Genius Regressor Makes Mythic Items

Chapter 9. Placement Test (1)

TL: xLordFifth
ED/PR: The reader

“Did you just curse at me?”

“Yeah, you piece of sh*t. What else should I call you? A son of a b*tch, huh?”

The short-haired man kept hurling insults in an oppressive manner.

At this, Kim Shimun could only let out a hollow laugh.

‘What in the world is this right after arrival…’

Cursing as soon as entering the arena?

It seemed like it was supposed to be a cooperative offense condition.

The trouble had begun from the get-go. There was no solution to this.

The problem was:

-“What the f*ck? Who’s the ugly asshole getting all torn up on the asphalt calling someone a piece of sh*t!”

It wasn’t just this man’s quarrel.

-“Hey! Give me your finger, right now!”

Along with a harsh tinnitus from the center of his chest, a voice poured out.

It was a somewhat delicate girl’s voice, but the words she spilled were far from delicate.

-“I’m going to shred that ugly face to bits and then fry it…”

‘Let’s calm down, shall we.’

Shimun softly stroked his chest as if petting his head.

-“Aww, how am I supposed to stay calm when you touch me so tenderly, huh?!”

Despite having touched his chest, what could possibly be the reason for this heartache?

‘Ha, I should have somehow stopped the fusion with the Obsidian Tablet if I knew it would turn out like this…’

The owner of the rude language, incongruent with her voice, was none other than the Philosopher’s Stone.

It wasn’t just the rank and level that changed when it fused with the Obsidian Tablet.

[A minor change occurs in the Philosopher’s Stone.]

‘Who knew this little line would be so terrifying.’

Yes.

By fusing with the Obsidian Tablet, the Philosopher’s Stone had gained the ability to speak.

-“Hm! The touch of a handsome man! So nice!”

In a somewhat… peculiar form.

But what could he do?

What’s done was done.

-“Sigh! Touch me more! MORE!!”

Following that, the odd voice of the Philosopher’s Stone continued.

Shimun immediately removed his hand from his chest, closed his eyes for a moment, and composed his dizzy mind.

Perhaps, did they perceive him as being scared?

“You look like you’re out of your league. Hey, are you scared, huh?”

Choi Kiyeol blinked his eyes without realizing them.

However, Shimun, not opening his eyes, remained silent.

“Kiyeol, is there something you want to ask? It’s obvious he’s completely terrified!”

“Pfft! Judging by his gear, he doesn’t seem to be part of any guild?”

Choi Kiyeol’s party members added their taunts.

“Up until now, you must’ve only met softies, running around with no gear, but I’dm no pushover,” said Choi Kiyeol.

“Is that what this is about?”

Having opened his eyes, Shimun looked at Choi Kiyeol with flickering eyes.

“If it’s about the gear, you’re mistaken.”

“Mistaken?”

“Gear was never the issue from the start.”

Boom.

A loud explosion followed by a cloud of dust rising.

At Shimun.

Specifically, the dust was from a mace, a morning star, that struck where Shimun had been standing.

“This guy’s really lost it.”

Choi Kiyeol, after slamming down the morning star, glared at Shimun with icy eyes.

“Talking nonsense. Who are you calling a moron?”

Choi Kiyeol growled.

In response, Shimun just looked at him for a moment before speaking.

“…Your name was Choi Kiyeol, wasn’t it? You’re quite interesting.”

“Laughing now? You, a leecher who came to the arena without any gear!”

Shimun let out a small laugh.

“This sector is usually Bronze, and considering this category, it’s at most Silver level, right?”

“What has that got to do with you being a gearless leecher?”

“In magic or support systems at this level, it’s common to be without gear. You seem to have some experience in the arena, don’t you know that?”

“…”

Choi Kiyeol didn’t respond to Shimun’s statement.

Because it was true.

For magic or support systems, the cost of their equipment is significantly higher compared to combat systems.

Especially, the magic systems boast the lowest population ratio across all systems.

Naturally, magic gear was precious.

For magic systems at this level, dreaming of such equipment without substantial support was impossible.

Of course, Choi Kiyeol, who had been relatively successful right from the tutorial, was well aware of this fact.

However.

“Well, I’m not sure.”

Choi Kiyeol said, curling up one corner of his mouth while still glaring.

“It looks like you didn’t care about my gear in the first place.”

“Isn’t it great? A gearless nobody mouthing off in front of the carry.”

Still focusing on the gear and being so aggressive – the reason was clear.

Shimun looked at the threateningly approaching Choi Kiyeol.

‘He wants to monopolize the rewards of the arena.’

This arena was an offense category starting from Silver due to the high MMR.

Moreover, if it’s a collaboration among 5 people imposing a limit of 50 participants.

The difficulty level was incomparable to a typical Silver rank offense.

Conversely, it meant the rewards for clearing it would be higher.

‘He wants to eliminate me to reduce the number of team members to share the rewards.’

One of the characteristics of the cooperative category is that the fewer the members who clear, the higher the rewards.

Specifically, the rewards of those who dropped out are distributed to the surviving members.

Although there are quite a few instances where the reward increases with more survivors.

This time, it wasn’t so.

‘Tsk. It’s become troublesome right from the start.’

Normally, when a magic or support rank is matched as a team member, they are welcomed with open arms.

Being a precious rank, they significantly lower the difficulty level of clearing the arena.

Conversely, there were also situations like this one.

‘He must be wary of me hogging the kills.’

Unlike the domination battle.

Offense doesn’t provide much contribution other than kills.

Choi Kiyeol was wary of area magic for this reason.

It’s the perfect skill for hogging kills.

‘To think this far, he must have had his share of arena experience…’

Shimun’s gaze, which had been examining Choi Kiyeol, halted on his armor.

“You’re from the Scorpio Guild.”

“Look at that. Now he’s short of words?”

“I’m not so low as to treat someone who’s not even human with full courtesy.”

At those words, Choi Kiyeol’s face immediately stiffened.

The two guild members behind him were no different.

“Did this son of a b*tch just say what I think he did!”

“How dare you open your mouth when you’re nothing but a parasite?!”

Shimun furrowed his brow at the trio’s audacity.

“Accusing others of freeloading and hogging all the rewards, isn’t that just low?”

“Talking big for a freeloader…”

Suddenly, Choi Kiyeol stepped forward, raising his morningstar.

“Bring it!”

Was his agility surprisingly high?

Against the expected nature of a blunt weapon.

Choi Kiyeol’s morningstar targeted Shimun’s head with swift speed.

In that moment, a voice from the Philosopher’s Stone in Shimun’s chest rang out.

-Oppa, you’re not seriously going to take that hit, are you?

‘Of course not. Get ready.’

-Hehe! I knew it. I was worried you might be as soft-hearted as you look!

Shimun couldn’t help but smirk and shake his head at the Philosopher’s Stone’s cheerfulness.

He was anything but soft-hearted.

Shimun’s gaze and right hand both locked onto the incoming morningstar.

Then.

Snap.

The moment his left finger flicked.

Thud!

The body of the morningstar was caught in Shimun’s hand.

“What, what!”

Choi Kiyeol’s eyes widened not because a magician like Shimun had caught his morningstar barehanded, which was surprising enough.

But there was something more astonishing.

‘This can’t be…’

Choi Kiyeol stared at his morningstar trembling just like his astonished eyes.

He had always been high-ranking since the tutorials, thanks to his A-grade attribute. ‘Strength’ which had never failed him before.

‘I’m being overpowered?’

For the first time, his A-grade attribute, strength, had betrayed him.

‘By this scrawny guy?’

Without any proper gear, a magician likely inexperienced in the arena.

It had to be that way!

“Eeek!”

Crack.

Veins bulged threateningly over Choi Kiyeol’s neck.

And not just his neck.

From the back of his hand to his arm and temples.

Every bit of exposed skin swelled as if veins were about to burst.

A-grade strength and all the stats he had accumulated were all being maximized.

But.

“I thought you were agile because of your speed.”

Like a child pushing against a rock.

“Is strength your main attribute? Or is it because of a special trait?”

Shimun holding the morningstar did not move an inch.

Moreover.

‘This guy, not a single flinch!’

Unlike Choi Kiyeol, who was trembling all over, exerting all his strength.

Shimun remained utterly still.

“Kiyeol!”

“That bastard!”

Feeling something was amiss?

The two guild members behind him tightened their grip on their weapons, their eyes ignited with fury.

Then.

Crunch!

A knife was buried in the neck of one of them who lunged forward.

It was Kim Minhyung, the slender man who had been quietly observing the situation from behind.

“Sangbin! You son of a—”

As another guild member turned to aim at Kim Minhyung.

Snap.

“Gurk!”

Accompanied by the sound of a finger flick, a man’s chest was penetrated.

Aiming for Kim Minhyung, he was instead caught off-guard by a spike of earth conjured by Shimun.

The guild members fell in an instant.

“This bastard!”

However, Choi Kiyeol couldn’t spare a thought for them.

Or it’d be more accurate to say he couldn’t afford to.

A-grade attribute strength, distribution of stats focused on strength and agility, and gear of B-class or higher.

All of it thwarted by a single hand.

“How can you possibly wield such strength?!”

Choi Kiyeol had no choice but to cry out.

“Well…”

Shimun’s mouth twitched slightly as he looked at Choi Kiyeol.

“I don’t really know.”

“What…?”

Choi Kiyeol was dumbfounded.

That sounded familiar.

Soon.

“You son of a—!”

It didn’t take long for him to realize he had just said the same thing to Shimun.

“Still got the energy to shout, I see?”

Creak.

The corner of Shimun’s mouth curved, and so did the morningstar.

“…”

Choi Kiyeol, speechless, merely gaped.

Staring blankly as the morningstar, like a flower stalk snapped in two.

“You look somewhat more to my liking now. Ah, don’t take it too hard, ok?”

And with that, Shimun nonchalantly lifted the weapon.

“It was you who attacked first.”

Crack!

That was the last scene allowed to Choi Kiyeol in this arena.

* * *

The heated atmosphere cooled down in an instant.

It couldn’t be helped.

The trio, the source of that heat, had all been killed.

“Hmm.”

Shimun glanced once at the body of Choi Kiyeol, with the morningstar embedded in his skull, and then looked down at his right arm.

A small information window popped up.

[Ogre’s Physique]

Completion: 15%

Cultivated ogre physiological tissue.

Able to replicate the physical abilities of an ogre.

Pale and arguably lean, the contents hardly seemed to match the arm. With the might that had crushed a hefty morning star still lingering in the information window and his right arm, he mused, ‘Is this really just 15% of its power?’

-Yes, indeed!

A buzzing tinnitus hummed from the center of his chest.

-Plus, originally, your arm was supposed to bulge out like an ogre’s. That’s why I was vehemently against your human body modification.

The Philosopher’s Stone chattered away with unrestrained glee.

-Not just because of the risk of holding the qualification, but if such a handsome arm turned into that of an ogre’s… Yuck! Had the Obsidian Tablet not made maintaining your appearance a condition, I wouldn’t have even considered merging… Oops!

The Philosopher’s Stone’s voice abruptly cut off.

However, the heartbeats that thudded like a child caught with a secret were clearly transferred to Kim Shimun.

Kim Shimun whispered with a small laugh, ‘It’s fine. I like that part too.’

Having a part of his human body grotesquely modified would have been troublesome for Kim Shimun as well.

Wouldn’t that make him no different from a haphazardly assembled chimera?

What mattered was that, thanks to merging the Obsidian Tablet with the Philosopher’s Stone, he didn’t experience any side effects from the body modification.

“I’m starting to feel a bit tired.”

Fatigue slowly crept over his entire body.

It was a symptom of depleting his alchemy energy.

Kim Shimun cut off the flow of alchemy energy he had been continuously channeling into his right arm.

Then, with a small spasm, the [Ogre’s Physique] and the information window that had been shaped into his right arm disappeared.

‘Huh, it feels strange now that it’s gone.’

Just like waking up from a nap.

His arm felt stiff and lethargic, as if it didn’t want to move properly.

It was probably a sort of aftereffect from possessing the strength of an ogre as a human.

Regretfully flexing and unflexing his hand a few times, Kim Shimun looked up.

“Whoa!”

He locked eyes with a small-statured man in front of him, who flinched and shrunk back.

Kim Shimun chuckled and said, “You’re the last team member, right?”

“Yes! That’s correct!”

The man bobbed his head vigorously.

Kim Shimun asked calmly, “Before introductions, may I ask one thing? Why did you help me?”

Considering the situation before he crushed the morning star.

It would have been wiser for the man to side with the Scorpio Guild’s trio.

From equipment to numbers.

In every aspect, Choi Kiyeol and his companions had the advantage.

After a brief silence, Kim Minhyung cautiously spoke up.

“Those guys were behaving the same way towards me even before you arrived. The Scorpio Guild is kind of famous, isn’t it?”

“Ah, so you were in the same situation as me… Eh?”

Kim Shimun’s gaze narrowed slightly as he looked at the man.

“Have we met before? You look familiar.”

The man glanced around nervously and hesitated, “That’s because… from the tutorial…”

“Tutorial? Ah!”

Kim Shimun clapped his hands and pointed at the man.

“You’re the one I fought by the riverside!”

“That, that’s correct!”

Kim Minhyung bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle.

Taken aback by the exaggerated gesture, Kim Shimun was momentarily confused but soon smiled.

‘He catches on fast.’

Now Kim Shimun understood why Kim Minhyung had acted against the trio from the Scorpio Guild.

If he had already met Kim Shimun during the tutorial,

He wouldn’t have considered siding with the trio.

‘And this guy was quite skilled too.’

An owner of the B-class trait of quick movements.

But aside from the trait,

Kim Minhyung’s combat sense was among the best Kim Shimun had encountered in the tutorial, excluding the fighter Kang Hoyoung.

The other participants couldn’t even withstand a single strike from him.

Kim Minhyung bowed his head once more.

“I’m Kim Minhyung from the Holy Trinity Guild! I look forward to working with you!”

“Holy Trinity Guild?”

Kim Shimun’s eyes widened.

Not because of the name Holy Trinity.

‘Holy Trinity, as in Yujeong’s…’

He remembered a girl who, even at 15, was cherished by boys her age and adults alike for her pure beauty.

At the same time,

He remembered what she had done.

“Um…”

Perhaps because Kim Shimun’s expression darkened,

Kim Minhyung grew anxious, repeatedly trying to gauge Kim Shimun’s reaction.

“Did I say something wrong…?”

“No, I was just lost in thought for a moment.”

With a hearty laugh, Kim Shimun extended his hand.

“Now that it’s come to this, let’s work well together.”

“Us? But this event is supposed to be a 5-person teamwork…”

“Those three were eliminated after matching, so there won’t be a new match.”

“What, that can’t be!”

Kim Minhyung was astonished.

But indifferently,

[All participants have been matched.]

The system proceeded exactly as Kim Shimun had said.

[Starting the arena.]

[The time limit is 30 minutes.]

The unique humidity of the forest, the sound of crickets, the wind, and more, suddenly became palpable.

The environment around them had become reality.

“Then let’s get going. We’re already short on numbers compared to other teams.”

“Yes, yes…”

Kim Shimun immediately started walking towards the outlined target area,

With a somewhat deflated Kim Minhyung hurrying after him.

Just then,

[The Constellation Zeus is watching over you.]

[The Constellation Black Goat expresses deep satisfaction with your actions.]

‘Huh?’

Was it because the arena had started?

Caught off guard by the sudden interest from the constellations, Kim Shimun was puzzled.

‘Zeus is still watching me? And the Black Goat too?’

From his past life’s memories,

The constellations didn’t always watch their sponsored players this closely.

So why were two constellations showing interest in him, who was merely taking a placement test and not even a high rank?

Of course, it didn’t take long to realize why.

[The objective area is ‘Goblin Infested Outpost’.]

[Break through the target area by any means within the time limit.]

[Time limit 29:59]

“Wait. An outpost?!”