The Regressor Tunes Up (1)
The Regressor Tunes Up (1)
I am not a hero. I am not a knight on a white horse who saves the world through sheer willpower.
And yet, the reason I keep forcing myself to try and save every single person is...
Because I still can. I do it because I can.
The lives of every human who was with me on Floor 4 were practically in the palm of my hand.
Depending on my choices, some die, and some survive. And I'm supposed to give up just because it's hard?
I can't tell the dying, 'You died because it was too hard for me, so I half-assed it.' As long as I have a conscience, spouting that kind of nonsense is impossible.
Let's just charge in first. Let's mobilize everything I have and give it my absolute best. Worrying about whether or not to compromise can wait until after that.
"Hoo..."
And for this grand plan, what I needed to do right now was crystal clear.
"Let's just... get some games in first..."
First, just rest without thinking about anything.
I felt it through the entire run of Floor 4. My current mental state is dangerously precarious.
They say regression makes it like it never happened... but the psychological weight of someone dying because of my choices is beyond imagination. Is that what makes people stop seeing people as people? The shock of death itself was still an exception.
I feel like I finally understand why generals in war stop seeing soldiers as human beings.
The moment you realize the weight your choices carry, the human mind deteriorates at a terrifying speed.
But in a way, that's also a positive signal. Even if I've grown desensitized to others, it means I haven't crossed the line yet.
I am still human. That's the feeling I get.
"...Jungle's winning even without me playing?"
I holed up in my rented room for two days and did nothing but play games.
The news blabbers on about the Tower all day, thousands of people are abducted worldwide every day, and player crimes happen constantly... yet people's daily lives haven't changed drastically. That's why game companies are still running.
-[Kim Jun-ho] Challenger 831 points
"...Fucking fun."
Playing a game for the first time in a while was absurdly fun.
At first, I wondered why everyone had gotten so terrible, but it made sense. My physical abilities had already far surpassed those of an ordinary person. There was no way the game could feel difficult.
Is it even fun to stomp on noobs? Well, games are meant to be won. There's a reason people make smurf accounts.
After patching up my mental state by hitting the highest rank in just two days, I finally checked my phone.
Choi Ji-won : Jun-ho. You tried calling me. Are you feeling any better? I'll be entering Floor 4 soon. Our timing got tangled up. (4 days ago)
Park Cheol-jin : Jun-ho. Did you clear Floor 3~? They're calling this the Room of Patience and having us put together a 4000-piece puzzle. (4 days ago)
I had messages from people I knew, including Choi Ji-won and Park Cheol-jin.
Ahn Gyeong-jun : I haven't been able to reach Jun-ho... It's been over a week since he entered the Tower.
"...Shit."
I gently slipped my phone back into my pocket and immediately moved to Floor 1. To check my Clear Rewards.
I approached the large chest I'd been ignoring all this time and—clank. I wrenched it open roughly.
The moment I opened the chest, a message window popped up before my eyes.
1000 Points Achievement Reward : Low-grade Potion x 10
3000 Points Achievement Reward : Selective Weapon Exchange Ticket
6000 Points Achievement Reward : Custom Item Box (B~E) [Unique]
10000 Points Achievement Reward : Custom Trait Box (A~D) [Unique]
"...What's this about an exchange ticket?"
A whole bunch of stuff I'd never seen before popped out. A weapon exchange ticket? This isn't a game.
But this gave me an idea of the direction the Tower wants. It wants us to save the otherworlders. That must be why the rewards are handed out. The more you try to save otherworlders, the harder it gets. Still, even so, the difficulty of Floor 4 was abnormal. I probably missed something.
"Anyway..."
Worrying can wait. Now's the time to check the rewards.
When I picked up the ticket marked 'Selective Weapon Exchange Ticket', a Status Window appeared, listing a whole array of weapons I could choose from.
Since I don't use anything other than a sword anyway, I picked it immediately, and as soon as I did, a steel sword dropped out of thin air.
"Hmm..."
The quality is decent, but not what I'd call excellent. An upgraded version of the weapons the Tower hands out every time? Since it was a 3000-point reward, I wasn't expecting anything amazing.
Next, the two 'Custom' boxes.
There were two mint-colored boxes inside, but I couldn't tell which was which, so I just opened them both at once.
-Transparent Gloves [B]
-Transparent leather gloves.
-Meditation [C]
-Calms the mind and provides time for self-reflection.
"Hm..."
First, the Transparent Gloves were quite useful. Wearing completely transparent gloves didn't affect the grip when holding a sword, but when I touched my hand, I could feel the texture of tough leather.
The biggest problem in a prolonged fight is actually the skin of your palms. Palms are soft and tear or split easily. Because of that, I wore gloves when fighting in the last cycle, but that reduces precision.
It was a relief that the enemies on Floor 4 were much weaker than me, but if I ever have to fight a strong opponent for a long time, these Transparent Gloves would be a huge help. Actually, they seemed like they'd be pretty useful on Floor 4 right away.
Next, Meditation. This trait can be used when training mana. After trying it out briefly, it felt like my mind was calming down and sinking into deep water.
Maybe it's because they were 'Custom' boxes, but I was fairly satisfied with the results. Now, the last remaining thing is...
1st Place Contribution Reward : Lowest-grade Subspace
-Size is 30cm x 30cm x 30cm.
-Only items obtained in the Tower can be stored.
"...Subspace?"
The moment I saw it, I thought of Dok Su-hee, who betrayed me on Floor 3. It gives an inventory as the first-place contribution reward? Then what does that make Dok Su-hee, who bragged her trait was SSS-rank?
With a bit of suspicion, I picked up the small slip of paper the size of a coin. The complex pattern drawn on it seeped into my fingernail.
The method for using the subspace was simple. When I focused my mind, a subspace portal opened—invisible, but I could feel it.
I held up the potion given as a reward as a test. The low-grade potion was slowly sucked into the subspace.
"Hm."
After testing it briefly, the subspace was a downgraded version of an inventory in every way.
First, the subspace opens painfully slowly. Putting items in and taking them out is also slow. Items could only go in or out directly on my fingernail, and I had to concentrate quite hard, so using it during combat seemed difficult.
Compared to Dok Su-hee, who freely manipulated her inventory, its performance was downright embarrassing.
Even so, it's still quite useful. I had failed to save Baron Jorge because his elixir bottle broke. Just having a secure storage space was satisfying enough.
To sum it up... Floor 4 rewards were satisfying, and at the same time, unpleasant.
First, the rewards were precisely tailored to be helpful, living up to the word 'custom'. It didn't give me garbage traits that were only S-rank in name, like the 'Heart of Lightning'. The Meditation trait is probably dozens of times more useful than the Heart of Lightning.
And the reason it was unpleasant... was the way the items were handed out.
"...Does it think this is a game?"
There's a Status Window, and superpowers are granted. Up to that point, it was game-like enough, but now it's even giving out rewards like a game.
It's like a child playing a prank. 'Here, you like games, right? We made the environment similar.' But if you die, you actually die. Do they think this is a joke?
"Hoo..."
After using the 'Meditation' trait to calm my boiling mind, I returned to my rented room and turned on the computer. This proved that the Meditation trait is more useful than the Heart of Lightning.
As I mentioned earlier, I've definitely missed something about Floor 4. The difficulty of Floor 4 I went through was clearly abnormal. Did others experience the same thing? I lacked information.
The most important thing for a regressor is information. Information is the very reason a regressor gains the upper hand.
At this point, there are two main ways to get information about Floor 4. First, wait for Choi Ji-won, who seems to have entered Floor 4. Second, search for information on the internet.
And naturally, I planned on doing both.
With practiced ease, I pulled up a few well-known community sites and scrolled through the posts.
"Hmm..."
The number of posts about Floor 4 was noticeably low—especially compared to the flood of posts about Floors 2 and 3.
Even the few posts that did describe Floor 4 lacked detailed descriptions, only listing abstract words like 'tormenting' or 'terrifying'. Nobody described what happened on Floor 4. Well, there was one.
<Do you guys know who Kim Jun-ho is? Saw him on Floor 4.>
But even that one post seemed to be from someone who cleared Floor 4 with me, which made it useless for my purposes.
"...I should write a post."
Tap-tap-tap.
<Is there anyone who cleared Floor 4? There are barely any related posts.>
After writing the post and waiting a moment, comments poured in instantly.
-You want to write about that?
-Are you a psychopath?
-Lol, you sick bastard. Don't feed the troll.
"..."
The reaction was intense. Like I'd kicked a hornet's nest that shouldn't be stirred.
I wrote a few more question posts afterward, but either I was treated as aggro-bait or outright blocked; no more comments came.
"Hey..."
Fine, clearing Floor 4 would leave you with trauma. Unlike Floor 2 or 3, where you could survive cleanly, Floor 4 had an incredibly harsh environment and was a floor where casualties were inevitable.
But at this rate, there's no way to get information. I need to know what other people's Floor 4 was like to make a plan.
"Should I look into foreign sites?"
I clicked my tongue and was about to search foreign communities.
Ding!
A message arrived.
-Why are you curious about Floor 4?
A message from an anonymous user. A truly provocative tone. Its credibility crashed through the floor.
But this is no time to be picky. Tap-tap-tap. I sent a reply immediately.
-Because I want to gather information.
-Why gather information? You're not going back in, and you can't tell anyone anyway.
-I have my reasons.
-Yeah? Then I can help you. I've secured dozens of related testimonies.
"Hm."
I don't trust internet communities. People will spout any kind of nonsense when there's no accountability.
-Instead, I want to meet face-to-face and talk. The location is xx Cafe in Naegok-dong. Tomorrow at 2 PM. How about it?
On top of that, they want to meet face-to-face instead of just telling me online. This is suspicious enough to make me wonder about organ trafficking.
"Hmm..."
If I were to regress right now, what would I lose?
First, I'd lose the chance to hear Choi Ji-won's experience. Also, I'd lose the opportunity to steadily train mana. The fact that I didn't really want to meet anyone anyway because my mental state was still worn out? That was a bonus—it meant I had nothing to lose there.
"...Let's go anyway."
But I decided to take the risk.
Come to think of it, there's a hidden portal in the castle. Even if something happens and I regress, I can return to reality immediately.
A day passed, and the moment I arrived at the agreed-upon cafe.
"...Mr. Jung-hyun?"
"...Mr. Jun-ho?"
Yun Jung-hyun was waiting for me, dressed in a neat suit.