The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 207

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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 207
207. The Next Target
Before calling Christine, Ryu Min phoned Jeffrey first.
“Really? She’s coming?”
Indeed, the news was that Christine was heading to Korea.
“Why?”
-It seems she wants to hear The Seer’s prophecy for the next round.
‘She could have just asked over the phone, but she’s coming in person.’
Then again, given that The Seer’s prophecies always prove invaluable, it wouldn’t be courteous to listen to one over a call.
“Jeffrey. Tail Christine. When the time comes, I’ll contact you to lure her to the location I want.”
-I shall obey your command.
‘Originally, I was planning to call her under the pretense of the next round’s prophecy….’
If Christine was already coming on her own, there was no need to call her.
‘It’s better if she doesn’t know I was involved at all.’
What if word reached Ma Gyeong-rok’s ears that I had summoned Christine?
The misdirected arrow might very well turn toward me.
Then the target would naturally shift to my younger brother, Ryu Won.
‘That’s why I haven’t been recklessly liquidating my stocks either. I need to play the victim too.’
It made no sense for The Seer to fail in stocks, but claiming I couldn’t see the future would suffice.
‘When the time comes, I’ll need to call Seo A-rin too. Of course, using Black Scythe’s phone number, not my own.’
That way, I’d lure both of them to the same location and expose Ma Gyeong-rok’s true nature.
All of this, of course, was predicated on the assumption that Ma Gyeong-rok would commit the crime.
‘First, I need to assign Ju Sung-tak to tail Ma Gyeong-rok. I have other matters to attend to.’
I had no time to tail Ma Gyeong-rok myself.
I needed to first understand Messiah’s movements.
‘And I need to meet John Delgado as well.’
When I meet John, there’s something I want to test.
Whether I can utilize Sariel, whom I’ve made into a summoned servant.
‘They’ll definitely gather in that cabin again.’
I could already envision what conversation Messiah would exchange inside.
‘They’ll probably discuss me, the Swingman, in various ways.’
Under those circumstances, I couldn’t go as the Swingman.
I needed to hear what they were saying, so I planned to use invisibility to surveil them.
“Brother, where are you going again?”
“Yeah. I’m going abroad for a bit.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to see that Japanese girlfriend?”
‘Japanese girlfriend?’
It seemed I’d caused this misunderstanding by taking a hot spring trip to Japan.
“Well, yes, something like that.”
“Haha, then it’s confirmed. Have a good trip, brother!”
“Yeah. I’ll be back soon.”
Though I’d unexpectedly acquired a girlfriend, I didn’t think it was a bad excuse to use, I thought to myself.
* * *
Crash—!
A single punch shattered the cabin table with a deafening crack.
“Does this even make sense? My organization members were killed!”
The one raging with a crimson face was none other than Yang Chui-wen.
He’d confirmed through the 12 Rounds results tally that the Black Scythe assassination operation had failed.
Black Scythe’s name was plastered right at the top of the rankings.
But he wasn’t disappointed that the operation had failed.
The other apostles here felt the same way.
There was still the backup plan that Swingman had proposed.
But then….
“Damn it, which bastard took out my organization members….”
When I returned to reality, something shocking had happened.
All twenty-eight underworld organization members under Yang Chui-wen’s direct command were dead.
Yang Chui-wen, being a Player, had managed to escape the disaster by staying inside the heavily secured Bunker House….
Crash—!
“Damn it! Fuck!”
Now the only direct subordinate left to him was a civilian.
If anyone, it was only Jang So-wi, his right arm and fellow Player.
“Please calm down. You’ll break the table at this rate.”
When Spaniard, the founder of Messiah, tried to stop him, Yang Chui-wen glared at him with fierce eyes.
“Is a damn table the problem right now? All my direct organization members are dead!”
“You can always recruit more organization members. There would be plenty of thugs willing to join under Yang Chui-wen, the number one ranker in China.”
“Damn it, do you take me for some heartless psychopath! My family—my subordinates who’ve suffered through hardships with me, eating from the same pot!”
“….”
Seeing him so agitated and shouting, Spaniard said nothing more.
It seemed the organization was quite an important part of Yang Chui-wen’s life.
For a while, only the sound of ragged breathing and anguished cries echoed through the cabin.
“I’m going to kill them. Whoever it is, I’ll rip open their belly, pull out their guts, and strangle them to death.”
Then, unable to bear it any longer, Dark Soul spoke.
“Haven’t we already identified the culprit?”
“Identified the culprit? What nonsense are you spouting?”
“Think about it. We were all in the Other World during the time of the crime. So the culprit must be a civilian. But the only people who knew about the operation were underworld organization members, right? Then the answer is clear. It was an inside job within the organization.”
“So you’re saying one of our organization members betrayed us? Is that what you’re saying? Now?”
“There’s no other explanation. Unless someone from our Messiah betrayed us. Maybe one of your organization members went insane and turned traitor.”
“Are you done talking?”
Yang Chui-wen glared at him with murderous intent, but Dark Soul remained composed.
“Then let me ask you this. Before we attacked Black Scythe, you said you found corpses in front of the Villa, right? Was there any organization member missing from among them?”
“…There was one. Jang Chen.”
“Ah, so that bastard’s the culprit then. Right before the job, he stabbed his colleagues to death, returned home, and cleanly disposed of the rest of the organization members.”
“But Jang Chen was found dead in the organization alongside other members.”
“Then someone either silenced him or he committed suicide after the job.”
“…Damn it, it’s not something you can speak of so lightly. Jang Chen was someone who would….”
“Do traitors walk around with ‘traitor’ written on their faces? Or do they give hints beforehand about their betrayal?”
“….”
“The ones who kill people best are usually the best actors. They wear masks in their daily lives, then reveal their true nature when the time comes.”
Bang—!
“What does this bastard think he knows, spouting off like that!”
Yang Chui-wen denied it, but Dark Soul turned to his colleagues as if to ask if his words weren’t correct.
“Don’t you all think my reasoning is sound?”
No one answered Dark Soul’s question.
Silence was tacit agreement.
Dark Soul smirked.
“I think this Jang Chen fellow was a traitor planted by a rival organization. He’s been waiting for his chance all this time, and when the moment came, he made his move.”
“Actually, now that I think about it, the rival organization might not be involved. Perhaps Black Scythe is connected to this….”
“Black Scythe?”
Yang Chui-wen, having calmed his excitement somewhat, spoke composedly.
“I went to Korea to verify what happened to our organization members. While I was there, I even checked Black Scythe’s Villa, but no one was there.”
“He was probably just out….”
“There wasn’t a single trace of human presence. It was completely empty, as if someone had abandoned it knowing this would happen.”
“What? Then Black Scythe saw through our operation in advance?”
“That must be it. We received reports that he was definitely inside that Villa before the operation was executed.”
At that moment, Dark Soul snapped his fingers.
“Ah, now I get it! Black Scythe found out about our operation beforehand and bribed that organization member Jang Chen. Then he hired another killer to silence him once the job was done.”
It was a plausible theory, but one problem remained.
“The question is how he found out about our operation….”
“Could there be a traitor among us?”
“Among us…?”
At Yang Chui-wen’s words, the atmosphere shifted dramatically.
Everyone began eyeing each other warily with sharp gazes.
But John Delgado shook his head as if there was no need for them to suspect each other.
“I agree there’s a traitor. I think I even know who it is.”
“Who?”
“Obviously, the person who isn’t here, isn’t it?”
At those words, everyone thought of one person.
The only Apostle who hadn’t attended the Cabin meeting was Swingman.
“Why do you think Swingman is the traitor, John Delgado?”
The Spaniard asked in a calm tone, but inside he was seething.
They were members he’d personally recruited.
If a traitor had emerged from their ranks, he couldn’t escape responsibility for it.
“I’m not certain. It’s just a strong possibility.”
“Then what’s your reason?”
“During the 12 Rounds, I actually teamed up with Black Scythe.”
“Of course. We planned to approach Black Scythe as a backup if the operation failed.”
“At that time, there was a player named Jeffrey by Black Scythe’s side.”
“Wait, Jeffrey? Isn’t that the assassin who provided Black Scythe with shelter?”
“Yes. When I first saw him, I was startled by the nickname, but his face looked different from reality, so I thought he might be someone else. He didn’t seem to recognize me either. I simply assumed that assassin we hired had used a false nickname. But here’s the thing.”
John Delgado’s eyes gleamed with realization.
“What if that Jeffrey really is the same Jeffrey we met, and he was in league with Black Scythe? Then everything makes sense. He spread false information beforehand to deceive us and help Black Scythe.”
“But we only asked him to tail someone. We never revealed the specific plan.”
“That’s exactly why there’s a traitor on the inside. Who called in Jeffrey as an informant? None other than Swingman. Black Scythe was able to prevent things beforehand thanks to Swingman’s help.”
Swingman, Jeffrey, Black Scythe, Jang Chen.
If these four were in cahoots, all the pieces fit perfectly.
“Damn it! I knew it! That curry bastard! I had a bad feeling about him from the start!”
Only Yang Chui-wen burst with rage, but the others felt much the same.
They all gnashed their teeth with the sting of betrayal.
“Where is Swingman? Why didn’t he come?”
“We’ve lost contact with him. He doesn’t show up even when we search for him.”
“He can’t be tracked?”
“The search says he doesn’t exist.”
“Ah.”
The meaning was simple.
“He must be dead. From the 12 Rounds.”
“Hah, the idiot. Dying in just the 12 Rounds.”
“Now we can’t even take revenge?”
They’d intended to execute the traitor, but with him dead, there was nothing to be done.
“Jang Chen is dead, and Black Scythe is difficult to take revenge on, so only one person remains.”
“Jeffrey. We need to track that bastard down.”
“But we don’t even know his real name. How can we track him?”
“There’s nothing we can do in reality. If we want to work on this, we have to do it in the Other World. Since I know his face and nickname, I can find him.”
As John Delgado spoke with confidence, Spaniard drew a conclusion.
“Then in the 13 Rounds, let’s track down that bastard Jeffrey together with John Delgado. If we torture him, we can figure out the truth. We might also learn more about Black Scythe.”
“Damn assassin. I’ll avenge my subordinates.”
“Whatever the 13 Rounds mission is, that bastard’s as good as dead. He shouldn’t have messed with us.”
Thus the four apostles ground their teeth as the meeting concluded.
Their new target was Jeffrey, presumed to be Black Scythe’s associate.
* * *
“Phew.”
John Delgado returned home after the meeting concluded.
Somehow I’d managed to party with Black Scythe and survive this round as well.
‘Will I survive next time?’
With each successive round, the fear grew heavier.
Avenging myself against Black Scythe wasn’t the only problem.
‘It’s fine. I have Angel, after all.’
In the 12 Rounds, I’d transformed Angel—who’d been fighting Black Scythe—into a spectral Undead Servant.
Though I’d been discovered, Black Scythe had let me go for some reason.
Along with a warning not to climb any higher.
‘Right. What revenge in a situation like this? Survival comes first.’
Just to be sure, John Delgado checked his status window.
But as always, a message was etched there like a brand.
[Penalty is currently applied.]
[All stats permanently reduced by 50%.]
[Summoned unit stats permanently reduced by 50%.]
“Damn it! What the hell!”
Just looking at the halved stats made my blood boil.
Why did I have to party with Black Scythe and end up like this?
Curses spilled from my lips, but there was one saving grace.
‘I have the Angel summoned unit.’
An angel whose name I didn’t know, but she looked incredibly powerful.
Though she was a mouse before a cat when facing Black Scythe, but what more could I ask for?
‘She’s incomparable to any ordinary player or monster. Without question, the strongest summoned unit I’ve ever obtained.’
When I summon a dead target, I can command them at 50% of their pre-death stats.
Even accounting for the penalty that would halve it again, she’d still be formidable.
‘From now on, the only thing I can rely on is this nameless Angel summoned unit.’
I had to grow stronger.
Setting aside revenge against Black Scythe, I first needed to survive until round 20.
‘And with my wish, I’ll ask for Black Scythe’s death.’
Of course, it was just a fantasy.
Wouldn’t it be better to wish to become 1,000 times stronger than Black Scythe instead?
“Then I could dominate the world and do whatever I wanted. Kekekeke.”
Laughter erupted from me.
Alone in my home, I giggled like a drug addict.
It didn’t matter anyway.
“No one’s watching anyway, right? Hehehehe.”
“I’m here, though?”
At the third party’s voice, John Delgado jumped in shock.
Staring intently at the source, I found a Masked Stranger wearing a white mask.
‘A white mask?’
In that instant, the footage from the Villa’s entrance flashed through my mind.
The man known as Black Scythe had worn that exact same mask.
“You… surely you’re not…”
“That’s right. The person you’re thinking of.”
With those words, a massive scythe materialized in the Masked Stranger’s grip.
It was the familiar-looking scythe that had severed my limbs.

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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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