Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: The Swindler (1)
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‘Star that Defies Heaven? A Regressor?’
What kind of bullshit was that?
‘If they mean a Regressor… are they talking about someone who came back from the future?’
If so, they couldn’t be more wrong.
Far from having returned from the future, he wasn’t even sure if he would survive until tomorrow.
No, did he even have until tomorrow?
At this rate, he would be torn to shreds by the fangs of the surrounding monsters in less than five minutes.
‘Calm down. Don’t panic.’
To survive in this hellish world as a non-Awakener, he had to think, assess, and decide faster than anyone else.
Gulp. He swallowed dryly and racked his brain.
First things first.
‘I need to figure out what the hell is going on.’
Oh-jin’s eyes glinted sharply as he stared at Lee Shin-hyeok's corpse, which had been burned to a crisp.
A few hours ago.
He recalled his first meeting with the man.
* * *
“Alright, shall we find a suitable sucker for today?”
It was an afternoon like any other.
Oh-jin stretched his stiff body and set off.
He headed toward a Gate frequented by novice Awakeners, his head swiveling.
“Oh.”
Awakeners loitered in front of the Gate, looking for parties.
Among them, one person stood out.
‘Perfect.’
Leather armor and thigh guards, gaudily adorned with useless decorations.
The two-meter-long spear in his hand must have been quite expensive, as a faint blue light lingered on its blade like an afterimage.
He ambled over to the young man, whose appearance seemed to scream that he was different from the other ‘novices’ milling about.
‘Has it really been eight years of this gig?’
Eight years ago.
He had just left the hellish orphanage and was looking for a job to survive.
As if the heavens were playing a cruel joke, the entire world had turned into hell.
‘What a fucked-up world this has become.’
After the first rift was observed at the North Pole.
Like a breaking dam, Gates connecting to other worlds opened up all over the globe.
Monsters poured out from the Gates, and humanity was helplessly swept away by them.
Just as more than half the Earth had been overrun by monsters.
—That was when the transcendent beings known as Constellations appeared.
They bestowed Stigmas upon humans, granting them the power to fight the monsters.
Thus were born the ‘ones who realized the stars.’
The superhumans commonly known as Awakeners.
‘Though I never became an Awakener myself.’
A world in upheaval.
In the midst of endless chaos and tribulation, there weren't many ways for an orphan who couldn't even become an Awakener to survive.
‘But.’
He had survived.
“Well, well! I see someone here who clearly doesn't belong in a place like this!”
Clawing and scraping. Tooth and nail.
Like a leech, sucking the lifeblood of others.
That was how he had survived.
“And you are…?”
“I am Kwon Jin-oh, a 1-Star Apostle of Aquarius.”
“A-Aquarius?!”
The young man’s eyes widened.
Well.
It was a natural reaction.
After all, Aquarius was one of the ‘12 Zodiacs,’ considered the highest tier among the hundreds of constellations.
“An Apostle from the 12 Zodiacs… I've never met one in person.”
“Ah, don't mention it. I may be from the Zodiacs, but I'm still just a 1-Star.”
He said with a friendly, self-deprecating laugh.
“By the way, may I ask your name…?”
“Ah! I'm Lee Shin-hyeok, a 2-Star Apostle of Pyxis.”
“An Apostle of Pyxis!”
He clapped his hands with feigned excitement.
“Whoa! How cool! The Stigma that grants mastery over all positions and directions! I heard that Awakeners of Pyxis can wield even the most difficult weapons as if they were their own limbs!”
“Haha. It’s not quite that amazing. Compared to a Stigma from the 12 Zodiacs, mine is nothing.”
Though he tried to act nonchalant, he could see the corners of Lee Shin-hyeok’s mouth twitching upward.
‘See, my eye for people is second to none.’
A grin spread across his face as he watched Lee Shin-hyeok react exactly as he had predicted.
‘Alright, then.’
Now that he had chosen his prey.
Time to get to work.
“Haha! Since fate has brought us together, why don't we form a party?”
“A party… you say?”
Lee Shin-hyeok looked flustered, as if he had never imagined an Awakener from the 12 Zodiacs would be the first to suggest partying up.
“I would be more than happy to, but Mr. Jin-oh…”
Jin-oh.
A simple alias, his real name, Oh-jin, spelled backward.
One might think it too clumsy a disguise, but such a simple alias was often harder to detect.
‘It’s always darkest under the lamp.’
Who would ever suspect a swindler of using a crude alias that was just their real name in reverse?
‘And more importantly.’
Most of the Awakeners he conned never even realized they had been scammed.
‘I just have to make sure I suck them dry without getting caught.’
To the superhumans known as Awakeners, he was no more than a mosquito.
A weakling who could be swatted dead in an instant if they noticed him sucking their blood.
‘I should lay some groundwork here.’
He spoke to Lee Shin-hyeok, who was looking at him with a puzzled expression.
“Hmm… It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but I'm not very skilled at wielding the power of my Stigma.”
He scratched his head and continued, feigning shame.
“To be honest… it’s hard for me to get into other parties.”
“Ah.”
Lee Shin-hyeok let out a short sound of understanding and nodded.
For Awakeners, it wasn't just about how powerful their patron Constellation was; how well they could handle the Stigma itself was also crucial.
“That’s why I’m still stuck at 1-Star, even though it’s been over a year since I awakened…”
Oh-jin sighed as if lamenting his fate.
The ranks among Awakeners were divided into ‘Stars.’
It was a concept similar to levels.
In this system, which ranged from 1-Star to 12-Star, one's proficiency with their Stigma was a key evaluation factor.
“A year… that is quite a long time.”
Lee Shin-hyeok nodded with a low groan.
On average, it took about six months to advance from 1-Star to 2-Star.
“It's all because I'm not good enough.”
“Not at all, Mr. Jin-oh. It’s only been a year. I’ve heard of cases where people struggle at first, but then shoot up the ranks once they get their first promotion.”
Lee Shin-hyeok said reassuringly.
“Haha. Thank you.”
Oh-jin smiled brightly and bowed his head.
As he lowered his head, his eyes glinted sharply.
‘Well, that should be enough groundwork.’
After saying all that, Lee Shin-hyeok would probably be lenient even if he wasn't much help during their party play.
‘Now then.’
Time to reel him in a little more.
“The moment I first saw you, Mr. Shin-hyeok, I had a feeling.”
“Ahem. W-What kind of feeling?”
“That you… possess an extraordinary talent that sets you apart from other Awakeners.”
“Talent, you say…?”
“Yes. I may not look like much, but I pride myself on my eye for people.”
“Ha, haha. Well… I did get promoted to 2-Star a little, just a little, faster than other Awakeners.”
“I knew it!! I just knew it!!!”
With every exaggerated clap of his hands, the corners of Lee Shin-hyeok’s mouth lifted into a bright smile.
Even if they were superhumans who had received Stigmas from Constellations, they were still human at their core.
Compliments naturally made them feel good and excited.
“So, what do you say? Will you join my party?”
“Hmm. Before that, uh…”
Lee Shin-hyeok turned his head with a slightly troubled expression.
There was a ritual that Awakeners who were meeting for the first time usually performed before forming a party.
A rather awkward ritual for two grown men to perform.
“Shall we show each other our Stigmas, then?”
Oh-jin asked as he casually took off the armor plate covering his chest.
When Awakeners who had never met before formed a party, it was an unspoken rule to show each other the Stigmas engraved on their left chests.
“Yes, let’s.”
Lee Shin-hyeok also took off his leather armor and pulled down his shirt.
Below his left collarbone.
The Stigma of Pyxis was visible.
“Confirmed.”
Now it was his turn.
Oh-jin pulled down his shirt below his shoulder, just as Lee Shin-hyeok had done.
The Stigma of Aquarius, clearly engraved on his left chest, was revealed.
“Wow… So that’s the Stigma of the 12 Zodiacs…”
A deep sigh of admiration escaped Lee Shin-hyeok’s lips.
Watching him, Oh-jin smirked.
‘Of course he can’t tell. I went through hell carving this thing myself.’
When he first decided to start this line of work.
It was a fake Stigma he had personally carved into the flesh of his chest with a knife.
At least from its appearance, there was no way to distinguish it from a real one.
“Haha, it’s a bit funny to be checking Stigmas when we’re just entering a low-level Gate like this.”
Lee Shin-hyeok said with a bitter smile as he adjusted his clothes.
“Even if it’s low-level, you never know what might happen if you let your guard down as an Awakener. This is just standard procedure.”
Oh-jin replied with a shrug.
The Gate they were about to enter was a low-level one where mostly 1-Star, and very occasionally 2-Star, monsters appeared. However, in terms of fatality rates, it was one of the highest.
‘That’s because a lot of freshly awakened rookies try to go it alone and end up dead.’
Still, Lee Shin-hyeok was at least not what you would call a ‘rookie.’
“Well then, let’s go in.”
“Yes.”
Having formed a party with Lee Shin-hyeok, Oh-jin stepped through the Gate.
His vision shifted, and a dark forest unfolded before him.
In the eerie forest, misshapen trees not found on Earth grew in dense thickets.
Avoiding the other Awakeners gathered in groups near the entrance, they ventured deeper into the woods.
-Krrrrk.
Rustle, rustle.
With the sound of rustling bushes, the yellow gleam of a monster's eyes appeared between the leaves.
Lee Shin-hyeok gripped his spear and lowered his stance.
“Just a moment.”
He grabbed the shoulder of Lee Shin-hyeok, who was about to charge the monster.
Lee Shin-hyeok looked back at him, his eyes filled with question.
“I'll cast a buff on you before the fight.”
Awakeners who received the Stigma of Aquarius had almost no direct combat power, but they specialized in support skills like healing and buffs.
Lee Shin-hyeok nodded with a look of realization.
“Yes, please do!”
“O, Albireo—Constellation of Aquarius.”
Oh-jin closed his eyes with a dead-serious expression and softly recited the incantation.
Vwooom!
A faint cluster of light emanated from his left chest.
‘It’s just a tiny LED I have hidden in my clothes.’
But from the outside, it would look like the mana of a Stigma was flowing out.
“Shine your starlight upon this humble Apostle’s path to illuminate the darkness.”
He spread his arms wide, opening his politely folded hands.
A powder of sparkling light flew toward Lee Shin-hyeok.
“《Lake’s Dawnlight》.”
The scene looked as if glass powder had been scattered in the air.
No.
‘Yeah, it’s just glass powder mixed with fluorescent paint.’
Since they were in a dark forest, the blue fluorescent paint mixed with the glass powder shone even more brightly.
“This is…”
“Hoo. It’s the most basic buff. How is it?”
“Hmm.”
“You might not feel a big change right now. But…”
“No.”
Lee Shin-hyeok looked down at his body with a serious expression.
He opened and closed the fingers gripping his spear one by one, then continued in a low voice.
“I can… feel a change.”
Huh?
Really?
“At first, my throat felt scratchy, and now my body is gradually heating up.”
He must have swallowed the glass powder.
That can’t be good for him.
“It’s a mysterious sensation, as if every single one of my cells is coming alive.”
Is he sick or something?
“So this… this is the power of the Aquarius Stigma I've only heard about!!”
No, it’s not.
“Thanks for the buff, Jin-oh! Now it's my turn to show you what I can do!!”
Go for it