I’m Not a Regressor - Chapter 245

Chapter 245: Celebratory Party (1)

Ohjin’s twisted vision faded as the past and present—no, the future and present—intersected, and he returned to the world he knew. He curled up like a bug in a fire in the middle of the empty living room. “Oh, eugh.” Nausea overcame him, and the acidic sting of gastric bile irritated his throat.

“Damn… it…” He knew Ha-eun had to have died the first time around since that’s what had likely made him ‘different’. Otherwise, it was hard for him to imagine becoming the Heavenly Demon. “Haa, haa!” Just because he knew and expected it to have happened didn’t mean he was fine with watching it.

‘Lee Shinhyuk…’ He glared at the empty air and violently clenched his jaw. How had he felt in the original timeline if even the memory of it made him want to tear Shinhyuk apart? ‘I don’t know if I was there or not, but…’ He would’ve heard the news later. How had he reacted the moment he heard Ha-eun died? How much would it have twisted his mentality?

“Ugh…!” He curled up even more, clutching his head in terrible pain as a pressure akin to a hydraulic press assaulted his skull.

-Ti一ring!

[Part of Awakener Lee Shinhyuk was successfully inherited.]

[The Black Heaven’s eighth awakening has strengthened ‘Transmission’.]

[The Black Heaven’s new trait, ‘Deja Vu’ (旣視感) has been acquired.]

A message appeared in front of his eyes.

“…Deja Vu?” He pressed on the blue window with the new skill on it.

[Deja Vu (旣視感) – When certain situations and conditions are met, you can acquire some of the absorbed Awakener’s memory]

In other words, it means that Transmission could be activated through methods other than the Black Heaven’s awakening, but… “What are those situations and conditions?” It was a fairly vague explanation.

He stared at the message window for a while before grabbing the folding knife at his waist. ‘If Deja Vu is literally as its name suggests…’ There was something he wanted to test.

Shling, click—!

The knife transformed into a long spear after he channeled mana into it. He calmed his breathing and gripped the spear.

– It’s because of me… if I were a little stronger!

For a moment, he envisioned Shinhyuk practicing with the spear in an unknown forest; memories of ‘spearmanship’ flooded his mind like a broken faucet.

[Your understanding of the ‘Spearmanship of Pyxis’ has improved significantly!]

[《Spearmanship of Pyxis》 has increased to Lv10.]

“Keuk!” His head throbbed with hot pain, as if someone had injected his skull with molten iron. He squinted and did his best to suppress the agony. ‘As expected, were these the ‘certain situations and conditions’ mentioned?’ Basically, it meant that Shinhyuk’s memories would flood into his head like ‘deja vu’ whenever he experienced situations similar to those Shinhyuk had.

‘It’s not an easy trait to use.’ Since the spear was Shinhyuk’s main weapon, a sense of deja vu was triggered just by grabbing the spear, but it was otherwise difficult to similarly reproduce Shinhyuk’s memories since he didn’t even properly know the guy.

“It’s better to hope that the situation overlaps by chance, like with real deja vu.” Ohjin stood in the living room for a bit and went over the memories before sighing and turning his spear back into a knife.

“…” A terrible silence fell once he stopped moving.

Tick— tock—

Each tick of the clock echoed like thunder.

The silence, which should have been normal, felt unbearable.

‘Get a hold of yourself.’ Ha-eun’s death was a matter of her past life—it was just a page of crumpled fate that had already ‘not happened’. There was no reason for him to be so nervous about it.

“Haa, haa.” Cold sweat fell from his forehead, and he loudly exhaled while trying to control the trembling in his hands. The unselected left path… Ha-eun, who would have died alone there, kept coming to his mind like a terrible nightmare.

“Ha-eun…” He missed her. No, he wanted to hear her voice at the very least. Ohjin shakily took out his smartphone and called her number.

Dudududud—

The beeping sound felt like it went on for an eternity… Ha-eun didn’t answer the phone.

“Fuck!” He violently threw his phone and chewed his lips. Had something happened to her while he was away? Had she been kidnapped, like when he was kidnapped by Doyoon?

“Damnit…!” Just as he was panicking and about to run to the Association, the front door opened, and a sweaty Ha-eun entered.

Click—

She turned to Ohjin, a sports towel hanging around her neck, and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Is the baptism over?” she asked.

It felt like his black-and-white world was being filled with color again, and the terrible fear filling his mind vanished like melting snow. “Ha-eun…” Ohjin walked up to her and wrapped her in a tight hug.

“H-huh? I’m all sweaty from training,” she complained.

Of course, Ohjin didn’t care. His shoulders shook as he felt her warmth through the hug.

“Did something happen while you were being bapti…” Ha-eun suddenly stopped talking and gave him a closer look. “Are you… crying?” Tears were flowing down his cheeks, and she reached out to wipe the tears away.

While she wasn’t sure why he was suddenly crying, she smiled and patted him on the back. “It’s okay. I’m here.” She felt his arms tighten around her. “Awww, my baby. What’s wrong?” she asked as if soothing a crying child.

“…” Ohjin bowed his head and remained silent for a moment. He didn’t mind telling her the truth, but he didn’t want to talk about what he’d seen. It was all in a different past, yet he didn’t want to think about her dying after Shinhyuk abandoned her. “It’s nothing.”

“…Is that so?” Ha-eun nodded as she stroked his cheek. “If you don’t want to talk about it, then that’s okay.” She wanted to know why he was so anxious, but even so, she didn’t want to force him to tell her.

‘Right now, I just…’ She only wanted to comfort him. ‘What should I do?’ All she could do was embrace him with her sweaty body. She’d been with him for a long time, but that’s also why she couldn’t think of a way to comfort him.

‘Come to think of it, I saw something like this on community forums before!’ She remembered an article titled, ‘How to instantly relieve a husband’s anger’, or something like that. Of course, she wasn’t married to him, and he wasn’t angry, but… ‘I’m sure it will work.’

She gave him a serious look, slowly reached out to stroke his back, and put her face close to his, as if to kiss him. “Ohjin…” she murmured.

“Hmm?” he asked.

She stopped patting his back and gently took his hand. “Do you want to touch my chest?”

“What…?” Ohjin’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. Her suggestion was so absurd that the tremors in his arms instantly vanished.

“As expected, it’s effective!” Ha-eun proudly nodded to herself.

* * *

After she consoled him, Ha-eun playfully poked his cheek as he lay sleeping on the bed. “Hehe. You cute little bitch.” She didn’t usually feel like she was his senior, but she was full of satisfaction because she’d been the one to lead him that time.

“Ha-eun…” He’d been asleep and turned to his side to call her name.

“Huh?” She thought she had woken him, so she hurriedly pulled away. Fortunately, his eyes remained closed. Was he just talking in his sleep?

“Phew,” she sighed in relief and looked down at him.

“Ugh, Ugh…” He curled like a shrimp and sweated.

Was he having nightmares? She gave him a worried look.

“Ha-eun…”

“Yes, yes. I’m right here.” She lightly patted his shoulder.

“D-don’t…” he mumbled in his sleep.

“Huh?”

“Don’t die, don’t…”

“…” Her expression stiffened. Why was he being so anxious? ‘Didn’t he say… that he received Shinhyuk’s memories or something?’ Did something bad happen to her in those memories? “Really, this bitch. It’s not even a big deal.” Ha-eun smirked and leaned down to hug him.

Why did it matter if they knew where and how she died in a different life? She was alive and guarding him at the moment, which was all that mattered. “I always will be…” She tightened her arms around him. In the past, when she thought he was saving money for Paradise, she’d thought they could live separately.

That thought had changed. ‘I’m not going to let you go again.’ She would do anything for him, anything he wanted, anything to be with him… “Ohjin…” His warmth reached her, and other desires began to take hold as the euphoria of being so close to him spread.

“Ahem.” She coughed at the sudden, insufferable desire. “You’re… sleeping, right?” Ha-eun poked Ohjin’s cheek. It didn’t look like he was about to wake up.

“Haha.” An insidious smile formed on her face as she slowly reached down, and…

“Ha-eun…?” Ohjin opened his eyes and turned to her.

“H-huh? Y-you’re awake?” she cried out in noticeable panic.

“Why are you so flustered?” Ohjin narrowed his eyes and looked down at her awkwardly-positioned hand.

“Th-that’s!” she stuttered as she awkwardly pulled back her hand.

“Did you try to do something weird while I was sleeping?” he asked.

She jumped up and shouted. “It’s not like that! A-ahem! I mean, I let you touch me!”

“What?” What was she talking about all of a sudden?

“I… I figured it was okay to touch you since we both have two!”

‘Two… what?’

“I’ll touch gently!” she exclaimed.

“Shut up.”