The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 379

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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. Welcome.
Broad, muscular shoulders.
A swagger in every step.
An unmistakably menacing presence.
Men in black suits, perfectly coordinated, invaded the Graduation Ceremony.
They were from the Jung-sik Faction.
“Yong-min. Is that the bastard you showed me in the photo? Is it him?”
“Yes! That’s correct, hyung! That’s Ryu Min.”
Hwang Yong-min, standing beside him, grinned wickedly and made eye contact with Ryu Min.
“You’re screwed, Ryu Min.”
The ominous atmosphere caused murmurs to ripple through the crowd.
Ryu Min’s family members were flustered.
“Mi, Min-ah. Who are these people? Do you know them?”
But Ryu Min remained unperturbed.
Watching him calmly raise his hand and gesture his family back, it was clear he had this under control.
“Please wait a moment. I’ll handle this.”
“Handle it? This is so absurd I can’t even laugh.”
Jo Jung-sik’s expression turned incredulous as Ryu Min approached.
That unflinching gaze, looking straight at him without a trace of fear—it was almost amusing.
“Is it because you’re friends with Yong-min? Your nerve is completely out of this world. What are you anyway? Is your father a congressman? Are you from money?”
“….”
Ryu Min simply stared back without answering.
His gaze was unusual, but it posed no real threat to Jo Jung-sik.
‘Even if this kid has fought before, he’s nothing to me.’
Who was he, after all?
Jo Jung-sik, the boss of the Jung-sik Faction that controlled Seoul.
At just twenty-nine years old, he had crushed the heads of Seoul’s elite to reach this position.
Underestimating his youth would be a grave mistake.
He had accumulated real-world combat experience that rivaled anyone’s.
‘This body has even taken lives. I’m in a completely different league from some green punk like you.’
If push came to shove, the sashimi knife hidden at his waist would settle things in an instant.
Of course, as mentioned before, he had no intention of going to prison.
This was purely a contingency.
For now, he planned to end this by giving the kid a beating in front of everyone.
‘Yong-min should be satisfied with that much.’
Jo Jung-sik’s sharp eyes swept over Ryu Min’s frame.
The kid looked lean, his movements quick, but that seemed to be all he had going for him.
Weren’t all high school fights basically the same anyway?
‘I need to come out strong from the start. There’s no time to waste.’
I’d need to strike first before someone calls the police and things get complicated.
First, I’d chat a bit to lower his guard.
“Hey. Did you mess with my family?”
“Family? Who?”
“Me. I’m talking about me.”
Hwang Yong-min stepped forward beside me with a growling expression.
“You’re dead. How dare you touch me, a gangster?”
At those words, Ryu Min let out a scoff.
“Going on about being a gangster, huh. So you finally joined an organization? The Jung-sik Faction?”
“…!”
“…!!!”
Jo Jung-sik, standing beside Hwang Yong-min, was even more shocked.
“You bastard… How did you know about our organization?”
“How do you think I found out?”
Ryu Min smiled and cast a glance.
At none other than Hwang Yong-min.
Jo Jung-sik’s head snapped toward Hwang Yong-min.
“Yong-min, you… Did you lure us here?”
“What? W-what are you talking about….”
“You bastard! I knew it! You really were a spy!”
Jo Jung-sik shouted and looked around.
This was a trap.
Soon, gangsters would swarm out from among the crowd.
And sure enough.
Thud, thud—
Numerous men in black suits pushing through the crowd.
Each one wielded an aluminum bat in hand.
Jo Jung-sik’s expression turned cold.
“The Yang Dong-gu Faction?”
“Jo Jung-sik. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Dong-gu, you bastard….”
With the arrival of the rival organization, Jo Jung-sik and his crew all tensed up.
Sensing the ominous atmosphere, the people who had attended the Graduation Ceremony fled like a receding tide.
“Jung-sik. Even if you’re uneducated, you should maintain basic respect. You’re much older than me—why start with informal speech?”
“Shut up, Yang Dong-gu, you bastard! Setting a trap so shamelessly? Using a high schooler as bait?”
Jo Jung-sik spoke and looked at Hwang Yong-min.
The kid had already attached himself to the Yang Dong-gu Faction and was grinning.
‘Damn it, that bastard was with the Yang Dong-gu Faction from the start!’
Jo Jung-sik’s gaze now turned to Ryu Min.
Ryu Min was similarly grinning away.
Seeing this, Jo Jung-sik could be certain.
‘They planned this from the start. They set a trap with the Yang Dong-gu Faction to devour me!’
This gathering was a trap designed to lure him in.
But contrary to Jo Jung-sik’s thoughts, Ryu Min’s laughter stemmed from something quite different.
No—vastly different.
“What a grandiose fantasy. How could you even think such a thing? That the Graduation Ceremony is a trap to lure you in?”
“What’s that bastard muttering about? Does he want to die?”
Jo Jung-sik remained tense, but Ryu Min could only scoff.
After all, this entire scene was nothing but an illusion he had created.
Snap!
As Ryu Min snapped his fingers, the people around them suddenly vanished like a mirage.
One by one, as if they had never been there in the first place.
“Wh…what?”
The spectators watching the Graduation Ceremony, the rival Yang Dong-gu Faction, Hwang Yong-min—
All of them disappeared.
Jo Jung-sik looked around as if possessed by a ghost.
His subordinates felt the same way.
Who wouldn’t be startled seeing people vanish before their very eyes?
“Gasp! What is this?”
“H-how is this possible…?”
“Am I seeing things…?”
With everyone except the Jung-sik Faction gone,
“Jo Jung-sik.”
Only one person remained—Ryu Min—drawing all eyes upon him.
“Welcome to the Illusion Prison.”
“What?”
“Not just you, but all of your gang.”
“What nonsense is this? You bastard!”
“Stop cursing.”
Ryu Min’s fist flew toward his face in an instant.
“Ugh!”
“My ears are rotting.”
Jo Jung-sik crumpled without even reacting, his eyes widening in shock.
Surprise overwhelmed the pain.
‘I… I didn’t even see it coming.’
Ryu Min cracked his knuckles as he approached the Jung-sik Faction.
“Get ready.”
“R-ready for what?”
“To get beaten by me.”
Before they could even answer, Ryu Min’s fists tore through the gang.

* * *
Tremor, tremor.
The facial muscles of the massive men sitting in the van quivered uncontrollably.
As if caught in a nightmare, they all kept their eyes shut, their brows furrowed in distress.
Jo Jung-sik was no exception.
Watching them from outside the window, Ryu Min broke into a sinister smile.
‘Jo Jung-sik is dealt with.’
From the start, I had known Jo Jung-sik would make his move on Graduation Ceremony day.
After all, I had read Hwang Yong-min’s thoughts.
‘There’s no reason to play along when I know the entire plan.’
The only surprise was that Hwang Yong-min had mobilized the Jung-sik Faction itself to take revenge on me.
Everything else had been within the palm of my hand.
That’s why I had found the van beforehand and made my preparations.
‘No need to let those bastards enter the school and upset everyone, right?’
After reading that the Jung-sik Faction would arrive on Graduation Ceremony day, what I did was simple.
Find the men waiting in the van, then activate Elcis’s ability: [Phantom Prison].
Phantom Prison shows the trapped target either a pre-designed illusion or an illusion crafted from the target’s own thoughts.
‘So I threw all those bastards into Phantom Prison and watched to see what scheme they’d concoct….’
They actually concluded that the Graduation Ceremony itself was a trap set by a rival organization, all because I laughed.
Their delusion was almost enough to make me laugh out loud.
‘They’ll need at least 3 more hours to break free from the illusion. Time to head back.’
Jo Jung-sik’s gang would spend at least 3 hours with their eyes closed in the van, fighting their own illusions.
Or rather, being beaten down one-sidedly.
The version of me I left in the illusion possessed truly ghostlike movements.
‘Though the real me isn’t much different.’
By the time they escaped Phantom Prison, they’d be half-crippled.
‘I just hope they don’t wet themselves in the seats.’
Ryu Min, a smirk playing at his lips, turned back toward the Graduation Ceremony venue.
There was still one more bastard to deal with.

* * *
‘The hyungs should show up soon, right?’
Hwang Yong-min waited for the Jung-sik Faction to appear, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
By the time the tedious Graduation Ceremony ended and the photo session with parents began outside the Gymnasium, his patience had worn thin, but he endured it nonetheless.
Soon the hyungs would arrive and flatten Ryu Min’s nose right in front of everyone.
‘Will they really do it? I did ask them to.’
They hadn’t given a definitive answer, but he had no doubt they would deliver the retaliation he sought.
After all, the Mob Organization backing him was the famous Jung-sik Faction, renowned even throughout Seoul.
“Hey, Yong-min.”
“Oh, Seung-han.”
“What are you doing alone? Didn’t your family come?”
“Why would they?”
“Man, you should’ve called them for photos.”
“You didn’t call yours either, so don’t talk about mine.”
“It’s kind of embarrassing to bring old folks to something like this.”
In truth, even if he’d called them, they wouldn’t have come.
Knowing this well, Hwang Yong-min and his crew hadn’t bothered inviting their parents.
While others were taking photos with happy expressions.
“Damn, just take a few shots and go. They’re obsessing over photos like crazy.”
“You’re just jealous.”
“I’m annoyed because the hyungs are coming soon!”
“They’re really coming?”
“Of course. Would I lie?”
At Hwang Yong-min’s confident answer, his friends secretly clicked their tongues.
‘The guy’s completely insane.’
‘He actually became a gangster.’
‘Now that he’s graduated, I should start distancing myself.’
Unaware of his friends’ true thoughts, Hwang Yong-min eagerly awaited the Jung-sik Faction’s arrival.
Yet despite waiting for a long time, no men in black suits appeared.
“Hey, you said they were coming?”
“Yeah, just wait a bit.”
“They’re not coming, are they? Call them.”
“Damn it.”
He’d waited, assuming they would naturally arrive, but since they hadn’t, he had no choice but to call.
The moment Hwang Yong-min picked up his phone to make the call.
‘Huh?’
Ryu Min, who had been taking photos with his family, suddenly moved toward him.
“Hang up. They’re not coming anyway.”
“What?”
“The Jung-sik Faction. They won’t be coming.”
At Ryu Min’s words, Hwang Yong-min’s eyes widened.
‘How… how did he find out? I never said a word about the Jung-sik Faction?’
True to his suspicion, he wouldn’t answer the call.
As he lowered his phone, Ryu Min asked in a flat voice.
“You called them, didn’t you? Asked the Jung-sik Faction to rough me up on Graduation Ceremony day.”
“….”
“The fact that you can’t answer tells me I’m right.”
Though I already knew what was in his heart, I shook my head and continued the act.
“So this is how you wanted to get revenge on me? All of you?”
“U, us?”
“We had nothing to do with it.”
“Y, yeah. Yong-min did this alone….”
“You bastards have no sense of loyalty….”
At Hwang Yong-min’s glare, his friends fell silent.
Regardless, I maintained a serious expression.
“Calling gangsters on a day as meaningful as Graduation Ceremony? Just to take down one person?”
“….”
“You got beaten before and still haven’t learned your lesson? What am I supposed to do with you, huh?”
From my lips, which had been sighing heavily.
“This won’t do. Come with me.”
Words that scraped against Hwang Yong-min’s pride tumbled out.
“Let me hit 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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