The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 69

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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 69
69. Steal
A party of five men.
“Huh? Look over there.”
“Wait, isn’t that Black Scythe?”
The men who spotted Ryu Min froze in their tracks, bewildered.
It felt like stumbling upon a lion in the Grassland.
‘Why… why am I scared? He’s not a monster, and we’re on the same side.’
‘Surely he wouldn’t attack a fellow human? Not unless he’s lost his mind.’
‘And he’s got a woman with him, doesn’t he?’
The men cleared their throats awkwardly and relaxed their guard.
Having Min Ju-ri beside Ryu Min put them somewhat at ease.
“Uh, hello… there?”
“…”
The man greeted them despite the awkwardness, but Ryu Min didn’t respond.
He merely frowned as if looking at annoying flies.
“What brings you here?”
“Well… we came to hunt orcs, but we didn’t expect anyone to be here first.”
The man’s gaze shifted to the side.
‘How… how many of them are there?’
‘They took down all of those two-handed?’
Startled by the mountain of orc corpses, they soon nodded as if understanding dawned.
After all, the person before them was none other than Black Scythe.
But there was something that didn’t add up.
‘Wait, there were that many orcs in such a small village? Something feels off.’
‘Who’s the woman beside him? A companion?’
‘Black Scythe traveling with a companion? That doesn’t make sense. Unless he’s just toying with her.’
‘She’s got a decent face and a pretty nice figure. Not bad at all. Heh heh.’
‘I didn’t know Black Scythe had perverted tastes. Tsk tsk.’
Though they couldn’t speak their thoughts aloud, anyone could mock others in their mind.
Even the president could be mocked.
But they had chosen their target poorly.
They were disparaging someone who possessed the Rune of Inner Thoughts.
It was inevitable that Ryu Min’s brow furrowed.
“Stop bothering me and get lost.”
“Pardon?”
“If you’ve got nothing to do here, leave.”
The sudden dismissal was one thing, but the unexpected casual tone offended them.
“When did we ever meet for you to speak to us like that?”
“That’s right. Speaking casually to someone you’ve just met is rude, isn’t it?”
Anyone watching would have called it madness.
Creatures not even level 13 daring to challenge someone at level 32.
Ryu Min found it equally absurd.
“When you’re hunting and some annoying gnats show up to bother you, don’t you want to kill them? That’s exactly how I feel right now.”
“….”
“Stop being a nuisance and get lost. Unless you don’t value your lives.”
“H-hey, let’s go.”
“W-we apologize.”
“Sorry for the intrusion.”
The men bowed apologetically and quickly retreated.
Ryu Min kept his eyes on them until they disappeared from sight.
He was reading their thoughts, after all.
‘Those bastards. They’re planning to hide and watch me.’
He could sense their curiosity about how Black Scythe hunted.
They’d decided to fall back for now and observe from concealment.
‘Let them watch. I only care about achieving my own goals.’
But I couldn’t keep hunting only Orc summons forever.
‘I’d like to keep luring summons and taking it easy, but if I do, those other bastards will keep showing up.’
If I postponed things trying to be frugal, some fool might end up stealing the boss kill.
Since I had other bosses to defeat, I couldn’t stay here indefinitely.
It was time to kill the boss and claim the rewards.
‘But first, I’ll level Min Ju-ri up to 20.’
Ryu Min turned his gaze from the men to Min Ju-ri and spoke.
“The nuisance is gone, so let’s resume hunting.”
“Why did you do that?”
At the unexpected question, confusion crossed Ryu Min’s face.
“Do what?”
“Why did you deliberately speak so coldly to drive them away?”
‘You’re usually so considerate.’
Min Ju-ri swallowed the rest of her words and waited for his answer.
Ryu Min, having read her thoughts, was slightly taken aback but didn’t show it as he replied.
“If I didn’t do that, they’d keep being annoying. I had to threaten to kill them so they wouldn’t dare show their faces again.”
‘Though they’re probably hiding somewhere watching, just as I read from their thoughts.’
It didn’t matter if those bastards watched.
A few gnats hovering around wouldn’t stop me from hunting.
Ryu Min gestured toward the door with his chin as he looked at Min Ju-ri.
“Let’s begin now. Don’t mind those guys.”
* * *
The men who’d been driven away by Black Scythe came to a halt.
“Think we’re out of sight now?”
“What are you planning?”
“I’m curious. How does Black Scythe hunt?”
“Yeah, I’ve been wondering too. Where did he get so many orcs from?”
“So what? You want to hide and spy on him?”
“We won’t get caught if we watch from a distance. Don’t worry. If you’re scared, you can stay behind.”
“Sc-scared? Let’s go right now.”
The five men exited the wooden palisade and approached the direction where Black Scythe was.
“There he is.”
Through the gaps in the palisade, they could see the thatched house and Black Scythe hunting in front of it.
They decided to move closer, using the palisade as cover.
“At this distance, he won’t notice us.”
“Okay. Let’s watch and see where this bastard is getting the orcs from.”
Black Scythe was slicing through orcs outside the thatched house.
Limbs flew off with wet thuds, and bodies crashed to the ground.
After doing just that, Black Scythe turned away.
As if his role was finished.
“What?”
“Why isn’t he finishing them off?”
Then the woman beside him thrust her blade as if she’d been waiting for this moment.
She pierced the defenseless orc’s neck repeatedly, claiming the experience for herself.
“What… is that…?”
“Is he letting her finish them?”
“Why? What does he lack?”
The number one ranker was wasting time letting another woman finish the kills.
It made no sense.
“What did that woman do to make him let her finish the kills?”
“Damn, look how easy she’s hunting.”
“So damn jealous…”
The hearts of the watching men twisted with envy.
While some struggled to death killing a single orc, others simply thrust their blades and gained experience.
Naturally, resentment festered.
“But isn’t something odd?”
“What?”
“Look at that woman.”
Every time the woman entered and exited the thatched house, orcs came chasing after her.
Not just once or twice.
Every time she came and went, orcs followed her out.
“She’s continuously pulling orcs out. I’ve counted thirty so far.”
“Something’s weird. There are that many orcs inside there?”
The two of them continued the endless cycle of pulling out orcs and hunting them.
“What if those corpses piled up next to us came from that Thatched House?”
“That would mean at least 300 or more were inside it.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Then the conclusion is….”
A shared thought crystallized in the men’s minds.
“Is that Thatched House an Orc respawn point?”
“Seems like it. It doesn’t make sense otherwise.”
Given that this world was constructed like The Game, it wasn’t strange for respawn points to exist.
Rather, it was the natural way of thinking.
“I vaguely wondered if respawn points might exist, but to think they actually do….”
“Damn… so those bastards have been milking this one spot this whole time?”
“Now I see—they told us to get lost because they wanted to monopolize the respawn point?”
It was infuriating and galling.
They wanted to retaliate against those two scoundrels by any means necessary.
But there was little they could do against Black Scythe.
They could only watch.
“How about we wait until those guys leave? Once they vacate the spot, we’ll claim it immediately.”
“That works. I’d like to take it by force, but we don’t have the strength for that….”
The men reluctantly decided to wait.
Unaware that this would prove to be the worst mistake of their lives.
* * *
“Black Scythe! I’ve reached level 20!”
Min Ju-ri cried out in delight as she thrust her blade into an Orc.
It was an achievement accomplished in just fifteen minutes.
Ryu Min spoke in an even tone.
“Congratulations.”
Reaching level 20 brought many changes for Min Ju-ri.
Her rank rose to Regular, and the combination function was unlocked.
“I learned a new skill too. The effectiveness of Bless increased from 50% to 60%!”
“Can you cast it on me now?”
“Just a moment!”
Light materialized from Min Ju-ri’s hands and flowed toward Ryu Min.
[Through the skill Bless, all stats increase by 60%.]
[Duration: 02:59:59]
“What I just cast is the enhanced Bless. This is the new buff I learned.”
This time, an emerald light shimmered and seeped into Ryu Min’s mind.
[Through the skill Swift, attack speed and movement speed increase by 60%.]
[Duration: 00:29:59]
Swift was a buff that increased attack and movement speed.
Though it only lasted thirty minutes, its effect was formidable.
‘In terms of stats, it’s equivalent to gaining 40 Agility.’
Of course, it doesn’t compare to a blessing, but it’s better than nothing.
Moreover, it would be a significant help to Ryu Min’s time attack record.
“Swift, that’s not a bad buff.”
“Right? The duration is short, but don’t worry. I’ll cast it on you every thirty minutes without fail.”
“I appreciate the sentiment.”
“It’s not just words. I really mean it.”
‘I know. You’re grateful to me.’
With the Rune of True Thoughts, I understood Min Ju-ri’s feelings better than anyone, but Black Scythe’s concept didn’t allow me to show it.
“Then let’s wrap up here and go hunt the Orc Shaman.”
“Isn’t hunting orcs like this more profitable?”
“I need to take down other bosses too. I can’t stay in one place forever.”
“Is there anything I can help with?”
“Stay out of the way.”
“Yes! Don’t worry.”
Despite words that could have dampened her spirits, Min Ju-ri didn’t shrink back.
Instead, she felt good knowing he was looking out for her.
Just before Ryu Min went in to deal with the Orc Shaman.
He glanced subtly toward the Wooden Palisade in the two o’clock direction.
‘Pathetic bastards.’
Those five he’d told to leave were watching.
They had no idea they’d already been detected by my presence sensing.
Since they were within range of the Rune of True Thoughts, I’d even peeked at their thoughts with a casual glance.
‘They were really tearing into me and Min Ju-ri.’
My mental fortitude wasn’t weak enough to be shaken by curses and insults.
It was just their condescending and contemptuous attitude that was unpleasant and infuriating.
‘They think like that even though the level gap between us is overwhelming?’
A sigh escaped without my realizing it.
They probably didn’t yet understand how terrifying the existence called Black Scythe truly was.
‘I need to work harder and build my reputation. So they won’t even dare to insult me.’
To that end, I had spontaneously prepared something.
A plan to mess with those guys.
‘In a way, it’s also a character test.’
With a wicked grin, I opened the door to the Thatched House and stepped inside.
Moments later.
Crash—!
The door of the Thatched House shattered as I burst out.
Min Ju-ri, who had stayed far back to avoid getting in the way, widened her eyes.
A string of orcs came pouring out after me like sausages from a casing.
‘Why is Black Scythe running away?’
Why would he, who had slaughtered hundreds of orcs, show fear? What could possibly terrify him?
The answer came moments later.
An Orc Shaman wearing a strange wooden mask emerged, leaning heavily on his staff.
“Shriek, screech! Shrieeeeek!”
The moment the Orc Shaman bellowed, ten additional orcs materialized.
Since Min Ju-ri stood far enough away, she faced no immediate danger—but Black Scythe was another matter entirely.
‘Wait… Black Scythe is surrounded by orcs!’
A full twenty orcs had encircled him.
‘Oh no… should I help?’
Min Ju-ri’s panic didn’t last long.
Black Scythe’s face showed not a trace of alarm.
‘Right, there’s no way Black Scythe would lose.’
The Black Scythe she knew would never fall to mere twenty opponents.
After all, hadn’t she buffed him herself?
‘He could easily escape with that running speed, yet he deliberately let himself get cornered.’
Sensing he had some strategy in mind, Min Ju-ri decided to observe the situation.
“Shrieeek! Screech!”
The orcs surrounding Black Scythe attacked in unison at the Shaman’s command.
Clang—clang!
He parried axes with his scythe, twisted his shoulders to evade, ducked beneath flying blades—
Black Scythe moved ceaselessly within the cramped space.
He seemed overwhelmed, unable to catch his breath against twenty simultaneous attacks.
‘Blocking and dodging every single strike… his skill is truly remarkable.’
Min Ju-ri marveled inwardly, but only for a moment.
‘Wait… who are those people?’
She gasped upon spotting figures approaching from behind the Orc Shaman.
They were the same men she’d encountered earlier.
‘What are they doing? Are they trying to steal the Orc Shaman kill while Black Scythe draws its attention?’
Watching them advance cautiously from behind with weapons drawn made it unmistakable.
‘No way. The Shaman belongs to Black Scythe!’
Whether Black Scythe noticed or not, he remained occupied with the orcs.
‘At this rate, the Orc Shaman will be stolen by those people!’
She decided to step in and block them, moving forward—
A deep, resonant sound.
A black curtain descended.

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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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