I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 97

97

“Just a moment.”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

Shin Hwa excused himself to Jang Dong-shik and went to a separate space in the corner of the basement to continue the call.

“Ms. Bo-mi, why is Yanghwa Guild participating in the KSA’s [Korean Special Abilities Association] affairs?”

-I’m telling you in advance in case you misunderstand. It’s a choice, not an obligation!

“No, I know that… But entering the Black Zone isn’t that simple. All the executives could be in danger.”

Shin Hwa frowned, showing both displeasure and worry.

It wasn’t that he was upset by the suggestion to go together.

It was because he felt that the executives, including Jin Bo-mi, had made the decision to enter the Black Zone too easily.

It was like riding a roller coaster without a seatbelt. He was worried.

-The Bukdaejeon Black Zone has an internal map for our guild. As you know, that Black Zone has distinct characteristics, right?

Shin Hwa searched his memory.

The ‘Bukdaejeon Black Zone,’ as it’s commonly known, is a place filled with sand and dust all year round, like a perpetual dust storm.

Satellite photos and such are never captured due to ‘special interference phenomena.’

Moreover, once inside the zone, radio interference is so severe that communication is difficult, whether it’s by radio or anything else.

It’s a place where you have to use old-fashioned methods like messengers to deliver news.

So, even if you were to be defeated piecemeal by the enemy within the Black Zone, there was no way to know in real-time except by word of mouth.

Shin Hwa asked again.

“I doubt you participated out of a sense of justice, so was there some other offer?”

-That’s right. First of all, we have a special device that can avoid short-range radio interference, and the KSA’s offer was quite attractive.

“Let’s hear it.”

Shin Hwa held his breath.

As Jin Bo-mi said, if Shin Hwa didn’t want to, they might not participate in this. However, what bothered him was the future of the executives and guild members who had decided to participate.

Even if they had a map of the Black Zone, it would only be based on internal explorations from a few years ago.

Moonlight and the Black Cross aren’t fools. They constantly change the locations of various defense facilities and structures.

A place that was once a safe zone could easily become a tomb of death now.

-They say that Park Hyung-san, the master of Moonlight, and Jeong Man-chun, the number two of the Black Cross, are in the Bukdaejeon Black Zone.

“Park Hyung-san, Jeong Man-chun…”

-As you know, Park Hyung-san has a bounty of 100 billion won [approximately $75 million USD], and Jeong Man-chun has a bounty of 50 billion won [approximately $37.5 million USD].

He wondered if it was the lure of money.

The KSA had placed bounties on almost all famous Awakened criminals.

Even Ju Cheon-ho, the master of the Black Cross, had a bounty of 200 billion won [approximately $150 million USD] on his head.

Jin Bo-mi continued.

-In addition to the bounty, the KSA has agreed to transfer all ownership of the spoils obtained from all members of the two organizations in that zone. Not state ownership.

“All of it?”

-Yes, all of it. It’s like a legal plunder granted to villains. A definite realization of justice, I suppose.

‘The KSA really threw out a big bait.’

In that moment, Shin Hwa’s interest was piqued.

He hated getting tangled up in troublesome matters, but if the reward was certain, things changed 180 degrees.

According to Shin Hwa’s memory, Park Hyung-san possessed a space- 이동 [moving] artifact, an S-rank artifact.

It was the ability to instantly move a short distance of about 100 meters without using any magic power.

Awakened people usually referred to it as a ‘blink artifact.’

Moreover, Jeong Man-chun had something called a Shield Stone.

It was an artifact that could create a shield using a defensive barrier, depending on the amount of magic power invested.

The higher the rank, the more limitless its value, as the durability of the shield increased in proportion to the magic power.

A considerable amount of bounty money.

And recognition of ownership of rare artifacts that are hard to obtain.

The KSA’s offer, which blatantly stimulated ‘greed,’ seemed truly ingenious.

‘Besides, there’s also an unknown dungeon in the Bukdaejeon Black Zone.’

Another memory surfaced.

According to his past life’s records, it was a place to be discovered in January 2026, called the Dummy Dungeon.

Unlike existing dungeons that exist permanently, a dummy dungeon is a one-time dungeon that disappears once it’s cleared.

Because of this, Awakened people also called it a ‘surprise dungeon,’ and its main feature was that it contained special rewards inside.

‘The entrance dimension gate was in the abandoned underground warehouse of the 7th Black Tower of the stronghold. It’ll definitely be there now.’

Shin Hwa’s eyes sparkled.

Here, you can also obtain ‘top-tier dimension stones.’ These are dimension stones that are a step above the highest-tier dimension stones.

Each one is worth well over 10 billion won [approximately $7.5 million USD], and you can obtain at least 20 of these attractive items.

‘Retirement funds are shimmering before my eyes. This damn greed sensor…’

Shin Hwa grumbled inwardly.

He always hated troublesome things, but paradoxically, it was a situation where it could be a big earner because it was troublesome.

Rejecting it outright was difficult because the pie that the KSA had conceded looked too sweet.

“Okay. I’ll go too. But I’ll move separately.”

-Mr. Shin Hwa, alone? Without a map, there are more than one or two dangers just entering the interior…

That was Jin Bo-mi’s concern from her perspective, but Shin Hwa had detailed internal information.

In his past life in 2033, this was the place that decorated the finale of the KSA’s war on crime.

There was so much to gain here that all Nine Lords, including Nicholas, participated at the time.

In the process of participating, they had the opportunity to become familiar with the internal map, and Nicholas gave his colleagues one assignment before entering.

‘Memorize the entire map. I won’t send you unless you memorize even the location of the smallest structure!’

‘Especially here! It’s a sniper point. If you forget and move, it’s a perfect point to get a hole in your head and die.’

Nicholas’s threat.

Thanks to that, Shin Hwa had to memorize the internal map while clumps of his hair fell out.

It was quite useful memorization at the time, but somehow it could be used again in a different form in this life.

“It’s okay. I have a plan. Unless it’s a KSA-level compulsion, I’ll act separately.”

-Are you really going to be okay?

“If I wasn’t going to be okay, I wouldn’t have said I’d go.”

Shin Hwa said firmly.

Then Jin Bo-mi didn’t try to persuade Shin Hwa to join any further.

As always, Shin Hwa would have a plan. Jin Bo-mi trusted Shin Hwa.

-Okay. Then I’ll tell the KSA that Mr. Shin Hwa will enter separately.

“I’ll mark a few points on the map and send them to you on the way. Be sure to refer to them. Don’t ignore them.”

-Okay.

“The goal is certainly important, but nothing is more important than life.”

The call ended.

Shin Hwa was going to retrace his memories and point out the points where the executives and guild members could be in danger.

They would be careful on their own, so if they were careful about those points, they wouldn’t suffer great damage.

* * *

A few minutes later.

Shin Hwa, who had completed the payment of 10 billion won [approximately $7.5 million USD] in production funds to Jang Dong-shik, wrote the delivery address as the underground warehouse of Junghwa Station.

Since it was a warehouse that he had obtained from the beginning with these parts in mind, there would be no problem reassembling the facilities inside.

After finishing the calculation and receiving confirmation of the schedule, he was about to leave his hideout when.

“Uncleee!”

A five-year-old girl who was playing with a doll somewhere in the basement ran to Shin Hwa.

It was Jang Dong-shik’s daughter, Jang So-hee.

“Hello?”

“Uncle! Are you a good person? Or are you a bad uncle who kills people?”

Jang So-hee’s words, spoken with a bright smile and an innocent voice, made him think a lot.

Purity without blood.

It was an innocence that had already ended long ago in his past life, an innocence that could not be found again.

“I’m a bad uncle.”

“Heh…! Scary! Daddy, scary!”

Startled by Shin Hwa’s indifferent answer, Jang So-hee ran to her father, Jang Dong-shik, making footsteps.

“Haha, I’m sorry. There are so many gnats around the hideout. As you know, they have obvious purposes, right?”

“That’s right.”

Shin Hwa nodded.

Shin Hwa didn’t know why he didn’t leave the Black Zone despite the big and small dangers.

He must have saved more than enough money in his account, but he didn’t leave this place until he died.

‘Maybe there’s some reason he can’t leave. Like a story with his deceased wife.’

Shin Hwa vaguely guessed and left Jang Dong-shik’s hideout.

Jang Dong-shik is a person who believes in thorough mammonism [the pursuit of wealth].

Even if Ju Cheon-ho of the Black Cross came and made a request, he would work hard to make it if he gave him money.

In other words, he is not a suitable person to make a future colleague or partner.

Whoooo.

As he came outside, the eerie wind unique to the Black Zone greeted Shin Hwa.

The Bukdaejeon Black Zone wasn’t far from here. Shin Hwa decided to move directly to warm up.

And.

Swoosh…!

Like an arrow, Shin Hwa’s figure cut through the wind and disappeared into the darkness.

The Black Cross, and Moonlight.

It was the moment when the connection with them, who had been bad blood even in his past life, was created earlier and deeper than he thought.

* * *

‘That’s enough information delivery.’

While moving to the Bukdaejeon Black Zone, I kept checking the contents I had sent to Jin Bo-mi again.

I have conveyed all the precautions.

After checking, the route chosen by the Yanghwa Guild was the northeast route, which was the safest path.

It was a place where it was relatively easy to secure a view, so if you were careful about the sniper points, you wouldn’t die a miserable death without knowing why.

‘The problem is here.’

On the other hand, where I am is the western route, which is the most dangerous place.

It was also a place marked as an ‘unidentified area’ even on the Black Zone map that was released to the outside.

As expected, even though I hadn’t entered the Black Zone yet, there were already corpses rotting everywhere.

‘It feels strange that this is the land of Korea.’

Indeed it was.

Not to mention the White Zone where I live.

Even the Red Zone where I lived when I was a porter wasn’t this much of a doomsday landscape.

Even though the security was terrible, there was a feeling that people were living there, and there was at least a minimum of vitality.

But from here, it felt like seeing a living hell.

The traces of corpses and skeletons scattered here and there, having lost their owners, were the representative evidence of that.

<←↑ Safe Zone>

A sign openly referring to a safe zone greeted me.

“Keuk.”

A burst of laughter came out.

To talk about a safe zone in the most unsafe place in the world.

It goes without saying, but you should never trust the signposts and signs in the Black Zone.

Even if it is a formal sign with the official mark of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The only thing you can trust in this world that the world has abandoned is the words I speak.

‘Shall we go in?’

If you walk just twenty steps.

A new world opens up where the radio waves don’t work properly and the visibility is terrible due to the constantly blowing sandstorm.

A land of death that is 100 times more bleak than the Black Zone I met Jang Dong-shik in earlier.

That place was unfolding before my eyes.