The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 389

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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 13
13. A Plausible Lie
Voluark stared blankly at the hand extended toward him by the human.
‘He’s asking me to cooperate?’
He looked at the human—no, the being who had revealed himself as the God of Time.
Sincerity gleamed in his eyes.
‘Is he truly the God of Time?’
Doubt flickered, but only for a moment.
Not only did this being possess power beyond imagination for a mere Player, but he could even tear open the Spacetime Rift itself.
How could one possibly doubt he was the God of Time?
‘I’ll grant that. But why would he make such a proposal to me….’
I wondered why he was proposing cooperation with me instead of Arkizar.
And why the God of Time wanted to eliminate the Host.
As I merely stared without taking his hand, Black Scythe nodded as if he understood.
“You’re cautious. Fair enough—you must have many questions. Why I’m abandoning Arkizar and switching sides. And why I want to eliminate the Host.”
Voluark’s pupils dilated.
It was as if he could read minds.
“The reason for switching is simple. I simply disliked Arkizar. That mentality of his—betraying his own kind to seek attention for himself alone—it disgusted me. But I couldn’t refuse to cooperate either. Eliminating Hosts is my duty, after all.”
“But why would the God of Time target the Host…?”
“The Host is a being born in defiance of the laws of time. Fundamentally different from you Seeds.”
Voluark nodded in agreement.
Though insignificant Hosts might appear similar to a superior being like myself, we were entirely different species.
“I cannot stand idly by while these ignorant Hosts violate the laws of time and run rampant. That’s why I descended in human form.”
“Then… does the God of Time intend to eliminate all Hosts on this land?”
Voluark’s tone had become respectful.
He didn’t seem to notice it himself, but for Ryu Min, it was working perfectly.
‘Almost there.’
I suppressed my laughter and continued the performance.
“Precisely. What I desire is the extermination of all Hosts. As for the Seeds, I care not whether they live or die.”
“Then, your cooperation with Arkizar was also….”
“Yes. Even I cannot pinpoint the locations of Hosts without assistance, so I had no choice but to seek help. I didn’t anticipate that he would demand the elimination of rival Seeds in exchange, though.”
“Hah….”
A sigh escaped Voluark’s lips.
-That bastard Arkizar—I never liked him from the moment we first met, but to think he was harboring such schemes.
His thoughts transmitted clearly.
Directly into Ryu Min’s mind.
-Using the God of Time to eliminate rival Seeds? He must think that since he’ll be the only one left anyway, he can absorb all the bio-energy and doesn’t mind sacrificing a few Hosts. Insane! For such a madman to hold the position of commander!
Only the unfortunate Arkizar was being cursed, unaware of the truth.
That everything had been fabricated on the spot—a blatant lie.
‘Thank goodness he’s stupid.’
In truth, Ryu Min hadn’t expected Voluark to fall for it.
The lie was too crude for that.
‘Fortunately, his stupidity made the plan work.’
But it wasn’t over yet.
Everything hinged on whether he would join hands with me.
“So, what will you do? Will you cooperate with me?”
“First, I’d like to hear the details. How exactly would you help me with my revenge…?”
A hunger unlike anything before gleamed in Voluark’s eyes.
The hunger for vengeance against Arkizar.
Ryu Min, reading his sincerity, smiled coldly.
“What do you need for revenge?”
“Hmm….”
An unexpected question.
Voluark fell into contemplation.
“Why deliberate so much? Obviously you need strength.”
“Ah… strength.”
“I’ll help you grow stronger so you can take your revenge on Arkizar.”
“How… do you mean?”
“The method is simple. Absorb the Hosts.”
“The Hosts…?”
“From what I understand, you grow stronger by absorbing Hosts. Is that right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Then provide me with location information on the Hosts instead of Arkizar. I’ll find and eliminate the Hosts, and you consume their corpses to grow stronger. That’s all. Imagine it—yourself, having absorbed every Host on this land, impossibly powerful.”
Voluark imagined it.
Himself, having absorbed every Host on Earth, growing absurdly stronger.
“However, efficiency improves if we gather some bioenergy before absorption….”
“Can’t you grow stronger just by absorbing Hosts without bioenergy?”
“Well, yes, you can….”
“Then there’s no problem, is there? I eliminate Hosts as I wish, you absorb their corpses and grow stronger. It’s mutually beneficial, isn’t it? If you lack energy, you can gather human bioenergy afterward—do as you see fit.”
“Ah….”
It made sense.
Voluark’s resolve began to tip.
After deliberation, his mouth opened.
“Very well. I will cooperate.”
“Good. Then cut off contact with Arkizar from now on. I’m counting on you.”
“Yes. I’m counting on you as well, God of Time.”
Voluark bowed with courtesy, as befitted addressing a god, unaware of the truth.
That he was being played in the palm of a man who merely claimed to be divine.
‘Perfect. I’ve secured Seeds’ cooperation.’
Now I wouldn’t need to roam about using the Rune of Light Speed to search for Hosts.
This Seed called Voluark here will find the Host for me on his own.
‘The Rune of Light Speed has its limits in searching. That’s why I need his cooperation.’
Seeds and Hosts dispatched to collapse the worldline.
For Ryu Min, both were targets for elimination, but the most urgent was removing the Host.
‘While the Seed is said to be the core of worldline collapse, it won’t move immediately.’
The Seed doesn’t move until the Host gathers bioenergy.
It’s the Host that’s currently slaughtering humans left and right.
‘To minimize casualties, my priority is to find and eliminate every Host on Earth.’
But finding their locations is like searching for a needle in a desert.
The Rune of Light Speed has a cooldown of one hour, so I can only twiddle my thumbs in the meantime.
Preventing loss of life is beyond my capacity alone.
‘That’s why I need to deceive this higher-ranking Seed. To use him as a navigation system for finding Hosts.’
If I use a Seed capable of sensing the Host’s location, I can find them more easily.
‘Things went better than expected. Of course, there was also the simpler method of threatening him with my scythe, but….’
I couldn’t be certain he’d yield to threats.
Drawing out his voluntary cooperation through a convincing lie was the best option for now.
Snap!
As Ryu Min snapped his fingers, the Spacetime Rift’s barrier dissolved and the Village appeared.
“Eat the Host’s corpse.”
“Is, is that really alright?”
“I promised, didn’t I?”
With Ryu Min’s permission, Voluark extended his palm toward the corpse of the Host that had endangered Montana.
Then.
Slurp, slurp—
Black liquid drained from the corpse and was completely absorbed into Voluark’s hand.
Though there was no accumulated bioenergy, Voluark still felt a slight sense of growth.
“So that’s how you absorb it.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Then, let’s go find the next Host.”
“Yes. One moment.”
Voluark, concentrating his senses for a moment, pointed in one direction.
“It’s that way.”
“Lead the way.”
Voluark, who had formed wings from black liquid, rose into the sky, and behind him.
Flutter!
Ryu Min, spreading wings of Darkness, followed.
To eliminate the Host.

* * *
“Listen, Arkizar.”
Seeds, Lucainu’s question.
“Wait.”
Arkizar raised his hand, signaling me to hold on.
It was interfering with my concentration.
Soon after, Arkizar opened his eyes.
His expression was grave beyond measure.
“What’s wrong?”
“The signal from the Host dispatched to Mexico has gone silent.”
“What?”
Lucainu was startled, and the story about the hunter he’d heard before came to mind.
“Could it be that player called Black Scythe who hunts Hosts?”
“I don’t know the details. But it’s highly likely to be his doing.”
“Just how strong is Black Scythe anyway?”
“Who knows. At least it’s certain he’s skilled enough to kill a Host.”
“Shouldn’t we stop him rather than just stand by?”
Arkizar shook his head.
“It’s not the right time yet. We don’t know how strong he is. If we act rashly, we could be in danger too.”
“Is that so, Commander? You’re quite cautious even in a situation like this….”
“You may be dissatisfied, but it’s a necessary procedure. Didn’t we send bait to measure Black Scythe’s combat power?”
“Ah right, that’s true. What was his name again? Voluark? But why did you tell him not to touch the Host’s corpse?”
“Because then he will touch it. It’s the psychology of intelligent beings—when told not to touch something, they want to touch it even more. Voluark is no exception.”
“Ho, you’re clever. It wasn’t for nothing that you took the Commander’s position.”
Arkizar let out a small laugh, pleased by his kinsman’s praise.
“He’s definitely gone to absorb the Host in the United States.”
“Are you certain?”
“100%. He might have even encountered Black Scythe.”
“Or maybe he encountered no one and simply devoured the Host in Montana?”
“That’s right.”
We could measure Black Scythe’s strength based on whether Voluark survives.
“It’s about time I made contact.”
With those words, Arkizar connected to Voluark’s frequency and sent a telepathic message.
-Can you hear me? Voluark? Voluark?
I called out several times, but there was no response.
‘No response… is he dead?’
Both a Host and a Seed were dead?
If so, then Black Scythe was indeed as formidable as anticipated.
‘I can’t afford to touch this carelessly. I need to gather all the Seeds and hold a strategy meeting….’
But the prediction was wrong.
-Who is this?
-Ah….
It was Voluark on the other end of the connection.
-Who is it?
-Ah, it’s me. Arkizar.
-What’s the matter?
-Well, that’s….
I didn’t anticipate this situation, so I’m not sure what to say.
-Have you been well?
-That’s a strange thing to ask out of nowhere.
-I’m asking if you’re injured anywhere. As you know, managing the Seeds is part of my duty, isn’t it?
I fumbled through the explanation hastily, but my voice came across as irritable.
-I’m fine, so don’t worry. What would I have to get injured about?
-I’m not sure if you know, but the signal from the Host in Mexico has been cut off. It could be the work of the Hunter.
-The Hunter? You mean Black Scythe?
-Yes. Be careful if you happen to encounter him.
-I’ll handle it myself, so don’t concern yourself.
The call ended there.
Voluark was being more on edge than during our previous conversation, but I dismissed it as just a mood.
What surprised me more was the fact that Voluark was alive.
‘How is this possible? Did he not encounter Black Scythe?’
If he had met Black Scythe, he should have reacted when that name was mentioned.
But Voluark’s voice was no different from before.
Lucainu asked me, noticing my shocked expression.
“What’s wrong? Did the telepathy end? Can you still contact Voluark?”
“Voluark is alive.”
“Then he hasn’t encountered Black Scythe.”
“It seems that way. From our conversation, it doesn’t appear they’ve crossed paths at all.”
I had planned to use him as bait to measure Black Scythe’s combat power, but that plan fell through.
“What do we do now? Without knowing Black Scythe’s strength, we can’t act recklessly, can we?”
“For now, we need to investigate the scene where the Host died. Lucainu, I’ll leave that to you.”
“If it’s a command from the Commander, I have no choice but to obey. Understood.”
The two Seeds found themselves gripped by an inexplicable unease toward Black Scythe, this mysterious enemy.

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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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