The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 350

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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 350
350. A New Soul Bond Quest
Ryu Min quietly followed behind Yong-je.
Yong-je glanced back occasionally, but showed no particular wariness, turning his gaze forward once more.
However, that was Yong-je’s mistake.
*Whoosh*
The Scythe of Darkness that had materialized in Ryu Min’s right hand was now pressed against Yong-je’s throat.
Yong-je’s steps halted, and he turned around with a fierce glare.
[What is the meaning of this?]
“Speak. What are you plotting?”
[What?]
Yong-je could only find it absurd.
Setting aside the threat to his life, he was suddenly being asked what he was plotting.
[Plotting? What nonsense are you spouting?]
“I know everything, so drop the act.”
Yong-je’s expression remained bewildered, but Ryu Min didn’t miss it.
In that fleeting moment, his eyes wavered.
“You’re hiding something. Aren’t you?”
[You’ve lost your mind, messenger of Gaia. You threaten my life while guiding me to where Tera is? Does Gaia know of this?]
“She does. It was Gaia who ordered your death.”
[Gaia ordered my death? Hahahaha!]
Yong-je suddenly burst into raucous laughter.
As if such a thing could never happen.
[If you’re going to lie, do it without showing it, human. You dare mock the King of Dragons.]
‘Tch, he didn’t fall for it.’
In truth, Ryu Min didn’t trust Gaia.
Having already been betrayed once, the suspicion that she harbored some hidden agenda refused to leave his mind.
Therefore, he couldn’t trust Yong-je either.
This was why he resorted to threatening his life to extract information.
‘If only I had a Rune of True Intentions, this would be easier.’
He had feigned receiving Gaia’s orders to extract information, but Yong-je saw through it.
‘Still, one thing is now certain.’
Yong-je’s faith in Gaia was unwavering.
Like that of a loyal subject.
“So you won’t provide information. I have no choice then.”
Believing he had exhausted all avenues for obtaining information, Ryu Min slowly moved the scythe.
Was it because he was acting as if he truly intended to kill?
Through his Eyes of Insight, Yong-je’s disposition shifted from Good to Evil.
In a sense, it was an inevitable outcome.
One cannot remain favorable toward someone who seeks to take their life.
But Ryu Min had a different agenda in mind.
‘Perfect. Now I can use the Hour of Ruin.’
Moros’s skill—dominating the mind of those harboring malice.
With this, I could extract information from Yong-je as much as I wanted.
[The opponent’s rank is too high.]
[The skill has been cancelled.]
‘Damn, it doesn’t work?’
Perhaps because he was no ordinary being, the skill had no effect.
There was clearly something scheming about him, yet I couldn’t even threaten him with death.
Did he harbor no fear of death?
Even as the blade pressed against his throat, Yong-je bared his teeth in a menacing grin.
[You will regret killing me, human.]
“We’ll see about that once I do.”
[I don’t understand your reasoning.]
“Tell me the truth if you want to live.”
[What you see is the truth.]
“What I see….”
I muttered to myself while gazing at the system window.
Yong-je’s eyes gleamed, thinking I had let my guard down.
He was planning to transform into a dragon and counterattack.
But I was faster—I yanked the scythe lodged around his neck.
Scraaape—!
Splurt!
With a single gesture, Yong-je was dead.
The Eternal Item’s performance was so exceptional that even with low stats, it was more than sufficient to claim a life.
Crimson blood spread across the ground around Yong-je’s corpse.
“….”
Had there been witnesses, they would surely have screamed and pointed in accusation.
To any observer, it would have appeared as though I had murdered an innocent Yong-je under false pretenses.
But it was never a senseless killing.
I was simply fulfilling my Quest.

* * *
When the second deification was complete.
Ryu Min’s eyes widened at the sight of a new Quest.
[A new Soul Bond Quest has appeared.]
‘What? Another Quest? I thought killing a god was supposed to be the last one?’
According to Gaia, there should be no more Soul Bond Quests.
Yet here was another one.
Out of curiosity, I examined the Quest, and it was enough to stun me.
【Soul Bond Quest】
└Do not trust Gaia
└Kill Yong-je Karmitris (0/1)
└Upon success ▶ ?????
‘What kind of Quest is this? Surely this is a joke?’
It was a system created by Gaia, yet it told me not to trust Gaia.
And to kill Yong-je on top of that?
‘Where am I supposed to find Yong-je?’
The Quest’s contents weren’t even confusing, yet I found myself bewildered.
Could this really be a Quest created by Gaia?
‘Should I ask Gaia about this when I see her?’
I shook my head slightly.
According to the Quest, I shouldn’t trust Gaia.
‘For now, I’ll proceed as planned.’
I set the Quest aside and focused on conquering Chaos.
Eventually, I ended up facing Gaia according to Rubahi’s contingency plan, but the problem was that I discovered the truth.
The way Gaia altered the Boss Room’s settings and erased herself.
That was when it began.
My decision not to trust Gaia.
My decision to believe in the Soul Bond Quest.

* * *
‘I killed Yong-je according to the Quest.’
It wasn’t a decision made purely by following the Quest’s instructions.
When I probed him just moments ago, it was clear he was hiding something.
‘Besides, with his nature shifting to evil, he was planning to counterattack me.’
Perhaps I had killed an innocent life.
But I decided to trust the Quest.
Hadn’t the warning not to trust Gaia proven accurate?
‘What’s done is done.’
By betraying Gaia, I’d essentially lost my means to counter Chaos, but I chose to trust my instincts.
[You have completed the Soul Bond Quest.]
[As a reward for completing the Soul Bond Quest, you have received a ‘Paradise Warp Ticket’.]
‘What is this? A Paradise Warp Ticket?’
Paradise.
Could it be that place Gaia mentioned?
I was thinking I should hold off on using it for now.
[According to your settings, the Paradise Warp Ticket is being used immediately.]
‘What?’
A brilliant light appeared without giving me a choice, engulfing my vision.

* * *
‘This place….’
The moment I opened my eyes, I wondered if I was seeing an illusion.
‘It’s a home.’
Just an ordinary residential house.
The atmosphere was so cozy it could be mistaken for a fantasy.
A place that warmed the heart and eased one’s guard.
[You’ve finally arrived.]
At the voice suddenly heard from behind, my head snapped around.
[Oh, there’s no need to be cautious. I don’t possess any special power.]
A young woman in an apron emerged from the kitchen with a gentle smile.
‘…Could that person be the God of Slaughter?’
Divine power flowed from her voice, so she was certainly a god, but it was puzzling.
She didn’t appear nearly as threatening as I’d expected.
‘It doesn’t seem to be the case….’
Then she called up toward the second floor.
[Honey, we have a guest!]
[Oh! I’ll be right down!]
It seemed I’d misjudged the situation.
A man who appeared to be the God of Slaughter came down the stairs.
[So you’ve really made it this far.]
The man was an ordinary-looking Oriental.
The moment Ryu Min saw him, he could identify him at once.
The aura flowing from his entire body was anything but ordinary.
“You must be Min Do-jun, the one called the God of Slaughter?”
[That’s right. It seems Gaia explained things to you.]
“Yes.”
[You must have many questions, but sit down first.]
Min Do-jun invited me to sit on the sofa, then asked a woman who appeared to be his wife to bring two cups of tea.
Clink—
[Drink.]
Ryu Min looked down at the tea with cautious eyes.
“What is this?”
[Just ordinary chamomile tea. It has a calming effect. There’s no poison in it, so don’t worry.]
“That’s alright.”
[Considering what’s about to happen, you won’t be able to refuse drinking it?]
What could possibly happen that he was warning me about in advance?
As Ryu Min continued to stare, Min Do-jun smiled.
[Good. Let me satisfy your curiosity first. As you’ve probably guessed, the Quest to kill Yong-je was something I inserted. It wasn’t a Quest designed by Gaia.]
“To bring me to this place?”
[That’s right.]
“What’s the reason?”
[Because Gaia is an entity you cannot trust.]
As I continued to stare with confused eyes, Min Do-jun grinned wickedly.
[Do you know what purpose Gaia had in sending you to Yong-je?]
“To find the vast amount of Terra buried in Drakania.”
[That’s only the surface reason. It’s not the truth.]
“Then?”
[Actually, she intended to sacrifice you to pinpoint Chronos’s location.]
Ryu Min was not surprised.
Rather, doubt arose instead.
“I heard Gaia had already found Chronos?”
[She had found him. But recently she lost track of him again. Chronos ran away on his own.]
“He ran away? Why?”
[Because he realized his own mother was trying to kill him and absorb his power.]
Gaia tried to kill Chronos?
The same Gaia who designed all of this for her son?
It was shocking information, but Ryu Min was not surprised this time either.
Because I couldn’t even verify if Min Do-jun’s words were true.
“That’s different from what I heard. I was told Gaia orchestrated all of this to protect Chronos?”
[That’s right. Until the day she first came to find me, I could clearly feel a mother’s love protecting her son. But that’s not the case anymore.]
“….”
[After finding Chronos, Gaia changed. When she created the rune that allowed for a hundred returns, she came to realize something belatedly—that Chronos’s power was far greater than she’d imagined. Just as Chaos had come to understand.]
Glug—
Min Do-jun continued after wetting his throat with tea.
[That said, Gaia isn’t trying to kill Chronos the way Chaos is. She lacks the power of destruction anyway, so she couldn’t kill him even if she wanted to. Instead, she discovered a way to absorb Chronos’s power. By absorbing it, she could break free from Chaos’s shackles and become an Absolute Divine Being.]
“And Chronos found out about it?”
[Exactly. Chronos saw through Gaia’s schemes and fled. Now he can’t even trust the mother who gave birth to him.]
“….”
His father wants to kill him, and his mother wants to absorb him to become an Absolute Divine Being?
For Chronos as a son, it would be enough to drive anyone mad.
‘It’s like something straight out of a trashy family drama, isn’t it?’
Though that’s only if what he’s saying is true.
[There’s no lie in my words. It’s all the truth.]
“Then why does Gaia need me?”
[As I said before, she needs you to find Chronos’s location.]
“Me?”
[After returning a hundred times, traces of Chronos’s power remain within you. Her scheme was to use those traces to pinpoint his location.]
In other words, I was the key to finding Chronos, who had fled.
“So when Yong-je tried to guide me, it wasn’t to a land where Terra was buried—it was to lure me to the Altar and kill me?”
[Exactly. The Dragon Clan are all in league with Gaia.]
“Why would the Dragon Clan help Gaia?”
[Because Gaia made them an offer. If they helped her find Chronos and become an Absolute Divine Being, she would grant them eternal life and help them defeat Chaos and escape their barren lands.]
No wonder Yong-je showed such loyalty toward Gaia.
There was a reason for everything.
“What about the claim that vast amounts of Terra were buried there? Was that a lie too?”
[It wasn’t a lie. There really is Terra buried there. But in truth, it was just a pretext and bait to lure you in.]
“….”
[Gaia has only spoken the truth all this time. She couldn’t break a soul contract. But that doesn’t mean she told you everything.]
Ryu Min fell silent, his mind churning with thoughts.
Understanding his state of mind, Min Do-jun added more to help him organize his thoughts.
[When Gaia came to me and said she’d change the Boss Room settings, I read her true intentions and caught on to some extent. Like Chaos, she doesn’t care one bit about human lives. She’s only obsessed with the goal of killing Chaos.]
“….”
[Then when you failed at the hundredth return and proceeded to the hundred-and-first, Chronos saw through Gaia’s true intentions and fled. Gaia came to me again as before, seeking advice. That’s how I learned that Gaia had now set her sights on Chronos.]
“….”
[Gaia has already discarded you as a card. At first, she saw you as a weapon to eliminate Chaos, but after witnessing Chronos’s true power, her thinking changed. She decided to absorb her son instead to kill Chaos.]
“….”
[That’s why I hacked into Gaia’s system and created an additional Quest. I anticipated that you’d be abandoned in Drakania.]
Ryu Min, who had been lost in thought while staring at the ground, finally lifted his head.
But his eyes were filled with suspicion toward Min Do-jun.
“What if all of this is a lie you’ve fabricated?”
Ryu Min’s suspicion was justified.
Min Do-jun was a deity he’d never encountered before, and unlike Gaia, there was no soul contract binding him.
[I understand your skepticism, but I haven’t uttered a single falsehood. If you wish, I can enter into a contract with you. But to doubt me now is absurd. Wasn’t it you who killed Yong-je because you suspected Gaia in the first place?]
“Still, what you’ve told me now seems utterly preposterous.”
[If you won’t believe me, look at this.]
Min Do-jun flicked his fingers, and the television in the living room suddenly switched on.
On the screen, dragons were moving Yong-je’s corpse.
[This is a live broadcast of what’s happening right now. See that? That altar-like structure. They were planning to place your body there and perform a ritual to track down Chronos.]
The altar was indeed visible, but it wasn’t enough to convince me.
“As long as the Akashic Record exists, finding Chronos is merely a matter of time. So why perform such a ritual at all?”
[Because Chronos is in a location the Akashic Record cannot reach. Right here.]
“What?”
Min Do-jun rose from his seat.
[Wait here for a moment. I’ll bring Chronos to you.]

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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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