Chapter 53
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Dream
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Hold on, hold on a second."
"Huh? Why? This is where the really fun part starts."
Alex looked just like a kid spilling an exciting tale.
"You're not planning to go all the way through to the third regression like this, are you?"
"Of course I am! I can't skip any of it!"
He was adamant.
"Didn't you say you were curious about what I already know?"
"I did..., but we don't have much time."
I slowly pointed to the clock hanging on the wall. It had already been three hours since we arrived here.
"Eek~, it's a long story full of important stuff, so it's hard to skip."
"... ."
'Really? Do we need the story about your neighbor Sean dying during a robbery or the neighborhood infrastructure gossip?'
To be brutally honest, everything before the 65th floor was irrelevant.
Sure, it was important to Alex's life..., but I wasn't curious about the man himself. I wanted to know what happened to the world before his regression.
"I think we should wrap it up here for today."
"Aw, man, it was just getting good."
"This is the association president's office, so we should give him back his space."
A moment later, the association president who had been waiting outside came in.
"Did you finish your talk?"
"Yes, we're done. Thank you for your consideration."
"It wasn't done yet, seriously."
Alex wore a strange expression, part regretful and part relieved, but he didn't protest.
We promised to meet again later.
Alex said he'd be staying with Nana for the time being.
Jeremy, who had been waiting, left with Alex. The two looked like they had a lot to discuss.
"Here's my number. Hit me up."
The number Alex gave me was Nana's. He still couldn't use a phone himself.
"We still have more to talk about, so I'll reach out."
"Yeah...."
Contrary to his looks, Alex was a real chatterbox.
With his blond hair and that gloomy vibe, he still came off as cheerful in his own way. I didn't know if his recent hardships had left him like that or if it was the influence of the Grimoire of Death.
I returned to the Mangul Guild and flopped onto the soft bed.
"Ughhh...."
The ordinary life I'd dreamed of was long gone. Just today, I'd fought machines in Gwanghwamun and met a regressor.
"Regression, huh...."
Alex Scott.
A regressor and a grimoire user wielding the Grimoire of Death.
His specialties: corpse-based magic, curses, and bone magic.
"Necromancer fits him like a glove."
A black mage who commands corpses, topped off with regression... That was Alex Scott's true nature.
Lying there, I replayed everything Alex had told me.
First off, sorry Alex, but I tossed out everything before his awakening.
It was trivia at best..., no, a ton of it.
Unlike me, Alex had obtained his grimoire inside the Tower. Iru Ri got hers around the 20th floor last time, too.
I'd found mine outside the Tower, but I'd heard that wasn't all that special.
Akasic had said grimoires appear anywhere once they find their owner.
I'd hoped for clues about my grimoire's secrets, but nothing in Alex's stories.
So, clean slate on grimoire-related stuff! It's either the 90th floor or time will tell.
"That leaves the zeroth timeline."
Alex died on the 70th floor before his first regression. I didn't know about the other loops, but piecing together what he said painted a grim picture.
'It's a disaster.'
The near future was basically a warzone.
Humanity vs. the Tower.
According to Phase 2 details, they'd reach the 70th floor in five months at latest.
Looking at the big picture, the world was already doomed. Fallen nations weren't just one or two, and the Tower reappeared on fresh land every time it collapsed.
The Conquerors that showed up had specs requiring multiple S-Ranks to even stand a chance.
Public order worsened by the day, and morality plummeted.
Could all this be fixed?
'Probably not.'
In my view, it was damn near impossible. Before things blew up, I couldn't picture the hotshot S-Ranks teaming up under some alliance banner.
Uniting them needed a trigger, one built on failure.
What had Alex done in that mess?
'Should've asked more.'
His experiences of failure and success were humanity's hope.
In the next loop, had he stepped up as a central figure to rally forces? Or gone solo, gathering intel as he climbed?
I stopped thinking about it. I could ask later.
'What about the regression itself?'
Setting aside how long-winded it got, what Alex described was intriguing.
The 70th floor boss from the heavenly realm: the dream demon.
Its so-called 'regression candy.'
Regression wasn't Alex's personal power—it was an item from the Tower.
Since he'd regressed multiple times, it seemed like a guaranteed drop from the 70th.
'He said he couldn't regress right now.'
65th floor was still humanity's ceiling.
To regress, Alex needed to clear the 70th.
Meaning he was an elite climber who'd survived to 70 every time.
I doubted he'd told anyone else about it.
No need for more people knowing about a next chance in a doomed world.
No point creating rivals.
"Why tell me, then?"
Two possibilities: he was lying, or he trusted me.
Wait, make that three: he slipped up.
To me, it felt like he sensed some strange kinship with me.
"Because I'm outside the regression loop?"
If my hunch was right, I didn't need his candy anyway.
Why I hadn't appeared in his previous loops.
A little thought about time made it obvious.
Time doesn't exist alone. 'Time is relative' means it's not an absolute trait separate from space.
Where had I existed all this time? Inside the grimoire's Etoile.
I didn't know how regression worked, but it wasn't some omnipotent force spanning the universe.
Narrow it down: Earth-limited? My grimoire space didn't share spacetime with Earth anyway.
A completely separate dimension, so its time likely ran independently of Alex's regressions.
In other words, while Alex was rolling in the dirt on Earth, I was trapped in the grimoire, flailing away.
We only met in the third loop by pure chance.
From the third loop on, I became his ally outside the regression, keeping all memories and experience intact.
That must be why he showed me more than just kinship—some odd familiarity.
'I'm someone existing beyond his rewinding time.'
He could've inferred as much, even if he didn't know exactly why I popped up in the third loop.
I became the only one who could remember his regressions.
"Haa...."
A sigh escaped me.
My initial goals were simple.
Escape the grimoire, return to society, sever ties completely, maybe land a steady job and sort out life's basics.
Honestly, ordinary without the grimoire.
'Why'd everything get so tangled?'
I had zero interest in saving humanity or becoming a Tower-top hero.
Sure, before the grimoire, like everyone, I'd thought, 'Man, awakening with OP powers to live easy would be sweet.'
If I'd known the price was enduring over a century alone in hell, I wouldn't have wished for it. Not worth a damn.
After surviving that hellish time, I finally glimpsed escape—only for the world to be this fucked.
God, why be so harsh on me?
I've lived without harming others, content with what I had, no greed.
But this trial? No conscience?
Sudden rage boiled up.
'Pain that doesn't kill you makes you stronger'?
Bullshit. It just damages and pisses you off. Why even get stronger? Pain-free happiness beats that.
Nearly a century living like a sage, and now back on Earth, my speech and thoughts are reverting to my old 23-year-old self.
'Part of resocializing, I guess.'
The philosophy, morals, and enlightenment I'd embraced were fading into mere knowledge. Like Moon Byul at 23, just book-smart.
The world treating me this cruelly—how could anyone not break?
Even saints would've cracked in this Tower-spawned 21st century.
I grumbled on the bed for ages, but nothing changed. I had to do what needed doing.
Let's see... what I had to do.
— Climb the Tower to at least the 90th floor.
— Stop the Conquerors.
— Escape the grimoire.
— Save the world.
"... Haa."
Another sigh.
I stopped there. The scale was too huge.
Feeling mentally drained, I closed my eyes on the bed and...
drifted off to sleep.
"Byul-ah, come with me!"
I turned at the familiar voice.
There stood Gah-in, the girl I'd had a crush on.
As usual, Gah-in held the spot of one of the school's S-rank beauties.
"What a coincidence! Let's go together—we have the same major today, right?"
"Do we?"
Suddenly, I noticed the backpack slung over my shoulder. Ah, right—I was a student.
"Our professor today is super scary."
"Professor?"
"Yeah! Name's So Seori, I think?"
That's right. I was a college student. My mind was a bit fuzzy today. I'd studied hard to get into my dream school.
Now on my way to class.
By chance, I'd ended up in the same department as Gah-in, my high school crush. Probably.
At school, a familiar face called out.
"Oppa! Heading to class?"
"Iru Ri, you taking this class too?"
"Iru Ri? Why so formal?"
"... Yeah, I'm off today."
Oppa... Something felt weird? Not unpleasant, but awkward? Uncomfortable? We three naturally shared the class.
The professor entered, roll call happened, and we sat side by side, focusing on the lecture.
"Studying the Analects in the 21st century differs a bit from the past. You probably think it's boring."
Hearing Professor So Seori's familiar lecture voice made me chuckle dryly. It just didn't fit her image.
"So Seori teaching? Wild."
"Huh? Sunbae, you know her personally?"
"For real? Byul-ah, isn't the professor kinda cool? Love her hair color."
Iru Ri and Gah-in fawned over her.
Fair enough—a stunning redhead professor was rare.
"Nah, first time meeting her."
Familiar, yet a stranger. And oddly uncomfortable.
During the dull three-hour lecture, I slumped over my desk. Sleepy, I closed my eyes slowly and gave up on class.
I knew it all anyway. Nothing new in this first-time lecture for me. Was I always this diligent?
I focused on dozing off. Then a flash of realization hit.
"... No way."
I realized I was someone who couldn't fall asleep.