The Regressor Reflects (2)
The Regressor Reflects (2)
"Good to see you again, Jun-ho!"
"Why are you here?"
The white-haired angel Anael beamed at me. Our connection started on Floor 2, and I'd assumed it was over after she helped me on Floor 11... I never thought we'd cross paths again on Floor 16.
"Wait, do angels normally bounce around this much? What's your deal?"
"That would be the... substitute assignment! But there are too many watchful eyes around here, so let's step over there!"
Flashing a bright smile, Anael fluttered her wings, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me toward a secluded temple.
"..."
"Uh, um..."
I could see Choi Ji-won's expression darkening in real time, so I reached out with my free hand and caught her by the wrist. The three of us moved like a little conga line.
"We're here!"
When we finally stopped inside the temple, Anael dropped into a cross-legged sit with a thump — a pose that matched the Buddha statue painted behind her.
"So, what would you like to know? Normally I'm not allowed to say, but because it's you, Jun-ho, I'll tell you everything!"
"Let's start with why you're here."
"As I said — substitute assignment! An unsavory incident occurred a week ago, which is why I was sent here."
"Unsavory incident?"
"To explain that, I must first explain this floor's task. This is the standard briefing all climbers receive!"
Anael cupped her hands as if shaping an imaginary sphere, and a white light began to glow between her palms — almost like she was forming a spiral ring.
"Now, this is the 'Stone,' the heart of this floor. Call it a rock, call it a boulder — either is fine!"
What materialized was the enormous boulder I'd seen just moments ago. Scratching that boulder was the whole point of Floor 16.
"To scratch this boulder, you must become stronger!"
Anael tapped the glowing boulder with two fingers.
"Starting out strong means nothing! Only the strength you build after entering this floor matters! The boulder is imbued with a mysterious blessing. Most climbers get stronger naturally through life-and-death battles, but they've rarely devoted themselves to disciplined training. You could call this floor a training ground meant to teach them that discipline."
She picked up a worn book from near the Buddha statue and set it down in front of me.
"We do not merely force you to grow stronger! This floor offers a wealth of resources to help you grow — far faster than training outside! All you need is one thing: the iron will to push yourself. Only those who set aside concern for their own safety can advance beyond this floor to the next!!!"
Apologies to Anael and her impassioned speech, but I already understood the floor's concept.
"So basically, if you get stronger than you were when you arrived, you can scratch the boulder."
"That's right!"
"...Then can you explain why you were sent here?"
Training, honestly, is my specialty. I'm no genius. I'm someone who has flailed against the currents of time to overcome the wall of talent. For reference, Choi Ji-won is a genius who works hard, which is truly unfair.
So what mattered now was how Anael wound up here.
I was ... slightly, just slightly, suspicious of her. An angel from Floor 2 appearing on Floor 11 — that, I could accept. But if she'd followed me all the way to Floor 16... I couldn't help but wonder if some scheme was lurking underneath.
"Ah! That's simple! The previous angel made a colossal mistake!"
Anael giggled, seemingly oblivious — or not — to my suspicion.
"The previous angel misconfigured the Authority settings, and an incident occurred: the boulder that is the core of Floor 16 was stolen in its entirety! It seems a subspace user simply popped it into a subspace pocket!"
"...Stolen?"
"Yes! Though the boulder carries a peculiar blessing, apparently no one anticipated that someone would just uproot and take the whole thing!"
"Good grief."
"So, in exchange for a special reward, they negotiated its return, or so I'm told! Because the previous angel blundered so badly, I was tapped to come here — my performance reviews have been excellent, you see!"
My suspicions evaporated immediately. There was a perfectly sensible reason.
Stolen, huh. The first person who sprang to mind was Dok Su-hee, the Inventory ability user. I don't know the exact limits of her ability, but if her power has evolved, I could see her stuffing that enormous boulder into her inventory without much trouble. She said it happened a week ago, so the timeline roughly fits. It tracks, especially if she was climbing hard while I was trembling on Floor 10.
"What a main-character move."
Who even thinks about stealing an entire boulder? That's the kind of play you'd expect from a web-novel main character. And then leveraging it to squeeze out a reward — same energy.
Just as I was about to sink into my thoughts, Anael dusted off her backside and stood up.
"Ah, another player just arrived, so I must go deliver the explanation! If you have further questions, I am always happy to answer them with the utmost sincerity!"
She shot off toward the top of the giant boulder at a breakneck pace, leaving just me and Choi Ji-won in the temple.
"..."
"Ji-won?"
"What."
"Want to look around outside a bit more? See what everyone else is doing."
"...Fine."
I coaxed a faintly sulking Choi Ji-won out of the secluded temple and we began exploring the other buildings.
After surveying the temple grounds, it seemed the area was split into three main zones.
First, the 'Hidden Piece' zone — specifically, the temples that surround the boulder.
What stood out about this zone was how many suspiciously meaningful things it held.
Strange marks carved into wooden walls, a worn book left near the floorboards, an old scroll wedged into a ceiling crack...
On closer inspection, every single one turned out to be a 'Hidden Piece' containing some kind of martial art. The variety was as wide as the number of weapon types, and even within a single weapon, the movements described spanned a dizzying range of styles.
"Are they really allowed to just leave these out in the open like this?"
"You're asking that, Ji-won? And anyway, they were already like this. Looks like earlier climbers already turned everything upside down at least once."
What was notable was that almost all of them had already been uncovered — not exactly living up to the 'Hidden' label. Rumor had it that one player who cleared Floor 16 had been dead certain that a legendary martial art was hidden here, and they stayed on the floor for a whole month tearing the temples apart. The scattered secret manuals were the evidence.
"These don't seem like particularly high-level techniques."
"...You think?"
"Yeah. If you learned them, Jun-ho, they wouldn't make you any stronger."
According to Choi Ji-won, the martial arts here are bare-bones, entry-level stuff. Useful for people who don't know how to fight at all but useless for anyone who's already reached a certain level of mastery.
So, naturally, the central temples were a pass.
Next, we headed up a hill to a broad training ground.
Plenty of players were honing their skills there even now, but I didn't examine them too closely. Honestly, it was just a big, open workout yard.
The last stop was a set of caves that appeared after a long walk down a forest path. There were several small, shallow caves, currently being used by players as private training rooms. People said they usually holed up here for one final session before leaving Floor 16.
"What do they do about food, sleep, and bathroom needs?"
"The angel brings meals on schedule. Sleep is easy — you just crash in any temple. There's a separate restroom facility."
"Thank you."
"Oh, and there are plenty of clothes in that building tucked in the corner over there — just so you know."
After gathering the basics from a passing player, Ji-won and I sat on the forest path and looked down at the temples from above. The temple grounds, dyed in autumn colors, made for a beautiful scene.
"Well, this should be quick. We just have to get stronger, right?"
This floor looked pretty easy. No life-threatening danger, and the floor itself practically demands that you grow. You could even call it generous.
Though I had to admit, the way the Tower had been handing out freebies since Floor 11 made me a bit uneasy. What kind of nightmare task was waiting down the line? Or was this all prep for Floor 15 monster invasion?
"Clear it fast and move on to Floor 17..."
"...So, what does it actually mean to become stronger?"
"Hm?"
Out of nowhere, Choi Ji-won tossed a philosophical question into my train of thought.
"I don't really understand what 'becoming stronger' means in the first place. You could increase your muscle strength, get more comfortable with your trait, refine your weapon techniques... or maybe it's just about being able to hit that boulder harder? That feels vague to me."
She appeared to have gotten hung up on the precise definition of 'strength.'
"For example, what if someone who's already reached the peak of their growth enters this floor? Do they just... never get to leave? That would be weird, right? It makes me think that the 'strength' they're talking about here isn't just plain old strength."
"Uh... Ji-won."
"Something more conceptual, beyond that... hm? What?"
As I listened to her, an ominous thought began to curl up in my own mind like smoke.
"The benchmark for 'getting stronger' is the moment you enter this floor, right?"
"Right?"
"But if I regress... isn't it true that I'll come back stronger each time?"
"Oh, hell."
"So in that case..."
No, this wasn't just an ominous thought. It was the reality staring me in the face.
"Wouldn't the threshold for clearing Floor 16 just keep going up...?"
I had a feeling I needed to escape this floor as fast as humanly possible.