The Regressor Gets Stronger (4)
The Regressor Gets Stronger (4)
...
After seeing the number [25], I stepped into the elevator without a word and entered [5]. The other players stammered but couldn't stop me. Was it okay to just hop in? No problem. The glasses woman had figured out the rules—she'd explain.
Oooong.
"Hmm..."
During the brief elevator ride, I let my thoughts drift.
I already knew who the traitor was. She had lied right from the very first test.
The four other players were companions. That meant the people hurt by her betrayal were, in all likelihood, her own allies.
A few things followed.
First, she didn't think much of her comrades. She obviously operated on the mindset that as long as she profited, it didn't matter if they took losses.
Second, this woman had clearly deduced that Floor 12 was designed to stir up conflict between players. She threw out a lie first and then watched to decide her next move. There was no reason to lie from the first test otherwise.
Hadn't the other players guessed that Floor 12 would work like Floor 11? I'd thought the same.
So by lying right from the start, she planted the idea that there was a Liar among us. After that, a little politicking would make sinking someone trivial. She could fill in the details as the situation unfolded.
In other words, the Liar had guts and a good head on her shoulders. A moron would've first figured out how the tests worked and only started lying in the second test. Lying from the first test proved she was sharp.
Ding.
When the elevator doors opened, I stopped musing. I let cold energy seep from my body and approached the black mannequin.
—Thud.
The mannequin that had been about to rise froze in that awkward half-standing posture the instant my Cold Mana washed over it. So this power even works on mannequins.
That a mannequin—more machine than human—could freeze suggested a lot of possibilities. It meant the effect would likely hold even when I challenged tougher enemies down the line.
Shnk.
I lightly pierced the immobile mannequin between the eyes, returned to the elevator, and picked my train of thought back up.
Why had the culprit blown a whopping [20] on the last test? Probably because I looked strong as hell. She must've figured, "He'll carry this, right?" and bet on the highest reward. If I didn't have regression, I might actually have been able to carry it.
"In the end, there's only one culprit."
That is, the traitor is the glasses woman. The short-haired woman was confident in her own abilities and had no reason to lie. The man with the mole and the acne-ridden guy weren't clever enough to go through such a convoluted thought process and roll the dice. She was the only one.
"Hmm..."
The problem was, I had no way to confirm this. Since the glasses woman had already gotten scared and stopped lying, that entire betrayal had become a non-event. Even if I asked, "You were planning to betray like this, right?" she wouldn't give a real answer.
And even if I'd identified the culprit, crushing her was its own issue. Because she's the traitor? Because she made things hard for me? If I was going to impose a proper punishment, what would be the standard? Korean law? Whatever I felt like? Nothing felt right.
Besides, all those betrayals had already vanished beyond the reach of time. If I punished her now, it'd be nothing more than bullying. The one getting crushed wouldn't know why, and I'd be left wondering if this was really the right call.
Oh, I could hide my power until she lied, then reveal it the moment she betrayed me and wring her dry. That way I could punish the traitor and figure out exactly how her thought process worked. But didn't that feel a bit too "catharsis fantasy"? "I want to crush you, but since you won't betray me, I'll wait until you do and then crush you!" Even I had to admit that was a seriously demonic idea.
Oooong.
"Ah... you're back? I think we've worked out the rules. Shall I explain?"
"No need."
The elevator doors opened. Ignoring the glasses woman, who was now a touch more attentive toward me, I sat down on the iron chair and reset my persona. The Liar changing her mind didn't just mean one troll was gone.
According to the association's intel, the difficulty of the next test was set by the rewards chosen in the previous test. More precisely, it was based on the highest reward chosen in the previous test.
But the glasses woman, who was supposed to lie and pick [10], had lost her nerve. And since I'd also chosen [5], the highest reward became [5].
The results became clear when the second test began after everyone had finished.
[5] Experience Elixir (Small)
[10] Custom Item Box (A- ~ C+)
[15] Experience Elixir (Medium)
The [10] and [15] rewards had been there in previous cycles, but the [20] reward was gone and a [5] reward had appeared. This was the snowball effect of the glasses woman giving up on [10].
"Hmm."
The second test had a lot of overlapping rewards. But what if I chose [15] this time? If that made the next test's rewards [15], [25], and [35]?
Then a reward I'd never seen before would likely appear. That meant an entirely new possibility would open up.
Once I'd finished thinking, I picked [15]. The protective barrier vanished. I turned my head toward the elevator, ignoring the other players' stiff expressions. The number written there was [60].
"I-I chose [15]..."
"We chose [10]...!"
Only the short-haired woman had picked [15]; the rest had gone with [10]. Judging by the data I'd accumulated so far, this was a difficulty I could clear without a scratch.
"I'll go first."
Having decided, I quickly boarded the elevator, entered [15], dispatched the mannequin in a flash, and returned. The black mannequin froze up just from being exposed to my Cold Mana, unable to move—likely because the difficulty was low, so it lacked resistance.
For stomping the weak, there really was no better power. Without a single word, just by letting cold energy seep out, I could render feeble opponents immobile.
In any case, once I was back at the starting point, grounding the mood with my heavy presence, the four other players finished chattering among themselves and boarded the elevator. I'd even weakened the intensity of the fog I emitted as a bonus, in case the chill I gave off kept them from fighting at their best.
"At this level... it's not that hard."
"Phew, guess I worried for nothing."
As I'd predicted, the players cleared the second test with ease. A hint of arrogance began creeping into their eyes, but the moment I intensified my cold aura a notch, those impure feelings vanished.
—Now, before we begin the final test, please select your rewards. Everyone, take your seats.
"Let's sit."
"Y-yes."
The players took their seats while carefully reading the room. I'd already been sitting, so I didn't need to move.
After a brief wait, a protective barrier enclosed us and a message window floated before my eyes.
[15] Teleportation Scroll
[20] Book of Possibilities (Unique)
[25] Appraisal Scroll
"Hm?"
Up until now, the numbers in the final test had always increased by 10 each time. But for some reason, this time they increased by 5. Could it be that the 10-point increments had been a penalty for always choosing the hardest difficulty? With 5-point increments being the standard?
Anyway, that wasn't what mattered. What mattered was that the Book of Possibilities I wanted was still sitting at [20], and that the [15] and [25] rewards were brand new.
"..."
Those new rewards, though—they were pretty tempting. The Teleportation Scroll let you move to any spot within 50 meters the instant you tore it. The Appraisal Scroll supposedly let you appraise anything in the world, not just items, and view a detailed description.
"Still, it's got to be [20] right now."
As tempting as the other two were, I pressed [20]. I'd been doing these tests in the first place to use the Book of Possibilities to set the direction for my training.
—All climbers have completed their selections.
Once the selections were done, the number above the elevator read [90]. The short-haired woman had chosen [25], I'd chosen [20], and the rest had all chosen the [15] reward.
Come to think of it, the short-haired woman had been sticking to her own pace with these reward picks. Probably because she was strong and had a solid mind, so the Awe trait affected her less.
"S-so, um... would you like to go first? We're fine going later."
"..."
But when I was about to actually face the [20]-difficulty enemy, I couldn't shake a sense of dissatisfaction. Hadn't I already beaten the [20] difficulty easily before learning to properly handle Cold Mana? Now that I was even stronger, I'd breeze through it, no question.
Yeah, let's get a little heat in this. Without hesitating, I stepped into the elevator and immediately entered [40].
"Wha... wait?"
"Forty?"
Back then, the man with the mole had snapped at me not to steal his chance to grow. Sorry, but I'm gonna steal it a bit this time. It's not like I'm killing anyone, and it'll all vanish when I regress, so cut me some slack.
With the elevator's hum as my soundtrack, I checked my body's condition. The window for unleashing my mana at full power was three seconds at best. But this time, I decided not to use full power—I'd aim for a longer fight instead.
Oooong.
The elevator doors opened. In the white space, the black mannequin was already on its feet. The way it held a spear in both hands was unmistakably a combat stance.
"It's been a while."
That sharp, electric feeling—it had been a while since I'd felt it. I could tell just from its stance: this mannequin was strong. If I had to rate it, it was just below the top-rankers I'd met on Floor 11—around upper-tier player strength.
No further explanation was needed between us. The moment I stepped out of the elevator and drew my sword, the spear-wielding mannequin charged.
Fwahng! The spear pierced the spot where my head had just been. I dodged the thrust and tried to snatch the spear shaft, but the mannequin spun the spear and pulled it back before I could grab it. That created an opening, though.
I gripped my sword tightly and swung, channeling only a sliver of mana. Ice crystals scattering along the blade's arc looked beautiful.
"...!"
At first, the mannequin tried to block my slash, but it must have sensed something—it pulled the spear back and arched its body backward to avoid the blow. I'd give it credit for improvising.
Bam!
It could avoid my sword, but it couldn't avoid my kick. The mannequin took my shin to its body and bounced twice across the floor before rolling to a stop.
"Hmm..."
The overall flow unfolded according to my design, but I couldn't shake an uneasy feeling. Something... something was off. I figured I'd need to fight a little more to know for sure.
The fierce exchange continued for about five minutes. Our fight ended when the mannequin's chest was slashed deep.
The black mannequin stopped moving, and the elevator doors opened. But I stood still, looking down at it.
On the surface, it seemed like I'd taken down the mannequin after an intense battle, but in truth I'd been dominating from start to finish. Even a little too much.
"Strange."
The mannequin's movements were awkward all around. Its actions were half a beat slow, sometimes its footing was off, and the force behind its spear was weak. How should I put it... it was like its technique was superb but its body couldn't keep up? Compared to the pressure I'd felt at the start, I'd won far too easily.
As I pondered what the problem was, my gaze landed on the pale fog spread across the floor.
"Ah."
So that was why it couldn't move properly. The black mannequin simply couldn't fully resist my Cold Mana.
If even a mannequin of this caliber couldn't resist it, then...
Anyone below a certain level of strength... would be too easy to beat, wouldn't they?