The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 95

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Maxed-Out Player’s 100th Return – Episode 95
95. The Perfect Plan
The location was perfect.
I had chosen the most desolate alley in Suwon.
‘It’s broad daylight, but that won’t be a problem. It’s actually a time when few people pass through here.’
This conclusion came from days of careful observation and reconnaissance—I was certain of it.
‘I’ve already secured an escape route.’
Even if a witness appeared, I could slip away undetected by hiding in the Two-Story Building behind the alley.
There were no CCTV cameras, so I could vanish without drawing attention.
‘The operation is flawless.’
The moment he stepped ten paces closer, I would detonate the corpse I’d hidden in the clothing donation bin.
‘Then, as he staggers from the damage, I’ll curse him with terror and force him to his knees.’
After that, it’s simple—a dagger thrust to the throat.
‘But I have no intention of killing him quickly. I’ll toy with him, making it as agonizing as possible.’
He would pay dearly for infuriating me.
With such thoughts, Ju Sung-tak stood in the alley, waiting.
For the buyer to draw near.
‘Yes, just a bit more. Five paces closer—come on.’
Oblivious to everything, the buyer walked toward me.
The distance to the clothing donation bin steadily narrowed.
‘Four paces, three paces, two paces… just one more step and…!’
Then.
He stopped short.
The buyer halted with one pace remaining.
Ju Sung-tak’s expression twisted involuntarily.
‘Damn it, why did he suddenly stop?’
The distance between us was still too great for conversation.
Yet the buyer stood at a distance and called out loudly.
“Excuse me! Are you the seller of the Immortal Skin Fragment?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“What are you doing over there? Aren’t we going to trade?”
Seeing him gesture for me to come closer, I felt exasperated.
‘Damn it, just one more pace and he’d be in the corpse explosion radius!’
He kept gesturing, but Ju Sung-tak couldn’t move closer.
‘If I go closer, I’ll end up in the corpse explosion’s range myself.’
Corpse explosion dealt damage indiscriminately—friend and foe alike.
There was no way I could approach.
Of course, I could abandon the corpse explosion and simply move in to curse him with terror, subduing him easily.
But that would be far too dull.
Besides.
‘That’s not how I planned this at all.’
Ju Sung-tak’s hesitation stemmed from the plan unfolding differently than he’d orchestrated.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming over?”
“Could you… come this way instead? My legs are hurting…”
Even by his own admission, it was a pathetic excuse, but he had no choice.
‘Just one step. If I can get him to take just one step…’
Yet the buyer stood rooted to the spot as if glued to the ground.
Just one measly step.
Instead, he crossed his arms and scowled.
“Come on, you think I don’t have aching legs? If anyone’s hurting, it’s me who walked all this way.”
“I have a disability. It’s difficult for me to move.”
I’d even resorted to the extreme excuse of claiming a disability.
“A disability? Your legs look perfectly fine to me.”
The buyer showed no sign of budging.
‘Is this bastard messing with me on purpose?’
No, that couldn’t be it.
Who would ever imagine a corpse in a clothing collection bin?
He wouldn’t even know I was a Shaman.
He probably had no idea that one step would seal his fate.
‘So why won’t he just come over and stop arguing?!’
The buyer, still planted in place and making his discomfort abundantly clear, suddenly shouted.
“You bastard, you don’t actually want to trade with me, do you?”
“What… what did you say?”
“The item doesn’t even exist, does it? You’re full of shit. Huh?”
The buyer’s sudden escalation caught Ju Sung-tak off guard.
“I, I don’t know what you’re…”
“I can see you’re panicking. So that’s it. You were trying to lure me in for a robbery, weren’t you? That’s why you kept asking me to come deeper inside. Admit it! You scumbag.”
“…”
He seemed to be misunderstanding something, but the accusations stung.
When was the last time I’d been cursed at like this?
Probably not since my military service.
‘Calm down. Don’t let this bastard get under my skin.’
I had to clear up this misunderstanding no matter what.
After all, once I get him to take one more step, it’ll all be over.
I can make that bastard kneel at my feet.
“No, I think you’re misunderstanding. It’s not like that.”
“Misunderstanding my ass, you bastard.”
“Your language is crude.”
“Crude? Don’t be ridiculous, you little shit. What kind of polite words would come out for someone posting fake listings and trying to rob me?”
“I’ve never lied. Look!”
Ju Sung-tak, feeling deeply wronged, retrieved an item from his inventory.
It was a fragment of Immortal Skin he’d listed for sale.
Only then did the buyer’s aggressive demeanor soften.
“Oh? You really do have it?”
Ju Sung-tak felt a smile of vindication bloom within him.
‘Perfect. If I lure that bastard with this….’
But something felt off.
The buyer who’d been cursing moments ago was now smiling warmly at him.
‘What the hell? Why is that asshole suddenly grinning like that….’
In that instant, a gust of wind swept past, and sensation vanished from his arm.
“Huh?”
Ju Sung-tak’s arm lay severed at his feet.
His own left arm, still clutching the material item.
“Ahhhhh!”
The delayed agony crashed over him, snapping his mind into focus.
‘When? When did he get close? There was clearly distance between us….’
Lifting his gaze, the buyer still stood there with that smile.
‘Wait, he didn’t move a single step?’
Then how had his arm been severed?
Turning his head to the side, he saw another figure wielding a blade.
Turning back, he saw the smiling buyer again.
“Two… two people…?”
Bewildered, his eyes darted between them.
They were identical—same clothes, same face, like twins.
“Two people? What are you talking about? There’s only one.”
At those words, Ju Sung-tak turned to see the figure before him vanish in the blink of an eye.
Only the one with the blade remained at his side.
It was enough to make even a ghost weep.
In truth, the buyer had used a clone to draw his attention, but Ju Sung-tak had no way of knowing that.
“How… how is this….”
“Do I really need to explain that too?”
The buyer casually picked up the material item from Ju Sung-tak’s severed arm.
Then, as if it were his own, he smoothly placed it into his inventory.
Ju Sung-tak stood speechless for a long moment.
“You… you damn bastard!”
Ju Sung-tak finally cried out, locking eyes with his opponent as he activated Curse of Fear.
Curse of Fear.
The Shaman’s first skill learned upon advancement—a broken ability that plunged targets into terror.
Ju Sung-tak had easily subdued most enemies with it.
Without fail, they’d be seized by paralyzing dread the moment the curse took hold.
I had no doubt that the man before me would be the same.
But something unexpected happened.
[The opponent resisted the fear effect.]
[Failed to apply the curse of fear.]
‘What? Failed?’
Ju Sung-tak wondered if he’d misread the message.
It was a notification he’d never seen once throughout the six rounds he’d endured so far.
“Don’t panic. With an 18% success rate, failure is basically guaranteed most of the time.”
“What the—”
Before he could even protest, a fist drove into his jaw.
“Gack!”
Teeth scattered like rain as his vision blurred.
‘What kind of damage is this…?’
Wasn’t the opponent supposed to be holding a blade?
Yet the force behind that fist was this devastating?
‘Just how high is their Strength stat…?’
Absurdly, his shock at the opponent’s raw power eclipsed even the pain.
Thud—
“Cough!”
A punch to the abdomen sent him sprawling, blood spraying from his lips.
Ju Sung-tak teetered on the brink of death.
Whoosh—
A warm sensation washed over him, and all his internal and external wounds vanished.
“What… what’s happening?”
“I healed you.”
The opponent spoke matter-of-factly.
“I wanted to beat you some more.”
Crack—!
Before his jaw could even reset, another fist came flying.
Thud— Smack— Crack!
Consecutive one-two combinations sent him staggering backward before he collapsed.
Whoosh—
Just as darkness crept into his vision, his wounds sealed and he was restored.
“You… you damn bastard…!”
“Haven’t had enough yet?”
Ju Sung-tak was beaten without even understanding why.
Despite having a blade, the opponent didn’t bother using it—just relentless fists.
‘Damn it, if only I could land the curse of fear again…’
The curse of fear had a one-minute cooldown.
He’d been pummeled dozens of times, yet it still wasn’t available—the cooldown hadn’t expired.
‘Damn, this is taking forever. Shit.’
But even time that feels eternal eventually passes.
The opportunity Ju Sung-tak had been waiting for finally arrived.
[Curse of Fear cooldown has reset.]
‘You’re done for, you bastard.’
He’d gotten lucky before, but this time there was no escape.
Squelch—squelch—
“Huh?”
Ju Sung-tak panicked as his vision suddenly vanished.
Excruciating pain flooded through his eye sockets.
“Ah, ah!”
“Your parents in the afterlife must be weeping tears of blood for raising someone like you. Just as you’re weeping now.”
“Ugh… you son of a bitch!”
Whoosh—whoosh—
He immediately drew his dagger and swung it in retaliation, but a blind attack had no chance of landing.
“You dare try to deceive me?”
Crack—!
Ju Sung-tak was sent rolling across the ground by the opponent’s kick.
Though he couldn’t see, he could still assess the situation.
‘Did that bastard deliberately gouge my eyes the moment the cooldown reset? No, that can’t be it.’
Could he really have known that the Curse of Fear required looking directly at the eyes?
It had to be pure coincidence.
‘Damn, this hurts like hell. What do I do now?’
He couldn’t see, and one arm was severed.
If his opponent hadn’t somehow healed him, he would have died from shock long ago.
‘Is there really no way to defeat this bastard…?’
Then a clever tactic occurred to him.
Didn’t he still have one more skill left?
‘You son of a bitch. You’ve underestimated me far too much.’
Even if I die, I’ll take you with me.
With that resolve, he cast the skill.
Whether it would land was another question.
‘It’s either death or—’
[Corpse Explosion]
‘—unconsciousness.’
Kaboom—!
* * *
When the explosion erupted in the Alley, nearby merchants rushed toward the commotion.
“W-what’s happening?”
“Gasp, look there!”
Charred marks, shattered clothing bins, and scattered flesh.
The people who immediately reported it to the police had no idea.
That someone was watching them from a distance.
‘Phew, that bastard almost died too.’
Ryu Min, who had taken shelter inside the Two-Story Building, gazed at Ju Sung-tak lying unconscious in one corner.
‘Insane bastard. Using Corpse Explosion when he can’t even see.’
It was only because I read his thoughts beforehand and stopped him—otherwise, this fool would have become chunks of meat.
‘Well, he deserves to die a hundred times over, a thousand times over, but….’
I had no intention of killing Ju Sung-tak just yet.
If I did, I would have gathered the materials long ago, slit his throat, and left.
‘He’s a psychopath, but there’s a way to use him. The Drop Rune he possesses is incredibly useful.’
Ju Sung-tak’s nickname was [Shit Idiots].
Like Heavenly Demon Ma Gyeong-rok, he was a top talent competing for second and third place across All Districts.
But as a serial killer, there was a problem with making him an ally.
‘Of course, I have no intention of taking him all the way to Round 20. But I can use him to hunt bosses before that.’
The Drop Rune literally increased the drop rate of items.
Especially, it increased the probability of special items dropped by bosses by a factor of ten.
‘In other words, if the drop rate is 10%, it makes it 100%—a broken rune.’
That’s why he extracted Legendary materials from the High Orc.
‘If I use this bastard’s rune well, it’ll be helpful to me.’
Wasn’t he already posting Legendary materials on the Pul-Pul Market to sell?
Since he had the skills, it was obvious he’d post good materials in the future.
‘The problem is that he’s a serial killer….’
If I let him live, it was certain he’d kill innocent people, so it was awkward to just let him go.
‘But that doesn’t mean there’s no way.’
I picked up the ring-pommel sword.
There was no need to use the scythe and create a trail to be tracked.
Slice—
One arm was already severed, so I cut off the legs.
Then I used Emergency Treatment, leaving only one limb of each pair.
The wounds healed, and the cut surfaces became smooth.
‘Since I used it on his eyes too, his vision should return when he wakes up.’
However, I chopped up the severed limbs so they couldn’t be reattached.
Ju Sung-tak was now a body that had lost one arm and one leg.
‘If I cripple his real body, he won’t be able to commit murders on a whim. Besides, what I need is the body in the Other World that can still supply items.’
Even if I made him disabled in reality, his avatar in the Other World would be fine.
Now I could leave with peace of mind.
‘Of course, since he saw my face, he’ll definitely try to take revenge when he wakes up….’
There was no problem.
The face I showed him was the face of the dead Hwang Yong-min.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————