I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 166

166.

“Even though a single top-grade Dimension Stone is worth more, doesn’t this feel rewarding?”

“Yeah. I didn’t know Saw Mantises carried Dimension Stones. I forgot my Identification Glasses.”

“Wow… They’re radiant.”

My companions and I gathered the 100 Lesser Dimension Stones scattered across the ground.

Each is worth a little over 1 million won, so it’s about 100 million won in total.

My standards have risen so much that 100 million won sometimes feels like pocket change.

But this amount is still a huge windfall for most Awakened.

My companions were well aware of this.

They knew that our earnings were quite good because I was targeting dungeons that were several ranks above our average.

If I weren’t a Regressor and had skills that matched my rank?

I would be raiding C-rank dungeons instead of S or SS-rank dungeons.

Of course, four people wouldn’t be enough, and if we were to move as a group, we would have chosen a dungeon with a lower difficulty.

Then the rewards would be lower.

Also, without the benefits of being a Regressor, I wouldn’t be able to monopolize flowers or artifacts.

Then there would be a gap of at least tens to hundreds of times compared to our current earnings.

“I’ll put them all in the subspace for now. After the dungeon raid is over, let’s divide them into equal shares.”

“Dividing into equal shares is a bit much. We didn’t do much.”

“Hyung [older brother/male friend], are you going to use your passive skill of unconditionally giving up again?”

It has become routine for our team to often give up loot, saying they didn’t do much.

Of course, I always take the flowers or artifacts obtained after defeating the boss monster.

However, the team members clearly played their roles throughout the battle.

These three were the ones who stopped the Saw Mantises from moving while I was dealing with the Transcendence Tree’s main body.

“It’s okay. I don’t need it.”

“Would you like to receive 25 Lesser Dimension Stones, or should we donate 25 million won to Mosangol Cathedral?”

“Wow……”

“Don’t just give up everything. Same goes for Noona [older sister/female friend] and So-joon. Let’s not give up even the small things.”

“But……”

“We’re a team.”

I emphasized once again that we were a team.

Everyone makes self-deprecating jokes about it being a Kang Shin-hwa one-man team, but these three are valuable members to me.

Also, they are people who left me with great regrets in my past life.

Father and So-joon died with me at the hands of Magus and the Hongyeon Guild, respectively.

Yoon-byeol couldn’t find a way to overcome her limits and died in the final battle before the Great Disaster.

To prepare for Nicholas’s regression, I was deliberately avoiding making contact with the Nine Roads.

I am quite close to Marina, but strictly speaking, we don’t interact much.

‘I shouldn’t get involved with the Nine Roads. Then, the moment Nicholas regresses, I’ll be bundled together with them right away….’

Seriously and calmly.

That’s what I was sure of.

Anyway, until retirement, I decided to take care of the remaining things from 2020 that Nicholas would have to deal with.

There is no need for the Nine Roads’ help.

They are all busy living in their respective countries right now.

But right then.

“Huh?”

I discovered an unexpected and unique barrier behind the background, hidden by the Transcendence Tree.

There are only two types of barriers in a dungeon.

First, an area called the boss room where the boss monster is located.

Second, a special terrain created by external forces.

This isn’t where Crude is, so the first doesn’t apply.

‘But the second one isn’t in my knowledge?’

The problem is that the second case is an unexpected terrain.

There has never been a barrier in this dungeon other than the boss room.

So, it’s clear that there’s a variable I don’t know about!

“Everyone, wait here for a moment. Let’s take a break early. We’ve already obtained all the necessary materials from the southern part of the dungeon anyway.”

“Where are you going alone?”

Yoon-byeol asked, seeing me leaning more than halfway to the south.

“Do you see that barrier over there?”

“Huh? …I don’t see anything.”

“Ah, there’s a difference in eyesight.”

I forgot.

Yoon-byeol has normal eyesight, while I have eyesight that exceeds 8.0 through repeated modification and utilization.

“There’s a special barrier.”

“Boss monster?”

“No. So, I’m going to check it out.”

“Wait! That’s too dangerous! It’s even a barrier with no prior information?”

Yoon-byeol’s concern was valid. It must be a precaution she heard repeatedly from KSA [Korean Special Ability Association].

They consider acting alone as the biggest prohibition when exploring unfamiliar terrain or structures.

I patted Yoon-byeol on the shoulder and quickly dispelled her worries.

“Noona, who am I?”

“Who else, Kang Shin-hwa.”

“That’s right. I’m Kang Shin-hwa. I’ll be right back.”

“Hey! Hey! How is that a reason…!”

Before Noona’s worried nagging – which I always welcome, of course – could begin.

I started sprinting south with rapid acceleration.

Even if there were dangerous elements inside the barrier, I was confident enough to protect myself.

After a while.

Swish.

I stepped right into the barrier.

The barrier itself didn’t inflict any restraint or damage, so entering was easy.

“……”

Instead, I held my breath and surveyed the surroundings. I even used the Invisible Ring to hide my appearance, just in case.

Since I didn’t know what might be inside, it was important not to reveal my identity to anyone inside.

At that moment.

There was one thing that strongly caught my attention.

‘There’s a Dimension Gate?’

It was a Dimension Gate located inside the dungeon. It was a Dimension Gate that shouldn’t be here.

Dimension Gates appear in dungeons when the boss monster dies and an exit Dimension Gate is created.

Exceptions are so rare that it would be 0.00…1% even after adding many decimal places.

‘It’s connected to the Nas Continent, or it’s a Dimension Gate that connects dungeons.’

Both are unusual cases.

That means someone is crossing over to that Dimension Gate or traveling between dungeons.

Especially if it’s the latter, there’s only one person who could do that.

‘Could it be the Black Magician Akero?’

Tatatat!

Without hesitation, I started sprinting explosively with maximum acceleration.

The location of the red-glowing Dimension Gate wasn’t as far as I thought.

Moreover, as I started to approach, someone hidden by the terrain revealed themselves.

‘Akero!’

As expected.

Black Magician Akero.

A black magician known as Leccero’s henchman, he is not an apostle outside the dungeon but a guy who operates secretly inside the dungeon.

I know his face because I have memories of my past life.

The magician’s face in sight matched the ‘young appearance’ of Akero that I remembered.

‘I’m going to take you down!’

Akero knows a lot about Leccero. He also cast a curse on Jin Bo-mi.

If I hadn’t regressed and healed her, my family would be grieving right now.

If I catch him, I can get enough information about the apostles, including Elijah, and the mastermind behind them.

Faaa!

I started to accelerate even more.

Akero seems to be near the Dimension Gate.

He was looking around, preparing to move to another dungeon.

* * *

At the same time.

“There’s no more energy for me to take in this dungeon… Tsk.”

Akero smacked his lips and moved towards the Dimension Gate opened between the dungeons.

As always, Akero’s journey was a series of loneliness.

It was because Leccero had placed a special ‘restriction’ on him so that he could not go outside the dungeon in the first place.

‘I will give you the power to forcibly bind and subordinate the five apostles and all their subordinates.

But it is not the time to use that power right now. After a true ‘Great Disaster’ has befallen the dimension you are going to, that will be the time for you to be active.’

This was before leaving the Nas Continent.

It was the special order Leccero gave to Akero.

Leccero said that he didn’t know exactly when the real disaster would occur.

But what is certain is that Leccero has a plan to swallow this world after experiencing the Great Disaster.

He also told me that all of this was a kind of oracle made through ‘that person’ whom Leccero serves.

Anyway, so Akero had been silently building his strength.

He wandered around the dungeon and absorbed the unique dark energy that could be taken from the dungeon to the limit.

This was not just to help him reach the point of immortality beyond simply becoming stronger.

Also, it was a power to gloriously offer to Leccero, whom he would ‘dearly’ meet again in the future.

But right then.

Kwaaa!

A whirlwind blew through the entire dungeon, which had been quiet without anything, and a dot was rapidly approaching.

“……What is it?”

Akero tilted his head.

While wandering around the dungeon, he had met countless guys called ‘Awakened’ in this world.

Of course, there was not a single Awakened who had seen his face and survived.

This is because he had reliably killed them all to silence them.

“Annoying.”

Akero roughly covered his face with the robe he was wearing and headed for the Dimension Gate.

Anyway, it was a Dimension Gate that would close once he entered, so he wouldn’t have to get involved with that guy.

“Akero!”

But right then.

Akero could hear his name clearly ringing in his ears.

An Awakened he met for the first time knew him? That could never happen.

“What?”

As a result, Akero’s steps stopped. At the same time, he saw a huge ‘iron ball’ flying from the front.

It was Wilson.

“How annoying……”

Akero nonchalantly stretched his hand forward, made a hand sign, and cast a defensive magic.

It was a shield, one of the basic magics specialized in defense.

Kwang!

Kaching!

“Keuk!”

The problem occurred when he received the Mythic Wilson head-on using the shield.

The shield, which was created by mobilizing a considerable amount of dark energy, was broken at once.

There had never been an attack that could not be blocked with this level of shield.

However, Wilson, thrown by Shin-hwa, accurately pierced the weakest point in the shield’s defensive barrier.

The location is about 40% of the way down the diagonal line going from the center of the shield to the bottom right.

Shin-hwa accurately struck the location called the blind spot of the shield.

Koo-oong!

A cloud of smoke rose.

“Fucking.”

Akero spat out a curse.

It was an attack that would have caused serious injuries if he hadn’t activated an additional barrier using the artifact he was wearing around his neck.

What’s even more infuriating is that the iron ball that had just hit him was leisurely returning to Shin-hwa’s gesture.

Who the hell is this crazy bastard who can aim at him while leisurely recovering his weapon?

The question-filled gaze of Akero turns to Shin-hwa!

“Akero, you rat bastard! I finally caught you!”

Beyond a fluent level.

Akero’s expression turned ashen at the Nas Continent language that was heard so clearly that it could slap a native speaker on the cheek.

“Who are you?”

That was the only question that could come out first.