Not A Regressor - Chapter 357

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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 357
Interlude – Three-Way Vacation (3)
“Um… are you… are you alright?”
Isabella’s rampage brought on by bloodlust finally subsided around 3 PM.
Her eight-hour frenzy, which had begun at 7 AM, had barely come to an end.
“….”
I looked like dried squid left out in the sea breeze, withered and twisted.
I stared blankly at the ceiling, my hollow eyes recalling the past eight hours.
‘She wasn’t human.’
A starving beast—or rather, a blood-crazed vampire would be the apt description.
The sight of Isabella, her eyes stained crimson, gazing at me with the greedy hunger of a demon from hell, was enough to send shivers down my spine just remembering it.
‘I nearly died.’
This was nothing like lovers tenderly confirming their affection for each other.
It was like a beast savagely devouring its trapped prey.
Despite possessing the superhuman physique of a high-level Awakened User, my entire body ached as though it had been pounded by hammers—a testament to how intense the ordeal had been.
“…I’ll need to buy a new bed.”
“I’m so sorry! I’ll order one right away!”
As I muttered like a patient waiting for the last leaf to fall while staring at the devastated bed, Isabella jolted up and rushed out of the room in a flurry.
I watched her retreating figure and let out a deep sigh.
‘Doing this every day is definitely out of the question.’
Beyond the time involved, the drain on my stamina and mental fortitude was simply too much.
Even if we did it again, it would be better to wait until my body had fully recovered.
“I’ve finished ordering, Kwon O-jin….”
When I stepped out, Isabella stood with her head bowed, smartphone in hand, her expression visibly withdrawn.
She continued in a voice barely above a whisper.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect my impulses to be this intense….”
“No, it’s fine. I was the one who suggested it anyway.”
“Are you sure you’re alright?”
“Yeah, I feel better after resting.”
Though my legs were still trembling, truth be told.
I couldn’t show her my exhaustion when she was looking at me with such concern in her eyes.
“Sigh… I’ve ruined your vacation.”
Isabella sighed deeply, lost in self-recrimination.
“It’s only 3 PM. We can still go out now.”
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“I’m fine, really.”
I chuckled softly and placed a light hand on Isabella’s shoulder.
“Is there anywhere you’d like to go?”
“Oh, wait—I actually looked up a place beforehand.”
Isabella’s eyes sparkled as she checked her smartphone screen and spoke.
“Namsan Seoul Tower! I’ve been wanting to go there!”
“Seoul Tower?”
It was certainly counted among the popular dating spots, but it was far more ordinary than I had anticipated.
“Yes! Let’s go shopping and eat something delicious!”
“You’d be satisfied with that?”
The thought crossed my mind that it was too mundane a dating course for a noblewoman like Isabella to enjoy.
Well, by that logic, the amusement park we visited before wasn’t exactly a place befitting a noblewoman either.
“Yes, I really want to go.”
Isabella gently linked her arm through mine and smiled brightly.
In truth, it didn’t matter if it wasn’t Seoul Tower.
I simply wanted to stroll through the streets with her and spend an ordinary day like any other couple.
‘Such opportunities don’t come often.’
She was the head of the Colgrand Family, which owned dozens of world-leading enterprises, and an Awakened User aspiring toward 11-star rank.
‘In a life that inevitably distances itself from “ordinary,” the vacation I spent with her was more precious than any treasure.’
‘And I’d already wasted half of it.’
Belated regret washed over me, but there was no way to turn back time that had already passed.
At the thought of enjoying an affectionate date with her from this moment onward, Isabella’s lips curved upward with anticipation.
“Alright then, let’s head to Namsan.”
“Should I call Roberto?”
“No, I’ll drive.”
Though I rarely had the chance to drive recently, a luxury foreign car that I’d extracted from the Association for free still rested in the underground parking lot.
“Hehe. I suddenly thought of Poppy.”
Poppy, who had provided considerable help in the Demon Realm with a smooth ride that rivaled any foreign car and tireless steel-like stamina.
“I hope she’s doing well.”
Before returning to Earth, I had left Poppy behind in the Kan Kingdom.
After all, I couldn’t raise a demonic beast several meters in size on Earth.
Setting aside my longing for Poppy, I retrieved the car keys I hadn’t touched in a long time.
“Shall we go?”
“Yes!”
Isabella smiled brightly and rested her head on my shoulder as she linked her arm through mine.

* * *
It wasn’t long before we arrived at Namsan Seoul Tower.
“Ah, wait a moment.”
Before getting out of the car, I used Illusion to obscure both Isabella’s face and my own.
“This way, we won’t need to wear sunglasses or masks separately.”
“Hmm. Is my face really hidden?”
Even when Isabella pulled out a hand mirror to check, there was no difference from her usual appearance.
“It only looks different to other people’s eyes.”
“Oh my, how convenient.”
A smile bloomed across Isabella’s lips at the realization that she could stay close to me without worrying about the gazes of those around us.
Rather than heading straight into the tower, Isabella first made her way to a nearby department store.
“Let’s buy you some clothes first.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to just order cheap ones online?”
To me, clothes were nothing more than consumables.
Since I trained so intensely on a regular basis, my clothes would fall apart after just a few wears, so I simply ordered them in bulk and discarded them after reasonable use.
“That won’t do. You’ve become a global hero now, so you need to dress with proper decorum.”
Isabella spoke with an intentionally stern expression.
The sight of her resembled a devoted wife looking after her careless husband, and I couldn’t help but let out a quiet chuckle.
“Fine. Then I’ll leave the styling to you, Bella.”
“Hehe. Just trust me.”
Having been immersed in high society culture since childhood, she knew better than anyone which brands could provide the dignity and refinement befitting my background.
“Come this way, Kwon O-jin.”
Isabella grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the luxury section of the department store.
‘What on earth are these prices…’
The clothing was so expensive that I half-suspected someone had accidentally added an extra zero to the price tags.
Though I’d now reached a point where I could buy such clothes by the truckload, the habits ingrained in my body still caused a cellular-level rejection response.
“This shirt would look perfect on you. Oh, and this coat too. My goodness, my goodness. Come over here, Kwon O-jin!”
Isabella dragged me around with an expression of unbridled excitement.
She began grabbing luxury items—each piece worth a fortune—as if she were sweeping clothes off the shelves of a closing-down sale.
“No, wait, calm down…”
“Oh no, what should I do, Kwon O-jin?! Everything looks so good on you, I can’t choose just one!”
Whatever I tried on looked too perfect for her to select just a single piece.
While Isabella certainly had her rose-tinted glasses on, the truth was that my physique was so impeccable that even professional models would pale in comparison.
A body perfected through extreme training and consistent discipline.
Coupled with a height slightly above average—not towering, but respectable—and a face that carried a subtle hint of decadence.
With such a perfect frame, it was actually harder to find clothes that didn’t suit me than to find ones that did, whether casual or formal.
“I’ll take them all!”
Hmph!
Isabella pulled out a black card from her wallet with an excited snort.
The staff approached with the measured movements of courtiers greeting royalty, responding to her extravagant spending that had essentially cleared out the luxury section.
“Please send all the clothes to my house later.”
“Yes!”
Isabella turned away from the employee, who answered with the vigor of someone about to salute.
Humming a little tune, seemingly delighted at the prospect of dressing her in clothes suited to her tastes later, Isabella returned to me.
“The shopping ended faster than I expected~♬”
“…Yeah. When you buy everything, there’s nothing left to deliberate over.”
I had been about to make a comment on Isabella’s spending, which defied all common sense, but then I was reminded once again that her wealth exceeded trillions of won, and I quietly turned away.
‘I remember someone saying Bill Gates was frugal when he spent 5.5 billion won on vacation.’
From Isabella’s perspective, sweeping up clothes from the luxury section of a department store was an extremely frugal(?) way to spend money.
“Shopping wrapped up early anyway—want to stop by a nearby cafe for a bit?”
“Yes! I’d love to!”
I found a cafe inside the department store and went in with Isabella.
“What kind of coffee do you want?”
“The same as you, Kwon O-jin.”
“Got it.”
I stood at the counter and scanned the menu.
True to its reputation as a famous brand, the cafe was packed with all sorts of coffee varieties.
‘Coffee should be iced americano, of course.’
What Korean wouldn’t choose an iced americano?
Of course, Isabella wasn’t Korean—she was Italian.
‘Well, it shouldn’t matter.’
Coffee is coffee, after all.
“Two iced americanos~”
Since there was no one waiting, I quickly brought the coffee over to Isabella.
“…What is this, Kwon O-jin?”
Isabella’s expression hardened as she looked at the iced americano on the tray.
“Huh? It’s an iced americano.”
“My goodness.”
Isabella smiled sweetly and turned to look at me.
For some reason.
I could sense something chilling—even murderous intent—emanating from that sweet smile.
“This isn’t coffee—it’s water.”
Iced americano is water?
…Since when?
“Heh. You Koreans really go too far. Selling something like this under the name of coffee so brazenly.”
Isabella, who had been staring at the coffee cup as if looking at a glass of sewer water, turned to me and continued.
“Do you understand, Kwon O-jin? There are only two kinds of coffee—latte and espresso.”
“Uh, yeah. Sorry.”
Now that she mentioned it, I recalled seeing something about this on the internet before.
Most Italians drink coffee only as espresso or latte.
‘A few years living in South Korea doesn’t change the culture ingrained in one’s bones.’
Isabella had grown so accustomed to South Korea that she could now speak Korean fluently without relying on a translation device.
Yet she was undeniably not Korean—she was Italian, born and raised in Italy.
Different environments meant different cultures; there was no way around it.
“I’ll order something else for you.”
“No, it’s fine. Let me try it.”
Isabella inserted the straw into her mouth with the determination of someone ready to take on a challenge, and took a sip of the iced Americano.
“…Hmm.”
Watching her subtle frown of displeasure, an inexplicable anxiety washed over me.
It felt like making gambas for a girlfriend with a shrimp allergy.
I even felt guilty for choosing a menu that showed no consideration for the fact that she was Italian.
“Anyway, what do you want for dinner?”
“Oh, is there something you’d like to eat, Kwon O-jin?”
“I….”
I had to make up for this painful mistake, no matter what.
“Pizza. Yeah… I’m craving pizza.”
“Oh, how wonderful.”
Isabella broke into a bright smile at the mention of pizza.
For her, who usually insisted on Korean cuisine to match the tastes of Kwon O-jin and Ha-eun, Italian traditional food was a welcome sight after so long.
‘That’s it!’
I cheered inwardly, watching Isabella’s face light up.
“Let’s go quickly.”
“Hm? Already?”
“You didn’t even eat properly at lunch.”
Was it just lunch I’d missed?
I hadn’t even eaten breakfast, held captive by her the entire time.
“Ah… yes, that’s right.”
I took Isabella to a famous pizza chain restaurant nearby.
“Sit here. I’ll go place the order!”
“Yes, Kwon O-jin.”
I headed toward the counter with enthusiasm, determined to make up for my earlier blunder.
There were quite a few pizza varieties, but what caught my eye most was the menu labeled “Today’s Pick!”
“I’ll have this one.”
“That’s Hawaiian pizza, correct?”
“Yes.”
A pizza generously topped with appetizing pineapple.
After ordering meatball spaghetti as well, I walked back to the table where Isabella waited, smiling contentedly.
“…What is this, Kwon O-jin?”
Isabella’s expression hardened the moment she saw the pizza I’d brought.
“Huh? It’s pizza.”
“Yes. It’s pizza, but why does it have pineapple on it?”
“Well, it’s Hawaiian pizza, so…”
“Kwon O-jin.”
Isabella turned to face me, her eyes glacial and unforgiving.
Those eyes, frozen as cold as a permafrost tundra, sent a chill racing down my spine.
“Kneel.”
“…Pardon?”
Here?
“I said kneel.”
I didn’t know what I’d done.
Rather than salvaging my mistake, I’d somehow awakened the Blood Queen from her slumber and dragged her from her coffin.

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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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