The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player TL

21. Discussion

"Why not kill them? Simple. Because there's no benefit in killing them."

"Benefit?"

An Sang-cheol looked disappointed, as if it wasn't the answer he expected.

"But leaving future troubles..."

"Future troubles?"

Ryumin looked at Hwang Yongmin's group.

They all avoided eye contact.

He had definitely achieved the goal of instilling fear.

"Can guys like that really cause future troubles? I'm not so sure."

"Hmm..."

"And there's no benefit in reducing the population, is there? It would reduce the number of achiever spots."

"Ah!"

This game allows only half the survivors to live each round.

As such, if the number of survivors decreases, the number of achiever spots also decreases.

'Black Scythe is right. There's no benefit in reducing the population. If the total population decreases, the number of spots will naturally decrease too.'

A glint appeared in An Sang-cheol's eyes.

'To grasp even such minor details. His understanding of the game is extraordinary.'

Not only skill, guts, and cold-heartedness, but he was smart too.

Though he didn't show it, An Sang-cheol was inwardly amazed.

"I understand Black Scythe's intention. Then we won't pay attention to trash like them either."

The delinquents sighed in relief at hearing they would be spared rather than killed.

It felt like they had been on the guillotine and then let down.

"The job's done, so I'll be going now. I'm busy."

As Ryumin turned to leave, An Sang-cheol hurriedly called out to stop him.

"Wait a moment, Black Scythe! If you give us your account number, we can reward you in reality..."

"Not necessary."

Ryumin coolly refused and disappeared into the forest.

An Sang-cheol was dumbfounded, not expecting the refusal.

'To help without asking for any compensation...'

An Sang-cheol felt great affinity towards his lack of greed.

'I should report this to the CEO as soon as we return.'

Turning his head, he saw the guys who had ambushed them groaning.

Though he wanted to kill them, he held back since there was no benefit as Black Scythe said.

He was also mindful of Seo Arin beside him.

"Let's go, Ms. Arin."

"Okay..."

An Sang-cheol spat once towards Hwang Yongmin's group and left the place with Seo Arin.

* * *

While some players were hunting in the forest to raise their levels,

A heated discussion was taking place in the open space.

No, rather than a discussion, it was closer to a marketplace with people hawking.

"Please give me your votes. If I'm elected as district representative, I'm confident I can do a great job!"

"No, I can do better than that sardine-like human! Please vote for me."

"What? Sardine? You son of a bitch..."

"What did you just say? Son of a bitch? Should I rip off your sardine head?"

"You two over there! Don't fight! How can you fight when we should be joining forces?"

"That's right. People who get excited so easily aren't qualified to be representatives. I'll be the representative instead. Please support me!"

"Forget all that, my father is a congressman! Wouldn't someone like me be better as a representative?"

"Bullshit, your father's a congressman? Prove it, you bastard!"

Loud voices and even curses were exchanged here and there.

Perhaps because they changed their appearances through customization, many people spoke without filters.

Just then, a young man with an upright face clapped his hands to calm people down.

He had the nickname [Mint Choco Youth].

"Everyone! Instead of wasting time meaninglessly like this, we need to quickly decide on a representative! We only have 2 hours left!"

Perhaps because his voice was loud and resonant, people's attention turned to the young man.

"So how are we going to decide on a representative?"

"Do you have any good ideas?"

As people listened, the young man inwardly smiled.

'As expected, it's working. The [Rune of Persuasion] is taking effect!'

When he first drew the Rune of Persuasion from a random rune fragment, the young man was disappointed.

It was a useless rune that didn't work on monsters.

'It was written that persuasion doesn't work if communication isn't possible, right?'

But it was different with people.

No matter what he said, people listened and acknowledged him.

That's the kind of rune the Rune of Persuasion was.

'Though it's not an extremely overpowered rune.'

The description only said it increases the probability of persuasion succeeding.

His words didn't always work.

'But this is good enough. Thanks to the Rune of Persuasion, I passed Round 1 easily.'

In Round 1, he was able to easily kill 100 goblins by using people as shields.

Without the Rune of Persuasion, he wouldn't have passed so safely.

'The downside is that it doesn't work on higher level opponents...'

Fortunately, all who passed were level 5.

This means his persuasion works on everyone except those who entered the forest.

'If I use it well, I could become the district representative. Huhu.'

As he was inwardly laughing, people pressed him.

"Mint Choco Youth! Hurry up and tell us! Don't you have any good ideas?"

"I do."

"What is it!"

"How about we decide on candidates first? We choose about five candidates and only vote among them."

"Hmm. Not a bad idea."

"True, nothing will get done if we just keep asking to be elected like a chaotic market."

People nodded and agreed with the young man's opinion.

But there were opposing opinions too.

From people the persuasion didn't work on.

"Who will decide those candidates, and by what criteria?"

"That's right. It means there's no chance if you're not nominated as a candidate, right?"

"How about we do a fair lottery draw instead?"

Despite some people's objections, the young man didn't lose his smile.

'If persuasion doesn't work in one go, I just need to keep persuading.'

As long as the levels are the same, the Rune of Persuasion will work eventually.

In the end, things will go his way.

Sure enough.

"How are we going to make lottery draws without paper or pens here, and how will we control 5,000 people?"

"Hmm..."

"Now that you mention it, that's true."

As the young man persuaded again, the objecting people nodded in agreement.

'It's so easy to manipulate these pigs and dogs. Kuku.'

The young man smiled and continued speaking.

"Then shall we narrow it down to five candidates? If you have someone to recommend, raise your hand and say one person at a time. But exclude yourself. Otherwise everyone will try to become a candidate."

"Ah..."

"That's true."

"Tsk, I was going to recommend myself..."

People nodded and agreed to the reasonable words, but that was all.

No one recommended candidates.

When told to nominate others, no one came to mind.

'I can't just hand over the representative position to anyone.'

'Then who should I recommend?'

'I don't want to see someone else become representative besides me...'

'Is there any meaning if it's not me?'

Silence fell for a while among the 5,000 gathered people.

No one had anyone suitable to nominate since they were all strangers.

They didn't want to recommend others.

'As expected, it's quiet. Well, I wouldn't want to recommend others either. Hehe.'

The Mint Choco Youth was pleased with the situation going as expected.

'At this rate, the candidates will have to be narrowed down to noticeable people.'

With no suitable candidates, the probability of himself being mentioned as the current center of attention was high.

As expected, after waiting a bit.

"I recommend Mint Choco Youth as a candidate!"

Thankfully, someone raised their hand and recommended him.

'Bingo! Kuku.'

Trying hard to hold back the laughter about to escape, the Mint Choco Youth asked.

"Recommending me... I never expected this. May I hear the reason?"

"I think the representative should be someone with leadership and fairness."

"Oh...? You think I'm like that?"

"Yes, that's how I see it. You're controlling the situation well even now, aren't you?"

'Hehe, another sucker added.'

The young man smiled, but it was just a smile at the compliment.

No one knew he was inwardly sneering.

"To evaluate me so highly... Thank you very much. It's a bit burdensome, but since you thoughtfully recommended me, I'll be a candidate. Is there anyone else who wants to recommend other candidates?"

"I recommend Black Scythe."

The young man didn't lose his smile even at the appearance of another candidate.

This too was as expected.

'The 1st place ranker from last round can't be left out of the candidates.'

He had drawn a lot of attention early on and his ranking result was overwhelming, so it was expected that Black Scythe would be mentioned.

Moreover, wasn't he the one who caught the angel's attention?

'At least up to 3rd place in this area with revealed nicknames will be candidates.'

As expected, someone raised their hand to recommend 2nd and 3rd place too.

'2nd place [Life is a Documentary] and 3rd place [Black Dragon on Right Hand] too.'

Though their recognition was lower than Black Scythe's, they were also clearly top-tier skilled players.

It would be stranger if they weren't mentioned.

"With this, we have four candidates. What about the last spot? Is there no one else?"

When silence fell, the Mint Choco Youth quickly proceeded with a smile.

The fewer candidates, the better.

"Alright. Then let's narrow it down to four candidates... Before voting, how about each person comes out and speaks? You can make promises or pledges. I'll go first."

The Mint Choco Youth cleared his throat and looked around at the crowd.

Thousands of gazes were fixed on him.

'It's a piece of cake to persuade these suckers. Kuku.'

If he could speak in front of people, he was confident he could win even in competition with Black Scythe.

"Ahem, I'm very nervous speaking in front of so many people. But I'll say a few words out of consideration for the person who nominated me as a candidate. If I become district representative, I have confidence I won't disappoint..."

"Bullshit, you son of a bitch."

At the words throwing cold water, the Mint Choco Youth turned his head to look in the direction the voice came from.

'Who is it?'

A man with a fierce expression walked out from the crowd.

His nickname was Life is a Documentary.

'That's the 2nd place ranker in this area.'

His slouching gait as if ingrained in his body and the way he spat like a thug naturally made people frown.

"Aoh, damn. It's so fucking disgusting I can't stand it."

"What is it? You."

"Hey, Mint Choco Youth. Is the world that easy?"

"What are you saying, suddenly barging in?"

"Just saying a few words and people fall for it, so the world looks funny to you? Huh?"

Though he didn't show it, the Mint Choco Youth was quite surprised inwardly.

Judging by the other's words, it seemed he knew about his ability.

'Wh-what? How does he know? No, is it just a coincidence?'

While he was flustered, the man cracked his neck side to side, showing his displeasure.

"Who the hell are you to decide the district representative, you agitator bastard. You think everyone will fall for your damn three-inch tongue? You fucking bastard."

"You're going too far for a first meeting! They say a person's words are their face and personality. Do you have to use such harsh language?"

Though he spoke with a serious expression, the Mint Choco Youth was laughing inside.

'He'll apologize for sure.'

The power of persuasion is that strong.

But it didn't seem to work on the other person.

"You fucking bastard trying to lecture me like an old fart? You wanna die?"

"Uh, uh..."

"What's with the 'uh, uh', you disgusting bastard."

"A-aren't your words too harsh?"

"What's too harsh? This is being nice for talking to a bastard like you."

The Mint Choco Youth couldn't help but be flustered.

'My persuasion isn't working?'

He tried again, but the other person still spewed curses.

He didn't seem to have any intention of apologizing.

'What's going on? Could it be?'

As he was flustered, Life is a Documentary spoke to the people.

"Hey you sons of bitches! Forget candidates or whatever and all vote for me! If you don't, you'll all die. Got it?"

The Mint Choco Youth chuckled at those reckless words.

"Wow, this guy has no filter? You think people will listen if you talk like that? Geez, I'm speechless."

Unless he had a Rune of Persuasion like himself, there's no way such a forceful method would work.

But that thought was brief.

"You bastard, you're laughing?"

The man who was frowning suddenly pulled out a dagger and stabbed the Mint Choco Youth in the stomach.

"Kuk!"

"I told you, didn't I? You'll die if you act up."

Stab- Stab-!

The man who stabbed the fallen Mint Choco Youth stood up with a blood-covered face.

Flinch-

People froze for a moment at that chilling murder scene.

"If you don't vote for me, you'll all die like this bastard. Got it?"