The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 367

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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 12
Side Story 12. Ma Gyeong-rok’s 101st Cycle (Part 2)
“….”
Father fell silent for a long moment, visibly taken aback.
He simply regarded me with a serious, penetrating gaze.
“Are you sincere?”
“Yes.”
In this twenty-first century, we live in a globalized age.
The era of seeking a fiancée solely within domestic borders has long passed.
Even corporate magnates now turn their eyes abroad when considering strategic marriages.
Perhaps that was why.
After a prolonged deliberation, Father offered his consent.
“Very well. If that is your wish, then so be it.”
“Truly… sir?”
I was more astonished than he was by my rigid, patriarchal father’s approval.
I had honestly expected him to refuse.
I had broached the subject prepared for argument, yet he acquiesced with such ease.
“…Thank you, Father. I believe you will come to like her as well.”
“Indeed. Bring her to see me sometime.”
At those sparse yet warmth-laden words, I turned to leave.
And I reflected.
Today, our exchange had truly felt like a conversation between father and son.

* * *
“Brother. Father told me about it. Are you serious?”
Ma Gyeong-sang, the second son, came to ask.
A sneer was plastered across his face, as if he couldn’t resist mocking me right then and there.
“Why are you getting engaged to a foreigner? Are domestic women not good enough for you? Or is it because you’re falling behind right now, so you’re trying to get support from her family’s wealth?”
“I’m not in the mood to talk to you. Get out.”
“Ha, who would want to talk to you anyway? This is ridiculous.”
Ma Gyeong-sang muttered nonsense before leaving.
I didn’t even look back as I went my own way.
There was no magic that could make estranged brothers close again.
I had never harbored such expectations, nor did I desire them.
‘I must look pathetic to them now. The company’s stock price is plummeting, after all.’
Father’s test—to grow the company and prove my own worth.
I was falling behind my brothers in that test.
One misstep and I could lose my position as heir.
It was only natural that their arrogance would rise.
In such circumstances, spouting such nonsense about taking a foreigner as my fiancée—of course they found it laughable.
‘Just wait. I may be faltering now, but I will surely grow and crush your pride.’
My resentment toward my brothers ignited my determination.
Yet Ma Gyeong-rok did not know.
That in reaction to this, another desire was stirring within him.

* * *
‘Ah….’
Sleep wouldn’t come.
I’d forced myself to rest throughout the early morning, but it was useless.
Glancing at the desk clock, three hours had already passed.
‘Have I run out of sleeping pills too?’
I lifted myself from the Bedroom and poured a glass of whiskey.
If I soothed my nerves with alcohol as a substitute for medication, wouldn’t this wretched insomnia finally disappear?
‘I wish I could rely on the power of drink….’
But sleep never came.
Was it because my stress had reached its peak?
That memory kept surfacing unbidden.
The memory of beating a dog to death at the Company.
‘Sigh, why does that memory keep coming back….’
My hands began to tremble violently.
Not from fear.
It was from excitement.
The exhilaration I’d felt when killing that dog made my body shake.
An overwhelming urge to experience that moment once more consumed my mind.
I changed clothes and left the Hotel Room.
The dead of night at Dawn.
I wandered the streets aimlessly.
“Meow.”
A cat’s cry echoed from somewhere.
I turned toward the sound.
Walking as if entranced, I found a small kitten there.
Crack!
I strangled it and killed it on the spot.
There was only one reason I killed it without hesitation.
I needed to verify something.
Where the urge was coming from.
‘Ah. Now I understand.’
A strange pleasure washed over my entire body.
The same sensation as when I’d killed the dog at the Company.
From that moment on, Ma Gyeong-rok accepted the truth.
He was different from everyone else.
He knows he’s different from others.

* * *
“Good day. I am An Sang-chul, head of Security Team 1. As of today, I have taken on the responsibility of protecting you. I look forward to working with you.”
“I look forward to it as well. Ah, it feels awkward—please don’t use that formal title. From now on, just call me Director.”
Father had assigned the security team leader to me as a full-time driver and bodyguard.
‘He doesn’t seem like the overly eager type. More the kind who quietly does his job without fuss, I’d say.’
My first impression was favorable.
“Let’s do good work together, Manager An.”
I said it, but I had no desire to become close with him.
A bodyguard was merely a bodyguard, after all.
Keeping professional and personal matters separate was Ma Gyeong-rok’s philosophy as well.
But he didn’t know that things wouldn’t go according to plan.
“D-Director? What are you doing here at this hour…?”
“Hmm, I didn’t want to show you this side of myself, Manager An.”
I’d been caught slaughtering a pig in the warehouse.
‘Well, now that it’s come to this, I have no choice but to tell him.’
Ma Gyeong-rok confessed everything to An Sang-chul.
That he harbored murderous urges, and that he was satisfying them by killing pigs.
But An Sang-chul remained surprisingly composed.
His eyes even took on a sympathetic gleam.
“You must have had a difficult time all this while…”
“Hmm? You understand me even after witnessing such a psychopathic taste?”
“There’s nothing to understand or not understand. I am the shield and limbs of Oseong Group. I am no different from your hands and feet, Director. I will always be on your side.”
I searched his eyes for sincerity.
Seeing no wavering, it didn’t seem to be a lie.
‘Good. At least I won’t have troublesome complications.’
That’s what I thought, but then came an unexpected proposal.
“You may not realize it, but there are many humans in this world who are worth less than pigs.”
“Are you suggesting I replace the pigs with criminals?”
“Yes. If you find it difficult to suppress your murderous urges, I’m merely offering such an alternative.”
“Hmm…”
I pretended to ponder, though I hadn’t left it unexamined.
In fact, the first target I’d thought of killing was a person.
‘I simply haven’t attempted it because the risk was too great.’
But if An Sang-chul were to help me, things might be different.
“It’s not a bad alternative.”

* * *
After that, I killed people instead of pigs.
A murderer through and through.
Slaughtering beasts and humans were worlds apart.
Yet the satisfaction that came in return was equally incomparable.
‘When I kill criminals, my insomnia washes away like a dream. There’s a sensation of something deep within me becoming whole.’
For more than a month afterward, I could sleep soundly without restraint.
I needed no sleeping pills.
But as the nights of wakefulness grew more frequent, the darkness within whispered.
It was time to kill again.
“An Sang-chul. If there are no suitable criminals to target, check the vagrants as well.”
“Vagrants, sir?”
“Yes. They’re nothing but garbage on the streets, are they not?”
“Understood.”
Ma Gyeong-rok’s orders, and An Sang-chul followed without hesitation.
He was a loyal hound who would obey even if commanded to kill his own family.
‘I should be grateful to Father for assigning such a man to me.’
I felt genuine appreciation, though I never expressed it.
Right now, my own concerns consumed me entirely.
As long as I remained in this battlefield called the succession war, I had no capacity for other matters.
‘Now is the time to pour my efforts into the Company’s growth.’
I resolved to expand the Company with greater ambition in the new year.
Yet Ma Gyeong-rok did not know.
A catastrophic upheaval was about to shatter that very ambition.

* * *
January 1st.
On that day when I was savoring the new year, Ma Gyeong-rok was dragged away.
To the Other World.
[Please state your nickname to register with the system within 30 seconds.]
[If you fail to decide within the time limit, your real name will be registered automatically.]
‘Insane. What the hell is all this…’
I’d already received an explanation from Angel.
That people aged 15 to 29 from around the world had been dragged into The Game.
‘Then what about Ma Gyeong-sang and Ma Gyeong-su, those bastards?’
I didn’t care what happened to them.
Setting aside our relationship as brothers inferior to others, let me establish my nickname first.
“I’m setting my nickname as Cheon Ma.”
[That nickname is not duplicated. It has been registered.]
After customization, the space that unfolded before me was a Grassland that opened the heart just by looking at it.
But I didn’t let my guard down.
‘What kind of mission are they planning in a place like this?’
I looked around cautiously.
I didn’t see any familiar faces.
‘Was An Sang-chul dragged in too? What about that actor?’
Probably so.
Everyone must be panicking in this unfamiliar situation.
Just like me.
[Hehehehe, nice to meet you all. Your bewildered expressions are quite a sight. Anyway, since we’re together now, don’t lose heart and stay strong. First, open your inventory. There should be a gift inside.]
Following Angel’s words, people checked their inventories.
Inside was an item called Random Rune Fragment.
“Damn!!”
“Ohhh…”
“This, this…”
Reactions mixed with joy and disappointment as the fragments came out randomly.
‘Should I try it too? Use.’
[You have used the Random Rune Fragment.]
[Congratulations! The ‘Dark Knight’s Rune’ has appeared!]
[The acquired rune will be automatically inscribed onto the player’s body!]
[Dark Knight’s Rune]
-Effect: When you kill a target, you can steal its soul and accumulate dark power (maximum 50).
For every 1 dark power accumulated, all stats increase by 1%.
You can consume dark power to create a Dark Aura.
You can use the Dark Aura to bite targets or coat weapons to increase cutting power.
Dark power slowly dissipates over time.
Killing a target with Dark Aura grants more dark magic power.
At level 10, you automatically advance to Dark Knight.
A single rune carries an abundance of explanations.
‘What is this? A Dark Knight’s rune? You automatically advance at level 10?’
I hadn’t even known that advancement existed in the first place.
Dark Aura? Dark magic power?
It was nothing but unfamiliar terminology, but there was no time to comprehend it.
A horde of goblins came rushing in.
“Kiiieee!”
“Kiek!”
“R-run away!”
“Aaaahhhhh!”
A green tide clashed, and blood splattered everywhere.
People screamed and fled in panic.
Defenseless.
No matter how small the creatures charging forward with blades were, they couldn’t help but seem threatening.
And yet.
Whoosh—
Ma Gyeong-rok felt no fear whatsoever.
Rather, I felt exhilaration.
What kind of pleasure would I feel killing those monsters?
How would it differ from piercing animals and humans?
This excitement drove me to pick up the fallen dagger and thrust without hesitation.
Squelch!
“Keh, keh-ack!”
Watching the goblin collapse while spewing green blood, I gazed down with an indifferent expression.
[Goblin defeated!]
[Experience +4%]
[Gold +10]
[Dark Magic Power +1]
[Current Dark Magic Power Accumulated: 1/50]
[All stats increase by 1% due to the Dark Knight’s Rune effect.]
Messages flickered before my eyes, but my attention was drawn elsewhere.
‘What is this elation?’
A dark energy flowed into my body.
It felt as though I had absorbed the goblin’s very soul upon killing it.
Beyond the pleasure, there was a sensation of fullness welling up in my chest.
Squelch! Squelch!
I calmly pierced the goblins that approached again, killing them.
That exhilaration from moments before surged through me once more.
‘It’s certain. When I kill a goblin, something flows into me.’
I’m not sure if it’s dark magic or something else.
What I know for certain is that I feel the same exhilaration as when killing humans.
And without anyone telling me, I could figure it out.
Tssssss—
How to coat my weapon with a dark aura.
“Come.”
“Screeeee!”
The goblins rushed forward, and I cut them down without hesitation.
That day, Ma Gyeong-rok cleared Round 1 with a record of 17 minutes and 7 seconds, and the nickname Cheon Ma rose to 3rd place across all districts.
Naturally, he ranked 1st in his respective district.

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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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