The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 244

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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 244
244. Min Ju-ri’s Courage
‘I told John to lie low for a while, so he shouldn’t have any trouble with Berber, right?’
When I informed John that Berber was eyeing the position of next cult leader, his reaction was explosive.
-I knew it! What should we do, Master! Should we drag that traitorous bastard here right now and flay him alive?
-Don’t get worked up, John. What good comes from killing him that way? Nothing but self-satisfaction.
I calmed the enraged slave and ordered him to hide in Messiah’s Cabin for the time being.
‘They’re all dead men anyway once Round 15 arrives. Whether it’s Berber or the Despair Cult.’
I had no intention of letting the murderers who killed Christine’s followers live unpunished.
Even if I killed them, I planned to use them for clearing the round first, then end them.
[We will be arriving at Incheon International Airport shortly.]
Upon arriving in Korea, I called before heading home.
I had seen a text message from Min Ju-ri.
“Hey, Ju-ri. You said you had something to tell me. Want to meet now? Alright. See you there.”
After the call ended, I drove my Lamborghini toward the meeting place.
But on the way, Min Ju-ri’s voice from earlier kept echoing in my mind.
‘Is something wrong? Her voice sounded really down…’
Well, people can’t always be in a good mood.
Sometimes it’s like this, sometimes like that.
‘I don’t know what she wants to talk about, but it works out. I needed to explain the strategy anyway. I should give her the invisibility potion too.’
The invisibility potion would help make the first mission of Round 15 safer to clear.
I had already given one bottle to Christine and another to John Delgado.
‘If I give Min Ju-ri one more, that leaves two bottles.’
After deliberating, I decided to give them to Seo A-rin and Yamtti.
They were members who would definitely be helpful if kept alive.
After driving for about thirty minutes, I arrived at the cafe we had agreed on.
Ding—
As I opened the door and stepped inside, I saw Min Ju-ri already waiting.
“Oh, you were already here…”
But something seemed off about her expression.
I sat across from her and asked with concern.
“Ju-ri.”
“Oh… you came?”
“Did you wait long?”
Min Ju-ri shook her head slightly.
She wouldn’t even look at me.
As if she lacked the courage to meet my eyes.
‘What’s this? Like someone who’s done something wrong.’
It wasn’t that she was avoiding eye contact because she had done something wrong.
Rather, she was afraid that if our eyes met, she wouldn’t be able to control her emotions.
‘Why is she like that?’
I’d been trying to avoid reading Min Ju-ri’s thoughts, but I couldn’t leave things as they were.
I needed to understand what was happening.
About ten seconds had passed since I read her true feelings?
‘Ah.’
I’d figured out the reason.
A reason that made me want to sigh.
‘While I was in the United States, she came to my home with Seo A-rin.’
In that process, Min Ju-ri had misunderstood.
That I’d gone to meet my Japanese girlfriend.
‘Ryu Won, that idiot said something unnecessary… No, this isn’t the time to blame my younger brother. I’m the one who created this misunderstanding.’
Between us flowed only silence, but the situation was now clear.
I needed to untangle this twisted knot.
“Ju-ri. Why does your expression look like that? Did something bad happen?”
For now, I pretended not to know and broached the subject gently.
It would be more natural to guide her to speak first rather than immediately deny the misunderstanding.
“That is…”
Min Ju-ri, who had been hesitating over her answer, finally opened her mouth.
Her gaze still cast downward.
“You went… overseas, didn’t you?”
“Huh? How did you know that?”
“You wouldn’t answer my calls, so I wondered if something was wrong and went to your home. Your younger brother was there…”
“Ah, you met my younger brother? His name is Ryu Won, he’s four years younger—my only family. You must not have met him before, right?”
It wasn’t the first time, but Min Ju-ri nodded anyway.
“Right… I was confused that you had a younger brother, but he said something even more confusing.”
‘Is she about to get to the main point?’
I swallowed hard and asked.
“What did he say?”
“That you have a girlfriend? A Japanese one…”
“Ah, that’s…”
“How could you do that to me?”
Min Ju-ri, who hadn’t met my eyes until now, finally looked up.
Tears were already glistening in her eyes.
“If you have a girlfriend, you should have told me. Did I really have to hear it from someone else’s mouth?”
“No, it’s…”
“Do you know how shocked and surprised I was? Aren’t we friends? If you’re dating someone, you should at least tell me about it.”
“…”
Watching her speak in rapid succession while tears rolled down like pearls, a thought crossed my mind.
‘She’s this upset just because I supposedly hid a girlfriend. What would happen if she found out I’m Black Scythe…”
Wouldn’t she think I’d been toying with her all this time and refuse to even look at me again?
Simply because I hid my true identity from my closest friend.
‘Now that I think about it, this is terrifying.’
I had decided to keep my identity hidden from Min Ju-ri above all else, but her sharp gaze pierced through me.
“When did you two start dating? Why did you hide it from me?”
Watching Min Ju-ri glare at me as if I were a cheating lover caught red-handed, I waved my hands frantically with an unsettling feeling.
“Wait. It’s a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?”
As I finally got a chance to explain, I spoke calmly.
“To be clear, I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“You don’t?”
“I went on a trip to Japan before, and after that I started staying out late frequently. My younger brother saw that and misunderstood on his own—he thought I had a Japanese girlfriend.”
“So… it was all your brother’s misunderstanding? You don’t have a girlfriend?”
I nodded with sincerity in my eyes.
“Right. I haven’t even been to Japan since then.”
“Why didn’t you just tell your brother the truth?”
“I didn’t want to explain at length, so I just let him misunderstand. I never expected you’d react like this, though…”
“…”
At the word “react,” Min Ju-ri imagined what her own face must look like.
‘Oh… what do I do.’
She had made a spectacle of herself, crying without even knowing it was a misunderstanding.
Realizing belatedly that her reaction had been excessive, she lowered her head again.
She didn’t have the courage to lift it.
“I… I see… I misunderstood. S… sorry.”
“No, I’m the one who’s sorry. For causing the misunderstanding.”
As I apologized, Min Ju-ri’s shoulders shrank even further.
‘So this is what it feels like to want to disappear into a mouse hole.’
The anger had dissipated, but the embarrassment was all hers to bear.
‘Idiot, fool! Why on earth did I get so angry? He’s not even my boyfriend…!’
As Min Ju-ri reflected on her own behavior with self-reproach, she lifted her head.
“I’m sorry. For showing you such an ugly side of me. You must have been shocked when I suddenly cried, right?”
“I was a bit taken aback, but it’s fine. These things happen.”
I forced a casual smile to move past the situation, but Min Ju-ri seemed unwilling to let it go, rambling on.
“It might seem strange, but please don’t think it’s weird. I thought you were lying, and my emotions overwhelmed me, so I cried… but this isn’t something I should cry about, so why did I cry…?”
She was desperately trying to make me understand her actions.
Afraid I might misinterpret her tears as something strange.
But Min Ju-ri soon realized something.
No matter what she said now, it would only seem stranger.
No amount of excuses could make me understand at this point.
‘In that case, perhaps…’
A long silence followed.
Ryu Min tried to hide his bewilderment.
Min Ju-ri’s thoughts came through without any filter.
‘No. This can’t happen.’
“Min.”
She suddenly looked at him with serious eyes and opened her mouth, but Ryu Min couldn’t stop her.
If he could, he would have stopped her.
He wanted to scream at her not to say it.
“I have something to tell you….”
But knowing that Min Ju-ri had gathered her courage, he couldn’t bring himself to stop her.
“Since it’s come to this, I’ll say it. I actually….”
“Wait. We haven’t even ordered anything to drink yet. What would you like? Let me go order….”
“Don’t go! This is important.”
“….”
I tried to slip away discreetly, but it failed.
Min Ju-ri took one more step forward with her courage.
“like you.”
“Huh?”
I pretended not to hear, but it was useless.
“I like you.”
“….”
In the end, I received a confession.
Honestly, I never expected it to come to this.
‘I came here to clear up a misunderstanding, and instead I get a confession….’
I could see seven seconds into the future, but I couldn’t do anything about it.
There was no way to change Min Ju-ri’s mind once she had made her decision.
‘This is the worst.’
It’s not that I dislike Min Ju-ri.
I admit she’s a truly wonderful friend.
She’s also an essential presence as a Buffer.
But she’s not someone I could accept a romantic confession from.
After all, I’m someone who repeated regressions and spent decades of time with only survival as my purpose.
There was no way I could afford romantic entanglements.
‘I have no romantic feelings anyway, and besides, clearing Round 20 is far more important.’
As Ryu Min remained silent for a while, Min Ju-ri spoke with a flushed face.
“Y-you’re surprised, right? I’m sorry for confessing so suddenly. But to explain why I was crying, I had no choice but to reveal my feelings.”
“So you cried because you like me.”
“…y-yes.”
“I understand.”
As I nodded in acknowledgment, Min Ju-ri was taken aback instead.
“Th-that’s all you have to say?”
“….”
“Nothing else to say?”
“Want me to order coffee? What would you like to eat?”
“….”
I hadn’t spoken directly, but I’d already answered her confession.
‘Pretending not to hear, gently declining as if nothing happened—that’s the best thing I can do for Min Ju-ri.’
But that was what I didn’t understand.
“Why are you pretending not to know?”
Min Ju-ri had no intention of letting this slide so easily.
She wanted a clear answer.
“You heard what I said.”
“Ah, that… that thing?”
“That I like you. Ever since we became classmates.”
“….”
“What do you think of me?”
“Before I answer… I have a question.”
I asked, desperately trying to avoid giving an answer.
“Why would you ever like someone like me?”
“What’s wrong with you!”
Min Ju-ri bristled as if it were her own problem, her voice rising.
Though she seemed to notice the people around us and lowered her voice again.
“You… you’re living so hard, trying your best. Whether the delinquents beat you or not.”
“How did you know the delinquents beat me?”
“You wouldn’t know, but I happened to witness it once. You being bullied in an alley. After seeing that, I even called the police a few times.”
“I see.”
“After the police left, I was so worried that I followed you without thinking, and that’s when I saw you working at the Meat Restaurant. Even after taking such a beating, you were working your part-time job like nothing happened.”
This was Min Ju-ri’s first confession in this cycle, but I already knew.
What part of me she loved.
‘She must have found it refreshing and attractive—the way I worked despite being injured. But…’
Back then, I had no choice but to work through the pain.
Just as I did now, out of sheer necessity for survival.
‘I’m grateful she saw that in a good light. But isn’t this a hasty misunderstanding rather than love?’
Above all, I had changed.
The pure Ryu Min from back then no longer existed.
All that remained was a monster determined to conquer the rounds by slaughtering thousands of players, monsters, and Angels.
‘That’s why it can’t work. You and me.’
I slowly opened my mouth to answer Min Ju-ri, who waited quietly.
“I’m sorry.”
“….”
“It was so sudden that I panicked without meaning to.”
“So what do you think…?”
“I….”
As Ryu Min paused, Min Ju-ri’s lips grew parched.

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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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