Not A Regressor - Chapter 249

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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 249
Cheon Joo-ryong (1)
Three hours had passed since Kwon O-jin’s celebration party began.
The fervent energy of the gathering had cooled somewhat, and as the song from the TV playing in the living room—once filled with boisterous noise—echoed through the space.
People who sensed it was time to leave began rising from their seats one by one.
“Haha. The party was truly enjoyable! I’ll be in touch next time!”
“Take care~ Gorilla Manager!”
“G-Gorilla?!”
Han Manager’s face fell.
“You take care too! If you ever need equipment later, stop by the lab!”
“Oh, you’re offering to set it up for free?”
“If it’s fun?”
“Just kidding. Next time I’ll bring a ton of high-grade essence stones—I’ll ask you then.”
Ha-eun grinned and patted Kim Si-hu’s shoulder playfully.
“Well then, we’ll be heading out first.”
“Okay~ Get home safely!”
Han Manager left, taking Kim Si-hu with him.
“But why is that guy like that? Did he drink too much?”
Rebecca, a woman with deep green hair, asked while downing the remaining alcohol, her gaze fixed on Kwon O-jin slumped over the dining table, breathing heavily.
His shoulders heaved with labored breaths as he lay sprawled across the table.
“Huh? I didn’t see him drink much earlier?”
Ha-eun tilted her head in confusion and tapped Kwon O-jin’s shoulder.
“O-jin, what’s wrong?”
“…It’s nothing.”
Lifting his head, Kwon O-jin shot a sharp glare at Isabella sitting across from him.
Isabella rose from her seat with a satisfied expression, as if she’d just enjoyed a hearty, nourishing meal.
“Well then, I’ll start cleaning up~”
Isabella hummed cheerfully as she cleared the dishes.
Ha-eun tilted her head, sensing the strange tension flowing between the two.
“Hmm.”
Rebecca, who had been quietly observing, let out a soft chuckle.
“So there’s more than one rival?”
Rebecca stood from her chair and leaned slightly toward Kwon O-jin.
With a playful smile, Rebecca whispered softly into his ear.
“But… isn’t that a bit too bold, even so, in front of everyone?”
“…!”
Flinch.
Kwon O-jin’s eyes widened in shock.
As he turned to Rebecca with an expression of alarm, she burst into delighted laughter, clutching her stomach.
“What? What is it? Why are you suddenly laughing?”
Ha-eun simply tilted her head in confusion, unable to comprehend.
“Ahahaha! It’s nothing.”
Rebecca, who had laughed her fill, rose from her seat.
“Well then, I’ll be heading out too~ Will you invite me again next time, Mr. Barbatos?”
Rebecca walked toward the foyer with a playful wink.
“…Sigh.”
Kwon O-jin pressed his forehead as if his head ached.
[Is everyone heading home now?]
Vega, her belly distended from overeating, fluttered up toward Kwon O-jin with a soft whirring sound.
[Huh?]
Perhaps because she had eaten far too much.
Vega lost her balance mid-flight and tumbled downward.
Riak rushed forward and caught the falling Vega on his back.
“Are you alright, Miss Vega?”
[Cough, cough! I-I merely lost my balance from the alcohol!]
“Come on, it’s obvious you just ate too much. Why blame the drinks?”
[How noisy!]
“Ow!”
Vega’s face flushed red as she flew toward Ha-eun and tugged at her earlobe.
Just as the living room was about to descend into chaos again.
“Kwon O-jin.”
Lee Woo-hyuk, who had remained behind, approached Kwon O-jin.
“Are you heading out soon as well?”
“Yes. But before I go, there’s something I wanted to ask you. Or rather… Ha-eun.”
“Yes?”
“Huh? Me?”
Ha-eun, who had been bickering with Vega, widened her eyes in surprise.
Lee Woo-hyuk glanced toward Ha-eun with an awkward expression.
“Well… it’s not really something I should bring up at a party, but I’ve been assigned a business trip overseas starting tomorrow.”
Lee Woo-hyuk, who had been beating around the bush, finally opened his mouth after a deep sigh.
“Have you perhaps heard any recent news about Named Monsters becoming active again?”
“Ah, yes. I have heard something about that.”
Though I wasn’t sure what connection existed between the two.
I had heard that as the Black Star Society began its full-scale operations, the Named Monsters that had been dormant for some time had recently started moving again.
“Not as much as other countries, but… South Korea has also experienced great calamities caused by Named Monsters in the past.”
“….”
This was something I already knew well.
No.
It was something I could not help but know.
The name of the Named Monster that had caused that calamity was.
“Cheon Joo-ryong. Barbatos.”
A chilling glint of murderous intent flashed across Kwon O-jin’s eyes.
Lee Woo-hyuk nodded gravely.
“Yes. We’ve recently detected signs that Cheon Joo-ryong has resumed activity in North Korea.”
Six years ago, when Ha-eun had just become a fourth-year awakener.
A named monster that had laid waste to North Korea and established itself there had once led a horde of beasts southward.
A massive war erupted in the heart of Seoul, and thousands were slaughtered.
In the face of this unprecedented catastrophe, guilds that had been at odds over territorial rights joined forces, and awakeners who had quietly traversed Gates alone gathered in one place.
And there.
“Cheon Joo-ryong… has appeared again?”
Ha-eun was there too.
Back when the level and number of awakeners were significantly lower than they were now.
Ha-eun, who possessed upper-tier strength among the awakeners, was assigned to a squad that would face Cheon Joo-ryong directly.
At the cost of dozens of awakeners’ lives, they managed to drive Cheon Joo-ryong back, but ultimately failed to kill him.
And.
Before retreating, Cheon Joo-ryong cast one final curse upon her.
A cruel dragon’s curse that stole light itself.
“Yes. While he hasn’t shown any active movements yet, his reappearance is certain.”
Lee Woo-hyuk pulled a photograph from his pocket.
The image clearly captured a purple dragon walking through the ruins of Pyongyang, devastated by the monster invasion.
“….”
Ha-eun’s expression hardened rigidly upon seeing the photograph.
A dragon with purple scales symbolizing curse and poison.
The image of Cheon Joo-ryong remained vivid in her memory.
“…Huh?”
But there was one different detail.
“What are these black horns?”
Two horns protruding from Cheon Joo-ryong’s head.
Such horns existed nowhere in her memories of him.
“We’re uncertain about that either. However, aside from the horns, he appears identical to the Cheon Joo-ryong of the past.”
“…I see.”
Ha-eun nodded with a heavy expression.
Lee Woo-hyuk continued carefully.
“From what I understand, you participated in the operation to subjugate Cheon Joo-ryong back then… is that correct?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Would you be able to share what you know about Cheon Joo-ryong?”
If they wanted information about Cheon Joo-ryong, no one was better suited than Ha-eun, who had fought him directly back then.
“You’re planning to subjugate Cheon Joo-ryong?”
“Yes. That’s correct. Since we don’t know when he might lead another beast horde southward.”
If they had to subjugate Cheon Joo-ryong, the wisest course would be to strike at his lair directly before he could properly rebuild his forces now that he’d just resumed activity.
“….”
Ha-eun scrunched her eyes shut as though recalling a nightmare she’d rather forget.
“First off, curse attacks are incredibly tricky. True to his name, he uses a diverse array of curses.”
From basic weakening curses to those inducing headaches and nausea, slowness hexes, and curses that inflicted excruciating agony.
Cheon Joo-ryong wielded an incalculable number of curses befitting his name.
“When his scales were glowing, that’s when he was casting curses. The intensity of the curse varies depending on how many scales light up.”
“I see.”
“One moment, Ha-eun.”
Kim Sun-young swiftly pulled out her smartphone to record her words.
“Yes. Please continue.”
“For his size, he’s surprisingly weak in close combat. His movements are sluggish too.”
“What about his flying ability?”
“He can’t fly. He has wings, but I’ve never once seen him actually use them.”
Ha-eun retraced the horrific memories from that time, sharing every scrap of information she could recall.
“Then perhaps… do you know where his nest is located?”
“His nest? I’m not sure where it is.”
“I see. If you don’t know, perhaps somewhere you could guess….”
“Well, even if I had to guess, I’m not really sure.”
Ha-eun scratched her head with an awkward expression.
A deep sigh escaped Lee Woo-hyuk’s lips.
“So you don’t know the nest’s location either, Ha-eun.”
To subjugate Cheon Joo-ryong, they would need to raid his nest directly before he could gather his forces.
But there was no way to discover the crucial location of his nest.
“If only we could find the nest’s location….”
The moment Lee Woo-hyuk trailed off bitterly.
-If only we could find the nest’s location….
A flash.
Kwon O-jin’s vision suddenly twisted, and he heard Lee Woo-hyuk’s voice murmuring the exact same words echoing through his mind.
‘This is it.’
Kwon O-jin’s eyes gleamed sharply.
The sensation from when Heukcheon’s new trait—déjà vu—had activated not long ago.
-Shin-hyuk! There, there! That’s the bastard’s nest!
Along with Lee Shin-hyuk’s frantic voice, the location of Cheon Joo-ryong’s nest flowed into his mind.
“Phew. I’m sorry for bringing up such unpleasant memories on such a good day.”
“No. You’re going on a business trip tomorrow?”
“Yes. Named Monsters have resumed activity overseas as well, so I’m going to check if there’s any useful information to reference.”
“That’s tough.”
“Haha. Someone has to do it anyway.”
Lee Woo-hyuk gathered his coat and stood up.
“Well then, we should be heading out. Thank you for the meal.”
“Yes. Please go ahead.”
Kwon O-jin saw Lee Woo-hyuk off without a word.
Click.
As the door closed, the boisterous party came to a complete end.
“Well then, shall we start cleaning up?”
[I shall lend my assistance as well!]
Ha-eun and Vega began tidying the disheveled living room.
“….”
Kwon O-jin closed his eyes and recalled memories from long ago.
A hospital room saturated with the scent of medicine.
Ha-eun trembling in the unfamiliar darkness, lying in the hospital bed.
The existence that had stolen her light.
In his slowly opening eyes, a blue flame burned softly.
“Everyone has something to say.”
“Huh?”
[What do you mean?]
The gazes of Ha-eun, Isabella, and Vega turned toward Kwon O-jin.
“You heard what I said about Cheon Joo-ryong just now, right?”
“Oh, yeah.”
It was regrettable for Valhalla Guild, but.
“Let’s catch that bastard ourselves.”
If this was something that had to be done by someone.
Then it should be him, not Lee Woo-hyuk.

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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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