The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 206

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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 206
206. Worse Than Brothers
Ma Gyeong-rok had two younger brothers.
Ma Gyeong-sang, one year his junior.
Ma Gyeong-su, two years his junior.
Though they fought often as children, they never harbored genuine resentment toward one another.
The distance that grew between them in adulthood stemmed from a different cause entirely.
Money.
As their minds matured, they grasped the value of wealth and realized they possessed not merely a silver spoon, but a diamond one.
They would inherit a vast fortune when their father passed.
Naturally, they began securing their own portions—but the problem was Ma Gyeong-rok, the eldest.
Conventionally, the position of successor fell to the firstborn son.
The second and third sons would likely spend their entire lives walking on eggshells.
Did they resent such a position?
The brothers joined forces and began protesting to their father that the arrangement was unfair.
They argued it made no sense for Ma Gyeong-rok, the eldest with no particular talent, to monopolize everything.
They claimed they were far more suited to building the company.
Ma Dae-chul, finding their argument reasonable, ultimately abandoned tradition and declared he would choose his successor based on merit alone.
This was why Ma Gyeong-rok’s relationship with his brothers had become so strained.
“What are you two doing here?”
Ma Gyeong-rok’s cold gaze met equally sharp eyes from Ma Gyeong-sang and Ma Gyeong-su.
“What do you think? We came to congratulate you.”
“Can’t your younger brothers offer their congratulations?”
“I don’t want your congratulations. Get out.”
“Please. You think we wanted to come?”
“Father—I mean, the Chairman asked us to come along. What were we supposed to do?”
Chairman Ma Dae-chul shot a pointed glance at his two sons.
“Everyone, stop this. We came all this way—must we quarrel?”
…
“I brought you here to see your brother’s accomplishments and reconcile, yet you glare at him like you want to kill him. Honestly.”
“Come now, boys. Isn’t it time you acknowledged your brother?”
At the voice from behind, I turned to see a well-built middle-aged man entering with security personnel.
It was Ma Dong-won, the Mayor of Seoul.
“Uncle… I mean, Mayor, you’ve come as well?”
“It’s been a while, Gyeong-rok. We’re family here—no need for formality. Just call me Uncle.”
Despite his imposing physique, Ma Dong-won wore a gentle smile as he attempted to dispel the brothers’ icy atmosphere by changing the subject.
“Thank you for arranging such a celebration. Did you prepare it yourself?”
“I just put together something modest.”
“A celebration for a company that went public in five years—you can’t call that modest.”
“Going public is nothing special. Father built an entire group. So I can’t be satisfied with just this. I must lead the group forward from here on.”
Ma Gyeong-rok gazed at his brothers with the eyes of one observing losers.
A smile bordering on derision played at the corners of his mouth.
‘Damn bastard…!’
‘If it weren’t for being his brother, damn it!’
Unaware of his brothers trembling with clenched fists, Ma Dong-won laughed heartily.
“Hahaha! Is this the caliber of someone destined to inherit the Oseong Group? Damn right! You need at least this much confidence to take over the group!”
Ma Dong-won, pleased with Ma Gyeong-rok, patted his shoulder and turned to his own older brother.
“Elder Brother, I suppose we need not worry about the eldest anymore?”
“Not at all. With such clear results, what would there be to worry about?”
“Isn’t it beyond expectations? Didn’t you set the condition at KOSDAQ rank 30?”
“Indeed. I never imagined he’d list on KOSPI so spectacularly. He’s done remarkably well.”
Ma Gyeong-rok smiled with satisfaction at his father’s praise.
“Thank you, Chairman.”
With a father so sparing with compliments offering such words, it felt like compensation for all his hardship.
Conversely, his brothers made no effort to manage their expressions, their faces contorted openly.
It felt as though their father had brought them here not to reconcile them, but to make them eat humble pie.
But Ma Dae-chul’s true intention lay elsewhere.
‘My sons, envy your brother, resent him, and covet what he has. That jealousy will become the driving force that makes you grow stronger.’
In truth, Ma Dae-chul harbored not the slightest desire to reconcile his sons.
He didn’t even expect it.
He simply wanted to show them the eldest’s achievements directly and stimulate them, thereby laying the groundwork for their growth.
That was the sole reason he had brought his two younger sons here.
‘Now that Ma Gyeong-sang and Ma Gyeong-su are stimulated, they’ll strive and work hard to catch up with their brother.’
But Ma Dae-chul did not know.
That bringing his brothers here had instead become like adding kindling to a fire.
“By the way, brother. Isn’t it about time you told us?”
“Told you what?”
“Brother, your nickname.”
At Ma Gyeong-sang’s question, Ma Gyeong-rok fell silent.
All three brothers were players in their twenties, after all.
Because of this, they understood well what revealing a nickname meant.
‘These bastards—surely they’re not trying to track me?’
Revealing a nickname was akin to exposing one’s face behind a mask.
It provided grounds for using tracking skills.
In the Other World, where you could stab someone in the back and leave their corpse without facing punishment.
‘Track me for what? To kill me?’
There was no other reason to ask for a nickname.
Which was why he had never revealed it until now.
“What good would knowing my nickname do you?”
“Just curious, that’s all.”
“So what’s your nickname?”
“What, you don’t know about respecting your elders? The older one should introduce himself first.”
“Black Scythe.”
“Don’t mess with me.”
“I’m serious.”
“You’re quite the joker. Can you prove it right here?”
“Prove what, exactly?”
“You know the duel request feature that just came out?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll send a request. Beat both of us. No weapons, no skills—bare hands only. If you’re really Black Scythe, you should be able to handle that, right?”
Everyone gained the duel request feature once they reached level 60.
I already knew what it did since I’d used it before.
You could stake something as a wager through duels.
“If we win, you step down as successor. If you win, we’ll acknowledge you cleanly.”
“A two-on-one fight?”
“Yeah. What, you scared? Black Scythe?”
It was a crude provocation, but Ma Gyeong-rok couldn’t respond.
If he had weapons, it might be different, but fighting bare-handed without skills?
No matter how skilled he was, he had no confidence in winning under such terrible conditions.
“Fine, I lied. I’m not Black Scythe. Satisfied?”
“That’s what I thought. How could you be Black Scythe?”
“Why spout such obvious bullshit when you’ll get caught immediately?”
“What?”
At the curse, Ma Gyeong-rok’s expression darkened menacingly.
His brothers’ eyes turned equally cold.
“What are you all doing?”
Ma Dae-chul, who had been silently observing the situation, couldn’t help but grow angry.
“You brats! Duels, what not—what kind of nonsense are you spouting? Did you come here to fight your own brothers?”
“We said we didn’t want to come.”
“But Father insisted and dragged us here anyway.”
“What, what? You little bastards!”
The Chairman was furious, but his sons didn’t even raise an eyebrow.
In the past, they’d been cautious since the successor hadn’t been decided, but that wasn’t the case anymore, was it?
Ma Gyeong-rok had shown outstanding results and was already confirmed as the successor.
“Honestly, I don’t understand why you brought us here.”
“If you’re going to say something old-fashioned like we should learn from our brother, we’ll just head back.”
“You insolent little shits!”
“Boys, is that how you speak to your father?”
Ma Dong-won tried to scold and stop them, but he couldn’t turn around the hearts of two already resentful sons.
“Ma Gyeong-rok. Be careful on your way home. Don’t get cocky just because you survived to Round 13.”
“What?”
“Remember this: a stiff neck will eventually trip over a stone. Keep that in mind.”
My younger brother left behind words that weren’t quite curses, yet carried their weight.
“Calling such bastards my sons… Damn it, my neck.”
“Brother! Are you alright?”
Ma Dong-won, supporting Ma Dae-chul, called out to Ma Gyeong-rok, who stood motionless.
“What are you doing? Help your father up!”
“Ah, yes.”
Ma Gyeong-rok supported his father, but his expression remained distant and vacant.
He was turning over his brothers’ words in his mind.
‘Watch the night roads? Trip over a stone?’
Anyone could see it was a curse and a threat.
‘Those bastards. They can’t even congratulate me, yet they spew such garbage?’
Crunch—
Blood-related brothers, yet he harbored no fond memories of them.
‘Inferior creatures, all of them.’
Having received a death threat, my temples throbbed with tension.
Ma Gyeong-rok had been under considerable stress lately.
Perhaps that’s why.
I entertained a thought I shouldn’t have.
‘Should I strike first and kill those bastards before they get to me?’
Their threats weren’t mere bluffs.
They had likely already devised plans to kill me.
It would clear the path to the successor’s position.
It would give them their chance.
‘Until now, they probably thought I’d fail Father’s mission. They never expected I’d grow the company this far. Perhaps they assumed I’d die naturally while progressing through the rounds.’
But the situation had changed now.
‘I won’t just sit here waiting to die in the Other World. They’re equally desperate, uncertain how long they can survive themselves.’
That’s why they left with such genuine threats.
Truly believing their older brother needed to die.
‘Do they think I’ll just take this lying down? My family doesn’t know me at all.’
With a cynical smile, I resolved to kill my younger brothers in earnest.
Unaware that someone else was reading those very thoughts.
* * *
‘Why is the atmosphere so heavy?’
Ryu Min, who had arrived at the Company upon Ma Gyeong-rok’s invitation, couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge what he’d witnessed.
He had observed the conflict between Ma Gyeong-rok and his brothers.
So he approached using invisibility, reading their thoughts.
‘Not all chaebol heirs have it easy, I suppose.’
Squabbles over inheritance among wealthy family members were such a common trope that dramas felt incomplete without them.
‘Would anyone want to fight over succession when their life is already mortgaged?’
No, rather, the uncertainty of death might intensify their obsession—a desperate need to seize what they could before it was too late.
‘It seems the Chairman has no intention of changing his successor.’
He had already decided on Ma Gyeong-rok as the next heir.
And for good reason.
The eldest son had delivered results beyond expectations with the KOSPI listing—how could he not favor him?
‘He called them as a motivational jab so the other brothers wouldn’t lose heart, but it backfired instead.’
After parting with a warning to be careful on the way home, I read the brothers’ thoughts.
They genuinely wanted Ma Gyeong-rok dead.
Once they returned, the two of them would likely put their heads together and plan the specifics of their crime.
‘And Ma Gyeong-rok believes he must strike first before they can move against him.’
Brothers harboring murderous intent toward one another.
Even the most dysfunctional families didn’t fall apart like this.
‘Wait. This might actually be an opportunity for me.’
If I played this situation right, couldn’t I completely separate Ma Gyeong-rok and Christine?
Once that happened, I could make Christine entirely mine.
‘I’ve already confirmed what Black Scythe feels toward Ma Gyeong-rok. They can never grow close.’
Until now, they had stuck together for mutual benefit, but now was the time to cut ties.
There was no higher peak left to climb.
‘The Company is the same. It passed the listing review, but that’s it. Players will dwindle, and once Round 15 ends, revenue and everything else will collapse completely.’
Now was the perfect time to sell.
‘But I can’t sell as the largest shareholder.’
If I liquidated all my shares right now, I could pocket an enormous profit.
But Ma Gyeong-rok wouldn’t be ignorant of this.
‘Selling now would be the same as openly declaring war on Ma Gyeong-rok.’
Only a portion, then.
I’d secure just enough funds—around 100 billion—to live comfortably for life, and keep the rest of my shares.
‘I should sell only about 3% of my stake.’
That way, even if the Company collapsed later, Ma Gyeong-rok wouldn’t think The Seer had betrayed him.
‘I need to call Russell right now and have him liquidate all the shares into cash.’
And one more person.
‘Christine.’
I’d call her and exploit this situation.
‘I should summon Seo A-rin too. She’ll help me organize my thoughts.’
Ryu Min’s lips curved upward slightly as I observed the atmosphere, then deactivated my invisibility from a distance.
And I approached Ma Gyeong-rok naturally.
With a cheerful expression, as if I hadn’t witnessed anything moments before.

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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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