The shocking incident at the Paju prison once again turned South Korea upside down. Over two thousand members of the Black Star Society had become permanently crippled overnight.
The prison guards' testimonies singled out Warden Jung Jae-Cheol as the primary suspect, but he presented a solid alibi of being away on an external assignment. Thus, the case quickly fell into mystery with the assumption that someone had disguised themselves as Jung Jae-Cheol and entered the prison to punish the criminals. The perpetrator wasn't captured on CCTV or detected by security magic. For some reason, the victimized criminals kept their lips sealed.
This incident led to heavy criticism of the guild alliance for failing to properly oversee the captured criminals. Meanwhile, public opinion toward the disengaged Awakeners Association suddenly improved. Fortunately for the guild alliance, the initial uproar quickly faded.
It’s not surprising, Kwon Oh-Jin thought as he watched the news. The victims were notorious criminals from Cheorwon Prison, so the masses were more pleased than concerned by the turn of events. The guild alliance played along, making barely any effort to catch the culprit.
Kwon Oh-Jin smirked. “Things went exactly as I thought they would.”
He gained a massive amount of mana, underwent the fifth enlightenment of the Black Heaven, and even slightly improved the association's public image.
All that effort paid off.
Taking the gamble of infiltrating the Black Star Society’s headquarters alone had been worth it.
“Well... the mana was a bit disappointing, though.”
Absorbing the mana of over two thousand Awakeners should have left him free of worry over running out of mana, but its low quality came with a problem. It was consumed nearly ten to twenty times faster for advanced skills like Lightning Flames, Exceed, and Lightning Charge.
It’s like having a huge HP bar but no defense stats to back it up. He sighed. Large amounts of this stuff won’t be very useful going forward.
Considering that the Black Heaven and the Stigma of Lyra would continue to advance in the future, absorbing low-quality mana was just too inefficient. It was better than nothing, but not worth actively seeking out.
“Well, now that all the major stuff is wrapped up...”
Before heading to Baekdu Mountain in search of the buried Astral Relic, taking a short break and focusing on training seemed like a good idea.
Taking a break before I head to Baekdu Mountain seems like a good idea. I can focus on training, too. I want to know what’s changed after my fifth enlightenment.
He especially needed time to investigate the mysterious new trait called Open Heaven.
Maybe I should call on my dear goddess? It's been a while, after all.
He'd taken off his pendant a while back since he couldn't let her see what he was getting up to.
Chanelling his mana into the pendant, he called for her.
A silver light shimmered, and a thirty-centimeter-tall figure floated in the air.
The materialized goddess crossed her arms and glared silently at him.
“What’s wrong, Vega?” he asked.
“Hmph.” She snorted and turned away.
His expression stiffened. What the...? Did she find out about what I got up to? I don't think I made any mistakes...
He watched her anxiously. “Uh...
“I refuse to speak with you.”
Why is she suddenly acting ?
“Do you truly not know what’s wrong?” she coldly asked.
“Do you really not know?!” Her sharp eyes locked onto his.
Judging by her tone, he must have done something wrong, but nothing came to mind no matter how much he pondered it.
She finally shouted, “Do you realize how long it's been since you last called for me?! You left the pendant behind for days on end...!”
So that's what it is. She's upset because I haven't called on her in a while? I thought it was something serious.
He let out a sigh of relief and laughed.
“This is not a laughing matter!” she hissed.
“Pfft. Sorry, Vega. Were you lonely because I didn’t check in with you?”
“I-I was not lonely! I just... I mean...” Her face flushed red as she started fidgeting, pressing her index fingers together. “The Sanctum's too quiet with just me in it.”
So she was lonely, he thought. Since when did my goddess become so adorable?
The solemn and mysterious aura she'd had when they first met was nowhere to be seen. Instead, her recent cute and honest side made it hard to believe she was a goddess.
Well, this must be what she's actually like.
The real face hidden beneath the mask of the Celestial of the North Star.
Does this mean... she trusts me enough to show me this side of herself?
He made a bittersweet smile, but only for a moment. He carefully reached out toward her puffed-out cheeks. “What about Ríarc? Why were you alone?”
“Riarc is, um...” She hesitantly twisted a strand of her hair around her finger. “He asked me not to tell you, but lately... he’s been training hard to surpass the wall.”
Now that she mentions it, I've heard about that a few times before. He's been stuck at his limits for centuries, right?
Back when they first met, Riarc had been drowning in despair over his inability to break through. No, he'd already completely given up.
I haven’t felt anything like that yet, but... I can imagine how agonizing it would be.
Even something as simple as forgetting where you left something and spending an hour searching for it was frustrating. To pursue enlightenment that always felt just out of reach—close enough to touch, but never grasp—was unthinkably maddening.
Riarc had endured that suffocating torment not just for days or months, but for over a century.
Kwon Oh-Jin clicked his tongue. As concerning as it was, this was something Riarc had to overcome on his own.
He turned back toward Vega, imagining an empty Sanctum. “It must’ve been quite lonely for you, then.”
“... That’s not it,” she mumbled.
“There were many times before when I was in the Sanctum alone, but back then... I was never this lonely. It never felt this empty." She looked at him with wavering eyes. "It was only after meeting you... that I began feeling this way. I... don’t know why that is.”
She smiled faintly and started gently caressing his head. “Haha. Perhaps fragments of my other life's memories were miraculously passed on to me.”
... No, that’s not possible, Kwon Oh-Jin thought. The memories they had supposedly shared together in the first timeline were all lies, fabrications spun from his own silver tongue.
She immediately changed her tone back. “Anyway! From now on, call me a little more often!”
“Ah... Okay. Got it." He awkwardly nodded, still staring at her with conflicted eyes.
She turned her gaze toward the news playing on the TV. “By the way, is this the war you were talking about?”
The battle between the Black Star Society and the guild alliance had been too one-sided to call a war, but it was definitely a major event.
“This wasn’t how it originally ended," he replied. "There were a lot more casualties.”
“What did you do to make it end so easily?”
“I leaked some information.”
“Ah... The anonymous informant who exposed their headquarters and branch locations was you!”
Vega’s eyes sparkled as she clapped her hands together.
“But how did you get that information? Didn’t you say you didn’t know much about them?”
“I didn’t, but I found some clues this time.”
“Hmm. Well, since you know everything about the future, it wouldn’t have been too difficult for you.” She nodded, stroking her chin. “But... does that mean you were also the one who crippled those two thousand people?”
Her eyes were filled with unease.
He shook his head naturally. “No. That wasn’t me.”
Since she saw him as a hero and the world's savior, he couldn’t admit to incapacitating over two thousand people even if they were horrendous criminals.
“I don’t know,” he answered.
“This didn’t happen in the first timeline.”
She squinted. “So the future changed because you leaked information about the Black Star Society.”
He nodded with a grim expression. “That’s right. Well... I don’t know who turned those guys into cripples, but at least I managed to stop the war.”
“So, what’s your next plan?” she asked.
He recalled Lee Shin-Hyuk’s memories and answered, “There’s an Astral Relic hidden in Baekdu Mountain.”
“Oh, are you planning to secure it in advance again?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know exactly where this one's hidden.”
“Hmm. That means it’ll take some time to find it.”
“It’s not urgent. I’ll take my time searching for it.”
“Haha. You really are so reliable, my child.” She patted his head in approval. “No matter what happens, I’m sure you’ll handle it well. Even with this recent incident, many lives that would have been lost were saved thanks to you, weren’t they?”
He could feel Vega’s unwavering trust in him.
“Though it’s not like anyone’s aware of it,” he muttered.
“There’s me." Vega floated up into the air. "I see how desperately you fight to change the future, how many lives your efforts save. I will always stay by your side and watch over you.”
A radiant glow swirled around her as she returned to her true form. She reached out and pulled his head into her embrace. A soft sensation pressed against his cheek.
The warmth of her touch conveyed just how much she trusted him.
I... kinda feel guilty, he thought. She believed in him wholeheartedly, yet he was deceiving her so thoroughly, pretending to be a Regressor. Well, I don't have a choice.
He had already walked too far down this path to turn back.
“Hmph! Be more grateful!”
“Thaaank youuu, Veeegaaaa!” He wrapped his arms around her waist and rubbed his cheek against her chest.
“Huh?! You’re acting just like a child now, haha.” She smiled, accepting his childish clinginess. Holding him tightly for a while, she let out a small hum, lost in thought.
“What is it?" he asked.
“I... have a proposal.”
“What kind of proposal?”
“C-Could you... try c-calling me mama, just this once?”
Huh? What are you on, goddess?
“Th-This is your fault! You kept acting spoiled and made my heart flutter!”
“Eeeek! Silence!" Vega turned defensive, her face flushed bright red. "This is your punishment for leaving me alone in the Sanctum for so long!”
He looked up at her in disbelief, then slowly opened his mouth.
Just then, the front door swung open with a loud crash.
Song Ha-Eun stomped into the living room, panting with rage. “You were really pushing it, but you’ve completely lost it now! Mama?! Did you say mama?!”
She roughly grabbed his arm and shouted, “My Oh-Jin doesn’t need a mom, got it?!”
Uh... well, she’s not wrong, but...
For some reason, he felt unsettled.