The Regressor Makes an Effort (7)
The Regressor Makes an Effort (7)
"Get up! Get up!"
"Ugh... ughh..."
"Hurk..."
Players retching and rising, clearly sleep-deprived.
"Hey! Hey! Roven! Roven!"
"..."
"Move him to the fire! Potions—does anyone have potions left? His condition is really bad!"
Otherworlders with blue-tinged faces who could barely get up. They looked less like Tower survivors and more like patients in a sick ward.
"..."
Me? I was perfectly fine. My body brimmed with energy, and my skin was smooth without a single crack.
The 'Mana' I'd recently awakened helped, but most of it came from the 'Hero' trait. The players didn't trust me and called me a fraud, but the otherworlders believed in me because Baron Jorge believed in me. That was why I hadn't regressed even in the brutal cold.
"...So, what's going on?"
Yun Jung-hyun asked, rubbing his swollen eyes dry. A faint irritation tinged his voice. He'd tried to hide it, but having just woken up, his emotions must have slipped.
"When we left the castle on the first day... I told you monsters would appear. Do you remember? I said it was written in the book."
"...Yes."
"Right now, they're on their way. They might almost be here."
"What?"
(Even if I made it up,) the book said, 'An inescapable death approaches. Flee toward the rising sun. Only that may save you.' Yun Jung-hyun frowned, as if remembering it.
"...Those are monsters?"
Four hours remained. The sky had shifted from black to deep blue, and dawn was slowly breaking. Which meant the monsters' forms were visible.
Rrrrrrrrumble.
Listening closely, even the ground shook. Only then did people's eyes go wide as the danger finally registered.
"N-no..."
"All of those are monsters?"
"Good heavens..."
They scrambled for their belongings, fumbling in panic, completely disorganized. I'd seen that monster horde dozens of times and even I felt overwhelmed every single time. I could only imagine how they felt.
"Wait. Wait. Calm down. There's no need to panic."
So I calmed the panicking people while climbing onto a sled so everyone could see me.
"I trust you now understand why I insisted we run."
"..."
Even the players who'd been cursing me couldn't open their mouths now. It had been demonstrated to the entire world that I was right.
"Of course, the situation isn't good. Many people can't move well, the snow is deep, and advancing won't be easy."
Dozens in serious condition. Over a hundred with unsteady legs. Over a hundred mildly ill. Several dozen relatively okay. And one person completely fine.
Getting this group through the snow was never going to be easy. More than half the sleds had been used as firewood, so the remaining sleds were already packed. Feet sinking deep into the snow drained stamina, drained body heat, drained morale.
If even a single monster attacked, they'd be helplessly slaughtered.
"But that doesn't only apply to us."
The monsters were in the same boat.
They had to push through this snow too. They'd traveled this enormous distance without rest. They were just as exposed to the brutal cold.
This harsh environment wasn't imposed only on us.
"Everyone stay calm and prepare to leave. As long as you don't stop, you can survive. I'll hold them off here."
Send the people ahead while I blocked the monsters. Not much different from my previous cycles.
"B-but..."
"...Are you sure?"
They hesitated because it looked as if I was offering myself as a sacrifice. But I had no intention of sacrificing anything. On the contrary, I was filled with nothing but the will to survive.
"Go. Quickly. We're out of time."
Only then did they begin to leave in hesitant steps. After exchanging glances with each of the stronger ones pulling the sleds, I tossed a bundle of swords onto the snow.
The monsters were visible far on the horizon. The thudding tremor tickled my toes. But oddly enough, that felt fortunate.
Alright, let's review the past cycles once more. The enemy composition was roughly divided into swift types like wolves and cats, and sturdy types like orcs and hippo-like creatures.
But could orcs really get from way over there to here in four hours? They'd been moving for two days, but we'd been fleeing without rest for five. On top of that, they also had to fight through the snow. There was no way they could catch us in such a short time.
In other words, the orcs weren't a factor. They would never reach this point.
Then who was the enemy? Wolves, and cats. They would be the main threat coming for us.
But this, too, was doable enough. Why? Because they were the vanguard.
The monster wave grew harder as the days passed, and the enemies grew stronger. But the monsters at the vanguard now were the ones that appeared on Day 3. The ones with the most basic specs. Dealing with them had gone beyond familiar—it was boring.
Of course, the situation wasn't entirely favorable for me. This wasn't a cramped castle but a wide-open snowfield. Which meant I'd have to run around and intercept the monsters personally.
It wouldn't be easy. It absolutely wouldn't be easy. But I had to do it. Not a single person had died yet. I was on the verge of the answer I'd wanted for so long, and I couldn't give up now.
"Huuu..."
I sat by the dying fire, closed my eyes, and focused my mind. I couldn't let a single one through. I rotated the mana within my body in tight circuits while sharpening my senses.
Just as I'd used the 'Meditation' trait to bring my body to its peak condition—
-1: 42 : 11
Rrrrrrrumble.
The earth shook, and the cacophony of screams from beasts killing and dying filled the sky.
"Woof! Woof!"
"Grrrrrrr!!!"
"Mreoooowww!!!"
The vanguard had arrived. One wolf lunged at me, muzzle-first.
"Hup!"
I opened my eyes and struck in the same instant. A single flash. The wolf's headless body flew past me and dissolved into particles of light.
Things were going exactly as I'd predicted. The relatively slow main force was lagging far behind, and only the swift wolf-type monsters were going for my throat.
"Come on."
None of you are getting past me.
**
Wolves are fast. Agile. They race across the snow as they please.
But the surprising thing was that I was even faster. With the three-way combination of high base stats, the Hero trait, and mana circulation, I was able to chase down and intercept each wolf one after another as they tried to head for the otherworlders.
"Damn..."
But with the situation so urgent, my stamina drained just as quickly. The sword's edge got chipped and blunted in no time, and the bottomless stamina I'd once known began to falter. Even a superhuman, it seemed, had limits when sprinting at full speed for over an hour.
And now, black cats were starting to appear. They normally showed up in large numbers on Day 4, but they'd already reached this point. Worse, they were far faster than the speed I remembered. Had the faster ones appeared because the castle was empty of people?
They had virtually no presence, absurd speed, and excellent combat ability. But I wouldn't give up.
-0 : 55 : 11
Less than an hour remained. Just one hour. I could see a glimmer of hope. The hope that I could save everyone.
Whummm.
A warm energy pulsed from my waist, as if answering that feeling.
-Hope.
The sword I drew shone a vivid yellow. The dazzling light of the glowing blade melted the snow around me, and my depleted stamina slowly began to climb back up.
"Where do you think you're going, you bastard!"
With my restored stamina, I sprinted at full speed and cut down one cat stealthily racing ahead. Cut. And cut again.
Hope kept me from tiring. It let me keep going even when I was struggling.
Just a little more. I fell into a trance-like state, racing across the snowfields and cutting down the cats one by one.
How much time passed like that?
"..."
Thud.
My feet, which had been dashing everywhere at full speed, finally stopped. Not by choice.
"Grrrrr..."
"Grrrrowwwlll..."
A pack of black wolves had me completely surrounded. The ones that appeared on Day 5 had already reached this point.
"Ah."
No matter how strong I'd become, there was no answer when fully surrounded. I couldn't create a sword barrier like a martial arts master, and what was I supposed to do against attacks coming from every direction? Surviving might be possible, but avoiding injury was impossible.
But I didn't give up. I tightened my grip on the sword. Even if I regressed here, I would make sure the people running far away would survive.
The emotion that lets you fight even knowing you can't win. That must be hope.
Mana surged fiercely inside me, and my muscles swelled to the point of bursting. I put everything I had into my sword and swung it at the lunging wolves.
"Raaaaaaahhh!!!"
"Guwaaaarrrgh!!!"
Dozens of dark shapes surged in, and just before they met my sword blazing bright yellow—
Shiiing!
In an instant, the scenery changed, and my sword sliced an innocent bed clean in half.
"...Huh?"
I made that dumb sound before I could even grasp the situation.
-00 : 00 : 00
[Settlement]
[Players] 100 / 100
[NPCs] 300 / 300 (Key NPC survival success + 20000)
-Penalty assessed (None)
-A reward equivalent to 50000 points will be given to all survivors.
-Highest contributor [Kim Jun-ho] will receive an additional special reward.
-Achievement: [Human Victory] achieved.
"..."
I stared blankly at the message, then sank to the floor.
I won.
I... won.