Not A Regressor - Chapter 248

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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 248
Celebration Party (4)
“Wow! Of course! So Kwon O-jin was the one who confessed first!”
Melissa’s eyes sparkled brilliantly as she clasped her hands together in a prayer-like gesture.
Her gaze brimmed with admiration and longing directed at Isabella.
The lecture Isabella had given inside the limousine flashed through my mind.
‘This is what taking the initiative in love means!’
Melissa winked playfully at Isabella and quietly gave a thumbs up.
A signal showing she remembered Isabella’s advice perfectly.
“Y-yes. Kwon O-jin was the one who… c-confessed first.”
Faced with Melissa’s gaze overflowing with admiration and reverence, Isabella averted her eyes with a pallid, exhausted expression.
“Now then, I should get back to cooking…”
Isabella tried to change the subject hastily and rise to her feet.
“Where was it?”
“Pardon?”
“Where did you receive the confession?”
There was no stopping the curiosity of a girl just beginning to understand love.
“Well… um, that is…”
Isabella glanced toward Kwon O-jin and Ha-eun.
Both seemed to have caught on to the situation—Kwon O-jin was letting out a soft chuckle, while Ha-eun was trembling with her mouth clamped shut as if about to burst.
“…”
Isabella bit her lip firmly and gripped the hem of her skirt.
“It was… at the beach.”
“Ah! San Fruttuoso! So that’s when it was!”
“Y-yes.”
Melissa squeezed her eyes shut and twisted her body, letting out a shriek of delight.
“A confession at the beach as the sun sets! How romantic!”
No one had mentioned anything about a sunset, but the girl’s imagination was already running wild beyond her control.
“Melissa, please calm down a bit…”
“The words! What were the most important confession words? What words of love did Kwon O-jin whisper to Isabella?”
“W-words of love?”
Isabella’s legs trembled slightly.
She opened her mouth with a voice that seemed to squeeze out her overwhelming shame.
“He said… he would become my hope.”
The words he had whispered while holding her close.
Of course, they were far from the romantic declarations Melissa had in mind.
Yet those words stirred her heart far more profoundly than any conventional words of love ever could.
“Hope? Not love?”
“…Yes.”
“Hmm…”
Melissa narrowed her eyes as if something didn’t quite match her expectations.
“Paragon!”
Melissa’s gaze turned toward Kwon O-jin.
She exhaled an excited breath through her nose and clenched both fists tightly.
“When did you fall for Isabella?”
“Well… I mean…”
“Oh, Kwon O-jin!”
Isabella turned toward Kwon O-jin and pressed her palms together in prayer.
A gesture filled with desperate hope that he would corroborate her story.
Kwon O-jin scratched his head and opened his mouth.
“From the moment I first saw you, I suppose.”
“Ah! Just as I thought! It was love at first sight!”
Melissa caressed her flushed cheeks and shook her head with delighted squeals.
“Melissa. Let’s head back now.”
“Oh! B-Butler, I still have more questions to ask…!”
Roberto sighed and dragged Melissa away.
The moment Melissa, who had been running wild like an eight-ton truck with broken steering, was dragged out of the house.
“Kyahahahahaha!!!”
Ha-eun burst into laughter she’d been holding back and rolled across the floor.
“What, what, what~? Our young lady was spreading lies outside that she’s dating Kwon O-jin?”
“S-Stop it, Elder Sister!”
“Kyahaha! This is killing me, seriously!”
“Elder Sister!”
Isabella’s face flushed crimson as she turned to look at Kwon O-jin.
“Kwon O-jin! Please stop her…!”
“Meeting Isabella after so long brings back memories of that day on the sunset beach.”
“…Pardon?”
Kwon O-jin gazed out the window with melancholic eyes and continued.
“Back then, I gathered my courage and confessed to you.”
“Gasp.”
“Isabella… I promised to become your hope.”
“Oh, Kwon O-jin too!”
Isabella stumbled backward with a pale, sickly expression.
Kwon O-jin burst into chuckles as he watched Isabella, her face now flushed crimson.
Seeing the usually noble and elegant Isabella, who carried herself like an aristocratic lady, fall apart like this made laughter flow naturally from him.
“What’s wrong? Aren’t we lovers?”
“Ugh, ugh, ugghhh!”
Isabella stomped her feet and her eyes glistened as if tears might spill at any moment.
“I don’t know! You’re both too much!”
Isabella suddenly hurled her teacup.
Kwon O-jin deftly caught the empty teacup and glanced at his watch.
“By the way, is it okay to just sit around like this?”
“Pardon?”
“We only have two hours left before the guests arrive.”
“Oh!”
Isabella’s eyes widened in realization.
Lost in conversation, time had slipped away without my notice.
“I-I’ll start cooking right away!”
Isabella bolted toward the kitchen.
* * *
“Congratulations on being selected for Seven Stars, Kwon O-jin.”
Han Manager was the first to arrive.
“I’m here too, hyung!”
Behind him, a boy in an ill-fitting white research coat raised his hand enthusiastically.
Kim Si-hu, the director of the Holy Relic Research Institute under the Awakened Users Association.
Despite his young age, he had earned his position through his prodigious talent in crafting holy relics.
“It’s been a while.”
Before obtaining the Living Armor’s spear, I used to visit regularly for weapon inspections, but I hadn’t seen him much recently.
“Hyung! I heard rumors that you obtained a new holy relic.”
“This one?”
I drew the folding knife from my waist and channeled mana into it.
Whoosh, click!
In the blink of an eye, the knife transformed into the shape of a spear.
“Whoa! So that’s the legendary Ego Weapon!”
Kim Si-hu reached out toward the spear with an excited expression.
Crack!
Blue sparks erupted from the spear.
“Only the owner can touch it.”
“I see. That makes sense.”
Kim Si-hu pulled a magnifying glass from his research coat pocket.
“Hyung, can you put this on the ground for a moment?”
“Sure.”
I lowered the Living Armor’s spear to the floor.
As Kim Si-hu brought the magnifying glass close, a bluish light unraveled like thread and wrapped around the spear.
“Hmm. Dantalian, then….”
“Dantalian?”
“It’s the name of this spear. It’s inscribed on the shaft with a spell formula.”
“What?”
I tilted my head and looked toward the shaft of the spear.
There was only a smooth, jet-black surface as if darkness had been compressed, with no visible spell formula.
“Ah, to be precise, it’s the incantations carved into the spear’s interior. You can only see it using this.”
Kim Si-hu lifted up a holy relic that resembled a magnifying glass.
‘Dantalian, then.’
I gazed at the pitch-black spear with keen interest.
I knew what an Ego Weapon was, but since I rarely experienced the actual consciousness of a weapon dwelling within it, I hadn’t thought to consider that it might have a name.
“Dantalian.”
I gripped the spear and called out its name.
Vwoooooom!
The pitch-black spear trembled and unleashed an intense surge of power.
“Huh? The output seems better than usual?”
I widened my eyes in surprise as I channeled a small amount of mana into Dantalian.
All I had done was call out the spear’s name, yet the mana emanating from it had grown noticeably denser than before.
“It’s because of the name.”
“Because of the name?”
“Ego Weapons grow stronger as the consciousness dwelling within them grows stronger. Their performance improves accordingly.”
Kim Si-hu examined the pitch-black spear once more carefully using the magnifying glass-like holy relic.
“Brother, would you find time to visit the research institute sometime? With the institute’s equipment, we should be able to understand the incantations carved inside in much greater detail.”
“Understood.”
An unexpected windfall brought a smile to my face.
Kim Si-hu flashed a playful grin and jabbed my ribs repeatedly.
“How’s that? This is the best congratulatory gift, right?”
“Eat whatever you want today.”
I chuckled and patted his shoulder.
“Ugh. This suddenly makes my gift feel a bit embarrassing.”
Han Manager looked uncomfortable as he gazed down at the fruit basket he had brought.
“Embarrassing? I’ll enjoy it gratefully, Manager.”
“Haha. I bought this with my own money, not company funds.”
As I accepted the large fruit basket from Han Manager.
“It’s been a while, Kwon O-jin. Since the Living Armor incident, I’ve been focused on training and haven’t been able to contact you properly.”
Lee Woo-hyuk arrived following Han Manager.
His presence had transformed dramatically in the time we hadn’t seen each other.
‘I think he said he advanced to 9-Star.’
The intense aura he radiated was distinctly different from when he had been 8-Star—it was unmistakable.
“Your training seems to have borne excellent fruit.”
“Haha. Not nearly as much as you, Kwon O-jin.”
Lee Woo-hyuk couldn’t hide his inner astonishment either.
He had always known I wasn’t selected for Seven Stars without reason, but he never imagined it would be to this degree.
‘He’s really 8-Star… right?’
Lee Woo-hyuk shook his head in disbelief.
“Here’s a congratulatory gift.”
Kim Sun-young, the vice-guild master of Valhalla Guild who had come with Lee Woo-hyuk, held out a bottle of champagne labeled Dom Pérignon.
Kwon O-jin’s eyes wavered slightly as he looked at Kim Sun-young.
-What are you hesitating for! He’s your brother… your only family!
The image of her glaring at Lee Shin-hyuk with sharp eyes, crying out that she had to save Lee Woo-hyuk immediately.
“….”
An inexplicable irritation welled up inside me.
“Kwon O-jin?”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
I accepted the champagne and turned away.
I moved my feet while cooling my heated head.
‘Get a grip.’
It was already in the past.
[My child! Congratulations!]
“Krrr. Hmph, not bad for a young pup.”
After that, Vega and Riak also attended the party,
“Hey, old man! How have you been?”
Rebecca also approached me with a bright smile.
“Well then! To celebrate Kwon O-jin of the Demon Slayer rank… pfft! Ah, this title is so awkward.”
Everyone gathered in one place.
Ha-eun raised her glass and burst into giggles.
“Why not use the Death God title?”
“Stop being noisy and finish what you were saying.”
Just like a couple—it was strange how similar our thoughts seemed to be.
“Ahem! Anyway! Let’s celebrate our O-jin becoming one of the Seven Stars! Cheers!”
With a clear clink, the party began in a lively atmosphere.
[Delicious! Truly incomparable to what Ha-eun makes!]
“Hm?”
“Did you make all of this by yourself?”
Those who ate Isabella’s cooking widened their eyes and showered her with praise.
As everyone ate and drank merrily and the party atmosphere heated up.
‘Hm?’
Suddenly.
I felt a strange sensation against my leg.
Looking down, I saw a slender, pale leg gently tickling my leg.
I quickly looked up across the table and saw Isabella pretending to be innocent.
“What are you doing….”
“Is there anything else you need, Kwon O-jin?”
Isabella, with a mischievous smile on her lips, skillfully moved her foot to gently stimulate mine.
A gesture as if lovers were secretly sharing affection.
I could easily discern why Isabella had suddenly started acting this way.
‘Is that what this is about?!’
Being thoroughly humiliated in front of Melissa had flipped some switch inside her.
Isabella, seated across from me, extended her long, slender legs and wrapped them around mine.
“Now, wait….”
What in the world was she doing in a place with so many people around?
I tried to pull my foot away, my expression flustered.
“Please stay still.”
My body froze in place.
Isabella moved her legs slowly up and down, tickling my shin.
No—calling it a tickle was far too mild a description for the intensely stimulating sensation that accompanied her movements.
“You certainly had your fun teasing me earlier, didn’t you?”
As if to show she wouldn’t forgive me, Isabella intensified the movement of her legs.
I gritted my teeth, silently screaming as the pleasure washed over me.
‘But Elder Sister was involved too—why am I the only one being punished!’
I glanced toward Ha-eun, hoping for help, but she was too busy gulping down the champagne Lee Woo-hyuk had brought and chatting with the others to pay any attention to my plight.
“Nngh.”
I bit my lip, trying desperately to distract myself.
As if mocking my efforts, Isabella’s legs gradually extended further, creeping toward my thigh.
‘No, this can’t happen!’
Nearly everyone I could call an acquaintance was gathered in this room.
The fallout if this embarrassing scene were discovered would be catastrophic.
‘A sound might escape me!’
I squeezed my eyes shut, enduring the mounting pleasure.

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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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