The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 355

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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 355
355. Ryu Min’s Wish
After dealing with Gaia and Chaos, Ryu Min found Paradise.
[You’ve arrived.]
[Were you watching?]
[Of course. I watched from beginning to end. You really did tear things up out there.]
I had laid an illusion prison trap, discovered Chronos’s betrayal, and killed him.
Then, after obtaining 10 billion Terra, I lured the Primordial Gods into the Spacetime Rift and killed them both as well.
Min Do-jun, who had witnessed all of my actions, did not look at me with contempt.
Rather, he wore a satisfied smile, as if observing a promising disciple.
[How does it feel to have ended your revenge?]
[Well? I suppose it’s the thought that I can finally rest easy now.]
[For an absolute being wielding the authority of time, creation, and destruction, that’s quite modest.]
[I ran this far for that modesty, after all.]
[True. That’s enough. But…]
Min Do-jun’s gaze fell upon my hand.
[You didn’t completely annihilate them.]
[Can you see it?]
[I can. All the souls trapped within that gauntlet.]
It seemed Min Do-jun’s eyes could perceive the Eternal Item—the Soul Gauntlet.
[Chaos, Gaia, Chronos, and all manner of Divine Beings are imprisoned within.]
[That’s correct.]
[Why didn’t you annihilate them?]
[If they perish, I cannot use their abilities. The authority of creation, destruction, time—all of it would vanish.]
[So you’ll keep them with you indefinitely?]
[No. I must release them. Keeping them locked away hardly constitutes true revenge.]
[What are you planning?]
A slight smile crossed my face as I manipulated the system window.
[Elcis has a useful function I discovered.]
[Ah… don’t tell me you mean that?]
[Yes.]
[You really are something.]
As if reading my thoughts, Min Do-jun looked at me with a grimace.
[I will return to the Divine Beings exactly what humanity endured. That despair. That is…]
The corners of my mouth curved upward sharply.
[True revenge.]

* * *
“Mmm….”
Those who had lost consciousness stirred and rose to their feet.
“Where… where am I?”
“Wait, wait! What is this form? You’re human?”
“G-Gaia? Could it really be you, Gaia?”
The middle-aged woman was startled by the man who recognized her and questioned him back.
“Who are you?”
“It’s me, sir!”
“Could it be… Rubahi?”
“Haha, yes! That’s right!”
“Wait, you’re saying you’re Gaia?”
“That voice… Chaos?”
Gaia, Chaos, and Rubahi could only stare at each other in bewilderment.
They had suddenly opened their eyes to find themselves reincarnated in human form across a vast grassland.
“What happened? Gaia. Weren’t you supposed to be annihilated by Black Scythe?”
“That’s what I’d like to ask you, Chaos.”
“Wait, you’re saying you’re Chaos?”
“Chaos? Then that person is Gaia?”
Looking around, there were more people nearby.
“I’m Moros! Don’t you remember?”
“What? You’re the God of Ruin, Moros?”
“I’m Nemesis, the Goddess of Retribution! You remember, don’t you?”
“Chaos? It’s me, Nyx! Your loyal servant!”
“What happened to all of you? Why have you all taken human form?”
“It’s not a manifestation. We’ve literally become human.”
“H-How?”
“I have no idea either, truly.”
Phlunikthos, Moros, Nemesis, Nyx, Erebus, Aether, and others.
Every god they knew had been humanized and gathered together.
Even the gods of Olympus were not spared.
“Now that I think about it, weren’t all of you gods who participated in the wager?”
“What in the world happened?”
“To think I’ve become a pathetic human like this.”
“This can’t be…!”
It was truly a bewildering reunion.
“I don’t know what’s happened, but one thing is certain. All of this is Black Scythe’s doing.”
“You’re saying we became human because of Black Scythe?”
“It appears so. Black Scythe absorbed all the power of the Primordial God and reached an absolute position.”
“But no matter what, how could Black Scythe possibly reduce beings as exalted as us to humans?”
“I could use the power of creation to forge a human body, but I cannot simply place a soul that doesn’t fit into it.”
Just as the bodies of humans and Divine Beings differ, so too do their souls possess different grades.
No matter how much power of creation one possesses, you cannot dress someone in clothes that don’t fit.
Chaos suddenly seized Rubahi by the collar.
“This is your fault! Because you introduced Min Do-jun to Gaia…!”
“Ah, let go of me!”
When Rubahi shook free, Chaos stumbled backward helplessly.
But Chaos was not the only one enraged.
“Rubahi!”
Crack—!
At Gaia’s touch, Rubahi’s head snapped to the side.
“G-Gaia… ma’am?”
Rubahi’s expression was one of profound shock at being struck by his own master.
“You useless thought-form! Because of you, everything’s in chaos! Why must I be reborn into the body of such an inferior human!”
It was then that Gaia seized Rubahi by the collar and shook him.
[My, my, what a commotion this is.]
A figure descended from the heavens, massive wings fluttering against the sky.
“Y-you are… Artaros?”
[It has been a long time, Chaos.]
“Did you orchestrate all of this?”
[How could I possibly do such a thing? I possess no such power. Everything is the will of Black Scythe, the Transcendent and Absolute God.]
“What? Black Scythe?”
“That accursed toy of a human…!”
I had anticipated this, but hearing it confirmed made my blood boil.
“To see you address a mere human with such deference—have you also sided with him, Artaros?”
[I have no choice. As always, I attach myself to whoever can fulfill my desires.]
“Your desires?”
[Have you forgotten? Liberation from the curse of immortality is my only wish. Of course, you once granted it to me, Chaos… but that is no longer the case.]
Seeing that Artaros, who had been struck by the Spear of Instant Death and perished, now lived suggested he had been resurrected through the power of time.
“Yet you still cling to a mere human?”
[I have no choice. If I do not obey, I become unable even to die. I have lost all the power I once possessed. Much like yourself.]
“….”
Chaos and the Divine Beings could only grit their teeth and stare.
They too felt it.
Not a speck of Tera or divine power flowed through their bodies.
They had become ordinary humans—nothing more, nothing less.
“Join our side, Artaros. Together, if we combine our strength, we can stand against Black Scythe.”
[By what means do you propose this?]
“We have no immediate solution, but if we put our heads together….”
[There is no time for that. Time is running out.]
“Time?”
[I only appeared as a guide, after all.]
“What?”
Artaros fluttered his wings.
A message window then materialized before the Divine Beings’ eyes.
“W-what is this…?”
“Round 1… Defeat 100 goblins per person?”
The moment the words left their mouths, goblins spawned from beyond the grassland.
[From this moment forward, each of you must defeat 100 goblins. Once you’ve eliminated your quota, you’ll advance to the next round. Should you fail to survive, a harsh punishment awaits you in Tartarus—so don’t die carelessly.]
“What? This is absolute bull….”
“Oh, they’re coming!”
“Aahhh!”
Moments later, agonized screams from Chaos, Gaia, and the other Divine Beings echoed across the grassland.

* * *
[They’re fighting better than expected.]
[Indeed. To think they’d survive until Round 3 with ordinary bodies. Quite surprising, isn’t it?]
[Now in Round 4, they’ll begin wielding blades against one another.]
Min Do-jun watched the gods—now demoted to human form—battle with admiring eyes as he gazed at Ryu Min.
[Using Elcis’s rank adjustment function to demote all the gods to humans, then throwing them into the very Survival Game you endured. That’s truly remarkable.]
[I had to repay what was done to me. Of course, even if they’re fortunate enough to survive until Round 20, they’ll simply loop back to Round 1 like a hamster wheel.]
[They’ve fallen into an eternal cycle of Hell.]
Min Do-jun chuckled softly before his expression turned serious.
[So what now? You’ve completed your revenge and lost nearly all your divine powers.]
By converting the Divine Beings within the Soul Gauntlet into human form, I could no longer access their powers.
Neither the power of creation nor the power of destruction.
Yet there remained one ability.
[You still have the power of time.]
I had not released Chronos’s soul alone.
I kept it carefully stored within the gauntlet, intending to use it repeatedly.
Because once I released him, I could no longer wield the power of time.
[What will you do with that?]
[I’m going to regress.]
[Again?]
At the look in his eyes suggesting I should be satisfied after 101 regressions, I couldn’t help but laugh.
[This time will be different. I’ll live an ordinary life without the Survival Game.]
[You’re going to turn back time to before the Survival Game began?]
[Yes.]
[But then wouldn’t the other Divine Beings be resurrected too?]
[They won’t be resurrected. Rather, they’ll cease to have ever existed—if I carefully excise only the desired timeline and splice it together.]
[A worldline?]
I smiled and explained to Min Do-jun.
Just as Chronos had explained it to me.
[If that happens, what about the other worldlines? What becomes of the comrades who were with you?]
[I won’t touch the worldlines that have already been created. The comrades there should be left to live according to their own wishes. Each world has its own life to live, after all.]
In a way, it was an obvious decision.
How could I destroy the worldline of comrades who were fulfilling their wishes with the Wish Stone and living well?
[I will create my own worldline. An ideal world without the Celestial Tribe, the Demon Tribe, or the Divine Beings.]
Rather than turning back time, it meant creating an additional worldline.
[There, I will live an ordinary life with my family. That is my true wish—what I wanted to ask for with the Wish Stone.]
[So you’re going back to December 2021?]
I shook my head.
[A bit further back than that. I’m going back four years from now.]
[Four years ago?]
[Because that way…]
A smile bloomed across my face.
[I can meet my family.]
That was my wish and my deepest longing.

* * *
2019 was an unforgettable year for me.
It was the year my parents passed away in a traffic accident.
‘But that’s all in the past now.’
Having regressed while retaining the full power of a Player, I could easily prevent my parents’ accident.
In fact, even without power, preventing it would have been simple.
All it took was ensuring my parents didn’t get in the car on the day of the accident.
‘If only I could turn back time, something so simple…’
I marveled anew at how tremendous Chronos’s power truly was.
Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk—
The sound of a knife on a cutting board pulled me from my thoughts.
Seeing my mother preparing food in the kitchen, a smile naturally spread across my face.
But that expression was caught by Nol, who had just woken up.
“Mom, Older Brother is staring at you with a weird look.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know. He was doing it before too.”
“Hey, what time is it and you’re just waking up now?”
“It’s winter break. What’s the problem?”
Though my Younger Brother was complaining, I didn’t dislike that sight.
“Huh? You’re smiling again.”
“What? Do you hate it when I smile?”
“That’s not it—it’s just awkward. Why do you keep grinning like that, hyung?”
“Just because I’m happy.”
“Ugh. Mom, I think hyung ate something bad.”
“It’s nice to see. Hehe.”
Watching my Younger Brother cling to Mom, I inwardly clicked my tongue.
Would he ever know that when I lost our parents, I was the only one searching for him?
Though he couldn’t remember anymore, I smiled again as if it didn’t matter.

* * *
“Excuse me, just passing through. Sorry. Min-ah, this spot looks good.”
Guided through the crowd by Min Ju-ri’s arm, I arrived at a location with a clear view of Bosingak.
From here, I could definitely see the bell-ringing ceremony.
“There are so many people. Right?”
“Yeah.”
I looked around calmly.
The place was packed with people waiting for the New Year of 2022.
“You said this was your first time at the bell-ringing ceremony?”
“Well, yeah. With you, anyway.”
I had witnessed this familiar scene 101 times before, but this was my first time coming here with Min Ju-ri.
-Welcoming the New Year with my first love. It feels like a dream.
The rune of my inner thoughts revealed Min Ju-ri’s thinking, but I shook my head.
‘I decided to live normally now. Normally.’
Though I possessed the Player System, Elcis, and even the Authority of Time, I hadn’t caused a single incident throughout my three years of High School.
Whenever someone tried to pick a fight, I simply ignored them as a dragon would a fly.
One wrong move and I might have killed them.
‘Of course, Hwang Yong-min didn’t let it slide.’
He picked a fight just because he sat nearby, so I quietly told him to follow me to the back mountain and showed him.
That there are beings in this world you shouldn’t touch.
‘Since then, he hasn’t made a peep, but….’
Thinking I was being dragged away by Hwang Yong-min, Min Ju-ri showed interest in me first.
Concern? Pity?
That’s what it was at first.
But as before, Min Ju-ri began to take an interest in me.
Now we’ve developed into such close friends.
‘Whether it goes beyond that, I can’t say for sure either, but….’
It doesn’t matter.
Just seeing a comrade I cared about alive is enough for me.
“Min-ah, look over there. There are a lot of celebrities.”
Following Min Ju-ri’s finger, I could see celebrities waiting behind the stage.
Among them were some familiar faces.
‘Seo A-rin.’
She was beautiful from a distance, just as she had always been.
In the past, I wouldn’t have spared her a glance, but having shared life and death with her as a comrade, I found myself unable to look away.
‘She must be living well in another timeline, fulfilling her wishes.’
I turned my gaze away as if to say I would not interfere.
It was best to let memories remain as memories.
“Min-a, it looks like we’re about to begin.”
The emcee’s voice rang out.
“The moment has finally arrived. Let us all count down together!”
“20! 19! 18!”
As the twenty-second countdown commenced, Ryu Min found himself tensing without realizing it.
It was because of that memory that always returned without fail.
‘Surely not. It couldn’t be?’
For others, the countdown announced a new beginning, but for me, it was nothing short of a countdown to death.
“…3, 2, 1!”
Bong—bong—bong—!
“The year 2022 has dawned! Wishing you all a prosperous new year!”
“Woooooooo!”
As the bell tolled, Ryu Min lifted his head.
As always, the Angel who should appear is nowhere to be seen.
“Phew….”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, really.”
Relieved, Ryu Min lowered his head again and surveyed his surroundings.
People smiling with hope in the new year.
A sight I had never witnessed before.
‘It’s truly over.’
A satisfied smile bloomed across my face.
Now everything felt as though it had returned to its rightful place.
Then, suddenly, words I had once spoken to Min Do-jun came to mind.
[I will live there. My true life that I had lost.]
That true life, which I had never experienced before, was now just beginning.
-THE END-
【Author’s Note】
Hello, dear readers.
After approximately one year of serialization, The Maxed-Out Player’s 100th Return has come to completion.
I had commented that I would surpass 350 chapters, and somehow I managed to keep that promise.
I extend my deepest gratitude once more to all of you who have followed this journey to the end.
In truth, this work did not perform as well as my previous one.
I did lose motivation midway through, but with the resolve to reach the predetermined conclusion no matter what, I have arrived here.
Fortunately, I was able to reach the ending I desired, and as I wrote the author’s note, I feel both relieved and strangely melancholic (though I’m uncertain whether readers will find it a satisfying conclusion).
In any case, the main story ends here.
There is no Part 2, and while side stories remain, I have no plans to write them this year.
My hope is to release the side stories next year alongside good news, but I cannot guarantee how that will unfold either.
For now, I intend to focus my energy on my next work (my apologies to those who were anticipating the side stories).
I hope to meet you again in my next work, and with that, I shall conclude.
To all the readers who have followed this story thus far.
Thank you so very much!

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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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