I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 27

27.

*Whoosh.*

After parting ways with Shin-hwa in front of Byeongjeom Station, I was on my way back to the Seoul branch.

Na Mina was sighing repeatedly, a bitter taste of regret lingering in her mouth.

100% scouting success rate.

She had always managed to get a signature whenever she stepped up, but now a scratch had been made on her scouting success myth.

“Byeol.”

“Yes, Branch Manager.”

“What could have happened? How could a porter with a minor enhancement ability go from F-rank to a quadruple Awakened in just one day? And his rank jumped from F to D.”

“I can’t figure it out at all.”

“That’s what I’m saying. His rank growth, his abilities, nothing makes any sense!”

Na Mina had also walked a royal road [a path to success] in her own right.

But Shin-hwa’s growth wasn’t just steep, it was a vertical rise, a real explosion.

An Awakened’s growth is no child’s play.

Besides, he wasn’t just an ordinary person who Awakened; he was already an Awakened from the start, wasn’t he?

“Could it be, re-Awakening?”

It was rare, but it did exist.

It’s when an Awakened Awakens again.

In this case, they would gain another ability, and their rank would jump significantly.

Globally, it was a very rare case, one that could be counted on one’s fingers.

“He seemed very proud of his abilities. It didn’t seem like he was handling abilities he suddenly gained one day.”

“That’s what’s so strange. Someone who was just a porter until recently… how can he be so calm even with such tremendous power?”

“Are you going to tell the Head Manager?”

“I have to. KSA needs to stop acting like a neighborhood bully and start operating on the world stage. To do that, we need competitive Awakeners.”

“You’ve fallen for Kang Shin-hwa.”

“I have a gut feeling. Rookies who appear like comets have that unique feeling. Intuition.”

“Your fingertips are trembling.”

“I know. I can’t control my emotions! I’m nervous that we might lose a promising talent to someone else.”

“The Head Manager knows about your desire for talent.”

“That’s why I put so much effort into bringing you here.”

“I’m always grateful.”

“Byeol.”

“Yes?”

“Suspend your existing tasks for the time being and secure all the database information on Kang Shin-hwa. Anything from his childhood records is fine. Compile and upload everything about Kang Shin-hwa. Whether it’s his ex-girlfriend or his sexual preferences, anything.”

“Understood.”

“I underestimated him too much. He’s a guy who thinks he’s so great. Then I need to know everything about him, from A to Z.”

“Yes, I’ll prepare it.”

“Hmm…”

Na Mina still seemed to have some regrets, as she opened the window and looked back.

Shin-hwa was responding to the KSA agents who had been dispatched to hear his side of the story and then watching the gang members being taken away.

‘A pleasant anticipation will arise in my boring daily life.’

Na Mina looked at Shin-hwa with an expectant expression and made a phone call somewhere.

-Hello?

“Head Manager, it’s me.”

It was a call to Lee Ha-seong, the head of the Korean Awakened Association, KSA.

* * *

A little later.

When I returned home, the clock hands passed the midnight mark, indicating that the date had changed.

January 29, 2020.

Only a few days left in January.

“I won’t have to go to Byeongjeom Station anymore.”

I packed everything I needed.

The lease on the studio apartment was still valid, but I was planning to leave it empty for now.

Anyway, as long as I put in the monthly rent regularly, the landlord wouldn’t care whether it was vacant or not.

I was fully satisfied with my current penthouse life, so I had no attachment to the old studio apartment.

I decided to think of the monthly rent that would be spent until the room was rented out as a small act of kindness to the landlord.

“First, the top-grade mana potion.”

I quickly took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and made mana-concentrated saliva like yesterday.

The top-grade mana potion is a rare potion with a minimum expected value of 1 billion won [roughly $750,000 USD].

Even if I forget other things, I must never forget to make the potion.

One bottle every 24 hours.

If I keep this time interval well, there is no possibility of straining or deforming my body or salivary glands.

I immediately mixed the saliva into the water bottle to make the top-grade mana potion.

In my past life, when I made potions like this, there were quite a few Awakeners who were horrified, asking how I could eat someone else’s saliva.

I remember some people pointing fingers, saying it was unsanitary.

But they were saying that out of ignorance.

If you use mana extensively, you can also sterilize.

Of course, all the paths through which saliva travels are sterilized using mana.

If necessary, you can have it tested.

Then you’d probably only see the microorganisms that entered when it was briefly exposed to the air.

“Well, the more you fuss, the more you lose.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

A skilled Awakener pursues extreme efficiency over face and honor.

I guarantee that the top-grade mana potion, which can instantly restore all mana, will receive a lot of attention.

Grumble.

Soon, I put the potion water bottle I had finished making into the refrigerator.

One bottle is a bit small, so I’m planning to make two bottles of potion and then discuss sales channels with the Yanghwa Guild.

I gave them a heads-up that I had a ‘potion’ to sell in advance, so they’ll bring a concentration measuring device to our meeting soon.

In the meantime.

I used the laptop I had turned on as soon as I got home to access the homepage of a certain securities site.

Click. Click.

[Korim Chemical: KR710191]

[2,790]

[↓310 from the previous day]

[Rate of change -10.00%]

“It’s dropped even more.”

The stock price was moving in the same flow as I remembered.

The lowest point is 2,500 won.

From here, the stock continues to trade sideways until the promised day, February 29, when the price skyrockets.

“Should I start buying little by little from tomorrow? Opening an account is quick, so should I do it using a fractional buying method?”

I wanted to buy a lot of Korim Chemical stock at once, but I didn’t want to create any variables that would attract attention.

What if that became a butterfly effect and attracted the attention of other investors?

Before I could even make a profit, something might happen that would ruin it.

My current balance is 54 billion won [approximately $40 million USD].

‘Only about 10 billion [approximately $7.5 million USD].’

That should be enough.

If things go as expected.

From February 29 to March 28, the stock price of Korim Chemical will increase exactly sixfold in four weeks.

10 billion investment, 60 billion recovery.

That should be appropriate for a quick in-and-out.

“And the rest will go towards the land to be invested in Jije Station.”

I immediately checked the road view of the Jije Station area that I had pulled up.

On March 1, an outbreak occurs in the Jije Station area, and everything changes.

This cursed place, which is on the verge of being designated as a black zone due to the fog of instant death.

Overnight, it becomes a land of promise and opportunity flowing with milk and honey [a place of abundance and prosperity].

The reason is that the fog of instant death disappears with the outbreak.

Thanks to this, the area is reclassified from a red zone to a yellow zone, and real estate prices skyrocket.

“So, there are two issues in late February and early March. I know everything, so of course I have to suck up the honey and go [take advantage of the situation].”

A solid plan was in place.

Since I know the future completely, it couldn’t be easier to prepare from the present.

I didn’t intend to be too greedy from the beginning.

I have plenty of time anyway, and I have a wealth of knowledge about the future.

There’s also a big issue in April 2020 in the Junghwa Station area where I currently live.

“Anyway.”

After finishing my thoughts, my attention naturally turned to my body, which had suffered from the battle today.

Today, Lee Cheol-soo, who was C-rank, was the highest rank among the gang.

So I was able to subdue them easily with a brawl disguised as close combat.

But.

If someone like Na Mina, who watched my battle from afar, becomes my opponent, things get complicated.

The world of SS-rank is on a different level from the world of these C and D-rank scrubs.

Fierce mental battles take place not in units of minutes and seconds, but in decimal points that further divide seconds.

Even blinking an eye without thinking can lead to immediate death.

‘If I only specialize in close combat, I’ll be easily taught a lesson if I meet an opponent who persistently tries to keep their distance.’

Close-range combat has that much destructive power, but it reveals extreme weaknesses to so-called ‘chip damage’ [small, incremental damage inflicted from a safe distance].

Na Mina, who watched my battle, is a representative Awakener who enjoys extreme ‘chip damage’.

She never gives up a dangerous distance and persistently blocks and checks movements from a distance.

Muk-cheol, who was a member of our Nine Lords in my past life, almost died from this pattern. I’m talking about that Muk-cheol guy who taught me Explosive Fist.

“If so.”

Numerous pieces of knowledge that I can use and take right now flash through my head like a revolving lantern [a rapidly changing display of options].

“Magic Ball, that guy would be good.”

A good method came to mind.

Magic Ball, an artifact.

It’s a ball that reacts to mana, and if you give it mana, you can throw it like a ball and use it as a weapon and recover it.

You throw it using mana, and you use mana to return it to its original position.

‘If you link it with mana release ability, you can maximize the instantaneous output. It becomes a definite killing weapon.’

If you use this guy carefully, you can make an aggressive throw that exceeds 300 km/h [approximately 186 mph].

It will be able to play a supporting role in long-range attacks, which I lack.

If there’s something that comes to mind, you must monopolize it.

Saving it will turn it into poop [become useless].

There’s no reason to give it to someone else.

I was more confident than anyone else in using the Magic Ball well.

“I have to use the Jeong-hoon chance.”

I haven’t bought a car yet because it’s not urgent, but I’ll need a car to go to Gangwon-do at this late hour past midnight.

There’s someone who volunteered to be my attendant after work hours, so it’s polite to the other person to make good use of this.

I immediately called Jeong-hoon.

-This is Jeong-hoon.

“I’m going to Gangwon-do, would it be possible for you to pick me up now?”

-Now, you mean?

“Yes. Right now. Right Now.”

That’s how I called an A-rank Awakened driver.

* * *

In the car heading to Jeongseon, Gangwon-do.

While Jeong-hoon was driving silently, I was lost in thought.

‘Enhancement type that can strengthen the body itself, transformation type that can transform mana, release type that links with mana release, and steel enhancement talent, and if you link Magic Ball to this, it becomes a manipulation type ability. Then is it Pentuple instead of Quadruple?’

An Awakened who, until recently, only had the ability to strengthen his body as his entire talent.

Pentuple.

Now, he has become an Awakened who has to rack his brains over how to use five talents.

I guess this is what they mean by a complete reversal of life.

‘No joke, but at this rate, am I really going to do everything by myself?’