Genius Regressor Makes Mythic Items

Chapter 154. River of the Underworld (1)

『Welcome to the Galaxy Arena.』

A welcoming notification popped up.

『The event for this arena is ‘Transport Battle,’ and it will feature 100 participants.』

『The arena will commence once all participants are gathered.』

Other familiar messages followed suit. Some players seemed to have already been waiting.

“Hey? Isn’t that Kim Shimun?”

“What? Oh my god! It is! Can he even participate in the arena right now?”

“The criminal was caught, so why not?”

The players who had been waiting recognized Kim Shimun and whispered among themselves. However, Shimun had no time to pay attention to them. The reason was simple.

-Si-ha!

-Hyung! What happened? Streaming in such troubled times?

-Kim Shimun, are you okay? Are you hurt?

-Don’t go! Hyung! Don’t go to America! ㅠㅠ

-Just go to America… If it were me, I’d seriously emigrate.

-Seriously, there’s no reason to hold you back.

As soon as he connected to the arena and started streaming. A multitude of viewers greeted Kim Shimun with great enthusiasm. So much so that.

『Currently watching: 2,244,278』

Far surpassing the 1.4 million viewers he had achieved at the Black Forge arena last time.

The viewer count had already exceeded 2.2 million.

‘I thought the viewer count might increase, but….’

Kim Shimun chuckled in disbelief.

Perhaps due to not just domestic issues, but also rumors of emigration.

-Our USA always welcomes heroes!

-Kim! Just come here!

-Shouldn’t fellow East Asians stick together? Come to the continent!

-Our Yuto is a huge fan of the Sword Saint. If you come to Japan, we could have a good relationship!

-Allah cherishes talent. Our Middle East can also match your worth.

A considerable number of overseas viewers also tuned in.

And so.

『Currently watching: 3,544,958』

After surpassing 3.5 million viewers, the increase finally halted.

‘I guess there are no achievements for 2 or 3 million viewers.’

Feeling slightly disappointed, Kim Shimun smacked his lips but still smiled.

– Welcome, everyone. It feels like it’s been a while since I last saw you all, given the recent big events.

With just a single sentence,

-Hu-huh! Kim Shimun, please don’t go ㅠㅠ

-What’s he talking about? You want him to stay in Korea after all that?

-Big people need to play in the big leagues. Brother, come to the Continental!

-Our Japan isn’t that small, you know? WWWW

-No matter what you say, American Dream and contracts won’t change ~ XD!

The chat messages scrolled up at an astonishing speed. With over 3.5 million viewers, it was expected.

‘This is impossible to read unless you’re an awakened being.’

The speed of the chat was beyond imagination.

‘I need to put a limit on the speed.’

Kim Shimun immediately opened the Arenia settings. He activated the slow mode for the chat. And then.

-Oh! Instant relief!

-He must have enabled slow mode.

-King Kim Shimun… He can probably read everything anyway…

-The speed of the chat noticeably slowed down.

Kim Shimun continued to tweak a few more settings.

“Thank you all for the overwhelming attention, so I’ve temporarily enabled slow mode and chat cooldowns.”

Then,

“I suppose the reason so many of you are here today is due to the recent incident.”

As Kim Shimun openly mentioned the incident,

-Whoa, ‘that incident’ mentioned!

-Are you sure it’s okay to stream now? Is it all over?

-Hyung… Even if you go to America, we won’t hold you back.

-Yeah, we all understand.

-Kim Shimun, come to America as soon as possible.

Even with slow mode enabled, the chat exploded once more. Kim Shimun scanned the chat briefly.

“Since you already know the context, there’s nothing much to add. I’ll just get straight to the point. I had no choice but to consider emigration due to public pressure…”

He paused, offering a somewhat melancholy smile. Then he continued.

“It seems like I might have to put the move to America on hold. The association president stepped up to help.”

-Really? Is that for real?

-5252! We believed in you!!

-King, God, General Muyeol… We believe in you!

-No, hyung… It’s okay… You can go…

-Are you even Korean?

The chat quickly became contentious.

Especially,

-?? Hasn’t he already signed the contract?

-Mr. Kim might be too young to understand the importance of contracts.

-If he’s talking about it on the stream, it means the recruitment process isn’t finalized.

-Exactly. He did say ‘on hold,’ after all.

-But it’s still ‘on hold,’ right?

True. He didn’t definitively say he wouldn’t go to America. The chat from viewers who appeared to be American sped up rapidly. And thus,

『Breaking News! Is Kim Shimun not immigrating to America?』

『Emigration on hold? Real-time update on Kim Shimun’s status!』

Once again, the headlines heated up South Korea.

***

『Top Prospect Kim Shimun, staying in Korea?』

『Kim Shimun, ‘On Hold’ Decision is Premature』

『Ironwood King Kim Muyeol’s Power? Kim Shimun Mentions Association President!』

『American Dream Silent on Kim Shimun’s Emigration Hold Declaration』

『Scorpio Guild Deputy Kim Jongjun Detained at Association, citizens Protest at Association!』

Articles filled the monitor. A blonde beauty watching them sighed deeply.

“Haa…”

Removing her usual angular glasses, she pressed her fingers against her temples.

“Damn it.”

With a low curse, her delicate fingers ran through her neatly arranged hair. Anyone who knew her would be stunned to see her now.

Sure enough, “Manager… Oh my! Sis!”

A man who opened the door and entered. Oliver rushed to her side in a fluster.

“What’s wrong? Have you finally gone mad?”

Olivia Denson. The recruitment manager for American Dream and a Diamond-ranked player who roamed the arena with Guild Master Derick.

Her nickname, Winter Queen, not only referred to her formidable power but also her consistently icy demeanor.

But what now?

“Yes… I’m going crazy… Completely losing it!”

Disheveled hair and outfit. An unsteady tone and wild eyes, so unlike the Winter Queen known to the world.

Fortunately, “Ah, you also saw it, sis. The article about Kim Shimun.”

Oliver had an inkling of why his icy sister was so unhinged. Before his fearsome sister could go berserk, “Sis, you can’t just go around casting magic. This is Korea, and it’s tough to control the media here. Unlike the U. S., we don’t have connections here.”

Oliver quickly tried to calm her down. Luckily, she had some strand of reason left.

“I know that much. Stop overreacting.”

She ran her trembling hand down her face, turning back to the monitor. Oliver, who had approached her side, glanced at the monitor.

“I actually came because of this news.”

He dragged a chair from somewhere and plopped down next to his sister.

“Team Leader Oliver? This is a workplace. I’m your department head.”

“Ah, is this really the time to care about that? Kim Shimun brought it up himself; now you should talk too.”

Oliver scoffed at Olivia’s quiet warning. He propped his arms on the desk and looked at his sister with his chin resting on his hands.

“What on earth did you offer to get him to go along with something so outrageous?”

“…….”

“Did you promise a meeting with the Constellations? Or maybe to let our talent off easy if we meet them next?”

Was it his disregard for separating work and private matters?

Or his blunt way of probing?

Olivia stared disapprovingly at Oliver for a while before sighing softly. She clicked the mouse.

– There, so, I’ve shared everything I needed to. I’m going to focus on the arena now. Managers, please take care of the chat.

The person who turned the mighty Winter Queen into this state, Kim Shimun, was streaming with a forced smile and a rather melancholic face.

Though many had fallen for his act, Olivia, who had discovered countless prodigies, was not fooled.

‘Pretending to be exhausted? That deceitful…!’

Grit.

Olivia ground her teeth unconsciously. But what could she do?

“Sis, your teeth will get damaged.”

It was her own fault for failing to reject Kim Shimun’s terms. Olivia sighed deeply again and began to speak.

“Kim Shimun’s conditions were not about that.”

“Then what were they?”

“It’s about the growth buff.”

“Growth buff?”

Oliver tilted his head. Then, “Oh! You mean the Sword Saint Guild’s buff?”

He asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

“Yes. Kim Shimun said that the growth buff options will improve soon, and the rental fee for the buffs will be readjusted accordingly.”

“By readjusted… You don’t mean they’re going to increase the price again, do you?”

“Why wouldn’t they?”

“Wow! That’s totally extortionate! Raising the price further is too much!”

“It’s not quite that simple. Kim Shimun proposed waiving the rental fee for three months and granting us another membership slot.”

By the time Olivia finished speaking, Oliver’s eyes had widened to twice their size.

“Is that really true? Waiving three months of fees and giving us an extra membership slot?”

“Would I have deceived the guild and gone along with this crazy plan otherwise?”

Olivia had already regained her usual composed tone.

“Ha… No wonder you fell for it. I mean, those are irresistible terms.”

She glanced at her murmuring brother. Then she looked back at Kim Shimun on the monitor.

“But that’s not the truly important part.”

“That’s not it? What else is there?”

“Team Leader Oliver? As always, please use your brain.”

“You’re the one who uses it. I need to save mine.”

“Hey!”

Oliver quickly retreated from Olivia’s raised hand. Closing the distance would require giving up Kim Shimun’s stream or using magic, which wasn’t an option.

“Sigh…”

Olivia took a deep breath, pressing her temples as she looked at the monitor.

“Kim Shimun himself mentioned the changes to that preposterous growth buff, not the Sword Saint. What does that imply?”

“That… What? No way!”

Not sparing a glance at her shocked brother, Olivia continued to stare at the monitor.

“That’s right. The growth buff of the Shimdrasil Guild is due to ‘Kim Shimun, not the Sword Saint’. He shared this information while proposing this scheme to me.”

Olivia emphasized the distinction between the Sword Saint and Kim Shimun. At this point, where the Guild Master of Shimdrasil was known as the Sword Saint, this was extraordinarily valuable information.

Even the haughty Winter Queen couldn’t ignore it.

“I see… So that’s why you…”

Oliver knew that well. Additionally, this revelation had just raised Kim Shimun’s value by another level.

No, his worth had skyrocketed beyond measurement.

“So, sis, what do we do now? This doesn’t seem like something solvable with guild shares…”

Oliver asked in a somewhat dazed voice.

“… I don’t know, you idiot.”

Olivia too had momentarily let down her always rigid guard.

‘How in the world can we manage to recruit this person?’

She chewed on her thumbnail as she continued to stare at the source of this chaos on the screen.

***

『All participants have been matched.』

All 100 participants were matched.

『The location is the ‘Styx, the River of the Underworld’.』

The sky was pitch black. Beneath it, an eerie, almost repulsive river stretched out—a sight so grim that any living being would instinctively reject it.

It was more accurate to call it an ocean rather than a river due to its vast size.

“Ugh! The River of the Underworld!”

“Styx means you’re screwed the moment you fall in, right?!”

“Did you just reach Platinum? Any River of the Underworld would drown you just the same, get real.”

Most players reacted with horror, expressing their complaints. However, Shimun didn’t have the luxury to complain like them.

『A condition of ‘cooperation’ has been added.』

『All participants will be paired into teams of two.』

The cooperation condition was added. With it, a player was summoned next to Kim Shimun to form a team.

“Huh? You’re…?”

And he was.

“Long time no see, Kim Shimun.”

The person had shared the arena with Kim Shimun on several occasions. Kim Shimun shook the hand extended by the muscular man.

“Long time no see, Choi Jinsu.”

A future high-ranker. Choi Jinsu, a promising member of the Mythic Guild and a possessor of the SS-Rank trait, Beastification.

“I saw the news. Are you okay?”

“Yes. Fortunately, I’m fine. Everything is being sorted out well.”

“Well… Even for a Diamond rank, if it’s you, it’s no problem.”

“Haha! It was just luck.”

“Luck, you say?”

Choi Jinsu asked with a peculiar tone. Before the two men,

『The arena will now begin.』

『A transport target has been generated.』

『Safely transport the target to the designated location.』

With the notice signaling the start of the arena,

Splash.

A somewhat rustic and worn ferry appeared by the riverbank. The ferry was spacious enough for two people.

Inside it,

Roll.

A small orb, the transport target, lay there.

‘That’s…?’

Kim Shimun’s eyes widened slightly upon seeing the orb.

It was no wonder since, ‘Isn’t that a Soul Core?’

It looked exactly like an item in his inventory.

***

Meanwhile, in Kim Shimun’s penthouse, this place, which would normally be filled with a convivial atmosphere as people watched Kim Shimun’s stream, was now,

“…”

“…”

Steeped in an oppressive, almost suffocating tension. And the two high-rankers who were the cause of this atmosphere, “Uncle. Aren’t you busy dealing with those pathetic guilds? What brings you here?”

“You insolent brat. There isn’t a place in this country where Kim Muyeol cannot go.”

Stared coldly at each other, their faces hard and unyielding.

TL’s Corner:
Standoff.