Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Black Star Society (2)
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I Am Not a Regressor, Chapter 19
Black Star Society (黑星會) (2)
“Guh, hack! H-How…”
The man’s eyes shot open as he clutched the spear piercing his abdomen.
Blood gushed out.
A dizzying agony spread through his entire body.
But more shocking than the pain of being impaled was the fact that the young man before him had emerged from *inside* the cave.
“It seems you’re under some kind of misunderstanding.”
*Crunch!*
He brutally twisted the spear piercing the man’s gut.
The wound tore open, and blood splattered.
“Gah-huk!!! Khaak!!!”
“I’m the one asking the questions here.”
He leaned down, a bitter smile on his lips.
“Bullshit!!”
*Whoosh!*
The man swung his fist wildly.
A sinister black aura rose from his swinging fist.
But.
Before the viciously thrown punch could even connect.
*Zap! Zzzzzzt!!!*
“Aaaaaaaaargh!!!!”
Blue lightning erupted from the spearhead lodged in his abdomen.
*Flop, flop.*
The man convulsed like a freshly caught fish before going limp on the ground.
“Now, is it okay if I talk some nonsense?”
He asked, pressing his knee onto the man’s chest.
“Spit out everything you know about the Black Star Society.”
“…Hah.”
The man let out a derisive scoff.
He glared at Oh-jin with arrogant eyes and opened his mouth.
“I have no reason to answer you— Gyaaaaaaaaah!!!”
*Snap!*
He grabbed the man’s left index finger, twisted, and pulled it off.
“Is that so? Well, can’t be helped then.”
He hadn’t expected him to talk willingly anyway.
“You said you don’t want to talk, right?”
“Huk! Huk!”
“Then from now on—”
In times like these, the fastest and most certain method was.
“Don’t say a word.”
Primal violence.
*Snap, craaack!!*
One finger at a time.
He grabbed, twisted, and pulled them off.
“Gyaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
One, two, three.
The detached fingers rolled on the ground.
By the time all the fingers on his left hand had been torn off.
“Grk… Guk.”
White foam dribbling from his mouth, the man stammered.
“I’ll, I’ll t-talk.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll… talk, I said.”
“No.”
He shook his head, grabbing the fingers of the other hand.
“What are you talking about?”
“…What?”
“Didn’t I tell you not to say anything?”
*Craaack!!*
He grabbed a finger from the other hand, twisted it until it broke, and smiled brightly.
“Eurgyaaaaaaaargh!!!”
“You said you didn’t want to talk, right? So don’t say a word.”
“N-No. That’s.”
*Craaack!!*
One by one.
Just like with the other hand, he twisted and pulled off the fingers.
“Aaaaaaaargh!! I-I’ll talk!!!”
“Nah, you don’t have to.”
“The, the Black Star Society!! I’ll tell you everything about the Black Star Society!!”
“I said you don’t need to, didn’t I?”
“P-Please!!! I’ll answer anything, so just…”
“I SAID YOU DON’T NEED TO TALK, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!!”
*SMASH!!!*
He grabbed the man’s head and slammed it violently into the ground.
“WHY!!!”
*SMASH!!!*
“I TOLD YOU NOT TO TALK!!!!”
*SMASH!!!!*
“SO WHY DO YOU KEEP TRYING TO TALK!!!!”
He let out a frenzied roar, slamming the man’s head down again and again.
An ordinary person would have been killed instantly, but his opponent was no ordinary person, but an Awakened.
He didn’t know what rank he was, but since becoming Awakened granted a superhuman body, he wouldn’t die from this level of impact.
“Guhk… huk… I-I’ll, t-talk, sir. I, I… want, to talk.”
The man’s body trembled as he spoke pleadingly.
The man who had been glaring at him with such arrogance was now weeping pathetically, like a three-year-old brat who’d just stepped on a Lego while running around the living room.
‘Guess that’s enough.’
Oh-jin looked down at the pathetically trembling man and smirked.
‘See? This always works like a charm.’
Irrational and absurd violence.
When faced with frenzied violence that far transcends reason and common sense, a human being is inevitably seized by a fear that borders on trauma.
‘There’s nothing scarier than a madman you can’t reason with.’
Judging by the wet patch on the man’s pants, the effect had been decisive.
“Feel like talking now?”
“Yes, yes! I-I want to talk!”
“Then go ahead and recite it. What the Black Star Society is. And what kind of bastards the Black Stars are.”
The man slowly nodded his head.
“The, the Black Star Society is an organization created by the Constellations of the Black Star… Heukseong (黑星).”
“…Constellations of the Black Star?”
“Yes, yes!”
What the hell were the Constellations of the Black Star?
“L-Long ago, in an age when all stars were swallowed by darkness… th-that’s when the Constellations of the Black Star were born.”
“How the fuck am I supposed to understand that?”
“Eek!! Th-That’s just what I heard from the Executive!!!”
The man curled up like a mole exposed to the cold.
“Anyway. Right. So you’re Awakened who follow these so-called Constellations of the Black Star?”
“…That is correct.”
“Then tell me your numbers and where you’re holed up.”
“M-Mount Baekun! O-Our branch is on Mount Baekun in Cheorwon.”
“You own the whole damn mountain, you bastards? You need to give me a precise location.”
“Aaaaargh!! I’m sorry!!!”
As he barked in a threatening voice, the man tore at his hair, trembling violently.
“There’s a ruined observatory building on the summit of Mount Baekun! It’s, it’s in the basement there!!”
“How many of you?”
“F-Fifty, about.”
Fuck.
That’s a lot of them.
“You said that’s a branch? Then where’s the headquarters?”
“I-I don’t know.”
“You don’t fucking know?”
After the fingers, maybe I should start on his toes.
“I-I-I really don’t know!! Only the Executive knows the location of the headquarters!! A low-ranking member like me doesn’t even know where the other branches are!!”
“Hmm.”
He didn’t seem to be lying.
‘I guess. No way they’d give all their information to a grunt like this.’
They were spouting crazy talk about making the Constellations pay for their sins, so of course they’d operate with tight security.
“Is that Yujin guy the Executive?”
“Y-Yes!”
The man nodded his head rapidly, like a broken metronome.
“But I really don’t get it.”
“What is it…?”
“Why would you follow such a shady bastard in the first place?”
He couldn’t quite fathom why anyone would pledge loyalty to an organization that seemed no different from a cult.
“……”
The man kept his mouth firmly shut for a while, then finally spoke in a low voice.
“…gave it to us.”
“What?”
“Lord Yujin… granted us… a Stigma.”
“Ah.”
A short gasp escaped Oh-jin’s lips.
He recalled the people who had gathered in front of the Sanctuary, offering fervent prayers to the Constellations.
‘So they were using Stigmas as bait.’
He didn’t know how they were able to grant Stigmas, but he could certainly understand why people would follow such a suspicious group.
‘Because this world was filled to the brim with people who would kill their own parents and children if it meant they could become Awakened.’
That was the kind of world it was.
‘Well, doesn’t seem like there’s any more information to get.’
Time to wrap this up.
*Shlk.*
He pulled the spear from the man’s abdomen and aimed it at his forehead.
“W-Wait!! Just a moment!!!”
The man cried out in a desperate voice.
“I, I have… a, a daughter!! Please… please just spare my life…!”
*Drip, drip.*
He lowered his head, weeping sorrowfully.
“You have a daughter?”
“…Yes, I do. In fact, the reason I joined the Black Star Society was all for her.”
He bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut.
“If I… If I suddenly disappear, that child will be…”
In this crazy world, there was no way a child who lost their parents could survive unscathed.
That was something Oh-jin himself knew better than anyone.
*Thud!*
The man slammed his forehead hard against the ground.
“I’m begging you!! For my child’s sake, please spare my life…!”
“Hmm.”
“Or at least… at least give me time to say one last goodbye to my daughter!!! Please!! I’m begging you this earnestly!!”
He sobbed, his face a mask of misery.
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes, looking down at the prostrated man.
“Name.”
“Pardon?”
“What’s your daughter’s name?”
“…Ye-rin. Choi Ye-rin.”
“Age?”
“N-Nine years old! She’s still too young to live in this world alone…”
“When’s her birthday?”
“Pardon?”
The man looked bewildered, as if asking why he’d ask such a thing.
“Hurry up. Just answer the question. When’s her birthday?”
“December… 14th.”
“Favorite food?”
“…Why are you asking me that?”
“Are you not going to answer?”
“Pizza… n-no, chicken!”
“Height and weight?”
“Uh… 131 centimeters… and, uh, 2-28!! 28 kilograms!!”
“Is that so?”
Oh-jin nodded as if he understood.
Choi Ye-rin, 9 years old, born December 14th, favorite food is chicken. 131 centimeters, 28 kilograms.
“Alright, then.”
*Smirk.*
He twisted his lips into a smirk and gripped the spear.
“Now, answer all those questions in reverse.”
For a moment, it was as if time had stopped. A dead silence fell.
“—Pardon?”
The man’s eyes widened.
His mouth hung agape.
Oh-jin could see his legs trembling like leaves in the wind.
“Weight and height, favorite food, birthday, age, name. Answer me.”
“Th-That is. So. 28 kilograms… then. W-Wait… just a moment!”
“Pffthahaha! What? Having trouble remembering?”
Well, it was understandable.
“Lies are always hard to tell in reverse, you see.”
Though I can do it.
*Shlick.*
Blood gushed from the tip of the spear as it lightly pierced the flesh.
“Ah, augh. S-Save, save me! I don’t want to diiieeee!!!”
The man fell into a panic at the sensation of the spearhead touching his skull.
“One last thing. Where did you say your branch was?”
“Ch-Cheorwon. M-Mount Baekun summit…”
“Right.”
So that wasn’t a lie.
*CRUNCH!!!*
“Kahk, guk!”
The spearhead, having accurately pierced his forehead, shattered his brain and passed through his head.
“Hoo.”
*Thump.*
As the tension left him, a sense of languor washed over him.
‘The Black Star Society.’
He ran a hand through his hair and frowned.
“This is a pain in the ass.”
He had caught the eye of some obviously shady characters.
No, if it had just ended with him being noticed, that would be one thing.
‘I thought they were a bunch of easy marks to fleece, but it seems I’ve kicked the hornet’s nest.’
He had even scammed a group of extremely dangerous people.
“Ugh.”
Oh-jin pressed a hand to his forehead as if he had a headache.
‘They’re not just going to let this go, are they?’
Whether for revenge or to silence him.
For one reason or another, they would appear before him again.
‘But it’s not like I can take them on by myself.’
Fifty was too many.
“…I need to come up with a plan.”
It wasn’t something he could do right now.
“Well… this could be a good opportunity, if you look at it that way.”
Oh-jin stripped the robe and armor from the man who lay dead with a hole through his head.
On his left breast was a Stigma of a shape he had never seen before.
‘Is this the Stigma of the Black Star?’
He reached out and placed his hand over the Stigma.
*Rumble.*
A dark cloud flowing from his palm covered the Stigma.
The same kind of ominous magic he had absorbed from the holy relic flowed into his body.
*Ding!*
[‘Heukcheon’ is absorbing the ‘Stigma of Noctua’!]
[The amount of ‘Stigma of Noctua’ absorbed is too minuscule to activate the Stigma.]
The Stigma of Noctua, huh?
“I wonder what kind of abilities the Black Star Stigmas have?”
*Smirk.*
Oh-jin stuck out his tongue and licked his lips greedily.
* * *
A brilliant milky way streaked across the night sky.
A white-haired old man narrowed his eyes as he looked up at the night sky, where countless stars twinkled as if they were pouring down.
*Flap, flap!*
Just then, a black owl flew down and landed on the old man’s shoulder.
“Mm-hmm. They’ve arrived, you say?”
The old man, as if conversing with the owl on his shoulder, nodded and slowly turned around.
Where he turned, a young man in a black robe was kneeling on one knee, his head bowed respectfully.
“Hoh hoh hoh. Yujin, you’ve come?”
“Yes, Executor.”
Kneeling before the white-haired old man, Yujin swallowed hard.
He had already worked under the old man for several years, but whenever he faced him, he felt a pressure so immense it was as if his whole body would freeze.
‘…It’s only natural.’
The white-haired old man standing serenely before him was the 6th-ranked Executor of the Black Star Society.
The King of the Owls, Cheon Do-yoon.
‘But.’
At least for today, he held a card that could free him from this maddening pressure.
“Well then— did you bring the item?”
“Of course.”
Yujin carefully placed the holy relic he had taken from within his rope on the ground.
A black chalice, slightly larger than a fist.
Within it dwelled the power of the ‘Black Star’.
“Hoh hoh hoh!!”
The old man let out his peculiar laugh and smiled brightly.
“You’ve done well, Yujin.”
“Heh heh. It was not a difficult task.”
Yujin shrugged and shook his head.
“Owls.”
The old man lightly raised his hand.
*Flap, flap!!*
With the sound of birds’ wings, dozens of figures in black robes emerged from the darkness.
The old man gestured toward Yujin.
Yujin nodded, picked up the black chalice, and walked toward a complex and bizarre formation etched on the ground.
“After a long wait, this day has come.”
Placing the black chalice at the center of the formation, Yujin spread his arms wide with a triumphant expression.
“Do you see it! That hateful sky!”
*Flutter!*
The robe Yujin wore billowed in a strong wind.
“That brilliant night sky will all be covered by black stars!!!!”
“……”
“……”
Beneath their deeply drawn hoods, intense gazes flashed.
Though no words were spoken.
The dozens of Black Star Society members watched the ritual with bated breaths.
“Now!!”
Yujin shouted as he infused magic into the formation etched on the ground!
“Witness it!! The black stars blessing our path forward!!!!!!”
*Wooooong!!!*
The formation on the ground flashed with a black light—
“This is only the beginning!!!”
And nothing happened.
“Soon, more items blessed with grace will appear in various places— huh?”
Yujin stared down at the formation, from which the black light had vanished, with a bewildered expression.
“…What the?”
*Tap, tap.*
No matter how much he touched it, turned it over, or spun it around.
There was no reaction at all.
“Why isn’t this working?”
Dozens of pairs of eyes were fixed on him.
He could see the old man’s expression twisting violently.
“Uh, uh-uh? W-Wait a minute!!”
—I’m fucked.
“……”
“Th-This can’t be!! This can’t be happening!!!!”
Yujin’s narrow eyes widened as far as they could go.