A soft sensation covered his lips.
Gulp—
The sweet liquid riding on his tongue went past his throat.
"Ugh…"
While feeling a cozy sensation from the back of his head, Ohjin slowly opened his eyes.
[Are you awake?]
"…Lady Vega?"
What he saw the moment he opened his eyes was a radiant silver-haired Goddess possessing golden eyes.
She wasn’t shrunk down to 30cm but instead had the appearance of an adult woman as she had when he first met her.
‘What's going on?'
Ohjin opened his eyes and looked around in order to comprehend the situation.
He came to the conclusion that he was using Vega's thighs as a headrest.
She was gently patting on his hair as if she were taking care of a child who had collapsed from exhaustion.
‘Holy shit!'
Ohjin quickly sat up.
[Lie down a little longer.]
"Huh? However…"
[Oho. Didn't this lady say to stay laying down?] Vega said with a serious voice.
Following the soft touch on his forehead, he laid his head back onto her thighs.
Rustle—
The texture of the dress tickled him.
"…Just what happened?"
[It seems you have used too much strength. You collapsed as soon as the combat ended.]
Was that why Vega was taking care of him personally?
‘To be able to use a celestial's thighs as a headrest…'
He was probably the first Awakener to experience such a mind-boggling situation.
[You—]
Gently placing her hand on Ohjin's forehead, she continued.
[—have quite the extreme personality, unlike how you look.]
She spoke in a reproachful way.
[Take more care of your body. Even if you're a Regressor, aren't you still a human?]
"……"
Although the biggest reason he had done such a reckless act was because of her, he couldn't say it out loud.
‘Let's obediently accept it.'
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind.'
[Hmm.]
As if Vega didn't approve of something, she gently looked down towards him.
"Is there perhaps a problem?"
[…No.]
Shaking her head, she tightly closed her lips like there was something she was unsatisfied about.
‘What is it?'
Could it be that she was suspecting him because he had told her not to worry in a confident manner only to proceed in barely winning with the help of the blessing?
‘Fuck. What else could I do?'
He could think of no other method to defeat the mucus giant than with the blessing.
[Cough.]
Vega, who was momentarily lost in thought, cleared her throat and avoided his gaze.
[The thing is… Didn't you talk down to this lady back then?]
"Ah."
He had talked down to Vega in the heat of the moment after being disoriented by the giant’s hit.
"I apologize. The situation was too chaotic and all…"
Thankfully, it seemed like she hadn't cared about him getting beaten up by the mucus giant.
[This lady is not trying to reprimand you. In fact, haven't you spoken to this lady without honorifics a couple of times already?]
As she had said, in order to act like there was some kind of circumstance behind him, he had used casual speech a couple of times toward Vega.
[…It's okay.]
"Yes?"
[If you wish to do so, you may speak to this lady casually.]
‘What's she talking about…'
"I think that's a bit…"
[Is there a problem?]
"No, it's nothing like that."
[Weren't you in an… i-intimate relationship with this lady in your past life anyways?]
‘Nope.'
‘No, we weren't'
[Or…]
Taking the gentle hand that had been patting his head, Vega pinched his cheek.
Quite a lot of force was behind it.
[Are you saying that even though you could speak casually to this lady back then, you cannot speak that way to this lady now?]
A somewhat fuming voice.
‘Why is she like this all of a sudden?'
Although he felt bewildered, he couldn't refuse at this point.
"Okay. I'll speak comfortably."
[Fufu. Go ahead and do so.]
She chuckled in a giddy fashion as if she was satisfied.
Bzz!—
[Ut…!]
Just then, as a sudden spark shot out, Vega furrowed her brows.
[It seems that… the restriction is starting in earnest.]
It was only natural as she had not only granted a blessing but also fully materialized her body.
"You alright?"
[Hm… it'll take quite a long time to recover this time.]
"How long?"
[At best, two weeks. If it takes a while, about a month.]
Compared to when she had granted him the blessing before, the time had doubled.
It meant that she had overused her power that much more this time.
"…Sorry."
[This isn't something you should be sorry about.]
Vega chuckled gently.
[The monster you faced was at least rated 5-Star, and one that's very distinct compared to normal monsters at that.]
Most certainly.
It was a monster that felt somewhat different compared to normal monsters.
[Even with this lady's help, if it wasn't backed up by your skills, you wouldn't have been able to come out on top.]
"Thanks for putting it that way."
He was worried about receiving suspicion after he had gotten beat up after boasting like a know-it-all, but judging from her reaction, instead of suspicion, it seemed like a deeper trust had formed.
"Then should I start to… hm?"
Drop—
When he sat back up, the empty glass bottles rolling around the floor caught his attention.
They were the three mid-grade potions he had prepared in case of emergencies.
[This lady has personally used them for you so that you could wake up quickly.]
Vega proudly crossed her arms and straightened her shoulders.
Hmf!—
Looking at the appearance of her taking rough breaths from her nose, it seemed like she was expecting a compliment.
"O-Oh… I-I see."
Tightly clenching his fist, Ohjin forced a smile.
Tremble—
His clenched fist shook.
‘…'
Three bottles.
Three bottles!
‘Why did you use three bottles at once!!!'
Bubble—
Rage boiled up.
He wanted to rip out his hair and throw a fit on the spot.
‘How… how much is all that? Fuck…'
Thinking about the potions that each were worth thousands of dollars, tears started to drip down on their own.
[Fufu. So you're moved to the point of tears!]
‘Please. Shut up.'
"…Ha, haha. Yeah. T-Thanks."
Exercising his superhuman endurance, his lips tilted upwards.
Deep down, he wanted to grab her by the collar and shake her around, but he couldn't do such an insane act against the celestial that supported him.
* * *
‘By the way.'
Ohjin's eyes headed to the empty potion bottles.
One question suddenly popped up in his head.
"How did you feed me?"
[……!]
As Vega's eyes opened wide, her startled body shook.
She turned her head away.
[D-Don't pay it any attention,] she said in a muttering voice.
"Huh? Don't pay attention to what?"
[T-this lady will now take her leave!!!]
"…"
Vega turned her body away in an escaping manner.
Her body burst into radiant silver rays and moved into the necklace.
"…What was that?"
Although he looked towards the necklace with a puzzled expression, there was no reply.
Super awkward silence—
A gloomy atmosphere settled down in the lonely cavern.
"Huh."
Ohjin scratched his head while moving his body.
There was something left that was more important than how Vega had fed him.
"Heh, hehehe!"
Laughter naturally flowed out.
Saliva started to form all around his mouth as he looked at the black drinking glass stuck on the middle of the stone statue's forehead.
"Now, should we take a look at the loot?"
Jumping lightly onto the statue's head, Ohjin grasped onto the black glass with a chuckle.
Clunk—
The black drinking glass popped out of the forehead with a dull clinking sound.
‘What ability will this have?'
Ohjin touched the black glass with shining eyes.
He could feel a somewhat sticky and ominous aura from the black light that was subtly leaking out.
Although he felt unpleasant from the uneasy aura—
‘Let's start by taking it out of here for now.'
—he couldn't leave behind the star relic he had worked so hard for.
There wasn't a way to know the star relic's ability right away, but you could easily commission a professional appraiser and determine the ability and rating.
"Since I worked so hard to earn it, I hope it's rated above 3-Star."
Just a 3-Star would be worth around 100~200k dollars.
If it was a 4-Star, you could aim for over 500k dollars.
‘Damn.'
Just thinking about it was electrifying.
Rum, Rumble—
"…Huh?"
Just then, a somewhat strange sensation spread across his body.
—the unknown feeling of exaltation he had felt before.
A hot sensation heated up his body like he had drunk a highly alcoholic beverage.
‘What's this?'
A deep thirst burned his throat.
Ohjin followed his instincts and grasped the black drinking glass with both hands.
And then—
[The Black Heaven is absorbing the Black Star's power from the star relic!]
—a message appeared before his eyes.
"Black Star's power…?"
‘What's that?'
Rumblee!!—
Before he could continue his doubt, a black cloud flowing out of his fingertips covered the star relic.
"Kugh!"
Mana flowed in through the black cloud.
Different from normal mana, a sticky and unpleasant mana seeped into his body.
[The Black Star's power has successfully been absorbed!]
[The Black Heaven's trait is evolving!]
[The Trait ‘Black Curtain' will now not only hide the Black Heaven's presence, but all presences. This effect can be controlled with the user's will.]
[A part of the requirements for the Black Heaven's third awakening has been accomplished.]
Rumble—
Like the black clouds covering the star relic had finished a good meal, they wriggled and sunk back into his body.
"Ha."
Ohjin looked down onto the black glass in his hands with a hollow expression.
‘What's this?'
‘Are you telling me the Black Heaven also had the ability to absorb the power in star relics?'
‘Anyways, is this really a star relic?'
He had never heard of something called the Black Star's power from a star relic before.
"…Is this perhaps the unpleasant aura Vega was talking about before?"
It was nothing but a simple theory for now, but the thought that this star relic was different from others emerged.
"Oh, wait."
Whether the star relic was different from others or not…
Hadn't the Black Heaven gobbled up the power inside of it anyway?
"I-Is it possible that this became trash?"
Although he urgently flipped around the black drinking glass in his hands, the sticky and unpleasant aura he had sensed at first seemed to have vanished.
"No."
‘What is this…?'
"My-my star relic. Where did my star relic go?!"
Rage boiled up.
"Ah, this can't be. Noo!!"
It was a star relic he had not even determined the star ranking or ability of.
He threw a fit from the hollow feeling of shredding an unscratched lottery ticket.
"FUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKK!!!"
The cry echoed throughout the entire cavern.
Shoving his fist up his mouth, Ohjin cried out with tears.
"Urgghk… uhk. Fuck… fuck… the star relic I worked so hard for… son of a…"
Thinking about it objectively.
You could never say he was at a loss.
Even though it was somewhat unpleasant, he had absorbed the mana inside the star relic and achieved a part of the requirement for the Black Heaven's third awakening.
Moreover, the useful trait he was using, ‘Black Curtain', had also undergone an evolution.
In reality, he had earned a reward incomparable to that of your average star relic.
‘I know.'
‘But what do you want me to do with this damn feeling of unfairness?'
This was in the territory of emotional rather than rational.
You could say it was the feeling of when a child received a 3-part combination robot out of a Christmas box from their parents compared to receiving a stack of cash instead.
Even though you would have enough cash to buy the robot and have money left over, you would still feel an unknown disappointment.
"God dammit."
With a hollow expression, Ohjin touched the black drinking glass that had become trash.
Step, Step—
"Huh?"
The sound of footsteps echoed in the cavern.
Ohjin turned his head towards the location the sound was coming from.
"Oh, wait. It looks like someone arrived before us."
A group of people wearing black robes that encompassed their entire body walked out of the densely packed stalagmites.
‘Who are those fuckers?'
There were five of them.
A sticky and unpleasant aura was flowing out of the hooded beings.
Just like…
The aura he had felt from the black drinking glass.
"Hm… we couldn't possibly imagine that there would be someone who entered the gate faster than us."
A voice that made one's mind feel comfort.
Amongst the five people, the one in the middle stepped forward and folded his hood.
A light-brown-haired youth with half-shut eyes looked at the black drinking glass grasped within Ohjin's hand and let out a deep breath.
"Are you perhaps looking for this?"
Ohjin asked as he raised the black drinking glass in his hands.
"Haha. Yes. But it seems that we were too late."
The brown-haired youth scratched his head with an innocent expression.
"That's an object we really need… what to do…"
Smile—
With a bright smile, the youth slightly opened his half-shut eyes.
The retina seen between the narrow eyes shined eerily.
"Ah, is that so?"
Ohjin twirled around the glass in his hands.
Approaching them step by step, he held out the black drinking glass.
"Then, do you want to buy this off me?"
Smile—
He asked with a bright smile that mirrored the youth’s.
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