I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 283

“It’s a talent where your subconscious intervenes. In other words, when you think you need to block that attack, a counterattack is triggered.”

“……”

“And continuous counterattacks aren’t possible. After one counterattack, there’s a slight time gap before the next one can occur.”

“Kuh-huh-uck!”

Before Shin-hwa could even fully explain, Gaiz coughed up blood and trembled.

“So, I mixed in feints with each attack. That way, your subconscious will create a counterattack against the feints.”

“Th-that’s……”

“There’s no such thing as an invincible being in this world. That goes for me too. So, you should never neglect researching your own talents.”

“G-G-Gang Shin-hwa……!”

Swaack!

The moment Gaiz uttered those words in despair, Shin-hwa’s kick struck Gaiz’s neck directly.

Gaiz’s neck, lying on the ground, snapped vertically, resulting in instant death. There was no way to fix the broken neck bones.

Right then.

“Huh?”

A light purple buff originating from Gaiz’s body was naturally absorbed into Shin-hwa’s body.

It didn’t seem like a special ability that could be felt as a buff, but he wondered what it was.

[Certain Counter]

[Instantly returns 45% of the damage received from the enemy.

However, if the enemy has moved from their original position, it will strike the empty space where they originally were.]

“Ah, half was a buff? Half was talent? Gaiz, you were a pretty lucky guy.”

Shin-hwa looked at the ‘Certain Counter’ added to his buff window with a satisfied expression.

It felt like he had received an unexpected gift on this expedition. Of course, he also made sure to punish the bad guy.

In any case, Gaiz, the guild master of Frauda, died at Shin-hwa’s hands.

Perfect self-defense.

However, wanting to prevent any future troublesome situations, Shin-hwa noticed a monster reappearing in front of him.

“In the old days, there was a funeral custom of leaving corpses to be naturally eaten by wild animals. You too, return to the earth that way.”

Whoong! Whoong! Whoooong!

Shin-hwa grabbed Gaiz’s legs and threw his body with all his might towards the monsters.

Thud!

Soon, the sound of Gaiz’s body hitting the ground resounded dully.

Caw-ooo!

Cheek! Cheeeeek!

The monsters, intoxicated by the mysterious addictiveness of human blood, began to devour the flesh ravenously.

In just a few minutes, Gaiz disappeared without a trace.

Considering the grand beginning, it was a truly pathetic and miserable end.

* * *

After that, a day passed.

The morning after seeing the meteor shower, a premonitory sign, Ifrit with the ‘Flower of Rebirth’ appeared on the battlefield.

Seeing it appear with a beam of light, it was clear that it had been ‘transmitted’ from somewhere…….

No matter how much I thought about it, the source remained a mystery.

It didn’t seem to be from the Nas Continent, but trying to figure out where else it could be was impossible because we couldn’t communicate.

In other words, it was a third party that didn’t speak Nas Continent language or Mugang Continent language.

Anyway, to make a long story short, Ifrit also died by my hand.

The guy with the impressive, blazing flames was eliminated in the same way as when I killed Elijah Rowe earlier.

This was the fatal weakness of Awakened individuals or monsters with fire-based talents.

They blindly trusted the flames they could directly transform or manifest, and were ignorant of the attributes.

For example, believing they could overwhelm ice abilities or underestimating the opponent’s fire abilities.

Elijah also died a miserable death because of the fire I planted, and Ifrit filmed a similar rerun.

‘I’ve secured two lives for sure. My rank hasn’t changed, but I’ve gained quite a bit of magic power too. Good.’

I organized the events of yesterday and today with a satisfied expression. It was a fulfilling journey in many ways.

“Shin-hwa!”

“Hyung [older brother]! Hyung-nim [term of respect for older brother]……!”

“Are you hurt anywhere? Are you okay?”

“Yo! Good to see you all!”

Soon, I met my Team Mystic comrades at the agreed-upon location.

We shared quite a passionate hug, as if we were meeting after a long time.

It had only been a short time apart, but because I had been rushing around the battlefield so frantically, it felt like it had been a very long time.

“Mr. Kang Shin-hwa, you’re really amazing!”

“The internet is already buzzing. No matter which portal site you go to, Kang Shin-hwa is number one in the search rankings, you know?”

Lee Ha-sung and Na Mina, who were with my comrades, also greeted me.

Since arriving at the Russian Cataclysm site, I hadn’t had a chance to look at my smartphone even once.

But seeing Na Mina emphasize it, it seemed like the media was actively engaged in ‘hero marketing.’

That’s because they can churn out all sorts of articles under the guise of sensational news and scoops.

“Really?”

“Look. This is an article reporting that this is the area Mr. Shin-hwa personally handled. At this point, you could almost call it a one-man army, right?”

Na Mina handed me a tablet PC, and as she said, the battlefield I had roamed was colored in.

And the comparison was the area that RSA [Russian Special Abilities] had subjugated. It showed the area of conquest for a group versus an individual.

The RSA’s subjugation area, which repeated offensives and retreats, was not as large as expected.

That was largely due to the reality that RSA didn’t have any Awakened individuals of SSS+ rank or higher.

The RSA, which was close to an unpaid volunteer position, had already had talented Awakened individuals leaked to other guilds.

So, there were no talented people left in the country, and they had all been scouted by the United States or Germany.

Anyway, as a result, the response to the Russian Cataclysm was inadequate.

On the other hand, the area where I eliminated major boss monsters reached as many as ten places.

Since the surrounding monsters of the same species also disappear along with the explosion when a boss monster dies.

The media’s report that I had subjugated a much larger area than RSA was by no means an exaggeration, but a perfect fact.

People online seemed to be enthusiastic about this.

-Is RSA in a vegetative state?

-Don’t criticize RSA too much. Kang Shin-hwa, who is as crazy strong as a madman, is the best.

-Kang Shin-hwa, you’re a proud Korean, right? As a room-bound loser, my heart swells.

-Boy, become a myth!

Scrolling down to look at the reactions, everyone was full of praise.

I used to feel cheesy and embarrassed when I saw this kind of content, but now I just accept it.

Being the object of someone’s envy is a very pleasant and honorable thing in itself.

“Oh? Mr. Kang Shin-hwa, is it okay to talk on the phone right now?”

“Yes? A phone call all of a sudden?”

At that time, Lee Ha-sung looked at the phone call he had received and carefully brought it up to me. Who could it be?

“It seems that the Prime Minister of Russia is calling directly. Actually, they contacted me earlier as well…….”

“I don’t want to talk, so connect me with Yoon-byeol noona [term of endearment for older sister or female friend].”

“……Yes?”

“I’m saying I’m going to act expensive [play hard to get].”

I waved my hand and rejected Lee Ha-sung’s gaze as he tried to connect the call. Talking to politicians is the worst.

Besides, the Prime Minister was also the de facto final decision-maker of the RSA.

His foolishness was partly to blame for the damage caused by this Russian Cataclysm, even though he knew about it.

There was no point in talking to such a politician, and the only words that would come out of my mouth would be swear words.

“Oh, oh my…….”

Yoon-byeol’s lips trembled.

It seems that any politician is bound to feel burdened by a phone call.

Sorry, Yoon-byeol.

How about you suffer a little this time?

* * *

1 hour later.

My Team Mystic comrades and I were waiting for the ‘summoning’ of monsters that would soon take place near here.

As the appearance of the monsters continued as I remembered from the history of my past life.

My comrades and KSA [Korean Special Abilities] agents were all waiting here without any doubt.

“Everyone, have one each. I didn’t prepare anything particularly special, but I got some sturdy ones.”

“Huh?”

“T-this is……?”

The three people who discovered the flowers I had casually handed them showed surprised expressions at the same time.

Flowers are really rare.

Even among those rare Awakened, 99% or more never get to eat a single flower before they die.

But I was handing out flowers as if I were taking out snacks, so it was only natural that they were surprised and flustered.

“It’s a flower. I don’t need it, and it has too much synergy for each of you, so eat it quickly.”

“No, you keep giving us things so generously…….”

Yoon-byeol trailed off.

It wasn’t just her whose expression had hardened, but also the Priest and Han So-joon.

The three of them are truly kind-hearted people. They don’t take someone’s kindness for granted.

“Eat it. I’ll throw it away if you don’t?”

When I reached out and pretended to crush one of the flowers in front of me.

“Ahhhhh!”

The flustered Priest hurriedly grabbed the flower and stuffed it into his mouth.

Of course, I know that it wasn’t a calculated action, but because he was really afraid that I would get rid of the flower.

“Think of it as a gift from me, hoping that the three of you will continue to work harder in the future. Now, let’s all eat, shall we?”

I narrowed my eyes and looked at the three of them alternately, and soon the other two felt my gaze and ate the flowers.

It worked well to push them like this because they were people who would only refuse if I didn’t force them to eat like this.

I smiled and continued, confirming that the three of them had completely chewed and swallowed the flowers.

“Now, even if I’m not here, the three of you have to take my place and the power of Team Mystic.”

“What do you mean, Shin-hwa?”

Perhaps because the premise of the story was ‘even if I’m not here,’ Yoon-byeol asked back with a worried expression.

“It’s as I said. Even if I’m not here, Team Mystic has to keep running smoothly as it is now.”

“It’s not like you’re going off to die, why are you talking like that?”

Yoon-byeol’s pupils are shaking.

I can feel the emotional turmoil from her tightly closed lips. I get a similar feeling from Han So-joon and the Priest.

“Anyway, that’s the ‘value of your work’ that I want. Everyone, please continue to work hard in the future. Don’t rely on me too much.”

“I understand what you mean. You mean we should act more proactively and independently, right?”

“That’s right. But you don’t have to take it too seriously like Byeol noona [older sister/friend]. Haha.”

I nodded and replied to the Priest’s words.

It felt like the Priest was defusing the situation in advance before the atmosphere became too heavy. I like this kind of sense.

“The retirement you’ve been talking about for a while……. It seems like that retirement decision is not far off, is it?”

“That’s right. Once I finish this, I think I’ll retire in some way within a month or two.”

I intentionally omitted the phrase that should have been placed before the expression ‘in some way.’

That was right.

‘Whether I live or die.’

The final battle with Lecher was that kind of meaning to me.

If I win the battle and survive, I will have finished everything I need to do, so I will retire happily.

If I lose, there’s no way I can save my life, so I’ll retire from this world without even looking.