The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 372

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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 17
17. Christine’s 101st Cycle (Part 2)
No one in the world could have foreseen that the world would transform into Hell.
Christine didn’t know either.
That such an absurd situation would befall her.
‘Slay 100 goblins and survive….’
A Quest imposed upon everyone.
Yet a Quest that was nearly impossible to execute.
For her, even killing a creature called a goblin was a daunting task.
She had never taken the life of even the smallest animal during her lifetime.
“Shrieeek!”
“Ahhh! T-they’re coming!”
“Help me! Somebody hel….”
As the horde of goblins surged forward, Christine and countless others panicked and flailed about.
Their sheer numbers were overwhelming, but worse still was that the goblins wielded daggers and clubs in their clawed hands.
The humans had been given no weapons whatsoever.
‘All we can rely on are these runes.’
Christine had just confirmed the ability she obtained by shattering a random rune fragment.
[Rune of Pain Mitigation]
-Effect: Reduces incoming pain and damage by 50%.
It was the sort of rune a tank in a game might possess, yet it had come to Christine.
Whatever came her way wasn’t necessarily bad, but Christine couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
‘If only I’d gotten an offensive rune instead, slaying goblins would be so much easier….’
But that was her misconception.
This was no game—it was reality.
Christine didn’t yet understand how vital a rune that reduced pain truly was in a Survival Game.
Not until she allowed the goblins to land several blows upon her.
Slash!
“Ow!”
Christine winced as the blade carved across her body, leaving a wound in its wake.
Blood trickled from the gaping laceration.
Yet realizing it wasn’t as severe as she’d feared, she drove the dagger she’d picked up moments before straight into the goblin’s chest.
Squelch!
“Gack….”
[You have defeated a Goblin!]
[Experience +4%]
[Gold +10]
[Quest Progress: Goblins 10/100]
Though Christine had never killed even the smallest creature or insect, survival left her no room for such scruples.
To live, she would do whatever it took.
Aware of this fact, I took the goblins’ lives.
“Kieee….”
But no matter how many I killed, I couldn’t adapt.
‘This feeling is horrible.’
Feeling the horror of flesh tearing through me, yet unable to stop the destructive act I was forced to commit, I felt a profound disconnect as Christine tallied the count methodically.
Ten became twenty, and twenty soon became a hundred.
Seeing the cylindrical pillar envelop me, I collapsed in relief.
“Haa, it’s over.”
At least there was a rune of pain mitigation—a small mercy.
The fact that I endured despite sustaining such extensive wounds across my entire body.
‘I barely scraped by.’
After the first round ended.
Christine realized something.
She was absolutely unsuited for combat.
The guilt and revulsion she felt even when subduing a goblin that had tried to kill her—it was clear she could never take a life again.
‘I can’t. I can’t kill any more lives….’
Desperately hoping the second round wouldn’t be another killing mission, I entered the Other World.
And as if that earnest wish had been granted, a simple mission appeared.
‘I can survive just by voting within three hours.’
It was so simple it seemed suspicious.
Yet I felt relieved nonetheless.
‘Because I don’t have to kill anyone.’
The sensation of flesh tearing through was truly repulsive.
Even if it was a monster trying to kill me, the revulsion remained the same.
‘But this is strange. A round where I survive just by voting?’
Moreover, being given three whole hours before the vote seemed far too generous.
‘What’s around here?’
I looked around, but all I could see was the Forest.
Could there be something in that Forest?
As I pondered this, I noticed three people entering the Forest together.
Curious, Christine followed them into the Forest.
I trailed behind them at a distance.
“Kyaah!”
“Ugh!”
“What?”
Startled cries came from deeper within.
“W-what’s happening?”
As I rushed forward in alarm, I saw the group facing a hobgoblin.
Squelch!
“Kyaek!”
Fortunately, we managed to deal with the hobgoblins without anyone getting hurt, but their attention suddenly turned toward Christine.
“Who are you? Did you perhaps follow us here?”
“Oh, well… I was curious about what might be in the Forest, and when I saw you all heading in, I followed along… I apologize if that made you uncomfortable.”
Since tailing them had been wrong, Christine spoke honestly and apologized.
Fortunately, they seemed to take it well, and the three of them let go of their remaining wariness.
“It’s fine. These things happen.”
“Since we’re already here together, why don’t we travel as a group? Krishi?”
“Yes, I’d like that.”
“We don’t need formal introductions, do we? We can see everything just by looking at the names above your heads.”
The group nodded, and Christine also confirmed the nicknames of her new companions.
[Berber], [Lupang], [Douglas].
From what they explained, these three didn’t know each other beforehand.
They had simply banded together after helping each other hunt in Round 1.
“After all, we get to live as long as we vote, right?”
“I didn’t want to waste time debating pointlessly, so I thought we’d explore the surroundings instead.”
“But I didn’t expect there to be monsters in the Forest.”
“Neither did I.”
“Since we’re here anyway, why don’t we all hunt together?”
“Sounds good.”
With those words, Christine ventured through the Forest with them.
With a party of four, even a monster or two didn’t seem frightening at all.
‘Besides, I have the Pain Mitigation Rune too.’
I’m confident in landing blows, but actually killing is difficult.
Did Douglas notice my trembling hands?
The moment the monster fell, Douglas asked a question.
“Are you perhaps afraid of taking a life?”
“Pardon?”
“Your hands kept shaking when you were stabbing it with your dagger earlier.”
“Ah, you have a keen eye. To be honest, yes. The sensation of piercing flesh isn’t very pleasant…”
At those words, the others worried as if it were their own problem.
“We’ll have to go through countless rounds ahead.”
“How are you going to manage killing monsters like this?”
“How did you even clear Round 1?”
“Well… I barely managed it, that’s all. If you had to pick, I’d probably be the first to be eliminated among us.”
Though she spoke with a hint of humor, Christine’s words drew sympathy.
Douglas’s expression grew serious as well.
Then Douglas came up with an unexpected proposal.
“What if we did this? We drive the monsters toward Krishi.”
“Drive the monsters…?”
“You’re struggling. There will be countless Quests requiring you to kill monsters ahead, and you’re not adapting.”
“Hmm, it doesn’t seem like you’ll manage it on your own.”
“That’s why we’re offering to help. So you can become more accustomed to the sensation of hunting monsters.”
His proposal caught Christine off guard.
She was equally surprised by the others’ reactions.
“I’m in favor of it.”
“I think it’s a good idea too.”
They all showed genuine willingness to help her.
“What do you say, Krishi? Shall we lend you a hand?”
“Ah… I would be truly grateful if you would.”
From that point on, whenever monsters appeared, the group would wound them to the brink of death without delivering the killing blow.
The finishing blow always fell to Christine.
This allowed her to level up rapidly.
Thud!
[Your level has increased!]
[You have reached Level 10.]
[You can now access the Shop.]
[Class advancement conditions have been met.]
[A hidden sub-quest is available!]
She had reached Level 10 faster than anyone else.
“Excellent! Keep killing like that. Get used to the feel of it.”
“Yes. But I’ve just reached Level 10.”
“Already? That was quick.”
“Focusing all the kills on one person really speeds things up.”
The group was surprised, but there was something even more shocking to come.
“It says there’s a sub-quest available?”
“A sub-quest?”
“Yes. If I complete a class advancement before the voting time and obtain the advancement item, I’ll receive an item discount voucher as a reward.”
“Class advancement?”
“Ah, now that I think about it, there was a job category in the status window, wasn’t there?”
“It seems you need to choose a class once you reach Level 10.”
Until this moment, the group hadn’t shown much surprise.
Not until Christine revealed the item she had obtained.
“Just now, after defeating a monster, I obtained an advancement item called the [Holy Relic]. It’s an item that allows me to advance to the Priest class.”
“You’ve already obtained an advancement item?”
“Priest?”
“That’s fortunate. Go ahead and advance right away.”
Encouraged by the group, Christine used the item.
[You have advanced to the Priest class. Congratulations!]
[As a class advancement reward, you have obtained a ‘Staff’.]
[As a class advancement reward, you have obtained the ‘Rune of Life’.]
[The acquired rune is automatically inscribed upon the player’s body!]
[You have learned the Priest-exclusive skill ‘Heal’!]
[The next skill will be automatically learned when you reach level 20.]
[Rune of Life]
-Effect: When healing an injured player, you gain experience points and gold.
The acquired experience points and gold vary depending on the extent of healing provided.
When saving a player on the brink of death, you acquire 1 stat point.
[Exclusive Skill – Heal]
-Effect: Restores both internal and external injuries of the target.
As the rune and skill information flooded in, Christine’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.
‘This is an incredible rune, isn’t it?’
True to a Priest’s nature, I could gain experience points and gold simply by healing someone.
In other words, I could grow without hunting at all.
‘I don’t know how much experience I’ll get, but perhaps I won’t need to hunt monsters.’
Moreover, if I contribute to saving a life, I receive 1 stat point.
Permanently, at that.
Did Douglas notice Christine’s astonished expression?
He asked with curious eyes.
“How did it go? Was the class change successful? I can tell from the effect that it seems to be, but…”
“Yes. It was successful.”
“Well, is there nothing different?”
Christine’s thoughts multiplied at this point.
There was plenty that was different.
But sharing it with the people here felt somewhat delicate.
Even if they were kind people who helped me, weren’t they people I’d only just met today?
‘It’s probably best not to reveal anything about the rune to anyone.’
But I decided it would be fine to talk about the skill.
“I acquired a skill. It’s called Heal, and it can cure wounds.”
“Heal?”
“That’s incredible?”
“In games, healers are noble characters, aren’t they?”
“Try using it on me.”
Lupang, who had been injured earlier, promptly extended his forearm, urging me to try it out.
Christine, naturally learning how to use it, placed her hand over the wound and spoke the skill’s name.
‘Heal.’
In an instant, the gaping wound closed and vanished.
Miraculous healing speed.
At that miraculous sight, all the players present couldn’t help but gasp in astonishment.
“Oh, sh*t!”
“Jesus Christ!”
“Wow, that’s incredible? Really?”
The party’s reaction was nothing short of explosive.
Having witnessed the miracle of wounds closing, their astonishment was only natural.
“I’m so glad we invested all that experience into Krishi! This is truly fulfilling!”
“Krishi, let’s continue traveling together from now on.”
“If we travel with Krishi, we won’t have to worry about getting injured.”
They understood instinctively.
Just how enormous the influence of a healer was in the Survival Game.

* * *
As the three hours drew to a close, voting time approached.
Krishi’s party returned to the Starting Area without delay.
But the Players’ Group was engaged in heated debate.
They still hadn’t decided who to vote for.
That’s when Douglas made his unexpected move.
“Everyone, please pay attention!”
People turned to look at him with puzzled expressions.
“If you’re struggling to decide who to vote for, allow me to make a recommendation. It’s Krishi, right here!”
“D-Douglas, why are you doing this?”
“Just bear with me. This is all for Krishi’s sake.”
Douglas winked with one eye and continued shouting.
“Krishi here has just hunted in the Forest and changed classes to Priest. And she’s acquired a miraculous skill called Heal that cures wounds.”
Though he was rattling off information, people’s reactions were filled with amazement rather than skepticism.
“What? She can heal wounds?”
“A class change? Priest?”
“Is it true?”
“It’s true. Why would I lie? If you don’t believe me, come over and experience Heal yourself. Of course, you’ll need to have a wound.”
At those words, people with injuries approached Christine.
“Please use Heal on us, Krishi.”
At Douglas’s urging, Christine used Heal on the people.
Then a miraculous sight unfolded—wounds closing before their eyes.
“My wound really healed!”
“Is it… really true?”
“That’s an incredible ability!”
As attention focused entirely on her, Douglas drove home his point.
“There! You’ve all seen it, haven’t you? I propose that we elect Krishi here as our district representative. Anyone who’s played The Game knows how crucial a healer is, right? Rather than selecting some mediocre person as our representative when we don’t know what dangers lie ahead, wouldn’t it be better to choose Krishi?”
Swayed by Douglas’s argument, people agreed, and soon Angel appeared to conduct the voting.
And the results were.
【District Representative Election Results】
1st Place. Krishi (4,552 votes)
2nd Place. Douglas (312 votes)
3rd Place. Lupang (5 votes)
4th Place. Traveler (5 votes)
5th Place. Kate Garnet (4 votes)
…
…
Christine’s overwhelming first place victory.

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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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