Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Hyenas (2)

Chapter 8: Hyenas (2)

"Son of a bitch!!"

Violent profanity emerged from the red-faced man that was steaming from rage.

Even though he was a shameless robber that aimed for the game of others, it appeared that he was still affectionate for his parents.

It was to the point that it was quite unfortunate that his mother had passed away without being able to see his current appearance.

"Die!!!"

Oooowng!—

The light of the stigma shone through the gaps in the man's armor.

The stigma of the Hunting Dogs' power spread throughout his body, amplifying his senses.

Swish!—

Although the sword swung with great speed, its direction was too predictable.

'He's out of his mind.'

Ohjin easily dodged the attack by moving his body back.

Accidentally splitting his partner's head in two on top of Ohjin's constant ridicule caused the robber's agitation to build up to the extreme.

The robber who had lost his rationality drew a simple line with his sword that hit nothing but thin air.

'This'll be easy.'

No matter how strong 3-Star Awakeners were, they would be easy to face in a state like that.

No. Even if he was in a normal state, it was most likely that Ohjin would still dominate since the 1-Star gap over the stigma of one of the North Stars by a minor stigma like that of the Hunting Dogs was negligent.

Whoosh!—

Ohjin easily dodged the sword that aimed for his head and jabbed out his spear towards the man's right side.

The sharp counterattack flashed through a blind spot.

Chiiing!!—

"Argh!"

Proving he had the skills of a 3-Star, the man narrowly blocked the spear strike that aimed for his right with his sword.

However, the attack didn't end there.

"Wasn't the stigma of the Hunting Dogs supposed to amplify the body's senses?"

The side of his lips went up into a smirk.

If the senses of one's body were amplified, it would also mean that one's sense of pain would be magnified as well.

If that was the case...

Bzzzzzz!!!—

"Aaaahhhh!!:

Blue lightning flowed through to the spear's tip.

The man who was holding onto his sword let out a scream in pain.

"Hmpf!"

Ohjin couldn't miss this prime opportunity.

The spear's blade rode along the man's arm and pierced through his neck.

"Kugh! Kuh."

Dark red blood poured out of the man, whose eyes had rolled to the back of his head.

That was the end.

Taking down two 3-Star Awakeners didn't even take 5 minutes.

'It would've been much harder if we fought properly.'

There wasn't really a need to think of that.

It wasn't like it was a sport; was there really a reason to fight fair and square?

"Well then."

'Is it time for some human farming?'

Rummage Rummage—

While humming to himself, he took off the armor of the two men and started to rummage through their pockets.

"Haah? They're damn broke. What the hell were these guys doing after reaching 3-Star?"

Ohjin, who had confirmed the wallet's insides, scrunched his eyebrows.

Combined, they totaled up to $275.

If you put them being 3-Star Awakeners into consideration, they were poorer than poor.

"Tch."

Of course, he could earn more money if he used their cards, but recklessly using cards that were easy to track down was ill-advised.

Although they leaned towards implicitly ignoring the things that happened between Awakeners in dungeons, an investigator from the Association would be sent if it were outright obvious.

"The armor... It will be hard to sell in this destroyed state."

'Should I only take their weapons?'

Rummage—

He tied their swords together and proceeded to hang them on his belt.

Taking the cards of these bastards would be dangerous, but nobody cared if you took simple stolen goods to sell.

It was a world where people died as easily as bugs on the street.

"...And."

Ohjin narrowed his eyes.

He looked down towards the left side of the unarmored man's chest.

Although the shirt was covering it up, the stigma of the Hunting Dogs was seated on that spot.

No matter how low the league was, as long as it was the same 'stigma'...

'The Black Heaven should be able to absorb it.'

In reality, it was quite a dangerous act.

He would be fucked if Vega took notice of the fact that he absorbed the stigma of the Hunting Dogs.

However.

'There was something called 'Black Heaven' amongst the Black Heaven's traits.'

The trait that completely shrouded the Black Heaven's presence.

'The reason why Vega couldn't sense the Black Heaven should be because of that trait.'

In addition, a line on the description explained that the trait applied the same way to 'possessed stigmas'.

'If that's the case...'

'It means that Vega won't be able to sense the stigma of the Hunting Dogs, even if I absorb it.'

As it was already confirmed that she was unable to sense the Black Heaven, there was no need to doubt its capabilities.

"Alright."

He put his hands on top of the collapsed man's chest.

Rum, Rumble—

The black clouds that flowed out of the tip of his fingers moved quickly towards the stigma like it had been starving

Ring—

[The Black Heaven is absorbing the stigma of the Hunting Dogs.]

[The Black Heaven's conditions for the second awakening have all been accomplished!]

[The Black Heaven's second awakening is starting!]

Rum, Rumbleee!!—

The black cloud shook.

"Arrgh!"

Darkness shot up around his body.

The black cloud started to wrap him.

Sizzle—

His head was assaulted with pain as if burning iron skewers were piercing it.

Along with that—

[The Black Heaven is reading through the 'Records' contained in the stigma of Pyxis.]

[The Black Heaven's awakening stage is too low. The amount of records that can be read are restricted.]

Once more, the memories of Lee Shinhyuk surged into his head.

-...Are you awake?

The first thing he saw was the appearance of a tall and attractive youth through a cloudy haze.

The youth looked down at Lee Shinhyuk with a cold gaze.

The disoriented Lee Shinhyuk slowly moved his head to observe the surroundings.

His cloudy sight started to become clear.

'Hospital room?'

In his memories, Lee Shinhyuk was lying down in a spacious private hospital room.

He could see the date through the digital clock hung on the room's wall.

'2020.11.21'

Since it was currently the 7th of November, they were the memories of exactly two weeks in the future.

-Where am...

-This is the hospital.

-The hospital?

-You passed out for two weeks.

-F-For two weeks?

Lee Shinhyuk asked once again in shock.

-That's right.

The youth that looked to be Lee Shinhyuk's younger brother bluntly nodded his head.

A cold fury lurked behind the youth's chilly gaze.

-Why did you enter the dungeon on your own?

-T-That is...

-Didn't I tell you to take one of our guild members with you?

-It's... because everyone looked busy.

-So you entered that place on your own?

-...I'm sorry, Woohyuk. I thought it'd be okay since it was only a 1-Star.

-Hah...

The youth called Woohyuk let out a deep sigh.

Lee Shinhyuk lowered his head with a daunted expression.

At that moment,

-Knock Knock.

Lee Woohyuk stood up from the spot and opened the door.

The appearance of a woman with glasses could be seen through the gap of the door.

-Guild leader, do you have time to spare?

-What's the matter?

-You are aware of the new dungeon that appeared in Mok-dong on the 15th, correct? Changhyun said that he discovered a star relic inside the dungeon.

-Changhyun did?

-Yes. But hearing the story, there were some strange...

Bzz—

Along with the static noise, his sight started to go blank.

The voice of the two started to fade.

And then.

"Huaa!!"

The pain piercing his head disappeared.

* * *

Translator - Maccas

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

-Ring!

[Part of Awakener Lee Shinhyuk was successfully inherited.]

[ has increased to ]

[You have acquired .]

"...Will I gain more of Lee Shinhyuk's memories as the Black Heaven's awakening stage increases?"

A blue message box appeared in front of his eyes as his pain resided.

Ohjin slowly ruminated through the memories that had just passed through his head.

'Lee Woohyuk. New dungeon on the 15th in Mok-dong. Also...'

'Star relic.'

An artifact agglomerated with a star's power.

The ability of star relics varied widely but amongst them existed ones that had the power to increase power by 1~2 stars.

'In summary, it's saying that a star relic will appear in a dungeon that appears in eight days in Mok-dong?'

It was an unexpected piece of high-class information.

"I think..."

Ohjin's eyes shined sharply.

It was the golden opportunity to get his hands on a star relic.

No, even more than that—

"I'll be able to use this."

—it was a great buffer to continue his 'scam'.

'By the way, can I read the records on these two as well?'

Looking down on the corpses of the two men, Ohjin tilted his head.

Although he had absorbed the stigma of the Hunting Dogs, he did not receive memories as he had with Lee Shinhyuk.

[The stigma of the Hunting Dogs you have absorbed is too faint.]

[Reading the stigma's record has ended in failure.]

'Ah, is it because of that?'

"Indeed, there's no way these obviously dim-witted bastards could possibly have a thick stigma."

'No matter how low the league the celestial of the Hunting Dogs is, they probably aren't stupid to the point of granting bastards like these a thick stigma.'

'Well, anyways.'

It was an incredible harvest.

He was not only able to promote to 2-Star, but he had also awakened the Black Heaven once more.

'Though I'm not entirely sure if the Black Heaven awakening is a good thing.'

He couldn't be certain if continuing to develop the Black Heaven was the right thing or not since the mysterious Black Heaven was an unknown power.

However—

'I have no choice in the matter.'

—if the fact that he could earn Lee Shinhyuk's memories as the Black Heaven awakened was true, he couldn't stop there.

For him who had worn the mask of a Regressor, nothing was more important to him than the memories of a 'real' Regressor.

'Well then—'

Ohjin gently closed his eyes and concentrated his mind.

A blue light scattered out of the stigma on his chest.

'—let's take a look at what the stigma of the Hunting Dogs is like.'

As soon as he activated the stigma, the senses of his body multiplied.

His sense of smell was especially sensitive.

"Urrg!"

Numerous smells that entered through his nose made him bend down and gag.

It felt like the smell of every single surrounding leaf was digging into his nose.

'This'll be useful once I get used to it.'

He shook his head and activated the stigma of Lyra once more like a switch.

It seemed that he couldn't use two stigmas simultaneously, as once the stigma of Lyra was activated, his body's sense returned back to normal.

Bzz!! Bzzzzzzzt!—

The blue lightning blazed around his body.

"Hmm?"

Ohjin's eyes widened as he took a look at the fiercely blazing blue lightning.

'The lightning became thicker?'

He didn't understand the reason why, but the blazing blue lightning was one step thicker.

Bzzzzt! Bang!—

A loud explosion burned the ground after he shot lightning out as an experiment.

'The stigma's power has increased for sure.'

The feeling was different from when he was promoted from 1-Star to 2-Star.

Back then, he could feel that the 'amount' of the stigma he could use at once had increased, but currently, it felt as if the stigma's 'quality' itself had thickened.

Ohjin narrowed his eyes and was momentarily lost in thought.

"Ah."

Finding the answer didn't take long.

'It said that the stigma's strength would be adjusted according to the awakening stage of the Black Heaven.'

With all the chaos that was going on back then, he had completely forgotten about it.

"...Wait, then does that mean the stigma's power I've been using until now was reduced?"

He chuckled out of absurdity.

'Then just how strong does that make Vega, the owner of the stigma?'

A dizzy sensation spread from his spine.

He once again resolved to never be caught by Vega at all costs.

"I should start preparing to head back."

He left the sprawled-out corpses behind and headed towards the mutant Ant-horn's corpse.

Rummaging through the corpse, he found a starstone the size of a 50¢ coin.

'It's black?'

Starstones were normally tinged in blue.

"Hmm... how much will this sell for?"

His eyes shone while putting the black starstone inside his pocket.

With the two swords on his belt and a hefty pocket, his lips automatically turned into a smile.

'I'll receive around $500 for the swords.'

The normal starstones added up to around $800, including the mutant's starstone would mean he earned a minimum of $3000 in a single day.

"Holy shit."

Hurray Awakeners!

* * *

Creak—

The familiar smell of mold tickled his nose as soon as he opened the rusty door.

"You're home?"

Ha-eun, who was hanging around the entrance with her crutches on, quickly approached him.

"That's unusual. Why aren't you lying down on the bed?"

Ohjin asked with his round eyes.

"Shut up. Why do you assume that I'll be lying down every day?"

While she was saying that, she slowly stretched out her hands.

Her pure white hands touched his cheek.

Fumble Fumble—

Her hands searched over his cheeks, hair, neck, and shoulders.

It was quite ticklish.

"...What are you doing?"

"......"

Without answering the question, she continued to fumble all around his body for a while until she let out a short sigh.

"At least you came home without getting hurt like a dumbass."

'Ah. So it was like that.'

Smirk—

A smile spread across his face.

"Why? Were you worried that I might have been hurt?

"It'll be a big problem for me if my errand boy breaks down."

"What errand boy are you talking about."

"Hehehe! Weren't you my errand boy starting from the orphanage?" Ha-eun chuckled while tapping on his head.

"Now now~ What did my errand boy buy for dinner today~?"

"Ah, I forgot."

"Ang?"

"Just kidding. I brought burgers."

"Whopper set?"

"Guinness Whopper set."

"Do you wanna get married?"

'What is this woman saying.'

"Alright. Then should we set up a date, honey?"

"Huh? R-Really?"

"No."

'Just kidding.'

"Y-You rascal!"

"Let's stop talking nonsense and head inside."

Ohjin carried her into his arms and moved her to the bed.

He handed over the burger set that was in the paper bag to her.

"......"

Ha-eun, unusually, didn't even lay her hands on the burger.

"What's wrong? You're not eating?"

"......"

A sudden silence came down.

Ha-eun hesitantly opened her mouth.

"You... you really became a North Star's apostle?"

"Yup."

"......"

She continued clenching her fist.

"Just because you're a North Star's apostle doesn't mean you can just enter high-ranked dungeons and stuff, alright? Join parties, even if you think it's a waste."

"Don't worry, I extensively take care of my own safety."

"...hm!. You don't mean that."

Ha-eun stretched out her hand and slightly pinched his cheek.

"Your celestial... did you say it was Vega?"

"Yeah."

"...How is she?"

"What do you mean?"

As he tilted his neck and looked at her, Ha-eun's cheeks slightly blushed.

"I mean. Well. It's just that... she's the famous Star of the Weaver Girl."

"......?"

"God dammit!! I'm asking if Vega or whatever looks pretty!"

"Ah."

'So she was talking about that.'

"She's pretty."

With a little added exaggeration, she was a beauty that could make one's eyes spin around.

Streeetch—

"Owowowow."

An electrifying pain rushed in as his cheek pulled out.

"Why...?"

"Just because I'm a bit pissed."

"I'm innocent."

Whoosh—

Ha-eun rolled over as she covered herself tip to toe with the blanket.

"Ah, right. I'm planning to go there tomorrow."

"...Where?"

Peek—

Ha-eun slightly lowered the blanket and peeked out.

Ohjin continued while slightly opening up the burger's wrapping and placing it close to her mouth.

"The Awakeners Association."

Nom—

She took a bite out of the burger with her small mouth.