The Player Who Must Kill the Regressor to Survive.

Chapter 4

—–CROW—– 

“Is Joo-hyuk hyung with me?”

The ‘Inheritance’ seemed to involve something more than simply inheriting the Regressor’s memories and equipment.

Everything had become like him, to the extent that one could say Joo-hyuk hyung had possessed him.

Then, he had a question.

“Could my level have been inherited too?”

In fact, even with just the equipment inheritance, Hae-jin was confident that he could reign as the strongest until the end of this world.

Joo-hyuk hyung at the end, before regressing, was truly the strongest player.

However.

“This isn’t enough.”

Simply inheriting Nam Joo-hyuk wasn’t enough to win.

In the final trial before regressing, Nam Joo-hyuk and Hae-jin had failed even on their second attempt.

Anyway, to check the extent of the data he had inherited, Hae-jin opened his status window.

‘Status Window.’

[Status Window]

Name: Park Hae-jin

Alias: Park Hae-jin

Titles: 324

Class: Lord of Chaos

Level: 14

Stats:

– Strength: 703,104 (18 + 666,666 + 36,420)

– Agility: 709,067 (21 + 666,666 + 42,380)

– Intelligence: 708,965 (19 + 666,666 + 42,280)

– Stamina: 705,073 (17 + 666,666 + 38,390)

– Charm: 713,932 (16 + 666,666 + 47,250)

– Skills: 127

– Runes: 16

– Bonus Stat Points: 13

“Ho… Holy sh*t!”

A curse involuntarily slipped from Hae-jin’s mouth.

It couldn’t be helped.

The state of his stats displayed in the status window was simply absurd.

Although the regression ability of the Rune of Regression was depleted, an enormous amount had been inherited because of it.

Class, titles, equipment, skills, Runes, everything without exception.

In particular, looking at the absurd equipment stat of ‘666,666’ in the middle, Hae-jin thought.

‘So I get the benefits of Joo-hyuk hyung’s ‘Demon God Set’ from this point on?’

Demon God Set.

That was the name of the God-grade weapon and armor set that Leader Joo-hyuk had worn.

Joo-hyuk hyung had always acquired this equipment relatively quickly using the advantage of regression, but ordinary players typically obtained God-grade equipment after reaching level 80.

But now, Hae-jin was equipped with the God-grade set equipment that Joo-hyuk hyung had used, starting from the first trial.

And from the low-level range of level 14, no less!

‘No, low-level range? I’ve lost my sense of reality. Come to think of it, level 14 at this point is already at the level of the strongest.’

Killing other players in the first trial also granted experience points.

Since Hae-jin had slaughtered such an overwhelmingly large number in the process, it seemed he had reached the unbelievable level of 14.

No matter how hard ordinary players tried in the first trial, the level they reached by killing a few hundred within the time limit was around level 6 or 7.

But Hae-jin, already at level 14, had effectively gained the level attainable only in the third or fourth trial, based on the progress speed of ordinary players, right from the first trial.

Anyway, having confirmed this, Hae-jin looked at the bonus stat points.

Actually, since he had inherited everything from Joo-hyuk hyung, those 13 bonus stat points didn’t make much difference.

‘At this rate, I can stop adding points to Agility and put them all into Intelligence.’

Hae-jin decided to put all future bonus stat points into Intelligence.

Since he had obtained the Demon God Set, there was no need to add points to other stats.

In that situation, Hae-jin considered checking the reward he had received for placing first in the first trial.

But then.

Bang, bang, bang!

He heard the sound of someone knocking on his studio apartment door.

Hearing the loud noise, Hae-jin thought.

‘Hmm, come to think of it, that drunkard must be here again.’

The studio apartment Hae-jin lived in was in a goshiwon, and there was a man who always got drunk and picked fights.

The man always came around this time, after his night shift, swigging soju straight from the bottle he bought at the convenience store in front of the goshiwon.

Come to think of it, in the last round and the round before that, this drunk man had always caused a commotion right after he returned to reality after finishing the first trial.

Hae-jin opened the door.

There stood a man with a red face, reeking of soju, indicating how much he had drunk.

“Hic! You little sh*t, what are you doing up so late?”

‘Picking a fight again.’

Normally, Hae-jin would have reported him to the manager.

If it were right after an ordinary regression, he would have knocked him unconscious and dragged him somewhere out of sight.

But this time, there was something he wanted to test.

‘The ability inherited from Joo-hyuk hyung.’

Hae-jin tried using one that came to mind.

‘Brain Control.’

Brain Control.

A magic that manipulated the brain to make someone act according to his will.

Joo-hyuk hyung, the leader, had obtained the hidden class ‘Lord of Chaos’ and, through countless hardships and hidden pieces, had mastered the skills and techniques of all classes. Among them was the Brain Control he had just used.

As Hae-jin used the skill, a black energy flowed from his hand.

The drunkard was momentarily startled as the black energy approached him like a snake.

“Wh… What?!”

His surprise was short-lived. The black energy extending from Hae-jin’s hand infiltrated through every orifice on his face.

Then, the man who had been causing a drunken scene froze like a robot whose power had been cut off.

Hae-jin gave him an order.

“Live quietly from now on.”

“Yes, Master.”

The drunkard, who addressed Hae-jin as “Master,” left for his room.

Having quieted him down, Hae-jin said.

“Joo-hyuk hyung’s abilities are pretty good.”

He could have tormented his troublesome drunk neighbor in return using ‘Brain Control,’ but Hae-jin didn’t think it was necessary.

‘I’m going to move out soon anyway.’

Moving right after regressing.

This was because Hae-jin had information from Joo-hyuk hyung.

If he had that information, he could move as soon as he visited that place tomorrow…

“Ah? Wait a minute. Now that I have Joo-hyuk hyung’s abilities, I don’t need to take a car there tomorrow, do I?”

Thinking so, Hae-jin tried using one of the techniques Joo-hyuk hyung had used.

“Shadow Blink.”

Then,

Fwhoosh-!

Hae-jin’s shadow surged and enveloped him.

Shadow Blink.

A technique that allowed him to move to the shadow of a target of his choosing.

However, since the ‘target’ could also include non-living things, Joo-hyuk hyung had easily moved around anywhere he knew.

Then, Hae-jin should be able to use the same technique.

The place Hae-jin moved to was a place he already knew well thanks to his memories before regressing, and since he had also inherited Joo-hyuk’s memories, he should be able to move there safely.

*

Fwhoosh-!

A penthouse apartment in a clearly luxurious building.

In the middle of the living room, a vast pile of 100,000 won bills, too numerous to count, was stacked high.

Then, a man emerged from the shadow of the pile of bills.

It was Hae-jin, who had used ‘Shadow Blink’ from his goshiwon studio apartment.

As soon as he succeeded in moving, Hae-jin smirked at the sight of the cash.

“It’s still astonishing to see.”

A house where hundreds of millions of won were stacked in cash in the living room.

This was the place Joo-hyuk hyung used every time he regressed.

A luxurious penthouse apartment with hundreds of millions in cash and a cryptocurrency account containing a similar amount.

It was the house of the boss of a fraud organization that had once caused a stir in the world.

When Hae-jin learned that Joo-hyuk was a Regressor, he had asked a question.

“[Then, if you regress so many times, do you memorize lottery numbers or which cryptocurrencies will skyrocket?]”

Joo-hyuk hyung smirked at Hae-jin’s question and replied.

“[I don’t need to do that. There’s a way to start with close to a hundred billion won as soon as I regress. Since I have future knowledge, I can use that money as seed money and not worry about money in reality.  There are also ways to reduce tax worries.]”

When he first heard about the money, Hae-jin thought it would make sense to buy lottery tickets or cryptocurrencies using the advantage of being a Regressor, but Joo-hyuk said he didn’t need to acquire seed money that way.

The reason was the house of the fraud organization boss that Hae-jin had come to now.

Joo-hyuk had said that since the fraud organization boss died in the first trial grounds, the secrets surrounding this house would normally be revealed much later.

To this, Joo-hyuk had said,

“[That means, if we can just enter the apartment before this fact is revealed, we can take all of the deceased organization boss’s slush fund. We can use that to invest and make money, and later, we can find the victims and return the money earned through crime.  It’s money that would just go to the national treasury if we don’t take it.]”

These were the things Joo-hyuk hyung had originally done.

But now, Hae-jin had to do all of it.

Joo-hyuk hyung was dead, and regression was no longer possible.

*

Hae-jin, who had just finished showering in his newly acquired house.

What he had to do now was decided.

Originally, he should have killed Joo-hyuk hyung and gained the chance to regress with the Rune Exchange Ticket.

But he couldn’t do that.

Regression was no longer possible.

Therefore, Hae-jin could no longer meet Joo-hyuk hyung, the leader, again.

‘Joo-hyuk hyung, did you anticipate this?’

Joo-hyuk hyung had told him that he should also be prepared for the possibility that he might not be able to continue.

Every time, Joo-hyuk hyung had talked with Hae-jin repeatedly so that he could take on the role of leader at any time…

Since he had also inherited Joo-hyuk’s memories, Hae-jin knew most of it even without those conversations.

Anyway, Hae-jin began to organize what he had to do.

“First, the party members… who should I choose for the last member?”

The best players chosen by Joo-hyuk hyung, the slaughterer and hero, were himself, Hae-jin, the growing monster, and four others.

First, these two, plus the Saintess, the Archmage, the Divine Archer, and the Sage.

‘For now, I’ll keep the Saintess, the Archmage, the Divine Archer, and the Sage.’

There was no need to deviate from the existing members considered the best roster.

They were the best party members chosen by Nam Joo-hyuk, the leader, after countless regressions.

But there was something Hae-jin had to decide here.

It was…

‘Who will fill Joo-hyuk hyung’s place…’

Looking at the previous composition, there was no tanker among the individuals considered the best roster chosen by Joo-hyuk hyung.

Initially, Joo-hyuk had chosen a tanker, but he realized that in the later stages, a tanker became unnecessary because of a peculiar structure where defense became impossible.

For that reason, Joo-hyuk hyung and Hae-jin had taken on the role of drawing aggro through evasive maneuvers rather than enduring attacks as a tanker.

Therefore, Joo-hyuk hyung had mentioned two people as replacements if he was absent.

‘Manager Kim or that Joker bastard…’

—–CROW—– 

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