Chapter 365
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 365
Chapter Title: The Black Star Constellation (1)
After a three-day break, the busy routine began again.
As always, Oh-jin woke up in the early dawn and headed to the private training facility Isabella had created for him by purchasing an entire stadium.
His training, which started at 4 AM, wouldn't end until around 8 PM.
He followed a grueling sixteen-hour training schedule, diligently familiarizing his body with the power of the 10-star Lyra Stigma.
“Well then, I'll be going, Oh-jin. I've stocked the fridge with plenty of different side dishes, so just take them out when you're ready to eat.”
“Ah, yeah. Thanks.”
Oh-jin wasn't the only one with a hectic schedule.
Isabella was also leading a busy life, traveling the world to manage the dozens of businesses run by the Colagrande family, in addition to her personal training.
“You said you were going to Italy this time, right?”
“Yes, that's right. I'm planning to visit my family's home for a bit.”
“How long will you be there?”
“Well... there's a lot to take care of, so I think I'll have to stay for quite a while this time.”
Isabella said this with a sullen expression, perhaps because of the thought of being away from Oh-jin for a while.
Her slumped shoulders made her look like a rain-soaked puppy, and an involuntary chuckle escaped him.
“What is it? Don't tell me you're happy to be away from me?”
Isabella shot a sharp glare at the chuckling Oh-jin.
Oh-jin shook his head and gently caressed her cheek.
“It's not like that.”
“Haaah. If I had my way, I'd drop all the businesses and everything else...”
Isabella sighed deeply, looking at Oh-jin with longing eyes.
She truly wanted to forget about managing businesses and just stick to Oh-jin's side, meticulously managing everything from his diet and schedule to his... nighttime activities.
‘For Oh-jin's sake... I have to endure it.’
The immense wealth and power from running dozens of businesses would be a great help to Oh-jin, who had no significant backing other than the Association.
Even in a world teeming with demonic beasts and rifts to other worlds, the power of capital remained as formidable as ever.
“Don't worry, I'll take good care of Oh-jinnie while you're gone.”
Ha-eun grinned and subtly groped Oh-jin's butt.
Isabella's eyes narrowed sharply.
“Ha-eun...!”
“Just kidding, just kidding. You know I'm busy these days too, right?”
“Hmph. That may be true, but...”
Isabella bit her lip, clearly displeased.
She knew that Ha-eun had also been incredibly busy lately, focusing on training to handle the Dragon God's soul she'd obtained in the Demon Realm.
“...Still, that's not fair.”
At least she didn't have to go abroad like her.
Isabella sighed deeply and shook her head.
She couldn't keep whining like a child when they were all busy.
“I'll be going, Oh-jin.”
“Okay. Travel safe. And keep in touch.”
Oh-jin gave the departing Isabella a light kiss and waved.
“We will escort you, My Lady.”
Roberto and the attendants in black suits waiting outside the entrance left with Isabella.
Watching Isabella's retreating back, Ha-eun clicked her tongue.
“Looks like she's really busy these days.”
“Well, I'd imagine so.”
No matter how skilled she was, running dozens of companies couldn't be easy.
Even if most of the practical work was handled by subordinates, there would still be many matters requiring her decision.
“Ugh. I should get ready to go out too.”
“Let's go together, Oh-jinnie.”
Although she didn't spend sixteen hours straight holed up in the training grounds like Oh-jin, Ha-eun was also diligently focused on her own training.
She would eat the lunchbox she brought with him during breaks or help Oh-jin with his training.
“First, let me call Vega.”
Unlike Ha-eun, who helped Oh-jin whenever she had a spare moment, Vega was assisting him with his training to handle the Lyra Stigma in a much more systematic way.
Thanks to her, the technique Oh-jin was currently focused on—fusing the power of the Lyra Stigma with Black Heaven—was developing rapidly day by day.
In the past, getting Vega's help with training that involved linking Black Heaven and the Lyra Stigma would have been unimaginable.
But now that the truth about Black Heaven was out, there was no need to train while hiding from Vega's eyes.
Wooooong!
As he channeled mana into the pendant around his neck, a silvery halo of light erupted.
[It is I!]
Bbababam!
Vega appeared, striking the same pose as always.
She looked over Oh-jin and Ha-eun, who had changed into their training clothes, and let out a short sigh.
[Are you off to train again?]
“Pretty much.”
[Haaah. You trained so long yesterday you were practically in tatters... I worry your body will break down.]
“If I get hurt, I'll just take a dip in the swimming pool.”
Since the training facility was a completely renovated stadium, it also included a large swimming pool for underwater training.
Of course, Oh-jin's main purpose for using the facility's pool wasn't for underwater combat training, but simply for healing.
[That skill where you absorb water to heal your body, you called it Hydro-Affinity, did you not?]
“That's right.”
[But does that skill not only heal external wounds?]
“Well, yeah, but.”
Still, it's something that even external wounds can be healed completely.
“Besides, as Black Heaven's blooming stage has advanced, it's started to heal some of my internal injuries too.”
It was literally just 'to some extent' and not a skill suited for treating internal injuries.
‘Even if I chugged a whole elixir, my wounds wouldn't regenerate this quickly.’
Though limited to external wounds, in terms of sheer regenerative power, the Hydro-Affinity skill was in no way inferior to the legendary potion, the elixir, which was said to be able to revive the dead.
‘Thanks to it, I can train without worrying about wrecking my body, which is nice.’
As long as there was enough water, he could regenerate from even the most severe external wounds as if he were some immortal slime, so for Oh-jin, who enjoyed training so intense it bordered on torture, there was no better healing skill.
[Haaah. You are truly incorrigible.]
Vega pressed a hand to her forehead as if her head was throbbing.
The spirit, Lyak, who inherited a part of her soul, was also a training fanatic comparable to Oh-jin, but at least Lyak didn't train so recklessly that his body broke down.
“Well then, let's get going.”
He couldn't leave in the early dawn today because he was seeing Isabella off on her trip to Italy.
Thinking he'd have to stay a little longer since it was late, he opened the front door.
Bzzzzzzzzzt.
The smartphone in his pocket vibrated.
“Who's calling?”
“Just a second.”
He turned on the smartphone's screen and saw Director Han Jun-man's name.
“Yes, Director.”
-Hah, hah! M-Mr. Oh-jin, is now a good time to talk?
The director's voice sounded somewhat urgent.
-Um... could you come to the Association right now?
“What's wrong?”
-I'll explain when you get here.
“Hmm. Yes, I understand. I'll be right there.”
-Thank you!
The director hung up abruptly without even a proper goodbye.
“What was that about?”
“I don't know. His voice sounded really urgent, though.”
“Hmm, really?”
“I should probably go and see.”
“Oh, wait. I'm getting a call too.”
Soon, Ha-eun's smartphone also started to vibrate.
It seemed they were calling not just Oh-jin, but all the Awakeners connected to the Association.
“Yeah, Director Gorilla. I heard from Oh-jinnie, so we'll go together.”
After a brief call with the director, Ha-eun headed straight to the Association with Oh-jin.
***
“Oh, you're here!”
When they arrived at the Association, Director Han, sweating profusely, was there to greet them at the entrance.
Oh-jin approached Director Han and asked in a low voice.
“Did something happen?”
Despite the director's urgent expression, the faces of the employees and Awakeners moving about inside the Association looked calm.
In other words, the news Director Han was about to deliver was an incident that hadn't yet been publicly announced within the Association.
“That is...”
Director Han Jun-man glanced around before turning.
“Please, follow me.”
Following Han Jun-man, they arrived at a conference room that only high-ranking executives, including the Association President, were allowed to enter.
Oh-jin tilted his head, sensing a presence inside.
“Hm? Is someone already here?”
“Ah, yes. It's the guild master of the Valhalla Guild.”
The Valhalla Guild?
As he narrowed his eyes at the name he hadn't heard in so long.
“It's been a while, Mr. Oh-jin.”
Lee Woo-hyeok appeared, opening the conference room door.
“Ah... yes. It really has been a long time.”
Oh-jin shook Lee Woo-hyeok's hand, trying to recall the last time they had met.
‘Was it during the Living Armor incident?’
It was an event so long ago that he could barely remember it now.
‘Hm?’
Just then, he noticed something doll-sized perched on Lee Woo-hyeok's shoulder.
A man who possessed a heavy presence, like a sharply honed blade.
However, because he was barely larger than a palm, much of his unique intimidating aura was gone.
[It has been a while, Star of the Rupturing Charge.]
The doll-sized man sitting on Lee Woo-hyeok's shoulder spoke.
After greeting Oh-jin lightly, he turned toward Vega, who was on Oh-jin's shoulder, and bowed his head respectfully.
[I greet the Star of Lyra.]
[You are... Regulus, are you not?]
Regulus.
The Constellation of Leo, one of the twelve Zodiacs.
[How is it that you are on Earth...?]
[Since the power of the Restriction has weakened, I too have been able to manifest in a physical vessel.]
[Ah.]
A low gasp escaped Vega's lips.
She had heard that constellations could manifest in the outside world after the Restriction weakened, but this was the first time she had seen it with her own eyes.
‘So the Constellation of Leo chose Lee Woo-hyeok.’
He had mentioned keeping an eye on him before, and it seemed he had now chosen to stay by Lee Woo-hyeok's side.
“Let's save the greetings for later... Director?”
“Yes, please come inside.”
Director Han opened the conference room door and went in.
“I've already briefed Awakener Lee Woo-hyeok, but... please take a look at this footage.”
An image appeared from the beam projector.
The footage showed a desolate, empty seashore.
“This is...?”
“This is footage we just received from the Kuroushi organization.”
Kuroushi was the yakuza organization Oh-jin had connections with.
Oh-jin nodded and focused on the video playing before him.
-Rurururumble, rumble!
A black rift opened on the beach.
Something could be seen pouring out from within it.
“...Demonic beasts?”
Their heads resembled horses, but they were bipedal, and their arms and legs, sprouting from their torsos, had webbed appendages.
And another distinctive feature was.
‘Horns.’
Two horns sprouted from their horse-like heads.
They resembled the horns that grew on the foreheads of the demons he had seen ad nauseam in the Demon Realm.
“The important part is what comes next.”
Director Han fast-forwarded the video.
After hundreds, thousands of the horse-headed demonic beasts had walked out of the rift.
-Sssssss. So this is Earth.
A horse-headed monster walked out from the black rift.
However, unlike the horse-headed demonic beasts that had appeared so far, this one emanated an indescribably intense, oppressive aura.
Neither a demonic beast nor a demon.
A dizzying sensation, as if facing a transcendent being far beyond common sense.
Ruuuuuumble!
The moment it set foot on the sandy beach, the ground shook as if an earthquake had struck, and the sea churned violently.
[Th-That one is...]
[That is correct, Lady Vega.]
Regulus nodded, looking back at Vega, whose eyes were wide open.
Regulus narrowed his right eye, which was marked with a sharp sword scar, and continued in a low voice.
There was one thing that could be understood from this short, less-than-ten-minute video.
[The Constellation of Hippocampus... Enceladus.]
A constellation of the Black Stars.
Had manifested on Earth.