I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 168

168

“Cough! Cough! Wheeze!”

Akelo barely stumbled through the dimensional gate before coughing up a lump of blood.

It wasn’t ordinary blood.

It was a thick, black clot that seemed to have surged up from deep within his organs, making him feel nauseous.

He had suffered severe internal injuries.

“Kuhhhhh…”

That wasn’t all.

He couldn’t see properly because he had been struck in the back of the head with the final blow.

Daze.

No word could better describe his current state.

“Haa, haa.”

He didn’t even have the strength to support his body.

Akelo lay on the cold ground and looked around.

It was definitely a different dungeon.

If it weren’t, ‘that bastard’ who had ambushed him would already be preparing to end his life.

“I barely… survived.”

That was Akelo’s accurate and brief assessment. He had truly escaped death by a hair’s breadth.

If Akelo hadn’t been a 6-class mage, or if he had been even a little slower to think about escaping, he thought he might be greeting the dead at the gateway to the afterlife, not in a dungeon.

The guy was definitely strong, beyond comparison to the Awakened he had faced before.

Even though Akelo was sure he had broken away from him, he felt his body tremble.

A cold wind blew from somewhere, brushing past his ear.

“Ugh!”

A shiver ran down his spine without him even realizing it.

“Damn it, damn it, dam… n!”

But the problem wasn’t just that his hand was seriously injured.

He had lost the Paralyze Artifact, which could cause paralysis just by attaching it. To be precise, he had used it as a strategic tool, but he had still lost an important artifact.

And.

“My eyes, more precious and noble than any other…”

He lost the artificial eye that Reccero had made and personally fitted into his right socket.

A gift that Reccero had made by infusing the essence of mana for him, who had lost an eye in an accident when he was young.

He had cherished the eye as a part of his body for his entire life, only to lose it so futilely.

The problem was that there was no way to find the eye. The situation was already over.

“For Akelo to suffer such humiliation. Damn it, damn it, damn it…!”

Akelo roared in anger, repeatedly striking the innocent dirt floor.

And he gnashed his teeth.

To think that Apostle Ricanella would betray him!

He was furious at the fact that she had been raising a skilled subordinate, aiming for him in case they might meet someday.

‘If the time comes when I can get out of the dungeon, I will definitely…’

Elijah Low.

He clearly recognized the Awakened alias that his subordinate had mentioned.

Even if it was a lie, he clearly remembered his face, so there would be no problem.

He expressed his anger for a while.

“Gurgle.”

Akelo couldn’t withstand the simultaneous shocks erupting from all over his body and collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

The injuries sustained from the mythical strike.

It seemed that it would take quite a long time to recover.

* * *

At the same time.

“The fake eye isn’t treated as a system artifact. Is it definitely from the Nas Continent?”

I was carefully examining the artificial eye that I had obtained after smashing Akelo’s head(?).

First of all, I couldn’t access information about the artifact I had obtained earlier through the system.

This meant that it was indeed a relic from another world, from the Nas Continent, not something that originated on Earth with the Great Cataclysm.

Just then.

“Ah…! Was this it?”

When I focused the artificial eye on the Black Wizard’s Ring – Emblem of the Order – that I was wearing…

Shhhhh.

A dark murderous intent began to emanate from the eye.

It was an intangible murderous intent that was not visible, but it was definitely reacting to the ring.

‘It’s highly likely that Akelo prepared this eye to identify Apostles or the Order’s advance team.’

It was just a guess, but the possibility seemed very high.

Since it was in the form of an eye, it would be perfect for naturally observing the other person.

But he had lost such an eye to me without any countermeasures, so I could imagine how flustered he must be.

“The ring and the eye resonate with each other’s energy, but the ring doesn’t react to the artificial eye. It’s a higher concept.”

It seemed I had obtained a good item.

After Elijah and Belic, and after the unidentified being ‘X’ that reacted near Jang Dong-shik’s hideout, my eyes had changed a lot when looking at people. Because I couldn’t know who was a follower of Reccero.

Now that I had a means of identification, it seemed I could identify the enemy more easily. It would be of great help in the future.

“I can use this against monsters.”

I looked at the necklace that Akelo had thrown in a desperate attempt to survive.

Paralyze Necklace.

I had experienced it in my past life, so I was able to react to Akelo’s surprise attack.

If I had been paralyzed without any countermeasures, I might have been severely injured or killed instead.

It was a very fruitful encounter, considering it was a chance meeting.

Moreover, I had clearly planted elements that would cause them to misunderstand each other, so it was a win-win situation. I had done everything I needed to do.

* * *

That night.

We camped in the north-central part of the J-811 dungeon on the first day.

The reason was that the clouds suddenly cleared throughout the dungeon, and the sun began to shine brightly.

Usually, the inside of a dungeon, unless it was a very special case, was often dark and gloomy, as if it were full of clouds.

Awakened people used to say that the ‘god’ who designed these dungeons liked the darkness.

Whatever the reason, it was a very good environment for our team, because the priest extremely disliked being exposed to sunlight.

Of course, being exposed to sunlight didn’t cause his body to burst into flames like in vampire movies.

However, he had the disadvantage of sweating profusely, having significantly reduced mobility, and losing concentration.

According to the priest’s accurate analogy, it felt like having severe motion sickness even when standing still.

Anyway, that’s why we ended up taking a break sooner than expected.

I didn’t intend to push hard from the start, so it was a good thing.

“Snore… . Phew.”

“Heehee, heehee.”

“So-joon is snoring loudly, and noona [older sister] is just making soft sleeping sounds.”

“I know.”

Meanwhile, I was talking to the priest inside the camping tent.

A roughly drawn map of the dungeon’s interior was spread out on the folding table in front of us.

“Tomorrow, we’ll take down the three mid-bosses right away and start the Crud raid. Do you have any aversion to spider-type monsters?”

“I don’t particularly like arthropods like spiders, but all monsters look grotesque anyway.”

“There are more people with spider trauma than you think.”

“That’s right. Some people even have seizures. I guess we have to see it as an unavoidable mental problem.”

“How was the southern raid today?”

“How was it? It was very comfortable.”

“What’s the perceived difficulty?”

“As I always say, we only have to support, so the burden we feel is quite small. So, paradoxically, it’s easier to deal with variables.”

“Because you can’t focus on just one thing.”

“That’s right. That’s exactly it.”

“Our teamwork is very good right now. It’s going well.”

“Shin-hwa.”

“Yes?”

“I know you don’t like these questions… but are the three of us really helpful to you?”

In fact, this question was quite old, and it was a question that the three colleagues always had.

They always wondered why I chose them as teammates, leaving behind other talented Awakened.

Cooperator’s rank?

It was definitely a part that couldn’t be ignored.

The higher the rank of the colleague, the more the burden on the dungeon raid was definitely reduced.

But what was important to me was the rapport with the other person.

Shin-boo-nim [priest] and Han So-joon had the best rapport among the many Awakened I had experienced in my ‘past life.’

Enough to give 100 out of 100 points.

The two always considered and judged all the movements from my point of view.

So, even if I didn’t say it on purpose, the four-character idiom [perfect teamwork] is perfectly matched, perfectly matching my breath.

In any case, the most important damage dealing in the team was the problem that I would do.

I didn’t need other talented Awakened who were popping out to me, who only wanted perfect support.

Of course, if we were to attack a more advanced dungeon than now, we might need more personnel from outside the team.

But not now.

The exact estimate of the dungeon raid is as easy as eating a cake for me, who has done it thousands and tens of thousands of times in my past life.

“Of course, it helps. I repeat the same words, but you don’t have to look at my face. If I need other manpower, I’ll find it myself.”

This was sincere.

I have no intention of supporting my teammates by sacrificing myself forcibly, or giving up everything.

In addition, I have no intention of forcing what is not possible.

If necessary, I will invite outsiders, as I did when I called Jin Bo-mi before.

The spectrum of such connections is now sufficient for me.

“Okay. I’m sorry. I feel like I’m constantly showing you a lack of confidence, Shin-hwa.”

“The Awakened world is so obsessed with rank omnipotence. The lower ranks have an atmosphere of knowing how to crawl.”

“……That’s right.”

Judging all possibilities and values by rank. This was also one of the old evils that arose after the Great Cataclysm.

In the future, these evils will disappear as we experience numerous outbreaks.

Since this is the most prejudiced time, I fully understood Shin-boo-nim’s low self-esteem.

“Let’s change the subject. Actually, there’s a reason why I called hyung [older brother/friend] separately.”

“What is it?”

“The first mid-boss monster we’re going to hunt tomorrow.”

“Venera.”

“That’s right. A 5m tall alien swordsman with a whopping 3m greatsword. Not human.”

“Is there another role I missed? I memorized the pre-briefing contents….”

“There’s one thing I didn’t say. I didn’t think it was necessary to say it in detail.”

“What is it?”

“Hyung [older brother/friend].”

“Huh?”

“Have you ever gone berserk from sucking blood from the past until now?”

All of our team members, including me, knew that Shin-boo-nim was a ‘vampire.’

I knew very well that it was very unbalanced in conjunction with the special situation of being a priest… but I didn’t have any particular prejudice.

I think being a vampire is a talent. Fortunately, Yoon Byeol-yi and Han So-joon think the same way.

“Berserk? Of course not. I don’t even know what would happen to me if that happened.”

Seeing that he didn’t immediately understand what I meant, it was clear that Shin-boo-nim had never experienced it.

Venera, whom we will hunt for the first time tomorrow, was a very important guy to me and Shin-boo-nim.

I plan to eat Venera’s ‘eyes’ and absorb his talent through my stomach.

Venera has the ability of ‘multi-tracking,’ which is very helpful in one-to-many battles.

And Venera’s chest outer skin is a rare material that can be fused into the entire enhanced suit and processed.

With this, the safety and durability of the suit increases by more than 50%. It’s an unmissable perk.

‘And Shin-boo-nim’s rapid growth.’

And the last aim was here.