Why? || The Max-Level Player 100th Regression x F!Reader

Haunted

"Get a grip. Don't lose yourself."

I steel my resolve. I need to get to level 10 quickly.

The deeper I go into the forest, the more dangerous monsters I come across. And soon enough, I reach the level I desired.

- You completed the conditions for [Class Selection]. You can now enter the [Shop]. -

- There is a hidden Sub-Quest. -

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<Sub-Quest>

Change class before voting begins..

Retrieve the class change item and obtain a class!

If you succeed, you will receive a 50% discount coupon for today's items.

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'Ahhh how did that shit go again?' I tap my head while thinking back to what I did to become a mage.

'I just,,, got it didn't I?'

- You have fulfilled the conditions of the [Mage] class. Do you wish to switch to this class? -

'Right, is it because of my repeated use of mana?'

It's best to stick with the most familiar class, so I click on the accept button with not much thought.

- You have switched to the [Mage] class. -

- You have received a [Mage's Rune] as a reward for the class change. -

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<Mage's Rune>

- Effect: Increases mana by 100% and decreases mana consumption by 50%.

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Useful.

- You have acquired the [Mage's staff] as a reward to commemorate your class change. -

I was never fond of having just a staff. Having a weapon that hits hard like a spear is more useful in combat.

'I'll customize that staff later like before.'

I open my status window.

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Status Window

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Name: F/N L/N

Nickname: Vern

Rank: Apprentice

Level: 10

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Title

Everlasting Mage

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Stats

- Strength: 11

- Agility: 9

- Intelligence: 24

- Luck: 4

Stat points: 0

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Skills

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Rune

<Mage's Rune>

- Effect: Increases mana by 100% and decreases mana consumption by 50%.

---

Additional skills

None

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'Already the next rank..'

I need to get the Rune of Imagination.

It will only make your thoughts clearer, your imagination more detailed. To others, it sounds useless. But to a mage, this could be the foundation of the freedom magic can give you.

I look at the time, and there's an hour left.

I change my spear into my new obtained staff.

"I guess I don't have to be as worried anymore for running out of mana~"

___

1st POV (RYU MIN)

Another round was just around the corner. My thoughts were consumed by strategies, by ways to ensure this regression would end differently from the last. Each loop had taught me something new, each failure a bitter lesson that pushed me closer to victory.

But her—Y/N.

As I sat in my apartment, staring at the glowing game window hovering before me, my mind drifted back to the moment in Zuri's doorway. Seeing her after the last loop had triggered something inside me, something deep and buried that I hadn't allowed myself to acknowledge.

Guilt, maybe.

Regret.

But more than anything, I wanted her back on my side.

I wouldn't make the same mistakes. I had spent too many loops learning from them.

But Y/N... she was the one factor that remained unpredictable, as I only met her in my last regression.

And that scared me more than I'd like to admit.

___

I reach level 11 before most players even realize they can move. Efficiency was the only luxury time ever gave me in this loop.

Still, the weight in my chest refuses to lift.

The system messages flicker in front of my eyes, but my attention drifts—again—to her.

Y/N.

Back then, I told myself it was the only way. That sacrificing her was necessary to push the game forward, to push me forward. Everyone has a role to play, and hers... was to die.

I hadn't expected to care this much.

But I did.

God, I did.

She'd smiled at me like I was worth something. Called me her partner. Trusted me in a world where that trust could cost everything.

And it did.

I remember the way her eyes locked on mine when it happened. That look—somewhere between betrayal and disbelief—stuck with me long after the fight ended. It followed me through every step as I headed to the final round.

This time should be different.

This time, I told myself, I'd keep her alive.

I appear through the trees, watching the others of my region fighting to choose a representative.

I need a party of 5 people if I want to enter the last round.

I don't know what scares me more: the possibility that she can  remember what I did... or the fact that even now, with everything on the line, part of me still wants to fix what I broke.

Not because it's strategic.

Not because it's wise.

But because I miss the way she used to look at me.

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;P