Choi Ji-won Is Rude (2)
Choi Ji-won Is Rude (2)
Thanks to my achievement level, my physical abilities had improved considerably. Clearing the grass, which used to take three days, was finished in a single day.
That meant I could start moving around early—barely a day after entering the Tower.
What I did was simple.
I roamed the inside of the Tower as much as possible, searching for people.
And I urged everyone I met to return to the clearing.
At first, I had some worries.
They might react with, 'We're doing fine on our own. Let's just ignore that guy.'
The result surprised me.
"Really... is it true?"
"Food... and a place to sleep too? All of it?"
To ordinary people, a single day in the Tower was far harsher and more exhausting than I had imagined.
More people than I expected were repulsed by the idea of killing something alive in the first place, and the fatigue from carrying a heavy weapon around all day was severe.
"Even when we posted a watch... I still couldn't sleep... there's no blanket or bed... and I miss my mom..."
A woman with dark hollows under her eyes wiped away tears as she said that.
The terror—that they might really die—had gnawed through people's spirits in a single day and left them brittle.
In the previous cycle, they must have had only one reason not to return to the clearing.
Because you couldn't survive without killing monsters.
Because you couldn't let yourself starve to death.
But once they knew that the clearing had food, a place to sleep, and absurdly strong guards, they no longer had any reason to hesitate.
"Ha. You know what my level is? Quit your bullshit and get lost."
Of course, I occasionally spotted people who had adapted so perfectly to the Tower that they clearly didn't need my help, but their numbers were never large.
At a glance, most of the people acting like that had Traits.
The reality of the Tower was that those without Traits, or with flimsy ones, were groaning under the fatigue.
And so, in one day, I sent twenty-two people back to the clearing.
If Choi Ji-won found that overwhelming, I could pretend to help while playing the nice guy. If it didn't faze her at all, I could keep sending people until it did.
That wasn't the only harvest.
"Uwaaaaah!"
Whenever I ran toward a scream, I always found one or two people fleeing from a pack of goblins or a mutant goblin.
Swish-swish-slash!
The moment I spotted them, I just sliced everything apart.
The flimsy goblins weren't a threat, and the mutant goblins—wholly fixated on the prey in front of them—were no match for me either.
In a straight one-on-one fight, maybe. But when I was the one ambushing, there was no way I'd lose to a mutant goblin.
My odds only dropped in a head-on fight because I couldn't afford to take a single hit.
Once I had saved the people—
"Thank you! Thank you!"
"Sniff... hic... I really thought I was going to die..."
—I left behind those who were weeping in relief.
[You can acquire a Trait.]
Every time. Without fail. I could acquire a Trait.
From what I could guess, if I made someone feel a truly powerful emotion, I could obtain a Trait.
That was how it happened with Anchovy and with Punk. Same thing now, when I rescued people.
Every one of them had been feeling an extreme emotion.
But there was a catch.
- Relief [FFF]
- When you are suffering. When you feel like you'll collapse from exhaustion. Looking at you brings peace of mind.
"...What?"
The Traits I got from saving people were all utter garbage.
No, seriously, what even is FFF-rank?
I'd get it if it was some webnovel title bait—"World's Strongest with an FFF-rank Trait!"—but this thing was genuinely just trash.
It couldn't even provoke reactions in people the way Awe did. The effect stopped at making the expressions of the people I'd saved look ever so slightly more at ease.
You think I just have bad luck?
- Faith [FFF]
- Respect [FFF]
- Love [FFF]
- Trust [FFF]
- Admiration [FFF]
The Traits I got from saving people... were all trash-tier.
If Awe had shown up again, I could have at least stacked it to see what happened, but that one stubbornly refused to appear.
I couldn't claim repeats never happened—Admiration had shown up three times, I think.
Once or twice might be coincidence. Repeated is inevitable.
After enough repetition, I realized one thing.
"...Right. That Anchovy guy was S-rank."
Anchovy's party, by Tutorial standards, was strong as hell.
Honestly, the fact that they took down a mutant goblin with zero damage already proved that.
The people I saved were all the weak ones.
If the stronger you are, the better the Trait you give me, then it's no wonder the people I rescued gave me such crummy Traits.
Did that make my efforts completely meaningless, though? Not exactly.
[Conditions satisfied.]
[Merging Traits.]
At some point a message like this popped up, and the FFF-rank Traits all vanished in a rush.
- Hero [F]
- In moments of crisis, people will think of you. Become stronger when fighting to protect someone.
A new Trait with a stylish name appeared. The rank was a bit low, though.
Maybe because I'd earned it by rescuing people, the Trait's description was positivity itself.
Nothing like that diseased Trait involving the word "fear."
The description was clear too: a simple condition—you get stronger when protecting others.
Back when I was only getting FFF-rank Traits, I'd started to think Traits didn't matter much...
But now that this happened, pulling a Trait out of everyone seems worth trying.
I also need to check whether I can get Traits repeatedly from the same person after I regress.
My hopes for the Trait I'd get from Choi Ji-won grew even bigger.
If the scrappy Anchovy gave me a C-rank, what on earth would Choi Ji-won give?
"Status Window."
[Name: Kim Jun-ho] [LV:6]
[Traits]
- Regression [EX]
- Awe [C]
- Hero [F]
Now the Status Window looked a little fuller. Much better than when it just had Regression sitting there all alone.
"...My level went up?"
The most frustrating part was that achievement level.
It never told me when, how, or by doing what it had gone up.
Without knowing the conditions, I couldn't aim for it. I could only guess.
When I first checked the Status Window right after entering the Tower, I was level 1. After tangling with goblins, level 2.
Level 3 after cutting the grass. Level 5 when I checked the Status Window together with Anchovy. And now, level 6.
Press. Press.
I pressed [LV:6] on the Status Window, but it didn't respond.
Anchovy said when he pressed his it brought up a list of achievements.
Why is it so strict with me? Why only me!!!
"Hoo..."
If I had been a Regressor coming from the future on my second cycle, I could have cherry-picked achievements and shown an insane growth curve.
Even in regular games, achievements are usually something you just pick up while playing. Don't you need a guide if you're seriously aiming for a 100% clear?
"Did I save... eight people? Ten?"
Again, all I could do was guess that I earned the level by rescuing people.
"Ah, or not?"
Come to think of it, Anchovy said last cycle that he got the achievement for "First Mutant Goblin Kill."
This time I killed a mutant in a single day, so I probably stole the achievement Anchovy had gotten. No, wait—finders keepers, right?
"Hmm..."
Talking about Anchovy reminded me of Punk, who died at my hands.
When I killed Punk and checked, my level had gone from 3 to 5.
I could chalk one of those up to acquiring a Trait for the first time...
Could killing a person also count as an achievement?
Or was Punk just special? This time, maybe I should try killing Anchovy...
"Tch. No way."
If a humanity licensing examiner stood in front of me right now, he'd be staring at me with deep disapproval.
Something like, 'Hrm... I'll let it slide this time,' would be coming out of his mouth.
Almost got my humanity license revoked. Relax. Relax.
Sure, maybe slaughtering everyone in sight would make me stronger faster.
Maybe there'd be a 100-kill achievement, a 1000-kill achievement, letting me skyrocket my achievement level.
Someone might think: since regression brings back everyone I killed anyway, why not kill them?
But I'll say it again. What matters is my mental state.
For anyone who repeats loops like a death regressor, mental health is the most important thing.
There are cases where someone loops over and over and stays fine because their head is so empty their nickname is Blockhead...
But most death regressors lose their human heart during the looping process and break down. They wither.
I want to live as a human, and clear this Tower as a human. If I go around killing others like a madman, I don't know how badly my character will twist.
If there's one thing I want to avoid, it's becoming a monster instead of a human. That's how I feel.
"Let's think good thoughts. Good thoughts."
Come to think of it, lately I'd been a bit too obsessed with Choi Ji-won.
What right did that crazy bitch have to make me chase after her this much.
It was probably my shallow need for validation acting up. There was no reason at all to rush.
If I keep going, I win everything. I'll grow infinitely stronger, while my enemies stagnate.
The sun was setting and night was drawing near. If I went to sleep thinking horrible thoughts about slaughtering everyone, I'd have nightmares.
I leaned my back against a large tree and settled into a comfortable position.
Instead of thinking about Choi Ji-won and the stress, let's fix my mental state by imagining something cute and adorable.
That reminded me of an animal I once saw on YouTube, a Pallas's cat.
I closed my eyes and spread the wings of my imagination.
Pallas's cats have a round, plump shape and thick fur. And the things they do are cute.
When this little critter hunts, it moves in jerky stop-motion, like a toy running out of batteries, and that just oozes charm.
"...You."
When it goes on the hunt, its expression is endlessly serious, but that undeniable cuteness...
"...Answer me."
Ugh, I'm trying to imagine an adorable Pallas's cat here. Why do I keep hearing—I mean, thinking I hear—the grotesque voice of Choi Ji-won...
Huh?
I snapped my eyes open. Standing before me with her arms crossed and a rigid expression was Choi Ji-won.
"...You. What were you thinking, sending those people?"
Choi Ji-won.
She had come to find me herself, in just one day.