directly to coordinate the situation anyway.
Accepting the support request would give me legitimate justification.
And beyond that.
‘If I play this right… I can milk the compensation sweetly.’
My mouth watered at the prospect.
* * *
A dark basement.
In the dingy space where dust swirled, narrow eyes gleamed with an eerie light.
“…You still haven’t found him?”
A voice low and measured.
Before the youthful man with a gentle expression, the black-robed figures trembled violently, their heads bowed low.
“W-well, you see…”
“‘You see’ nothing. More than a week has passed… and you’re telling me you can’t find a single Awakener?”
“W-we’ve checked records from other guilds and registration assessments, but we can’t confirm anything….”
“So.”
Thud-thud-thud-thud!!
As the young man flicked his hand lightly, black feathers sliced through the darkness like bullets.
“Gahhhhhhh!!!”
Arms and shoulders, thighs and calves.
Sharp feathers pierced through his limbs.
A horrific scream echoed through the air.
“You still haven’t found it?”
“Ugh… gasp.”
In an instant, the man whose limbs had become tattered rags writhed like a worm.
Thud, thud.
With heavy footsteps, Yujin approached the man.
—Crunch!!
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
I stomped brutally on his already mangled arm.
“I’m s-sorry!! I’m so sorry!!”
“I don’t want to hear apologies. You have something else to tell me, don’t you?”
“A clue!! I found a clue!!”
“Hmm.”
My eyes opened slightly.
“What clue?”
“A m-member who lost contact three days ago was investigating a certain area. I thoroughly searched it and back-traced the surrounding CCTV footage.”
“And?”
“He was confirmed leaving a building that only Association staff can access and heading toward Mokdong.”
“Interesting. So he was affiliated with the Association?”
Yujin licked his lips with intrigue.
“That’s… I’m not sure if he was actually affiliated with the Association.”
“…What did you say?”
“After that, I staked out the area around the Association and confirmed people coming and going, but he never appeared.”
“What about the possibility of him being affiliated with a branch office?”
“I checked all of them.”
….
Warp.
My expression twisted harshly.
‘He came out of an Association staff-only building but isn’t affiliated with the Association?’
No matter how lax the Association was, outsiders couldn’t simply come and go from staff-only buildings.
‘…Just who the hell is that bastard.’
I recalled the face of the young man who had proposed a deal with a friendly smile.
Ominous.
An unpleasant sensation, as if something viscous and sticky were clinging to my body, washed over me.
“Sigh. Continue investigating for now.”
“Ugh!!”
Yujin pressed his forehead as if his head was throbbing.
He looked down at the fifty-odd subordinates prostrating beneath his feet.
‘It’s not enough.’
I had no intention of being satisfied with my current position as a junior administrator.
Someday, I would climb through the ranks of mid-level and senior administrator to reach the position of executor.
‘I will rise.’
An intense desire surged within me.
For his sake as well.
‘I need to find that bastard and obtain the true sacred relic of the Black Star.’
Cheon Do-yoon, the King of Owls, was a cold-blooded man who tolerated no mistakes.
The fact that he hadn’t summarily executed me this time was merely because he was giving me a chance to make up for my failure.
If I failed to recover the true sacred relic within a short time, I would become a cold corpse at Cheon Do-yoon’s hands.
“Yujin.”
“What is it?”
“Perhaps… wouldn’t it be wise to request assistance from Ashad Khan?”
“…What?”
Ashad Khan.
An administrator from India, he was my peer and superior.
We had both become apostles of the Owl’s seat on the same day and hour, yet he had already risen to mid-level administrator while I remained stuck at the junior level.
Certainly.
If he helped me—he commanded twice as many subordinates as I did—I could find that bastard far more easily.
—Bang!
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Yujin’s narrow eyes opened fiercely as he spoke in a low voice.
“I-I apologize!”
His subordinate hastily bowed and retreated.
“Tsk.”
Yujin clicked his tongue in contempt and turned away.
“Three days. You have exactly three days.”
He held up three fingers as he continued.
“Within three days… bring that son of a bitch before me. Everyone understands, yes?”
“Yes!”
A resounding voice echoed through the basement.
Then,
“Yujin!”
One of the subordinates stationed on the first floor as a lookout hurried down urgently.
“What is it?”
“Someone is approaching this way.”
“…What did you say?”
Yujin furrowed his brow.
He unlocked his smartphone to check the time—it was already past 8 PM.
‘Someone’s climbing the mountain at this hour?’
No matter how relatively safe Korea was from monsters, it was absolutely not safe enough to wander a mountain alone at such a late hour.
Anyone wandering deep into the mountains at this time would have to be━
“A gatherer, perhaps?”
Since the Gate had opened, its power had rippled through Earth’s very ecosystem.
From flora and fauna on a small scale to terrain on a grand one.
Beings imbued with ‘starlight’ had begun appearing sporadically.
Among them, gatherers were those who scoured deep into mountains hunting for medicinal herbs and spiritual creatures infused with starlight.
In the old days, they’d have been like root diggers searching for wild ginseng.
“Yes. The large bundle on his back suggests he’s definitely a gatherer.”
“Haha, poor bastard has terrible luck.”
Yujin clapped his hands and shrugged his shoulders.
“I’ll handle him right now—”
“No, actually this works out well. My mood’s been foul anyway. I’ll deal with him myself.”
Yujin turned away with a bloodthirsty smile.
Seeing blood might actually improve this wretched mood of mine.
“Still, just in case—everyone stay combat-ready.”
“Yes!”
With light footsteps, I emerged from the Observatory.
Brilliant starlight embroidered the night sky.
I stood beneath the cascading radiance of countless stars.
“Hmm?”
As I exited the Observatory, something leaning against the wall caught my eye.
“…A spear?”
A spear propped diagonally beside the entrance.
A high-quality weapon with a faint blue luminescence gleaming along its blade.
‘Where did this come from?’
Did my subordinates bring it?
I hadn’t heard any report about it.
“Hmm.”
After staring at the spear for a moment, I turned my head away.
‘I’ll ask about it later when I return.’
Right now, an unidentified figure was approaching our hideout.
I had no time to be distracted by trivial matters.
Of course, it was likely just a lost gatherer, but there was also the possibility of an intruder targeting our hideout.
—Crunch, crunch.
As I descended the mountain, a young man came into view, walking toward our hideout.
A youth with a cold, merciless expression.
An icy gaze flashed through the darkness.
“Have you lost your way, perhaps?”
Yujin approached him with a smooth smile.
“Haha. It must be quite dangerous to wander alone at this late hour.”
“….”
No response came.
‘What is this?’
Yujin narrowed his eyes, studying the handsome young man before him.
Something.
The atmosphere felt wrong.
A chilling dread crept down my spine.
“…So it’s you.”
Lee Woo-hyuk muttered in a low voice, his gaze fixed on Yujin.
The face matched the one drawn in the montage he’d received from the Association.
‘This bastard is the one who kidnapped my brother.’
I wanted to rush forward and tear him apart right then and there.
‘But I’m not certain yet.’
Unless I could confirm that he had truly kidnapped Lee Shin-hyuk.
I couldn’t attack recklessly.
This could all be someone’s scheme.
‘I’ll wait a little longer.’
Lee Woo-hyuk kept his mouth firmly shut, observing Yujin carefully.
Then.
[Guild Master.]
A clear voice resonated in my mind.
Kim Sun-young.
My aide and the vice guild master of Valhalla Guild.
While I drew the attention of the Black Star Society, she had been stealthily approaching their hideout.
Definitive.
Undeniable.
Crucial evidence.
And.
[I found Shin-hyuk’s spear.]
“….”
The evidence I’d been searching for.
Had surfaced.
—Kuguguguung!!!!
Violent mana erupted from Lee Woo-hyuk’s body.
The Leo stigma engraved on his left chest blazed brilliantly as a fierce gust of wind swept through the area.
“Huh, hup!”
Yujin’s complexion drained of all color.
‘This madman!’
He was no mere gatherer.
The bastard was an intruder who had infiltrated to target the Black Star Society.
‘The Black Lion, Lee Woo-hyuk?’
No wonder his face seemed familiar.
Wasn’t he the Guild Master of Valhalla Guild, even being mentioned as a candidate for the Seven Stars?
‘Why in the world would such a top-tier Awakener…?!’
It was true that I had committed countless atrocities thus far, but I had never laid hands on such an overwhelming force.
I had only ever indulged my desires against the weak—those who couldn’t even reach my feet.
━Some would call me a coward for it.
But wasn’t that simply how the world worked?
The weak existed to be trampled upon.
And I, of all people, understood this truth better than anyone.
‘There’s no reason such a monster would target me!’
Before the strong, I bowed my head all the more thoroughly.
“You wanted this money?”
Thud!
Lee Woo-hyuk hurled the trunk he’d been carrying on his back violently to the ground.
As the lid burst open, banknotes cascaded down like snow.
“All prepared in cash.”
“…?”
Yujin stared at him with an expression of utter bewilderment.
He suddenly appeared and threw a fortune in cash at him?
What in the world was happening?
“If you want it—go ahead and take it.”
But before his confusion could even continue.
-Kwaaaang!!
“Cough!!”
A violent gust of wind swept over Yujin.
“Tch! Damn it!!”
Rough curses spilled from Yujin’s lips as he barely evaded the attack.
He couldn’t comprehend how things were unfolding.
“That bastard! Kill that bastard!!”
To survive against this monster, he needed to summon his subordinates.
Fortunately, the hideout wasn’t far from this location.
His cry would definitely reach them.
‘He’s alone!’
If I threw fifty subordinates at him, I could create at least a small opening.
“Did you think I’d fall so easily into your trap?”
“…What?”
Lee Woo-hyuk bared his teeth ferociously.
Kim Sun-young and his other guild members had already infiltrated close to the hideout.
Before those bastards could use Lee Shin-hyuk as a hostage to threaten him.
‘I strike first.’
—Kuuuuuung!!!
I stomped the ground violently.
Explosive, savage mana swept across the surroundings.
“Everyone━!!!!!”
A lion’s roar echoed through the darkened forest.
“Move in!!!!”
—Crash!! Splinter! Kuuung!!!
Dozens of Awakeners burst from the forest in unison with the roar, charging toward the Observatory.
Each one possessed terrifying physical abilities—elite-tier Awakeners.
“Leave this to us, brother!!”
Kwaaang!!!
A young man wielding an enormous hammer smashed through the Observatory’s sealed doors as he shouted.
“This… this is insane!”
Yujin’s face drained of color.
He couldn’t even handle the Black Lion Lee Woo-hyuk alone, and now there were others too?
“Surprised you’re not alone?”
Lee Woo-hyuk glared at Yujin and continued.
“Where is he.”
“…What?”
Yujin’s brow furrowed.
Where is what?
“My brother━ where is he?”
“…?”
No.
‘Why are you asking me that?’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————