The Regressor Is Tired (5)
The Regressor Is Tired (5)
"We entered Floor 11 a week ago."
Felix Hoffmann was undisputedly Germany's best player. He was the eldest son of the venerable Hoffmann family, hailed as a genius from childhood and raised with the full weight of his family's expectations.
Most ordinary geniuses would crumble under the burden of such excessive hopes, but Felix Hoffmann was different. After graduating from university with top honors, he quickly founded a big data venture startup. With his distinctive acumen, he grew the fledgling company to the edge of the major leagues in under five years, becoming an icon among young entrepreneurs.
"My colleagues and I... were overflowing with confidence. We were certain of our abilities, and we took pride in having prepared thoroughly."
The people Felix gathered were no ordinary individuals: former special forces, a former UFC champion, an Olympic gold medalist. Young prodigies who had glimpsed the future inside the Tower came together, honing their skills through systematic training. Felix believed his party was among the very best on Earth.
"But what good are exceptional abilities? It was already too late."
Their timing for entering Floor 11 was simply terrible. By the time they arrived, everything had already been decided long before.
"The structure of Floor 11 is straightforward. Retrieve valuable goods from the forest, sell them to the angel, and obtain currency."
A classic currency system consisting of Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The floor design was exceedingly intuitive: explore the forest, acquire treasure, return to the fortress, and purchase a Passage Stone.
"...My party saw boundless potential on Floor 11. The things we could obtain here were far from trivial."
But that was not all. The fortress did not sell only the Passage Stone needed to escape. True to the dwarves' reputation for craftsmanship, they sold weapons, armor, various magic devices, daily necessities, and even complete camping gear sets.
More importantly, every single one of these items was classified as an 'Item,' meaning they could be used on other floors.
A genuine treasure vault. A stepping stone to build a foundation for everything ahead. Floor 11 could produce limitless value — if only it could be exploited properly.
"...If only we could actually buy something."
Assuming the dwarves were willing to sell, that is.
"I don't know what happened. Whether the advance party before us committed some spectacular outrage, or whether the floor was always like this..."
Even speaking to them got no response. Shoving gold coins forward to buy goods was ignored as if unseen. Not only could players not purchase weapons from the shops — they could not even secure lodging inside the fortress. The dwarves were completely ostracizing humanity.
"...Ah."
The reason Germany's rising star Felix had ended up in such ragged condition was simple. Even with money, there was nowhere to spend it.
"...Do they refuse to sell the Passage Stone as well?"
"The Passage Stone is still for sale. It seems the Tower enforces its sale somehow. But..."
Felix trailed off, his expression dark.
"...You would be better off seeing the details for yourselves."
Felix jutted his chin toward the fortress. He meant that experiencing it firsthand was better than a hundred words of explanation.
"...Understood."
Choi Ji-won and I exchanged uneasy looks and began walking toward the fortress.
**
There were guards at the fortress's side gate, but they did not obstruct our passage. They simply glared at us with resentful eyes.
"Wow."
Passing through the narrow side gate into the fortress, we were greeted by the sight of quaint wooden buildings that looked straight out of a fairy tale. Even knowing this was not the time or place for it, I could not suppress an exclamation of admiration.
"But don't dwarves normally live in mountains?"
Were dwarves originally a species friendly with trees? In the stories, they usually dug caves into mountains and built underground cities. Well, imagination and reality never quite match.
"Let's save the sightseeing for later."
"Uh, yeah..."
Choi Ji-won gripped my hand tightly and strode ahead. I was tugged along before I knew it, pulled toward the fortress center while still gawking at the buildings.
"Wow."
As Choi Ji-won led me along, all I could see on both sides were shops, shops, shops. Countless items laid out on display stands dazzled my eyes.
Everything seemed to be top-quality, glittering brilliantly, but what left the strongest impression was the weapons. I wasn't deeply versed in armaments, but even a passing glance from a distance was enough to instantly tell they were the finest of the finest.
"..."
"..."
Of course, the shopkeepers were glaring at us with murderous eyes, so I had no intention of trying to buy anything. What could anyone do if the owner refused to sell?
"We're here."
After wandering the streets aimlessly, we arrived at the Passage Stone Shop Felix had mentioned. A shop with a spiral pattern painted on its door. Yes, this was definitely the place.
"Shall we go in?"
Creeeak.
The wooden door opened with a pleasant sound, and a rich scent of timber rushed out as we stepped inside. But rather than an unpleasant smell, it was the sort that put the mind at ease.
"Hello? Is this the Passage Stone Shop?"
The shop's layout resembled a jewelry store. Goods lay peacefully inside long horizontal glass display cases, while the shopkeeper sat in a chair beyond them, killing time.
"...It is. Currently selling."
The dwarf seated in the chair fiddled idly with a fingernail, gave a perfunctory answer, then returned his focus to his fingernail. That dwarf was probably the shopkeeper... Still, at least he answered. I suppose I should be grateful for that.
"Wow, is this the Passage Stone?"
I realized what a stupid thing I had said only after the words left my mouth. Every single item inside the display case was the exact same type of stone.
A bluish, oddly translucent pebble. This was unmistakably the Passage Stone the Tower had mentioned.
[Passage Stone] [Unique]
-Can clear Floor 11 upon submission to the angel.
A notification window confirmed my guess was right. So all we had to do was buy this and submit it to the angel...
"How much is this? I'm not buying it right now; we'll come back once we've gathered the money. It probably won't take long."
Choi Ji-won addressed the shopkeeper confidently. Her attitude was almost lofty, as if scraping together a bit of money posed no problem whatsoever.
"100 million Gold."
"...Excuse me?"
"I said 100 million Gold."
"...?"
The price defied all common sense. I had no idea what the actual value of Gold was, but 100 million Gold clearly was not a normal price.
"...How much was it originally?"
"Originally 1 billion Gold. So you could say it's heavily discounted."
"..."
Since the Tower forces them to sell, was this their way of naming an absurd price? If he had at least smiled, I could have written it off as a joke, but the shopkeeper's face was utterly expressionless. As if he truly believed the price was 1 billion Gold.
"...We'll come back later."
Choi Ji-won and I walked out of the Passage Stone Shop empty-handed. Now I understood why Felix had told us to experience it for ourselves. The malice the dwarves projected was anything but temporary or fleeting.
If anything, it was cold, sharp, and sticky. Right now, the covert glares pricking at us from every direction were stinging. The dwarves loathed the human species itself.
"Hmm..."
I had a clear grasp of the situation. Floor 11 had been thoroughly warped.
But the real problem was we had no idea what had caused it. There was no way the dwarves had been like this from the start. Clearly, a previous advance party must have done something, but no one was around to tell us the reason.
"We need to know the cause to do something about it..."
The dwarves were not going to tell us directly... The German players, including Felix, had entered Floor 11 after everything was already finished... I was racking my brain for anyone else to ask when.
"Didn't they say there's an angel here?"
Choi Ji-won offered a surprisingly simple solution.
"The Passage Stone is supposed to be submitted to the angel... the angel also takes goods and gives out money... so couldn't we just ask the angel?"
She was right. The presence of an angel was explicitly stated for Floor 11. An angel would certainly be in a position to know the whole situation.
"...Would the angel actually tell us?"
But whether the angel would cooperate with us was a complete unknown. If this was the type of angel that looked down on humans, the chances were higher they would mock us rather than help. Something about inferior humans, truly you lot, and so on.
"Still, I think it's worth trying. Didn't they say the angel is in the center of the fortress?"
Since we had no other solutions anyway, it cost nothing to try. Who knew — if we found the angel and talked things through, maybe they would help. So we headed toward the fortress center where the angel was said to be, and before long, the silhouette of a winged angel came into view in the distance.
"..."
"What's wrong?"
"No, I feel like I'm remembering something..."
That angel looked strangely familiar. Like the tip-of-the-tongue feeling of passing an elementary school classmate on the street.
The closer I got, the more my eyes narrowed with suspicion, until finally, when I stood before the angel, they went wide. I recognized the angel in front of me.
"Uh, uhh?"
The angel must have felt the same, because they stared back with startled rabbit eyes.
"You, from Floor 2..."
"...Lord Jun-ho?!"
Do you remember the fierce battle I fought against the City Master on Floor 2? After I barely defeated the City Master, Archangel Raphael appeared and confronted her.
Back then, Archangel Raphael had taken away the terrified Sign Angel, saying they would administer 'punishment.' I had felt sympathy for the angel and told Raphael to leave them alone, because I felt the Sign Angel had been used just as much as the players had.
"It's been a while."
Yes.
The angel serving as the guide on Floor 11 was the very same Sign Angel I had saved on Floor 2.