The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player Novel - Chapter 314
Chapter 314 – Time Will Tell
Ryu Min’s face showed relief as he left the press room.
‘Revealing my identity is a great liberation.’
Until now, he had lived pretending to be someone else, mimicking the faces of others.
But that is no longer necessary.
Now he can show his face with pride and say that his nickname is Black Scythe.
‘Now everyone will know.’
But there’s no problem with that.
He has eliminated all threats, and even if there were any, who would dare to attack Black Scythe?
‘Maybe it wasn’t necessary to hide for so long.’
He hid his identity to prevent potential problems, but that only hurt the people around him.
‘It wasn’t my intention… it’s bitter.’
Briefly thinking of Min Juri, Ryu Min picked up his phone.
He hesitated for a moment whether to call her but shook his head slowly.
‘Time will fix it.’
Putting aside Min Juri, he first needed to address the donation issue.
Ryu Min’s fingers moved quickly.
————–
An amount close to a trillion in donations is so large that even large companies would hesitate.
For an individual, making such a donation is not something anyone can do easily unless they are extremely wealthy.
That’s why Ryu Min’s donation attracted public attention.
[Black Scythe finally reveals his face! Hearts flutter with his charming look.]
[It is revealed that Black Scythe is a 21-year-old man…]
[Black Scythe donates his entire fortune of 9.9 billion…]
[Breaking news! It is confirmed that Black Scythe has donated to 99 places…]
Ryu Min laughed when he saw the last article.
‘The news is quick.’
It hadn’t been an hour since the transfer, and the list was already published.
The prior notice made the information spread quickly.
‘It’s not a lightly written article; the details are accurate.’
Ryu Min donated 100 billion to 99 organizations.
Social welfare foundations, UNICEF Korea, Green Children Foundation, Korea Elderly Health Association, Korea Childhood Cancer Foundation, organizations helping those in need, among others.
He selected only those organizations that seemed transparent and transferred all the money at once.
As a result, Ryu Min’s account balance was zero.
‘My account is empty. Well, I left 100 billion in my brother’s account.’
What mattered was donating under his own name and having the balance be zero.
That was the condition to obtain the Rune of Reality.
That’s why he revealed his identity and donated publicly.
‘I could have donated without revealing my identity, but…’
Doing it publicly also boosts his reputation.
And no one will question where so much money came from.
‘To obtain an equivalent rune, I have to donate as much money as possible. That’s why I’ve donated 99% of my cash.’
Ryu Min doesn’t know which rune he will receive.
The value of the rune depends on how much money has been donated.
‘With this, I have fulfilled one of the conditions.’
Actually, the donation is not the only condition to obtain the rune.
Not just real money, but he also has to transfer his gold in another world to other players.
‘Specifically, I must zero out both my real money and my gold balance in another world.’
Only after fulfilling these two conditions can he obtain the rune.
That’s why Ryu Min is currently at the Church of the Four Gods.
‘When the players gather at the Church of the Four Gods, I will give them all the gold I have. I must get rid of all the gold to obtain the rune.’
In the last round, Ryu Min put his life in order before the twentieth round.
Knowing it could be the last round, he spent all his cash and gold.
‘I donated all the cash and also spent all the gold buying items.’
Then, unexpectedly, he fulfilled the conditions and obtained a rune proportional to the donated amount.
‘The rune I got was the [Rune of Rage], wasn’t it? It wasn’t a bad rune.’
It was a useful rune that increased attack power proportionally to the damage received.
‘Only, I didn’t have a chance to use it. I was eliminated before reaching the boss room.’
But this time the result will be different.
He is sure he will get a better rune than the Berserker Rune he got that time.
This time, unlike before, he plans to get rid of an incredible amount of 160 billion gold.
‘The donated cash is similar to the last round, but the gold is different.’
Before, he only had 50 million gold, but now he has 160 billion gold.
With such an overwhelming amount of gold, the results could be very different.
‘I just need to reduce the gold to zero to get the rune.’
As before, it’s not possible to consume all the gold in items, so it’s better to transfer it to other players.
With that idea, he sent messages summoning the players, but he’s not sure if Min Juri will come.
‘In any case, I’ll find out soon.’
Ryu Min, confirming that the meeting time was approaching, waited in the courtyard without his mask, something unusual for him.
Then, Eom Jun-seok approached him.
“Black Scythe, it’s hot. Why don’t you wait inside?”
“No, I’ll wait here. People will arrive soon.”
“As you prefer…”
Eom Jun-seok glanced around, looking uncomfortable.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s just… it feels strange. I’ve always seen you with the mask on, so seeing you like this with your face uncovered…”
“You were surprised to find out I’m Black Scythe, right?”
“Yes, I was very surprised. I never imagined Mr. Lost Yak was Black Scythe…”
It was understandable since Eom Jun-seok had seen Ryu Min’s face when he visited the Church of the Four Gods with Min Juri.
“And also, donating such a large amount of money… I couldn’t do something like that.”
“You couldn’t. You don’t have that much money.”
“Haha, that’s true. I don’t have money, but even if I did, I couldn’t do it.”
Eom Jun-seok laughed but then asked seriously.
“Doesn’t it feel bad? Spending almost all the money you worked so hard to earn.”
“Money comes and goes.”
“You talk as if you’ve lived for decades. It’s hard to believe you’re only 21.”
Ryu Min made no comment about his age.
Counting the years lived in regressions, he was over 110 years old, but he didn’t want to reveal that.
“Black Scythe, you said you didn’t know anything about the next round, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then why did you summon everyone?”
“I want to give them a gift, just in case.”
“A gift? What kind…?”
“They are arriving.”
As the meeting time approached, people started to appear one by one.
Everyone, it seemed, had heard the news, as they tilted their heads upon seeing Ryu Min without his mask.
They knew he was Black Scythe.
“Black Scythe, we heard the news. You donated a large sum of money?”
“It seems you’ve done something really good. It’s impressive.”
“You also revealed your identity… I didn’t know you were so young.”
Ryu Min chatted with the arriving people, counting the heads.
‘Twenty-two, twenty-three…’
As time passed, more people entered, and right at the agreed time, everyone was gathered.
‘Not counting me, there are 70.’
One person was missing.
Since he had seen the faces, he easily knew who hadn’t come.
‘Time will solve it…’
Repeating these words like a mantra, he then spoke to the crowd.
“The reason I gathered you all before the last round is simple. I want to give you a gift.”
“A gift?”
“It’s not the kind of gift you’re expecting. As I said, I don’t have information about the next round.”
“Then, what kind of…?”
“For now, accept the transaction.”
Ryu Min began using the transaction function with each of them.
Then, the players were surprised to see the transaction screen.
“You’re going to give us this much gold?”
“Gold?”
“The gift you were talking about is gold?”
“How much did he give you?”
Curious, everyone performed transactions with Black Scythe.
The reaction of those who completed the transaction was unanimous.
Their eyes widened at the amount of gold they didn’t know when they could spend.
Ryu Min distributed almost 2.3 billion gold to each of them.
“With that money, you can spend wildly in the shop and still have some left.”
“So much that I don’t know what to do with it?”
“When will I spend all this?”
“Is it possible that we only have this chance to spend it?”
The players were surprised and a bit bewildered at the same time.
Having so much gold now wasn’t very useful.
But none of the players showed displeasure.
‘I feel sorry for using them, but I need them to hold onto this gold for a while. I must obtain the last rune I can get in the real world.’
Finally, when Ryu Min distributed the gold to the 70th player, reducing his gold to zero, a notification visible only to him appeared.
[You have reduced both the real-world currency and the other-world currency to zero.]
[You have met the activation conditions.]
[Basic conditions met with a fortune of over 10 billion.]
[Basic conditions met with more than 10 million gold.]
Amount donated in the user’s name: 990,000,000,000 won
Gold used in the player’s name: 160,921,300,920
[You are the first player to liquidate your cash.]
[You will be granted a rune proportional to the donated money and used gold.]
[Searching for an appropriate rune for the amount…]
[Congratulations! You have received the ‘Rune of Transcendence’ as a reward.]
[The obtained rune will automatically be engraved on the player’s body.]
Upon obtaining the rune as planned, a smile appeared on Ryu Min’s face.
‘I finally completed the list of 18 runes.’
The rune he obtained proportionally to the money and gold spent was the Rune of Transcendence.
Unlike before, by spending such a huge amount of gold, he obtained a new rune he had never had before.
‘Let’s see what kind of rune it is.’
Ryu Min opened the information immediately, and his eyes gradually widened.
—————–
[My name is Ryu Min. I am 20 years old, and this is my true appearance…]
The video of the press conference, where he made his explosive statement, was being broadcast on television.
Though his face and identity had been revealed nationally, no, globally, Min Juri turned off the TV as if she didn’t care.
Though she once loved him, now his face was uncomfortable to see.
‘Since we met until the 20th round, he deceived me.’
Sure, she knew he hadn’t done it for fun.
She understood he did it to prevent chaos and protect important people around him.
Even so, why did it feel so uncomfortable and annoying?
Why did she feel betrayed by the person she loved?
Why did she feel like he was playing with her?
‘I thought Min was simply kind… but he was wearing another mask…’
In that moment of distress, a revelation lit up Min Juri’s mind.
‘Ah.’
She understood.
‘Why did I think Ryu Min was innocent? Was I the one trapped in a prejudice? Am I feeling this way because it’s uncomfortable that this prejudice has been broken?’
As she continued to reflect, she realized with certainty.
She hadn’t been betrayed by the person she loved.
She was simply using the frame of betrayal as a defense mechanism against the collapse of her own prejudices.
She wasn’t strong enough to face an uncomfortable truth.
‘How disgusting.’
She deeply hated herself.
Blaming a man she had secretly loved for more than four years just because her prejudices had crumbled.
‘I can’t leave it like this. I must apologize. If I don’t, really…’
Min Juri hurried to send a message to Ryu Min.
She asked to meet.
To talk in person.
The time to sort out her thoughts had ended.