Not A Regressor - Chapter 70

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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 70
Mind, Energy, Body (3)
“Uh, yeah.”
Riak glanced sideways and spoke in a mumble.
“…I’m sorry.”
“…”
“I didn’t expect it to come to this.”
Kwon O-jin, who had been crouched naked, glared at Riak with fierce, wide-open eyes.
He fumbled to his feet, pulled on his underwear and pants, then released a deep sigh.
“Sigh. So what’s the problem?”
“Look at your body.”
“My body?”
Kwon O-jin stood before the mirror and spread both arms wide.
Thanks to consistent training, sculpted muscles were etched into his frame.
“Oh, that’s it.”
Clap.
Ha-eun clapped her hands.
“What is?”
Kwon O-jin tilted his head, clearly confused.
“Look at yourself properly. You’re so gaunt you look like you’ll snap.”
“Nah, it’s not that bad…”
Kwon O-jin examined the mirror again.
“…”
“Right?”
Just as she said.
Though some muscle clung to his frame, his body was so emaciated that his ribs were starkly visible.
“Ah…”
He’d grown so accustomed to it that he never noticed.
But now that she pointed it out, he had to admit he really was quite thin.
“Ugh. I’ve been thinking you were way too skinny since before!”
Ha-eun scolded him, striking his back.
“Ow. So what am I supposed to do?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? You’re asking something obvious?”
Riak opened a drawer on one side of the room by biting it with his mouth.
Crash!
Cheap calorie bars crammed inside the drawer tumbled out in a cascade.
“First, throw all of these away.”
“But these are precious rations…”
“That’s why your body is so ruined—eating garbage like this!”
Riak shouted explosively, causing lightning to crackle around him.
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
Blue lightning scorched the calorie bar stacked high into charred ash.
“Ahhh!! What are you doing!!”
Kwon O-jin cried out in shock, cradling the bar that had turned to cinders.
“This is several days’ worth of food!!”
A super food that could sustain you eating just two a day!!!
“Sigh.”
Riak exhaled deeply.
He turned to me with a reproachful gaze.
“How did things come to this?”
“Well… um. That is to say…”
I averted my eyes, my expression troubled.
Since I was largely responsible for Kwon O-jin’s condition, it was difficult to reproach him.
“In any case.”
Riak spoke with a firm expression.
“From now on, eat high-protein meat together with various vegetables.”
“Huh? That’s all?”
Kwon O-jin asked back with a deflated expression.
I thought there was some grand problem with the balance of mind, energy, and body or whatever.
So it was just about eating well.
Wasn’t that too simple?
“It means you’ve been neglecting even that simple thing all this time.”
“Ugh.”
I had no excuse to offer.
Even after my finances became comfortable following the Dragon Eye I’d obtained for Vega, I rarely spent more than five thousand won a day on food.
‘My sister did scold me for eating so poorly.’
But this habit had become so ingrained that it wasn’t easily broken.
“The body is a vessel to contain ‘mind’ and ‘energy’. You obsess excessively over the other two, yet why do you neglect the most important vessel?”
“…I have no words to defend myself.”
This was entirely my fault.
As a living being.
Nothing affected the body more directly than imbalanced nutrient intake.
“Alright! Since it’s come to this, let’s eat until our bellies burst today!”
Vega exclaimed with sparkling eyes.
“Sister?”
“Kyahahaha! Now that I think about it, we haven’t had a housewarming party for the New House yet! Let me make something delicious for both a celebration and to help you recover quickly!”
“No.”
If my sister cooked, she’d destroy the dish itself.
“Trust me, I’m telling you! This time I can really do it well!”
The tone of a gambler who’d squandered their entire fortune.
Kwon O-jin regarded Ha-eun with unmistakable skepticism.
“Hey! If I’m making it for you, the least you can do is eat it without complaining!”
Tap, tap, tap.
Ha-eun swung her fists playfully.
“Fine, fine. Then I’ll trust in your skills, noona.”
“Hehe. That’s right, that’s right. Just believe in these hands of mine?”
Ha-eun puffed out her chest with pride, placed her hands on her hips, and rolled up her sleeves with a decisive motion.
[Hehehehe. This looks amusing. Since it’s for my beloved child’s sake… I cannot possibly sit idle!]
Even Vega’s eyes gleamed with interest.
And so Kwon O-jin remained in bed, waiting for the two women to finish cooking.
“Kyaaaah! What—what is this?!”
[Hmm. Is there truly a need to bother with fire? A single bolt of my lightning would reduce this to ash in an instant.]
“No! You can’t turn it into ash!!”
Truly ominous sounds emanated from the kitchen.
“…Riak.”
“What.”
“Wouldn’t it have been better to just eat a calorie bar instead?”
“….”
Riak turned his head away and clamped his mouth shut.
“Sigh.”
I exhaled deeply and sat up from the bed.
I retrieved the USB drive I’d obtained from Jang Seok-ho.
‘I should check the information while I have the chance.’
I hadn’t endured all that suffering just to ignore this data.
“….”
I stared at the USB drive with a bitter expression.
Tsk.
After clicking my tongue, I pulled out an old laptop and inserted the drive.
“This is…”
My eyes narrowed as I scrolled through the information.
The Black Star Society’s objective that Jang Seok-ho had mentioned.
“…They plan to kill every single Awakened User first, then make everyone equally Awakened?”
So that was the Black Star Society’s true goal.
“Ha.”
I let out a dry laugh.
‘At least it’s straightforward.’
Could there be a plan more absurdly simple than this?
Click.
I scrolled down with the mouse wheel.
“P.S. This objective is merely the external purpose. Each faction has its own separate plans and goals.”
Well, it was expected.
‘No one would willingly follow such a insane plan.’
This was purely for external appearances.
Nothing more than attractive bait to expand their influence.
“I can roughly guess what they’re scheming here.”
Kwon O-jin clicked his tongue as he reviewed the documents.
‘So they’re positioning Awakened Users as a privileged class and trying to draw in the non-awakened.’
In modern times, two classifications of people exist.
Those who received stigmas from Constellations and became Awakened Users, and ordinary people who didn’t.
In a world overrun by monsters, there’s no need to even think about which group holds privilege.
‘The Black Star Society can grant stigmas to the non-awakened and turn them into Awakened Users.’
That’s precisely why.
They’re exploiting it.
The hatred that non-awakened people inevitably harbor toward Awakened Users.
“…It seems Jang Seok-ho doesn’t even know the true purpose.”
As a mere foot soldier, Jang Seok-ho could only access information up to this point.
‘Well, regardless.’
Even if it’s just a surface-level goal, completely eliminating Awakened Users must be one of their primary objectives.
‘They’re definitely enemies that need to be dealt with as soon as possible.’
Kwon O-jin narrowed his eyes and opened another file from the USB drive.
As Jang Seok-ho had mentioned, the other file contained the locations of several branches and information about the officials of the Owl Faction.
While reviewing the information, one name caught his attention.
[Character Information : Cheon Woo-sung]
-Son of Cheon Do-yoon, the Owl King. Called the King’s Proxy, he effectively manages the Black Star Society.
-Currently suspected to be infiltrating the Association.
“Cheon Woo-sung….”
Kwon O-jin recalled Ashad Khan’s memories in his mind.
‘Was that person I was talking to with Ashad Khan actually Cheon Woo-sung?’
The King’s Proxy and the one who effectively leads the Owl Faction.
“I need to tell Jun-man about this.”
He was planning to visit the Association anyway, so this was valuable information.
Click.
After closing the laptop, he tucked the USB drive back into his pocket.
‘I’ll visit the Association tomorrow.’
Following Riak’s warning, I should get some proper rest today.
-Creak!
“O-jin! Dinner’s ready!”
Ha-eun entered the room with a bright smile, sauce smeared across her face.
Kwon O-jin let out a wry smile and headed to the living room.
“Behold! This older sister’s nutritionally perfect cooking!”
[Hehehehe! I put considerable effort into preparing this as well!]
Ha-eun and Vega, seated on either side, simultaneously extended their spoons toward me.
Would there ever be another day in my life when I could indulge in such luxury?
‘Well, of course.’
Even if it tasted absolutely terrible.
* * *
The next day.
The moment Kwon O-jin woke, he headed straight for the Association.
“…Are you saying Cheon Woo-sung was with the Black Star Society?”
Han Manager’s expression hardened visibly as he received the information I had obtained from Jang Seok-ho.
“Yes. According to the information I’ve uncovered, that appears to be the case.”
“Ha. Surely not….”
“Is there some problem within the Association?”
“….”
Han Manager clutched his head in his hands.
“As you’ve likely surmised, Kwon O-jin… the Association is currently split completely into two factions.”
As I suspected.
So there was an internal factional problem.
And Cheon Woo-sung had infiltrated one of those factions.
“One faction is the line I belong to—the Association Chairman’s line. The other is the executives’ line. And the leader of those executives….”
“Is Cheon Woo-sung, you’re saying.”
“…That’s correct.”
A heavy sigh echoed through the office.
“I had thought I should tell you about this eventually, Kwon O-jin… but it’s come to this.”
“Is that also why you called me to the Association?”
“…Haha. You’re quite perceptive, aren’t you?”
He nodded with a bitter smile.
“That’s right. Of course, there was also the purpose of elevating the Association’s diminished prestige… but there was also the reason of drawing the Apostle of Polaris to our faction’s side.”
So that’s why he had suggested that ambiguous position of not being ‘formally affiliated’ with the Association.
‘If I became formally affiliated, the other faction would gain the authority to issue me orders as well.’
The pieces were falling into place one by one.
‘Now that I think about it, something did seem off.’
Until now, despite being affiliated with the Association, I had barely had any direct contact with anyone other than Han Manager.
Of course, I had met one other Special Investigator in the middle, but I’d consider that an exception.
‘They were deliberately limiting my contact.’
In a situation where it was impossible to know exactly which faction anyone belonged to.
He, who was certainly part of the ‘Association Chairman’s line,’ had taken exclusive responsibility for managing my interactions.
“Then is there anything I can help you with?”
Whether the Association split into two factions or three was none of my concern.
But if the Black Star Society had infiltrated the other side, that changed everything.
“…No. We’ll handle this matter ourselves for now.”
Han Manager shook his head and continued speaking.
“If we find ourselves in need of your assistance, Kwon O-jin, we’ll reach out at that time.”
“Of course….”
“Of course. And rest assured—compensation befitting the work is not a concern.”
He then smiled knowingly, his lips curling upward.
‘This man really does have a way with words.’
With fair compensation and a legitimate cause in place,
there was no reason to refuse the proposal.
‘Though there is one problem.’
Cheon Woo-sung remained an adversary I couldn’t yet overcome with my current strength.
I’d barely managed to defeat a mid-tier Special Investigator; facing a core executive of the Black Star Society—one called the ‘King’s Proxy’—seemed far beyond my reach.
‘For now, the wisest course is to trust Jun-man and wait.’
Even if I threw caution to the wind, I couldn’t stand against Cheon Woo-sung alone.
It would be far more prudent to grow stronger in the meantime.
“Ah, right. And this.”
I slid the wire shooter and spear I’d brought across the table.
Han Manager let out a hollow laugh as he gazed at the utterly destroyed weapons.
“They’re thoroughly wrecked.”
“Ahem.”
I cleared my throat and turned away.
“Given the circumstances, I’d like to request the creation of new weapons.”
“Hmm… one moment.”
Han Manager gathered up the ruined weapons and rose from his seat.
“Since we’re already here, would you be willing to meet them in person? I think that would allow us to craft weapons far more optimized for you, Kwon O-jin.”
“Meet them?”
A knowing smile crossed his face.
He opened the office door, his lips curling upward.
“Once you see, you’ll understand.”

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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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