I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 25

25. I’m a Max Level Returner, But

About an hour and a half later.

I briefly dozed off, enjoying Jeong-hoon’s smooth driving, and before I knew it, we had arrived at my one-room apartment near Byeongjeom Station.

“We’re here. Let’s call it a day with the escort.”

“This place looks dangerous at a glance. Are you sure you’ll be alright alone?”

“It’s a rough area, that’s true, but it’s not like I’m so weak that I’ll just get taken advantage of.”

I responded to Jeong-hoon’s concern with a relaxed smile.

If it had been Kang Shin-hwa from the past, I would have been trembling from the moment I got here.

No, I probably would have already met Park Do-won waiting for me around here, getting 70% of my daily earnings taken away again.

“I noticed some blatant acts of violence on the way here.”

“Well, that’s just everyday life in the Red Zone [an area with high crime rates and weak law enforcement].”

I nonchalantly replied to Jeong-hoon, who had a very serious expression.

The way Jeong-hoon was talking, it seemed like he had never visited the Red Zone since the Great Cataclysm [a major disaster that changed the world].

That’s why he looked so grim, as if he were watching a lawless zone in a movie.

“Are you really going to be okay?”

“If you drive around in a car like that in this neighborhood, some bad guys might jump out at you. Hurry and get back.”

“But…”

“The Black Cross Clan [a notorious terrorist organization] shows up in Byeongjeom Station often, too.”

Half jokingly, half seriously, I gave Jeong-hoon a little scare.

Black Cross Clan.

An organization with a long and infamous history. They’re a terrorist organization known as the Evil Empire, no question about that.

In any case, the Black Cross Clan was an organization that violated the peace outside the bounds of the Awakened Special Act [a law governing individuals with supernatural abilities] and gave the KSA [Korea Superhuman Association] a hard time.

And the Red Zone was their base and foundation, flowing with milk and honey.

“If anything happens…”

“I know. I’ll call you, so don’t act like some boyfriend and hurry back.”

Thump, thump!

I vigorously tapped the trunk of Jeong-hoon’s car, urging him to leave.

He hesitantly stepped on the accelerator, then quickly drove away from the one-room apartment complex as if he had made up his mind.

“Hoo…”

A sigh escaped me as I looked at the dilapidated exterior of the one-room building.

Thinking about the apartment in Junghwa Station where I live now, it was truly a life of extremes.

There were only a few streetlights on the verge of collapse around, and the stray cats lined up on the walls glared with cold eyes.

The convenience store that should be lit up 24 hours a day had long disappeared with the Great Cataclysm.

If you needed something at night, you had to walk 30 minutes to a store because there were no taxis around.

Even that store was run by a violent organization, so the prices were outrageous.

A bottle of water that sold for 1,000 won in the White Zone [a safe, well-maintained area] sold for 10,000 won here.

Pure exploitation.

Everything was a mess, to the point where you had to wonder if they even intended to sell anything in the first place.

Eoooong-.

“You’re here again today?”

I looked at the cat staring at me from the wall, letting out a friendly cry.

Its name is Kkami.

A memorable fellow with jet-black fur and blue eyes.

“They haven’t even repaired it.”

I looked at the traces of Park Do-won remaining on the exterior wall of the one-room apartment, wearing a bitter expression.

I really couldn’t understand charging 750,000 won a month for this one-room apartment that was on the verge of collapsing.

To rent a room in the White Zone, you needed a deposit of at least hundreds of millions of won.

In fact, this was why porters like me in the past were constantly being driven into the Yellow and Red Zones.

Since they couldn’t afford to pay a large deposit, they ended up living in one-room apartments without a deposit.

As a result, the monthly rent skyrocketed.

‘It was the same here in 2052. They say ten years can change the landscape, but this place was always the same.’

I recalled this place in 2052.

Unlike the Jije Station area on Line 1, which I was considering as an investment destination after Gorim Chemical stock.

Even in 2052, this place was still a slum and, at the same time, a hotbed of numerous acts of violence and crime.

There were even fifteen outbreaks, so it was called the land of death among the Awakened.

‘Today marks the end of my connection with this place.’

Once I packed my bags, I probably wouldn’t come back here again.

It’s not a place with good memories or recollections. Naturally, I don’t have any regrets.

Clack. Clack.

And so, I headed to my old home on the 5th floor, up the old stairs without an elevator.

* * *

[20200123]

[Korea Bank / Balance 25 won]

“That’s pathetic, really.”

While organizing the scattered luggage, I saw an old bankbook.

The paper bankbook, last updated on January 23, showed a balance of 25 won.

Not 250,000 won, but 25 won.

A number that vividly reflected a life worse than a dirt spoon [a Korean expression for being born into extreme poverty].

“There’s nothing to take.”

That was my conclusion.

The clothes in the closet were all rags, only good enough to be used as cleaning cloths.

The shoes in the shoe rack all had holes, mostly patched up with clumsy stitching.

All that was in the refrigerator were a few bottles of leftover water, and the food that had been stored had all gone bad.

Traces remained in the bathroom of not flushing the toilet even after using it to save on the water bill.

“I should let it go now.”

I felt relieved instead.

If there was anything I wanted to take, I might have had some regrets.

But everything here was something I wouldn’t miss at all even if I threw it away right now. And I couldn’t find any mementos or traces related to my parents.

The mementos I had kept separately in the past were stored in a personal safe, so that was a problem to be solved later.

Click. Fssssss.

“Ugh, is this beer the only memory I have here?”

I recalled a memory from this place as I gulped down the smooth beer.

A can of beer after work.

It was a kind of sacred ritual that ended my day as a porter living a hard life.

Even if the day was insanely difficult and tomorrow felt bleak.

It was my own way of fighting that always allowed me to make the decision to give it a try!

“I’ll bury the past here and live a joyful reality and a future full of expectations!”

I vowed.

It was something I had been thinking about since I returned, but it was also a goal I was repeating to myself.

As an Awakened, I will reach the pinnacle where no one can bother me.

After gathering an enormous amount of money that I can’t even dare to count, I will retire in style!

Over the past two days, I had earned a tremendous amount of money and saw the possibility of early retirement.

I realized that it was not a delusion, but a realistic goal that was entirely possible.

“…….”

But right then.

I narrowly opened my eyes at the presence of a considerable number of people felt nearby.

I don’t have the ability to directly sense presences with my talent.

But I had the ability to indirectly sense the flow by spreading mana around based on mana emission.

If there was nothing to disturb the flow, the flow of mana that would never be disturbed was getting tangled.

That meant someone was near the one-room apartment, hiding their presence.

‘Did Park Do-won send them?’

There was, of course, a reasonable suspect.

Not only the organization led by Park Do-won, but also quite a few organizations that had formed alliances as fraternal organizations.

‘It’s about time for a showdown. They’re not going to let it go easily.’

I chuckled.

If it had been me in the past, I wouldn’t have sensed their presence at all, but even if I had, I would have run away.

‘But not anymore.’

I was confident enough.

It was time to find out who would be the prey now.

Click.

I turned off the fluorescent light that was struggling to emit a dim light.

‘Come on in.’

And quietly waited for the moment.

For the hyenas who were aiming for prey to reveal their smelly, yellow teeth.

* * *

At that moment, near Byeongjeom Station.

“Cough! Ugh!”

“Didn’t I tell you to quietly go your way?”

“Arm! My arm!”

“You have to answer me. What about your arm? You want me to break it?”

Crack!

“Kuaaaa!”

A male Awakened who had bothered two passing women screamed and writhed in pain.

“You should consider yourself lucky that you’re not getting a scolding at the association’s investigation room in Namsan [a district in Seoul where the KSA headquarters is located].”

“Kuaaaa! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“Since you’re being so impudent, I’ll break your fingers too.”

Snap!

“Keuk!”

The man’s right shoulder and fingers were fractured in an instant.

He was an E-rank Awakened and had some pride in his skills, but he just happened to mess with the wrong person.

“Keuheueueu!”

As the terrified man ran away, she shook her hand with a displeased expression and continued.

“As expected, the Red Zone is hopeless. Byul, so Kang Shin-hwa lives here?”

“Yes, Branch Manager.”

“Now that he’s D-rank, not F-rank, why bother?”

“His most recently confirmed residence is here. He has moved around a lot in the meantime, though.”

The two people talking were agents from the KSA.

One was Yoon Byul, a C-rank Awakened who I had already met at Sindorim Station and had a slight acquaintance with Shin-hwa.

The woman she was attending to was Na Mi-na, the branch manager of the KSA Seoul Branch.

She was also the person who was supposed to be the owner of the ‘Chaos of Calais’ necklace that Shin-hwa had obtained today.

As the branch manager of the Seoul Branch, which plays the most important role in the KSA, she was an SS-rank Awakened.

“The contract with Yanghwa Guild is for one month, right?”

“Yes. It’s a rather unusual contract.”

“That means he can transfer to another place whenever he wants, right?”

“That’s right.”

“He’s definitely smart. Besides, he treated Jin Bo-mi, whom even the KSA couldn’t help… and he even cleared the Sindorim Dungeon alone. Isn’t this a typical super rookie trait? Hoho.”

Na Mi-na laughed.

Because it reminded her of her own past, when she had rapidly grown while walking the royal road [a path of rapid advancement] after the Great Cataclysm.

She, too, had grown day after day.

She had also grown from F-rank to D-rank like Shin-hwa was now.

It happened after hunting the boss monster Callus in the dungeon and absorbing energy from him.

Na Mi-na thought that a special phenomenon had occurred that would sufficiently trigger upward momentum for Shin-hwa.

In other words, she saw that he, who had jumped to D-rank overnight, could grow even more.

If there was a stock whose future value would rise? The answer is to buy it in advance when the price is low.

Awakened were no exception.

Recruiting talented people who were different from the start. It was a long-standing tradition of the KSA.

Na Mi-na and Yoon Byul, who were here right now, were also people who had been scouted by the KSA in that way.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been so greedy for someone. I’d like to take a closer look at his abilities if possible.”

“I think so too.”

Yoon Byul nodded at Na Mi-na’s words.

Even with the current growth curve alone, Shin-hwa was worth investing in.

But if they could see his abilities with their own eyes, his value would increase even more.

But right then.

Kwaaaang! Clang!

“Uwaaaa!”

Along with the sound of breaking glass.

Someone screamed and flew towards them in a parabola from afar.

The distance to the one-room apartment where Shin-hwa lived was about 200m away from here.

The unidentified man who flew that long distance landed awkwardly on the ground.

“Hey, they’re Black Hunters?”

The man was wearing the shoulder mark of the violent organization ‘Black Hunter’.

But when Na Mi-na looked closely at his face.

“This guy, he’s the boss?”

Lee Cheol-soo, the boss of Black Hunter.

A man known to be a C-rank Awakened.

He was lying here, half-ragged.

“K, K, Kang Shin-hwa, you, you, XX……. Keureuk.”

Before he could even express his anger towards Shin-hwa, Lee Cheol-soo foamed at the mouth and fainted on the spot.

Something big seemed to be happening.

And the next moment.

“Uwaaak!”

Another Awakened flew into the sky.