The Regressor Gets in Trouble (5)
The Regressor Gets in Trouble (5)
"WAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"Whoa, is that for real? You're buying today's drinks, right?"
The tavern was noisy, filled with people eating, drinking, chatting, and enjoying life.
"It's a Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng."
I handed the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng to the round-faced, friendly-looking Daoist, Mr. Jang.
"...What?"
"I heard a rumor you were looking for a spiritual medicine. Here, eat up."
"That... well, setting aside how you knew I was looking for a spiritual medicine... isn't this incredibly expensive?"
"It is."
"..."
Mr. Jang's smug mask cracked, revealing genuine fluster. First, a look that asked how I got this. Next, why I would give it to him. Finally, what the hell I was.
"First, just take it."
"..."
I forcibly placed the box containing the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng on his hand, and—
- Floor 18 has been cleared.
- You can return to reality by strongly wishing for it.
The long-awaited message window appeared before my eyes. With this, I had cleared Floor 18.
So strongly wishing for it was the Clear Condition. I could return to reality right now, and it wouldn't matter. But I had no intention of stopping here. If I planned to stop here, I would have cleared it through another overseer, or I would have stopped regressing when I had amassed a decent fortune.
Back when I was a Merchant Guild Leader, I had already heard the stories of other players. The overseers usually gave the clear if you brought them a usable weapon, the head of an enemy, or a decent tonic. Not all of them were easy to obtain, but they weren't impossible to find either. Things a capable player could get by investing about one to three months of work.
In other words, the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng I just offered far exceeded Mr. Jang's standards.
Yes. I was expecting a hidden reward, or something comparable to it.
"How did you acquire this?"
Mr. Jang stared down at the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng resting on his hand with a strange look. According to the experts, it wasn't actually a thousand-year-old ginseng—more like between two and five hundred years. Yet even that was considered an extraordinary treasure in this world, and an eerie cold energy seeped from the ginseng.
In short, it meant it was an extremely expensive treasure. It also meant it wasn't something a player like me could just obtain.
"Does that matter? What matters is my desire to give it to you."
"There is no favor without a price."
"It's right here."
Since I had no intention of explaining my long-winded regressions here, I roughly glossed over the details. Half out of expectation for a reward. Half out of expectation for this man's reaction.
This man is an 'overseer.' There must be something to it.
"I cannot simply accept this."
As if answering my expectations, Mr. Jang's eyes flashed sharply.
"If you really want to give it to me... defeat me in a duel."
"Do you think that makes sense?"
"This is my condition. If you cannot accept it, simply take it back."
A man insisting on giving away a priceless treasure, and another man refusing to accept unless the giver bested him in a duel. Why was he refusing my gift? Was it simple stubbornness, or something more?
"Fine."
I had no intention of backing down now.
**
A quiet hill. In a clearing marked by wild animal tracks, Mr. Jang and I faced each other.
"Where is your sword, Mister Swordsman?"
"I didn't have the money... So I left it at the pawnshop."
"..."
"Now, I have some breathing room, so I could get it back... but fighting with real swords is a bit too grim, isn't it?"
Mr. Jang picked up a random stick from the ground and casually tossed it to me.
"This will suffice."
He also picked up a thick stick, holding it with both hands as if it were a sword.
"..."
Since I was inwardly thinking 'it would be a waste to regress here,' this stick-fighting was welcome. There was a chance I wouldn't regress if I took a light, glancing hit.
No, enough rambling.
Was this what a true master was like? Even just holding a stick, he exuded pressure. This sensation of my skin stinging. This feeling that I could be cut at any moment.
"Haha..."
Knowing this man was serious, I also gripped my stick and faced him. Let me take stock of my current weapons.
There was no Cold Mana, or Cold Energy. That was a transformation of my original body's mana, not a power I could use in this body. Eating that Snow Ginseng might change something, but this body isn't my real one, and since we're fighting to give it as a gift to Mr. Jang, there's no point.
Was I superior in mana reserves? No, I wasn't. My mana reserves were significantly larger than the average person's, but not enough to rely on brute mana force. The opponent was a martial artist. I had no advantage in mana.
Combat experience? I couldn't be sure, but looking at Mr. Jang's rough hands, he was someone who had walked through hell. No advantage in combat experience. Probably the same for swordsmanship.
In other words, there was nothing I could be confident in doing better than this man. Given the risk of regressing with a single solid hit, I was clearly at a disadvantage.
But since when did I only insist on advantageous fights? Isn't it the mentality of a regressor to smash my head into it first, even if I can't do it?
If I regress? I'll just clear it then. Better to try my best and regret it later.
I gripped the stick tightly.
"Hup!"
I launched myself at the opponent before me.
Crack! The two sticks clashed fiercely, sending bark flying into the air. It was a fairly powerful downward strike, but Mr. Jang simply held his sword horizontally and blocked it.
Right, it would be a letdown if I won easily here. I steadied my breathing, gathered my strength, and swung my stick again.
Head. Crotch. Torso. Head again. My attacks were sharp and precise. The stick that swung aiming for vital points would twist at the last moment, targeting relatively less critical areas like wrists or legs, and every single breath was a stepping stone and foothold for the next strike.
A relentless series of strikes. An extreme, breathless flurry pushing this body to its limit. Thanks to the stacked rotations, the tip of my stick constantly trailed a brutal scream of splitting air.
On the other hand, Mr. Jang fending off the attacks was... impossible to grasp.
Fierce yet soft. Heavy yet light. When it seemed he was pushed back by my attack, he'd use the recoil for a sharp counter, and he lightly blocked my brutal attacks with the slightest of movements.
"..."
"...!"
Whack! Crack!
It was clearly me doing the pushing. But the one growing impatient was also me. If I allowed a single counter, I'd lose. No, I was already on the verge of defeat. If I didn't create a variable while my stamina was intact, it was a 100% loss.
It was time to throw a gamble.
"Hoo..."
"?!"
I suddenly pulled up the dormant mana. Mr. Jang, too, urgently stirred his internal energy in response, but I had the initiative.
As I spread mana through my body, I could feel each individual muscle twitch. The mana surrounding the stick didn't carry the cold energy, but instead held a powerful, fierce force.
No, this wasn't enough. While activating the 'Flash Step' trait was impossible, incorporating its principle into my footwork was possible. I had to buy time to focus.
Bam! I stomped hard with my pivot foot. The dirt particles flying into the air obscured vision and acted as bullets attacking the eyes. You could call it cowardly, but I really wanted to win.
"Urk!"
Mr. Jang staggered. His balance only broke for an instant, but I used that gap to take my stance. I bent my legs, my right hand gripping the handle of the stick, my left palm supporting the other end to reinforce the attack.
A single thrust, infused with my enlightenment. I poured everything into it, thinking I'd lose if this was blocked.
No, this couldn't be blocked. Mr. Jang's internal energy wasn't at its peak yet. Mr. Jang's stance was broken. Mr. Jang's right eye was stinging from a dirt particle. I'd won.
Just before my stick, charged with fierce momentum, reached Mr. Jang's solar plexus.
"..."
Mr. Jang's gaze changed.
"Huh?"
The tip of his stick gently touched the tip of mine. A feat impossible to achieve even if you tried.
At the same moment, my stick stopped. As if someone had pressed the pause button in a game. As if someone had snatched it out of the air with their hand. No recoil was transmitted to me; it truly just stopped.
Softness overcomes hardness. It suppresses strength with softness. No matter how much force I exerted, no matter how much I twisted my body, the stick refused to move, as if it was fixed in midair.
"You are impatient. And you fear getting hurt. Considering the realm you've reached, it is a truly strange thing."
Just from him speaking these words, I could feel an overwhelming dignity emanating from right in front of me. A strange exhilaration came from the slight upturn of his lips. A faint mist settling on the ground.
This man was not the one I had been fighting until just a moment ago. He was something more... no, it was embarrassing to even call it 'more.' He was a man on an entirely different dimension.
"But... you are magnificent. I can see your effort. However, I hope you come to know that there's no need to cling to one side so desperately. The world is not solely made of black and white."
Yes, an Immortal Sage. The appearance he showed now was close to an Immortal Sage. Not a fake Immortal Sage like I'd pretended to be, but the real deal.
A natural pressure that only someone who had accumulated ages could emit. A nobility that springs from a lofty realm.
Though his clothes were shabby, his appearance young, and his face still round... this man was more like an Immortal Sage than anyone else.
"If it is you... I believe you can do it."
I had been staring, entranced, when the man smiled brightly and handed me the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.
I lost consciousness.
- Floor 18 has been cleared.
**
"Congratulations."
"..."
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The sound of dry applause. The angel I saw when I first entered Floor 18 was clapping for me.
Had I cleared it? The cold energy racing through my body felt quite unfamiliar. This body, overflowing with power, felt uncomfortable.
No, more than that.
"...An Immortal Sage, huh."
I replayed the scene I had just witnessed in my mind. He said, 'If it's you, you can do it.' It seems his ignorance of this place being the Tower was an act. Or perhaps the lofty personality hidden inside him had momentarily emerged.
I recalled the man's final words and the movement he showed. He said the world wasn't just black and white. It's a phrase that really hits home for me, who has been torn between Choi Ji-won's path and the old man's path.
For now... should I return to reality? I wonder if Choi Ji-won has cleared it by now.
"You should take this with you."
As I was about to leave Floor 18, the angel stopped me.
I followed the angel's fingertips with my eyes.
"...Haha."
On the spot where I had been lying, the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng was placed.