The Regressor Trains (15)
The Regressor Trains (15)
"Huh?"
"Wha?"
Before the other players could properly react, the elevator doors slid shut. What I had to worry about now was the aftermath. I could probably handle those three hangers-on, no problem... So I just needed to convince the short-haired woman.
Whirr.
The elevator moved, regardless of my dilemma. A few moments later, the doors began to open. Before the black mannequin with the club could even fully straighten up—
Shing! Thunk!
The dwarf-forged sword I threw impaled itself in the mannequin's crown. The elevator doors, still only half-open, slid shut again. Was I seriously throwing a masterpiece sword around like that? Whatever, I was going to regress anyway. The Regressor's perk is not having to hoard your items.
Wait. What if the other players jump me? Do I need to pull that sword back out?
Whirr.
But the elevator started moving again before I could even react. I'd succeeded in the test speedrun, but I'd lost the sword. Damn it, I should've just knocked it down the normal way instead of showing off.
About thirty seconds later. Sword or no sword, the elevator door opened again, and four players with inscrutable expressions were waiting for me.
"Seriously, choosing 1 isn't fair at all, is it?"
"Just what are you trying to pull here?"
At a glance they looked angry, but their expressions were a complicated mix. Did they at least have a conscience? They seemed to realize they were in no position to call me out.
"Look here. Right now, you guys can't even pull your own weight, can you? Huh? Are you in any position to raise your voices?"
"..."
They'd already confirmed I was vastly stronger, and they were shameless besides. The very idea of them saying, "This looks impossible, so just go easy on it, okay~" to me was insane from the start.
"But, I mean... if this keeps up, won't we all die?"
"Dying together is a bit much, isn't it..."
The players voiced their regrets in considerably quieter tones. They too assumed that failing the test meant death.
"Who says you die if you fail the test?"
"...Excuse me?"
"I'm saying that might not be the case."
<Floor 12>
-Pass three 'tests' in total. Each person may only participate once per test. If the final test is failed, no rewards will be given.
-All rewards are distributed individually after clearing Floor 12.
"If we all pick Difficulty [1], we can survive. It just means you fail the test and don't get rewards. There's nothing in the text that says you die."
This was just a matter of explaining the loophole I'd realized. What if I was wrong? What if failing the test really did mean death? Then I'd just regress. For now, all I could do was believe my hypothesis was correct.
"We can live even if we fail the test?"
"Well, if that's how it is..."
The dot-eyed man and the acne-scarred man were visibly relieved when they heard my explanation. These guys had been looking for a way to survive from the start.
"B-but it says if you fail the last test, you lose all the rewards..."
On the other hand, the bespectacled woman still seemed to have lingering regrets. The text did indeed say no rewards were distributed if you failed the final test. Meaning, you wouldn't get the rewards earned from the first or second tests either.
"And so you think you can just carry everyone else's weight?"
"...Fine."
But I managed to shoot that down, too, simply by reminding her just how shameless she was being. Like I said, you're in no position to call me out.
Of course, one person here was free of all this responsibility.
"...What about me?"
The short-haired woman. She'd done her fair share from beginning to end, and she hadn't pulled any crap like shoving responsibility onto me. Sure, they would've failed this test even without me, but... from her perspective, it was clearly unfair.
Honestly, I had no reason to feel indebted to her.
"Take this."
"What's this? An eli... Huh?"
"It's valuable. Just take it for now."
To keep things moving smoothly, I invested a precious elixir in her. Something for her to keep safe until I regressed.
"Alright, let's think positive. We were all nearly dead here anyway, and at least we're getting out with our lives. Right?"
"...Fine."
My persuasion must have worked, because the players entered the elevator one by one. If things went as badly as possible here... the last person would be forced to shoulder the full remainder, and might even have to enter [126].
[1]
But, whether for better or worse, the number input didn't freeze up until the last person entered. When the short-haired woman finally stepped out, the number left on the elevator panel was [125].
"..."
"..."
Was this simply a test failure? Or was it a clear in its own way? The moment I unconsciously gulped—
-All tests passed. However, the final test has been failed.
-No rewards given as a penalty.
-Floor 12 cleared.
"Phew."
"I-I'm alive."
A blue portal bloomed in the center of the room. Come to think of it, it did say 'pass' the tests, not 'succeed' at them. Thank goodness my hypothesis turned out to be correct.
"I'm heading out, then."
Without checking the other players' reactions, I immediately threw myself into the blue portal. The lab-like interior of this place was driving me insane. I wanted to get home as fast as possible.
After quickly passing through two portals, I finally saw the familiar sight of my studio apartment. Now that I noticed it, even the air tasted a little different. The air in my place was a bit mustier, but it had that familiar, homey scent. Yeah, this is it.
But where was Ji-won? Traces of her were everywhere, but she herself was nowhere to be seen. I froze for a second, slightly startled.
Beep beep beep beep. The sound of the door lock from the front door.
"...You're back!"
With a convenience store bag in one hand and Boongboong-yi in the other, Choi Ji-won's eyes widened when she saw me. She'd probably half-drawn Boongboong-yi, thinking I might be an intruder.
"Jun-ho!"
She carefully set Boongboong-yi down by the front door, then immediately threw herself into my arms. Yeah, I'd missed this warmth and this scent.
"What happened? Why did it take so long? I was worried sick..."
"Well, you see..."
Choi Ji-won smelled fragrant, like she'd washed not long ago. She looked a little gaunt, but her skin was fair and her clothes were neat.
That was a relief. I'd thought Choi Ji-won would've been excessively worried, but she was in better shape than I'd expected. She hadn't been suffering too badly, then. The moment I saw her and felt reassured, my eyes slowly slid shut and drowsiness washed over me.
"Well... I've got a lot to tell you. But can I sleep a little first? You look fine yourself, so..."
"Y-yeah... okay. Okay. Sleep well."
I held Choi Ji-won tight and lay down on the bed. This warmth, this feeling of escaping the extraordinary and returning to the ordinary. The familiar scent of my pillow. The soft blanket. My brain, aching from all the stress, finally shut down.
"...I've been keeping up with the cleaning because I didn't know when you'd be back, you idiot..."
I fell into a deep sleep.
**
Two days after clearing Floor 12. Ji-won and I focused entirely on resting, without asking each other anything. We ate good food, went out to see fun things, bought random stuff on the street. There's a difference between resting 'actively' and 'lazing around,' and we rested actively. So much so that two days flew by.
After repeating the same actions in a cramped space, spending time with someone I loved was happiness. Yeah, this is what life is.
"Ahh, I finally feel alive again."
Once I felt my mind had stabilized enough, I finally spilled the story of what happened on Floor 12. How it took a full eleven days for another person to arrive, the endless agony caused by the liar, and how I'd barely managed to think of the option to 'run away' and make it here. Ji-won nodded continuously, listening intently and sympathizing.
When my story—long in the telling, short in the summary—was done, Choi Ji-won looked at me with slightly reddened eyes.
"...You've been through a lot."
As she gently embraced me, I closed my eyes and savored the feel of her. I was happy.
"More importantly, Jun-ho."
"Yeah?"
"I'm telling you this now, but I have a present I've been preparing for you."
Wiping away a single tear, Choi Ji-won pulled out her phone and quickly typed a text. After a short while, a call came in on her phone. The screen said 'Association.'
"While you were gone, I thought about what I could do for you."
She held the ringing phone out in front of me, waving it gently from side to side.
"So, I pushed the talks forward to the point just before becoming an Association-affiliated player. Far enough that there's no blowback if we refuse."
"No way..."
"Yeah."
That's right.
"Information. You needed it, right?"
Thanks to the groundwork Choi Ji-won had laid, we could now repeat regressions and siphon information from the Association.