Not A Regressor - Chapter 242
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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 242
Baptism of Stars (4)
‘What in the world is this ridiculous situation?’
Kwon O-jin stared at Polaris hovering before him with an expression of utter disbelief.
A Constellation whose entire body was composed of starlight, making even its facial features impossible to discern properly.
The silver eyes barely visible through the gaps in the starlight were sunken with an unsettling depth.
“W-what did you just say?”
“The Fate-Reversing Star…?”
At Polaris’s bombshell revelation, the other Constellations gasped in shock, their mouths falling open.
[As expected, Polaris’s eyes cannot be deceived.]
There was only one Constellation who showed no surprise.
Only Vega, who had known from the beginning that Kwon O-jin was the Fate-Reversing Star.
“W-what? You knew about this, Vega?!”
[Kwon O-jin is my child. Of course I would know.]
Vega nodded readily at Deneb’s interrogation.
Originally, she had planned to keep Kwon O-jin’s identity as the Fate-Reversing Star hidden until he accumulated sufficient power, but now that Polaris had revealed it, there was no point in concealing it any longer.
[It seems the time has come to reveal this, my child.]
After all, Kwon O-jin had grown enough to become a member of the Seven Stars in merely a year and a half.
The condition of waiting until he accumulated sufficient power had long since been satisfied.
“…Yes. It seems hiding it any further would be difficult.”
As Kwon O-jin agreed with Vega, his thoughts raced at a pace that made the back of his neck burn hot.
‘Polaris mistook me for the Fate-Reversing Star?’
According to what he’d heard from Vega, Polaris possessed the power to glimpse the future.
And yet.
She had mistaken him for the Fate-Reversing Star?
“….”
Kwon O-jin’s expression hardened rigidly.
Perhaps.
It was still merely suspicion, lacking both logic and evidence.
‘What if I really am the Fate-Reversing Star?’
What if it was he, not Lee Shin-hyuk, who could rewrite the pages of an already-determined fate?
‘No, that doesn’t make sense.’
When Vega first explained the existence of the Fate-Reversing Star to him, she had clearly stated that the Fate-Reversing Star was an entity that had “returned against the flow of time.”
If the Fate-Reversing Star didn’t refer to a regressor, then Vega would have had no reason to mistake him for one upon first seeing him.
Then could it truly be that Polaris was mistaken?
The first Constellation, the one called the most brilliantly shining star?
‘What on earth is happening here?’
His mind churned in confusion.
Even as disorganized thoughts tangled together chaotically, Kwon O-jin’s tongue moved smoothly.
To get through this situation, there was only one method available.
“Yes. I am the Fate-Reversing Star.”
As Kwon O-jin nodded calmly, murmurs rippled through the Constellation members.
“The Fate-Reversing Star has appeared….”
“Then, does that mean the world has already been destroyed once?”
Regulus trailed off with a bewildered expression, while Spica’s mouth fell open as she bounced up from her spot.
“Yes, it means all the stars were consumed by Heukcheon’s darkness, just as Polaris prophesied.”
“Huh…. Honestly, it’s hard to believe.”
Aldebaran shook his head at Aries’s words.
“W-wait a moment!”
Deneb stammered as he asked.
His wide eyes trembled faintly.
“Then, you’re saying you’re a regressor?”
As expected.
The Fate-Reversing Star was regarded as a ‘regressor’ among the Constellation members.
“That is correct.”
Kwon O-jin nodded and continued quietly.
“I am a regressor.”
They say one lie begets another.
Like a truck with failed brakes, the situation was spiraling out of control at a dizzying pace.
“That’s a lie! If you’re a regressor, why were you trapped in the Demon Realm last time? Are you saying a regressor didn’t foresee the trap The Snake had set?”
Deneb glared at Kwon O-jin in disbelief.
If he were a regressor—a living witness who had seen the world’s destruction with his own eyes—shouldn’t he have seen through The Snake’s trap beforehand?
At Deneb’s interrogation, Kwon O-jin nodded with an unruffled expression.
“Yes. I had no idea. In the future I experienced, The Snake never set such a trap.”
“How am I supposed to believe that….”
“I am a regressor, not an omniscient god.”
His voice continued softly.
“The future of this world has already changed completely. My memories from my past life are now utterly useless.”
“Then, what was it like in the world you experienced?”
Deneb narrowed his eyes and asked as if pressing the point.
“For one, the Black Star Society’s existence wasn’t revealed to the world like it is now. Its power hadn’t weakened either.”
The murmurs grew louder.
Deneb let out a scoff with his arms crossed, as if exasperated.
“Heh, so you’re saying the Black Star Society being exposed to the world and losing power—that’s all thanks to you?”
“That is correct.”
“Nonsense! No matter that you’re a regressor, how could you possibly accomplish that in just a year and a half….”
Kwon O-jin cut off Deneb’s words and opened his mouth once more.
“I killed the King of the Owl Faction.”
Cheon Do-yoon, the King of the Owl Faction, had met his end by my hand.
“I killed the King of the Toad Faction.”
The king of the seahorse faction, Kurosaki Sosuke, died with his head crushed in my hands.
“I killed the king of the Toad Faction.”
To be precise, it was the Living Armor acting on Cassia’s orders who killed him.
Only Lee Woo-hyuk, Ha-eun, and Isabella knew the truth.
“The, the king of the seahorse faction was killed by a Japanese awakener….”
“No, I killed him. I made it look like Sakaki did it to divert the Black Star Society’s attention.”
“….”
“I killed three of the Black Star Society’s executives. Beyond that, I also brought an executive who was being deceived and manipulated by the Black Star Society over to our side.”
Isabella was speaking.
“If I hadn’t weakened the Black Star Society’s forces, who do you think made them this vulnerable?”
“That’s….”
Deneb trailed off, rendered speechless.
“And if I weren’t a regressor.”
Kwon O-jin stared at Deneb with eyes that had grown distant and hollow.
“Do you think I could be standing here now?”
Merely one and a half years.
In the span of time that was nothing but a blink of an eye to the constellations, I had ascended to the 8-Star rank and been chosen for the Seven Stars, surpassing dozens of high-ranking awakeners.
“That, well, even Rebecca Bell….”
Deneb’s voice grew smaller as he tried to continue his counterargument.
He knew it too.
No matter how remarkable an awakener Rebecca Bell, the Green Star Awakener, was, her achievements were nothing but a firefly before the sun compared to what I had accomplished.
[Enough, Deneb.]
Vega turned to look at Deneb and spoke softly.
[I swear by the name of the stars themselves that this child is a regressor.]
An oath sworn by the name of the stars.
It was a constraint so powerful that even as a constellation of Polaris, breaking it would cause a portion of one’s divinity to vanish.
“Ugh….”
Deneb nodded with a short groan.
“Fine… yes. I’ll believe it. I’ll believe it.”
It seemed he hadn’t completely come to trust Kwon O-jin, but it was undeniable that he could find no further arguments to make.
After all, the fact that Kwon O-jin had eliminated three of the Black Star Society’s seven executives over the past year and a half was an undeniable truth.
“Ah, Allen could have done it too! Allen could have done it!”
In a final desperate attempt, he appealed that what Kwon O-jin had accomplished was something Allen could have done as well.
[Then why didn’t he?]
“…That’s….”
Faced with Vega’s sharp rebuttal, he fell silent once more.
Vega was right.
Even if Allen possessed the strength to defeat the Black Star Society’s executives that I had faced up until now, it was ultimately I who had actually fought them and suppressed the Black Star Society’s forces.
[Are we all finished talking?]
Then. A clear and beautiful voice flowed from Polaris’s lips.
Kwon O-jin’s eyes widened in surprise.
‘The voice changed?’
Not only the voice but the manner of speech had transformed as well.
[Then shall we proceed to the main matter.]
This time, a deep masculine voice.
‘Does this being have multiple personalities?’
Kwon O-jin gazed up at Polaris, enveloped in starlight, his expression bewildered.
Polaris descended slowly toward Kwon O-jin, silver eyes gleaming with ethereal radiance.
[O Fate-Reversing Star.]
A hand gently caressed Kwon O-jin’s cheek.
[Deliver us from the darkness of Heukcheon.]
Polaris clasped their hands together in reverent prayer.
Kwon O-jin nodded quietly.
“That is precisely why I have returned.”
At his unhesitating reply, Polaris slowly lifted their head.
Though the starlight obscured their expression, Kwon O-jin sensed a faint smile gracing their face.
[I am bound by Divine Law and cannot bestow the light to illuminate your path… but it seems Vega is already fulfilling that role admirably.]
As Polaris glanced toward Vega, she nodded with unwavering confidence.
[I shall illuminate my child’s path with brilliant radiance!]
[I place my faith in you.]
Polaris bowed lightly before turning to face Kwon O-jin.
[There is not much time remaining for my manifestation.]
Polaris spread both arms wide.
The Milky Way Spring surged upward, radiating brilliant luminescence.
“Ugh!”
The Milky Way Spring seeped into Kwon O-jin’s body.
This time, rather than being drawn in by Heukcheon, it permeated from the Milky Way Spring into his body like water soaking into paper.
‘I can’t absorb any more…!’
He had already absorbed an astronomical amount of magical power, enough to make him fear his body might rupture.
Any more would be impossible to control, and there was genuine risk of his magical circuits becoming twisted.
The dreaded phenomenon of demonic possession was approaching Kwon O-jin.
[Do not worry. The starlight seeping into your body now does not dwell in your flesh, but in your soul, where it will protect you.]
With a calm, resonant voice, the magical power flowing into Kwon O-jin vanished without a trace.
‘It dwells in the soul, not the body?’
He didn’t fully understand what that meant, but mercifully, the suffocating pressure of his body threatening to burst had ceased.
“…Thank you.”
Kwon O-jin bowed toward Polaris with a bewildered expression.
Polaris nodded lightly and slowly turned toward Vega.
[Vega. Would it be acceptable if I bestowed a name upon this child?]
[A name?]
[When you become one of the Seven Stars, you receive the name of a star.]
[Ah.]
Vega nodded in acknowledgment.
[I had something in mind myself… but I shall yield to you here.]
[Much obliged.]
Polaris’s voice shifted to that of a man.
He extended an arm that shimmered with starlight and placed it above Kwon O-jin’s head.
[Bless the birth of a new star.]
A benediction followed in hushed tones.
[For one bearing the fate to reverse destiny, the star most befitting you is….]
Eyes gleaming with silver light turned toward Kwon O-jin.
[Pojun Star. I bestow upon you the name of Pojun Star.]
Pojun Star.
The final star of the Big Dipper, and the legendary star said to command the celestial armies and vanquish all malevolent forces across the myriad realms.
“…Insane.”
“Pojun Star? That’s the name given to the brightest star among the Seven Stars, isn’t it?”
The Constellations stood frozen in shock, their mouths agape.
Unlike their whispered murmurs, Kwon O-jin’s expression was decidedly subtle.
‘Pojun Star Kwon O-jin, then.’
It was a name that seemed to demand some sort of formal proclamation.
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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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