The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 180

—————
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 180
180. VS Ma Gyeong-rok
[Memory Erasure Potion]
-Classification: Consumable
-Grade: Legendary
-Effect: Read the target’s memories and delete desired portions
-Usage Restriction: Master Grade or higher
-Description: You can read the target’s memories and erase any portion you wish. If you desire it, you can even reduce them to a blank slate.
The reason for Ryu Min’s shock was straightforward.
The Memory Erasure Potion was an item that dropped at an extremely low probability.
‘Even when I captured the Doppelgänger using Ju Sung-tak before, it only dropped once.’
Yet by fortunate chance, it had appeared again this time.
Ryu Min’s lips curved upward with satisfaction as he secured the potion.
‘There will come a time when I need this.’
Last time it appeared, I had used it to erase Min Ju-ri’s memories when she learned the truth about Black Scythe and suffered the shock.
‘This time, who knows.’
For now, I would have to see where its use would be needed.
“Master. Since we’ve achieved our objective, shall we exit the Labyrinth?”
“No. There’s still something I need to do.”
“Something? What exactly….”
“It’s not your task. It’s mine.”
Ryu Min, evading the specifics of what exactly needed to be done, tilted his head as if signaling to follow.
“Let’s go. You just watch from a distance.”
“Yes.”
* * *
Ma Gyeong-rok, walking through the Labyrinth, asked An Sang-chul a question.
“Still no trace of Black Scythe?”
“No…. Even searching for other individuals yields nothing, and the surrounding detection doesn’t work either. It seems this forest is blocking external signals.”
“I suppose that’s the only conclusion we can draw.”
Ma Gyeong-rok, having said so, suddenly wore a bitter smile.
“I apologize, Director An. It’s because I suggested we search for Black Scythe that we’ve ended up in this predicament.”
“No, no. Rather, I’m the one who should apologize. I was the one who suggested we receive Democracy’s buff….”
“We should have tracked Democracy instead. Had we done so, we wouldn’t have found ourselves in this situation.”
“No, sir. Your judgment was not wrong. We simply had bad luck.”
‘Bad luck, he says….’
Ma Gyeong-rok questioned whether entering this labyrinthine forest should be attributed purely to misfortune.
‘Didn’t the Seer know? That I would face such calamity while pursuing Black Scythe?’
The truth remained unknown, but even if he had known, I couldn’t hold him accountable.
Everything the Seer had provided thus far was beyond monetary valuation—could I really complain about hidden future information?
Unless I wanted to sever our relationship going forward, it was something I shouldn’t do.
‘For now, The Seer holds all the cards. Everyone who hears the prophecy, myself included, is completely at their mercy.’
There was no way to uncover the truth anyway.
The Seer could simply claim they hadn’t foreseen anything, and that would be the end of it.
One thing was certain: I had brought about this outcome through my own choices.
“Sigh, I wonder what happened to Christine.”
“Are you worried?”
“Of course. She’s my fiancée.”
It was certainly a business-minded sentiment, but the worry was genuine nonetheless.
“Let’s just push forward and escape this cursed Forest. We’ll find a way out somehow.”
“We’ve only been seeing the same path over and over….”
“That doesn’t mean we should just stand still, does it? We heard something like an explosion a moment ago.”
The sound of an explosion in a Forest that had been silent meant someone was out there.
For them, adrift in an endless sea without a beacon, even that small sign became a source of immense comfort.
“We have time, so let’s not give up and keep moving.”
“But Director, what if we get out and there’s barely any time left?”
“Surely it won’t take that long? As long as we don’t lose hope, we’ll definitely find the way out.”
It was an optimistic sentiment, but in reality, it was vague and baseless.
Ma Gyeong-rok couldn’t guarantee how many hours it would take to escape the Forest.
“It’s possible we might not get out even after the full 24 hours. Still, let’s see it through to the end. It’s not like we have anything else to do anyway, right?”
“Understood.”
“And once we’re out, if we have any time to spare, find foreign players. Kill them on sight, regardless of nationality.”
Kill people indiscriminately.
It was a Nazi-like order, but it couldn’t be helped.
Killing foreign players earned assassination points while stripping them of their accumulated points.
Eliminate the opposing nation’s score while gaining points yourself?
There was no reason not to kill them.
“I suspect other nations are thinking exactly the same way. Somewhere out there, a war of mutual slaughter might already be unfolding for the sake of points.”
An Sang-chul, finding the logic sound, nodded in agreement.
Killing people was something he’d grown sick of doing in the fourth round, and even before becoming a player, he’d assisted with Ma Gyeong-rok’s hobbies.
Staining his hands with another person’s blood posed no obstacle for either of them.
It was then, as they walked forward along the single path, having pledged themselves to slaughter.
“Huh?”
Both men stopped as if by mutual agreement.
A single figure stood blocking the path ahead.
‘A person?’
‘There’s actually a person here?’
Their expressions brightened at the rare discovery of another human being.
A person—nothing could have been more welcome.
A smile bloomed like finding a beacon in an aimless sea.
“Hello there, what a pleasure. To meet another person in a place like this….”
An Sang-chul approached with a smile.
But as he drew close enough to make out facial features, that smile vanished as if it had never existed.
An Sang-chul’s expression hardened, and he grabbed Ma Gyeong-rok’s shoulder as they walked.
“Director. Just a moment.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
Looking at him, An Sang-chul’s face was infinitely grave.
Anger flickered in his eyes.
“That bastard. It’s him.”
“Who? Do you know him?”
“Yes. It’s Hwang Yong-min.”
At those three syllables, Ma Gyeong-rok’s expression hardened as well.
Though he’d never seen the man himself, he’d heard the name so often from An Sang-chul that it was unmistakable.
“The thug who attacked you and Seo A-rin during the second round?”
“Yes.”
“Are you certain? Didn’t you say he was dead?”
“According to Seo A-rin, he was. The Seer even confirmed his death.”
“Then you’re saying he’s truly undead, as you mentioned before? That thing?”
“It appears so.”
I’d already heard that Seo A-rin had encountered Hwang Yong-min.
I’d also heard there was a class capable of resurrecting corpses.
‘I dismissed it at the time, but to meet him in a place like this…’
Ma Gyeong-rok looked at the figure again, as if unable to believe it.
For an undead, he looked remarkably pristine, and his appearance was unmistakably human.
“Director. Could Seo A-rin have lied? To me, he looks genuinely human…”
“I’m not sure. But one thing is certain…”
Ma Gyeong-rok raised his sword, wreathed in dark aura.
“He didn’t appear to have a conversation with us in mind.”
Hwang Yong-min stood motionless, his gaze far from friendly.
He glared like someone filled with malice, then raised his fists.
“You’ll fight bare-handed? It seems I’m quite underestimated.”
Ma Gyeong-rok chuckled softly and steeled his resolve.
He would kill this creature and claim the points.
Undead or zombie—what mattered was that he’d appeared as an enemy.
‘In times like these, I must seize the initiative.’
The thought was brief, but the action was swift.
“Devour him.”
The dark aura coiling around the blade transformed into a massive hand and shot forward.
Should that black hand seize him, he would be drained of life itself, his vitality feeding dark power to Ma Gyeong-rok.
But Hwang Yong-min was faster than anticipated.
Whoosh—!
Like a well-trained boxer, I evaded the aura while simultaneously closing the distance.
However, Ma Gyeong-rok was equally approaching him.
‘I anticipated he would dodge.’
As I raised my sword overhead, the dark aura receded and wrapped around the blade.
‘Ruin Slash.’
The Dark Knight’s level 40 skill descended directly toward Hwang Yong-min.
The timing and angle were flawless.
It was absolutely inescapable.
His skull would have been cleaved in two.
“…!?”
That’s what I thought.
Until he barely managed to evade the skill.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM CRASH—!
A deafening explosion far louder than what we’d heard in the Forest echoed out.
The spot where Hwang Yong-min had been standing was gouged as deeply as if a meteor had fallen.
‘Damn it. I poured a third of my dark magic into that.’
Ruin Slash is a skill that allows me to control the amount of dark magic expended.
I’d poured a third of it to kill him in one blow, but unfortunately he’d managed to dodge.
‘Lucky bastard.’
I had no time to curse.
Hwang Yong-min’s fist, having evaded the attack, was already closing in.
‘Dark Armor.’
WHOOSH—
Dark aura instantly enveloped and protected my entire body.
Though weak against magical damage, it boasted supreme defensive power against physical damage, or so I’d understood….
That’s what I believed.
Until his fist made contact.
CRACK!
“Gaaahhh!”
“Director!”
With the sound of something breaking, Ma Gyeong-rok was sent flying pathetically.
I quickly regained my footing and stood, but an intense pain pierced through my ribs.
‘Tch, Dark Armor remained intact even when hit by the Minotaur….’
Dark Armor is a miraculous defensive skill that absorbs up to 70% of incoming damage with dark magic.
Judging by how much dark magic was torn away in chunks, it seems I exceeded the maximum threshold.
‘Is this really just a simple undead? How powerful is he exactly?’
The damage I experienced firsthand was shocking for an undead.
His appearance also just looked like an ordinary human.
“You bastard!”
Enraged by Ma Gyeong-rok’s injury, An Sang-chul rushed forward instead and swung his sword.
Yet despite his momentum, Hwang Yong-min didn’t even graze a single hair on his opponent.
Crack!
“Ugh!”
Instead, it was An Sang-chul who took the blow to his face and staggered backward.
“Gah, C-Commander. Please step behind me! I’ll protect you.”
Even as his helmet crumpled and his nose caved inward, An Sang-chul raised his shield.
Whoooosh—
The shield-exclusive skill, Knight’s Protection, activated, forming a wide barrier centered on the shield.
“My movements will slow, but this skill can block 80% of physical damage. As long as you stay behind me, you’ll be safe….”
That was when it happened.
Hwang Yong-min, who had closed the distance in an instant, threw his fist forward.
Boom!
“Hack!”
The barrier that had never once faltered in all the times he’d used it shook from a single punch.
Crack! Boom!
“Cough, gack!”
With the second and third consecutive attacks, An Sang-chul coughed up blood.
The damage that pierced through the barrier transferred directly to An Sang-chul.
Ma Gyeong-rok, unable to simply watch his right arm suffer, seized the brief opening and counterattacked.
‘Ruin Slash.’
Boom boom boom boom boom boom crash!
He poured half of his remaining dark magic into it.
Since he’d launched it while Hwang Yong-min was striking the shield, there was no way to evade.
He could confidently call it his trump card.
However.
‘…This monster.’
Hwang Yong-min dodged even that.
It was nothing short of miraculous reflexes.
Though he regretted missing, Ma Gyeong-rok had anticipated this and prepared his next move.
“Devour him.”
The dark aura spread like a slime stalking its prey, once again targeting Hwang Yong-min.
The timing was perfect—Hwang Yong-min couldn’t escape the darkness’s net.
‘Got him! He’s caught!’
He was unmistakably ensnared.
Now came the moment to drain his life force alive.
‘Huh?’
Yet something unbelievable occurred.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————