The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 380

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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 4
4. Black Scythe
Hwang Yong-min’s visible panic was unmistakable.
‘What is this bastard saying right now? He wants to fight?’
Beyond the sting to his pride, what truly unsettled him was that this was the first time someone had shown such blatant hostility toward him.
A docile cat revealing its fangs—the guy must be furious indeed.
As Ryu Min turned his body, noticing Hwang Yong-min wasn’t following, he gestured again with his eyes.
“What are you doing? Not coming?”
“….”
“Why? Scared?”
Words designed to wound pride.
Hwang Yong-min knew that well.
But he couldn’t bring himself to respond.
To say he wasn’t scared would be a lie.
‘This guy beat five people at once. If I follow him, I’ll get the shit beaten out of me just like then….’
Who in this world actually wants to be beaten?
‘Damn it. Why aren’t the older guys coming? Hell!’
Though he wanted to hold out to the end, Ryu Min’s patience wasn’t particularly generous.
“You’re not coming? You want to get beaten here? In front of everyone?”
“….”
“Or are you waiting for the gangsters? Like I said earlier, they’re not coming.”
“Why…?”
A dry laugh escaped Ryu Min’s lips.
“Because I took care of them all.”
‘Took… took care of them?’
What was he talking about?
Did that mean he’d faced all those big-time guys—guys who could be called nationwide players?
As Hwang Yong-min’s eyes widened, Ryu Min’s gaze turned toward his friends.
“You all come too.”
“Huh? U-us?”
“You were all involved to some degree, weren’t you?”
At those words, his friends shrieked frantically.
“W-what are you saying? W-we absolutely! Completely! Have nothing to do with this!”
“R-right. Gangsters? I’m hearing for the first time today that this guy called gangsters!”
“I’m serious! We never had any thoughts of revenge against you, not even a little!”
Watching his friends wave their hands and back away, Hwang Yong-min felt what little resolve remained drain completely.
“Hey, you bastards! And you call yourselves friends?”
“Why? We’re just telling the truth.”
“Yeah. You called the gangsters on your own.”
“We have nothing to do with this, so you two figure it out yourselves.”
“Y-yes, that’s right. We’ll get out of your way.”
Fearing even a spark of trouble might land on them, his friends scattered like arrows shot from a bow.
I could have stopped them, but I decided to let them go.
‘Reading their true intentions, none of them harbor any desire for revenge against me. Even Hwang Yong-min is planning to cut ties with them after this.’
They were the sort of people who posed no real threat even if released.
But Hwang Yong-min was different.
He’d mobilized a Gangster Organization to exact revenge and had actually acted on it.
He was obsessed with vengeance to the point of targeting my family.
This one needed a proper lesson.
“Hey! Seung-han! Tae-sik!”
Hwang Yong-min tried to follow his friends.
Clack—
“Where do you think you’re going?”
My hand clamped down on his shoulder.
‘Ugh, what kind of grip strength is this…’
Feeling the terrifying force radiating from my grasp, Hwang Yong-min found himself unable to take another step.
“Come with me. We’re not finished talking yet.”
As I dragged him along by the shoulder, my family members exchanged glances between us.
“Min, what’s going on? Who is this friend…?”
“I need to talk to him about something urgent. Please go inside first.”
After telling my family that, I led Hwang Yong-min away.
Toward the most secluded, deserted place I could find.

* * *
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
Ryu Min’s kick sent Hwang Yong-min flying pathetically across the ground.
To any onlooker, it would have appeared that a delinquent was bullying his friend, but the reality was the opposite.
In the previous world, it was Hwang Yong-min who had tormented Ryu Min.
“Hwang Yong-min. I’ve known for a while that you’re a bastard. But….”
Crack!
“Gack!”
“I didn’t expect you to involve a Gangster Organization.”
Hwang Yong-min’s jaw took the blow and he sprawled out flat.
He lacked the strength to rise, but Ryu Min forcibly pulled him to his feet.
“Did getting hit by me hurt that much? Did you want revenge?”
“Ugh….”
Eyes gleaming with bestial ferocity.
His education was far from complete.
“Do you need another beating to come to your senses?”
“You worthless punk!”
Whoosh!
Hwang Yong-min’s surprise straight punch.
An ordinary person might have taken it, but Ryu Min had transcended the realm of the ordinary.
Crack!
“Kugh!”
He slipped his head cleanly to the side while delivering a counter punch in the same motion.
As Hwang Yong-min crashed down, spraying blood, Ryu Min continued speaking.
“When you first tried to bully me, I made some effort to demonstrate my strength, but it seems I didn’t show you enough. Seeing how you keep crawling back.”
“Ugh….”
“I should have made it crystal clear back then that you weren’t someone worth taking revenge on. That was my mistake.”
“You bastard… damn it.”
“Still so proud, are you? Let’s see if you can maintain that pride after this.”
Ryu Min’s hand suddenly extended.
And then.
Whoosh!
A sight beyond belief unfolded before Hwang Yong-min’s eyes.
A scythe wreathed in black and crimson energy suddenly materialized in his grasp.
“Wh, what the—!”
Hwang Yong-min’s eyes widened in sheer terror.
Who wouldn’t be startled by someone suddenly conjuring a scythe from thin air?
“Surprised? Well, this is a world without Players, so it’s natural to be shocked.”
“H, how, how is this….”
“Do you think I’m telling you something you can understand?”
“….”
“Anyway, that’s not why I revealed my power.”
My scythe traced an arc through the air.
Slash!
With a sharp sound, Hwang Yong-min’s hair fell to the ground in clumps.
“Never defy me again. Don’t harbor any thoughts of revenge. Don’t appear before me a second time, and don’t even think about ignoring this warning. If you do….”
Scrape—
The scythe touched the base of Hwang Yong-min’s neck.
“Next time, it won’t be hair that falls.”
“….”
No words came from Hwang Yong-min’s mouth.
He wasn’t even capable of forming thoughts.
Terror consumed him, and his entire body went rigid.
His knees trembled, and a yellow liquid began seeping from his pants.
‘It’s over.’
Hwang Yong-min would never utter another word in my presence.
I’d even pulled [Thanatos’s Black Scythe] from my inventory to demonstrate my authority.
‘He won’t dare spread this around. Even if he did, they’d just think he’s insane.’
A person creating a scythe from thin air?
No one would believe such a claim—he’d only be branded a madman.
Especially since Hwang Yong-min already had a reputation as a delinquent, no one would give his words any credence.
Look at him.
Isn’t he muttering like a lunatic right now?
“A… scythe….”
“Huh?”
“Black… scythe….”
Flinch.
I was startled by Hwang Yong-min’s sudden mention of a black scythe.
This world had no knowledge of the Black Scythe.
‘Ah… He wasn’t calling out my nickname—he was just describing what he saw.’
Of course Hwang Yong-min couldn’t know my nickname.
This world, the 102nd World Line, was one where the Survival Game never occurred.
Neither Angels nor Players nor nicknames existed here.
Such things couldn’t be known or even imagined.
Yet my eyes widened involuntarily once more.
“Ryu Min… Black Scythe… Survival Game… Player… Angel….”
Words that should never have come from Hwang Yong-min’s mouth were pouring out one after another.
‘What’s happening? Where could he have learned those words….’
I could dismiss the “black scythe” as him simply describing the weapon’s appearance.
But the other words were difficult to dismiss as mere coincidence.
Ryu Min immediately read Hwang Yong-min’s inner thoughts.
The incomprehensible murmuring became crystal clear in my mind.
-I participated in the Survival Game…? Every month, only my soul transferred to the Other World…? Together with Black Scythe…?
My pupils dilating was the natural response.
‘This doesn’t make sense. How could Hwang Yong-min possibly know about the Survival Game?’
In this world, only I knew about the Survival Game.
Knowing information about events that haven’t occurred was as impossible as creating something from nothing.
‘What’s going on here?’
I decided to delve deeper into Hwang Yong-min’s true thoughts.
His mind was extremely chaotic.
‘What is this? He’s thinking about random topics without any coherence. It’s as if information is being injected into him.’
I wanted to interrogate Hwang Yong-min for details, but it was already too late.
Thump!
The bastard finally lost consciousness and collapsed.
“Hey, Hwang Yong-min. Wake up. Hwang Yong-min.”
I tried tapping him awake, but Hwang Yong-min remained motionless like a corpse.
‘What kind of situation is this….’
I put away the scythe and carefully organized my thoughts.
The Hwang Yong-min of this world was distinctly different from the Hwang Yong-min of other worlds.
Hwang Yong-min couldn’t possibly recall memories of being a Player.
Absolutely not.
‘Something’s wrong.’
There was clearly a problem with the world line.
Otherwise, there’s no way information from another world could surface, is there?
‘I have no choice. I need to ask Chronos.’
In my hand was the Soul Gauntlet, an Eternal Item.
A soul-bound item that slew Divine Beings, extracted their souls, and used their powers.
In the past, I had captured countless gods and wielded their abilities.
From the power of creation to the power of destruction.
But now I had converted the Divine Beings that were in the gauntlet into humans and thrown them into a Survival Game I created myself.
Thus, I could no longer use those powers.
‘But one thing remains.’
Specifically, the power of time that Chronos possessed.
I hadn’t released Chronos’s soul alone.
I kept it carefully stored in the gauntlet, as if I intended to use it repeatedly.
It was unavoidable if I wanted to regress to the era when my parents were alive and create a world line where the Survival Game never occurred.
Looking back now, it was the right decision.
-Listen, Chronos.
I spoke to the gauntlet, though my hands remained clean in reality.
The gauntlet worn on the soul was invisible to the eye.
-It has been quite some time. Being locked away in this prison and having my name called.
-I summoned you because I have questions.
-If I answer? Will you set me free?
-Would I free a madman?
-True. The legendary Black Scythe is not one to do such a thing.
-Enough. Just answer my questions.
-What if I refuse?
-Then you’ll either be annihilated at the molecular level, or you’ll become human like your parents and participate in the Survival Game I created. Which will it be?
-….
The threat worked.
Chronos knew well the agony of a soul’s annihilation.
Or perhaps he simply despised the Survival Game.
-If you have questions, ask them. I’ll answer what I can.
Ryu Min explained to Chronos what had just happened.
-Hmm…. A being from this world revealed information about another world….
-Yes. When I read his true thoughts, it felt like information was being forcibly injected into him. Does anything about this strike you as odd?
-It appears an information synchronization has occurred.
-Information synchronization?
-Even humans from different world lines are composed of the same matter as those here. Their bodies are suitable for synchronization.
-Explain in more detail.
-It seems information from another world line has flowed into this world line.
-Why would such a phenomenon occur?
-When a world line collapses, this kind of thing can happen.
-A world line… collapsing?
-It’s likely that one of the world lines you created has been destroyed.
-So, one world line collapsed, and the information of Hwang Yong-min who lived there flowed into this world line? And since the bodies synchronized, they shared information?
-Correct. You understand quickly.
Fragments of memories scattered from the collapse of another world line had flowed into Hwang Yong-min of this world line?
-Could it be that others as well…?
-Likely. I would need to verify which world line collapsed using the power of time, but the fact that it entered the 102nd World Line is undeniable.
-Why has this happened? Why would a perfectly intact world line collapse?
-Someone likely interfered.
-Who?
-There is one person who comes to mind… Yes, it could only be that person.
Chronos spoke with certainty.
-The Dimensional God, Deorant. It must be his doing.

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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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