I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 43

43.

Park Sang-hyun immediately held his breath.

Dashing from the hallway into the small room, he instantly hurled two daggers toward where he sensed the strongest mana.

Judging by the mana emission, he was certain the Mythic was hiding there, and at this distance, there was no way to evade.

Thud! Ting!

Contrary to his expectations, a disappointing sound echoed.

“……?”

Where Park Sang-hyun’s gaze landed, instead of the Mythic, there was a teddy bear and a metal ball.

‘This can’t be……’

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

Before he could gather his thoughts, a fist flew out of nowhere and sent him flying.

The Mythic, hidden by a cloaking ring, revealed himself with the attack.

“What? Did you think I’d hide in such an obvious place?”

The Mythic let out a mocking laugh, climbing onto Park Sang-hyun’s body, which had crashed into the living room.

It happened in an instant.

The Mythic’s single strike wasn’t just a punch; it was a Five-Layered Explosion [a technique that delivers five consecutive impacts with a single blow].

“Ugh. Gurgle.”

Park Sang-hyun couldn’t regain his senses, shaking his head to clear his muddled mind.

Of course, it was futile.

The strong impact, akin to falling headfirst from a great height, was directly transmitted to Park Sang-hyun, and the aftermath was devastating.

Even with the Mythic rushing over and pinning him down, Park Sang-hyun couldn’t retaliate.

Above all, the Mythic’s face, directly in front of him, was completely out of focus. The world felt like it was spinning.

“I find guys like you, who think the world revolves around them, the easiest to deal with.”

Thwack!

The Mythic continued calmly, striking the center of Park Sang-hyun’s face without a change in expression.

Not even a hint of emotion like anger. It was like a machine dismantling a human body.

Park Sang-hyun had only suffered two blows, the initial strike and the follow-up, but he was already starting to feel fear.

“Think about it logically. If I couldn’t hide my mana myself, would I hide in plain sight like an idiot?”

“Gurgle……”

He wanted to answer, but his disoriented tongue couldn’t utter a single word.

Crack!

This time, the Mythic’s fist accurately struck the center of Park Sang-hyun’s mouth.

Snap! Crackle! Pop!

Park Sang-hyun didn’t need to count; he could feel that more than half of the teeth in his mouth were broken.

‘So, he stored mana in that teddy bear and ball, deceiving me?’

That was the only answer Park Sang-hyun could think of.

He intentionally stored mana in ordinary objects, disguising them as Awakened beings.

It was a high-level technique.

Injecting mana into an object was inherently difficult.

It was something that even Kang Shin-hwa, a D-rank Awakened, couldn’t do, let alone an S-rank or higher Awakened.

Even if he was the one who had tricked Jang Seong-young, an A-rank Awakened from the Black Cross!

“Let’s get this over with. I can tolerate everything else, but I absolutely can’t tolerate someone trying to kill me.”

The Mythic rolled up his sleeves.

Then, he sat on Park Sang-hyun’s chest, effectively pinning him so he couldn’t move.

“I only need you to talk enough. So, I’ll take care of the unnecessary parts beforehand?”

And then.

Whack! Whack!

“Kaaaaaah!”

Soon, he struck Park Sang-hyun’s wrists and ankles, using the Two-Layered Explosion and Pressure Fist [techniques used to deliver focused, bone-breaking force].

A powerful strike that was perfect for breaking bones by momentarily loading the body’s weight.

“Sorry, but this penthouse has excellent soundproofing. No one will hear you with that level of screaming, so feel free to scream as loud as you can.”

“Kuhhhhh!”

Park Sang-hyun trembled.

He had never been so unilaterally violated like this before.

The targets he received assassination requests for were always calculable, and Park Sang-hyun could manipulate them as he pleased.

But the Mythic was different.

It went wrong from the start.

Completely deceived, Park Sang-hyun lost the first attack opportunity to the Mythic.

And the initiative never returned to him.

“The bones are broken, but the nerves aren’t completely damaged, so you should still be able to move your fingers a little.”

“Kuh-ugh.”

“If you can’t take it anymore and are ready to spill everything, raise your index and middle fingers. Got it?”

“Heeuh.”

“You can choose to die looking cool, and it doesn’t matter. I already know who ordered it.”

The Mythic took a deep breath.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Accurately keeping the rhythm, he rhythmically struck Park Sang-hyun’s face as if he were pounding rice.

It was an attack without any mercy, and each time the fist landed, Park Sang-hyun’s face began to crumple.

The eye sockets shattered, the bridge of the nose collapsed, and the lips burst open, creating an unsightly mess.

“Cough! Cough!”

The blood Park Sang-hyun spat splattered directly onto the Mythic’s entire face, but the Mythic’s expression didn’t change.

Covering himself in blood like this was commonplace in his past life.

He had even slept next to the cold corpses of his comrades and often used monster blood as camouflage, so there was nothing new about it.

“It seems like all the bones are broken. From now on, every time a fist lands, the broken bone fragments will stab somewhere random. If you’re unlucky, the next attack might pierce somewhere in the cerebellum. Then you’ll become an idiot.”

Listening to the Mythic’s calm, methodical voice, Park Sang-hyun recalled this word.

A killing machine.

It was as if he was looking at a machine that had been completely stripped of emotions, silently destroying its target.

The Mythic’s warning was by no means nonsense. Park Sang-hyun, the person involved, was keenly aware of it.

He had somehow endured until now.

But if he was hit by the Mythic’s fist again next time, he might really go to the afterlife!

Each of his blows was as destructive as a 100kg iron hammer.

“According to the Awakened Special Act, unauthorized intrusion into a residence is recognized as self-defense, even if it results in death. You know that, right? The scope of self-defense has widened because the world is so dangerous.”

Whoosh!

Along with the Mythic’s dry remarks, his shoulders and arms soon reached their peak for the attack.

Right then.

Taptap. Taptaptap. Tap.

Park Sang-hyun quickly raised his index and middle fingers and struck the ground with all his might.

In his desperate struggle to live, he abandoned all pretense, pride, and shame.

The fact that the Mythic was a D-rank had long been erased from his mind.

“Do you have something to say?”

“S-s-save m-me, p-please.”

Park Sang-hyun, with not a single intact tooth left, barely begged for his life with slurred pronunciation.

“You have to say what I want to hear, not what you want to say.”

Thwack!

This time, the Mythic’s fist struck Park Sang-hyun’s groin.

For a moment, only the whites of Park Sang-hyun’s eyes appeared and disappeared. It was a gaze half-lost in shock.

“J-J-Ju, Ju.”

“Ju, what?”

“Ju Cheon-ho sent me.”

“I knew it.”

It was as expected.

It seemed to be revenge for crippling Jang Seong-young in the last battle.

Perhaps there were many difficulties in taking revenge himself.

The leader of the Black Cross, Ju Cheon-ho.

He was among the Top 3 most wanted Awakened with bounties on their heads by the KSA [Korean Special Ability Association].

Just reporting his hideout would earn tens of billions of won in rewards, and capturing him alive would earn at least 200 billion won.

No matter how much of an outlaw he was.

It was difficult to easily show his face in the White Zone [safe zones in Korea], where the KSA’s surveillance network was densely established.

“You’re probably not affiliated with the Black Cross. You’re probably someone who takes requests from places like the Dark Forest, right?”

“T-that’s right.”

Dark Forest.

A dark information network built among criminals, with its base in China.

It was a diverse contract request network created by the Oseonghui, Heuksaheoi, and Samhaphoe [powerful Chinese Triad organizations].

“Those Chinese bastards are no help at all.”

The Mythic grumbled, shaking off his hands and getting up from his seat.

He had hoped, but it was as he expected.

From the moment he touched Jang Seong-young, he didn’t think things would go well.

But he was confident.

Unless Ju Cheon-ho came himself, sending his underlings would never be a match for him.

“A-are you going to s-s-save me?”

“There’s one more thing you need to do.”

“P-please tell me.”

“Call Ju Cheon-ho.”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t you hear me?”

“Y-yes, I understand.”

Park Sang-hyun barely pressed the numbers with his unresponsive right fingers.

The pain from his wrist bones being shattered by the Mythic’s attack was excruciating, but he didn’t have the luxury to groan right now.

Soon, after confirming that the call was connecting, the Mythic snatched the smartphone from Park Sang-hyun.

And quietly waited for a voice to be heard from the other side of the receiver.

The next moment.

A low, deep, and cold voice reached the Mythic’s ears.

-Did you subdue him?

It was Ju Cheon-ho’s voice.

Judging by the question of whether he had subdued him, it seemed that he hadn’t intended to kill him from the beginning.

That’s right.

Without the antidote, Jang Seong-young couldn’t be restored to his original state.

“Subdue, my ass! Hey, Ju Cheon-ho. Don’t cowardly make requests to places like the Dark Forest; come yourself, you bastard. Is that all the Black Cross is good for?”

The Mythic unleashed a refreshing barrage of curses.

He didn’t have any grand ideals like a sense of justice, but he couldn’t compromise on someone trying to harm him.

-You’re Kang Shin-hwa, who made Seong-young like that. I sent a fairly expensive A-rank Awakened, but you were defeated?

“That’s why I’m telling you not to waste money on useless places. You can just come yourself, right?”

The Mythic provoked Ju Cheon-ho.

Of course, he wouldn’t come.

Although he was an SS-rank Awakened with considerable skill, he was by no means a person who would be swayed by emotions and rush into a deadly situation.

Ju Cheon-ho was rational, 냉정 [cold-blooded], and 확실하게 판단하는 남자였다 [a man who made definite judgments].

-Kang Shin-hwa, hand over the antidote. If you hand over the antidote to restore Seong-young to his original state, I swear on my name that I won’t touch you.

“Yeah, 1 trillion won per bottle. Call me if you can pay that price.”

-You crazy bastard.

“The crazy bastard isn’t me, but your lackey who’s drooling like a moron in a hospital bed.”

-Aren’t you afraid of me?

Ju Cheon-ho’s cold words were sharp enough to freeze the depths of his heart.

It was also a statement implying that he would turn the entire Black Cross, including himself, into enemies.

He had no intention of becoming a champion of justice.

But Jang Seong-young, who suddenly picked a fight with him, and Ju Cheon-ho, who sent an assassin to take revenge.

It was far from his personality to compromise with these guys and act like a nice, easygoing person.

Perhaps that’s why.

He wanted to reveal all the secrets he had heard and learned about Ju Cheon-ho in his past life.

Since it was a bad encounter from the start.

Since it had become an irreversible bad relationship, he was going to coolly provoke him.

“What’s there to be afraid of? You’re a pervert who’s into 남색(男色) [homosexual relationships], and you, your lower body doesn’t react at all except when you’re 볼일 볼 때 [urinating], right?”

Suddenly, but perhaps because he hit the bone too hard so suddenly?

-…….

A long silence flowed.

That extremely private and secret future knowledge… was disseminated to the person without any exaggeration.