I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 28

28. All Master

All Master.

The divine realm where one can master all talents. A state of perfection that even Nicholas couldn’t achieve in his past life.

I had enough experience living by benefiting from someone, relying on them, and depending on them.

In this life, I didn’t want to be a burden, even if it meant becoming someone else’s strong pillar.

Just then.

I recalled the sign I had passed by the roadside.

[Red Zone]

It was already the Red Zone.

I immediately called Jeong-hoon.

“Please stop here.”

“Yes? There’s still 2km to the destination.”

“It’s okay. I’m going to walk to get some fresh air.”

“In the middle of winter?”

“Haha, I have a lot of body heat.”

“Let’s go further.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Then I’ll wait. You have to consider the possibility of returning to Seoul.”

“I have other plans for that. Thank you for your hard work late at night.”

I politely declined Jeong-hoon’s kindness and got out of the car with a smile.

Of course, I didn’t leave the house without a plan.

I had already thought of a way to return home. I just didn’t need Jeong-hoon next to me, so I was sending him back.

“Coming to the Red Zone in the middle of the night when there are hardly any people. Mr. Kang Shin-hwa is truly an unpredictable person.”

“Please think of me as someone with many secrets. Then, I’ll be going!”

With Jeong-hoon’s compliment, or not, I closed the car door.

Then Jeong-hoon stared at me for a while before turning around and heading back the way he came.

My enhanced eyes accurately captured the inside of the car, even though Jeong-hoon and his car were quite far away.

He was immediately making a phone call.

He was probably contacting Jin Seong-tae, Jin Bo-mi, or Guild Master Seo Ye-hee.

“An open road! This is a great place to test the abilities of my modified legs.”

I stood in the middle of the deserted four-lane road.

After being designated as a Red Zone, the Sabuk-eup area of Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon-do, became a completely uninhabited area.

So, while traces of the past remained, there was no sign of anyone living there now.

Since there were no dungeons here in the first place, Awakened people rarely came.

Occasionally, internet broadcasting BJs [Broadcast Jockeys, or streamers] would come for horror experiences, but that was rare too.

“The leg modification is definitely less difficult, so there shouldn’t be any problems with my current condition.”

I immediately began to pour mana from my body into both legs with all my might.

The basis of modification is magic power [mana].

The more abundant it is, the lower the difficulty of modification and the higher the stability of the transformation process.

Each time a physical change occurs, the magic power storage increases, so the difficulty will gradually decrease.

“Hoo.”

In the time it took to sigh once, I felt an intense fullness in the thighs of both legs, as if they were about to burst.

The beginning of modification.

Maximizing muscle mass.

Even now, my body is muscular and well-balanced, but when the modification is complete, it will be almost at its limit.

Iosif Karach, a colleague of the Nine Lords from Russia in my past life, gave me this nickname.

‘Horse thighs? Honey thighs? I think they’re iron thighs, iron thighs.’

Even that guy, who was a mass of muscles, evaluated the leg modification as extremely strengthening the muscles.

“I can feel it.”

The tingling sensation that started in my groin spread throughout my legs, and I could feel them hardening.

It was a definite change that I could feel, as if I had been doing leg exercises non-stop for over a decade.

There was a tearing and burning pain, but it was bearable.

This level of pain is not even considered pain by my standards.

Considering my past life where I enjoyed hand-to-hand combat and got stabbed with knives as a daily occurrence, this was child’s play.

Shaaaaa.

Soon, the change was complete.

As expected, I felt the physical fatigue from the modification washing over me.

It wasn’t just a light feeling of wanting to sleep or rest, but a signal of overload that my body was telling me.

If I try to modify my body further here, there will be side effects, so I must be careful.

“Good.”

I looked down at my thighs, which were rippling with blue mana and more vibrant than ever.

It seemed like they were strong enough that even if I hit my thigh with a steel pipe, the steel pipe would bend instead.

“Hoo. Hoo.”

Taking a deep breath.

I stood in the center of the road and focused on the 2km point that would be my final destination.

I can see it.

The darkness of the pitch-black night and the physically long distance were no obstacle in front of my eyes.

“Let’s go!”

Paaat!

I kicked off the asphalt ground.

It was the start of the propulsion for an extreme sprint.

Just then.

Kudeudeuk!

The ground was deeply dented at the point where I kicked off with my back leg.

Just in case, I looked back and saw a sinkhole about 1m deep where I had been standing.

‘Iron thighs don’t go anywhere.’

I ran with a satisfied expression.

In an instant, my body, which had surpassed the limits of an ordinary human, was now fast enough to catch up with the speed of a cheetah.

110km per hour!

The frictional heat and pressure of the air pressed down on my entire body accordingly, but this was bearable.

Kung! Kung! Kung!

I could feel my modified heart and lungs working hard.

It would be nice if I could sprint forever in this state, but there are still clear limits.

Exactly 2km.

After covering this distance, I would have to rest sufficiently.

However, as the lungs and heart continue to be used, they will become stronger, so the possibility of increasing the maximum distance in the future is endless.

Before I regressed, the maximum distance I had run at this maximum speed was over 100km.

In an instant, the destination was near.

I bent my knees slightly to examine not only my sprinting ability but also my jumping ability.

And.

Paaat!

Using the propulsion, I leaped high into the sky.

“As expected!”

In an instant, the ground moved away, and everything on the ground began to shrink rapidly.

Reaching a height of about 50m, I could look down as if I were observing everything.

“Hehe, now I won’t have any problems moving around during rush hour.”

I have a good means of transportation.

No matter how good a car you have, there is no solution to traffic congestion.

But with these two legs, I can now jump between buildings as much as I want.

Even if there are obstacles in the shortest distance route, like in Parkour, it is possible to overcome them.

Taat.

Soon, I landed on the ground and lightly brushed off the dust on my hands.

There was no strain at all.

During the landing process, the strengthened legs, muscles, and joints naturally absorbed the impact.

“I’m here.”

After doing various experiments, I was already at my destination.

An abandoned mine with an unremarkable name of 78.

There is a Magic Ball inside.

Whoooo.

As the eerie winter wind blew, the mine’s unique musty and humid air was also conveyed.

Jeobeok. Jeobeok. Jeobeok.

Soon, I disappeared into the darkness of the abandoned mine, where no one was and no one even cared about.

* * *

“Hmm.”

As expected, what greeted Shin-hwa as he entered the abandoned mine were skeletons.

Looking at the clothes and condition of the skeletons, they had not been dead for very long.

In other words, they were likely killed somewhere in the Red Zone or Black Zone and then dumped here.

“There should be a lot of criminal organizations.”

Korea was relatively better off.

After the Great Cataclysm.

In the early days, the KSA [Korean Special Association] declared a war on crime and cracked down on malicious organizations on a large scale.

Of course, not all of them were eradicated, so they could not prevent the emergence of large criminal organizations such as the Black Cross Society.

The situation was even more serious in China, where three organizations called the Black Society, the Triads, and the Five Star Society occupied nearly half of the Awakened world.

Because of this, the Chinese Awakened Association, CSA, was so weak that it had to be mindful of the organization in everything it did.

“I really think it’s fortunate to be a Korean in times like these. I’m also proud.”

Shin-hwa nodded and went deeper into the abandoned mine.

There was no light inside, but Shin-hwa, who brightened his vision with infrared rays, had no problems.

After walking for about 10 minutes.

A huge pile of garbage, either abandoned by someone or left unattended for a long time, came into view, reeking of stench.

I came to the right place.

The Magic Ball is here.

Before a dungeon was created around here due to the Outbreak in my past life, and this place was developed along with it.

It had been completely abandoned for almost 10 years.

The Magic Ball was later discovered by a KSA agent who came for a preliminary investigation.

This was 10 years in the future. Shin-hwa had come to this place far ahead of the future.

“Synchronization, synchronization…….”

Releasing magic power with his left hand, Shin-hwa kept muttering the same word.

The Magic Ball only responds to special magic power wavelengths. If the wavelengths don’t match, it’s just an ordinary ball.

Shin-hwa adjusted the magic power wavelengths in minute units and quickly found the answer.

After about a minute.

Woooong!

The Magic Ball, wrapped in a black plastic bag in the pile of garbage, floated into the air.

About the size of a tennis ball.

The exterior looked like a precisely crafted steel ball in a circular shape.

“Nice to meet you. Have you been lonely all this time?”

Shiiiiing! Cheok!

An item I couldn’t have in my past life.

It felt strange to get the guy who had been in the hands of another owner for his entire life in this life.

[Magic Ball]

[Judgment Grade: A]

[This is an artifact that can be thrown and recovered using magic power. It can be repaired using a dimension stone.

The Magic Ball has a special individual ego, but you cannot communicate with each other.]

“……It had an ego?”

Ting! Ting!

Instead of answering, the guy seemed to be answering yes by bouncing the ball hard on the ground.

If I could understand his words, his usefulness would be much greater.

The owner in my past life had never shown any prominence in combat or other fields with the Magic Ball.

Then he must have met the wrong pilot.

Shin-hwa gripped the Magic Ball tightly in his left hand and threw it with all his might towards the entrance of the abandoned mine.

Paaaang!

Then the Magic Ball began to fly, making a sonic boom.

It was a rush with explosive energy that was fast enough to create a red tail behind it for a moment.

And when the speed reached its peak and began to fall.

Tak!

Shin-hwa flicked his finger.

Then, as if drawn by a magnet, the flying Magic Ball quickly returned to Shin-hwa’s left hand.

“You’re more attractive than I thought?”

Ting! Ting!

While Shin-hwa was happy to have obtained a new artifact.

“A rat has sneaked in here.”

A chilling, dagger-like voice filled with murderous intent was heard.