Not A Regressor - Chapter 79

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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 79
The Genius Awakener’s Stream (8)
“Huh? Is… is this real?”
Ha-eun stared down at her chest with wide, astonished eyes.
The Constellation mark of the Dragon of Flame, etched upon her left breast.
That mark blazed with radiant light.
“Could it be…?”
A Constellation mark continuing to glow even after combat ended and mana was withdrawn—there was only one explanation.
“Ugh!! Argh!! This… this hurts like hell!!”
Ha-eun’s face contorted as she clutched her left chest.
Intense flames engulfed her body.
But only briefly.
The flames that had erupted explosively began to slowly absorb into her body.
“Ah…”
Ha-eun clenched her fist lightly, as if unable to believe what was happening.
Whoooosh!
With that simple motion alone, three fire dragons materialized and coiled around her forearms.
“Wow.”
The fire dragons radiated far more intense heat than when she’d faced the Hydra moments before.
A sudden surge in a Constellation mark’s power like this could only mean one thing.
“Oh, O-jin!!! You, you, you did it! I’m an 8-Star now!!”
Ha-eun rushed toward Kwon O-jin with an expression of pure excitement.
“Kyahahaha!!”
Overcome with joy, she pulled him into a tight embrace and kissed his cheek eight times.
“Okay, okay, calm down, sis.”
“Calm down?! Are you serious?! 8-Star! I’m an 8-Star now!!!”
It was certainly cause for excitement.
‘The higher the Star rank, the greater the gap between each stage.’
‘8-Star is the pinnacle realm that humans can reach.’
The stage beyond humanity itself.
Those of 9-Star and above, commonly called ‘High-Rank Awakeners,’ were an extreme minority among all Awakeners.
8-Star was the final step before transcending humanity to become a High-Rank Awakener.
Her excitement and those kisses were entirely justified.
I wanted to share in her joy, but…
[Hmm. Aren’t you embarrassed doing this in front of so many people?]
Vega narrowed her eyes and glared at Ha-eun.
She had a point.
There were many eyes watching from all around.
“H-how did two of you manage to defeat the Hydra…?”
“Noe-rang and that woman too… they’re insane, right?”
“What… an 8-Star? Did you say 8-Star?”
“So Noe-rang has a girlfriend too… I’m jealous.”
I could see the Awakened Users clustered near the entrance letting out gasps of admiration as they stared in my direction.
“Ah.”
[Hmph! So you’re a child without a shred of shame.]
Vega, clearly displeased, perched herself atop my head and began swinging her legs back and forth.
With each swing, the heel of her shoe jabbed at my forehead.
“I-I just forgot!”
[Forgot? There’s nothing to forget! And I must say, that’s excessive physical contact between siblings!]
“Heh. Anyone listening would think we were actual siblings.”
[Aren’t you practically siblings in all but blood?]
“We are not!”
Ha-eun and Vega began bickering with each other, growling back and forth.
“Whoa, whoa, you two need to calm down.”
After settling Ha-eun and Vega, I approached the Hydra’s corpse.
I shortened my spear and sliced through the body with quick, practiced motions.
‘As expected.’
Inside were two Star Stones emanating a brilliant blue light.
Each one was the size of a soccer ball.
Considering the intensity of the light pouring from them, these were premium-grade Star Stones worth well over hundreds of millions.
‘Excellent! This is perfect!’
With these and the over a thousand Star Stones I’d extracted from Jerry Kim, completing the Black Heaven’s Quest wouldn’t be difficult.
“Let’s leave the cleanup for later and get out of here.”
Using Exeed had left me exhausted, and my mana reserves were nearly depleted.
‘Noe-rang’s performance is solid, but the mana consumption is absurdly high.’
I could only endure it because my mana reserves were abnormally vast; any other Awakened User would struggle to maintain it for even a minute.
“Ugh. Yeah. I want to go back and shower too. I’m sweating buckets.”
“I’m going first.”
“Where? Obviously your older sister goes first, right?”
“If you’re upset, just come in with me.”
“Oh? You think I can’t?”
I was in the middle of exchanging playful banter with Ha-eun as usual.
“Um… O, O-jin!”
Jerry Kim approached.
“Thanks to you, I made it out safely! I’m truly grateful!”
He bowed deeply and extended a small business card.
“This is my contact information. Whenever you need anything, just say the word and I’ll repay this debt! And… I’m sorry about how I acted at first.”
He was clearly referring to the bet he’d made to try to suppress me.
“Well, it’s fine.”
His initial approach certainly hadn’t been with good intentions, but it was water under the bridge.
Thanks to that, I’d easily earned a substantial sum of money alongside Sung Yoo-seok—so in the end, it wasn’t such a bad encounter.
Exchanging contact information and building a network would be worthwhile.
‘And above all else.’
Jerry Kim was a man of considerable utility.
The influence wielded by a broadcast watched by hundreds of thousands simultaneously needed no explanation.
“W-would you mind wrapping up the broadcast and greeting the viewers once more?”
“Of course.”
It was hardly difficult.
I gave a casual wave toward the camera.
“It was fun participating in the broadcast today. If the opportunity comes up again, I’ll visit.”
-Noe-rang oppa!! You were so cool!! (swoon swoon)
-Please give Noe-rang to me!! Please give Noe-rang to me!!
-Oba (meaning Kwon O-jin bye lol)!!!
-Taking down Hydra was so awesome! I’ll keep supporting you!
Honestly, just looking at the Guild, I thought he was a rude talent-blessed guy, but he was way more unexpected than that.
The viewers’ reactions were mostly positive.
At this point, I could say I’d harvested everything worth harvesting from this collaboration.
“Well then, I’ll head back—”
“You, you bastard!!”
A savage voice erupted from behind.
I turned to see the man I’d used as ‘bait’ earlier staring at me, breathing in ragged, hissing gasps.
“You, you did this, didn’t you?!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb, you bastard!!”
The man gnashed his teeth as he shouted.
“You made me charge toward Hydra earlier! You did it all!”
“Hm. I have no idea what you’re saying.”
I feigned ignorance so smoothly that the man lunged forward and roughly seized my collar.
“You think I’ll just sit back? Huh?”
The man continued, his face twisted with rage.
“Everything that happened here! What you did! I’m filing a formal complaint with the Association about all of it!”
“Ah, yes. Do as you please.”
I chuckled and grabbed the wrist of the man clutching my collar.
“By the way.”
Crack!
“Ahhh!!”
“Don’t lay hands on me, you bastard.”
Who did this punk think he was?
“Let’s go.”
I left the man writhing and hunched over, clutching his wrist, and headed home.
* * *
Initially, I had planned to head straight home.
But my body screamed in protest, exhaustion demanding respite, so I checked into a hotel near the Gate instead.
Ha-eun and Kwon O-jin freshened up with quick showers before gathering in the room.
“All right then!!!”
Ha-eun raised the beer can in her hand triumphantly.
“Let’s celebrate this unnie’s promotion to 8-star and our successful hunt!”
Appetizing fried chicken sat proudly displayed on the table.
“Cheers!!!”
“Cheers.”
I clinked my beer can lightly against hers.
*Gulp, gulp.*
Ha-eun chugged her beer can eagerly.
“Ahhhhh!!! This is what life’s all about!!”
She sounded like an exhausted office worker.
[What are you drinking?]
“Beer. Would our goddess like to try some?”
[Hmm. Give me a taste.]
Vega fluttered over and drank from the small glass I’d poured for her.
[Ugh! How bitter!]
“Hahaha!! Our goddess doesn’t know the taste of life! Life is bitter, so the drink is bitter too!”
Manager Han seems to be in quite a good mood today.
“Try this instead, Vega.”
I offered her a different glass.
[What is this?]
“Fruit soju. It’s sweet, so you should like it.”
[Then let me try.]
Vega drank from the glass of fruit soju.
[Oh, ohhh!!!]
Her golden eyes sparkled brilliantly.
[Delicious!! Truly a sweet fruit liqueur!]
Pleased with the fruit soju, she hummed contentedly while chugging glass after glass.
After she’d downed about three glasses in succession.
[Hehehehe. As expected, you truly are my child. You know well what I enjoy.]
Vega fluttered over and gently stroked my hair.
[That’s right, that’s right~ You’re such a good child.]
…Was she drunk?
‘No way, a Constellation getting drunk?’
That made no sense.
[Hehehehe. I’m sorryyy~ that I couldn’t help you more~]
“Am I actually drunk right now?”
[Huh?]
I tilted my head and tugged at my hair.
[Drunk? What do you mean by that~? I am a Constellation of the Direct Line! I don’t get drunk from something like….]
I swayed on my feet, my face flushed crimson.
I caught Vega, who looked like she might topple over, and let out a hollow laugh.
“Riak. Can a Constellation actually get drunk?”
“Hmm. It seems to be because the restrictions weaken the body during manifestation.”
Riak also looked at Vega with an awkward expression.
“Besides, you won’t have much time left to manifest anyway. Just let her enjoy being a little drunk.”
“Fair enough.”
I turned away from Vega’s drunken antics and bit into a piece of chicken with a satisfying crunch.
“By the way, O-jin.”
“Huh?”
“That guy from earlier… do you think he’ll be okay?”
*Crack!*
Ha-eun asked as she opened a fresh beer can.
“I didn’t see it clearly, but you did something to him, right?”
“That’s right.”
“It was broadcast too, so if they find out you used him as bait, the public opinion is going to be rough.”
That was true.
While he had provoked me first, if it became known that I’d used him as bait, the public sentiment would turn sour.
“There are ways to handle it, so don’t worry and just eat.”
Kwon O-jin smiled and offered her a glass.
“Kyahahaha! Then I’m trusting only you? Cheers again!!”
The cheerful drinking session continued for about an hour.
“Hehehehe… O-jin~ did you become an 8-Star~?”
[My precious child~ come here! I shall pat your head!]
Damn it.
“Riak! Riak, where the hell did you go!”
“A true warrior sleeps early for the next day’s training.”
“No way.”
* * *
“Damn! Damn! Damn!!!”
A man with a scruffy beard spat out curses, his face twisted in fury.
“Noe-rang… you bastard. I won’t let this slide.”
With an expression full of rage, he began typing a lengthy post.
Roughly detailing how Noe-rang had attacked him and used him as bait.
“Hehehehe. If I upload this with the video from back then attached….”
It would deal a significant blow to Noe-rang’s image.
No, I’ll just damage his image.
Deliberately drawing a monster’s attention and redirecting it toward others was undeniably a crime.
People would show no mercy in condemning a member of the Awakened Users Association—an organization that should uphold the law above all others—for committing such a heinous crime.
“Kekeke! You should’ve been more careful about who you messed with.”
The man filmed a video exposing Noe-rang’s wrongdoing and logged onto the internet.
“Hm?”
His own face appeared in the ‘Trending Videos’ section.
“What? What is this?”
The video he’d created hadn’t even been uploaded yet.
“Why is the video already up?”
He clicked on a video titled ‘I Apologize’.
[I first offer my sincerest apologies to all citizens who felt great discomfort from my actions during the broadcast.]
As the video played, a man who looked identical to him in every way appeared on screen in formal attire, bowing his head in contrition.
“What, what? What’s going on here?”
It wasn’t someone else.
Why was ‘he’ appearing in the video?
[I will explain my actions when I screamed and rushed toward the Hydra.]
“…What?”
[Consumed by fear at that moment, I believed the only way to make Noe-rang and Jerry Kim move was to draw the monster’s aggression. I knew full well it was a clear criminal act… but I had no choice.]
“What? What? What the hell is this bastard saying?!”
The man desperately grabbed his monitor and cried out.
[I publicly apologize for this incident and promise to accept any punishment that may come.]
The video’s view count had already soared well past one million.

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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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