The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 48

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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 – Episode 48
48. Massacre
The onlookers doubted their own eyes.
There was no way someone with their head severed could come back to life.
Yet the evidence before them was undeniable.
Hwang Yong-min, turning his head from side to side.
‘Hwang Yong-min didn’t die.’
Ryu Min already knew.
That Hwang Yong-min would resurrect.
‘This round’s hidden rule—death leads to resurrection after ten minutes.’
The dead returning to life?
It defied logic, but with resurrection skills already existing in this world, there was nothing truly impossible.
“Haaaaaah. Huh?”
Hwang Yong-min stretched into a yawn as though waking from slumber, then froze as he took in his surroundings.
‘What? Why are they all staring at me?’
And not merely observing.
They gazed at him as one might regard a zombie.
Hwang Yong-min could only feel bewildered.
He hadn’t even registered that he’d died.
His neck had been severed so instantaneously.
‘Strange though… I was definitely conversing with Black Scythe, but this situation…’
It felt like drinking and losing memory mid-conversation.
Unaware that Black Scythe had killed him, Hwang Yong-min looked around.
The players startled, uttering incomprehensible words.
“A-a person came back to life!”
“He resurrected like a god!”
“What are you saying! The system must have revived him!”
“Could this round allow people to resurrect even after death?”
“Then we can kill whoever we want…?”
The players exchanged glances.
Murderous intent flickered in their eyes.
“If they resurrect after death…”
“We might be able to kill anyone without consequence…”
Everyone drew their weapons.
The knowledge that death led to resurrection stripped away their guilt over murder.
“Everyone, please calm down! We don’t even know for certain if resurrection occurs—reckless action is—kyaaah!”
A woman staggered, her back slashed open.
Before she could even process the ambush.
Squelch—!
A blade thrust from behind pierced through her abdomen and emerged on the other side.
“You die first, you bitch! Die!!!”
Thwack—thwack—thwack—!
The man who had been arguing with the woman moments before plunged his blade into her with frenzied abandon.
“Huff, huff.”
The pristine white floor had turned crimson in an instant.
The man’s nickname had turned red as well.
“Come on, revive! We need to fight again!”
He had killed her expecting her to resurrect, but the woman remained motionless.
“What? Why isn’t she coming back?”
Another player’s voice answered the question.
“It doesn’t happen instantly, I guess.”
“There must be a cooldown?”
“Now that I think about it, that guy took 10 minutes to revive!”
“Why don’t we all wait and see if this woman resurrects?”
The players, tacitly agreeing, passed the time in silence.
Once it became certain that death led to resurrection, they would be able to kill without hesitation.
Time elapsed, and exactly 10 minutes had passed.
Then the people witnessed the resurrection process in detail.
As if time were rewinding, the blood was absorbed and the wounds sealed themselves.
The woman, who had been sprawled out, rose like a corpse and regained her original form.
“Yaaawwwn.”
The woman, yawning just as Hwang Yong-min had, suddenly snapped to attention at a memory that surfaced.
“Damn it, who the hell was that?! Who attacked me from behind?”
As the woman whipped her head around, her eyes fell upon the man grinning wickedly.
“Me, you bitch.”
Slash—!
This time the man slit her throat and killed her in one stroke, then chuckled.
“Everyone! Did you see? It’s confirmed—she revives after 10 minutes.”
“That’s right. Now we can kill without worry!”
Though the resurrection ability had been proven, the people still hesitated to move.
After all, committing murder felt awkward, regardless.
But.
‘People are always swept up by the atmosphere around them.’
Once a few players began killing, the competitive spirit ignited, and the others soon began swinging blades at one another.
Slash—slash—!
“Gasp!”
“Die!”
“Aaaahhh!”
There was no specific target.
They simply drew their blades indiscriminately at whoever appeared before them.
“Hey, you bastard! That hurts!”
“I’m sorry! No hard feelings!”
“Now you experience it!”
“Ahhh! Stop! Stop resisting and just die already! You’ll respawn anyway!”
“Then you die, damn it!”
The pristine white space was dyed crimson in an instant, as if paint were being brushed across canvas.
The number of fluorescent nicknames hovering above steadily dwindled.
Nearly a thousand players tangled together in combat—a scene reminiscent of warfare itself.
‘The time has come. Time to move.’
I lifted my scythe and began moving slowly through the chaos.
“Huh? Black Scythe is—”
Slice!
I severed the life of a passing player in one swift motion.
It was my own way of showing mercy—ensuring they felt no pain.
Slice! Slice! Slice!
I wove through the gaps between players and began my harvest.
With each swing of my scythe, four necks fell.
The chaos was so overwhelming that most players failed to notice my actions.
Those who fell to me certainly couldn’t report what they’d seen.
That didn’t mean I went unobserved, however.
Several players crept toward me from behind like stalking cats.
Stealthily.
They approached from my blind spot and swung their blades, certain I hadn’t noticed.
‘Now’s our chance! Die—’
Light flashed, and the upper halves of three players slid across the ground.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
All three died with wide, shocked eyes.
Their expressions asked: How did you know?
‘With Presence Detection, a surprise attack is impossible.’
I let out a quiet, amused chuckle.
Even with my eyes closed, I could sense the presence of everything around me—no ambush would ever catch me off guard.
About ten minutes passed before the dead players began stirring back to life.
Whether they died twice or three times made no difference.
There was no limit to resurrections.
Only a ten-minute cooldown between each one.
“Hehehehe! Die! Die already!”
Among the players, one slaughterer stood out distinctly.
It was Black Flame Dragon in Right Hand.
‘Ah yes, that one. I’d almost forgotten.’
The Round 4 Stage was, without exaggeration, a stage built for Black Flame Dragon in Right Hand.
‘For someone possessing the [Rune of Absorption], the current situation is nothing short of a feast.’
Black Flame Dragon in Right Hand was an entity that had points of contact with Ryu Min even in reality.
Because of this, he knew all too well how dangerous that rune was.
Ryu Min’s eyes narrowed as he observed Black Flame Dragon in Right Hand’s nickname.
‘The color has become quite dark—looks like he’s killed about ten people.’
It was a record similar to Ryu Min’s own.
The darker the nickname’s color, the more kills accumulated.
‘That bastard needs to be eliminated multiple times.’
Ryu Min moved to remove a competitor.
* * *
“Hehehehe! Hahahaha!”
Black Flame Dragon in Right Hand was intoxicated by murder.
In fact, the [Rune of Absorption] he possessed was inciting the killings.
‘My stack increases even when I kill players? This is absolutely insane!’
The Rune of Absorption was a rune that increased stack whenever the user killed a target.
Once the stack was completely filled, one random stat was granted.
‘I knew it increased when hunting monsters, but I never expected it to work on players too.’
Black Flame Dragon in Right Hand swung his axe, striking an unfamiliar man’s shoulder.
“Gaahhh…!”
“Die! Die! Please die!”
He brought the axe down repeatedly like chopping firewood, reducing the man to a mangled corpse.
‘Phew, his level was high—the stack increased quite a bit.’
Not all players granted the same stack upon death.
Depending on the opponent’s level, some gave more and others gave less.
‘No doubt he was around my level, and if he gave this much stack…’
Black Flame Dragon in Right Hand’s imagination ran wild.
How much stack would he gain if he killed Black Scythe, the highest-level player in the zone?
‘Would I instantly fill the stack and gain a stat?’
It was likely, but he shook his head and dismissed the thought.
The chances of killing Black Scythe were slim.
‘Forget it. I shouldn’t provoke a big shot and invite trouble. I’ll just hunt small fry and grow stronger.’
Thwack!
He struck the back of some unknown player’s head.
‘I apologize. I bear you no grudge.’
Thwack! Thwack!
He brought the axe down several more times to finish the job.
Black Flame Dragon in Right Hand’s axe swings carried emotion.
‘Hehe, all my stress is melting away.’
The stress he’d accumulated recently was considerable.
Just in the last Round 3, he’d been manipulated by Jo Jung-sik through his command authority, forced into pointless escort missions.
‘That gangster bastard kept me from hunting properly.’
The Black Flame Dragon in Right Hand possessed the skill to claim third place in the zone rankings.
The thought of losing rank rewards because of Jo Jung-sik still made my blood boil.
‘But I’m grateful. This round exists for me alone.’
Others gain nothing from killing players, but I’m different.
I can grow stronger by accumulating stats.
‘I need to make up for the growth I fell behind on in the last round.’
I have level 10 and the Warrior class, but it’s not enough.
‘Did you think I’d fall behind like this? I have the pride of someone ranked third in the zone.’
Killing people bothered me, but what of it?
They don’t actually die.
‘They just keep reviving anyway. If I think of it as a game, it’s easy.’
The Black Flame Dragon in Right Hand didn’t consider this murder.
‘It’s just a well-crafted virtual reality game, and what’s in front of me is nothing but data fragments.’
With that shift in perspective, strangely, the act of killing no longer felt repugnant.
Even the unpleasant sensation from my first murder moments ago seemed to dull.
‘How many have I killed so far? I need to kill as many as possible to rank high, right?’
The Black Flame Dragon in Right Hand let out a sinister chuckle.
The prey kept reviving endlessly.
Could there be a better environment than this for me?
I looked around, searching for the next prey.
Players were visible, fighting frantically with blood spraying.
‘Should I head over there this time? Hehehehe.’
Compared to my skill, they were nothing but trivial prey.
I stopped in my tracks as I was about to move.
A beast appeared directly in front of me.
A grim reaper wielding a massive scythe.
‘Huh? Black Scythe?’
In that instant.
Boom—
My vision darkened.
“What? What’s happening?”
“Why did it suddenly go dark?”
Confused voices came from around me, but no one was more panicked than I was.
The Black Scythe’s massive scythe had suddenly become faintly visible.
‘W-what? The scythe became semi-transparent?’
But there was something even more alarming.
The reaper burst toward me explosively.
“Gasp, w-what!”
It must feel like this when a lion suddenly charges at you on the Grassland.
My entire body froze at a speed I could never have imagined.
I knew I was being targeted and tried to respond with my axe.
‘What?’
The world suddenly spun around me.
I could see my own body—headless.
‘Ah, I’m dead.’
Was it because the weapon had become semi-transparent?
I never even saw when it was swung.
‘I should have… avoided the Black Scythe at all costs….’
With that final thought.
Thud—
The Black Flame Dragon’s head fell to the ground.
* * *
“Die!”
“You die, you bastard!”
Amid the chaos of shouts and screams, Hwang Yong-min still couldn’t shake off his bewilderment.
‘A person actually came back to life. Really.’
Just moments ago, he had clearly witnessed a woman who was stabbed by a blade resurrect.
‘Does she really come back in just 10 minutes?’
If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it.
Though he hadn’t realized he’d died once himself.
‘Heh heh, this works out perfectly. A chance to get revenge on those backstabbing bastards.’
With the stage set for mutual slaughter, Hwang Yong-min pushed through the crowd, looking around.
‘Where are you, Kim Seung-han! Where!’
Finding his friend among a thousand people was difficult.
‘There he is, heh heh.’
But it wasn’t entirely impossible.
Hwang Yong-min called out with a delighted expression.
“Seung-han!”
He even waved his hand, but the guy didn’t notice, buried under the surrounding noise.
He was too busy scanning his surroundings with an anxious gaze.
‘Heh heh, what a fool. Look at him trembling just because he took a stat penalty.’
He approached from behind, thinking to give him a good scare.
“Hey! Kim Seung-han!”
When he called out from close range, the guy spun around in shock.
“Good to see you, you bastard!”
He immediately drove his fist straight into his face.
“Ugh!”
He unleashed a barrage of straight punches at the guy who staggered backward, spraying blood.
Finally, he mounted the fallen body and pinned him down.
“Kim Seung-han, you bastard. You said you’d kill me if you saw my face?”
Thwack!
“Ugh…”
“Go ahead and try. Huh?”
I raised my fist like a hammer and brought it down relentlessly on his face.
Thwack! Thwack!
I beat him until he was nothing but pulp.
‘I’m not at the level of a Titan’s Hack punch due to the penalty, but I can easily kill this worthless bastard without breaking a sweat.’
Only after more than twenty strikes did I stop pounding.
His face was completely caved in and he’d stopped moving—he was definitely dead.
“Ahh, that feels better now.”
Hwang Yong-min got to his feet and looked around.
‘Where are the other bastards?’
There were still plenty of friends left to kill.

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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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