The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 358

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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 – Side Story Episode 3
3. Seo A-rin’s Wish (Part 2)
The world transformed the moment Angel appeared.
1.8 billion people were forcibly dragged into the deadly Survival Game.
As a result, life itself, the economy, and everything in the Human World teetered on the brink of collapse.
It didn’t take long for this to happen.
Merely twenty-one months.
In less than two years, 1.8 billion people vanished.
But that was all in the past now.
After the Final Round ended, the world entered a new chapter.
97 players returned alive out of 1,801,029,290.
Victors of the Survival Game who endured a catastrophic survival rate of 0.00000538%.
They began to capture the world’s attention.
Advertisements flooded in relentlessly, and interviews and documentaries infused with their experiences sprouted like mushrooms after rain.
Some refused interviews and advertisements, instead seeking psychiatric treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
But regardless, the world was gradually recovering.
Returning to the everyday life that existed before the Survival Game.
In that sense, the world had changed.
Seo A-rin’s world had changed too.

* * *
On the set of the drama “Aigo My Fate.”
“Action!”
At the director’s cry through the megaphone, Seo A-rin’s eyes transformed completely.
The male actor opposite her did the same.
“If I’ve explained it this far, you should understand. Why can’t you get it? Is my explanation really that difficult?”
“Yeah, it is. Honestly, I don’t get it. Why are you suddenly breaking up with me?”
“Why? Money. You don’t know that?”
“Hye-jung.”
“You’re broke. You have nothing. No impressive education. No money to support me. How could you not understand something so simple all this time?”
“You… have you been holding back all this time?”
“I have. I endured it dozens of times while dating you. Countless times. Good memories too… Ah, let me do it again. I’m sorry.”
Seo A-rin, who had been delivering her lines, apologized repeatedly to the staff.
And to the male actor opposite her.
“Senior, I apologize.”
“No, don’t worry. It happens when you’re nervous. Take your time.”
The male actor who smiled generously was Song Min-hyuk, currently rising as a top actor.
In his early thirties, he was fortunate enough to have escaped the deadly Survival Game.
Unlike Seo A-rin.
“Action!”
“I held back. I held back dozens of times while dating you. I can’t even count them. Good memories, bad memories—nothing remains. That’s what you are to me.”
“You really are ruthless.”
After just one take, Seo A-rin finished the scene flawlessly.
“Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for your hard work.”
Seo A-rin was about to leave after repeatedly thanking the director, staff, and fellow actors.
“A-rin.”
“Oh, senior.”
Song Min-hyuk gave her a friendly smile and patted her shoulder.
“We’ve worked together a few times, but today your acting was truly outstanding. I was so moved by your emotions that I got completely immersed, you know?”
“That’s only because you supported me so well, senior. Thank you.”
“Ha ha, that’s not it. What did I even do? I just delivered a few lines. You did practically everything.”
Trapped by her senior’s attention, Seo A-rin found herself unable to move.
“I don’t know what Aigo My Fate would do without you, A-rin. You single-handedly revived our drama’s ratings when it was dying.”
“You’re too kind. The seniors’ efforts contributed to that as well.”
“You’re young but so humble. Were you always like this?”
“Ha ha….”
“How did you manage to get through all those lines with just one take? Do all the players who returned from the Survival Game have such good memories?”
“That’s…unlikely. All those abilities disappeared back then.”
Even now, nearly a year after returning from the Survival Game.
People often asked her questions.
Questions related to players.
Seo A-rin didn’t welcome such questions.
They forced her to recall painful memories.
‘He’s my senior, but he seems to lack some tact… I need to leave, but he keeps talking and holding me back.’
An uncomfortable feeling settled over her.
She wanted to leave quickly.
But Song Min-hyuk wouldn’t let her go.
He had a purpose for approaching her.
“A-rin. Do you have time later? It’s nothing big, but you know that reconciliation scene we have? I was thinking we could practice it beforehand. If we rehearse together and get our timing down, we might be able to do it without any takes. What do you say—can you spare some time?”
“No, thank you. It’s late, and it’s already night.”
“What does night matter? Isn’t our job one where we don’t care about day or night? For the sake of the drama, we can meet separately and practice our lines together.”
“I apologize, senior. I’ll try to make time next time.”
“You won’t make time. Instead of that, why don’t you just….”
“I’ll be going. See you on the next shooting day.”
“Seo A-rin.”
Song Min-hyuk’s expression hardened.
“What, you’re backing out like that because you’re in a rush? When a senior asks, shouldn’t you comply? It’s not like you’re going to meet your boyfriend, right?”
Seo A-rin’s expression also turned rigid.
In the past, she would have bowed her head and apologized.
Without even knowing what she was apologizing for.
But.
“Senior.”
“What.”
“If your junior says no, isn’t it a senior’s duty to respect that?”
“Sigh, look at this? If someone saw this, they’d think I was hitting on Seo A-rin, wouldn’t they? Did I ask you to drink with me? Did I ask you to go to a motel?”
“You asked me to go to your home. At this late hour.”
“….”
“There might be some foolish actress who’d follow a senior she doesn’t know to his home at night and trust nothing would happen, but I’m not one of them. That’s why I refused.”
“Listen. Seo A-rin.”
“I don’t want to hear it, so keep your mouth shut. Ah! Before I go, let me say one more thing.”
Seo A-rin took a breath and spoke.
“I have a boyfriend. I need to go meet him right now.”

* * *
[Popular Actress Seo A-rin Confesses Passionate Romance with Boyfriend!]
[Confident Seo A-rin “I’m dating my boyfriend, you know?”]
[Seo A-rin Coolly Admits Romance, Boyfriend is an Ordinary Person.]
“Look at this. When you search your name, all these articles come up.”
At her boyfriend Ryu Min’s voice, Seo A-rin sighed.
“Ah… I shouldn’t have said anything. What if the drama’s ratings drop because of me?”
Seo A-rin’s face was filled with apology.
More than anything else, she worried about causing harm to others.
She didn’t care what happened to her own image.
“This mouth of mine is always getting me in trouble….”
“Whoa, whoa, such a pretty mouth….”
Ryu Min stopped Seo A-rin as she tried to hit her own mouth.
But there was no taking back words already spoken.
Sighing once more, Seo A-rin turned her gaze elsewhere.
“This is all because of that guy.”
“Song Min-hyuk?”
“Yes! That senior tried to hit on me, asking to practice lines together at his home?”
“Are you sure he was really hitting on you?”
“Of course. What actress practices lines with a male actor at his home in the middle of the night?”
“Come on, don’t get worked up. Our pretty A-rin should stay calm.”
Her agitation melted away like snow.
Ryu Min’s warm embrace enveloped Seo A-rin.
“It feels good to be held.”
“Me too.”
They’d been dating for nearly a year now.
Which meant it had been a year since they escaped the Survival Game.
The incident had been so massive that the time for recovery was brief, yet the world gradually found its way back to normalcy.
Seo A-rin’s world as well.
“Min-ah. I’ve never been happier than I am right now.”
“Me neither.”
“That’s exactly why I’m so anxious… What if this happiness shatters someday….”
“What are you talking about? Why would it shatter?”
Ryu Min jumped up in surprise and asked, but Seo A-rin turned her head away with a melancholic expression.
“Let’s go eat. I’m hungry.”
“Tell me. There’s nothing wrong, right?”
“No. It’s nothing like that.”
She deliberately avoided answering.
She had to.
There was a truth she could never tell him, no matter how much of a boyfriend he was.
‘Min-ah… The truth is… I’m really a terrible person. I manipulated your feelings.’
The word “manipulated” was too light.
“Controlled” would be more accurate.
Ryu Min had come to like her purely because of the wish’s effect.
That was what had been tormenting Seo A-rin lately.
She had to feel guilty about happiness obtained through deception.

* * *
On the way home after a fine dinner at the Steakhouse.
Seo A-rin deliberated, again and again.
‘Should I tell him? If I do… what will happen to our relationship?’
Today marked one year since she’d started dating Ryu Min.
She felt this couldn’t continue as it was, and made a decision.
To lay everything bare honestly.
‘At least then I could ease the guilt….’
When she first started dating Ryu Min, it was truly wonderful.
As if she possessed the entire world.
But that lasted only a few months.
The greater her happiness grew, the more her anxiety swelled.
The greater her anxiety, the more her guilt accumulated.
That’s what it meant to buy someone’s heart with a wish.
She hadn’t known that before making the wish.
‘I have to tell him. Tonight, at least.’
She couldn’t bear the torment any longer.
She would confess the truth to Ryu Min and humbly accept the consequences.
Whether they broke up, or broke up, or… broke up.
‘Why do only negative outcomes come to mind….’
“Sigh….”
“A-rin, are you okay? Why the heavy sigh?”
“Huh?”
It seemed my internal sigh had escaped outward without my noticing.
“Oh, no. It’s nothing.”
“Nothing, my foot. Be honest with me. You’ve got something on your mind, don’t you?”
“Something on my mind? There’s nothing like that.”
“Come on. You’re going to hide it from me? We’ve already made an official announcement that you’re dating an ordinary person.”
The fact that Seo A-rin was dating an ordinary person was now common knowledge to everyone in the world.
Because of it, her popularity among male fans had been declining, but she didn’t care much about that.
Now she had decided to focus only on her boyfriend Ryu Min, not on the eyes of others.
However, that resolve might crumble after today.
‘It might even occupy one section of the news….’
The news headline would probably be [Exclusive! Seo A-rin Breaks Up with Boyfriend After One Year].
It was unavoidable.
“A-rin?”
At Ryu Min’s question, Seo A-rin made a decision she could no longer postpone.
“Min. I have something to tell you….”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“….”
“….”
“….”
“I’m listening.”
Seo A-rin, who had been gathering her courage, finally parted her lips.
“About the Survival Game from a year ago…. You wouldn’t know, but I had a wish.”
“A wish?”
“Angel said that anyone who cleared the Survival Game to the end could have one wish granted.”
“Angel said that? Why don’t I remember it?”
“That’s because when a wish is granted, a new worldline is created, and everyone except the person who made the wish loses all memory of it.”
“…What are you talking about?”
Seeing Ryu Min’s bewildered expression, Seo A-rin’s anxiety grew even stronger.
But it was already too late.
I couldn’t take back the words I’d already spoken.
“Listen carefully. I cleared the final round and made a wish. My wish was for you, Ryu Min, to fall in love with me. And unbelievably, the wish came true.”
“….”
Ryu Min stared at Seo A-rin with a face frozen in shock.
For Seo A-rin, there was no turning back, so she couldn’t stop speaking.
“I bought your heart. I manipulated your emotions with my wish, and it tormented me ever since. I felt guilty about it.”
Seo A-rin hung her head low.
She dreaded what would happen next.
I couldn’t even bring myself to meet Ryu Min’s gaze.
“I’m sorry… for suddenly saying something like this. You must be shocked, right…? If you want to break up, I’ll accept it. Whatever the outcome, I’ll take responsibility. It all stems from my selfishness. It’s something I need to answer for….”
“….”
Seo A-rin, unable to even lift her head, simply turned away.
The lack of response suggested she was deeply shaken.
It was the reaction I had anticipated.
“You seem very confused right now, so I’ll go. Once you’ve had time to think things through, send me a message. Whether it’s about breaking up or anything else….”
“A-rin.”
As Seo A-rin turned to leave, warmth gently reached her wrist.
Ryu Min, having caught her, turned her around to face him.
Whoosh!
As he suddenly embraced her, Seo A-rin’s rabbit-like eyes widened even further.
“Thank you for telling me the truth. Thank you for being brave enough to do it.”
“Min….”
“Honestly, I still can’t believe it. A wish? No matter how hard I try to remember, I have no recollection of ever hearing something like that.”
“That’s because the System erased your memories….”
“I know. I understand. That you had a wish. That my emotions were manipulated. All of it. But here’s the thing….”
Ryu Min, after a pause, continued.
“So what? The time we’ve spent together over the past year wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t some fabricated illusion.”
“Min….”
“The happy moments I shared with you—they’re all precious memories to me. I don’t want to dismiss them as false. Emotional manipulation? I don’t care about that. Whether it was a wish or anything else, the time we spent together was real.”
“Then… what about our relationship….”
“We’re not breaking up.”
Ryu Min, speaking with unwavering conviction, decided to drive the point home completely.
He pulled a small box from his pocket.
Click.
Opening the box, Ryu Min dropped to one knee.
Inside was a diamond ring he had prepared in advance for their first anniversary.
“Will you marry me, A-rin?”
“….”
“I don’t care about wishes or anything else.”
Seo A-rin, staring at the ring with an expression of shock, couldn’t find her words.
She had never expected this.
She had never anticipated such a moment.
Tears quickly welled up in Seo A-rin’s eyes.
And her answer came just as swiftly.
“Yes. I do.”
Seo A-rin accepted the ring and smiled radiantly.
Tears of joy fell in tandem with her laughter.

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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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