Not A Regressor-Chapter 29: Underworld (2)

Vega sat on Kwon Oh-Jin’s shoulder.

“How have you been?” she asked.

“Well, a few things happened.”

He gave her a summary of the past three weeks, slightly dramatizing some parts.

“Hmm. The Black Star Society... They sound like truly despicable people.”

Vega frowned, clearly displeased.

“I'm not sure yet, but there’s a chance this organization might be connected to the Heavenly Demon,” Kwon Oh-Jin remarked.

Vega’s eyes widened in shock.

“W-What? Are you saying the possessor of the Black Heaven is hiding among them?” she gasped out.

“I told you, I’m not certain yet. The Heavenly Demon is extremely thorough with hiding their identity, so there’s almost no information on their past. But one thing's clear—the Black Star Society is incredibly shady.”

Vega furrowed her brow as she asked, “Did you not hear of the Black Star Society in your previous life?”

“No, not at all,” he answered firmly.

Claiming to know too much about the organization could backfire later.

Though it would be weird if I acted completely clueless.

“There was a faction the Heavenly Demon led, but I’m not sure if that was called the Black Star Society.”

He sprinkled just enough ambiguity into his explanation to avoid premature conclusions about the Heavenly Demon's connection to the Black Star Society.

“I see. The Heavenly Demon really did go to great lengths to hide their identity,” Vega remarked as she swallowed hard. She looked at Kwon Oh-Jin with concern. “Are you going to be alright? You’re already tangled up with such ominous people... I feel like you still need time to build your strength.”

“Don’t worry, I have a plan to handle them.”

In truth, he did not. He couldn’t even take down one of their low-ranking officers in his current state.

Still, what else can I say? Even if I don’t have a plan, I have to act like I do.

“Haha, as expected of my child.”

Vega gazed at Kwon Oh-Jin with pride.

“By the way, who exactly are these Black Star Celestials?" asked Kwon Oh-Jin. "What's this about a time when all the stars were swallowed by darkness?”

“Celestials of the Black Star...” Vega trailed off, shaking her head with a troubled expression. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know either.”

“You don’t?”

He had assumed all the Celestials would be familiar with one another.

“Yes.” Vega awkwardly brushed her hair back. “I don’t know all the secrets related to the birth of stars.”

Kwon Oh-Jin gulped at the unexpected response.

I never imagined even the North Star Celestial would be unaware of this. I have no choice but to uncover the truth through the Black Star Society.

He already knew how he was going to do that. Even as they spoke, his loyal hunting dog was gathering intel on the enemy.

“We should be careful since the Heavenly Demon might be involved here.”

“Yeah.”

If that were possible, sure.

“Now, I want to see how much you’ve changed in the past three weeks.”

Vega floated into the air, her eyes sparkling.

“I haven’t changed all that much since we last met,” Kwon Oh-Jin dejectedly answered.

In the past few weeks, he had gone through the third enlightenment of the Black Heaven and acquired the Stigma of Owl Nebula, but his Stigma of Lyra had remained the same.

I haven’t gotten any new skills, and my Thunderbolt hasn't leveled up either.

Despite spending most of his days training the Stigma of Lyra, his progress with it had been disappointing.

“Show me.”

He nodded and lifted his spear.

“Okay.”

He took a slow, deep breath, focusing his mana on the Stigma engraved on his chest.

Crackle!

The Thunderbolt surged as naturally as his breath, and he let it flow into the spear as well as his legs.

“W-What?”

Kwon Oh-Jin continued, despite hearing Vega’s gasp in the background.

Crackle!

One step, then two. Blue Thunderbolts scorched the ground beneath every step, leaving footprints.

He sprinted across the rooftop at an incredible speed.

“Hoo!”

Letting out the breath he'd been holding, he thrust his spear forward.

Crackle!

Azure Lightning diverged from the spear, sweeping across the area in front of him like the blades of a fan.

Not yet.

Stopping now would leave too many openings.

Bzzt!

Lightning surged through his legs as he charged forward, widening the gap in a flash. Behind him, a trail of blue sparks crackled, each step imprinting the ground with flickers of electric energy.

I can minimize my vulnerability by concentrating the Thunderbolt on my legs like this.

Originally, he'd concentrate the blue Thunderbolt on a single area. However, after experimenting during his training, he realized it was more effective to distribute the energy across multiple parts of himself.

Wherever I focus the Thunderbolt, my physical abilities skyrocket.

Leaving behind a floor trap of footprints that dealt residual damage was appealing, but the ability to move at much faster speeds was the most attractive benefit.

I’d like to focus the Thunderbolt in my arms or waist too, but that's not doable just yet.

At the moment, he could only concentrate the Thunderbolt in three areas concurrently.

“Haaa.”

After repeating the technique in the air several more times, he stopped. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead.

“How was that?”

Vega stared at him with trembling pupils.

“H-How can this be? Even if you’re a Regressor, how could you have already grasped the basics of Exceed?”

Huh? Did I do something wrong?

“Is there a problem?”

“I don’t know whether to call this a problem or not. How did you manage to focus the Thunderbolt in three different areas?”

“Huh?”

What does she mean?

“I just tried it, and it worked. It was pretty hard at first, though.”

Vega’s jaw dropped.

“My child... Didn't you say you couldn’t remember much of the Stigma of Lyra's techniques?”

“Yeah, that's right.”

Well, I don’t have any memories of it at all, but she can't know that.

“Then, how...?” Vega trailed off, visibly bewildered. She pressed a hand to her forehead. Then, with a sudden snap of her fingers, she nodded. “Perhaps your subconscious is recalling the techniques! Yes, that must be it. There’s no other explanation for how you're mastering my Stigma this quickly.”

Vega seemed to have convinced herself that Kwon Oh-Jin’s rapid mastery of the Stigma was due to his memories from his supposed first life.

Well, it’s good for me if she thinks that way, but...

Even though he'd managed to focus the Thunderbolt in three areas, his skills hadn’t leveled up, nor had he acquired any new ones. He found it hard to comprehend Vega’s surprise.

“Is this really that big of a deal?”

“What are you saying?!”

“I mean, the skill's still only at level three.”

"There’s a world of difference between a level three that’s barely above level two and one that’s knocking on the door of level four!"

Putting it that way does make more sense.

“And why do you think I never had an apostle until now? The Stigma of Lyra is one that’s nearly impossible for humans to handle!”

Vega's shock was appropriate. Kwon Oh-Jin had improved with an unmanageable Stigma as if it were no big deal.

How am I able to do this though?

Talent alone didn't seem enough as an explanation.

Is it because of Lee Shin-Hyuk’s memories?

However, Lee Shin-Hyuk had the Stigma of Pyxis in his first life. Could those memories really have helped Kwon Oh-Jin get the hang of the Stigma of Lyra?

He couldn’t find an answer no matter how much he contemplated it.

Well, it’s better than mastering it too slowly.

At least now, he could play the part of a Regressor better. Vega would’ve grown suspicious if he seemed like a humanities major trying to learn calculus with two weeks left before finals. A Regressor couldn't take too long to learn things.

“And your skill with the spear is just as impressive. At this rate, you could reach the pinnacle of spearmanship—”

“No, I don’t plan on taking that path.”

“What?”

“I’m going to keep using the spear, but I want to use other weapons too.”

“What kind of weapon were you thinking of?”

“Well, there's—”

Ding!

Just as he was about to explain about the wire shooter, he received a notification on his phone. He glanced at the screen and saw a message from Han Jun-Man.

Nice timing.

Kwon Oh-Jin turned to Vega with a smile.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh? Go where?”

“I’ll show you the other weapon I’m going to use.”

He headed toward the association.

***

When Kwon Oh-Jin arrived at the association, Team Leader Han Jun-Man was already waiting for him outside.

“First, here’s the spear.”

Kwon Oh-Jin took the silver spear from Han Jun-Man. As soon as he gripped its shaft, a faint blue light began to emanate from it.

Wooong!

“Ooh.”

It was clearly a top-tier weapon infused with high-grade Starstones.

He lightly swung the spear.

Whoosh!

It's slightly heavier than the one I used before, but this will be better once I get used to it.

Given his monstrous physique, this kind of weight was nothing. Plus, the heavier the weapon, the stronger it could be.

Crackle!

Expectedly, the greatest strength of the silver spear was its exceptional conductivity. When Kwon Oh-Jin channeled Thunderbolt into it, he could feel the electricity flow through the spear as naturally as it did through himself.

“This is great,” Kwon Oh-Jin said with a smile.

It was so well-made that he almost felt guilty about getting it for free.

“And next up...” Han Jun-Man opened a box and carefully took out two bracelets—no, more like wrist guards, each with a strange design.

Click.

“That kid was so excited about making these. He went way over budget and even chipped in with his own money to finish these.”

“Kid?”

“Ah, I’ll introduce you to him some other time. He’s one of the best talents we have, with a knack for production.”

Interesting. It might be worth getting close to him.

Skilled equipment crafters were hard to come by.

“Try them on,” Han Jun-Man urged.

“Alright.”

Kwon Oh-Jin strapped the wire shooters onto his wrists.

Clack.

There's some weight to them, but they're surprisingly comfortable.

“How do I use these?”

"Extend your arms like this, and make a motion as if you're grabbing something in the air.”

He followed Han Jun-Man’s instructions and assumed the pose. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

“Yes, now just flick your wrists and the wires will shoot out. There’s a bit of recoil though, so be careful.”

Kwon Oh-Jin nodded and snapped his wrists toward the nearby wall.

Clack! Ting!

With a powerful recoil, a wire shot out with a spade-shaped anchor attached to it.

The spade-shaped weight embedded itself in the wall, a silver wire stretching between the anchor and the shooter.

“Wow... This is,” Kwon Oh-Jin let out a short gasp.

Though it was called a wire shooter, without the wire, it was practically a gun.

Of course, a regular gun would be useless against monsters.

But what if he channeled electricity directly through the wire? Not just any ordinary electricity but an intense Thunderbolt created by the Stigma of Lyra?

“Hahahaha!”

“Seems you like it, haha.”

“Yes, it's great.”

“That’s not all, though.”

“Sorry?”

“Try channeling your mana into the wire shooter.”

Following Han Jun-Man’s instructions, Kwon Oh-Jin infused the wire shooter with the mana of his Stigma.

Clank!

Screech!

“Huh?!”

With a sharp metallic sound, the spade-shaped anchor attached to the wire quickly retracted back into the shooter. A clear sound of gears locking in place echoed as the wire shooter returned to its original state.

Click!

Kwon Oh-Jin couldn't help but be impressed.

“... I did ask for a retrieval function, but I didn’t expect it to be this good.”

Kwon Oh-Jin wondered if the wire shooter would even allow him to fly through the air like Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.

“You can adjust the retrieval speed depending on how much mana you use.”

“This is great.”

It had turned out exactly as he had imagined—no, even better.

“Oh, and by the way, the wire shooter can fire up to six wires, three from the right, and three from the left.”

“What?”

I can shoot six of these things at once?

“Haha, I told you the kid went over budget,” Han Jun-Man said with a smile, shrugging his shoulders.

Holy shit, this is insane.

If there were a contest for the world’s most handsome gorilla, Han Jun-Man surely deserved first place.

“Jun-Maaann...!”

“There you go again.”

Han Jun-Man chuckled lightly as if used to Kwon Oh-Jin's reaction.

“In return, you’ll have to help us out if we ever get into a tight spot, okay?”

“Of course.”

The equipment was so good that Kwon Oh-Jin didn’t mind helping them for free if he had to.

“Well then, I have a meeting to attend, so I’ll take my leave now.”

With a polite bow, Han Jun-Man headed back into the association building.

“Haaa.”

Still riding the high, Kwon Oh-Jin looked down at the shiny silver spear and the wire shooters strapped to his wrists.

Joining the association was seriously the best decision I've ever made.

He'd been pushed around a lot lately, but being a government-affiliated organization, they really knew how to pull through when it mattered.

If anyone disrespects the association from now on, I’ll crack their skull open.

He felt an unexpected sense of belonging burning inside him.

At that moment, Vega materialized from within the pendant and cocked her head curiously.

“Is that the new weapon you were talking about?”

“Yup.”

“It seems like a lethal weapon if you can use that string to bind your enemies and send electricity through it.”

“That’s not all.”

“Huh?”

Kwon Oh-Jin raised his arm and aimed at the fence on the rooftop of a nearby building.

“You can use it like this too.”

The spade-shaped anchor shot out toward the fence.

Clack!

Now, if I send a bit of juice through it...

As electricity flowed through the electromagnet wire, it stuck firmly to the fence with a strong magnetic pull.

“Hold on tight, Vega.”

“What are you planning to do?”

Vega climbed onto his head, confused. She grabbed a handful of his hair as if grabbing the reins of a horse.

“Alright!”

With a smirk, he channeled his mana into his wrists. A metallic sound echoed as he then soared into the air.

Screech!

“Ohhh!”

“That’s it!”

He excitedly shouted. He then retracted Thunderbolt, causing the wire tightly stuck to the fence to unhook and return to the wire shooter.

Clank! Clank!

By repeatedly shooting and retracting the wire like that, he found himself flying through the city between buildings just like Spooderman.

“I see! Since you can’t fly yet, you thought of using such a method!”

“Haha! Yeah, since I can’t—”

Since I can’t what?

“... You can fly using the Stigma of Lyra?”

“It’s impossible right now, but it won’t be in the future.”

What the fuck? Why are you telling me this now? If I had known, I wouldn’t have gone through this shit.

“Haha! Lightning Steps isn’t a skill you can use right now anyway!”

“Ugh.”

Even though he felt like his efforts had been wasted, he had no choice but to accept it.

“Are you going back home now?”

Kwon Oh-Jin smirked and shook his head.

“No.”

“Then?”

Vega had returned, and he'd gotten his new equipment. There was no longer a reason to hesitate.

“Let’s go to Seoul Station.”

It was time to take down the fleshy monster sealed below the railway station.