After Regressing, I Gained the Power of the Demonic Dragon - Chapter 17

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 17
The next day.
The Hall of Fame record from the previous day’s Hidden Trial on the fifth floor was posted, and PlayerNet erupted.
With the announcement that thirty-six days remained until the end of the Channel League season, people began calculating whether Impossible Seat could enter the Iron Rookie League before the season concluded.
Impossible Seat had currently climbed to the fifth floor.
If he continued ascending one floor per day as he had been, he would satisfy the participation requirements with twenty-two days remaining before the season ended.
All matches in the Channel League were broadcast publicly, and the points earned from wins and losses were added to the Season Points of the player’s home nation.
When the season ended, the National Achievement Points and the scale of allocated resources distributed according to final rankings would vary.
[South Korea Channel League National Season Ranking: 64th / 64 Nations]
[South Korea Iron Rookie Fixed Squad: None]
[National Season Compensation: Ranks 1–16]
With South Korea at the bottom, people’s attention naturally converged on Impossible Seat.
[Korea/Lv.33] Newbie Guardian: At this pace, wouldn’t he be able to meet the participation requirements within the season and play over twenty matches?
[China/Lv.68] Beijing Swordmaster: That’s assuming he clears floors six through nineteen without a single day’s rest. It won’t be easy as you go higher.
[Korea/Lv.42] Soju Over Rice: Still, he’s climbed one floor every single day so far. Think he’s suddenly going to stop?
[Japan/Lv.55] Tsukikage: Even if he makes it in time, individual strategy is different from team matches. Korea doesn’t have a fixed squad with practiced coordination either.
[Korea/Lv.51] Gangnam Unbeaten: That’s exactly why Korea needs Impossible Seat. Even with a squad assembled on the first meeting, if that player takes the center, it’s worth trying.
[USA/Lv.61] IronJack: Isn’t actually participating the real question before ability matters? The Channel League publishes combat footage and registered equipment. Would a player who’s kept their abilities and gear hidden so far take that risk?
[China/Lv.68] Beijing Swordmaster: Even if he participates, only Impossible Seat is strong. Can a hastily assembled squad beat the fixed squads of powerful nations?
[Korea/Lv.42] Soju Over Rice: But that one person has pulled off what everyone said was impossible multiple times. Why couldn’t he do it in a team match?
[Japan/Lv.55] Tsukikage: But even if Impossible Seat climbs up, he’s Iron Tier in the Rookie channel. Can Korea really escape sixty-fourth place with his performance alone?
It wasn’t an unreasonable point.
A single win in Iron Rookie earned only three Season Points for the nation.
As the tier increased, the points available per match grew as well.
Strong nations with deep rosters in the upper tiers from Diamond to Legend had accumulated significant points since the season began.
South Korea, by contrast, lacked the upper-tier forces to contend with them.
Now that the approximately ninety-day season had passed the halfway mark, even the gap with sixty-third place was difficult to close with a single rookie’s achievements.
[USA/Lv.61] IronJack: At Lv.31, players automatically graduate from Iron Rookie. The maximum matches playable in Iron Rookie is eleven. Even with a perfect record, that’s only thirty-three points.
[Japan/Lv.55] Tsukikage: Right. Even after moving to the regular channel, it’s a lower tier initially. Closing the gap created at the upper tiers would be difficult even with consecutive wins from that point on.
[China/Lv.68] Beijing Swordmaster: Season compensation goes to rank sixteen. At this rate, Korea won’t even escape last place, let alone qualify for rewards.
[Korea/Lv.42] Soju Over Rice: That calculation assumes Impossible Seat plays alone. If he starts winning consecutively, the Korean players who’ve been watching from the sidelines could start moving too.
[China/Lv.68] Beijing Swordmaster: You’re saying players who’ve been watching for over half a season would suddenly step up because of one rookie? That’s not calculation—that’s wishful thinking.
Even if Impossible Seat won every match, he alone couldn’t close the already-widened gap.
To change the ranking, Korean players inspired by his winning streak would need to earn points together across multiple tiers.
No one could guarantee they would actually move.
Yet people still waited eagerly for the day Impossible Seat would appear in the Channel League, even though he was still on the fifth floor.
* * *
At the same moment.
Sang Hyuk set foot on the sixth floor of the Infinite Tower.
Rumble-rumble-rumble.
At that instant, violent tremors shook the floor as the gray ground split into three sections.
From the fissures, three massive stone gates rose in succession.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom-crash!
As the final gate settled into place, the tremors ceased.
Before each stone gate sat a waist-high circular control console.
「You have entered the sixth floor of the Infinite Tower.」
「The Trial of the sixth floor begins.」
[Trial Name: Triple Mana Gate]
[Time Limit: 15 minutes]
[Objective]
– Open all three mana gates.
– Supply mana to the control console to open the gate.
– If contact is broken, the gate’s opening rate resets to zero.
[Evaluation Criteria]
– Clear time
– Number of mana supply interruptions
– Mana consumption efficiency
Sang Hyuk approached the nearest control console.
In the center of the control panel lay a groove shaped like an open palm.
To open the gate, he had to place his hand in that groove and supply mana continuously until it opened completely.
If he withdrew his hand midway, the opening rate would reset to zero.
The task itself was simple.
The problem was the six circles carved into the floor.
At the center of each lay stone hands and weapons, buried deep.
According to the known strategy guide, stone Gate Defense Soldiers would awaken from those circles as the gate opened.
Sang Hyuk scanned the circles on the floor in sequence, then pulled up the league notice.
[Time until current Channel season ends: D-35]
To obtain entry to Floor 20, he had to climb to Floor 19 first.
Including Floor 6, fourteen more floors remained up to Floor 19.
If he climbed one floor per day as planned, he’d have more than enough time to enter before the season ended.
But lingering even one extra day on a single floor meant one fewer match he could compete in this season.
Yet he had no intention of sacrificing clear evaluation ratings just to maximize speed.
The more SSS ratings and special records he accumulated, the faster he could grow through additional rewards, and the more he could reduce South Korea’s deficit in National Achievement Points.
That was why he had to climb quickly while earning the highest evaluation every single time.
Sang Hyuk’s eagerness to advance through the Channel League was far from merely wanting to compete in more matches.
A handful of victories by him alone wouldn’t immediately overturn the nation’s seasonal standings.
But if he strung together overwhelming victories, he could reignite the momentum of Korean players who had grown stagnant.
Before his return, it wasn’t just lack of strength that had destroyed South Korea.
As defeats accumulated, the conviction that effort was pointless spread like infection, and with more and more players withdrawing from competition, the gap only widened.
Even now, many Korean players possessed participation rights but shunned the Channel League entirely.
‘This time, I’ll break that vicious cycle.’
If he could show their established strongholds crumbling before his onslaught, he could restore the hope that Korea was worth attempting.
Once even one more player saw that and returned to the battlefield, the national ranking would begin to shift.
But Sang Hyuk’s true goal reached far beyond national rankings.
He meant to prevent the coming invasion by interdimensional beings and change humanity’s fate from annihilation to survival.
To protect his beloved family and transform South Korea—the land where they would live—into the world’s strongest nation.
To build that future, he first had to honor the promise of one floor per day.
The Iron Rookie League would be his first public stage toward that goal.
Promising talents directly sponsored by the Sixteen Throne Seats would gather there.
When he faced them, he needed to be stronger than he was now to overwhelm them from the first confrontation.
Sang Hyuk closed the notice and looked down at the groove in the control panel.
Now came the time to clear Floor 6 with an SSS rating.
“Let’s begin.”
He pushed his left hand into the groove of the control panel.
Click.
Stone locks rose from both sides of the control panel and pressed against the back of his hand.
The moment his left hand was secured in the groove, an alert appeared.
[Beginning Mana Supply.]
Sang Hyuk channeled mana through his left hand.
Hum.
Blue light bloomed across the control panel and traced down the floor to the first stone gate.
[Gate 1 Opening Rate: 1%]
[Gate 1 Opening Rate: 2%]
The blue pattern inscribed on the Spirit Vein Ring: Sprouting at his left wrist brightened, drawing in the surrounding mana.
Thanks to it, even as he continued channeling mana through the control panel, the mana in his body depleted far more slowly than anticipated.
‘At this rate, I can fight while opening the gate.’
As the gate cracked open, the six circles carved into the floor trembled in unison.
Crack-crack-crack.
The stone hands buried within the circles pressed against the floor.
Soon six Gate Defense Soldiers, clad in stone armor, hauled themselves up from beneath the earth.
[Gate Defense Soldier]
[Lv. 6]
The soldiers seized their weapons in unison and rushed toward the control panel.
Sang Hyuk kept his left hand in the groove while sweeping his right hand in a wide arc.
‘Annihilation Form.’
Whoosh!
A fan-shaped wave of black force engulfed the soldiers all at once.
Where the black force touched—weapons, armor, flesh—all crumbled into black sand and poured away.
Whoosh!
They vanished before laying a finger on the control panel.
All that remained for Sang Hyuk was to wait for the gate to open completely.
The Annihilation Form spread wide had consumed considerable mana.
But as the Spirit Vein Ring: Sprouting drew mana from the surroundings, what he’d just expended returned swiftly.
‘At this rate, there’s no need to hold back.’
[First Gate Open Rate: 100%]
Crack-crack-crack!
As the first stone gate rose upward, blue mana poured out from below like a wave.
It was the excess mana left over from opening the gate.
The Spirit Vein Ring: Sprouting drew even the scattering mana in, filling his body even faster.
Click.
The lock holding his left hand released.
Sang Hyuk pulled his hand free at once and rushed through the open gate.
Reaching the second control panel, he didn’t hesitate—he pressed his left hand into the groove again.
Click.
[Second Gate opening sequence initiated.]
Crack-crack-crack!
This time, soldiers rose from both sides of the stone gate, each wielding a long crossbow.
[Gate Crossbow Soldier]
[Lv.7]
Click.
Six crossbows trained on Sang Hyuk simultaneously.
Twang!
He thrust his right hand toward the incoming stone bolts.
‘Annihilation Form.’
Roar!
Black energy unfurled like a curtain.
The stone bolts crumbled to dust the moment they touched it, and the soldiers behind them were consumed by the dark force.
Whoosh!
Even after eliminating all the crossbow soldiers, the gate continued opening.
Sang Hyuk felt mana replenishing within him and thought back to the fourth floor.
Then, he’d had to conserve every scrap of mana, even using the enemies’ charges against them.
Now he’d deployed the Annihilation Form widely twice over, yet mana came abundantly.
By the time he’d waited, the open rate had climbed to completion.
[Second Gate Open Rate: 100%]
Boom!
The second stone gate rose upward.
The instant the lock released, Sang Hyuk withdrew his hand and sprinted toward the final gate.
The third control panel was far larger than the ones before.
Three blue patterns curved in a circle around the palm-shaped groove.
As Sang Hyuk inserted his left hand, a thick lock pressed down on his knuckles.
Click!
[Third Gate opening sequence initiated.]
[Required Mana Supply increases.]
Hummmmmm!
More mana drained through his left hand than before.
While the Spirit Vein Ring: Sprouting continued drawing mana, the ground before the stone gate split wide open.
Crack-crack-crack.
A stone hand the size of Sang Hyuk’s torso jutted from the fissure.
Then a giant rose, massive armor plating its frame, a two-handed sword as tall as a man in its grip, forcing the earth aside.
Red eyes blazed within the helmet.
[Triple Gate Guardian]
[Lv.8]
The third gate was the most common point where sixth-floor challengers got stuck.
The Triple Gate Guardian moved slowly, but its armor was so formidable that lower-tier players had virtually no chance of defeating it outright.
The standard strategy was to keep your hand locked in the groove and survive—dodging and blocking attacks until the open rate reached one hundred percent.
Most players failed on their first attempt despite thorough preparation, unable to pass this gate.
The guardian’s gaze fixed first on Sang Hyuk’s left hand, pinned to the control panel.
“Intruder!”
A voice like grinding stone echoed inside the helmet.
“Cut off the Mana Supply at once!”
The Triple Gate Guardian laid his great sword on its side and rushed forward.
Instead of answering, Sang Hyuk kept his left hand fixed in the slot and raised his right.
The Triple Gate Guardian brought his great sword down toward Sang Hyuk’s left arm.
Sang Hyuk didn’t dodge—he reached his right hand toward the falling blade.
‘Annihilation Form.’
Screeeech!
The great sword turned to black sand from its point before it could even touch Sang Hyuk’s hand.
As the blade and hilt vanished in turn, the Triple Gate Guardian’s empty hand merely tore through empty air.
The red eyes inside the helmet shook violently.
“What….”
Sang Hyuk pushed his right hand forward without pause.
The force of the Annihilation Form, which had unmade the sword, traveled up the Triple Gate Guardian’s arm and spread through his chest.
The armor that had deflected the low-level players’ attacks crumbled to black sand wherever it was touched, scattering like wind-blown dust.
As Sang Hyuk pushed the Annihilation Form harder, the Spirit Vein Ring: Sprouting drew surrounding Mana close and replenished what he spent.
Thump!
The Apocalypse Magic Dragon’s Heart beat powerfully, accepting the fresh Mana that poured in.
The Mana that passed through his heart surged into his right arm, amplifying the force of the Annihilation Form even further.
Whoosh!
The black aura wrapping his right hand rose sharply, engulfing the Triple Gate Guardian’s entire form.
The red eyes inside the helmet trembled with fear for the first time.
“This power… it’s impossible…!”
Psssssh!
Even the helmet that had remained until the last dissolved into black sand and scattered.
Where the Triple Gate Guardian had stood, only black sand lay heaped.
Sang Hyuk withdrew his right hand and straightened his posture toward the control pedestal.
Even though he’d erased the Triple Gate Guardian entirely, his Mana showed no signs of depleting.
It was thanks to the Spirit Vein Ring: Sprouting, which never stopped replenishing what he consumed.
[Third Gate Opening Rate: 100%]
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble!
As the final stone gate rose, blue light raced across the space between the three Gates.
[All three Mana Gates have opened.]
[Mana Supply Interruptions: 0]
[Remaining Time: 08:41]
「You have completed the Sixth Floor Trial.」
「Calculating clear results.」
[Clear Rating: SSS]
Click.
The lock holding his left hand down released.
When Sang Hyuk withdrew his hand from the control pedestal, the brilliant blue patterns of the Spirit Vein Ring: Sprouting gradually dimmed.
But even after he withdrew the Annihilation Form, the power that had surged through his heart and into his right arm remained.
Thump.
With each beat of his heart, a dark-red current spread beneath his skin, pushing all the way to his fingertips.
Just as Sang Hyuk was about to examine this changed sensation, a new notification appeared.
[The Apocalypse Magic Dragon’s Heart begins physical adaptation.]
[Adaptation target: Blood flow]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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