The Regressor Trains (11)
The Regressor Trains (11)
"So, you're saying there was something like a mannequin?"
"Yes. In a completely white space, a pitch-black mannequin attacked me with a weapon. But I guess my difficulty was 1, because it was incredibly weak."
"Hmm... Looks like it's one-on-one combat, similar to Floor 5."
The four players who heard my explanation nodded in understanding. Their bright expressions suggested they were confident in direct combat.
"More importantly, how did you decide to split the difficulties?"
"Ah, well... since the number 34 is a bit tricky, we decided to split it into 9, 9, 8, 8. The second and third people to go in will take the 8s."
"That's reasonable."
There was a chance that difficulty 1 had been exceptionally easy. Trying difficulty 8 before challenging 9 was a reasonable call. Top-ranked players really did think things through.
"Oh, and there's a cabinet over there with weapons. Feel free to use one if you need it."
The woman with glasses swung her sword around, saying she'd taken hers from there. The two men were each holding an axe and a spear, and the short-haired woman was wearing gauntlets.
Good. With that, all preparations are...
"Wait, hold on."
Just as I was about to move on, I felt something off. Something... something's strange. But what is it?
Ah. I figured it out. That's what the sense of unease was about.
"Um..."
"Yes? What's wrong?"
"Everyone... you don't have weapons?"
Come to think of it, they didn't have weapons when they arrived on Floor 12. What if weapons are provided at the start of each floor? It still matters, because if they'd cleared Floor 11 normally, they should have been holding at least one dwarf-made weapon.
The reason I hadn't noticed the discrepancy until now was that they were wearing dwarf-made armor... but they bought armor and not weapons?
"Ah, the weapons?"
The woman with glasses shrugged, as if that wasn't an issue.
"The weapons were too expensive... it seemed like the cost-efficiency wasn't worth the time. So we just bought the passage stone and left. We got the armor since they gave it away for free."
"They gave away armor for free?"
"Yeah. Something about a Choi Ji-won commemorative event or whatever?"
"..."
So then... did they really just farm nothing but the passage stone to get up here?
"We're confident in our skills, so we figured climbing the Tower fast was more important than farming items. Well, it's just a difference in priorities, isn't it?"
"W-Well, I suppose that's possible..."
Right, they're top-ranked players too, so it's just a difference in values. I can't say farming every single item is the only right answer. If you have the skills to climb easily, then climbing fast and reaping the benefits early is also a valid strategy.
...But then why did I meet them after waiting 11 days? Ah, they must have been summoned to the Tutorial late.
"Anyway, I'll be right back! It's difficulty 8, so it shouldn't take long."
As I finished rationalizing to myself, the woman with glasses boarded the elevator. The doors closed soon after, and a brief silence followed.
"Hey, but have you ever fought a person before?"
"...No? But well. It'll be similar."
After a little while, they started chatting among themselves. They didn't seem interested in talking to me or getting friendly, and I felt the same, so that was comfortable.
I pondered my future plans while they had small talk for about three minutes.
"...Why isn't she coming back?"
"Last time, it was quick."
"...The difficulty is different, you idiots."
"Oh, here she comes."
The elevator doors opened, revealing the woman with glasses.
"Uh, uh?"
"Are you okay?"
No, I should now call her the woman formerly with glasses. Her hand held a pair of smashed spectacles.
"Well... I let my guard down."
"Can you see without your glasses?"
"I'm a player, of course I can. It's just very slightly blurry?"
The woman formerly with glasses... no, I'll just keep calling her the woman with glasses. According to her, the difficulty 8 mannequin was quite tough. Her basic physical abilities were superior, but the mannequin was better in terms of skill. It was a setup similar to my fight against the clone on Floor 5.
"Still, I have a trait that lets me see weaknesses. So I overcame it quickly."
But even if she was outmatched in technique, she was still a top-ranked player. Relying on her vastly superior physical abilities and her weakness-detection trait, she slowly but surely defeated the mannequin with relative ease. Her glasses broke because she let her guard down at the very end.
"Hmm..."
This is a floor about cooperation, so she probably wasn't lying. Therefore, I should consider the difficulty 8 mannequin as being 'capable of landing a hit on a careless top-ranked player.'
The difficulty spike here is pretty steep. The gap between difficulty 1 and 8 is quite severe.
"Then, is it my turn next?"
Anyway, next was the man with acne. He confidently boarded the elevator, a large axe slung over his back.
And four minutes later.
"Hey, your armor's dented in!"
"No, I let my guard down too... how do I fix this?"
He returned with a deep gash near the ribs of his armor. Seeing no other injuries, he must have crushed the opponent, but allowed a surprise hit at the very end.
"Hey, just wait. I'll show you how it's done."
The man with the mole went in next. He looked fine on the surface, but had a couple of small scratches on his armor.
"I'll go and come back, too...!"
The short-haired woman went in last and completed the test without a scratch, except for the hot steam rising from her body.
Well, they were top-ranked players, so they cleared it easily. We successfully passed the first test. It was a fairly satisfying outcome.
-Now, before we begin the second test, you will each select your reward. Please take your seats.
Before we could even celebrate this small victory, a dry, emotionless voice echoed through the space. We confidently sat down on the metal chairs right away.
Just like before, a barrier surrounded us, blocking all sound, and a message window appeared before my eyes.
[10] Custom Item Box (A- ~ C+)
[15] Experience Elixir (Medium)
[20] Random Trait Box (Unique)
"...?"
The difficulty suddenly jumped. The lowest number is 10? The highest is 20? What the hell? Is it like this for everyone else? Or is it just me because I chose 10 in the first test?
I have to be careful here. 8 was at a level where it could land a hit on a careless top player. If I choose 20, can I clear it without a single scratch?
...But I don't really have much of a choice anyway.
The problem is the Experience Elixir is completely useless to me. Even if I pick 10 and get the item, it'll just disappear once I regress, so I'd have to pick it on my final cycle.
On the other hand, looking purely at the reward, the difficulty 20 [Random Trait Box] is the most attractive. Traits stay with me even if I regress.
"..."
What should I do? Should I gamble on 20? Or should I try 10 first to test the waters? No, 15 feels like the right call here. It's highly suspicious that the lowest reward suddenly became [10].
If my choice of 10 in the last test set the baseline, making the lowest reward 10... then if I choose 15 this time, the lowest reward will likewise become 15.
Why not just pick 10? What if someone else picks 15? The baseline change might not be limited to just me.
-All climbers have made their selections.
Once the choices were made and the barriers vanished, I could see the relaxed faces of the other players.
"All done?"
"The starting point is 10 this time?"
"Oh, it went up quite a bit."
From their chatter, it was clear the reward baseline had changed for everyone.
I looked away from their laughing and chatting to check the elevator, and saw the number [90] displayed. Wait, 90?
"Ah, I picked 20."
"...Me too."
The short-haired woman and the man with the mole proudly said they had chosen [20]. If those two make 40... there's one more 20, and then two of us, including me, chose 15?
"So, you picked 20 too, right?"
"...No? I picked 15."
"...Are you sure? We both chose 15..."
The issue is, there's another liar here. If the woman with glasses and the man with acne also picked 15... that doesn't add up. One of them definitely chose 20.
"...Could there be a base score? Like, five points gets added to the total by default."
If there isn't a liar, this hypothesis seems plausible. I could confirm it through a regression, so I let it pass for now.
"Alright, I'll be off then?"
While I was thinking, the man with the mole strode confidently to the elevator. He seemed full of confidence after easily winning at difficulty [9].
"Huh? Hey, why are you putting in 25?"
"There's 5 points left over again, right? I'll take on the liar's share too. Just wait."
Before anyone could stop him, the man with the mole tapped in [25] and disappeared into the elevator. It was a bit irritating to see him act like that after scolding me, 'Are you trying to steal our chance to grow?' Or was it? Did he say that because I was trying to hog all 34 points?
"W-Will he be okay?"
The woman with glasses froze up at the sudden impulsive action.
"He must be confident if he's doing that. Let's just trust him and wait."
The man with acne reassured her. He was slowly inching closer, probably trying to score some points with her.
"Hey, people at our level don't have to bow down to anyone anywhere. Did I tell you about the time I went to a club in Gangnam? They announced a player who conquered Floor 11 was here, and everyone was like, 'Wooooah!'..."
"..."
The man with acne told his story quite engagingly. He was a smooth talker, and even I found myself getting sucked into his tale while inspecting my sword.
"So this jerk goes, 'Hey, do you know Min-joo?' and..."
At some point, the short-haired woman was also engrossed, losing track of time. The story that had started in a Gangnam club had drifted to a bar fight in Busan.
"So I was there..."
"Wait, hold on."
"Hmm? Why?"
"I hear the elevator."
About 15 to 20 minutes must have passed? The elevator finally hummed. Wow, I really lost track of time. But isn't 20 minutes quite long?
Ding.
"Hey, what took you so long?"
"See, I knew 25 might be a bit tough."
The elevator doors slowly opened, and the people stood up to welcome the man with the mole. Having just heard an entertaining story, a small smile played on my lips.
"...Huh?"
That was until I saw the headless corpse inside the elevator.
"Huh? Huh? Huh?"
The man with acne kept repeating 'Huh?' like a broken machine.
"Ah, aah..."
The woman with glasses collapsed, as if her legs had given out.
"Kyaa, kyaaaaaaah!!!"
The short-haired woman screamed, her face turning bright red. This was the moment everyone was aghast at their colleague's death.
"Ah, fuck."
I was racking my brain over what to do when someone dies in the middle of a floor test. Because the fact that 'they'll come back to life if I regress' was hammered into my head.
But then I felt an unexplainable heat coming from somewhere.
"?"
I quickly turned my head, and the short-haired woman's entire body was glowing red-hot. At the same time, her words about it being 'always active' flashed through my mind.
"...!"
On pure instinct, I leaped back and stirred the cold mana that had lain dormant. In about 0.3 seconds, I had put around 3 meters between us.
"Kyaaaaaaah!!!"
Fwoooosh!
A bright red flame erupted from the short-haired woman's entire body. The space we were in was so cramped, there was nowhere to dodge.
"Hup!"
But I had no intention of regressing so pathetically. Drawing up cold mana throughout my body, I swung my freezing blade in wide circles, again and again.
Shwaaaaak!
The improvised curtain of cold sword energy blocked the hot flames. It was a defensive technique I'd only ever imagined in my head; I couldn't believe it actually worked.
"Haha! I knew this would happen!"
Just as I raised the corner of my mouth into a triumphant smirk...
"...Huh?"
Cold energy swirled in my chest, my muscles seized up, and then an intense pain hit me.
"Ah."
I lost consciousness.
[You have taken damage.]
[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 12.]