I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 236

236

“This is the cafe where Kang Shin-hwa first opened! The owner said they saw Kang Shin-hwa often!”

“Wow…! What did he usually order?”

“They said he drank an Americano, with two extra shots? They say it tastes even better when you order it as the ‘Kang Shin-hwa recipe’!”

“Let’s go! I want to try that Americano!”

Meanwhile, the area around Jije Station was crowded with people late at night.

There were Awakened individuals who had obtained licenses to attack the dungeon there.

And many members of the ‘Kang Shin-hwa Fan Club’ visited, treating it like a sacred site, knowing that Shin-hwa and Yang-hwa Group were cooperating on its development.

In fact, with the Yang-hwa Group’s request and Shin-hwa’s permission, they were selling Shin-hwa-related merchandise there.

From life-size standees to pictorials, his presence was everywhere.

It was a little embarrassing, but he didn’t mind too much.

“Hoo.”

Shin-hwa loosened up his body.

Libaine was the leader of the international criminal organization, the Revengers, and a top-priority wanted person.

“How did he even get here?”

His entry route was a mystery.

There was no way he would have entered through normal air or sea routes, and smuggling seemed unlikely.

It was odd that the head of a criminal organization would risk smuggling himself in just to find Jang Dong-shik.

Although the Revengers acted like outlaws in their own territory, they couldn’t do that everywhere.

South Korea, in particular, had good security, even in the Awakened world.

The fact that they had blocked criminal organizations like the Black Cross Society and the Namhae Group within the Black Zone proved it.

In neighboring China and Japan, even the Yellow Zones had become rife with crime.

-The call cannot be connected; connecting to voicemail.

Just in case, he tried calling Jang Dong-shik, but the call went to voicemail.

It seemed the situation had already unfolded, and Jang Dong-shik didn’t even have time to talk while dealing with it.

‘Has the future changed? If Jang Dong-shik had met Libaine at this point in his previous life, he wouldn’t have been able to stay in the country.’

Considering Jang Dong-shik’s past relationship with Libaine, that is, the Apostle Valcadia.

If the same thing had happened before, he would have been dragged away or harmed.

If that were the case, he wouldn’t have become a successful producer, actively working as he did in his previous life.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

He didn’t think it was a big deal whether the future changed or not. It had already happened.

It seemed clear that Libaine’s ability to enter the country undetected was due to a talent related to ‘space movement’.

However, to connect from his base to this place, he would need to move over thousands of kilometers.

As Shin-hwa remembered, the only person who could do this was ‘Zero’, a member of the Nine Lords [powerful figures within the Revengers].

But it seemed that Libaine or someone around him could demonstrate a similar talent.

‘Good. I was wondering how to find the Apostle, but he walked right into my trap!’

Kuaaa!

Shin-hwa cut through the wind and began to sprint south using Transcendental Acceleration [a high-speed movement ability].

It was a journey that required him to quickly cross the Red Zone [area with moderate monster activity] and reach the Black Zone [area with high monster activity], but he wasn’t particularly worried.

The Black Cross Society had been completely destroyed by the KSA’s [Korean Special Ability association] declared ‘War on Crime’.

Currently, South Korea was rapidly recovering from the chaotic security of the Black Zone and moving forward.

“It’s worth a try, now.”

If Shin-hwa’s prediction was correct, Libaine would be an Awakened individual with a rank of SSS+ at the very least.

If it had been a month or two ago, he would have been intimidated by the huge difference in rank.

But now he was confident.

And even if he struggled a bit, he wanted to settle the score decisively, as they say, strike while the iron is hot.

Even for the sake of Nicholas, who must be suffering somewhere with him at this moment.

* * *

Some time later.

“Kasron, you rat-like bastard.”

Libaine gnashed his teeth as he watched the explosions erupting everywhere and Jang Dong-shik repeatedly fleeing.

As Shin-hwa had predicted, one of Libaine’s abilities was ‘space movement’.

To be precise, it wasn’t a talent but a buff [temporary enhancement].

It was a buff that he had luckily obtained, but it was too useful to dismiss as just luck.

The space movement buff allowed up to 10 people, including himself, to move over long distances.

So he had selected only his trusted confidants from his base and immediately set coordinates for Korea.

Thanks to this, he didn’t have to go through immigration and was able to approach Jang Dong-shik smoothly without being noticed by anyone.

Piping! Ping! Pipi-ping!

Puk!

“Kuaaak!”

“Insignificant bastards! To be caught by such obvious traps… you moronic XXs.”

As expected of Jang Dong-shik, who was skilled in crafting, the area around the hideout was a ‘swamp’ filled with all sorts of traps.

The ground you stepped on couldn’t be trusted, and there was always a sniper device behind the hazy mist.

The reason why his subordinate was injured in the shoulder just now was because he had stepped on a trap set up by Jang Dong-shik.

“Do we kill Apostle Kasron?”

Apostle Kasron.

It was the name referring to Jang Dong-shik in the Nas Continent [Libaine’s home world].

“No. We must capture him alive. His crafting talent and knowledge of black magic are absolutely necessary for me.”

“But the resistance will be severe.”

“Just subdue him enough not to kill him. Then we can go back and modify him to our liking.”

“Kekekeke.”

Swept away by the clear numerical superiority and the gloomy atmosphere of the Black Zone, everyone made unpleasant laughter.

“It’s annoying to deal with them one by one, so it’s better to just sweep them away.”

Libaine glanced around and gestured for his subordinates to step back.

Then, concentrating his mind and carefully waving his fingertips in all directions, he began to…

Kwajik! Wadeudeuk! Kwajijijik!

The traps and sniper devices hidden here and there began to shatter.

It was because of the ‘space distortion’ talent, which was Libaine’s favorite and a high-level ability.

It wasn’t instantaneous, but with a very short time lag, Libaine could distort the space within a 100m radius.

In the distorted space, a soccer ball-shaped hole was created, and everything caught in it was twisted.

Whether it was people or structures, everything was twisted, so it was very dangerous.

Even flying and crawling Awakened individuals died instantly without seeing anything else if their bodies were twisted by this distortion field.

Not only that.

“Explode (爆) [Japanese for explode].”

Kwakwang! Kwang! Kwang!

He also had the ability to explode space.

Although the scale and range of the explosion were narrow, it was a very dangerous explosion ability specialized for one-on-one killing.

“Damn it… !”

Jang Dong-shik frowned.

Even if he fought Libaine one-on-one, the disadvantage was obvious.

In such a situation, he couldn’t even dare to rush in with nine subordinates hanging around.

All he could do was lure Libaine and his group away from the hideout where his daughter Jang So-hee was.

Jang Dong-shik bit his lip tightly, lamenting his inability to respond.

“Valcadia! That’s enough! Stop your pointless cruelty and I’ll come out! Kill me or do whatever you want.”

“Why would I kill you? If you cooperate with me, Kasron, you will never die.”

“I’m telling you because I have no intention of cooperating, you XX bastard.”

Jang Dong-shik revealed strong hostility and revealed himself from behind cover.

He hadn’t given up yet.

It was a trick to buy time and give the surrounding inactive traps time to activate.

“Master, shall we subdue him?”

“Wait. Let’s listen to his desperate cries a little more. Anyway, subduing him is easy if I want to.”

“Valcadia. You killed my beloved wife. I will kill you, but I will never cooperate with you.”

“Then does that mean it’s okay for me to kill you and brutally kill your daughter?”

“You 개XX [Korean slang for son of a bitch]…”

Jang Dong-shik gnashed his teeth at Libaine’s dirty words. He was the kind of guy who would do that.

“If you lend me your strength, Lecheron will favor you on the day the Nas Continent and Earth are connected in the future.”

“What does that mean? Why should two civilizations that coexist and live together be at odds with each other?”

“The reason doesn’t matter. Lecheron’s will is our will.”

“That Lecheron, Lecheron! I’m so sick of it that I’m fed up.”

“Earth is like a new continent to us. Still, you should be the governor-general of the new continent, shouldn’t you?”

“You and the other Apostles all think the same way. Everything in the world is not as easy as you think.”

“Well… there may be variables. But Lecheron is calculating even those variables.”

“It smells so strongly of shit that I feel nauseous. You 망할 XX [Korean slang for damned bastard].”

Tatatat!

“Chase him!”

Jang Dong-shik fled again.

He was going to run as far away from his daughter as possible, and then face his end.

He knew it was a shameless request, but he hoped that Shin-hwa would save his daughter.

His daughter was a precious blood relative who he wouldn’t want to lose, and his treasure.

‘Please, please.’

Jang Dong-shik was desperately praying.

* * *

However, as the sky was heartless, Jang Dong-shik was eventually cornered.

Jang Dong-shik, whose retreat was blocked by Libaine and his party, had nowhere else to run.

If he knelt down to Libaine like this, there was a high possibility that he would be dragged away with his daughter.

But he didn’t think there was a possibility that Libaine, who was notorious even on the Nas Continent, would leave his daughter alone.

Perhaps he would use his daughter as a hostage and constantly exploit Jang Dong-shik.

If he did something he didn’t like, or if he didn’t cooperate properly, he would inflict terrible pain on his daughter instead.

“Libaine, just kill me.”

“I told you I won’t kill you? I’ll just lightly remove both of your legs. If I cut them with space distortion, they’ll be cut off so quickly that you won’t even know you’ve been cut off.”

“XX…”

Jang Dong-shik closed his eyes tightly.

If he had known this would happen, he would have brought a dagger to stab himself.

Because he was so flustered, he didn’t even think about ending his life if something happened.

Kukwakwakwa.

Soon, the subordinates next to Libaine created flames and spheres that were burning brightly.

It was an attack method created to subdue Jang Dong-shik if he seemed to be playing ‘tricks’.

“I’ll give you one last chance. Cooperate. This Valcadia will guarantee your daughter’s and your safety.”

“X 까 [Korean slang for fuck off].”

“I like that you’re consistent. Then become a legless 병X [Korean slang for cripple] and a madman and work for me.”

“…!”

Jang Dong-shik made his final decision and prepared to bite his tongue with all his might.