The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 9

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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 9
9. First Return
[This early morning, an unbelievable incident occurred at Bosingak in Jongno-gu, where the bell-ringing ceremony was taking place. Over ten thousand people lost consciousness simultaneously. Let’s watch the footage first to see what happened.]
The video contained scenes that defied belief.
A winged woman appeared from the sky surrounded by light.
[People are bewildered by the appearance of a woman with the visage of an angel. Her lips move as if she’s speaking, but no sound is heard. Shortly after, when a young man poses a question to the angel, his head explodes like a firework.]
The murder of a human being was broadcast live without reservation.
Even with the pixelation, the brutality felt vivid and real.
[Tens of thousands of people at the scene fall into panic. Soon after, the angel mutters something as if explaining, and the people lose consciousness. Approximately ten thousand people fall into slumber.]
The people visible in the footage collapse like puppets with severed strings, their minds gone.
Police then appear investigating the remaining survivors.
[According to witness testimonies, the angel abducted people aged 15 to 29 years old to another dimension. It sounded absurd, but with so many witnesses and the angel’s image captured on video, it became impossible not to believe.]
[In particular, this phenomenon occurred nationwide. Angel sightings were reported everywhere, along with an outbreak of people falling into narcolepsy. Upon investigation, it matched the age range mentioned: 15 to 29 years old.]
[Confirmed reports show this isn’t limited to our country. Japan, China, Russia, the United States—over 128 nations have confirmed cases of narcolepsy. Truly, people worldwide have lost consciousness.]
1.8 billion people were abducted to the Other World.
Of course, not their bodies, but their souls.
Shocking articles appeared consecutively in the news sections of portal websites.
In response, netizen comments split into two camps.
└What? Did all the reporters do drugs together?
└Why are only these ridiculous articles being posted?
└It’s not even April Fools’ Day today.
└1.8 billion souls abducted? This fake news is on another level.
Lol the journalists really showed their unity there.
└The video is probably fake anyway.
Many people couldn’t believe the article that made them doubt their own eyes.
└Are you all kids? Would reporters make up false stories just because they have nothing to do?
└Right? Don’t you see it’s spread across all the other portal sites too?
Those guys up there won’t believe it even when told to run because there’s a war, just laugh it off, and end up dying.
But there were also more believers than expected.
However, as broadcast television, radio, and the internet all covered the same story, people had no choice but to accept it.
This wasn’t a joke—it was a real crisis unfolding before their eyes.
└I thought it was a hoax, but it was real….
└What the hell is this?
└Looking at the article next to it, it explains in detail. It’s a survival game that goes up to 20 rounds.
└What? Does that mean I’ll be abducted by the angel too?
└You don’t need to worry if you’re not between 15 and 29 years old.
└How can you not worry? 1.8 billion people aren’t waking up from sleep….
└My friend’s older brother was actually abducted—he lost consciousness. But he’s still breathing….
└I’m a 49-year-old father. My only son, a middle schooler, won’t wake up no matter how much I try. I don’t know what to do. Please tell me if there’s any way.
└My younger brother is also sleeping, but he doesn’t wake up. What should I do? ㅠㅠㅠ
└What do we do now? Isn’t the world ending?
Lol, well that worked out. This shitty world. I hope it all falls apart.
Ryu Min sighed while reading news comments on his phone.
‘It’s finally begun.’
The internet was ablaze with talk of the survival game.
It felt real now—returning to Earth.
‘But this is only the beginning.’
Ryu Min skimmed through another article.
[Around 5:20 PM, roughly half of those who had fallen into narcolepsy awoke….]
[The other half stopped breathing and suffered cardiac arrest… effectively dead.]
[Deaths in Seoul: approximately 900,000. Nationwide estimates: 4.5 million.]
[An unprecedented catastrophe claiming 11% of the population.]
[Global death toll: roughly 900 million. The world descends into chaos from the narcolepsy death shock.]
Death reports piled up endlessly, but the real problem lay elsewhere.
[Survivors claim they entered a game-like world, creating characters and completing Quests….]
[They say they had to fight bare-handed against monsters called goblins in a grassland….]
[Breaking news! Survivors calling themselves Players can apparently summon weapons and armor from thin air….]
‘The real problem is that the Players’ abilities have transferred to reality.’
Though Angel’s death meant those at Bosingak never heard the explanation, returning to Earth never means coming back empty-handed.
Players bring their abilities with them intact.
‘Since the system itself is rooted in the soul’s power, it functions even when the body changes.’
Of course, I learned such information by interrogating Angel in my previous cycle.
‘With my current stats still low, it won’t matter much yet….’
But as levels rise and strength grows, Players become truly transcendent beings.
‘When that time comes, some reckless Players will start wielding their power lawlessly in reality.’
One-man armies emerge that even militaries and cutting-edge weapons cannot control.
‘Then I can’t focus solely on Quests. Problems erupt even after returning to Earth.’
The Other World and reality.
Both realms will be consumed by chaos within mere months.
I cannot simply stand by and watch.
If I do, Earth will perish before the 20th round even arrives.
‘There’s only one way. I must control the Players through overwhelming force. Unruly beasts bow only before true strength.’
Ryu Min intended to rally the Players through force, as I always had.
Only then could I suppress the chaos and even face the final boss.
Of course, a different approach was necessary this time.
I had to guide four others to the final round.
‘A Priest and a Buffer would be invaluable to bring along. If a boss room demands at least five, it will be that formidable.’
Several candidates came to mind, and I had already devised plans to bring them to my side….
‘But now is not the time to act. There’s something far more urgent.’
When the first round ended and Ryu Min returned to Earth, I immediately left the bell-ringing ceremony.
His destination was none other than home.
A multi-unit residential building in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul.
Beep beep beep— click!
The first thing that caught my eye upon entering the house was a cup ramen container sitting on the sink.
‘So he had cup ramen for dinner again.’
It was a familiar scene I’d witnessed in previous cycles.
The same sight that greeted me every time I came home.
I opened the bedroom door that had been closed.
A figure lay peacefully asleep on the bedding spread across the floor.
My middle school younger brother, Ryu Won.
Now my only remaining family.
“Won. Wake up.”
As I shook him, Ryu Won stirred and blinked his sleepy eyes open.
“…Brother?”
“Get up. It’s morning.”
“What time is it?”
Ryu Won glanced at the wall clock as he spoke.
“What? It’s only six o’clock.”
“There’s no time to sleep anymore.”
“What do you mean? What’s going on?”
“I’ll explain later. Just get dressed first. Let’s go.”
“Where are we going? If you’re trying to watch the sunrise, I’d rather sleep more…”
“Listen to me.”
At my low, firm tone, Ryu Won fell silent and looked up at me.
Sensing the unusual atmosphere in my demeanor, his expression grew serious as well.
“Brother, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“This isn’t the time to be sleeping peacefully. The world is in chaos.”
“Why? You said you were going to watch the bell-ringing ceremony. What happened?”
“Just come with me. I’ll explain as we walk.”
The brothers passed through the narrow kitchen and stepped outside.
My younger brother shuddered once in the lingering cold of the pre-dawn air.
“Let’s walk for a bit.”
“Okay.”
The brothers walked silently through the dimly lit alley.
Ryu Won turned his head and glanced sideways at me.
‘Why does he look so serious?’
Confronted with an unfamiliar side of my brother, I could only watch his expression without asking.
I thought he would explain on his own, but his atmosphere was subtly different from before.
‘No, it’s completely different.’
His chin was raised, his eyes gleamed with intensity, and his stride was resolute and unfaltering.
My older brother, who had always seemed so small and hunched-shouldered, appeared almost unrecognizable.
“You.”
After we’d walked for a while, I finally spoke.
“You don’t know what’s happening in the world right now, do you?”
“Of course I don’t. Why? Did something happen while I was sleeping?”
“Check the internet news.”
Ryu Won did as I said and pulled up the internet on his phone.
“What the…? What is this?”
Ryu Won stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes glued to the screen.
“Is this real? An Angel appeared and people were dragged into the Other World en masse?”
“To be precise, only their souls were taken.”
“Don’t tell me you were too?”
I nodded.
“I barely managed to survive after hunting a hundred goblins in the Other World.”
“….”
I’d told him the truth, but my younger brother still looked unconvinced.
“Then why wasn’t I taken?”
“You haven’t turned fifteen yet.”
Ryu Won was entering his third year of middle school this year, but since his birthday hadn’t passed, he was still fourteen.
It was the one saving grace in this desperate situation.
Still not fully grasping the reality, Ryu Won continued reading the articles.
The comment section was filled with laments from people who had lost brothers, sisters, and children.
There were far too many witnesses for this to be a lie.
“Sigh… How could this happen…?”
Ryu Won sighed and turned to look at me.
I marveled at how my small-framed older brother had managed to survive all this time.
“Are you okay? You’re not hurt anywhere?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“How can I not worry? You’re my only family.”
On that day when our parents suddenly passed away in a car accident.
It was my older brother who comforted me as I wept, tears and snot streaming down my face.
‘My brother is stronger than anyone.’
Though my brother appeared so frail that someone might mistake him for a fellow middle schooler, I saw him differently.
‘To me, my brother is like a father.’
Too embarrassed to say it aloud all this time, I had been following and relying on my brother like a father figure.
But despite all that, I couldn’t help but worry.
‘Mental strength and fighting ability are two different things.’
I acknowledged that my brother had a strong spirit, but that didn’t mean he was good at fighting.
His small frame aside, he often came home beaten up by someone or other.
‘Every time I asked about it, he’d say it was his business and told me not to worry.’
How could I not worry about whether you’ve been hurt?
While I was thinking such thoughts, Ryu Min casually spoke up.
“I know what you’re thinking.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t worry. In the Other World, there’s a stat system, so physical condition is meaningless. Women can fight goblins on equal terms too.”
“Oh… is that what it was?”
“And once you see how I move in a bit, you won’t have such worries anymore.”
“What are you talking about now?”
“If you want to know, follow me.”
“No way. I won’t take a single step until you tell me where we’re going.”
My younger brother was stubborn, but I could only let out a wry laugh.
I’d already experienced this kind of reaction in the previous round.
“Do you want to know?”
“I’d rather not hear it twice!”
“Bang Tae-gyu.”
At those three syllables, my brother’s face stiffened.
“We’re going to his Delinquent Gang Hideout right now.”
“What?”
“You’ve been bullied throughout your time at school. By a delinquent named Bang Tae-gyu.”
“H-how did you know that…?”
Ryu Won couldn’t help but be shocked.
I’d never once mentioned being bullied.
Instead, I’d always spoken with a smile.
That I had good friends and enjoyed going to school.
The reason was simple.
I didn’t want to burden my brother.
I didn’t want to become a burden to him, who was already struggling to support us both through part-time work alone.
But somehow, my brother knew.
“Y-you knew?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”
….
At my brother’s words, Ryu Won bit his lower lip.
‘I thought I didn’t show it…’
Ryu Won thought he’d been caught by his own mistake, but in truth, Ryu Min hadn’t known.
That his younger brother had been getting beaten at school.
‘Back then, I was being beaten by Hwang Yong-min too, and I was too busy with part-time work to pay attention.’
Ryu Min learned the truth only a few hours after returning from the 1st round.
My younger brother, who had left early in the morning, suddenly returned with his eyes swollen.
‘It turned out he’d been beaten by a delinquent named Bang Tae-gyu.’
For Ryu Min, who hadn’t known his younger brother was being bullied, it was a shocking incident.
‘My younger brother was being bullied just like I was.’
As his older brother, I couldn’t help but feel regret for failing to protect him.
I felt sorry for seemingly passing down my own weakness to my younger brother.
That’s why I had no choice but to get involved in his situation.
After all, he was my one and only precious family.
“But hyung, what did you say earlier? You’re going to that bastard’s hideout?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Why, you ask?”
Ryu Min lifted one corner of his mouth into a smirk.
“How could I possibly let the guy who bullied my brother off the hook? I’ll break his arm at minimum.”
Would breaking just his arm be enough?
‘I’ll leave him in such a wretched state that he’ll never even think about bullying anyone again.’

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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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