I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 136

Golden Sky is the guild to which Isla Blanchett belongs. Of course, she’s not the only member. If my memory is correct, Isla’s current rank is S+. It was with good reason that Nicholas sought her out as soon as he regressed five years into the past. She had been exceptional from the start of her awakening, and she had followed a path of rapid advancement. After awakening as an A-rank in 2018, a feat that others envied, she reached S+ rank in just two years. Her growth rate is very fast, and her talent, ‘Mana Dagger’, is a special and very powerful ability. It involves freely compressing mana and converting it into various forms of daggers to release at the opponent. The number of daggers can increase infinitely depending on how much mana is used, making it a truly threatening ability. In particular, flimsy protective gear would not be able to stop the daggers she throws with intent. What I mean is, it’s a one-shot, one-kill situation. Even the enhanced suit I’m wearing might not withstand it.

‘No way. It can’t be.’

I’ve become more suspicious lately, and my delusions seem to have grown along with it. There are thousands of Awakeners in the Golden Sky Guild, so there’s no way Isla is an apostle of Lecher. It would be better to suspect the guild master, Jacob Woodward. He’s an SSS-rank, and also an Awakener who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth [meaning he had advantages from birth].

“Thank you for the drink. It’s delicious.”

“Haha, if you ever visit our group, you can have high-end wines that can’t even be compared to this.”

“I’ll make sure to drink it next time. Anyway, thank you for your words.”

“We look forward to working with you.”

I shook hands with Bellic. I was bothered by the fact that he mentioned the Australian apostle, but I decided not to press him about it. Trying to know too much might make me look suspicious. It’s never bad to be careful in these matters.

* * *

Dawn.

While everyone was sleeping in their assigned hotel rooms, Shin-hwa and Yoon-byeol came out to an empty lot near the Elijah Hotel and faced each other. Their purpose was singular: to test the ‘Liquification’ ability acquired from the Flower of Liquification obtained after killing the Liquifier. In fact, they could have done it in the individual training room in the basement of the hotel, but it felt uneasy. Since it was Elijah’s hotel, they thought there was a possibility that the training content could be leaked. Yoon-byeol, who was standing at a distance from Shin-hwa, asked, “Shin-hwa, what should I do?”

Unlike Shin-hwa, who was comfortably dressed in a tracksuit, Yoon-byeol was wearing a white blouse and a black skirt. When Shin-hwa called her out, she thought they were going to see a nice night view together. In other words, she was jumping to conclusions. The problem was that she interpreted Shin-hwa’s words to come out too differently. “Just a moment. Let me do some self-checks and then we’ll test it right away,” Shin-hwa said, busy checking his condition, making her blushing face, tinged with embarrassment, seem out of place.

‘Wow, this is more difficult than I thought.’

The Liquification ability. In his previous life, it was an ability obtained by a man named ‘Zais Pygula’ who belonged to the Revengers in 2039. He was a notorious villain. Moreover, he diligently researched this ability and maximized its efficiency, making it very difficult to eliminate him later. However, thanks to his diverse activities, there were many video materials of Zais left. At that time, he had watched quite a few videos out of curiosity, and Shin-hwa was now recalling those memories.

‘The mana consumption is also higher than I thought. At this rate, it’s almost like scattering mana in all directions.’

He had only liquefied one arm as a demonstration, but the mana disappeared in an instant like ice in the scorching heat. His mana recovery speed was very fast, and he had mana storage methods such as the Modified Heart or Wilson. Nevertheless, the amount of mana consumed was enormous. At this rate, he would have to set his future growth concept as rank increase, that is, an increase in total mana. First, Shin-hwa continued to conduct several tests. Just because he had seen the ability a lot didn’t mean he was familiar with its use. After a few minutes, Shin-hwa, who had finished all the preparations, ordered Yoon-byeol what he wanted.

“Noona.”

“Yes?”

“The dagger you upgraded with Stellard ore this time, attack my right shoulder with that dagger.”

“Suddenly?”

“This is the only way to check the ability I got with the flower this time. Don’t worry about getting hurt and throw it hard. Even if I get hurt, I can ask So-joon to heal me,” Shin-hwa said with a nod. The experiment didn’t work well when he attacked himself. His subconscious defense mechanism was also activated.

“Okay. I’ll go right away. You really mean I can throw it hard, right?”

“I’ll take responsibility.”

Whirring!

As soon as he finished speaking, Yoon-byeol threw a dagger at Shin-hwa. It was like lightning. Although there was quite a distance, the dagger narrowed the distance in the blink of an eye and aimed precisely at Shin-hwa’s right shoulder. The next moment:

Shururuk.

When Shin-hwa concentrated, a subtle change occurred in his right shoulder. At first glance, it looked no different from his original body.

Thwack!

The moment the dagger pierced his shoulder, something out of the ordinary happened. In a normal situation, the dagger deeply embedded in his shoulder should have caused a wound and spurted blood. However, the dagger was just staying in place as if it were stuck in something sticky like jelly. No blood flowed, and Shin-hwa didn’t seem to be in pain.

“I expected it because it’s called the Flower of Liquification, but…”

“Isn’t it amazing?”

“Can I throw another one?”

“Yes? Hahaha. As many as you want.”

Shin-hwa nodded at Yoon-byeol’s words, who seemed to be more curious than he was.

Whirring!

Soon, a dagger aimed at the same spot flew.

Thwack!

But the result was the same as before. The dagger, which was gently nestled in Shin-hwa’s shoulder, was just hanging there.

“Then… aren’t you invincible? No matter what attack you make, it won’t work?”

“That’s not true. There’s a price to pay. The mana consumption is quite high.”

“Even so, I think this talent is really a cheat [an unfair advantage]. Can you handle other attacks besides daggers?”

“Actually, there’s another reason why I called Noona.”

Clack!

When Shin-hwa snapped his fingers, MZ-20, the mana handgun used by Jaeil, came out of the subspace.

“Don’t tell me…?”

“It’s charged. All you have to do is pull the trigger on me once.”

“No, that’s! I thought it would be okay even if something went wrong with the dagger, but if something goes wrong with this, you’ll die!”

“I won’t die. And if I don’t do a preliminary test in advance, I might make a mistake and really die when I use it in a real battle later.”

“You’re crazy, you’re crazy…”

Yoon-byeol clicked her tongue in disbelief. In fact, she was quite surprised that Shin-hwa had nullified the dagger attack with Liquification just now. This is because he neutralized the physical attack with his talent without resisting with defensive movements or techniques. So far, so good, but if he can withstand even a high-powered mana handgun, then the story is completely different.

Cheat.

It means that the talent can be evaluated with just one word.

“I’ll take responsibility. Don’t worry and pull it.”

“You know that sounds really scary, right?”

“Father or So-joon will say they can’t even start. I’m asking you because I trust you.”

“Then get ready right away.”

“Hoo, just 3 seconds.”

Shin-hwa immediately took his place and stood up. He had calculated everything carefully. How much mana to invest became clear while blocking the dagger attack just now. It wasn’t difficult to adjust the expected value by inversely calculating using the data collected from the previous situation.

“Okay, aim here.”

Shin-hwa patted the area near his right chest, allowing Yoon-byeol to find the aiming point. The next moment!

Bang!

Cooong!

“…!”

The firing and the hit happened at the same time. Yoon-byeol’s aim was accurate. He aimed at the part Shin-hwa wanted. Of course, it was thanks to the tactical laser installed on the MZ-20 to make aiming easier.

“No way…”

Yoon-byeol’s jaw dropped as she watched the situation unfold from the front. Part of the top Shin-hwa was wearing was melted away by the firepower of the mana bullet. That was a matter of course. However, with this level of firepower, it should have been at least a penetrating wound in a normal case since he wasn’t even wearing a suit. At the very least, there should have been a fairly large hole in his right chest. But what Yoon-byeol saw was Shin-hwa’s body, which was slightly dented inward at the same time as the impact, but soon returned to its original appearance.

Shururuk.

Even that was only until the Liquification ability disappeared, and it returned to Shin-hwa’s original skin appearance. Of course, there was a hole in his clothes only in ‘that area’, making him look a little embarrassed.

“Um… I’ll cover up for manners.”

Shin-hwa seemed to recognize the problem and covered his chest with his left hand.

“Being able to neutralize a mana handgun like this means you can also respond to attacks like arrows and swords, right?”

“That’s right. I temporarily make my body squishy to absorb the impact. In the process, my internal organs and bones also react.”

“Like liquid metal?”

“It’s not exactly the same, but it’s similar.”

“Can you be okay without any problems when your body changes so drastically?”

“That’s why it’s a flower. It’s a unique talent that transcends common sense, so you have to see it as something you can get with a flower.”

There was a unique side effect: extreme fatigue. The process of the whole body undergoing deformation and restoration at the cellular level was repeated, so the overload was considerable.

“I… I don’t know. Shin-hwa, all of your talents are so unique and amazing that it’s even difficult to estimate your abilities.”

“There’s no need to estimate. Just trust me and follow me.”

“But…”

“Let go of the image of the superwoman that KSA wanted from Noona [term of endearment for an older sister or female friend]. If you do as you did during this Liquifier raid, it’s 100 out of 100. With a little personal feeling, 101?”

“…Was it okay?”

“The best condition needed for the finish was created by Noona, not me.”

Shin-hwa gave a thumbs up. He was sincere. This 5-person raid was a very satisfying raid in many ways, except that Jin Bo-mi couldn’t join as a fixed team member.

“Let’s go to sleep now. I know you must have been sleepy and annoyed because it’s dawn, but thank you for coming out.”

“No. I couldn’t sleep anyway. It’s okay.”

“You’ve worked hard. Let’s go in quickly. It’s still cold, so before it gets colder!”

“Shin-hwa.”

“Yes?”

“If it’s okay… wouldn’t you like to have a cocktail… or a drink at the hotel lounge?”

Yoon-byeol’s face was flushed as she made the difficult suggestion. In fact, she could have lightly said let’s have a drink without meaning, but it had a slightly different meaning for her. Of course, she didn’t expect it. Shin-hwa didn’t seem to know the hidden meaning in those words.

“Would you rather I buy some beer and talk comfortably in Noona’s room? The lounge will be closing soon anyway.”

“Huh…?”