Chapter 70 11. Alliance with the Returnee
Alliance with the Regressor
Episode 71
『"Optimal Progression" is in effect.』
A mist, damp yet dry, swept past. Dampness and dryness—qualities that should be contradictory, but this was the Outer Dimension.
A dumping ground for elements discarded by the Tower, connected to all dimensions.
The Outer Dimension was a world where such absurdities were natural.
'Well, fuck me sideways. Goddamn it.'
I chuckled and groped the ample chest beside me.
Honestly, the fact that my body hadn't exploded from the backlash of crossing dimensions was already a miracle.
'To survive crossing a dimensional rift unscathed...'
If this counted as good luck, then sure, call it that...
But for what reason—
『"Optimal Progression" is in effect.』
—had Optimal Progression dragged me here?
Even after sitting down on the mist and thinking it over... I still had no clue.
First, I should check my condition and stand up—
"Ghk—!"
Crunch.
"Ugh... Fuck. Can't help but curse."
Rubbing my aching body, I focused on what lay ahead.
"......"
Then, I caught myself unconsciously denying reality.
'Is this... really the Outer Dimension?'
Ooooooh...
A world where everything was indistinct.
The mist beneath my feet flowed irregularly. Clouds formed from gathered mist scattered, then reappeared, flickering in and out of existence, gathering again without rhyme or reason.
Suddenly, my left shoulder grew heavy, then my right knee lightened. Strands of my hair floated sporadically. Gravity vanished from my right foot, and I hovered midair. Grimacing, I barely managed to shift my center of gravity and settle back down.
'I've landed in a truly fucked-up place.'
The physical laws that governed Earth and other universes—constants elsewhere—were anything but constant here in the Outer Dimension.
Here, friction, inertia, gravity—everything operated on a whim.
"What now?"
This was the kind of place where, if you got dragged in during the early or mid-game, the standard procedure was to curse, "Well, fuck me sideways. Goddamn it," and accept your prologue death. You had to at least reach the mid-game to stand a chance.
"...Earth's too damn fragile. Then again... it might've connected to the Outer Dimension because of the Records."
Pale black hair floated lazily beside me. A beautiful woman lay unconscious, her eyes closed.
Her chest, thighs, waist—parts of her rose and fell unpredictably. Even her nipples trembled in a rather lewd manner.
"......"
After watching silently for a moment, I decided this wouldn't do and reached out.
Squish, squish.
I kneaded the massive mammaries.
Carrying around something this enormous—not touching it would've been a sin.
Crackle—
Tirpe's clothes crumbled like dry leaves.
The energy sustaining the corrupted angel's garments had depleted.
I stared intently at the barely concealed breasts before groping them again.
Shiver.
Was it because of her angelic transformation? Her chest had a delightfully springy texture.
Brushing aside the disintegrating cloth covering her chest, I toyed with the slightly exposed nipples, pressed them firmly, squished the ample bosom, and even peeked underneath—passing the time like this.
Ding—
『2 days remaining until Tower entry.』
After enjoying her chest for a while, I finally recalled the pressing issue.
"Two days, huh..."
Right.
I had to return to Earth within two days.
Otherwise, I'd lose my qualification to enter the Tower forever.
Then—
Vwoom.
The 「Mana Circuit」 in my heart accelerated.
『"Favor of Death" keeps you away from death.』
『"Favor of Death" boosts all stats as you near death.』
『"Optimal Progression" is allocated to recovery.』
『"Optimal Progression" is allocated to adapt to an unsurvivable environment.』
『"Optimal Progression" is "Amplified."』
『"Censored Ability" affects the surrounding environment. The world around you acts favorably.』
『"Circuit of Reckless Uncertainty" absorbs the Outer Dimension's Records.』
『"Semi-Spirit Form" partially adapts to the Outer Dimension's environment.』
Even as I neared death, my body grew stronger instead.
"Ugh, now I might actually live."
I rolled my shoulders, feeling lighter.
Full recovery would still take a while, though.
Then—
"Nn, ugh..."
Tirpe furrowed her brows as if trapped in a nightmare.
Her eyelids fluttered before her bleary eyes finally opened.
Our gazes met.
"......?"
Blinking in confusion, Tirpe struggled to comprehend the situation.
"Hey, nice to see you."
"Uh, uh..."
Her mouth opened and closed wordlessly.
But no sound came out.
And it wasn't just because she was stunned.
"Ghk, aah—?!"
『"Tirpe's" condition is critical! Immediate action required to prevent death!』
Tirpe was dying from the dimensional shock and various other factors.
"Hahk!?"
Her muscles and bones were completely shattered, and her internal organs were all damaged.
"Ughk?!"
Trembling uncontrollably, she turned her head and vomited a mouthful of blood.
Squelch squelch.
Which was why I was currently kneading her left breast with great enthusiasm.
"Hngahh♡"
『Activating 「Revert ⅓」.』
『Tirpe's 「Outer Dimension Circuits」 are being restored.』
『Tirpe's vitality is recovering.』
All to repair the circuits in her heart.
『「Optimal Progression」 enhances 「Revert ⅓」.』
『「Amplification」 strengthens 「Revert ⅓」.』
『「Seize」 steals 「Outer Dimension Energy」.』
『The power of 「□□□□」 alleviates Tirpe's suffering.』
"Haa, haa..."
Tirpe, whose complexion had improved slightly, rolled her eyes.
"Why...?"
Her gaze was filled with confusion.
It seemed she couldn't comprehend why I would show such mercy to someone like her—someone who deserved to be killed on the spot.
I pinched her pink nipple and slapped the side of her breast with my palm. The marked flesh jiggled.
"Kyaaak!"
"You think I enjoy fondling these cow-like udders? I'm only keeping you alive so you can atone for dragging me here. Don't get the wrong idea. Who do you think got me stranded here in the first place? If you hadn't used that chaos-attribute circuit, the dimensional rift wouldn't have opened. Got it?"
"......."
Tirpe darkened, as if ashamed.
She glanced at my face briefly before sharply turning her head away.
She probably should have resisted being groped like this, but it seemed she had resigned herself to endure it for survival.
—...He is handsome though...
...That wasn't the point.
Anyway, I kept kneading her chest, so pale that even her veins were visible.
Uuuuuu...
The eerie winds of the Outer Dimension swept between us.
"But... is that really why you're saving me...?"
Tirpe looked at me with half-lidded eyes.
"Weren't you trying to kill me just moments ago?"
I'd been staring at her chest, but since our eyes accidentally met, I figured I should answer.
But what should I say?
"...."
Truthfully, I didn't have any grand reason for saving her.
She was a villain who had sacrificed countless people to conquer the Tower.
If I had no intention of escaping the Outer Dimension and returning to Earth, I would've let this gloomy woman die right here.
『2 days remain until Tower entry.』
But the situation had become urgent.
Two days in Earth time. If converted to the Outer Dimension's flow...
『「Read」 calculates the average temporal speed of the Outer Dimension.』
『At the current irregular rate, 43 days must pass here for 1 day to elapse on Earth.』
Assuming time accelerated unpredictably, the worst-case scenario was 50 days.
Within that timeframe, I had to escape the Outer Dimension and enter Earth's Tower.
Meaning, I needed enough food to last 50 days in this labyrinthine hellscape.
Unlike her, I didn't have a subspace storage to keep supplies in.
---------------------
Name: Tirpe
Level: 35
Height: 168.1 cm, 51 kg
Race: Human
Title: Blindfolded Seeker
Occupation: —
Gender: Female (24)
Origin: Earth
Sexual Experience: 0 (0 men)
Measurements: 94 - 60 - 92
Status: Focused
+Stats
[Strength 121] [Agility 288] [Stamina 19] [Mana G-]
+Abilities
[Chastisement]
[Revert ⅔]
+Skills
[Small Subspace Storage (Rare)]
----------------------
I needed this woman's subspace.
『Tirpe's 「Subspace」 contains a large quantity of food supplies.』
I couldn't just starve to death, could I?
"Well, this is the Outer Dimension—anything could happen here. You want to live, I want to live. So for now, having more people around is better. Strictly speaking, it's a temporary alliance."
Tirpe lowered her gaze as if reluctantly agreeing.
"...You... know about the Outer Dimension..."
"I'm a seer."
"......?"
Her eyes narrowed as if doubting me.
I pressed my thumb into her breast hard enough to leave an imprint.
"Hyeaaang...?"
"The circuits inside these udders are also based on the Outer Dimension's 'chaos,' aren't they? That's the only reason you survived the dimensional jump. Am I wrong?"
"Yet... you seem far more intact than I am..."
"My circuits are special."
Tirpe looked at me with disbelief, but I just laughed it off.
『Tirpe desires the ability you took from her.』
I had no particular hobby of revealing my weaknesses.
Still, thank goodness my circuit is nearly omnipotent.
It was fortunate that the Circuit of Reckless Uncertainty had the property of absorbing the energy of all things.
Otherwise, I might have evaporated under the dimensional pressure too.
"...I-I see."
Perhaps because she was on the verge of death, her attitude and reactions were listless. No hostility was visible.
Even my kneading of her chest seemed to gradually be accepted as part of the healing process.
『"Revert (⅓)" has been activated.』
The swollen blood vessels in Tirpe's eyes faded. As if time were reversing, her wounds rewound themselves.
With this, she must have been able to revive even after being struck by Park Se-eun's ability.
It wasn't a matter of praying for increased recovery or shortening the healing process.
Literally, time was being reversed to restore her. The parts where her muscles had grown were left untouched—only the injuries were rewound.
A high-dimensional healing that even most holy arts couldn't replicate.
"With an ability like this, you could've been revered as a Saintess by the Tower's religious orders... Why did you try to sacrifice people to the Lord of Corpses instead of just quietly playing the saintess in some church?"
"..."
Her dry, cracked lips twitched. I thought she wouldn't answer, but Tirpe, looking sullen, finally spat out words.
"...Because otherwise, we couldn't conquer the Tower."
"You had Disepon, didn't you?"
In my confusion, I mentally listed off a bunch of male characters.
Statistically speaking, about five out of ten would've been present.
"They were excellent Climbers, but they couldn't overcome the Tower."
"...??"
He was a monstrously strong guy, enough to be recruited into Park Ha-rin's expedition—and yet, without the heroines, he couldn't even conquer the Tower?
Well... I guess it makes sense.
Even the heroines, who didn't get along with Ha-rin and Seong-i, were only excluded from the party.
They were talents recognized as the pinnacle of the Tower no matter where they went.
Without those heroines, it's no wonder the Tower's conquest stalled.
Still, that didn't justify Tirpe's atrocities. Trying to grind down the entire population of Seoul was extreme.
From the fragmented memories I glimpsed, it seemed like she had tried to protect the orphanage, but human sacrifice crossed the line.
"Even so, human sacrifice—"
My words cut off abruptly.
Because Tirpe was scrunching her eyes shut, tears streaming down her face.
"...I'm... sorry."
Her expression was filled with self-loathing.
Her face twisted strangely as she barely held back sobs.
Others might have dismissed it as crocodile tears, but I didn't.
Because I could read her guilt raw and unfiltered.
"..."
If you only considered efficiency, her plan was rational.
Exploiting people's desperation, sucking them dry, and then using them as fuel in the end.
If I had slipped and fallen in the Tower 129 times, would I have been any different?
Maybe my mind would've shattered even worse than hers.
129 times—repeating the same thing, with no guarantee of variables, dying pointlessly each time.
If I had been trapped in that despair, I might've done the same—climbing the Tower by sacrificing others as fuel to save Park Ha-rin or Park Se-eun.
But.
That didn't change the fact that Tirpe had made the wrong choice.
"Hic..."
Tirpe covered her eyes, crying. She bit her lips so hard they whitened, as if disgusted with herself. I silently watched her.
After a long while, her sobs subsided.
Embarrassed from crying, she glanced at me hesitantly.
"...I-I know it's shameless, but... could you possibly return my ability? P-please..."
Her eyes were swollen from weeping.
"...I-I have something I must do. If, by any chance... I fail to conquer the Tower again—"
"Assuming the worst-case scenario is good."
Her damp, dazed eyes stared at me blankly.
"But even if I die, don't expect your ability to return to you. I have no intention of testing it either. So give up."
Tirpe's lips were gnawed raw. For someone stripped of her power, my words were cruel.
"...If I fail this time... I, I—"
"It was originally yours, so I get that it must feel disgustingly unfair. I understand. But."
Still, Tirpe's life had been far harsher than these words.
"Does your family even know you've been suffering like this, dying over and over?"
"!"
Tirpe's eyes widened.
Her lips merely trembled without forming words.
"......That... doesn't matter. Everything is... my, my own..."
"You keep saying how hard it is, yet you still insist on bearing it alone?"
Tirpe flinched at the remark.
"Wh-what would you know...?"
But then—
"Your family would be heartbroken if they knew you were suffering like this alone."
Her face went blank.
Her gaze lost focus, as if she no longer knew where to look.
Then, she let out a resigned chuckle.
"It's all pointless. In the end... we'll only make each other miserable..."
Soon after, Tirpe turned her face away from me and muttered under her breath.
"I... don't deserve to go back there. I'll... just get everyone killed again. I'll... just fail again."
Failure.
In this world, that word carried unbearable weight and terror.
The Tower had a time limit for its conquest.
If it wasn't cleared within that time, the Tower would collapse.
And so, 129 times over, she had lost the family she had painstakingly protected within the Tower.
The moment that thought crossed my mind—
Bzzzt—
A deep fragment of Tirpe's memory surfaced in my mind.
—Tirpe, Tirpe, save me! I don't want to die!!
The world crumbled as a young boy burned away.
—Tirpe... I'm sorry. We couldn't do anything...
She had watched, over and over, as her family died before her eyes.
And now, as always, she was the only one left.
"I... need that power. Because this time... I still won't reach the end."
She would keep driving herself toward self-destruction.
I silently studied Tirpe's exhausted face.
Though different in detail, something about it felt familiar.
Like Park Ha-rin, who had seen nothing but me.
Unconsciously, my grip tightened.
"No. This time, it's different."
I clenched her chest firmly.
"Hyiiiaaah...?!"
She let out a flustered noise before shooting me a timid glare.
I smirked at her reaction and spoke.
"You saw it with your own eyes, didn't you? The ones who can conquer the Tower."
For a moment, her pupils went vacant.
'Hypocrisy.'
To her, my kindness was probably nothing more than a calculated move for my own survival.
After all, I was just using her to survive this Outer Dimension.
But for now—
"We're reaching the top of the Tower this time."
It wouldn't hurt to say this much for her sake.
I just wanted to offer her a drop of rain in this endless drought.
Hoping it would bring her even the slightest comfort, I continued.
"This time, you don't have to be afraid. All we need to focus on is getting out of this place—together. And then, you'll see your family again. That's all. Not throwing your life away like before, but doing everything you can to survive. And then, meet them. I've got someone waiting for me too, you know."
Her shoulders trembled as she hesitated, muttering.
"......Do I... really deserve that...?"
I smiled at her slumped form.
"You do. So stop worrying."
Tirpe's hazy eyes widened slightly.
"We're getting out of this Outer Dimension and returning to Earth. I'll go back to my family, and you'll go back to yours."
Her gaze locked onto me, entranced. The parched depths of her pupils seemed to drink in sunlight and moisture.
"Let's go."
Yeah. I was sick of watching this frustrating situation unfold.
Just wait for the next chance?
"This place... is an inescapable Outer Dimension..."
There was no next time for me. I had to give my all in this single attempt.
"We can do it."
I grabbed Tirpe's hesitant hand and pulled her up.
So she wouldn't drown in useless anxiety any longer.
"Ah—?!"
The laws of the Outer Dimension sent inertia surging violently, slamming her straight into my arms.
Tirpe froze, her face stiff with shock.
I was startled too and tried to push her away, but the friction was too strong—she wouldn't budge.
The soft swell of her chest pressed firmly against my stomach, the sensation unmistakable. Keeping my voice steady, I spoke.
"I can't afford to die here. And hey, I'm a Seer, right? Just trust me."
"......"
It was surreal, holding a woman like this—one who had once endangered my younger sister. But leaving her alone, wallowing like Park Ha-rin, pissed me off.
"...Can I... really trust you...?"
"Yeah. You and I are getting out of this Outer Dimension alive. And then, we're seeing our families. Just remember that."
"...I see..."
A faint trace of a smile touched her lips.
"...Then... I'd like to see them one last time."
"You will. Because, well—I'm basically the protagonist. And protagonists usually get what they want."
With that, I looked up at the fractured sky of the Outer Dimension.
No more hesitation.
[「Optimal Progression」 is being applied.]
Good. Just as I wanted.
[「Read」 is showing signs of 「Alteration」.]
I will make it back alive.