Chapter 242
Chapter 242
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 242
Chapter Title: Baptism of Stars (4)
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‘What the hell is this situation?’
Oh-jin stared at Polaris floating before him, his expression one of utter disbelief.
A constellation whose entire body was made of starlight, its features impossible to discern.
The silver eyes, faintly visible between the stellar motes, were unsettlingly deep and serene.
“Wh-what did you say?”
“The Star of Rebellion…?”
At Polaris’s bombshell, the constellations’ jaws dropped in astonishment.
[I suppose Polaris’s eyes cannot be deceived.]
Only one constellation was not surprised.
Vega, who had known from the beginning that Oh-jin was the ‘Star of Rebellion’.
“Wh-what? You knew, Vega?!”
[Oh-jin is my child. Is it not natural that I would know?]
Vega nodded candidly at Deneb’s accusation.
Her original plan had been to hide the fact that he was the Star of Rebellion until he had amassed enough power, but with Polaris revealing it, there was no point in concealing it any longer.
[It seems the time has come to reveal it, my child.]
Was this not the same Oh-jin who had grown strong enough to become one of the Seven Stars in a mere year and a half?
The condition of waiting until he had sufficient power had long since been met.
“…Yeah. It seems it’ll be hard to hide it anymore.”
Even as Oh-jin played along with Vega, his mind was racing, the back of his neck growing hot.
‘Even Polaris thinks I’m the Star of Rebellion?’
He had heard from Vega that Polaris possessed the power to glimpse the future.
And yet.
It mistook him for the ‘Star of Rebellion’?
“……”
Oh-jin’s expression hardened.
Perhaps.
It was still just a suspicion, thin on logic and evidence, but.
‘What if I’m the real Star of Rebellion?’
What if he, not Lee Shin-hyeok, was the one who could rewrite the pages of a predetermined destiny?
‘No, that doesn’t make sense.’
When Vega had first explained the existence of the Star of Rebellion to him, she had clearly stated that it was a being who had ‘traveled back through time.’
If the Star of Rebellion didn't mean a regressor, there would have been no reason for Vega to mistake him for one the moment she first saw him.
Then did Polaris really make a mistake?
The first constellation, the one said to shine the most brilliantly?
‘What… what in the world is going on.’
His mind was a mess of chaos.
Even as a jumble of disorganized thoughts tangled in his head, Oh-jin’s tongue moved smoothly.
To get through this situation, there was only one way.
“Yes. I am the Star of Rebellion.”
As Oh-jin nodded calmly, the murmurs among the constellations grew louder.
“The Star of Rebellion has appeared….”
“Th-then does that mean the world has already been destroyed once?”
Regulus trailed off with a flustered expression, while Spica gasped and hopped on the spot.
“Yes, it means that just as Polaris prophesied, all the stars were swallowed by the darkness of the Black Heaven.”
“Hah… Frankly, I can’t believe it.”
Aldebaran shook his head at Aris’s words.
“W-wait!”
Deneb stammered out a question.
His wide eyes trembled faintly.
“Th-then does that mean you’re a regressor?”
Just as he thought.
The Star of Rebellion was considered a ‘regressor’ among the constellations.
“That is correct.”
Oh-jin nodded and continued in a low voice.
“I am a regressor.”
One lie begets another, as they say.
Like a truck with failed brakes, the situation was spiraling rapidly out of control.
“Lies! If you’re a regressor, why did you get trapped in the Demon Realm back then? Are you saying a regressor didn’t know about the trap the Serpent set?”
Deneb glared at Oh-jin, his expression full of disbelief.
If he was a regressor, a living witness who had seen the world’s end with his own eyes, shouldn’t he have seen through a simple trap set by the Serpent?
At Deneb’s accusation, Oh-jin nodded with a composed look.
“Yes. I had no idea at all. Because in the future I experienced, the Serpent never set such a trap.”
“How can I believe that….”
“I am a regressor, not an omnipotent god.”
His voice continued, low and steady.
“The future of this world has already been completely altered. To the point where my memories of a past life are all but useless.”
“Hah, then what was it like in the world you experienced?”
Deneb asked demandingly, narrowing his eyes.
“For one, the existence of the Black Star Organization was not known to the world as it is now. Nor had their power weakened this much.”
The murmuring grew louder once more.
Deneb crossed his arms and scoffed in exasperation.
“Hmph, so what, are you saying it’s all thanks to you that the Black Star Organization is known to the world and that their power has waned?”
“That is correct.”
“Nonsense! No matter if you’re a regressor, how could you possibly… in just a year and a half.”
Oh-jin cut Deneb off and spoke in a low voice.
“I killed the King of Owls.”
The King of Owls, Cheon Do-yoon, had met his end at his hands.
“I killed the King of Seahorses.”
The King of Seahorses, Kurosaki Sosuke, had died when he crushed his head.
“I killed the King of Toads.”
To be precise, the Living Armor acting on Cassia’s orders had killed him.
But the only ones who knew that were Lee Woo-hyeok, Ha-eun, and Isabella.
“The, the King of Seahorses was killed by a Japanese Awakened….”
“No, I killed him. We made it look like Mr. Sakaki did it to divert the Black Star Organization’s attention.”
“……”
“I killed three of the Black Star Organization’s Executors. In addition, I also managed to bring an Executor who was being deceived and used by them to our side.”
He was talking about Isabella.
“If I am not the one who has diminished the Black Star Organization’s power, then who do you think has weakened them to this extent?”
“That’s….”
Deneb trailed off, rendered speechless.
“And if I were not a regressor.”
Oh-jin stared at Deneb with deep, sunken eyes.
“Would I be able to stand in this place now?”
Just one and a half years.
In a time that was but a fleeting moment to the constellations, he had reached the 8th Star and had been chosen as one of the Seven Stars, surpassing dozens of other high-ranking Awakeners.
“Th-that’s, Nokjonseong also….”
Deneb’s voice trailed off as he tried to continue his rebuttal.
He knew it too.
As great an Awakened as Nokjonseong Rebecca Bell was, her achievements were nothing but a firefly before the sun compared to what Oh-jin had accomplished.
[That is enough, Deneb.]
Vega turned to Deneb and spoke in a low voice.
[I swear on my star’s name that my child is a regressor.]
An oath on a star’s name.
For a constellation of Polaris, it was a powerful vow, one that would cause a part of her divinity to vanish the moment it was broken.
“Ugh…”
Deneb let out a short groan and nodded.
“Fine… I get it. I’ll believe you, okay?”
It didn’t seem like he fully trusted Oh-jin yet, but it was true that he couldn’t find any words for a rebuttal.
After all, the fact that Oh-jin had disposed of three of the Black Star Organization’s seven Executors in the past year and a half was undeniable.
“Ah, Allen too! Allen could have done it!”
He tried one last desperate attempt, asserting that Allen could have done what Oh-jin did.
[Then why did he not do so?]
“…That’s.”
Vega’s sharp counterargument silenced him once more.
Just as Vega said.
Even if Allen had the power to defeat the Executors of the Black Star Organization that Oh-jin had faced, in the end, it was Oh-jin who had actually fought them and suppressed their influence.
[Has everyone finished their discussion?]
Just then, a clear and beautiful voice flowed from Polaris’s lips.
Oh-jin’s eyes widened.
‘The voice changed?’
Not just the voice, but the way it spoke had changed as well.
[Then let us move on to the main topic.]
This time, it was a deep male voice.
‘Does it have multiple personalities or something?’
Oh-jin looked up at the starlit Polaris with a mystified expression.
Polaris’s silver eyes gleamed as it slowly descended toward Oh-jin.
[O, Star of Rebellion.]
A hand slowly caressed Oh-jin’s cheek.
[Save us… from the darkness of the Black Heaven.]
Polaris brought its hands together reverently, as if in prayer.
Oh-jin gave a slow nod.
“That is why I have returned.”
At his unhesitating reply, Polaris slowly lifted its head.
Though its expression was hidden by starlight, Oh-jin felt as if it was smiling faintly.
[I am bound by the Law and cannot bestow upon you the light to illuminate your path… but it seems Vega is already fulfilling that role sufficiently.]
Polaris glanced at Vega, who nodded with a proud expression.
[I shall brightly illuminate the path of my child!]
[I am counting on you.]
Polaris gave a slight bow and turned its head toward Oh-jin.
[The time I can manifest is running short.]
Polaris spread its arms wide.
The Fount of the Milky Way emitted a brilliant light and began to bubble and boil.
“Ugh!”
The Fount of the Milky Way seeped into Oh-jin’s body.
This time, it wasn’t being drawn in by the Black Heaven; the Fount itself was seeping into Oh-jin’s body as water soaks into paper.
‘I can’t take any more, even if it’s free…!’
He had already absorbed so much mana into his body that he was worried he might burst.
He couldn’t handle any more, and there was a risk that his mana circuits would become twisted.
Just as the state commonly known as Qi Deviation was about to befall him.
[Do not worry. The starlight seeping into you now will not settle in your body, but will settle in your soul to protect you.]
As the calm voice resonated, the mana that had been seeping into Oh-jin’s body vanished without a trace.
‘It settles in the soul, not the body?’
He didn’t know what that meant, but thankfully, the feeling of pressure, as if his body would explode, was gone.
“…Thank you.”
Oh-jin bowed his head toward Polaris with a dazed expression.
Polaris gave a slight nod and slowly turned its head toward Vega.
[Vega. Would it be alright if I were to give this child a name?]
[A name?]
[One receives a star’s name upon becoming one of the Seven Stars, do they not?]
[Ah.]
Vega nodded.
[I did have one in mind… but I shall yield to you here.]
[I am grateful.]
Polaris’s voice changed to that of a man.
It extended an arm shimmering with starlight and placed it on Oh-jin’s head.
[Bless this moment, the birth of a new star.]
The incantation continued in a low voice.
[The star most befitting of you, who bears the destiny of rebellion….]
The silver, shining eyes turned to Oh-jin.
[Pagunseong (破軍星). I bestow upon you the name of Pagunseong.]
Pagunseong.
The last star of the Big Dipper, a star from which myths were told of it commanding the armies of heaven to vanquish all evil in the universe.
“…Crazy.”
“Pagunseong is the name given to the most brilliant star among the Seven Stars, isn’t it?”
The constellations stared, jaws agape in shock.
Unlike their hushed whispers, Oh-jin’s expression was quite peculiar.
‘Kwon Oh-jin of Pagunseong.’
It was the kind of name that made him feel like he should be using some divine combat technique.