Not A Regressor - Chapter 265

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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 265
Snowy Field (5)
“Ugh.”
My head throbbed relentlessly.
As if struck repeatedly by a blunt cudgel across my entire body, I let out a low groan.
‘Where am I…?’
Raising my upper body from the bed, I glanced around the room.
Pristine white wallpaper and the stale scent of medicine.
It was a VIP Hospital Room, complete with rather antique furnishings.
“After that….”
After I declared that I would become the Heavenly Demon for her.
Cassia’s reaction differed somewhat from what I had anticipated.
Had my deception worked, I expected her to nod with glistening tears. Had it failed, I assumed she would mock me for spouting nonsense. But instead, her face flushed crimson like an apple, and she stumbled backward in confusion.
She cried out sharply before turning away and leaving.
—Y-you really are a liar, aren’t you? Just spouting whatever comes to mind! D-do you actually think you could become the Heavenly Demon?
After her sharp outburst, she seemed to lose interest and simply departed.
‘I can’t tell if that went well or not.’
My original plan was to perfectly impersonate the Heavenly Demon and make her distrust the real one. But that plan unraveled for a rather absurd reason—I had been ‘too kind.’
‘Well, that was my mistake.’
I had failed to properly understand the Heavenly Demon’s personality and performed a role that didn’t match it.
But I couldn’t simply give up.
Drawing upon the memories of Cassia that had flowed into my mind, I shifted my strategy to one of soothing the trauma she harbored.
In simpler terms.
I fed her sweet lies instead of bitter truths.
‘Whether that worked or not… I’m not sure.’
In any case, Cassia had discovered that I wasn’t the real Heavenly Demon.
All my deceptions had been exposed, which was undoubtedly a failure in that regard.
But still.
“Sigh.”
I exhaled deeply, leaning back against the headboard.
Now that I thought about it, even sweet lies could become cloying if overdone. Regret washed over me.
Sweetness in excess only becomes bitter.
“….”
And yet.
Despite knowing this.
When I saw her sitting in the pristine Snowy Field, tears streaming down her face, I couldn’t suppress the overwhelming surge of emotion that threatened to burst forth.
‘Because she looked just like Elder Sister back then…’
After Cheon Joo-ryong’s curse had stolen her sight.
The image of Ha-eun lying in a Hospital Room, tears flowing down her cheeks.
Her trembling form overlapped with Cassia’s abandoned figure in the Snowy Field.
Ha-eun had confidence in me.
I had Ha-eun.
But she had nothing.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue and shook my head, my thoughts trailing off.
What right did I have to pity her?
‘Well, at least I didn’t die. That’s something.’
Everything after this would have to be left to Cassia’s own decisions.
“Anyway…”
I retraced the events of that day with a rigid expression, sifting through memories of the past.
The side effects of using the Heavenly Demon.
The loss of memory weighed down on my heart like a heavy burden.
What memories had vanished this time?
What precious moments had I forgotten?
‘I still remember being lovers with Elder Sister…’
Human memory was never meant to retain every single event from the past, so it was difficult to pinpoint exactly which memories had disappeared.
As I was recalling memories of Ha-eun one by one.
-Click.
The Hospital Room door opened and Isabella entered.
“You’re awake, Kwon O-jin?”
Isabella approached me with a worried expression as I lay in the Hospital Room bed.
“Yeah, I’m up.”
“Are you in pain anywhere?”
“Well… if I’m in pain, it’d be faster to find places that don’t hurt.”
“Just a moment. I’ll call a doctor and have them administer more painkillers.”
“No, I’m fine.”
Enduring pain was one of the things I did best.
“…Are you really sure?”
Isabella grasped my hand with a face that looked ready to burst into tears at any moment.
The soft touch against my palm seemed to ease the pain that had been ravaging my entire body.
“Yeah. It’s just simple muscle soreness.”
Though it was far more than simple muscle soreness.
I didn’t want to worry her by saying so.
“Phew. Thank goodness.”
Isabella exhaled with relief and lightly brushed her chest.
Even that small gesture caused two imposing peaks to sway noticeably in my peripheral vision.
I cleared my throat awkwardly and turned away, while Isabella opened her mouth softly.
“Kwon O-jin, what were you talking about with Elder Sister back then?”
She had so many things she wanted to ask me.
How I had resisted her command, how half my body had transformed into black clouds, and so on.
Like stars in the night sky, countless questions filled her mind.
“That is….”
I trailed off, my expression growing uncomfortable.
How could I possibly rephrase everything I’d discussed with Cassia to omit any mention of the Heavenly Demon and still construct a plausible excuse?
Even for someone as practiced in deception as myself, it was no simple task.
An awkward silence settled between us.
Isabella, who had been waiting patiently for my response, soon let out a deep sigh and shook her head.
“You don’t have to tell me if it’s difficult for you.”
“I’m sorry.”
Unanswered questions clung to Isabella’s heart like a heavy weight, but I couldn’t bring myself to press her when she wore such an uncomfortable expression.
“After I spoke with you… my Elder Sister told me something before she left.”
After the wall of dark clouds vanished.
Cassia, who had carried my unconscious form all the way here, carefully set me down before Isabella and spoke.
“…I’m sorry, go.”
Whatever had transpired within that darkness, I couldn’t say.
The black jewel embedded in Cassia’s forehead had disappeared, and with a sorrowful expression, she watched over Isabella before vanishing into shadow.
“Has Elder Sister been completely freed from the Heavenly Demon’s control?”
“I’m not sure.”
I shook my head slowly.
For now, she appeared to have escaped the Heavenly Demon’s grasp, but there was no guarantee it would remain so in the future.
From the Heavenly Demon’s perspective, the Serpens Queen was far too valuable an asset to simply release.
“And her abilities.”
I recalled the image of Cassia summoning shadow serpents to fight.
Even the Leech Queen, who held the third-highest rank among the Black Star Society’s executives, had been utterly defeated without landing a single blow—such was Cassia’s overwhelming power.
For an awakener possessing such formidable strength to have remained unknown to the world was nearly impossible, leaving only one remaining possibility.
“The Serpens Queen… was Elder Sister all along.”
Isabella exhaled softly, a self-deprecating smile crossing her lips.
Despite belonging to the same Black Star Society, she had never realized that the Serpens Queen’s true identity was the Elder Sister she’d been searching for so desperately.
A quiet laugh escaped her unbidden.
“Elder Sister seemed to know you… Have you met the Serpens Queen before?”
“Yes. I saw her briefly when I was trapped in the Demon Realm. Though I never imagined she was Isabella’s Elder Sister.”
I had known that she had a missing Elder Sister.
But since I’d never heard her name or description, I hadn’t recognized her.
“…So that’s how it was.”
Though my questions weren’t entirely answered.
At least my confused mind felt somewhat settled now.
“Sigh. Given the situation, I can’t even bring up that conversation with Ha-eun.”
“Hm? What conversation?”
“Well… the things we discussed inside the Ferris Wheel.”
….
In an instant.
My expression hardened like stone.
With my head bowed, I ground my teeth together.
“Kwon O-jin?”
“….”
Isabella approached me cautiously as the atmosphere shifted abruptly, but I stood there vacant, my gaze fixed on empty air as if lost in thought.
“What’s wrong?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. It’s nothing. Sorry.”
I forced an awkward smile and shook my head.
“….”
Isabella’s eyes narrowed.
Why was that?
The way I smiled awkwardly and shook my head seemed fragile somehow, as if it might shatter at the slightest touch.
“Kwon O-jin.”
She grasped my cheek and turned my face toward her.
I could see my own eyes trembling with anxiety, like a caught liar caught red-handed.
“Do you remember what we talked about that day, inside the Ferris Wheel?”
“….”
A brief silence settled over the Hospital Room.
Isabella let out a soft laugh and gently pinched my cheek.
“You said it yourself, didn’t you? That you wanted to go to Lotte World with your Elder Sister someday. You forgot already?”
“Oh, right. Yeah, I did. Sorry, I just woke up—my head’s still foggy.”
“….”
The moment those words left my mouth, Isabella’s gentle smile turned cold.
Seeing her expression shift so abruptly, I flinched.
I exhaled a deep sigh and ran my hand through my hair.
“I never said that, did I?”
“…No.”
“Hah.”
To think I’d fall for such a simple trick.
A self-deprecating laugh escaped me.
“Tell me what’s going on, Kwon O-jin.”
This time, Isabella’s voice was cold and unyielding, making it clear she wouldn’t let this slide.
It seemed.
There was no way out of this.
“Back then… you saw my body turn into dark clouds, right?”
“Yes.”
I debated whether to mention Heukcheon, but decided to gloss over that part for now.
That wasn’t what mattered at the moment.
“It’s like a… lethal technique, I guess. Using it causes a side effect—some of my memories disappear.”
“Y-your memories are disappearing?”
Isabella’s eyes widened as she bolted upright from her seat.
“W-why would you use such a dangerous technique…!”
“I had to save you.”
“….”
Faced with his straightforward answer, Isabella fell silent, closing her mouth as if at a loss for words.
Just as he said—if Kwon O-jin hadn’t arrived when he did, she would have died right there.
“How many times… how many times have you used that technique?”
“Twice… no, three times.”
Counting this instance, it was the fourth time I’d employed Gaecheon.
“Then what about your other memories…?”
“Only fragments disappear. This time too… I still remember going on a date.”
But this was the first time my memories of Isabella had vanished.
“….”
Isabella’s expression crumpled as though tears might spill at any moment, and she sank down heavily.
The fact that he’d had to resort to a technique carrying such an absurd risk—memory loss—just to save her pierced her heart sharply.
“Don’t tell Elder Sister about this.”
I offered a bitter smile and turned away.
“Have you… lost your memories of Elder Sister before?”
“….”
A bitter smile spread across my lips.
The dizzying despair I’d felt when I lost the memory of being her lover came flooding back.
Closing one’s eyes doesn’t erase the world.
Yet a world shrouded in such suffocating darkness felt alien and terrifying beyond measure.
“Regardless. Keep this incident secret from Elder Sister.”
“But—”
“Please.”
“…Yes.”
Isabella nodded solemnly, her expression heavy.
-Creak.
The firmly shut Hospital Room door swung open.
What appeared through the gap was—
“What… did you just say?”
Ha-eun’s face, twisted with fury.

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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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