The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 200

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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 200
200. The Cave of Trials
The first trial can be conquered efficiently if you have a tank.
‘You can easily block it with a taunt skill to draw the monster’s attention, or with a knight’s protective skill like An Sang-chul has.’
But that doesn’t mean you absolutely need a tank to clear it.
‘The key is simply not getting hit by the monster for ten minutes.’
Before the monster appeared, I raised my scythe and lifted my gaze upward.
Massive stalactites adorned the cavern ceiling.
Whoosh—
My scythe, extended like a whip, cleanly severed dozens of stalactites.
“What are you—”
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
The enormous stalactites embedded themselves in the ground, forming an iron gate that blocked the cavern passage.
Only then did John Delgado understand Black Scythe’s action and closed his mouth.
‘Wait… is he seriously using stalactites to block the monsters’ entry?’
Though we found ourselves trapped behind a stalactite barrier, the effect was undeniable.
“Grrrrr, snap snap!”
“Hisssss!”
The werewolves and lizardmen trying to enter the cavern were blocked by the stalactites and couldn’t approach.
Prey in sight, yet unable to reach it.
The monsters tried desperately to break through the stalactites, but it was futile.
The stalactites in the Other World possessed enough weight to embed themselves deep into the cavern floor.
They wouldn’t shatter so easily.
‘To sever such stalactites so effortlessly…’
Watching Black Scythe cut through them as smoothly as tofu, I couldn’t even fathom how high his damage output was.
“The first trial is essentially complete. Let’s all rest for ten minutes.”
Black Scythe spoke casually as he sat down on the ground, and the others followed suit, settling into place one by one.
‘This is absurd. I never imagined it could be cleared so easily.’
John also sat down, clicking his tongue inwardly.
The monsters just ten meters ahead were hissing and glowing, but I felt no sense of danger.
The stalactites were packed so densely that there was no gap for them to slip through.
After a somewhat noisy ten minutes, a message appeared.
[You have succeeded in the first trial.]
[Your team’s cumulative damage taken is 0.]
[As a success reward, the door to the next trial will open.]
Grrrrrunch—
The cavern wall shifted, and the blocked passage opened.
Turning to look, the monsters that had been glowing trying to break through the stalactites had vanished without a trace.
“Let’s go.”
Following Ryu Min, the party members moved forward.
John Delgado was curious about what the second trial might be, but his party members already knew.
They’d heard everything through the prophecy.
After what felt like a hundred steps, a vast cavern appeared before them.
“Is this it? The location of the second trial?”
As John approached with his party members, just as expected, a message materialized.
【Second Trial】
└Annihilate 100 Second Trial Golems within 1 hour
└Success: ▶ Next trial unlocked
└Failure: ▶ One party member eliminated through voting
[The Second Trial Golems are special monsters immune to ranged weapons and magic.]
[If you defeat all 100 golems within the 1-hour time limit, the trial will conclude.]
[Conversely, if you fail to eliminate 100 golems before time expires, it will be considered a failure.]
[Should you fail to overcome the trial, one party member will be eliminated through internal voting.]
‘Immune to ranged weapons and magic… special monsters?’
The mission itself was straightforward, but the monsters’ caliber was anything but simple.
‘Doesn’t that mean archers and mages are completely useless here?’
After reading the description, John suddenly thought of Dark Soul, a Messiah member.
If that sniper had been here, he’d have been left twiddling his thumbs.
[Monsters will appear in 10 seconds. Please prepare all party members for their emergence!]
While reading the message, Black Scythe stepped forward once more.
“Everyone fall back behind me. I’ll handle the monsters.”
At his words, the party members withdrew without complaint.
There was no one else who could fight the monsters in this situation.
This was a scenario where only melee dealers could engage.
‘Jeffrey and those two idiots—I can’t tell what their classes are since they’re not carrying weapons…’
Judging by the fact they weren’t wielding weapons, they didn’t seem to be melee dealers.
As for Democracy, who had been casting buffs, there was no question about her role.
‘My summons can handle melee damage too, but…’
Black Scythe didn’t seem like he’d let me join in.
‘Right. Rather than butting in unnecessarily, I should leave it to Black Scythe and clear this quickly.’
With him at level 90, he could handle this with ease.
That’s when it happened.
Crunch, crunch, crunch—
Stone fragments assembled from all directions, forming five golems.
They towered well over three meters, larger than expected, but it hardly mattered.
In front of Black Scythe, they were nothing but pebbles.
Crack! Crack!
Rumble, rumble—
Had even two seconds passed?
The golems crumbled to dust moments after being created.
‘I expected this, but I didn’t think we’d clear it this quickly….’
Black Scythe’s scythe moved so fast it was invisible to the naked eye.
All I saw was it sweep past, and the golems crumbled to dust.
‘He attacked from range like a whip, yet the golems died in a single strike.’
Since the scythe was classified as a melee weapon by nature, it apparently wasn’t recognized as a ranged attack.
John Delgado marveled as he watched the experience messages flash before him.
[Second Trial Golem defeated!]
[Experience +1.53%]
[Gold +600]
[Experience +1.53%]
[Gold +600]
[Experience +1.53%]
[Gold +600]
…
…
‘Even in a party, we’re earning this much experience and gold….’
The golems’ strength clearly exceeded imagination.
Yet Black Scythe sent them back to nothing the moment they spawned.
Thwack—thwack—thwack—!
Crash!
It took less than an hour to defeat a hundred of them.
Barely two minutes had passed.
[Second Trial cleared!]
[Your team’s clear time: 00:01:59]
[As a reward, the door to the next trial opens.]
Rumble—
A hidden door on one side of the cavern opened, revealing a passage.
“Come.”
Following Black Scythe, another cavern appeared.
【Third Trial】
└Annihilate 100 Third Trial Golems within 1 hour
└Success: Unlock next trial
└Failure: One party member eliminated by vote
[Third Trial Golems are special monsters immune to melee weapons.]
[Defeat 100 golems within the 1-hour time limit to complete the trial.]
[If you fail to defeat all 100 before time runs out, the trial is considered failed.]
[If the trial is not overcome, one party member will be eliminated through internal voting.]
[Golems will be summoned within the cavern shortly.]
The third trial was also about defeating a hundred monsters.
The only difference was that these golems were immune to melee weapons.
‘Is this telling me to only use ranged weapons or magic?’
Since John didn’t know how to use either, there was no role for him to play.
He had no choice but to rely on someone else, and naturally his gaze turned toward Black Scythe.
The strongest mage he’d ever encountered.
“I’ll handle it.”
When Black Scythe stepped forward again, John felt reassured.
He believed they could clear the third trial without difficulty.
But Buffer didn’t seem to think the same way.
“Huh? Black Scythe, you know magic too?”
She was asking as if she’d never seen him use magic despite being his teammate.
“I can. I learned it recently.”
“I see.”
Democracy withdrew without saying anything more.
The fact that she didn’t ask any further questions suggested she trusted him considerably.
[A monster will appear in 10 seconds. Please prepare for the monster’s emergence!]
The message disappeared, and exactly 10 seconds passed.
Just like before, five golems materialized around them.
In an instant.
Crackle—!
Black Scythe’s lightning spread in all directions, striking the golems with devastating force.
Naturally, it was a one-shot kill.
‘Every time I see it, he’s ridiculously strong….’
Watching the skill that had eliminated thirty of his summons in a single blow, John swallowed hard without realizing it.
In the end, they cleared the third trial in just over two minutes.
[You have succeeded in the third trial.]
[Your team’s clear time is 00:02:02.]
[The door to the next trial opens as a reward for success.]
‘Thank goodness Black Scythe knows magic.’
What if the party had been composed entirely of classes without ranged weapons and no magic users?
They would have struggled in this third trial.
‘They probably would’ve been playing tag with the golems just to survive.’
After enduring for an hour, they would have had to vote to eliminate one party member to proceed.
That was the only way to advance to the next trial.
‘I’m certain there are parties that were eliminated by vote in this section.’
With that thought, I followed Black Scythe through the secret door.
Unlike before, no large cavern appeared—instead, a narrow passage opened up.
Then a message appeared, and seeing its contents, John’s eyes widened in shock.
【Fourth Trial】
└Help Angel win in battle
└Upon success ▶ Final trial unlocked
└If failed ▶ One random party member disappears
I wondered if we’d be fighting monsters again, but that wasn’t it.
‘Help Angel?’
As I stood there confused, an explanation appeared.
[Shortly, Angel and Demon will appear before your eyes and draw their blades against each other.]
[Since Demon is inherently stronger, this is an unfavorable battle for Angel.]
[If you aid Angel and secure victory, the trial will be cleared.]
[However, this time attacks and skills are forbidden, and you cannot interfere in their combat except through support skills.]
[Therefore, the only way to aid Angel is through support skills.]
[Use your skills to overturn this disadvantageous situation!]
[If Angel is killed by Demon, it counts as a failure.]
[If you cannot overcome this trial, one random party member will disappear.]
John, having played many games, immediately grasped the intent.
‘Ah, I see. This trial is testing our support abilities.’
His gaze shifted not to Black Scythe this time, but to Democracy.
It was fortunate that we had a Buffer on the team.
‘If that woman applies her triple buff set, we can turn this disadvantageous situation around in an instant.’
I was thinking we’d clear this one smoothly too, when Black Scythe spoke up as expected.
“I’ll handle this. Just watch.”
‘What? Again?’
This was a trial testing support abilities—Black Scythe didn’t have that kind of skill, did he?
Before I could resolve my confusion, the trial began.
“Die, you crazy angel bitch!”
“You filthy demon bastard!”
Angel and Demon had appeared and were drawing their blades against each other.
The problem was that Angel appeared severely disadvantaged in both strength and technique.
‘How am I supposed to help? I don’t even have support skills.’
My confusion was resolved the moment I saw Black Scythe’s actions.
Whoooosh—
A warm light enveloped Angel.
‘Ah! Emergency Treatment—of course.’
Emergency Treatment, a common skill, was indeed one of the support skills.
The problem was that its effectiveness for supporting was significantly lacking.
‘It’s basically just a skill for stopping bleeding…but?’
Mid-thought, I had to doubt my own eyes.
Emergency Treatment, which I’d dismissed as a trivial skill, instantly healed Angel’s torn wounds.
‘What? Emergency Treatment was that good of a skill?’
No, that couldn’t possibly be right.
I knew all too well how worthless Emergency Treatment was from using it.
There’s no way it possessed healing power comparable to Heal like it did just now.
‘How is that even possible?’
Angel, who had been in dire straits under Demon’s assault, sprang back to life thanks to Black Scythe’s steady healing and launched into the counterattack.
“Gaaaahhh!”
“Die! Die! You damned demon!”
Angel’s blade finally pierced through Demon’s chest.
The tide of battle turned, and Angel claimed victory from the jaws of defeat.
[You have successfully completed the Fourth Trial.]
[As a reward for your success, the door to the Final Trial has been opened.]
Once again, I had cleared the trial with Black Scythe’s assistance.
‘There’s nothing left for me to do here.’
John let out a hollow laugh and dutifully followed Black Scythe forward.
Or rather, he tried to.
‘Huh? What’s he doing?’
Black Scythe, whom I expected to move immediately, stood motionless.
His gaze fixed on empty space—he must have been reading a message.
My assumption proved correct.
Because a message had indeed appeared before Ryu Min’s eyes.
[You have completed the Sub Quest!]

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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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