The Regressor Plays the Game Too Well - Chapter 1

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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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Chapter 1
Episode 1
“Yaaaaaawn.”
Jin-woo stretched languidly as he yawned, rubbing his eyes.
Another morning like any other.
Well, perhaps a bit late to call it morning?
‘Three in the afternoon.’
He shrugged it off as routine.
For those who streamed games, this was hardly unusual.
In fact, waking up around this time felt more natural.
But more than that,
‘Did I sleep well?’
Today felt unusually refreshed.
How should I put it—my body felt lighter than usual?
As if vitality were overflowing through me.
‘It’s been ages since my body felt this good, ever since that traffic accident three years ago.’
The lightness was too pronounced to call it merely good condition.
It felt as though I’d shed ten years from my body!
Well, that wasn’t a bad thing.
Good is good, after all.
Jin-woo was thinking lightly about it when yesterday suddenly came to mind.
Could it be thanks to the item I consumed yesterday instead?
That was possible.
‘It was a Unique item, after all.’
Not just Rare—but Unique!
Some might dismiss him as a game addict at first glance, but that wasn’t how society viewed it anymore.
Pantheon.
The most perfect virtual reality game released a decade ago, transforming how people perceived gaming itself.
Now it was possible to earn a living simply by excelling at games.
Jin-woo was living proof of that.
‘Already nine years in.’
Nine years of making a living from gaming.
It hadn’t been without its trials, but neither had it been smooth sailing.
Surviving on game streaming and gaming alone was never easy.
My parents had opposed it at first, after all.
Those days were difficult, but once I’d reached a certain level, they began supporting me.
Financial healing truly is the best medicine, as they say.
In any case, talent alone didn’t guarantee success.
Pantheon was especially unforgiving in that regard.
Without talent, money, or exceptional luck, one could never reach the ranks of the elite players.
I started later than most, and while I ended up in the upper-middle tier, it was only because I had some talent.
Without that talent, I wouldn’t have made it even to the middle ranks.
Still, I earned a respectable living.
Six million won a month!
That’s a salary even corporate employees at major companies struggle to match.
As someone in the upper-middle tier, that’s what I pulled in regularly.
And then there were these occasional windfalls that came along.
‘If I sell this, I’ll make double what I earned last month.’
Unique items typically sell for anywhere between ten and twenty million won.
This wasn’t an exceptional piece, but I could still get at least ten million won for it.
Excluding these lucky breaks, my average monthly earnings hovered around six million won.
‘Finally, a real payday.’
With thrills like this, how could I ever walk away?
Sure, the money mattered, but more than anything, I did it because it was fun.
Doing what I love and making good money?
How could I possibly pass up an opportunity like that?
I hadn’t achieved anything spectacular, but small victories counted too.
I had no real complaints.
I lacked for nothing.
Well, almost nothing.
There was one thing I regretted.
‘How is it that I’m thirty-six and still haven’t been in a relationship?’
It wasn’t that I’d never been set up on blind dates.
It wasn’t that my dates were unpleasant either.
It was simply a matter of timing.
‘The timing was always off.’
That’s how game streaming worked.
Raid schedules could pop up unexpectedly, and I’d lose entire days brainstorming content ideas—it happened more often than not.
Things had stabilized somewhat by now.
But it was far too late.
Still, I harbored no real regrets.
I’d climbed this high precisely because I’d lived so intensely.
If I’d experienced romance, I would’ve learned what loneliness truly meant.
But having spent thirty-six years without it, I never even discovered what loneliness felt like.
To say I wasn’t disappointed would be a lie.
But what could I do about it?
‘It’s all in the past now.’
At thirty-six, I was hardly young anymore.
Had I given up?
Or had I simply made peace with it?
Anyway, that was how things stood.
I wanted to fall in love, but given my age and the lack of a compatible partner…
Besides, I couldn’t exactly quit gaming.
What woman would understand all of that and still want to be with me?
If such a woman existed, why would she choose Jin-woo?
She’d go for someone better.
‘I’m not exactly lacking in any department, but I’m not strikingly handsome either.’
That was the honest truth.
Women had approached me while I was drinking with friends from time to time.
Judging by my friends’ expressions back then, I wasn’t exactly ugly.
But what did it matter?
I’d reached thirty-six without ever having a relationship.
Not unattractive, but not strikingly handsome either.
On top of that, I’d never even held hands with a woman.
What woman would want to be with a thirty-six-year-old who’d never been in a relationship?
The same would apply to men, I suppose.
Regardless.
By now, romance felt like nothing more than an afterthought.
Anyway, that was how things were.
I should focus on what happened today instead.
“Hup.”
Was it because of this rare loot?
My body felt light, and my spirits seemed ready to soar.
With that lightness in my step, I headed toward the bathroom.
Washing my face right after waking up was routine, of course.
The moment I stood before the sink to wash up.
A strange thought flickered through my mind.
“Huh? What’s this?”
Standing before the sink, I gazed at the mirror directly in front of me.
The mirror I always saw.
But the face reflected in it was not the one I always saw.
Had I become someone else?
No, it was even stranger than that.
“Why do I look younger?”
What is this?
I was afraid.
Without thinking, I ran both hands across my face.
Until yesterday, my skin had lost some of its elasticity.
Now it felt not just firm, but almost supple and taut.
How was this possible?
Did I become a kid or something?
My body shrank, but my mind stayed the same! What’s going on?
My sleep wasn’t fully gone, so the tactile sensations felt vivid and sharp.
Most surprising of all—despite the shock that chased away my drowsiness, the reflection in the mirror still looked young.
‘What… what is this?’
Sensing something uncannily familiar, Jin-woo stepped out of the bathroom.
Then I looked around the room.
“Huh?”
This was definitely my Studio Apartment.
I’d lived here for ten years—there was no way I could mistake it.
Yet the wallpaper, which had been worn and peeling, now looked pristine and new.
More than that.
‘The burn marks on the floor… they’re gone too?’
The scorch marks from when I’d dropped a pot while trying to cook ramen and burned the flooring—they were completely erased.
As if I’d returned to ten years ago… wait?
The most definitive proof: the capsule.
An outdated model from a full decade ago.
Just yesterday I’d been using the latest model, but now it’s suddenly an old model from ten years back?
The only difference is that the old model has a different sheen to it.
It looks as if it were barely purchased.
Even though this model was discontinued eight years ago.
‘······.’
At this point, no matter how bewildered I was, I had to accept it.
But there was always the possibility of a mistake, wasn’t there?
Carefully, I picked up the smartphone resting on the bedside table.
This too was an old model from ten years ago, but it was immaculate.
And the moment I turned on the screen to confirm my suspicions.
I could verify the date: it was from ten years ago.
‘What in the world is happening?’
Just to be sure, I lifted the t-shirt I was wearing.
The long scar that should have been on my abdomen was gone.
The long surgical scar from a traffic accident three years ago.
Its absence meant only one thing: regression.
‘Truly ten years back?’
I’d regressed?
Why?
I hadn’t even wished for it.
No—it wasn’t even a matter of not wishing for it.
I’d never harbored thoughts like wanting to return to the past or regretting decisions, thinking, ‘If only I could go back then, I could have done better.’
I’d never held such sentiments.
I was just living life, satisfied with how things were going.
And then this happens, out of nowhere?
I’m losing my mind.
“Ha, haha. Hehe.”
* * *
I confirmed that the surgical scars from the car accident three years ago had vanished, but just to be safe, I called around to various places.
My parents, my friends.
Only after checking the internet as well did Jin-woo finally feel it sink in.
‘I really did come back.’
I didn’t feel purely joyful about it.
The first emotion that struck me was bewilderment.
It was a regression I never asked for, after all.
That’s understandable.
More than anything, everything I’d accomplished had vanished.
Anyone would be disoriented.
If your game save got deleted and you had to start over from the beginning, wouldn’t you be frustrated even if you’d made mistakes along the way?
That’s exactly how I feel right now.
Like having to replay a game with a corrupted save file.
‘Damn it, nine years of effort, gone in an instant?’
I was on the verge of losing my temper.
Then a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
‘Wait? Pantheon hasn’t launched yet?’
Huh?
This?
This is actually good.
No, it’s better than just good.
Sure, losing nine years of effort stings a bit.
But this is insanely fortunate.
A chance to start fresh from the beginning.
Where else would I get an opportunity like this?
Well, I could live without it, but since I’ve already come back, why not aim for even greater success?
The fact that nine years of effort had vanished in an instant made me feel like I should go out and grab lunch, but that’s not the important part.
Such trivial matters are worthless.
It would be a lie to say I’m not disappointed or that I don’t feel the loss, but there’s something far more important than that.
‘I can start earlier!’
Jin-woo was someone who had started a whole year later than everyone else.
Because of that, I’d only managed to stay in the upper-middle tier, but ten years ago?
I learned this while checking the internet earlier.
Right now, Pantheon hasn’t launched yet.
There’s still a month left until the launch.
This should work.
I can achieve even greater success than before!
More than anything, the game is one thing, but if I’ve regressed in time, there must be something I’m supposed to do, right?
“Ahahaha! Since I’ve regressed, of course it’s stocks!”
Look! Just the stocks that come to mind like this!
······Nothing?
‘Damn it.’
Nothing came to mind at all.
Sure, there was that incredible thing called cryptocurrency back then, but there’s nothing like that in stocks these days.
Nothing particularly comes to mind.
What an idiot I am.
Well, I was always thinking about broadcast content, so how could I have had time to study stocks?
My lack of effort is really holding me back.
How pathetic.
‘Is there really nothing but the game?’
Even if I’ve regressed, I’d need to have actually invested in stocks to know about them.
If I don’t know, I’ll just miss out.
Though it’s not like nothing comes to mind at all.
There’s always been one guaranteed stock jackpot.
‘Pantheon.’
None other than Pantheon, the company that created the most perfect virtual reality game, Pantheon.
This is a time before it skyrockets.
If I play this right, won’t I become filthy rich?
But that’s not even the end of it.
Pantheon itself still exists.
No matter what anyone says, I’m a professional broadcaster and a professional gamer.
A talented gamer who started late but climbed to the upper-middle ranks!
In my head, I have ten years’ worth of crucial information.
‘This might be an even bigger jackpot than stocks?’
But investing in Pantheon stock with money I earn from Pantheon?
This is a structure that can’t fail.
A guaranteed path to fortune!
Just thinking about it for a moment, there are mountains of hidden pieces I’ve passed over in those ten years.
If I just organize this properly?
‘Reaching the top ranks is basically guaranteed.’
This is serious.
Am I going to die from happiness?
‘I don’t know why I’ve regressed, but now that I have, I’m going to succeed!’
With this knowledge of the future, how could I possibly fail?
That would make me a complete fool.
A month still remained before Pantheon’s launch.
I needed to organize all the tricks and hidden pieces I could recall.
Having everything documented would make things infinitely easier.
Besides, forgetting would be catastrophic.
As I meticulously listed everything I could remember, something suddenly occurred to me.
‘First Title!’
The First Title—something that had eluded Jin-woo entirely due to his late start.
One of the primary reasons late-comers couldn’t easily catch up to the rankers who started first!
Wait.
If I started now, couldn’t I claim all the First Titles?
If that’s the case?
‘Then rankers aren’t the problem—even Rank 1 is within reach, isn’t it?’
Fine then, I’ll claim everything!
I’ll claim it all and achieve success!
While I’m at it, maybe even romance······.
Being a thirty-six-year-old virgin is rather pathetic.

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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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