The Legendary Regressor Devours the Tower - Chapter 51

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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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Episode 51
“What is this?”
Seong Un asked deliberately, as though he didn’t know.
The ring was called Phoenix’s Tear—an extraordinarily rare SS Grade accessory.
Moreover, it was known that Pyo Byung-woo only used it in urgent situations, which made it all the more puzzling why Pyo Ji-hun possessed it.
“Phoenix’s Tear. You can look it up on the internet if you’re curious.”
“That’s not what I’m asking. I want to know why you have an item that Pyo Byung-woo treasures.”
“My father entrusted it to me.”
It was a lie.
The real reason Pyo Ji-hun possessed the ring was that he had stolen it by breaking into his father’s safe.
The fact that he’d been able to achieve SSS+ Rank owed much to the power of this ring.
After all, it was an Artifact his father had discovered directly in the Tower.
“So you’re willing to stake it?”
Seong Un let out a hollow laugh, as if the idea were absurd.
It was an SS Grade Artifact, no less.
Pyo Ji-hun was actually proposing to surrender such an Artifact outright.
By any measure, his chances of victory were zero.
“Yes. Are you perhaps afraid?”
Pyo Ji-hun provoked Seong Un once more.
“Why are you going this far?”
By now, curiosity had stirred within him.
In his previous life, this man had died in the lower floors—a figure about whom Seong Un possessed no substantial information.
Yet in this life, he had achieved SSS+ Rank.
As if that weren’t enough, he was now staking an SS Grade Artifact his father had entrusted to him as the wager.
All for a single sparring match.
“Does the reason matter? So—will you do it, or won’t you?”
Where does that confidence come from?
After a moment’s deliberation, Seong Un nodded.
“Very well. Let’s do this.”
“Se-Seong Un!”
Jang Byung-jun’s voice reached him from behind, tinged with concern.
Seong Un turned his head and offered a reassuring smile.
“Director Jang, would you show us to the Combat Training Ground?”
“……Understood.”
* * *
At that same moment.
Seo Jae-pil had come to a Cafe with his mother.
His rigid expression showed no sign of softening, and his mother sitting across from him did nothing but study his face anxiously.
It wasn’t until after the drinks arrived and some time had passed that she finally broke the silence.
“How have you been……?”
“How do you think I’ve been?”
Seo Jae-pil was taken aback by his own cold tone.
This wasn’t why he’d come to see her.
Was it the sight of her living a new life in a Guest House? Was that why?
Emotion and emotion tangled together until he couldn’t sort through any of it, couldn’t control himself at all.
“……I’m sorry. I should have come looking for you.”
“You don’t need to apologize. You never intended to find me anyway, did you?”
Seo Jae-pil turned away with a bitter laugh.
“…….”
His mother.
Lee Seo-yun found herself unable to speak.
She had inflicted upon the son before her a wound so deep it would never truly heal.
“There. At least you feel guilty about it.”
“Jae-pil…….”
Bang!
Seo Jae-pil slammed his hand down hard against the table.
The cup holding his drink lost its balance, tipped sideways, and spilled across the table, then ran onto the floor.
“Don’t say my name. You said you’d be back after five nights, didn’t you?”
“…….”
“And instead you went and built a new family. I didn’t even know…….”
His fist clenched.
“It’s a misunderstanding! That’s all a misunderstanding!”
A misunderstanding?
He had no need to hear more.
Seo Jae-pil rose from his seat.
“I don’t think we’ll be seeing each other again.”
“Jae-pil!”
Lee Seo-yun reached out to stop him, but Seo Jae-pil was already moving toward the cafe’s exit, one step ahead of her grasp.
* * *
Combat Training Ground.
The training ground was situated on the third basement level of the Association.
“Chairman, you’ve arrived?”
Choi Hyuk had come to the training ground.
Though it was ordinarily his time to handle administrative duties, Pyo Ji-hun’s arrival at the Association had caused quite the incident, and so he sat rigidly in the viewing stands with his jaw set.
“Sigh. Why couldn’t I have stopped this?”
“My apologies, sir.”
“If something goes wrong in this match, what then…?”
Levels can be equalized, that’s all.
With the right intention, one could kill the other.
“That’s why both parties agreed to use a specially manufactured wooden sword instead of a lethal weapon.”
“Tch. But that doesn’t bring the accident rate down to zero, does it?”
Even a wooden sword, when it strikes a vital point, carries impact beyond imagination.
“We’ve stationed five individuals capable of wielding sacred power throughout the arena. Should the situation escalate, we’re prepared to stop the match immediately.”
“Sigh. How did it come to this…?”
Choi Hyuk’s gaze shifted to Seong Un, who was preparing in the corner of the training ground.
Seong Un wore his protective gear without a trace of a smile on his face.
At some distance away, Pyo Ji-hun caught his eye—preparing while glancing sidelong at him.
‘The son of the Sword Saint.’
That title alone was enough to draw the attention of many.
‘They say the Sword Saint’s son has talent that could surpass even his father.’
That was the internal assessment of Pyo Ji-hun circulating through the Association.
A genius among geniuses—blessed with flawless bloodline and the potential to exceed his father.
Just as many harbored envy and jealousy toward him.
They couldn’t reveal it openly, but he knew there were considerable numbers trying to hold in check someone who possessed everything.
‘And then the Irregular appeared.’
With the Irregular’s emergence, the focus on Pyo Ji-hun had dimmed considerably.
A grotesque talent—consecutively clearing EX Grade and above.
No matter how much potential Pyo Ji-hun had to surpass the Sword Saint, he was merely an ordinary man before the Irregular.
“It looks like they’re about to begin.”
Jang Byung-jun spoke, his voice trembling slightly from tension.
At his words, tension began to settle across Choi Hyuk’s features as well.
* * *
Seong Un, finished with his preparations, took his place at the center.
As if refusing to be outdone, Pyo Ji-hun hurried over and positioned himself across from him.
“You’re welcome to take your time preparing.”
It was merely a training match, after all.
Yet in Pyo Ji-hun’s eyes burned an unmistakable competitive fire.
“That’s unnecessary concern.”
“Is that so? Shall we begin then?”
Seong Un asked the man who had already drawn near with a sidelong glance.
He was Choi Han-su, the security guard serving as referee for this match.
“Yes. This match is straightforward. When I judge that the outcome has tilted decisively, the match ends. Likewise, if I deem the situation dangerous even before a victor emerges, the match will be stopped immediately.”
One of Pyo Ji-hun’s eyebrows twitched as he listened quietly.
“Wait. Why does the referee alone decide what’s dangerous?”
He needed to establish clear terms from the start.
The match could end at any moment at the referee’s discretion?
How could he surrender control of this opportunity to the judgment of a single referee?
“I share the same concern. I would ask that this match not be concluded until one of us is declared the loser.”
Seong Un held the same view.
“But… still….”
Choi Han-su glanced back at the spectator seats where Choi Hyuk and Jang Byung-jun sat, his expression troubled.
He was sending out an SOS signal, desperate for guidance on how to proceed.
As if answering that silent plea, Choi Hyuk rose from his seat in the stands.
“That won’t do. If you cannot accept the referee’s judgment, this match cannot begin.”
In any sport, once a referee intervenes, the competitors must comply.
This match was no exception.
A match that the referee cannot oversee cannot start.
“Then I ask only this: the moment it becomes clear to any observer that danger is present, I will stop the match. But if it is not so, I will resume it again.”
Pyo Ji-hun, who had been listening silently to gauge Seong Un’s judgment, nodded.
“…Very well. I accept.”
After a moment’s deliberation, Choi Hyuk decided to concede at this point.
After all, they were using only wooden swords and both wearing protective gear.
Since they’d synchronized their levels to five for Pyo Ji-hun’s sake, it would be easy enough for Choi Han-su to intervene if needed.
The worst shouldn’t come to pass.
“Yes, let’s do that.”
With Choi Hyuk’s permission, Choi Han-su accepted readily.
As he stepped back, Pyo Ji-hun drew his wooden sword.
“I’m glad we wagered Phoenix’s Tear on this.”
“If we’re going to do it, might as well do it right.”
“I like that. So then, shall we appreciate the Irregular’s swordsmanship?”
Pyo Ji-hun drove off from his position.
Closing the distance in an instant, he swung his blade downward with force.
‘Good balance.’
Though it was a single movement, Seong Un found no wasted motion in Pyo Ji-hun’s form.
The strike lacked full commitment, yet it was an attack calculated to flow seamlessly into the next—a continuation already mapped out before the first blow landed.
His center of gravity never wavered.
Whish—
Seong Un stepped back and evaded, and Pyo Ji-hun, as if he’d been waiting, drove forward and drew his blade upward in a diagonal slash.
Crack!
But the attack was intercepted.
Seong Un had blocked it by swinging his own wooden sword to meet the strike.
“!”
Pyo Ji-hun’s pupils contracted sharply.
The shock of the wooden swords colliding reverberated straight through his wrist.
‘What?’
They’d synchronized their levels to five.
So their physical specs should have been equal.
Then why did his wrist sting, while Seong Un’s expression remained perfectly composed?
‘An Irregular is an Irregular, after all.’
Even with levels matched, the difference in specs likely stemmed from the rewards earned climbing six floors with monstrous performance—the true source of the gap.
He’d begun probing Seong Un’s swordsmanship, feeling him out, but if he continued that way he’d likely never get a real fight at all.
‘No choice. I’ll have to go all out.’
Pyo Ji-hun began slowly drawing up his magical power.
Myeol-a—an SS Grade skill.
The skill that had contributed most to his SSS+ Rank on the first floor.
The drawback was losing himself when activating it, but by surrendering to destruction, it unleashed overwhelming destructive force.
Even an Irregular would find it a formidable threat.
[Activating Myeol-a.]
The moment the skill engaged, focus drained from Pyo Ji-hun’s eyes.
‘Is this the skill that pushed him to SSS+ Rank?’
Seong Un let out a short breath of admiration.
Though it resembled a skill activation, the aura emanating from Pyo Ji-hun’s body was on an entirely different dimension now—a presence that washed over him in waves.
Now he understood how the man had reached SSS+ Rank.
‘This is dangerous.’
Seong Un lowered his level, bringing his stats down to five to match evenly.
In doing so, all the abilities he’d raised through artifacts dropped back to five, placing him on equal footing with Pyo Ji-hun in raw power.
His wrist tingled the same as before, but since he showed no sign of it, Pyo Ji-hun immediately unleashed his full power by triggering the skill.
‘Let’s see what you’ve got then.’
Seong Un activated no special skill and simply waited for Pyo Ji-hun to move.
Slash!
Bang!
Seong Un reflexively pulled one foot back and raised his sword, meeting it head-on against the wooden sword that Pyo Ji-hun brought crashing down.
It was a speed beyond what the eye could track, yet there was one thing his opponent overlooked.
He possessed Hyper Sense, a skill equal in grade to Myeol-a.
Judging that the distance had closed, Pyo Ji-hun charged straight into Seong Un’s guard and thrust the wooden sword forward with all his strength.
Whoosh—
Seong Un could see the attack’s trajectory clearly and sidestepped it with ease.
Swish—
Pyo Ji-hun then planted both feet firmly and swept the wooden sword horizontally.
Against the attack aimed at Seong Un’s throat, he dipped his knees and narrowly evaded it.
Bang!
Bang!
Pyo Ji-hun’s attacks came in rapid succession.
Each strike was vicious, but Seong Un blocked them all with his wooden sword.
Still, the overwhelming strength was an inescapable problem.
‘My wrists are going to snap.’
It was certainly a powerful skill.
Strength, agility, endurance—everything had been amplified at least twofold.
Since he’d only climbed one floor, it was at best a D-grade skill.
If it grew to SS Grade, it would be something to watch.
The problem was his current fixation on raw power.
Aside from that initial display of technique, there was nothing else worth seeing.
Because of the skill’s activation, he was so focused on slashing that he failed to notice his balance had crumbled.
Swish—
Pyo Ji-hun swung the sword diagonally with all his might.
Seong Un bent his knees to avoid the attack, and for the first time, attempted a counterattack.
[Activating Vital Point Thrust.]
The Legendary Returnee Devours the Tower (Serial)
Author │ Yeon Yi-yo
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Publishing House │ J Plus Media Inc.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 401, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Ace Tech Tower 8)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Yeon Yi-yo 2026
※This work is published by J Plus Media Inc. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder, and the contents cannot be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and author.
Violation of this will result in both criminal and civil legal responsibility.

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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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