Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: How the Regressor Smashes the Goblin
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“Kuh...!”
The goblin just flinched at Dokgo Hyun's taunt, unable to charge in.
'Not scary at all. I've got all the time in the world.'
For Dokgo Hyun, this was just replaying the situation from three minutes ago, and with [Hyper Mode] lasting a full three minutes, it felt incredibly leisurely.
That confidence must have shown on his face, because the goblin couldn't move a muscle.
“Why're you just standing there? What, is the tagger too chicken to come at me? Scared of a runner?”
Provoked again, the goblin's face twisted in rage.
“Graaaah!!”
The goblin charged at Dokgo Hyun, faster and fiercer than ever before.
But Dokgo Hyun applied [Time Distortion] to his own movements, creating [Afterimage Creation].
[Afterimage Creation]
Multiple afterimages created via Time Distortion
Swoosh.
Several afterimages lingered as he blurred, causing the goblin to hesitate.
'Which one's the real one?'
The afterimages were all heading toward one corner of the staff room.
'The last one's gotta be real!'
The goblin lunged that way.
But.
Splat...
The afterimage shattered harmlessly.
“Tsk tsk. All the rest were fakes. The first one was the real deal.”
Dokgo Hyun spoke from far across the room.
His real body had only mimed walking in place, rewinding the afterimages' time to make them move.
A masterful skill application worthy of a veteran.
“You bastard! There you are!!”
The goblin charged again.
Its charge had a cooldown, but once a day, it could ignore it for a consecutive use.
But.
[Instant Acceleration]
Self-acceleration applied
“[Instant Acceleration].”
Dokgo Hyun accelerated himself and dodged nimbly.
“Kuh?!”
The goblin tried to halt its charge, but it was too late.
Kim Seo-ah was right in its path.
“Wait! Eek!!”
Splurt!!
Kim Seo-ah, who had kicked away Dokgo Hyun's healing potion vial, met her end like that.
'This has to be the perfect revenge.'
She hadn't killed him directly either—just indirectly by kicking his potion.
So indirect payback was the best revenge.
“Y-You bastard! What the hell are you?! How are you already using awakening skills this early in the tutorial?!”
The goblin raged.
'Not dumb, huh.'
Dokgo Hyun grinned.
“Luck, I guess. Got something good from a random box.”
“What?! When!!”
“Secret. No reason to tell you.”
“What the hell did you get...!!”
“That's a secret too. Just know you're gonna die by my hand.”
Dokgo Hyun pulled two coins from his pocket.
And the moment he tossed them.
[Instant Acceleration]
Applied to coins – doubled speed
“[Instant Acceleration]!!”
Whoosh!!
Empowered by [Time Distortion]'s special move [Instant Acceleration], the coins flew at double speed like darts.
“Kgh!”
The goblin leaped aside, dodging the coin-darts.
Thud!! Thud!!
The two coins embedded in the wall, and as the goblin stared in shock.
“Over here.”
Dokgo Hyun was already behind it.
'The coin toss was just a feint!'
“Eek?!”
He slammed both palms into the startled goblin's back, shouting.
[Instant Acceleration]
Applied to goblin – forced acceleration
“[Instant Acceleration]!!”
He forcibly accelerated the goblin's movement.
Boom!!
Like a cannon shot, the sped-up goblin smashed face-first into the wall.
Crack!
Squelch!!
The wall shattered, and its face exploded.
“Grghhh...?!”
The goblin turned back, face a bloody mess.
“Wahahahaha!!”
Dokgo Hyun charged in, laughing maniacally.
“No big attachment here, but this is for all the poor kids who died unjustly in this dogshit death game.”
“W-Wait...!”
The goblin tried to pin the staff room deaths on Dokgo Hyun.
“Shut up!”
To Dokgo Hyun's cold judgment, that issue was already settled.
Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!
“This is for the glasses kid in the front row of our class!”
Thud thud thud!
“This is for the nerd next to me!”
Smack! Smack!
“And this is for... uh... all the other kids whose names and faces I don't even know!!”
Thud thud thud thud!
Dokgo Hyun pummeled away gleefully.
He'd dumped all his coins into stamina, and [Hyper Mode] was active, so he felt no fatigue.
Smack! Smack! Smack!!
“Graaah!!”
The goblin flailed its claws desperately, but the tide had turned.
“Where?!”
Dokgo Hyun grabbed both its wrists.
[Instant Deceleration]
Goblin arm speed halved
“[Instant Deceleration]!!”
Fwoosh!
Sloooow.
The goblin's arm attack speed dropped to half.
“S-Such a thing is possible?!”
The goblin gaped at its slowed arms from its normal-speed mouth.
Dokgo Hyun grinned.
With [Hyper Mode] active, chaining skills didn't tire him much.
“Now die for real!!”
He unleashed a barrage until his shoulders ached.
Thud thud thud thud!!
Smack!! Smack!! Smack!!
Splaaat!!!
“Gack... Cugh.”
The goblin turned to mush but couldn't fall with the wall at its back.
Dokgo Hyun gripped its nape with both hands.
“Finisher!!”
He kneed its solar plexus with [Instant Acceleration].
Smack!!!
“...!!”
The goblin met its gruesome end.
“Hm.”
Dokgo Hyun tossed the corpse aside.
Thud!
The moment the goblin's body hit the floor.
A system message appeared.
'Three minutes up already.'
Fatigue swept through his body.
He staggered briefly, but it was temporary—no severe penalties.
Then, the messages he'd “seen before” regression scrolled up.
'Regression's pretty sweet... But hold on.'
Before regression, he'd gotten a skill from the skill awakening agent random box, and now another random box.
This one wasn't skill-related, just a plain random box.
As if answering his doubt, the system responded.
'Gotta open this quick.'
Click!
Pop!
“A knife...!”
A sleek knife with a dark purplish sheath and handle.
Grabbing it brought up a description window.
Venom Knife
B-Grade Artifact Looks like an ordinary dagger, but can activate two modes:
[Poison Mode]
Transforms blade into a potent green poison edge.
[Acid Mode]
Transforms blade into a yellow acidic edge that melts concrete or metal. Both modes combinable into [Venom Mode] (yellow-green blade). Activates consume HP and Mana; [Venom Mode] doubles consumption.
'...Lucky. Too good, even.'
B-Grade might sound weak at a glance, but Dokgo Hyun knew better.
S-Grade seemed top-tier, so just two steps down was still powerful.
'A weapon with poison and acid in knife form is perfect.'
A poison bazooka or acid greatsword would've been clunky.
“Hm. [Venom Mode]!”
He tested it out.
Vrrr...
The blade turned yellow-green.
“Let's see...”
He slashed the goblin corpse lightly.
Sizzle...!
The cut melted like butter.
“Whoa.”
He tried a desk leg.
Scraaape...!
Clang!
It sliced clean through surprisingly easily.
But.
“Ugh?”
His head spun suddenly.
'[Venom Mode] guzzles mana.'
Powerful weapon meant high user stats needed, especially mana.
'Right. My mana pool's still small.'
He'd spammed skills on the goblin thanks to [Hyper Mode].
“Gotta use it sparingly. [Venom Mode] off.”
Even after deactivating, dizziness lingered, so he squatted briefly.
'Damn. Just 10 seconds and I'm woozy?'
Low mana was part, but artifacts probably drained extra to unleash their power.
Before heading to the rooftop, Dokgo Hyun rinsed the blood off his hands in the bathroom.
Then he dumped all 600 coins into mana.
'Mana's a key stat.'
It correlated heavily with skill and artifact use.
'Probably only a handful know this, me included. Keep it shut.'
With that, he headed to the rooftop.
'On the way, review [3-Minute Regression]?'
Explanation had imprinted upon awakening [Time Distortion], and he'd drilled it repeatedly.
Still, rereading might reveal missed details.
Touching [Time Distortion] in his status window brought detailed info.
Some undeveloped special moves were locked as '???', but the used ultimate [3-Minute Regression] was viewable.
[3-Minute Regression]
Ultimate of [Time Distortion]. Returns to 3 minutes prior. Usable 3 times per day; recharges at midnight. Additional Condition: User must be on the verge of death. "Verge of death" includes cardiac arrest, brain death, soul destruction, rule-based existence erasure, etc. Successful regression activates [Hyper Mode] for 3 minutes (all stats x2). [Hyper Mode] end may cause brief fatigue/dizziness.
'Insanely good, but ultimate limits to 3/day. Recharges post-midnight.'
One use down, two left.
'And only at death's door, not anytime.'
Overpowered ultimate, so the penalty balanced it—but still top-tier.
'First day, use sparingly.'
But...
This resolve wouldn't last.
About 100 people gathered on the rooftop.
All surviving 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years combined.
No teachers—either dead or elsewhere.
'Around 100, huh.'
Dokgo Hyun wondered how they'd survived.
'Goblin horn charges are hard to tank barehanded.'
Observing survivors, he locked eyes with someone.
Someone who'd recently taken a brutal beating.
'Ah, the delinquent I beat today.'
“...”
The nameless delinquent who'd yelled 'Stop the violence!' quickly looked away.
No lackeys around—probably dead.
Dokgo Hyun lost interest fast.
But the delinquent ground his teeth inwardly.
'That fucker!'
He'd planned to rob freshman wallets and skip school, but Dokgo Hyun beat him and dragged him back.
Thus swept into this insane tutorial.
'All his fault! Everything!'
He refused to own his bullying and theft.
Only fixated on the humiliation of losing lighter, smokes, knife, etc.
Classic delinquent thinking.
'Soon as I get a chance, revenge.'
He vowed it.
Dokgo Hyun ignored him completely.
Thud thud...
From the stairs behind Dokgo Hyun, survivors from Staff Room 2 came pouring up.
Baek Seonghui's group.
“Whoa, check out those 3rd years coming up.”
“Whole group survived, looks like.”
Baek Seonghui's 20-odd from Staff Room 2 had zero casualties.
Baek Seonghui spotted Dokgo Hyun and approached, face full of worry.
“Hyun. You hurt bad?”
He'd wiped blood, but fight traces remained.
“Nah, just a bit.”
“What about the kids you teamed with?”
“All dead.”
“...Sorry. That's rough.”
Baek Seonghui grieved like it was her own loss.
'Unavoidable, but most I killed myself.'
Necessary, sure—but no gain in confessing.
“More importantly, Baek Seonghui. How'd your whole group survive?”
“Teamwork.”