The Regressor Plays the Game Too Well - Chapter 15

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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 15
Episode 15
Venturing deeper into the Deep Forest, I found myself alone.
It’s still too early for most players to reach this far.
At least I won’t draw attention out here—a blessing in disguise.
Wait, you’re wondering why I’m avoiding people if I’m going to stream anyway?
You’re missing the bigger picture.
Even if I stream, I need to keep my character’s true nature hidden as much as possible.
Especially in the early stages.
That way, I won’t face unnecessary interference.
Privacy issues plague streamers everywhere.
‘There’s nothing more irritating than being targeted by obsessive fans.’
Once you start streaming, dealing with those obsessive types becomes inevitable.
That’s precisely why I’m being cautious.
Eventually, my character will be identified—that’s unavoidable.
But concealing it in the early stages protects my personal information.
If obsessive fans or malicious people latch onto me from the start?
Ugh, I don’t even want to imagine it.
I could shake them off eventually, but the hassle alone isn’t worth it.
To minimize that headache, I have no choice.
‘That’s why I’ve kept my party members’ information secret too.’
I needed a party to tackle the advanced quests anyway, so I prepared accordingly.
In the future, this would become standard practice.
Jin-woo glanced back at Tensor, who was struggling to keep up, breathing heavily.
The level difference and stamina gap were inevitable.
An unavoidable reality.
But still—
‘He’s moving painfully slow.’
I wanted to clear this party quest quickly and move on to the next one.
At this rate, it’s going to take much longer.
Sigh. This is exactly what makes party quests so tedious.
Nothing’s more frustrating than being paired with someone who can’t keep pace.
Solo play is so much cleaner.
Well, except for romance, of course.
I’d definitely like to experience romance.
Damn it.
‘At least it’s quieter now than before.’
Watching me hunt seemed to silence his complaints—I appreciated that.
Though he’s still just as slow regardless.
But there’s nothing I can do about that.
At this point, it wouldn’t matter who I teamed up with—the result would be the same.
The only reason we’re managing this much is because Tensor’s level is relatively high.
If that’s the case, they should just remove the party quest altogether.
Tch.
But what can I do when the Developer designed it this way?
No point complaining—I just have to push through.
I can’t exactly submit a complaint to the game support.
‘All the other Beginner Region boss prerequisite quests start with party quests too.’
Nen Village isn’t the only one like this.
Every other region is the same.
The quest content varies, but Nen Village’s quest chain goes something like this.
The prerequisite quest for the regenerating Orc Karan.
Hans’s quest starts with him saying deer have mysteriously become scarce and asking me to save them.
Anyone who’s played games or read novels would see it coming.
The reason the deer are disappearing is because of that regenerating Orc Karan.
The creature that inhabits the Plains has migrated into the forest and been devouring the deer, causing their numbers to plummet.
So Hans, running low on venison, is asking me to bring him some deer meat.
Unpopular meat—just leave it alone.
Wait, so if there’s no quest, I can’t hunt Karan?
No, that’s not how it works.
Anyway.
‘There are other quests besides this one.’
First, I discover the cause of the deer’s disappearance and report it.
Then I complete quests investigating why a new predator has emerged, eventually discovering that a massive orc is the culprit.
After that, I even confirm that Karan’s blood is mixed with troll blood.
A whole epic quest chain!
Before regression, early players suffered tremendously because of this.
Who would have guessed these trivial quests would lead all the way to the regional boss?
‘That’s why most early players ended up staying in the Beginner Region for about a month.’
It was only manageable because the Beginner Region was so vast.
Otherwise, every Beginner Region would have become completely saturated.
Regardless, starting this on day one is legendary.
Moving to the next region on the very first day.
I’m quite looking forward to it.
As Jin-woo wandered through the forest thinking this, something felt off.
Shouldn’t the event trigger soon?
Something’s wrong?
‘The cause of the deer’s disappearance should be visible by now?’
I’d expect a forced event like those that occasionally appear in games.
But it didn’t happen.
Something feels off.
As Jin-woo surveyed his surroundings with a sense of unease, Tensor was breathing heavily as if he might finally live to see another day.
It’s impressive that he made it this far without stopping to rest.
‘Huff, huff, huff. I think I’m going to die.’
I never knew a game could be this exhausting.
Just following along is killing me.
My level is decent too.
And I’m already like this.
There’s always someone greater than you.
I truly had nothing to say.
Showing off in front of someone like that.
Thinking about it again makes me want to die of embarrassment.
Bragging so much over just one Rare Skill.
Ugh, I want to disappear.
As Tensor writhed in shame, Jin-woo quietly warned him to be silent.
“Shh, please be quiet for a moment.”
“Ah, yes.”
No matter how I look at it, something’s wrong.
Shouldn’t we be seeing signs by now?
Why…
‘Could it be?’
Did we arrive too quickly to have discovered any traces yet?
An ominous thought sends chills down my spine.
Just as anxiety began to creep in.
A thought suddenly struck me.
No! Wait!
That can’t be right!
If that were the case, this Quest wouldn’t have been generated in the first place.
There must be traces somewhere.
But why can’t I see them?
‘This is strange.’
Is something interfering?
I should check the other direction as well.
“Let’s try over there.”
“Haaaa, yes.”
* * *
A massive chamber filled with countless monitors glowing brightly.
Or could it even be called a room?
It was larger than most hotel lobbies.
Multiple people were monitoring the countless monitor screens intently.
The woman held the highest position among them.
Her hair was as fine as ebony, yet her face bore considerable exhaustion.
But perhaps because of that?
The atmosphere suited her so well that she appeared quite captivating.
Even her haggard demeanor seemed beautiful as the woman opened her mouth roughly.
“What the hell is that bastard?”
But no one could answer.
No one could possibly know.
The woman sighed softly and gazed at the user displayed on the largest screen.
It was none other than Jin-woo’s gameplay footage.
The woman staring at the screen turned to another woman in formal attire standing beside her and asked.
“Is he a beta tester?”
“No. He’s a user with no play history whatsoever.”
“Then how is he playing so well?”
….
Well, if I knew that, I would have answered already.
What the hell is that guy really?
‘He’s acting like he knows all the game information.’
Look at how he devours all those hidden pieces as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.
This is really frustrating.
How hard did I work to create all of that?
He’s consuming it far too easily!?
“Ugh!”
She ruffled her fine hair irritably.
That’s how frustrated she was.
Hidden pieces, sure, they can be obtained.
They were made to be obtained, sure, they can be obtained.
But for one person to monopolize all of them—isn’t that too much?
Even the most skilled beta tester wasn’t at that level.
“Sigh.”
“Developer, with concurrent users breaking 200 million, couldn’t someone like this naturally emerge?”
“Haaa.”
At the Secretary’s words, the woman called Developer nodded while chewing her lips.
It wasn’t wrong.
I did anticipate that one person would monopolize to some degree.
That much was within expectations.
But here’s the thing.
“Epic crossed the line!”
“…Y-yes, that’s true.”
“No! What kind of rank is Epic! According to our brilliant artificial intelligence Ether’s predictions, it would take at least over a year for Epic to appear! So why is he obtaining it on the very first day!?”
Epic really crossed the line!
Ether, the greatest artificial intelligence that has implemented the most perfect virtual reality, predicted it would take a full year.
Doesn’t that mean at least ten months should have passed?
But why is it appearing from day one like this!
Of course, I’m well aware it’s due to the overlapping effects from multiple First Titles.
I have to be aware.
I’ve been watching the whole time!
I know, but how could you pull something like that!
Just how lucky is this person!
“Even with the First Title effects stacked, the probability is less than 0.00072%!”
“…Wouldn’t that just mean their luck is that good?”
“….”
At the Secretary’s words, my voice simply cut off.
Should I fire her?
That thought crossed my mind for a moment, but… sigh.
She’s not wrong, though.
Exhale.
Calm down.
Still, this should be manageable now.
“Now that concurrent users exceed 200 million, it will be difficult to monopolize further. Haven’t all the beta testers already entered?”
“Sigh.”
That’s true.
Calm down.
“No matter how skilled that user is, they won’t be able to advance to the next region right now.”
“That’s right.”
After the Secretary soothed and comforted me, the Developer let out a small laugh.
Right! It’s hard to break through that right now!
“Currently, there’s the hidden boss Argon.”
“Exactly.”
The hidden boss Argon.
An existence that could be called the forest’s guardian spirit and the forest’s boss.
Above all, isn’t Argon a far more powerful boss than Orc Karan?
Two bosses in the Beginner Region?
Of course, but that means there’s hidden lore behind it.
The original setting was like this.
Here, Argon is closer to a spiritual guardian than a monster.
The forest’s protector.
And Orc Karan is a hybrid of troll and orc.
As I explained before, Orc Karan is still far weaker than Argon.
That’s why he only stayed in the Plains.
But that was only temporary.
‘The story goes that Orc Karan invades the forest because there isn’t much to eat in the Plains.’
The Developer nodded with a satisfied expression.
The deer were disappearing because of Orc Karan’s invasion of the forest.
Of course, Argon wouldn’t just stand by and watch.
When Orc Karan invaded, Argon blocked him.
For now, Orc Karan was defeated and had retreated back to the Plains.
But that’s only this time—next, after Orc Karan regenerates and grows stronger, he’ll return to fight Argon again.
‘Even then, Orc Karan will be weaker, but thanks to his regenerative power, he’ll barely win.’
That’s when the true regional boss, Orc Karan, will be complete.
Plus, he’ll gain the hidden piece obtained from slaying Argon, the spirit creature.
The first user to defeat Orc Karan will obtain that hidden piece as well.
No matter how I look at it, that’s going to be Jin-woo.
The only consolation is that he can’t obtain it right now.
Because right now, Argon is holding that hidden piece.
And when Orc Karan obtains it, he’ll become corrupted, weakening the hidden piece.
I’ll have to be satisfied with just that.
“He’d need to defeat Argon to obtain the complete hidden piece, but is that even possible?”
“That’s right. No matter how I look at it, that player’s stats make it impossible.”
“Of course!”
Argon is absolutely unbeatable!
Even if he’s monopolized all the first-place titles, this is beyond him!
It’s not difficult—it’s impossible!
Look here!
I should ask Ether as well.
“Ether! What’s the probability that player Jin-woo can defeat Argon?”
[Calculating…]
[Calculation complete.]
[The numerical probability is 0.00125%.]
“Hehehehe! Thanks, Ether!”
See? It’s impossible!
So if you meet Argon, you better run away with your tail between your legs!
The Secretary, watching the Developer laugh with satisfaction, finally smiled softly and nodded.
There’s no need to get unnecessarily tense and irritable.
Why is her personality so twisted?
Anyway, it’s fortunate that it ended here.
Thinking that, I was about to observe the other players when—
A chilling thought suddenly occurred to me.
‘What happens if that player reaches level 15 and obtains a good skill?’
For a moment, such an ominous thought crossed my mind, but I shook my head.
No matter how lucky someone is, that doesn’t make sense.
And even if a decent skill appeared as a level-up reward from that place, how good could it really be?
Yeah, that’s right.

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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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