The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player

“There was a hidden sub-quest?”

The players were surprised once again by the sudden appearance of a sub-quest.

Especially considering the generous rewards it offered.

For players who hadn’t even collected 3,000 gold throughout the 5 waves, it was enticing.

“So, if we survive, we get 3,000 gold?”

“It shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”

“It’s like a game of hide-and-seek.”

With 2,700 players remaining, the situation seemed manageable as long as there was only one seeker.

Ryu Min, however, had a completely different perspective.

“Escaping from the Harbinger of Divine Punishment won’t be easy.”

There was a reason behind the substantial reward.

Players who realized this wore serious expressions, while others displayed confident smiles.

And Ryu Min?

Naturally, he belonged to the latter group.

If he had any doubts, he wouldn’t have intentionally activated the sub-quest by breaking the artifact.

“If we had simply cleared the 5th wave and ended the round, we would have received an additional 2,000 gold at best.”

The reward for revealing the sub-quest by breaking the artifact surpassed the gold received for protecting them.

That was Ryu Min’s reason for activating the sub-quest.

But why didn’t he break the artifact himself?

The reason became apparent through a message that appeared shortly after.

[Confirmation: The artifact has been attacked by players.]

[Penalties will be imposed on the ten players who attacked the artifact.]

[All stats will permanently decrease by 50%.]

“What? Stats decrease?”

“Damn it!”

The ten players, including the ones from Hwang Yongmin’s clique, cried out in anger.

It felt unfair, especially since they didn’t do it willingly.

The members of his clique glared at Hwang Yongmin with resentment.

“I’m… I’m sorry. I didn’t expect such penalties…”

Hwang Yongmin apologized, but it wasn’t the time to worry about others.

[Responsibility for failing to protect the artifact will also result in penalties for the district representative.]

[All stats will permanently decrease by 50%.]

“Ah…”

Hwang Yongmin was left speechless, his expression filled with loss.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!”

He never even dreamt that he would receive penalties himself as the district representative.

Except for Ryu Min, of course.

“That’s why I hesitated to become the district representative.”

A permanent decrease in stats was fatal, directly impacting survival.

“It even affects the potential of the player’s growth.”

He hadn’t warned against becoming a district representative without reason.

Not breaking the artifact by himself was also to avoid penalties.

In the meanwhile.

Swish!

“Crunch!”

The last Gnol was killed by one of the players

Yet, the message signaling the end of the round didn’t appear.

“We’ve killed all the monsters. Why isn’t it ending?”

“Didn’t you read the message? It won’t end until the penalty round is over.”

“So, we have to endure another 30 minutes…?”

“Think of it as a game of hide-and-seek. It won’t be too difficult.”

Ryu Min inwardly clicked his tongue at the players’ nonchalant thinking.

“After repeating this scenario dozens of times, he noticed that people will always react the same way.”

Every time the artifact was shattered, people would think so casually.

They didn’t understand the difficulty of the penalty.

“I died twice from the penalty alone in the third round.”

Ryu Min didn’t initially know that revealing the sub-quest was triggered by breaking the artifact.

He simply protected the artifacts and proceeded to the next round as usual.

“But then I accidentally discovered what happens when the artifact break.”

That’s when Ryu Min learned that surviving against the Harbinger of Divine Punishment was incredibly challenging.

“I died twice, even with enough skill to endure until the 5th wave.”

he still felt confident, he also thought, if it was just a matter of evading for 30 minutes then it will be easy with enough people…

“But it turned out to be more difficult than I thought.”

Out of 2,700 players, only around 500 survived.

A survival rate of less than 20%.

At one time only 1,225 players survived worldwide!

Truly an extreme difficulty.

“The moment you lose your focus it’s the end.”

Of course, Ryu Min was confident now.

He had enough experience and had broken the artifact dozens of times and came up with a great strategy.

“It’s a penalty for others, but…”

For Ryu Min, it wasn’t a penalty.

Instead, it was an opportunity for significant growth.

If he defeated the Harbinger of Divine Punishment, that is.

“‘I currently have around 13,000 gold. If I complete the sub-quest and defeat the Harbinger of Divine Punishment, I’ll easily exceed 20,000 gold.’

Ryu Min had no intention of running away. On the contrary, he planned to eliminate it and reap the significant rewards.

‘After deducting about 4,000 gold, I’ll still have enough to buy two decent items.’

After calculating his available funds, Ryu Min immediately opened the shop window and purchased two 2,000 gold items.

First, he acquired: [Assassin’s Hood.]

Category: Helmet

Grade: Normal

Defense: 20

Effect: Agility +3

Durability: 250/250

Usage Restriction: Regular grade or higher

Description: A hood favored by assassins, emitting a faint scent of unwashed blood.

Next, he obtained: [Agile Long Boots.]

Category: Footwear

Grade: Normal

Defense: 15

Effect: Agility +2, Movement Speed +5%

Durability: 250/250

Usage Restriction: Regular grade or higher

Description: Snug-fitting, black long boots that may seem stuffy but are surprisingly comfortable to wear.

Although these were normal-grade items, Ryu Min wasn’t particularly concerned about their effect. Instead, he believed that even slight stat increases would make capturing the enemy easier. Besides, he could always resell the items at the shop, even though he would only receive half of the original price.

Whooosh-

“Is… is it starting?”

“I feel nervous for some reason.”

As the sound signaling the start echoed, the players became tense, but Ryu Min remained composed.

“I’ll defeat it and reach level 30.”

Ryu Min was currently at level 27, and he was confident that defeating the Harbinger of Divine Punishment would easily propel him to level 30. Furthermore, he would accumulate 20,000 gold as planned and buy another common skill.

But that wasn’t all.

“I can also obtain runes, titles, and even that items”

A hopeful smile appeared on Ryu Min’s face.

He was confident in his ability to kill the Harbinger of Divine Punishment.

After all, it was only a divine-type enemy.