Uh okay are you implying that max level characters can bridge into this "N" version and start minting NFTs at the highest level? Because that's even stupider game/economic design.

No, just that story and everything is pretty much the same, so I can understand why they included that skip. People grinded that shit millions of times already. Virtually only difference between the two MapleStory's is the crypto stuff and maybe some interface polish. There is nothing new in the game afaik.