Not A Regressor - Chapter 34

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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 34
Paradise (1)
The day after the Seoul Station incident.
I finished my morning training lightly and headed to the Association.
-Knock knock.
“Yes, come in.”
When I entered Team Leader Han Jun-man’s office, documents were piled haphazardly on his desk as usual.
“What’s all this…?”
“Ha! Quite the commotion yesterday, wasn’t there?”
Despite the exhaustion evident on his face, Team Leader Han Jun-man wore a bright smile.
‘Right.’
My revelation yesterday that I was affiliated with the Association must have become quite the topic of conversation.
“The internet’s been going wild talking about you. Have you seen it?”
“I haven’t looked into it specifically.”
I chuckled and took a seat.
Team Leader Han Jun-man smiled broadly and poured two cups of coffee, setting them on the table.
“Just this morning, we’ve already received contact from sixteen Guilds. Eight of them have even sent sponsorship funds to the Association.”
“In just one day?”
“Ha! In this industry, the quick survive.”
Team Leader Han Jun-man burst into hearty laughter and took a sip of coffee.
“…But.”
His voice grew slightly subdued.
“Because of this incident… the fact that you’re an apostle of Polaris has spread far and wide as well.”
As expected.
No matter how much media control they attempted, there was no way rumors wouldn’t spread after I’d crushed a massive monster in front of so many people.
“Well, I anticipated that much.”
“I apologize. We did everything we could to prevent the fact that you’re an apostle of Polaris from becoming known….”
“Heh. It’s fine.”
Hiding the fact that I was an apostle of Polaris had only been a temporary measure to buy time until I accumulated enough power anyway.
‘I would have preferred to keep it hidden until I reached at least 4-star, or ideally 5-star.’
But it was already spilled milk.
‘Now it’s time to capitalize on the name value of being an apostle of Polaris.’
The sole apostle of Vega, the Weaver Star.
With this title, there was nothing I could ever fall short of.
“By the way… I saw in the article that you demanded payment from the people you rescued….”
Team Leader Han Jun-man broached the subject carefully.
“Ah. Well, that…”
I had nothing to say about that.
In truth, it was Vega who demanded it, not me, but to everyone else’s eyes, it probably looked like my summoned being or guardian spirit received orders and demanded money.
‘I’m probably getting cursed for overcharging them, aren’t I?’
That’s also why I deliberately avoided looking up the article yesterday.
“━This was truly a masterstroke.”
“Pardon?”
What the hell is this nonsense?
“Apparently you’ve become incredibly popular with that slightly tsundere vibe.”
“Pardon?”
What tsundere, for fuck’s sake?
“Hmm? You haven’t seen the article Cheonri Eye Daily published yesterday?”
“I haven’t, but….”
“Take a look at this.”
Han Jun-man clicked on the article as he held out the tablet.
The front page featured a photograph of me dramatically catching a child who had fallen to the ground, captured from a perfectly cinematic angle.
‘When the hell was this taken?’
My jaw dropped.
There I was, landing in front of the child who was tumbling through the air, engulfed in azure lightning, my clothes billowing dramatically.
It looked so cinematically perfect that you’d swear it was a scene straight from a movie.
“The words you spoke while saving this child became quite the hot topic.”
“What words?”
I only told them to run away quickly.
“Pardon? You said, ‘It’s not like I was trying to protect you specifically,’ right as you caught the child?”
No.
I never said that.
“And then you draped your coat over the fallen child!”
I wasn’t even wearing a coat. How could I have draped anything?
Besides, you can see that in the photo.
“And finally, as you turned away, you said in a small voice, ‘Hurry… escape’!!!”
Please write an article, not a novel.
“In any case, the fact that you demanded payment at the end also got an incredibly hot reaction.”
“….”
“With that sense of ‘I only saved you all because of the money’….”
“Ah, yes. I understand completely.”
Damn it.
Unbelievable.
‘I’ve spent all this time running scams on others, and now I’m getting hit with this. My head’s absolutely spinning.’
Thinking about how the people I’d conned must have felt this way gave me a dull ache in my skull.
‘Well, in this case…’
Even though it was a scam, it actually worked in my favor.
“…What’s the name of the journalist who wrote that article?”
“It’s Go Gwang-hyun.”
That bastard?
No.
When I think about it, there’s really no one else it could be.
‘…I’ll have to visit them sometime later.’
It was a bit unsettling, I’ll admit.
But thanks to that, I managed to sidestep the crisis of becoming cemented in people’s minds as someone disagreeable.
‘If I play my cards right, they could prove quite useful down the line.’
Either way, establishing a connection with the media would make things considerably easier for me in the future.
Willingly or not.
The title of Polaris’s Apostle was bound to attract public attention no matter what.
“By the way, this incident has caused quite a stir in Paradise lately. A monster suddenly burst out from beneath the city, after all….”
Paradise.
Hearing that word brought my original purpose for coming to the Association rushing back into my mind.
-Thunk.
I placed the Constellation Stone I’d harvested from the flesh giant I’d killed, along with all the mutant Constellation Stones I’d collected so far, onto the table.
“This is….”
“These are the Constellation Stones we obtained from killing the giant and the Reptilians this time.”
“That’s quite a considerable number.”
Team Leader Han Jun-man examined the black Constellation Stones piled high on the table.
Aside from the Constellation Stone harvested from the flesh giant, most of them were merely coin-sized stones, but their quantity was substantial.
“I’d like to sell these.”
“Hmm.”
Team Leader Han Jun-man narrowed his eyes and spread out the black Constellation Stones scattered across the table.
“Aside from these two, the quality of the rest isn’t particularly impressive.”
One was the Constellation Stone I’d obtained from killing the flesh giant this time, and the other was the Constellation Stone I’d harvested from killing the black slime giant at Mokdong Gate previously.
Of course, the Constellation Stone obtained from killing the flesh giant was overwhelmingly larger in size.
“How much do you think we could get for them?”
“Well….”
Team Leader Han Jun-man lifted one of the black Constellation Stones and continued.
“Actually, the prices for mutant Constellation Stones have dropped considerably lately.”
“Dropped considerably?”
“Yes. Mutants have suddenly surged in numbers recently, so the supply has increased dramatically.”
This was news to me.
“We’re still investigating on our end, so there hasn’t been any official announcement yet… but according to rumors, the supply has increased nearly tenfold.”
“….”
Could Black Star’s Constellations be involved?
The question flashed through my mind, but I didn’t voice it aloud.
“Still, given the large quantity and especially how excellent the size and quality of these two are… well, at minimum we should be able to get 4 billion won or more? We might even receive more than that.”
“I see.”
That would be more than sufficient.
I’d exceed my target amount and have plenty left over.
“I’d like to dispose of this urgently.”
“Urgently?”
“Yes. Within a few days if possible.”
“Hmm… with this quantity, I’m not sure we can manage it within a few days. Especially since the market price for mutant essence stones fluctuates significantly, and our purchases have declined recently.”
“Then what if you advance me 3 billion won, and the Association takes the remaining profit?”
“Pardon?”
Han Jun-man’s eyes widened considerably.
Even if he desperately needed cash, the remaining profit would be at least 1 billion won—was he really willing to hand it all over to the Association?
‘This isn’t like Oh Jin at all…’
Though we hadn’t known each other long, watching how he conducted himself during Association contracts and when accepting commissions made it abundantly clear how obsessively he clung to money.
And yet.
Why on earth.
“Can you do that?”
“Ah, yes… of course. With terms like that, we’d actually like to ask you instead.”
“Then please do that.”
“….”
There were mountains of questions he wanted to ask, but he refrained from prying.
“Then I’ll transfer 3 billion won to your account by tomorrow around lunch.”
“Thank you.”
I nodded with a faint smile.
“Oh, right. Could you repair this for me?”
I pulled out the wire shooter and placed it on the table.
“Don’t tell me it’s not working?”
“No. One of the wire strings snapped.”
“Ah. That shouldn’t take long to fix.”
“Heh. I feel a bit sorry—you just made this for me, and here I am asking for repairs after just one day.”
“Haha! Not at all. Considering what happened yesterday.”
Han Jun-man picked up the wire shooter with a shake of his head.
“Is there anything else you need?”
“No. Nothing else.”
I nodded and stood from my seat.
“Oh, wait a moment. I have something for you.”
“Yes?”
“You know what you mentioned before?”
“Ah.”
Now that I thought about it, there had been one additional request when I asked for the equipment to be made.
“I’ve prepared the finest quality.”
Thunk.
Han Jun-man placed an elegant black case about a meter long onto the table.
“How much was it?”
“About seventeen million won came out.”
“Just a moment.”
I pulled out my smartphone to transfer the funds.
“No, I’ll deduct this amount from the profit margin you mentioned giving me.”
“Hmm….”
After a brief moment of consideration, I gave a small nod.
“Yes, I understand. Let’s do it that way.”
Giving the entire profit margin itself was already a concession on my part—it was essentially as if I’d purchased it with my own money.
I carefully accepted the black case that Han Jun-man held out to me.
“Then….”
“Oh, right. There’s one more thing I have for you.”
“Another one?”
I tilted my head and looked at Han Jun-man.
Han Jun-man extended a card bearing the Association’s emblem toward me.
The card displayed my photograph along with basic personal information.
“This is….”
“An Association Special Inspector credential.”
“What? A Special Inspector?”
An Association Special Inspector.
To put it simply, it was something like a special operative belonging to the Association.
‘Are they insane? They’re giving me this?’
Though the Association certainly faced pressure from various quarters, Special Inspectors were an exception.
The Association only issued credentials to Awakened Users whose abilities had been verified within the organization.
Above all, Special Inspectors were granted powerful investigative authority.
Frankly, it was even possible to stop a random passerby on the street and conduct a search.
‘Of course, if I actually did something like that, I’d be fired on the spot.’
Regardless, it meant I possessed that much formidable power.
“This is… quite unexpected.”
“Haha. It’s a bit early, but thanks to the Association Chairman’s active support, I was able to get it issued quickly.”
It seemed they’d made their move preemptively, worried I might suddenly become famous from this incident and defect to another major Guild.
No matter how you looked at it, a Special Inspector credential after barely joining the Association?
Just how desperate were they?
“Well… I’ll accept it for now.”
There was no reason to refuse when they were offering it of their own accord.
“Then, I’ll be on my way.”
“Yes. Please be careful.”
After exchanging brief pleasantries, I stepped outside the Association.
Fresh sunlight poured down upon me.
“Sigh.”
I exhaled softly and picked up my smartphone.
I opened the banking app and checked my balance.
‘7 billion won.’
With another 3 billion arriving tomorrow, I would have accumulated a total of 10 billion.
“I’ve… finally gathered it all.”
My voice trembled.
I turned my head and began walking.
I had achieved my target amount.
‘To Paradise.’
Just one more step forward.

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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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