The Regressor Plays the Game Too Well - Chapter 20

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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 20
Episode 20
Pantheon.
With the entire world anticipating and waiting for this game, its success was extraordinary.
At first, reviews barely appeared.
Why?
Obviously, everyone was too busy playing Pantheon to leave reviews.
They were all consumed by the game.
Concurrent players reached a staggering 200 million.
It had already earned the title of “the greatest game of this century” even before launch.
And only after considerable time passed did the internet begin to heat up.
Why?
Because that’s when access restrictions kicked in, forcing everyone to log out.
Only then did journalists scramble to write their articles.
[“PewDiePie declares: ‘Pantheon is undoubtedly the greatest game of this century!'”]
[“No one imagined a 10-hour play limit would feel so short.”]
[“Everyone who’s played it can only shower Pantheon with praise!”]
[“Why is Pantheon such a phenomenon? Dr. Han Chul-moon explains”]
[“Soaring from day one! Pantheon! Where does its potential end!”]
Articles decorated the internet endlessly.
Everyone was ecstatic.
A game like this naturally deserved such acclaim.
No one disagreed.
Though only the first day had passed, everyone felt it.
This was truly a massive success.
Pantheon will lead the next industry!
Such talk was already circulating.
You could easily tell just how massive the success was.
And some people had already realized it.
‘Whoever leads Pantheon will lead the next industry.’
Naturally, it was still only the first day.
Everyone was watching and waiting.
But one thing was certain.
Competition would become fierce starting tomorrow.
You had to secure your position faster than anyone else.
That’s what the quick-witted ones thought.
Among them, Jin-woo, ahead of everyone else, remained remarkably calm.
Why?
Because right now, everyone was equal due to the play time restrictions.
‘Besides, I’m already further ahead than I expected.’
Someone actually ahead of me?
Is that even possible?
No way. I’m not just guessing—I’m certain of it.
Beta testers?
They’re just beta testers, nothing more.
Trying to compete with a regressor? How absurd!
A regressor’s advantage is absolute.
Well, they have their reasons for saying so.
Since the tutorial offers rewards, most don’t skip it and secure the first titles before moving on.
Of course, that alone doesn’t amount to much.
But I’ve thoroughly claimed every other hidden piece as well.
Someone ahead of me here?
Impossible.
That was Jin-woo’s certainty.
Crack, crack.
Ugh, I’m dying here.
Gaming is genuinely exhausting.
Back then, I just sat in front of a computer—so convenient.
Now I’m stuck motionless inside a capsule, and my whole body is stiff as hell.
They say it’ll improve once better capsules come out later.
But right now, it’s absolutely killing me.
Listen to that cracking sound.
Man, I really need to exercise regularly.
I stretched out my stiff shoulders and body haphazardly before stepping out of the capsule.
Checking the time, it was late dawn.
Well, that makes sense.
I’d been playing for ten straight hours.
It opened at four in the afternoon.
Now it’s two in the morning.
Everything’s fine except for that blasted play-time limit.
Without it, there’d probably be a lot of deaths.
Is that actually a good thing?
Who cares! I want to play more!
I thought it mindlessly, but truthfully, it was a necessary safeguard.
Ten hours is already plenty of time.
Plus they let me play again after a two-hour rest.
I suppose I should be satisfied with this.
Health concerns are the biggest issue.
If I’d played longer, I might’ve developed bedsores.
Ugh, that’s something I’d rather avoid.
The mere thought of it is horrifying.
So should I sleep for two hours and then play again?
Tsk, tsk. You lack the qualities of a true gamer.
That’s right! No way! I can’t succeed like this! Not happening!
‘It’s still early in the game, so I need to push myself.’
With that thought, Jin-woo immediately sat down at his computer.
Gaming in the capsule and then gaming again?
No.
Even if I’m obsessed with games, I wouldn’t do that.
It’s because of editing, nothing else!
“Yaaaaaawn!”
I stared at the screen with a long, drawn-out yawn.
I’d love to sleep, but there’s no helping it.
Two hours is cutting it pretty close for editing.
But it’s doable.
Am I good at editing?
I’d say I’m quite skilled at it.
Honestly, I could’ve made a decent living as a professional editor.
Back in the day, I didn’t have money, so I did all the editing myself.
So am I going to edit the Orc Karan raid footage I just recorded?
No, that material’s too valuable to use just yet.
The video I’m editing this time is none other than….
‘Hidden Dungeon footage! Cobolt’s Lost Land!’
That alone is more than enough.
PanTube—the video platform that existed even before the Pantheon was created.
It was built after consuming the once-massive MiTube.
Though calling it “newly made” is generous—they just renamed the old MiTube and switched the system management to AI.
But honestly, that alone was sufficient.
It was already a well-made platform to begin with.
Anyway, should I start editing?
‘Hmm, but what concept should I go with?’
I pretended to ponder, but I’d already decided on something.
At first, I considered doing it like a mad movie.
But that’s rejected.
Why?
Because the Karan video already ended up being funny, so there’s no helping it.
I could probably salvage it with editing somehow.
But honestly, what I’ve always been better at isn’t cool mad movies—it’s comedy.
Yeah, you should stick to what you’re good at.
Trying to force something unfamiliar is how you end up ruining everything.
‘Right, I’ll edit it like a proper broadcast.’
I’d done it that way before the regression and found decent success with it.
Since anyone would watch a Hidden Dungeon video anyway, the editing style probably doesn’t matter much?
Well, either way it’s fine.
Doing what I do best puts me at ease and feels right.
So why not show off a little skill?
I opened the editing software to whip something together quickly.
The virtual reality video editor was already second nature to me, so I finished faster than expected.
Still took nearly two hours though.
“Phew! Done.”
After gaming for ten straight hours, hunching over the computer in an awkward position left my entire body aching.
Time for some stretching.
After loosening up a bit, I felt somewhat better.
Ah, now I can breathe.
So all that’s left is choosing a title and uploading the video?
Hmm.
‘This part always gives me trouble.’
The title was always the hardest part.
It needed clickbait appeal, but also had to hint at the content.
Including the content itself wasn’t difficult.
The real challenge was crafting something intriguing enough to grab attention.
Before the regression, I’d spent countless hours agonizing over this.
But experience doesn’t disappear.
I stared at the title I’d created for a long while, smacking my lips thoughtfully.
‘Should I change it to something else?’
It didn’t seem bad.
Though it looked a bit cheap somehow.
Should I think about it more?
But nothing better came to mind.
Tsk, this is the only thing I can come up with.
Can’t be helped.
I’ll just upload it as is.
The deliberation was long, but the decision was swift.
The title of the video I uploaded was rather striking.
[The Emperor Trembles, the Demon Realm Despairs—What is the Hidden Dungeon’s True Identity?!]
Watching the video upload, I smiled with satisfaction.
A clickbait title needs to have this much punch.
It feels a bit weak, but this should do.
“So, should I head back in?”
Since it’s the first day, I should probably take it easy.
You have to struggle in the early game to live comfortably in the late game—that’s just how it works!
And so Jin-woo logged back into Pantheon.
Wasn’t it thrilling?
The next region: Free City Felsia.
There were plenty of opportunities to exploit there as well.
* * *
As Pantheon dominated the headlines, certain figures naturally surfaced into the public eye.
None other than the beta testers.
Naturally, many voiced their concerns about these beta testers.
It was an understandable reaction.
Having already experienced the game was a far greater advantage than most realized.
It was enough to spark accusations of unfair play.
A predictable narrative.
Information, after all, was an extraordinarily potent force.
The Developer, Lee Yeon, was acutely aware of this reality.
It would be absurd for her not to be.
That’s why she implemented beta tester restrictions.
It was essential.
What she created was an increased tutorial difficulty and the inability to skip it.
Options applied exclusively to beta testers.
In a typical game, this might have been prohibitively difficult, but with the artificial intelligence Ether, it was entirely manageable.
Most beta testers voiced their displeasure, though they refrained from formal protest.
They recognized it as a reasonably fair measure.
This was golden balance.
As a result, general players’ grievances were somewhat mollified.
Of course, some remained dissatisfied regardless.
Well, they needed to adjust their attitudes.
If she’d done this much, they should show gratitude—how much longer would they complain?
Still, the beta testers’ progression was swift.
Well, naturally.
She’d recruited skilled players for the testing phase in the first place.
Even with increased difficulty slowing them down, they’d inevitably outpace ordinary players.
And Dave was one of those beta testers.
‘Hmm, as expected.’
After exhausting his playtime, his next action was predictable.
Sitting down at his computer.
Naturally, to observe Pantheon’s reception.
Well, it was as he’d anticipated.
Everyone was ecstatic, while some expressed their reservations.
They feared a world changing too rapidly.
Wherever you go, there are always people like this.
They voice their concerns constantly.
They claim to express regret, but they’re the type who never actually help.
Dave didn’t bother with such people.
Paying attention to them only wasted precious time.
It was far more worthwhile to spend that time reading one more article or post about the Pantheon.
‘What videos have been uploaded?’
After checking articles and various community reactions, I naturally logged into PanTube.
I was a beta tester.
Among them, I ranked quite high.
Compared to those monstrous players, I fell somewhat short, but excluding them, I could confidently say I ranked quite well.
Yet even so, it still wasn’t enough.
As mentioned before, there were those monstrous players too.
Only through endless effort could I surpass them.
Or rather, I’d be fortunate just to reach their level.
‘As expected, many videos are being uploaded from the start.’
This was when the Pantheon was beginning.
Naturally, establishing a foothold at this moment was the wise choice.
Wasn’t Dave himself sending footage to an editing company right after recording?
It took some time for quality, though.
I thought it was a necessary process.
The video should be finished by tomorrow.
It wasn’t that late, really.
What interesting videos were trending right now?
The real-time popular videos section made that clear.
While browsing, I spotted a video title that caught my eye.
“The Emperor’s Shock, the Demon Realm’s Despair—What is the Hidden Dungeon’s True Identity?”
I was so startled that I swallowed hard.
Could this information be real?
Such a sensational title.
Faced with this unfamiliar bait, I found myself tensing up.
What kind of video was this?
Information that even I, a beta tester, didn’t know about.
I couldn’t help but be intrigued.
Was that why?
‘The ranking is quite high too.’
It had climbed to number 11 in the real-time popular videos.
When I checked again just now, it had risen to number 10.
Which country was this video made in?
Since Ether provided real-time translation, I could now watch videos from any country freely.
Upon checking, it was Korea.
‘Korea had always been superior in gaming compared to any other nation.’
Among the beta testers, there were quite a few Koreans as well.
And among them, there were quite a number of monstrous players.
Could one of them have pulled this off?
So it was a Korean after all.
Their true strength remains unfathomable.
Dave clicked on the video with a somewhat tense expression.
The introduction was no different from any other video.
Except for the text.
[You have discovered the Hidden Dungeon ‘Cobolt’s Lost Land’!]
[As the first discoverer, experience and drop rates increase by 2x upon clearing.]
[You are the first to discover a Hidden Dungeon.]
[You have obtained the First Title ‘*** ***’.]
“Oh my God!”
It really is a Hidden Dungeon.
Seeing the sensational title, he’d harbored some suspicion that it might be clickbait.
How could it not be?
But it’s actually real!?
Then why on earth would the Emperor be shocked and the Demon Realm be in despair!?
‘Wait, has information about the Demon Realm even been revealed!?’
Information about the Demon Realm that he hadn’t known even during the beta test.
And the Emperor on top of that?
Dave himself had only been able to confirm the Emperor’s existence from a distance, yet the Emperor was astonished?
Did this even make sense?
But seeing it trending in real-time rankings, there might be something to it.
Uploading such a video already?
Isn’t that far too early?
A teaser about the Demon Realm?
Or perhaps cooperation with the Empire?
I’m far too curious.
‘Come on, I need to watch this video quickly.’
Typical Brit.
Weak resistance to sensationalism.
Dave watched the video in a state of considerable immersion.
And he could tell the video’s creator was quite skilled.
Of course, the reason why the Emperor was shocked and the Demon Realm was in despair never appeared.
Naturally.
‘The movements are remarkably clean!’
An impressive player indeed.
A beta tester?
I didn’t recognize the face, but then again, I didn’t know every beta tester either.
Besides, neither the Emperor nor the Demon Realm had appeared yet.
It would be disappointing, but the video creator’s exceptional skill more than compensated for it, so I wasn’t particularly let down.
There was a reason this video ranked so high.
The quality itself was excellent too.
The problem was.
‘Cobolt already?’
This was far too fast.
I was among the more skilled beta testers myself, wasn’t I?
But I’d only managed to defeat Cobolt right before the beta ended.
The fact that this video was already out meant they were faster than Dave, at least.
Moreover, this user had soloed an entire dungeon.
Especially in the boss fight—the display was extraordinary.
I felt a chill watching such an overwhelming performance.
‘Right now, someone like me would struggle just to look up to them.’
Every skill timing, every movement—it was nearly an art form.
This user would rank among the other beta testers who’d been called monsters.
But I had my own advantages too, didn’t I?
It’s difficult now, but if I just hold on a bit longer, I can close the gap.
‘At most, there’ll be about a 3-level difference.’
Experience becomes harder to gain as you progress.
I’m sure I’ll catch up soon enough.
‘I’m level 11 now, so if I use the information I have, I’ll catch up in no time.’
Of course, he was completely wrong.
Listen here! Our Jin-woo hyung has already surpassed level 20~, that’s what I’m saying!
Dave, unaware of this fact, was lost in vain dreams.
Well, let’s just leave it at that.
They say ignorance is bliss, after all.
In any case, many users, like Dave, began to take notice of Jin-woo.
A talent hidden in a sheath, as they say.
But a protruding nail gets hammered down.
Many wanted to know which region Jin-woo was playing in.
Recruitment or suppression.
Either way, their own gameplay was more important right now.
Meanwhile, at that very moment, Jin-woo was.
Heading to the Village to clear quests in preparation for the next region, Free City Felsia.
“Let’s goooo!”

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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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