I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 5

Chapter 5

‘Is this for real?’

Kim Hyun-joon, taking a late-night walk to combat the loneliness of spending the holiday alone, was confronted with a bizarre sight.

A man was biting a steel bar, seemingly out of nowhere.

At first, he wasn’t sure what he was seeing.

He thought the man was just pretending to bite the steel bar, figuring him for a crazy person.

But then he heard a crunching sound, and he was certain the man’s teeth would shatter.

Instead, the man spat out a piece he’d bitten off and began checking his teeth.

‘There are quite a few Awakened who can strengthen their bodies. But this is a first.’

Generally, an Awakened’s body-strengthening ‘talent’ is concentrated in their arms, hands, legs, or feet.

They might run abnormally fast or possess destructive strength, something along those lines.

But he’d never seen anyone, not even in the data, whose teeth and biting force were strengthened to this degree.

Kim Hyun-joon asked, “…Did you just tear off that steel bar? With your mouth?”

“Yes, I did. Ah, is it because of property damage?”

Shin-hwa nodded, as if understanding Kim Hyun-joon’s concern.

He’d torn off the steel because he was looking for the strongest metal nearby, and he fully intended to compensate for it.

“No, that’s not it. Are you an Awakened? If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your rank?”

“I’m an E-rank.”

Shin-hwa revealed his rank without hesitation.

There was no point in hiding it.

An expensive magic detection device could determine his rank immediately.

“With that much power, even an ordinary Awakened would be seriously injured if bitten. I don’t think even an average enhanced suit could withstand it?”

“Is that so?”

“I know and have investigated many cases of Awakened, but this is the first time I’ve seen one who uses their teeth. Is this your main ability?”

“No. It’s just one of several options.”

“Excuse me? What did you say?”

Kim Hyun-joon looked surprised.

The fact that he tore off steel with his teeth indicated that it was the Awakened’s talent.

Most Awakened only have one talent. If the talent is strengthened teeth, that’s all there is to it.

But the man in front of him said it was just one of ‘several options.’ That it wasn’t everything.

Just then.

“Just a moment.”

Ptooey!

Shin-hwa spat out the remaining steel fragments.

The crumpled, gum-like traces of steel were visible.

Kim Hyun-joon was shocked again.

With that much power, he could easily chew up an average enhanced suit.

“I had something left in my mouth.”

“I’m sorry for being rude! My name is Kim Hyun-joon, and I’m the team leader of Hongyeon Guild’s Seoul Team 49.”

Kim Hyun-joon suddenly handed Shin-hwa a business card.

It was an expensive card with a black background, luxurious gold trim, and gold typography.

‘Team 49? That’s the very bottom. The team that gets thrown away like a fly if an emergency occurs. But if he’s a team leader, he must be at least a D-rank.’

Shin-hwa wore a bitter expression.

He didn’t care who this person was or what fate he would face.

He just knew enough to guess the future.

‘Hongyeon Guild…….’

The guild’s name tasted bitter.

It was the undisputed number one guild in Korea, but also known as the leader of ‘deep-rooted evils.’

“Recently, many talented people have been leaked to the Cheongyeon Guild! We are working hard to recruit valuable talents like you, Awakened.”

He emphasized their rivalry with the Cheongyeon Guild, ranked second.

It was the same old story.

‘Until they jointly attack the Hyehwa Guild, everyone thought that Hongyeon and Cheongyeon Guilds were irreconcilable enemies.’

Three months from now, to change the Awakened landscape of Korea, which is divided into a three-way system, the two guilds will attack the Hyehwa Guild.

Until now, Hongyeon and Cheongyeon Guilds, thought to be enemies for almost 10 years, will join forces.

In fact, the masters of both guilds have been in a long-term romantic relationship, hiding it while waiting for the right time.

‘That’s why an even bigger deep-rooted evil was born. Damn bastards.’

In any case, whether it was Hongyeon or Cheongyeon, Shin-hwa had nothing to gain by joining them.

He didn’t want unnecessary ties, so Shin-hwa returned the business card.

“I’m okay.”

“Excuse me? As you know, our guild treats Awakened with various talents with the best treatment in the country…….”

“I’m not interested.”

Shin-hwa shook his head.

Even at the bottom, a team leader was still a team leader.

The scout offer felt good, but that was it.

Being involved with the Hongyeon Guild was the opposite of the well-being life he wanted.

Just then.

“Here! Just a moment!”

Shin-hwa waved vigorously at a patrolling police officer.

Time to confess and find the light. A chance to get rid of a potentially annoying person.

Shin-hwa quickly moved away from Kim Hyun-joon.

“Haa…….”

Watching Shin-hwa follow the police, Kim Hyun-joon sighed with regret.

A man with a unique talent.

It was a pity to give up recruiting him so easily. He wanted to see his other hidden talents.

Was that why?

Click. Click. Click.

Kim Hyun-joon began taking pictures of the torn steel bar.

He planned to ask the strategic analysis team to analyze the man’s abilities in more depth.

* * *

A little later.

“Hoo, is 400,000 won [approximately $300 USD] cheap for one ability test?”

After compensating for the damaged steel bar, I returned to the walking path.

I checked to see if Kim Hyun-joon was still there, but he seemed to have left.

‘Even my sense of taste has definitely changed.’

I checked my tongue, which I hadn’t finished examining.

The modification was complete.

I had acquired a top-tier sense of taste, but that wasn’t the core of the change.

The core of the tongue modification is two things!

First, when eating monster meat, it becomes possible to primarily analyze information about the monster through the tongue.

This will later create a synergy effect with the modified stomach, and simply put, it becomes possible to conditionally acquire the monster’s abilities.

However, since I’ve only modified my tongue so far, it will end at the information analysis stage.

Second, the saliva composition can be freely changed using transformation-type talents.

Four forms. It’s possible to create venomous, healing, tracking, and adhesive saliva!

‘Let’s see.’

I immediately used magic to change my saliva’s composition. The first thing I made was venomous saliva.

Of course, the venom created with saliva is immune to myself.

“Ptooey!”

I spat saliva with all my might onto the weeds next to me.

Rustle. Rustle.

The weeds that had been standing upright drooped and collapsed helplessly.

They lost their vitality and died.

The base of the tree behind the weeds had a wound that had been severely scratched by something.

This time, I created healing saliva.

I spat saliva directly on the base of the tree.

The wound, accepting the saliva’s healing energy, quickly healed and began to be covered with sap.

‘Good. It’s working normally.’

I was worried there might be abnormalities because it was a much younger body than in my previous life, but there weren’t.

“If an emergency occurs later, I should prepare myself mentally, right?”

I wore a bitter expression at the sudden thought.

If there’s an emergency patient who urgently needs to recover their stamina.

The only treatment I can provide at that time is to supply healing energy through saliva.

There are ways around it, but in a truly urgent situation, I may have to kiss (?) them as a last resort.

‘Let’s stop today’s modification here. I’ve already made changes to five places. My body is overloaded.’

I could feel that my body had reached its limit.

If I try to modify it again here, I might suffer internal injuries as a side effect.

[Judgment Grade: D-]

‘Oh! Does this already raise me one level?’

The rank judgment had risen from E to D-.

From D-rank, there are three stages of -, 0, and +, and I’ve reached the beginning of that.

I achieved development from F-rank to D-rank in half a day with physical modification without side effects.

This is like dramatically shortening nearly 10 years.

Before I met Nicholas in my previous life, I was stuck as a perennial F-rank for 6 years.

Considering that, the time I shortened today was enormous compared to my previous life!

“Haa…….”

Fatigue washed over me.

It was inevitable since my body, ordinary until this evening, had undergone intense changes in just 6 hours.

I decided to find a reasonably shabby inn and get some sleep.

Anyway, the team is supposed to meet tomorrow morning right here, Shindorim Station Exit 2.

‘My first sleep after regression. What will the dawn of a rejuvenated body be like?’

I recalled the past when my whole body ached, including my back, spine, and waist, after waking up.

Leading a body full of vitality and energy, I headed to the inn.

Regression to 32 years ago!

The night of that first day was coming to an end.

* * *

The next day at dawn.

I went to the site two hours earlier than 8 a.m., the scheduled assembly time for the engineering team.

On the way.

I checked the post I’d uploaded to the Awakened-only community, ‘Unsung Hero,’ for fun before bed yesterday.

[Title: Hey guys, I’m here]

[Hey guys, it’s the hyung [older brother/male friend] who kept whining about taking care of the porter’s welfare. Search for my previous posts if you’re curious about the content.

Anyway, I’m here today to show off. I raised my rank from F to D- in just one day!

Aren’t you jealous?

I’m going to end my life as a perennial porter and just run forward from now on. Take care!]

I posted some nonsense.

Since my face and identity aren’t revealed anyway, I posted it for fun without any burden.

I was also curious because the reactions of the Awakened seen here wouldn’t be much different from reality.

[DogThatBarksWhenItSeesYou: Hey, Joo Cheon-ho, who is called a monster, took a year to grow from F-rank to E-rank. Are you kidding me?]

[BaldieMustDie: You should just say that you Awakened and started at D-rank! I would believe that. You X-sin X-ki [Korean slang, roughly equivalent to “bullshitter”].]

[LoserDetector: Yes. I enjoyed the delusions of a loser F-rank in his room so far. A loser necklace is being put around his neck.]

[ParkPyeongSik: The concept is gone, all I see is bullshit.]

[ChungCho: Just carry more luggage instead of talking nonsense. Don’t you feel self-conscious when you say such ridiculous things?]

“Haha! That’s actually true. It’s not a story that makes sense in common sense! I’m glad everyone thinks so.”

I laughed out loud.

Maybe not just here, but the reaction would be similar no matter who I told. Because it’s out of common sense.

Everyone treated it as nonsense, so I felt really good.

Because that’s proof that I experienced an amazing change.

Anyway, as I was walking while looking at my smartphone, I was already at the site.

No one had come out yet. Maybe only the porters will gather even at 8 o’clock.

Awakened have a nasty habit of considering not keeping time appointments as a kind of pride.

I don’t know who created that pride, but it was a terrible sense of time when I was a porter.

‘Well, the dungeon raid today will be canceled anyway.’

I was already looking ahead to the future.

I was too busy yesterday to know exactly what kind of dungeon we would be raiding today.

But after waking up and checking the dungeon information on my smartphone, it was familiar.

‘K-848 Dungeon. The place where Magos, who will become a great monster in 10 years, is hiding in a double dungeon.’

The memory is vivid.

In my previous life, I was very disappointed that I couldn’t earn New Year’s money because today’s raid was canceled.

I was short of money due to rent problems, so the income disappeared.

Maybe the Awakened received a notification from the Korea Awakened Association, KSA for short, early this morning.

Because irregular waveforms of dimensional energy were found in the K-848 Dungeon, they ‘recommend’ suspending the raid.

The recommendation wasn’t mandatory.

But no Awakened wanted to risk their lives and fight.

So today’s raid will be canceled.

To be precise, the story has already ended among the Awakened.

But no one contacted us, the porters, because it was a hassle.

Porters, called the dirt spoons [lowest class] of the Awakened class.

The discrimination and mistreatment against them have a long history with deep roots.

‘If I kill Magos, I can get the Steel Flower as well as the top-level dimensional stone. It’s worth at least 3 billion [Korean won, approximately $2.25 million USD]!’

I had already drawn up an estimate.

The only thing left is how I, still treated as an ordinary porter, can naturally participate in the dungeon raid.

‘Once I get into the dungeon…….’

I can definitely make a fortune.

The great step towards a well-being life! The prelude to preparing seed money is opening.