Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: A Game I Can't Lose (1)
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A week after the Masu subjugation operation ended.
As one might expect, the entire country was in an uproar over the operation.
The appearance of a Masu that turned people into monsters—it would have been stranger if it hadn't become a major issue.
Foreign countries also covered the incident with great care, raising their vigilance.
And so.
Attention was also focused on the hero who had prevented an irreversible catastrophe.
━Noerang, Kwon Oh-jin.
The story of the man who first discovered the situation and single-handedly defeated the Masu boss spread like wildfire, making headlines in dozens of media outlets.
*Thanks to that, it's become hard to just wander around outside.*
He was currently in a state of semi-seclusion at home, under the pretext of treating his injuries.
He had actually lost consciousness for about three days due to the aftereffects of using Exceed.
*Let's see.*
Oh-jin picked up his smartphone and entered a popular community site.
The top posts were, of course, filled with talk about Noerang.
He clicked on one of them.
[WoofWoofKim: Seriously, isn't Noerang fucking insane~!]
┗JerryM: They say it's only been half a year since he awakened. Does that even make sense? Guess he's not Polaris's Apostle for nothing;
┗ButterflyValley: Sex
┗WoofWoofKim: Honestly, at this point, isn't he Seven Stars-level??
┗HeueungGwangNunna: Lmao bullshit. No way he's Seven Stars-level, no matter how good he is.
┗WoofWoofKim: I mean, maybe not now, but feels like he'll just become one of the Seven Stars later?
┗ButterflyValley: Sex
┗JerryM: Wouldn't the Black Lion get there first?
┗HeueungGwangNunna: Dude;; you guys talk about the Seven Stars like it's your dog's name or something. A whole truckload of Black Lions and Noerangs would get stomped in 1 second;
┗WoofWoofKim: That's a bit of an exaggeration; I mean, they'd get wrecked, but not in one second;
┗ButterflyValley: Sex
┗WoofWoofKim: It's always the fuckers who've never even tried who post shit like that lol
┗ButterflyValley: You son of a bitch
It was all rather chaotic, but.
*Well, the reviews are insane.*
For him, who had awakened just six months ago, to be mentioned in the same breath as the Seven Stars was already absurd.
*Though most people are saying I'm still a long way below the Seven Stars.*
That much was obvious.
He was still far from being able to stand on their level.
“Well, I should be able to reach it soon enough.”
Would he just stand on their level?
He was confident he could reach a realm far higher than theirs.
*I have to, if I want to maintain this regressor persona.*
The Stigma of Lyra and Heukcheon.
Honestly, with just these two, reaching the Seven Stars would be a piece of cake.
The only question was how long it would take.
“Now that I have the chance, I have to do it right.”
His goal wasn't just to be on the level of the Seven Stars.
It was a place far, far above.
A place higher even than the Constellations, who were called transcendents.
*A realm that even my dear goddess wouldn't dare to dream of.*
If he could reach that state.
“Then…”
Oh-jin smirked.
When that time came, he would no longer have to live his life deliberately deceiving others.
*Well, that's something to think about when the time comes.*
For now, he had other things to focus on.
“…The Black Star Society.”
As this incident became a major issue, the name of Choi Jong-cheol, the main culprit, had also spread far and wide.
Naturally, the Pandinus Guild, to which he had belonged, was mentioned.
“Choi Jong-cheol is not an Awakened affiliated with the Pandinus Guild, they say.”
According to the Pandinus Guild's official announcement, Choi Jong-cheol had never been a member of their guild, and they had had no contact with him whatsoever.
*A lie, of course.*
But in the guild roster they publicly released, Choi Jong-cheol's name was indeed absent.
In other words.
*They planned to use him and throw him away from the start.*
It was a blatant case of cutting their losses.
But since there was no physical evidence linking the Pandinus Guild and Choi Jong-cheol, it was difficult to refute their claims.
The Pandinus Guild even turned the tables, directing the blame at the Starlight Lake Guild, where Choi Jong-cheol had once been, accusing them of being the masterminds behind the incident and trying to frame them.
And it wasn't just words.
They presented concrete evidence that Choi Jong-cheol had continued to meet with the Starlight Lake Guild even after his departure, putting pressure on them.
*They were played beautifully.*
The Starlight Lake Guild claimed they had only met a few times during the process of seizing Choi Jong-cheol's assets and had no connection to the incident.
But public opinion was turning against the Starlight Lake Guild.
*Thanks to that, the other major guilds among the top ten started getting dragged into it.*
The Starlight Lake Guild was a guild composed of the best 'healer-type' Awakened.
It went without saying that healer-type Awakened rarely entered gates alone.
Because of this characteristic, the Starlight Lake Guild inevitably had many connections with other guilds, including famous major guilds from the top ten.
No.
In fact, a guild of Starlight Lake's caliber almost exclusively worked with major, well-known guilds.
With the situation as it was, the arrows of blame were now being aimed at all the top ten guilds that had associated with the Starlight Lake Guild.
“Were they aiming for this from the beginning?”
Oh-jin clicked his tongue as he scanned a few news articles.
There was almost no mention of the Pandinus Guild, which should have been the target of the criticism. Instead, the articles were filled with talk of the Starlight Lake Guild's conspiracy and so on.
“Those bastards used their heads.”
*Pfft.*
Oh-jin laughed as if it were pathetic.
“Oh-jin, didn't you say you were going to the Sanctuary earlier?”
“Ah, yeah. I should get going.”
Oh-jin, who had been looking at his smartphone, rose from his seat.
Now that the situation had more or less settled.
He needed to go and report to Vega.
“I’ll be back soon, sis.”
“Alright.”
Ha-eun waved her hand, seeing him off.
*Shall I go?*
My dear goddess must be worried sick, so I should hurry.
***
[My, my child!!]
As soon as he arrived at the Sanctuary of Vega, she rushed out in a panic.
The aftereffects of the restriction seemed significant, as she was maintaining a small size of about 30cm even within the Sanctuary.
[Are you unhurt? Is your body alright? Do you feel strange inside? What happened to that wicked Masu?]
A storm of questions poured out.
“Don’t worry. You can tell I’m fine just by looking at me.”
[B-but!]
Vega’s eyes welled up with tears as she stomped her feet.
Why is my goddess so damn cute?
“Why were you so late, human! Do you know how worried Lady Vega was?”
Liak approached, frowning.
“I know.”
“She was sobbing her eyes out, pulling my fur every five minutes.”
[I-it wasn't that bad.]
“Was crying all she did! She carved your face onto the sanctuary wall and prayed day and night for your safety!!”
Turning his head to look at the sanctuary wall, he saw that his face was indeed carved there.
[N-no! I never did such a thing!!]
“She even secretly pressed her lips to the carving on the wall, praying for your well-being!! And yet you were so late…!”
[Kyaaaaaaah!!!]
*Zap! Boom!*
“Keuk!!”
Struck by a blue bolt of lightning, Liak was sent flying far away, tumbling across the floor.
Gray smoke wafted from the mouth of the twitching Liak.
He’s not dead, is he?
[A-ahem!]
Vega cleared her throat, subtly smoothing her disheveled hair.
[It seems Liak was seeing things.]
It was a pretty detailed testimony for a hallucination.
[A-anyway!]
Vega continued, hiding her blushing cheeks.
[What happened after that…?]
“I’ll explain everything slowly.”
He detailed what happened after Vega had disappeared, unable to withstand the restriction.
Of course, he conveniently left out the part about absorbing the relic's power and the Aquarius Stigma with Heukcheon.
[E-Exceed? Are you saying you used Exceed?]
“Yup.”
He thought it was a skill he’d made up on the spot, but it seemed she knew of it.
[What… th-that’s impossible.]
Vega’s jaw dropped, her expression hardening.
Was it really that surprising?
[Hah…]
Vega pressed a hand to her forehead as if she had a headache.
[Even if you’ve experienced it once before, this is…]
“Is it that surprising?”
He knew Exceed was an incredible skill, having used it himself.
But he wasn't sure if it was so unbelievable for him to learn it at this stage, even considering he was a ‘regressor’.
[Of course, it is surprising. ‘Exceed’ is a technique that can only be learned after reaching at least 7-star… no, 8-star.]
What?
*Wait, it was that high-level?*
An 8-star was among the top-tier powerhouses of the Awakened.
Of course, they paled in comparison to the 9-stars, who were classified as true ‘high-ranking Awakened’.
But one thing was certain: it was definitely not a skill a mere 4-star rookie could learn.
*In that case, it really is surprising.*
Imagine a very complex and difficult game.
Would clearing it just once suddenly change its difficulty to a preschool level?
Perhaps after playing it dozens, or even hundreds of times, but once would be far from enough.
*But from Vega's perspective, I’m a low-level player who’s cleared the game once and is now running rampant in a high-level boss zone.*
That would explain her surprise to some extent.
However.
There was one thing she didn't know.
*The truth is, I’ve never cleared the game even once.*
Why was he, a mere 4-star, able to learn a skill that supposedly required reaching 8-star?
[It can only be said that you possess a truly innate genius for controlling the mana of a Stigma.]
Genius, huh.
Right.
It was hard to find any other reason besides talent.
“Well, I’ve done it before, so I’m good at it.”
[No, that alone cannot explain it.]
Vega shook her head firmly and continued.
[It’s as if… you were born to rule over all Stigmas.]
“……”
Oh-jin’s expression hardened slightly.
“That’s a bit of an exaggeration. And it’s not a bad thing to learn it early, is it?”
[Hmm. No. In this case, it is not good.]
“Not good?”
Vega’s eyes narrowed sharply.
[Exceed is a technique that places an extreme burden on the body. You must reach at least 6-star for your body to be able to withstand it to some degree.]
“Ah.”
Right.
When he used it against Choi Jong-cheol, he had entered some kind of overload state.
Thanks to that, he had been unconscious for three days.
[I would like you to refrain from using Exceed from now on.]
*Poof.*
Vega flew up and settled on top of his head as she spoke.
“Alright. I’ll be careful.”
Unless it was a crisis, there was no need to use a skill that would harm his own body.
[Hmph! I don’t mean be careful, I mean never use it!]
Vega pulled his hair in anger.
Ouch.
“Hehehe! I said I got it.”
[Hmph. This is precisely when I should be by your side, monitoring you closely.]
“When do you think you’ll be able to manifest again?”
[It seems I will have to remain in the Sanctuary for about three weeks.]
So, a month in total.
Vega really must have overexerted herself back then.
[Haaah. If I had my way, I would tie you up and keep you in the sanctuary during that time.]
That's scary, Mama Vega.
[…But it seems the situation doesn’t allow for that.]
Vega’s eyes narrowed.
[It appears those vile apostles of Scorpio have joined hands with the Black Star Society.]
“Probably.”
They were denying it.
But it was obvious that the Black Star Society and the Pandinus Guild were connected.
[Vile creatures! To commit such an atrocious act and then try to pin the blame on others!]
Vega shouted, her voice filled with anger, likely recalling Choi Jong-cheol.
[It is truly frustrating that there is no way to stop their wicked schemes.]
“What do you mean there’s no way to stop them?”
Vega’s eyes widened.
[But did you not just say there is no evidence to prove their connection?]
“I did.”
It was true.
There was no evidence to redirect the arrows of blame currently aimed at the Starlight Lake Guild toward the Pandinus Guild.
But.
As always.
━If something doesn't exist, you just have to create it.
A sly smile spread across Oh-jin's lips.
“I’ll take care of this, so don’t worry.”
[But how….]
“It’s fine, I said.”
It wasn’t even a difficult task.
There was no need to rack his brain or prepare some complex strategy.
*Because this is…*
A game he was destined to win.
*Alright.*
Oh-jin slowly licked his lips.
*Shall I get back to my real line of work for a change?*
Anything else might have been different.
But you shouldn't have tried to pull a scam in front of me.