Not A Regressor - Chapter 355

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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 355
A Third of a Vacation (1)
“Haaah.”
I drew in a slow, measured breath.
My entire consciousness focused on the pulsing heart within my left chest.
What I imagined was the Black Sky.
I conjured the image of ravenous dark clouds that devoured starlight.
‘Heukcheon.’
Krrrrrgh!
Black clouds erupted ferociously from every pore of my body.
The surging clouds thrashed wildly, beginning to demolish the walls and floor of the Training Facility.
Though the walls were protected by dozens of barriers, Heukcheon’s clouds greedily devoured the magical energy that comprised those barriers, as though they had discovered a delectable feast.
In the past, I could only absorb the magical energy of stigmas without possessing any significant physical force, but after the tenth blooming, Heukcheon’s clouds themselves had become imbued with formidable destructive power.
‘Perhaps this is why the Heavenly Demon could reduce Niflheim to ruins.’
The physical force of Heukcheon’s clouds alone wasn’t overwhelmingly powerful.
Of course, if I could expel an absurd quantity of Heukcheon’s clouds like the Heavenly Demon—enough to create a tidal wave—it would be different, but that remained impossible for me.
‘The broken nature of Heukcheon’s clouds isn’t simply due to their destructive power.’
As evidenced by the destruction of the layered barriers protecting the Training Facility, Heukcheon’s clouds devoured defensive measures composed of stigma magic—barriers, shields, and the like.
In other words, they dealt damage akin to what games called “true damage.”
Against high-tier Awakened Users and above who possessed vast reserves of magical energy, this power was formidable enough to be called broken.
High-tier Awakened Users were strong not only because their bodies were superhuman, but because the immense stigma magic flowing from those superhuman forms was the foundation of their strength.
‘I hope it never comes to this, but if I ever fight the Black Star Constellation, this ability would become even more effective.’
After all, Constellations were the very embodiment of concentrated stigma magic.
Krrrrrgh! Krrk!
I extended my hand toward the black clouds thrashing like a beast freed from its cage.
“Enough.”
Krrgh.
The ferocious black clouds abruptly stilled, then began gathering toward me as though bound by an invisible leash.
‘It’s definitely become much easier to control than when I first achieved the tenth blooming.’
Heukcheon itself hadn’t become docile or weakened.
The reason I could now manipulate Heukcheon’s clouds so effortlessly lay elsewhere.
‘The stigma of Lyra Constellation has grown stronger.’
A single thread of starlight shining brilliantly between the Black Sky.
As the light of Vega Star intensified, I gradually gained the ability to command Heukcheon’s clouds at will.
“…Is it because of Vega?”
Since revealing the truth to Vega at the Star Palace and becoming her lover, the stigma of Lyra Constellation had been growing rapidly.
‘But does a stigma really strengthen just because you’re dating a Constellation?’
It didn’t quite make sense logically.
If a Constellation were a tree, then a stigma would be like that tree’s seed.
A fully grown tree standing beside it wouldn’t help the seed flourish, would it?
‘Vega said before that a Constellation couldn’t directly aid an Awakened User’s growth.’
I had no idea what the actual cause was.
Regardless, it was undeniable that the Lyra Constellation’s stigma was growing stronger at an accelerating pace.
“Then, for the last test….”
I concentrated my mind on the condensed cloud of Heukcheon gathered in my palm.
The Lyra Constellation’s stigma carved into my left chest blazed with light as its mana began flowing into the Heukcheon cloud.
Normally, the moment mana touched the Heukcheon cloud, it should cling and devour it greedily like spilling soda between ant colonies, but this time the Lyra Constellation’s stigma reversed the flow, drawing the Heukcheon cloud inward instead.
Crackle, crackle-crack!
What emerged from this fusion was a pitch-black lightning bolt burning with obsidian radiance.
“Ugh….”
Creating black lightning without using the Heavenly Demon technique consumed an enormous amount of mana and mental energy.
But.
“This… is worth all the suffering!”
I unleashed the ferociously burning black lightning toward the Training Facility wall.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
The black lightning shot forth with a sound like thunder itself.
Just as when I released the Heukcheon cloud—no, far faster than that—it pierced through dozens of layers of barriers and shattered the Training Facility wall.
While the Heukcheon cloud consumed and eliminated the mana contained within the barriers, the black lightning ‘tore through’ the mana itself.
The difference in speed and destructive power was naturally immense.
“Haa, haa.”
From just a single black lightning strike, the boundless mana that had been surging within me drained away in massive chunks.
I collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily.
“Phew. I’ll need more practice with this.”
I still couldn’t wield the black lightning—created by fusing the Lyra Constellation’s stigma with Heukcheon—with complete freedom.
“Hmm… it doesn’t seem to register as a separate skill.”
I opened my status window for the first time in a while to check my skill list, but the black lightning created by fusing the Lyra Constellation’s stigma and Heukcheon wasn’t registered as a separate ‘skill.’
‘Did I create something that breaks the system’s standard format?’
Since I didn’t understand the system’s principles or mechanics in the first place, there was no way to know.
“Well then, I’ll just call it ‘Black Thunder.'”
It wasn’t necessary for something to be registered as a skill to be usable.
For clarity’s sake, I decided to call it Black Thunder.
Crackle, crackle-crack!
Being able to use Black Thunder was encouraging for me.
‘Until now, I could only use Black Thunder by activating the Heavenly Demon technique.’
If I could gradually learn to use techniques one by one without relying on the Heavenly Demon technique, perhaps one day I wouldn’t need to use it at all—a hopeful thought crossed my mind.
“…But it won’t be easy.”
I smiled bitterly and drew the Heukcheon cloud I’d released back into my body.
“Sigh.”
‘I don’t even know what memories I lost this time.’
“I don’t even know what memories I lost this time.”
I had certainly used the Heavenly Path to block the Heavenly Demon’s Black Heaven.
But even Kwon O-jin couldn’t know what the ‘price’ for that had been.
The memories lost to the Heavenly Path’s aftereffects were erased so cleanly that I couldn’t even realize which memories I’d lost in the first place.
“…I hope it was a useless memory.”
Like the Orphanage Director’s face.
Kwon O-jin smiled bitterly and wiped the sweat flowing down his forehead with a towel.
He spoke with that thin hope, but.
He knew it well himself.
Just like before, a cherished memory had surely vanished this time too.
‘Well… for now, it seems to be a memory that doesn’t affect my current life or relationships.’
When I spoke with Ha-eun, Isabella, and Vega, there was no sense of a gap in my memories.
“….”
Something had been lost.
But I couldn’t even know what I’d lost.
Fear and anxiety about the unknown gnawed at me like woodworms.
Slowly, but surely.
“Damn it, just destroy everything, destroy it all.”
As such bitter thoughts continued.
A sweet voice brushed against my ears, sweeping away the thoughts in an instant.
Ha-eun entered the wrecked Training Facility and clicked her tongue disapprovingly.
“Didn’t I call the Association people to set up a really tight barrier so nothing would break here? And you’ve turned it into a complete mess like this?”
“It just happened somehow.”
“Just happened? Like hell. Isn’t Isabella going to make you pay for this?”
The Training Facility that Kwon O-jin and Ha-eun were currently using was created by renovating a building Isabella had gifted to him.
Since it was given as a gift, the ownership belonged to Kwon O-jin, but Isabella had paid over ninety percent of the actual costs, so there was nothing to say if she demanded compensation.
“…If I apologize sincerely, wouldn’t she forgive me?”
“Given her personality, I think she’ll demand you pay with your body.”
“Well, then there’s no helping it….”
Work hard to— wait, what am I saying.
“Anyway, let’s head home for dinner.”
“Yeah.”
I followed Ha-eun back home.
When I told Isabella, who was preparing dinner, about destroying the Training Facility.
“Oh my, then how about we have you pay the repair costs with your body, Kwon O-jin?”
Isabella’s eyes sparkled as though it were the most wonderful idea.
Ha-eun let out a deep sigh and turned to look at Kwon O-jin.
“See? I told you so, didn’t I?”
“….”
Under Isabella’s sticky gaze, Kwon O-jin swallowed hard.
[If you don’t have a suitable place to train, why not come to my Divine Temple?]
Vega, perched atop my head, snapped her fingers with a suggestion.
I shook my head with a troubled expression.
“Even so, using Heukcheon within the Sanctuary feels… inappropriate.”
For me, who had recently been training primarily with techniques that blended the stigmas of Heukcheon and Lyra Constellation, this was a proposal I couldn’t easily accept.
“Ugh. When I was in the Demon Realm, I could freely smash things to pieces, and it felt great.”
As I grew stronger, the training room built within the narrow confines of the building made it difficult to focus properly on my practice.
“Don’t worry. We’re already preparing a facility in Sangam where you can train to your heart’s content.”
“In Sangam?”
“They said it’s a place that used to be a stadium.”
….
Surely not.
Were they talking about Seoul World Cup Stadium?
‘Are they seriously turning that into my personal training facility?’
Since the First Rift opened, the sports market had completely collapsed, leaving it essentially vacant—but wasn’t the scale far too enormous?
“…Just how much money do you have?”
Even I, who had gained worldwide renown after returning from the Demon Realm, couldn’t fathom such wealth.
Then again.
Even if a top star achieved global recognition, they couldn’t match the financial power of a businessman running a major corporation—thinking of it that way, I could understand why Isabella had so much money.
“It’s all for you, Kwon O-jin.”
Watching Isabella wrap her arms around herself and whisper in a voice that seemed to melt away, I felt concern that she might be overextending herself.
“Ah, but it looks like the construction will take about three more days to complete.”
“Is that so?”
Since I had destroyed the training room I originally used this time, I was thinking I’d have to go to a nearby mountain to practice on my own in the meantime.
“Then let’s take a vacation until the construction is done—a vacation!”
Ha-eun’s eyes sparkled as she made the suggestion.
“A vacation?”
“Yeah. We came back from the Demon Realm and haven’t properly rested since, right?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
With the Heavenly Demon’s movements unpredictable, I couldn’t exactly enjoy a carefree vacation…
“There!”
Ha-eun grabbed both my cheeks and stretched them out.
“Mmmmmph.”
“You need to rest too, you punk. Your face is half-gone, and you’re always cooped up in the training room. What happens if burnout hits and the Heavenly Demon comes charging in?”
….
She had a point.
Since returning to Earth, I hadn’t taken a single proper break.
[Wouldn’t it be good to rest thoroughly at least until the construction is finished?]
With even Vega chiming in, I had no grounds to refuse.
“Fine, fine. Where should we go for this vacation?”
“Oh, about that…”
Ha-eun cast a sidelong glance toward Isabella.
Isabella smiled sweetly and gently stroked the back of my neck.
“We’ve discussed it among ourselves, and it seems…”
Her voice took on an ominous tone.
“This would be a good opportunity to share.”
Share? Share what?
What could possibly be shared?
“Kwon O-jin!”
…Me?

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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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