I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 98

98

A little while later.

The moment I stepped into the Black Zone, it was distinctly separated from the clear and bright outskirts.

The warning message on my smartphone, ‘Restricted Area,’ appeared as if it had been waiting.

Time also felt drastically compressed.

Thanks to my modified eyes, I could perceive a far greater distance than others.

However, without such preparations, the actual field of vision would likely be only about 20 meters.

Thwack!

I immediately summoned Wilson from subspace, grabbing him in my hand.

After walking about a block down the desolate asphalt road, a sign appeared with an arrow pointing to the right, indicating a safe zone.

‘I used to think, who would fall for that sign? But many people actually did.’

The unconscious learning that ‘signs are correct’ had a significant impact.

Especially when a battle broke out inside, or the situation changed rapidly, requiring escape or movement.

Despite the fact that no sign should be trusted, many Awakened unknowingly followed them.

The result was death.

It was too harsh a price to pay for one wrong belief.

‘Let’s see….’

I gripped Wilson tightly.

Then, I threw Wilson with all my might towards the blind spot next to the building that the sign consistently pointed to.

Whoosh!

Wilson flew through the air, hitting the wall on the right and entering the blind spot on the left.

The next moment.

Tap!

I snapped my fingers, summoning Wilson, who must have struck something inside the blind spot.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In less than a second, explosions erupted with flames.

It was a trap.

A deadly trap designed to explode when a sensor was triggered upon entering a specific area.

‘Just as I expected.’

It was the trap I had anticipated.

There are countless such traps in the Black Zone. Even the organizations that installed them don’t know all the locations.

‘KSA [Korean Special Agent] will lose a lot of agents from the entry stage if they don’t stay sharp.’

I could say with certainty.

Of course, I fully agreed with Lee Ha-sung’s determination not to negotiate with criminals.

Once you start listening to them, it sets a precedent, and the same vicious cycle repeats.

“Hoo-cha!”

After moving quietly along the road for a while, I jumped up from my spot, heading to the top of a nearby building.

Being in a strategic high point is good for securing the surrounding view.

“……”

Holding my breath.

After completely concealing my appearance with the Transparency Ring, I continued to maintain the transparent state with mana.

And silently surveyed the surroundings.

It was unlikely that Park Hyung-san, the number one of Moonlight, or Jung Man-chun, the number four of the Black Cross, would be here.

But if I could figure out where their subordinates were strategically defending more meticulously,

I could definitely get a sense of direction.

The more lax it is, the farther away from the boss, and the more dense it is, the closer the distance.

Just then.

Shuffle. Shuffle, shuffle.

There was a symphony of footsteps that inevitably leaked out, despite their efforts to hide them.

Turning my gaze, I saw a group of agents wearing KSA epaulettes approaching the interior.

‘They’re just walking in like that?’

Not only were they making noise, but they were also moving blatantly along the main road.

Of course, there were no obstacles to cover or conceal themselves around, so that was probably why.

Even so, it was a very lax infiltration. Or were they just that confident in their skills?

Swoosh-.

At that moment, I could see.

The identity of the sniper carefully revealing the barrel of their gun, taking advantage of the artificial darkness created by the rooftop structure in the building right in front.

‘I can see it because it’s me.’

I was once again amazed by the ability of my modified eyes as I identified the completely hidden enemy.

If it were a normal Awakened [individuals with supernatural abilities], they would have been sniped without even knowing they were there.

Bang!

Without hesitation, I kicked off the rooftop ground and sprang forward like a spring.

Since I added Transcendental Acceleration, a tremendous load was placed on my head and neck for a moment.

But I endured the pressure by strengthening my bones and muscles all at once.

“Not a chance!”

With a shout, I unleashed mana towards him without delay.

Bang!

Clang!

Because of that, the sniper’s gun, whose shot was interrupted, was aimed at the wrong place.

“Ah!”

“Sniper!”

Thanks to that, it seemed to be a good warning for the agents on the ground.

“Damn it, I’ve been spotted!”

The sniper, whose identity was revealed, hurriedly threw the rag he was wearing at me and began to run away.

A crescent-shaped epaulette, a member of the Moonlight organization.

Moreover, looking at the fingers he revealed in the process of running away, he was wearing as many as seven rings.

Those rings are only given to KSA agents and are a kind of affiliation certification ring.

Having seven of them meant that he had killed seven people involved so far.

He was no ordinary guy.

‘Should I let him go a little?’

I chased after the fleeing guy, but I didn’t go all out.

Bang! Bang!

In the meantime, he turned his body back several times in the air, continuing to snipe, aiming for my life.

It was a pretty stylish sniping, but the substance was not there. The aim was not accurate.

‘I can kill him anytime, but.’

I didn’t.

Looking at the way he was running away, it didn’t seem like he was running away to a place where no one was.

Another line of defense.

In other words, it seemed clear that he had caught the direction in which he could receive support from his allies.

Wasn’t that the strength of the home ground? The ability to occupy a favorable position at any time.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

Still, as a sniper, his jumping ability was considerable.

He narrowly jumped between buildings and ran away.

I chased after him using only about 20% of my power, and followed him for quite a distance.

In a straight line, it was about 500m. It was enough to push into the enemy’s arms.

Just then.

‘……!’

I felt a very heterogeneous feeling from somewhere not far away, over the shoulder of the fleeing sniper.

It was the unique sense of incongruity that arises when too much mana is concentrated in one place.

It was a change that only those sensitive to the flow of mana could catch, as it was not easily felt by ordinary Awakened.

Creak.

Without even thinking, I immediately deployed Steel Enhancement while leaping in the air.

It was an instinctive response.

And instead of a moderate enhancement that lightly wrapped around my body, I unleashed the maximum enhancement using all of my mana.

At that moment, I saw a blue light flashing from somewhere in a building about four blocks away.

It was another sniper.

A situation where the light was seen before the gunshot.

Splat……!

Next, I saw the body of the sniper, who had been diligently running away, explode like fireworks.

It happened so suddenly that the person in question didn’t even know he was dead, let alone scream.

Thud!

The bullet that penetrated while blowing up the sniper simultaneously struck my head.

A tremendous shock spread throughout my body, centered on the middle of my forehead.

And.

Boom!

My body, which had momentarily lost its balance in the air, fell straight to the cold rooftop ground.

* * *

A man blew away the smoke flowing out of the barrel of the mana bullet gun, MZ-20, which was emitting hot heat due to the rapid release of highly condensed mana.

“Success, perhaps……?”

His face, with a bitter smile, was filled with satisfaction that the design was quite perfect.

He scanned the rooftop of the building four blocks away.

The sniper who was running away to this side – an ally – was definitely dead, and the whereabouts of the guy who was following him were important.

Tap.

Lifting his body slightly into the air, he looked at the location, and although he couldn’t see it clearly, he could see the silhouette of a person lying down.

Since there was nothing on the roof until just now, the one lying there must be the guy who was chasing the sniper.

“Heh heh heh, I caught a big fish unexpectedly. Kang Shin-hwa would appear here.”

The man knew his identity.

Kang Shin-hwa, an Awakened from a porter who has been enjoying popularity recently.

In fact, he was better known as the guy who screwed over Jang Seong-young, the 3rd in command of the Black Cross, rather than that.

It was also more famous because Joo Cheon-ho, the leader of the Black Cross, had directly requested his assassination from Dark Forest.

Anyway, he eliminated the guy who was called an eyesore by Joo Cheon-ho.

This man’s name is Jeilgeon.

The second-in-command of the criminal organization ‘Moonlight’ and an Awakened with a talent for high-intensity mana condensation.

He became a sniper-type Awakened to make the most of his talent.

Because he compresses a tremendous amount of mana into the size of a very small bullet, its power is beyond imagination.

That was the reason why the body of the subordinate, who was even equipped with an enhanced suit, exploded like fireworks just before.

“It’s a worthwhile deal for the price of the bait that went in, isn’t it?”

Jeilgeon skipped lightly between buildings, heading to the spot where Shin-hwa had fallen.

He knew of Shin-hwa’s appearance when Shin-hwa, who was chasing the sniper, was caught on CCTV in the vicinity.

At first, he thought it was an Awakened dispatched and infiltrated by the KSA, but a bigger figure than he thought had come.

“If I cut off his head and take it, Joo Cheon-ho will pay me handsomely, right?”

Jeilgeon, who was grinning, didn’t seem to have any pain or remorse for killing a subordinate of Moonlight.

There were traces of flesh and blood left by the subordinate’s death everywhere, but Jeilgeon was just delighted.

Woo-oong. Woo-oong.

Jeilgeon re-condensed mana into the MZ-20, preparing to shoot Shin-hwa’s ‘corpse’.

It was also for the purpose of confirming the kill, and because he couldn’t carry the corpse whole, he intended to separate only the head and take it.

If the upper part of the rib cage is accurately hit with a mana bullet, the upper part of the neck could be salvaged appropriately.

And.

Jeilgeon, who had jumped over the last building, stood in front of Shin-hwa’s corpse, which was covered in blood.

He was covered in some of the flesh and clothing of the subordinate who had exploded and scattered, but he definitely seemed dead.

“That’s why I’m a one-shot, one-kill. How could a rookie like Kang Shin-hwa withstand my sniping?”

Jeilgeon concentrated his mind.

And at the very moment he was about to pull the trigger and release the condensed mana.

Flash!

“……?”

Jeilgeon couldn’t help but doubt his eyes.

Because Shin-hwa’s body, which had been limply dead until just now, suddenly moved.

Shin-hwa, who got up in an instant, kicked off the ground right away, and in an instant, the distance between Jeilgeon and Shin-hwa narrowed.

“Ah……!”

Before Jeilgeon’s exclamation could finish, Shin-hwa’s fist struck his left eye as it was.

It was such a powerful blow that the bones of his left eye collapsed in an instant.

“Cough!”

Jeilgeon, who was hit by an unexpected blow, staggered back.

But like a veteran, he prepared to counterattack Shin-hwa with the mana bullet gun he was carrying on his shoulder.

It was a trick he came up with in the midst of staggering from a sudden surprise attack.

But.

“……?”

There was nothing where the mana bullet gun should have been.

Instead.

“Looking for this?”

Along with Shin-hwa’s cold voice.

An object floating in the subspace entrance came into Jeilgeon’s eyes.

It was the mana bullet gun that Jeilgeon himself cherished as a weapon.

“Damn it.”

He was caught off guard.