The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 296

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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 296
296. Round 19 Begins
Confusion flickered across Ryu Min’s face.
It was obvious that she was misunderstanding the situation between us.
“Wait a moment!”
Ryu Min hurried out through the entrance and grabbed Min Ju-ri’s arm.
Before he could speak, she beat him to it.
Her gaze averted.
“I’m sorry for showing up without warning. I didn’t realize you two were… together. Sorry for interrupting your time.”
“What are you talking about? Together? You’ve got this all wrong…”
“I was foolish. If a beautiful actress lives next door, I should have been cautious or suspicious, but I was so careless…”
“Get a grip and listen to me. We’re not what you think we are.”
At Ryu Min’s explanation, Min Ju-ri lifted her gaze.
Then, as if demanding only the truth, she locked eyes with him and spoke.
“You’re really not dating?”
“No.”
“Not even flirting?”
“I said no.”
“Then why are you in the same home? Why are you in the same room?”
“We were just talking. She said she had something to ask me.”
…
Min Ju-ri, who had been staring intently as if trying to see through his true feelings, suddenly lowered her head.
Embarrassment washed over her belatedly.
Judging by the unwavering clarity in Ryu Min’s eyes, there didn’t seem to be a shred of deception.
Moreover, Seo A-rin appeared and lent weight to Ryu Min’s claim.
“That’s right. We were just talking in the room. Nothing happened.”
The misunderstanding was now definitively confirmed.
With that settled, Min Ju-ri found herself too embarrassed to even lift her head.
“Ah… I misunderstood when there’s nothing between you two. I’m really sorry…”
Ryu Min was about to say it was fine, but Seo A-rin spoke faster.
“It’s not a misunderstanding.”
…
“Seo A-rin?”
“I like Ryu Min.”
At Seo A-rin’s bombshell confession, Min Ju-ri’s head snapped up.
“What… did you just say?”
“I said I like Ryu Min.”
Min Ju-ri’s mind cleared instantly.
The peace she had barely recovered shattered in an instant.
Ryu Min felt the same way.
‘What are you doing? Why would you say that?’
I had known Seo A-rin’s feelings long ago, but I never expected her to confess in such a manner.
Surprisingly, Seo A-rin herself remained composed after dropping this bombshell confession.
“You’re both shocked, aren’t you? I apologize. But if I don’t speak now, I feel I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”
“A-are you serious? You’re not joking?”
Min Ju-ri asked, hoping it was all a lie.
But Seo A-rin wasn’t the type to joke about something like this.
“Would I joke in a situation like this if I were insane? I’m serious. I’ve genuinely come to like Ryu Min.”
“….”
“I’m sorry to you, Min Ju-ri. I know it too. That you like Ryu Min.”
“You knew?”
“Anyone who isn’t an idiot would notice that much.”
“….”
“I heard you were classmates in High School, so have you been harboring unrequited feelings since back then?”
Min Ju-ri’s eyes narrowed.
“I’d rather not discuss that.”
“So you won’t give information to your rival, is that it?”
“Beyond that, it’s just unpleasant. Suddenly prying for information like this, and deliberately talking about how you like Ryu Min in front of me—it’s all irritating.”
Faced with Min Ju-ri’s cold demeanor, Seo A-rin didn’t back down easily.
“I apologize. I had no intention of upsetting you. It’s just that if I don’t speak now, I feel there won’t be another chance. Since you’ve experienced unrequited love yourself, you understand, don’t you? Isn’t it better to at least try rather than watch helplessly as someone takes what you want? That way, there’s no regret.”
“….”
Min Ju-ri said nothing.
She simply stared coldly at Seo A-rin.
Seo A-rin did the same.
She held her head high and met the gaze unflinchingly, as if declaring she would no longer merely observe from the sidelines.
Watching these two suddenly enter into a bidding war, I sighed.
‘Sigh… please, not in the Apartment Hallway.’

* * *
July 1st, thirty minutes before midnight.
Ryu Min lay in bed, preparing for entry into Round 19.
Other players were likely lying in their own homes just as I was.
But unlike before, they would be anxious.
There was no information about Round 19 whatsoever.
‘Though they probably aren’t as anxious as I am.’
It wasn’t as if I had any reason to be anxious with the information I possessed, yet surprisingly, I did.
The reason was none other than Seo A-rin and Min Ju-ri.
I worried they might cause trouble even in the Other World.
‘Ever since then, it seems like they haven’t even spoken to each other… Why are they like this? Can’t they just get along?’
I understood the tension between two people competing over one man they both liked.
If he were truly a man they didn’t want to lose, I could see it happening.
But what about the man’s feelings?
My own anxiety about what might happen because of their friction?
‘I can’t reject both of them either, so….’
If I pushed them away carelessly, they might suffer emotional damage.
There was no guarantee that wouldn’t affect our party gameplay.
‘With Round 20 just around the corner, I can’t afford to mess this up.’
In times like these, the best approach was to maintain neutrality rather than choose either side.
It was also true that I had no personal feelings toward either of them.
‘Don’t fight over me like you’re trying to kill each other. You’re both precious comrades and assets to me.’
As I spent time worrying like this, midnight arrived before I knew it.
Flash—
The moment I closed my eyes and opened them again, a familiar sight unfolded.
The Monochrome Space, a sight no different from before.
“We’ve already made it to Round 19.”
“But is this really all the players?”
“It looks surprisingly small.”
Players who had arrived early surveyed their surroundings and sighed.
It would normally have been crowded, but with only 143 players, it was possible to count heads with the naked eye.
“So these are all the players in the entire world….”
Still, the fact that over a hundred remained at the end was a remarkable achievement.
In the previous iteration, there were only three including myself.
‘But this many people will be cut in half by this round.’
I felt regretful, but it couldn’t be helped.
The system’s power was absolute.
Even I, possessing divinity, was no exception.
[Greetings, humans.]
Angel appeared from Heaven with the familiar flash of light.
[Welcome to Round 19. You’re finally just one round away from the very end, but unfortunately, not all 143 of you can survive this time. Just like before, only half can make it through.]
Angel rarely opened with such regret.
Yet she adopted this deferential tone for one reason alone: Ryu Min.
He might kill her if she upset him.
Wasn’t she glancing nervously at him even now, gauging his mood?
[Ahem, well then, let me reveal the Quest without further preamble.]
As Angel flapped her wings, a message window materialized before all the players.
◀ ROUND 19 ▶
【Quest】
└Survive in the Fantasy World for 72 hours
[Integrated Zone CA-EA001]
└Participants: 143
└Achievers: 0/72
The players who saw the mission for the first time widened their eyes.
“72 hours?”
“We have to survive a full three days?”
“And there’s no sub-quest either.”
In some respects, it was an extraordinarily simple Quest.
[As you can see, the Quest is straightforward. You simply need to endure in the Fantasy World for the 72-hour time limit. However, not everyone can survive. Only half—72 people—can make it. The rest will be eliminated.]
The players nodded, finding this much acceptable.
But the moment they heard what came next, their expressions hardened like stone.
[However, if more than 72 survivors remain, everyone will be eliminated. So you must be careful that the number doesn’t exceed 72 when time runs out. If even one person exceeds the quota, the mission fails and you all die.]
“Everyone dies…?”
“So if 73 or more of us survive, we all die together?”
[Precisely.]
“In other words… you’re telling us to keep the survivor count at 72 or below?”
“Is this a cooperative Quest?”
“Wait, hold on, Angel. This doesn’t make sense. How are we supposed to control the number of survivors?”
At someone’s question, Angel smiled brightly.
[How? By killing each other to adjust the numbers.]
“….”
Indeed, the Quest was designed to incite mutual slaughter.
[I think you’re misunderstanding something. You are not a party. This round is purely individual competition. Each of you must survive the 72 hours on your own.]
But if more than 72 people remain alive when the 72 hours end, that becomes a problem.
Because that would trigger the worst-case scenario: everyone’s death.
[What matters is the headcount when the round ends. You must kill each other if necessary to keep the numbers at 72 or below, or face the worst outcome.]
In some ways, it resembled the deadly Round 4.
In the sense that you had to kill your allies to survive.
Though certain details differed, of course.
[You might think this is similar to Round 4, but in this round, the dead do not revive. Once you die, that’s the end.]
“The end…?”
“Skills won’t work either?”
[Of course, you can be revived through skills or potions. However, if you don’t come back to life within 10 minutes of dying, the system will consider revival impossible and immediately erase you from that spot. Unlike before, you’ll be eliminated right away.]
Normally, erasure happened all at once during the final settlement, but this time was different.
[Another point is that you can track each other whenever you wish.]
“Track each other?”
[Once the round begins, your nicknames, faces, and distances from one another will appear in real-time on the Quest progress window. You can easily find other people by looking at that. The system is being considerate to make tracking convenient.]
It was a round that, while called tracking, essentially encouraged murder.
‘They’re basically setting up a stage for us to kill each other.’
‘How am I supposed to sleep when I’m this anxious…?’
‘I’ll have to stay vigilant all four hours.’
‘Ugh, sleep is out of the question.’
The players, thinking such thoughts, began eyeing each other warily and gradually increased the distance between them.
No matter how much they were comrades of the Saesin Religion who had weathered life and death together, they were still individuals.
Someone might suddenly draw a blade to reduce the numbers.
Watching the people already becoming cautious of one another, Ryu Min sighed inwardly.
‘It had to come to this. They can’t remain comrades forever.’
For players with their lives at stake, it was their fate to obey whenever the system commanded.
Now that yesterday’s allies had become today’s enemies, I observed my acquaintances.
On the surface, I maintained composure, but internally, turbulent and complicated thoughts stirred.
‘Will they be alright? I hope they don’t waste time with unnecessary thoughts.’
I was especially worried about Min Ju-ri and Seo A-rin.
As long as they didn’t fight to the death with each other, that would be fortunate.
Though inwardly anxious, I wasn’t overly concerned.
I had issued orders to my slaves as a precaution.
I had no intention of merely hunting either.
[For 72 hours, feel free to run or hunt as you please. However, you won’t be able to use the Village, so you’ll need to figure out food and water on your own. There’s a nice saying in the human world called self-sufficiency, you know? Hehe….]
Angel, who had been giggling, stiffened in alarm upon seeing Ryu Min’s terrifying expression.
[Oh, and by the way, the ranking measurement method is a secret, and that concludes the explanation. Now I’ll be moving you all to the Fantasy World. Your starting locations will be randomly distributed, so you don’t need to worry about getting stabbed right away. Then, I’ll see you all alive in 72 hours. Goodbye!]

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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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