The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 171

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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 171
171. Outside Home
“Big brother! Over here!”
My younger brother, who had been waiting in the alley, waved his hand with a delighted expression as he spotted me.
“You’ve arrived? Ryu Min?”
Yamtti sent a wink without my younger brother noticing, but I turned away with a silent click of my tongue.
“Are you alright? Won? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I took a hit to the cheek, but I’m fine.”
“That looks like more than just a little. Come here.”
As I placed my hand on his reddened cheek, warm light flowed from my palm.
“Huh? It doesn’t hurt anymore. What did you do?”
“Just a simple healing skill.”
“Wow, so I don’t need to go to the hospital? That’s really effective.”
“Let’s head home now.”
“Big brother.”
I turned my head at my younger brother’s call just as I was about to move.
“What?”
“Why aren’t you scolding me? You could be saying things like, ‘I told you so,’ or ‘This wouldn’t have happened if you’d stayed home,’ or ‘Now do you understand how dangerous being a Player is?’ You have every right to lecture me. So why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Because you already know.”
“What?”
“You felt it yourself, didn’t you? Why the outside world is dangerous. How terrifying Players can be.”
Ryu Won nodded quietly.
He had felt it clearly this time.
The world was still too dangerous to wander about in.
“Since you already understand that, there’s no point in me saying more. All I’d be doing is nagging.”
“….”
“I’m satisfied just knowing you’re safe. If anything had happened to you….”
I turned my head away as if I didn’t even want to think about it.
The rest I swallowed silently in my heart.
“Let’s go. Home.”
“Okay.”
Ryu Won followed while glancing at Yamtti.
I gave a slight nod, signaling her to go on ahead.
“Big brother, why isn’t Yamtti coming with us?”
“Her home is in the opposite direction. She’ll manage on her own.”
“I see. Go ahead, young mas—I mean, Ryu Won. Please go first.”
Yamtti waved her hand, but Ryu Won’s eyes kept lingering on her.
“Big brother. Could we invite Yamtti to our home?”
“Why?”
“Well, you know how it is, but she saved my life. She helped me, so it doesn’t feel right to just part ways like this. It seems only proper to repay her kindness somehow….”
It was Yamtti who directly saved Ryu Won.
I could understand the desire to treat one’s lifesaver with gratitude.
“But there’s nothing special to offer if we invite her to the house.”
“I can cook. I’ve had plenty of time lately, so I’ve been practicing recipes by watching YouTube. I’ve already bought all the ingredients at home.”
“You’re going to cook dinner yourself?”
“Yes. Yamtti, what do you think? Would you like to have dinner at our place? I’m not great at it, but I can manage reasonably well.”
“Really?”
It was touching, but Yamtti’s eyes darted toward Ryu Min to gauge his reaction.
She desperately wanted to go, but she needed her master’s permission.
Ryu Min, who let out a quiet sigh, spoke flatly.
“Sure. Yamtti, since my brother wants this, why don’t you come have dinner at our place?”
The moment permission was granted, Yamtti’s face lit up.
“Great!”
* * *
Beep beep beep— beeeep—
Seo A-rin, returning home, sighed and collapsed onto the sofa.
Her mind was turbulent.
A face she had tried so hard to forget had surfaced.
‘Hwang Yong-min. I never expected to see that bastard there….’
The last time she saw him was during the fourth round of death.
She hadn’t seen him since, nor had she thought of him.
Because she wanted to forget.
Because she was afraid to remember.
Yet she never imagined she would encounter him by chance in reality.
‘His face was identical to the Other World, only his physique was more muscular.’
A brief connection, if one could call it that—a bitter one.
It seemed he had recognized her as well.
‘Well, my appearance is the same in the Other World and reality, so….’
She had recently filmed a public service advertisement for the CPF Unit and was a public figure besides; there was no way he wouldn’t recognize her.
‘What business did he have with the Saesin Religion? Didn’t he suffer terribly at Black Scythe’s hands back then?’
Suffer terribly was putting it mildly.
Both his arms had been severed, and Hwang Yong-min had endured relentless torment ever since.
Of course, Seo A-rin had no way of knowing the specifics of that torment.
‘That bastard couldn’t have come to the Saesin Religion with good intentions. He must have come seeking revenge against Black Scythe.’
He must have been lurking about looking for Black Scythe, got into a fight with some man who held a grudge, and fled when he noticed the attention of those around him.
The circumstances left no other conclusion.
‘I can’t let him cause harm to Black Scythe. I have to eliminate him.’
It was surprising that he had survived until the tenth round, but what mattered was that he could become an obstacle going forward.
‘I have to kill him.’
Though Black Scythe had let him live, considering the future interference, it was better to end him.
I was certain.
‘The person I was then and the person I am now are completely different.’
After being betrayed by fellow actors I had trusted, after hearing Black Scythe’s advice never to trust people, Seo A-rin was reborn.
I would no longer simply endure.
I would strike first before being struck.
Lying on the sofa with these thoughts, staring at the ceiling, a face suddenly appeared above me.
It was An Sang-chul.
“Ah, you startled me!”
“Did I scare you?”
“Of course you did! How could I not be scared?”
Annoyed, Seo A-rin sat up.
It had been so quiet that I thought no one was here, but he’d apparently let himself in.
“Didn’t you know I was here? You could’ve seen my shoes.”
“I didn’t have time to check such things.”
“Why? Did something happen?”
At An Sang-chul’s question, Seo A-rin hesitated before answering.
‘Can I trust my bodyguard?’
Ever since receiving Black Scythe’s advice, wariness had taken root in me.
‘Ma Gyeong-rok could abandon me at any moment. And An Sang-chul is merely his extension, so there’s nothing more to say.’
Ma Gyeong-rok and An Sang-chul were a package deal.
Both equally untrustworthy.
“Why are you hesitating? What’s the matter?”
….
I didn’t want to share the information, but Seo A-rin ultimately decided to speak.
After all, wasn’t this someone who had survived death alongside me?
“Do you remember Hwang Yong-min?”
“Hwang Yong-min? You mean the one who chased us in the Forest during Round 2?”
“Yes. I ran into him by chance today.”
“That bastard is still alive?”
An Sang-chul hadn’t known either, too focused on missions to notice or care.
“He was alive.”
“Quite a persistent one. I thought he’d be eliminated before Round 10.”
“His personality is just as rotten as it was back then. Apparently he beat a disabled person half to death.”
….
An Sang-chul’s expression showed surprise, but what truly startled him was the look in Seo A-rin’s eyes.
‘What is this? Murderous intent?’
Despite her pretty face, her gaze carried a chilling coldness.
“He needs to die.”
….
“If we leave him alone, he’ll only become a hindrance. Hwang Yong-min must be eliminated.”
At her cold words, An Sang-chul could only blink in surprise.
‘Is this really the Seo A-rin I knew?’
Back in Round 2, she had questioned whether killing was truly necessary.
The same Seo A-rin who had forgotten she’d nearly been assaulted, worrying over her attacker’s fate like a saint.
‘But she’s changed this much?’
Though she’d endured countless trials, this was the first time she’d shown such a dramatic shift.
‘Did something happen to trigger this?’
Only Black Scythe and Seo A-rin knew about the actors’ betrayal.
An Sang-chul’s confusion was understandable.
“You’re right. Killing him cleanly like you said would be neat and efficient.”
“Exactly?”
“But it was Black Scythe who spared Hwang Yong-min back then. The Seer also made it clear that Hwang Yong-min shouldn’t be pursued any further.”
“The Seer…?”
Seo A-rin asked, puzzled.
“What was the reason?”
“He told the director that touching Hwang Yong-min would bring great calamity.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes. He said he couldn’t reveal the details.”
“….”
This was news to Seo A-rin as well.
‘Why would the Seer protect Hwang Yong-min?’
It was strange, but there was nothing to be done about it.
‘If the Seer said so, there must be a reason. I’ll have to let it go.’
Seo A-rin decided to abandon her revenge.
“I suppose there’s no choice. I can only hope he doesn’t become a problem going forward.”
“Don’t worry. He’s managed to survive by luck so far, but someone like that won’t last long.”
“I’m more concerned that my revenge might bring harm to Black Scythe.”
‘Look at that.’
An Sang-chul’s eyes narrowed.
He’d already sensed her affection for Black Scythe to some degree, but he didn’t expect her to worry so openly.
A strange jealousy stirred within him, but An Sang-chul smiled coolly and spoke.
“You know what? The most pointless worry in the world is worrying about Black Scythe.”
“Guard. Just because you say that, doesn’t mean I can control my own concerns, does it? Black Scythe is human too. He could be in danger at any moment.”
“….”
She came at him with such earnestness over a joke.
An Sang-chul found himself at a loss for words.
Then Seo A-rin gazed into empty space and tilted her head.
It seemed she was reading a message.
“What’s wrong, Seo A-rin?”
“I searched for Hwang Yong-min using the tracking function just to be safe, but something seems odd.”
“What exactly do you mean is strange?”
“The system says the person doesn’t exist.”
“Pardon?”
Tracking is a skill that works in reality as long as you know someone’s face and name.
If the conditions are met, there’s no reason the tracking shouldn’t work.
“The person you saw was definitely Hwang Yong-min, right?”
“Of course.”
“You didn’t mistake them?”
“How could I? Do I look like I have such a terrible memory? It was definitely Hwang Yong-min, that person.”
“Then what if the name isn’t actually Hwang Yong-min?”
“If it were an alias, the system should say the face and name don’t match. But it’s saying the person doesn’t exist at all….”
“Hmm. That is strange.”
An Sang-chul had to admit it was definitely odd.
“Wait a moment. Let me try searching for someone else.”
Seo A-rin, on a hunch, searched for Hong Sun-ah.
And then she realized it.
[This person does not exist.]
“Ah.”
The system wasn’t lying.
“What’s wrong, A-rin?”
“I tried tracking a dead person’s name just in case, and it says they don’t exist.”
“Really? That means Hwang Yong-min is already dead, doesn’t it?”
“Wh…? Y-yes, I suppose so.”
“Then who exactly did you see? Did you see a ghost?”
“….”
A chill ran through Seo A-rin, leaving her speechless.
‘What on earth did I just see?’
The thought of a ghost sent goosebumps crawling across her forearms.
“L-let me try searching for someone else. It c-could be a system malfunction.”
A system malfunction.
It was absurd, but without this explanation, she’d truly have seen a ghost.
‘Who should I search for? Ah, I should try The Seer.’
Seo A-rin called out a name, picturing Ryu Min’s face in her mind.
[Face and name match. Tracking the target’s location.]
[Target ‘Ryu Min’ location acquired.]
[Currently 125 meters away.]
[Follow the arrow ahead to track the target.]
“I pictured The Seer and the tracking worked. They must be quite close.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Judging by the decreasing distance, they seem to be heading home.”
“Then shall we ask The Seer right now? Whether Hwang Yong-min is truly dead?”
“Do you think The Seer would know that?”
“Since he’s the one who told us not to touch Hwang Yong-min in the first place, he might very well know whether he’s alive or dead.”
“Fine.”
The two of them left the Home and descended the Staircase to the lower floor.
If they waited in front of Ryu Min’s Home, he would surely arrive.
Ding—
As the elevator doors slid open, the two of them encountered Ryu Min exactly as anticipated.
“Hello, Ryu Min.”
“Hm? Actress Seo? Director An?”
I could also see his Younger Brother, Ryu Won.
But between the two of them stood a woman I hadn’t seen before.
Seo A-rin’s eyes narrowed as she gazed at Yamtti.
‘Her face seems familiar somehow… where have I seen her?’
As Seo A-rin pondered this, the memory surfaced.
“You… you’re….”
That woman—the real-world acquaintance of 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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