The Regression of a Challenger-Level Player - Chapter 23

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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 23. Can You Pull It Off? (2)
Clink!
The two glasses met with a bright, ringing chime.
“This round’s on me. Order whatever you want.”
“Really? Ha! I never thought I’d see the day I’d drink Su Hyuk under the table at Jae-ha’s expense. I’m going to live a long life after all.”
Su Hyuk’s eyes gleamed as he picked up the menu.
This was the after-broadcast dinner, once the live stream had wrapped.
With K1’s generous sponsorship on top of everything else, and Taeya’s magnanimous decision to claim only a 30-70 split since she hadn’t contributed, our finances had grown considerably more comfortable.
Which meant we could order all sorts of luxurious liquor and expensive side dishes to our hearts’ content…!
“Three servings of pork belly and a bottle each of soju and beer, please!”
Though we didn’t actually order any of that.
We’d come to a Korean barbecue place near Su Hyuk’s apartment instead.
Neither of us were the type to care much for expensive food and drinks in the first place.
Even before the world ended, we’d spend our evenings nursing lukewarm beer at some dive bar on the edge of the city.
“Today was absolutely incredible, Jae-ha!”
Su Hyuk placed a perfectly cooked slice of pork belly onto my plate as he spoke.
“Look at this. I screenshotted it earlier?”
Su Hyuk pulled out his phone and showed it to me.
The real-time trending broadcast rankings displayed on the streaming app.
[1st – Taeya]
Taeya’s broadcast was number one.
Seeing the viewer count swollen by dozens of times compared to her usual numbers, it was clear that massive external traffic had flooded in.
‘No wonder she agreed to the revenue split so readily.’
She was quietly making gains in other areas.
“Do you realize what it means that so many viewers watched a broadcast where you were the main star?”
“It means I’ve become famous.”
“Exactly. And fame is a powerful weapon for someone preparing to be a Professional Player!”
Now any team looking to recruit me would have to pay not just for my skill, but for that additional value.
The price of using the character “Shin Jae-ha” as promotional material for their organization.
“Of course, we can’t rest easy yet. Popularity gained this quickly burns off just as fast. To truly make this fame yours, you’ll need to prove something more substantial.”
“And my first solo broadcast will be how I do that.”
I dipped the pork belly on my plate in sesame oil and popped it into my mouth.
The savory, tender raw meat melted softly across my tongue.
That’s right—we were eating raw pork belly.
Not frozen. Raw.
“If you can just hold onto one-tenth of today’s buzz on a steady basis, the contract offers teams send your way will look completely different.”
“Now that’s tempting. Do I even need snacks? This IS the snack!”
“Ha! You’re not wrong! This IS the snack!”
Su Hyuk drained his perfectly mixed soju-and-beer in one go and let out a satisfied breath.
“…But are you really sure about this?”
“About what?”
“K1. Honestly, I thought you’d call them first. That’s usually how it goes.”
Su Hyuk had a point.
How many players in Korea could actually turn down an offer from K1?
Even a Professional Player with their own signature style would be fortunate, let alone an Unranked player receiving an offer in the first place—and I wasn’t even jumping to accept immediately.
“K1 is an extraordinary organization. They could crush Sky Epic without breaking a sweat.”
“I know that. That’s where Nam Si-woo captains, right? The Hwang Group isn’t even worth mentioning.”
“But my personal thought is you should at least have a conversation with K1. If your views align well, who knows? You might end up actually joining them.”
K1 recruitment.
The summit of the KPL—something all aspiring Professional Players dream of.
What is a lifelong goal for most people has now drawn close before my very eyes.
‘But.’
Unfortunately, I have no intention of joining K1 right now.
“I have my own plan. You don’t need to worry, Su Hyuk.”
“Is that so? Fair enough then. I’m sure you know what you’re doing.”
Su Hyuk didn’t push his opinion any further.
Even though he knew, objectively speaking, that turning down this offer would be foolish.
Pfft.
An unexpected laugh escaped at such thick trust.
“So, moving on to the next matter….”
Sizzle!
Su Hyuk placed a fresh layer of pork belly on the grill.
“How did this happen?”
“What?”
“Your strength. I’ll give you credit for spotting hidden mechanics—you’ve always had a sharp mind for that—but how in the world did you get so strong? Did you really have some kind of awakening through grief and rage after Sky Epic came out?”
The meat sizzled gently, turning golden.
The scent of charcoal tickled the tip of my nose.
“What am I, a Saiyan, growing stronger through anger?”
I let out a laugh and knocked back the soju in one gulp.
‘I can tell him this much.’
Not anyone else—but Su Hyuk. He was the beginning and end of my connections before the regression. The person I’d be spending the rest of my life with.
‘Of course, the moment I mention the regression, he’ll drag me straight to a psychiatrist, so I’m keeping that buried.’
I laid bare only a single truth.
That my constitution had evolved.
“Your constitution… evolved?”
“I was shocked too.”
I dressed up the middle part with details from before the regression to make it sound plausible.
“So… so what grade is your constitution now?!”
“S-Grade.”
“…?!”
I pulled up my status window and showed him just the constitution section.
“Guh… ugh…!”
He was right to be stunned.
There were only five S-Grade Constitutions in the entire world, and now I had one.
It would be strange if he didn’t scream…
“Th… thank goodness….”
“…Huh?”
Against my expectations, Su Hyuk set down his glass and suddenly burst into tears.
I knew he got emotional once alcohol hit him, but—
“Waaahhh!”
To see him suddenly sobbing like this caught me completely off guard.
“Do you have any idea how much I worried when you quit everything and walked away? You used to sing about wanting to be a pro… watching you cling to a dream that was never going to happen, as your brother, it broke my heart….”
……
“But finally… finally you’re seeing some light… I’m so glad… so glad…!”
“A full-grown adult bawling over something like this is pathetic.”
…Yes, that’s who he was.
Even when I became a completely useless Zero Mana player.
Even when I became a defective item no one wanted.
Su Hyuk always believed in me and stood by my side.
“Come on, if you cry every time something like this happens, you’ll die of dehydration. And you’ve still got a lot ahead of you.”
“Hah! Not before I make you buy me a full beef course!”
I smiled quietly watching him shout through his tears.
The truth was, he preferred pork belly, but he sure knew how to talk.
‘Yeah, for the sake of that future where I treat him to plenty of beef…’
I’d have to pass the next hurdle cleanly too.
Ding! Ding!
[‘Akusta’ has started following you!]
[‘zl Goguma’ has started following you!]
[Shin Jae-ha – Followers: 15,000]
The final Placement Match remained.
***
“Block that side!”
“Ugh……!”
A strike driving into my ribs.
Park Gyu-bo staggered back and bit his lip hard as he pushed himself up from the floor.
“That’s enough training for today! Everyone, head back and rest!”
“Thank you for the session!”

The players belonging to Sky Epic cried out in unison.
“Ugh… damn it….”
“Park, you’re making way too many mistakes today.”
The coach approached Park Gyu-bo with a worried expression.
“Are you okay? Does something hurt? Should I clear tomorrow’s training?”
“…No, that’s not necessary. I’m fine. Today was just off. It won’t happen again starting tomorrow.”
“Well, that’s a relief then. Get some rest.”
As the coach stepped back, Park Gyu-bo slammed his fist against the floor.
Today’s training had been a complete disaster.
Normally he could block attacks while yawning, yet he’d let every single one through, and every attack he’d thrown had gone wide.
The reason was simple—yesterday’s broadcast.
“Shin Jae-ha…! How could that bastard…!”
He’d watched yesterday’s Taeya broadcast too.
It had been trending anyway, and with it ranking first in popularity, it was rarer to find someone who hadn’t seen it.
‘That trash became that strong? In just a few days?’
That didn’t make sense.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t accept it.
Not long ago, that existence had been nothing but a punching bag—someone he’d knocked around and called over whenever he needed to blow off steam.
And now K1 was supposedly reaching out to him first as a promising prospect.
“Damn it! It’s gotta be a con! He’s definitely pulling some kind of trick!”
Park Gyu-bo was both an earnest fan of K1 and a player who dreamed of joining them.
Especially Nam Si-woo, the team captain—he was such a devoted fan that he even secretly collected merchandise.
‘I didn’t get a single glance from them until I became a starter at Sky Epic, and now he just shows up out of nowhere, puts on a few impressive plays, and they come running? For that trash?’
It was infuriating.
Infuriating beyond what he could bear.
“Aaaaagh!”
After ranting for a while in the empty training room, he’d finally given up, showered, and entered the lounge.
There was already someone there.
“…!”
Long, white hair and a delicate frame.
A woman who carried a mysterious aura like a flower blooming on a snowy field.
Sky Epic’s first-team archer, Baek Hui-yeon.
“Ahem!”
Park Gyu-bo cleared his throat and deliberately lowered his voice.
“Hey, Hui-yeon? What brings you to the lounge alone? Did you come to see me? Haha!”
“…….”
“…Hey, say something.”
“Yeah, hi.”
Park Gyu-bo harbored an unrequited love for Baek Hui-yeon.
The reason was obvious—her face.
Though her personality was a bit peculiar, her beauty alone was enough to make even a decent actress jealous—she was that stunning.
In fact, thanks to that, she was the most popular player on Sky Epic, with her uniform sales ranking first.
Of course, she possessed skill more than worthy of that popularity.
“Haha… good timing, actually. As the two pillars of the team, there’s something important we should discuss. About this season….”
Ding!
Before Park Gyu-bo could finish, an alarm sounded on Baek Hui-yeon’s phone.
As she checked the notification, her expression
Brightened.
Just the faintest hint of a smile.
‘Wait, did she just smile?! Baek Hui-yeon?!’
She was so expressionless that there were rumors circulating about “Baek Hui-yeon’s facial paralysis.”
Even Park Gyu-bo, who’d crossed paths with her on the same team countless times, had never seen her make an expression before.
“Sorry, let’s talk about this later.”
“Huh? Uh…?”
“Something urgent came up.”
“Wait, hold on…!”
Before Park Gyu-bo could even reach for her, Baek Hui-yeon rushed out toward her room.
Then she lay down on her bed, wrapped herself in the blanket, and clicked the notification.
[The user ‘Shin Jae-ha’ whom you follow has started a live stream!]
Finally.
Shin Jae-ha’s final Placement Match.
The moment the broadcast went live, a familiar face appeared on screen.
A face that had never shown itself during his Sky Epic days—one that had always worn only a melancholy expression.
[Hey there—everyone, thanks for coming. Wow, quite the crowd today.]
His face now bright with confidence, beaming wide.
[Thanks for all the follows, everyone. So, as promised, today is my final Placement Match. And we’ll be revealing my placement rank too.]
-Finally, Shin Jae-ha shows up
-I hit follow just to see this, and I don’t even usually do that
-Shin Jae-ha is here!
-Hurry up and log in already?
-Placement Match! Placement Match! Placement Match!
-And if he doesn’t even get Bronze after this, seriously prepare yourself
-Is this his first broadcast? What kind of power is this lolololol
-Wait, didn’t he already appear twice on Taeya’s broadcast~
-Hello, new streamer Shin Jae-ha? Our newbies usually have the three-part split dance with Juweon tong…
-Show us the Hammer. Sing for us. Dance for us.
Baek Hui-yeon smiled so faintly it was barely noticeable.
Then, with characteristic timidity, she left a single message in the chat that was rising at a terrifyingly fast pace.
-Connect NOW!!! KRRRRAAAHHH! I can’t hold back anymore! LET’S GO LET’S GO LET’S GOOOO! AAAAHHHHH!!! SMASH EVERYTHING WITH THAT HAMMER AAAHHHHHHH!
Truly a most timid single line of chat.
[This… this person seems quite excited. Please calm down, please.]
Shin Jae-ha, reading Baek Hui-yeon’s message, flinched slightly, his brows twitching.
Anyway, that was that.
[Then let’s begin! The final round of the Placement Match!]
Finally, what everyone had been waiting for.
The final Placement Match began.
Challenger-Tier Player’s Regression
Author
: Ki Sa-hon
Publication Date
: August 10, 2026
Publisher
: ACESMEDIA Co., Ltd.
Editor
: ACESMEDIA Editorial Team
Address
: 10F Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work is published by ACESMEDIA Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder.
No part of this content may 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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