The Regressor Reflects (5)
The Regressor Reflects (5)
Another day on Floor 16, same as always.
"Anael."
"Yes! Lord Jun-ho!"
I was leaning against the enormous stone in the center of the front courtyard, talking with Anael.
"No matter how I think about it, something's been bothering me... my Swordsmanship Trait now has the phrase [Specialization Recognized] attached to it. What does that mean?"
"Is that guy really the one people talk about?"
"Hey, I can hear you."
I ignored the whispered comments as the players passed and tilted my head slightly to the right.
"Honestly... I don't think my swordsmanship has seen some huge breakthrough. All the fundamentals I use now were established back on Floor 5 when I was trading blows with the Clone. Cold Energy is just an application of that. So why would some strange modifier get attached to it now? Well, if you're allowed to tell me, that is."
The past days had been more than enough time to reflect on myself, and I had re-examined the weapons I possessed. What did I have, and what did I lack? And the question that arose during that process was precisely this: what made my swordsmanship A-rank?
"Hmm... I don't know the full context, and it's also true that there are aspects I'm limited in answering perfectly!"
Anael answered my question with her usual energy.
"So I will answer only to the extent that I believe is permissible! Is that acceptable?"
"Of course. I'm grateful just to be told anything."
"First, traits are never completely independent!"
"...What do you mean?"
I leaned in, focusing more intently on Anael's words.
"Just as it's impossible to move only your ring finger in isolation, traits influence one another! When one trait grows, others grow alongside it, and when one trait vanishes, others may vanish with it!"
"...Really?"
"Yes! You said you already had the fundamentals of swordsmanship... so recently, haven't you obtained or awakened some new power?"
"I have. More precisely, I suppose you could say I became aware of a fortuitous encounter."
"Fully awakening that power must have influenced your Swordsmanship Trait! Lord Jun-ho, you are a swordsman—wouldn't you use that ability in conjunction with your sword? The result is effectively the same as your swordsmanship itself advancing!"
"Ah-ha..."
So traits, like everything else, are connected. Obvious when you think about it, and fascinating from a certain perspective.
"Thanks. That helps. I'll have to tell Ji-won later."
"Not at all! I'm happy to be of help!"
"Sure, sure. See you tomorrow."
"Yes! Understood!"
Something worth remembering. After saying goodbye to Anael, I got up, dusted off my pants, and started walking.
"Hoo."
Everything feels familiar now. This forest where autumn leaves seem to drift endlessly. The crisp, cool air. Even these clothes that scratch and tickle my skin.
"Hey! Did you make up with your girlfriend? You've been going around separately lately."
"For the last time, she's not my girlfriend."
"Ha ha ha! You expect me to believe that? See you at mealtime!"
"Good grief... yeah, see you later."
Even the other players who casually greet me.
"The air is nice..."
Four and a half months since entering Floor 16.
Choi Ji-won still hasn't left a scratch on the stone.
**
The first month, I just waited. I had faith in Choi Ji-won, and I hoped results would come if I was patient.
In the second month, I started getting a little uneasy. As familiar faces departed one by one, a sense of urgency crept in. The things people muttered around me when they saw Choi Ji-won weren't exactly healthy, either. Still, even then, I wasn't in a rush.
Guys far less talented than Choi Ji-won overcame this floor. The so-called geniuses breezed through it in a week and moved on. I couldn't even imagine the Choi Ji-won I knew crumbling here.
Her age, the trajectory she's walked, everything I've seen of her—all of it proves who Choi Ji-won is. I didn't doubt her.
And then, finally, when we passed the three-month mark...
"Uh... Ji-won?"
"Oh, uh... Jun-ho..."
Choi Ji-won glanced warily at me as she swallowed her greens.
Looking at how deflated she'd become... honestly, a little doubt did creep in.
"Is it going well?"
"...Jun-ho, should I try learning the spear? Would that let me clear?"
"No. It wouldn't work anyway."
"..."
"..."
"Hey, you know that was a joke, right? Seriously."
"Really...?"
"Really. I believe in you. Ah, but I did mean the part about the spear being pointless."
Honestly, that pause earlier was just a joke. But I'd been looking at this situation from a slightly different angle.
"For starters... from what I can see, Ji-won, you've gotten incredibly strong. At least way stronger than back when we fought on the mountain."
"You think so? I still feel like I'm far from strong enough..."
"Well, that's just how it feels to me. But doesn't it strike you as odd? I cleared Floor 16 after gaining some tiny, obscure trait I didn't even know about, and yet you're still stuck like this."
If there's a problem, it's not with Choi Ji-won. It's with the conditions of this floor.
"I think the definition of 'strength' here might be something different."
I hadn't exactly been lazing around for the past three months. On the contrary, I'd been busy moving around, feverishly gathering information.
"The truth is, this floor's Clear Condition is vague."
At first, I guessed that your Status Window needed to change. Then I guessed you had to become stronger by some percentage. After that, I figured you needed to grow in both mind and body.
All of that was just speculation, and to arrive at a proper answer, I needed truthful information. And the place to get information was obvious.
"I gave some items to people who were about to leave Floor 16, shared stories with them—I guess you could call it interviews. I heard all sorts of things."
My minor celebrity status as Choi Ji-won's companion was a huge help in this reporting work. People generally treated me with goodwill, so getting close to them wasn't hard.
After talking with every player except a handful with contrarian streaks... I reached a truly surprising conclusion.
"Clear speed on Floor 16... has very little to do with talent."
By my standards, there were utterly ordinary people who cleared Floor 16 in a week, and people who seemed exceptional no matter how you looked at them but barely scraped through after over a month. Rumor even had it that Association Chairman Michael Jeter cleared Floor 16 in a single day—so how could talent possibly be the deciding factor here?
"Someone who gave up on the sword early on and switched to an axe because they thought they had no talent took a month to leave... someone who chugged a hoarded experience elixir to level up left right away. Another person saw that, copied it, and couldn't leave. And then there's me, who cleared after getting just a tiny bit stronger."
The more information I gathered, the more I realized just how absurdly unclear this standard of 'becoming stronger' was.
"Even Anael says they can't answer this one... so the core of Floor 16 is clearly this standard."
A temple with a tranquil atmosphere. The person who designed this floor—what did they want from us to create a floor like this? What did they want so badly that they trapped us in this forest?
"The Tower is a trial for humanity..."
I murmured the words the angel spoke in the tutorial. The Archangels who designed each floor have, so far, each had some kind of philosophy behind them.
Floors 1 through 5 valued humanity's will to improve. Accordingly, there were a ton of hidden pieces, and the better I performed, the more rewards I could walk away with.
Floors 6 through 10 tested situational judgment. If you just tried to charge in head-on, you'd likely die to a phantom beast, but if you calmly looked around and used your head, it was a floor you could clear with ease.
Floors 11 through 15... emphasized cooperation. Those floors could be cleared easily when the human community united and functioned as one. Even the monsters on Floor 15 made sense if you viewed them as a test of mankind's cooperative ability as a species. The monsters that appear on Earth are structured so that players who've gained power must step forward and protect ordinary people.
So what about Floor 16? What does this floor want?
What value did that noble Archangel wish to see from us, to design this floor? Training? Choi Ji-won has trained to the point of utter exhaustion.
'Training is a battle against oneself. It is the process of tempering, tormenting, and sharpening the being called me.'
If training is a battle against oneself... then the standard is...
"Each person's own standard..."
Choi Ji-won, who had been muttering to herself, abruptly grabbed Boongboong-yi and sprang to her feet.
"Wha—what's wrong?"
"Jun-ho."
"Yeah?"
"I think I've got it now."
"...You don't mean?"
Seeing the smile spread across Choi Ji-won's face as if she'd realized something, I felt my own vision slowly clearing too.
A clear standard on Floor 16 that stretches and contracts like a rubber band. If each person has a different standard set for them, then what determines it?
Why, of all people, has Choi Ji-won been trapped on Floor 16 for so long?
One answer came to mind.
"Could Floor 16 be..."
Choi Ji-won, who is strict with herself, never stops striving, and is fair and righteous.
"...a floor where your own subconscious sets the standard?"
Perhaps she had been tightening the noose around her own neck the whole time.
And this realization ended up keeping us on Floor 16 for another month.