The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player Novel - Chapter 145
Chapter 145 – Nigeria
Now that the 9th round has concluded, there are approximately 650,000 players remaining worldwide.
Following the logic that one in every five is trash, there are still 130,000 trash players in the world.
“It doesn’t mean the world is safe just because we got rid of Pseva’s trash.”
Players contributing to the world’s destruction are no help, like insects.
“I’m going to Nigeria to eradicate those insects and recruit an alchemist at the same time.”
In Nigeria, there is a unique class of alchemists.
Turning them into allies will be of great help in overcoming round 20.
“It’s not just the alchemist that I’ll gain.”
Even the runes you acquire in reality can meet the requirements there.
You’ll also be able to obtain various items and enhance the name of Black Scythe.
“Ready.”
Ryu Min, who had packed all his belongings, stood up from his seat.
He thought it would take a week at most, so he packed clothes and essential items.
“Brother, Brother.”
With a quick knock, the door swung open.
His younger brother looked at Ryu Min’s travel bag in surprise.
“Are you leaving already?”
“Yes. I’ll be back soon.”
The night before, he had heard the story of him going on a trip, but Ryu Won didn’t expect it to be this early in the morning.
“Where are you going, Japan?”
“Yes. I’ve been too tired lately, so I’m going on a week-long hot spring trip.”
A person who has been silent suddenly going on a trip?
Of course, Ryu Won couldn’t help but suspect his brother.
“Brother, did you happen to get a girlfriend? If so, don’t hide it, just say it. No one criticizes a couple going on a trip together.”
“What are you saying? I’m just going to rest.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then take me with you.”
Ryu Min slowly raised his head.
“It’s a tough world just to maintain a life. It can be dangerous if you come along too.”
“Are you really going alone?”
“That’s right.”
Ryu Won couldn’t ask any more questions.
If his brother said yes, he could only believe.
“Sorry for you, but I’ll be fine. Take care at home until I come back. Make sure to eat well.”
“Don’t worry. With the amount of takeout food coming out lately.”
“If you ever need more money, tell me now.”
“It’s not necessary. Be careful on your trip.”
“Understood, take care. I’m leaving.”
Dragging his suitcase, Ryu Min walked out the front door, looking at his brother with envy.
Squeak, thud.
Ryu Won’s expression, who couldn’t look away until the door closed, quickly changed to a gloomy one.
“I also want to go on a hot spring trip…”
Although he complained a bit, he understood.
For ordinary people, the world is still dangerous.
Doesn’t he know that from the recent barbecue incident?
“There’s no other choice. There’s nothing wrong with what my brother said.”
Even though his brother can go hiking and enjoy hot springs, he didn’t feel envious.
During that time, his brother had kept him alive while he studied in school.
People need to recharge after working.
“If it weren’t for my brother, I couldn’t have lived in this luxurious house.”
Just nine months ago, living in a run-down room and ordering a plate of jjajangmyeon was a burden.
It wasn’t the time to complain while ordering takeout.
“I’m full, really. I’m full.”
Ryu Won, looking at himself critically while holding his head, finally decided on his craving.
“Oh, come to think of it, I’d like to eat jjajangmyeon.”
When lunchtime comes, he’ll definitely order it.
Jjajangmyeon never gets old, no matter how many times he eats it.
——————
When he reached the parking lot, Yamti was waiting in front of a Lamborghini.
“Have you arrived? Joo, no, Mr. Ryu Min?”
“I arrived? Let’s go straight.”
After loading the luggage into the trunk, the two set off immediately.
On the way to Incheon Airport.
When they entered the highway, Ryu Min broke the silence.
“I asked you yesterday about the reason for going to Nigeria.”
“Yes.”
“Nigeria is a place where various crimes frequently occur. There’s also a significant presence of IS1S/EI, a public enemy.” (Note: ‘Isl4mic St4te’ will be abbreviated to ‘IS1S or EI’)
“You mean the terrorist group pursuing Islamic extremism?”
“Yes, those guys. Among the people they kidnapped, there’s an alchemist I want to turn into an ally. My goal is to rescue that alchemist.”
Ryu Min revealed his goal without hesitation.
Yamti was a slave who absolutely obeyed his words anyway.
There was no reason to keep it a secret.
As long as he kept her under control, even if there was a risk of death, he would protect her.
“Oh, so you’re taking me to charm the alchemist with the rune’s charm?”
“No. It’s true that I’m taking you because I need the charming rune, but I won’t use it on the alchemist. Preferably, we should leave him alive.”
“And then?”
“Eliminate the scum and build Black Scythe’s reputation. That’s why I also obtained the title of CPF’s vice leader.”
The vice leader went to Nigeria and destroyed the enemy organization of ISIS.
If that fact became public, the name of Black Scythe would become famous, as obvious as the sun.
“Oh, so is that why you needed the chief of police’s guarantee? To leave a record that Black Scythe left the country.”
“That’s right.”
As expected, Nigeria was a dangerous country.
Security wasn’t as good, as it was classified as level 3 in travel warnings.
Naturally, they wouldn’t allow entry unless it was for business or other specific purposes.
Unless you proved to be strong enough to protect your own body.
Then entry would be possible.
That’s why he acted as the CPF vice leader and moved with that title.
To easily pass through immigration.
And to leave a record that Black Scythe went to Nigeria.
So, who provided the guarantee for Black Scythe?
“Of course, the chief of police agreed to do it.”
Therefore, Ryu Min wasn’t worried about exit control.
“Phew, sounds like it’s going to be quite a challenging trip.”
“It shouldn’t be that difficult if you consider it like that.”
Finally, they arrived at the airport, and Ryu Min changed his appearance after parking the car.
Hum…
In an instant, he transformed into a Lost Yak.
Yamti opened her eyes in surprise at the sudden change.
“Wow, has your height increased too? It’s the first time I’ve seen the leader transform.”
“Enough with the observations. From now on, call me Black Scythe.”
“Yes, Mr. Black Scythe.”
The two grabbed their suitcases and headed to the charter airline counter.
“Welcome. Have you booked a charter flight?”
“Yes, here’s my identification.”
Naturally, Ryu Min presented Lost Yak’s identification.
It was necessary to forge the ID as he was traveling under the identity of Black Scythe.
“Currently, a private plane is on standby. The destination is confirmed as Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Nigeria… One moment.”
An employee checking something extended the ticket.
“It’s confirmed. Here’s your ticket. The direct flight to Nigeria will take approximately 17 hours. After going through security and passport verification at the immigration counter, you can enter.”
“Yes, thank you.”
The reason Ryu Min is taking the president of Plesba’s private plane is singular.
“To save time with a direct flight.”
Usually, reaching Nigeria is only possible with layovers, which typically takes about 25 hours.
It would be better to quickly take a private plane rather than spending so many hours in the sky.
After checking in their luggage and receiving their tickets, Ryu Min went through security, where his passport was also checked.
“Are you going to Nigeria?”
“Yes.”
The immigration officer looked at them suspiciously.
“Nigeria is currently a danger zone. Are you aware?”
“It’s okay. I’m the leader of the CPF unit. Everything is approved, so check it with the police chief.”
“CPF unit leader… One moment.”
The officer retreated for a moment and returned a few minutes later.
“It’s confirmed. The police chief guarantees that he is the CPF unit leader. There’s no problem in terms of skills, so both can go.”
“Really?”
“Here are your passports. Have a safe trip.”
Ryu Min passed by smiling along with Yamti after going through the checkpoint.
As expected, with the backing of the police chief, even in a dangerous area, they were able to pass smoothly.
A while later, they boarded the private plane without delay.
There are only two passengers, Ryu Min and Yamti.
The captain’s voice came through the speaker.
“Welcome. I’m Captain Seo Taeseok. This plane is heading directly to Murtala Muhammed International Airport, the largest city in Nigeria, Lagos, and it will take a total of 17 hours. I wish you a comfortable and pleasant flight.”
Ryu Min lay down in the first-class seat, comfortable like a bed.
“Yamti.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Try to get some sleep. There won’t be much time once we arrive.”
“Yes, I will.”
Ryu Min closed his eyes after organizing in his mind the things he had to do in Nigeria.
Drowsiness gradually overtook him.
————–
Nigeria is located in West Africa, classified as a danger zone even within the continent.
With 50% of the population practicing Islam, the northern region is full of notorious Islamic extremists.
Security is precarious, with frequent robberies even during the day and continuous crimes among organizations.
It is a completely different world, where murder, kidnapping, rape, and human trafficking are everyday events.
“Can there be a century alchemist in a place like this?”
After 17 hours, Ryu Min and his group arrived at Murtala Muhammed International Airport and went through immigration.
Given their appearance, they easily identified Ryu Min as a player and passed without issues.
After collecting their luggage, Ryu Min remembered the captain’s advice when they disembarked from the plane.
I’m not sure why you’re visiting Nigeria, but be careful. Especially, never take a taxi at the airport. There are many cases of travelers being threatened and robbed after unknowingly getting on. Although you seem young and probably won’t encounter scammers tricking players, it’s still better to be cautious.
It wasn’t an exaggeration or a senseless joke.
Even though they knew he was a player, it was a genuinely worrying country.
“Sir, where are you going now?”
“First, disguise yourself. Wait here.”
Ryu Min, who had already prepared tools in his suitcase, entered the airport bathroom.
When he came out, his face had completely changed.
With some wrinkles added to Lost Yak’s already mature face, he became a man in his forties without a doubt.
“There, they won’t know we’re players.”
“And me?”
“You seem fine as you are.”
Yamti had already applied makeup to look older. It seemed unnecessary to do more.
“Even to foreigners, you’ll seem to be at least thirty.”
“Ugh, that’s cruel.”
Ignoring Yamti’s complaints, Ryu Min looked for a taxi at the airport.
There were many taxis trying to attract tourists, but Ryu Min didn’t take just any.
“Not this one, not that one.”
Reading the intentions of the taxi driver, he searched for another after assessing his thoughts.
In the end.
“I found it.”
Ryu Min tapped the trunk of a taxi.
“Open it, please.”
“Okay, okay.”
When Ryu Min spoke in English, the driver, who seemed to be in his forties, eagerly opened the trunk.
After loading the suitcases with Yamti, they sat in the back seat.
The taxi driver, with a friendly smile, asked:
“You seem like a tourist, speaking in English. Where are you headed?”
“Go to Ivadan, please.”
“Okay. It will take about two hours.”
During the time the driver was driving, he could see that he occasionally looked through the rearview mirror.
When their eyes met, he smiled brightly and spoke in English.
“You seem to be Asian. What country are you from? China?”
“No, I’m from Korea.”
“Why did you come to Nigeria?”
“For business.”
“What company do you work for?”
“It’s just a small company that sells cleaning products. Nothing important.”
“Well, in our country, cleanliness is necessary.”
Even turning his head to the window, you could see a desolate shantytown.
With outdated infrastructure, crowds like ants, traffic jams, people armed with rifles, slums, and shantytowns, Lagos, with over 20 million inhabitants, was the largest city in Nigeria but was constantly ranked as one of the most polluted cities.
“Is the charming lady next to you your girlfriend?”
“She’s my colleague.”
“Ah, seeing the lady’s look, it seems not, right?”
While exchanging meaningless chatter, two hours passed.
Yamti looked worriedly at Ryu Min and asked:
“When will we arrive?”
“We’re almost there.”
But even after three hours, the car was still in motion.
The taxi driver, seemingly aware of that, threw out a sentence without asking.
“Sorry. The traffic is intense, so I turned back to try to find another route. I’ll do my best to speed up.”
However, the car finally stopped after two hours.
“We have arrived.”
After five hours, they reached their destination.
No, at least that’s what they thought.
Looking out the window, they saw an aged town that wasn’t their destination.
“Is this Ivadan?”
“Figure it out for yourself for now.”
The taxi driver said that and got off first.
Before Ryu Min, who also got off, could question about the taxi fare, they saw the taxi driver facing off with a thug armed with a gun.
“I brought you them.”
“Two people?”
“Yes. A man and a woman. Isn’t it perfect?”
“They shouldn’t have followers, right?”
“Do you think I’ve done this only once or twice? Pay up quickly. I want to go eat. I’m hungry after driving for five hours.”
The thug, with a scarf on his face, pulled out a wad of bills from his pocket after putting away the submachine gun.
“Well done.”
“Haha, thanks.”
After counting the money, Yamti felt chills seeing the thug’s gentle smile towards them.
She didn’t know what conversation they had due to her inability to speak English, but unless they were fools, they could tell.
That they had been sold to a human trafficking organization.
The thug with the gun spoke while tapping the gun barrel.
“Can you speak English? Both come here. If you don’t want to die.”
“….”
“What are you mumbling? These idiots. Still don’t understand the situation?”
“The situation is not clear, like you.”
“What?”
Ryu Min smiled ironically and peeled off the beard stuck to his lips.
The thug’s gaze changed.
His expression couldn’t be seen because it was covered with a scarf, but his thoughts were evident.
Confusion on his youthful face.
The taxi driver beside him was also surprised.
“As expected, we were brought here as part of the human trafficking organization.”
Although it seemed like they had been captured, in reality, they had let themselves be captured.
It didn’t take long for the gun-wielding man to realize that fact.
Bang!
The taxi driver’s head exploded like a watermelon.
The sound echoed.
Ryu Min, with the scythe in hand, warned the armed thug.
“Come closer. If you don’t want to be cut.”