The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 54

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Maxed-Out Player’s 100th Return – Episode 54
54. Shim Hyung-taek
Two weeks had passed since Ryu Min sent Ma Gyeong-rok off with his party.
During that time, Ryu Min had remained confined to his home.
There was nowhere to go and no friends to meet.
Too lazy to venture out, I sustained myself on delivery food.
My younger brother faced a similar predicament, so we both remained secluded together.
Even when disposing of trash or sorting recyclables in front of the house, my brother handled it.
‘This is practically the life of an unemployed person…?’
Though Ryu Min laughed at himself ruefully, considering the future ahead, this level of rest was necessary.
‘Well, this rest ends today, though.’
Ryu Min opened the calendar on his phone.
Sunday, April 17th.
Today was the date he had marked, lest he forget.
‘It’s time to move now.’
One of five runes obtainable in reality.
[Rune of Doppelgänger].
This rune, which even appeared on the essential acquisition list, was what Ryu Min intended to obtain today.
‘Since today being Sunday is when those guys conduct their regular activities.’
Ryu Min smiled meaningfully as he checked the time.
It was only 9 AM.
‘If I want to handle everything today, I should apply early.’
Ryu Min’s fingers moved busily across his phone.
Just then, a knock sounded before Ryu Won entered.
“Hyung, what are you doing?”
“Internet. But why did you come?”
“I was wondering if we could go out for lunch today. I’m tired of eating only delivery food….”
“That doesn’t seem likely. I have a lunch appointment scheduled.”
“Scheduled? Do you have one or not?”
Ryu Min let out a soft laugh.
“We’ll see how it goes.”
* * *
[1.8 billion people dragged into the Other World. Reduced to 90 million in three months….]
[Celebrities, soldiers, police officers—regardless of profession, those dragged into the Other World died of cardiac arrest.]
[Economic paralysis from deaths among young adults. Schools nationwide temporarily suspended operations.]
[An endless wave of mourning as parents and siblings worldwide suffer.]
Just reading a few headlines cast a somber atmosphere.
But Shim Hyung-taek laughed.
Because it was someone else’s tragedy.
He was, after all, a surviving player.
“One point eight billion down to nine hundred million? Only four rounds and they’re dropping like flies. Pathetic bastards. Hehehehe.”
In the quiet Classroom, only laughter echoed for a while.
It was the laughter of a survivor who hadn’t been culled.
I knew I was drunk on arrogance, but that was fine.
After all, I was a ranker who’d climbed to third place in my zone.
[Current estimated number of confirmed Players domestically: 450,000.]
[Players causing trouble. Is it okay to leave them unchecked?]
[Deaths caused by Players surge dramatically after Round 4.]
[Murder, theft, arson, rape—Players running rampant without restraint.]
[Thousands of broken CCTVs alone. Once night falls, it’s a lawless zone….]
[According to experts, what good is law when humanity is facing extinction? The uncertainty of not knowing when you’ll die destroys self-control….]
[The strength of Players who bend steel bars and escape. Even police have no practical way to stop them….]
[Players uniting against Government regulations. Even a Player Union Cafe has emerged….]
[Growing public anxiety. Immediate countermeasures are needed….]
Shim Hyung-taek, reading the article, let out a snort of derision.
“This is hilarious. They’d have done the same thing if they’d become Players.”
His laughing face quickly filled with resentment.
“What’s wrong with doing what you want before you die? Damn old fools. That’s why you shouldn’t have suppressed us in the first place. Don’t do this, don’t do that, all these regulations—of course what we held back explodes out. Tsk!”
He irritably slammed his axe into the floor.
Boom—!
Three students from his class flinched at the sound, their faces trembling with fear.
They were middle schoolers Shim Hyung-taek had kidnapped.
“What are you looking at? You mutts.”
“….”
“What? Surprised that I’m cursing when I’m usually well-behaved? You think I’m some idiot who can’t swear?”
“….”
The students just stared silently.
After all, their hands, feet, and even their mouths were sealed with duct tape.
“Mmph, mmph.”
“What? You want me to let you go?”
“Mmph, mmph.”
“Mmph, mmph!”
“What are you saying? Damn it.”
When all three started making sounds in unison, Shim Hyung-taek approached with an annoyed expression.
Rip—rip—rip!
He tore the tape off all the students’ mouths.
“What? You have something to say to me?”
“Gasp, gasp… we, we’re sorry, Hyung-seop…”
“Y, yes. We were wrong.”
“Please… just let us live.”
“That so?”
Shim Hyung-taek hefted his axe with a sudden motion.
Crack—!
He brought it down on the student’s head like splitting a watermelon, and brain matter spilled forth.
“Ugh, uuuaaagh!”
“Guh, guhhh…!”
Having killed one person in a single blow, Shim Hyung-taek spoke with irritation.
“This bastard changes my perfectly good name and acts like a fool.”
Looking down at the two trembling students, Shim Hyung-taek laughed.
“Why are you shaking so much? Cold?”
“….”
“You don’t know my name either?”
“Oh, no. We do. It’s Shim Hyung-taek.”
“But the one next to you didn’t seem to know?”
“That, that can’t be! I obviously knew it too!”
“Then you understand why you’re being held here?”
The two students nodded slowly with guilty expressions.
“I’m, I’m sorry, Hyung-taek….”
“I’m really sorry for bullying you all this time….”
“Tell me specifically how you bullied me.”
“That, that is….”
The students hesitated, reluctant to speak.
If they said the wrong thing, he might take offense and kill them.
But when he raised his axe as if to kill them if they didn’t speak, they had no choice but to open their mouths.
“We, we made fun of you for being useless, I’m sorry….”
“That’s all?”
He raised the axe above his head, and the student opened his mouth with anxious eyes.
“We, we called you a worthless beast that only wastes food, I’m sorry….”
“…I’ve never heard that one before?”
“Huh?”
“You talked behind my back, didn’t you?”
“What?”
Crack—!
The axe came down mercilessly on the crown of his head.
“Ugh, uuuh, uuuaaah!”
The student beside him screamed.
It was a sight too gruesome for an ordinary person to bear.
“How could this bastard say such cruel things behind my back? Hah, how irritating.”
“Aaah….”
Watching the student unable to form words from the shock, Shim Hyung-taek chuckled softly.
“Why are you so shocked by this? Round four was filled with far more gruesome sights than this.”
And that wasn’t even the half of it.
I’d even experienced having my neck severed.
Not just once, but five times.
All by a single person—Black Scythe.
‘If I’d made a real mistake, I wouldn’t have made it into the rankings.’
Who in this world could experience dying and coming back to life?
When Shim Hyung-taek glared with demonic eyes, the remaining student flinched violently.
“Hey, Jin-gon.”
“….”
“You bastard who mocked me every break time and made me your errand boy.”
“….”
“Do you think I’m killing you guys just because you tormented me? No.”
Shim Hyung-taek raised his axe once more.
“My stack increases. Something drops when I kill humans. Heh heh, isn’t it funny? Even human trash like you helps me.”
“Ahhh, save me. Save me, please, Hyung-seop, ah, ah! No, Hyung-taek!”
“Tch, this bastard.”
Shim Hyung-taek’s eyes turned ice cold.
“So you didn’t even know my real name?”
Crack—!
Blood sprayed in all directions from the unhesitating axe strike.
“Damn it, ptooey! It’s all over my face.”
Shim Hyung-taek wiped his face with the back of his hand and left the classroom, leaving the corpse behind.
Creak—
The hallway was silent.
With school attendance suspended nationwide, no one remained in the building.
Except for the trash with their heads split open scattered across the classroom.
I immediately went to the Restroom on campus and washed my face first.
Splash—splash—!
After rinsing away the blood, I looked in the mirror.
A fat, ugly middle schooler wearing glasses stared back.
“Damn it, this life is done for. For my final round wish, I should ask to be reborn as Cha Eun-hu next time.”
Shim Hyung-taek muttered while washing away the flesh fragments stuck to the axe blade.
I’d lured the three bullies who normally tormented me to school and killed them, but I didn’t feel good about it.
The reason was simple—the reward was too small.
[You have gained 1 stack through the Rune of Absorption.]
[You have gained 1 stack through the Rune of Absorption.]
[You have gained 1 stack through the Rune of Absorption.]
[Current Stack: 22/100]
Despite committing murder, I’d only gained 1 stack per person.
‘Is it because they’re ordinary people? Not even giving X.’
When I fill the stack to 100, a random stat increases by 1 and the stack resets.
It’s blatantly broken—the Rune of Absorption.
‘Even goblins gave 1 to 2. Damn it, these bastards are worse than goblins.’
The sweetest gains came from round three when monsters flooded the zones, and round four when I slaughtered players.
‘Round four was absolutely insane. Killing one player netted me nearly 10 stacks.’
I remember being shocked at how much more efficient it was than hunting monsters.
“Thank goodness their birthdays came early. Otherwise, I might not have killed them so easily.”
The three I’d just killed were all ordinary people.
Even though we were in the same class, whether someone was fifteen or not determined whether they became a Player or remained ordinary.
“This is the first time I’ve killed someone in reality.”
Was it because I’d already experienced hell beforehand?
Committing murder in reality felt like nothing.
My emotions had dulled.
“Hehehehe. Well, good. Now there’s no one left to stand in my way.”
I was no longer Shim Hyung-taek, mocked for being fat.
I had been reborn as a superior being—a Player.
“So who else should I kill next?”
What was the point of waiting around until the next round?
To build stacks, it was worth killing even one more ordinary person.
“Ideally, I’d like to kill Players who give more stacks, but… oh!”
Shim Hyung-taek recalled an article he’d read earlier.
“There’s supposed to be a Player Union Cafe, right?”
A quick internet search found it instantly.
“If I join here and contact Players to kill them? Kehehehe!”
I could accumulate stacks incomparable to ordinary people.
Grinning wickedly, Shim Hyung-taek tapped his phone and immediately began the registration process.
◆Cafe Description◆
-Union Cafe for Players! Players Change the World! Welcome to [Players Change the World]!
◆Registration Guide◆
-We thoroughly filter out ordinary people through interviews. If you are not a Player, please click the back button.
◆Pre-Registration Questions◆
-Answer all questions truthfully. False information may result in penalties.
1. Please provide your full name, address, and phone number without omission.
2. Please provide your level, your profession in the Other World, and your nickname.
3. Please provide the name of your zone (if you don’t remember, provide the location where you first lost consciousness on January 1st).
4. Please list your ranking for each round completed without omission (ranked within your zone).
5. If you agree to the interview for registration, please write ‘I agree’.
“They want all my personal information and an interview too? This is incredibly strict.”
Still, I had to join to meet Players and backstab them.
Most players probably couldn’t even dream of such a thing.
That there existed a player who devoured other players.
Shim Hyung-taek smiled as he wrote down the level, class, and nickname.
Lv10, Warrior, Black Flame Dragon in Right Hand.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————