The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player

Chapter 126: Unmanned Café (1)

A dark night.

Ryu Min’s gaze was fixed on an abandoned warehouse.

From inside, occasional chilling screams could be heard, but Ryu Min just laughed.

After all, they were trash that deserved to die.

‘The location is well chosen. This place is perfect as a garbage incinerator.’

The area was surrounded by mountains and rarely visited by people, making it an ideal place to dispose of bodies.

Moreover, he has just hired the best cleaner in the town.

‘To be honest, I was half in doubt whether Ma Kyung-rok would listen to my request, but to see him move exactly as I wanted…’

Ryu Min had asked Ma Kyung-rok to take care of the trash cleaning.

He took the risk of revealing that he knew his secret.

‘It was a kind of gamble. The moment his secret was revealed, it wouldn’t be strange for him to show hostility at any time.’

He even thought about fighting Ma Kyung-rok if necessary.

No one would be happy to have their lifelong hidden disgrace uncovered, even if it meant being supplied with black magic power by cleaning human trash.

That’s why he decided to take a direct approach instead.

Many people must have been hypocritical while dealing with Ma Kyung-rok, so he calculated that doing the opposite might work.

‘But who knew that would actually work. Speaking openly and honestly was a stroke of genius. Strictly speaking, it was me pretending to open up to him.’

It was a relief that everything went smoothly.

‘Well, it wouldn’t have been a bad deal for Ma Kyung-rok either.’

Even if he couldn’t win Ma Kyung-rok’s heart, he was confident in finding a solution.

He could see 7 seconds into the future, so he could always change to a better direction.

If it didn’t work out, he might have ended up fighting Ma Kyung-rok.

‘Anyway, the trash cleaning is resolved with this.’

Ryu Min immediately turned around.

He didn’t enter the warehouse even as the screams grew longer, not wanting to disturb Ma Kyung-rok’s private meal.

He was satisfied just hearing the screams.

‘Morning, afternoon, evening, dawn, five people each time. Having promised twenty people a day, Ma Kyung-rok should be able to gather enough dark magic energy.’

There were 28 days left until the 9th round.

Even if he lured and killed people for all 28 days, he could only dispose of 560 people, but it couldn’t be helped.

‘Any more would be too risky.’

An excessive meal would also be burdensome for Ma Kyung-rok, so they agreed to keep it at that level.

‘What to do with the remaining 471 people…’

They were going to disappear in the next round anyway.

It would be better to strip them of items before killing them.

‘Maybe I should take care of those that Ma Kyung-rok can’t handle?’

With that thought, Ryu Min picked up his phone as he returned home.

He was looking at the murder list sent by Yamti, deciding whom to kill when a familiar name caught his eye.

‘This person is…?’

In the quiet night, Ryu Min’s eyes shone coldly.

* * *

August.

It’s been 8 months since the world began to fall apart.

Many things have happened in what could be considered a short time.

The economy shook, leading to a financial crisis, and the stock prices of all companies plummeted.

Most of the people who were in their 20s, who were a large part of the economic activity, died, a natural consequence.

Store owners hastily replaced them with people in their 30s, but the reality was a shortage of both workers and customers.

Now, part-time jobs can be obtained with just a text message.

Consequently, unmanned convenience stores and even unmanned cafes have increased explosively.

(T/N: An unmanned café is a coffee shop that operates without the need for staff or employees to be present on-site for it to function.)

Seo Arin and Hong Sun-ah visited one of these unmanned cafes.

“Here, Arin. A caramel macchiato with two extra shots, right?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“The world has really improved. Now we can go to unmanned cafes.”

“You sound like an 80-year-old, you know.”

Seo Arin grinned.

Lately, there had been little to smile about.

Just going out with a fellow actor to peacefully chat felt like happiness, given how much the world had changed.

Hell wasn’t far away.

It was closer than they thought.

“Looking at it now, our main fan base has become the 30s. Since most of the 20s have died.”

“Ah… suddenly bringing up such a depressing topic.”

Seo Arin wished time and time again.

That the reality she faced was a lie.

That the survival game of killing and being killed was all just a dream.

“Even now, when I return from a round, I think. Could all of this be just a dream? Would the fellow actors I was close with contact me again, smiling as before?”

Seo Arin had always been sincere about acting.

She loved her job and enjoyed the chemistry with fellow actors.

She was fortunate to meet Ma Kyung-rok and received support in various ways, leading to a successful career.

A successful life.

But that life was no more.

As the atmosphere quickly darkened, Hong Sun-ah apologized.

“Sorry. For bringing up something so gloomy.”

“It’s okay. It’s just how things are.”

“It’s hard, isn’t it? Wanna start smoking? Maybe even smoke together?”

“Haha, you make me laugh.”josei

She squeezed a laugh at that joke and sipped her caramel macchiato.

The sweetness entering her mouth made her feel slightly better.

“But we’re better off, aren’t we? We survived. Because we’re players.”

“That’s true.”

“I’m still shocked about Gong senior’s death. Who would have thought he’d die in the 1st round? And a man at that.”

“Stats are equal, it doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman.”

“Right, even middle schoolers can exert the same strength as grown-ups, so it doesn’t mean much. Now that I think about it, goblins are just trash, right?”

Hearing her fellow actor curse, Seo Arin scolded her.

“Even if there are no people around, you must watch your language.”

“What does it matter? It’s part of my charm, isn’t it? The fans wouldn’t know anyway.”

Hong Sun-ah smirked, raising her nose.

There was no one else around them in the unmanned cafe.

“There’s also this advantage since there are no people. We can walk around without hiding our faces.”

“But our income has decreased.”

“That’s true. But in this situation, is income really the problem? Survival is the top priority.”

She wasn’t wrong, so Seo Arin listened in silence.

What could be more important than survival in the current situation?

“Arin, you’re lucky. You have a good job for surviving.”

“Ah, you mean my summons?”

“Yes. I heard it’s like a cheat job. Golems tank for you, fairies cast protective shields, and after level 20, fairies even help in combat. They jump in like slaves to do everything for you. I’m jealous, so jealous.”

“Your job isn’t bad either.”

“Me? No. I’m just a bit stronger, but assassination turned out to be a common job. Invisibility is a skill, but it’s useless.”

“Why? It can be used during combat, right?”

“That’s true. But it’s not very useful in battle. One attack and it’s gone. The cooldown is long too. It’s basically for survival when in danger.”

“That’s good then. There’s nothing as important as survival.”

“That’s true. But in reality, there aren’t many dangerous situations, right? It’s awkward to use. I’m not a stalker, and robbing a bank is useless nowadays because they’ve taken measures.”

“……”

“The cafe also has a sign that only card payments are allowed. Are they scared of players stealing cash?”

“Sun-ah, you’re not seriously thinking about this, are you?”

“You think I’m an idiot? Why would I make such a ridiculous thought? Anyway, you can’t even distinguish between a joke and seriousness.”

Despite the scolding, Seo Arin just smiled warmly.

Considering their friendship from working on several projects together, even this chit-chat was enjoyable.

After all, she was the only actor friend who had survived.

I'm currently Translating the following novels: Pick Me Up! | A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! | The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!