Chapter 3

I am not a regressive person, Chapter 3

Scam Kid (2)

“Hah!”

It was called the placebo effect.

Eunhyuk charged at the monster with agile movements as if he had received a real buff.

“Grrr!”

The monster that emerged from the bushes had a hybrid appearance, a mix between an ant and a wolf. While its overall shape was closer to that of a wolf, its body was covered in a hard shell like that of a crustacean, rather than soft fur.

A 1-star monster, the Ant Horn.

It was the most commonly found monster in low-level gates.

“Chah!!”

-Snap!

The spear, swung like flowing water, sharply pierced the gap between the Ant Horn’s hard shell.

“Grr!”

The Ant Horn aimed at Eunhyuk with its jagged, saw-like jaws, but he easily dodged the attack, as if he had anticipated it.

“Haha! I definitely feel much lighter!”

Eunhyuk shouted excitedly while fighting the Ant Horn.

‘Well, it’s fortunate that the taste of the skeleton is good.’

A natural chuckle escaped Jin’s lips.

He had thought Eunhyuk would be easy to exploit from the moment he first saw him, but this exceeded his expectations.

‘Kyaha! Sweet, sweet!’

The thought of having found a good mark made his mouth water with sweetness.

-Crunch!

“Karrr…!”

With a final scream, the Ant Horn’s head separated from its body.

“Phew.”

“Good job.”

“Haha, thanks to Jin-oh’s buff.”

“No, even without my buff, you would have taken it down without much trouble.”

It wasn’t a lie, as he hadn’t actually given any real buff.

‘His skills aren’t bad.’

While it was premature to judge based on just one 1-star monster, Eunhyuk’s movements in the short battle were superior to most of the awakened individuals Jin had met.

Eunhyuk was skilled.

More accurately, he was a skilled mark.

‘Very good.’

Finding someone of this caliber was a rare occurrence.

“Then, let’s move on to harvesting the Starstone….”

“I’ll do the harvesting.”

“But—”

“I’m not good at direct combat. Please rest while I do this, Eunhyuk.”

“…Thank you.”

Eunhyuk bowed his head slightly and sat down.

Jin chuckled and rummaged through the Ant Horn’s decapitated body.

He soon found a fingernail-sized piece emitting a faint blue light.

‘Starstone (星喩石).’

A piece of stone said to be imbued with the power of the stars.

The Starstone could hold some of the power of a ‘Star Scar,’ making it a valuable item traded at high prices and a primary source of income for awakened individuals.

‘Well, even so.’

The Starstone from a 1-star monster was small and of low quality, so it wouldn’t fetch much money.

‘Maybe about 20,000 won.’

If the profit was split, it would be 10,000 won.

Not bad for a battle that lasted less than a minute.

‘If things go well, I might make about 300,000 won today.’

While it didn’t seem like a high profit for risking his life, there was no choice.

For a powerless and resourceless ordinary person in this crazy world, making this much in a day was a significant achievement.

“…A significant achievement.”

Jin looked down at the Starstone in his hand with a somewhat hollow gaze.

A significant achievement.

Yes, for someone who only had a silver tongue, being able to make this much money was a significant achievement.

But.

To buy what he wanted.

To reach his goal.

Much more money was needed—

“Jin-oh?”

“Ah.”

Interrupting his thoughts, Jin turned his head at the sound of a voice.

He saw Eunhyuk looking at him with a puzzled expression.

“Is there a problem?”

“No, nothing.”

Jin shook his head lightly and approached him.

“Let’s move on.”

Since he had confirmed Eunhyuk’s skills, moving to a deeper area should be fine.

* * *

“Grr! Karak!”

“Kilrrr!”

“Kyahaaa!!!”

Three Ant Horns surrounded Eunhyuk.

Among them was a 2-star monster, the Elder Ant Horn.

“Chah!!!”

Eunhyuk moved across the ground as if sliding, effortlessly cutting through the Ant Horns.

Soon, two Ant Horns were decapitated, and he faced the Elder Ant Horn, which was much larger than the others.

“Blessing of the Lake!!”

Jin stood behind the fiercely fighting Eunhyuk, diligently sprinkling fairy dust into the air.

The faint blue fairy dust reached Eunhyuk on the wind.

“Haaaaa!”

Eunhyuk let out a powerful yell and moved his feet.

-Crunch!!

“Karrr! Kyah!”

Eunhyuk, who had jumped high, plunged down like a meteor, gripping his spear with both hands.

The Elder Ant Horn, its head pierced by the spear, let out a final scream and collapsed.

“Haa, haa.”

Eunhyuk, who had dealt with the Elder Ant Horn, panted heavily and sat down.

The intense hunting had lasted about four hours.

Even with the monstrous stamina of an awakened individual, it was enough to tire anyone out.

“Phew… Are you okay?”

Jin also exhaled a rough breath, showing signs of fatigue.

Of course, he wasn’t actually tired since he had just been watching, but he needed to pretend to be exhausted to avoid suspicion.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Eunhyuk nodded, catching his breath.

‘Maybe it’s time to wrap things up.’

After observing for a moment, Jin approached him stealthily.

“Shall we stop here for today?”

He asked, lifting the now quite heavy bag of Starstones.

‘If we sell them, we might get 500,000 to 600,000 won.’

Split with Eunhyuk, that would be about 300,000 won, meeting today’s goal.

“We should head back and split the Starstones.”

“Understood.”

Eunhyuk nodded and stood up.

“Are you free tomorrow?”

“Of course!”

“Haha. Then see you tomorrow.”

“Yes! I’m not afraid as long as I’m with Jin-oh!”

Looking at Eunhyuk’s enthusiastic declaration, Jin smiled sardonically.

‘I really found a good mark.’

The thought of sticking to Eunhyuk for a while and siphoning off money made his smile uncontrollable.

-Rustle.

At that moment, the sound of rustling bushes tickled his ears.

“Hmm?”

Jin turned his head in the direction of the sound.

“Looks like another Ant Horn is coming.”

Eunhyuk gripped his spear and crouched.

Jin nodded and hid behind Eunhyuk.

-Rustle, rustle, rustle.

The sound of rustling bushes from multiple directions.

“…Not just one.”

Eunhyuk gripped his spear, slightly tense.

While Ant Horns didn’t usually move in groups, it was not uncommon for 3 to 4 to appear together.

In such cases, an ‘Elder’ was always among them, so caution was necessary.

-Rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle!!

“…What?”

Jin’s expression stiffened.

The rustling sounds grew louder.

A chilling sensation spread through his body.

‘Something’s—’

Something’s 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 bushes from all directions.

Not three or four, but at least twenty, no, more than thirty monsters were moving.

“—Damn.”

A low curse escaped Jin’s lips.

Something was wrong.

And it was seriously wrong.

“J-Jin-oh, this….”

Eunhyuk, trembling, turned to look at him.

“Why, why are there so many Ant Horns….”

Eunhyuk’s stammering, like a broken machine.

-Smack!!!

Jin, with a pale face, roughly slapped the back of Eunhyuk’s head, who was trembling.

“What are you standing there for, you idiot!!”

In the urgent situation, a harsh voice naturally came out.

“Run!!!!!”

Eunhyuk looked up at him with a bewildered expression, startled by the sudden profanity.

“Run, you moron!!”

Jin grabbed Eunhyuk’s shoulder and cursed again.

Seeing him unable to grasp the situation and fumbling around made his blood boil.

“Yes, I understand!”

Eunhyuk, frantically looking around, nodded urgently.

It seemed he finally understood the situation.

“This way, Jin-oh!”

True to his ‘Star Scar of the Compass,’ he chose the direction where the Ant Horns had not yet completely surrounded them and took off.

“Haa, haa!”

Jin desperately chased after Eunhyuk.

Thanks to his regular physical training, he managed to keep up with Eunhyuk.

But.

‘Damn it!’

Muttering a low curse, he turned his head.

“Grrrrr!!”

“Karak! Karakarak!”

Dozens of Ant Horns, breaking through the dense bushes, were chasing them.

Among them were no less than five ‘Elders.’

‘What the hell is this!’

He had spent years in low-level gates, but this was the first time he had seen dozens of Ant Horns moving together.

“Jin-oh, faster!”

“I’m running!!!”

The metallic taste of fear rose in his mouth.

The sensation of his heart about to burst out of his throat.

“Grrrrrr!”

The Ant Horns were already surrounding them.

“Damn!”

He turned and pulled out a pistol from his waist.

A Colt 1911.

A weapon he carried for minimal self-defense.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Grr.”

“Damn!!”

He fired at the charging Ant Horns, but as expected, the bullets bounced off their hard shells.

Without the power of a ‘Star Scar,’ weapons couldn’t deal significant damage to monsters.

They could only slightly slow them down.

‘Damn it!’

He threw the useless pistol and ran as fast as he could.

‘What is Eunhyuk doing, not helping me?’

He glared at Eunhyuk, who was running ahead.

“Grr. This….”

Eunhyuk frowned and turned around.

His terrified gaze met Jin’s.

‘This guy, could he—’

A foreboding feeling crept into his mind.

“…I’m sorry, Jin-oh!”

Why did ominous premonitions always come true?

Eunhyuk, who had turned around, pushed Jin towards the Ant Horns.

“Grr!”

Jin, pushed by Eunhyuk, rolled on the ground.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!!”

Eunhyuk repeated the words like a broken machine and ran away.

‘This bastard!’

Jin’s gentle face twisted in anger.

“Don’t—fucking—do that!!!”

“J-Jin-oh?!”

With all his strength, Jin slid and barely grabbed Eunhyuk’s leg.

“Saving you from a standstill, and this bastard is going crazy!”

“This way, we’ll both die!!!”

“Then let’s die together, you bastard!!!”

He couldn’t die here.

“Grr!! Let go, damn it!!!”

Eunhyuk, with a pale face, kicked his leg.

Choke!

Jin, who was holding onto his leg, was roughly thrown off.

“Choke!”

No matter how hard he tried to hold on, he couldn’t withstand the strength of an awakened individual.

“Damn.”

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

The Ant Horns were approaching.

Jin’s face turned pale.

‘Like this.’

Dying—

Zzzz!

A fierce blue spark flew up.

Eunhyuk, who was running away, convulsed as if having a seizure.

And.

‘This is the situation.’

Jin, who had finished his flashback, opened his eyes slightly and looked at the woman in front of him.

‘No.’

He instinctively realized.

The term ‘woman’ didn’t fit.

The being that bestowed Star Scars and created the superhumans known as awakened individuals.

The Constellation.

The identity of the woman who suddenly appeared was clearly a ‘god’ born from a constellation.

‘Why is a Constellation here….’

His mind was a tangled mess.

‘—Wait.’

Then, a sudden thought flashed through his mind.

Jin touched the Star Scar on his left chest with his fingertips.

‘She definitely said, “I never gave this Star Scar to anyone.”’

He recalled the words of the silver-haired goddess.

The Star Scar on his left chest, which he had never seen before.

This was,

‘Eunhyuk’s… Star Scar.’

He didn’t know what was going on, but he had absorbed the Star Scar that Eunhyuk, who had died, possessed.

Not the Star Scar of the Compass, but the Star Scar of the Lyre.

‘Wait, wait, just a moment.’

A thrilling shiver ran down his spine.

His neck felt hot.

‘Then, could it be.’

Jin’s eyes widened.

‘Eunhyuk… was a regressive?’

No, that couldn’t be.

‘That clumsy bastard, a regressive… Ah.’

Just now.

The image of Eunhyuk, who suddenly convulsed and burned to death, flashed through his mind.

The blue lightning that shot up from his entire body.

His corpse, which burned from the inside as if the ‘Star Scar’s magic power had gone berserk.

‘This is crazy.’

If that moment was when ‘the future Eunhyuk’ possessed his body.

If the sudden change caused his death.

It could also explain why he had the ‘Star Scar of the Lyre’ instead of the ‘Star Scar of the Compass.’

‘It was overwritten.’

At that moment, at that point, at that instant.

Eunhyuk’s Star Scar had ‘switched.’

And—

‘The aftermath of the switched Star Scar… caused Eunhyuk’s death.’

The feeling of puzzle pieces falling into place.

Jin shivered slightly and lifted his head.

[Hmm? You’re not a regressive?]

The goddess, with cold golden eyes devoid of emotion, looked down at him.

[I clearly felt the ‘Star of Reversal’ rising here….]

“Yes.”

He nodded, interrupting the goddess’s words.

He didn’t know what was going on.

He couldn’t even guess the cause and effect.

He didn’t know what ‘Black Heaven’ was, what the ‘Star of Reversal’ was, or even the goddess’s name.

He didn’t know.

There was no way to know.

‘But.’

One thing was certain.

“I am— a regressive.”

To survive here, he had to be a regressive.