The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 53

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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 53
53. Ma Gyeong-rok’s Hobby
“….”
Ma Gyeong-rok fell silent.
‘He knows what Seo A-rin and I discussed?’
It was impossible to tell whether he was merely probing or had genuinely glimpsed the future.
But then.
“You instructed actress Seo A-rin to seduce me by any means necessary, didn’t you?”
At Ryu Min’s follow-up words, Ma Gyeong-rok could only bow his head.
There was no way he could have said such a thing without seeing the future.
“Ah, if I’ve caused offense, I sincerely apologize. I merely wished to build a relationship with the major shareholder….”
“But instructing my younger brother to make advances on me crossed the line.”
‘He knew about that too?’
The ability to see the future truly is terrifying.
Ma Gyeong-rok bowed once more.
“I am truly, deeply sorry. I made a foolish judgment against you, the Oracle. I will correct every aspect that caused displeasure.”
He apologized with the utmost deference, as though addressing his own father.
Ryu Min’s expression softened somewhat, his anger beginning to subside.
“Since you apologize sincerely, I’ll let it pass. I’ll pretend I never heard what you instructed actress Seo A-rin to say.”
“Thank you so much for giving me this chance.”
Ma Gyeong-rok bent at a ninety-degree angle.
There was only one reason he bowed so deeply.
‘There’s nothing to gain from falling out of favor with the Oracle. To obtain information about the next round…’
For survival, he had to cling to the Oracle like a lifeline.
Just then.
Click—
The door opened and Seo A-rin and Ryu Won entered.
An Sang-chul, who had finished placing his order, was also peeking his head in from behind.
“Director, what are you….”
“Ahem.”
Ma Gyeong-rok straightened his bent waist with an awkward expression.
“Everyone, please leave.”
“Pardon?”
“I have something serious to discuss with the major shareholder in private. An, please guide the others to the adjacent room.”
“Ah, understood. Everyone, this way please.”
As the door closed again, a heavy silence settled between the two.
From Ryu Min’s expression, he still appeared displeased.
‘Damn it, I thought I’d improve his mood through Seo A-rin, but instead I’ve made him uncomfortable….’
Regardless of his intentions, the scheming behind the scenes had clearly offended him.
‘Now that I think about it, when he looks at Seo A-rin, there’s not a trace of ulterior motive… Is it because he saw the future?’
For Ma Gyeong-rok, this was a difficult situation in multiple ways.
“Would you like to know information about the next round?”
“Yes… Have you seen it?”
“Of course. The reason I accepted your invitation was to provide you with information about Round 5. However.”
Ryu Min shook his head slowly.
“If you come at me like this, partnership is out of the question, and I can’t share the information.”
“I apologize, truly. Please forgive me.”
The heir to one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates kept bowing his head repeatedly.
Faced with this display, Ryu Min had no choice but to relent.
“You must hide nothing from me, and you must trust me completely.”
“Of course. I will do exactly that.”
“Furthermore, there must be no interference in the Company’s operations. While I hold management rights with my 31% stake, I dislike how shareholder meetings delay business decisions. As the representative, you can persuade the other shareholders, correct?”
“Absolutely. Don’t worry about that. I’ll make sure to keep all other shareholders firmly in line so they don’t interfere with your management.”
Ryu Min finally smiled.
“Then I’m reassured. If you do that, I’ll certainly grow the Company for you.”
“Haha, thank you.”
Seeing his mood lighten, Ma Gyeong-rok could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“Then I’ll provide you with the Round 5 information you wanted.”
Ma Gyeong-rok’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.
But when he heard it was the most difficult round yet, his smile vanished instantly.
“There’s nothing to worry about. I’m sure Representative Ma Gyeong-rok will have no trouble clearing it.”
“What kind of Quest is it?”
“It’s a Quest to hunt 300 orcs. But it’s not as simple as it sounds.”
‘Orcs? What’s so difficult about hunting orcs?’
In most games, orcs are classified as weak monsters.
It was natural for Ma Gyeong-rok to be puzzled.
“What other information is there?”
“The zones will be consolidated.”
“The zones?”
“Since there are fewer players, they’ll merge the separated zones back together.”
“Then I’ll be able to meet players from other zones? For example, someone like Black Scythe?”
He asked with hopeful eyes, but Ryu Min carefully shook his head.
“You won’t be in the same zone as the player known as Black Scythe.”
“Ah… Is that so?”
Ma Gyeong-rok, who had been eagerly anticipating meeting Black Scythe, wore a disappointed expression.
Then a question he’d been wanting to ask suddenly came to mind.
“By any chance, does the Prophet know Black Scythe’s true identity? Their real-world identity, I mean.”
“I don’t know that either.”
Disappointed by the answer, Ma Gyeong-rok’s spirits fell, but Ryu Min’s words weren’t finished.
“However, the two of you will meet soon enough.”
“Is that so?”
Ryu Min offered a smile brimming with certainty.
They were already meeting, after all.
“And there’s one more thing.”
“Please, go ahead.”
“There’s someone you’re currently pursuing, isn’t there? Hwang Yong-min.”
“…!”
Ma Gyeong-rok tensed visibly, as if standing before a skilled fortune teller.
“You know about that as well?”
“I told you. There’s no point in hiding anything from me.”
“Ha, truly, the future-sight rune possessed by the Seer transcends imagination. If you happen to know who that person is….”
“Stop the pursuit now.”
“Pardon?”
Ma Gyeong-rok’s eyes widened in surprise.
Suddenly, he was being told to stop pursuing Hwang Yong-min?
“Is there a reason?”
“If you touch him, you’ll face grave consequences.”
“Specifically, what kind of….”
“That’s all I can tell you.”
With that, Ryu Min fell silent.
In truth, Ma Gyeong-rok had no reason to suffer consequences.
Ryu Min simply warned against touching him because Hwang Yong-min still held value for his purposes.
‘I’m supposed to let that bastard live after he laid hands on my man?’
The pursuit of Hwang Yong-min was nearly complete.
Once evidence of the ambush was confirmed, he had planned to dispose of him without anyone knowing.
But now, being told to back off left him with no choice but to feel resentment.
However.
“Understood. I will no longer pursue Hwang Yong-min.”
Ma Gyeong-rok chose to acquiesce.
Heeding the Seer’s words would be far more beneficial than worrying over some petty thug.
“Then let’s resume the gathering. Wholesome conversation, without alcohol or entertainment.”
“…Understood.”
Ma Gyeong-rok promptly called in his companions from the adjacent room.
“An, go back to the manager and tell him to bring cider and snacks instead of alcohol.”
“Yes? Yes, understood.”
“And Seo, let’s step outside for a moment and talk.”
“Yes? Yes….”
Seo A-rin had worn a dark expression, but when she returned to the room after their conversation, bewilderment painted her face.
‘The director suddenly apologized…. What’s going on?’
He apologized and asked her to forget everything he’d said earlier.
Seo A-rin could only be bewildered.
‘Could it be that the so-called prophet said something to the director…?’
Seo A-rin’s gaze naturally drifted toward Ryu Min.
It was only natural to make such a guess, since the director’s demeanor had changed right after speaking with Ryu Min.
‘No, that can’t be it. What kind of person is the director?’
In any case, her heart felt considerably lighter now that she didn’t have to entertain anyone.
“Then let’s enjoy the second round.”
Ma Gyeong-rok spoke with a grin, though inwardly he harbored some discontent.
‘I need to blow off some steam today.’
After sighing, Ma Gyeong-rok filled everyone’s glasses as soon as the soda arrived.
“Well then, let’s toast to the survival of our major shareholder Ryu Min!”
“Cheers!”
Clink!
The group sang songs, ate, and enjoyed themselves.
Quite respectably, at that.
* * *
In the darkness of early morning.
“Huff, huff, gasp!”
An elderly man fled frantically without looking back.
With each movement, blood sprayed from the severed stump of his arm.
“Wheeze, wheeze, ah!”
Upon entering a dead-end alley, the old man desperately tried to turn around.
Or rather, he tried to.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Gasp!”
The assailant who had severed his arm stood before him like a phantom.
In that moment, the old man lost his balance.
“Ugh!”
His body crumpled to the ground.
He could see both his severed feet lying in his field of vision.
Pain surged up from beneath his legs moments later.
“Aaaahhhhh…!”
“Quiet. Unless you want your tongue sliced off too.”
“…”
At those chilling words, the old man fell silent immediately.
He was terrified.
Of this monster who was slicing him apart like an insect.
“W-why are you doing this to me…? What did I do wrong…?”
“You don’t know? Child sexual abuser Jo Du-pal.”
“Ha.”
Jo Du-pal sighed involuntarily at the title that clung to him like a lifelong label.
“When was that? Why are you bringing this up now? I served my sentence faithfully for 12 years and was released after completing my term! I’m just an ordinary old man….”
“I told you to be quiet.”
The mysterious assailant’s blade severed Jo Du-pal’s remaining arm.
“Aaaaahhh!”
“Don’t make noise. Unless you want to die slowly and painfully. If you cause any witnesses to appear because of you, the body count will only increase.”
“…*sob*.”
Jo Du-pal bit his lips so hard that blood began to seep out.
Though he had already lost all four limbs and could have abandoned hope, his survival instinct still whispered that he didn’t want to die.
“Good. At least the old man’s ears still work.”
“….”
“Trash like you living is a sin. Don’t you agree? I’ll kill you in a moment, so wait a little longer.”
A swirling aura emanated from the man’s blade.
‘What… what is that?’
The dark aura instantly engulfed Jo Du-pal.
“Hack! Cough! Hack!”
Flesh was carved from his entire body, blood spraying in all directions.
Jo Du-pal, being devoured bit by bit by the dark aura, gasped his final breaths.
“Gaaahhhhh….”
“Now die.”
The dark aura returned and coiled around the blade like a serpent.
As the blade swung, his neck was severed as cleanly as slicing tofu.
Splurt, splurt, splurt, splurt, splurt, splurt—
The aura that had covered the blade vanished without a trace.
Ma Gyeong-rok, the mysterious assailant who had withdrawn the dark aura, smiled wickedly.
‘Having to keep such trash alive, even for a moment.’
Ma Gyeong-rok looked down at the mangled corpse with contemptuous eyes.
I had a hobby of hunting criminals even before becoming a Player, but rarely did I toy with them like this.
Usually I pierced their vital points directly and killed them in one strike.
‘It’s unavoidable if I want to charge dark mana.’
Using dark aura required a certain amount of dark mana.
The method of charging dark mana was simple.
Stealing the life of your opponent.
That’s why I could charge dark mana by hunting goblins from Round 1 onwards.
Of course, it was only possible for someone like me who possessed the Dark Knight’s Rune.
‘But creatures like goblins barely charge it at all.’
There was a limit to charging dark mana by hunting monsters.
But humans were different.
‘Killing humans yields far more dark mana than killing monsters.’
For me, whose hobby was killing criminals in the first place, this was a fortunate development.
Dark Knight might actually be my true calling.
‘Especially if I kill using Dark Aura, I can obtain even more dark magic power.’
Ma Gyeong-rok picked up his sword while staring down at the corpse.
Dark Aura seeped from the blade in wispy tendrils.
‘Consume it.’
He pointed the sword at the corpse, but nothing happened.
‘So it really can’t consume corpses?’
Dark Aura only gnawed away at the life force of living targets—it couldn’t feed on the dead.
That was precisely why he’d torn away flesh with Dark Aura before killing the criminal.
‘Still, cleaning up trash like this really does melt away the stress.’
Ma Gyeong-rok smiled as he retrieved a body bag he’d prepared and stuffed the corpse inside.
While doing so, he periodically scanned the surroundings to ensure no witnesses were present.
‘There couldn’t be anyone.’
He’d deliberately lured the criminal to a sparsely populated alley, and it was early morning when most people were asleep—the odds of discovery were slim.
‘Well, there was one person.’
The Seer, Ryu Min.
If that were the case, he might have witnessed this very scene through the rune of future sight.
‘If so, then he approached me knowing I’m a serial killer…’
Ma Gyeong-rok recalled it.
The way Ryu Min had approached him without the slightest intimidation despite being the heir to Oseong Group, boldly demanding what he wanted.
“Heh, interesting.”
Ma Gyeong-rok stifled his emerging laughter and made a call.
“Director An. Come here and clean up this trash for me.”

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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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