Not A Regressor - Chapter 282

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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 282
Dogs and Wolves (7)
“Then please rest comfortably.”
Leoru, who had guided Kwon O-jin’s group to the empty cottage, gave a light bow and turned to leave.
The empty cottage that Leoru had shown them was cramped and weathered, but it had been tidied with considerable care—the interior itself was remarkably clean.
“Ugh! So we didn’t make it to the Kingdom after all today.”
Ha-eun dropped her luggage and flopped onto the bed.
Though calling it a bed was generous—it was a wooden frame far removed from any softness—it was still more than enough for Kwon O-jin’s group, who had been camping in the forest for days.
“Phew, I’m exhausted.”
Ha-eun, sprawled across the bed, began removing her shoes like a chrysalis shedding its skin.
“Elder Sister, that’s not very dignified. What are you doing?”
“What? I’m too tired to move.”
“Tsk. Even so, you shouldn’t do that. What will Kwon O-jin think?”
“I think he’d like it?”
Ha-eun, who had kicked off her socks, lay diagonally across the bed and stretched her slender legs, poking Kwon O-jin’s thigh repeatedly.
Her completely defenseless demeanor made my lips want to curve upward involuntarily.
“Noona, your feet smell.”
“What? Don’t lie, you bastard! I washed them periodically anyway….”
“Really though?”
I grabbed Ha-eun’s bare feet and brought my nose close to them.
True to her word, considering she’d been wearing stiff boots for so long, there wasn’t much of a smell, but I felt mischievous enough to tease her anyway.
“See? There’s that savory soybean paste aroma….”
“You crazy bastard, what are you doing!”
Ha-eun shrieked and kicked my face away.
Her face flushed so intensely steam seemed to pour from it, Ha-eun sprang from the bed and rushed outside.
“I’m going to wash up!”
“Ah, Elder Sister, I’ll come with you.”
[I should wash myself too. Being hidden in the pocket all this time has left me quite dusty.]
Naturally, the old cottage had no bathing facilities or shower.
But since a stream flowed nearby, washing posed no problem.
“If you peek, I’ll kill you.”
Before leaving with a change of clothes, Ha-eun glared at me with fierce eyes.
“We’ve already seen everything there is to see anyway.”
“That’s—that’s different from this!”
As I chuckled and nodded, Isabella sidled up beside me.
Linking her arm through mine and pressing her body against me, she whispered with an alluring smile.
“My body… you’re welcome to look at it anytime?”
Her voice was sweet as melted sugar.
Isabella lightly licked my nape while her index finger gently tickled my chest.
“Stop playing games and come here, you wretch.”
“Oh! W-wait, Elder Sister!”
Isabella was dragged along by Ha-eun, protesting all the way.
[Just wait!]
Vega also grabbed a bathing towel (technically a handkerchief, but close enough) and fluttered off after them.
Only Kwon O-jin and Riak remained in the house.
With all the noisy women gone, an awkward silence settled over the space.
“…Kid.”
It was Riak who broke the silence first.
“Huh?”
“When you regressed… when you were given another chance, weren’t you afraid?”
His voice was heavy with conflict.
Kwon O-jin shifted his gaze to Riak, who kept his head bowed, staring only at the worn wooden floor.
In his eyes, lost in deep contemplation, I could see none of his usual confidence.
“Is this about what happened before?”
Even without being a regressor.
It wasn’t difficult to notice that something had been off with Riak ever since we entered the Demon Realm.
And I could guess the reason why.
“…Yeah.”
“That doesn’t sound like you.”
“S-shut up, kid! What do you know—!”
“I know.”
Riak’s eyes narrowed.
“…Is it because you’re a regressor?”
“Even if I weren’t a regressor, I would’ve figured it out. What you’re hesitating about.”
Riak was far too clumsy at hiding his true feelings.
“You asked if I was afraid just now, didn’t you?”
I’ve never regressed.
But I have been given another chance before.
“Of course I’m afraid. Terrified, even.”
If I were to repeat the same mistakes again.
If I were to relive the same failures.
Then.
There would be no turning back.
“But that doesn’t mean you can just do nothing, right?”
“…A fair point.”
“A cliché isn’t wrong just because it’s cliché.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
Riak looked at me with trembling eyes.
“How….”
His head still bowed.
He speaks through gritted teeth.
“How… how can you do that?”
I recall the memory of when I first met Kwon O-jin.
The image of him rising unsteadily to his feet, brutally beaten and trampled, yet refusing to yield.
Even with wounds severe enough to be fatal, he grasped his spear again as though it were nothing.
“How on earth…?”
I remember Kwon O-jin’s battle against Deneb’s Apostles.
That alone should have been enough.
There was no need to deliberately seek out suffering, no reason for it.
Yet he rose again, his body drenched in blood, barely able to open his eyes.
How could he possibly do that?
It’s not that he doesn’t feel pain.
It’s not that he doesn’t feel fear.
But how, exactly…
Could he rise again?
“Because enduring alone won’t solve anything.”
Kwon O-jin smiled bitterly as he sat on the edge of the bed.
“Pain can be endured. Fear can be suppressed. No matter how agonizing or difficult, as long as I persevere, everything will be fine.”
Such things mean nothing.
Throughout his life,
He had faced only problems that endurance could never solve.
“So you’re saying you won’t even care about your own body to obtain what you desire.”
“It’s difficult to protect what’s precious while worrying about my own body.”
With a bitter smile, he placed his hand gently on the head of Riak, who kept his gaze lowered.
“What will you do?”
“…”
Riak clenched his jaw firmly, his claws scraping against the floor.
“I was once… Khan, the one who led the Beast-human Tribe.”
“I know.”
I had suspected as much from watching Riak converse with Leoru.
“I fought against the invasion of the Demon Race, but in the end, I was defeated without protecting anything.”
The image of a wolf, covered in blood and collapsed, weeping that he had protected nothing, surfaced in my mind.
“Do you know how many of my kin died because of my stubbornness… because of my pathetic conviction to live as a wolf?”
“…”
“All of them. Every single one.”
Those who were family.
Those who were lovers.
Those who were comrades.
All of them.
Followed me to their deaths.
“The surviving members of our tribe are struggling through each day, suffocating under hunger and fear.”
The life of the Silver-maned Wolf Tribe was pitiful at a glance.
They huddled together in crumbling cottages that were falling apart.
Living day after day pierced through with hunger and terror.
“If only once….”
Tears streamed down Riak’s face as he hung his head.
“If only once… I had bent my stubbornness.”
So many more of our kin would have survived.
The lives of those who remained would not have been so wretched.
“If only I had knelt down even once!”
Even just once.
If I had become a dog instead of a wolf.
“So that’s why they regret it?”
“….”
Riak’s expression hardened into stone.
The image of Leoru, smiling brightly as he spoke of being proud wolves, came to mind.
“It’s… all my fault.”
Because I taught them such pointless convictions.
Because I instilled them with hollow ideals.
They continued their miserable lives without even being able to resent me.
“Then Riak.”
Kwon O-jin looked at Riak with eyes sunken deep.
“Right now, are you a dog or a wolf?”
Riak’s body trembled.
“I, I am….”
As he tried to continue with a trembling voice.
Crash!
“Ahhh~! That feels refreshing!”
“Yes, bathing really does make you feel much fresher.”
[All fluffy and clean, we are!]
The three women who had gone out returned into the cottage.
“Huh? What? Why is the mood so heavy?”
“It’s nothing. More importantly, how was the stream?”
“Damn cold—I nearly froze to death.”
Ha-eun giggled and plopped her foot up onto Kwon O-jin’s thigh as he sat on the bed.
“So? Can you not smell it anymore?”
“Let me see. I’ll just check….”
“Don’t you dare actually smell it!”
Ha-eun frowned and kicked Kwon O-jin’s stomach.
“By the way, Kwon O-jin. Shouldn’t you be eating something soon?”
“Ah, I’m getting a bit hungry.”
Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t eaten a single meal since escaping the Forest of Mahae.
“Please wait a moment.”
Isabella rummaged through her backpack and pulled out ingredients.
The backpack Kim Si-hu had gifted her not only had a space-expansion function but also a feature that kept ingredients fresh, making it possible to prepare meals with fresh ingredients even here in the distant Demon Realm.
“I’ll make pasta for you today.”
“I’m craving Korean food.”
“Oh my, would Elder Sister like to make it instead?”
“Ahem. Rose pasta, please.”
Isabella set a pot of water on the heat and began slicing vegetables.
Of course, there were no convenient appliances like gas burners in this old cottage, but Ha-eun could easily handle that part.
Just as appetizing aromas began wafting from the kitchen.
Knock, knock.
The cottage door opened with a cautious knock.
“Lilu?”
The one who entered was a slender beast-human girl.
When I first saw her, she’d been covered in dirt from head to toe, but now she emerged fresh and fluffy from her bath.
“I-I’m sorry for visiting so late!”
“What’s the matter?”
“W-well, you see…”
Lilu fidgeted with the basket in her hands, stealing glances toward Kwon O-jin.
“I picked some fruit.”
Inside the basket were fruits that looked freshly picked.
They resembled wild strawberries or blueberries in appearance.
“O-O-jin oppa, these are for you…”
Lilu’s cheeks flushed as she peeked shyly at Kwon O-jin.
“Just for me?”
“Ah, n-no, of course for everyone else too!”
Lilu’s ears perked up as she hurriedly corrected herself.
“Oh my, how adorable. You picked fruit for Kwon O-jin?”
Isabella approached Lilu with a playful smile.
A kitchen knife in one hand.
“W-w-wait! Hold on!”
Ha-eun, alarmed, grabbed Isabella.
Ha-eun snatched the kitchen knife from her hand and breathed heavily.
“You, you… no matter what, you can’t do that to a child…”
“Elder Sister, really. What are you misunderstanding? I was simply holding it because I was cooking and forgot to put it down.”
Isabella shrugged her shoulders with a pretty smile.
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy them.”
I accepted the basket and gently patted Lilu’s head.
Lilu’s cheeks flushed as crimson as raspberries.
“Y-yes. P-please enjoy it, oppa.”
I plucked a fruit from the basket and took a bite.
Sweet juice burst across my palate.
“Delicious.”
“I’m glad it suits your taste.”
Lilu grinned widely, her tail wagging rapidly.
“Ah, that’s right… and.”
“Hmm?”
“There’s something I’d like to tell all of you.”
Lilu clenched her fists, her expression tense with anxiety.

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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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