Not A Regressor - Chapter 5

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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 5
The Mark of Lyra (2)
[Why do you look like that?]
Vega tilted her head curiously as she observed Kwon O-jin, whose expression had suddenly hardened.
A mysterious voice resonated directly within his mind.
My scattered thoughts began to coalesce once more.
‘Damn it.’
Gulp.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry.
I desperately suppressed the trembling at my fingertips.
‘Think.’
How could I possibly resolve this insane situation?
‘Should I tell her I lied because I was afraid of dying?’
For a moment, I considered abandoning all pretense and confessing the truth to her.
But the deliberation was brief.
Kwon O-jin bit his lip and clenched his fists.
‘No.’
The milk was already spilled.
Regardless of the reason, the fact that I had lied to the Constellation remained unchanged.
A mere human had dared to mock a god.
‘…I have to deceive her.’
I couldn’t undo what I had already done.
I wasn’t a regressor like Lee Shin-hyuk.
‘Once I’ve started, I must see it through to the end.’
Kwon O-jin’s eyes gleamed with sharp resolve.
That was the nature of lies.
You could choose not to tell them at all, but you couldn’t tell just one.
Once committed to deception, I had to deceive perfectly.
Just as the Awakened Ones who fell for my schemes never even realized they’d been fooled.
‘Then.’
I organized my thoughts.
I devised a method and formulated a strategy.
It wasn’t difficult.
It was something I had done as naturally as breathing for the past eight years—indeed, my entire life.
[Hmm?]
Looking up at the goddess whose gaze was filled with questions━
“I missed you, Vega.”
I spoke with a trembling voice.
Drip.
A transparent tear rolled down my cheek.
[What did you say?]
I watched Vega’s eyes widen in shock.
One step, then another.
I moved toward her.
“I thought I would never see you again.”
A sharp sound cut through the air.
I grabbed Vega’s wrist and pulled.
Of course, she didn’t actually move.
There was no way a transcendent being like a Constellation could be physically dragged by a fledgling who had just awakened.
‘It doesn’t matter.’
The point wasn’t to actually pull her anyway.
“Ugh… uuuugh!!”
Crouched before her, I sobbed like a beast.
“Thank goodness. Really… thank goodness… ugh!!”
[What… what are you doing?]
The goddess, who had seemed as cold and emotionless as ice, stumbled backward in confusion.
I could see clear turmoil spreading through her golden eyes that shimmered like starlight.
‘Good.’
I had successfully thrown her off balance.
‘Now the real work begins.’
When running a con, throwing your mark into confusion was absolutely crucial.
People don’t naturally fall for lies easily.
But someone caught off guard, even momentarily, crumbles far more easily than you’d expect.
That’s why voice scammers lead with shocking statements like “we’ve kidnapped your child.”
‘Whether Constellations work the same way as humans, I’m not sure.’
But I didn’t have time to leisurely test that theory.
“Vega! It’s me, it’s me! O-jin, I mean…”
I let out a short gasp and shook my head with hollow eyes.
“Right… you’ve lost all your memories of me now….”
I trailed off with a bitter smile.
[What kind of relationship did you and I have in the future?]
Vega asked, her voice still tinged with bewilderment.
“….”
I kept my mouth firmly shut and shook my head slowly.
“No, I’m sorry. It’s nothing… Yes. Nothing at all. Please forget what I just said.”
I stepped back with an expression that screamed it was anything but nothing.
[It’s not nothing. Tell me. What exactly happened between you and I?]
“Later.”
I cut off the goddess’s words with a bitter smile.
“I’ll tell you… later.”
I shook my head with a melancholic smile.
The crucial point here was to craft an expression that suggested “there’s some tragic backstory.”
Careful eye contact, eyebrows trembling ever so slightly.
Biting my lower lip with my tongue, even scratching my palm with my fingernails for effect.
‘They won’t be able to see through this.’
I had confidence in one thing above all else—crafting expressions and atmosphere with meticulous precision.
[…I understand. There does seem to be some circumstances at play. I thought I would never see you again, and… I see. You are, after all, destined to fade away.]
Vega nodded with a remarkably composed expression.
‘After all, you say?’
At her response—so calm it bordered on austere—Kwon O-jin’s eyes narrowed slightly.
I had thrown out some plausible-sounding words to make her believe I was truly a “regressor,” but judging by her reaction, she seemed to know something.
‘Is there even an existence capable of destroying a highest-tier Constellation?’
Even as I recalled the fearsome monsters notorious among Awakened Ones, I couldn’t quite imagine it.
It was only natural.
After all, the reason the Constellations hadn’t killed the monsters currently occupying roughly a third of Earth wasn’t because they were weak, but because they were bound by constraints that prevented them from directly slaying them.
‘Well, regardless.’
Since she was playing along on her own, there was no harm in it.
“…You knew about this?”
I feigned surprise, widening my eyes dramatically.
The goddess nodded with a dark expression.
[Yes, I knew. I… no, all Constellations are destined to be consumed by the darkness of the Black Heaven.]
“Indeed. All consumed by the Black Heaven….”
Huh?
Black Heaven?
‘Black Heaven… isn’t that the thing from before?’
At the moment of absolute desperation.
The power through which I had awakened.
The black storm cloud that had absorbed the stigma Lee Shin-hyuk possessed.
‘Why is that coming up now?’
A chill spread down my spine.
An ominous premonition brushed past my mind.
‘She mentioned something about apocalypse before.’
When Vega first appeared, she had called me “the sole savior of a world whose apocalypse is predetermined.”
Apocalypse.
Yes, Earth was a “world whose apocalypse is predetermined.”
Whether it was prophecy or prediction, I couldn’t say.
But Vega had known from the beginning that Earth would face an apocalyptic crisis in the future.
‘And that’s why Lee Shin-hyuk came back.’
Up to that point, it didn’t matter.
The problem was.
‘━Me? The very existence that brings about this apocalypse?’
Ha.
The absurdity was so staggering that even a hollow laugh refused to escape my lips.
‘What kind of insane nonsense is that?’
Regardless of whether I possessed the power to destroy the world, there was no reason for me to do so in the first place.
‘Damn it.’
My mind felt as though it were burning white-hot, consumed by a searing sensation.
If I could, I would have shoved my fist into my mouth and wept uncontrollably.
[You’re spacing out again.]
Vega opened her mouth with evident concern.
Like cold water dashed across my face, my confused mind snapped back to clarity.
‘This isn’t good.’
If I continued to display such peculiar behavior, she would begin to harbor suspicions.
I had to prevent that at all costs.
“I was just… remembering something from that time.”
Kwon O-jin spoke in a low, subdued voice.
[From that time?]
“The memory of when this Earth perished.”
[….]
Vega pressed her lips together firmly and fell silent.
“The sky was… stained with a deep darkness. So many people died—countless souls beyond reckoning.”
[…Is that so?]
I don’t really know.
I’m just making it up as I go.
“But I have returned.”
Taking another step forward.
“I have been given the chance to change the future.”
I approached Vega and gently grasped her hand.
Her hand was soft—so delicate that it was hard to believe she was a divine being.
[No, release me.]
“I won’t let go.”
I shook my head firmly and tightened my grip on her hand.
“Never again will I lose you.”
[….]
“This time, I will protect you.”
[Regressor….]
“Kwon O-jin. That is my name.”
[…I have no memory of you.]
“I know.”
Because I don’t have any either.
“Memories can be remade. What is lost can be recovered.”
I released my clenched fist and offered a faint smile.
“So that it becomes possible.”
Now that I had decided to deceive her, I would not be satisfied with merely pulling the wool over her eyes.
No, I could not afford to be satisfied.
‘I need power.’
To become a regressor, to prove that I alone was the ‘sole savior’—power was absolutely necessary.
It was essential.
And for that,
“━Could you lend me your strength?”
I would use anything.
Even if it meant exploiting a supreme being before whom the Constellations themselves bowed their heads.
[….]
Vega closed her eyes slowly, then gradually nodded.
[A regressor… no, Awakened One Kwon O-jin.]
She continued with a solemn expression.
[Star of Heavenly Reversal that defies the ordained fate.]
The goddess slowly extended her hand.
[I shall illuminate your arduous path ahead with my starlight.]
Her pale fingertips touched my forehead.
-Ding!
[Vega, the Weaver Star, wishes to appoint you as her apostle.]
[Do you accept?]
Feeling the cool sensation at my forehead, I slowly nodded.
-Whoooooosh!!!
Brilliant radiance bloomed forth.
I felt silver light streaming from her hand surge into my body like a tidal wave.
And then.
[Black Heaven absorbs the stigma’s magical power.]
[Some conditions necessary for Black Heaven’s second awakening have been fulfilled!]
A blue message materialized before my eyes.
Power far greater than when I first awakened surged through my entire being.
“Thank you, Vega.”
I pushed the message window aside and gently grasped the hand still touching my forehead.
“I swear here and now.”
I spoke softly.
“That I will protect you━so that you are not consumed by the darkness of Black Heaven.”
A vow filled with unwavering resolve.
My eyes, burning with fervent determination, gazed upon the goddess.
[Truly, a trustworthy oath.]
Vega smiled quietly and nodded.
[By the way… who was that person?]
Her gaze turned toward the corpse of Lee Shin-hyuk, charred black from head to toe.
“That person was a charlatan who deceived me in the past—or rather, who will deceive me. He’s the one who forced me into this Gate.”
Kwon O-jin answered without hesitation, as if he had been waiting for the question.
‘It’s strange that she didn’t ask, with a burned corpse right beside us.’
Since this was something I had anticipated, there was no need to deliberate.
[A charlatan?]
“Yes. Haha… I suffered quite a bit because of him back then. He stripped me of all my money and equipment.”
[So you took revenge the moment you regressed?]
“That’s not the only reason.”
I shook my head with a serious expression.
“That person will become a member of a criminal organization composed of Awakened Ones several years from now, turning into an evil existence that plunders the innocent.”
[I see.]
Vega nodded along with a short exclamation.
[Eliminating future evil in advance… truly, that is behavior befitting a regressor.]
She seemed to have no intention of pressing further, and her gaze moved away from Lee Shin-hyuk.
—Crackle!
[Hm.]
At that moment, blue sparks erupted from her body as she hovered, briefly surveying her surroundings.
[I would like to speak more, but it seems the constraints of the Law are beginning to take effect.]
“The constraints of the Law…?”
[Did I not bestow a blessing upon you earlier? Though indirect, it was clearly a violation of the Law.]
“Ah, I see.”
Fundamentally, the Constellation are bound by the Law and cannot directly intervene in the mortal realm.
‘But I cannot let my guard down.’
Just as she had blessed me, the Constellation can intervene in the mortal realm to a certain extent by merely accepting ‘constraints.’
There have even been instances where the Constellation directly intervened when calamitous beasts appeared that Awakened Ones could not possibly contend with.
In other words—
‘If they so desired, they could easily kill a charlatan who dared to mock a god.’
The Law is no shield.
The moment my identity as a non-regressor is exposed, the constraints of the Law mean nothing—I will be crushed in the hands of an enraged Constellation.
‘If only I alone were to perish, that would be acceptable.’
Perhaps.
By some one-in-a-million chance.
If the aftermath were to reach those around me.
‘I cannot allow it.’
That, above all else, I must prevent.
[In truth, merely being present in this physical form violates the Law… so I shall return to the Star Palace now.]
The Star Palace.
The Constellation typically accessed the dimension where they dwelled through entrances scattered across Earth like Gates.
Of course, since only Awakened Ones were permitted entry, I had never visited such a place before.
[Return to the Star Palace in one week to find me. We shall discuss our plans further then.]
“Yes, I understand.”
I bowed respectfully.
-Whoooosh!
With a low hum, the goddess’s form scattered into silver particles of light.
“…Phew.”
Left alone, Kwon O-jin sank to the ground with a deep sigh.
‘Damn it.’
What in the world had just happened?
“…I should head home.”
So many things had erupted in quick succession that my head throbbed.
‘Still.’
I pulled my shirt aside and gazed down at my left chest.
There, unmistakably etched, was not the fake stigma I had carved with a blade, but a genuine stigma.
Moreover, it was the stigma of a Constellation—one of the North Pole stars themselves.
Grin.
As I stared at the stigma, my lips curled upward of their own accord.
“This isn’t entirely bad.”
No, this was actually a tremendous opportunity.
If I wielded this chance wisely, I could seize power that other Awakened Ones could scarcely imagine.
‘Though there are still many mountains to climb.’
Thinking of the regression and the Black Heaven, my head began to throb again.
‘I’ll think about it at home.’
Sitting here and worrying wouldn’t solve anything immediately.
“Well then.”
Before leaving the Gate, there was one last thing I needed to do.
“Let’s see how much our regressor friend was carrying.”
I searched the charred corpse of Lee Shin-hyuk.
The leather armor he’d worn was burned and ruined, but fortunately his wallet remained intact.
“Wow, this bastard was carrying two million won in cash?”
At the sight of thick stacks of bills inside the wallet, Kwon O-jin licked his lips and let out a gleeful chuckle.
Since the Gates opened and the entire Earth descended into chaos, people had begun carrying larger amounts of cash more frequently, but two million won was still unusual.
“The weapons will be useful too.”
After cleanly collecting everything of value from Lee Shin-hyuk’s corpse, Kwon O-jin stood up with a grin.
“Huh?”
Then something strange caught my eye.
I examined the charred face of Lee Shin-hyuk more closely.
“What’s this? This bastard’s smiling?”
Are you having a pleasant dream?

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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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