The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 116

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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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The Maxed-Out Player’s 100th Return – Episode 116
116. A Staged Situation
“Um Jun-seok?”
Ryu Min remembered the player’s username.
He was the one who had drawn the High Orc’s attention when I captured it.
Of course, he hadn’t intentionally drawn its gaze—he’d simply been frozen in place.
“Y-you remembered my username?”
“I only caught a glimpse, but it seems I was right.”
Regardless, he was a contributor who had played a crucial role in recording a one-second Time Attack.
How could I not remember him?
‘But why is this guy…?’
Someone I’d never exchanged words with approached me first and started a conversation.
And with a hesitant expression at that.
-I can’t believe Black Scythe remembers me… Good call talking to him!
Reading his thoughts, there seemed to be no ulterior motive.
He’d simply come to greet me.
Even knowing this, Ryu Min asked bluntly.
“What do you want from me?”
“Ah, well, you saved me back then, and I felt terrible for not thanking you at the time.”
Um Jun-seok lowered his head with a solemn and earnest expression.
“Thank you. For saving my life.”
‘I should be the one thanking you. For drawing the High Orc’s aggression.’
I swallowed the thought and merely nodded.
“Understood. Now go.”
Though it was a dismissal, Um Jun-seok didn’t turn to leave.
Reading his thoughts, he seemed reluctant.
‘Ah, wait. Could it be…?’
Ryu Min glanced between Heo Tae-sik and Um Jun-seok alternately.
The way they both looked at me was remarkably similar.
‘It feels like I’ve gained another follower…’
Um Jun-seok deliberately ignored Ryu Min’s words and continued with what he wanted to say.
“It’s an honor to be in a party with you, Black Scythe. I look forward to working with you.”
“Wait a moment. Did you say Um Jun-seok? What do you mean Black Scythe saved you?”
“Ah, well…”
In response to Heo Tae-sik’s question, Um Jun-seok explained the critical situation from that time in detail.
“Ah, so that’s when Black Scythe appeared.”
“Yes. It was truly a blessing. But you…”
“I apologize for the late introduction. My name is No Poe-in No-ge-i. Are you perhaps interested in religion?”
“Religion?”
“I’m currently recruiting new members…”
The two exchanged pleasantries and continued their conversation.
Ryu Min, the very subject of their discussion, remained in the background.
‘No wonder he’s the next sect leader. Even now, he’s recruiting followers.’
Heo Tae-sik, whom I’d thought was awkward, spoke with eloquence before Um Jun-seok.
When it came to matters concerning Black Scythe, his expression turned utterly grave.
‘Handle it yourself. I’ve no objection to gaining more followers.’
Their hushed exchange felt somewhat exclusive, but what did it matter?
As long as they didn’t interfere, that was all that mattered.
Then, the elf Yugrito used a wind spirit to announce to everyone.
“We depart now. We rely upon you, warriors of the Other World.”
At those words, the merchant caravan began to move.
Clip-clop, clip-clop—
White horses pulled wheelless carriages.
Following the procession of thirty carriages, roughly seven hundred players advanced as well.
Without anyone directing them, they naturally divided to either side, escorting the carriages.
They walked with vigilance, uncertain when monsters might emerge.
Their bearing was remarkably serious.
These were players who had survived through the seventh round, after all.
The forest was beautiful, yet they possessed enough discernment not to lose themselves in admiration.
Anything could leap out in the Other World, after all.
Only Ryu Min, unlike the other players, showed no signs of tension.
Rather, he carried himself with the ease of someone out for a casual stroll.
He already knew which monsters would appear and when.
And their strength as well.
‘Harpies, Lizardmen, Werewolves. These three types will appear in rotation. One wave every ten minutes.’
Just as with the Dwarf Merchant Caravan, thirty waves of attacks would follow.
However, the number of monsters would be halved.
They were twice as powerful as orcs, after all.
‘Each player will need to take down about ten. It won’t be easy for them.’
A grueling journey awaited them given the intermediate difficulty, but no one here knew that except Ryu Min.
“Kiiieeeek!”
“Kyahahaha!”
Harpies burst from the forest, their wings fluttering.
“Monsters! Everyone, be careful!”
The players panicked—flying monsters were something they’d never encountered before.
But their confusion lasted only a moment.
Shing—!
Watching Ryu Min casually slash down a harpy, the players understood.
Even if they flew, they had to descend to ground level to attack.
‘They attack with beaks and talons anyway. Just slash them when they get close.’
Was Ryu Min’s casual bisection with Death Side inspiring them?
The players wielded their weapons and cast skills one after another, escorting the elves.
Heo Tae-sik and Um Jun-seok weren’t idle either.
Clang, clang, clang—
“Screech?”
The moment the black chain bound the approaching harpy.
Thud—!
A black arrow pierced through its skull.
A harpy dove toward Heo Tae-sik, who was waiting for his cooldown to reset.
Crack—!
Um Jun-seok’s blade severed the creature’s wing joint, and he mercilessly drove his sword through the fallen bird’s heart.
“Thank you, Jun-seok.”
“Be careful, No Poe-in No-ge-i.”
“By the way, you’ve thought about my proposal, haven’t you?”
“Let’s finish these first, then we’ll talk.”
The harpy hunt concluded smoothly.
Being avian creatures, they were quite agile, but manageable.
They granted more experience than orcs while having weaker durability.
Still, the sudden appearance of flying monsters made the players catch their breath.
“Phew, flying monsters. That gave me a start.”
“Once we actually fought them, they weren’t much though?”
“But the experience gain is pathetically small.”
“When it’s split among 740 people, what do you expect?”
Yet the saying went that small drops eventually soak the cloth—hunting like this would eventually raise their levels.
Among the chatter, there was talk of Black Scythe’s performance.
“Did you see? Black Scythe fighting.”
“He was splitting them clean in half with that scythe.”
“That’s the first time I’ve felt sorry for the monsters.”
Despite the noisy commotion, Ryu Min knew the truth.
‘This ease will turn to sighs as time passes.’
A grueling journey awaited them—harsh enough that if wishes were granted, they’d ask to stretch their legs and rest.
‘They’ll realize it soon enough.’
Had they walked for about three minutes?
Lizardmen hiding in the forest rushed at them like a band of thieves.
After that battle, they were taking a brief rest when—
“Auuuuuu—!”
“What, what is it?”
“First lizards, now werewolves?”
The werewolves harassed the players relentlessly, denying them rest.
“Gasp, huff….”
After eliminating all of them, I’d barely taken a few more steps when a harpy descended upon us.
“Why are there so many of these damned monsters?”
The lizardmen attacked again.
“Does this make any sense? Are monsters really lying in wait throughout the Forest to ambush us?”
“Maybe they’re not waiting—maybe they’re respawning like in The Game.”
Hunting was fine.
But shouldn’t they be given time to rest?
Monsters appeared every ten minutes, but between fighting and traveling, there was no time left to breathe.
For five hours straight, we had to repeat the cycle of killing monsters and moving forward without a moment’s respite.
The players only realized this truth after the fifth wave ended.
“Huff, huff. Black Scythe, are you… are you alright?”
“As you can see.”
Unlike my exhausted followers, I remained refreshed as I leisurely distributed my stat points.
These weren’t points from leveling up.
They were stats granted through the Orb of Eternal Sleep.
‘One stat point for every hundred monsters killed. Is there any other item this broken?’
Since I gain two points per level, killing two hundred monsters is equivalent to leveling up.
Considering that leveling becomes slower as I progress, this is an incredible item.
The stats I accumulate through the orb far exceed what I gain from leveling.
The tail wagging the dog, truly.
For me, this situation was laughable.
‘With so many monsters appearing and my durability recovering… I’ll be too busy distributing stats.’
Currently, I was raising all four stats evenly with the Rune of Balance in mind.
‘Even without the Rune of Balance, distributing stats equally is best for overall balance.’
Through countless cycles, I’d experimented with various combinations to grow stronger, but the conclusion was always the same.
Nothing was as powerful as balanced stats.
Just as I finished allocating my stats, Yugrito urged us forward.
“We have far to go, warriors of the Other World. The monsters seem to be cleared, so we shall proceed.”
“Damn. They won’t give us a break.”
“We’ll probably encounter more monsters within a few steps anyway.”
The players dusted themselves off and rose, complaining as they took positions beside the carriage.
If the Elf Merchant Group fell, it would be the players who vanished.
Whether we liked it or not, we had to move.
It wasn’t only the Regular Group that began moving.
‘The Traitor Group is making their move.’
Fearing they might collapse from exhaustion first, the four traitors huddled together.
Reading their thoughts, I saw their plan: to strike the Elf Merchant Group amid the chaos of the monster attacks.
‘It won’t be easy. These aren’t ordinary elf merchants.’
The merchants driving the carriage are actually knights sworn to protect the princess.
Moreover, the carriage carrying the princess has two protective spells cast by spirits.
‘If anyone touches the carriage door handle, wind blade magic and anti-gravity magic will activate.’
If I manage to break through all of that and capture the princess?
‘Then The Game is over.’
Just threatening to kill the princess and brandishing a blade would make the elf knights fold immediately.
In other words, capturing the princess alone would shift victory decisively to the Traitor Group.
That way, I could complete the Traitor Quest without any additional bloodshed.
‘By threatening to kill the princess and dragging out time, I can prevent the caravan from reaching its Destination.’
From that perspective, targeting the princess was definitely the more efficient approach.
‘The traitors won’t know the princess is inside, though.’
Reading their thoughts, they were simply suspicious of the ornate carriage and targeting it.
They seemed to think it contained valuables.
‘Well, the princess is certainly valuable, so their guess was correct either way.’
All roads lead to Seoul, so the traitors had agreed to target the carriage carrying the princess.
‘Now that I think about it, the monster that appears this time is a werewolf, right?’
If I use a skill timed with the monster’s appearance?
I could create the exact situation I want.
Then I could achieve the desired outcome.
‘I’m not sure if they’ll succeed, but I should prepare anyway.’
Ryu Min quietly shifted position.
To a place where no one’s eyes could reach.
Then shouts erupted from all around.
“Monsters!”
“Werewolves!”
The werewolves appeared right on cue.
At that moment, Ryu Min activated a skill.
‘Night of Death.’
Darkness instantly swallowed the Forest.
The players panicked, but quickly composed themselves to face the monsters.
They already knew it was Black Scythe’s skill.
‘Black Scythe used a skill, but it doesn’t matter.’
‘I can still see what I need to see even in darkness.’
But there was something they overlooked.
The fact that werewolves become 30% stronger when night falls.
“Arooooooo!”
The werewolves’ eyes glowed red and their claws became even sharper.
“Huh?”
As they moved with more agile motions than before, the players grew flustered.
But for the Traitor Group, it was an opportunity.
‘Black Scythe must have used that skill so we could work in the darkness.’
‘Thanks, Black Scythe!’
The four of them saw their chance and rushed toward the carriage.
The ornate patterns etched into it clearly suggested it contained valuables.
‘If we loot that carriage and use it to threaten the elves, we can somehow stop them!’
With that thought in mind, they approached the carriage.
The darkness worked in their favor—the elf merchants hadn’t noticed their movements.
The elves only realized they were under attack when one of the traitors reached for the carriage door handle.
Whiiiing— crack!
“Huh?”
His hand was severed by a blade of wind.
“Aaaahhh!”
At the traitor’s scream, the elves’ ears perked up, and they all turned their heads in unison toward the carriage carrying the princess.
“What’s happening?”
“A warrior from the Other World dares attack the carriage!”
Then another traitor tried to open the door handle.
A reverse spell activated, sending the traitor’s body hurtling high into the sky.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa?”
At a certain point, the spell released.
“Nooooooo!”
The traitor plummeted straight down.
Boom!
It was a gruesome death, too horrific to even look at.
But there were still two traitors left.
Creak!
When the carriage door opened, an elf with wide, rabbit-like eyes stared out.
It was Princess Yupinelsia.
“We thought there were valuables inside….”
“But we found something even better, didn’t we? Hehehehe.”
The traitors grinned wickedly.
If they could just capture the princess, the game would be over.
“Your Highness is in danger!”
Hearing the commotion from the carriage, Yugrito, the elf knight commander, drew his sword in panic and rushed forward.
“Everyone, what are you doing! Protect the princess—!”
Yugrito’s words caught in his throat.
The two traitors who had attacked the carriage were already sprawled across the ground.
“What in the….”
The darkness had already lifted, and sunlight now streamed down on the carriage.
A man stood there, prodding the traitors with his foot to check if they were unconscious.
It was none other than Black Scythe.

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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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