“Hyat!”
Was it called the placebo effect?
Lee Shinhyuk charged into the monsters with nimble movements as if he had actually received a buff.
“Grrrr!”
What emerged from the bushes were monsters that looked like a hybrid between ants and wolves.
Although their figures were closer to those of wolves, they were covered not in soft fur, but a hard shell—like that of a crustacean.
1-Star monster ‘Ant-horn’.
It was the monster that appeared the most frequently in this dungeon.
“Ch-hat!!”
Bam!—
As if it were water, the spear flowed and dug into the crevices of the Ant-horn's hard shell.
“Grrk!”
Although the Ant-horn aimed its sharp, sawblade-like chin towards Lee Shinhyuk, he dodged the attack as if he had already foreseen it.
“Haha! My body definitely feels a lot lighter!”
Lee Shinhyuk exclaimed while facing the Ant-horns.
‘Hey, it’s a relief the imaginary buff worked that well for you.’
Ohjin couldn’t help but naturally let out a laugh.
Although he had thought Lee Shinhyuk would be a good pushover to take advantage of, this was beyond his expectations.
‘Kyaah! Sweet, how sweet!’
Just thinking about how he caught himself a pushover caused sweetness to flood his mouth.
Thomp—
“Graaa…!”
With the horrible shrieks of its last breath, the Ant-horn’s head was decapitated.
“Phew…”
“Nice work”
“Haha, it’s all thanks to your buff.”
“No. Even without my buff, you would have taken them down without much difficulty.”
Technically he wasn't lying, since he had never given him a buff in the first place.
‘His skills aren't that bad.’
Although it was too early to determine his strength with just one 1-Star monster, the movements that Lee Shinhyuk showed during the short battle were exceptional among most of the Awakeners he had met.
Lee Shinhyuk was skilled.
To be more accurate, he was a skilled pushover.
‘Very nice.’
‘Finding a talent like this is a rare occurrence.’
“Then, the harvesting of the starstones…”
“Ah, I’ll do the harvesting of the starstones.”
“But—”
“I’ll do it since my ability to directly affect combat falls behind. You should rest in the meantime.”
“…Thank you.”
Lee Shinhyuk sat down on the spot after bowing his head.
Ohjin started to rummage through the corpse of the Ant-horn with a smirk.
Soon, he was able to find a fingernail-sized fragment that had a radiating bluish light.
‘Starstone’.
A stone fragment imbued with a star’s power.
Since starstones could contain a portion of a stigma’s power, they were traded at a very high price.
They were the main source of income for Awakeners.
‘Well, even if that’s the case.’
You couldn’t expect much from a starstone out of a 1-Star monster, as the size and quality were lacking.
‘Will this fetch us around $20?’
If they split the earnings, it would be $10.
Considering that it was a reward from a battle that didn’t last even a minute, it wasn’t all that bad.
‘If everything works out, I’ll be able to bring in around $300 today.’
It couldn’t be thought of as high earnings, considering the fact that it required him to scam with his life on the line, but that couldn’t be helped.
It was already incredible for a powerless commoner without support to earn this much a day in this fucked up world.
“…Incredible, huh.”
With hollow eyes, Ohjin looked down onto the starstone grasped within his hand.
Something incredible.
That’s right, just being able to earn this much with nothing but words was something incredible.
‘However.’
‘In order to buy what I want.’
‘In order to reach the goal I set’.
‘A lot more money is— ‘
“Jinoh?”
“Ah.”
Shinhyuk’s voice broke him out of his thoughts, Ohjin quickly turned his head.
He could see Lee Shinhyuk looking towards him with eyes full of doubt.
“Is there perhaps a problem?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Ohjin headed towards him while slightly nodding his head.
“Then, let’s proceed.”
Because he had already confirmed Lee Shinhyuk’s skill, he had no problem with heading a bit deeper into the dungeon.
* * *
“Grrr! Graaak!”
“Grrr!”
“Gyraak!!!”
Three Ant-horns surrounded Lee Shinhyuk.
Between them, a 2-Star monster, an Elder Ant-horn, was mixed in.
“Haat!!!”
Lee Shinhyuk moved as if he were gliding across the ground and went around the Ant-horn herd without hesitation.
Soon after two of the Ant-horns were decapitated, he confronted the Elder Ant-horn, which had a huge body—one step larger than that of the other Ant-horns.
“ 《Blessing of the Lake》!!”
Behind the fiercely fighting Lee Shinhyuk, Ohjin was diligently sprinkling glass powder into thin air.
The blueish glass powder rode the wind and reached Lee Shinhyuk.
“Hyaaaaat!!”
Stomping the ground, Lee Shinhyuk explosively shouted out with energy.
Crack—!!
“Graa!! Gahak!!”
The Lee ShinHyuk that had jumped high up with his spear grasped in both of his hands descended like a meteor.
The Elder Ant-horn that had its head pierced by the spear's blade screeched out with its final breath.
“Hah… hah…”
Lee ShinHyuk, who had defeated the Elder Ant-horn, sat down on the ground and gasped for breath.
Four hours of fierce hunting later.
No matter how much monster-like stamina Awakeners had, it was more than enough time for him to get tired.
“Huu… Are you alright?”
With an expression full of fatigue, Ohjin also let out a heavy breath.
Of course, he wasn’t actually tired, since all he did was watch from behind—it was simply an act to avoid needless suspicion.
“Ah, yes. I’m okay.”
Lee Shinhyuk nodded his head while catching his breath.
‘Should I start to wrap this up?’
Ohjin, who was looking for the right timing, slowly started to head towards him.
“Should we end things here?”
He asked as he raised the starstone pouch that had become quite heavy before they knew it.
‘We should be able to fetch around five or six hundred dollars.’
After splitting it with Lee Shinhyuk, that would leave him with $300—which was his goal for today.
“We should start to head back since we’ll need to divide the starstones as well.
“Yes, I understand.”
Lee Shinhyuk stood up while nodding.
“Do you have time tomorrow?”
“Of course!”
“Haha. Then let’s meet up tomorrow.”
“Yes! If it’s with you, there is nothing to be afraid of!
Looking at Lee Shinhyuk exclaiming energetically, Ohjin couldn’t help but laugh.
‘Wow, I’ve caught a real pushover this time.’
Thinking of taking advantage of Lee Shinhyuk, his bright smile wouldn’t go down.
Rustle—
At that time, the sound of the bushes shaking tickled his ears.
* * *
* * *
“Hmm?”
Ohjin turned his neck towards the sound.
“It seems that Ant-horns have appeared again.”
Lee Shinhyuk grasped his spear and lowered his stance.
Ohjin nodded his head and proceeded to take position behind Lee Shinhyuk.
Rustle, Rustle, Rustle—
The sound of bodies moving in the bushes.
Not just from one place, but spread simultaneously from various places.
“…It isn’t just one of them,” Lee Shinhyuk said with a bit of a nervous expression.
Ant-horns weren’t ones to act in herds but occasionally there would be cases where three to four of them would act together.
You would need to be cautious in these cases since there would always be an ‘Elder’ in the mix.
Rustle, Rustle, Rustle, Rustle, Rustle!!—
“…Huh?”
Ohjin’s expression stiffened.
The sounds in the bushes started to become louder and louder.
Starting from his spine, an ominous feeling began to spread across his entire body.
‘Something…’
‘Something’s wrong—’
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 resonated in every direction.
It wasn’t just three or four of them.
A minimum of 20, no, the sound was that of over 30 monsters moving.
“ —Fuck,” a light swear flowed out of Ohjin’s lips.
Something wrong had happened.
Very wrong, at that.
“J-Jinoh, t-this is…”
Lee Shinhyuk looked towards him with his trembling body.
Tuk!!!—
Ohjin roughly smacked the head of the trembling and pale-faced Lee Shinhyuk.
“What are you spacing out for, dumbass!!”
Naturally, a violent voice came out of the emerging situation.
“Run!!!!!”
Lee Shinhyuk, who had been smacked in the head, looked at him with an expression that screamed surprise.
An expression surprised by the sudden words.
“I said run, you fucking dumbass!!”
He pulled on Lee Shinhyuk’s shoulder, shouting out swear words.
Looking at the appearance of Lee Shinhyuk, who couldn’t discern the situation at hand, anger started to rise within him.
“Ah, I understand!”
Lee Shinhyuk, who looked around the surroundings in a rush, nodded his head.
It seemed that he had finally understood the situation.
“This way, Jinoh!”
Deserving of one with the stigma of Pyxis, he accurately shouted out the direction of where the Ant-horn herd couldn’t entirely surround them.
“Hah, hah!”
Ohjin desperately chased Lee Shinhyuk’s back.
He wasn’t sure if it was because of the thorough stamina training, but he was able to narrowly keep up with Lee Shinhyuk.
However.
‘Fuck!’
Spouting out a swear in his mind, he turned his head.
“GRrrrrr!!”
“GRaa! GRaaagh!”
He could see dozens of Ant-horns chasing them, barging past the thick bushes.
Among them, as many as five ‘Elders’ were in the mix.
‘What kind of bullshit is this!’
After several years of spending time in low-grade dungeons, it was his first time seeing dozens of Ant-horns moving together in a group this large.
“Jinoh, faster!”
“I’m running!!!”
He could taste the salt in his mouth.
The feeling as if his heart would explode out of his mouth.
“GRRrrrrr!”
Before they knew it, the Ant-horns started to surround them.
“Fuck!”
He twisted his body to reach for the pistol on his hips.
Colt 1911.
A weapon he carried around to provide himself with the minimal amount of self-defense.
Bang! Bang! Bang!—
“Grr.”
“Fuuucck!!”
The bullets bounced off of the thick leather of the approaching Ant-horns, as he had expected.
A weapon without the power of a ‘stigma’ imbued couldn’t deal much damage to monsters in the first place.
It could only slightly slow their pace.
‘Goddammit!’
After throwing the useless gun away, he started to run frantically once again.
‘Lee Shinhyuk, what’s that bastard doing without helping me?’
He stared at the back of Lee Shinhyuk, who had gone ahead.
“Ugh. A-At this rate…”
With a grimace, Lee Shinhyuk turned his body around.
His eyes, full of fear, headed towards Ohjin.
‘Could this bastard actually be…’
An ominous feeling passed through his head.
“…I-I’m sorry, Jinoh!”
Why were his ominous feelings always spot-on?
Lee Shinhyuk, who had turned his body around, pushed him towards the Ant-horns.
“Ahh!”
Ohjin, who had been separated from Lee Shinhyuk, rolled on the ground.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!!”
Repeating his words like a broken record, Lee Shinhyuk started to gain distance.
‘This son of a bitch!’
Ohjin’s gentle face distorted coarsely.
“Don’t… Fuck with me!!!”
“J-Jinoh?!”
Gathering all of his strength, he dived towards Lee Shinhyuk and narrowly held onto his legs.
“You’re doing this to me after I saved you from spacing out? Are you fucking crazy?!”
“I-If this continues, we’ll both die!!!”
“Then let’s die together, you fucker!!!”
He couldn’t die a meaningless death here.
“Arrg!! Damn it, let go!!!”
Lee Shinhyuk kicked his feet with a pale expression.
‘Shit’
Ohjin, who was holding onto the ends of Shinhyuk’s legs, violently bounced off.
“Kuak!”
He tried to endure it with all he had, but there was simply no way for him to endure the strength of an Awakener.
“ F-Fuck.”
Rustle, Rustle, Rustle—
He could see the Ant-horns approaching.
Ohjin’s expression went pale.
‘At this rate…’
Death—
CRAAAACKLE!!!
Blue sparks fiercely sparked out.
Lee Shinhyuk, who was running away, suddenly flopped around as if having a seizure.
And then.
‘The situation became like this.’
Ohjin, who had finished getting burned, narrowly opened his eyes and looked at the lady in front of him.
‘No.’
He could instinctively realize.
That the expression of ‘lady’ wasn’t correct.
The ones who grant stigmas, the existences that create the supernatural beings known as Awakeners.
Celestial.
He was certain the identity of the lady who had suddenly appeared was a ‘god’ born from the constellations.
‘Why… is a celestial here…?’
Complicated thoughts entangled inside his head.
‘—Wait.’
At that moment, a sudden thought came to him.
Ohjin touched the stigma on his left chest with the tip of his fingers.
‘She definitely said ’you have my stigma, which I haven’t given to anyone before’.’
He thought about the words that the silver-haired goddess had said.
The shape of a stigma that he had never seen before on his left chest.
‘This is…’
‘Lee Shinhyuk’s… stigma.’
He wasn’t sure of the reason, but using the power called ‘Black Heaven’, he had absorbed the stigma of the dead Lee Shinhyuk.
Not the stigma of Pyxis, but the stigma of Lyra.
‘Wait, wait, wait a second here.’
Starting from his spine, an electrifying feeling spread across his body.
The back of his neck started to heat up.
‘Then, could it be?’
Ohjin’s eyes widened.
‘Lee Shinhyuk… was a Regressor?’
‘No, that’s impossible.’
‘There is no way that dumb half-wit could be a Regres… ah.’
Just then.
The appearance of Lee Shinhyuk suddenly spazzing out while burning to death came to mind.
The blue lightning that shot out across his entire body…
A corpse which looked to be burned from the inside as if a ‘stigma’s power overloaded’…
‘Holy. Shit.’
If that was the moment the ‘Lee Shinhyuk from the future’ had been implanted…
If the sudden change was the cause of his death…
That would also explain why he carried not the stigma of Pyxis, but the stigma of Lyra.
‘It was overwritten.’
At that moment, that time, that starting point.
Lee Shinhyuk’s stigma was ‘reverted’.
And…
‘From the aftermath of the stigmas reverting… Lee Shinhyuk died.’
The disoriented puzzle pieces began to assemble in his mind.
Lightly shrugging his shoulders, Ohjin raised his head
[Hmm? Are you not a Regressor?]
The appearance of the goddesses’ cold golden eyes, which seemed to be void of any emotion, shone looking down upon him.
[I definitely felt the presence of the ‘Heaven-defying Star’ in this pla—]
“That’s correct.”
He nodded while cutting off the goddesses’ words.
There was no way to know what the situation at hand was.
There was no way of guessing what the cause and effect were.
What the Black Heaven, Heaven-defying Star, even the name of the goddess in front of his eyes was.
He didn’t know anything.
There was simply no way of knowing.
‘However.’
He was certain of one thing.
“I’m… a Regressor.”
In order to make it out alive from this spot, he needed to become a Regressor.
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