I’m not a Regressor

I’m Not a Regressor

Chapter 248: Celebratory Party (4)

"Wow! As expected! You confessed first!" Melissa clasped her hands tightly as if she were praying, and she looked envious of Isabella as the lecture in the limo crossed her mind. ‘This is how she took the initiative in love!’ She winked at Isabella and subtly gave her a thumbs-up to show she remembered the advice.

“Y-yes. O-Ohjin confessed… first.” Isabella paled and looked away from Melissa’s awestruck gaze. “Let’s go cook…” She tried to change the subject in a hurry and got up.

"Where?" Melissa asked.

"What?"

"Where did you get the confession?" There was no stopping the curiosity of a girl who was just getting to know love.

"Uhhh… I mean." Isabella glanced at Ohjin and Ha-eun. They both seemed to have noticed what was going on—Ohjin was shaking with suppressed laughter, and Ha-eun was similarly covering her mouth as if she could burst out laughing at any moment.

“…” Isabella bit her lips and grabbed her skirt. "It… it was by the beach."

"Oh! San Fruttuoso, you mean?!"

"Y-yes."

"I can't believe he confessed on the beach at sunset! It's romantic!" Melissa shrieked and tightly closed her eyes as she imagined the scene. No one said anything about a sunset, but the girl's imagination was overwhelming.

"Melissa, calm down a little…" Ohjin tried to say.

"What was the most important line in your confession? What words of love did you whisper to her?”

"W-words of love?" Isabella's legs shook, and she barely managed to shamefully say, “He… said he would be my hope.” Of course, those were far different from what Melissa was thinking, but those words had shaken her more than any words of love.

"Hope? Not love?" Melissa asked.

“Yes…"

"Hmmm." Melissa closed her eyes, thinking the confession was different from what she expected. "Mr. Star of Twinkling Brilliance!" She turned to Ohjin, clenched her fists, and excitedly shouted, "When did you fall in love with Isabella?"

"Uh… I mean…" Ohjin started to say.

“O-Ohjin!” Isabella turned to him and put her hands together as if praying.

Ohjin scratched his head and quietly said, "From the first moment I saw her, maybe?"

"Ah! As expected! You were in love at first sight!" Melissa patted her cheeks, unable to believe such a storybook romance, and shook her head.

"Melissa, let's go back now…" Roberto said.

"Oh! H-head butler, I still have questions to ask…"

Roberto sighed and pulled the girl away. The moment she was dragged out of the house like an eight-ton truck with a broken axle…

"Kyahahahahahaha!!!!" Ha-eun burst into laughter and rolled on the floor. "What, what, what? Were you out there swearing you were dating Ohjin?"

“Sh-shut up!” Isabella yelled.

"Hahahaha! It's so funny!"

"Ha-eun…!" Isabella looked back at Ohjin, blushing. "Ohjin! Please stop her…"

Ohjin looked out the window with a gloomy atmosphere hanging around him and said, "Meeting you for the first time in a while reminds me of what happened at the beach that day under the sunset."

"What?" Isabella gave him a confused look.

Ohjin continued, “I just barely mustered the courage to confess… that I would be your hope.”

“Heuk. E-even you, Ohjin!" Isabella turned pale and stepped back.

Seeing Isabella blush as her usually noble and elegant atmosphere was ruined in such a way made Ohjin laugh. "What's wrong? Weren't we a couple?"

"Ahh, ugh, ughhh!” She stomped her feet and seemed to be about to cry. “Whatever! You’re both so mean!” She threw a teacup at them.

Ohjin plucked the empty cup from the air and looked at the clock. "Anyway, is it alright to stay like this?"

"What?"

"There are only two hours until the guests arrive."

"Oh." Isabella's eyes widened. Time passed quickly since they were so busy. “I… I’ll start cooking right away!” She rushed to the kitchen.

* * *

"Congratulations on being chosen as the final star, Awakener Ohjin." The first person to arrive was Manager Han.

"I'm here, too!" A boy in an ill-fitting white lab coat followed and raised his hands—Kim Sihoo, the head of the Association’s research division. Even at his young age, he had a genius ability to produce relics.

"It's been a while," Ohjin said. He’d been conducting regular weapon inspections with Sihoo until he got the Living Armor’s spear, but he hadn’t seen the boy much since then.

"There's a rumor that you have a new relic," the boy said.

"This?" Ohjin asked as he took the folding knife from his waist and channeled his mana into it.

Shling, Click—!

The knife almost instantly transformed into a spear.

"Oh! That's the famous ego weapon!" Sihoo excitedly reached for the spear.

Kzzt—!

A blue spark shot from the weapon.

“Only its owner can touch it,” Ohjin explained.

"Hmm, is that so?" Sihoo took a magnifying glass from the pocket of his lab coat. "Can you put it down on the floor for a second?"

"Yes." Ohjin did as asked and put the spear on the floor.

Sihoo brought his magnifying glass close to the weapon, and bluish threads of light emerged to wrap around the spear. "Hmm. It's Dantalian…" the boy mumbled.

"Dantalian?" Ohjin asked.

"The spear’s name is etched on the handle."

"What?" Ohjin tilted his head and took a closer look, but the metal was just pitch-black, and he saw nothing like a name.

* * *

Translator - Rainypup

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

"Oh, to be exact, Sihoo said, “it’s carved inside the spear. You can only see it if you use something like this." He waved the relic that looked like a magnifying glass.

‘Dantalian, huh?’ Ohjin gave the spear a curious look. He knew it was an ego weapon, but he didn't think it would have a name. He hardly ever felt like the spear had an ego, after all.

He picked the spear back up and called out, "Dantalian."

Whoooooong—!

His eyes widened the moment he channeled some mana into it, and the dark spear shook and released an intense energy. “Huh? Is its output higher than usual?” All he’d done was call out its name, but its output had somehow increased.

"It's because of the name," the boy explained.

"Because of the name?"

"The stronger the weapon’s ego, the better the weapon’s performance.” Sihoo carefully examined the dark spear again, using his relic. "Do you want to take some time to come to the lab? I can figure out more with the equipment there."

"Alright." A smile spread on Ohjin's face at the unexpected harvest.

Sihoo smiled and elbowed him. "What do you think? Isn't this the best gift for a celebratory party?"

"Eat everything you want to eat today," Ohjin said as he patted the boy on the shoulder.

"Ugh. I'm suddenly embarrassed about my present," Manager Han, who was holding a fruit basket, murmured.

"What do you mean?” Ohjin asked. “Thank you for the food, sir."

"Haha. I bought this with my own money, not company money."

After Ohjin took the fruit basket…

"It's been a long time, Ohjin. I apologize for not contacting you properly after the Living Armor incident—I was in training." Lee Woohyuk arrived next, and the atmosphere around him had changed beyond recognition.

‘Did they say he became a 9-Star?’ Certainly, Ohjin felt that the energy coming from the man was completely different. "You must have had some good training sessions."

"Haha. Not as good as yours." Woohyuk was also shocked. He thought Ohjin was chosen for the Seven Stars for a reason, but he didn't think the man’s growth would be so insane. ‘Is he… really an 8-Star Awakener?’ Woohyuk shook his head as if he couldn't believe it.

"Here's a congratulatory gift." Sunyoung, the vice-leader of the Valhalla guild who came with Woohyuk, offered Dom Perignon champagne.

Ohjin’s eyes shook a bit as he looked at Sunyoung and remembered what he’d seen.

-Why are you hesitating? He’s your brother… Your only family!

He couldn’t get the image of her urging Shinhyuk to abandon Ha-eun out of his head and suddenly felt irritated. “…”

"Ohjin?"

"Oh, yes. Thank you." He accepted the champagne and walked away while doing his best to calm down. ‘Focus.’ It was already history.

“My child! Congratulations!” Vega exclaimed as she arrived with Riak.

"Grrr. Hmph, pretty good for a rookie,” Riak said.

“Uncle! How have you been?” Rebecca also approached him with a cheerful smile on her face.

After everyone gathered, Ha-eun lifted her glass for a toast. "Now! To Ohjin and his title of Star of Twinkling Brilliance… pfft! Oh, that title is very awkward." She burst out laughing. "Do you use divine arts or something?" she joked with Ohjin.

“Shut up and just finish what you were about to say.”

Even their thought processes were similar.

"Ahem! Anyway! Congratulations on becoming a Seven Star! Cheers!"

The party began with the clear clinking of glasses and a lively atmosphere.

“Delicious!” Vega exclaimed. “As expected, it’s incomparable to what Ha-eun makes!”

"What?"

"Did you make all this by yourself?" she asked Isabella.

Everyone who tried Isabella’s dish was shocked by how good it was, and just when the party was reaching its height…

‘Hmm?’ Ohjin felt a strange sensation on his leg. When he looked down, he saw a thin, white leg slowly caressing him. He hurriedly looked up and across the table and saw Isabella pretending to be nonchalant.

"What are you doing…?" he tried to ask.

"Do you need anything else, Ohjin?" Isabella skillfully moved her feet and gave him a mischievous smile as she gently stimulated his leg in a secretive gesture that could’ve been shared between lovers.

Of course, Ohjin realized why she was suddenly acting like that. ‘Is it because of what happened before the party?’ It looked like her disgrace in front of Melissa had activated some sort of switch in her.

When he felt her leg slowly wrap around his, he tried to pull his foot away. "W-wait…" What was she doing in such a crowded place?

"Stay still," she ordered, and his body halted. Next, she tickled his shins with her feet. No, the movement was much too pleasurable to be described as ‘tickling’. "You made fun of me earlier, right?" She moved her feet more rapidly, as if to say she wouldn’t forgive him.

Ohjin screamed inside, barely enduring the rush of pleasure. ‘No, Ha-eun did it, too, but why am I being punished?’ He looked to Ha-eun for help, but she wasn’t paying attention to him and instead was occupied with drinking champagne and chatting with the others.

"Keuk." He chewed his lips and tried to distract himself as much as possible.

As if to mock his efforts, Isabella's feet gradually began to ascend to his thighs.

‘N-no!’ Almost everyone there could be called an acquaintance, so he could imagine the kind of aftermath he’d be facing if he got caught at such an embarrassing moment.

‘I… made a sound!’

He squeezed his eyes shut and did his best to endure the pleasure.