The Regressor Plays the Game Too Well - Chapter 138

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 138
138
Mobilizing all forces was never an easy task.
Even for someone as charismatic as Kaiser, it bordered on the impossible.
Above all, not everyone in the Bark Empire could synchronize their schedules.
Unless a time had been set in advance.
Because of this, the forces he could assemble immediately amounted to roughly fifty percent of his total strength.
Though that was already impressive in itself.
Many of Kaiser’s Guild’s strong members were absent, excluding the key executives.
Yet the numbers were staggering.
Already, nearly two thousand had gathered.
“Kaiser, an additional five hundred are arriving, sir.”
“The total should exceed three thousand.”
Already over two thousand had assembled.
At the report that it would exceed three thousand, Kaiser nodded.
Of course, he still believed this was insufficient.
After all, Kaiser himself had not yet advanced to his next class.
Even with all forces gathered, unifying their strength was no simple matter.
But with this many forces assembled, his perspective had shifted.
The Anti-Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol Coalition Army.
As Kaiser observed them, he reflected.
‘More impressive than I expected.’
Already exceeding three thousand in number.
And this wasn’t even his full strength.
This was merely a trial war, so to speak.
A test battle to gauge how strong Jin-woo truly was before Kaiser’s own advancement.
One needed to understand the opponent’s capabilities first.
Only then could one devise a strategy to overcome them.
Kaiser deemed this a necessary undertaking.
This battle had to happen.
Jin-woo single-handedly destroyed the Mountain Guild?
Even so, they numbered barely five hundred.
An entirely different scale from Kaiser’s coalition.
The Anti-Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol Coalition Army was truly colossal.
It wasn’t confined to the Bark Empire alone.
There were still massive guilds that hadn’t yet gathered here.
Why had they assembled like this?
There was only one reason.
‘I will ensure he can no longer monopolize everything.’
Kaiser had resolved to do exactly that.
Even if we lose this war, we must prepare so that we can inflict damage from which they cannot recover in the next one.
I prepared and prepared again.
And then I read the message.
[Path to the God of War (4)]
*Class Change Quest (Hidden)
*Description: It is said that the God of War has always stood beside the victors of war.
You who have stepped onto the path toward that God of War, wage war! And conquer!
*Objective: Participate in a war with 2,000 or more participants, regardless of victory or defeat.
*Reward: Obtain Hidden Class War God
Kaiser smiled as he read the final Quest message.
Jin-woo appearing alongside this Quest.
Could this truly be coincidence?
At least, Kaiser did not believe so.
Perhaps.
This was the path.
But Kaiser concealed such thoughts as much as possible.
Had he not suffered before from carelessness?
Therefore, I would never allow myself such negligence.
I would not even permit myself to hope.
And so I cried out.
“Advance!”
“Yes――――――――!”
Along with the tremendous roar
came the sound of the army advancing.
* * *
Stormwind Hose.
It was not a particularly troublesome monster.
A creature I could handle alone without difficulty.
And the same applied to Barmon.
I could have done it alone, but I brought Barmon for no reason other than to fill out the party roster.
Well, regardless, Barmon was one of the Three Gods before my regression, after all.
There was no harm in growing closer.
Naturally, catching Hose was not a particularly difficult matter.
I was able to capture it quickly.
However.
‘Something feels off?’
I sensed something strange and tilted my head in confusion.
What could it be?
And I was not the only one who felt it.
A sound coming from somewhere.
No, it wasn’t just the sound.
Thud, thud-thud, thud, thud-thud.
What kind of footsteps were those?
Where were they coming from?
And in that moment, I noticed Barmon’s expression growing pale.
Did he know something?
Just as I was about to ask Barmon, he spoke first.
Barmon’s face twisted with fear as he delivered the news.
“M-Master Jin-woo, the Kaiser Coalition Army is currently advancing toward this location.”
“The Kaiser Coalition Army?”
“Squeak?”
As I tilted my head in confusion, Luna perched on my shoulder did the same.
As if asking what that even meant.
Barmon continued, addressing my bewilderment.
“Yes! They’re already marching here with nearly several thousand troops, sir! My colleague informed me. I only just found out.”
“Several thousand?”
I couldn’t hide my surprise at this unexpected development.
Honestly, several thousand was no joke.
They wouldn’t use such a number unless they truly meant it.
But even so, there had to be limits to how many players could be gathered from the Bark Empire right now.
Yet they’d managed to assemble several thousand.
It was genuinely surprising.
This is troublesome.
My expression reflected nothing but mild inconvenience—neither more nor less.
Not panic, but rather the contemplative look of someone working through a problem.
Barmon watched me and couldn’t help but click his tongue.
This was Jin-woo, after all.
Even in such a situation, I maintained my composure.
“W-what do you intend to do, sir?”
“Hmm, I’m thinking about it.”
Several thousand soldiers.
Without exact numbers, it had to be at least two thousand or more.
If I counted those who could reach this city area early on, I’d estimate around three thousand at most.
If I gathered every player in the Bark Empire, I could probably assemble double that.
But not everyone could coordinate their timing.
Three thousand seemed like a reasonable estimate.
So the real question was whether I could defeat three thousand troops.
That was the problem.
‘It seems Barmon hasn’t advanced his class yet.’
If he had, Barmon would have no trouble facing hundreds of soldiers himself.
But that’s not quite the situation, is it?
Even if I could overlook two or three hundred, thousands are pouring in—I can’t exactly ask him to handle all of them.
In other words, I’ll have to bear the brunt of the numbers myself.
Can I actually pull it off?
I’m thinking it over, but honestly, I’m uncertain.
Not long ago, I did slaughter hundreds from the Mountain Guild.
And I had room to spare back then, but… I don’t know.
Can I really handle roughly three thousand people the same way?
‘It’s ambiguous.’
It feels doable, yet it also feels difficult.
If I want to know for certain, I suppose I’ll just have to try it myself.
I think I could confidently say I’d win against a thousand.
But the moment it exceeds two thousand?
I genuinely have no idea.
I won’t know until I actually attempt it.
After all, I do know quite a few wide-area skills.
So I wasn’t particularly worried.
Above all else.
‘If things go south, I can just run away.’
I’m not the type to stubbornly cling to pride in situations like this.
There were several reasons for my confidence.
Capturing Barkal recently played a part too.
I suppose you could say my confidence grew after that?
Back then, the guild coalition—the Mountain Guild, Zenith Guild, and others—joined forces and brought hundreds of elite members, didn’t they?
Naturally, a few hundred at that level could easily crush several thousand from Kaiser’s Guild right now.
That’s where my confidence came from.
Of course, fighting thousands of users is far more difficult than defeating a single boss.
So it was true that I couldn’t gauge my odds of victory.
“If you’re going to fight, then I’ll fight too.”
“Yes, as long as you don’t die, it’ll be good experience for me.”
“Phew, understood.”
Barmon answered the same way.
I let out a small laugh watching Barmon like that.
So he really isn’t the type to back out of something like this.
I’d prefer to help him if he ever found himself in a tight spot.
But where’s the fun in that?
I decided to stay as hands-off as possible.
When he says he’ll fight, it means he’s made that resolve.
So I had no intention of stopping him.
Though if even I thought things were too much, I figured we’d escape together.
Well, with Jin-woo’s teleportation alone, that much was child’s play.
After steeling their resolve, Jin-woo chuckled softly.
The Dungeon was conquered.
All the necessary materials had been obtained.
After a meal, one deserves a little dessert, wouldn’t you say?
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
“Chirp!”
“That’s right, Luna—let’s do our best.”
Jin-woo spoke those words and chuckled softly once more.
So, shall we venture into war?
Thus began the historic battle: 3000 versus 3.
* * *
As the majority of forces advanced.
Two black specks appeared in the distance.
Still too far away, they were barely visible.
Just as I wondered if they were players, a voice echoed from afar.
-Is that Kaiser?
The reverberating voice was unmistakable.
Everyone was certain.
It had to be Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol.
Kaiser thought the same.
And just to be sure, he questioned those he’d assigned to shadow them.
The answer was affirmative.
They confirmed it was them.
The moment the Coalition Army appeared in the distance, they provoked first.
Was it recklessness?
Or perhaps carelessness?
No one could know yet.
But one thing was certain.
One side would have to be prepared to die here.
Kaiser thought this and shouted.
“All those capable of ranged attacks—fire at will!”
The executives echoed Kaiser’s command.
“Attack!”
“Use your skills!”
“Fire!”
“Barrage!”
Following the order, everyone unleashed their skills toward the distant figure of Jin-woo.
Magical skills, sword energy, and countless other powerful techniques filled the sky.
As the skill flew toward Jin-woo, who was known as Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol.
In that instant, what had appeared as two points vanished from sight.
Kaiser’s eyes narrowed as he witnessed it.
Had he evaded using a skill?
The moment was so exquisite that only Kaiser had noticed it.
And then.
KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A literal bombardment swept across East Mountain.
An enormous barrage of skills that warped the very terrain itself.
But what good would that do?
If he wasn’t there, it was all for nothing.
Jin-woo, who had clearly been atop East Mountain moments before, now reappeared a kilometer away from the Coalition Army.
And when another shadow beside him swung its hand, a skill came hurtling down.
A considerable area-of-effect skill.
But the numbers here were far greater.
Watching the skill descend, Kaiser ordered several Mages to move.
“Use Dispel.”
But was this Barmon’s doing, after all?
The Dispel from several Mages failed to cancel the skill.
But as they say, quantity conquers all obstacles.
Soon the magical power gradually diminished, and the magic completely vanished before reaching the Coalition Army.
Kaiser pondered as he watched.
This skill could not possibly be Jin-woo’s.
He believed it was a skill Barmon had used.
After all, while they might reduce Jin-woo’s skill through sheer numbers, they couldn’t make it disappear like this.
Therefore, Kaiser shouted.
“Charge!”
Magic alone could not capture Jin-woo.
In fact, it would only give him advantageous high ground.
Even from the videos, hadn’t he possessed skills of tremendous power?
So he issued the order to charge.
Advancing swiftly and attacking Jin-woo would be the wisest course of action.
Kaiser’s thinking was correct.
But.
There was one thing he had overlooked.
A deep rumbling echoed.
Dark clouds gathered overhead, and the surroundings began to darken.
And above them, a massive presence began to take shape.
The skill that had obliterated the Mountain Guild in a single blow not long ago.
That very skill, created by fusing multiple skills together through skill synthesis.
The roar of the Celestial Dragon God unfurled once more.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————