The Regressor Plays the Game Too Well - Chapter 88

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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 88
Episode 88
Isn’t this way too easy?
No, wait—I must just be that good!
Jin-woo watched the golem charging toward him with that thought.
The creature attacked with two long arms like a mosquito’s legs.
Seeing this, Jin-woo deliberately thrust his left shoulder forward to take the blow.
Then, through the crimson mist, a black aura materialized.
It was Asir’s curse.
Crash!
The tremendous damage that should have struck Jin-woo was transferred entirely to the golem instead.
The golem hesitated for a moment, clearly wounded by the considerable impact.
But the instant Jin-woo’s shoulder took the blow, he leveraged that force to spin rapidly and drove Gram directly into the creature’s head.
Crunch!
The golem’s head was pierced clean through, its body crumbling to dust.
Watching this, Jin-woo smirked.
This really is too easy.
Unbelievable.
I’m not even nervous anymore.
Level 150 and above dungeons with five-person parties don’t even get my heart racing now.
Should I push deeper?
Even as Jin-woo thought this, he smacked his lips with disappointment.
Why the disappointment?
Isn’t it obvious?
‘If I’d leveled up, that would’ve been incredible.’
Still, they said experience was accumulating.
Once I do the second run, I’ll cash it in and level up immediately.
With that thought, he endured the immediate frustration.
Really, what else could I do about it?
I just have to think of it as saving up.
And thinking about it that way actually feels pretty sweet.
Leveling up all at once?
‘Oh yeah.’
I can’t resist a massive level jump like that.
Let me clear this place quickly and get to the second run.
The moment Jin-woo made that decision.
A massacre of golems ensued.
No matter how powerful the golems were, they were no match for Jin-woo armed with Asir’s curse and Berserker.
The Sage’s Extreme reduced the mana consumption of Asir’s curse.
And maintaining it was going remarkably well.
Above all, Berserk allowed for virtually infinite sustained use.
“Phew! That’s refreshing!”
As I said this, I chuckled softly while watching the golems I’d defeated.
It took just over an hour, roughly speaking.
To defeat over a hundred golems?
That meant I spent no more than a minute on each one.
Against regular monsters of the same level, a party would consider five minutes fast.
Yet here I was, clearing over a hundred monsters in an hour?
And those monsters were even higher level than me?
That’s what you’d call abnormal specs.
More than that, without exceptional control, it would be absolutely impossible.
But now I had acquired all of it.
Abnormal specs and incredible control.
‘At this rate, I could actually win the championship, couldn’t I?’
For a moment I thought that, but then I shook my head.
No matter what, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself.
Times like these require managing expectations.
If I act cocky and lose, how embarrassing would that be?
I need to stay grounded.
With that thought, I stared at the door blocking my path ahead.
‘Hmm.’
It was hard to believe this was already the boss.
But considering the difficulty, it was possible.
It was easy because it was me—the monsters themselves were at an absurd level.
A five-person party of level 150 or higher would have struggled considerably.
At least the golems came one at a time, which was fortunate.
So what about the boss?
Honestly, I didn’t think it would take that long.
And for good reason.
‘I still have Space Slash left. What do I have to worry about?’
I still had Space Slash saved up, after all.
This video was being filmed with close combat as the focus rather than magic.
Even without using magic, Space Slash was something different entirely.
With that thought, I stared at the massive door standing before me.
And sure enough, a message appeared.
It was basically asking if I was ready to face the boss.
I shouted while ignoring the message.
“I’m going in.”
There was no point in hesitating.
As I shouted this.
Creak, creak, creak, creak.
The massive door began to open.
True to its name as the Abandoned Dragon’s Nest, the cavern was impressively vast.
As I stepped inside, I could see a golem constructed from bones that glowed a deep crimson.
A creature with bones of red and flesh equally scarlet.
It looked far too human to be called a golem, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Could something like this really be the boss?
I’d suspected as much, but I never thought it would actually appear.
[The boss of the Abandoned Dragon’s Nest, ‘Weakened Dragon Fang Soldier’, is watching you.]
None other than a Dragon Fang Soldier.
A golem commonly known to be crafted from dragon teeth and dragon blood.
Naturally, because it carried even a fragment of draconic power, it was renowned as an exceptionally formidable monster.
When a Dragon Fang Soldier last appeared, it was in a raid for hunters in the late level 200s.
But since this one was called a Weakened Dragon Fang Soldier…
It would certainly be weaker than that.
Still, a weakened Dragon Fang Soldier was still a Dragon Fang Soldier.
Chuckling at the thought, I maintained both Berserker and Asir’s curse while recovering all my health and mana.
Then I activated every buff I could use.
I used Allrounder for agility too, and deployed every available buff.
The Dragon Fang Soldier moved.
With a creaking sound and visibly cracked exterior.
It certainly did look weakened.
But.
‘Insane!’
Even with all my buffs active, its speed was shocking enough to make me gasp.
Had I not arched my back in that instant, I would have been impaled on its spear.
Dodging the spear as it swept past me, I twisted my arched back and performed a somersault through the air.
But seeing this, the Dragon Fang Soldier kicked off the ground and lunged at me again with movements that defied inertia.
As if I’d expected exactly that, I kicked at the empty air.
Wind Step activated, launching me rapidly upward into the air.
Slash!
The creature’s sharp spear tip grazed my cloak.
Cold sweat dripped down my face as I watched.
I’d taken the dungeon lightly because it seemed easy in difficulty.
But a Dragon Fang Soldier was a Dragon Fang Soldier after all.
Even weakened, it was formidable.
I kicked off the air again and landed swiftly on the ground.
If I continued much longer, I might exceed my Wind Step usage limit.
If that happened, I truly wouldn’t be able to evade anymore.
As I watched the creature, it too landed rapidly on the cavern wall and kicked off from it.
Boom. Shrieeeeek!
In an instant, cracks spiderwebbed across every surface as though the walls themselves were crumbling, sending up a massive cloud of dust.
The creature shot forward faster than the dust could rise.
Twice the speed of its first and second assaults combined.
But with some distance between us, I had time to prepare.
There was one thing I hadn’t anticipated, though.
As it hurtled toward me like an arrow, it spun its spear to grind me to dust before hurling it.
The spear’s speed compounded by the creature’s velocity—it was launched at a truly devastating rate.
Judging by that rotational force, this was no ordinary throw.
‘A skill.’
The creature was definitely using a skill.
At that speed, there was no way to evade it.
That left only one option: block it.
But look at that rotational force.
Even crossing two blades to intercept it, they would surely be knocked aside.
And my body would be pierced straight through in the process.
Thinking this through, I spread both arms wide toward the incoming spear.
As if I were accepting the attack without resistance.
The Dragon Knight’s eyes widened at the sight of me.
Confused by my inexplicable stance.
Of course—I was relying on Asir’s curse.
And then.
Crash――――――――bang!
Despite the impact powerful enough to rupture my chest, my body remained unharmed.
Rather…
Crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash!
The Dragon Knight took massive damage and skidded across the ground as it fell.
With tremendous force and the full momentum of its own attack, it carved a long line across the floor before crashing down.
It wasn’t dead.
But the shock must have been immense—never imagining its own attack would be turned back on itself.
This was precisely why I had evaded all of its earlier attacks.
When someone desperately tries to dodge, they’ll use an even stronger skill in the follow-up to land a hit at all costs.
And if you return that powerful attack in full?
‘Most would panic and lose their composure.’
That was exactly what I was counting on.
The skill I had my eye on was obvious.
Spatial Slash—Dimensional Confinement.
I immediately channeled the power of Spatial Slash into the demonic blade Gram and swung it at the creature.
Already in a panicked state, it had no choice but to accept my attack.
Its arm was severed clean off.
Slash! Crackle!
As expected, the moment one arm was severed, it vanished as if dissolving into nothingness.
The arm didn’t merely fall—it disappeared entirely.
I had aimed for the head originally, so losing merely an arm was somewhat disappointing.
But this counts as a success.
“….”
The creature was deeply shaken.
How could it not be disturbed when its right arm suddenly vanished before its eyes?
Seizing the moment of psychological shock, Jin-woo closed the distance between himself and the creature.
Naturally, the Dragon Fang Soldier retreated backward to prevent the gap from closing, raising its hand to retrieve its spear.
But the Jin-woo who had been right before its eyes suddenly vanished, reappearing directly behind it.
In the instant it couldn’t even properly comprehend what had happened.
Jin-woo activated a skill.
Six Blade Slash—six sword strikes unleashed in rapid succession.
Six powerful blade strikes cleanly severed the creature’s limbs.
“…!”
Unable to speak, yet its mouth gaped wide as it cried out in agony.
Jin-woo immediately used Weapon Spear against the creature locked in momentary paralysis.
The mana spear that ignored defense shot forth from Gram, piercing straight through the creature’s chest.
Truly an overwhelming barrage of attacks.
Jin-woo chuckled softly as he watched the creature.
Though it should have given up, the creature turned around and attempted to slash Jin-woo with the spear it had retrieved.
But.
Jin-woo vanished once more just as before, repositioning himself behind the creature.
Right before it could land its strike.
‘So it really does work, huh?’
This control would have been impossible before.
Yet watching the teleportation leave afterimages like a doppelgänger before vanishing, Jin-woo found himself marveling involuntarily.
Wasn’t it just like the Heavenly Demon’s Ethereal Shift from martial arts novels?
The style was absolutely incredible.
But now it’s truly the end.
Why?
It’s obvious.
Crackle!
The duration of Space Slash had completely expired.
The creature’s arm had returned.
The Dragon Fang Soldier recognized this, and its eyes flashed with light in an instant.
In that fleeting moment.
The creature realized its arm had returned and immediately grasped the spear with both hands to attack Jin-woo.
Looking at that spear gripped so tightly, Jin-woo thought.
‘It was fast, but there were openings.’
Gaps I might have spotted in the past, but never exploited.
But things are different now.
Because I already know he’s targeting those very openings.
That’s why Jin-woo deployed the most revolutionary skill at his disposal.
“Fusion Combat.”
A technique that blends skills together to unleash overwhelming power.
The skills Jin-woo would merge were Radiant Slash and….
‘Spatial Slash—Dimensional Confinement.’
He merged Spatial Slash—Dimensional Confinement, which carried a cooldown of a full hour.
With that, the twin blades wreathed in spatial energy began moving with blinding speed.
Jin-woo’s dual swords slashed six times in a single heartbeat.
The first strike severed the arm extending to the right shoulder, the second the arm extending to the left shoulder, the third the right leg extending to the thigh, the fourth the left leg extending to the thigh, and the fifth its waist.
The final blade stroke cleanly severed its neck.
Splurch!
And the severed limbs of the Dragon-Blooded Soldier vanished in an instant.
All that remained was its torso.
It resembled a single character card from a game I’d played as a child.
Seeing this, Jin-woo unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks directly at its heart.
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
Attacks flowing without pause.
Accelerated and strengthened by the consecutive strikes, the creature finally couldn’t endure and crumbled away.
[You have cleared the Hidden Dungeon of the Damp Valley.]
[All rewards have been granted.]
[You have acquired tremendous experience.]
[All experience has been accumulated.]
[You have defeated a Dragon-Blooded Soldier for the first time.]
[You have acquired the First-Clear Title: ‘Slayer of Dragon’s Blood’.]
[You have cleared a dragon’s nest for the first time.]
[You have acquired the First-Clear Title: ‘Intruder of the Dragon’s Nest’.]
[You have cleared the Hidden Dungeon, ‘Abandoned Dragon’s Nest’.]
[All rewards have been increased.]
[You have acquired ownership of the Abandoned Dragon’s Nest.]
[From now on, you may return to the dragon’s nest whenever you wish.]
[You are being transported to the rewards chamber for clearing the dungeon.]
And countless messages flooded in to greet me.
Jin-woo smiled at the sight.
‘Ah, how sweet. How utterly sweet.’

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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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