Chapter 7

I Am Not a Regressor Chapter 7

Hyenas (1)

“Roar!!”

Six Ant Horns burst out of the bushes simultaneously.

Judging by the particularly large size of two of them, it seems there are ‘Elders’ among them.

“Huff.”

He took a short breath and added more strength to the spear he gripped.

He focused his mind on the left side of his chest.

-Woosh!

The scar glowed with a blue light.

Intense power surged through his entire body.

“Grr!”

An Elder Ant Horn lunged at him sharply from the left.

His body moved naturally, as he had learned from the spear techniques passed down to him by Lee Shin-hyuk.

-Crunch!

“Squeal!!”

He thrust the spear into the Elder Ant Horn’s mouth. Its sharp jaws gnashed, trying to break the spear.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Crunch!

He twisted the spear and simultaneously stomped down with his heel, crushing the Ant Horn’s head.

The Ant Horn’s armor, which even bullets couldn’t penetrate, shattered and caved in under a simple kick.

‘Good.’

His body felt as light as a feather.

His muscles seemed to come alive, twitching with energy.

“Squeal!”

He bent his waist to dodge an attack from an Ant Horn coming from behind and grabbed its hind leg as it passed over his head.

“Squeal?!”

The Ant Horn, seemingly confused, thrashed about.

“Huff!”

He threw the Ant Horn he had grabbed towards the group.

Squeal!

The Ant Horn, flying like a cannonball, collided with other Ant Horns and tumbled on the ground.

‘Indeed, the physical attributes of a typical 1-star Awakened are in a different league.’

The average weight of one Ant Horn is around 80kg.

Unless you’re an Awakened of the Taurus constellation, it’s not easy to lift a weight equivalent to two bags of rice with one hand and throw it like a cannonball.

Especially for a 1-star Awakened, it’s even more difficult.

‘Being a monster isn’t just about physical attributes.’

The true power of the Lyra constellation’s scar was when it was activated through mana.

-Crack, crack!

A burst of intense light shot out from the left side of his chest, and blue lightning enveloped his entire body.

“...Is it still not as strong as it was back then?”

When he received Vega’s blessing.

The blue lightning had swirled around him like a storm, but now it was more like a 3-day-starved Pikachu using 100,000 volts, with tiny bolts of lightning jumping around his body.

“Tsk.”

You can’t expect to be full after the first spoonful.

After all, he didn’t come here to make the lightning as large as when he received the blessing.

“Grr!”

“Kiaaa!”

The Ant Horns, which had been tangled up and rolling around, let out angry roars and charged at him.

‘I’ll think about other things later.’

Now is the time to focus on the battle.

Following the movements of Lee Shin-hyuk etched in his mind, he fiercely thrust his spear.

* * *

The forest was filled with sticky humidity.

In the clearing created by the burning bushes, the charred bodies of Ant Horns lay scattered.

The stench of burnt flesh assaulted his nostrils.

“Phew, how much is all this?”

Oh Jin rummaged through the bodies and collected the sacred stones into a bag.

The weight felt in the palm-sized bag was satisfyingly heavy.

It was a pleasant, heavy feeling that made his lips curl upward.

‘Probably around 800,000 won worth?’

800,000 won from just three hours of hunting.

And since he came alone, there was no need to share the money.

It made the 200,000 to 300,000 won he earned by risking his life every day seem futile.

“No wonder everyone goes crazy trying to become Awakened.”

He had once heard on the news that people gathered in front of the gates leading to the Star Temples, praying every day to be chosen by a constellation.

‘But the death rate of Awakened is not something to be taken lightly.’

What can you do?

Money is always more valuable than life.

“Still... it’s true that practical training is the best for cultivating a scar.”

Crack, crack!

Oh Jin’s eyes gleamed as he produced a small bolt of lightning at his fingertips.

In just three hours, he had become quite natural at producing lightning from his scar.

‘I wonder if I’m fast, or if everyone else is this fast too.’

There were no other Awakened with the Lyra constellation’s scar to compare with.

He made the lightning at his fingertips into a small ball and spun it around before turning his body.

‘I’ll find out later.’

Oh Jin didn’t know, but if someone else had formed a party with him, they would have been shocked to the point of their eyes popping out.

The higher the ‘rank’ of a scar, the more powerful it is, but the harder it is to improve proficiency.

Even the Four Guardians of the 12 signs of the zodiac take several days to manifest their scars, so for him, a Guardian of the North Star, to freely manifest his scar in just a few hours was an impossible feat.

━But.

He had accomplished the impossible.

Without even realizing that he was an anomalous existence.

“Alright, then.”

Oh Jin narrowed his eyes and surveyed the surroundings.

He held the spear in his hand instead of on his back.

‘The movements of the Ant Horns are indeed strange.’

Unlike the usual groups centered around Elders, the Ant Horns he encountered today often had more than one Elder in a group.

This meant that there was a ‘higher species’ commanding the Elders.

“The problem is that I can’t tell where they’re hiding...”

He tried to search for them directly, but it seemed he would need to use another method.

“Good thing I brought this just in case.”

Oh Jin opened the zipper of his sling bag and took out a square blood pack.

It was a kind of ‘business tool’ he used when pretending to be injured.

‘It’s not human blood, but pig blood.’

It should be fine.

Ant Horns don’t distinguish between humans and animals when they eat.

-Swish!

He tore open the blood pack and sprinkled the blood on the ground.

He climbed up a nearby tree and hid.

-Swish, swish, swish!

‘That’s right.’

After sprinkling the blood and waiting for a moment, he saw a group of Ant Horns approaching, rustling the bushes.

There were about 20 of them.

At the center was—

‘Found it.’

A black-skinned Ant Horn, the size of a tiger, stood out clearly from the red-skinned Ant Horns.

As the Association had suspected, a mutant had appeared.

‘I’ll finish this quickly.’

Even with the powerful force of the Lyra constellation’s scar, it would be difficult to engage in a prolonged battle against more than 20 enemies.

A quick and decisive victory.

He had to eliminate the mutant within three minutes at the latest.

“Huff.”

Standing on the tree, he took a short breath.

Thump.

His heart beat, sending a thrilling sensation down his spine.

The scar on the left side of his chest glowed.

-Crack!

Burning blue lightning.

And—

‘...What is this?’

The sky darkened as if covered by a black cloud, and his vision turned dark.

In the thick darkness, he could only see the shape of the mutant Ant Horn.

‘Was it this dark here?’

He didn’t know.

Before he could continue his thoughts, his body moved first.

-Thud!

He kicked off the tree and flew down.

He pointed the spear downwards, putting his entire weight into it.

Crack, crack, crack!

Lightning enveloped the spear.

The blue lightning, which flickered like flames, was mixed with a dark hue, unlike before.

[《Lightning Strike Lv1》 activated.]

Boom

Boom

Boom

Boom

Boom

!

!

!

The lightning spear fell like a meteor.

The spear pierced through the mutant Ant Horn’s back and dug into the ground.

The smell of burning flesh filled the air.

“Huh? What is this?”

One hit?

Did it really die in one hit?

Oh Jin was surprised. It was a well-planned ambush, but he didn’t expect the ‘mutant’ Ant Horn to die in just one hit.

“Squeal!!”

“Gasp!”

When the mutant died, the surrounding Ant Horns fell into confusion, turning in circles before fleeing.

“Hey! Wait a moment!!”

Oh Jin, who didn’t expect the Ant Horns to disband so easily, couldn’t chase after them and called out desperately.

“Spit out the sacred stones and run, you bastards!!!”

A sacred stone from one Ant Horn was worth about 20,000 won.

It was as valuable as three Whopper sets.

“Damn!”

Crunch!

He tried to pull out the spear to chase after them, but it was deeply embedded in the ground and wouldn’t budge easily.

In the end,

“Sigh.”

Oh Jin sighed and gave up on the chase.

‘It’s a bit of a loss, but I caught the mutant, so...’

Mutants don’t appear often, so a mutant’s sacred stone would be worth at least a million won.

“Haha.”

Just thinking about it made him smile.

Just as he turned to collect the sacred stones,

-Crack!

“Ouch!”

He felt a tingling sensation on the left side of his chest.

Looking down, he saw the scar of the Lyra constellation glowing intensely.

‘What? Could it be...’

Sizzle!

A line (劃) was added next to the glowing scar.

-Ding!

[The ‘Scar of Lyra’ has been upgraded to 2-star!]

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

“Huh.”

A hollow laugh escaped Oh Jin’s lips.

Reaching 2-star in just a day, not even a week.

‘Is this even possible?’

He had expected to rise quickly due to the overflowing mana of the scar, but reaching 2-star in just a day was beyond his expectations.

“Will I reach 3-star in a week?”

If so, there would be no need for any tricks or schemes.

Reaching 3-star in a week was impossible unless you were a true regressed person.

Even reaching 2-star was an unrealistic speed.

‘It usually takes about six months to reach 2-star.’

Of course, that’s mostly due to a lack of mana, but even considering that, it was an astonishing speed.

“2-star, huh.”

He lightly swung the spear.

Whoosh! Whoosh!!

Even with a light swing, the air split with a sound.

He definitely felt his body becoming more agile and powerful compared to when he was 1-star.

‘Good.’

This was enough for today’s achievements.

“I’ll quickly collect the stones and head back.”

He whistled a tune as he approached the mutant’s body.

He thought about ordering a Guinness Whopper instead of a regular Whopper today.

-Crackle.

At that moment, the nearby bushes rustled.

‘What is it?’

The ones who fled wouldn’t come back out of their minds.

He narrowed his eyes and gripped the spear.

“Oh, what is it? The skin is black?”

“Phew~ Sir! Did you catch a mutant?”

Two men with fierce expressions emerged from the bushes.

Their bulging muscles were visible through their rough armor.

“Wow, even if they’re Ant Horns, to catch a mutant alone, sir, you must be quite skilled.”

“We are 3-star Guardians of the Canis Major constellation. Nice to meet you~”

They approached Oh Jin with a surprisingly friendly smile, contrary to their appearance.

Oh Jin’s eyes narrowed.

‘These guys.’

They clearly didn’t approach with good intentions.

To be honest, it could be a prejudice, but a face that looked like it had been run over by asphalt and wasn’t a thief was a crime in itself.

‘3-star Awakened wouldn’t come to such a low-level gate... They must be after the mutant.’

If so,

They wouldn’t let him, who was disassembling the mutant’s body, off easily.

Awakened often turn into bandits as easily as flipping a palm.

“Hmm...”

One of the men bent slightly and sniffed.

Like a hunting dog tracking prey.

“Phew, you must have used a lot of mana to catch the mutant.”

“Haha. So you must be a bit tired, right?”

“Right? There’s no way a 4 or 5-star Awakened would come here.”

They whispered to each other in low voices.

‘I don’t need to hear to know what they’re saying, you idiots.’

Oh Jin clicked his tongue.

“But thinking about it, it’s a bit strange, isn’t it? We just wiped out a group of Ant Horns earlier. Could it be that we ate the ones that fled?”

“Ah, that’s how it happened? This is not good.”

They drew their swords and twisted their mouths into a grin.

‘As expected.’

They were bandits.

‘...There’s no choice.’

Oh Jin sighed and quickly knelt down.

“I’m, I’m sorry! I didn’t know!!”

“Huh?”

“What?”

The two men were taken aback by Oh Jin’s immediate kneeling without any hesitation.

Regardless of that,

Oh Jin prostrated himself and rubbed his hands together.

“I’ll, I’ll give it!!!”

“Hahaha!! You’re a very reasonable young man!”

One of the men burst into laughter and took a step forward.

As he passed by Oh Jin to approach the mutant’s body on the ground—

“Ah, I didn’t mean to give it to you.”

He thrust the spear into the man’s back.

The armor shattered, and the sharp spear pierced through his body.

“Gasp! Cough!!”

“Say hello to your deceased mother for me.”

“Damn!”

The other man rushed forward, swinging his sword.

Oh Jin twisted the spear, which had pierced the man, to block the sword.

The man, now a human shish kebab, screamed.

“Wh-what?”

Crunch!

Unable to stop the momentum of his sword swing, the man split his companion’s head in two.

“What the hell is this!!!”

Oh Jin, witnessing this unbelievable scene, opened his eyes wide and screamed!

“To kill your own comrade!!!”

“Damn it!!”

“What would your deceased mother think if she saw this!!!”

“Shut up, you bastard!! Our mother is still alive, what are you talking about!!”

“Don’t lie!!!”

He roared fiercely!

“I saw your mother die with my own eyes, where are you lying!!!”

“No, f*ck, what the hell are you saying!!! She’s alive!!!”

“Face the reality!!”

“What reality are you talking about, you crazy bastard!!”

“Your mother is dead!! She’s no longer in this world!!!”

This is not a lie!!!