Not A Regressor - Chapter 4

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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 4
The Stigma of Lyra (1)
[So, you truly were the ‘Star Against Heaven.’]
The Silver-haired Goddess nodded slightly, as if she had anticipated this.
“Yes, that is correct.”
I answered in a measured tone.
Of course.
‘This is insane.’
Despite my composed expression, my heart was pounding violently.
‘I actually pulled it off.’
They were gods born from the constellations.
Not quite the ‘omnipotent singular deity’ spoken of in Christianity, but nonetheless transcendent beings possessed of power and authority that mere humans could never aspire to.
And now I,
‘had deceived a god.’
[I would dearly love to speak with you at length about the future you experienced….]
The goddess surveyed her surroundings with narrowed eyes.
-Grrrrr.
A savage growl.
The Anthorns were glaring at her with wary, hostile gazes.
[These trivial creatures dare interfere.]
With a brief sigh, the goddess fixed her gaze upon me.
‘She wants me to handle them.’
Her eyes gleamed with curiosity—she wanted to see firsthand just how powerful this ‘regressor’ truly was.
‘Damn it.’
There was no way to back down from this.
“I will handle them.”
[Hehehehe. Indeed, I am most curious to see the extent of the Star Against Heaven’s power.]
“Right now….”
[Ah, I understand. Though you have returned from the future, your body remains that of this present world. Do not burden yourself—simply fight.]
Damn it all.
That was precisely what weighed most heavily on me.
“Hah.”
I exhaled deeply and rose to my feet.
Without even activating the miniature LED concealed beneath my clothes, a soft radiance emanated from my left chest.
-Power surging forth.
My body felt light, as though I had set down a burden I had been carrying on my back.
‘This is the body of an Awakened One.’
Though I possessed merely a single star, the difference was unmistakable.
A realm utterly beyond the reach of ordinary training.
The body of a superhuman transcending the limits of humanity.
‘But.’
Lee Shin-hyuk possessed such a body, yet he had fled from the monsters in shameful desperation.
I wasn’t blaming him for it.
‘It simply meant the monsters were that strong.’
Could someone who had just awakened—literally awakened mere minutes ago—fight against dozens of Anthons?
‘This isn’t the time to worry about such things.’
Even if I were to cling to the goddess’s hem here and beg for my life, she couldn’t directly sweep away the monsters herself.
‘The Constellations are bound by some law or another, making direct intervention in the mortal realm impossible, or so she said.’
That was why they granted Awakeners stigmas and had them fight the monsters.
‘Then.’
There was no choice but to fight directly myself.
-Clang.
I picked up the spear that had fallen to the ground.
The spear Lee Shin-hyuk had been using.
I pointed the spearhead, which emanated a bluish light, toward the Anthons.
“Krrrrgh!!”
The moment I leveled the weapon, the Anthons shrieked ferociously.
Two Anthons rushed at me with incredible speed.
“Hup!”
I lowered my stance and thrust the spear forward with a snapping motion.
Crack!
The Anthon’s carapace—which bullets couldn’t pierce—shattered effortlessly, and green blood sprayed into the air.
“Krrgh!”
The other Anthon that had charged from the opposite side seized the opening and pressed forward.
I withdrew my body backward with fluid grace, then drove the shaft upward into the creature’s jaw.
Spin.
I twirled the two-meter spear lightly in a full rotation and pierced the Anthon’s abdomen with the blade.
[Ho, excellent.]
The goddess let out a brief exclamation at my economical movements.
‘…What?’
I was the one who felt bewildered instead.
‘This shouldn’t be this easy.’
My body moved naturally, as though I had wielded a spear for countless years.
No matter how easy a spear was to handle as a weapon, it was certainly strange for one I was holding for the first time to feel this ‘familiar.’
-Ding!
[Through the Black Heaven, I read the ‘records’ contained in the Lyra stigma.]
[The Black Heaven’s awakening stage is low. Readable records are limited.]
[I inherit some records of Awakener Lee Shin-hyuk.]
[《Compass Spear Technique Lv4》skill acquired.]
A message window appeared, answering my confusion.
And then,
“Ugh!”
A sharp throb.
A pain like a red-hot iron skewer being driven into my skull.
My vision inverted with a dizzying jolt.
-Haa, haa!
An unfamiliar landscape unfolded within my mind.
In an empty field where no one else stood, I saw Lee Shin-hyuk thrusting a spear endlessly.
-Ugh!
He staggered as though he might collapse at any moment, yet he did not stop thrusting the spear.
-If I stop here… I’ll never catch up to Woo-hyuk for the rest of my life.
Lee Shin-hyuk bit his lips roughly and continued thrusting the spear.
Again and again, again and again.
He drove himself to the absolute limit.
‘…What is this?’
My inverted vision gradually returned to normal.
‘Lee Shin-hyuk’s… memories?’
Even if they were memories, they were not from the past.
‘There’s a wound I never saw before.’
On Lee Shin-hyuk’s right cheek, desperately practicing with the spear, was a vivid scar that ran from his cheekbone to his jaw.
A scar that was not present on the Lee Shin-hyuk I had met hours ago.
‘Then it must be.’
Memories from the future.
More precisely, Lee Shin-hyuk’s memories from the “first cycle”—when he did not die so pathetically in this place—were flowing into me.
No.
It was not merely memories that flowed in.
“Grrrraaagh!!”
“Kaaaaaa!!”
The Anthrones surrounding me rushed in all at once.
“Hngh!”
I kicked off the ground and charged toward the Anthrones tightening their encirclement.
Crack!!
An Anthrone’s head shattered under the explosive thrust of my spear.
“Graaaah!”
Another Anthrone charged from the right.
An “Elder”—far larger in build than the other Anthrones.
In the past, I would not have been able to follow its movements with my eyes—
“You’re slow, you bastard!”
But now it was different.
Boom!
I pushed off the ground with my spear, launching my body into the air.
My body exploded upward as if performing a pole vault.
Whirl.
I spun mid-air and repositioned my grip on the spear.
I drove the blade down precisely onto the head of the Elder Anthrone that had lost sight of its target and panicked!
-Crack!!
“That’s it!”
A thrilling sensation coursed down my spine, spreading throughout my entire body.
‘I can do this!’
Explosive power surged through me.
The movements of the Anthromes rushing at me from all directions became vividly etched onto my retinas one by one.
‘Slowly, don’t get excited.’
I steadied my breathing and pushed off with my feet, creating distance between myself and the Anthromes.
The fact that I had inherited Lee Shin-hyuk’s skills didn’t change the reality that I was still only a 1-star Awakener.
A moment of carelessness meant death.
Crack! Crunch!
I swung my spear methodically, reducing the number of Anthromes.
‘But were 1-star Awakeners originally this strong?’
Even while simultaneously facing dozens of Anthromes, I felt no fatigue whatsoever.
Considering how Lee Shin-hyuk had struggled against groups of 3 to 4 Anthromes, this was incomprehensible.
‘The ones I saw weren’t like this.’
Normally, when just two Anthromes rushed at a 1-star Awakener at once, they’d panic like baboons whose nest had caught fire.
‘…But why.’
Why.
Did it feel this ‘easy’?
[Hmm….]
The Silver-haired Goddess watched him as he fiercely carved through the Anthromes, her eyes narrowing slightly.
[Are you putting on some sort of show for my amusement?]
A show?
This is a show?
What nonsense are you spouting now?
[If that’s not the case, then why aren’t you using your ‘Stigma’?]
What?
“….”
Oh Jin’s gaze naturally shifted to his left chest.
On his left chest, not the fake stigma he had carved with a blade, but the ‘Lyra Stigma’ was emitting a soft, ethereal glow.
That’s right.
It was simply emitting a soft glow.
If I actually used the real stigma, far more brilliant and radiant light would pour forth.
‘What, so up until now….’
He was facing dozens of Anthons without even using his stigma?
[Ah, I see. No matter that you are a regressor, you cannot freely use a stigma you have only just acquired.]
The goddess, who had been pondering something to herself, nodded in understanding.
[For you, it must be the same as entering the body of a child who has only just begun to take their first steps.]
The goddess was merely making assumptions on her own, but hearing it put that way, it actually made sense.
Since she was willingly deceiving herself over there, I couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity.
I nodded quickly and answered.
“Yes, that’s correct. Right now, this body of mine is… no different from that of a newborn infant.”
Waa.
Me baby Oh Jin.
[Then, it shall be my role to help that child take their first steps.]
…Your Majesty?
[I shall help you freely use my stigma.]
As the goddess slowly raised her hand, a shimmering silver light seeped into my body.
-Ding!
[Vega bestows upon you the blessing of the stars.]
[The proficiency of the ‘Lyra Stigma’ temporarily increases!]
Vega.
So that was her name.
‘Huh?’
But where have I heard that name before…?
-Crackle!!
“Ugh!”
Before I could continue my thoughts, blue lightning erupted across my entire body.
A brilliant blue radiance exploded outward from the stigma on my left chest.
“Gaaahhhhh!”
“Screech, shrieeeek!!”
The Anthons, which had momentarily hesitated, charged forward once more.
This time, they had even formed a formation centered around three Elders.
“Huff.”
I drew in a sharp breath and lowered my stance.
Crackle, crackle!!
I concentrated the blue lightning enveloping my entire body at the tip of my spear.
Snapping my bent waist forward like a spring, I thrust the spear wreathed in blue lightning forward with raw force.
‘Let’s see then.’
Just how formidable is the power of the Lyra Stigma?
[《Azure Thunder Lv1》 is activated.]
-Kwa
Ja
Ja
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
Snap.
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
“…!!”
A tempest of lightning swept across the surroundings.
The storm of electricity radiating from the spear’s tip engulfed the Anthorns rushing from all directions, reducing their bodies to ash.
‘What… what is this?’
A single strike.
With just one attack, over a dozen Anthorns crumbled to ash and collapsed.
“Kuh, kuhkk!”
“Karuk!”
Only the Elder Anthorns managed to survive within the lightning tempest.
Even then, one of the three took a direct hit from the lightning and died instantly.
“Krurruk! Keheng!!”
“Karalak!!”
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Realizing they were utterly outmatched, the Anthorns instinctively turned and began fleeing in unison.
“…Hah.”
Oh Jin stared blankly at the retreating forms of the Anthorns, his expression hollow with disbelief.
‘This is insane.’
What is this?
This is not something a mere 1-star Awakener could accomplish.
Only a 2-star, or at minimum a 3-star Awakener could even come close to replicating this level of power.
‘What exactly… is the Lyra Stigma?’
It was a constellation name I had never heard of before.
[Heheheh. Indeed, you learn quickly for a regressor.]
Vega smiled with satisfaction as she gazed down at the scorched earth ravaged by lightning.
Oh Jin’s gaze turned toward her.
A breathtakingly beautiful goddess with silver hair cascading down to her waist.
‘Vega.’
I etched the goddess’s name, confirmed through the system window, into my mind once more.
‘Hmm… wait, Vega?’
Then, from the drawer of faded memories, her name suddenly flashed into my mind.
‘Ve… ga?’
Vega?
Vega, you say?
‘No way.’
Oh Jin’s mouth fell open in shock.
“The Weaver Star…?”
[Hmm? You called for me?]
Golden eyes that sparkled like jewels turned toward him.
-A chill.
A sharp sensation raced down his spine, spreading throughout his entire body.
His mouth fell open.
His mouth fell open.
“This is insane….”
Dozens, hundreds of Constellations.
Even among those transcendent beings, power varied—some Constellations were weak, others formidable.
And naturally, the ‘rank’ of such Constellations determined the rank of their Awakeners as well.
The most prominent example: the Zodiac Twelve Palaces’ Constellations.
Merely receiving their stigma granted power incomparable to other Awakeners.
-But even among them.
There existed supreme beings that even the Zodiac Twelve Palaces’ Constellations dared not approach.
Three stars called the ‘North Pole’.
Polaris, Deneb, Vega.
One of the highest-ranking Constellations, possessing a ‘rank’ so distant that other Constellations couldn’t even lift their heads—that was the true identity of the goddess standing before me.
‘Wait… what? Then I’m currently….’
Now I finally understood why I, with only a single star, could effortlessly sweep away dozens of Anthorns.
And one more thing.
‘Was I scamming a highest-ranking Constellation?’
I realized what absurd thing I had done.
‘Damn it.’
I was finished.

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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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