The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 238

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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 238
238. The Rune of Consumption
The conditions for Round 14’s Sub Quest are straightforward.
Defeat the Devourer within 5 minutes of its appearance.
The person with the highest contribution will then receive the Sub Quest reward.
‘It’s not as simple as it sounds, though.’
When I first learned of the Sub Quest’s existence, I was equally baffled.
How could anyone defeat a creature that reflects 90% of damage within 5 minutes?
‘To kill it in 5 minutes—or even 2—you’d need a hundred Master-tier players dealing free damage simultaneously.’
Then it could die in 2 minutes, not 5.
But as long as the special rule of 90% damage reflection exists, that will never happen.
‘I’d die the moment I landed even one or two hits from the reflected damage.’
Yet if I attacked cautiously, the 5-minute time limit would become an insurmountable wall.
‘I realized later that Round 14’s Sub Quest was designed so that ordinary people could never clear it.’
I tried countless methods, but none worked.
The reflected damage was guaranteed harm—impossible to evade or block.
Well, there was one way to block it.
‘Use invincibility. That’s the only way to complete the Sub Quest.’
If I utilized the invincibility skill I received as a special reward from the previous round, I could even nullify the reflected damage.
I’d already tested it and knew it worked.
With that assurance, my approach toward the Devourer was confident.
“Grrrgh? Grrrrk!”
The Devourer, upon spotting me, let out a grotesque cry.
It licked its tongue eagerly as if delighted by food walking toward it on its own, then attacked without any warning.
Whoosh—!
It was a speed that would have been inescapable for anyone with agility below 1,000.
‘Fortunately, my agility is approaching 300,000.’
I dodged the tongue and leaped upward, landing atop the Devourer’s head in an instant.
‘With invincibility active, there’s no need to hold back.’
Still, using my full power against this creature felt beneath me.
‘I’ll end this with a single Moonlight Island strike.’
But first, I activated invincibility.
[The temporary skill ‘Invincibility’ activates.]
[You are immune to all damage for 60 seconds.]
[You have used a one-time skill.]
[The skill disappears from your skill window.]
The moment I felt my body become protected, I unleashed Moonlight Island.
Kiiiiiing—
A brilliant flash erupted above the Devourer’s head.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-crash—!
“Aaaahhhhh!”
As the Devourer’s massive body burst apart, a tremor equivalent to an earthquake rippled across the land.
When the startled players finally steadied themselves on the quaking Grassland.
A man stood visible through the haze of dust.
It was none other than Black Scythe.
[You have defeated the Devourer!]
[A hidden Sub Quest is available!]
【Sub Quest】
└Defeat the Devourer within 5 minutes of its appearance
└Upon success ▶ Rune of Consumption awarded
[Sub Quest completed!]
[You receive the ‘Rune of Consumption’ as a Sub Quest reward!]
[The acquired rune is automatically inscribed upon your body!]
[Rune of Consumption]
-Effect: Experience and gold gained from slaying monsters are doubled.
Stat points and Consumption stacks are gained based on the level of defeated monsters.
Additional effects are granted according to accumulated stack count.
└ 100 stacks or more ▶ ?????
└ 300 stacks or more ▶ ?????
└ 1,000 stacks or more ▶ ?????
└ 3,000 stacks or more ▶ ?????
└ 10,000 stacks or more ▶ ?????
‘Finally obtained it. The Rune of Consumption.’
The Black Flame Dragon in Right Hand I’d killed before possessed a similar rune.
‘A rune that granted stats when killing players or monsters.’
The difference was that the Rune of Consumption applied only to monsters.
‘But that doesn’t make it inferior. The additional effects granted per stack accumulation compensate for it.’
Unlike other runes, the Consumption stack didn’t fill to a threshold and then deplete.
It accumulated continuously.
Therefore, the effects from stacks could be considered a form of permanent buff.
‘The reward for defeating the Devourer will come through during the final settlement.’
I turned around with a smirk, noticing all eyes fixed upon me.
Every face wore an expression of bewilderment.
“To dispatch such a colossal creature in an instant….”
“M-maybe it was weaker than we thought? Haha….”
“It looked so powerful though….”
Watching the corpse reduced to pulp and partially disintegrated, the players shuddered.
None present possessed the confidence to kill it in a single strike as Black Scythe had.
Then, as if in response to the Devourer’s defeat, the rules were belatedly revealed.
[You have successfully completed the Main Quest by defeating the Devourer!]
[The special rules for the 10th Wave are being revealed.]
【Special Rule: 90% of all damage dealt to the Devourer is reflected.】
“What? 90% damage reflection?”
“Then Black Scythe defeated the Devourer with only 10% of his power?”
“…That was merely 10% of his strength?”
“But if damage was being reflected back, why does he look completely unharmed?”
The crowd stared at me with eyes mingling shock and confusion, but I had no obligation to answer them.
They should have been grateful merely that I’d saved their lives.
‘Had I not intervened, thousands would have perished.’
[The duration of the temporary skill ‘Invincibility’ has ended.]
The invincibility buff wore off after a minute had passed.
In truth, a minute wasn’t even necessary.
I’d only needed a single second to endure the reflected damage.
‘So now….’
My gaze fell upon Simple Mukbang, who was being restrained by four men.
‘Time to return to reality and beat that bastard to a pulp.’
Simple Mukbang’s cheeks trembled as he caught sight of the cold smile spreading across my face.
* * *
‘What, what is this. What the hell is….’
Even when surrounded by the four men, Simple Mukbang had been seething with rage.
Unable to move, and with everyone around him looking at him as though he were some deviant.
It was unjust, but he’d managed to endure it somehow.
The long-awaited 10th Wave was right upon them.
In the chaos that would surely follow, an opportunity to escape would definitely arise.
But his faith shattered completely.
‘They said there’d be chaos when the 10th Wave started, but damn it, there was no chaos at all….’
At least when that boss-class monster called the Devourer appeared, he’d thought that was it.
It certainly looked powerful enough.
He could vividly imagine it slaughtering countless players and creating the promised chaos.
‘That must have been what the Archangel meant by chaos. But….’
Such an opportunity never came.
Black Scythe stepped forward and cleanly resolved everything.
‘It’s ruined. Everything’s ruined.’
The Devourer was dead and the 10th Wave was over.
Looking at the ones gripping his limbs, there seemed to be no sign they’d release him until the very end.
‘I need to warp Black Scythe away… That’s the only way I can escape the Survival Game as promised… Damn it!’
His plan had fallen apart without even getting a chance to attempt it, all because of these lunatics.
His teeth clenched, but only for a moment.
Seeing Black Scythe staring down at him with that sinister grin, a chill ran through his entire body.
‘Could it be… that he knew all along?’
It wasn’t merely his imagination.
Black Scythe was staring directly at him, sneering with unmistakable contempt.
As though he knew everything.
‘Then… then the ones restraining me were all acting on his orders…?’
Black Scythe had orchestrated his capture from the beginning?
“Ah.”
Now every mystery unraveled.
Why strangers he’d never met clung to him, preventing any movement.
Why Black Scythe sneered at him with such certainty.
‘He knew everything. Even the plan to forcibly warp me to the Heavenly Realm.’
Otherwise, there was no reason to keep him restrained at such a distance.
“Ha ha ha… I’m completely finished.”
I felt like an utter fool in an instant.
Simple Mukbang laughed hollowly, biting down on my lips.
Without question, it was Black Scythe’s turn now.
To retaliate against me.
‘Am I… am I really just going to take this lying down?’
Suppressed rage began to simmer within me.
The moment I recalled the item in my inventory, the Book of Warp materialized in my left hand.
‘If I can’t send Black Scythe away, I’ll send someone else instead.’
I pressed the book against Yang Chui-wen’s body, the one restraining my left arm.
“La Krasi Betanium!”
“…”
I shouted with confidence, but nothing happened.
‘Was… was that not the incantation?’
People around me were staring with strange expressions.
“La Krasi Betanom!”
“…”
“La Kresh Betaom!”
The more incantations I uttered, the more attention I drew from the crowd.
“What’s he saying?”
“Isn’t that the guy from earlier? The one who was acting strange?”
“Did he take a blow to the head during the fight?”
“I always said something was off about him.”
Even as people mocked me, I strained desperately to recall the activation word.
‘Damn it, what was it? Betanom? Betaom? What part am I getting wrong? I was sure I memorized it!’
My mind went blank from the panic.
I couldn’t even determine which part was incorrect.
‘Black Scythe is watching me!’
He might move to stop my actions.
Before that, I had to chant the incantation quickly….
‘Ah! I remember now.’
Simple Mukbang shouted while holding up the book.
“La Graci Betaom!”
At that moment, a crimson light poured forth from the violet orb embedded in the book.
Seeing the response, the incantation had worked properly.
‘Done. With this, I’ve sent at least one person to the Heavenly Realm….’
My thoughts could not continue any further.
A violet hand suddenly burst from the orb and dragged Yang Chui-wen away.
“Gaaaahhhhh!”
Crunch—crunch crunch!
Every time his body entered the orb, the sound of bones shattering echoed out.
Crunch—crack crack crack!
When that horrifying sound ceased, Yang Chui-wen’s body had already been sucked entirely into the orb.
‘What… what did I just witness?’
With my left arm now free, I could not move easily.
‘Was he… warped to the Heavenly Realm? But it looked far too agonizing for a simple warp…?’
It was strange, but it was far from over.
“Uaaahhh!”
“Krrrghhhhh!”
Multiple hands burst from the orb, seizing the heads of Dark Soul, Jang So-wi, and Spaniard and dragging them inside.
The sound of bones grinding as if they were being fed into a thresher.
Crunch crunch—crack crack—
Simple Mukbang was no exception.
Snap!
Seized by a demonic grip around my legs, I was dragged into the orb.
Crackle—crack!
“Ugh, uaaaaaahhhhh!”
As my legs were sucked into the small orb, excruciating pain consumed me.
“S, save me…!”
Once my head was completely drawn inside, nothing remained around the book.
Only the players stood there, their faces frozen in bewilderment.
“What did I just see?”
“Those five people who were just there got sucked into the orb.”
“What on earth happened?”
Setting aside their curiosity, the book rose into the air on its own.
Whoooosh—
A blood-red magic circle formed around the book, and with a soft pop, the orb separated.
“What is this?”
“Huh? Huh?”
“Expand?”
The orb swelled like a balloon, growing to the size of a human.
Within the sphere, a shadow took shape.
A shadow bearing the form of a person.
Crack—crack!
Fissures spider-webbed across the orb’s surface before it shattered with a burst, scattering fragments.
What emerged was—
[It has been far too long. Breathing the air of the Human World once more.]
A Demon with bat-like wings and a tail.
* * *
Michael hurried to find Gabriel.
He needed to know whether the plan was proceeding.
[How goes it? Have you made contact with the player Nemesis selected?]
[Of course. I met with him as planned and handed over the Demon’s Resurrection Grimoire. I deceived him into believing it was a book capable of warping him to the Heavenly Realm.]
[Did he believe it?]
[He did. Without the slightest suspicion.]
‘Tch. So Gabriel’s strategy unfolded exactly as intended.’
This was troubling.
If the human I hired approached Black Scythe and activated the grimoire, my aspirations would end here.
No matter how formidable Black Scythe was, once he became the grimoire’s sacrifice, it would be over.
Gabriel, perhaps misinterpreting Michael’s worried expression, spoke in a calm tone.
[Do not worry, Michael. The operation will proceed smoothly.]
[Is there no possibility of failure?]
[Who am I? I deliberately told him it only activates when pressed directly against the body to minimize the chance of failure.]
[Then he will try to keep it as close as possible when using it.]
[Precisely. Originally, it activates within a 10-meter radius.]
When the hired player uses the book, all players within a 10-meter range are drawn into the orb as sacrifices.
Even Black Scythe is no exception.
[I suspect Black Scythe’s soul has already become a sacrifice to the grimoire and now rests in the Demon Archduke’s embrace. Since we’ve presented him with such a magnificent offering, the Archduke will harbor no resentment even if the grimoire was used carelessly.]
[That would be so.]
Michael answered readily enough, yet his expression remained clouded.
His concern was purely about whether Black Scythe would perish.
[Are you still worried?]
[You did conceal the Item Information properly, yes? You transmitted the object and the activation word accurately?]
[Of course. I saved the information window before handing over the grimoire. Would you like to verify it?]
[Do so.]
Before Michael’s eyes materialized the item information window that Simple Mukbang had received.
[Demon’s Resurrection Grimoire]
-Classification: Consumable
-Grade: God
-Effect: Manifestation of the Demon Archduke
-Usage Restriction: Master Tier or Above
-Description: An item capable of devouring sacrifices within a 10-meter radius to summon a manifestation of the Demon Archduke. However, the summoned manifestation is one-hundredth as powerful as the original.

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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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