Not A Regressor - Chapter 272

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

I Am Not a Regressor Chapter 272
Greed and Love (4)
Within the Hospital Room—spacious and comfortable enough to pass for a hotel suite.
With a pleasant crisp sound, the peeled apple skin curled like a dragon as it tumbled into the bowl.
“Please, have some.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
The apple slices were cut with such precision they might have been done by a machine—each piece identical in size.
Kwon O-jin speared one slice with his fork and brought it to his lips.
The sweet juice burst across his tongue.
“So… you’re planning to venture into the Demon Realm?”
Allen, who had learned from Kwon O-jin about the suspicious movements of the Demon Realm’s kings, asked with sharp, gleaming eyes.
“Yes. I can’t simply sit idle and wait for them to come crashing down upon us.”
“Then… are you considering leading an army there?”
“No. First, I need to gather intelligence.”
We don’t even know how many kings rule the Demon Realm.
One cannot wage war blindfolded.
For now, gathering information about the Demon Realm—this unknown land—had to come first.
“You mentioned you’ve been to the Demon Realm before, Allen?”
“Yes. I’ve gone a few times to meet Cheon Gwon-seong.”
“Cheon Gwon-seong, you say….”
Cheon Gwon-seong Baek Moo-gang.
The highest-ranked awakener among Deneb’s 12 Apostles, and one of the rare few awakeners who had established a life in the Demon Realm rather than on Earth.
“He has his quirks, but he’s a good man.”
As Allen recalled Cheon Gwon-seong, his usually stern lips curved upward ever so slightly.
“Then you must be quite familiar with the Demon Realm yourself?”
“I only know what I’ve heard in passing. Most of the time I simply delivered what he needed and returned immediately.”
I likely knew far less than those awakeners who had actually settled there and made it their home.
Kwon O-jin’s eyes brightened as he regarded Allen.
“Could you tell me what those things you heard were?”
“Hmm… now that you mention it, he said that quite often.”
Allen’s eyes narrowed.
“Living here or there—it’s all the same, he’d say.”
“All the same, meaning….”
“When you were trapped in the Demon Realm, did you see the cities they had built?”
“Ah, yes. I did.”
“According to him, several such cities are connected to form a single kingdom.”
A kingdom.
Now that I thought about it, the city I had discovered did have structures that resembled a castle.
“If it’s near where the First Rift is located… it’s likely where the beastmen’s kingdom stands.”
At the mention of beastmen, Kwon O-jin’s eyes sparkled with intrigue.
‘Now that I think about it, Riak mentioned he was from the Beastkin race.’
You could tell just by looking at Riak, but the Beastkin, unlike ordinary demonic beasts, were said to possess exceptional intelligence.
The fact that they could build such a massive collective society as a nation was surely thanks to that superior intellect.
“Could you perhaps tell me where Cheon Gwon-seong might be located?”
“Of course.”
Allen nodded readily.
The news that the kings of the Demon Realm were stirring was not something he could simply ignore, given his position as a member of Seven Stars.
However, dealing with the Named Demonic Beasts that had begun rampaging across the world took priority over an enemy whose timing of attack remained uncertain.
In such circumstances, Kwon O-jin’s willingness to investigate the state of the Demon Realm was welcome news to him as well.
“If you seek out the Elder, you’ll be able to hear far more detailed information than what I can provide.”
Allen withdrew a compass from his pocket and handed it to me.
“What is this?”
“Once you enter the Demon Realm and channel your magical power into it, it will point toward where the Elder is.”
It was a useful tool within the Demon Realm, where communication equipment became useless.
I nodded and accepted the compass.
“I’m not entirely comfortable entrusting such a task to a patient.”
“Well, I have no intention of heading into the Demon Realm before my body is fully healed.”
“Ha. If you had been planning to do so, I would have stopped you by force.”
Allen gave a light bow and rose from his seat.
“Then, I’ll be awaiting good news. Please take care of yourself on your journey.”
After a brief farewell, he turned and left the Hospital Room.
Alone in the Hospital Room.
I gripped the compass Allen had given me tightly, opening my eyes narrowly.
‘The basic plan is set for now.’
First, I needed to find Cheon Gwon-seong in the Demon Realm and hear detailed explanations about the current state of affairs.
How the ‘Kings’ and the Heavenly Demon were connected, and how to stop them—those were matters I could consider once I got there.
“…Heavenly Demon.”
I spoke that ominously resonant name aloud.
Why had I destroyed the world in my past life?
Why had I returned to the past from a world reduced to mere ashes?
Imagining the Heavenly Demon’s purpose was not difficult.
“You are me, after all.”
There could be only one objective.
In the past life and in this one.
“….”
I gazed out the window with a bitter expression.
A powerful urge to see Ha-eun right now welled up inside me.
As I lay there in a daze, thinking of Ha-eun, another woman suddenly surfaced in my thoughts.
The image of Isabella trembling with fear.
Recalling her face brought a heavy, oppressive feeling to my chest.
‘I’ve lost my mind.’
Hadn’t I decided to rein in my feelings for her?
I exhaled a long sigh and rubbed my face.
The tangled mess of emotions refused to untangle easily.
“It’s true… there are too many now.”
At first, I thought it would be enough if only Ha-eun remained.
I believed that even if the entire world burned and crumbled, it would be fine as long as I could save Ha-eun.
But.
As time passed, the bonds I didn’t want to lose kept multiplying.
The things I wanted to protect grew in number.
Though I was well aware this was an insatiably greedy way of thinking.
“Ugh.”
I pushed myself up from the bed.
I was too worried about Isabella, who had stormed out the door, to simply sleep peacefully.
“I need to resolve this matter first.”
Before heading to the Demon Realm, it was paramount that I clarify my relationship with Isabella.
I reached toward the smartphone resting on the shelf.

* * *
In a room shrouded by darkness.
A woman huddled in a cramped space filled with an eerie heat, her hair disheveled.
Crack, crack.
The chilling sound of fingernails being gnawed.
The gaunt-faced woman bit at her nails nervously, indifferent to the blood trickling from them.
“W-what do I do? H-how can I….”
Isabella trembled, her shoulders shaking as she remained curled up.
I had failed.
I had made a mistake.
I shouldn’t have been greedy; I should have been satisfied with the second place.
Consumed by the desire to be first, I had done something futile, and now everything had fallen apart.
“Why…? H-how could this be? You said before that you didn’t want to lose either of them.”
I had thought that even if the plan failed, things would simply return to how they were.
Was this the price of greed?
O-jin’s answer had changed from before.
“Ha, ha!”
Breath catching in my throat.
Whenever I recalled O-jin calmly saying “let’s sort out our feelings for each other,” a stabbing pain pierced through my chest as if cut by a blade.
“No, this can’t be.”
To sort out our feelings for each other.
To never be able to stay by O-jin’s side again.
That much, at least.
I could not accept it under any circumstances.
I had to do something.
A life without Kwon O-jin had become unimaginable.
Isabella’s eyes glistened with tears as she gnawed at her lip.
“I have to do something… anything… anything at all.”
But what could I do?
What could I do to turn his heart back to me?
Crunch, crunch.
As I continued my thoughts while biting my nails.
“What are you doing in the Storage Room?”
Click.
The door opened and Ha-eun entered.
She let out a gasp of shock at the sight of Isabella curled up on the floor.
“Hey! You, why are your nails like that?”
Ha-eun, startled, approached Isabella.
“…Elder Sister Ha-eun.”
Isabella looked up at Ha-eun with trembling eyes.
Stars glimmered in her pupils, which had been as dark as a night sky laden with storm clouds.
“Oh, Elder Sister! Elder Sister! Please, please listen to my request!”
“Kyaaah! What, what is it?!”
Isabella crawled across the floor toward Ha-eun and grabbed her pant leg.
Clinging to Ha-eun’s feet, Isabella pleaded desperately.
“A request? What kind of request?”
“Please, stop Kwon O-jin!”
Kwon O-jin had told her to sort out her feelings because he didn’t want Ha-eun to be hurt.
If Ha-eun would only accept Isabella, then he would turn his heart back to her.
“Stop him? What has that bastard done now?”
Could he have suddenly left for the Demon Realm on his own?
Ha-eun grasped Isabella’s shoulders with an urgent expression.
“Kwon O-jin, he….”
Isabella trailed off and avoided Ha-eun’s gaze.
She spoke in a voice that seemed to crawl, her lip trembling.
“He told me that we should sort out our feelings for each other….”
“…What?”
“But, but he doesn’t have no feelings for me! Yes, that’s it! The aftereffects! It’s because of those aftereffects!”
“What are you talking about?”
Isabella pulled at Ha-eun’s pant leg as she continued.
“Before he lost his memories, he definitely said he didn’t want to let me go!”
That’s right.
All of this happened because he lost his memories.
“Um, Elder Sister, you understand, right? Kwon O-jin said he lost his memories of dating you, didn’t he? I’m in the exact same situation!”
If I could just recall the memories from inside the Ferris Wheel, Kwon O-jin would surely accept me again.
After all, he clearly said back then that he didn’t want to lose either of us.
“….”
Ha-eun looked down at Isabella, who was clinging to her pant leg with a furrowed brow.
“So… O-jin dumped you?”
“Th-that’s not—!”
Isabella shook her head roughly.
“No!”
“Didn’t he say you both needed to sort out your feelings?”
“That’s… that’s only because Kwon O-jin lost his memories!”
Clinging to Ha-eun’s leg like a cicada, Isabella cried out desperately.
“Please, Elder Sister, go talk to Kwon O-jin for me!”
“…Talk about what?”
“Please accept my feelings! I won’t covet your place anymore! I won’t lie from now on! I’m satisfied being second! So please….”
Isabella pleaded through tears streaming down her face.
“I’ll do anything you ask… please.”
Droplets of tears rolled down her cheeks.
Ha-eun stared down at Isabella with eyes that had turned cold and distant.
“So you’re saying Kwon O-jin just dumped you, and now you want me to go convince him to take you back?”
Ha.
Ha-eun let out a hollow laugh, her brow furrowing deeper.
“Are you insane?”
A frigid gaze fell upon Isabella.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————