The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 193

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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 193
193. Death’s Grip
“You did very well.”
First Warrior patted the traitor’s head as if he were a obedient dog, then asked him a question.
“What was your name again?”
“I, it’s Kang Si-hyuk….”
“Good. Since you did as I told you, I’ll let you live.”
“I, thank you! Thank you….”
“But you’re staying here until Black Scythe arrives.”
“What?”
“We have no way to verify whether you’re lying or not. At the very least, you need to be here until Black Scythe shows up.”
Forced into betraying his squad leader under their threats, and now he had to face him directly.
Kang Si-hyuk’s face had turned ashen as he stammered on in English.
“Y, you said you’d let me go if I did what you told me to.”
“And that’s exactly what I’m doing right now.”
“Y, you must have heard from beside me. It was definitely Black Scythe.”
“I don’t speak Korean. How would I know what you said or who you were talking to?”
“This isn’t what we agreed on… Aaaagh!”
First Warrior’s fingers pressed down hard on his knee.
He couldn’t move an inch, as if caught in some massive hydraulic press.
The grip strength was absolutely devastating.
“You yellow monkey bastard—do as you’re told, so why is your tongue so long? Should I make sure you never walk again?”
“Ggh, gghgh….”
“If you don’t want to die like a dog to us, then sell out your boss to survive. That’s survival instinct and the true spirit of a monkey, isn’t it?”
“Y, yes, I understand, I understand, so please let go of… Hack!”
Instead of releasing his knee, First Warrior’s massive hand came down and struck the back of Kang Si-hyuk’s head.
“Idiot. Tsk.”
He slung a greatsword as large as his own body across his shoulder and turned to his fellow Apostles.
“Did you make the call?”
“We called both teams, so they should be heading this way.”
“They need to arrive before Black Scythe gets here….”
At Swingman’s concern—India’s number one ranker—First Warrior let out a snort.
“Why worry about that? When Black Scythe shows up, we’ll just smash that bastard’s head in first.”
“They say England is the land of gentlemen, yet your word choice is quite vulgar.”
“Who says England is the land of gentlemen?”
“Are you confident? A level 90 won’t be easy to handle.”
“I’m a Sword Master. One swing of my blade and there’s no one who can survive it. They say I killed the Minotaur in one hit.”
“Then why haven’t you made it into the top 3 of All Districts rankings yet?”
“Well, that’s because I’ve been too careless with my conquests so far. Just wait and see from now on. Who’s going to take the number one ranking spot.”
At First Warrior’s confident words, Swingman simply shook his head in disapproval.
“Instead, when Black Scythe arrives, stall him with conversation until the rest of the Apostles get here. We have hostages anyway, so that should work better, right?”
“What are you saying? Share the pie that rolled in with the others?”
“Can we even eat that pie? It’s not poisoned, is it?”
“I’m telling you, the four of us are more than enough to kill Black Scythe. Besides, like you said, we have hostages.”
“I said it won’t work.”
“I said it will work.”
As Kang Si-hyuk watched the two bicker, he suddenly flinched when First Warrior glanced at him.
“Should I ask this bastard? Hey, yellow monkey. If I fought Black Scythe one-on-one, who do you think would win?”
“Excuse me?”
“Why are you asking me to repeat myself? Don’t you understand English? I’m asking who’d win if we fought one-on-one. You’re a squad member—you should know your commander’s strength.”
Of course I knew.
Everyone in the squad knew from the first day, when we all dueled.
Just how monstrous our commander was.
But right now, in Kang Si-hyuk’s eyes, the giant standing before him was the true monster.
That’s why I couldn’t speak honestly.
“Tell me honestly. Honestly.”
“Well, Black Scythe….”
“….”
“…is weaker than I thought. Someone like you could probably beat him.”
“See? See? I told you he was unexpectedly weak. That’s what I thought too.”
“Why are you even asking this guy? Can’t you see he’s terrified of you?”
“No, no. He spoke honestly, didn’t he? Right?”
“Y-yes….”
First Warrior’s hand landed heavily on Kang Si-hyuk’s shoulder.
“Black Scythe will be here soon. We’ll prepare for an ambush, so you keep his attention in the meantime.”
“Huh? M-me?”
“What? You don’t want to?”
The grip on his shoulder began to tighten gradually.
Kang Si-hyuk quickly shook his head.
“N-no. I-I’ll do it.”
“Good, that’s what I like to hear. You understand what happens if you try to call for Black Scythe’s help or show any sign of running, right?”
First Warrior brandished his massive greatsword menacingly.
“You’ll die right alongside Black Scythe. Run? Do you really think that’s possible against the four of us? You don’t know this, but we’re top-tier players who easily rank first in our own countries.”
“I-I see….”
“So behave yourself. If you do your job well, we’ll let you live.”
“Y-you really… you really will let me live, right?”
“Of course. Letting one insignificant fly like you go is nothing to us. I promise—if things go smoothly, you’ll live.”
“I-I understand.”
“Good, good. Then I’m looking forward to it.”
First Warrior patted his shoulder twice before disappearing with his companions.
They scattered to take their positions and waited for Black Scythe to appear.
After waiting five minutes like this.
Strange footsteps echoed into the quiet alley.
Black Scythe had arrived.
“S-Squad Leader….”
“Kang Si-hyuk?”
Black Scythe, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, appeared wearing his usual white mask.
Because of it, Kang Si-hyuk couldn’t know that I was smiling bitterly beneath the mask.
“So, why did you want to meet here?”
“I, I have something to discuss with you….”
“What is it?”
“W-Well….”
Anyone could see he was nervous, cold sweat dripping down his face—suspicious enough to warrant doubt.
Yet I listened to his words quietly.
Was that very composure what made him suspicious?
“This bastard caught on.”
First Warrior, who had been lying in wait, revealed himself first.
“Hey, you’re Black Scythe, right? I’m pretty sure that’s you since you’re holding a scythe.”
As he stepped forward with his greatsword, rattling it carelessly, the other Apostles had no choice but to sigh and reveal themselves.
First Warrior stopped ten paces away and sneered.
“You speak English?”
“….”
“Well, doesn’t matter if you don’t. Even if we can’t talk, you should get the feeling, right? That you’re screwed right now.”
“….”
“If you want to go without pain, drop the weapon. Drop the weapon. Otherwise, I’ll kill you as painfully as possible. I swear on my XX that I’ll torture you until you scream like a little girl before I finish you off.”
He provoked openly, but Black Scythe gave no response.
‘Look at this bastard? By now he should’ve understood? Does he really not speak English?’
A frustrated sigh escaped First Warrior’s lips.
His plan to excite the opponent and cloud their judgment had failed.
“Guys. We can’t do this with words.”
Even as four men approached with their weapons drawn, Ryu Min calmly looked at Kang Si-hyuk and asked.
“Who are those guys? Your friends?”
“W-Well….”
Kang Si-hyuk found himself facing the greatest dilemma of his life.
Whether to immediately cling to Black Scythe and beg for his life, or hide behind those monsters who had threatened him.
‘Will the Squad Leader forgive me? No, wait. That cold-blooded bastard would never spare me. Maybe it’s better to side with them…. But what if they can’t handle the Squad Leader?’
He weighed which side he should join to save his own life, but couldn’t find an answer easily.
“Will you explain what this situation is?”
“W-Well, you see, Squad Leader….”
“Did you lure me into a trap?”
Kang Si-hyuk’s head hung low.
“I’m… I’m so sorry. I’m ashamed, but I had no choice to survive. I’m truly sorry, Squad Leader… *sob*.”
Kang Si-hyuk shed tears of remorse, but Ryu Min’s voice remained unchanged.
“Sorry? I’m the one who should be sorry.”
“*sob*… What?”
Ryu Min’s scythe flashed like lightning.
Kang Si-hyuk’s head tilted and fell to the ground.
Along with it, one of the 12 Apostles behind him was cleanly severed.
Thud.
“There won’t be any pain.”
The remaining apostles stared in horror at the sight.
Terror.
The emotion they had just felt was terror.
This was because Ryu Min’s Slaughterer title had inflicted an abnormal status on the witnesses.
Of course, they regained their senses after three seconds.
“Y-you crazy bastard, killing your own squad member…”
“I didn’t kill a squad member. I killed a traitor.”
From the moment Kang Si-hyuk made that lure call to me, he became a traitor.
Even if he was coerced, a traitor cannot be left alive.
Following that principle, I executed him on the spot.
Along with the 12 Apostle behind him.
“You bastard, you knew English?”
“I never said I didn’t.”
“…”
First Warrior fell silent at Ryu Min’s retort as if dumbfounded, but was actually trying to calm his startled heart.
‘This bastard just kills people without a word and acts like nothing happened…’
His fluent English was one thing, but what shocked him most was the sudden action.
The other apostles’ hearts were pounding just as hard.
‘He killed a squad member without mercy just for betrayal…’
‘Our plan to use him as a hostage is out the window.’
His ruthless judgment and cold-blooded nature were terrifying, but what was truly frightening was something else.
They hadn’t even seen when he attacked.
‘If I had been behind that monkey, I would’ve been helpless…’
Setting aside his comrades’ thoughts, First Warrior stepped forward.
His massive greatsword already had blade energy channeled into it, ready to attack at any moment.
“Wow, so the number one ranker turns out to be a psycho who kills people over a little joking threat? That’s something.”
“A joking threat?”
Ryu Min beneath the mask let out a scoff.
“Did you think you could brush past this with that excuse? 12 Apostles?”
“…”
The Apostle’s expression froze solid as stone.
He had never told anyone his identity, so it was only natural that he was shocked to have been exposed.
“From the start, you gathered top-ranked players from various nations to check me, enrolled them in this ridiculous organization called Messiah, and now you claim it was just a prank? Even a stray dog would laugh at that.”
“…How did you find out?”
“That’s not what matters right now.”
Before he could finish speaking, Ryu Min’s scythe extended like a whip and snapped back.
Whoosh—thud!
One of the Apostles, who hadn’t even seen his weapon move, collapsed with a hole torn through his abdomen.
Thump.
As a corpse appeared in the blink of an eye, his comrades flinched in shock.
First Warrior and Swingman, who had no time to react, swallowed hard.
‘That’s… the number one ranked player?’
‘A monster. An absolute monster.’
Having witnessed a speed they couldn’t possibly counter, both men had already lost all will to fight.
Their minds held only one thought: escape this place by any means necessary.
“England’s Sword Master, First Warrior. India’s martial artist, Swingman. So it’s just you two left?”
“…”
“Why are you just standing there? Either attack or run—put up some kind of struggle.”
“What the fuck!”
First Warrior was the first to move.
With movements too nimble for his massive frame, he pushed off the wall and leaped toward the rooftop of the building to escape.
But intention remained mere intention.
‘Grip of Death.’
As Ryu Min aimed at the man’s back and activated the skill, a serpentine black hand extended and coiled around First Warrior’s waist.
“Let go! Release me!”
“Come here. You’re going to play with me.”
The confidence that had filled First Warrior’s face vanished without a trace.
All that remained was a beast of burden being dragged to the slaughterhouse, terror etched into every feature.
Slice—!
First Warrior’s head was cleanly severed as he was held by the Grip of Death.
In the meantime, the remaining Apostle, Swingman, had fled far away, but Ryu Min remained utterly composed.
The Grip of Death had no cooldown, after all.

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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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