The Legendary Regressor Devours the Tower - Chapter 31

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

Episode 31
At that very moment.
The atmosphere in the Jegeum Guild conference room was bleak.
“Word is the Association has succeeded in recruiting Woo Min-chul.”
Bang!
At those words, the middle-aged man seated at the head of the table drove his fist down upon the surface.
The table, being forged through Alchemy, bore not even a crack from the impact, yet everyone in the room sat rigidly, eyes darting to gauge his mood.
“That damned old fool. We warned him, and he goes running to the Association anyway?”
Jegeum had been keeping close watch on Woo Min-chul all this time.
‘I need to research Elixirs so that many people can use them. I wouldn’t go to a place like you lot even if you beat me to death—fat cats drunk on profit.’
That had been his answer when they first attempted to bring him into the fold.
What was wrong with converting technical skill into profit?
Jegeum was no ordinary guild—it was a corporate one.
It pursued profit through the unique technology of Alchemy.
Of course, Woo Min-chul was not a man motivated by public good.
‘Hmph. Your type would hollow me out like a nut and stab me in the back without breaking a sweat.’
So it was that he found the prospect of Jegeum using his techniques distasteful.
Faced with such rotten stubbornness, Jegeum had waged a thorough campaign of sabotage to leave Woo Min-chul with no choice but to come to them.
They had worked for years leaving no trace, pressuring him to the very edge of ruin, when the Association suddenly intervened and made everything complicated.
“What do you suggest we do?”
“We can’t exactly send an official complaint to the Association.”
Jegeum was a guild that possessed both unique technical prowess and a reputation for trustworthiness.
If it became known that such a guild had been trying to suppress a single alchemist, the damage to their image would be severe.
Of course, since their Alchemy was unique, sales might dip temporarily, but they’d recover quickly enough—the problem was the Association’s involvement.
“Tch. We let it go.”
Guild Master Park Jung-hwan tapped his calculator and reached a decision.
Jegeum would not oppose the Association’s choice.
“We might lose our monopoly on Elixir production.”
One of the executives ventured to speak, carefully.
“Are you questioning my decision?”
At Park Jung-hwan’s cutting tone, the man’s shoulders flinched.
He was the lead alchemist specializing in Elixir synthesis.
“I—I’m sorry. That wasn’t what I meant.”
Losing Woo Min-chul to the Association wasn’t the issue.
The future was.
Now that Woo Min-chul, whom the Guild Master had had his eye on, had gone to the Association, he would pressure the Elixir team mercilessly.
Pressure to maintain their monopoly on Elixir production.
“Three months.”
It was then that Park Jung-hwan held up three fingers.
“Three months, sir?”
“That’s right. Every three months, devise a new project and see it through to completion.”
Before he could voice further doubt—
His face drained of color into despair.
If he tried backing out now, his head would roll.
Not after how far he’d climbed.
That much could never happen.
“Understood.”
* * *
Street of Alchemy.
Woo Min-chul was too absorbed in packing to notice much around him.
“M-master? Are we really going to the Association?”
“That’s right. The Association people will be here soon, so hurry up.”
“Yes, sir.”
Lee Sang-hyun sorted bottles and materials as his master instructed, storing them carefully in an Artifact.
The completed Elixirs too he arranged individually, marking each so nothing would be confused.
It wasn’t long before the Association representatives arrived, and they escorted the two with courteous professionalism.
‘Wow, this is amazing.’
Climbing into the premium vehicle, Lee Sang-hyun couldn’t help but marvel at the smooth ride.
His family had been poor—such luxurious cars were something he’d only ever seen from a distance.
‘Cars like that you don’t go near. When they’re parked, better to keep my distance.’
It was something he’d heard since childhood, and he’d never thought he’d actually ride in one.
“How do you like it?”
As Lee Sang-hyun gazed around the interior of the vehicle with sparkling eyes, Woo Min-chul let out a soft chuckle.
“Yes… I’ve never ridden in a car like this before.”
“Listen well, my disciple. You are the student of Woo Min-chul, the greatest alchemist. If you conduct yourself without dignity like that, you’ll die. Understand?”
“Ah, yes, I understand.”
“Okay then. So do it like this.”
Woo Min-chul stretched his legs out and propped them on the front seat.
“Er… what?”
At the sight of this, Lee Sang-hyun fidgeted nervously, stealing glances at the employee sitting in the front seat.
“You spineless fool.”
Woo Min-chul flicked Lee Sang-hyun’s forehead with a look of utter exasperation.
Yet the corners of his mouth were already turned upward as he watched his disciple.
‘The pressure from the Jegeum Guild has been intensifying, hasn’t it?’
Not long ago, someone claiming to be the Association’s chairman had come calling.
He’d shown up unannounced and spouted some nonsense about scouting, so Woo Min-chul had driven him away.
At first the man had left without complaint, so he’d thought nothing of it—but the next day he returned, this time raising his offer by twenty percent.
When Woo Min-chul rejected that too, what the man said next silenced him entirely.
The Jegeum Guild.
Five years ago, the ones who had first approached him with a recruitment offer.
Though it had been a prominent guild even then, known for Alchemy, the Jegeum Guild was utterly revolting to Woo Min-chul.
Because he’d refused their proposal, the guild had spent all these years sabotaging him through every means at their disposal.
Even large operations need to stay within reason.
At first he’d tried everything to counter them, but nothing worked.
The real problem came when the supply of materials began to normalize again.
They started showing up in person, openly targeting his disciple Lee Sang-hyun.
Sick of dealing with the Jegeum Guild, Woo Min-chul had been surprised when the Association chairman actually brought them up.
‘Why would he mention that?’
Woo Min-chul had asked, dropping all pretense.
‘I will serve as a shield against the Jegeum Guild. Furthermore, the Association will protect your achievements, provide you with any materials you need at no cost, and…’
‘Wait—you’re serious about this?’
He’d been so surprised that formal speech had tumbled out automatically.
‘Yes. We intend to extend the same conditions to your disciple as well.’
‘But what do I have that’s worth all that?’
‘Nothing at present. But the future—that’s a different story, isn’t it?’
‘…’
Faced with such grand words, Woo Min-chul had fallen silent for a moment.
‘I’ll give you time to think it over.’
‘There’s nothing to think about. I’m in.’
They were guaranteeing not only his personal patents but protection and solid financial treatment.
Had he been alone, he might have hesitated, but now he had a disciple.
There would come a time when his life faced danger, when he had to stand alone.
With the Association as a shield, he could face that day without excessive worry.
“Welcome.”
“Huh? What are you doing here?”
When they arrived at the Association and visited the chairman’s office, Seong-un was there too.
“I heard the news. That you were joining the Association today.”
“Hmph. The way they pestered me to come in.”
As Woo Min-chul puffed out his chest, Choi Hyuk beside him broke into a bright smile.
“Indeed. We look forward to working with you going forward.”
“Have no worries. Now that you’re here, I’ll produce elixirs so formidable that the Jegeum Guild won’t dare look our way.”
The two clasped hands.
Standing to the side, Seong-un fell into contemplation.
‘The past has changed.’
All he’d done was purchase elixirs through Woo Min-chul.
Yet this event—Woo Min-chul joining the Association—had actually come to pass.
‘More superior elixirs than before may now appear.’
In his past life, Lee Sang-hyun had confessed that despite a lifetime of effort, he could never surpass his master.
If his master had lived even slightly longer, far greater elixirs would surely have lined up for creation.
“Do take good care of yourself.”
“Look at that, I’ve got goosebumps.”
Woo Min-chul rolled up his sleeve and held out his arm.
“I don’t see any.”
“Only good people can see them.”
“Ah, yes. But there’s one thing I’d like to ask of you, Director.”
He turned his attention away from Woo Min-chul and looked toward Choi Hyuk.
“Of course. Feel free to ask.”
* * *
Having climbed the Tower of Miracles, it was time to return and attempt the Tower of Ruin.
Seong-un retrieved the Essence of Lizardman that Choi Hyuk had given him.
[Essence of Lizardman]
-Type: Consumable
-Rank: A+
-Attribute: Blaze
-Upon consumption: Increases fire attribute resistance by 30% for 72 hours (effectiveness may be minimal depending on the user’s capability)
-Upon consumption: Applies Lizardman’s Wrath to struck targets with low probability (effectiveness may be minimal depending on the user’s capability)
Unlike the Tears of Belos, the Essence of Lizardman had to be drunk in one gulp.
Seong-un downed the elixir and entered the sixth floor.
[Entering Tower of Ruin, Floor 6.]
Tower of Ruin, Floor 6.
The lava lake that he’d seen in the small tower before was roiling here.
The only real difference from last time was that strange fish-like monsters now swam through the lake.
‘The difficulty just went up a notch.’
It wasn’t merely that the monsters themselves were stronger.
Compared to floors one and two, the environmental hazards had increased exponentially.
[Would you like to begin a sponsored broadcast?]
Now that he’d returned to the Tower of Ruin, he could resume the sponsored broadcast.
Seong-un held off for a moment, then sidestepped away from the lake instead of crossing it.
“Screeeech!”
“Shrieeeek!”
[Lv.25 Blood Liqueur]
With every step Seong-un took, the Blood Liqueurs swimming in the lava began to threaten him.
Some of them hurled lava his way, but he dodged cleanly and their attacks failed.
“I’ll deal with you lot later.”
First, he needed to spend the Gold he had on hand.
Seong-un currently possessed 5,229 Gold.
“Starting that broadcast was the right call.”
Without the sponsored broadcasts on floors one and two, he wouldn’t have broken 5,000 Gold.
Seong-un’s footsteps eventually came to a halt.
Ahead of him stood a small hut.
“Who might you be?”
As he approached the hut, his eyes met those of an NPC just returning from an errand.
“I’d like to see what items you have for sale.”
“Ah, a Tower Climber, I see. Very well. Please follow me.”
The man opened the door to the hut, and inside were various items on display.
The administrator managing floors one through ten sold items through the system, but ordinary NPCs like this one displayed their wares for Tower Climbers to purchase directly.
Seong-un picked up a Worn Compass that had been hidden in the back without a moment’s hesitation.
“How much is this?”
“Ah, I’m afraid that would be difficult for a Tower Climber like yourself to purchase.”
“Why?”
“It costs 5,000 Gold.”
An item from the sixth floor cost a full 5,000 Gold.
‘An opportunity scattered when the Tower appeared on Earth.’
Over the past ten years, many opportunities had been discovered, yet the sixth-floor opportunity still hadn’t been found.
The reason was simple.
‘A compass that can only be discovered on the first entry.’
It could only be found on the display shelf if you met the first-entry condition.
Moreover, there was an additional requirement: you had to enter solo, not with a party.
And the compass’s price was 5,000 Gold.
In other words, it was telling you not to buy it.
But what do I do about this?
“Here—five thousand Gold.”
Seong-un had been carrying more than five thousand Gold.
“Ah…. It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen someone with five thousand Gold.”
The NPC marveled at the sum even as he accepted it.
[You have purchased the Worn Compass.]
[5,000 Gold has been deducted.]
Done.
He had successfully completed the first step toward obtaining the secret opportunity.
Seong-un emerged from the shop and stood before the lake once more.
“Splaaaash!”
The Liqueurs swimming in the lake began to grow wary of Seong-un again.
“Cute little things.”
Seong-un smiled at them.
Their level was twenty-five.
His current level was twenty-four—just one behind them—but when he examined his individual stats, the picture changed entirely.
—Strength: 91
—Agility: 81
—Vitality: 31
—Sense: 31
—Mana: 51
His Agility stat had originally been thirty-one.
But after consuming the SSS-grade Growth Burst Elixir he’d obtained this time, fifty additional points had surged into the stat, boosting it all the way to eighty-one.
He’d considered raising Vitality and Sense instead.
However, since he possessed Divine Descent and Hypersense, Vitality and Sense fell lower in priority, and he ultimately decided to raise his Agility stat.
“Let’s begin.”
This was a secret opportunity that had never been discovered in his previous life.
If not for the memoirs left behind by that mysterious climber, he would never have known the opportunity existed.
Seong-un raised the compass and checked its direction.
It pointed toward the center of the lava lake.
‘Just as I thought. They’ve made it absolutely impossible to obtain.’
There was no solid ground there.
In other words, he would have to perform the insane feat of descending beneath the lava itself.
An S-Rank Regressor Devours the Tower (Serialized)
Author | Yeon I-yo
Publisher | Kim Ju-hyung
Published by | J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing | Han Jae-hyuk
Address | 401, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Ace Techno Tower 8th)
Email | [email protected]
Website | www.jayplemedia.com
© Yeon I-yo 2026
※ This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder, and the content may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and the author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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