I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 228

228. A Twist of Fate

Was it a trick of fate?

Just as I was reminiscing about Yoon-byeol from my time in America, this coincidence seemed to occur.

I understood.

In my past life, Lee Yoon-ah loved to travel.

When Shinwa was swamped with Nine Lord’s work, she even took a solo trip around the world.

She enjoyed traveling to every corner of the globe and, with her proficiency in foreign languages, often explored obscure, untouched regions.

Even neighboring Japan was a place she visited as casually as popping next door.

“…….”

I didn’t speak first.

I was overwhelmed with emotions.

Meeting her ten years earlier than in my previous life, she looked so young.

The baby fat that hadn’t completely disappeared from her face.

It made her, who already looked young, seem like a high school student.

“Oh…? Are you perhaps Kang Shin-hwa?”

“Huh?”

I wore a mask and a hat pulled down low, thinking I had sufficiently covered my face.

The moment Lee Yoon-ah turned her head and our eyes met, she recognized me immediately and spoke to me.

Moreover, on the side of the backpack that swayed as she turned, there was a key ring of Shin-hwa’s character.

“Wow! To meet Kang Shin-hwa here! Amazing! Wow, daebak [Korean slang for ‘jackpot’ or ‘awesome’]! Didn’t anyone recognize you?”

“…How did you know?”

“How would I not know! The subtle muscles visible on the back of your hand, the small heart-shaped mole near your eye! And even your outfit! Anyone can tell it’s Kang Shin-hwa, right?”

At those words, Shin-hwa looked surprised.

How closely did she have to know me to recognize me just by the subtle muscles, the mole near my eye, and my outfit?

Of course, the outfit I was wearing was the training suit I often wore near my home in Jung-hwa Station.

It had been in the news a few times, so she might have recognized it, but still, the clues seemed too few.

“…Is this a secret trip?”

Lee Yoon-ah lowered her voice as if whispering.

She didn’t scream like an obsessive fan, shouting that Shin-hwa was here or making a fuss.

It was closer to the cautious and considerate behavior of a female fan with pure fan sentiment.

“Yes, I came alone.”

“Wow… That’s really amazing. I’ve only seen pictures diligently in the fan cafe, but this is the first time I’ve seen you in person!”

“Am I ugly?”

“No! Just looking at your eyes, you’re so handsome! Kyaa… Oops! Look at my craziness! I’m sorry!”

“Let’s keep it a secret between us that I’m here right now. Fortunately, it seems like no one else has recognized me.”

“Yes! I will! Can I get a picture with you instead?”

“That’s not difficult.”

Shin-hwa took off his mask next to Lee Yoon-ah and carefully took a picture.

It was just that he wanted to pass by quietly now, but he didn’t care if the fact that he came to Osaka was later known through social media.

He just didn’t want to make a fuss from the airport.

A cafe was visible nearby.

He wanted to have a cup of coffee with her and talk about this and that.

He wanted to hear about her when she was younger. But soon, he dismissed the thought.

‘Although I can’t rashly predict the future, I hope she won’t get caught up in the same fate as in my previous life in this life.’

Shin-hwa believed that the cause of her death was entirely his fault.

The link of ‘causality’ that Nicholas always talked about seemed to firmly connect him and Lee Yoon-ah.

If so, it was better not to create even small connections.

Even now, isn’t fate trying to reconnect under the ‘guise’ of coincidence? Shin-hwa felt a strange fear.

“Have a nice trip.”

“Yes! It was so nice to meet you! Shin-hwa, I’m a real fan!”

“Thank you for your support.”

“I’ll definitely go to the fan meeting later! Please recognize me then, okay?”

“Haha, see you again.”

Shin-hwa forced a soulless answer and quickly left the spot.

Even while saying let’s meet again, he repeated over and over again in his heart that it should never happen.

‘Yoon-ah, I hope you live happily without anything happening in this life. Sincerely…….’

With a heavy heart, Shin-hwa turned around, and she was still standing there, waving at him.

He had turned his head and walked away indifferently, but she seemed to have been watching him all along.

He clenched his fist.

His heart ached so much, but he believed this was the right thing to do.

For her happiness, he should never be by her side.

Goodbye, my love.

Shin-hwa dismissed the happening at the airport not as a pull of fate.

He tried to write it off as a small happening in everyday life and erased it from his memory.

* * *

Some time later.

I was heading to the Secret Dungeon in a sports car driven by Marina.

Marina changed the route several times during the move, repeatedly going to and from remote places.

The reason was to prevent the location of the Secret Dungeon from being known to the outside world.

It was her meticulousness and thoroughness, which had become ingrained in her while working at WSA.

“Shin-hwa.”

“Yes?”

“This is just a baseless hunch, but did you perhaps rank up?”

“Why?”

“The murderous intent I feel from Shin-hwa in the car… I feel like your unique aura has been amplified more than before.”

“You feel such an aura?”

“It’s not exactly a concept of confirming with a certain number, but rather, the body as an Awakened reacts first, should I say?”

Marina’s hunch was sharp.

In fact, the gap between the rank when we last met and the current rank is quite large than I thought.

“I’ve grown a bit.”

“If it’s not rude, can you tell me what level your current rank is?”

“SS+.”

“Excuse me? What did you say? Not just one S, but two attached, and even a + on top of that?”

“Yes. SSS- is just around the corner.”

“No, until recently, you were an A-rank…? And if you’ve grown that much, you should say you’ve grown tremendously. If that’s just a little growth, then what on earth…….”

Marina’s mouth, which was wide open, looked like she was about to drool in shock.

From the first time I met him, Kang Shin-hwa himself always showed more than what you imagined.

Special talent.

Special creations.

Special moves.

Shin-hwa always showed a figure that far exceeded the expectations of others, and that was the reason why Marina became curious about Shin-hwa.

So, when Shin-hwa said that he had gained a new talent, she wasn’t very surprised either.

Because it’s Shin-hwa. She thought it wouldn’t be strange if such a thing happened to him.

‘But this doesn’t make sense at all! Then it took less than three months to go from F-rank to SS+ rank Awakened?’

The shocking part was this.

Even if you look at all the Awakened in the world, there has never been a case where someone went from the bottom of F-rank to S-rank in just three months.

The elites who are currently dominating the Awakened world were originally A or S-rank from the start.

Cases like Shin-hwa who have grown so much were rare, and even if there were, it took at least 5 years.

But Shin-hwa broke all those existing records and set an overwhelming new record.

What’s even scarier is that he himself seems indifferent despite that.

He didn’t make a fuss about getting stronger, and he dismissed the rank as only rising ‘a little’.

It wasn’t like he was trying to show off on purpose, but it seemed like he was serious, which made it even more terrifying.

“Don’t worry, Marina. As long as you don’t become my enemy, there’s no problem at all with my rank being high.”

“You know that sounds really brutal, right?”

“I’m saying that because I think I’m close to Marina. Hahaha.”

Shin-hwa threw a joke.

Uwoong.

Marina stepped on the accelerator a little more.

The road was getting darker and darker, and the cars that were occasionally visible were now completely invisible.

Certainly, the Secret Dungeon was carefully located far from civilization.

“Shin-hwa, WSA conducted an internal investigation this time.”

“Is this something I can hear? If it’s under internal investigation…….”

“Well, it doesn’t matter if it’s known. Besides, Shin-hwa, you suffered because of someone named Michelle.”

“What do you mean? It’s okay.”

“Anyway, they found a place that seemed to be where the VVIP stayed. They did a reverse tracking based on the contacts they had shared.”

“How was it?”

“There were really many… corpses of Awakened there. Especially leftover human brains and hearts…….”

Marina couldn’t finish her words and gagged.

She was used to killing while roaming the dungeon, but the scene was quite gruesome and miserable.

‘As expected.’

Shin-hwa nodded without being surprised as it was as expected.

Perhaps if the VVIP hadn’t arrogantly targeted him this time.

Even after that, VVIP would have intervened as the mastermind in various incidents. So are the conflicts between the European Awakened Association and the American Awakened Association.

Not being able to resist curiosity and rushing in like a firefly shortened his lifespan.

“There was a picture there, and there was a picture that looked exactly like Michelle Streili, that person.”

“I see.”

“Moreover, a selfie was taken again in the hideout with that appearance. In other words.”

“You want to say that Michelle was VVIP?”

“I don’t want to admit it… but it’s very likely. The problem is that such a VVIP has disappeared.”

Marina’s eyes shook.

She was confused by the VVIP’s absurd moves that didn’t make sense the more she dug into it.

“I’m really sorry. I’ll apologize. Whether Michelle was VVIP or not doesn’t really matter. I’m just sorry that WSA created such a mess.”

“Well, it’s okay. I don’t care.”

Shin-hwa shook his head.

It was even more so because the person in question was ‘dead’.

Of course, Shin-hwa had no intention of announcing the death of VVIP.

If he left it as it is, VVIP’s atrocities would be revealed to the world through investigation.

“Oh, right, I have a favor to ask.”

Shin-hwa naturally changed the subject.

Perhaps because he had upgraded his specs on a large scale by eating the Flower of Transcendence and Happy Colossus this time.

Shin-hwa was suddenly very interested in getting the remaining ‘sources’ of power.

His next goal was the ‘Power of the Beginning’ buff.

It is a combat power amplification buff that can be obtained from the boss monster of the W-1099 dungeon owned by WSA.

It is a buff that can store the duration of at least 1 second to a maximum of 3 seconds per day with a random probability.

Since it can increase the maximum firepower by more than 3 times, it had good synergy with ultimate moves such as instant death strikes.

To add a little lie.

Even an SSS+ rank boss monster could be ‘one-shot, one-kill’ if it was well linked with the Power of the Beginning buff.

“Tell me! If Shin-hwa is asking for something, I have to listen to anything. Isn’t that obvious?”

“Anything?”