The Legendary Regressor Devours the Tower - Chapter 69

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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 69
[You may come in.]
At Seong Un’s signal, Choi Hyuk, who had been waiting on the second basement level, hurried down to the Training Ground with two staff members in tow.
In the center of the Training Ground, Pyo Byung-woo and Seong Un faced each other with wooden swords drawn.
“Seong Un!”
At his call, Pyo Byung-woo and Seong Un turned their heads.
“Please set Level 50 with all Ability Stats at 50.”
“Understood. However, please do not overexert yourself.”
Choi Hyuk nodded as if he had already anticipated the request.
No matter how much of an Irregular Seong Un was, he remained a flower not yet in full bloom.
His opponent, by contrast, was none other than the Sword Saint.
South Korea’s foremost swordmaster.
Even with Level and Ability Stats equalized, he was not an opponent one could simply contend with.
Yet Choi Hyuk too was curious—what degree of martial prowess did Seong Un, who had already conquered the seventh floor, truly possess?
How wide was the gap between him and the Sword Saint, who was currently climbing the twenty-first floor?
“Adjustments complete!”
The staff member who had adjusted the difficulty called out loudly.
He gazed at the Training Ground with gleaming eyes.
‘Wow, a duel between the Sword Saint and an Irregular.’
He had never imagined such a matchup would come to pass.
When asked whom he most admired among those who wielded the blade, he answered without hesitation: the Sword Saint. He was certain that over ninety percent of swordmasters would give the same answer.
But lately, the name Seong Un had begun to surface occasionally as well.
The Tutorial, Floor 1, Floor 2, Floor 6, Floor 7.
Five alerts had reached the Climbers, and each had concluded at EX Grade or higher, his overwhelming swordplay causing rising warriors to begin regarding Seong Un as an object of admiration.
‘Two monsters dueling. Gulp…….’
The staff member found himself pulling out his smartphone without thinking.
If he didn’t record this duel between two prodigies on video, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
“Heh heh, that staff member over there is filming. What shall we do?”
Pyo Byung-woo, wooden sword leveled at Seong Un, asked the question in a gentle tone.
The staff member who had adjusted the difficulty was filming with his smartphone, his eyes bright.
“There’s nothing good about leaving a record.”
“Quite right. Association Director!”
Pyo Byung-woo’s expression changed in an instant, and he called out to Choi Hyuk in a sharp, resonant voice.
“What is it?”
“This employee is attempting to film at his own discretion—yet you stand by and allow it!”
“……My apologies.”
His voice reverberated throughout the entire Training Ground, and the staff member jumped in alarm, quickly pocketing his smartphone.
Yet all eyes had turned toward him, and he hastily bowed his head.
“Director, I trust we can count on you to handle this matter?”
“Yes. Have no concerns.”
“……Understood. Shall we proceed now?”
As if nothing had happened, Pyo Byung-woo’s expression cleared.
“Thank you.”
“Then shall we begin? I’ll concede the first strike.”
“Are you certain?”
“To be honest, I’m a little nervous. Haha.”
He smiled warmly and adjusted his stance.
‘Not a single flaw.’
Standing there with only the wooden sword in hand, Pyo Byung-woo revealed no opening that Seong Un could detect.
Even with Level and Ability Stats reduced, the Reaper’s Mark remained silent.
Truly, the epithet “Sword Saint” had not been bestowed without cause.
‘Had he focused solely on climbing, he might have ranked among the top swordmasters in the world.’
Seong Un pushed off from where he stood and burst forward.
With the determination to forge an opening where none existed, he drew his blade in a wide diagonal arc.
A trajectory falling from upper right in a slant.
Pyo Byung-woo, without moving his legs, raised his sword in the opposite direction to meet it.
Crack!
The wooden swords collided.
With Ability Stats locked at equal levels, a taut exchange of force ensued, as if each were pulling on a rope.

“You’re not using any skills?”
“Not for now. Ah, but the Sword Saint should feel free to deploy your skills actively.”
It was a comment designed to prick his pride.
The Sword Saint representing South Korea.
A swordmaster who fell far short of such a figure was displaying composure—saying he would wield only his blade while inviting his opponent to demonstrate the full extent of his abilities.
But the Sword Saint was not so easily provoked.
“Oh, is that so? Then I won’t hold back.”
Instead, he intended to use that very composure to pin Seong Un down.
“Yes.”
Seong Un’s lips curved upward.
In that instant, his Hypersensitivity flared to life, and he reflexively stepped back.
“Excellent instincts,” Pyo Byung-woo murmured.
Watching Seong Un retreat, Pyo Byung-woo offered a brief word of appreciation.
He had been about to deploy a skill, but Seong Un’s withdrawal carried him beyond its range.
Because of this, Pyo Byung-woo stilled the churning mana and abandoned the attempt.
“It seems to be a skill that only activates within a certain range.”
“Correct. It’s called the Formless Sword Realm.”
The Formless Sword Realm.
He’d heard of it before.
A spatial control skill the Sword Saint wielded.
When the skill activated, invisible torrents of Sword Energy would swirl and bear down upon anything trapped within its domain.
Had Seong Un not retreated, he would have been ensnared by the Formless Sword Realm.
The problem was that Pyo Byung-woo could deploy it at any moment once they drew close.
“You are formidable, Sword Saint.”
“Hmm? Suddenly?”
“Normally, when an inferior shows false bravado, a superior responds with even greater false bravado, don’t they?”
“Ah, I always do my absolute best.”
“I see.”
Seong Un nodded and wrapped the Steel God around his body.
If the Formless Sword Realm pressed down, the Steel God would simply block it.
At the appearance of the mana armor, Pyo Byung-woo let out a brief sound of admiration.
“Ho—what skill is that?”
“Steel God.”
The Steel God’s current grade was B.
-Donning the mana armor of the Steel God.
-Steel Skeleton.
-Weapon Projection.
-???(Unlocks upon reaching A Grade.)
-???(Unlocks upon reaching S Grade.)
-???(Unlocks upon reaching SS Grade.)
-???(Unlocks upon reaching SSS Grade.)
As he ascended through C and B, new abilities had unlocked.
‘My skeleton becomes as hard as steel.’
Previously, the Steel God would automatically deactivate if the mana armor shattered.
But with the Steel Skeleton unlocked, the skill now persisted even if the mana armor broke.
It meant the protective function was now equivalent to layered mana armor.
‘Weapon Projection.’
Next came the B Grade Weapon Projection ability.
With this, the mana armor wrapped around his body was no longer limited to defense—it could now shift into offense.
Seong Un closed the distance to Pyo Byung-woo again.
The moment he raised his wooden sword to strike, countless threads of Sword Energy spiraled and engulfed him.
Crack-snap!
Moreover, the Sword Energy was shielding him, preventing him from approaching Pyo Byung-woo.
Snap-crackle!
Meanwhile, Pyo Byung-woo remained untouched by the Formless Sword Realm, swinging his blade with unhurried grace.
The wooden sword struck the mana armor, and it began taking incremental damage.
‘What?’
The rate of damage accumulation was faster than anticipated.
Despite merely swinging the blade, the harm inflicted was substantial.
‘Truly worthy of a Sword Saint.’
Seong Un raised his wooden sword with an expressionless face, defending against Pyo Byung-woo’s attack.
Crunch—
Pain shot through his wrist along with the impact.
“That’s what Single Stroke is.”
Pyo Byung-woo explained quietly.
“Single Stroke……?”
Single Stroke.
One of the foundational skills that early swordsmen acquired through skill books.
Nothing remarkable—it was simply a matter of drawing a straight line.
When the trajectory formed a perfect line, it dealt a small amount of additional damage depending on the proficiency level.
‘It’s just a simple slash, yet it hits this hard…….’
How high had he raised his proficiency?
Single Stroke wasn’t something that improved merely by swinging a sword frequently.
Without system assistance, one needed genuine talent to execute a perfect slash.
In his past life, Seong Un had focused on the sword of destruction rather than refined technique.
Moreover, as a latecomer, he’d judged training Single Stroke inefficient and pursued higher-tier skills instead.
“If you push Single Stroke to its limit, you can aim for a hidden rating.”
“A hidden rating……. I see.”
Information that had never been made public.
There were those who trained Single Stroke obsessively, so why had this never been disclosed?
The reason was simple: no one except Pyo Byung-woo had cultivated it to the level needed for a hidden rating.
The Sword Saint truly was a monster.
‘I’m beginning to feel ashamed that I was ever called the Sword God.’
It was wise that Pyo Byung-woo had chosen to divide the sword with him.
Seong Un’s eyes gleamed as he wrapped sword energy around his wooden sword.
Having risen to D Grade, the faint sword energy became visibly denser.
“……You can handle sword energy?”
Pyo Byung-woo’s jaw fell open.
He couldn’t hide his astonishment that Seong Un, having climbed only seven floors, had already unleashed sword energy.
“It’s crude.”
“Crude? The form is absolutely perfect. Did you acquire a skill?”
Pyo Byung-woo closed his mouth and unfurled his own sword energy with a grave expression.
It matched Seong Un’s level almost exactly.
Then he released his Formless Sword Realm.
The storm of sword energy that had surrounded him vanished at once.
“You said you’d do your best?”
“Right. Normally I should maintain the Formless Sword Realm to keep up the pressure.”
Pyo Byung-woo pointed his sword-energy-laden wooden sword at Seong Un, a smile playing at his lips.
“But seeing your sword energy changed my mind.”
His eyes blazed with fighting spirit.
In response, Seong Un swung his sword at Pyo Byung-woo’s left shoulder.
Bang!
Pyo Byung-woo raised his sword to parry lightly, then bore down with his advance.
In that moment, his mana armor rippled, and a portion detached as spikes shot outward.
The ejected spikes poured toward Pyo Byung-woo, and he adjusted his stance, driving his wooden sword downward toward the ground.
Boom—boom—boom—
The earth trembled, and mana burst forth from the point of impact, obliterating the ejected spikes.
[Vital Point Strike activated.]
Seong Un seized the opening and activated Vital Point Strike.
Bang!
As if anticipating it, Pyo Byung-woo drew his sword up and parried, deflecting the trajectory.
As the sword rose, Seong Un, as if he’d been waiting for exactly this moment, invested 40 mana and activated One Blade Two Cuts.
[One Blade Two Cuts activated.]
[Success rate: 80%.]
An 80% chance.
“Hah!”
Pyo Byung-woo opened his eyes wide and raised his sword to defend.
Crack—crack—crackle!
Seong Un’s One Blade Two Cuts came down with the force to cleave Pyo Byung-woo in half.
A different sound of rupture echoed out, and the wooden sword Pyo Byung-woo held split apart.
Yet the Sword Energy shrouding the blade held its form and deflected Seong Un’s One Blade Two Cuts.
“Hm…….”
That the Wooden Sword shattered but the Sword Energy maintained its shape—this was proof of exquisite control.
“Shall we continue.”
Even as the Wooden Sword broke, Pyo Byung-woo swung his blade toward Seong Un.
It was the same Single Stroke as before.
Seong Un’s Hypersensitivity flared in response.
It was an attack he could defend against easily; he moved to meet it with a counter swing.
Crash!
[Warning! Defense failed.]
Crackle-crack!
In that instant, a red message bloomed before Seong Un’s eyes as the Wooden Sword in his grip shattered in an instant, crumbling to powder.
As the weapon vanished, the Sword Energy he had woven around it scattered as well.
He had only been maintaining it for Sword Energy projection.
Since it was not a Sword Energy skill, it could not hold form without a weapon.
“I’ve lost.”
Seong Un conceded defeat cleanly.
That strike of his just now was a Single Stroke.
He’d thought he’d mounted a perfect defense in response to his Hypersensitivity, yet somehow his defense failed and the weapon was destroyed.
This must have been the Hidden Rating he’d mentioned earlier.
Who would have thought such a thing lurked within a skill that had been dismissed as basic and neglected.
“You have my gratitude for the match.”
Pyo Byung-woo withdrew his momentum, stepped back, and bowed his head.
“Truly, you are a Sword Saint. I yield.”
To speak frankly, it had not been his full strength.
The purpose of this match was, in the end, to test blades with the Sword Saint.
‘Satisfying.’
From what they’d exchanged, he could see how much precision this swordsman pursued.
Unlike himself, who swung for the sake of survival, his blade carried the pride of a true swordsman.
“It has been a pleasure to test blades with an Irregular as well.”
Pyo Byung-woo extended his hand with a warm smile.
“Thank you.”
Seong Un clasped his hand and smiled faintly.
An Unparalleled Returnee 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, Acetech Tower 8, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
Email | [email protected]
Website | www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒYeon I-yo 2026
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder. The contents 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.

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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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