The Regression of a Challenger-Level Player - Chapter 13

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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 13. The Last Hit Goes to Me (3)
Crash!
The moment the armor shattered into fragments.
Teya’s broadcast chat exploded into absolute chaos.
-?????????
-What? What? What?
-Wait, that thing actually broke?
-Insane!!
-That was the strategy all along?
-Insane insane insane insane!!!
-First discovery of a clear method?
-Holy crap, I’m wide awake now
The chat was scrolling so fast it was literally breaking apart.
What Shin Jae-ha had just demonstrated was truly extraordinary.
He had conquered the Underground Prison 131st Floor—one of the notorious Demonic Realms that had plagued players for so long.
Until now, the prevailing strategy for this dungeon was to accumulate burst damage from simultaneous attacks to offset the boss’s defense.
Naturally, it was inefficient, and if your team composition wasn’t perfect, you couldn’t even attempt it—a flawed strategy at best.
-So that’s how you strip the armor off like that….
-Serves that damn cow-headed bastard right! Look at that armor crumble!
-Kyaaaaaah!!
Now, a perfect strategy had emerged.
From a single person.
A Level 6 Warrior nobody had expected anything from.
-What’s this warrior’s real identity anyway?
-I believed in him from the start lol
-Bullshit. We were cursing him out as a troll the whole time.
-Is he being groomed by one of the big teams or something?
-Has skill, has brain, and even has guts lol
-Leader (Level 6). Achievement (Underground Prison Strategy Discovery)
-Teya, you gotta recruit this guy, you hear me?
The narrative was flawless.
A Level 6 who looked like nothing but a troll proving his worth and ultimately achieving what no one else had managed.
A short-form drama with perfect story structure from beginning to end.
‘This is insane… this is really insane!’
Teya’s heart hammered wildly in his chest.
The original scenario he’d planned had collapsed miserably, but something far more spectacular was unfolding before his eyes.
“Let’s begin. Hunting the Minotaur.”
Shin Jae-ha slung the club over his shoulder and issued the order, and his teammates moved of their own accord.
They’d already heard something about the Minotaur’s patterns once its armor was destroyed.
-Once the armor is shattered, the beast will become even more ferocious. We’ll bait its attacks by maintaining distance, then whittle down its health bit by bit as openings appear.
The formation Shin Jae-ha had determined crystallized clearly in the minds of the four.
The Swordsman grinned and swung his mana-wrapped blade.
“Kuhahahaha! Now it’s actually got some bite to it?!”
Following the opening the Swordsman created, Teya dove inward.
“Time to feast!”
Licking his lips, he deployed his signature move.
[Shadow Knife
](C)
He wrapped shadow around both daggers.
Whoosh! Crunch!
He teleported backward and struck at the vital points—his skill’s trademark.
“Graaaaagh!”
The Minotaur shrieked and staggered as its vulnerable neck was struck.
It stemmed the gushing blood and prepared a counterattack, but—
“It’s already over.”
The moment the armor fell.
The Minotaur’s defeat had been sealed.
The reason was simple.
-Once the armor breaks, we immediately switch tactics.
Right now, this team had—
—From the “Three Knights”….
Because there’s a “Mage”.
—As the “One Mage”.
Whoooosh!
While two Warriors bought time and continued dealing damage.
The Mage finished casting.
Mana had bottomed out and sweat poured down in rivulets, but it didn’t matter.
This was the last room anyway.
[Small Bless](D)
As the Support cast the blessing, the mana flared even more intensely.
“Now!”
At Shin Jae-ha’s signal, the Mage’s eyes widened and unleashed the prepared spell.
[Fire Boom: Explosion](D+)
The most powerful magic available to use right now.
The gathered mana transformed into brilliant scarlet flame and shot forth like a cannon blast.
“Hyaaaaaah!”
With the Mage’s cry, it struck the Minotaur dead center.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
A magnificent explosion erupted in a shower of light.
The Minotaur, charred black, lost its footing and its upper body went limp.
“Krrr…! Kruwik!”
Yet it still hadn’t fallen.
The creature fixed the Mage with a fierce, obsessive glare—the one who’d attacked it.
“H… Hiek!”
Completely drained of mana, she couldn’t move.
Her legs gave out and she crashed down hard on her rear, her face twisted in terror.
“Kyaaaaaah—!”
The Minotaur, burning through its last reserves of life, hurled itself at the Mage.
—Noooo!
—Block it, hurry!
—We’re so close to clearing…!
—Jeeeeeb!
Even the viewers watching live gripped their seats, palms sweating.
As if he’d been waiting for exactly this moment, Shin Jae-ha stepped forward.
“I calculated we’d have just enough health left.”
After analyzing the team’s damage output, the math showed that with this approach, they’d have enough HP remaining to witness the “ambush pattern”—the creature’s final, desperate move.
Before death, it would lunge at whoever dealt the last blow and drag them down together. Truly a nasty pattern to the end.
But Shin Jae-ha had been counting on it.
Because only then—
Whoosh!
Could he finish it himself.
Launching into the air, Shin Jae-ha grinned and hoisted the Club high.
“Then, I’ll take the killing blow for myself!”
A purple Gravity Field bloomed outward from his body.
[Gravity Field](D)
His weight multiplied several times over in an instant, and he plummeted toward the Minotaur like a falling asteroid.
He poured every last ounce of mana into his arms and the Club, unleashing an all-out strike.
[Cannonball(
Cannonball)]
Shin Jae-ha dropped straight down and brought the Club crashing onto the creature’s head.
Crack-boom-boom-boom!
The impact was as if some colossal boulder had plummeted from the sky.
The entire boss chamber shook violently.
“…Phew.”
As the dust settled, what remained was:
The Minotaur, mashed beyond recognition, and—
“Subjugation successful.”
A Level 6 leader holding a broken Club grip.
Shin Jae-ha.
***
[Boss Battle Concluded.]
[You have defeated ‘The Imprisoned One, Minotaur’!]
[Dungeon Clear!]
As the success message flashed, the faces of my teammates lit up with triumph.
“Yesssss! I did it! I actually did it!”
“I—I cleared the Underground Prison! Kyaaaa!”
The swordsman and mage shrieked with unbridled excitement, their voices climbing higher with each word.
They had excellent stamina.
‘Those two have definitely broken Level 20 by now.’
I’m keeping up appearances, but my entire body is thrumming like an overdrawn guitar string.
Every muscle in my frame is screaming “Help! Help! For the love of—help!”
Then again, clearing the Underground Prison with Level 6 stats was never going to be a walk in the park.
‘By the way, the Club broke.’
It shattered on only the third round.
Three hundred Credits was a sting, but I’d gotten enough use out of it that I let it go without regret.
Besides, it was about time I started acquiring proper gear anyway.
“Thank you all for your hard work.”
“Hard work? It was our leader who suffered the most!”
“I’m so grateful! This dungeon was my dream to clear!”
My title had been promoted from “Level 6” and “that guy” to “leader”—quite the leap.
Well, this is embarrassing in the best way possible.
I played along to the beat, offering a modest smile.
[You have achieved first place with overwhelming performance!]
[You have set a remarkable accomplishment!]
[Your performance will be reflected in the reward system.]
I checked the rewards I’d been waiting for.
[You have cleared the dungeon.]
[You led your team as a ‘Leader’.]
[You operated your team near flawlessly.]
[You discovered a new strategy for the first time.]
[You cleared a dungeon far above your current Level and Ability Points.]
[Reward tier has been elevated!]
[Level has increased!]
[Level has increased!]
[Level has increased!]
[Level has increased!]
[You have reached Level 10.]
[Ranked Battle has been unlocked!]
[Challenge a higher battlefield!]
[Ability Points +4]
[Bonus Level-Up Milestone! You are awarded 2 additional Ability Points!]
[All Stat +3]
[You have obtained ‘Box Containing Minotaur’s Soul (A)’!]
[+50,000C]
“Whaaaaaat!”
The sheer avalanche of insane rewards tumbling down all at once made me cry out without thinking.
First, my Level had jumped a full ten points in one instant.
‘Honestly, I was expecting about Level 8…’
I genuinely hadn’t anticipated being catapulted straight to Level 10.
And on top of that, I received two extra Ability Points.
‘Six total!’
Securing Ability Points like this—a resource that becomes rarer than any treasure later on—was undeniable good fortune.
Next came the real stunner: ‘All Stat +3′.
This too was a reward so absurd it bordered on the unbelievable.
Getting a single stat point increased by 3 is a major win; but every stat going up by 3?
If the upper-tier teams’ players found out, they’d probably grab me by the collar and shake me down demanding to know how I pulled it off.
‘Now Strength and Agility have both broken into double digits.’
At last I could receive the Constitution Awakening Quest.
Exhilaration bubbled up from deep within my chest.
Even fifty thousand Credits—a princely sum in its own right—paled in comparison to what else I’d gained.
“And this….”
I picked up the cubic box that had materialized before me.
What is this? I’ve never heard of rewards like this dropping from the Underground Prison.
‘Didn’t Minotaur equipment drop from the Underground Prison?’
These were all pieces of equipment bearing “Minotaur’s~” in their names.
The grade was random, but the moment you equipped them together, a set effect triggered.
The whole reason we agreed to take equipment as the dungeon clear reward was because of these pieces.
“Ugh… it’s a shame, but there’s nothing to be done about it. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have cleared this at all….”
“I’m more than happy with just these other rewards! This one!”
The Swordsman and the Mage handed over their equipment rewards in turn.
[Minotaur’s Courage Shoulder Guard](D)
[Minotaur’s Wrath Gauntlet](C)
‘Oh, Grade C.’
Considering that most drops in the Level 20 range were Grade D or E equipment, that was a good haul.
The Mage must have invested quite a bit into her Luck stat.
“Thank you.”
I accepted them while suppressing my rising smile with superhuman willpower.
Then came the Support player, approaching quietly.
“Here you go.”
What she handed me was a cloak the color of ash, frayed slightly at the edges.
[Minotaur’s Wrath Cloak](C)
Another Grade C!
Two Grade C drops in one haul.
Maybe I really am the lucky one here?
“I’ll take good care of it.”
……
Even after handing over the cloak, the Support player kept staring at me intently.
Her gaze was so piercing, as if trying to bore a hole right through my brow.
“…Do I have something on my face?”
“What team are you with?”
“Pardon?”
“I don’t think I’ve seen you in the league before….”
It seemed she had gotten the wrong idea somewhere, so I clarified quickly.
“I’m not affiliated with any team. I’ve never even competed in league matches.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes.”
No team would field a Level 6 player in competition anyway.
That’s a sight you wouldn’t see even in the third-tier league.
“I see.”
The Support player gave a small nod.
Smirk.
She smiled ever so faintly.
“Shin Jae-ha… I’ll remember that.”
“Ah… yes, well… do as you like.”
She’s definitely not an ordinary woman.
There’s something oddly familiar about her too.
“Hyung!”
The last remaining teammate waved his hands frantically.
What Teya was holding was—!
[Minotaur’s Wrath Breastplate](D)
Grade D.
‘Tsk!’
I clicked my tongue inwardly as I accepted the breastplate.
“Huh?”
Once I took it, I noticed something placed on top.
A white, rectangular piece of paper with a name and number written on it… a business card?
“That’s my business card, so definitely give me a call, Hyung!”
Teya’s eyes shone as he grabbed my hand and shook it.
“You have to appear on my broadcast again next time! I’ll make sure the appearance fee is generous!”
With his broadcast personality shining through right to the end, I let out an involuntary laugh.
“I mean it! Let’s definitely meet again next time!”
“See you again, Shin Jae-ha!”
“Shin Jae-ha……”
“Hyung! Don’t throw away my business card! You promised?!”
Unlike the tense beginning, the atmosphere had grown considerably livelier.
Watching the scene unfold, I smiled warmly and spoke.
“Geez, you’re all loud.”
Why did their voices have to carry so much.
I thought my eardrums might burst.
[The dungeon has ended.]
[Channel access is being disconnected.]
.
.
.
Whoosh!
A room overlooking all of Gangnam at a glance.
Someone who had just disconnected from the Channel slowly opened their eyes.
“You’ve worked hard, Miss.”
“I’ll prepare your bath at once.”
The attendants waiting for her received her politely.
“……”
Long straight black hair and a delicate jawline.
Her large eyes settled with composure.
“Shin Jae-ha… that’s what he said.”
A subtle smile bloomed across the woman’s face.
The kind of smile one wore upon discovering a glittering jewel buried in mud.
She immediately picked up the phone on the table and dialed someone.
Dial tone — click!
As soon as she called, the other end picked up as if they’d been waiting.
-Oh! Yeon-seo! Calling Grandfather first—that’s unusual!
“Yes, Grandfather.”
-So you’ve tried the Channel a few times now and it’s tough, huh? Oho! Let Grandfather get you some top-tier equipment right away—!
“That’s not it.”
The woman licked her lips and gazed out the window.
“I just discovered something… interesting.”
Behind her, visible across one entire wall of the room—a massive emblem.
[K1]
One of the three elite organizations in the KPL, and among them, the team with the most championship victories of any single franchise.
Genuinely Korea’s finest professional player league team.
The granddaughter of Joo Yul-cheon, representative of the parent company ‘Hwrang Group’.
“Grandfather will like this too, for certain.”
Joo Yeon-seo’s eyes curved with amusement.
A Challenger-Tier Player’s Return
Author
: Ki Sa-hon
Production Date
: August 10, 2026
Publisher
: Aces Media Co., Ltd.
Editor
: Aces Media Editorial Team
Address
: 10F Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work is published by Aces Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with the copyright holder’s contract.
The content may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher and author.
This e-book is protected by copyright law, and unauthorized reproduction or copying may result in legal liability.
UCI
: G720:N+A129-20260730114

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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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