The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 174

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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 174
174. Round 11 Begins
One day before Round 11 commenced, I met with Min Ju-ri.
“What is it you wanted to give me?”
“This.”
As I produced a rather large ring box, Min Ju-ri’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.
“W-what is this? What?”
“Open it.”
With her heart racing, Min Ju-ri opened the case and gasped involuntarily.
A magnificent five-carat diamond gleamed brilliantly within.
Thump-thump-thump-thump—
—What should I even say? I’m not mentally prepared for this yet!
Her daydreaming was written all over her face, so I quickly drew a line.
“Don’t misunderstand. I received this as a gift from an acquaintance, but I don’t need it, so I’m giving it to you.”
“You don’t need this?”
“What would a man do with jewelry? You can sell it or use it however you like.”
“How much is it worth?”
“The appraiser said 300 million won.”
“3-300 million?!”
“It could be worth more.”
“….”
Min Ju-ri had lost the ability to close her mouth.
“W-why are you giving this to me?”
“I told you. I don’t need it.”
“You could just sell it.”
“Too bothersome. Even if I sold it, it’s pocket change to me.”
“…Do you know what you just said was tactless?”
“It’s the truth though.”
Ma Gyeong-rok’s Company, which had a market capitalization of 900 billion won, had doubled in eight months.
Naturally, my investment had doubled as well.
I now possessed assets approaching 600 billion won.
In such circumstances, what was 300 million won but a pittance?
“To me, it’s literally chewing gum money. But for you, it’s different. It makes more sense for someone who needs it to have it.”
“B-but….”
“Use it to help your father and be a filial daughter for once. Business at the Convenience Store hasn’t been great lately, has it?”
“That’s true, but this isn’t necessary. I don’t want to be indebted.”
“Don’t think of it as a debt. Friends help each other. If you’re uncomfortable, just think of it as a gift.”
“Where in the world does someone give a 300 million won gift?”
“They do. All wealthy people do.”
“….”
I don’t back down or yield an inch.
Rather, Min Ju-ri found herself wondering how to refuse politely.
“Just say thank you. Don’t feel burdened by it.”
“I really don’t need help like this….”
Though those were her words, Min Ju-ri was honestly tempted.
She worked at the Convenience Store with her father, but sales dwindled with each passing day.
Her father had even confessed that he’d spent through the ten million won Ryu Min had given her on living expenses and now needed to take out a loan.
Just recently, she’d been contemplating whether to sell her equipped gear to scrape together emergency funds.
Given how desperate the situation truly was, she couldn’t help but be drawn to the jewel.
“Really… can I really take this?”
“I’m telling you, yes.”
“Thank you…. But I’m not taking it. I’m borrowing it. I’ll definitely pay you back with interest.”
“Fine. Do it that way.”
Min Ju-ri clutched the diamond to her chest.
Recalling her gratitude toward Ryu Min.
“Really, really thank you. But let’s be clear about this.”
“What?”
“I’m originally a filial daughter, you know?”
* * *
November 1st, 00:00:00.
The time to enter the Other World was always precise.
Every first of the month, I’d fall into narcolepsy and collapse into bed.
Though my consciousness wandered through the Grassland of the Other World.
[Hello! 690 humans? This time, everyone has returned without a single death?]
Not a single death?
That made sense.
‘Most of them are Player Cafe members, after all.’
489 of the 690 were members remaining at Player Cafe.
Player Cafe members were virtuous individuals selected after rigorous character tests, so they never fought among themselves.
‘The remaining 201 don’t seem to have fought either.’
Likely thanks to the efforts of the CPF Unit led by Black Scythe, not a single fool committed crimes throughout October.
Seo A-rin’s CPF public service announcements seemed to help as well.
‘If you’re not an idiot, you’d understand. With so few people left, fighting to the death only loses you ground.’
The more murders committed, the fewer achiever slots remain.
It only narrows the hole through which you can pass.
[Then before explaining Round 11, we should proceed with zone integration first, given the reduced numbers, yes?]
As Angel fluttered her wings, the ground rumbled—thud, thud, thud—and the Grassland recombined.
This being the fourth zone integration already, people’s faces showed no bewilderment.
Though they did panic once the integration was completely finished.
[Are you confused because there are more people than before? That makes sense. We’ve integrated all zones across the entire world.]
“A-all the Zones?”
It was no wonder that the Grassland was teeming with an endless sea of people.
I had assumed we would proceed in units of five thousand like before, but the scale had expanded considerably.
[The Zone is designated CA-EA001. As I mentioned, we’ve integrated all 190 Zones from around the world, and the exact number of participants is 132,126. That’s 195 countries in total, though countries with larger populations have their Zones divided into multiple sections. Conversely, countries with smaller populations are combined with others.]
“That makes sense—places like India and China with massive populations would naturally have multiple Zones, unlike our country which operates as a single Zone.”
The Players listening to the explanation nodded in understanding.
Because every nation had gathered here, the Grassland was overflowing with such an enormous crowd.
The number of Angels was equally staggering.
There appeared to be roughly 190 Angels hovering in the sky providing explanations alone.
Each of them continued their explanations directed toward the people from the Zones they had overseen.
[We plan to continue operating as a single Integrated Zone going forward, so please keep that in mind. Now, shall we reveal the Quest for Round 11?]
◀ ROUND 11 ▶
【Main Quest】
└Accumulate Points for 24 Hours in the Fantasy World
【Sub Quest】
└???? Multiple
[Integrated Zone CA-EA001]
└Participating Zones : 190
└Zones Cleared : 0/95
“Huh? What’s this?”
“Participating Zones? Zones Cleared?”
“Shouldn’t it be Participants and Achievers?”
As the Players murmured at the unfamiliar Quest window, an Angel provided clarification.
[In the last round, you fulfilled the number of Sub Quests in the Fantasy World, correct? This mission operates on a similar principle. The difference is that this is a team competition where the team that accumulates the most points wins.]
“A team competition…?”
[Precisely. Unlike the last round, which was conducted based on individual performance, this time you will proceed as teams organized by Zone.]
“Organized by Zone…?”
“But the Zones were just integrated.”
[Of course, we’re referring to the Zones as they existed before integration. Each Zone differs slightly, but you can think of it as roughly 700-person parties. That said, it’s not a true party where you share experience points—it’s a team where you only share victory and defeat. You might call it a community of shared fate.]
“Ah….”
The Players nodded as understanding dawned on them.
[The Quest is straightforward. Travel throughout the Fantasy World, complete Sub Quests, and accumulate Points. The Points you accumulate individually are added to your team’s total, and the team with the most Points emerges victorious.]
“Ah….”
“It really is a team competition….”
“So we earn Points individually, but we share victory together.”
“Then even if someone doesn’t accumulate many Points, there’s a chance they could survive, right?”
[Correct. Even if someone accumulates no Points and simply idles away, as long as their team ranks in the top positions, they advance as well. Teams ranking from 1st to 95th place advance.]
“Ah, so that’s why it says Participating Zones and Zones Cleared instead of Participants and Achievers.”
The Korean Players exchanged glances with one another.
They were no longer competitors who needed to eliminate each other—they had become teammates sharing the same vessel.
[Just because you’ve formed a team doesn’t mean you all receive rewards equally. Rank-based rewards given during results tabulation are determined by individual performance.]
“So there’s a separate individual performance metric.”
“But if you don’t place in the top three, you don’t get any reward anyway, right?”
“That’s true.”
[Since the zones have been integrated, the rewards for this round have been somewhat enhanced. Everyone will need to work hard if they want to place in the rankings.]
Despite Angel’s words, the players’ expressions remained unmoved.
They hadn’t even dared to hope for rank-based rewards that only three people could receive.
Simply earning as many points as possible and surviving was enough.
[Since the zones have been integrated, we need to reduce the number of zone representatives to just one. We’ll select the player with the highest individual performance score—the top point earner—as the Integrated Zone representative.]
“Top individual performance?”
“Then we might as well give up on being zone representative.”
No one spoke it aloud, but they all thought the same thing.
That Black Scythe would likely claim first place again this round.
[You’ll need to work hard for survival, but there’s another reason to earn points. If you survive this round, a Special Shop will open where you can use the points you’ve accumulated.]
“A Special Shop?”
[There, you can use the points you’ve earned to obtain and purchase special buffs and items. Points essentially serve as the currency of the Special Shop.]
The moment the players heard they could use points as currency, motivation flickered across their faces.
“No matter what, earning as many points as possible is the priority.”
“Alright then, everyone give it your all. We need to go crazy completing Quests and stacking up points!”
The Korean players steeled their resolve and looked toward the foreign players.
There were far more foreign players visible than before.
Since most players didn’t customize their appearance by changing race, it was easy to distinguish players from other nations.
‘This round is essentially an international competition where we’re all competing for points.’
Everyone seemed motivated by this, but there was one fact Angel hadn’t yet revealed.
Another method of acquiring points.
[There are various ways to earn points. During the 24-hour time limit, you can complete Sub Quests scattered throughout different areas just like last round, and you’ll receive points based on difficulty. You also earn points along with experience when you defeat monsters in the Field.]
“Simple enough.”
“We just need to grind Sub Quests like last time.”
The people who had been speaking confidently with casual smiles fell silent the moment they heard Angel’s next words, as if their confidence had been a lie.
[Oh, and you also earn points if you kill other players.]
“….”
[I won’t tell you how many points you get. Try killing someone yourself and find out. You might be surprised at how much you earn, hmm? Hehehehe.]
Angel laughed brightly, but no one could bring themselves to laugh along.
-Kill a person and earn points?
-Then, what if we kill someone from our own team…?
-No, that would be a loss. We’d be losing a worker who could earn us points.
-If you’re going to kill anyone, kill foreigners.
As the players’ thoughts became apparent, I let out a sigh and shook my head slowly.
‘Angel’s intention worked perfectly. They’ll start seeing each other as enemies and fight.’
The rule that killing people grants points wasn’t there for nothing.
It’s a rule designed to make humans wary of each other and kill one another.
‘So they divide us by nation, and then in Round 12 they give us a Quest that requires cooperation between different countries.’
Whoever designed this has truly twisted taste.
Ryu Min, clicking his tongue inwardly, observed the players.
As if nothing had happened, they broke the silence and began shouting encouragement once more.
“Since things have come to this, let’s all do our Sub Quests and stay strong!”
“If we stick together, there’s nothing to fear!”
“That’s right. Our country has Black Scythe, who’s ranked first!”
“Accumulating points isn’t difficult! Let’s all survive together!”
Their enthusiasm was rousing, but only for a moment.
[Well then, the explanation is complete. I’ll send you all to the Fantasy World immediately. Oh, and the starting location will be random.]
“R-random?”
[If everyone started in the same place, it wouldn’t be fun.]
The moment they realized they would inevitably be scattered, silence fell over the group.

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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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