The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 168
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
The Maxed-Out Player’s 100th Return – Episode 168
168. Seeing You Again?
Pretending to head to the Restroom, Ryu Min immediately shifted into the form of Hwang Yong-min.
His clothing was concealed beneath low-tier equipment.
No one would ever imagine this was Ryu Min.
‘That bastard Ju Sung-tak—the moment he sees me, he’s going to lose it and throw away his crutches to come charging, isn’t he?’
Once his preparations were complete, Ryu Min loitered outside the gate.
Then his eyes met Ju Sung-tak’s.
“You, you son of a bitch!”
Ju Sung-tak, his face twisted with rage, came sprinting like he meant to kill.
It played out as expected, though he didn’t discard his crutches.
“You goddamned bastard finally showed yourself! I’ll grind you to dust!”
As he charged, Ju Sung-tak equipped his gear and hurled his crutch.
But Ryu Min had already foreseen everything with the rune of Future Sight.
‘After I dodge the crutch, he’ll thrust his dagger while simultaneously casting Curse of Terror.’
His plan was to pierce my throat while I’m paralyzed by fear.
‘Not a bad strategy, but I have no intention of playing along.’
Rather than dodging the incoming crutch, Ryu Min batted it away effortlessly.
Crack!
Ju Sung-tak’s vision was disrupted, and in that opening, Ryu Min closed the distance and drove his fist into his face.
Thud!
“Gack!”
Several teeth shattered as he crumpled, and Ryu Min lightly kicked his ribs.
Crunch!
“Ahhhhh!”
Once he’d collapsed, Ryu Min grabbed his hair and slammed his head against the ground.
Once, twice, three times.
Seeing his forehead split open and blood pour down, watching him completely lose consciousness, the urge to keep beating him faded.
“Hey. Ju Sung-tak.”
“Uuugh…”
“Get your head straight, you bastard. Or do you want me to crack your skull open some more?”
-Uuugh, you goddamned bastard.
‘His thoughts are coming through, so he’s conscious.’
Ryu Min, barely suppressing a smile, pressed down on his head to block his line of sight and prevent him from casting Curse of Terror.
“You piece of shit—I went out of my way to cripple your limbs to teach you a lesson, and you come charging at me like you want to die? You really haven’t learned a damn thing, have you?”
“….”
“That’s right—you don’t have the strength, so why do you keep attacking? Did you really think next time you’d somehow win? Huh? You couldn’t cast a single skill before you collapsed. You’re pathetic.”
“….”
“Does recklessly charging at me somehow conjure up power you don’t have? Know your place, you cripple. Or did you miss my touch so much you came looking for more? Fine then, I’ll oblige. What should I cut off this time? How about your eyes? Want me to gouge them out?”
Even without reading his thoughts, I could see him trembling with rage.
‘It must be humiliating. The bastard’s pride is all he has.’
A little more pressure, and I could drive him away exactly as intended.
“Hey. Say something. What should I do with you? Just start the procedure however I feel like?”
“….”
“Not even talking, how boring. Just get lost, you worthless beggar.”
At my command, Ju Sung-tak rose silently from his seat and gripped his crutches.
Tap— tap— tap—
“Tsk tsk, look at how quickly he moves when told to leave. Guess he really does want to keep living?”
I mocked him openly as I watched his back, but Ju Sung-tak didn’t turn around.
He simply walked forward like a defeated soldier, silent and resolute.
“You bastard, if I see your face in front of me one more time, I’ll really kill you. Understand?”
Ju Sung-tak pretended not to hear and disappeared from sight beyond the gate.
‘If I’ve humiliated him this much in front of everyone, he won’t show his face around here for a while out of sheer embarrassment.’
I let out a cold laugh and suddenly turned my head.
The piercing gazes of the Saesin Religion members were fixed upon me.
“Ahem, I apologize for the sudden commotion in this sacred organization. As you can see, that bastard came at me with a blade first.”
“Ah, do you know him?”
At Um Jun-seok’s question, I nodded casually.
“I know him, but don’t worry about it. He’s just a lunatic.”
Then my eyes met Seo A-rin’s.
Seeing the sudden fury in her gaze, I realized my mistake.
‘Right, I’m wearing Hwang Yong-min’s face right now.’
Hwang Yong-min had ambushed Seo A-rin early on, so they weren’t on good terms.
‘I can’t stay here long.’
Since I had no intention of remaining in this form anyway, I turned around with a grumble.
“Everyone, please go about your business. Sorry for the trouble.”
“Weren’t you here to join our organization?”
“That’s true, but I’ll join next time.”
Leaving only those words with Um Jun-seok, I moved away from the others’ sight.
Then I immediately transformed back to my true form.
After removing my equipment, I activated invisibility and sneaked in, tapping Min Ju-ri’s shoulder from behind.
“Oh! You startled me! When did you get here?”
“Just a moment ago.”
“Where were you?”
“Over there watching the fight.”
“You saw it too? Those two fighting.”
“It wasn’t really a fight—it was one-sided.”
“That’s true. One person was beating the other mercilessly. Beating someone with broken limbs like that… I seriously debated whether I should help or not.”
‘To people who don’t know the situation, it must have looked like I was beating an innocent disabled person to death.’
But there would be those who understood.
As you can see, he went berserk first, slashing wildly with his blade.
I caught a glimpse of Seo A-rin in my peripheral vision.
My mind felt cluttered because of Hwang Yong-min, whom I’d seen earlier.
‘She’s deliberating whether to chase after Hwang Yong-min and take revenge.’
Summoners truly shine in the mid-to-late game when their summons multiply.
At her current level, Seo A-rin wouldn’t lose to anyone.
Avenging herself against Hwang Yong-min would be almost laughable.
Though that’s only if Hwang Yong-min were still alive.
‘Regardless, that bastard Ju Sung-tak. Something about him screams trouble.’
I’d succeeded in getting him out of the cult building, but that didn’t mean the bomb had been defused.
He controlled his anger well in front of the strong, but in front of the weak, he’d almost certainly lose it.
‘Given Ju Sung-tak’s nature, that’s putting it mildly.’
As I was thinking it would be dangerous to leave him as is, Heo Tae-sik ushered the people inside.
“Come now, the show’s over. Please come inside. We’ll finish our discussion and wrap things up.”
I followed him in while glancing back over my shoulder.
I couldn’t help but feel uneasy about that time bomb of a man.
* * *
Tap, tap, tap.
Ju Sung-tak limped home in a pitiful state.
Beep, beep, beep. Click.
Living on the top floor of the four-story Multi-family Residential Building, Ju Sung-tak tossed aside the crutch he’d been leaning on.
“Damn it, damn it all!”
As I huffed angry breaths, a sharp pain suddenly shot through my ribs.
I’d used emergency treatment on the way here, but it seemed the bones were too damaged to properly set.
My head throbbed and my jaw ached—traces of what that bastard had done to me tormented Ju Sung-tak everywhere.
“Damn it.”
I pulled a beer can from the refrigerator and collapsed into a chair.
Crack, pop!
I drained the entire can right there and carelessly tossed it aside.
“Ugh, you son of a bitch… I’ll repay every bit of humiliation I suffered today.”
Of course, I had no intention of backing down.
I couldn’t rest until I repaid what I’d been dealt—that was my nature.
Ever since I stabbed my parents to death, I’d resolved to be reborn.
To cast off boredom and live a life no longer bound by constraints.
‘But I shouldn’t have charged in so recklessly.’
I’d been uncharacteristically rash.
Even fighting strategically, I’d barely have a chance to win, yet I’d stabbed with my dagger thoughtlessly.
‘I should have set a trap like last time, creating corpses to lure him in.’
I’d gotten excited the moment I saw him.
Four months of suffering came flooding back.
I had to pour all my living expenses into maintaining these fake prosthetic limbs like some kind of robot, forced to live a beggar’s existence.
At least the Pul-Pul Market existed, so I could easily raise funds by selling items I’d acquired in the Other World.
‘But the fact that I’m disabled—that hasn’t changed.’
To become disabled in an instant, unable to even control my own body properly—
My mind was constantly ablaze with rage.
I survived each day with only one thought: finding that nameless bastard and killing him.
And by sheer luck, I got to meet him today.
Ju Sung-tak, who fantasized about tearing limbs apart without a single day’s respite, had no room for reason.
That’s why his eyes had rolled back and he’d charged forward without thinking.
“Damn it, the more I think about it, the more pissed I get.”
Boom—!
When I punched the wall, it caved inward.
Despite having no limbs, I was still a Player who had transcended humanity.
I had confidence in victory.
The odds were definitely in my favor.
‘If only I could have used my skills, it would’ve been over…!’
Originally, I’d planned to approach him, cast Curse of Fear, and stab him with a dagger.
But he’d beaten me to it, smashing my face faster than expected.
After that, I didn’t even have time to use my skills—I just got beaten.
‘This incident made one thing crystal clear: getting close to him is dangerous.’
From what I could tell, he was a Warrior class with decent strength, while I was more of a Mage.
Isn’t it basic knowledge that a Mage shouldn’t give a Warrior distance?
‘My mistake was thinking I could just cast fear and stab like I do with monsters.’
Last time I’d cast Curse of Fear, he’d resisted it.
Now that I think about it, using Corpse Explosion would have better odds than relying on fear.
‘Next time, I won’t lose. I’ll prepare thoroughly and kill him.’
I didn’t know his name or his nickname, only his face, but I had a way to find him.
Since I knew he was interested in the Saesin Religion, I could go back and ask the cult leader for his information.
‘Once I learn his real-world name, I can use [Tracking] to find him.’
What if the cult leader refuses to share information for privacy reasons?
‘Then I’ll torture it out of that bastard.’
I was chuckling to myself with such thoughts when—
Ding-dong, ding-dong—
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
Ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-dong—!
“Ugh, what the hell? Who keeps mashing the damn button?”
Ju Sung-tak limped to the Entrance and opened the door.
A muscular man in his forties covered in tattoos stood there with a sullen expression.
“What?”
“Look at this guy. The moment I see him, he says ‘What?’ Is this for real?”
“What’s the matter with you?”
“Ha, look at this young punk with his short words.”
Kim Jong-seon, a gangster in his forties, wanted to throw a punch out of sheer irritation, but he held back.
‘These days, the young ones act like they own the place.’
Players strutted around as if the entire world belonged to them.
The disabled-looking bastard in front of him was likely a Player too.
‘Damn cripple.’
A sneer formed at the corner of his mouth, but provoking him would only hurt himself.
It was common knowledge that ordinary people couldn’t stand against Players.
So he decided to swallow his anger.
“What’s the matter?”
“Well, I live downstairs, and I heard what sounded like banging on the walls earlier. Could you keep it down? I was taking a nap and the noise woke me up.”
“What? A nap?”
Ju Sung-tak stared at him with an incredulous expression, but Kim Jong-seon had said his piece and turned away.
“Anyway, be more careful.”
Ju Sung-tak couldn’t close the entrance door until he heard the sound of the downstairs door shutting.
He was too stunned to move.
“Ha, damn it, that fat bastard definitely smirked at me just now, didn’t he?”
Now I wasn’t even a Player anymore—I was being disrespected by some ordinary civilian.
Slam—
After closing the door, Ju Sung-tak returned to the living room and let out another exasperated sigh.
“What? His nap was interrupted? Am I supposed to consider his naptime? Damn it.”
Furious, Ju Sung-tak went back to the entrance and grabbed his crutches.
“Fine, since he’s already awake, I’ll make sure he stays awake.”
Then he struck the floor repeatedly.
Boom boom boom boom boom! Boom boom boom boom boom!
“How’s that? You bastard. Is that enough to wake you up? Huh?”
Boom boom boom boom boom! Boom boom boom boom boom!
Ju Sung-tak, deliberately creating noise between floors, irritably hurled his crutches away.
That was when it happened.
Ding dong ding dong!
“Is that damn bastard coming back up again?”
The doorbell rang again, and my anger reached a boiling point.
“You think I’m easy prey because I’m disabled? Fine, this time I’ll rip out your guts completely.”
Equipped and armed, Ju Sung-tak gripped a short blade and limped toward the door, opening it.
But the person who had rung the doorbell wasn’t the downstairs neighbor.
“Hey, we meet again?”
That bastard who had humiliated me unforgettably at the cult was standing there, grinning and waving.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————