The Regressor Plays the Game Too Well - Chapter 176

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

Episode 176
176
Kaiser’s plan was reasonably sound.
Rushing at Jin-woo first to assess his full strength?
It was necessary.
By all rational logic, I couldn’t have imagined Jin-woo growing stronger from that encounter.
Yet Jin-woo had demonstrated power beyond reason.
More importantly, it was sufficient to overcome the Han-sung Guild without Jin-woo.
This judgment too had been correct.
The Han-sung Guild alone could not have stood against the Kaiser Alliance.
The variables this time were none other than the Barmon Guild and several high-rankers.
Above all, Lin’s presence had been immense.
I hadn’t known that Yuna and Barmon had completed their advancement to the God Series—I’d expected them to attempt the advancement quest, but not that they’d complete it at a level comparable to mine.
Moreover, their combined strength proved unexpectedly formidable.
Yes, had Kaiser maintained his composure even to this point, there might have been some way to overcome them.
In truth, it was no exaggeration to say that Lin alone had tipped the scales of balance.
Lin and the Yellow Dragon possessed devastating power, and Kaiser had been forced to face her alone.
But everything collapsed because of Jin-woo’s pet summoned by the Yellow Dragon.
Beings from a realm utterly beyond reach.
Kaiser didn’t want to admit it, but there was no choice.
Had the scale been larger, Kaiser’s full strength might have resolved it somehow.
But the nature of a 1,000-versus-1,000 guild war made that impossible as well.
With their forces already slightly superior, buffing them with his own enhancements would accomplish nothing.
So he’d attempted to strike Barmon’s headquarters instead—
Now his own headquarters burned before his eyes.
Kaiser gazed around in bewilderment.
“S-stop him!”
“There’s only one of them!”
“You idiot! That’s Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol! How am I supposed to stop him?!”
“Ugh, ahhhhh! Black sword energy incoming!”
“Dodge, dodge!”
“W-where to?!”
His alliance members flailed in panic.
A rabble without discipline.
The commanders had all participated in the guild war.
But this was severe.
Yet Kaiser couldn’t blame them.
Why?
Black sword energy scattered in all directions.
Like a tempest, those blade waves cleaved through the castle of the headquarters without mercy.
Seeing this, Kaiser unconsciously swallowed hard.
Gulp.
Could he truly block that?
No, he didn’t know.
To be precise, he already knew the answer, but he refused to acknowledge it.
Kaiser shouted nonetheless.
“Everyone, calm yourselves!”
“Ah, ah!”
“K-Kaiser is here!”
“D-do you have a plan?”
“If it’s Kaiser, it’s possible!”
Some still bore anxious expressions as they spotted Kaiser and shrank back, while others gazed upon him with renewed hope.
Yet Kaiser, observing them, merely clenched his fists and trembled.
The pallid knuckles revealed just how fiercely he gripped his hands.
Kaiser spoke quietly to them.
“I will step forward.”
With those words, Kaiser strode outside.
The castle was already half-destroyed, and countless subordinates lay dead.
Only one-third of his forces remained.
I had thought Jin-woo would be difficult to defeat even with full strength.
Looking again, that wasn’t even the case.
Rather, even with full strength, annihilation would have been unavoidable.
Kaiser closed his eyes tightly at the sight.
He knew it too.
That he would be defeated as things stood.
And that defeat would strip away everything from him.
Yet despite knowing this, he could not simply accept it and retreat here.
That’s what it meant to be a man.
Even when everything crumbles and hope fades.
There are moments when one must step forward.
For Kaiser, that moment was now.
As Kaiser emerged from the castle.
Jin-woo smiled faintly upon seeing him.
“Beginning to feel it?”
He left the rest unspoken.
Yet Kaiser understood nonetheless.
He was asking if I felt that I could not defeat Jin-woo.
Kaiser could not answer that question.
“….”
He simply grasped his sword in silence and raised it.
Before, we fought on equal footing.
Now, I fight while possessing everything.
Kaiser regarded Jin-woo with that sentiment.
He raised his sword, yet no path to victory over that man came to mind.
But to simply stand idle here felt far too pathetic.
Even if it meant descending into deeper despair.
I could not stop here.
So Kaiser activated his most powerful buff upon himself.
“God of War.”
With that cry, a golden aura rippled across Kaiser’s body.
A buff that even Luna couldn’t overcome?
No, the circumstances were different now.
Back then, his subordinates numbered less than a thousand.
This buff was a skill that strengthened him proportional to the number of subordinates remaining on the battlefield.
In other words, the hundreds of thousands of alliance members still present became the source of his power.
He wasn’t fighting while expecting defeat.
He was pouring everything he had into reaching Jin-woo.
If even this fails to reach him?
Then… no, I refused to entertain such thoughts.
“…Here I come.”
Jin-woo felt Kaiser’s increased strength and let out a soft chuckle.
Simultaneously, his sword radiated a violet aura while crimson vapor-like energy erupted forth.
Beyond that, multicolored light enveloped Jin-woo.
Kaiser could perceive it as he watched.
He too was showing his full power.
So that neither would harbor regrets in this final clash.
Behind Jin-woo’s back, the form of a dragon god materialized.
A colossal dragon god form that consumed all energies within itself.
The aura was so intense it made his skin tingle, but Kaiser paid it no mind.
He simply unleashed his full strength.
He did not rush forward with speed.
He merely walked quietly toward Jin-woo.
Similarly, Jin-woo walked toward Kaiser.
Both moved simultaneously.
The distance between them rapidly closed, and soon they were within striking range of each other’s blades.
Both drew their swords at the same moment.
Kaiser swung his sword wreathed in golden aura, while Jin-woo wielded his blade in his right hand, its black sword spirit gleaming.
As if time flowed slowly, the two blades met with deliberate grace, and light burst forth.
The collision of their respective auras.
As divine energies clashed and brilliant light erupted fiercely, both Jin-woo and Kaiser could see through that radiance.
Clang.
Jin-woo’s blade severed Kaiser’s sword, and then severed Kaiser himself in that breathtaking moment.
It was such a natural motion that it appeared as an inevitable outcome—a peculiar sight to behold.
Yet Kaiser merely smiled faintly as if it were only natural, then closed his eyes.
The blade that had cut through Kaiser also cleaved the castle that stood behind him.
The castle and Kaiser, both split in half.
Thus the tempest of the blade consumed them both entirely.
Crash—kaboom, kaboom, kaboom, kaboom, kaboom, kaboom, kaboom, kaboom!
The colossal whirlwind of the blade swept away the castle and every member of the alliance within it.
Jin-woo watched it unfold and smiled faintly, then nodded in satisfaction.
“Phew, the plan worked out perfectly.”
Though it seemed less like the plan succeeded and more like Jin-woo’s overwhelming power had simply prevailed.
In any case, it was over.
* * *
After the guild war ended.
Predictably, the internet was ablaze with heated discussion about the results.
-LMAOOO Kaiser though LMAOOOOO
-That’s hilarious LMAOOO
-How did he beat Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol? The Han-sung Guild and Barmon Guild without Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol couldn’t even beat him.
-LMAOOO so it’s Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol’s team without Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol.
-Ah LOL they said it was a balance patch. Guess he didn’t think he’d lose LMAOOO
-What was Kaiser even thinking picking a fight?
-LMAOOO Kaiser’s username is funny too.
It was less conversation and more mockery.
But Kaiser deserved it.
There were all the things Kaiser had done up until now—it was only natural.
Some people were quite concerned about such matters.
Wondering if a new hegemony was being born.
-But if Kaiser’s done for, doesn’t Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol take that position?
-Exactly;; So isn’t it just the same old same old???
-Wouldn’t it actually get worse?
-More than Kaiser? I don’t think so, but isn’t dictatorship still dictatorship either way?
Concerns did arise.
But they didn’t last long.
It was only natural.
-LOL if Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol wanted to do that from the start, Kaiser wouldn’t have dared to act up;;;;
-That’s true!
-LMAO Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol was never that kind of person anyway. Han-sung Guild and Barmon Guild are both just people who enjoy the game!
-Not sure about Han-sung, but Barmon definitely just wants to enjoy the game! Han-sung is a corporation though so I’m not entirely sure about them.
-Nah my friend works at Han-sung so I know they do operate like a corporate entity, but since they can succeed without monopolies and such, they avoid dictatorship to protect their brand image. Apparently taking down Kaiser this time was part of that strategy?
-Trying to improve her image?
-Yes!!!
-Yuna’s really sharp;;;;
-Of course! I’ve never met a beautiful woman who wasn’t smart!
Haha, how many pretty girls do you even know?
-My mom.
You’re right, haha
Countless theories circulated.
But ultimately, they had no choice but to acknowledge it.
That Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol would not rule with an iron fist like the Kaiser Alliance.
In fact, the major guilds that had attempted tyranny now watched his every move.
It was only natural.
They had heard that the Kaiser Alliance’s headquarters had completely collapsed.
They heard that over millions of Kaiser Alliance members had scattered, absorbed into other guilds, and they heard that some had even returned to their original guilds before the alliance formed.
But one thing was certain.
-I used to be in the Kaiser Alliance, and I’m absolutely not touching Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol’s mood;;-
-????Why? I heard the headquarters got raided? What happened?
-No, he just decomposed the entire castle with a single sword. Anyone who was actually there would know. The mountain behind it just vanished too.
“With just one sword, he literally dismantled the entire Castle. The people who were actually there would know. Even the Mountain behind it just vanished.”
-I saw it in clips too, but was that really something one player did?
-Yeah; I actually got hit and I logged out before the damage even registered?
-yep; I know because I’m really right, but I was logged out before any damage was done?
-That’s what I’m saying.
-Ah, doesn’t that show up in the video?
Everyone trembled with fear, but conversely, they found themselves anticipating my next video all the more.
How would the next video turn out?
What would my next move be?
Everyone could only wait in anticipation.
After all, I was the one who had single-handedly overcome the tyranny that had plagued every user operating in the Bark Empire.
To them, I was nothing short of a hero.
They were curious about what I would do next.
Meanwhile, many had also begun to worry about my actions.
-But is there even Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol content right now?
-Well, that’s true;; Honestly, there’s no content at all.
-So that’s why everyone’s curious about what comes next, right?
-After the Kaiser collapse video, what’s the next one gonna be?
Just as everyone was burning with curiosity.
A new video was uploaded to my channel.
It wasn’t about the Kaiser.
It wasn’t Kaiser’s video.
Nothing more than a brief video clip, much like a preview for the next broadcast.
And in that video….
-Drive out the Emperor of the Baroque Empire who drinks the blood of his people!
-The tyrannical Emperor must step down!
-There is a rightful successor here!
-The usurper Emperor must now abdicate!
Several knights of the Empire shouting these words on video.
And countless soldiers and knights stood behind them in the footage that played.
Everyone’s reaction upon seeing it was similar.
-A rebellion?
Something far too massive to be called mere content had been teased.
-Wait, the Demon Realm actually appeared, and now the Emperor is real too;;;;

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