Chocolate Bar
Chocolate Bar
"Dungeon Rogue?"
The owner of the pizza slice, shining proudly after being chosen by the red arrow, was none other than Dungeon Rogue.
Personally, it was a bit of a shame it wasn't Head Admin, Archmage-nim, or Puppet Master, but whatever.
"You said you could give me a dagger, right?"
Not bad.
A melee attack method capable of critical burst damage.
A damage card I needed, since I already have long-range zoning tools.
"Honestly, it's better than a longsword I can't use right away, right?"
I've only seen them a lot in manga; I've never actually held a real longsword.
Sometimes, a familiar weapon you can use immediately is better than an unfamiliar new weapon.
At least I've held a kitchen knife.
I ended the recording and announced this happy news to the gallery.
[Congratulations! The winner is...]
[Author: Amor Fati]
(Thumbnail of a stopped roulette wheel)
Dun-geon-Ro-guuuue-!
(Sticker of two bizarre characters clapping in succession)
└Solo Hero*) Ah, why Dungeon Rogue of all people?
└Archmage) This is quite a shame.
└Vampire Princess) It's probability manipulation!
└Martial God) The dagger Dungeon Rogue uses is good, but, tsk, how should I put it. It's a bit ambiguous.
└Heresy Purger) Congratulations, sister!
└PoisonCoated) Ugh, that useless girl lol
└Dungeon Rogue) Hwaaaaauuuuughaaaaa!!!!
└Amor Fati) Grats grats grats grats grats
└Puppet Master) Newbie, hold on.
└Amor Fati) Yeah?
└Puppet Master) No further explanation? There's no info on what happens to traded items after regression.
I looked at the IR Gallery menu again after seeing Puppet Master's comment.
"Hmm, as expected, I don't see anything."
└Amor Fati) I was curious too, but there's nothing. The screenshot I uploaded earlier is all there is.
└Puppet Master) Got it. Looking at it this way, it's actually fortunate that the first winner is Dungeon Rogue.
└Amor Fati) ?
└Puppet Master) Because she's a 5-minute regressor. It means we can immediately test how traded items react to regression.
"That's true, isn't it?"
Now, let's think.
I handed a teleportation scroll to Dungeon Rogue via trade, and I received a dagger.
If Dungeon Rogue regresses here?
Does the teleportation scroll follow the regression?
What happens to the dagger I received?
If I regress, does the dagger disappear too?
Caught up in these thoughts, a sudden idea occurred to me.
└Amor Fati) Ah, something just occurred to me. We're Infinite Regressors, right? If the dagger comes to me via trade, and then I regress, what if it disappears?
└Puppet Master) Don't worry about it. Weapons don't really mean much to Dungeon Rogue anyway.
└Dungeon Rogue) N ew b ie a re y ou w or ry in g a bo ut m e ?
└Amor Fati) No, you said it was your main weapon;; Shouldn't it not disappear? It's the first trade anyway, so you could've just given me something useless.
└Heresy Purger) Ah, brother! How can your heart be so kind......!
└PoisonCoated) Lmaoooooooooooo
└Dungeon Rogue) Ugh.
"······."
Judging by the reaction, it seemed that losing a main weapon meant absolutely nothing.
Well, if that's the case.
There's nothing really holding me back.
I immediately activated the trade function.
Immediately, a trade window and a trade-exclusive shop popped up in front of me.
Whoosh!
The trade window looked simple.
An intuitive design with two square boxes and an arrow icon in the middle signifying an exchange.
Below that, the trade-exclusive shop was attached.
-Trade-exclusive shop
-List of purchasable items
"Wait, what kind of product list is this?"
I at least expected items that come from the Tower.
Like magic stones, disposable potions, stuff like that.
"This is just a dollar store."
It's just modern goods.
Even if I scrubbed my eyes and looked, I couldn't see anything like items from the Tower.
Even though I only have 5 points.
I wanted to give her something that would at least help Dungeon Rogue escape the 5-minute regression.
"In this case, what on earth am I supposed to give?"
While I was scrolling through the product list and agonizing over it.
Dungeon Rogue's trade message came through.
Ding!
-Dungeon Rogue: It's a Snake Dagger. It doesn't have any crazy special functions, but its cutting and piercing stats are MAX, so you'll be able to use it right away!
-Dungeon Rogue: Newbie! It's a weapon that doesn't mean much to me, so don't worry about it and just put up the cheapest thing!
-Dungeon Rogue: Newbie? I'm really okay, so don't waste your points and just accept it quickly ㅠㅠ
"Hmm."
As she said, the dagger was already registered in Dungeon Rogue's square box along with its sheath.
A blade that was winding like a snake, with an overall greenish hue.
I don't know how much value items from other worlds have, but at the very least, I'm someone who memorized the Tower's items inside and out before the information was controlled.
It is an eternal truth that generally, the better the design, the higher the value of the item.
Even to me, a layman in design, the dagger Dungeon Rogue uploaded made me think, 'This is pretty awesome, right?'
She said herself that the cutting and piercing stats are MAX.
What does this mean?
"It's a bit much to just give her anything."
-Amor Fati: Is there any specific type of item you want? I see only ordinary items in the shop, so it's hard to just give you anything;;
-Dungeon Rogue: ......Do you happen to sell food too?
"Ah!"
Food?
Why didn't I think of that?
About 10% of the shitposts Dungeon Rogue writes are always about wanting to eat something.
"Holy shit."
She said she's been experiencing 5-minute regressions for at least a thousand years, right?
"She hasn't been able to eat food all that time?"
What kind of hell is this?
It's a level of hell where King Yama and Hades would put their arms around each other's shoulders and say, 'That's a bit much......'
I truly realized why the gallery atmosphere was like that before I arrived, including Archmage-nim.
'A failed infinite regression really is a curse.'
I immediately searched the shop window and rummaged through the 5-point food items.
As a human, I couldn't possibly save the points.
"First, exclude anything that needs cooking."
Even though there's a 5-minute time limit, there's no way there'd be hot water or a microwave.
Above all, it should be something that can be consumed immediately, and the more intense the flavor, the better.
While scrolling quickly, a product caught my eye.
"This is it!"
I bought the item as soon as I found it and dragged it into the trade slot.
-Amor Fati: Hey, do you like sweet stuff?
-Dungeon Rogue: !!!!!
-Amor Fati: Hehe good. It's called a chocolate bar, it's sweet.
-Dungeon Rogue: If there's ever anything I can help you with, I'll definitely do it, Newbie! Thank you! Thank you sooooo much!!
As soon as I pressed trade complete, the square boxes swapped positions and the trade ended.
Ding!
-Trade complete!
The trade window disappeared, a white light began to gather in the air, and the dagger Dungeon Rogue had uploaded popped up in front of me.
-Please receive your item!
The dagger floating in the air as if trapped in an air bubble.
I popped the air bubble with a 'pop!' and drew the dagger from its sheath.
First of all, it's strangely light.
It feels like holding a mechanical pencil.
And for some reason, there was a strangely warm heat remaining on the sheath and handle, wherever she had been keeping it.
"Ohh."
"This looks like the kind of dagger used by assassin-class rankers, doesn't it?"
Now that I can sense the flow of mana, I could see at a glance that an ominous flow of mana was streaming out of the dagger.
"You said the piercing and cutting stats were MAX, right?"
I immediately held the dagger in a reverse grip and walked over to where the Orc Chieftain's corpse was.
And then, stab!
"!"
"What is this feeling?"
The dagger just pierced through the Orc's tough skin without any resistance.
Same when pulling it out.
It just slid right out.
"No way, this is insane...... Why did she feel sorry after giving me this?"
Why would I have spent two months going crazy?
It was because that guy's skin boasted near-invincible defense from the start.
The reason humanity despaired was precisely because of that simple, ignorant defense and destructive power.
If I had this weapon from the start, let alone two months.
It would have been more than enough in three days.
"It would be a huge shame if this disappeared due to regression."
I was captivated by the green blade and kept my eyes fixed on the dagger for a long time.
"My precious......"
Only after the Tower issued an eviction order telling me to get out did I take my eyes off the dagger.
[Returning to the original location in a moment...(5)]
Time to go home.
I flicked the blood off the dagger and put it back in the sheath.
"Anyway, I wonder what happened to the chocolate I gave Dungeon Rogue."
I hoped it followed her through the regression.
Honestly, if it just gave her a taste and ended, that would be too cruel.
Dungeon Rogue, Serina Sirandel.
She was a popular explorer in the Labyrinth City as a rogue-class, but she was trapped in hell after revealing the infinite regression.
"T-this is a chocolate bar?"
A slender voice echoed through the labyrinth of the dungeon.
She had run away diligently, so she still had 5 minutes of leeway.
Serina was holding the three rectangular bars the newbie had sent in her hand.
Sniff sniff.
Paper packaging.
A sweet scent was faintly leaking from inside.
"Haa, haa!"
She tore open the paper packaging with trembling hands.
Then, wasn't there another wrapper made of a unique silver material?
"Am I supposed to eat this......?"
She licked it slightly with her tongue, and it seemed to be double-wrapped.
She carefully tore off the silver foil wrapper, and finally, the brown, rectangular food revealed itself.
"Chocolate bar."
She savored the scent as carefully as possible, then brought her tongue to it and licked it.
Lick.
"!!!!"
Lick, lick, lick!
'My, my tongue won't stop!'
The thrilling sweetness she had forgotten for over a thousand years rode her taste buds and massaged her brain.
"Haa, crazy!"
She licked up one chocolate bar in an instant.
A thousand years.
A thousand years.
To her, who had endured over a thousand years of 5-minute regressions, the sweetness this chocolate bar offered was truly a taste of heaven.
"Ugh!"
Her legs gave out on their own, and she collapsed in the labyrinth and wept.
Sweet.
So incredibly sweet.
She shed tears of joy and opened another chocolate bar.
This time, the color was a bit darker.
A chocolate bar close to black.
Sniff, sniff.
The scent was also a bit bitter, so it seemed like it would be a stronger flavor.
Without hesitation, she peeled off the wrapper and this time, bit into it with a crunch.
"Hng!"
Bittersweet.
The sweetness that hit exquisitely after the pleasant bitterness was another delicacy.
"Hup, hup, hup!"
Crunch, crunch, crunch!
An infinite regressor who hasn't eaten a tear-soaked chocolate bar, do not speak of infinite regression.
Of course, she's the type who ruined everything by speaking, but anyway.
"Haa, haa."
The stimulant substances provided by the chocolate pounded on her brain cells that had been asleep for a long time.
Serina, who had chewed and swallowed one dark chocolate bar whole, peeled the wrapper off the third chocolate bar like a drug addict.
"Haa, huck!"
This time, the color was completely different.
A white chocolate bar.
With a trembling heart, she savored the scent first, wondering what on earth this would taste like.
Sniff.
A much softer and sweeter scent than the previous two chocolate bars.
Her pupils rolled upward on their own.
Saliva was dripping from her mouth.
Inhaling and exhaling.
Her chest repeating expansion and contraction.
Her limbs trembled and her eyes rolled back to show the whites.
Lick.
"Hnggg!"
Lick.
"Haaaa!"
Lic-crunch, crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
"Hup, hup, hup hup!"
In an instant, three chocolate bars were deleted.
"Haaa."
The sweetness still lingered in her mouth.
She rolled her tongue, unable to bear the lingering scent disappearing.
Smack, smack. Smack. Slurp slurp slurp.
Tears streamed down again.
She witnessed a ray of light in hell.
But that was exactly where it ended.
After rolling her tongue for a long time, she came to her senses.
"Huh?"
Only the miserably stripped wrappers were rolling around on the labyrinth floor.
She put her hand into her chest, rummaged through her pockets, and shook her clothes out.
"Uh, uh-uh?"
It's gone.
It disappeared.
The one ray of salvation had ended.
"Waaaaah! No! No!"
She hugged the silver foil wrapper and sobbed while sniffing it.
Puppet Master said there was a possibility it would follow the regression.
"What if it was a one-time trade?"
"What if I regress and can never taste this again?"
"Please, God! Newbie! Amor Fati!!!!"
It was too late.
Once she knew this taste.
She didn't even want to imagine an infinite regressor's life without chocolate.
"I don't have the confidence to live in a world where your sweetness doesn't exist!"
Rumble rumble rumble-!
The entire labyrinth began to shake with a roar.
She hugged the chocolate bar wrappers tightly and shouted.
"No, no! Wait!!"
Soon, the floor would collapse and the Eye of the Abyss would smash the labyrinth.
"Don't leave me, please!!"
Her dried-up tear ducts worked diligently today.
"Waaaaaah!"
She hugged the chocolate wrappers preciously and regressed just like that.
Her regression point was waking up from a nap leaning against the wall of the labyrinth.
As soon as she opened her eyes, Serina awakened all her senses.
It's a body that has regressed for a whole thousand years.
If you exaggerate a bit, it means she remembers even the flickering of the torches on the wall.
She immediately noticed that the sensation in her chest was slightly different.
"!"
It's not her main weapon, the Snake Dagger.
"This, this rectangular sensation!"
Serina squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed hard.
This is something that shouldn't exist in the first place.
Regression is limited to the mind, after all.
Even if you have an elixir before regression, would it follow you through the regression?
It has to be a form of simply remembering the location of the elixir and taking it again.
It was definitely like that.
The absolute law of infinite regression.
"But the newbie?"
The newbie is an infinite regressor who has already broken that absolute law twice.
Serina brought her trembling hand to her cleavage.
"Please, let this sensation of a rectangular object not be a hallucination from me going crazy!"
Serina held the three chocolate bars that unfolded in her hand and checked.
Sniff, sniff.
The smell is also certain.
Tremble tremble.
Her whole body trembles with uncontrollable joy.
"The items the newbie sent via trade follow the regression!"
"Haaa."
She rolled her eyes back while smelling the paper packaging, the silver foil packaging, and the faint sweet scent leaking out.
Hope to live 5 more minutes more fruitfully,
and one more driving force to look toward the future had been created.
Crunch-!
She ate one chocolate bar on the spot, buried her nose in the silver foil, savored the scent, and muttered.
"The taste of the chocolate bar Newbie-nim gave me. I will never forget it."
Now it's time to run.
She turned on all acceleration-related skills and ran immediately.
Of course, she didn't forget to post a verification thread on the IR Gallery.
[Anyone here who hasn't tried a 'Chocolate Bar'? lol]
[Author: Dungeon Rogue]
(Photo of chocolate bars)
"If there is a taste of heaven, would it be this?"
"I suddenly feel so sorry for you guys who haven't tried this."
"Hey, hey, what does it feel like to infinite regress without a 'Chocolate Bar', anyway?"
└PoisonCoated) Ah, I expected the flexing, but this is more disgusting than I imagined lol
└Solo Hero) I'm jealous... I want to try that too...
└Puppet Master) Is this the time to be posting shitposts? What happened with the regression? It's already been 5 minutes;;
└Dungeon Rogue) Ah, it followed the regression.
With that last comment, Dungeon Rogue, Serina Sirandel, turned off the IR Gallery and ran diligently.
Pant pant pant pant!
To her, running with her tongue hanging out long, the fact that the IR Gallery exploded because of her comment wasn't very important.
What's important is the chocolate bar.
Her main weapon, the Snake Dagger or whatever.
It wasn't needed from the start.
The most important thing was just to secure 5 minutes quickly, and then worry about 'How can I eat the chocolate bar more deliciously?'.