The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 35

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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 35
35. Command
“Pardon? What did you say? I didn’t catch that?”
“Use Command ten times to destroy the relic.”
‘Destroy the relic….’
Hwang Yong-min doubted his own ears upon hearing the order.
Why would I destroy the relic I’m supposed to protect?
‘Is he trying to force the round to end?’
If I fail to protect the relic, the round terminates.
I could understand doing so to maintain a ranking position.
But….
‘We’re almost finished anyway, aren’t we? There’s absolutely no reason for this….’
In a moment, the remaining Nol would be eliminated and the fifth wave would be cleared.
Even if I did nothing, the round would naturally conclude.
Since I protected the relic, I could receive additional rewards.
‘Then why?’
Angel said that breaking the relic would incur a penalty.
There was no reason to forfeit the bonus rewards and accept a penalty.
‘Besides, Black Scythe is practically guaranteed first place in the rankings.’
Considering the mountain of monster corpses he’d accumulated, this round would almost certainly be tallied with him at the top.
‘There’s nothing to regret, so why exactly?’
As doubt crept in, dissatisfaction naturally followed.
Most of all, the part about using ten Command charges bothered me.
‘If I use all my Command charges, I won’t be able to enslave Seo A-rin!’
That would mean losing the primary reason I became a zone representative.
“M-may I ask the reason?”
Hwang Yong-min gathered his courage to ask, but Ryu Min merely fixed him with eyes as cold as frost.
“Shut up and do as I say.”
“What if I use nine times instead of ten….”
“I don’t repeat myself. If you want to die, make that choice now.”
“….”
He was saying he’d kill me if I didn’t obey.
Though I had no choice, I still had something to say.
“But Black Scythe… If I use all my Command charges, I’m as good as dead. If you’d just leave me one….”
“Why would you be dead? I’ll protect you.”
“Ah….”
“The contract remains valid even after using all Command charges. Wasn’t the condition to protect you from other players in the first place?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
‘Then what was the point of becoming a representative?’
Even as I answered, I couldn’t hide the bitter taste in my mouth.
Without command authority, there would be no reason to backstab Jo Jung-sik, would there?
“We’re done talking, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Then do as I say.”
“Ah, understood. I’ll follow your orders….”
To preserve his life, he had no choice but to obey.
“By the way, I’ll designate who you use your command authority on.”
“Yes….”
Ryu Min spoke while looking at the nearby players.
“…[Shim Sung-gyu], [Small Pepper], [Don’t Touch], [Spring Summer Autumn], order these ten people to destroy the artifact.”
Hwang Yong-min was startled upon hearing the nicknames.
Because all of his delinquent gang friends’ nicknames were included.
‘What? Could he have done this on purpose…?’
Hwang Yong-min’s gaze turned toward his friends.
His friends seemed flustered too, their mouths half-open.
“Guys, I’m sorry. It’s Black Scythe’s order, so please understand.”
“What? You’re not saying….”
Hwang Yong-min reluctantly used his command authority, tears in his eyes.
He didn’t want to use it on his friends, but he had no choice.
“Don’t Touch, destroy the artifact. Spring Summer Autumn, destroy the artifact.”
He issued orders to the ten players one by one.
Upon receiving the commands, they rushed toward the Village Center without even asking why.
It felt wasteful to squander his command authority, but what could he do?
‘To survive, I have no choice but to obey.’
When using the last remaining command authority, he even bit his lips in regret.
“I’ve…used them all.”
“Good. You definitely used them.”
Ryu Min could tell without being told.
Every time he issued a command, Hwang Yong-min’s eyes turned purple.
Above all, the players rushed to destroy the artifact the moment they heard the orders.
‘Since these are commands issued through command authority, they can’t refuse.’
The ten players dominated by command authority would attempt to destroy the artifact even if it meant dying at another player’s hands.
‘Ten people should be more than enough to destroy it.’
A smile played at the corners of Ryu Min’s mouth.
Hwang Yong-min was certainly easier to handle than Jo Jung-sik.
[Warning! The artifact is under attack!]
[Warning! The artifact is under attack!]
[Warning! The artifact is under attack!]
Even without the cascade of warning messages, people could tell.
The ten dominated by command authority were openly attacking the artifact in the Village Center.
“Hey! What are you doing? Stop right now!”
“What’s wrong with you? Are you trying to get penalized?”
The surrounding players tried to stop them, but their words fell on deaf ears.
The command of the Mandate of Heaven was absolute.
Clang—clang! Crash!
The relic was diamond-shaped, but contrary to appearances, it wasn’t particularly durable.
As ten players brought their weapons down in unison, cracks rapidly spread across the relic’s surface.
“Oh no! It’s going to shatter!”
“Someone stop those people!”
“Kill them! Just kill those bastards!”
Despite the shouts from those around them, the ten players remained focused on destroying the relic.
Even as some took blade strikes, they didn’t stop their assault.
Crack—crack crack crack!
‘It’s done.’
Ryu Min smiled secretly as he watched the relic fracture.
He knew exactly what would happen next.
Boom!
[The relic has been destroyed.]
[Main Quest has failed.]
[In a moment, the Divine Retribution Agent will be summoned as a failure penalty for 30 minutes.]
[Survive the Divine Retribution Agent for the duration of the time limit.]
[The round will not end until the time limit expires.]
“What? The Divine Retribution Agent?”
“What’s that?”
“Is it like a boss or something?”
All the players’ eyes widened.
They never expected a boss to appear as a penalty.
[A hidden sub-quest is available!]
【Sub-Quest】
└Survive the Divine Retribution Agent for 30 minutes
└Upon success ▶ 3,000 Gold awarded
[Time remaining: 00:29:59]
“There was a sub-quest?”
The players were shocked once again by the sudden appearance of the sub-quest.
Especially since the reward felt quite generous.
Plenty of players hadn’t even earned 3,000 Gold across all five waves.
“So if we just survive, we get 3,000 Gold?”
“Doesn’t seem that difficult.”
“It’s basically a game of hide-and-seek.”
Currently, 2,700 players remained in the round.
If there was only one seeker, I figured I could easily survive on my own.
Of course, Ryu Min’s thoughts were entirely different.
‘Escaping from the Divine Retribution Agent won’t be easy.’
There was good reason for such generous rewards.
Players who grasped this reality hardened their expressions, while those who didn’t flashed confident smiles.
Ryu Min?
Naturally, he belonged to the latter group.
Without confidence, I wouldn’t have deliberately destroyed the relic to expose the Sub Quest.
‘If I’d simply cleared the 5th Wave and the round ended, I would’ve only received 2,000 Gold as bonus rewards.’
The Sub Quest reward from destroying the relic exceeded the Gold received from protecting it.
This was why I had exposed the Sub Quest.
Then why hadn’t I destroyed the relic myself?
The answer came through a message that appeared moments later.
[The relic has been confirmed to be attacked by a player.]
[A penalty is imposed on the ten players who attacked the relic.]
[All stats permanently decrease by 50%.]
A devastating penalty had been hidden within the system.
“What? A stat decrease?”
“Damn it!”
Ten players, including the delinquents, cried out in protest.
It stung all the more because it wasn’t their choice.
The delinquents all glared at Hwang Yong-min with resentful eyes.
“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know there was such a penalty….”
Hwang Yong-min apologized, but he had no time to worry about others.
[A penalty is imposed on the district representative for failing to protect the relic.]
[All stats permanently decrease by 50%.]
“Ah….”
Hwang Yong-min, rendered speechless, stared into the void with the expression of a man who’d lost everything.
“Damn iiiiiiiiiiiiiit!”
He never dreamed he’d receive a penalty simply for being the representative.
No one except Ryu Min had foreseen this.
‘This is exactly why I avoided becoming the district representative.’
A permanent stat decrease was fatal enough to determine survival itself.
‘It even crushes the will to grow.’
I hadn’t warned against becoming district representative for nothing.
Not destroying the relic myself was also to avoid the penalty.
Crunch—!
“Gurgle!”
The last Nol had just died by Ryu Min’s scythe.
Yet the round-end message still hadn’t appeared.
“We’ve killed all the monsters, so why hasn’t it ended?”
“Didn’t you see the message? It won’t end until the penalty period is over.”
“So we have to endure another thirty minutes…?”
“If you think of it as holding your breath, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Ryu Min inwardly clicked his tongue at the players’ naive assumptions.
‘Even after repeating dozens of cycles, their reaction remains consistently the same.’
Every time the relic shattered, people thought this way.
They simply didn’t understand how difficult the penalty truly was.
‘I died twice just from the third-round penalty alone, so that says everything.’
Initially, I hadn’t known that destroying the relic would trigger a sub-quest.
I simply guarded the relic normally and progressed to the next round.
‘Then I accidentally discovered it when the relic broke.’
That’s when I experienced it.
How brutally difficult it was to survive against the Divine Retribution’s Proxy.
‘I died twice. Despite having enough strength to endure up to the fifth wave.’
Of course, since I hadn’t been through many cycles back then, I was weaker than now, but I was still confident.
If it was just evading for thirty minutes.
‘But it turned out to be far harder than I thought.’
Out of 2,700 people, only about 500 survived.
A survival rate under twenty percent.
The achiever slots that could accommodate up to 1,225 people were more than spacious.
Truly nightmarish difficulty.
‘Of course, that’s only if you don’t know the strategy.’
But I was confident now.
I had enough experience, and after learning the strategy, I’d cleared it dozens of times more.
‘For others, it’s a penalty….’
For me, it wasn’t a penalty.
Rather, it was an opportunity for massive growth.
If I could kill the Divine Retribution’s Proxy.
‘Current gold reserves: approximately 13,000. After receiving the sub-quest reward and killing the Divine Retribution’s Proxy, I’ll easily exceed 20,000 gold.’
I had no intention of evading it.
Instead, I planned to obtain enormous rewards by defeating it.
‘I’ll have 4,000 gold left over from my calculations. That’s enough to buy two normal-grade items.’
After calculating the surplus gold, I immediately opened the shop window.
Then I purchased two pieces of equipment worth 2,000 gold each.
[Assassin’s Hood]
-Classification: Helmet
-Grade: Normal
-Defense: 20
-Effect: Agility +3
-Durability: 250/250
-Usage Restriction: Regular Grade or Higher
-Description: A hood favored by a certain assassin. It carries a faint smell of blood—apparently unwashed.
[Nimble Long Boots]
-Classification: Footwear
-Grade: Normal
-Defense: 15
-Effect: Agility +2, Movement Speed +5%
-Durability: 250/250
-Usage Restriction: Regular Grade or Higher
-Description: Sleek black long boots that fit snugly. They seem restrictive at first glance, but surprisingly comfortable to wear.
Being Normal grade, the options weren’t particularly impressive.
But where was I right now?
‘Every stat boost makes hunting easier.’
Besides, items bought from the shop could be resold.
Though I’d only get half the purchase price back.
Boooooooom—
“Is… is it starting?”
“I’m getting nervous for some reason.”
The signal to begin sent tension rippling through the players.
But I remained composed.
‘I’ll catch that bastard and reach level 30.’
My current level was 27.
Defeating the Divine Punishment Executor would be more than enough to reach level 30.
I could also fill out the 20,000 gold.
Then I could buy the public skill as planned.
That wasn’t all.
‘I’ll obtain the rune, the title, and that item as well.’
A confident smile played at the corners of my mouth.
I had no doubt I could kill the Divine Punishment Executor.
After all, it was of the Holy attribute.

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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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