The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 382

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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 6
6. World Line Shift
‘Don’t touch… me?’
For Jo Jung-sik, it was a statement that wounded his pride.
Who did he think he was?
Jo Jung-sik, the Boss of the Jung-sik Faction who unified Seoul through sheer charisma and guts alone.
And this person dared to order him around like this?
Either they had a death wish or they didn’t know who he was.
But the opponent was neither.
‘That bastard is Black Scythe… I’m certain of it.’
Even if memories from another world line had been injected into him, there was no way Jo Jung-sik could know Ryu Min’s true identity.
Yet seeing Ryu Min, he was absolutely certain he was Black Scythe.
Because he held in one hand what could be called his trademark—the black scythe.
Swish—
Ryu Min, aiming the scythe, issued another warning.
“No answer. Jo Jung-sik. Is my meaning really that hard to understand?”
“Ah, no. No, I give up.”
Jo Jung-sik quickly backed down.
He had already been beaten in the Phantom Prison, so he had no intention of resisting, but above all, the opponent was Black Scythe, wasn’t he?
He had not the slightest desire to defy someone who could flick away a shovel with a single finger.
‘It’s a shame I can’t kill Hwang Yong-min… but there’s no help for it.’
Jo Jung-sik turned around without complaint.
“Let’s go.”
“…Yes, boss.”
His subordinates, as if they had been waiting for those words, hurried down the mountain after Jo Jung-sik.
Their true desire was to get as far away from Ryu Min as possible.
However.
“Who said you could leave?”
At Ryu Min’s words, the gangsters and Jo Jung-sik came to a halt.
“I have a question for you, Jo Jung-sik.”
“What, what is it?”
“How much do you know about Black Scythe?”
What was his intention in asking?
While Jo Jung-sik stared at Ryu Min silently, trying to gauge his meaning, the surrounding subordinates began to murmur.
“Black Scythe?”
“What’s that?”
“Sounds like the name of some scythe or something?”
Jo Jung-sik seemed to know, but his surrounding subordinates wore confused expressions.
This made sense, as most of them had died without even surviving the first round.
So even if memories had been injected into them, they couldn’t help but fail to recall Black Scythe.
Jo Jung-sik was an exception—he’d made it to the third round.
“Why won’t Black Scythe speak about Black Scythe….”
“Do you think this is the time to be asking questions?”
Whoosh—
When I brandished a scythe far larger and more ominous than the one I’d seen before, Jo Jung-sik’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.
“W-what do you want to know?”
“Everything you know about Black Scythe.”
My words set Jo Jung-sik’s mind racing through possibilities.
‘Information about Black Scythe… what do I even know?’
As he fumbled through his thoughts, Jo Jung-sik was about to open his mouth when—
“No need to speak.”
“What?”
‘I’ve already heard it.’
As someone who reads minds, I’d already obtained the information.
“You can go now, Jo Jung-sik.”
…
“Before you leave, remember this one thing: never lay a finger on Hwang Yong-min. If anything happens to him….”
In that instant, my blood-red scythe seemed to exhale the very aura of death.
“I’ll come for you, knowing it was your doing.”
“…I understand.”
Jo Jung-sik answered without hesitation and quickened his pace the moment the words left his lips.
Before Black Scythe, pride meant nothing.
There was only flight.

* * *
‘They’re gone.’
As Jo Jung-sik and his subordinates disappeared, I looked down at Hwang Yong-min.
He lay unconscious, yet I felt no pity whatsoever.
‘Fortunately, he’s still alive.’
If I’d intended to kill him, I would have done it back in the alley.
There was a reason I’d let Hwang Yong-min live.
‘He still has his uses.’
Ever since discovering that a Player’s memories had been implanted in him.
I’d followed Hwang Yong-min in my transparent state, observing him in secret.
I needed to confirm how much information he possessed.
‘He knows almost everything about me. Even the memory of his neck being severed by my hand.’
Clearly, he’d absorbed all the memories from this world line.
That’s when I witnessed Jo Jung-sik coming to find Hwang Yong-min.
Following him led me here.
‘I can’t kill Hwang Yong-min yet. I need to observe how he changes when other world lines collapse.’
Currently, six world lines have been destroyed, but more may follow.
Memory fragments may continue flowing toward me.
When that happens, I need to understand what changes occur in Hwang Yong-min’s memories and what information emerges.
‘In other words, I’m keeping him like a laboratory rat. For testing purposes.’
The same applies to Jo Jung-sik.
‘From his reaction, he harbors not even a speck of intent to retaliate against me, so there’s no need to kill him yet.’
I need not worry about future complications.
Reading someone’s true thoughts means piercing through to their genuine heart.
‘I’ve confirmed the memory implantation… Should I verify one more person?’
Leaving the unconscious Hwang Yong-min behind, I vanished into the darkness.

* * *
A world line is a dimension.
Dimensions are separated by a protective barrier that prevents interference between them.
However.
‘Right now, that barrier is crumbling, and memories are being shared.’
Fragments of memory scattered by the collapse of world lines.
Drawn by the same wavelength, they flowed into the 102nd World Line and were injected into people’s minds.
Just like Jo Jung-sik and Hwang Yong-min I saw moments ago.
‘Then, could Min Ju-ri have received memories from another world line as well?’
This was why I remained hidden in a state of invisibility in front of the Convenience Store.
To confirm whether Min Ju-ri’s memories were being injected.
If things went as expected, the Player’s memories should have flowed into her completely.
And indeed.
-Min was… a Player? And the Black Scythe?
I could hear Min Ju-ri’s inner thoughts as she worked her shift at the Convenience Store.
Her memories had been injected too.
The same appeared to be true for her father, Min Do-hun, who had been an ordinary person.
Ding—
“Ju-ri! Ju-ri!”
He burst through the door as if something urgent had happened.
“What’s wrong, Dad? What’s going on?!”
“No! I just wanted to ask you something. Did you ever give me something before? Something that gave me vitality…”
“Are you talking about Bless…?”
“Yes! That’s it! I thought it was a dream, but it seems it wasn’t?”
“Dad, you remember too? Memories about the Player?”
“Of course. It feels so vivid, as if it actually happened… What on earth is going on?”
“I don’t understand what’s happening either. These strange memories keep coming back to me…”
“Could this be something that will happen in the future? This?”
Leaving the two of them filled with anxiety and confusion, I departed.
‘This is no ordinary situation.’
The world line currently being shared among people was the memory of the 101st cycle.
It was the memory of a successful world line where ninety-seven Players had cleared through to the Final Round.
But.
‘If other failed cycles’ world lines collapse and their memories flow in here…?’
Min Do-hun might vividly recall the memory of Min Ju-ri’s death.
And then he would be unable to distinguish what was real and what was false.
‘This isn’t limited to just the Players. It applies to everyone.’
I could tell by reading the inner thoughts of passersby.
Beyond just the Players.
Everyone was experiencing this phenomenon of shared memories.
As memories from other world lines vividly embedded themselves in my mind, I began to perceive them as if I had actually experienced them.
‘If this continues, people will face severe confusion from memory interference.’
The chaos and disorder could trigger social unrest, causing people to doubt themselves and suffer psychological stress.
‘In extreme cases, they might perceive themselves as having split personalities, or believe they’re experiencing hallucinations and hearing voices, unable to trust any reality.’
Regardless, I couldn’t leave things as they were.
I had to stop Deorant before he collapsed any more world lines.
The problem was that I didn’t know where he was or what he looked like.
-Chronos.
-Why are you calling?
-Let me ask once more. Are you truly certain there’s no way to stop Deorant?
-Didn’t I say I don’t know? If I knew, I would have told you already.
Chronos had never even exchanged words with Deorant in the first place.
There was insufficient information to discern his weaknesses or behavioral patterns.
-Do you know how he’s collapsing world lines?
-I don’t. But I can make an educated guess about his method.
-Tell me.
-He likely planted his power like a seed in each world line. Once that seed bears fruit, he detonates it to cause the collapse. That would be the most efficient method for destroying world lines.
-What exactly do you mean by collapse?
-The death of all humans. Complete annihilation of that dimension.
My expression grew grave.
The thought of an enemy deliberately destroying the world lines I’d left behind while sowing chaos was giving me a headache.
‘This isn’t just about protecting this world line. The other world lines are a problem too.’
The people in other world lines were genuinely real, living beings.
They could have memories injected into them, and they could fall into confusion.
Worst of all, they could face complete annihilation through collapse.
Though they existed in dimensions where we could never meet, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of responsibility to save them.
After all, it was I—no one else—who had created these additional world lines through repeated returns.
-At least it’s fortunate that even a god of dimensions can’t erase a world line in one go?
-Of course. Even a god of dimensions can’t do that. It would require an astronomical amount of Terra energy.
-Where might he be? Can we deduce which world line he’s in?
-I don’t know that either. As I said, his location can’t be pinpointed.
I sighed at Chronos’s answer.
Then there was only one way forward.
-In other words, to find him, I’ll have no choice but to search through the world lines. And while doing so, I’ll need to look for the seeds he’s planted.
-That seems to be the case.
In short, it was like finding a needle in a desert.
-Have you decided which world line to search first?
Chronos asked, and my answer came quickly.
I had already decided which world line to visit.
-I need to start with the world line where my Younger Brother is.

* * *
Time does not flow identically across dimensions.
Just as a river’s current varies depending on location, three years could pass here while thirty years elapse in another dimension.
Though I couldn’t fully comprehend the mechanics of such temporal distortion, I decided this dimension warranted my immediate attention.
‘This is the 102nd World Line—the one where I don’t exist.’
From the first cycle to the hundredth.
I had faced failure and repeated death countless times.
‘Strictly speaking, the hundredth cycle wasn’t death—I vanished after fulfilling my wish.’
Having survived alone in the hundredth cycle, I entered the Wish Room by myself and wrote down my desire.
To begin anew in the hundred-and-first cycle.
Therefore, another version of me should exist in the hundred-and-first cycle’s world line, but not here in the hundredth.
‘Here, my existence is gone.’
I was likely recorded as deceased, unable to return from the Final Round.
My assumption proved correct.
‘What is he doing? Surely he doesn’t think I’m dead…?’
Otherwise, my younger brother Ryu Won wouldn’t have attempted to hang himself inside the house.
Slash!
The moment I severed the rope, my brother’s body dropped to the floor with a dull thud.
He gasped and choked in agony, but I felt relief wash over me.
I had saved my brother’s life.
‘That was close.’
It wasn’t despair over life itself.
I never imagined he would attempt suicide believing his older brother was dead….
Clearly, I needed to speak some harsh truths.
First, I had to stay calm and talk.
“Won. You’ve had it rough, haven’t you?”
“Hyung. Y-you’re alive? H-how….”
“Wait. Don’t cry and listen to me. I understand it was hard without me, but attempting suicide? Do you think that would ease my mind?”
“Hyung….”
“You have to endure. No matter how painful, the living must continue living. What are you doing? Do you want to be scolded?”
Ryu Won’s face held a mixture of joy, shock, and remorse as he averted his gaze.
“Don’t die. Never. If you die because I’m gone… I will never forgive you.”
I left those words behind and activated Transparency.
As my body faded from sight, a single tear fell silently down my concealed cheek.

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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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