Chapter 47

I am not a Regressor, Chapter 47

Monster Hunt (3)

'What is this?'

Oh Jin frowned in confusion and looked back at Choi Jongchul and Park Jeongwoo.

There was also a bald man with a scorpion tattoo on his head.

It seemed that these three were part of the same team for this hunt.

'This doesn't seem like a coincidence.'

Oh Jin narrowed his eyes.

The scorpion tattoo on the bald man was a common mark among Pandinus Guild members.

And.

That tattoo was also etched on Choi Jongchul's neck.

'So that's how it is.'

He could roughly understand the situation.

'After being kicked out of the Starlight Lake Guild, he joined Pandinus.'

If that was the case, it made sense why Park Jeongwoo and Choi Jongchul were together.

"Huh? Why are you so quiet? It's been a while, and you're making me feel bad."

Choi Jongchul smirked and sneered.

Oh Jin shrugged and chuckled.

"No, I'm just surprised. What happened to the Starlight Lake Guild, and why did you join the Pandinus Guild?"

"…Are you the one to ask that?"

Choi Jongchul's expression twisted nastily.

Click.

He clenched his fists roughly.

"Didn't you promise me back then? That you wouldn't say anything to the Guild Master?"

"Oh, that?"

Of course.

"It was a lie."

"……"

Choi Jongchul trembled, roughly biting his lip.

"Ha ha. Because of you… I lost everything."

He was expelled from the guild for violating the guild's rules and provoking the Messenger of the Virgin Star.

Was that all?

His money, relics, and sacred stones were all seized as a penalty.

"That's too bad."

As if it had nothing to do with him.

He smiled calmly and said.

"Ha, ha ha!! Not necessarily."

Choi Jongchul stroked the scorpion tattoo on his neck and laughed bitterly.

"Thanks to you, I found a better place to stay."

"You're not a Scorpion, yet you managed to join."

"Hehehe. The Aquarius' sacred mark is in high demand."

Indeed.

Among healers, the Aquarius is renowned for its unparalleled performance and is welcomed wherever it goes.

"Though… now it's not just the Aquarius."

He licked his lips with a meaningful expression.

"Really? That's good to hear."

Oh Jin was curious about the meaning of his words but didn't ask.

There was no point in asking, as he wouldn't answer honestly anyway.

"If you're done, can you leave now?"

"Ha ha! Yes, we should. We have things to do."

Choi Jongchul licked his lips, extending his tongue.

"What? You're ending it like this?!"

Park Jeongwoo shouted, furious.

"Get that brat's head right now…!"

Choi Jongchul grabbed his shoulder as he approached angrily.

"Hehe. Calm down, Jeongwoo."

He glanced at Oh Jin with his usual sly smile.

"You don't need to get so worked up… You'll see something interesting soon enough."

He chuckled, his shoulders shaking.

"……"

Oh Jin looked at Choi Jongchul with a deep, intense gaze.

"Well, I'll look forward to seeing you again."

Choi Jongchul sneered and turned around.

Just as he was about to leave.

"Hehe. Wasn't your name Haeun?"

He suddenly changed direction and started walking towards Haeun.

"The blindfold suits you very well."

He scanned Haeun from head to toe with a sticky gaze, his lips curling with a greedy desire.

"Huh?"

Thud.

Haeun's expression twisted as if she had found a cockroach cut in half in her hamburger.

"What are you up to?"

Haeun kicked out with her left foot in a surprise attack.

Smack!

Her foot drew a smooth arc and kicked between Choi Jongchul's legs.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

Choi Jongchul twisted his body in a split stance, his eyes wide open.

'Oh wow.'

That must have hurt a lot.

"Kyaah~ Phew! A brat as small as an ant's down is mocking me."

Do ants have down?

No, what is as small as an ant's down?

"Ugh. Ugh."

Choi Jongchul trembled, biting his lip.

He glared at Haeun with a murderous look and clenched his fists.

"Let's see how long you can keep laughing."

With those words, Choi Jongchul turned and walked towards the downtown area of Sokcho.

"Phew!"

Haeun flipped him off as he walked away.

"…Ha."

Oh Jin watched Choi Jongchul's retreating back and let out a hollow laugh.

'He said he'd see something interesting soon?'

One thing was clear: Choi Jongchul was a serious fool.

"Talking like that is dangerous."

Did he think Oh Jin would wait around like a 90s manga protagonist?

If so, he was greatly mistaken.

'Let's meet right away instead of later.'

Would he still say the same thing then?

Oh Jin chuckled and activated the Hunter's Mark.

He memorized Choi Jongchul's scent with his explosively enhanced sense of smell.

'This is actually a good thing.'

He licked his lips.

Choi Jongchul's mark was definitely the Aquarius' mark.

It was a mark he had always intended to obtain someday.

"Ugh. Meeting such a weird guy just ruined my mood."

Haeun frowned, looking displeased.

"Oh Jin! Let's quickly finish off the monster and go get the reward!"

She pulled on Oh Jin's arm and shouted.

"Sure."

He smiled.

He walked towards the smoky downtown area with a leisurely pace.

'There are more things to hunt besides the monster.'

He had no intention of stopping with just Choi Jongchul.

The bald man and Park Jeongwoo, too.

It would be best to eliminate all potential sources of conflict in advance.

'This is really getting me entangled with the Pandinus Guild.'

Killing those three would mean messing with one of the top 10 guilds, but he didn't care.

"Sacrifices in a hunt are inevitable, after all."

He looked at the city teeming with monsters with a bitter smile.

* * *

Boom!

"Rrrrrrrrr!!!"

From the ruins of a collapsed building, a monster that had been hiding in the debris flew up with a violent roar.

It was about 2 meters tall.

Its overall shape was similar to a human, but its lower body was entirely a snake, making it a half-human, half-snake creature.

"Kraaaaaaack!"

The monster approached and opened its mouth wide.

Its mouth split into four sharp rows of teeth.

"Ah!"

Thud!

Park Changhyun blocked the approaching monster with a massive shield.

The heavy impact traveled up his arm.

"Ugh!"

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The monster's strength was so great that even Park Changhyun, who had the Bull's mark, was pushed back.

"Oh Jin!"

"Got it!"

While Park Changhyun held his ground, Oh Jin jumped.

Clang!

The wire shot from the wire shooter attached to a steel beam, propelling Oh Jin high into the air.

"Phew."

After taking a short breath.

'Lightning Strike.'

Crack! Crack! Crack!

He struck down with his spear at full power!

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

The monster, pierced through the shoulder by the silver spear, twisted its body in convulsions and let out a roar.

Whoosh!

The long snake tail that made up its lower body lashed out like a whip.

"Of course, one hit isn't enough to kill it."

Oh Jin clicked his tongue and twisted the silver spear to pull it out.

Sssss!

He injected mana into the wire shooter, and his body shot back into the air with a sharp sound.

"Let me finish it off!"

Whoosh!

Haeun, who had been hiding in the debris waiting for an opportunity, flicked her finger at the monster.

A red flame, like a dragon's breath, swirled and engulfed the monster.

"Kraaaaaaack!!"

The monster, writhing in the flames, soon turned and started to flee.

"Huh? It's running again?!"

Haeun pointed at the fleeing monster.

"Oh Jin!"

"I know."

Oh Jin, who was floating in the air using the wire, extended his right arm towards the fleeing monster.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Three wires shot out and entangled the fleeing monster's body.

'Explosive Lightning.'

Crack! Crack! Crack!

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

The blue lightning that flowed through the wires engulfed the monster's body.

Thud!

The monster, now completely motionless, collapsed on the spot.

"Phew~ Each one of these is no joke."

Park Changhyun wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Not less than 5-star… No, almost 6-star."

Oh Jin examined the monster's corpse and said.

'Considering the monster's characteristics, it's probably 4-star or 5-star.'

Mutant beasts, or monsters, are much stronger than their counterparts, so their star rating would be lower than expected.

"Ha ha! But our party balance is great, so it's not too difficult to handle!"

Park Changhyun laughed heartily and lifted his shield.

Oh Jin nodded.

'The balance is definitely not bad.'

Park Changhyun holding the front line, Oh Jin's ability to move freely between close and long range, and Haeun's powerful long-range firepower.

It was a perfect balance except for the lack of a healer.

'Thanks to that, there's almost no stamina consumption.'

Oh Jin could handle a few monsters alone, but he would have quickly reached his limits.

"But the reward is a bit disappointing compared to the difficulty of killing this thing."

Haeun clicked her tongue, pulling out the black sacred stone, about the size of a bottle cap, embedded in the monster's forehead.

As she said, the monster's sacred stone was smaller and of lower quality compared to its difficulty.

"Ha ha. But the reward is generous, right? And…."

Park Changhyun smiled brightly and slammed his shield on the ground.

"It's for the people of Sokcho, who are trembling in fear! Right, Oh Jin?"

"…Ah, yes, of course."

"Ha ha! I was really impressed by how you refused the interview! An Awakened should be like Oh Jin!"

Oh Jin nodded, smiling bitterly.

Actually, he didn't care much about the people of Sokcho, but.

'If they think that way, it's fine.'

The monster hunt was going smoothly.

But.

'These things… something's off.'

Oh Jin narrowed his eyes as he looked at the monster's corpse.

Last time and this time.

Every time they hunted a monster, it would turn and run at the end.

'That's not a problem.'

Even if a monster is ferocious, it's natural for a living being to run when its life is in danger.

The issue was.

'They all run in the same direction.'

Is it plausible that all the monsters, in a life-or-death situation, would run in the same direction?

"Hmm."

Oh Jin crossed his arms and fell into thought.

He wanted to call Vega and ask, but he hesitated with Park Changhyun around.

While he was deep in thought.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!"

A scream of pain echoed from a distance.

"Huh?"

"That voice…?"

Haeun and Park Changhyun turned their heads simultaneously.

Before they could move.

-Boom!!

"Ugh!!"

Oh Jin kicked off and rushed towards the source of the scream.

'The scream I just heard.'

That voice was definitely.

"Cough! Cough! Gasp! Gasp!"

When he arrived, Park Jeongwoo was lying on the ground with a large wound on his chest.

'Sure enough.'

Oh Jin's eyes sharpened.

He turned his head to check Park Changhyun's position.

'Time is running out.'

Then.

"Are you okay!!!"

Oh Jin rushed to Park Jeongwoo.

"Grgh… Ugh!"

Park Jeongwoo nodded faintly, pressing his hand against the wound on his chest.

"Who did this…!"

"Monster… Attacked by a monster… Cough!"

Park Jeongwoo coughed up blood.

"Stay with me!!!"

Oh Jin grabbed Park Jeongwoo's collar and shook him roughly.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Park Jeongwoo's head hit the wall like a hammer as it was shaken back and forth.

"Ugh! I, I'm fine…."

"Your wound is bleeding so much, what are you saying!!!"

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

He shook Park Jeongwoo's collar with even more force.

Blood flowed from Park Jeongwoo's head.

'This…!'

His head was also injured!

"Aaah! Ah! Wait! Aaah!"

Park Jeongwoo struggled.

"Oh Jin! What's going on!"

Park Changhyun, who had just arrived, was approaching.

"Jeongwoo! Please, stay with me!!!!"

"Cough! Cough! Damn! Damn!!"

"Aaah!!! Why such a terrible thing!!!!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Blood poured from Park Jeongwoo's head, soaking his body.

It meant his wounds from the monster had worsened.

"No, no!!!"

With an urgent cry.

Snap.

Something broke.

"Oh, Oh Jin, this…."

A few seconds later, Park Changhyun arrived and shuddered at the sight of Park Jeongwoo, who was lying in a pool of blood.

"……"

Oh Jin turned his head, his face pale.

"He, he's… dead."

There was no more warmth in Park Jeongwoo's limp body.