Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Chapter 27 Regressor
Now that I learned that Estelle is the Earth God, I considered whether I should just go all-in with her, but Estelle said that wouldn't be a very good move.
Even though the Earth God from the first round was also a highest-grade god, they were helplessly defeated, and it's practically impossible for Earth's people as a single force to beat the forces of all those numerous gods.
The most effective way to prevent the massacre of Earth's people was to minimize the gods hostile to Earth's people as much as possible, and increase the Demon Kings and neutral forces that would help us.
'Especially, Earth's people need various means to grow.'
According to Yoo So-eun's words, Heroic-grade equipment working like cheat keys only applies up to the middle floors of the Tower. From above that, Earth's people had to overcome enemies with their pure skills alone.
If we went with just the Earth God as a single force, what they could learn would only be the martial arts I know, the techniques my companions know, and the skills obtained from the Tower.
That wouldn't be insignificant, but it wouldn't be enough to provide customized solutions for all Earth's people.
However, places like the Demon King's forces, Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, and Black Magic Tower have countless martial arts and magic they've accumulated, and Earth's people would just need to pick and choose what suits them.
'I can't make Unique-grade or higher equipment for everyone either.'
I'm thinking of raising the overall military level of all Earth's people, but investing too much time in each individual Earth person would be too inefficient.
Now that I've finished organizing my thoughts, I opened the door to the lodging to share the information I heard from Estelle.
"Why are you only coming out now? I was wondering if your room had changed too."
The corridor was completely empty unlike the first round, and only Yoo So-eun, Baek Ran, and Baek Ryeon were there. Since I came out late, the other people must have all gone into their own rooms.
'I'm glad both of them are here.'
Although I had said that Baek Ryeon and Baek Ran had also seen the system before entering the tutorial, confirming that they had actually arrived like this made me feel much more relieved.
"There was something worth that happening. Come inside first. There's a lot I need to tell you."
I let the three people inside and closed the door.
I gave each of them who sat down a cup of tea and started talking.
"First, I met the Earth God."
Naturally, all three of them showed very surprised expressions.
And I conveyed the numerous stories I had heard from Estelle, clearly telling them how we should strengthen our plans and what the current situation was like.
"Your assigned angel became the Earth God? And to restore that person's power, believers are needed."
"There are gods and Demon Kings who are sensing the fact that we regressed? Then should we be more careful?"
"So avatars were tools created by gods for observation... That really gives me chills."
Since each story was shocking one after another, the three people's reactions were each different.
"What I'm thinking is this. They know that the Earth God caused the regression. But they don't know who the regressors are or how many regressors there are."
That's why they're even sending avatars to the tutorial to confirm who the regressors are, isn't it?
"So I'm actually going to reveal that I'm a regressor. I'll focus attention on myself to hide the existence of other regressors. My activities are bound to stand out anyway, so I think it would be better to create a foundation for you all to act secretly."
This is my conclusion. I'm definitely going to draw tremendous aggro while going around to connect with each force.
And if stories about me spread around the Tower bit by bit, it would be strange if they didn't notice that I'm a regressor.
A craftsman who can mass-produce Heroic-grade equipment but is also a martial artist who reached the Harmony realm? The gods and Demon Kings aren't idiots either, so they'd definitely think that bastard is absolutely a regressor.
"Isn't that too dangerous? You'd have to bear all the risk burden. There's no guarantee that the gods will show positive interest either."
"Right. What if apostles come targeting you?"
Naturally, I had thought about that part too.
"Then I'm just going to contract with a Demon King as soon as I reach the 11th floor. I don't know about the others, but this Baal bastard will definitely offer me an apostle contract, right? If that guy has a personality that absolutely can't stand interesting things as Estelle evaluated."
It's a last resort, but it would be more effective than expected. The synergy between my power and Baal's power would match very well.
"And actually, I don't think the gods would feel negatively about me either. They don't know the reason for the regression either, right? Rather than trying to kill regressors unconditionally when they see them, they'd try to recruit them to know the future, wouldn't they?"
Especially if that regressor is handling the domination magic that only Baal had used until now, and has multiple abilities that would be amazing to have just one of, even more so.
"You have it all planned out?"
"There's just no need to worry."
"I think so too."
Everyone nodded and agreed. So far, there were no problems with the plan. Now it was time to consider variables.
"How did what I asked you to do go? Did you find other regressors besides us?"
There was one thing I had asked while making plans.
Since I don't know about people who might become the final survivors, if Baek Ryeon and Baek Ran also entered the tutorial, I asked them to look for other regressors once.
"No. We couldn't find them. I don't know if they're perfectly hiding their identities, but the climbers who were famous in the first round weren't there at all."
According to Yoo So-eun's words, the existence of other regressors becomes a variable.
The remaining six might all be people who weren't very famous in the first round like me, but that's too optimistic and hopeful an observation.
It was right to think that at least two to three people who were active at the Tower's frontlines were there.
Maybe there's even one person who barely survived by specializing in stealth or concealment abilities.
"Then there are a few inferences we can make... The regressors might not be entering all at once but entering sequentially, or the entry timing might be set differently according to conditions."
The former is possible too, but the first four regressors to enter were luckily all composed of my acquaintances?
It's not like I'm the protagonist of this world, so such a coincidence could hardly occur.
So the second inference that regressors satisfying specific conditions entered the first tutorial had a higher probability of being close to the correct answer.
So we put our heads together and kept thinking about what the common points of the initially entering regressors were.
Martial arts, magic, nationality, acquaintances, and we mentioned numerous other things that could be common points, when Baek Ran came up with a question that would make everyone freeze.
"By any chance... among these people, is there anyone who chose a Constellation?"
No one raised their hand. Among us, there was no one who had chosen a Constellation.
"Ah, was that the initial entry condition?"
From the Earth God's perspective, could they trust regressors who had chosen Constellations, especially those who served gods from Olympus or Asgard lineages as their Constellations?
Maybe they had divided the order even more meticulously according to which Constellation was chosen. Like my plan to differentially distribute equipment.
Those who didn't choose Constellations initially, those who chose Demon Kings as Constellations around the 5th round, those who chose moderate gods around the 10th round, something like that.
"I think that's right. After all, among famous climbers, there were many who had chosen Constellations."
With Yoo So-eun's additional testimony added, the probability that this was the correct answer became very high. Probably only the four of us were the initially entering regressors.
"Then we can't completely let our guard down, but we can worry less about other regressors."
I had no intention of lowering my guard, but rather than slowing down the plan's speed by considering them, it seemed better to execute it immediately.
"Uriel-nim?"
When I called the angel for movement, Uriel appeared before my eyes at a slightly slower speed than Estelle. Thanks to that, I learned that Estelle was very swift and accurate.
"Did you call me? Oh. The other people are together too?"
She was already making a surprised expression, seemingly amazed that players were gathering together.
"By coincidence, people who originally knew each other on Earth gathered. First, could you move us to the open space in front of the lodging? I'm trying to learn Blacksmithing, so it would be good if you could send the necessary materials too."
"Of course! Please wait a moment."
She first moved us to the open space and appeared a little later with materials for Blacksmithing.
"Here you go!"
"Thank you."
However, Uriel who brought the items didn't disappear immediately like Estelle and was watching us.
"Is there something wrong?"
"Ah. It's a bit amazing. Usually other Earth people learn how to fight like swordsmanship or martial arts first, but this is the first time someone said they'd learn Blacksmithing."
I thought about telling her to just go since it was burdensome, but since she said assigned angels could see what I was doing anytime anyway, it would be meaningless.
'It was a secret Estelle told me in the 49th year of the tutorial.'
When I asked if she had peeked at me bathing, she hit my cheek, and I still remember that.
When I joked that if it were me, I might have peeked at Estelle bathing, I got hit on the cheek one more time.
"Uriel-nim is a subordinate of the Earth God-nim anyway, right? You're on Earth people's side."
Uriel shows a surprised expression but agrees.
"I don't know how you know about that person, but you're right. I'm here to help Earth people."
"Then I'll just show you. What."
"Huh..?"
She makes an expression asking what that means. She'll soon find out what it means though.
I released the power-hiding mode, no, the half-sealed state and opened the power I had been hiding.
The unleashed power of the lower, middle, and upper Dantians grants explosive strength to the body, and physical abilities also begin to exceed the tutorial's specifications.
"Huh..? Huh..? Har... Harmony? No... even the Qualification for Transcendence..? What is this..."
A person who just seemed a bit strong for an Earth person suddenly became a mature Harmony martial artist and someone who obtained the Qualification for Transcendence, so it feels like cognitive dissonance has come.
'Is this why people do power-hiding? The reaction is delicious.'
Certainly, when I released the seal, my body became much lighter, and the sense of accepting the world itself changed.
"Tutorial Monster. Adamantium Golem."
A golem about 30m in size appears before my eyes.
A golem with the hardest metal among the materials I know. It was the main material of the hammer I used.
There are several golem series like Mud and Metal, but Mithril or Adamantium Golems were strong enough to be compared with dragon species like Wyverns or Drakes.
'Of course, they're just food to me.'
Against monsters of this level, I didn't need complex martial arts or mana control.
Only physical enhancement.
Before it could extend its fist toward me, I jumped high into the air and drove my fist down toward its head containing the core.
THUD! BANG!
Its head was buried in the ground and it died. The golem's core stopped functioning properly.
Seeing me kill a top-tier monster with a fist swung using only pure strength without martial arts, Uriel's mouth gaped open.
It's true that Harmony martial artists are strong, but showing such an overwhelming appearance even without martial arts was a different matter.
Other Harmony martial artists aren't All-Masters, haven't accumulated as much as I have, and wouldn't have the Qualification for Transcendence either. I'm the strongest within the same realm.
'At this rate, she'll faint from surprise when I catch avatars too.'
Later I'll catch multiple avatars simultaneously too.