Chapter 1

I Am Not a Regressor Chapter 1

Regression (1)

Black sky.

As the sun sets and the moon fades into the darkness.

A hill covered with countless bodies stretched out before him.

-Step, step.

A young man moved his steps along the endless mountain of corpses.

Wobbling.

Shakily, one step at a time.

Death.

Wherever he looked, there were only crushed and trampled bodies.

Guts burst and brains spilled everywhere.

And,

-Roar!!

A beam of starlight illuminated the darkness, pouring down upon him.

[Well done, Awakener Lee Shinhyuk.]

A woman with silver hair that reached her waist, wearing a dress made of starlight, slowly floated in the air, her dress fluttering.

“…Vega.”

The young man, drenched in blood, spoke the name of the woman, no, the goddess before him.

Vega.

The Weaver Star (織女星). The goddess of the Lyra constellation.

The most brilliant of the countless constellations that light up the night sky, she looked down at him with a cold gaze.

[You have killed the Celestial Demon and saved this world.]

Her tone was stiff, like reading words written on paper.

“…Saved?”

Lee Shinhyuk's lips twisted.

Heh heh heh.

He burst into laughter, his shoulders shaking.

“Saved? You're saying I saved this world?”

A hoarse voice escaped his dry lips.

“Fucking—”

Boom!

He stomped his foot and shouted as if wailing.

“—Shut up!!!!”

A transparent tear rolled down his cheek.

“What kind of salvation is this!!!! They all died, devoured by that monster, and you call this a fucking salvation!!!”

Thud.

He collapsed to the ground, screaming.

“The twelve apostles of the ecliptic! The seven stars!! Even the damn constellations, all of them!!”

Countless.

Thousands, tens of thousands of Awakeners joined their powers.

The constellations, who used to fight and compete every day, joined hands.

To kill one Celestial Demon.

To stop the monstrous being known as the demon of the sky.

And—

“They… all… died.”

They all died.

“They were all devoured….”

He lowered his head weakly.

The vivid image of the monster tearing through thousands, tens of thousands of troops and devouring the constellations whole flashed in his mind.

[But, in the end, the Celestial Demon is dead.]

That's right.

Despite the thousands, tens of thousands of sacrifices.

The gentle apostles, the brave warriors, the noble constellations.

Most of them died.

Still, in the end.

He killed the Celestial Demon.

[Awakener Lee Shinhyuk, you killed it.]

He killed it himself.

“……”

Lee Shinhyuk lifted his hollow eyes.

He saw the Celestial Demon, fallen with a spear through its heart.

A white mask covering its face.

Behind the mask, lifeless blue eyes.

*Swallow*

He swallowed hard and spoke the monster's name in a low voice.

“…Celestial Demon, Kwon Ohjin.”

The demon of the sky, the master of Black Heaven, the devourer of stigmata.

There are many names for him, but the emotion directed at him is always one.

‘Fear.’

Overwhelming, absolute.

Fear.

The name of the Celestial Demon made an entire world tremble in fear.

Of course, it wasn't always like this.

In the past, Kwon Ohjin was just another Awakener, or even a lesser one.

‘But.’

The power Kwon Ohjin awakened to, ‘Black Heaven,’ had the ability to absorb the stigmata granted to Awakeners by the constellations.

He used this power to devour countless stigmata and eventually devoured the constellations themselves.

‘The result is.’

This hill covered with corpses.

The end of the planet Earth.

[Awakener Lee Shinhyuk. In accordance with the ‘Pact of the Stars,’ I will grant you one wish for saving the world by killing the Celestial Demon.]

The goddess's golden eyes, like captured starlight, gazed at Lee Shinhyuk.

Lee Shinhyuk's eyes burned with a cold determination.

“…Give it to me.”

He spoke through clenched teeth.

“Send me… back to the past.”

[…What?]

Vega's eyebrows rose.

[Do you really wish to regress?]

“Yeah.”

[…Do you want to repeat that horrific past again?]

“It will be different.”

Crunch.

Lee Shinhyuk gritted his teeth.

“This time, it will be different.”

No one else.

He will make it different.

[Hmm.]

The goddess's eyes narrowed.

[To become a star that defies the heavens, then.]

The possibility of defying the world's fate.

The only being capable of rewriting the pages of a story with a predetermined end.

A Regressor (回歸者).

The human before her, now wishes to become that Regressor.

[The fate of the world, once set, does not easily change.]

“I know.”

[You might face a future even more painful and desperate than before.]

“I will change it.”

[There will be no second chance.]

“Once is enough.”

Lee Shinhyuk's eyes burned with intense resolve.

[…]

The goddess closed her eyes and thought deeply.

After a short moment,

Her golden eyes, like captured starlight, gazed at Lee Shinhyuk.

[Very well. In accordance with the ‘Pact of the Stars,’ I will send you back to the past.]

Lee Shinhyuk clenched his fist tightly.

“And one more thing.”

[The wish granted by the ‘Pact of the Stars’ is only once.]

“This isn't a wish, Vega. It's a proposal to you.”

He continued in a hoarse voice.

“Grant me the stigmata of the Lyra constellation.”

[…]

The goddess's golden eyes wavered.

[Do you not know? The stigmata of the Lyra constellation… is beyond what a human can endure.]

As she said.

No human who received the stigmata of the Lyra constellation has ever survived.

Its power was too strong for anyone to wield.

—Even the Celestial Demon.

The stigmata of the Lyra constellation was the one thing he could never obtain.

[Even if you are the hero who killed the Celestial Demon… the possibility of surviving the stigmata of the Lyra constellation is one in a thousand… no, one in ten thousand.]

“If I can't be that one, there's no point in going back.”

Lee Shinhyuk replied firmly.

[…]

Vega closed her eyes again and thought, then slowly approached him.

[Very well, star that defies the heavens. I will grant you the stigmata of the Lyra constellation.]

She placed her hand on Lee Shinhyuk's shoulder.

[When you are sent back to the past in accordance with the pact, the stigmata of the Lyra constellation will be bestowed upon you. And… I will come to you myself.]

“You will come to me?”

How?

If he goes back to the past, won't her memories also disappear?

[Yes. Although the memories of this world will only be remembered by you… if you possess the stigmata of the Lyra constellation, the past me will at least know that you are a Regressor.]

In other words, the stigmata of the Lyra constellation will serve as a symbol to the ‘past her’ who will lose all memories of this world, indicating that he is a Regressor.

[If you can endure the stigmata of the Lyra constellation, the past me will appoint you as an apostle.]

“That… is a reassuring word.”

The stiffness in Lee Shinhyuk's face relaxed.

Though he expressed it as a bit reassuring, his heart was pounding.

Becoming an apostle of Vega, one of the ‘Polar Stars (北極星),’ was something countless Awakeners had longed for.

[Then, I will begin the fulfillment of the pact.]

“Wait.”

Turning away from Vega, Lee Shinhyuk turned his body.

He faced the place where the Celestial Demon lay.

“Phew.”

With trembling hands, he picked up the white mask covering the Celestial Demon's face.

And,

He removed the mask.

“…Ah.”

The face revealed beneath the mask was that of a young man with slightly upturned eyes.

“This is… Kwon Ohjin's, face.”

It was a gentle and mild appearance, far from the terror he had instilled in the entire world.

“…Hm?”

Lee Shinhyuk's frown deepened as he examined the dead Celestial Demon's face with wide eyes.

‘Where have I… seen this before?’

He searched his hazy memory, but nothing came to mind.

‘Anyway.’

What was important now was that he had confirmed ‘Kwon Ohjin's face.’

‘When Kwon Ohjin first appeared, he wasn't that strong.’

He rapidly grew stronger by using the power of Black Heaven to devour stigmata, but when he first appeared in the world, he was just another ordinary Awakener.

‘Go back to the past and kill Kwon Ohjin.’

If he can kill him before he becomes the ‘demon of the sky,’

‘…I can save them.’

What he lost, what he couldn't protect.

The endless regrets he had repeated.

This time.

[Time is running out, Awakener Lee Shinhyuk.]

The goddess's urging voice.

Lee Shinhyuk nodded and stood up.

‘I don't know any other information yet, but.’

It doesn't matter.

He knows where Kwon Ohjin first registered as an Awakener.

If he knows his face, he can wait there and find him to kill him.

“Alright. Send me back to the past.”

Standing up, Lee Shinhyuk approached Vega.

A massive light enveloped Lee Shinhyuk's body.

‘Celestial Demon.’

You, more than anyone.

You, who took everything from me.

‘I will definitely kill you.’

With that thought.

His consciousness faded.

* * *

‘Ah…’

A sensation of floating in the vast sky.

Amidst that distant sensation, memories of the past flashed through his mind.

That day.

The day he lost everything.

- The sky is so dark.

In front of him, the Celestial Demon looked up at the sky with a mocking smile.

That day, the sky was clear and blue, with the blinding sunlight shining down.

- Isn't it?

As if the sunlight shining down didn't exist, the Celestial Demon asked him.

Heh heh, the Celestial Demon's shoulders shook as he held—

‘No.’

The severed head of his younger brother.

‘Ohhyuk, Ohhyuk…’

Lee Ohhyuk.

His younger brother, chosen by a constellation of the ecliptic, was incredibly powerful.

Unlike the foolish older brother, he was smart and wise.

His younger brother was dead.

Right in front of his eyes.

- Why, why are you doing this!!

He screamed. He wailed.

He pleaded, tears streaming down his face.

- Why are you doing this to me!!!

Smile.

The Celestial Demon laughed and threw his brother's head at him.

- Well?

Behind the white mask.

The blue eyes looking at him,

- If you hadn't left me behind that day, this wouldn't have happened, would it?

were burning with cold anger.

“Gah!!!”

The sensation of floating in the air ended, and a sharp pain shook his body.

*Ring!

[The stigmata of the Lyra constellation has been bestowed upon Awakener Lee Shinhyuk.]

[The existing stigmata of the Compass constellation has disappeared.]

[Warning! The power of the stigmata is too strong, causing the body of Awakener Lee Shinhyuk to collapse!]

[Entering a state of possession (走火入魔).]

A clear chime and a blue message appeared before his eyes.

But before he could read the message,

“Cough!! Gah!!”

Crack! Crack!!

Blue lightning burned and surged through his body.

A torrent of pain shook him.

“What, what's happening? Why is this kid suddenly like this?”

At that moment, a voice reached his ears.

“-Ah.”

A voice so familiar.

A voice he could never forget.

‘What, what’s up?’

Lee Shinhyuk turned his trembling eyes.

No doubt.

The face he had confirmed with his own eyes when he removed the mask.

A face he could never forget, a face he must never forget.

There, in front of him.

‘The Celestial Demon’ was there.

“Ah, uh.”

The moment he saw him alive and breathing.

A torrent of emotions shook him to the core.

[The state of possession is worsening due to emotional disturbance!]

Why is the Celestial Demon.

Why is Kwon Ohjin in front of him.

Why is the face of his nemesis, who took everything from him, the first face he sees upon returning to the past.

“Cough, cough!! Gahaaaah!!!”

Lee Shinhyuk collapsed, convulsing.

Crack!!

Every time a blue spark flashed, his body jerked violently.

[The stigmata of the Lyra constellation is going out of control due to possession!]

[The body is completely collapsing!]

Crack! Crack!

Lee Shinhyuk's convulsing body began to twist.

“Cough!! Gah! Gah!!”

Blood gushed from his throat, staining his chin.

‘Ah.’

In his dying mind, the goddess's warning resurfaced.

- The possibility of survival is one in a thousand… no, one in ten thousand.

It was a simple reason.

Surprisingly, it was just cause and effect.

‘I… couldn’t be that one.’

A sense of futility weighed him down.

His consciousness flickered.

He no longer felt the pain that had been shaking his body.

“Why… why….”

With that final, low question.

Lee Shinhyuk breathed his last.

* * *

“No, no, no!!! Why is this kid suddenly like this!!!”

Kwon Ohjin, who had suddenly started convulsing, roughly grabbed Lee Shinhyuk by the collar.

“Hey! Breathe! Breathe!!”

Of course, he wasn't grieving over Lee Shinhyuk's death.

They had only met a few hours ago, and there was no time for any attachment to form.

The problem wasn't Lee Shinhyuk's death,

“Even if you die, kill all those bastards first, you damn son of a bitch!!!”

but the 2-star monsters surrounding them.

“Grrr.”

A low growl.

The fierce eyes of the monsters surrounding him were fixed on him.

If he had died a glorious death in a fierce battle, it would be one thing.

But to die at this critical moment, surrounded by a horde of monsters, how could he accept that?

Especially—

“Damn! Damn! Damn!!!”

he wasn't even an Awakener capable of fighting monsters.

“What can I do….”

There was no way.

Surrounded by a horde of monsters, a powerless civilian had no need to even think about it.

‘Still.’

He couldn't just die quietly.

Kwon Ohjin searched Lee Shinhyuk's body for anything useful.

“This is….”

At that moment, he noticed the stigmata on Lee Shinhyuk's left chest.

A stigmata of a shape he had never seen before.

Driven by instinct, he touched the stigmata on Lee Shinhyuk's chest with his fingertips.

At that moment,

*Ring!

[Black Heaven begins its first transformation (改化).]

[The stigmata of the Lyra constellation is being absorbed by Black Heaven.]

“…What?”

Black Heaven?

What is that?

*Boom!

Before he could continue his question, a black cloud flowed from his fingertips, covering the stigmata on Lee Shinhyuk's chest.

And,

“Gah!! Cough, cough!!”

Crack!! Crack!!

Blue lightning surged through his body along with the black cloud.

“Fuuuuck!!! It hurts so much!!!”

The pain was so intense, it felt like his balls were about to explode.

“Gaaaah!!!”

Kwon Ohjin screamed and writhed in agony.

How much time had passed?

*Ring!

[The stigmata of the Lyra constellation has been completely absorbed.]

[The power of the absorbed stigmata is too strong!]

[The power of the stigmata is being adjusted to match the transformation stage of Black Heaven.]

A blue message window appeared before his eyes, and the pain subsided.

“Haa, haa!”

He panted heavily and stood up.

He reached out in disbelief toward the blue message window that appeared before his eyes.

‘This is.’

Wasn't this the system window that only Awakeners could see?

‘Why is it appearing to me…?’

Could he have become an Awakened now?

Feeling confused, he touched his left chest and felt the stigmata, the symbol of an Awakened.

‘This is definitely the one that kid had just now….’

A stigmata of a shape he had never seen before.

As he frowned and stroked the stigmata,

*Roar!!!

The space split, and a brilliant starlight poured down.

In the pouring starlight, a woman with beautiful silver hair like the Milky Way appeared—

[Hmm. I clearly felt the aura of my stigmata here.]

A woman with golden eyes, like captured starlight, looked around and approached him.

[That you possess the stigmata I have never given to anyone… I see.]

What did