I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 127

Chapter 127

‘Don’t think I’m the only one who knows. The KSA [Korean Special Ability Association] knows, and so does the Hyehwa Guild.’

‘With such a clear intent to cause national chaos, how can you ask us to sell goods here?’

‘You might consider buying the produced goods that are resold elsewhere, but well… do you think that would be easy?’

Shortly after Shin-hwa left, practically delivering a one-sided declaration and notice.

“Fucking…!”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Mok Jin-woo could no longer contain his surging anger and repeatedly slammed his fist on the innocent desk.

This was no ordinary anger.

Despite it being his cherished desk, it ended up breaking from the magic-infused punches.

“Just who, who the hell…! Whose doing is this? Whose doing is it!”

Mok Jin-woo gritted his teeth.

The information Shin-hwa knew was too deep and detailed to simply dismiss as an overestimation.

He knew about the collaboration details that only he, Shin Jung-ah, Hong Mae-hwa, and Shin Jung-ah’s confidants would know.

The bigger problem was that not only Shin-hwa but also the KSA and the target, Hyehwa Guild, knew this fact.

In reality, Shin-hwa had essentially bluffed without the parties involved even knowing.

Of course, there was no way for Mok Jin-woo to prove or verify this.

He couldn’t possibly go to the KSA or Hyehwa Guild and ask, ‘Did you know about our plan?’ That would be insane, wouldn’t it?

‘Aren’t you being pathetic? To hide your relationship and cooperate because you’re not confident enough to openly aim for it.’

‘And the more you’re in a relationship, the better you should keep secrets. If you blab like this, even a passing dog would know.’

Shin-hwa knew his private affairs too well.

Mok Jin-woo and Shin Jung-ah’s relationship was so secret that even his close aide, Hong Mae-hwa, was unaware of their meetings.

It was a secret rendezvous possible only because Shin Jung-ah had the ability to teleport, albeit conditionally.

“Could it be Jung-ah…?”

No matter how he thought about it, the starting point of this leak had to be internal.

Unless Shin-hwa was from the future, there was no way he could know everything from A to Z.

“Damn it!”

Thwack!

In the end, unable to overcome his anger, Mok Jin-woo smashed the auxiliary desk next to him in half.

He had to rework the plan.

You can’t push forward with a scheme that the enemy already knows, can you?

At this point, it wasn’t just a matter of being deflated; it was like holding a poison that would become toxic the moment you drank it.

“Me, Jung-ah, Hong Mae-hwa, and Jung-ah’s confidants… There’s definitely a traitor among us.”

The small ball that Shin-hwa launched had become Mok Jin-woo’s cold arrow of suspicion.

Now, the issue of purchasing products from Shin-hwa was no longer a concern. It seemed like it was time to catch the rat within.

* * *

Some time later.

“I’ve never seen Mok Jin-woo so flustered in my life. Haha, my stomach hurts, seriously!”

Returning home, I laughed heartily, clutching my aching stomach.

The gamble of revealing the future events to Mok Jin-woo exactly as they were had succeeded perfectly.

Mok Jin-woo seemed more shocked by the fact that the information was leaked than by how I obtained it.

Of course.

He wouldn’t even dream that I was a ‘Regressor.’

Knowing Mok Jin-woo’s personality, he would definitely try to find the informant from within, like catching lice.

I had already laid the groundwork by talking up a storm, so the puppet show was his to handle.

“Phew! I thought I was going to die from laughing so much. This is why the tongue is so scary.”

I had rambled on about things that the person in front of me would have thought impossible.

Unless he was an idiot, there seemed to be no chance he would carry out the original plan.

Just making him turn the blade of suspicion toward the insiders was already a perfect score.

‘Anyway, the preparations for tomorrow’s departure are complete.’

I laid out the things I had bought on the way home before putting them into the subspace [a personal storage dimension].

First, I stopped by Hwang’s place and bought a few extra reinforced suits.

I also bought some free-size reinforced suits for the team members, just in case. Consider it a first raid gift?

Once we finish the raid well.

Even after deducting all the necessary expenses, I had calculated that each participating team member could earn a distribution income of at least 5 billion won [approximately $3.7 million USD].

Since I planned to mostly sleep or rest on the direct flight to LA anyway.

We were scheduled to gather at the Ye-hwa training room tonight, on the evening of the 2nd, to briefly coordinate our teamwork.

That’s me, Yoon-byeol, the Priest, Han So-joon, and Jin Bo-mi, a team of five.

‘Excluding me, is it like Assassin, Debuffer, Healer, and Ranged Dealer? The composition is really good.’

The composition is the best.

Since I wanted the battle to revolve solely around me, it couldn’t be more optimal than this.

Nicholas was my supporter in my past life as well. That was my pride and confidence.

Knock, knock.

Just then, a message arrived.

I thought it was a message from Han So-joon since it was early in the morning, but it was Yoon-byeol.

[Still negotiating. It looks like we’ll get 3 identification glasses pre-ordered from the Hyehwa Guild, around 16 billion won [approximately $12 million USD].]

[Contact me if you have any feedback. I won’t sleep until around four in the morning.]

I didn’t ask her to work this hard, but she was really passionate about her work.

Of course, it was also because I promised her an incentive, but I was grateful because it felt like she had affection for the team.

I’m nocturnal myself, so I have no intention of sleeping right now.

‘Should I try some more body modification?’

So, what I thought of was the physical modification that I had been resting for a while.

For now, I plan not to attempt brain modification until the 100% condition I thought of earlier is met.

Even if other physical modifications fail, there’s always a next time, but if the brain fails, I’ll become an idiot.

To put it in computer terms, it’s like a format without a backup, so if it fails, it’ll be cleanly initialized. Who? Me.

“Nose, ears.”

I decided to do these two places.

It was also a necessary ability to raid the K-10004 dungeon in LA this time.

The modification difficulty was also low (下) [lowest level] based on the previously assigned criteria, so there was no need to postpone it.

Shuaaaaa.

I immediately focused magic power on my nose and ears. For a moment, my nose tingled, and my ears felt numb, but I ignored it.

‘It would be great if modification could also do plastic surgery.’

The center of a man is his nose.

Every time I look in the mirror, I feel like my nose bridge is lacking. Unfortunately, modification can’t do plastic surgery.

I steadily supplied magic power and induced natural modification of the two areas.

Various cellular reactions occurred, causing a burning or heavy feeling, but it was bearable.

“Good. Good.”

The changes proceeded smoothly without straining my body. My body’s adaptability has definitely improved.

Body adaptability refers to reducing or eliminating the mechanism by which the body unconsciously resists modification or talent absorption.

The reason why I don’t do modifications all at once is also because of this adaptability.

In any case, modification is a change that puts a strain on the body, so you can suffer side effects if you’re not careful.

After a while.

“Done!”

The modification was over.

Thanks to the low difficulty, there were no aftereffects, and the fatigue accumulated in my body was minimal.

Sniff, sniff.

Right then.

There was a unique smell that deeply penetrated my nose. It was Shami’s scent.

The smell of the guy that I hadn’t felt at all until just now was sensitively felt by the enhanced sense of smell.

As expected, modification doesn’t lie.

The enhanced sense of smell not only expands the range of smell but also plays various roles.

It can detect the scent of hidden monsters and also filter toxic fumes early.

In other words, things like poison mist no longer work on me.

Not only that, but it is also possible to learn about the scent of monsters.

What I mean is that the scent of a monster that has been analyzed once is naturally imprinted in the memory.

Even if you enter a dungeon with no information, you can infer the existence of monsters if you have prior olfactory information.

-Churu……. Churu…….

Moreover, thanks to the enhanced hearing, I could hear Shami’s voice muttering in his sleep in a room quite far away.

A small sound that I wouldn’t have noticed at all usually was now amplified.

Of course, unless you focus magic power on your ears, you maintain the same hearing as usual, so you can assume that there is no possibility of suffering from ‘self-noise.’

-Honey, how do I look today?

-Ooh… Totally sexy.

-Are you just going to look, though?

However, the downside is that if you concentrate, you can eavesdrop on the private conversations of two men and women next door.

‘At this point, you can say that I’m completely immune to the opponent’s stealth.’

Now, even if I can’t see them, I can track their traces with my nose and ears.

“I can’t sleep anyway, so I should wash Shami. He smells too bad.”

Perhaps because my sensitive sense of smell was stimulated a lot, Shami’s scent felt extremely pungent.

So, unlike usual, I decided to wash him at home today, not at the animal hospital, and went to the room.

-How dare you touch me!

Clack!

What came back to me was only the cool claw marks left on the bridge of his nose.

I can’t help it.

I think I’ll have to visit the kind female groomer at the animal hospital again today.

* * *

March 3rd, dawn.

The raid team, consisting of five people including Shin-hwa, was resting comfortably on a direct flight to LA.

Thanks to Jin Bo-mi, we reserved the entire first-class seats and were resting comfortably without worrying about anyone else’s eyes.

Even if it wasn’t a private plane, it was a special treatment that felt close enough.

Thanks to the prior practice we had at the Ye-hwa training room last night, the five of us had all become close.

Han So-joon, who Shin-hwa was most worried about, didn’t seem to be wary of the three people, perhaps because he was Shin-hwa’s colleague.

However, Han So-joon was very intimidated by Yoon-byeol, who was particularly taciturn and had a stiff tone.

Anyway, in the early morning when most people were asleep.

Choi Ji-hyuk cautiously spoke to Shin-hwa, who was looking out the window and enjoying the moonlight at dawn.

“Shin-hwa, is it okay if I talk to you for a moment?”

“Of course. Not just for a moment, I’m okay with talking all day.”

“I was wondering if I was bothering you while you were resting comfortably.”

“You can speak comfortably. We’re on the same team. You don’t have to be so conscious. It’s not like there’s a hierarchical relationship.”

“Okay. It’s not that, but there’s one thing I really wanted to ask.”

“Ask me anything.”

“Why… did you choose me?”

That had always been Choi Ji-hyuk’s question.

Of course, it felt like a dream and I was happy that such an outstanding talent as Kang Shin-hwa was with me.

However, that was entirely a thought from my own perspective.

Despite the fact that there were many capable Awakeners who could be with Shin-hwa.

I really wanted to hear which part of me, who was only a D-rank now, he liked.

Why would someone as great as Shin-hwa want to keep someone as ‘insignificant’ as me by his side?

Choi Ji-hyuk couldn’t understand.

It was also a cold feeling that made me think of Shin-hwa as a colleague whom I cherished and respected that much.