The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 63

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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 63
63. Complacency Is Forbidden
Only one person per zone could receive the reward for this sub-quest.
‘The number of Stones of Balance, the material for the sub-quest, is fixed.’
Of course, since it was divided by zone, other players had opportunities to obtain the Rune of Balance as well.
‘Though it won’t be easy.’
Sub-quests typically felt simple, but that wasn’t how they worked here.
‘It’s called a sub-quest, but the difficulty and rewards are harder than main quests.’
Hunting 300 orcs was undoubtedly easier than gathering four Stones of Balance.
The Stones of Balance weren’t items you could obtain easily.
‘That’s why I can be confident. Few players from other zones will complete the sub-quest.’
Even if someone completed the sub-quest, how many could meet the conditions for the Rune of Balance?
Probably only someone like Ryu Min, who knew the conditions in advance and adjusted their stats accordingly, could truly benefit from the rune.
‘I’ll claim the sub-quest reward for this round.’
Just as I steeled my resolve, Priscilla continued her explanation.
[This round’s sub-quest is gathering Stones of Balance. Once you collect four, you’ll receive the reward immediately. However, only one person will receive the reward.]
“Only one person?”
[Because only four Stones of Balance exist within the zone.]
“So what if one person can’t find all four?”
“Then the sub-quest falls through, right?”
[Exactly. But don’t worry. You can steal the Stones of Balance by killing other players.]
“You can steal them by killing someone?”
“Like the zone representative position?”
[Yes. Of course, you can’t steal other items. Only the Stones of Balance apply. And unlike last round, killing someone doesn’t revive them. If you die, that’s the end.]
If you die, that’s the end… It was a terrifying statement, though obvious.
The risk was enormous just to kill someone for a single sub-quest.
‘No, wait. If I don’t consider myself a risk, then it doesn’t matter, does it?’
Risk was ultimately just a burden of the mind.
Abandon conscience and morality, and killing fellow players becomes simple.
Hadn’t I already practiced this countless times in round four?
Some players’ eyes gleamed with fervor.
Eyes that suggested they could kill others without hesitation for the sake of a quest.
[Of course, the sub-quest is nice, but it’s not more important than the main quest, right? If you can’t hunt 300 orcs within ten hours, you’ll face elimination without exception. The same applies if you complete it too late to rank in the top positions.]
The players nodded.
They were confident they could hunt 300 orcs.
Besides, they had ten hours.
[That’s all I needed to tell you. Now go ahead and struggle with all your might.]
Leaving behind those ominous words, Priscilla disappeared along with the remaining Angels.
The sky was pristine and clear, befitting the atmosphere of the Grassland.
[Time remaining until round end: 09:59:59]
Watching the time flow across the progress window, I moved forward.
‘Angel was right. Sub-Quests are fine, but the Main Quest takes priority.’
I had to eliminate 300 Orcs quickly to secure safety.
The Sub-Quest was a concern for later.
Helping Min Ju-ri as well.
‘I need to hunt them down as fast as possible and set a record to claim the corresponding rewards. I can help Min Ju-ri afterward without any issues.’
To set a record, hunting alone would be faster than traveling together.
Even without buffs, I could dispatch 300 Orcs in an instant.
‘Since I’ve already warned her about the danger, there’s nothing to worry about.’
I’d given Min Ju-ri advance warning, so she wouldn’t commit the foolish act of rashly attacking the Orc Settlement.
‘To help Min Ju-ri, I need to clear the Main Quest quickly.’
I quickened my pace.
There was no time to waste if I wanted to set a record.
* * *
As Black Scythe approached, the players instinctively cowered and parted like the Red Sea.
Watching Black Scythe pass by without stopping, the players exhaled in relief.
“Phew, he just went past.”
“Thank goodness.”
“He came so suddenly, I nearly jumped out of my skin.”
“My heart was pounding.”
“But where is he going in such a hurry?”
“Right, where indeed?”
“Should we follow him and see?”
At the reckless suggestion of one young man, the listening players jumped back in alarm.
“Are you insane!? Follow Black Scythe?”
“Do you want to be subjected to his dominion?”
“He’d probably enslave you for life.”
It wasn’t an unfounded fear.
Given Black Scythe’s merciless nature of severing necks without hesitation, it was entirely plausible.
“But wouldn’t it be better than just sitting here doing nothing? Black Scythe has been moving faster than all of us anyway. That’s why he’s been taking first place every time.”
The young man’s argument wasn’t without merit either.
It had a certain logic to it.
The fact that people could only groan in protest was proof of that.
“What if we get caught following him?”
“We just follow from as far away as possible.”
“Still…”
“If you’re not interested, you can all stay here. I’m going alone.”
The young man bolted in the direction Black Scythe had disappeared, unwilling to miss the opportunity.
The other players, after a moment’s hesitation, eventually ran after him.
Staying here would only lead to elimination anyway.
The Quest has already begun, so I need to find and eliminate the orcs quickly.
Black Scythe probably knows the way.
“Huh? Look over there.”
“Is that… a village?”
It was a small settlement with crudely constructed wooden palisades leaning at odd angles.
The players could sense it instinctively.
This was the Orc Settlement.
And indeed it was.
An orc stood at the Entrance to the Village like a sentry.
“Squeal! Squeeeal!”
The creature, which had been making a whistling sound through its teeth, spotted Black Scythe and raised its axe.
Or rather, before it could even lift the axe.
Slash—!
The orc’s neck was severed cleanly.
Thud!
After dispatching one effortlessly, Black Scythe entered the settlement.
The orcs wandering through the Village spotted the intruder and drew the axes hanging from their waists.
“Squeal! Squeal!”
“Squeeee! Squeal!”
Three orcs charged at Black Scythe with murderous intent.
But it was the orcs who fell.
Each one, now headless, collapsed to the ground.
Thud—thud—thud!
Pressing the advantage, Black Scythe entered a thatched hut.
Slash—slash—slash—!
Eerie sounds echoed out before Black Scythe emerged.
The scythe was drenched in green blood.
Watching Black Scythe continue to sweep through the Village, the players felt reassured.
The orcs appeared far weaker than expected.
“They’re not much at all, these orcs.”
“They seem about the same level as Nol from before?”
“Could it just look easy because it’s Black Scythe doing it?”
“No way—they’re being cut down too easily for that.”
“Right. They all die in one hit.”
“Of course Black Scythe is incredibly strong, but at this rate, couldn’t we handle them too?”
In The Game, orcs typically appeared as weak trash mobs.
I had assumed reality would be no different, but complacency was dangerous.
“Black Scythe is so powerful that this might be misleading—let’s not drop our guard.”
“Right, there’s no harm in being careful.”
“Well, we won’t know how strong they really are until we face them ourselves.”
“Then instead of this, let’s quickly raid a Village like Black Scythe did.”
“Yes, sir.”
Twenty players rushed off in a swarm to find another Orc Settlement.
Even though this Quest didn’t require teamwork, the reason they moved together was something else entirely.
‘For now, I need to stick with these bastards here.’
‘I still haven’t figured out how strong the orcs are.’
‘I’ll observe from the back, and once I judge they’re something I can handle alone, I’ll break off immediately.’
The strength level of the orcs remained unknown.
Besides, moving together meant more meat shields for safety.
“Huh? There’s a Village!”
“Let’s go!”
The players who spotted the new Orc Settlement rushed forward in a mass.
“Oh, this one’s quite a bit larger?”
It was three times the size of the place Black Scythe had raided.
Then.
“Squeak?”
An orc standing guard at the watchtower let out a startled cry and blew a horn—a long, piercing wail.
“What, what is this?”
“Why does that thing have a horn?”
“That bastard just called the other orcs, didn’t it?”
“No way.”
Why are ominous premonitions never wrong?
“Squeak! Squeak!”
“Screech! Screech!”
Dozens of orcs poured out from beyond the wooden palisade in a flood.
Over fifty orcs in total.
Before they could fully process what was happening, the twenty players found themselves completely surrounded by the orc horde.
“Damn… hell.”
“We’re screwed…”
All twenty players wore expressions of pure dread.
They hadn’t expected so many to emerge so suddenly.
And far more than their own numbers.
“Hell. I had a feeling this Village was bigger…”
“I never thought there’d be this many…”
Truth be told, they’d let their guard down.
With twenty of them moving together, they’d felt safe.
“W-what do we do?”
“Hell, what else? We fight for our lives!”
Perhaps misinterpreting the player’s irritation, an orc let out a piercing shriek in response.
“Squeeeeeak!”
At that signal, the orcs charged forward in unison.
“Damn it, damn it! They’re coming!”
“So what if there are numbers? These orc bastards are nothing special!”
“Kill them!”
The players screamed as if possessed and met the orcs head-on.
Clang! Clang!
They parried or dodged the axes the orcs swung with their own weapons.
“What the hell? These bastards are pathetic?”
“Their attacks aren’t even that fast.”
The force behind the axes was strong, but not beyond what we could withstand.
Seeing hope, the players launched a counteroffensive.
Thud! Thud!
“Kyieeeek!”
“Shrieeeek!”
The orcs’ flesh pierced easily.
But then.
“Huh?”
“Wait, my blade won’t come out.”
The muscle structure was such that the flesh clamped down on the blade and refused to release it.
At that moment, an enraged orc swung its axe.
Crack!
“Gahhh!”
With the sound of a shoulder shattering, one player collapsed.
The other orcs, seizing the opportunity, raised their axes again.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
“Screeeeeam!”
With ankles severed and shins shattered, I couldn’t help but scream in agony.
“Damn it, get away! You orc bastards!”
The players resisted relentlessly, but the orcs’ durability exceeded imagination.
Though blades lodged in their flesh, the density of their muscle made extraction far from easy.
Boom! Thwack!
“Crack!”
“Gack!”
Overwhelmed by the difference in durability, the players were pushed back.
With their numbers, even when we managed to kill one, another orc burst forth.
As time passed, more players fell.
Those who fell became targets for the orcs, pummeled like lumps of meat.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
“P-Please… spare me…!”
It was foolish to underestimate them for their slow attack speed and lack of technique in their axe swings.
Even a crude axe swing was more than sufficient to kill a single human.
“Sh-shit… to be taken down by mere orcs….”
“O-orcs are this strong…?”
I had told myself not to let my guard down, but in truth, I had been underestimating them.
I thought I could kill orcs like these alone.
So wasn’t that why the mission to hunt 300 per person had been assigned?
But now my thoughts had done a complete reversal.
One-on-one, I might manage somehow, but with their numbers, it was overwhelming.
“Shrieeeek!”
“Shrieeeek!”
The orcs raised their arms and bellowed in victory.
It didn’t take long for twenty players to be completely annihilated.
* * *
Ryu Min, who had been running ahead, suddenly glanced back.
‘I thought about twenty people were following me earlier, but now I can’t see them anywhere.’
Ryu Min wasn’t the compassionate type to worry about others.
It was simply unsettling that the puppies who had been trailing behind were no longer visible.
‘Well, twenty people shouldn’t be my concern. As long as they don’t foolishly provoke a large-scale Orc Settlement.’
It was best to avoid touching Orc Settlements with guard posts whenever possible.
Not only were they vast in scale, but if a horn was blown even once, more than fifty would gather rapidly.
‘Settlements like that house over 200 inside, so twenty people stand no chance whatsoever.’
This was what made orcs difficult to hunt.
They operated in groups and possessed strong unity.
It was rare to see them move separately under normal circumstances.
‘And individual orcs have high specs too.’
The muscle density of orcs was on an entirely different dimension from humans, so once a blade sank in, it rarely came free.
Their durability was considerable, so inflicting a few wounds wasn’t enough to break their momentum.
‘That’s why orcs must be severed in a single stroke. And you have to aim for their most vulnerable point—the neck.’
Ryu Min spoke thus and checked the time on the progress window.
[Time Remaining Until Round End : 08:59:22]
Barely an hour had passed.
‘An hour is a respectable performance.’
There was a reason Ryu Min could afford to be at ease.
In fact, I had already completed the main quest.
[Main Quest Progress : 300/300 Orcs]
[All Districts]
└Participants : 77,310,228
└Achievers : 1/19,327,557
[District C-ESKS007]
└Participants : 4,844
└Achiever: 1/1,211
Looking at the achievers, I was the only one who had completed the Quest.
Not just in this zone, but across all districts.
‘I’ve secured first place… Now should I go help Min Ju-ri?’
Ryu Min activated his tracking skill.
Since he knew Min Ju-ri’s face and nickname, finding her posed no difficulty.
[You have located the target ‘Democracy’.]
[The target is currently 1,691 meters away.]
[Follow the arrow displayed ahead to track the target.]
Ryu Min immediately set off.
In his wake lay countless corpses.
Orc bodies with severed limbs scattered across the ground.

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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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