The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 59

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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 59
59. Round 5 Begins
‘What? How? I… I definitely killed him?’
Did Black Scythe possess some resurrection ability?
Or was a ghost truly speaking to him?
Consumed by such confusion, the Black Flame Dragon’s gaze shifted toward the corpse with its skull split open.
“What?”
But the body had vanished without a trace.
Even the blood stains had disappeared without a mark.
As if it had all been nothing but a dream.
“What you killed was my doppelgänger.”
“A… a doppelgänger?”
“The Doppelgänger Rune creates a duplicate indistinguishable from the original. It lacks combat capability, but that’s the extent of its limitations.”
“….”
“To see you fooled so completely—even without combat prowess, it proved remarkably useful. An excellent test.”
“You… you deceived me…!”
At the Black Flame Dragon’s indignant expression, grinding his teeth, Ryu Min’s face twisted into one of utter disbelief.
“Playing the victim now? I’m the real victim here. My head nearly got crushed, remember?”
“You call yourself the victim? Who threatened and extorted me first…?”
“Enough.”
Ryu Min swung his scythe with casual dismissal.
In that same instant, the Black Flame Dragon’s vision tilted at an angle.
‘What? What’s happening? My body won’t… respond…’
The Black Flame Dragon’s head rolled across the floor.
Until his final moment, he never even realized he was dead.
“Listening to garbage any longer would be a waste of time.”
Having cleanly severed the neck, Ryu Min sheathed his weapon.
No other living player remained in the vicinity.
‘Indeed, the Doppelgänger Rune proves its worth.’
It wasn’t without reason that I placed it on the essential rune acquisition list.
Without the Doppelgänger Rune, I would have taken that sneak attack directly to the back of my head.
‘Of course, I deliberately positioned myself to be an easy target for ambush—all for the sake of testing.’
Ryu Min reviewed the information on his newly acquired rune once more.
[Doppelgänger Rune]
-Effect: By chanting the activation phrase “Doppelgänger Creation,” the user generates an identical duplicate of themselves.
During this time, the caster becomes ethereal for 10 seconds, gaining the opportunity to conceal their physical form.
The generated doppelgänger remains mentally linked to the caster and can be controlled at will.
However, it can only perform non-combat actions and cannot manifest supernatural abilities such as skills or inventory usage.
Only one doppelgänger can be created at a time, with a cooldown of 10 minutes.
Though it lacks combat capability, it can perfectly deceive enemies while maintaining a short cooldown period.
It was undoubtedly a deceptive rune.
‘Perfect for deceiving enemies.’
After allowing myself a satisfied smile, I activated the Trace Erasure skill toward my surroundings.
Three corpses and every drop of blood vanished without a trace.
No one would ever believe this place had been a murder scene.
‘Well, except for one person.’
I moved forward.
Toward the woman wearing the black bag—the victim and sole witness.
“Excuse me?”
“….”
“Why don’t you get up now?”
“….”
“Stop pretending to be unconscious.”
She lay there as if dead, but she wasn’t.
As if to prove it, the woman slowly raised her upper body.
I couldn’t see her face through the bag, but she was surely embarrassed.
“H-how did you know? That I was faking being unconscious…?”
‘Because I can hear your thoughts.’
Since I couldn’t tell her the truth, I gave her a vague answer.
“Don’t try to deceive a Player.”
“I-I’m so sorry.”
The Cafe Owner bowed her head in the wrong direction.
With the black bag I’d placed over her head, she could only hear sounds.
“U-um, this is uncomfortable. Can I take it off?”
As she reached to remove it, I raised my hand to stop her.
Though I wore a mask just in case, she might recognize me from my clothes.
“No. Keep it on until I leave.”
“Y-yes….”
“You understand what almost happened to you, don’t you?”
The Cafe Owner nodded.
“Yes…. I was so terrified. I was afraid to even open my eyes….”
“When did you wake up?”
“W-when they were talking about yielding or not….”
She must have regained consciousness when the Interview Officer and Black Scythe tried to assault her.
“Whether you know it or not, those men are all dead. So you can rest assured.”
“A-surely you didn’t…?”
“Yes. You’ve probably guessed as much from the sounds, haven’t you?”
They died before they could even scream, so she wouldn’t have heard their voices, but she would have understood.
Squelch, crunch, thud, splatter.
Cruel sounds that stirred the imagination.
‘And she must have overheard my conversation with Black Flame Dragon as well.’
Reading her true thoughts confirmed it.
Ryu Min’s suspicion was correct.
“I’ll ask you a few questions, and then I’ll be on my way. You can cooperate with me, can’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Let me explain the situation briefly. You were kidnapped and brought here, and you were nearly assaulted. Do you know who kidnapped you?”
“No, not at all….”
“Any suspicions?”
“Hmm….”
The Cafe Owner was recalling the customers who had visited today.
“One of the customers who came to the cafe seemed suspicious. I handed over my valet to them, and after that, my memory becomes….”
“Do you remember how many customers there were? What they looked like? Can you recall each one?”
“There were four, and one was in his mid-forties. I remember him clearly because we talked together, but the others….”
Based on the Cafe Owner’s testimony, I examined her true thoughts.
It was the truth.
‘She really doesn’t remember the other faces.’
This was exactly what I wanted to confirm.
Whether she remembered my face or not.
‘I prepared in advance and acted inconspicuously, but it’s good to be certain.’
Fortunately, just like in the previous cycle, she didn’t remember my face.
“I see. I’ll stop the questions here.”
“Um… So I’m safe now? It’s all over, right…?”
At her trembling voice, Ryu Min spoke in a gentle, reassuring tone.
“Yes. You can go home with peace of mind now. It will be difficult, but try to forget everything that happened today.”
“Ah… Thank you. Thank you so much for helping me.”
“Oh, and don’t report this to the police and create unnecessary trouble. There’s a risk of retaliation.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Count to sixty inside the bag before removing it. Understood? Don’t remove it before then.”
“Yes, I will.”
“….”
“Hello?”
There was no answer.
Even focusing her hearing, she couldn’t detect a single footstep.
‘What’s happening? Should I start counting sixty from now?’
The woman counted to sixty.
The only sound during this time was the rustling of the bag in the wind.
“Phew-!”
The moment she reached sixty, she ripped off the bag.
She looked around nervously, but all she could see was a shabby warehouse.
‘What… what’s going on?’
There was no corpse, no blood stains, no mysterious man who had saved her.
Confronted with a scene that defied her expectations, the Woman’s expression went blank.
‘Could it be… just a dream?’
If it were a dream, it was a disturbingly realistic nightmare.
* * *
Time flowed onward, and the day arrived without fail.
April 30th.
The moment when Round 5 loomed just ahead.
Ryu Min donned his equipment like a general marching to battle, reviewing his status window.
-Name: Ryu Min
-Nickname: Black Scythe
-Rank: Regular
-Titles: Chronological Reversal of the Final Hour (Hidden), First Angel Slayer (Hidden), Defiant Against Divine Punishment (Hidden)
-Level: 30
-Class: Grim Reaper
-Strength: 35, Intelligence: 39
-Agility: 39, Luck: 34
-Common Skills: Tracking, Presence Detection, Trace Erasure
-Exclusive Skills: Death’s Seal, Death’s Night
-Runes: Massacre Rune, Reaper’s Rune, Radiance Rune, True Heart Rune, Doppelgänger Rune
-Gold Held: 2,150
-Remaining Stat Points: 0
【Additional Functions】
[Shop: Purchase items.]
[Combination: Combine items.]
[???: Unlocked at Lv40]
[???: Unlocked at Lv60]
[???: Unlocked at Lv99]
Ryu Min separated the orange and yellow mana stones he had previously embedded and combined them with the mana stone obtained from the Black Flame Dragon.
After upgrading with lower-grade mana stones and embedding them into his equipment, his Strength and Luck each increased by 4.
As a result, a beautiful stat distribution was achieved.
‘All my stats exceed 30 on average.’
For his level, this was a considerably superior specification.
He wouldn’t fall short even against opponents of the same level.
‘Though there are no opponents at my level, naturally.’
The second-ranked player across all zones was only level 13, so there was nothing more to say.
‘Being stronger than my level suggests is gratifying, but….’
What truly pleased me was that these stats were optimized for the Balance Rune’s conditions.
‘I’ll obtain the Balance Rune in this Round 5. And I’ll craft a Unique item as well.’
Beyond that, reaching level 40 was my objective.
‘If I play this right, it’s possible. Especially with Min Ju-ri’s buff.’
In the previous round, I didn’t have Min Ju-ri’s buff, but this time is different.
‘I’m going to set a record like never before.’
After steeling myself, I waited for the moment to cross into the Other World.
Ding—
A text message arrived out of nowhere.
[Minjoo-ri: Min! It’s midnight in a little while, right? ㅠ..ㅠ Again… … . It will work out well this time too. Don’t worry, let’s work hard together. Alright, fighting!!! ٩( ᐛ )و See you alive!]
At her lengthy message of encouragement, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
‘She must be pretty nervous. Sending such a long text like this.’
Well, I had scared her pretty badly by saying Round 5 was completely different from before, so of course she’d be anxious.
‘Don’t worry. From now on, I’ll protect you.’
Starting from Round 5, the zones merge and I’ll meet up with Min Ju-ri.
To receive her buff, I’ll need to stay close to her anyway, so protecting her won’t be a problem.
‘I’ve already told her to find Black Scythe, so there’s nothing to worry about.’
Though she’d never imagine that Black Scythe is me.
‘Hmm? It’s already time. Shall I go?’
The moment the minute hand of the wall clock struck midnight—
My eyes closed smoothly.
My consciousness flew into the Other World in the blink of an eye.
* * *
The landscape I saw upon opening my eyes was nothing special.
The same vast Grassland as in Round 1.
Avatars appearing one by one in that place.
It was a familiar scene and a familiar situation, but not to others’ eyes.
The number of people was dozens of times fewer than usual.
“Is… is this all?”
“Could it be they haven’t arrived yet?”
“Haven’t arrived? The number of survivors from the last round was roughly 500.”
“Now that I count, that seems about right….”
“Something feels empty….”
The remaining survivors numbered roughly 500.
Compared to Round 1, which had nearly 10,000 people, it was a pathetic number.
Of course, this was only the count within the zone.
‘Once the zones merge, this emptiness I’m feeling will disappear completely.’
I chuckled softly and looked at the message that appeared in my peripheral vision.
[A Round 5 exclusive stat increase buff of 50% is currently active.]
[It will automatically deactivate when Round 5 ends.]
My stats had increased by 50% from the reward I’d chosen last time.
‘If I add a 100% increase from the Massacre Rune and a 50% increase from Min Ju-ri’s blessing?’
That’s a total increase of 4.5 times.
My stats, which had been at 30, had skyrocketed to over 130.
‘With this level of power, I can set a record.’
If I claimed first place in this round, I would earn a title.
Moreover, setting a record would grant me additional gold as a bonus reward.
That was precisely why I’d chosen the stat buff instead of the standard 5,000 gold as my special reward.
The extra gold from breaking records would be far more profitable in the long run.
The moment I realized no more players would be arriving, Angel materialized before us.
[Welcome, everyone. Congratulations on surviving through round five. Hehehehe!]
Naturally, no one smiled at Angel’s congratulations.
They all believed Angel was the source of this catastrophe.
[What? Why do you all look so grim? Come on, smile a little. The last round was truly enjoyable—you were slaughtering your own kind so enthusiastically. Tee-hee.]
“….”
[Alright, alright. I’ll stop teasing. This is no fun without a reaction….]
Angel’s expression hardened as she shifted to a businesslike tone.
[We currently have 442 survivors summoned. Originally there were 521, so nearly 80 have been eliminated. I assume you’ve been fighting each other in reality again?]
“…The numbers dropped again?”
“They keep decreasing every time?”
[Well, it doesn’t matter to me whether you fight in reality or not. However, with only around 400 people, we can’t run a proper game, can we? So I’ve prepared something.]

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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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