Not A Regressor - Chapter 241

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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 241
The Baptism of Stars (3)
Polaris, the Constellation of Ursa Minor.
The first and greatest of all Constellations.
The most brilliantly shining star.
“Polaris was… born in this place?”
Kwon O-jin stared at Vega with eyes wide in astonishment.
Vega nodded slightly and continued speaking.
[It is now the Sacred Domain of Polaris.]
“Wait, but didn’t you say Polaris has gone into seclusion?”
[Even so, the remnants of that power still linger.]
So merely the ‘remnants’ of that power were maintaining this place—where three dragon veins intersected and flowed—as her Sacred Domain.
[Heheheh. Are you nervous?]
“Well, it’d be a lie to say I’m not.”
Kwon O-jin swallowed hard and took a step toward the Dimensional Rift.
‘I need to see it for myself first.’
If I could directly witness what the Milky Way Spring was truly like, perhaps some of my questions would be answered.
And so, one step forward.
Kwon O-jin stepped into the Dimensional Rift, where brilliant light sparkled as if the Milky Way itself had unfurled.
“Ugh!”
A throbbing headache.
My heart pounded wildly, as if I had just sprinted several hundred meters at full speed.
‘What… is this?’
I pressed my hand to my chest, squinting as my heart raced uncontrollably.
It felt like a wild beast trapped in a cage, thrashing about violently.
When I lifted my head, suppressing the searing pain in my chest—
“Ah.”
The Milky Way flowed before my eyes.
A place where star crossed star.
A river of stars, brilliantly radiant, illuminating the boundless darkness of the cosmos like an abyss.
[Is it not beautiful?]
At Vega’s words, I found myself nodding without thinking.
The searing pain in my chest had vanished in an instant—the Milky Way Spring was simply too beautiful.
‘The spring is… roughly a hundred meters across, I’d say.’
Too large to be called a spring, yet too small to be called a lake.
But here and now, the size of this spring mattered little.
“…Insane.”
I swallowed hard, sensing the vast, sacred magical power emanating from the spring.
I had been completely mistaken.
‘I thought that with three dragon veins intersecting, the magical power would flow at roughly three times that of the Dungeon I visited before.’
It wasn’t.
The very nature of the dragon vein flowing through this place was on an entirely different scale from anything I had encountered before.
If the dragon vein I had absorbed last time was like a stream flowing through a small rural village, then this was like a great river that pierced continents and built civilizations.
And not just one, but three such dragon veins intersected and flowed through this place.
‘I can’t absorb this.’
I bit my lip with tense eyes.
Absorbing all of that was utterly absurd.
The moment I activated Heukcheon, my body would swell like a balloon inflated beyond its limits and burst.
[Hmm? Is something the matter?]
Vega tilted her head, observing me standing there blankly.
Snapping back to attention, I composed my expression as though nothing was amiss.
“Oh, it’s just so beautiful that I got lost in admiration for a moment.”
[Hehe. It truly is a beautiful place.]
Vega gazed at the Milky Way Spring with a faint smile.
“We can admire it later—let’s hurry and prepare for the ceremony.”
[There’s no need to rush so.]
“Hmph! Unlike someone, I’m actually busy, you know?”
Deneb grumbled as he approached me.
“Now then, first things first—take off your clothes.”
“…Pardon?”
Suddenly, out of nowhere, he was telling me to undress?
“You’re going to submerge your body in the spring, aren’t you? Wearing clothes will interfere with the mana absorption.”
“…”
But no matter what, asking me to suddenly strip right here in front of all these Constellations gathered together?
I looked around in bewilderment.
[Fear not, my child.]
Vega approached me and spread both her arms wide.
A silver curtain of light encircled her and me.
[There! Now no one can see your precious form!]
Hmph!
Vega declared proudly, puffing out her chest.
‘But Vega, you’re looking right at me.’
I stared at her with an exasperated expression.
Whether or not Vega understood my feelings, her eyes sparkled as she approached me with quick, mincing steps.
[I shall help you remove your garments.]
“No, I’m not a child or anything.”
[Hush now, stay still.]
Vega adopted a stern expression and began removing my clothes.
Though her face remained solemn, her hands trembled with undisguised excitement as she undressed me.
In moments, both my upper and lower garments had been stripped away.
Vega swallowed hard, her hand reaching toward Kwon O-jin’s undergarments.
“Wait, hold on!”
[To enter the Milky Way Spring, one must not wear a single thread!]
Vega’s eyes burned with intensity as she reached for the last scrap of cloth covering Kwon O-jin’s body.
“Huh? Elder Sister, undergarments should be fine… Kyaaah!”
A crackling sound erupted.
The noise of electricity sparking and Spica’s scream filled the air.
“Vega, you just….”
[It seems Spica was momentarily confused.]
Vega cast aside all pretense, casually stripping away the final bastion of modesty—his undergarments.
[Come now, nestle into my embrace! I shall safely carry you to the Milky Way Spring!]
“Ugh!”
Vega, her expression flushed with excitement, suddenly pulled Kwon O-jin into her arms and lifted him.
Completely bare, I found myself pressed against the immense strength of her embrace, powerless to resist.
Even as I could barely move a finger, I felt an incredibly soft sensation against my skin.
[Ah, what a fine specimen you are.]
Vega, cradling me in her arms, felt her cheeks flush slightly.
“…How did Vega end up like this?”
Deneb, observing the scene, let out a bewildered laugh.
The other Constellations shook their heads in disbelief.
“Then let us begin.”
Deneb, pressing his forehead as if it ached, moved toward the outer edge of the Milky Way Spring.
At a measured distance, six Constellations encircled the Milky Way Spring.
[We shall commence the baptism.]
Vega, who moments before had been holding Kwon O-jin with a smile playing at her lips, now opened her mouth with solemn dignity.
Silver radiance flowed from her body and seeped into the Milky Way Spring.
The five other Constellations did likewise.
With eyes gently closed, they channeled the power of their marks into the Milky Way Spring.
[Six stars now stand before the Milky Way Spring.]
A final incantation flowed from Vega’s lips.
[Come forth, seventh star.]
As her clear voice resonated through the space.
I submerged myself in the Milky Way Spring, my eyes gently closed.
The endless power of stars flowed through my skin.
Confronted with a quantity of power that far exceeded my imagination, I bit my lips gently.
‘I never intended to absorb all the spring’s power from the start.’
After all, with the Constellations standing mere tens of meters away, I could not possibly absorb all of the spring’s power without detection.
From the moment I first heard of the Milky Way Spring, my plan had been to absorb only a portion—enough that it would go unnoticed.
‘But even that seems difficult.’
The concentration of power gathered here was almost beyond comprehension.
If I mishandled Heukcheon, mana would surge in like a collapsing dam.
‘This is beyond my control.’
A deep sigh escaped from Kwon O-jin’s lips.
The mana filling the Milky Way Spring was certainly tempting.
‘I should give up.’
Greed here could cost me everything in a single moment.
‘Besides, I can absorb a decent amount of mana without necessarily using Heukcheon.’
Kwon O-jin slowly opened his closed eyes.
The spring water, shimmering with a faint blue light, came into view.
‘The intensity of the light is about… that of a torch.’
There was a hint of disappointment, but considering that Allen Oskal, also an Apostle of Polaris, had mentioned this same level of brightness, there was no reason to be let down.
As I was consoling myself to be satisfied with this much.
Kurrrrrk.
A familiar sound echoed through my mind.
It was the sound that came when Heukcheon’s dark clouds moved.
“…!”
Kwon O-jin’s eyes snapped wide open as a silent scream tore from his throat.
Without time to control it, Heukcheon, which had been curled up within my heart, dissolved into the Milky Way Spring and began absorbing mana.
“Ugh!”
A groan escaped as mana surged in like a tidal wave.
‘What? What’s happening?’
Heukcheon began devouring the Milky Way Spring like a starving beast.
-Ding!
[You have absorbed an unimaginably vast amount of mana!]
[All conditions for the eighth blooming of ‘Heukcheon’ have been met!]
[The eighth blooming of ‘Heukcheon’ is beginning!]
Blue messages materialized before my eyes.
Kwon O-jin desperately clung to the thread of consciousness as it threatened to be swept away by the tidal wave of mana.
A clear chiming sound rang in my ears as the message window continued.
[Heukcheon has reached the ‘Octuple Star Transformation’!]
[Transmission is postponed to control the absorbed mana.]
“Hah, hah!”
With the message that Heukcheon had reached the Octuple Star Transformation, the mana surging in like a tidal wave ceased.
Cold sweat trickled down Kwon O-jin’s forehead.
He lifted his head with eyes full of tension.
[What, what on earth.]
“This… this can’t be real….”
There, the Constellations stared at me with expressions of shock and astonishment.
‘I’m screwed.’
Had my use of Heukcheon been exposed?
I checked the magical energy emanating from the Milky Way Spring.
‘The spring’s magical energy has barely diminished.’
Given the enormous concentration of magical energy gathered here, even after Heukcheon had consumed a substantial amount, there was no visible change.
‘The dark veil should have prevented Heukcheon’s aura from leaking outward.’
Then why.
Why were the Constellations staring at me with such expressions of shock?
“L, light….”
“I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
Light?
I tilted my head in confusion and looked down.
“Ah.”
There, the spring shone brilliantly like the sun itself.
A soft exclamation escaped my lips.
‘They said the intensity of the light varies depending on the amount of magical energy absorbed.’
Unlike other awakened ones who received magical energy flowing in indirectly, I had directly absorbed the spring’s magical energy through Heukcheon, which was why it was now radiating light with such absurd intensity.
“Phew.”
I exhaled in relief at the thought that at least Heukcheon hadn’t been affected.
Uuuuuuuung!
The entire Milky Way Spring began to glow and undulate like waves.
[This is….]
“W, wait?”
The Constellations turned their heads with eyes wide in astonishment.
There, the spring water gathered into a sphere was slowly rising into the air.
‘What is this now?’
Bewildered by the successive phenomena unfolding before me, I stared at the spring water rising like an egg, gathered in a perfect sphere.
The water split in half, and from within, a being emerged.
An existence covered in brilliant starlight as if its body were made of the Milky Way itself.
The starlight enveloping its form was so intense that it was impossible to discern whether it was male or female.
[Polaris…?]
Vega opened her mouth in bewilderment.
‘Polaris? That’s Polaris?’
I stared at the being made of starlight with wide eyes.
The being of starlight slowly flew toward me.
[So it was you.]
A voice that resonated directly in my mind, just like Vega’s.
It was a neutral voice, impossible to determine as male or female.
[For ages… I have been waiting for you.]
Waiting for me?
I looked up at Polaris with a bewildered expression.
[The one destined to reverse fate, the star that defies providence and causality.]
Wait.
This situation feels oddly familiar.
[So you were the Fate-Reversing Star all along.]
“…Huh?”
That’s not it, though?

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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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