The Regressed NoBody

“So what you’re saying is, you have made a deal with Old Man Moebius, for me, in exchange for giving him something, correct?” Koji said as he took a big scoop of the ice cream.

A delighted expression plastered over his childish face, which caused my lips to me pulled into a thin smile. He was wearing a white tunic—which now had a tiny stain from the ice cream—,with a pair of black shorts.

“Well, if you put it that way, then yes,” I said, as I planted both of my arms over the old wooden chair and rested my chin over them. I traced my fingers along the small cracks over the surface of the wooden chair.

“Well, I don’t mind either way, but,” Koji said with a shrug, focusing entirely on the ice cream which he was eating with a bright smile. “If you can’t agree to some of my demands, then I won’t go with you.”

“And what are these demands?” With a chuckle I asked, with brow risen.

He buried the spoon into the tub and began to speak. “First of all and the foremost, I will not be restricted from eating ice cream, I would eat it as much as I want to. Secondly, I want a PC for myself, reading these comic books all day long is rotting my intelligent brain. And thirdly, I would like to visit the amusement park for a change.”

I straightened my back and held my hand forward. “Alright, I agree to all of those demands of yours. Anything else you want to add?” I added looking at Koji.

Koji shook his head then placed the tub of ice cream to the side and grabbed my hand with both of his small hands. I pulled a handkerchief out of my pocket and wiped the ice cream off of Koji’s mouth.

“Thanks,” he muttered, as he sat down on his bed once again.

Then I got up from the seat and looked Koji straight in his round turquoise eyes.

“Then, I will be coming to get you in two days. So pack up all of your stuff and wait for me, okay?”

Koji nodded his head and opened his mouth to speak. “There isn’t even much stuff here which needs to be packed, just some underwear and books. But you better bring me some ice cream when you come back, just like today.”

I smiled looking at the nine, almost ten year old kid.

“Alright,” I muttered as I took the black mask from the desk and made my way to the door of the room. “Then see you later, Koji.”

I opened the door and then exited.

Loki was still standing outside with his back facing the wall. He stood, arms crossed, and turned his head in my direction as I stepped outside.

I closed the door shut behind me and entered the wide corridor.

Without even a word to each other, I began to follow Loki out of the corridor.

After entering the elevator again, we descended down and soon the doors hummed open as I stepped outside—alone.

“You have two days,” Loki reminded as the doors of the elevator began to close.

I nodded my head at him, then turned around. I made my way out of the wide corridor and soon after reached the black steel door which stood at the end.

I opened the door and entered the black market.

Just like in Korea, this place looked eye-catching and beautiful. Clean streets, street lights illuminating the entirety of the place, and bustling stores and stalls, many masked customers were entering and exiting to and fro, as I observed my surroundings.

Afterwards, I began to walk along the wide and clean streets of the black market. I entered the main street, and it was also bustling with pedestrians. I sped up my pace and quickly made my way to my destination, but I was nonetheless observing my surroundings, and the item put on display in the stores and stalls.

Honestly, they were quite eye-catching. But most of them were rip-offs or either too highly priced.

But an old store in the further edge, almost hidden by all of the other glamorous bustling stores, caught my eye. I quickly made my way to that stores and stopped in front of it.

‘Still that shitty appearance,’ I inwardly voiced, looking at the old—almost run down store—in front of me.

The store looked almost deserted, but was still somehow in business. In fact this shop was the first place where I had purchased my gear from when coming to the black market for the first time.

Well, due to budget issues, I had no other choice but to come to this place, because back then, Master didn’t give me much money, so I was forced to purchase my gear from this place. He was a cheapskate through and through.

But with all honesty, aside from it’s shitty appearance and having no appealing point. This place sell some good stuff of great quality, which couldn’t be purchased from outside, and with a good and reasonable price.

There was a sign hung out, which read: CLOSED.

But nonetheless, I opened the door and stepped inside the store. The old door creaked to the side, as it almost stopped half way through. The inside was cleaner than I had expected, with a little dust and cobwebs in the corners. There were two long shelves facing both sides of the walls, and on them weapons lined up, ranging from; Swords, Daggers, knives, spears and many others.

There were three long shelves standing in the middle of the store, with equipment hanging on display. There were artifacts, cloaks, head gear, breath plates and all kinds of other body armour. And on the further edge of the store were many big crates eating dust on the floor, which were filled randomly with items.

I began to look around the store, seeing each and every item in here. If I was already here, might as well buy something, for old times sake.

But there was nothing in the sort here which caught my eye that much, or looked that interesting enough for me to buy. But had to say, for a beginner with a budget, this place was like a treasure chest. But adorned like a crappy dungeon.

I picked up a dagger and traced my finger along the tip of its blade. It kinked my finger, and a drop of blood dripped down from my finger’s tip. But a moment later, the wound patched itself and closed; regenerated.

I placed the dagger down and then again began to look around the store. I looked around the armour section, but, I had never been one to wear even one piece of armour once, it just didn’t suit my fighting style. And armour only got in the way of when I fought, so to me, it was more or less useless.

But Fujimoto really nagged at me for almost an hour, when I went into battle once in the past without wearing any armour and getting severely hurt.

A mad Fujimoto was more scary than any demon I had faced.

But after having looked through almost all of the shelves, I then looked through the small crates which were placed on the floor at the furthest of the store.

But after looking through the first crate, I found something interesting.

It was a single glove. But an artifact which stored mana inside the small mana stone embedded into the glove, which released the mana in the shape of an arrow.

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Item:

Touch of the Sacred Winds

Type:

Glove

Rank:

【F】

Description:

This item allows the user’s mana to be stored in the small mana stone embedded in the surface of the glove, creating arrows formed by the element of wind.

Note:

Only three arrow can be released in one use. And constant use of this item can cause the mana stone to explode.

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The glove was completely black in colour, and was a fingerless glove. I wore the glove on, and channelled the mana inside my body. Circulating the mana, I began to pour it inside the small mana stone embedded in the jet black glove.

A green hue enveloped the entire glove, as soon with a push, an arrow began to form above the glove. It took a rigid shape, then began to shape as an actual arrow and soon I extended my hand, and released the arrow.

With a slight flutter in the air, the arrow released and shot straight into the wall of the store. It smashed into the wall, and flickered out of existence. I peered at the wall, and small fissures had appeared all around where the arrow had pierced through.

I took it off and with a satisfied look over my face, I made my way to the counter.

There was a man sitting, with his legs resting over the wooden counter. I placed the glove down, and coughed to get his attention.

A hat was covering his face, as his fat belly inflated and deflated, as he breathed in and out.

He lifted his hat ever-so-slightly and spoke with his voice irked. “Can’t you read the sign outside or are you just plain stupid?” He asked lowering his legs and placing the hat over the counter.

The man was almost bald, with the exception of the sides of his head, which still had a little bit hair growing from it. Baldness a true cause to fear.

He was wearing a green shirt, with a pair of boggy brown pants. His forehead had sharp deep lines, with his brown eyes looking annoyed.

‘This guy is still the same as ever,’ I voiced as I took my card out.

The man leaned in his seat and puffed his chest like an anger wograt about to bite me with it’s sharp glare alone. “Are you even listening to me?”

“Is that how you treat all of your customers? Well the customer service sucks here!” I scoffed as I placed the card down on the counter, with a grin plastered over my face.

“I only treat those customers with good service who know how to read the sign I placed outside, or when it’s time for opening the store,” the man rebuked, as he crossed his arms.

“Like you have any customers, except for me right now,” I again scoffed, as I inched closer to the counter. “Then you can charge me extra for the inconvenience.”

He pulled the card toward himself, with a stiff expression over his face, as he clicked his tongue, avoiding eye contact with me.

Hit the nail.

“I was already going to charge you extra,” He said. “For the wall, that is.”

My lips slightly curled upwards, as I looked at Durand.

His shitty personality was still the same, but the guy possessed a good heart. And couldn’t forget about his sharp tongue and glare.

“Here.”

After pulling the card out of the transaction machine, he shoved it in my direction.

“Now get lost!” He shooed me with his hand. Making a weird expression.

I took the glove from the counter and then made my way toward the entrance of the store. I looked above my shoulder and opened my mouth to speak.

“Then, see you later Durand.”

Durand's brows knit together as he gazed at me curiously. But at the moment he was about to say something, I exited through the door.

***

“And how long will you be renting the air-bike for, Sir?”

The lady on the other side of the counter asked, as she handed me a red card, which had the number 44, written over it.

“Till evening,” I muttered as I took the red card.

She smiled back at me and gave me a quick nod of her head. I nodded back and then turned to my left.

Walking through the wide corridor I soon reached the end and there I saw a youth wearing a black suit standing. I gave him the card I held, and he gave it back to me a moment later. Then he gestured for me to follow him from behind.

After walking for a bit we entered an enormous garage. The man guided me to a small warehouse, as he pulled a card out from the inside of his suit, and flashed it at the panel to the side.

The shutter door of the warehouse hummed open to the inside, revealing a bike which stood inside the clean warehouse.

Well, the place I was going now, I couldn’t get there on foot, so renting an air-bike was a better option. But teleporting there was another good option but due to the cool down on my skill, I wouldn’t want to risk it.

What if I needed to teleport, and I couldn’t because of the cool down. To prevent that from happening I renting out an air-bike.

And this air-bike was one of the newest models out in the market. I rented it thanks to the privilege provided by the VIP card, or else I had to take a big detour.

I sat down on the bike, and inserted the red card inside the small gap which was just below the speedometer. The engine ignited and I placed my hand over the accelerator. Just as I did, the bike slowly lifted in the air a few inches.

The air-bikes had mana cores embedded in their engines, so with mana being the source of its operating energy, it could float, and these bikes didn’t produce any smoke or hazardous gases which could harm the environment.

The air-bikes were completed deprived of the combustion engine. These bikes entirely operated with mana. Truly a wonderful discovery.

I firmed my grip over the clutch, and put the bike in gear. The engine hummed, as I slowly let go of the clutch, sequentially increasing the race, as I began revving the accelerator.

The bike began to move, and as I exited the warehouse, I took a right turn, then increasing the speed even more I went straight. I was already going on 60 km/h, as I made my way to the exit of this big garage.

There was a steep hill in front of me which led to the exit. I quickly climbed it, and soon exited through the wide gate which stood in front.

I took a sharp left turn and quickly entered the main road. I cut through the traffic and hurriedly made my way to my destination. Withdrawing my mask I placed it inside the system inventory, as I shifted the gears of the bike, to assimilate with the increasing speed of the bike.

The air furiously fluttered my clothes and pulled my hair back, as it bit away at my face. But nonetheless, it felt refreshing.

***

I parked the bike, and withdrew the red card from the slot. Then turning my head forward, I looked at the deep forest which stood in front of me.

This place was an Inhabitant Dungeon.

Yes.

Dungeon had three types to them.

The first one was: A dungeon gate. A dungeon gate appeared out of no where, and after clearing it, it automatically disappears.

Second one was the: The stable dungeon. A stable dungeon, after clearing this type of the dungeon, it stays stable keeping its shape and it resets itself upon getting cleared.

And lastly: The inhabitant dungeon. The inhabitant dungeons are formed when after a dungeon breaks, the area which was affected the most by the dungeon, the monsters make it their natural habitat to stay there. So it becomes the habitat of the monsters which escaped through the gates and couldn’t return after the gate was closed.

But the monsters didn’t move outside from their habitat. It was determined a very rare case of events when a monster left their habitat. And if they did, hunter were always ready to put up a fight.

And this place was filled with monsters. So aside from finding the cure, I will also be able to level up. That was one of the main reasons. And this place was at the outskirts, mountains.

As I had made my way here, there weren’t many houses or stores in this area stretched to a few miles. So it was the perfect place for hunting. And best of all, this place was an open dungeon, so anyone could come here regardless, even if they were a part of a guild or not. But no one was crazy enough to enter an inhabitant dungeon, because an inhabitant dungeon didn’t have a rank assigned to them, as well as to the monsters.

There could be monsters as strong as rank here. Maybe rank.

Soon I began to make my way inside. I withdrew Bleak Star from the inventory, and hung it above my hip.

I pushed the trees branches and enormous leaves of the plants aside as I climbed the steep hill. Soon coming to a stop on a high cliff. And in front of me was where the dungeon began. The entire place was filled with trees stretched to miles away.

But in that moment I was observing my surroundings, a window popped up in front of me. It was a quest.

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Quest: Kill the Boss Monster of the Inhabitant Dungeon

Rank: ???

Description: There is a vicious beast which dominants this Inhabitant dungeon, and creates terror for the other life forms. Killing it would ease the environment and lessen the weaker monsters fear and rampage.

Note: There is an enormous cave located in the middle of the Inhabitant dungeon, where the lair of the monster is supposedly located.

__________________________________________________

“Ho, a quest and at a good time,” my brows jumped, as I read through the description of the quest.

The boss monster, huh? I thought. But a pity, that there isn’t any info about it

I waved my hand at the window and it disappeared from in front of me. But as soon as I tried to make my way down the high cliff, my phone began to vibrate suddenly inside my pocket.

I took it out and saw who was calling. I picked up the call and answered.

“What’s up Jihye?”

“How are you doing, Jiwoo? Have you safely reached Japan?” Jihye asked from the other side of the line.

“Yeah I got here a few hours ago,” I answered as my eyes drifted toward the mountains in the distance.

“I just wanted to check on you. Are you enjoying yourself, Jiwoo?”

“Yeah, I’m having a blast here,” I said with humour laced in my words

“Alrig—Cough-Cough—”

“Jihye, what’s wrong?” I hurriedly asked. Worry laced in my words. “Is everything alright? Jihye?

“Y-Yeah, everything’s fine, I just caught a fever a few days ago, but I am fine now,” Jihye reassured as a concerned expression plastered over my face.

“Really? You don’t sound too well?” I replied. “If you are sick then take a few days off?”

“I am perfectly fine Jiwoo, don’t worry about me. And focus on enjoying your trip to the fullest,” I could clearly see it in my mind, Jihye making a smiling expression as she warmly spoke.

“Alright,” I replied. “I’ll bring you something back as a souvenir.”

“Then, I’ll be patiently waiting.”

“Then take care of yourself and don’t push yourself too much!”

Soon she hanged up the call and I turned my phone off and placed it inside the inventory of the system.

Then I went began to make my way inside the inhabitant dungeon.