The Regressor Plays the Game Too Well - Chapter 97

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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 97
Episode 97
A system, put differently, refers to something woven together down to the smallest detail.
In other words, when compressed to an infinitesimal scale, no system could be more solid than that.
Kaiser believed that no system more finely fragmented than his own could possibly exist.
Truthfully, he didn’t believe anyone superior to him could exist.
Jin-woo was ahead of him, yes, but Kaiser believed it was merely because he’d monopolized fortune.
Yet what was this?
Kaiser moved his blade and attempted to activate a skill.
He moved with meticulous calculation, seeking to pierce Jin-woo’s opening.
Normally, Jin-woo would rotate his body to evade and then bore in toward him.
Kaiser had planned to use Back Step, retreating while slashing through the rotating Jin-woo.
But Jin-woo didn’t move that way.
Seeing the incoming blade, he simply blocked it with his own sword.
Kaiser’s blade was far more devastating due to the skill, yet Jin-woo deflected it smoothly and immediately activated his own skill in response.
Every single action was deliberate and calculated.
‘What… what is this?’
He had thoroughly analyzed Jin-woo and completed his assessment.
Yet the reality contradicted that report?
This wasn’t a flaw in the report.
Jin-woo—that bastard was the anomaly.
Jin-woo advanced a single step and thrust his blade forward again.
Kaiser saw it and subtly shifted his foot to the side, evading the attack.
Wasn’t Kaiser’s system precisely this—fragmenting actions into infinitesimal pieces and pressuring opponents through that control?
Yet Jin-woo was doing the same.
Following Kaiser’s movement, he adjusted his blade ever so slightly.
He’d already committed to his step—there was no way to dodge.
He had no choice but to block.
Clang!
“….”
Though the impact wasn’t severe, he took the strike and was pushed back.
A reaction he hadn’t anticipated.
As if….
‘…Did that man also conduct an analysis?’
Had Jin-woo also analyzed him?
The thought crossed his mind, yet the quality of the movements didn’t feel that way.
Each action was meticulously calculated, yes.
But it was difficult to conclude that he’d analyzed Kaiser and then responded.
Why?
Because he was calculating at an even more infinitesimal level than Kaiser himself.
Every breath, every footfall, which muscles to engage and how to pressure the opponent.
And above all.
Kaiser was ceaselessly severing the flow of Jin-woo’s attacks before they could even begin.
Unable to mount any meaningful counterattack, every assault was being blocked.
All while Kaiser dismantled both the timing and momentum behind each strike.
“Hngh!”
Jin-woo surged forward with renewed force, pressing Kaiser harder.
Kaiser’s teeth ground together with fury.
This couldn’t be happening.
This couldn’t be happening!
To be losing so pathetically—wasn’t this exactly what he’d done to countless opponents before?
The very same humiliation he’d inflicted on them.
Yet there was no way out.
With the flow continuously severed, even the timing to draw breath was being stolen from him.
Holding his breath indefinitely while evading Jin-woo’s relentless assault was beyond his limits.
But if he retreated now, reclaiming victory would be nearly impossible.
‘Damn it, damn it!’
Yet standing idle was not an option either.
Kaiser decided to gamble everything on this final move.
Jin-woo had already abandoned his usual style, attacking awkwardly and without his characteristic grace.
Of course, even in that awkward state, he was still pressuring Kaiser relentlessly.
But Kaiser possessed a hidden technique of his own.
A combination born from merging multiple skills.
‘If I use Back Step and Charge simultaneously, I’ll trigger momentary invulnerability.’
The principle behind it remained a mystery.
In that instant of moving backward while charging forward, the character would briefly become invincible.
Kaiser intended to use that window to absorb Jin-woo’s incoming attack with his body and launch a devastating counterattack.
Though Kaiser was being pushed back, he hadn’t suffered any significant damage or losses.
He was simply overwhelmed, his every action sealed off.
Viewing this as his final opportunity, Kaiser watched intently as Jin-woo prepared his next strike.
Jin-woo’s blade swung through the air.
Kaiser smirked at the sight and activated his skill.
Timing the invulnerability perfectly.
Just before the blade could touch him!
‘Now!’
Now the invulnerability would activate, and he could exploit the opening in Jin-woo’s attack to deal damage.
And in this very moment.
Entering his invulnerable state, Kaiser waited for Jin-woo’s blade.
But then.
The blade stopped.
“…?”
A sharp intake of breath.
Jin-woo suddenly halted his blade.
In that instant, Kaiser naturally swung his sword to counterattack, but Jin-woo tilted his shoulder back to evade and, gripping his halted blade with renewed force, activated a skill.
“Cleave.”
A cutting sound tore through the air.
Devastating damage from the cleave struck true.
Kaiser’s attack went wide, while Jin-woo’s found its mark.
What was happening?
Kaiser stared blankly at his own wounded body.
He couldn’t comprehend it.
How had he known that invincibility would activate at that exact moment?
He looked at Jin-woo with an expression of utter bewilderment, and understanding dawned.
‘Ah.’
If he were in that position—or more precisely, if he had grown stronger—he would have exploited such an opening as well.
An opponent who suddenly grows reckless after gauging your reaction surely harbors a hidden trump card.
Jin-woo had simply moved accordingly, and he had merely fallen victim to it.
Facing Jin-woo, who felt almost like fighting a version of himself from the future, Kaiser dropped to one knee.
This was defeat.
No strategy came to mind that could lead to victory.
Look at how he surpassed me in every conceivable way.
Was his carefree demeanor until now merely a deception?
No, that must be Jin-woo’s true nature.
Then why reveal it now?
There was only one explanation.
‘…He’s mimicking me.’
He imitates me and fights with a superiority that surpasses even myself—as if embodying a future version of me?
Where in this world does such absurdity exist?
I must be superior to all others.
Yet look at me now.
Kneeling in utter defeat, steeped in the bitterness of loss.
It’s repulsive.
But there was nothing I could do.
How had I ever thought I could defeat such a monster?
A being so vastly superior to myself.
I had lost sight of my own place.
A bitter sound escaped my lips.
Frustration consumed me.
Yet in this moment, there was nothing I could do.
There was no way to defeat Jin-woo.
The only option available here was surrender.
No matter what I tried, I couldn’t conceive of a way to win.
My mind had already accepted defeat.
Such overwhelming despair.
I never imagined I’d feel such despair against this garbage.
Wasn’t I born a winner from the very beginning?
‘Then why!’
Why must I kneel so shamefully and lose like this?
Kaiser remembered something then.
I had to win no matter what.
No one could hear our conversation inside the Tournament Arena.
So.
Kaiser’s mind snapped in that instant, his eyes taking on a strange gleam.
The eyes of someone unhinged.
With a nervous chuckle, Kaiser spoke.
“…H-hey. W-what about making a deal?”
“…?”
At those words, Jin-woo—who had been about to finish Kaiser—suddenly stopped moving.
A deal, out of nowhere?
From Jin-woo’s perspective, it was naturally bewildering.
Rather, he was quite taken aback.
‘Was Kaiser always like this?’
No, absolutely not.
The image of him always dignified and composed remained vivid in Jin-woo’s mind.
But now….
It was pathetic, to put it mildly.
Like those scenes in movies where wealthy heirs from conglomerates commit crimes and beg the protagonist to spare them before being killed.
That kind of feeling, you know?
Exactly that feeling.
Jin-woo asked, curious to hear what Kaiser would say.
“How much?”
“A million! No, even ten million is possible!”
Ten million?
Was he joking?
Someone had staked his life on winning the championship!
Was he insane?
As Jin-woo stared at Kaiser in disbelief, Kaiser flinched.
Then he quietly raised one finger.
“H-how about a hundred million?”
“…You haven’t forgotten, have you?”
Jin-woo’s sudden words made Kaiser realize his own pathetic state in an instant.
To have become so degraded in my own lifetime.
Wouldn’t it be better to simply lose?
“Remember what you said before the match?”
There was no time to wallow in such humiliation.
He severed not just the flow of combat, but the shame itself.
Kaiser’s pupils trembled as he stared at Jin-woo.
Jin-woo grinned wickedly and spoke.
“You remember this is a wish bread, right?”
Gulp.
Kaiser felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at Jin-woo.
And he asked.
“A-are we still being recorded?”
“Huh? Yeah, we are.”
Jin-woo didn’t understand the implication.
But the true meaning of that question was: are you trying to blackmail me?
Will you expose this shameful begging to everyone?
Looking at just this match alone, Kaiser appeared to be the one taking damage and collapsing from the impact.
But if others saw him groveling so pathetically, what would happen then?
Kaiser felt his mind spin, and without thinking, he swallowed hard.
“….”
I’ve been played in his palm.
He must have planned this too.
Of course, he hadn’t.
But Kaiser believed he had.
And so.
“…If you list it at the Auction House, I’ll buy the item. Does that settle the wish?”
“Huh? Hmm.”
Jin-woo paused to think.
100 million wasn’t exactly a small sum.
Besides, whatever junk item he listed would be under his own account.
And Kaiser was saying he’d buy it.
It wasn’t a bad deal at all.
He’d already won, and on top of that, 100 million?
Too sweet.
“Fine. I’ll list it right after the match ends.”
“Understood…. I’ll trust you.”
With those words, Kaiser declared his surrender.
The match, known as essentially the finals, ended far too anticlimactically.
Jin-woo chuckled softly as he watched Kaiser leave.
Still, he was stronger than anyone he’d faced before.
But it wasn’t fun.
‘That was such a tedious fight.’
When system clashed against system, it might look impressive to spectators, but at least for those actually fighting, there was no enjoyment in it.
It was far too formulaic.
Jin-woo shook his head as these thoughts crossed his mind.
Well, it happens.
Going forward, fighting my own way wouldn’t be so bad.
After all, I hadn’t even completed the system yet.
Besides, I was thinking of removing some of Kaiser’s style and adding more of my own.
Testing it out just now, this style was far too boring.
‘Ah, I need to list an item.’
With that thought, I listed some random junk item.
I listed it under the account I’d used before and thought for a moment.
The next match was between Kong Yuna and someone else.
Her opponent was a future ranker, sure enough.
But there was no way they could stand against Yuna.
With that in mind, I listed one of the junk items I’d obtained previously.
Of course, that junk item was a Hero-grade item.
But considering the materials I had lying around everywhere, it was meaningless to me.
‘I’m making 125 million won for nothing.’
It seemed like a modest amount, but earning 125 million just like that—that’s substantial.
I tried to shake off the regret with that thought.
Even for a tycoon, it’s a bit much to call out tens of billions on a single bet.
I was thinking I’d been quite conscientious about it when—
An Auction House message appeared.
[A bidder has participated with a high bid.]
“Oh!”
They came right away.
I opened the Auction House window with a grin.
I could see an unusual unit.
[Black Mountain Ant Leg]
*Current Bid: 125 Billion Won
“…?”
How much is that?
I stared blankly, unable to believe what I was seeing.
Then it dawned on me as I gazed at it.
“Ah, that person’s American, right?”
I never mentioned the currency unit.

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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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