Chapter 59

I Am Not a Regressor Chapter 59

Heavy Rain (1)

[The typhoon 'Noru', which is currently moving north through Japan, is expected to reach the central region around 8 PM today. Preparations for sudden heavy rain are necessary….]

[There have been several attempts to assassinate Isabella Colgrande, recently referred to as the 'Saint of Rome'….]

[The Association has officially announced 'Bullang's' discharge and stated that all visits and interviews will be refused for a while….]

Click.

I stopped flipping through the news channels and turned off the TV.

'Was there any news about the Valhalla Guild?'

The incident involving Lee Woo-hyuk, the Black Lion, should have been reported as an emergency bulletin, but there was no mention of him anywhere.

This means the Valhalla Guild is keeping it a secret internally.

"…Should I go check it out?"

I entered the building of the Valhalla Guild, which I had visited once before.

As I was looking around the luxurious interior, which felt like a five-star hotel, Park Chang-hyun appeared.

"You've come."

"How is Mr. Woo-hyuk?"

"……"

Park Chang-hyun's expression hardened.

He sighed deeply and shook his head.

"Fortunately, his life is not in danger, but… it's not a state that can be described as good, even in a comforting way."

"Exactly what kind of state is he in?"

"He has regained consciousness. The guild leader also instructed me to contact you."

He is conscious.

The worst-case scenario has been avoided, but can this be considered fortunate in the current situation?

"It would be better to talk to him in person."

"Understood."

I followed Park Chang-hyun.

Beep beep beep beep.

We entered a section I had never been to before, and he placed a card against a seemingly empty wall.

- Rumble.

'There was a hidden space here?'

The wall slid to the side like a hidden treasure room in an ancient dungeon.

Inside the wall, instead of shining gold coins, there was a faintly flickering life barely clinging to the threads of existence.

A treatment room filled with expensive medical equipment.

Light was not coming from just one place.

"…Was Mr. Woo-hyuk the only one who was attacked?"

"Yes."

Park Chang-hyun nodded with a stiff expression.

"Everyone in the Valhalla Guild, except for me who did not participate in the operation, was attacked by the Black Star Society."

"……"

Oh Jin walked down the corridor with a confused expression.

The distinctive smell of hospital medication, which he had grown tired of over the past ten days, was emanating from the treatment rooms spaced at regular intervals.

"…Any fatalities?"

"No. Not yet, at least."

Park Chang-hyun lowered his head with a pained expression.

His shoulders, which had felt so reliable when standing up to the enemy, now hung limply.

'The entire Valhalla Guild was attacked?'

Even though it's a minor guild, it's one of the top ten guilds in Korea.

And it's a small guild with only about twenty members.

Each member of the Valhalla Guild, composed of guild officers of other guilds, being defeated so helplessly was hard to believe.

'Was it Ashad Khan?'

He shook his head at the question that came to mind.

According to Eugene, Ashad Khan's position within the Black Star Society was a mid-level political officer, one rank higher than him.

If a mid-level political officer alone could wipe out the Valhalla Guild, the Black Star Society wouldn't be hiding and operating secretly.

If they were that powerful, they could wage war against the entire Seven Stars. Why would they need to hide?

'I'll know when I hear it directly.'

Putting the question aside, he moved his steps.

Park Chang-hyun gently knocked on the door of the treatment room located in the farthest corner.

-Knock knock.

"Brother. I've brought Oh Jin."

"…Come in."

A weak voice came from the other side of the door.

-Creak.

When the door opened, Lee Woo-hyuk lying on the bed came into view.

"……"

His sunken eyes and gaunt cheeks.

His eyes seemed to have lost their focus, trembling.

The fierce aura that once radiated from him like a lion was gone.

What could be felt was a deep sense of defeat.

Lee Woo-hyuk exuded a poignant sense of helplessness, like an old lion with missing teeth, wary of other predators, circling around its dead prey.

'What is this?'

What could have happened to change a person to this extent?

"…Ugh, cough! I must have shown you a terrible sight."

Lee Woo-hyuk laughed weakly, as if reading the emotions in Oh Jin's eyes.

"What happened?"

"As you can see… I fought them and was defeated miserably. Cough! Cough! And it was… by just one person."

A self-deprecating voice.

Lee Woo-hyuk coughed up blood and bit his lip.

'Just one person?'

Oh Jin's mouth gaped open.

Could it be?

"…Was it Ashad Khan?"

"No. We found him based on the information you gave us, but… the one who fought us was not him."

Indeed.

It wasn't Ashad Khan.

Then who?

"Cheon Do-yun."

Lee Woo-hyuk continued in a low voice.

His eyes trembled as if recalling a terrible nightmare.

"The name of the old man who fought us… Ugh! He is called the 'King of Owls.'"

"……"

He clenched his fist and continued.

"Overwhelming… We were defeated one-sidedly without even a proper fight. Honestly, it was a miracle that we managed to escape alive."

He lowered his head, his expression filled with deep defeat.

-The King of Owls.

Oh Jin narrowed his eyes.

He etched the ominous nickname into his mind and recalled the Black Star's stigma absorbed from Eugene.

'The stigma of the Owl constellation.'

If he calls himself the King of Owls, guessing his identity isn't difficult.

'The Black Star Society's executor.'

It's like chasing a cat and encountering a tiger.

Oh Jin felt a chill run down his spine.

'I knew he was strong, but…'

To think he could overwhelm the entire Valhalla Guild alone.

This made him realize just how formidable the Black Star Society truly was.

'Could it be that the Black Star Society, not me, was the one who caused the world's destruction?'

The thought naturally came to mind.

Of course, without the memories from the first cycle, he couldn't know exactly what happened.

But it seemed impossible that such a large organization could have had no impact on the world's destruction.

'If the organization led by the Heavenly Horse was the Black Star Society… then does that mean I will lead the Black Star Society?'

It was a future he couldn't even imagine.

'To speculate, I need some clues.'

It's like trying to guess what was drawn on a blank canvas with just a few dots.

"Ha."

He sighed deeply, breaking his thoughts.

"Can you tell me in detail what happened that day?"

"Yes."

Lee Woo-hyuk nodded.

"Cough! Cough! Sigh! Spit!"

He spat out blood-tinged phlegm into a paper cup and began to speak.

"Ha, ha… Phew. We tracked them based on the phone number you gave us. It took quite some time, but… we managed to catch their trail."

This part was already known from Park Chang-hyun.

"The place where they were hiding was a branch of the Pandinus Guild. According to records, it was used as a warehouse, but… it was actually a hideout for the Black Star Society."

Pandinus Guild.

That name again.

"Was that the headquarters of the Black Star Society?"

If Cheon Do-yun was there, it could have been the headquarters.

"No. It wasn't the headquarters. It was just a branch. But… it was much larger than the one in Baegun Mountain."

In any case.

"Since we couldn't get any more information from there, we decided to launch a raid. Of course, I tried to contact you as well."

He must have heard that Oh Jin was in the ICU due to poisoning and wouldn't have the luxury to wait for him to recover.

"The plan went smoothly. The raid was successful, and we managed to subdue most of them."

"Was Ashad Khan there?"

"No. He appeared later. But… he wasn't the only one."

That's where he met Cheon Do-yun.

"At first, I thought it was a good thing to catch a high-ranking official of the Black Star Society, but… it was a foolish thought."

Cheon Do-yun single-handedly wiped out the entire Valhalla Guild.

Overwhelmingly, absolutely.

Without even a proper fight.

He was defeated.

"Ha."

A deep sigh escaped his lips.

The problem didn't end there.

Miraculously, they managed to escape, but they lost the trail of the Black Star Society.

"Then, do you have no more leads to track them down?"

If Ashad Khan isn't a fool, he would have hidden all the information that could lead to them after their hideout was discovered.

It's correct to assume that all the information they had obtained is now useless.

"No, that's not the case."

"…Not the case?"

What kind of clue could be left in this situation?

"During the process of subduing them, I had a chance to talk to one of the Black Star Society members. He… had quite detailed information about the Black Star Society."

"But you lost him, didn't you?"

Even if they found a member with internal information, the appearance of Cheon Do-yun led to their failure to subdue him.

It would be difficult to expect cooperation from a criminal who has escaped from handcuffs.

"That's true, but this case is different."

Different?

"He approached us first, wanting to cooperate."

"…What?"

He approached them first, not because they captured him and extracted information?

'That means…'

Oh Jin's eyes sharpened.

Lee Woo-hyuk nodded slightly.

"Yes. He was a whistleblower. For some reason, although he was part of the Black Star Society, he harbored deep hatred towards it."

"……"

It's a plausible scenario for a closed, criminal organization like the Black Star Society.

Even a company that seems to be running smoothly can have a rotten core, let alone a criminal organization that operates in secret.

"Then, is that why you called me?"

If they knew about the whistleblower, it's time to secretly contact him and obtain information about the Black Star Society.

It's a natural step.

The Valhalla Guild members can't be the ones to contact the whistleblower.

They would be under heavy surveillance by the Black Star Society after this incident.

Moreover, except for Park Chang-hyun, none of them can move right now.

"…Yes, that's right."

Lee Woo-hyuk nodded, slightly surprised.

He took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Oh Jin.

"This is the whistleblower's contact information."

"……"

"Of course, I know I'm asking you to do a dangerous job. But…."

Click.

Lee Woo-hyuk gritted his teeth.

"If we don't act now, we might lose the trail of these people forever."

The Black Star Society is the organization that kidnapped and killed his brother.

Even though they were defeated helplessly.

He couldn't give up the pursuit.

"I will compensate you generously."

"Hmm."

Oh Jin narrowed his eyes, lost in thought.

As Lee Woo-hyuk said, it's a dangerous mission.

'But I can't let this opportunity slip away.'

Compensation is one thing, but.

Losing the trail of the Black Star Society is something Oh Jin doesn't want.

'I need information.'

A few dots on a blank canvas.

An opaque and unfriendly picture called the future.

To connect the dots and create the 'line' of that picture.

He needs to investigate the Black Star Society.

To investigate and uncover their plans.

To dig them out to the very bottom.

'I am…'

No one else but.

-'A Regressor.'

"Understood."

Oh Jin took the paper.

"I'll take care of this."