The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 16

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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 16
16. Seo A-rin
[Actor Gong Ji-seok Suffers Cardiac Arrest. Fans in Tears Over Shocking News….]
[Korean Wave Star Cha Il-woo Never Awakens from Narcolepsy…. Asia’s Brightest Star Extinguished.]
[Shim Hwa-yeon, Gung Seo-jin, and Other Major Actors Dead in Succession….]
[Investigation Results: Only 58% of Entertainers Dragged into the Other World Survive.]
[Even Celebrities Cannot Escape. Surviving Entertainers Report Panic Disorder and Emotional Instability….]
My finger stopped as I scrolled through the articles.
A message had surfaced in my mind.
[Hong Sun-ah: A-rin. Did you hear? Senior Gung passed away?]
[Seo A-rin: Yeah….]
[Hong Sun-ah: Are you going to pay respects tomorrow?]
[Seo A-rin: I have to… She took such good care of me when we were acting together….]
[Hong Sun-ah: Then I’ll let my manager oppa know. Let’s go together tomorrow.]
[Seo A-rin: Yeah, got it.]
After finishing the message with my close colleague, I exhaled a long sigh.
‘What in the world is happening to this world….’
Twenty-two years old.
At such a promising age, my sighs have only been multiplying lately.
Because the world has begun spiraling into madness.
‘Fellow actors dropping dead one after another….’
And among them, Gung Seo-jin, my senior who was filming a drama with me, had just died.
I had promised to pay respects with a fellow actor, but that wasn’t all.
‘Senior Gong, Senior Shim….’
There were more than one or two people I needed to mourn.
Dramas were being halted left and right.
‘Major seniors who were doing better than me couldn’t survive the first round and died….’
Compared to my seniors, I was merely a newcomer just beginning to climb the ladder of success.
I had passed the first round, but my other seniors hadn’t.
The reason was simple.
Luck hadn’t been on their side.
‘If I hadn’t gotten a good rune, I might have ended up occupying a column in the news myself….’
At that moment, a self-deprecating laugh escaped my lips.
‘I’ve grown quite a bit. The fact that I’m thinking it’s natural my name would appear in the news—if it were the old me, I wouldn’t have gotten even a single line like those other unknown actors….’
Some might think I’m doing well because I live in a Penthouse, but that’s not it.
Without the Sponsor Corporation’s backing, could I have grown this much?
“What are you thinking about, Ms. A-rin?”
Just then, a man in a formal suit who had finished inspecting the home approached my side.
It was An Sang-chul, the security guard who had been doubling as my manager for the past six months.
“Oh, it’s nothing, sir.”
“Tell me. Didn’t you say you could speak freely with me?”
“Ah… I was just thinking about why the world has become this way, how I’ll survive the next round, things like that…”
“Don’t worry about the next round. With me here, what could you possibly be concerned about?”
“Haha… that’s true, isn’t it?”
The bodyguard flashed a confident smile and draped his formal jacket over the dining table.
Then he retrieved a bottle of wine from the wine cellar and poured himself a glass.
“Would you like a drink?”
“Oh, no thank you. I’m fine.”
Seo A-rin was displeased by how the bodyguard made himself at home, but there was nothing she could do about it.
‘In a way, this isn’t really my place either…’
The Penthouse was merely a residence provided by the Sponsor Corporation—it didn’t belong to Seo A-rin.
The bodyguard was likewise personnel assigned by the company, supposedly serving as both manager and security.
‘Strictly speaking, they probably assigned him to watch me rather than protect me…’
She was perceptive enough to understand that he’d been sent under the guise of surveillance.
“Miss Seo A-rin, your problem is that you worry far too much. Now, trust me a little and put your mind at ease. Haven’t I been working as your manager for over half a year now?”
“Of course. Who else would I trust if not you?”
Seo A-rin hadn’t ventured into the Other World alone.
The 29-year-old bodyguard had accompanied her and completed the Quest as well.
The first round’s mission to eliminate one hundred goblins was no easy task, but they’d managed it somehow.
Thanks largely to the bodyguard, they’d been able to dispatch the goblins relatively easily.
Though the effects of the rune obtained from random rune fragments had certainly helped considerably.
‘I can trust the bodyguard.’
When the company first assigned a manager-cum-bodyguard, Seo A-rin had been more cautious than anyone.
Beyond her suspicions about him being a surveillance agent, she simply disliked the idea of a strange man coming and going from her Penthouse.
But after observing the bodyguard dedicate himself solely to his duties for six months, she’d managed to ease her concerns somewhat.
And through this first round, she’d come to know something for certain.
The bodyguard’s genuine desire to protect her amidst the goblins.
Because of this, Seo A-rin trusted the bodyguard more than anyone.
“I don’t know what the second round Quest will be, but please don’t worry too much. If we cooperate together, we can clear it no matter what, can’t we? I promise I’ll protect you through anything, Miss A-rin, so don’t give up.”
“Yes. Thank you so much.”
Seo A-rin smiled reassuringly, then recalled what had happened moments before.
“By the way, I saw someone distributing rice cakes earlier. It looks like someone moved in downstairs.”
“It seems so.”
“Those rice cakes looked delicious…”
“Eating things like that will make you gain weight.”
“Still, wouldn’t it have been better to accept them even if you didn’t eat them, rather than reject them so coldly? The neighbors came to introduce themselves, and you probably hurt their feelings.”
“Enough. Courtesy? That’s all just an excuse to mooch off bean powder and such. You have to be firm about it—if you accept out of politeness, they’ll keep pestering you endlessly without rhyme or reason.”
“Hmm…”
Seo A-rin recalled the male neighbors she’d encountered in the entrance hall.
‘They didn’t seem like bad people at all…’
Both of them appeared to have kind faces.
One of them didn’t even seem to know who I was—showing no surprise upon seeing me.
Despite becoming a rising young actress of considerable popularity among younger demographics thanks to Sponsor Corporation.
“One of the neighbors I saw earlier appeared to be over fifteen years old. I assume they also survived after hunting a hundred goblins?”
“Well, I suppose so.”
“It’s remarkable. To think someone who endured such a harsh ordeal carries themselves so calmly in everyday life….”
“Seo A-rin managed it too, so how difficult could hunting a mere hundred goblins be? Only an idiot would fail at that.”
“Haha….”
The bodyguard’s skills in the Other World were as exceptional as his confident demeanor suggested.
He’d hunted a hundred goblins far more quickly than I had.
According to reports, he’d been ranked 153rd in that region.
‘But he’s not on that person’s level.’
I remembered it vividly.
The player with the nickname Black Scythe, methodically slaughtering goblins.
‘The goblins looked almost pitiful in front of that person.’
The bodyguard fought well enough, but compared to Black Scythe, he was nothing but a child.
Even to my untrained eye, Black Scythe’s prowess was overwhelmingly superior.
Didn’t the ranking results speak for themselves—first place?
‘That person must have an occupation in reality too… I wonder what they do? Could they work in special forces or something?’
Surviving the second round would be far more likely if I could cooperate with someone of that caliber.
If I knew their real identity, they’d be my first choice to recruit, no matter the cost.
“Well, since we’ve settled that, I’ll be taking my leave now.”
“Yes. Thank you for your hard work, bodyguard.”
“Given the circumstances, it seems my schedule will be clear except for condolence visits for some time. Please rest well until then. Don’t worry about the next round.”
“Understood.”
The bodyguard set down his wine glass and left the penthouse.
I remained alone in the sprawling 110-pyeong Penthouse.
Feeling the chill, I wrapped my arms around myself.
‘I was fortunate to survive this time, but whether I can survive the next round….’
Anxiety gripped me, and my hands tightened around my arms.

* * *
Time flowed onward to Monday, January 24th.
Ryu Min stopped by Nonghyup Bank to collect his fourth first-prize lottery winnings.
“…You’ve come again? Our fortunate customer?”
The bank manager’s expression registered surprise, but nothing more.
With four consecutive wins, he simply nodded as though it had become routine.
“This time it’s the 100-game jackpot as well, correct?”
“Yes.”
“What on earth is your secret?”
“I mentioned it last week. A dream revealed the numbers to me.”
“….”
What kind of dream could possibly reveal four consecutive lottery jackpot numbers?
“You’re truly remarkable. I wish I could have that dream too… ah.”
The bank manager, having inadvertently spoken his true thoughts aloud, rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
“This way, please. I’ll guide you personally. Though after four visits, you surely know where to go….”
After escorting me to the entrance of the Lottery Business Division, the manager bowed and disappeared.
“Ah, our fortunate customer has arrived?”
The staff member who once looked at me as though seeing a ghost no longer showed any alarm.
“This prize will be somewhat less than last time. The total jackpot has decreased by 15% compared to average.”
The uncertain atmosphere ahead of the second round seemed to be affecting public sentiment as well.
Yet my VIP account had now accumulated over 12 billion won.
‘So I’ve earned a total of 56.5 billion through four rounds?’
I’d swept up nearly 60 billion won through lottery alone.
Leaving the bank, I returned home with a satisfied expression.
Not to a shabby Multi-unit Residential Building, but to a 100-pyeong Han River View Apartment.
“Brother, you’re back?”
Ryu Won, who had been cleaning, greeted me upon my arrival.
“Did you collect the winnings?”
“Yeah. About 12 billion this time? Not much, really.”
“You really know how to joke….”
Ryu Won’s expression twisted in disbelief.
“Are you putting it all into the Bitcoin account again?”
“Of course.”
I was investing every won I earned from the lottery into cryptocurrency.
As a result, my current funds had swelled to 150 billion won.
Knowing this, Ryu Won didn’t try to stop me.
Yet precisely because I was succeeding so spectacularly, he harbored a lingering sense of unease.
“Brother, shouldn’t you start pulling out soon? I’m afraid it might all come crashing down.”
“Not yet.”
‘The upward momentum will continue until two weeks after the second round ends.’
My plan was to sell at the peak, allowing for up to a four-fold return at maximum.
“Won, stop worrying needlessly and let’s grab lunch.”
The brothers ate lunch and dinner out before spending the rest of the time at home.
Time passed, and it became January 31st, ten minutes before midnight.
‘Soon the second round will begin.’
I waited to fall asleep in my bedroom—a place safer than anywhere else.
“Hyung, you have to come back alive.”
“Who am I? I’m the one who overwhelmed Bang Tae-gyu.”
“That’s true, but….”
“Don’t worry and just sleep. When you open your eyes, I’ll already be awake from my sleep too.”
I reassured my younger brother with a faint smile.
It was time.
“I’m going.”
February 1st. The moment midnight struck.
Whoosh—
My body collapsed onto the bed.

* * *
Flash—
When I opened my eyes, I was already in a different place.
In the middle of an open field with a forest visible nearby.
An environment different from the Grassland of the first round.
This was the starting point of the second round that I remembered.
“D-did we arrive?”
“In an instant, really.”
Looking around, I could see the survivors from the first round who had suddenly appeared.
Each bearing their nickname above their head.
“Huh? That person is….”
“The rank 1 player from the last round?”
A few recognized me and began to whisper among themselves.
The player known as Black Scythe in the first round had left quite an impression.
‘As the rounds progress, my nickname will only gain more value.’
It wouldn’t take long to become what they call a named player.
Regardless, I gripped the stiletto in my hand and waited.
Unlike others, I was holding a weapon, so no one dared approach me easily.
Exactly as I intended.
Maintaining distance from the others, I observed my surroundings.
‘I see several familiar faces.’
It couldn’t be otherwise.
The people gathering now were the survivors from that area—the Bell-ringing Ceremony Site.
Of course, Hwang Yong-min and his friends appeared as well.
With his bulky character model, he was certainly easy to spot.
Only after approximately five thousand people had gathered in the Forest did it happen.
[Is everyone here?]
A peculiar voice resonated through my mind as Angel descended from the sky.
But it wasn’t the same Angel I’d seen in Round 1.
“Huh? This is a different Angel, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, seriously.”
Well, it made sense—Briel, who had guided Round 1, had been killed by me.
Perhaps hearing the murmurs of unease rippling through the crowd, Angel spoke.
[The Angel who oversaw Round 1 had an accident and couldn’t make it. But don’t be alarmed, humans. I’ll guide you all well from here on out. Kehehehe.]
The newly assigned Angel, despite her beauty, possessed that same eerie laugh.
[Well then, since everyone’s assembled, shall we reveal the Round 2 Quest?]
As Angel fluttered her wings, everyone’s gaze fixed upon the empty air before us.

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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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