The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 170

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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 170
170. Bang Tae-wan
“You… how did this happen?”
Bang Tae-wan was horrified at the sight of his younger brother lying in the hospital room.
His face was covered in severe bruises from being struck, and his arms and fingers were broken, making surgery unavoidable.
“What bastard… who did this to you?”
“N-no, it wasn’t… I-I accidentally fell down the stairs…”
“Don’t give me that! Anyone can see these are marks from being beaten!”
“…”
“Tell me who it was! I’ll kill that son of a bitch right now!”
At his brother’s shout, Bang Tae-gyu recalled Ryu Min’s warning.
If he tried to seek revenge or report it to the police, Ryu Min would hunt him down to the ends of the Earth and break his other arm as well.
“I-I can’t say. If… if that person finds out, I’m really dead.”
Watching his younger brother tremble in fear, Bang Tae-wan couldn’t bring himself to press further.
“Sigh… let’s talk about this once you’ve calmed down.”
He already knew his younger brother was part of a delinquent gang.
For a middle schooler, he had an impressive build, and there was supposedly no one among the local high schoolers who could beat him.
‘My younger brother got beaten like this?’
What grave sin could he have committed to deserve being reduced to this state?
Watching his younger brother shudder with fear like PTSD, Bang Tae-wan made a vow.
‘I’ll repay that bastard in kind.’
Though his younger brother kept his mouth shut, finding out who it was wouldn’t be difficult.
“He’s the older brother of someone named Ryu Won?”
“Yes. I heard his name is Ryu Min.”
“Why did you fight?”
“Well…”
By questioning the delinquent friends who hung around with his younger brother, Bang Tae-wan learned the full story.
They had been using Ryu Won as a lackey in their class, the older brother found out and came seeking revenge—a common tale of retaliation.
‘Damn it, even so, isn’t this too much? You beat a kid like a dog just because he ran some errands?’
Ryu Min’s actions were meant to prevent a greater tragedy, but Bang Tae-wan had no way of knowing that.
What mattered was that his own younger brother had come home beaten senseless.
‘I’ll kill him.’
Revenge.
Driven by that singular obsession, he tracked down where the Ryu Min and Ryu Won brothers lived.
But they had already moved, so he eventually spent a considerable sum hiring a Detective Agency to help.
However, the answer that came back was devastating.
“There’s no record of them using social media, and we simply cannot find any trace of them. There are no photographs or mail records remaining—we have no way forward. In our ten years in this business, this is the first time we’ve encountered someone who leaves absolutely no trace.”
“W-what do you mean, how am I supposed to find them? If you can’t find them, refund my money!”
“Don’t worry, sir. We haven’t come up completely empty. We did manage to identify a frequently used ID belonging to this Ryu Won. Search that ID on search engines every day—if he creates a social media account or a game account, we’ll be able to find him.”
* * *
“So you’re saying you searched for that ID, found your master’s game account, and tracked him down here?”
“That’s correct.”
Yamtti clicked her tongue after hearing the full story from Bang Tae-wan.
“Wow, persistent. Really persistent. Pretending to be a game friend for months just for revenge.”
Ryu Won, listening from beside me, couldn’t hide his shock either.
‘No wonder he kept asking detailed questions about our house address and my brother during games….’
But what was even more bewildering was the existence of this woman who called him “master.”
“Um, what’s your name?”
“Oh, I haven’t introduced myself yet. Please call me Yamtti, master.”
“Yam… tti?”
“It’s my nickname. As you can see, I’m a Player. Doesn’t it look like it at first glance?”
“Ah, yes….”
“How old do I look?”
“Pardon?”
“Don’t I look like I’m in my early twenties?”
“Y-yes, you do.”
“As expected, master, you have a good eye. I’ve taken good care of myself. Though I haven’t had any cosmetic surgery.”
“Um, but where have we met before? Why do you keep calling me master….”
“Huh? Didn’t I mention it? I’m an acquaintance of Ryu Min.”
“My brother’s…?”
Ryu Won’s eyes widened at the mention of his brother’s name.
‘Did my brother have an acquaintance like this?’
It seemed my brother had built his own network of Player connections in the Other World, just as I had made gaming friends.
Nine months was longer than I’d realized.
‘Besides, I don’t know all of my brother’s connections anyway.’
Yamtti explained how she came to be here with a kind smile.
“Your brother said he was worried about you meeting friends, so he told me to follow and check on you. That’s how much I’m the most trustworthy person to Ryu Min. Hehe.”
“Ah, I see.”
Now that I knew she was my brother’s acquaintance, I felt reassured.
‘Did my brother foresee a situation like this?’
In any case, I survived thanks to my brother’s foresight as a prophet.
“Thank you, Yam… tti. I’m alive because of you.”
“Oh, I didn’t do much. It was all because Ryu Min told me to go check beforehand that I could stop it.”
“I need to thank my brother too.”
Ryu Won, who had been grinning, looked at Bang Tae-wan standing motionless.
“But how did you manage that? He’s not the type to be so obedient….”
“It’s my ability. I can charm someone in an instant and make them like my subordinate.”
“Ah, so that’s why….”
Now that Ryu Won had grasped the situation, he tilted his head and asked.
“But are you really my brother’s acquaintance? You’re not dating, are you?”
“Huh? Does it look that way?”
“It’s not that—it’s just that you keep calling me Young Master even though I’m not married to your boss, so….”
“Hmm, who knows if you’ll get married or not. Future Young Master.”
“Pardon?”
“Just joking, joking. Anyway, Young Master?”
Yamtti pushed the mind-controlled Bang Tae-wan forward.
“What do you want to do with this trash? Should I give you a knife? You should vent your frustrations.”
“Eh? That’s, that’s a bit….”
“Don’t worry about the aftermath. We can clean it up easily by erasing traces, and no one will care if one piece of trash like this dies. He tried to kill you first—are you really going to leave him alone? At the very least, you should beat him like a punching bag.”
“Um… I’m, I’m scared of hitting people….”
Ryu Won had never hit anyone in his entire life.
He had never harbored anger toward anyone, never lost his temper.
When he hit, he simply cowered and endured.
Of course he was terrified.
‘Even though they’re brothers, his personality is completely different from the boss’s?’
Though I didn’t understand his reluctance to punish, I decided to respect it.
He was the future Young Master, after all.
“I’ll respect your wishes, Young Master. But I can’t let this bastard go. I need to inform Ryu Min and get his opinion on the situation.”
“Ah, yes, yes. Do that.”
“Trash. Stay quiet while I make this call.”
“Yes, Master.”
Ryu Won, who had been watching Bang Tae-wan become an obedient puppet with fascination, glanced sideways at Yamtti, who was looking at her phone.
‘Enchanting people and making them subordinates… So that’s why Players are said to be dangerous.’
As I thought about what a terrifying ability it truly was, Yamtti suddenly lifted her head.
“Young Master?”
“Yes?”
“How old do you actually look?”
* * *
“Huff, huff.”
Having moved without pause, rough breathing poured out.
I had no idea how many minutes had passed.
Ju Sung-tak’s mind held only one obsession: I had to touch that bastard.
But.
Whoosh— Whoosh—
‘That son of a bitch won’t get caught even once…!’
No matter how much I flailed my hands, threw kicks, feinted, and pulled out every trick I could think of, he dodged like a ghost.
I had long since discarded the heavy dagger.
Just one touch with my bare hands—that’s all I needed for Ju Sung-tak’s victory.
Then the system would make him my slave.
‘Once I make him my slave, I’ll make him apologize for his wrongs, then kill him in the most agonizing way possible.’
But things didn’t unfold as I’d planned.
“Why are you moving so slowly? You need to be faster.”
“You bastard…!”
“Oh my, your mouth still works? If you have the stamina to curse, you should save it and think twice before touching me. Tsk tsk.”
“Damn it!”
Ryu Min deliberately provoked Ju Sung-tak, draining his stamina even faster.
No matter how insurmountable the stat gap was, Ryu Min remained in danger whenever Ju Sung-tak used the Curse of Fear.
‘If I get hit even once, I can’t move for 3.4 seconds.’
The penalty for not wearing equipment meant my current resistance was extremely low.
With only base resistance of 15% and the 20% resistance gained from the tower, the multiplicative calculation gave me only 32% defense.
‘In other words, there’s a 68% chance of being hit by the Curse of Fear, and the duration would be 3.4 seconds.’
In a duel where a single moment of carelessness meant defeat, being unable to move for 3.4 seconds?
If I got hit, it would be fatal.
That’s why I was countering by creating distance whenever he timed his curse.
‘It’s time to finish this.’
Tap tap tap tap tap—
Dodging Ju Sung-tak’s strikes, I accumulated my touch count.
Head, back, shoulder, arm.
I touched his body with contemptuous precision while evading his attacks.
“Damn it, why won’t it land! Why!”
He thrashed about desperately, but my count kept rising until I reached 99 touches.
“Just one more touch and I win.”
“Damn it all!”
Right as Ju Sung-tak grew desperate.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang—!
The sound of someone pounding on the entrance door came from outside, followed by a voice.
It was the gangster from downstairs.
“Hey, you disabled bastard! Get out here! I can’t take a nap because of you, you asshole!”
Unable to tolerate the continuous noise from above, he’d come up.
“Come out! You’re not coming out? What the hell are you doing, stomping around like that! You legless cripple! Get out here! I’ll kill you whether you’re a Player or not!”
The gangster bellowed at the top of his lungs, but Ju Sung-tak’s face broke into a smile.
His presence was the hope that could flip this unfavorable situation.
Whoosh—!
Ju Sung-tak dashed toward the entrance and tried to open the door.
I’d already read his plan and rushed after him, but the moment he looked back.
[You have fallen into the abnormal state ‘Fear’.]
I’d been hit by Ju Sung-tak’s Curse of Fear at the worst possible moment.
Of course, I’d anticipated even this and maintained sufficient distance to avoid being touched, but.
Click—
It was more than enough time for Ju Sung-tak to open the entrance door.
“About time you opened that door, you bastard. I told you to keep quiet… Gack!”
A short sword, wielded with arrow-like speed, pierced through Kim Jong-seon’s throat and withdrew.
Thud—
Ju Sung-tak, having secured the corpse in an instant, stepped over it and moved into the corridor.
Ryu Min and Ju Sung-tak now faced each other across the body.
“Kekeke, come on, you punk. The moment you get close, I’ll blow this corpse to pieces.”
“This is getting tedious. But do you know something?”
Crackle, crackle—
Electricity coursed through Ryu Min’s body.
“Even if you blow up the corpse, I can just dodge it.”
“What the—? You said skills were blocked by penalty!”
“This is a rune.”
Ryu Min, his movement speed amplified by the lightning rune, closed the distance in an instant.
Ju Sung-tak, startled, tried to chant the activation word too late.
“Corpse explo—”
Crack—!
There was no time to cast the skill.
Ju Sung-tak’s face was crushed by the tremendous force, and he was slammed into the wall, dying instantly.
[The duel has ended. Black Scythe is victorious.]
[Since the opponent has been defeated, they will become a slave and serve Black Scythe as their master for life, obeying all commands.]
Ryu Min, ignoring the message that appeared, stared at Ju Sung-tak.
The face of the one I thought was dead had already been restored.
Since it was a duel where lives weren’t wagered, he had been revived.
Though his consciousness hadn’t returned yet.
“I won, at least. Though there was a casualty.”
I had prevented the corpse explosion, but couldn’t prevent the gangster’s death.
Setting aside my regret, I erased the traces and disposed of the body.
Just then, a call came through from Yamtti.
“What’s going on? What? My younger brother?”
After hearing that something had happened to my younger brother and that it had been stopped, I asked for the full details.
“Really? You didn’t kill him and just left him?”
-Yes. What should we do, Master?
At Yamtti’s question about what to do with Bang Tae-wan, I answered simply.
“Send me the address. Bring him here.”
After hanging up, I immediately woke Ju Sung-tak.
“Hey, Ju Sung-tak.”
“Huh?”
The moment he saw me, though he looked ready to charge, he quickly bowed his head like a docile lamb.
“M-Master, I greet you. Please give me your command.”
“Good. This is your first order.”
Ryu Min spoke with a cruel smile.
“In a moment, a man named Bang Tae-wan will arrive here. Kill him.”

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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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