The Regressor Plays the Game Too Well - Chapter 92

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

Episode 92
Episode 92
While most classes undergo their second advancement at level 30, the Godly Warrior’s second advancement quest occurs at level 70.
And there are conditions attached to it as well.
Only Godly Warriors who possess a Demonic Sword can undergo this second advancement.
To be honest, I was curious.
What kind of second advancement could it possibly be?
To find out, I’d first need to pass the trial, of course.
But how difficult could it be?
There was a time when I thought the same thing.
“Huff, huff, huff… I’m going insane.”
A new-model Athens Capsule?
Control that improved more than expected?
All correct.
My control has definitely improved compared to before.
I felt it clearly.
But isn’t this taking it too far?
Don’t second advancement trials usually come with reasonable difficulty?
For typical classes, the second advancement involves gathering materials to obtain new techniques, consuming elixirs, or learning skills from instructors—that sort of process.
But the Godly Warrior?
None of that existed.
Reset all stats?
Well, that part was actually amazing.
It’s great for tournament practice too.
But then…
“You reset all my stats and skills, then tell me to defeat a level 30 boss? That’s absurd, damn it!”
Crash!
“Roooaaarrr!”
Of course, the level 30 boss didn’t appear from the start.
First came a level 5 boss.
Predictably, the next was a level 10 boss.
After that, they increased by 10 each time.
Eventually reaching level 30.
I managed to hold my own up to level 20.
Level 30?
‘This is impossible!’
Barely dodging attacks is already a miracle at this point.
Naturally, as the boss’s difficulty increased, I was granted additional stats and extra skills.
But what good are they when I can barely react to anything?
The gap is so massive that simply evading attacks is overwhelming.
What? I have to clear this to do my second class advancement?
No, that’s not it.
Jin-woo thought this to himself as he glanced at a message hidden in the corner of his vision.
[You may give up at any time.]
[We will record the point at which you surrender and provide rewards accordingly.]
[Your second class advancement will occur the moment you receive your rewards.]
[You will not suffer any death penalty even if you die in this place.]
[You may log out whenever you wish.]
[Upon logging back in, you will be given a one-minute waiting period, after which the battle with the boss will resume.]
Every time I saw this message, I couldn’t help but feel irritated.
My forehead practically twitched with frustration.
‘This is exactly why I’m pushing myself so stubbornly to see it through.’
Of course, if I log out, the boss’s health recovers as well.
If I roughly calculate the time I’ve spent getting here….
‘About two days?’
Two days have already passed since I started the test for my second class advancement.
And two days since I began fighting this level 30 boss.
Without any clever strategy yet, I’ve been continuously battling this creature.
The skills I possess are truly basic.
I’ve tried various combinations, but it hasn’t been easy.
Just dodging is overwhelming—where would I find time to attack?
Even when I force attacks through, they don’t last long before the creature recovers its health again.
The one saving grace is
that I haven’t died yet.
Though that’s small comfort.
‘My pride is wounded, that’s what this is.’
I researched every possible method.
But there was nothing.
Which means.
‘I need to use a different approach than my own.’
This isn’t the time to worry about pride.
Training is fine and good, certainly.
But it felt too wasteful to stop at merely level 30.
If I gave up here, it would feel like something inside me was crumbling.
With that resolve, Jin-woo gazed at the creature, desperate to find a way to defeat it.
The level 30 boss had a form that was familiar to Jin-woo.
‘An orc-type boss.’
Standing just over two meters tall, it wielded a massive club as it attacked.
Look at it now, rushing forward and striking.
Crash!
Of course, I barely dodged that attack while searching for an opening.
The stat gap was simply too vast from the start.
After evading, came the relentless follow-up strike.
One misstep while nervously dodging each of my opponent’s attacks meant instant death—a hair-trigger situation.
I sidestepped the creature’s incoming fist and immediately slashed my blade across its forearm.
The creature’s forearm was cut cleanly and swiftly.
Yet the damage itself was negligible.
It was even worse since I hadn’t used a skill.
‘My kiting is incredibly slow.’
How did I usually handle this situation?
I wracked my brain as hard as I could.
I pondered whether there was any combo I could deploy immediately.
If only I could narrow this gap even slightly.
There was nothing more I could accomplish by persisting here.
At best, I’d only improved my evasion techniques.
‘Let’s call it a day.’
On my second day, I abandoned my attempt at the second class advancement, logged out, and exited the capsule.
Recklessly charging forward like this would end today.
Now I needed to devise a strategy.
Relying solely on control and pushing forward was becoming beyond my current capabilities.
‘Now’s the time to think about combos and other approaches.’
That was the reality of it.
Thinking hard right now wouldn’t necessarily yield results.
Still, I felt increasingly anxious.
‘The tournament is starting soon.’
I’d already submitted my application.
Only two days remained until the Greatest Control Tournament Under Heaven.
I wanted to defeat the level 30 boss within that timeframe.
Was there truly no way?
Was it merely my greed?
As I bit my lip with these thoughts, I suddenly shook my head.
Negative thinking would only ensure failure.
The problem was my anxiety from having so little time.
Isn’t there a saying that the busier you are, the more you should slow down?
‘Calm down.’
With that thought, I composed myself and began thinking clearly.
First, my stats.
‘My stats were those of level 4.’
They were exactly level 4’s stats.
I already knew the reason why.
It went up by 1 every time I defeated a boss.
At level 5 boss it went up by 1 to become 2, at level 10 boss it went up by 1 more to 3, and after defeating the level 20 boss I became level 4.
My growth was pathetically slow compared to how much the difficulty increased.
My skills were similar.
‘I have 6 skills right now, don’t I?’
First, there’s Charge, Jin-woo’s favorite skill.
It was a skill good for both evasion and offense.
And next was Downward Slash.
Finally, there’s the Shout skill.
The Shout skill was straightforward—it drew aggro and provided minor buffs.
These were the skills I obtained at level 1.
I had chosen a sword as my weapon, so these were skills I possessed from level 1.
Next came Swordsmanship, then Yegi, a passive skill that increased sword attack power, and finally Iron Guard, a skill that raised defense.
‘I understand I need to use Iron Guard, but that’s where the problem lies.’
The Iron Guard skill, as the name suggests.
Is a warrior’s skill that hardens the body to maximize defense.
Naturally, even if I hardened my body and maximized my defense, a few hits from a level 30 boss would leave me helpless and dead.
But.
‘All the skills I obtained in the previous stages played crucial roles.’
So it seemed like this time too, I was supposed to make do with Iron Guard somehow.
But I couldn’t figure out how at all.
The skill composition was too basic.
Maybe it was because I’d been pushing so hard for two days.
No matter how much I thought, my mind wouldn’t work.
Actually, the best thing to do in situations like this is to rest a bit.
When I clear my head, something might come to mind.
‘Yeah, let me rest for a while.’
What good would rushing do anyway?
With that thought, Jin-woo sat down in front of his computer.
There’s nothing better than PanTube for clearing your head.
With that in mind, Jin-woo searched for something to watch.
Then he let out a short laugh.
“Kaiser’s channel.”
It wasn’t that Kaiser was funny.
Quite the opposite.
Being in Kaiser’s position myself felt strangely novel.
Before regression, I watched Kaiser’s videos a lot and learned from them.
Now Kaiser would watch my videos and analyze them?
As Jin-woo was having such idle thoughts.
Something flashed through his mind.
Kaiser’s control lectures that I’d watched ad nauseam before the regression.
Those infamous videos titled “Hey, you can catch it too.”
And among them, there was another video like that.
‘…Combo techniques for basic skills.’
Why had I forgotten about this?
For a moment, I felt like an idiot.
How could I have overlooked this?
Actually, it made sense.
Before the regression, I’d used basic skills obsessively.
Why?
Because whenever I obtained skill books, I’d sell them or only learn confirmed skills, focusing primarily on basic skills.
But what about now?
My luck has been excellent, and I’ve consumed all the hidden pieces and grown stronger.
When would I have time to use basic skills?
I was using them through simple combos, certainly.
But I wasn’t using any of Kaiser’s control techniques that I’d learned by watching and analyzing his videos back then.
Why had I forgotten about this?
‘That’s right. The combinations are actually quite solid.’
I suspected this second-class advancement quest was created with exactly this in mind.
And….
‘Can’t I use this in the tournament too?’
The moment that thought crossed my mind, a smile naturally spread across my face.
A mischievous smile, at that.
‘This is going to be fun.’
Techniques spread by the future Kaiser versus a confrontation with the current Kaiser?
This seemed like it would be quite entertaining.
It was a shame that only I knew about this fun thing.
‘Well, they say strike while the iron’s hot, so let’s go while I’m thinking about it.’
With that thought, Jin-woo immediately entered the capsule, having barely just come out.
All to use Kaiser’s combos.
* * *
The Greatest Control Tournament Under Heaven.
Numerous people flocked to the event tournament with such a childish title.
Many PanTubers were streaming it live with their videos playing.
Among them, the most famous.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Hong Jung-ho, a former professional gamer and currently a PanTube analyst.”
A former pro gamer who’s mocked as “Bean” in Korea.
Though Hong Jung-ho still enjoyed Pantheon these days, his control was definitely not as sharp as before, so he focused his broadcasts on analysis.
Naturally, Hong Jung-ho’s broadcast was quite popular.
His analytical skills, grounded in the high game understanding befitting a former professional gamer, were remarkably sharp and hit the mark well.
However.
-Ah! Brother, we’ve been waiting for you!×2
-Man, you’re really late!×2
-So brother, who do you think will win?×2
The sheer volume of chat messages was overwhelming.
They were spamming the chat twice over to mock Hong Jung-ho, who had become a meme for always placing second.
Though the chat was indeed flooded, Hong Jung-ho was hardly someone who’d only experienced this for a day or two.
By now, he’d long since adapted to it—so much so that it had become second nature.
In fact, he’d grown to feel disappointed if they didn’t do it.
“Honestly, I think the champion will probably be either Kaiser or Yuna.”
At Hong Jung-ho’s words, the chat erupted in heated discussion.
-What about Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol?
-Right. Are you ignoring Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol?
-Whoa! That’s disrespectful!
Lol, there are so many thoughtless comments.
But there were certainly those who disagreed with that assessment.
Hong Jung-ho opened his mouth to address them.
“As I’ve analyzed before, Hwang Kyung-ma-jeol—or rather, Jinu TV—is certainly skilled at control, but not top-tier. Unless they’re hiding their true abilities, of course!”
Hong Jung-ho genuinely believed this.
The truth was, as a PanTuber, one had no choice but to display their full strength.
It was the only way to create diverse content.
That’s why Hong Jung-ho had said “unless they’re hiding their abilities,” but—
he thought the likelihood of that was extremely low.
Besides, hiding control skill wasn’t easy.
Occasionally, things would slip out unconsciously.
From what Hong Jung-ho had observed, Jin-woo didn’t seem to be hiding his control ability at all.
Rather, it felt much more like he was using an older-model capsule.
But would a player of that caliber really be using an older-model capsule?
Various questions swirled in his mind.
But in the end, you don’t know until you see it for yourself!
‘Either way, this is an exciting tournament.’
With that thought, Hong Jung-ho watched the opening fireworks burst into the sky and shouted.
“Ah! It’s starting now!”

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