Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: The Scammer Bastard (2)
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“Hah!”
Was it what they called the placebo effect?
As if he’d received a genuine buff, Lee Shin-hyeok charged the monster with nimble movements.
“Grrrk!”
The creature that emerged from the bushes looked like a cross between an ant and a wolf.
Its general shape was closer to a wolf’s, but its body was covered not in soft fur but in a hard, crustacean-like shell.
A 1-star monster, the ‘Ant-horn.’
It was the most common type of monster found in low-level gates.
“Chahat!”
*Crack!*
The spear, swung like flowing water, sharply dug between the gaps in the Ant-horn’s tough shell.
“Krrk!”
The Ant-horn snapped at Lee Shin-hyeok with its serrated jaws, but he leaned back lightly, dodging the attack as if he had anticipated it.
“Haha! My body feels incredibly light!”
Lee Shin-hyeok shouted in excitement as he fought the Ant-horn.
‘Right. Glad the magic water is working for him.’
A natural smirk spread across Oh-jin’s lips.
From the moment he’d first seen Lee Shin-hyeok, he’d thought the man would be easy to use, but this was beyond his expectations.
‘Kaha! Sweet, so sweet!’
The thought of having snagged such a perfect sucker already left a sweet taste in his mouth.
*Crunch!*
“Kark…!”
With a final, gurgling cry, the Ant-horn’s head was severed from its body.
“Hoo.”
“Good work.”
“Haha, it was all thanks to your buff, Jin-oh.”
“Not at all. You would have handled it easily even without my buff.”
Since he hadn’t actually cast a buff, it wasn’t a lie.
‘He’s not bad.’
He couldn’t make a hasty judgment based on a single 1-star monster, but the movements Lee Shin-hyeok displayed in that short battle were superior to most of the Awakened he had met so far.
Lee Shin-hyeok was skilled.
To be precise, he was a skilled sucker.
‘Excellent.’
Finding talent like this was a rare occurrence.
“Then, to collect the Star Relic Stone…”
“Ah, I’ll take care of that.”
“But…”
“My direct combat abilities are lacking. You should rest for now, Shin-hyeok.”
“…Thank you.”
Lee Shin-hyeok bowed his head and sat down.
Oh-jin chuckled and rummaged through the corpse of the decapitated Ant-horn.
Soon, he found a thumbnail-sized fragment emanating a bluish light.
‘A Star Relic Stone.’
A stone fragment said to contain the power of the stars.
Star Relic Stones could hold a portion of a ‘Stigma’s’ power, making them highly valuable commodities and the main source of income for the Awakened.
‘Well, even so.’
A Star Relic Stone from a 1-star monster was small and of low quality, so he couldn’t expect much money from it.
‘This is probably worth around twenty thousand won.’
Split in half, that was ten thousand won.
Not a bad reward for a fight that lasted less than a minute.
‘If I play my cards right, I could make around three hundred thousand won today.’
It didn’t feel like a particularly high profit for a scam that put his life on the line, but it couldn’t be helped.
In this god-forsaken world, it was a huge deal for an ordinary person with no power or connections to earn this much in a single day.
“…A huge deal, huh.”
Oh-jin gazed down at the Star Relic Stone in his hand with somewhat hollow eyes.
A huge deal.
Yes, for someone who had nothing but the gift of gab, earning this much money was indeed a huge deal.
But.
To buy what he wanted.
To reach the goal he had set for himself.
He needed far more money—
“Jin-oh?”
“Ah.”
A voice cut through his thoughts, and Oh-jin turned his head with a short gasp.
He saw Lee Shin-hyeok looking at him with questioning eyes.
“Is there a problem?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Oh-jin shook his head lightly and approached him.
“Let’s get moving.”
Now that he had confirmed Lee Shin-hyeok’s skill, there should be no problem heading a little deeper.
***
“Krrk! Kararak!”
“Kirrrrk!”
“Kyaaaak!!!”
Three Ant-horns surrounded Lee Shin-hyeok.
Among them was a 2-star monster, an Elder Ant-horn.
“Chahat!!!”
Lee Shin-hyeok moved as if gliding across the ground, weaving through the group of Ant-horns without hesitation.
Soon, two of the Ant-horns were decapitated, leaving him to face the Elder Ant-horn, which was significantly larger than the others.
“《Grace of the Lake》!!”
Standing behind the fiercely fighting Lee Shin-hyeok, Oh-jin diligently sprinkled glass powder into the air.
The bluish powder rode the wind and settled on Lee Shin-hyeok.
“Hyaaaah!!”
Lee Shin-hyeok let out a powerful shout and stomped his foot.
*Kwa-duduk!!*
“Karrk!! Kyahak!!”
Leaping high, Lee Shin-hyeok gripped his spear with both hands and descended like a meteor.
The Elder Ant-horn, its head pierced by the spearhead, let out a final, agonizing shriek before its body went limp.
“Hah, hah.”
After finishing off the Elder Ant-horn, Lee Shin-hyeok collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.
Four hours of intense hunting.
Even for an Awakened with monstrous stamina, it was more than enough time to become exhausted.
“Hoo… Are you alright?”
Oh-jin also let out a ragged breath, feigning exhaustion.
Of course, since he’d only been watching from the back, he wasn’t actually tired, but he needed to act the part to avoid suspicion.
“Ah, yes. I’m fine.”
Lee Shin-hyeok nodded, catching his breath.
‘Time to wrap things up.’
Watching for the right moment, Oh-jin casually approached him.
“Shall we call it a day?”
he asked, lifting the pouch of Star Relic Stones, which had grown quite heavy.
‘This should fetch around five or six hundred thousand won.’
Split with Lee Shin-hyeok, that was about three hundred thousand won, so he had met his goal for the day.
“We need to divide the stones, so let’s head back.”
“Yes, alright.”
Lee Shin-hyeok nodded and pushed himself up.
“Are you free tomorrow as well?”
“Of course!”
“Haha. Then let’s come back tomorrow.”
“Yes! With you, Jin-oh, I’m not afraid of anything!”
Watching Lee Shin-hyeok shout with vigor, Oh-jin smiled slyly.
‘I’ve really hooked a big one.’
He couldn’t stop grinning at the thought of sticking to Lee Shin-hyeok and leeching money off him for a while.
*Rustle.*
Just then, the sound of rustling bushes tickled his ear.
“Hm?”
Oh-jin turned his head in the direction of the sound.
“Looks like another Ant-horn has arrived.”
Lee Shin-hyeok gripped his spear and lowered his stance.
Oh-jin nodded and hid behind him.
*Rustle, rustle, rustle.*
The sound of something brushing against the foliage.
It wasn’t coming from just one spot, but from several places at once.
“…It’s not just one.”
Lee Shin-hyeok gripped his spear, his expression slightly tense.
Ant-horns weren’t pack hunters, but occasionally, a group of three or four would roam together.
When that happened, there was always an ‘Elder’ among them, so caution was necessary.
*Rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle!!*
“…Huh?”
Oh-jin’s expression hardened.
The rustling grew louder.
An ominous feeling spread through his entire body, starting from his spine.
‘Something’s…’
Something was wrong—
*Rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle!!!!*
The sound of rustling erupted from all directions.
It wasn’t just three or four.
It was the sound of at least twenty—no, more than thirty monsters on the move.
“—Fuck.”
A low curse escaped Oh-jin’s lips.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
“J-Jin-oh. Th-this is…”
Lee Shin-hyeok turned to him, his body trembling.
“Wh-why are there s-so ma-many Ant-horns?”
Lee Shin-hyeok stuttered like a broken machine.
*Smack!!!*
With a pale, horrified expression, Oh-jin roughly smacked the trembling man on the back of the head.
“What are you spacing out for, you bastard!!”
In the urgent situation, the harsh words flew out of his mouth naturally.
“Run!!!!!”
Struck on the head, Lee Shin-hyeok looked up at him with a bewildered expression.
The sudden profanity seemed to have startled him.
“I said run, you dumbass!!”
Oh-jin grabbed Lee Shin-hyeok’s shoulder and swore at him again.
Seeing him dawdle so frustratingly, unable to grasp the situation, made his blood boil.
“Y-Yes, I understand!”
After glancing around frantically, Lee Shin-hyeok nodded his head in a hurry.
It seemed he had finally grasped the situation.
“This way, Jin-oh!”
True to someone with the Stigma of the Compass Constellation, he accurately picked a direction the Ant-horn horde had not yet completely surrounded and took off.
“Hah, hah!”
Oh-jin desperately chased after Lee Shin-hyeok.
Thanks to his regular fitness training, he was barely able to keep up.
But.
‘Dammit!’
Cursing inwardly, he glanced back.
“Grrrrr!!”
“Karak! Kararararak!”
Dozens of Ant-horns were bursting through the dense thicket, chasing after them.
Among them were a staggering five ‘Elders.’
‘What the hell is this!’
He had spent years in low-level gates, but he had never seen dozens of Ant-horns swarming together like this.
“Jin-oh, faster!”
“I’m running!!!”
His mouth tasted of copper.
It felt like his heart was about to burst out of his throat.
“Grrrrrrr!”
The Ant-horns were already starting to surround them.
“Dammit!”
He turned and pulled a pistol from his hip.
A Colt 1911.
A weapon he carried for minimal self-defense.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
“Krrk.”
“Shit!!”
He fired wildly at the charging Ant-horns, but as expected, the bullets couldn’t even pierce their carapaces and simply ricocheted off.
A weapon not imbued with the power of a ‘Stigma’ could never deal significant damage to a monster.
At best, it could only slow them down slightly.
‘Damn it all!’
He threw the useless pistol aside and started running again like his life depended on it.
‘What is that bastard Lee Shin-hyeok doing, not helping?’
He glared at Lee Shin-hyeok’s back as he ran ahead.
“Ugh. At this rate…”
Lee Shin-hyeok frowned and turned around.
His terrified gaze met Oh-jin’s.
‘Don’t tell me this bastard…’
An ominous premonition shot through his mind.
“…S-sorry, Jin-oh!”
Why were his bad feelings always right?
Lee Shin-hyeok turned and shoved him toward the Ant-horns.
“Ugh!”
Pushed by Lee Shin-hyeok, Oh-jin tumbled to the ground.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!!”
Lee Shin-hyeok repeated the words like a broken machine as he ran away.
‘That son of a bitch!’
Oh-jin’s placid face twisted into a snarl.
“Like hell you will!!!”
“J-Jin-oh?!”
Summoning every last ounce of his strength, Oh-jin slid across the ground and barely managed to grab his leg.
“I saved your spaced-out ass, and now you’ve lost your mind?!”
“W-we’ll both die if we stay together!!!”
“Then let’s die together, you bastard!!!”
He couldn’t accept such a pathetic death here.
“Ugh!! Let go, dammit!!!”
Lee Shin-hyeok kicked out, his face pale with terror.
*Gah!*
Oh-jin, who had been clinging to his leg, was sent flying.
“Keok!”
He had tried to hold on, but there was no way he could withstand the strength of an Awakened.
“D-dammit.”
*Rustle, rustle, rustle.*
He could see the Ant-horns closing in.
Oh-jin’s face turned deathly pale.
‘This is how.’
I die—
*Bzzzzzzzzzt!!!*
Blue sparks erupted violently.
Lee Shin-hyeok’s fleeing body convulsed as if having a seizure.
And.
‘That’s how I ended up in this situation.’
Finishing his recollection, Oh-jin narrowed his eyes and looked at the woman before him.
‘No.’
He knew instinctively.
The word ‘woman’ didn’t seem to fit.
A being that granted Stigmas, creating the superhumans known as the Awakened.
A Constellation.
The woman who had suddenly appeared was undoubtedly a ‘god’ born from a constellation.
‘Why is a Constellation here…?’
His mind was a tangled mess.
‘—Wait.’
Then, a thought flashed through his mind.
Oh-jin touched the Stigma engraved on his left chest with his fingertips.
‘She definitely said, “I possess a Stigma that has never been given to anyone.”’
He recalled the silver-haired goddess’s words.
The unfamiliar Stigma now engraved on his left chest.
This was…
‘Lee Shin-hyeok’s… Stigma.’
He had no idea how it had happened, but he had used a power called ‘Heukcheon’ to absorb the Stigma that the deceased Lee Shin-hyeok had possessed.
Not the Stigma of the Compass Constellation, but the Stigma of the Lyra Constellation.
‘Wait, wait, just a minute.’
A thrilling shiver ran down his spine, spreading through his entire body.
The back of his neck grew hot.
‘If that’s the case, then don’t tell me.’
Oh-jin’s eyes widened.
‘Lee Shin-hyeok… was a Regressor?’
No, that couldn’t be right.
‘How could that dimwitted bastard be a Regress… Ah.’
Just a moment ago.
The image of Lee Shin-hyeok suddenly convulsing and burning to death flashed through his mind.
The blue lightning that had erupted from his entire body.
His corpse, which had been burned from the inside out, as if the ‘mana of his Stigma had run rampant.’
‘This is… insane.’
If that moment was when the ‘future Lee Shin-hyeok’ had tried to inhabit his body…
If that sudden change had led to his death…
Then it would also explain, to some extent, why he possessed the ‘Stigma of the Lyra Constellation’ instead of the ‘Stigma of the Compass Constellation.’
‘It was overwritten.’
At that moment, at that point in time, at that juncture.
Lee Shin-hyeok’s Stigma had been ‘swapped.’
And—
‘As a result of the Stigma being swapped… Lee Shin-hyeok died.’
It felt like the misaligned pieces of a puzzle were snapping into place.
Oh-jin’s shoulders trembled slightly as he raised his head.
[Hmm? Are you not the Regressor?]
The goddess looked down at him, her cold, emotionless golden eyes shining.
[I certainly felt the ‘Star of Rebellion’ rising from this place….]
“That’s right.”
He cut the goddess off and nodded.
He couldn’t understand how this situation had come to be.
He couldn’t even begin to guess the cause and effect.
He didn’t know what Heukcheon was, what the Star of Rebellion was, or even the name of the goddess before him.
He didn’t know.
He had no way of knowing.
‘But.’
One thing was certain.
“I am—the Regressor.”
To survive here and now, he had to become the Regressor.