I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 146

146

‘If I can handle these guys well, my rank is guaranteed to be B+.’

I was in need of increased magic power, so I was grateful that such good sacrifices appeared.

It was a stroke of luck, I guess?

“Come on, seaweed stalks. But you guys are pretty sophisticated? Monsters who use English? Can’t you use Korean?”

“If we kill you and eat you, we’ll be able to use Korean too. Haaaat!”

Ah, so they learn language skills by eating human flesh. Scary guys.

No sooner had I finished speaking than the two brothers rushed at me simultaneously.

Whoong! Whoong!

They powerfully threw punches at slightly different times.

They had kukris [curved Nepalese knives], a type of sword, tucked into their waistbands, but they didn’t use them right away. They were for emergencies.

The dungeon where I met Maruk and Marik in my previous life wasn’t here.

That’s because the dummy dungeon’s location often changes.

In any case, I planned to deal with them calmly since I had experience fighting them.

If my memory is correct, the two guys’ ranks are both S+.

Their individual ranks aren’t that high, but they’re brothers with such good synergy that you have to be careful of their coordinated attacks.

According to the report I recorded back then, the brothers’ perceived rank was SS.

“Hetch!”

I smoothly dodged the brothers’ punch attacks to the side and immediately threw a punch to counterattack.

A probing attack.

I didn’t start with a war of attrition that would consume a lot of magic power from the beginning, and I was going to observe their reactions.

Weeing.

‘As expected.’

Just before my fist hit Maruk’s chest, he hid his form using shapelessness.

Clearly, his position was still in the same spot, but his substance disappeared.

Thanks to that, the counterattack split Maruk’s afterimage, and of course, my attack was in vain.

“Heh heh.”

Meanwhile, Marik, who had taken his place next to me, swung his kukri with a sinister smile.

Whyang!

The fiercely flying kukri, whistling through the air, aimed exactly for my neck, and I ducked my head to avoid it.

But.

Puh-wack!

“Keuk!”

In the meantime, Maruk, who had boldly moved forward, kneed me in the face. It was a knee kick.

Most Awakened people immediately go into a defensive stance if they allow an attack in battle.

But if that happens, you can’t regain the initiative you’ve lost to the enemy.

Especially if the opponent has numerical superiority over you.

So, enduring the pain, I used the center of gravity that was momentarily pushed back to kick my front foot up with all my might.

“Hoot.”

I wondered if it would work, and it did. Maruk avoided it with his shapeless talent, along with an unpleasant laugh.

I thought it was a pretty clever trick, but as a result, my foot split the air, and I fell to the ground in a state of perfect imbalance.

“Damn it.”

Without even thinking, I immediately used the Blink Ring to get out of the scene.

Because lying down in a state where you are not prepared to respond is nothing more than asking the opponent to kill you.

“This time, you’ll be a good sacrifice.”

“You seem to be the most skilled of the guys we’ve faced so far. But unfortunately, you can’t beat us.”

I felt even worse because there were two of them, and they were staring at me arrogantly with their arms crossed.

First of all, I definitely paid the tuition for the exploration. When I touched my nose, it was bleeding.

And although it’s just a feeling, I felt like my nose bone was a little crooked.

Ha, does this give me a legitimate reason to get plastic surgery on my nose?

Anyway, it was a short exploration battle, but.

From Maruk and Marik’s response and coordination, I was able to reaffirm one clear weakness.

‘Shapelessness lasts for only about 2 seconds at most, and it is impossible to redeploy shapelessness immediately after returning to the original form.’

This was the key.

If they could have been shapeless for an infinite amount of time, I wouldn’t have even thought about fighting them in the first place.

Shapelessness was maintained briefly and then released immediately, and there was always a time when they were forced to return to their original form.

The two brothers compensated for this weakness with each other’s coordination.

By attacking the enemy at the moment when one side becomes vulnerable to counterattacks, they prevent the enemy from ever exploiting the gap.

‘Then I just have to beat one of them.’

I came to a simple and clear conclusion about a situation that might seem complicated to someone.

You just have to make sure your actions aren’t suppressed by the opponent.

Gulp-.

I took out the enhanced potion from the subspace and drank it in one gulp.

I had calculated that I could fight well enough without doping, but I hate wasting time.

Jin Bo-mi would be waiting outside, and I didn’t want to be in a musty, smelly dungeon for long.

“I’ll eat that guy’s brain.”

“I’ll take the lower body.”

As I listened to the brothers’ words that made me want to vomit, I shook my hands again.

And I made a clear declaration of war.

“Okay, you guys. Are you ready to have good dreams from now on?”

From that moment on, Marik was gone from my eyes. Only Maruk! A fierce attack began to beat only one guy.

* * *

A little later.

“Keueok! Euheok! Keoheok!”

While Maruk was constantly groaning, Marik was pouring out fierce attacks on Shin-hwa from the rear.

It was an attack that mercilessly cut Shin-hwa’s back and waist using the kukri that he had finally taken out.

It had been a long time since the corresponding part of the suit had lost its durability and was torn to shreds.

All that was left was to cut the exposed flesh as much as he wanted. Cruelly, as if cutting flesh with a sashimi knife!

“What on earth is this……?”

However, Marik was baffled by Shin-hwa’s talent that neutralized his kukri attack.

Cheolpuck! Jjeu-up! Peo-peok!

Every time he tried to cut Shin-hwa’s flesh with the kukri, Shin-hwa’s body turned into a sticky liquid form.

Because of this, it was clear that he had cut the flesh, but not even a small piece of flesh was cut out, let alone blood.

In a word, it was a waste of effort.

He was openly aiming for Shin-hwa’s life from behind, but none of the attacks worked.

The price was painful.

Shin-hwa didn’t even look at Marik and beat only Maruk like crazy.

The most fatal thing was that Shin-hwa had read the timing of activating and returning from the shapeless talent.

Once he started to be attacked after being read once, the repercussions were beyond imagination.

Concentration is required even if it is short for the manifestation of shapelessness, but Shin-hwa did not give him that gap.

“Damn it!”

Poo-ook!

Marik, who had become impatient, stabbed Shin-hwa in the back with the kukri.

He stabbed with all his might, with the determination to penetrate even the internal organs and peritoneum, but the result was…….

“Damn it.”

It didn’t even go in as much as a finger joint. It was clearly in the form of a liquid, but the resistance was quite strong.

The next moment.

Hwee-eee-eek!

Suddenly, Shin-hwa turned his body.

It was Shin-hwa’s surprise counterattack, who had been looking only at Maruk all along.

Swah-ah-ah!

“Keuk!”

Marik’s concentration, which had been falling due to the frustration of not being able to attack, finally caused an accident in response to Shin-hwa’s counterattack using the blade.

In the nick of time, his throat was deeply cut near the Adam’s apple.

It was a calculated move that was made like lightning without even having time to deploy shapelessness.

Hoo-deu-deuk!

Marik blocked the wound with both hands, but blood poured out through the gap.

He had only allowed one blow, but the price was beyond imagination.

Loss of combat power.

Blood gushed out like a fountain from his throat, where even bleeding could not be controlled, and Marik’s body staggered.

‘How does he know the response manual for our abilities so accurately?’

Marik felt goosebumps all over his body with the thrill rising from deep inside his chest.

The fire of life was quickly going out, but paradoxically, his mind became clearer.

The only time the two brothers had the upper hand was in the first exploration battle.

After that, Shin-hwa targeted only Maruk based on his various talents, as if all the judgment was over.

He openly exposed his weakness in the rear, but Marik was unable to exploit that weakness at all.

Of course, there was one thing Marik was missing.

That was that Shin-hwa had used up almost all of his magic power and had less than 10% left.

However, he was fighting leisurely without revealing this, so he couldn’t even guess the advantages and disadvantages.

Koo-oong! Koong! Koong!

“Kkeueuk, Keulleok!”

Soon, Marik rolled unsightly on the floor and vomited a handful of dark red blood.

The next moment.

Shin-hwa, who hadn’t even given him a glance, turned around and threw Wilson at Maruk.

“…….”

Even though the path of the attack was obvious, Marik couldn’t do anything.

He had only shown one gap, and that was the end of the victory or defeat.

The wound on his throat, which was gradually opening and tearing, was not a problem that could be resolved by holding it with both hands.

Ppeo-eo-eo-eong!

“……!”

Soon, Wilson, who hit the center of Maruk’s face, tore Maruk’s neck with the shock wave.

Too-ook. Too-took. Took.

Maruk’s head, which fell without even closing his eyes, rolled on the cold floor.

It was a sudden death without even having time to leave a short will or look back on his life.

“Maruk……!”

Marik screamed and called out to his dead brother, even though the spirit with which he had started was faded.

It was himself and his brother who had boasted an undefeated myth.

He was confident that he would easily take the lives of uninvited guests this time as well, as he always had, but it was a miscalculation.

“I’ll kill you!”

Marik, enraged, rushed towards Shin-hwa fiercely even while spitting out blood.

Woo-oong! Woo-oong! Woo-oong!

His body was already swelling up like a balloon about to burst and heating up rapidly.

Self-destruction (自爆) [Japanese term for self-detonation or suicide bombing].

Shin-hwa could easily read Marik’s intentions.

After all, the experience and memories of a regressor shine at times like this.

Shin-hwa provoked Marik by flicking his fingertips towards him.

“Come on. Let’s die together.”

“Kuaaaaa!”

Marik, who had fallen into despair due to his brother’s death, rushed in with the intention of dying together with Shin-hwa.

Shin-hwa didn’t seem to have any intention of avoiding it, and he stood in his place waiting for his charge.

In this situation, if he doesn’t avoid it, he could be caught up in an explosion mediated by the flesh and die instantly.

But Shin-hwa didn’t budge an inch and stood his ground.

And.

Puh-eo-eo-eo-eong!

Soon, a mushroom cloud rose.

It was a huge explosion that left no trace of Marik’s body that caused the explosion.

But.

“That’s why if you’re ignorant, there’s no answer until the moment you die.”

Shin-hwa had escaped from the scene with the Blink Ring just before the explosion and was taking a position at a safe distance.

It was a brilliant move.

He predicted that if he avoided it in advance, Marik would follow him immediately, as Marik’s instantaneous leap and tracking abilities were excellent.

“Playing with fireworks with your own body. It’s pathetic in a different sense.”

Shin-hwa shook off the dirt on his suit here and there and let out a hot breath.

He didn’t show it, trying to be as relaxed as possible, but the magic power in his body was on the verge of depletion.

He had already used up all the ‘auxiliary batteries’ he could draw on, so there was no alternative.

Of course, the plan was successful.

The strategy of aiming for a surprise counterattack while seeming to target only one guy along with a short-term battle worked.

Shyaaaaa.

At that time.

The orange energy that started from the two dead brothers began to fly towards Shin-hwa in a parabola.

Soon, the moment the energy wrapped around Shin-hwa’s body and quickly permeated into the center of his heart.

“Oh!”

The state of the rank judgment changed.