Genius Regressor Makes Mythic Items

Kim Shimun looked at the groaning Immortal Zhongli Quan with cold eyes.

“What else would I do? I have to take care of him.”

Even though he had reaped some unexpected benefits, he had no intention of letting Zhongli Quan off lightly after mentioning ‘torture’ from the very beginning, whether he killed him or not.

Kim Shimun had no intention of handling this gracefully. Lucifer seemed to agree.

“Sure, taking care of him is obvious. What I mean is, how will you handle it?”

Lucifer asked with a cunning voice.

– How?

Kim Shimun, catching on to the nuance in Lucifer’s question, asked back.

-Heh heh! Even though it’s just remnants, this place is filled with devil energy, isn’t it?

Lucifer chuckled ominously.

“Immortal Zhongli Quan has been possessed by a suitable one.”

“So?”

“He’s expended most of his power holding the collapsing dimension together. What do you think will happen if Zhongli Quan disappears from there?”

“How could it be? He’ll just revert to being the human Cheol Chunryu…”

Ah.

Kim Shimun let out a small exclamation, realizing what Lucifer was getting at.

– Honestly, I’d like to tear his soul to shreds, but since we’re in the arena, that’s impossible, and besides, you’re human…

“You mean I’d hesitate to harm another human like Cheol Chunryu?”

– Not necessarily, but… from what I know of you, it seems that way.

“True, I don’t enjoy harming others, but… this is different.”

Kim Shimun’s face grew even colder.

“Before discussing whether he’s the next Continental ranker, he was possessed by Zhongli Quan to harm me.”

The torture mentioned by Zhongli Quan at the start, if applied to an ordinary human, would likely leave one’s mind in shambles.

In this Continental Representative Battle, he couldn’t be killed, but it would be as good as being dead.

So, inflicting a blow to Zhongli Quan’s faction was secondary.

“I need to repay the favor in kind.”

Kim Shimun needed to return the favor in kind for this incident. After all, Cheol Chunryu wouldn’t lose his life either. Had Zhongli Quan heard Kim Shimun’s muttering?

“W-Wait!”

Zhongli Quan, slumping on the ground, quickly raised his hands.

“Let’s be reasonable! I haven’t done anything to you! There wasn’t even a proper fight, was there?”

“That’s true. We stopped just before that by chance.”

Step.

As Kim Shimun took a step closer,

“H-Hey! This can be resolved through dialogue. Right. Compensation! Aren’t you a player?”

Zhongli Quan’s voice grew more desperate.

“I can offer maximum compensation. Do you want information? Or sponsorship? Just name it!”

It seemed he had no more celestial energy left to resist.

“H-Huh! I said let’s talk!”

Gone was the grandeur he displayed earlier, now flailing his arms like a powerless old man.

Kim Shimun chuckled at the sudden change in attitude.

“Why, is an exalted Immortal, afraid of losing his suitable one?”

Flinching at Kim Shimun’s piercing words for a moment,

“… Indeed.”

Discarding his previous desperation, Zhongli Quan nodded obediently.

“Looks like you’ve made up your mind. You should reconsider.”

He glared at Kim Shimun with cold eyes.

“As I said, nothing happened to you in the end. Didn’t you gain something instead?”

“Something seems off with your words. I earned that with my strength.”

“I know. You must have some connection to devil energy. But it doesn’t change the fact that your current decision is unwise.”

Maintaining the possession seemed increasingly difficult. Even the faint clouds vanished.

Thunk.

Zhongli Quan fell to the pitch-black ground.

Yet still, “I am an Immortal of the Celestial Realm. I’m in a position to meet with the Supreme Ones.”

His gaze never left Kim Shimun’s eyes.

“I’ve already clashed with Erlang Shen twice. What’s the big deal?”

“Erlang Shen is a rough Divine General, unlike an Immortal like me.”

To that, “No, it’s the same.”

Kim Shimun smirked.

Heh…

“They are indeed identical in every sense.”

Thunk.

Kim Shimun grasped the thick head of Cheol Chunryu, now losing its celestial energy and white glow.

“You! Do you really intend to make an enemy of the Celestial Realm? Aren’t you afraid, mere human?!”

Zhongli Quan screamed desperately.

“The Celestial Realm, huh…”

Kim Shimun muttered, glancing briefly at the sky.

“At least one single Celestial Realm doesn’t scare me.”

He smirked and clasped the other hand around Zhongli Quan’s head.

Thus, “How should I handle this?”

– Hehe! Just leave it to me!

The voice that Zhongli Quan couldn’t hear followed. Between Kim Shimun’s clasped hands, over Zhongli Quan’s head,

Fwoom!

“Aaaargh!!”

The remnant devil energy whirled and were sucked into him.

*

In the broadcasting channel of Guk-A, the two commentators:

『Ah! We can’t see anything! Nothing is visible!』

『Ever since Cheol Chunryu activated the gourd, it’s been complete darkness!』

『It’s already been over 15 minutes. How is the match going?!』

『I personally hope to see some more of Kim Shimun’s lightning or fire spells!』

Cha Kangyup and Song Jaekyung, the commentators, were feeling helpless in front of the dark screen ever since Cheol Chunryu used the gourd.

Then suddenly,

『The Diamond Rank match of the Continental Representative Battle final is over.』

『Korea is the winner.』

『The representative country for Asia in this Continental Representative Battle is ‘Republic of Korea’.』

The message announcing the end of the match and the winning country suddenly popped up.

This led to:

『W-Wait! Victory?! Commentator Song, what’s happening?』

『I’m not sure about the exact details, but the battle in that darkness ended in Kim Shimun’s favor!』

『Ah! So, the first ever Continental Representative Battle! The winner of the Asia battle is our Republic of Korea!』

『Excellent! Player Kim Shimun, this is amazing!』

As Cha Kangyup and Song Jaekyung continued their commentary:

“Suddenly?!”

“Suddenly what? He fought in that darkness for over 15 minutes and won!”

“Wow… So our country is really the representative of Asia?”

“Seriously? Defeating the Continental?”

“Damn!! Kim Shimun! I always believed in you!”

“Oh my! It’s the American Dream coming true!”

The entire Republic of Korea was ablaze with excitement.

*

Paah.

Kim Shimun reappeared with a flash of summoning light.

In front of him,

『A victory has been recorded in the ‘Finals’ of the Continental Representative Battle.』

『Rewards will be increased based on performance.』

『Rewards for the Continental Representative Battle are given as fixed values.』

『Your level has increased by 10.』

The Continental Representative Battle rewards flashed in front of Kim Shimun.

Seeing this, Shimun’s eyes gleamed.

‘They give rewards as fixed values.’

Level 10 up.

It might not seem like much, considering the progress in the arena so far.

But as mentioned in the rewards, the ‘fixed value’ part was crucial.

‘Why is this important?’

The reason was simple.

『The bound trait ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ also gains the same amount of experience points.』

『The Philosopher’s Stone’s level has increased by 10.』

Because the level of the bound trait, the Philosopher’s Stone, also increased by the ‘fixed value’.

‘As expected, the Philosopher’s Stone’s level rose as well.’

Kim Shimun’s lips curled into a slight smile. So far, the Philosopher’s Stone had shared nearly half of the arena’s experience points. Calculating this, Shimun should have gained 6 levels while the Philosopher’s Stone gained 4 levels.

But with the ‘fixed value,’ both gained 10 levels.

Essentially, they leveled up by 20.

Moreover,

‘As leveling up becomes harder, the value of these fixed rewards increases.’

Considering the leveling-up pace of top-rank and rankers at the highest level, these fixed-value level-up rewards shone brighter as time went on.

Moreover, ‘Rewards will be greater in the Dimension Wars.’

Not to mention the goal of the Continental Representative Battle, the ‘Dimension Wars.’

Then,

『You have acquired the achievement ‘First Continental Representative Battle.’』

『You have earned 10,000 achievement points.』

『You are the first on Earth to win the ‘Continental Representative Battle’.』

『You earn 10,000 achievement points as a reward.』

『You earn 500,000 merit points as a reward.』

Various achievement rewards popped up. You have acquired the achievement points, along with a massive 500,000 merit points in one go.

『Your merit points have reached a certain threshold.』

『The ‘+1 Agility Stat’ item in the achievement shop has been upgraded to ‘+2 Agility Stat’.』

『The ‘+1 Health Stat’ item in the achievement shop has been upgraded to ‘+2 Health Stat’.』

‘Oh! The stats in the achievement shop have increased too.’

The stats in the achievement shop had increased from +1 to +2. However, one small regret was…

‘Random Stat +2 didn’t get upgraded.’

The random stat +2 item that was upgraded thanks to the Nemean Lion hadn’t grown further. Still, this wasn’t a big disappointment.

‘Well, it’ll probably rise to +3 in the next round.’

Kim Shimun smiled contentedly and walked out of the closed room. There, he sensed an awkward atmosphere.

“Oh, hey! You’re back!”

Go Malsuk greeted him with a genuine but awkward smile and a wave.

‘What’s up with her?’

Kim Shimun tilted his head and looked behind her.

‘Ah.’

Leaning against the waiting room wall was his younger brother Kim Shihyuk, with a hardened expression.

“Hey! What happened out there? I didn’t think you’d lose, but since we couldn’t see the match, we had no clue what was going on.”

Go Malsuk asked with a voice full of relief and curiosity.

“Well, it wasn’t that hard. The opponent just got a bit dirty… so I returned the favor a bit.”

Kim Shimun replied with a sly smile.

“A bit dirty?”

Go Malsuk’s face contorted in a peculiar way, as if to say,

‘You returning a favor a bit?’

“Come on, Mal’sook. What do you even think of me…?”

Before Kim Shimun could respond,

“Hyung. You did well.”

Kim Shihyuk, who had been leaning against the wall, stepped forward with a greeting.

“Yes. You did well too.”

Kim Shimun shifted his gaze to his brother.

“Thanks, but… ha! I’m really sorry. I mean, I’m supposed to be a ranker. I even boasted so much, only to lose so utterly.”

Unlike his usual bright demeanor, Kim Shihyuk wore a self-deprecating smile.

Seeing his brother’s unexpected reaction to the loss, ‘I thought I’d tease him a bit after it was over, but he’s taking it pretty hard. I can’t even joke about it now.’

Kim Shimun’s intent to tease disappeared.

The fortunate thing was, “Losing on such a stage… Ugh, how do I even face Jinwook hyung now?”

It wasn’t merely the frustration of losing.

More like, “What about Yujeong? She’ll definitely be relentlessly teasing me!”

Imagining how he’d be teased by Park Jinwook and Lee Yujeong seemed more exasperating to him. That clearly seemed like the reason for his distress.

‘Well, this is better than wallowing in defeat.’

Kim Shimun chuckled and patted his brother’s shoulder.

“It’s okay. They might tease you a bit, but it won’t be that bad.”

As soon as he said that,

“Uh?”

Kim Shihyuk silently gestured towards the back.

“What?”

Kim Shimun blinked and looked in that direction. A phone on the table kept blinking without pause.

“Phone? Why?”

Knowing it was his brother’s phone, Shimun blinked again and looked back as Kim Shihyuk, with a grim face, explained.

“I muted it right after the match ended. It’s been like that ever since. The caller is probably…”

He suggested sadly.

“… Stay strong.”

After a brief silence, Shimun patted his brother’s shoulder more firmly.

Then, “Ah, and Shihyuk, you couldn’t get a patron because of your stigma trait, right?”

Did his brother’s mention of the recent defeat related to not having a patron make him more dejected?

“Y-Yeah…”

Kim Shihyuk’s shoulders drooped further. Seeing him on the verge of tears,

“No, no! I didn’t bring it up to criticize you.”

Kim Shimun quickly grabbed his brother.

“Actually, you might be able to use a constellation’s weapon like Zhang Liqiu.”

Kim Shihyuk was taken aback.

“Huh? Me? A constellation’s weapon?”

Go Malsuk’s eyes also widened as she asked incredulously.

“What are you talking about? Using a constellation’s weapon?”

To which Kim Shimun responded,

“It’s not certain yet. It’s just an idea I had…”

Before he could continue,

『With the conclusion of the African continent, the NO. 274 Earth Continental Representative Battle is officially over.』

『Each representative country will be awarded the Continental Representative Battle rewards.』

A series of messages appeared before the three of them.