Chapter 2: The 100th Regression of a Max-Level Player

2. Yongmin Hwang

In a dark alley.

Rip - Thud!

A group of people, having opened their beer cans, gulped down the beer.

"Wow! Now we can legally drink beer."

"Hey, not yet. There are still 30 minutes until the new year, right?"

"Damn! Really. How long do we have to hide in the alley like rats to drink?"

"You're the rat. Why are you lumping us in with you?"

"I'm just annoyed. Aren't you annoyed too?"

Yongmin Hwang, who had drained the contents of his can in one gulp, threw it away irritably.

"Hey, do you have a lighter?"

"Here you go, Hwang."

Click - After lighting his cigarette and exhaling deeply, the wrinkles on Hwang's forehead smoothed out.

"I don't get why the old farts don't let us do this good thing."

"They're just old farts, what else?"

"Hehehe."

Hwang and his friends chuckled and laughed.

Whenever someone passed by the alley, they would stop laughing and throw a cold glance.

As if telling them to go on their way and mind their own business.

The passerby would then pretend not to notice and quickly run away.

It happened again just now.

"Hehe, hey. Did you see that? He ran away because of my glare?"

"Glare? Do you have a night-vision function in your eyes? It was so dark, all I could see was the cigarette light."

"Hey, wasn't the girl who just passed by pretty? She kind of looked like Seo Arin."

"Seo Arin? Really?"

"Ah, I want to cuddle with Seo Arin."

"Hehehe, you're crazy."

"Hehehehe!"

Hwang made a ridiculous face, and his friends burst out laughing.

"Hehe, hey. If you like her, why don't you go ask for her number?"

"We're minors. Will she give it to you?"

"What are you afraid of? We'll be adults soon."

As he said, when midnight comes, the year will change.

His high school days are almost over.

"When the vacation ends, we'll finally graduate from that boring school."

"What are you going to do after graduation?"

"I'll ask my dad to buy me a motorcycle and look for a delivery job. They say delivery jobs pay well these days."

"Is that so? What about Tae-sik?"

"I plan to work in a factory with dormitory accommodation before joining the military. I can't stand living at home with all the nagging, damn it."

Hwang laughed as he watched his friend exhale cigarette smoke with a sigh.

"What about you, Hwang?"

"Me? Didn't I tell you before? I'm going to be a gangster."

"Wow, you were serious?"

"Was I joking?"

Hwang frowned at his friends' surprised reactions.

"I answered seriously, but you thought I was joking?"

"Of course. Who in this world would aspire to be a gangster?"

"Being a gangster... Aren't you scared? You might get stabbed in the gut and die."

Hwang only snorted at his friends' concerns.

"Damn, do you live once or twice? Just live however you want."

"You're a real troublemaker, man."

"Hehehehe."

His friends chuckled, but in their hearts, they thought the same thing.

'Crazy guy.'

They were known as troublemakers in school, but compared to Hwang, they were just beginners.

To them, Hwang was just a complete delinquent.

'Yeah, do whatever you want... '

'I need to cut ties with this guy after graduation.'

'What a fool...'

Hwang, who had known these friends since middle school, was the one who made them keep their distance.

"By the way, what will happen to the shuttle after you graduate, Hwang?"

"Who's the shuttle?"

"You know, the weird kid in our class."

"Oh, the kid without parents?"

One corner of Hwang's mouth curled up in satisfaction.

"Even after graduation, I won't let him go."

"Hehehe, you'll keep using him even after graduation?"

"Of course. He's my personal shuttle."

"Wow... Poor guy. He probably thinks his shuttle days will be over after graduation."

"Who says it's up to him? I'll keep him as long as I can."

"You're really evil. Even Satan would call you a brother, hehehe."

The delinquents laughed and finished their beer cans.

Then, they noticed it was almost midnight.

"Hey, it's almost the new year."

"Oh, really?"

"Should we go see the bell ringing? There's an event nearby."

"Sure, let's go."

Hwang and his friends headed to Bosingak to hear the New Year's bell.

"Wow, there are so many people."

"They're swarming like ants."

"Let's look for pretty girls."

While looking around at the crowd,

"Hey, Hwang. Look over there."

A friend tapped his arm and pointed.

"Isn't that the kid? Your personal shuttle."

Hwang's gaze turned to Ryu Min.

"Oh, it is. My shuttle."

Seeing him outside of school made him feel strangely nostalgic.

"Is that weird kid here to watch the bell ringing too?"

"Maybe he came to pray that he won't be bullied by Hwang this year."

"Hehehe, that's an impossible wish."

"Hehehe, indeed."

Hwang chuckled and was about to approach Ryu Min but stopped.

'Hmm? That kid...'

Ryu Min was standing still, seemingly lost in thought.

But the atmosphere around him was different.

He didn't look like the usual slumped-shouldered shuttle.

'What is it? He feels different... somehow...'

At that moment, the host announced,

"It's finally time. Let's count down together!"

The crowd enthusiastically counted down.

Hwang and his friends joined in, eagerly awaiting the new year.

'I'll let you off today, kid.'

He didn't want to bully the kid on the first day of the new year, so he didn't approach.

"3, 2, 1! It's finally 2022!"

"Yay!"

The crowd erupted in cheers.

In the midst of the excitement, Hwang and his friends exchanged greetings.

"Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year!"

"Finally an adult! May you achieve all your goals this year..."

Hwang was about to offer a well-wishing when he was interrupted by an unknown voice.

The voice made the smiles on people's faces disappear.

Hwang was no different.

"Is this a joke? Right?"

At first, he thought it was a prank by the broadcasters, but when he saw an angel appear with a light from the sky, his thoughts changed.

'This is real. It's not a joke.'

Even though it was hard to believe, the floating angel left no room for doubt.

Moreover,

Bang!

When he saw a young man's head explode after speaking rudely to the angel,

"Ah!"

"Whoa!"

Hwang's expression, like the other citizens, froze.

'Damn...! What the hell is this on the first day of the new year!'

He had never seen someone die before.

Especially not such a violent death, with the head exploding like a firework.

Thus, Hwang couldn't even breathe properly in front of the angel.

His friends were the same when he turned to look at them.

'But...'

Hwang's gaze turned to Ryu Min.

'Why is that kid's expression unchanged?'

If it were the Ryu Min he knew, he should be scared or frozen in fear.

But the Ryu Min in front of him looked calm, even relaxed.

Moreover,

'Huh?'

He suddenly turned his head and made eye contact with Hwang.

'How does he know I'm here...'

Not only that, but he even curled one corner of his mouth.

As if mocking him.

'That kid...'

Seeing the confident expression on the shuttle's face, which he had never seen in school, twisted Hwang's mood, but that was all.

'I'll see what you do, shuttle kid.'

Now wasn't the time to express anger.

He had just realized he was caught in a hellish survival game that required surviving 20 rounds.

Eventually, with the devilish laughter of the angel in the background, Hwang's vision went dark.

* * *

'So, Hwang was watching me, as expected.'

In high school, Ryu Min was a quiet kid.

A plain student who didn't stand out or cause trouble.

'I thought I could avoid any problems as long as I didn't cause any trouble for others.'

But it didn't go as planned.

Just because he sat close to Hwang, Ryu Min was targeted.

Even though he didn't do anything to provoke or stand out.

'After that, I experienced every kind of bullying.'

He was mocked during breaks and beaten up in the school's back mountain when Hwang was bored.

He was forced to buy bread, cigarettes, and alcohol.

Whenever he got caught by the convenience store owner and the police called his parents, he had to say with a bitter face,

-My parents... are gone.

When asked why, he had to reluctantly explain,

-They passed away in a traffic accident when I was in middle school.

At this point, the sympathetic police officer would only tell him not to do it again and send him home.

'Then the bullying would start all over again.'

A vicious cycle.

There was nothing Ryu Min could do against the bullies.

He suffered all kinds of humiliation, to the point where he was afraid to go to school.

'But not anymore.'

After countless regressions and deaths, Ryu Min had become a completely different person.

The timid and weak version of himself was gone.

99 regressions had transformed him from an ordinary person into an extraordinary one.

That's why he could remain calm even when he saw Hwang.

'Actually, seeing him doesn't evoke any emotion.'

The reason was simple.

He had already avenged himself so many times that it had become boring.

'Did I start avenging myself from the 7th regression?'

After gaining confidence and strength, Ryu Min began to take revenge on Hwang.

He paid back everything he had suffered.

Even when Hwang begged for mercy, Ryu Min, driven by a vengeful spirit, killed him.

Not just once.

He killed and killed again with each regression.

Until all the pent-up anger was released.

'But after doing it over twenty times, it became meaningless.'

Since he had already avenged himself to the point of boredom, seeing Hwang in the 100th regression evoked no emotion.

'Even if I take revenge now, it won't mean anything. There's no benefit. If I have to kill him, I'll use him first.'

He already had a plan in his head on how to use Hwang.

But he had no intention of bringing him to the final round.

'What I need to do now is...'

Ryu Min lifted his gaze.

He was alone in an empty, white space.

After a moment,

The devilish voice echoed.

'It's a kind of customization.'

While most people would be confused by the term "avatar," Ryu Min remained calm.

He had created avatars dozens of times.

Eventually, an avatar identical to him appeared in the white space.

The avatar moved like a mirror image of him.

Since the captured teenagers and young adults were familiar with games, there shouldn't be any issues with the process.

After a while, a mechanical voice, different from the angel's, sounded.

'My nickname is...'

Ryu Min's lips moved without a moment's hesitation.