I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Each time Shin-hwa adjusted his grip, Kale’s face flickered between terror and a vacant expression.

It was a complete humiliation.

He had grabbed Shin-hwa’s neck, intending to threaten him, but the gesture proved utterly futile.

In contrast, Shin-hwa’s hand gripping his neck held absolute power over his life and death.

In that fleeting moment, countless emotions, such as the fear of death and the longing for life, surged through Kale’s mind.

“What are you going to do?”

“Kehek! Hek! Kehehehek!”

Kale made a strange, metallic sound.

Shin-hwa looked down and saw a radiant, multicolored light emanating from Kale’s chest.

‘Good.’

It seemed Kale’s Chaos, an interdimensional artifact, was activating.

The process of stimulating fear to incite anger and then inducing awakening based on that.

Perhaps because it was a one-on-one battle, Kale seemed to have received more intense stimulation.

If there had been many opponents, he might have found an excuse, even if he died.

He might have rationalized his death as a natural consequence of being outnumbered.

But this time, it was different.

The opponent was alone, and Kale had been confident in a one-on-one battle with the intruder from the start.

So he rushed in with great vigor!

The result was the worst possible outcome.

“You’re boring, too. I shouldn’t even bother with anything below C-rank. How can you not even break through my defenses? Tsk.”

Shin-hwa clicked his tongue and stabbed Kale’s chest with his right arm, which had transformed into a sword.

Thwack!

“Keugh!”

Shin-hwa’s sword, having pierced through thick bones and tough muscles, stabbed right below Kale’s heart.

In that state.

Shlururuk.

Shin-hwa reverted his right hand, returning it to its original form.

A human hand, as it was.

The next moment.

Thump! Thump!

He tightly gripped Kale’s still-beating heart.

“I’ll make good use of the necklace. Reincarnate and live another life on the treadmill [a repetitive and monotonous routine]. Thanks for the trouble.”

“Y-, yiiiiek!”

Just as Kale was about to shout something, Shin-hwa crushed his right hand with an indifferent expression.

Even if it was a monster with a tough exterior and skeleton, its heart wasn’t tough.

Rather, Kale’s soft heart burst like a balloon in Shin-hwa’s grip.

“Nice.”

A smile appeared on Shin-hwa’s face. It was because of the unique sensation of the necklace he felt in his palm.

[Kale’s Chaos]

[Judgment Rank: A]

[An artifact of infinite space with the ability to store and summon from another dimension.

Living organisms refuse storage, and interdimensional summoning does not apply.

However, corpses and all inanimate objects can be freely stored in the interdimensional space.

However, items that cannot pass through an entrance with a radius of 1m cannot be stored. Disassembly is required.]

‘From the Great Change of 2010 to the Great Disaster of 2052. The only interdimensional artifact that existed.’

Having confirmed the status window, Shin-hwa wore a satisfied expression.

In terms of rarity, it wouldn’t be strange to receive an EX-rank judgment.

Perhaps because it couldn’t be used in battle, the ‘Absolute Being’ who oversees judgment and the system classified it as A-rank.

In any case, he had achieved his initial goal.

Shin-hwa immediately wore the necklace, reached out to Kale in front of him, and thought in his head.

‘Store.’

Swoosh!

No sooner had he thought it than a colorless distortion occurred in the empty space.

Shwooook!

Kale’s corpse was instantly sucked into the interdimensional space. It happened in the blink of an eye.

“Convenient. Artifacts are omnipotent after all.”

Shin-hwa’s face was filled with satisfaction, as if he had finished overdue homework.

Shaaaaa.

Soon, an exit gate opened where Kale had died.

Going through here would lead him to Jin Bo-mi, who would be waiting.

[01:10:59]

“What, there’s still over 50 minutes left? Excluding the short break in the middle, it took an hour? Nice.”

He succeeded in a speedrun!

At this rate, assuming he secures a license, he could probably run more than ten dungeons a day.

‘An A-rank artifact is worth 50 billion won [approximately $40 million USD] at standard market price. Of course, I have no intention of selling it, but today was a rewarding day.’

Shin-hwa caressed the necklace.

He didn’t even want to upload it to social media and brag about it like Na Mi-na.

Unless news about him was naturally revealed, like when he healed Jin Bo-mi.

He didn’t want to blab about it first. He still had a long way to go to grow.

“Now, shall we collect the loot?”

Shin-hwa smacked his lips and began to retrace his steps.

It was time to collect the corpses and byproducts of the monsters scattered throughout the dungeon.

The foul-smelling monster fluids, the skeleton’s bone fragments, and the numerous hides.

Each and every one of them had a use. Shin-hwa had no intention of leaving them behind.

‘I should find a decent underground warehouse nearby soon. That way, I can smoothly extract, remove, combine, and mix byproducts.’

Naturally, his next goal was set.

Once he accomplished one thing, he would systematically think and plan the next thing meticulously.

It was Shin-hwa’s old habit.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside the dungeon.

“Wait a minute, everyone! This exit gate, I’m not the only one seeing it, right?”

Jin Bo-mi pointed at the dark red exit gate that had appeared before her eyes with a dumbfounded expression.

The porters who were waiting with her were equally surprised, and everyone nodded blankly.

“1 hour and 10 minutes? No way. I can’t even get that kind of clear time even if I solo it?”

Jin Bo-mi couldn’t believe it.

The stopwatch on the clock that she pressed when the exit gate appeared was stopped at exactly 1 hour and 10 minutes.

To clear a C-rank dungeon in about an hour, not just a simple solo run, you would need to be at least an A+ rank.

In other words, it was a clear that even A-rank Jin Bo-mi would have difficulty achieving.

If there were many people, it would be possible to overwhelm with firepower, but with one person, there were many variables to consider.

“…….”

Jin Bo-mi stared blankly at the gate for a long time without saying a word.

Then, as if she suddenly came to her senses, she called Seo Ye-hee, the master of Yanghwa Guild.

-Oh, Bo-mi. Did Kang Shin-hwa go in for the clear? You’re a little late calling? He must have just gone in?

“Unnie [term for older sister or female friend], that’s…….”

-Why? Is the clear canceled? There’s a fine if you get a license and then cancel the clear, you know?

“It’s not that. Um, something unbelievable happened.”

-What is it? Did a fight break out?

Seo Ye-hee’s reactions, getting everything wrong, were not strange at all.

It was a natural reaction.

Seo Ye-hee and Yoon Tae-ho had said that they didn’t know what Shin-hwa was believing in when he requested the license.

It was true that Shin-hwa had high potential, but the limitations of D-rank were clear.

It was like a 1m tall child not being able to dunk on a 3m high basketball hoop on their own.

In other words, it was impossible.

“It’s not that, Kang Shin-hwa cleared the K-911 dungeon in 1 hour and 10 minutes. The exit gate just opened.”

-What? Is that even possible?

“Look…….”

Jin Bo-mi sent Seo Ye-hee a photo she had just taken using Talk [a messaging app].

Then, a gasp immediately burst out from the other side of the receiver.

-Crazy? Did he really go in alone?

“I’m not Kang Shin-hwa himself, so there’s no reason for me to lie. He also refused support, so I couldn’t go in.”

-What, the rank detection device clearly said D-rank? I bought it for a lot of money, is it broken?

The fastest reaction to an unbelievable reality was denial.

“Let’s talk when I get back, Unnie. This doesn’t seem like a normal situation. Shin-hwa is definitely hiding more of his strength.”

-How much strength is he hiding? Kang Shin-hwa was an F-rank porter until recently, right?

“That’s what I’m saying.”

-Let’s talk again as soon as I get back. I don’t think this is something to talk about over the phone.

“Yes, Unnie.”

After ending the call like that.

Jin Bo-mi unconsciously clasped her hands together politely and waited for Shin-hwa to come out.

* * *

After storing all the spoils in the interdimensional space and coming out of the dungeon.

I met Jin Bo-mi and had various conversations.

I told her to believe it now that she had seen it with her own eyes, as she repeated the words “I can’t believe it” like a parrot.

I didn’t deceive anything.

The rank is exactly D-rank, and none of the abilities I showed are fake.

I just didn’t show everything. Rather than hiding it, it’s closer to not needing to promote myself.

She didn’t bother me with questions. She seemed to have other thoughts of her own.

I can show her more of my talent if she wants. But she’ll have to accept a corresponding increase in value.

The choice is theirs.

Anyway, after leaving the K-911 dungeon, I said goodbye to Jin Bo-mi and headed to the subway station to go to my old home in Byeongjeom Station.

Originally, I had decided to call a company to clean it up, but I was worried that there might be traces of the past that I had missed.

In particular, if there were even a few traces related to my parents, they would be precious things that I should never throw away.

I thought I could only clean up completely without any lingering feelings if I checked with my own eyes.

But an unexpected guest came to find me in the middle. No, to be exact, he was waiting for me in front of the station.

It was Jeong-hoon.

“Get in.”

“What’s going on?”

“Didn’t I tell you? If you save the young lady, I will be your guardian and errand runner at all times except for work. I’m sorry. I was late because I was organizing my schedule.”

“Ah, are you really going to keep it?”

“I don’t make empty promises. I will keep my promise. If you are the young lady’s benefactor, you are also my benefactor.”

‘Oh, that’s kind of cool.’

Did he learn those lines, or is he really naturally specialized in those kinds of words?

Chewing over the words carefully, Jeong-hoon’s words felt quite cool.

As a successful A-rank Awakener, he was driving an expensive sports car.

I don’t really have a desire for cars.

But a man dressed in a full luxury suit driving a sports car and looking out the window looked quite cool.

I got in the car right away.

It would be rude to refuse when he said he would directly assist me.

As soon as I got in the car, I told him what I needed.

“Then let’s just do one thing today and go in.”

“Tell me.”

“Please go to Byeongjeom Station right away. My old house is there.”

“Byeongjeom Station is in the Red Zone [a high-crime area].”

“That’s right. The kind of place where, the moment the sun sets, the moonlight becomes a light that illuminates death.”

As I answered him, I looked up at the sky.

Six thirty in the evening.

Right from now, it’s the time of outlaws in the Red Zone, where countless violence and threats run rampant.

‘Today, I’m going to completely liquidate it. My past self, who was struggling, difficult, and desperate.’

A farewell to the past.

A sprint towards the future.

To make it certain, I was going back to my old house to clean up all my belongings.

“I pay my respects.”

“Hah, respects?”

I wondered if there was anything to feel respect for in my past self who lived in the Red Zone.

Anyway, I nodded with a hollow laugh at Jeong-hoon’s words of respect.

Jeong-hoon, that man definitely has some unique aspects.

Since he said he would be my dedicated attendant at night, he would be quite useful.

I intend to use him often so that he can keep his promise.

An A-rank Awakener obediently listening to the words of a D-rank Awakener and attending to him?

That’s a nice picture.