The Regressor Plays the Game Too Well - Chapter 34
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 34
Episode 34
The Sword God, the Bow God, the Demon God.
These three were rankers frequently discussed before the regression.
And they were among the highest-ranked ones at that.
The Sword God, Kaiser.
The Bow God, Han Yu-na.
And the Demon God, Barmon.
Naturally, they were the unwavering figures who never failed to appear in the top five rankings.
Jin-woo had always looked up to them with reverence.
Yet here I was, obtaining the Demon God Barmon’s skill.
‘No, I didn’t even expect to get an Epic grade again.’
As I explained before, most users believed that Unique grade was practically the final tier.
Why, you ask?
Because Epic grades appeared so rarely.
Yet here I was, obtaining not one but two Epic grades in just two days?
This was absolutely absurd.
And one of them was Asir’s Curse, no less?
Asir’s Curse of Epic+ grade?
‘Asir’s Curse is truly overwhelming.’
Just look at its effect.
It transfers all types of damage to a designated target.
In other words.
‘While Asir’s Curse is active, all HP consumption effects transfer as well.’
It’s a truly broken skill.
For instance, suppose there’s a self-destruct type skill that consumes 90% HP and triggers an explosion.
If I activate Asir’s Curse and trigger it?
The target takes damage equal to the HP consumed, plus the explosion damage on top of that.
Goodness, this is the kind of skill that makes you involuntarily ask about someone’s family circumstances.
Even though the Demon God Barmon’s job class was among the pinnacle of grand sorcerers, there was a reason he adopted Asir’s Curse despite its MP consumption.
It was that powerful.
‘Grand sorcerer classes require serious MP management, yet he used it.’
There had to be sufficient benefits to justify it.
And now I had obtained one of the Demon God Barmon’s primary skills.
This was truly massive.
Moreover, I had a suitable skill to pair with it.
None other than Berserker.
‘While Asir’s Curse is active, Berserker’s consumption will transfer to my opponent.’
Insane.
I had unexpectedly obtained a truly formidable skill.
Fireball isn’t bad, but this is the real deal.
Overwhelming.
If I’ve obtained something good, I need to test it immediately.
Besides, I have a Quest to start in the morning.
And fortunately, I have plenty of time right now.
So who should I test it on?
Someone comes to mind.
‘Skull Golem?’
A level 50s boss!
That creature would make an excellent test subject.
Besides, didn’t I just hunt one earlier?
I can check how much faster I defeat it compared to before.
There’s nothing quite like a boss for verifying stat improvements.
And if I defeat one, I should level up as well.
Then I’ll gain another skill—even better.
‘I’m going right now.’
Strike while the iron is hot, as they say.
I’m heading there now.
Skull Golem.
* * *
A cemetery deep within, teeming with undead.
Surrounded entirely by graves, it was a place where undead spawned naturally in abundance.
Not mere skeletons, but undead of considerable standing dwelled here.
Ghouls, acid zombies, and more.
The field was densely populated with high-level undead, not common ones.
A place that appeared to be around level 50s.
With no users present, the undead wandered leisurely and played.
Though they were denizens of death, there was peace here.
A place where no one suffered.
And in that place, a massive monster surveyed it all with satisfaction.
“Grrrrgh.”
The boss of this field.
The Skull Golem.
Later, it would receive plenty of curses from users.
But not here, not now.
A respected boss that all undead revered!
That was the Skull Golem.
However.
“Grrrrgh?”
“Hello?”
A human approached with a bright, cheerful smile.
It was utterly strange.
Normally, humans would flee at the sight of me or cower in fear.
Otherwise, they would attack with murderous intent—that was the natural response.
No matter how I looked at it, this human was anything but normal.
Even the power I sensed from him seemed weak.
It meant his level was low.
Yet he dared to challenge me.
Humans truly are foolish.
“Grrrrgh!”
Upon detecting the human, the Skull Golem began to move.
Regardless, the intruder had to be eliminated.
That was what I was created to do.
I would attack this human!
I took a step forward and extended my massive hand.
He wouldn’t even have time to react before being crushed to death!
In that moment.
A sinister, violet-blue aura began to seep from the human’s body.
Something felt ominous.
But it was already too late to retract the hand I had extended.
Boom! Boom!
My two hands had struck with undeniable force.
Yet something was wrong, even though I had attacked the human.
“Grrgh!”
Why was I the one in pain?
The human, on the other hand, seemed perfectly fine.
This made no sense.
Then the human muttered something.
“Yeah, the performance is solid.”
“Grrgh!”
I couldn’t understand what he was saying.
I had to attack him somehow.
It was likely because the human had activated that violet-blue aura.
If that was the case, I couldn’t remain idle.
The Skull Golem’s body began to darken.
It was none other than my skill—Black Bone.
As my defense strengthened, my pale body turned black.
With this, even he wouldn’t be able to do anything to me.
But why then?
“Berserker.”
This time, red vapor began to pour from the creature’s body.
And the pain that followed was unmistakable.
“What…?!”
I was caught off guard by the relentless assault.
And it wasn’t even weak.
How was this possible?
The human hadn’t done anything at all.
I had to deal with this somehow.
The intruder had to be stopped…
But when I tried to close in, I found myself overwhelmed.
Ten bullets materialized from thin air in an instant, blocking my approach.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
While the explosions left me reeling.
A sound of roaring flames erupted from somewhere.
Whoooosh!
The human’s hand ignited without warning.
And there appeared a fireball the size of a child’s head.
He hurled it without hesitation.
“Grrgh!”
The Skull Golem, massive though it was, moved its body with surprising speed.
The fireball passed to the side.
I dodged it.
The ten bullets from before had been too fast to evade, but this was different.
The projectile’s velocity was slower than expected.
Now it was my turn to attack the human.
But what was this?
Boom! Whoooosh!
“Ughhhh…”
I writhed in agony.
And the pain continued, tightening around me with each passing moment.
My life force drained away with every second.
At this rate, I would truly perish.
The moment that thought crossed my mind.
Ten more bullets materialized.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
There was no way to dodge these.
And the force was far greater than I imagined.
There was nothing I could do.
No matter how I tried to attack the human, he simply evaded with swift precision.
And with that, it counterattacks with its axe.
Crash! Crash!
The force behind it is no trivial matter.
Its level appeared lower, yet…
How is this possible?
I cannot comprehend it at all.
The moment I move to attack again, the human vanishes in an instant.
When I regain my senses, an axe comes crashing down from above my head.
Crack!
“Grraaahhh!”
The pain is unbearable.
Is it finally over?
No—the agony continues, relentless with every passing moment.
That violet-tinged ominous aura inflicts endless suffering upon me.
Every instant, every second.
Pain upon pain.
I must do something.
At this rate, there will be no end.
Sensing the danger, the Skull Golem’s response was predictable.
A skill that activates once its vitality drops below a certain threshold.
Wave Barrier.
A skill where all the skulls embedded in its body unleash waves, defending while simultaneously attacking.
“Oh, already Phase Two? That was quick.”
The human speaks as if unbothered.
But surely now it would end.
With this barrier, I could finally block its attacks, could I not?
Even those relentless assaults?
But that did not happen.
“What…?”
As if asking why.
The Skull Golem’s expression seems frozen in confusion.
That violet-tinged ominous aura continues to torment me.
Despite the Wave Barrier being active.
The human deliberately steps inside the barrier, willingly taking damage.
But why?
Wait…
“How is it? The effect is certain, isn’t it?”
The pain that had been mounting suddenly intensifies.
Could it be…?
But realization comes too late.
The Skull Golem met an unjust end, dying with regrets to the very last.
A massive axe embedded itself in its skull.
Crack!
That was the Skull Golem’s final moment.
[You have slain the boss!]
[Through the Hidden Boss Killer effect, you gain an additional stat point.]
[You acquire substantial experience points!]
[Level up!]
[You have acquired an additional stat point.]
[You have reached Level 35.]
[You acquire the skill ‘Cleave’.]
“Excellent.”
As expected, I leveled up.
The experiment was a success.
Much faster than before.
Though it wasn’t a Named monster or a Hidden Boss, mind you.
Still, the results were tangible.
I cleared Phase 2 in less than a minute.
I could definitely tell I’d gotten faster.
I’ve become incredibly strong.
But the level-up reward is a bit underwhelming.
『Cleave』
*Grade: Normal
*Level: 1
→Delivers a powerful slash, dealing 400% of your attack power as cleave damage. Low chance to inflict status ailments, including bleeding.
→Consumes 100 MP
→Cooldown: 1 minute
‘Well, Cleave is…’
A skill called Cleave.
A Normal skill with a cooldown of a whole minute.
At least Powerful Strike has a short cooldown of 10 seconds.
Its utility is limited.
Still, since it can inflict status ailments.
I’ll probably use it from time to time.
Then again, a basic attack might be better than using this.
Well, I already have Asir’s Curse and Fireball anyway.
‘Fireball proved quite useful.’
With explosion damage and burn effects included.
It was more effective than I’d anticipated.
Above all, Asir’s Curse was formidable.
I’ve transferred all of the Berserker’s consumption.
In the end, even with the Berserker’s consumption and dot damage factored in, it didn’t die quickly.
And it even reflects the damage I receive?
It’s practically invincible!
Plus, there’s an actual invincibility skill too.
The problem is the MP consumption is too severe.
But that’s manageable.
I can turn it off whenever I want.
‘This is a truly broken skill.’
Well, my level must have increased too.
Let me check my stats.
[Jin-woo]
*Level: 35
*Title: 『Irregular』 and 40 others
*Strength – 123 (82+41)
*Stamina – 123 (82+41)
*Agility – 123 (82+41)
*Mana – 123 (82+41)
*Bonus Stats – 29
Wow.
No matter how many times I see it, these stats are brutal.
Heh, and on top of that, I’ve hunted quite a few high-level monsters getting this far.
A whopping seventy-six!
I was thinking of hunting more when I noticed dawn breaking in the distance.
Since I can see it anyway, the path to the Sword God probably has four more stages.
I’ll take it slow.
But there’s something more important.
‘I need to get to the Mayor’s residence soon.’
He’s quite the VIP, after all.
I’ve confirmed the skill’s performance.
I should hurry.
* * *
The Jihoken Family was an ancient and distinguished house.
For generations, they had served as the ruling family of the Free City Felsia’s Mayor.
They had always been upright and virtuous.
The current Marquis Jihokin was no exception.
A righteous noble who cared for his citizens more than anyone else.
He could not be anything but a true nobleman.
Ben, the family’s steward, had served the Jihoken Family for many years and always felt pride in doing so.
The noble he served was worthy of everyone’s respect.
‘I am certainly a person worthy of serving the Marquis.’
Perhaps that was why.
There was a hint of arrogance in his demeanor.
Why was it that those who served nobility often deluded themselves into thinking they were nobility as well?
Ben was precisely such a person.
So when he laid eyes on the shabby adventurer who had come seeking an audience with Marquis Jihokin, he couldn’t help but furrow his brow.
“Heh, well, the Guard Captain said I should come see the Mayor, you see?”
It was none other than Jin-woo.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————