The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 348

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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 348
348. The Full Story of Events (3)
After hearing Min Do-jun’s detailed design, Gaia sought out Chaos.
And she spoke as though it were her own creation.
[Incorporating a game system familiar to humans? That’s quite a good idea.]
[Please don’t flatter me with empty words.]
[No, it’s not empty flattery—I mean it sincerely. You have genuine talent in this field. That must be why you were born with the power of creation.]
[Then I’ll proceed with this understanding and begin construction.]
[Come check with me from time to time like you have been. I need to see whether the system is being built properly.]
Chaos laughed as Gaia turned away without responding.
‘She’s bringing ideas directly. How unexpected.’
He believed his threats had worked, but he didn’t know the truth.
Gaia was collaborating with Min Do-jun to design a weapon against him.

* * *
Over a long period, the system was completed.
A space in the Other World was created to progress through Round 20, and within it, life was brought into existence to live like NPCs.
Humans, elves, dwarves, kingdoms, empires, monsters, and more.
Following Min Do-jun’s advice, they were created by referencing game fantasy novels familiar to humans.
Though these creations were made for the rounds, they were nonetheless real, living beings that moved and breathed.
‘Now the preparations are complete.’
Using Chronos’s power, I created a rune of time reversal and set it to affect a random human.
Though I didn’t know who would be chosen, that human would undergo deification through 100 returns and be reborn as a transcendent existence.
‘Will a human truly be able to kill the Divine Beings according to my design and achieve a second deification?’
Normally, it would be impossible for one Divine Being to steal another’s Terra, but Gaia was undoubtedly the Goddess of Creation.
She could design the impossible to become possible.
After all, the other Divine Beings were creatures she herself had birthed.
‘To break free from Chaos’s shackles, I must sacrifice the Divine Beings to strengthen humanity….’
There was no choice.
To escape Chaos’s bondage, I had to enhance the human.
Until they killed Divine Beings and accumulated 10 billion Terra, gaining the power to crush Chaos.
Of course, I wouldn’t let them fight alone.
‘If Chronos and I provide support, it won’t be impossible to annihilate Chaos.’
Gaia yearned.
‘Weapon against Chaos, please grow into a blade sharp enough to sever the neck of a god, exactly as I have designed….’

* * *
Some time later, the Third Heavenly Demon War commenced.
The outcome was predictable.
The Demon Tribe claimed victory once more, and the defeated Celestial Tribe initiated the program for the first time.
Though their reluctance to cultivate humans was evident in their expressions.
‘Excellent. The rune of temporal regression has entered a human as designed.’
Among billions of humans, one had earned the fortune of possessing the rune.
That fortunate human progressed through the rounds across one hundred returns.
Thus far, everything unfolded according to plan.
Yet variables have a way of arriving unforeseen.
‘After one hundred returns, and still unable to clear Round 20?’
The human had failed to develop as intended.
For an ordinary human to endure one hundred returns was no trivial feat.
Of course, Gaia possessed no memory of the previous cycles.
Regression affected even Gaia herself.
She could only estimate how many times the human had returned by observing the usage count inscribed upon the rune.
‘Blast it, squandering all opportunities without even reaching Round 20….’
Though cultivating the human had proven a failure, Gaia refused to despair.
Another Heavenly Demon War awaited, and perhaps the human in that conflict might succeed.
And so the Fourth Heavenly Demon War began.
The Celestial Tribe, inferior in military strength, suffered defeat once again.
Four consecutive losses for the Celestial Tribe, spanning from the first to the fourth war.
Naturally, the Divine Beings had ceased placing their hopes upon the Celestial Tribe.
[The Demon Tribe will win again, surely?]
[Of course they will?]
[Who knows? Perhaps the Celestial Tribe will cultivate their human mercenary well and bring them to the final round.]
[How strong could a human mercenary possibly be?]
[Still, one never knows—I should wager on the Celestial Tribe with their higher odds.]
[I’ll play it safe and bet on the Demon Tribe.]
The Divine Beings unanimously predicted the Demon Tribe’s victory, and the defeated Celestial Tribe sought another Earth to initiate their human abduction program.
Yet despite their expectations, no human emerged who could clear Round 20, and they anticipated the Celestial Tribe would fall to defeat once more.
Then an upset occurred.
In the Fifth Heavenly Demon War, the Celestial Tribe achieved victory for the first time, overcoming an overwhelming disadvantage.
Without any aid from their human mercenary.
[The, the Celestial Tribe won!]
[Ah, had I known, I would have wagered on the Celestial Tribe….]
[Curse it! I bet nearly all my Terra on the Demon Tribe’s victory!]
Fortunes shifted, and the Celestial Tribe members who had achieved victory were elevated to the rank of Seven Archangels.
In contrast, Gaia could not help but grow anxious.
‘Unable to even clear Round 20…. What was the point of embedding a rune granting one hundred returns if this is the result?’
Gaia couldn’t simply wait for fish to bite on their own, so she sought Chaos’s permission.
[The difficulty of this Round seems too high. What if we adjusted the settings a bit?]
[I was thinking the same thing myself. Fine. I’ll lower the difficulty. But let’s not touch the overall framework.]
[Understood.]
With a smile, Gaia secretly modified the system behind Chaos’s back.
She changed the Reaper class advancement item, which had rather stringent conditions, so that it could be easily obtained by killing members of the Celestial Tribe or Demon Tribe.
Furthermore, she altered it so that killing Combat Angels or high-ranking Demon Nobility would grant either the Blessing of the Demon or the Blessing of the Angel—extraordinary buffs.
‘This should make growth much smoother.’
Additionally, she set it so that killing either the Seven Archangels or the ten highest-ranking Demon Nobility would grant First Deification.
‘With accelerated growth, achieving this should be easy.’
She also remembered to lower the difficulty of each Round as Chaos had requested.
After making these adjustments, the defeated Demon Tribe conducted the program for the first time.
Was it because the difficulty had been lowered?
The Demon Tribe unexpectedly produced a human Mercenary who reached the Final Round.
Though only one, he was the sole human to have undergone a hundred returns.
‘Player Kang Han-sik has reached the Final Round.’
But unfortunately, Kang Han-sik was not the human Gaia desired.
Despite a hundred returns, he had not acquired particularly formidable power.
‘Foolish human. He should have grown rapidly by killing members of the Celestial and Demon Tribes….’
Moreover, at the end, he had wished to become wealthy.
From a divine perspective, an utterly mundane wish.
‘Is there truly no talent capable of slaying the Celestial and Demon Tribes, growing strong enough to make contact with Rubahi?’
In the end, she could only anticipate the seventh Heavenly Demon War, already resigned to disappointment once more.
It was then that Gaia finally encountered it.
A weapon to oppose Chaos—Black Scythe.

* * *
[How is Black Scythe doing? Is he performing well?]
[He’s performing excellently. He obtained the Reaper class early on and has been on a winning streak, claiming first place in every round.]
[Really?]
Gaia’s eyes lit up at Min Do-jun’s words.
The talent she had been waiting for so long had finally appeared.
In contrast, Min Do-jun’s expression was as dark as could be.
[Why do you look like that? Doesn’t the God of Slaughter also believe he’s growing well?]
[That’s true, but he refuses to challenge the Archangel, who is the real priority.]
[Why is that?]
[It seems to be due to the influence of a god named Artaros. Because he intervened in the 68th cycle, Black Scythe has developed the perception that the Archangel is an untouchable existence.]
[Ah, Artaros intervened?]
When a return occurs, everyone except Black Scythe loses their memories.
Because of that, Gaia had no recollection of what happened in previous cycles.
Only Min Do-jun, who was unaffected by the return, could observe all the circumstances.
That’s why they met like this to hear his counsel.
[Why did Artaros meet Black Scythe?]
[In Round 16, when Black Scythe killed a Combat Angel with overwhelming power, Artaros intervened. Then he pressured Black Scythe and asked various questions—how he could possess such strength.]
[Such a thing happened….]
[Of course, Black Scythe didn’t speak, but Artaros used his power to erase the memory of meeting him. Well, he left the memory of the encounter itself. But because of that, a preconception that the Archangel is strong took root.]
[Ah….]
Because Artaros had stepped in, the weapon to oppose Chaos had become timid.
‘Artaros, that damnable bastard ruined my plan!’
Gaia was frustrated, but Artaros was a general of the Celestial Tribe that she had created in the early days.
Since it was she who elevated him to Divine Being status in recognition of his military achievements, she couldn’t blame him.
‘It’s my fault. I’m the one who made Artaros a Divine Being….’
Moreover, that creature had gone to a dimension of Earth that shouldn’t be approached and returned cursed with immortality.
In a sense, he had returned even stronger.
Of course, Chaos could destroy him, but it was already too late to ask him to kill Artaros.
‘According to the information written in the runes, this is the 99th cycle. There’s no time.’
How could she induce Black Scythe to kill the Archangel?
How could she….
[You’re aware this is the 99th cycle, right? We’re approaching the final stretch—what will you do?]
[In your view as the God of Slaughter, do you think Black Scythe will pass Round 20?]
[At his current level, he should pass without difficulty.]
That meant he would reach the Wish Stone without even defeating the Archangel or achieving deification.
In other words, she would have to squander an opportunity that had come only after centuries.
‘How did I obtain such a weapon… how can I….’
Gaia, lost in thought, made a decision.
[I can’t let such a talent I’ve found after hundreds of years slip away so pathetically.]
[What are you planning to do?]
[You still have one more chance, don’t you?]
[Surely not….]
Gaia smiled wickedly and turned her body.
Time was of the essence if she wanted to act before Black Scythe conquered Round 20.

* * *
[The story ends here. After that, you made it to your 100th return, and through various trials, you arrived at this point.]
Gaia’s story had concluded.
True to her words, it was a lengthy tale, but summarized, it was simple.
‘She orchestrated all of this to protect her son Chronos. I, a mere human, was caught up in it as a tool to oppose Chaos.’
I was nothing more than Gaia’s plaything and weapon.
Upon realizing this truth, Ryu Min’s atmosphere grew heavy.
Gaia, unbecoming of the Primordial God, read the mood carefully.
[What’s wrong? Black Scythe? Are you displeased? Is it because your reason for existence stems from my personal grudge?]
“No.”
Ryu Min’s voice was grave.
“I understand you used me as a weapon against Chaos. I already knew that when we joined hands. I grasped your hand despite knowing, for the sake of the goal called Chaos. We had a common objective.”
[Then isn’t everything resolved?]
“But there’s one thing missing from your story.”
[What is it?]
“What you did in the 99th return to ensure I wouldn’t miss my chance at the end. What was that?”
[I’ll have no comment on that.]
Gaia shut her mouth.
As long as she didn’t lie, remaining silent wasn’t a breach of contract.
But Ryu Min wasn’t without his suspicions.
Information he had heard from Kang Han-sik suddenly came to mind.
“Did you tamper with the Boss Room settings? To prevent me from clearing it smoothly?”
[As I said, no comment….]
“I’m asking if you changed the entry conditions for the Boss Room from one person to five or more.”
Ryu Min’s eyes, sharp with killing intent, fixed upon Gaia.
Gaia, meeting that gaze, sighed as if surrendering.
[Keeping quiet won’t resolve the situation, will it?]
“Tell me. The truth.”
[Yes. I changed it. To bring you from the 99th return to the 100th.]

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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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