I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 170

170. Episode 170

‘What is this now…?’

Han So-joon, who had been focusing on Shin-hwa’s every move and steadily aiming his attacks, clicked his tongue.

While Venera resembled a reptile and looked somewhat comical, that was only true for his face.

His muscular body possessed tremendous strength, wielding the 3m greatsword as if it were a cotton swab.

Yet, Shin-hwa was fighting Venera on equal terms.

Han So-joon knew.

Shin-hwa was able to exert that much power because he had altered most of his body.

Also, he knew that Shin-hwa had an ‘acceleration talent’ that converted his momentum into energy that the enemy had to withstand.

However, Shin-hwa’s current strategy was not among the many scenarios Han So-joon had anticipated.

-I won’t falter!

Venera bit his lip tightly, actively responding to Shin-hwa’s movements.

Of course, it wasn’t easy.

His Achilles tendons had been severed, preventing him from standing properly, and as such, he couldn’t utilize 100% of his body’s strength.

“Haaap!”

Meanwhile, Shin-hwa gripped the sharp part of the greatsword with his right hand, which he had transformed into steel.

Then, with his left hand covering his right, he pushed the sword towards Venera.

It was like watching a dogfight in a wrestling ring or a mixed martial arts arena, where they were entangled in one place.

-Die… Die!

“You die, you son of a bitch!”

Venera’s eyes, stained with murderous intent, gleamed fiercely, but it didn’t bring about any significant change in the situation.

Fsssk!

As Shin-hwa began to increase the degree of Transcendental Acceleration, considerable force was applied to Venera’s sword, which he was pushing against.

The setup was simple.

Venera was trying to bring the sword down to kill Shin-hwa, while Shin-hwa’s aim was to make the sword rotate in the opposite direction, causing it to strike Venera’s chest.

‘I can’t even fathom the depth of power that *hyung-nim* [term of respect for an older brother or male friend] possesses. Even with doping and everything else….’

Most engineering college awakeners would engage in relentless guerrilla warfare against boss-monster-level enemies.

This is because boss monsters possess such great power that the probability of losing one’s life in a single blow is very high.

However, Shin-hwa had rarely engaged in frustrating and tedious long-term battles of attrition.

He always made a move early on, and it was always a way that shattered common sense.

This time was no different.

“Kuaaaa!”

Eventually, Shin-hwa began to lift Venera’s sword, which had been heavily striking down, with a shout.

The balance of power, which had been tight, was broken, marking a turning point as Venera’s expression turned ashen!

-Ah? What kind of ridiculous power is this!

A truly embarrassing line for a boss-level monster to say.

However, Venera was greatly flustered, to the point where sincerity could be felt in his voice.

Creak! Creak!

Eventually, the sword, which had been pushed up against gravity, had reached the vicinity of Venera’s chest.

If you drew a straight line following the end of the greatsword that should have cut Shin-hwa in two, it would have reached just below Venera’s chin.

The direction of power had changed.

The next moment!

Paang!

Shin-hwa poured out all his magic power and entered perfect maximum acceleration.

It was an acceleration that had been pushed to the limit, with no more boundaries to break through.

At the same time, taking advantage of the weakened grip of Venera, who had been gripping the greatsword all along.

Kwaang!

He used magic power emission from his left arm to twist the direction of the blade.

All of this happened in an instant, in a fleeting moment that Venera couldn’t properly respond to.

And.

Cheo-eop! Peusut! Peusut! Pushushushut!

-Kuaaaaaaa…!

Venera’s greatsword, which Shin-hwa had pressed down with force, began to penetrate his own left chest.

It was a truly shocking sight, as the blade was embraced by his chest, as if pushing a knife deep into a soft watermelon.

Pushushushu!

A fountain of blood erupted.

Naturally, Shin-hwa, who was pressing down on the greatsword right in front of him, was completely drenched in this blood.

Usually, one might feel relieved at this point, but Shin-hwa didn’t let his guard down.

Joo-uk!

Instead, he pulled out the greatsword and thrust his hand into Venera’s wound, which was wide open.

And.

Goo-uk!

He gripped ‘it,’ which was pulsating hotly. It was the heart, the beginning and proof of all life.

-Keu…!

As he pulled hard on the gripped heart, Venera let out a deathly scream and stopped dead.

His eyes, his gaze, his movements, everything stopped as if a pause button had been pressed.

“Hoo, hoo, you damn bastard. You’re disgustingly strong.”

Peo-uk!

Shin-hwa kicked Venera’s lifeless body with all his might.

Then, like a straw bale swept away by the wind, Venera fell backward helplessly.

Venera’s eyes, which couldn’t even properly perceive what had happened, contained a feeling of bitter regret.

“How much magic power did I use? I need to refrain from always rushing in with a ‘no-backing-down’ attitude.”

Shin-hwa wiped the blood from Venera that was all over his face, along with self-reproachful words.

Some of Venera’s blood had accidentally entered his mouth, and it tasted fishy and salty.

From now on, this blood belonged to Choi Ji-hyuk.

It was time to watch the scene of vampirism that he had watched for years in his previous life but had always found difficult to adapt to.

Peong! Peopeong! Peong!

At the same time, Yoon-byeol was seen stimulating and detonating self-destructing spiders from a distance.

She didn’t participate in the battle with Venera, but she took on the role of perfectly resolving the surrounding nuisances.

Team play where each person contributes to the battle in a different way. Perfect team play without any unnecessary elements.

Squeak. Squeak.

Shin-hwa meticulously collected the necessary byproducts.

Venera’s heart was the first thing he took, as it was a sacrifice to be offered to the boss monster Krud.

Then, he cut off Venera’s chest skin, which had become somewhat less resistant with death, without leaving any behind.

The work was simple and quick, as he could use his own right arm without any cutting tools.

‘To face boss monsters of a higher level than Krud, this suit is definitely dangerous.’

Shin-hwa was looking ahead to the future early on.

If it was a strategy that used a large number of people to overwhelm the enemy, the suit could be ‘moderately expensive.’

However, Shin-hwa’s team play structure was such that he received 99% of the damage dealing from the boss monster.

Therefore, damage ‘sharing’ was almost impossible.

As a result, the suit, which cost 2 billion won, would quickly become tattered after only three or four concentrated attacks.

It was also impossible to carry several suits, and especially impossible to change during battle.

The upgrade of his equipment was as urgent as his rank and specs.

“*Hyung-nim*! You’ve worked hard!”

“Shin-hwa, that was really cool!”

“You can be honest with me. I don’t think this is a cool sight, no matter how I look at it.”

Choi Ji-hyuk, Han So-joon, and Yoon-byeol almost simultaneously stepped back, startled by Shin-hwa’s face, which was grinning.

That’s because Shin-hwa, with his face covered in red blood, was smiling, revealing his pearly white teeth.

It was like seeing a serial killer from a horror movie. A mad one at that.

“I think even this look is cool enough. This is our leader’s natural look.”

Shin-hwa burst into a hearty laugh at Choi Ji-hyuk’s thumbs-up.

But that was only for a moment.

“I’ll take care of a few things. We’ll distribute the dimensional stones soon.”

Shin-hwa briefly stopped his companions from moving forward and sat on Venera’s neck, using it as a support.

Then, he began to carve out the area around Venera’s eyes with the Full Moon Sword he had taken out of his subspace.

The Full Moon Sword he got from Mok Jin-woo and the Red Moon Sword he got from Lee Yeon.

He didn’t use them often because he wasn’t a swordsman awakener, but they were swords with excellent cutting power.

“Um… I always end up having a grotesque meal. I’m so glad I have a strong stomach.”

Shin-hwa sighed deeply as he looked at Venera’s ‘eyeballs,’ which were squishy and had living pupils.

Why did the heavens make it so that he couldn’t absorb talents unless he ate them?

He had resented it so much in his previous life.

At least eating eyeballs or hearts raw was a normal meal.

Even just smelling it was terrible….

‘Ah, let’s not imagine it. It’s not too late to worry about it when I have to eat it. Kang Shin-hwa, please don’t think about it! Ugh…!’

Things that his body remembered even though his head rejected them. Shin-hwa forcibly pushed away the old memories that suddenly came to mind and immediately swallowed Venera’s eyeballs.

[Ingested: Venera’s Eyeballs]

[Suitability: 50%]

[You can double the suitability by ingesting one more eyeball.

Venera’s excellent dynamic visual acuity will transfer the talent of ‘Multiple Tracking’ to you.]

[Ability Name: Multiple Tracking]

The primary analysis of Venera’s eyeballs was completed through his tongue.

‘I almost had a big problem if I had lost one eye.’

Among the talents gained through ingestion, there were many cases where paired ingestion was required.

If he couldn’t eat both of Venera’s eyeballs, the suitability would be halved, and the talent he had worked so hard to obtain could become a waste.

Gulp. Gulp.

He ate the other one as well.

Then, the suitability was immediately adjusted to 100%, and Shin-hwa accepted the talent without regret.

‘Now I can visually track the movements of about two or three guys at the same time.’

A definite calculation was made.

In the first place, Shin-hwa had been reading the opponent’s movements based on his excellent eyesight and senses in one-on-one battles.

But if he used the multiple tracking talent in addition to this, he could easily respond simultaneously even in a one-on-two or one-on-three situation.

In addition, if he killed Krud and ate the Flower of Transcendence, this multiple performance ability would be further upgraded.

‘Brain alteration will be an opportunity to create a huge turning point in my abilities as an awakener.’

He was also looking forward to it.

Because the calculation that he could become stronger than he is now was certain.

And because he expected a rapid growth that would be incomparable to his previous life.

It was like running 500m alone and looking back while others were barely running 100m….

People who haven’t experienced regression would never be able to relate.

And.

“*Hyung* [term of respect for an older brother or male friend].”

Shin-hwa turned his head and called out to the person who would be the protagonist of the next ‘meal.’

It was Choi Ji-hyuk.

Venera, who still had fresh blood full of life, was a good meal to stimulate Choi Ji-hyuk.

“I’ll check if there are any baby spiders left around.”

“I’ll scout the next route in advance.”

Yoon-byeol and Han So-joon tactfully avoided the situation.

“Shin-hwa, thank you for always being so considerate. Thank you for understanding my uniqueness.”

“What’s wrong with being a vampire? I can give you my blood if you need it. Just think of it as donating blood.”

“You’re quite the joker.”

“Now, let’s start the feast. You’re definitely aware of the side effects I mentioned before, right?”

“…I hope that doesn’t happen.”

Shin-hwa also thought the same as he looked at Choi Ji-hyuk, who was pouting his lips.

No matter how urgent the medical treatment or rescue is, a kiss between men is….

It shouldn’t happen.

Especially considering Choi Ji-hyuk’s profession.