The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 237

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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 237
237. The 10th Wave
In the past, to seize control of Player Cafe (Flseuba), Ryu Min had to gather information on the executives.
Nicknames, habits, speech patterns, behaviors, faces, temperaments, occupations, runes—everything.
He compiled all the intelligence and exploited whatever could be exploited.
His current use of Lost Yak’s identity was thanks to information he’d obtained back then.
For someone like Ryu Min, remembering the nicknames of Player Cafe (Flseuba)’s executives was hardly a difficult task.
‘Simple Mukbang. Definitely one of the eight Player Cafe (Flseuba) executives.’
From some round onward, the executive had vanished—likely expelled—but in the early stages, he’d definitely been one of those leading Player Cafe (Flseuba).
‘So that guy managed to survive all the way to this round.’
I wondered if he possessed some genuine skill, though it hardly mattered.
What was suspicious was how he kept avoiding my gaze.
‘I need to verify this.’
As Ryu Min drew closer, he read the man’s innermost thoughts.
Though he was facing away, I could unravel his every thought simply by observing the back of his head.
‘This bastard….’
Ryu Min’s expression shifted into a rare look of surprise.
‘He’s acting under the Archangel’s orders?’
I hadn’t expected the Archangel to avoid appearing directly and instead use such an insignificant player.
But what truly astonished me was the method itself.
‘If a player is transported to the Heavenly Realm, their qualification can be revoked….’
The possibility of qualification revocation was something even Ryu Min was learning for the first time.
I’d never been to the Heavenly Realm, and this was my first time facing an assassination threat from the Archangels in any cycle.
‘If I’m warped to the Heavenly Realm, there’s no way back—not even for me.’
I’d be trapped there, time slipping away, until my qualification was stripped away entirely.
‘Qualification revocation….’
What did it mean to have one’s qualification as a player revoked?
Did it mean losing all the system’s power? Or was it simply exclusion from the Survival Game?
‘It’s probably the former.’
Given that they mentioned returning to being an ordinary person, it meant losing all the power I possessed as a player.
‘It’s certainly a threatening method. Now I understand why the Archangels didn’t act directly.’
Ryu Min fixed Simple Mukbang with a wary gaze.
‘So if he holds the book the Archangel gave him against his body and speaks the activation word, it forces the transportation?’
That was why the man kept glancing at me.
He was waiting for an opportunity to send me to the Heavenly Realm under the Archangel’s command.
‘During the 10th Wave, people will be in chaos, and he’s planning to exploit that gap.’
I had no desire to know—nor did I need to know—what grudge the former Player Cafe (Flseuba) executive harbored against me.
‘What matters is that he’s targeting me.’
Now that I knew the method, I could prepare a countermeasure.
‘Killing him would be simple, but the problem is he’s a party member.’
There was no way to kill a party member.
All I could do was wait for the round to end, but it looked like I’d be eliminated before that happened.
‘That can’t happen.’
A method came to mind, and I checked the remaining time.
[Time Remaining Until Next Wave: 00:17:41]
It seemed I could handle this before the wave started.
“Yamtti.”
“Oh, Black Scythe? Is there something you need me to do?”
“There’s someone you need to dominate.”
“Who?”
I gestured with my eyes toward a spot.
“See over there? Their nickname is Simple Mukbang.”
“Simple Mukbang…?”
Yamtti’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.
“That unremarkable bastard is still alive?”
“You know them?”
“Yes. They were an executive at Player Cafe with me.”
“Dominate them. Since there’s no space, release Jeffrey from domination instead.”
“Uh, well, that might not be possible…”
“Why?”
Yamtti sighed, looking flustered.
“I dominated them once before. I was trying to extract information from Simple Mukbang….”
A target that had been dominated and then released could never be dominated again.
It meant the opportunity had already been lost.
Yamtti lowered her head, looking ashamed.
“…I apologize.”
“It’s fine. That was before you met me anyway.”
If I couldn’t dominate them, I needed another method.
Someone came to mind.
“You have four slaves you dominated before, right?”
“The Messiah members?”
“That’s right. Give them orders immediately. Tell them….”
After hearing the explanation, Yamtti nodded.
“Will it work if I just suppress them as you said?”
“Yes. But you need to approach secretly so they don’t notice. They might try to escape.”
Why would I want to suppress Simple Mukbang?
Yamtti was curious about the reason, but she was a slave.
A slave obeys whatever the master commands.
“Understood. I’ll execute it right away.”

* * *
‘Damn it… I nearly had a heart attack.’
Simple Mukbang felt a chill run down his spine as he locked eyes with Black Scythe.
Just a glance, yet his hands trembled—surely because of what was about to happen.
‘Please… he didn’t notice, did he?’
He glanced sideways and saw that Black Scythe was looking elsewhere.
Fortunately, he hadn’t been caught.
‘Phew, I almost ruined everything before it even started.’
Just ten more minutes until the tenth wave began.
Once the people and Black Scythe descended into chaos as Archangel had promised, that’s when he’d make his move.
‘Relax. There’s nothing to fear. It’s simple. Hide among the crowd, wait for the right moment, get close, hold the book up to him, and chant the activation phrase. That’s it. See? Easy.’
If he pulled this off, he could send that eyesore Black Scythe far, far away.
To the Heavenly Realm, never to return.
‘Good. I’ll prepare to move when there’s about three minutes left….’
That’s when it happened.
Four men suddenly clung to him like leeches.
“Hey, what are you doing?! Let go!”
With each of his limbs seized, he couldn’t move an inch.
He checked their nicknames to see if he recognized them.
‘Yang Chui-wen, Jang So-wi, Dark Soul, Spaniard…? I’ve never seen any of these bastards before!’
Strangers with no connection to him were grabbing his limbs, and he was utterly bewildered.
“Let me go! You damn bastards!”
“….”
They said nothing, and their expressions were as blank as machines executing commands.
‘This is insane! Right before everything, these lunatics show up and—’
He couldn’t damage them since they were in his party, so he was about to lose his mind.
“Hey, listen. Why are you doing this? Huh? Do you know me? You don’t, right? Can’t you at least tell me why you’re suddenly doing this? Huh?”
Again, no answer came.
He tried to break free by force, but with four people holding his limbs, his body felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton.
“What is this? What’s going on?”
“Four of them hanging onto one person?”
“How shameless. What are they doing?”
“I mean, homosexuality isn’t something to be ashamed of these days, but…”
“Would they really want to do that even here in the Other World?”
“In a way, that man is quite bold.”
Hearing the whispers around him, Mukbang cried out indignantly.
“It’s a misunderstanding! I’m not that kind of person! These bastards don’t even know me!”
“Sure, and they’re just clinging to you because they like you so much.”
“I’m telling you it’s not like that! Let go! Let go, you leeches!”
He struggled, but there was no way he could overpower four people on his own.
Unable to find an answer, I desperately called out to those around me for help.
“Please help me! This stranger has me trapped like this! Someone, please pull me away from them!”
“A stranger, you say?”
“Is that true?”
A few people were tempted by my desperate cries, but only for a moment.
The Messiah members, who had remained silent until now, each chimed in with a word.
“I’ll do better from now on.”
“We got along well, didn’t we? Right?”
“Mukbang, please don’t leave me behind.”
“I love you, hyung.”
Dark Soul’s final words seemed to be the deciding blow—those who had been suspicious twisted their lips and turned away.
“Well, of course.”
“I was a fool to doubt for even a moment.”
Watching the departing crowd, Simple Mukbang cried out desperately.
“Wait, hey! I’m telling you, this is a stranger! Please help me!?”
“I have no intention of meddling in other people’s love affairs, so I’ll be going….”
“Have a good love.”
The people, thinking it was merely a simple incident, distanced themselves from Simple Mukbang.
In the end, the only people within a 10-meter radius were the four clinging to me like leeches.

* * *
Watching Simple Mukbang, now helpless and unable to do anything because of the Messiah members, Ryu Min’s lips curved upward.
‘I can’t kill them, but I can certainly immobilize them.’
The orders I gave to the Messiah members were simple.
Cling to Simple Mukbang’s limbs one by one like leeches.
And whenever it seemed like someone nearby might come to help, recite lines like a person who couldn’t forget a lost lover.
The effect was remarkable.
They couldn’t even approach me, only glare at me.
‘The threat has been neutralized.’
Some worthless player actually dared to scheme behind my back.
‘For now, we’re in a party so I can’t do anything, but once this round ends, I’ll make sure to settle the score.’
Ryu Min, gritting his teeth, prepared for the 10th wave.
It would begin soon.
A wave that would descend into chaos.
‘5, 4, 3, 2, 1….’
As the remaining time counted down to zero, the final wave was revealed.
[10th Wave]
[4,608 Players vs 1 Devouring Insect]
[This round has no time limit.]
[To clear the round, eliminate the Devouring Insect!]
Upon seeing the revealed mission, the players blinked in disbelief, questioning their own eyes.
“Just one creature?”
“A Devourer? Is it boss-class?”
Until now, they’d faced thousands of enemies—at minimum, hundreds of High Orcs—but never had a single opponent appeared as the target.
“It’s fine. With five thousand of us working together, how could we possibly fail?”
“Exactly. We even have Black Scythe on our side.”
But the players’ alarm truly struck when they saw the next message.
[A special rule has been applied for balance adjustment.]
[The special rule for Wave 10 will remain undisclosed.]
“Undisclosed?”
The opponent was revealed, but the rule remained hidden.
Though unsettled, confidence quickly returned to the players.
Their reasoning was simple: no matter the rule, Black Scythe stepping forward would handle it.
Ryu Min himself had been equally confident.
At least, until he faced it directly.
‘Was it the 44th run? I remember charging at the Devourer recklessly back then and dying.’
It was a time when I was brimming with confidence from my rapid growth and improved skills.
I charged in without even a moment to confirm the special rule, and I died.
‘Looking back now, it was foolish of me. I should have at least observed others attacking first to understand the rule’s nature… though I doubt that would have changed the outcome.’
The undisclosed special rule was this:
【Special Rule: 90% of all damage dealt to the Devourer is reflected back.】
Damage reflection.
Physical, magical—any damage whatsoever.
When you attack the Devourer, 90% of that damage returns directly to you.
A full 90% of the damage you inflicted.
‘So I have to endure the 90% of damage coming back and defeat the Devourer using only the remaining 10% damage.’
But it was far easier said than done.
Unless you were a tank, who could withstand their own damage output?
Especially for dealers specialized in attack power, the Devourer was essentially a counter matchup.
‘They swarmed it like moths to a flame, only to die from their own reflected damage. Thousands of players.’
There was no escaping the rule that damage—whether melee or ranged—would be reflected.
Thus, no matter how many players attacked, they couldn’t overcome the Devourer, and eventually they were forced to flee once they understood the situation.
They realized that charging in recklessly meant death.
‘But not attacking means death too.’
As the message indicated, Wave 10 had no time limit.
Fleeing wouldn’t solve anything.
Besides, the translucent barrier blocked any escape route.
“Croooak, croooak!”
A massive Devourer emerged from the front.
With a toad-like face and a hard, insectoid exoskeleton, the creature—massive as a house—waddled forward.
The creature’s appearance was rather comical.
‘But this is no opponent to underestimate. Despite how it looks, a Devourer’s tongue strikes with the speed of lightning.’
There was no way to evade a creature that snatched prey with its elongated tongue and devoured them whole.
The only option was to kill it.
‘In the past, thousands perished like moths to a flame before we finally captured one. But now?’
There was no need for people to sacrifice themselves.
Not when I could handle it myself.
“What’s with that bloated toad? Why is it so massive?”
“Don’t be afraid! Let’s all rush it together——”
“Everyone, fall back.”
Ryu Min stepped forward, halting the bold players who were about to charge the Devourer.
“I’ll handle this one.”
It had 90% reflected damage, but that posed no problem.
After all, I possessed the cheat code of invincibility.

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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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