The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 272

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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 272
272. Strategy Simulation Game
Any South Korean man has played a strategy simulation game at least once.
“You know? That game where you mine minerals. Think of it like that.”
Ryu Min was explaining to the followers.
How easy it was to achieve victory in war.
“Don’t overthink it. See here? The troop section. You press this, then press it like this….”
“It says troop enhancement?”
“Can we strengthen soldiers using gold?”
“That’s right.”
With direct explanations while pointing at the screen, they grasped it quickly.
“The commander—the player—can spend gold to upgrade or add equipment to troops. If you’re short on soldiers, you can also hire mercenaries. Of course, that costs gold too.”
“So the more commanders you have, the more advantageous it would be?”
“Exactly. You’d have that much more gold.”
Having more commanders was naturally advantageous.
Just as installing multiple CPUs in a server computer increases performance, having more heads when devising strategy is beneficial.
And right now, the difference in gold was widening too.
Yet the players’ faces still bore shadows of concern.
And for good reason—they’d seen the prices.
“A thousand gold just to upgrade one soldier’s weapon?”
“Then, then for ten thousand soldiers, that’s ten million gold?”
“This, these prices are absolutely absurd!”
Hiring additional mercenaries was even worse.
“Ten thousand gold just to add one veteran mercenary?”
“That’s, that’s way too expensive!”
No matter how many heads they had, the gold the followers possessed fell far short.
“Let, let’s each open our gold. How much do you have?”
“I have 1.3 million gold.”
“I have 1.1 million gold….”
No player held more than two million gold.
They only had this much because everyone received one million gold as a reward from round sixteen.
Then a player skilled in calculation spoke in exasperation.
“If everyone has one million gold, all of us combined only have about 300 million gold….”
“300 million? What can we do with that?”
“The Kingdom has 30,000 troops….”
“So hiring 30,000 mercenaries and we’re done?”
Kingdom’s troop count: 30,000 VS Holy Empire’s troop count: 320,000.
A difference exceeding tenfold.
Could this gap be bridged by merely adding 30,000 mercenaries?
Could that alone shift the tide of war to favor the Kingdom?
People shook their heads in dismay.
We were overwhelmingly outnumbered.
Some even muttered that we were doomed, lamenting our situation.
Unable to bear it any longer, Ryu Min clicked his tongue and spoke.
“I told you. There’s no need to worry.”
“Black Scythe. Do you have some kind of plan…?”
“Do you know how much gold I have?”
When the people shook their heads, Ryu Min opened his mouth.
“6 billion.”
“Gasp!”
“Really? Is that true?”
“That much…?”
In truth, it was close to 10 billion, but I deliberately understated it.
I had set my budget for this round at 6 billion.
‘Besides, it creates a better impression to appear as though I’m pouring everything in rather than leaving money behind.’
Even the halved amount was enough to astound everyone.
“Surely you don’t intend to invest all 6 billion…?”
“I will. Considering the rewards we’ll receive upon victory, it’s worth it.”
Hope bloomed across the faces of those who had been in despair.
Some gazed at Ryu Min as if he were a god himself.
“Then we have nothing to worry about. If Black Scythe alone uses all 6 billion…”
“No, I can’t use it all by myself.”
“What?”
The people looked confused, but they soon understood the reason.
“There’s a limit to how much gold each individual can spend.”
“Huh?”
“How much exactly?”
“Each person can only spend up to 100 million gold. I’m not sure why such a restriction exists.”
I said I didn’t know, but I had a rough idea.
‘The system probably never anticipated that a player would have more than 100 million gold at this point.’
Yet here I stood with nearly 10 billion.
I couldn’t spend it all by myself.
“Since there’s a gold limit, I can’t use it all alone. So from now on, I plan to distribute 20 million gold to each of you. Everyone, accept my trade.”
Ryu Min sent trade requests to each player, distributing 20 million gold to each.
However, I gave Min Ju-ri and Christine more than that.
“Wait, didn’t you give us too much?”
“Why so much…?”
It was natural to be surprised since I gave them double what I promised.
But there was a reason.
“You two should spend all of it. That way, you’ll be able to receive ranking rewards.”
“Ah…!”
This round’s rankings were determined by the order of gold consumption.
That’s why I’d given those two particularly large sums.
To ensure they’d secure second and third place this time as well.
‘But I can’t hand over first place.’
If I spent 100 million gold on my own, first place was mine for the taking.
Distributing it among the remaining 285 people like this consumed 5.75 billion gold.
“You understand what you need to do with the money I just gave you, right?”
“Yes!”
“Spend it however you see fit. Upgrade weapons or armor, hire mercenaries—however you do it, as long as you pour every last gold coin I’ve given you into the war effort, the tide will turn in our favor. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
Ryu Min’s words carried a power that compelled obedience.
It wasn’t a metaphor—such a power genuinely existed.
It was thanks to the temporary skill Ryu Min possessed.
[Temporary Skill – Commander]
-Effect: A passive skill that applies at all times, compelling players to obey your commands. Limited to Round 17; the commands dissolve when the round ends.
‘With this, there’s no chance anyone will disobey.’
No one would use the gold I’d given them for personal gain or hoard it unused.
The skill’s effect was absolute.
‘Now I’ll leave the war to the 285 commanders here…’
Ryu Min gazed out beyond the Barracks.
While the war raged, I had something else to do.
‘I need to hunt a dragon in the Dragon Lair.’
An opportunity to obtain a title, runes, and a newly-acquired god-rank accessory didn’t come often.
‘But first, I’ll spend that 100 million gold.’
Ryu Min approached the status board and used 100 million gold to add 10,000 troops.
After a satisfied smile, I stepped outside the Barracks and soared into the sky.
To claim the reward that was a dragon.

* * *
[Player Cobalt Blue has joined the Holy Empire faction.]
[You have obtained the qualifications of a Holy Empire commander.]
[You will be transported to the Command Barracks immediately.]
Cobalt Blue entered the Holy Empire Barracks alone, a smile playing across his face.
It was no mistake.
I knew exactly what I had done.
‘I’ve betrayed Black Scythe.’
Not just Black Scythe, but everyone in the Saesin Religion as well.
‘Everyone except me probably chose the Kingdom Alliance.’
I’d heard it from Black Scythe himself.
The Holy Empire was overwhelmingly powerful.
Yet people still chose the Kingdom Alliance.
Because Black Scythe had ordered them to.
‘But my thinking is different. Black Scythe will definitely come to the Holy Empire.’
Black Scythe had forced people to choose the Kingdom Alliance.
Solely because the rewards were substantial despite the disadvantage.
‘He tells us to choose the Kingdom Alliance without even explaining how we’re supposed to win the war? There’s definitely something fishy going on.’
That’s when Cobalt Blue began to suspect.
That Black Scythe was lying.
‘He’s pushing people toward the disadvantageous side while he slips away to the favorable Holy Empire for himself. I’m certain of it.’
How could I be so sure?
Because that’s what I would do.
If I were to stab someone in the back, now would be the perfect opportunity.
‘Of course, I can’t imagine what reason Black Scythe would have to betray us, but….’
Cobalt Blue was convinced.
There had to be some reason.
‘For instance, if the side with fewer players wins, they receive proportionally massive rewards… There must be some benefit like that.’
Honestly, I didn’t know for sure.
It was merely speculation born from suspicion.
Just like the ‘faction’ business I’d reported to Heo Tae-sik.
‘I didn’t actually hear it properly. I only caught fragments of their conversation—whether it was a faction or something else.’
Yet I’d heard him ask for my allegiance, and I’d given a detailed statement about it.
Even adding my personal opinion that he was building a faction.
It was surprising that the cult leader accepted it so readily, but well, that’s ancient history now.
I don’t even want to think about the cult leader anymore.
‘If I’m going to report something, they should give me something in return. Not even a pittance. Tsk.’
I’d reported it expecting at least some small reward, but it seems that was just wishful thinking.
‘That’s why you shouldn’t help those with black hair.’
Cobalt Blue, having decided not to trust anyone with black hair, extended that distrust to Black Scythe as well.
As a result, anticipating that Black Scythe would betray him, he chose the Holy Empire.
Driven solely by his own narrow thinking and suspicion, he had betrayed Black Scythe, who had called his name in Round 16.
‘Anyone looking at this would say the same thing. Did he really stake his life on such uncertainty?’
But Cobalt Blue harbored no regrets.
‘As long as I survive on my own, that’s what matters, isn’t it?’
When it came to strategic simulation games, he was confident in himself more than anyone.
That was when it happened.
A figure materialized before his eyes with a soft whisper.
Another person had entered the Barracks.
‘Is that Black Scythe?’
He thought his suspicions had been vindicated—that Black Scythe had deceived everyone and chosen the Holy Empire.
He felt a surge of satisfaction, but his smile quickly faded.
It wasn’t Black Scythe. It was someone else.
“Huh? Oh, there was one more person?”
“Who are you?”
“I’m Chris. My nickname is [Christian].”
A nickname he’d never heard before.
At least it wasn’t someone with black hair, which was reassuring.
“Why did you choose the Holy Empire?”
“And why did you?”
“I asked first.”
“Well…”
Cobalt Blue, who had been listening quietly, let out a soft chuckle.
His reasoning was the same as his own.
“Did you also find Black Scythe suspicious?”
“Yes. Choosing the disadvantageous Kingdom Alliance side… I wondered if we’d all die together like that.”
“So you decided to choose according to your own judgment instead?”
“Exactly. Besides, I suspected Black Scythe might stand on the opposite side this time.”
In the end, this person had also thrown caution to the wind out of suspicion toward Black Scythe, just like him.
“But it’s just us two? Where’s Black Scythe?”
“He should arrive soon, shouldn’t he?”
But contrary to their expectations, the message revealed a different outcome.
[Faction selection has ended.]
[Faction Selection Status]
└Holy Empire: 2 people
└Kingdom Alliance: 286 people
“W-wait, everyone except us two went to the Kingdom Alliance?”
“That means Black Scythe is over there too…”
Christian stood dumbfounded, but Cobalt Blue quickly shook off his worry.
Christian was bewildered, but Cobalt Blue quickly shook off his concern.
“At this point, we have no choice. The two of us will have to kill every last one of them.”
“How are we supposed to win against 286 soldiers?”
“Why couldn’t we? It’s a game decided by strategy, not raw power.”
Cobalt Blue brimmed with confidence.
When it came to strategic simulation games, he had already reached a professional-level skill.
“No matter how many obsolete CPUs you stack together, trash is still trash. It can never compare to a single high-performance CPU. Hehe.”
Cobalt Blue gazed at the battle display with a smile, observing the blue dots that matched his name.
With this much military force, he could crush any Kingdom and still have strength to spare.
“Well then, shall we begin the battle… huh?”
Cobalt Blue stopped mid-sentence and blinked his eyes.
Suddenly, red dots multiplied without end.
“This… this can’t be right? Is the screen broken?”
He tapped the screen thinking it might be malfunctioning, but the red dots continued to multiply in real time with each blink.
Like cells dividing.
“W-what is this? Why are the enemy numbers increasing?”
“I… I don’t know either.”
“They’ve nearly doubled our forces!”
The 30,000 soldiers had swelled to 600,000 before they knew it.
Sweat poured down both their faces.
‘Is… is the Holy Empire really at an advantage here?’
Cobalt Blue began to suspect Angel.
Unaware that suspicion would breed anger.
Then the Kingdom Alliance launched their charge first.
Chris cried out in panic.
“C-come on! You said you were good at games! Come up with a strategy!”
“U-uh, w-well, th-that is…”
What strategy could there be when double their numbers were bearing down on them?
Cobalt Blue panicked, at a complete loss.
He could only watch as the two forces clashed.
‘O-our forces are dwindling rapidly.’
Not only were the enemy numbers overwhelming, but their weapons and armor were also superior in quality.
Otherwise, how could his soldiers fall like reeds in the wind?
‘W-we’re finished. If this continues, we’ll be annihilated.’
Cobalt Blue immediately issued a retreat order.
There was no time to devise strategies using terrain or anything else.
He could only focus on escape.
The Holy Empire’s first battle ended in a crushing defeat.

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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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