The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 8

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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 8
8. The Angel Slayer
[You have slain an Angel.]
[Confirmed: You are the first player to slay an Angel.]
[You have acquired the title ‘First Angel Slayer’.]
[As a reward for being the first to slay an Angel, you have obtained ‘Angel’s Blood’.]
[As a reward for being the first to slay an Angel, ‘Massacre Rune’ has appeared.]
[The acquired rune is automatically inscribed into the player’s body!]
A cascade of messages flooded the screen—most people would have been overwhelmed, but I remained composed.
‘I’ve experienced this dozens of times before. I’ve received these same rewards dozens of times.’
Ryu Min calmly reviewed the rewards.
[Angel’s Blood]
– Classification: Consumable
– Grade: Unique
– Effect: Class change to ‘Reaper’ available
– Usage Restriction: Level 10 or higher
– Description: An item provided exclusively to the first player to slay an Angel. Only one who has killed an Angel is worthy of the Reaper class, the natural predator of Angels.
Players could acquire a class starting from level 10.
There were roughly thirty different classes available, and the method for class change was straightforward.
Obtain the class change item.
‘Just like what I’ve obtained now.’
In Ryu Min’s inventory, an item with the image of a golden liquid gleamed.
Angel’s Blood—granted only to the first one to slay an Angel.
An item that could facilitate a class change to the Reaper, a unique class.
‘As expected, I’m the first to slay an Angel.’
At this point in time, no one would dare challenge an Angel unless they had a death wish.
Unless they were absolutely insane.
It was inevitable that I would be the first.
‘I obtained a title as well.’
Ryu Min tapped the newly acquired title to examine it.
[Title – First Angel Slayer]
– Acquisition Condition: Obtained upon being the first to slay an Angel.
– Effect: All stats doubled when facing Holy-type enemies.
Upon inspection, it was indeed the title I had obtained before.
An invaluable title when facing Angels or Holy-type monsters.
Ryu Min’s gaze turned to the final reward.
[Massacre Rune]
– Effect: All stats increase by 1% each time you slay a target (maximum 100%). Effect persists until the current round ends.
The rune was inscribed upon Ryu Min’s body.
A reward from being the first to slay an Angel.
‘If the Angels found out I’ve already obtained a Rune, they’d be absolutely stunned.’
Runes were that difficult to acquire.
Getting even one per round was a grueling task.
The difficulty was nearly equivalent to hunting down a Unique item.
‘Though that’s only the standard for ordinary players who struggle with strategy guides.’
For Ryu Min, who had already exhausted every strategy guide to the point of boredom, such concerns didn’t apply.
‘I need to become far stronger by obtaining more Runes than in previous cycles.’
Since this was the final cycle, there was no room for retreat now.
I had to grow stronger by any means necessary.
‘It’s unfortunate, but even if I kill an Angel now, I won’t receive any rewards.’
The rewards I’d obtained so far were granted only to whoever killed an Angel first.
If other players killed Angels, they gained nothing.
That’s why only a single Reaper class existed.
‘The Angels have no idea. They don’t know such rewards are hidden within their own bodies.’
Ryu Min himself hadn’t known this fact until the 12th cycle.
Like everyone else, I had feared the Angels’ power and regarded them as beings not to be opposed.
But starting from the 13th cycle, as I took revenge on the Angels, I learned about the first-kill rewards.
‘Killing an Angel yields materials needed for a Hidden class….’
After that, with each cycle I repeated, I killed the Angels.
They tried to stab me in the back, and on top of that they offered hidden rewards—there was no reason not to kill them.
‘That’s when it started. When I began seriously delving into the Reaper class.’
Until then, I had survived as a Hunter.
But the moment I switched to Reaper, I could tell.
The Reaper was a far superior class to the Hunter.
‘Bonus stats, class-change Runes, skill composition—everything about it was flawlessly excellent.’
It wasn’t the unique class for nothing.
It was so powerful and desirable that other players would envy it.
‘Though I still couldn’t clear the final round and had to return.’
Still, since no class compared to the Reaper, I targeted the Angels again this time.
I deliberately provoked them and maneuvered them to change locations.
Before they could strike me in the back, I struck first, just like now.
After killing the Angel, I obtained massive rewards starting from Round 1.
‘From then on, I abandoned the Hunter and switched to the Reaper.’
With each cycle I repeated, I killed the Angels using the same method.
Since they were the ones who tried to stab me in the back, I showed no mercy.
Through that process, I learned something.
How weak the Angels truly were.
That skull-crushing ability was merely a one-time use.
‘And I obtained much other information besides.’
Beyond the rewards, I extracted information by torturing the Angels.
The Angels as a species, their ecology, their roles, the game’s purpose, system access privileges, and so forth.
But even the Angels didn’t possess the core information.
‘I’m merely a chess piece assigned to guide others from above.’
It was clear that someone comparable to a god must be pulling the strings behind the scenes, but…
‘I won’t know the details until I reach the stage where I can defeat the final boss and achieve my wish.’
After confirming his rewards, Ryu Min reached toward his inventory.
It was time to use the special reward selection box he’d received as the top reward across all zones.
‘Use it.’
[You may select one of the following special rewards.]
[Please touch the reward you desire.]
└ 1. Experience Gain Tripled Buff (Limited to Round 2)
└ 2. 2,000 Gold
└ 3. Information on Round 2
Three options lay before him, but Ryu Min didn’t hesitate.
‘What matters now is reaching level 10 as quickly as possible and advancing my class.’
Ryu Min immediately selected reward number one.
[You have selected the Experience Gain Tripled Buff.]
[The buff will be automatically applied when Round 2 begins.]
Though a month still remained before Round 2, he’d chosen his reward in advance.
There was simply nothing else worth selecting besides the tripled experience.
‘Receiving 2,000 gold wouldn’t be terrible, but advancing my class as quickly as possible is far more valuable right now.’
Advancing your class grants you skills.
And in this game, the value of skills is beyond imagination.
‘A skill is worth nearly as much as three runes.’
Naturally, a player’s power doubles depending on whether they possess skills or not.
Moreover, since a class advancement even comes with a rune reward as a bonus, the sooner one acquires a class, the greater the advantage.
‘The third reward isn’t even worth considering.’
The third reward, which offered information on Round 2, held no meaning for Ryu Min.
He already possessed knowledge of all twenty rounds.
Ryu Min gazed down at the Angel’s corpse with indifferent eyes.
The golden-tinged blood began evaporating along with the body.
Sssssss—
Soon the Angel’s corpse scattered like dust and vanished completely.
Being spiritual entities by nature, they dissolve along with their physical forms after a certain time passes.
‘It’s convenient not having to dispose of the body myself. No evidence remains either.’
Just to be safe, Ryu Min scanned his surroundings.
He examined even the sky thoroughly, but there were no witnesses.
‘Since I killed them at the same location and the same timing, there shouldn’t be any problems.’
He’d killed them the same way he always did.
There were no witnesses, and no other Angels knew about it.
‘They’re inherently selfish with strong narcissistic tendencies, so they don’t care about anything except themselves….’
I might wonder why she isn’t visible, but that’s all.
‘From Round 2 onwards, she’ll be replaced by a different Angel. Just like everything I’ve experienced so far.’
Without witnesses or evidence, I don’t need to worry about what comes after.
I can return without any problems even without Angel.
Though I won’t receive detailed guidance about the return.
◀ ROUND 1 COMPLETE ▶
[ALL ZONES]
└Survivors: 900,514,645
[ZONE ESKS45-5]
└Survivors: 5,143
[Your soul will transfer to your original body shortly.]
[Round 2 begins at midnight on February 1st, 2022. See you in the next round. Congratulations on your survival.]
With that message, Ryu Min and the people trapped against the pillar vanished from sight.
* * *
“Gasp!”
Hwang Yong-min jolted upright, gasping as if he’d been brought back from the dead.
The first thing that filled his vision was a crowd of people.
‘Where… where is this? The Bell-ringing Ceremony Site?’
People who had been lying on the ground asleep began to sit up.
Their confused glances around matched exactly how he’d felt moments ago.
Hwang Yong-min immediately grabbed his phone to check the time.
‘5:20 AM…?’
The date was January 1st, 2022.
Five hours and twenty minutes had passed since the Bell-ringing Ceremony.
It roughly matched the time he’d spent in that dream.
“Ugh, my head….”
“My whole body aches.”
His friends who’d been sleeping on the ground nearby gradually regained consciousness.
“Hey? Yong-min!”
“You’re awake?”
“Was I asleep?”
“Yeah. Not just you—everyone here.”
“What….”
“What’s going on? We all fell asleep at once?”
“Wait, so that was a dream?”
“I had the weirdest dream anyway….”
“Yeah, me too!”
“Yong-min, did you have a dream too?”
“Yeah, but….”
Hwang Yong-min surveyed the surroundings, his expression growing grave.
“This doesn’t feel like a dream.”
“What?”
“Listen carefully to what people are saying.”
His friends leaned in, straining to hear.
“Did we come back? We really escaped that hell…!”
“What is this? I definitely fought goblins….”
“We survived… we actually survived!”
As the murmurs of the crowd washed over them, my friends’ faces drained of color.
From what I could hear, it seemed they’d all experienced the same dream.
“This many people fell asleep simultaneously and had identical dreams? That makes no sense.”
“Yeah, you’re right….”
Too many people had experienced the same events for it to be dismissed as mere dreams.
“Then you’re saying it was all real? The goblins, Round 1, everything…?”
“If that’s true, then on the first of next month, we’ll be summoned for Round 2?”
“Damn it.”
My friends hung their heads at this bleak reality, though this was merely the beginning of their despair.
“Hey, why isn’t he waking up?”
“Tae-sik, wake up. Tae-sik!”
One of my friends remained unconscious.
Motionless, as if dead.
“Damn it! I checked his nose—he’s not breathing!”
“Check his heart! Do you hear a heartbeat!”
My friends frantically checked whether Tae-sik was alive or dead.
But the answer they found was devastating.
“His heart isn’t beating.”
“What?”
“Then… he’s dead?”
“Tae-sik is… dead?”
I couldn’t believe my friend was gone, yet the logic behind it was undeniable.
“Did this bastard fail to kill all 100?”
“Or maybe he didn’t make the top half cutoff…?”
According to the game’s rules, my friend’s death made perfect sense.
And Tae-sik wasn’t the only one who wouldn’t wake.
Nearly half of the people still lay motionless on the cold asphalt.
“Could it be that everyone who won’t wake up is….”
“A… corpse?”
“Ugh…!”
The thought of corpses made my stomach churn violently.
Goblin corpses would have been bearable, but the bodies of fellow humans triggered an overwhelming wave of nausea.
“So only half of us actually survived?”
“Damn it, what are we going to do in the next round?”
“Do you think I’ll make it out alive?”
My friends were already worrying, but I remained composed.
Or rather, I was pretending to be composed while suppressing a laugh.
If I laughed in this situation, not just my friends but everyone else would look at me like I was insane.
‘If this is reality and not a dream, then it’s not just me who’s screwed—it’s everyone in the world, right?’
Well, technically it was everyone from fifteen to twenty-nine years old, but what did it matter?
I now had so many comrades whose lives were on the line.
‘This is insane, right? Doesn’t this mean everyone has to survive equally, whether they were born with a silver spoon or not?’
I used to envy people who were born into wealthy families and lived lavishly.
On the other hand, I’d resent my own pathetic life.
‘I won’t have to lament about how unfair my life is anymore. Hehehehe.’
My parents had already given up on me anyway—my life was a complete mess.
I was planning to join the Gangster Organization right after graduating from High School.
I’d heard that gangsters these days made good money from illegal activities.
“Don’t worry, you bastards. All we need to do is survive. What’s there to worry about?”
“But it’s unfair… We haven’t even had a chance to really live yet, and if we die…”
“It’s not just us—everyone else is caught up in this too. What’s unfair about that?”
My friends had nothing to say to that.
They just cursed silently in their minds.
‘Damn it… You’ve got such a pathetic life that you wouldn’t even regret dying right now.’
‘But I still have so much I want to do…’
Unaware of what my friends were thinking, I was looking around, searching for someone.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, I just suddenly remembered and looked around, but I don’t see that bastard anywhere.”
“Who? Your personal chauffeur?”
I nodded.
No matter how much I looked, I couldn’t spot Ryu Min.
‘Where the hell did that guy go? I thought I saw him over there before I fell asleep… Did he actually die without even passing the first round?’
I quickly accepted it and gave up searching.
‘Well, a total loser like that would’ve died long ago anyway.’
There’s no way such a weakling could survive in this competition.
I clicked my tongue inwardly and turned my head.
‘Huh?’
My eyes caught sight of a person wearing strange armor.
‘What the… Where did that guy get such tacky clothes…’
In that instant, a thought flashed through my mind like lightning.
‘Could it be…?’
I immediately put my hypothesis into action and shouted to my friends.
“Hey! Everyone, try opening your status window! It works!”
“Huh? Status window?”
“There’s no way that could—”
“Wait… it actually does work?”
The moment I thought of “status window” in my mind, a translucent window materialized before me alone.
The system I’d believed only functioned in the Other World was now accessible in reality as well.
“How is this possible?”
“Could it have always been usable in the real world?”
“Seriously… does that mean all my stats and items apply here too?”
That implication meant we could wield power transcending human limits even in reality.
‘This is insane.’
Hwang Yong-min and his friends’ lips curved upward with elation.
It was a single ray of hope piercing through the darkness of despair.

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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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