I’m not a Regressor - Chapter 242: Baptism of Stars (4)

‘What kind of situation is this?’ Ohjin wondered as he looked at Polaris, who was floating in front of him. The celestial’s entire body was made of stars, so he couldn’t even properly see his features. Polaris’s silver eyes were particularly chilling and seemed to have fathomless depth.

The other celestials looked shocked, their mouths agape at what they’d just heard.

“Wh-what?”

“The Heaven-defying Star…?”

Vega was the only celestial who didn’t seem surprised. She’d considered him to be the ‘Heaven-defying Star’ from the start, after all.

“Wh-what? Did you know, Vega?” Deneb asked.

She nodded. “Ohjin is this lady’s child. Of course, I knew.” He was going to hide that he was the Heaven-defying Star until he grew strong enough, but that was meaningless since Polaris had already said it. “I think it’s time to reveal the truth, my child.” He’d grown enough to join the Seven Stars in just a year and a half, which more than qualified him as being ‘strong enough’.

“I agree. Trying to hide it would be pointless now,” Ohjin responded while his thoughts were racing so fast that his head felt hot. ‘Even Polaris misunderstands and thinks I’m the Heaven-defying Star?’

Vega had said Polaris could see the future, but the celestial had still mistaken him as the ‘Heaven-defying Star’?

“…” Ohjin’s expression stiffened. What if… Though he had no reason or evidence to prove it… ‘What if I’m really the Heaven-defying Star?’ What if Shinhyuk had never been the one capable of rewriting fate?

‘No, that doesn’t make sense.’ Vega had explained that the Heaven-defying Star definitely ‘went back in time’. If that didn’t mean only a regressor could hold the title, then there would’ve been no reason for Vega to immediately assume he was a regressor during their first meeting.

Was Polaris, the first and brightest-shining celestial, really mistaken? ‘What the… hell is going on?’ Even though he was confused, and his mind was racing, Ohjin spoke as smoothly as ever. There was only one way out of the situation, after all…

“Yes, I am the Heaven-defying Star.” His calm acknowledgment of the title only further shocked the other celestials.

“Since the Heaven-defying Star appeared, that means…” Regulus trailed off.

“That means that the world has already fallen once, right?” Spica asked.

“Yes,” Ari said. “It means that all the stars were engulfed in the darkness of the Black Heaven, as Lord Polaris predicted.”

“Huh… I honestly can’t believe it.” Aldebaran shook his head.

“W-wait!” Deneb stuttered, and his eyes faintly trembled. “D-does that mean you’re a regressor?”

As expected, the celestials believed the Heaven-defying Star to be a ‘regressor’.

“That’s right.” Ohjin nodded. “I’m a regressor.” Didn’t they say a lie led to more lies? Like a truck with broken brakes, things were speeding out of his control.

“Lies!” Deneb yelled. “If you’re a regressor, then why did you get trapped in the Demon Real? You expect us to believe a regressor fell for that snake’s trap?” Sure enough, shouldn’t he have known about the trap ahead of time if he was a regressor?

Ohjin nonchalantly nodded. “Yeah. I had no idea. Such a trap was never set up in my original timeline.”

“How can I believe that…?” Deneb asked.

“I’m a regressor, not an almighty god. The future has already completely changed to the point that my memories are no longer useful.”

“Ha, what was it like in your original world?” Deneb asked, squinting his eyes.

“First of all,” Ohjin explained, “the existence of the Black Star Organization was not known to the world as it is now, and it only continued to grow stronger.”

The celestials seemed shocked again, but Deneb just smiled and crossed his arms as if he felt happy about something. “Hmph, then are you saying you’re responsible for the Black Star Organization becoming known and being weakened?”

Ohjin nodded. “That’s right.”

“Nonsense! Even if you’re a regressor, how could you do everything in a year and a half—”

Ohjin interrupted with, “I killed the King of Owls.” Cheon Doyoon, the King of Owls, had died at Ohjin’s hands.

“I killed the King of Seahorses.” Kusanagi Sosuke, the King of Seahorses, had been decapitated by him.

“I killed the King of Toads.” To be exact, the Living Armor, who listened to Kasia’s orders, had done the deed. At best, only Lee Woohyuk, Ha-eun, and Isabella knew that.

Deneb tried to argue. “Th-the King of Seahorses, a Japanese Awakener—”

“No, I killed him and asked Sakaki to say he had done it so as not to attract the Black Star Organization’s attention.”

“…” Deneb was speechless.

“I killed three of the Black Star Organization’s Executors. Other than that, I also turned one of them to my side.” He was talking about Isabella. “If you don’t think it was my doing, then who do you think has made the Black Star Organization as weak as they are now?”

“That’s…” Deneb had no other arguments.

“If I wasn’t a regressor…” Ohjin gave Deneb a meaningful look. “Would I have been able to get here so quickly?”

A year and a half was a short period of time for a celestial—that’s all it took him to become an 8-Star Awakener and overcome dozens of other high-ranking Awakeners to be chosen for the Seven Stars.

* * *

* * *

“Th-the Star of Celestial Shining Pearl also…” Deneb’s voice shrank as he tried to find an argument. He knew that, no matter how great Rebecca Bell was, she was merely a firefly compared to the sun when it came to Ohjin’s achievements.

Vega looked at Deneb and said, “That’s enough, Deneb. My child’s identity as a regressor is something this lady would swear on her identity as a star.” Swearing on her identity as a star was so serious that, even as a North Star, some of her divinity would vanish if the swear was discovered to be false.

“Ugh…” Deneb groaned and gave a short nod. “Okay… uhh. I’ll believe you.” He didn’t seem to completely trust Ohjin yet, but he simply couldn’t find anything to refute his claims. It was an undeniable fact that Ohjin had killed three of the Black Star Organization’s seven Executors in just a year and a half. “Oh, Allen! Allen could have done it!” he suddenly blurted.

“Then why didn’t he?” Vega asked.

“That…” As Vega said, even though Allen probably had the power to beat the Executors, Ohjin was the one who’d fought them and suppressed the Black Star Organization’s power.

[Are you done talking?] Polaris asked in a clear, fine voice… A voice much different from how he’d been speaking to that point.

Ohjin’s eyes widened. ‘Did his voice change?’ The celestial’s tone had also changed.

[Let’s get to the point.] That time, it was a deep, masculine voice.

Ohjin looked up at Polaris with surprise. ‘Does he have multiple personalities?’

The celestial slowly descended toward him and watched him with silvery eyes. [Heaven-defying Star…] He gently patted Ohjin’s cheek. [Save us… from the darkness of Black Heaven.] Polaris held his hands together and bowed his head in reverence, as if praying.

Ohjin nodded. “That’s why I returned.”

Polaris carefully looked back up at him. Though the starlight masked the being’s expression, Ohjin believed he was smiling. [I am bound by the commandments and cannot give you the light to guide your way… but I think Vega is already doing enough.] He glanced over at her.

Vega confidently nodded and said, “My child’s future will be brightened by my doing!”

[I’ll trust you.] Polaris slightly bowed his head and turned toward Ohjin again. [There’s not much time left until you have to return to reality.] The celestial spread his arms wide, and the Milky Way Spring bubbled up with a bright light.

“Keuk!” The water permeated Ohjin’s body. Instead of being sucked in by the Black Heaven, it soaked into him as if soaking into paper. ‘Even if you try to force it, I can’t absorb any more…!’ He’d already absorbed so much mana that he worried his body could explode. Even if he didn’t explode, his mana circuit could end up being ruined. Just when things looked dire…

[Don’t worry. The starlight permeating your body will be absorbed by your soul and protect you.] Polaris’s voice resonated, and the mana running through Ohjin’s body seemed to completely vanish.

‘He imbued it into my soul?’ He didn’t know what that meant, but at least he didn’t feel like he was about to explode anymore. “Thank you…” A puzzled look crossed his face as he bowed to Polaris.

Polaris nodded and turned to look at Vega again. [Vega, is it okay if I title this child?]

“Title him?” she asked.

[He should receive a new title as one of the Seven Stars.]

“Oh…” Vega nodded. “I had something in mind, but… I’ll take a step back.”

[Thank you.] Polaris’s voice turned masculine again, and he stretched out his starry hands and placed them on Ohjin’s head. [Congratulations on the birth of a new star. To you, who shoulders the fate of the Heaven-defying Star, the most fitting star title is…] His silver eyes seemed to bore into Ohjin’s soul. [I bestow upon you the title of ‘Star of Twinkling Brilliance’.]

The Star of Twinkling Brilliance was the Big Dipper’s final star, and it was said to command a heavenly army that could subdue all evil in the heavens and on Earth.

‘Fuck. Isn’t the Star of Twinkling Brilliance the brightest star among the Seven Stars?’

The watching celestials looked extremely shocked by the turn of events, but Ohjin’s expression remained quite neutral in comparison.

‘Star of Twinkling Brilliance, Gwon Ohjin, huh?’

A title like that made it sound like he should’ve been using grand skills like the ‘Four Divine Beast Arts’.