Not A Regressor - Chapter 26

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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 26
A Night Without a Perpetrator (3)
“Ah… ugh, ah.”
Breath came in ragged, fractured gasps.
No longer possessing the strength to scream, only faint whimpers escaped his lips.
“Is that all you know?”
“….”
No answer came in return.
I looked down at Yujin, now a broken wreck sprawled before me, and clicked my tongue in displeasure.
‘In this state, even if he knew more, he couldn’t speak.’
Unlike my subordinate, who had opened his mouth helplessly, Yujin had remained silent until he was literally beaten to a pulp.
‘Or rather, to be precise.’
He couldn’t open his mouth.
“Some kind of seal must be in place.”
Whenever I asked about critical information regarding the Black Star Society, his body convulsed as if seized by a fit, foaming at the mouth.
In this condition, no amount of interrogation would yield the core intelligence I sought.
‘What I managed to extract.’
That Yujin held the rank of junior administrator, and that he served an entity called the ‘Executor.’
And finally.
‘Ashad Khan’s contact information.’
I obtained the contact details of a fellow administrator who had become an apostle of the Black Star on the same day as him.
“This won’t be useful right now.”
I pocketed the paper bearing Ashad Khan’s contact information.
Unless someone like Yujin came hunting for me, there was no reason to entangle myself with the Black Star Society prematurely.
“…Wait, hold on.”
My eyes gleamed as my thoughts continued.
These lunatics spouting nonsense about how the constellations of the Black Star would come to dominate the world.
A secret organization operating in the shadows, quietly expanding its power.
“This… this could work.”
My lips curled into a bright smile.
‘I could use this.’
That’s right.
Would it be strange if the ‘Heavenly Demon’ who would destroy the world in the future emerged from such a suspicious organization?
“Kehehehe!!”
I laughed, my shoulders trembling with amusement.
To ensure my identity as the master of the Black Heaven remained hidden.
All I needed to do was create a separate master of the Black Heaven and kill him.
“Looks like I have a reason to get involved with these Black Star bastards after all.”
An organization so vile and wicked that it would birth the Heavenly Demon itself.
As a ‘Regressor,’ I could hardly leave them unchecked.
To prevent the world’s end, I had to eliminate them no matter what.
“Well, that’s impossible in my current state.”
I let out a bitter laugh.
I couldn’t dismantle the Black Star Society right now.
Even with Yujin, if I hadn’t used Lee Woo-hyuk, I wouldn’t have been able to face him alone.
“…I thought their forces would be substantial.”
This far exceeded my expectations.
‘Yujin alone wasn’t weak at all.’
It only appeared one-sided because his opponent was Lee Woo-hyuk, but he was a skilled fighter that ordinary Awakened Users wouldn’t dare challenge.
But then.
‘If a lower-rank administrator like Yujin is at that level.’
I couldn’t begin to imagine how monstrous the mid-rank and upper-rank administrators, and the Executors above them, must be.
‘Perhaps.’
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
It was difficult to measure their exact military strength without having seen them firsthand.
‘The Executors… might be on par with the Seven Stars.’
If that were true, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the Black Star Society possessed enough power to overturn the world itself.
It meant that Awakened Users equivalent to the seven strongest in the world were gathered in a single organization.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue and looked down at Yujin, whose breathing was slowly ceasing.
I wanted to extract more information, but the seal made it seem impossible to obtain anything further.
“Can’t be helped.”
Let me wrap this up here.
Clang.
I picked up the spear I’d set on the ground.
Three days ago, I’d bought this cheap spear from a weapon shop near the Association for a bargain price.
‘I’ll need to upgrade my equipment once this job is done.’
Crack!
“Cough… Ugh.”
As I pierced his throat precisely, Yujin convulsed, spitting blood.
Bzzzzt!!
I even used electricity to make sure I cut off his life completely.
“Let’s see.”
Now then, shall I start human farming?
-Rustle, rustle.
I searched Yujin’s belongings and found something worth money.
“Oh, oh!!!”
An exclamation burst from my lips.
Two high-grade constellation stones that I’d received in exchange for a constellation relic were inside a black pouch.
“Jackpot!!!”
I yanked at my hair and launched myself ten meters into the air with a standing jump.
‘Back then, one of those was worth 500 million won.’
1 billion won.
I’d just obtained a staggering 1 billion won in a single haul.
“Hehehehe! There’s nothing quite like farming humans for profit.”
I stuffed two constellation stones emanating a soft blue glow into my sling bag.
Wondering if there was anything else to gain, I even stripped off his underwear and searched thoroughly, but found nothing worth money.
“Damn, I only got the eyes.”
I redressed Yujin’s underwear and turned my head away.
‘Well then, one last thing.’
I reached toward the stigma carved into his left chest.
The marks etched into the stigma numbered six.
‘So he was a 6-star Awakened User.’
No wonder he seemed strong.
-Glrk, glrk.
As I placed my hand over the stigma and focused my consciousness, black murky clouds flowed from my fingertips.
The dark clouds of the Abyss completely engulfed the stigma, greedily devouring the power contained within.
-Ding!
[The Abyss absorbs the stigma of the Lyra Constellation!]
[All conditions for the Abyss’s third blooming have been met!]
[The Abyss begins its third blooming!]
“…!”
My eyes widened as I read the blue message window.
Third blooming.
What that meant was━
“Ugh!”
Grrrrrgh!!
Black murky clouds surged and wrapped around my entire body.
A searing headache pounded through my skull.
[Through the Abyss, you read the ‘records’ contained in the Lyra Constellation stigma.]
[The Abyss’s blooming stage is too low. The records you can read are limited.]
Unfamiliar sights and fragmented memories I’d never experienced flooded into my mind.
-Damn it!!
A desolate landscape shrouded in acrid smoke.
Lee Woo-hyuk’s expression twisted savagely as he gazed upon hundreds, thousands of rampaging monsters.
The Seoul Station building visible in the distance had already been trampled by the monsters, its form so mangled it was barely recognizable.
-Why… why is this happening.
Lee Woo-hyuk clenched his fists, his shoulders trembling faintly.
-Woo-hyuk.
-…Brother?
At that moment, Lee Shin-hyuk grasped Lee Woo-hyuk’s shoulder and spoke in a hushed voice.
-I’ll buy us time. You head to where Seon-young is.
-What nonsense are you spouting right now? Why are you staying here, hyung?
Lee Woo-hyuk glared at him with sharp, piercing eyes.
-Ha. I’ve gotten stronger too, haven’t I? I can definitely buy us some time.
-That’s not the issue….
-You like her, don’t you?
-What?
-Seon-young.
-….
Lee Woo-hyuk’s expression hardened like stone.
Tap.
Lee Shin-hyuk gave his shoulder a light pat and raised the spear he held in his hand.
-Go, you bastard. If things look bad, I’ll escape too.
-But.
Lee Shin-hyuk wore a faint smile as he walked toward Seoul Station, where hundreds of monsters seethed and writhed.
-Now go.
The stigma of Compass blazed with brilliant light.
Lee Woo-hyuk squeezed his eyes shut, then turned his body and rushed toward somewhere.
-Well then.
Lee Shin-hyuk drew a deep breath and thrust his spear toward the horde of monsters charging at him.
-KarAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
At that moment, a horrifying shriek that shook the very earth itself tore through the air.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch!
From within the ruins of the collapsed Seoul Station, a grotesque creature composed of writhing flesh rose to its feet.
A monster that towered twenty meters tall.
A mass of flesh that deserved to be called a calamity itself thrashed about with eight arms, destroying everything around it.
Each time the fleshy mass moved, the basketball-sized black constellation stone embedded in its forehead blazed with intense light.
-…Damn it.
Lee Shin-hyuk swallowed hard, his hand trembling slightly as he gripped the spear.
-If I’d known something this horrifying was sealed beneath Seoul Station… I could have stopped it.
Along with Lee Shin-hyuk’s voice full of regret,
“Ugh!”
the flood of memories pouring into my mind abruptly severed.
“Haah, haah!”
I gasped for breath, clutching my chest as my lungs heaved.
-Ding!
Just as I was trying to organize Lee Shin-hyuk’s memories that had rushed into my mind, a clear chiming sound rang out once more.
“What is it this time?”
I shifted my gaze toward the blue message window that materialized before my eyes.
[You have successfully inherited some records of Awakened User Lee Shin-hyuk.]
[《Compass Spear Art Lv5》 has risen to 《Compass Spear Art Lv6》.]
[『Black Heaven』 has reached 『Three-Star Transformation』.]
[You have acquired the new trait 『Myriad Streams Return to Source』 from 『Black Heaven』.]
“…Myriad Streams Return to Source?”
I tilted my head and clicked on the section labeled 『Myriad Streams Return to Source』.
A window containing the trait description promptly appeared.
[Myriad Streams Return to Source: The proficiency of your primary stigma influences the proficiency of your other stigmas.]
“Oh.”
Brief and concise, yet the effect drew an involuntary exclamation from me.
‘So if I raise the proficiency of the Lyra Constellation stigma, the other stigmas will rise together?’
To verify immediately, I tested the newly acquired Owl stigma.
-Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!
“Damn, the performance is incredible.”
Despite manifesting the stigma for the first time, I freely created and fired roughly a dozen black feathers.
‘No matter what, it’s not as familiar as the Lyra Constellation stigma yet.’
I had no idea how many more stigmas I would acquire, but being able to gain some proficiency without any conditions whatsoever was an enormous benefit.
“With this, I don’t need to train other stigmas—I can just focus on the Lyra Constellation stigma.”
I can use the other stigmas situationally as needed.
I examined Yujin’s corpse one more time before rising to my feet.
‘Now then.’
It was time to bring down the curtain on this performance.
“Huff.”
I drew a tense breath and created black feathers using the Owl stigma.
‘I don’t particularly want to do this.’
But what choice did I have?
To maximize the reward, I needed to demonstrate just how much I had suffered for it.
For money.
This much effort was nothing.
-Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!!
“Ugh!!”
Black feathers tore into my body.
They even pierced my vital points—one slip and my life would be forfeit.
Blood gushed forth as excruciating pain wracked my entire frame.
“Damn, this hurts like hell!”
I cursed roughly and collapsed to the ground.
Before the encirclement was established, I retrieved the radio the Association had provided.
-Beep!
[Ohjin? Where are you right now, Ohjin?!]
Team Leader Han’s urgent voice crackled through the radio.
[Valhalla Guild just contacted us! They’re saying one of the suspects escaped…!]
“I’ve… caught him.”
[Pardon?]
I continued speaking, my voice trembling violently.
“The fleeing suspect… *cough*! I’ve caught… *cough*! *cough*!”
[Oh, Yujin? Are you alright?]
“Ah… yes.”
[Yujin!!!]
Han Jun-man’s urgent cry pierced through.
“Team Lead…”
[Where are you?! Damn it! Contact Valhalla Guild right now! Valhalla Guild immediately!!]
“I… don’t feel well.”
The transmission cut off.

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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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