Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: Adam's Apple (1)
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A box of apples, picked up from the supermarket.
He took one out and placed it on the table.
He sliced his palm open with a knife, drawing blood, then thinly spread it over the apple's skin.
‘Transformation.’
The apple, which had been a delectable red, turned a brilliant gold, as if forged from molten metal.
A single bead of cold sweat trickled down Oh-jin’s forehead.
‘Maintaining this isn’t easy.’
Using Transformation on a part of his body that had been detached consumed a significant amount of mental energy.
It felt like trying to move his hands with a mouse and keyboard instead of his brain.
While he could more or less change its shape freely, maintaining that transformed state for an extended period was incredibly draining.
‘It would be one thing if it consumed magical energy.’
But there was nothing he could do about the mental toll.
“…The problem is, this isn't the end of it.”
Oh-jin frowned, looking down at the golden apple in his hand.
He couldn't pass this off as the divine object grandly named 'Adam's Apple' just by changing its color.
Just like the 'Dragon's Heart' he had found in the dungeon before.
Sacred relics containing an unconventional power naturally exuded an intense presence, one that could feel suffocating just by being near it.
“A cheat item that can reduce the Law’s constraints can’t just give off a bland aura.”
Oh-jin channeled magical energy into the golden apple he had created with ‘Transformation.’
Now, if he just used ‘Black Sky’ to alter the aura of the magic—
-*Crack!*
The apple in his hand shattered into pieces.
“Dammit.”
Oh-jin sighed and tossed the shattered apple into a bowl.
The bowl was already filled to the brim with miserably fragmented apples.
‘One box won't be nearly enough.’
Sighing, he speared a piece of the broken apple with a fork and put it in his mouth.
According to Vega, he possessed a prodigious talent for handling the Stigma’s magic.
Yet here he was, struggling just to control his magic enough to keep a single apple from breaking.
‘It wouldn’t be so hard if I could just blast it with power.’
The problem was that he had to create an aura befitting the name 'Adam's Apple' using only a minuscule amount of magic—just enough for the apple's durability to withstand.
Too little magic, and the aura was weak. Too much, and the apple would simply shatter.
“This is driving me crazy.”
Oh-jin crushed the now-empty apple box and let out a deep sigh.
“Can’t you just use something other than an apple?”
Ha-eun, who had been watching him, tilted her head and asked.
Just because it was called 'Adam's Apple' didn't mean it had to be in the shape of an apple.
The Dragon's Heart, for instance, was just a translucent, blue-glowing crystal, despite its name.
“I’m trying to make it with an apple if possible.”
“Why, though?”
“Well, it’s good practice, among other things.”
The abilities of Transformation and Black Sky had been enhanced when Black Sky reached its sixth awakening.
These two traits would become his most crucial abilities moving forward.
He would absolutely need them to deceive the Constellations and continue his act as a Regressor.
‘I can’t let a single apple defeat me.’
Oh-jin knew there were other ways to create 'Adam's Apple,' of course.
But he had a feeling he would regret it later if he didn't take this opportunity to master fine-tuning his abilities.
“Hmph, really?”
Lying stretched out on the sofa, fiddling with her smartphone, Ha-eun swung her white legs and nodded with a look of displeasure.
They had just returned from a wonderful, monumental first date, yet here was her boyfriend, completely engrossed in some stupid apple bits instead of the police uniform she had gone to such trouble to buy. It was only natural she’d be displeased.
She moved her long legs, poking Oh-jin in the side with the tip of her bare white foot.
“What is it?”
“I’m just annoyed.”
“Why?”
What did I do?
“How should I know, you punk? Anyway, you used up the whole box of apples, so you’re done now, right?”
“I need to go buy more.”
“Who goes out to buy apples at one in the morning? Stop talking nonsense. If you’re done, how about you massage your big sister’s legs?”
Ha-eun sat up on the sofa and casually placed her left leg on Oh-jin’s thigh.
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes, grabbed the slender ankle resting on his thigh, and tickled the sole of her foot.
“Aaaah!! What—what do you think you’re doing, you psycho!!”
“You should be packing your things to go home, not asking for a leg massage, woman.”
Oh-jin smirked at Ha-eun, who was writhing on the sofa, tears welling up in her eyes.
Come to think of it, something like this had happened before.
‘Just because we’re dating doesn’t mean everything changes.’
He liked that they could still joke around like they used to.
It was comforting, somehow.
“Gyaaaah! Stop! I said stop!!”
Though his big sister didn’t look very comfortable.
***
“Hmm. Leaving so soon?”
Sakaki clicked his tongue in disappointment.
“You’re welcome to stay a few more days.”
“I have things to take care of back in Korea.”
“Well… if a man has business to attend to, it can’t be helped!”
*Thud!*
Sakaki stomped his foot and laughed heartily.
“A man laughs loudest when parting ways! It was an honor meeting you, brother!!”
“You’ve been a great help to me as well.”
“Khahaha! Compared to the help you’ve given me, what I’ve done is nothing!”
He slapped Oh-jin’s back with a hand the size of a pot lid.
And with absolutely no exaggeration, a shockwave rocked his body, making him feel like his stomach would fly out of his mouth.
“Safe travels, then! If you ever need help, just call me! I’ll come running in a heartbeat!”
It felt like Sakaki could actually run across the ocean.
“I’ll be in touch.”
“Osu!”
Leaving Sakaki behind, they entered the airport.
On the way to check in their tickets and baggage, Ha-eun stuck close to his side and whispered in his ear.
“You said that Black Sky thing leveled up, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So does that mean you can use Gaecheon without my help now?”
“Probably.”
He hadn't tested it yet.
But considering the amount of draconic pulse magic that had been released, he was confident he could use Gaecheon on his own.
‘Even if it’s not the complete version.’
A technique that, even in its incomplete state, could make the Black Star Society’s 6th Executor piss his pants like a child.
At this point, it couldn't be called a mere 'technique'.
‘Is it more like an authority?’
Well, whatever it was called.
If he could use Gaecheon by himself, he should also be able to release Vega from the Law's constraints.
-My child!
The image of the silver-haired goddess smiling gently as she stroked his head flashed through his mind.
He wanted to free her from the shackles of the Law as soon as possible, but…
‘First, I need to make Adam’s Apple.’
Before boarding the plane, Oh-jin ordered more apples from a shopping app.
***
“Hey! Kwon Oh-jin!!”
A voice boomed through the house in the early morning.
Ha-eun burst through his bedroom door, pointing toward the front entrance with a horrified expression.
“Wh-what is all this?!”
In front of the slightly ajar front door, a mountain of boxes was stacked high, looking like they were in the middle of a move.
“I ordered some apples.”
“Just how many did you order?”
“Two thousand, for now.”
“……”
Ha-eun stared at Oh-jin, utterly dumbfounded.
He ordered two thousand and still said, ‘for now’?
“I swear, I can’t with you.”
Shaking her head, Ha-eun nevertheless helped him move the boxes of apples stacked by the door.
“Alright, then.”
Oh-jin took an apple from a box and held it in his hand.
He sliced his palm with a knife and meticulously spread the blood over the apple.
‘Transformation.’
The apple turned a brilliant gold.
Then, he slowly channeled magical energy into it.
‘Black Sky.’
The moment he converted the infused magic with Black Sky.
-*Crumble!*
The apple exploded into pieces.
“Ugh.”
A groan escaped Oh-jin’s lips.
“This is going to be a pain.”
The main problem was that the sheer volume of his magical energy had become too large.
In terms of pure magical energy, Oh-jin now possessed an amount so vast it could easily overwhelm even high-ranking Awakeners.
‘Of course, having a ton of magic doesn’t automatically make you strong.’
If victory was decided by magical energy alone, he never would have been so thoroughly dominated by Cheon Do-yoon.
His immense reserves of magic were one of his strengths, but they also created problems.
A prime example was situations like this, which required delicate control.
‘Just infusing magic into the apple without breaking it is incredibly difficult.’
It was like trying to lift an egg without cracking it using a multi-ton excavator.
Because his magical energy was so immense, the level of control required for fine adjustments was incomparably greater than for others.
“Well, I’ll get it if I keep at it.”
Oh-jin took a deep breath and reached for the next apple.
*Crumble, crumble, crumble.*
One by one, the apples turned to dust.
For a while, he set aside the wasted apples in a bowl because it felt like a waste to just throw them away.
Soon, the boxes that had held the apples began to fill up with shattered fragments.
“Hah, hah.”
His breathing grew ragged.
Was this what it felt like to carve a tiny grain of rice with the tip of a needle?
After hours of non-stop focus, his head was burning as if his brain were melting.
But.
-*Crumble, crumble, crumble, crumble, crumble.*
He didn’t stop.
There was no reason to stop.
If a problem could be solved through endurance, then it was no problem at all.
Even as a splitting headache pounded in his skull.
One by one.
He focused his mind and gripped the apple.
And so, for over two weeks, he sat in his room, doing nothing but grabbing and crushing apples, except for when he slept.
-Wooooong!!!
An apple radiating a brilliant golden light.
Its contents were nothing more than an ordinary apple, but the aura it exuded was as sacred and wondrous as the forbidden fruit from mythology.
“…I… did it.”
With dark circles etched under his eyes, Oh-jin’s shoulders trembled as he clutched the golden apple.
“I fucking did it!!”
For two weeks, he had lost count of how many thousands, no, tens of thousands of apples he had destroyed.
Oh-jin let out a cheer and ran out into the living room.
“Apples… no more apples…”
There, surrounded by dozens of boxes overflowing with apple fragments, was Ha-eun, mechanically picking up and eating pieces like a broken machine.
“Nunna! I did it!”
“…Huh? You did?”
Ha-eun’s gaze shifted to Oh-jin.
The golden apple was emitting a radiant light.
A sacred aura, so potent it was breathtaking, filled the entire house.
“Wh-what the hell? Is that really an apple?”
Ha-eun’s mouth hung half-open, at a loss for words.
“What do you think?”
“What do I think…? I can’t believe it even when I’m looking right at it.”
Seeing Ha-eun’s reaction, Oh-jin smiled in satisfaction.
‘It’s done.’
Now all he had to do was take this to Rhia'c and have him release Vega from the Law's constraints.
‘But before that.’
Oh-jin’s body slowly slumped to the floor.
“O-Oh-jin?”
“I’m just gonna rest a bit.”
Lying on the living room floor, Oh-jin fell asleep as if he had fainted.
He never saw the blue message window that appeared before his eyes just then.
-*Ting!*
[Your understanding of the Stigma’s magic has increased dramatically!]
[You have accomplished an unbelievable feat!]
[You have fulfilled some of the conditions required for the release of ‘Gaecheon (Opening the Heavens)’.]
Did he know, in his sleep?
Just how absurd a thing he had just accomplished.