The Regressor Is Too Strong (3)
The Regressor Is Too Strong (3)
Even when I got hurt, I didn't regress. I'd been fixed to this point in time.
"W-what do I do?"
The world spun. A cold sweat poured down my entire body. The strength drained from me, and I slumped to the ground before I knew it.
"J-Jun-ho?"
"No..."
Clearing the floor without regression was still possible. Yeah, it was 'possible.'
But the probability of getting the ending I wanted would plummet exponentially. If a part didn't go my way, I couldn't fix it. Couldn't undo it. I'd just have to live with it.
"I said no..."
Kim Jun-ho without regression... I can't call him worthless. But his value crashes. A steamed bun without red bean paste. Sweet and sour pork without the sauce. Hero or not, I'd go back to being a small-time citizen who has to worry about his own survival. Just a mediocre nobody who doesn't deserve to stand next to a real hero like Choi Ji-won.
"What's going on? What's wrong?"
"My regression—it's blocked..."
"...What does that mean."
"Even when I take damage... there's no regression... because it's a virtual world..."
"Huh?"
"My life... my life is over..."
Sitting on the ground wasn't enough anymore, so I lay down. I'd lost the very foundation that let me stand tall. How... how am I supposed to live now? What the hell! What am I supposed to do now?!
"Can't you just regress after returning to reality?"
"Huh?"
"The reward changes based on the rarity of what you submit to the Exchange. I think you can just... submit whatever and then go back to reality and regress."
"...Oh. Right?"
Hearing Ji-won say that, it made sense. The process was just a little more cumbersome, but regression was still possible.
"..."
Once I thought that, my slumped shoulders straightened. Life steadily returned to my despair-filled face. My shaking vision sharpened, and my cold skin warmed up.
"Regression is possible!"
Right, a solution was there if I'd just thought about it for a second. I really am an idiot.
I guess I just panicked over the fact that regression didn't work right away. It's like if the thing that was the source of your confidence and self-esteem—like a diploma or a big dick—suddenly vanished. You'd lose your mind. Normally, I'm rational, smart, and calm. This was purely because I was thrown off.
"And as for the regression being blocked? I think that's actually good for you, Jun-ho. It doesn't seem like a disadvantage at all."
Choi Ji-won came up beside me, placed a hand on my shoulder, and flashed a grin.
"What do you mean, good?"
"You could never go all out before, right? You always fought super carefully because you were scared of getting hurt. Right?"
"Oh. Right?"
Until now, I'd fought with a shackle that said, 'If you get hit even once, you regress.' Anyone who has learned to fight knows this: even with a decent skill gap, 'not getting hit once' isn't easy. And if that's true with a skill advantage, what do you do against an equal or stronger opponent? Because of that, I was always forced into disadvantageous fights. I couldn't even imagine dragging a fight past five seconds—hell, past three seconds. In a drawn-out battle, I'd be the one to lose.
"So this makes me stronger?"
But not here. I can get hurt and be fine. I can get grazed in a fight and be fine. My heart can stop for a second, and it's fine. Why? Because it's a virtual world.
It felt like my shoulders had gotten broader than ever. A smile crept onto my lips for no reason. A nobody? No. I'm the hero who will save the world.
"Uh..."
Watching me be a drama queen, Ji-won had a look that said, 'I wanted you to cheer up, but I didn't expect this much fuss.'
"For now... shall we regress?"
**
I asked the Exchange if I could submit a big tree branch, and they said yes. The rarity was F, of course. I'd had slight hopes because it was a pretty big branch, but size didn't affect rarity.
There was no reward, probably because it was F-rank, but my goal was just to return to reality. So, the moment I got my bearings on Floor 1, I cut myself and regressed.
Right after regressing, I met up with Ji-won.
We started our strategy meeting by a stream far from the village.
"I think... heading for the mountain is the right call."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. It's way too suspicious, honestly."
The terrain here was incredibly varied. From the warm, snug forest at the starting point to the babbling stream—follow it and you get a river. Follow the river all the way and you get the sea. From the desert that begins at that sea all the way to the far-off, snow-covered mountain.
I can't say the landmass is small, but the environmental diversity is nonsense. It's practically advertising, 'There's something special here. Go explore!'
Well, it's a game, so I won't complain about the lack of realism. What matters is where we should go.
"From what I see as a game expert, desert or mountain terrain is usually the hardest."
A scorching desert or a snow-covered mountain. The perfect places for powerful monsters to pop out, on top of the extreme environments.
"And since it's a snow-covered mountain... you could say it's my home ground, too."
It was also terrain favorable to me since I possess Cold Energy. Naturally, the mountain appealed to me more than the desert. Ji-won gave a nod—she didn't seem to have any objections.
Once the destination was set, it was quick going. We ran into hostile creatures like wolves and bears along the way, but we reached the mountain in under five hours.
"Whoa."
"That's amazing."
The entire way here had been a forest with a gentle, warm breeze. But the moment we reached the foot of the mountain, a bitter, cold wind clawed at our skin. A temperature change this drastic was probably only possible because this isn't reality.
"...It's cold."
"Want me to breathe on you?"
"What the hell. You're so greasy."
"..."
"...You're not hurt, are you?"
We started climbing the mountain as we chatted lightly. Thanks to my Cold Energy plus the Cold Affinity trait I got on Floor 12, I was practically oblivious to the cold. Ji-won could protect her body with mana, so she was unbothered by the cold too.
"No, it's really cold..."
"Really?"
"Yeah, completely."
I take that back. The closer we got to the peak, the more Ji-won felt the cold, biting her lip. It wasn't that she couldn't endure it, but it was annoying enough to get on her nerves.
I was watching her carefully, worried because she kept shivering, when at some point, Ji-won's trembling stopped.
"...You okay?"
"Don't talk to me."
"...Are you Boongboong-yi?"
"Shut up."
Did she swap with Boongboong-yi because she couldn't take the cold? Sure enough, Boongboong-yi, who has no human heart, probably doesn't feel the cold at all.
"Hey, is this right?"
"...How should I know?"
Around the time I'd dragged the snappy Boongboong-yi close to the summit, the mouth of a huge cave came into view. I had a strong feeling we'd come to the right place.
"Couldn't it just be a cave entrance?"
"No way."
The cold was enough to make even Ji-won suffer. That meant an average player couldn't even dream of climbing this far, and even top-ranked players would have to push themselves to the limit. It was an unarguably abnormal cold. If you break through that cold to reach the summit and find a cave... isn't that a hundred percent a hidden piece?
"Let's go in. It's a hidden piece."
"I don't think it is..."
"Just watch, Boongboong-yi."
"Don't act like we're close."
Strangely, the walls of the silent cave were made of crystal, and it was bright inside. A bright, glittering cave instead of a damp, dark one.
"Definitely like something right out of a game..."
"Over there, there's something over there!"
I don't know how long we walked. Where Boongboong-yi pointed, a huge, hexagonal lump of crystal was floating in the air.
Small fragments were spinning around the big crystal, and each little piece radiated a significant chill. I could tell just by looking from afar: if one of those shards grazed you, the wound would freeze. No, it might not even end with just the wound freezing.
"Jun-ho, need help?"
Ji-won, who had retaken control of her body at some point, asked me. But I didn't answer, just shook my head. I wanted to test my strength right now.
"Hoo..."
I steadied my mind and walked toward the crystal mass, step by step. An experiment, first. How could I withstand its sharp attacks...
"?"
I stand corrected. There was no need to withstand them.
My Cold Energy was colder than the crystal's, so its chill posed no threat at all. The sharp crystal shards couldn't pierce my dwarf-forged armor. The pieces that grazed my face stung quite a bit, but they weren't dangerous.
-..!!!!
The crystal mass seemed to panic, too, suddenly blasting out a bitterly cold wind. But when I released my Cold Energy, its wind was forced back. I'm the superior version of it, in other words.
"...Not as fun as I expected."
If its chill had acted as a debuff, it might have been a tough fight. But unfortunately for it, I had the upper hand in the attribute of cold. Having lost interest, I just trudged over and sliced the crystal mass in half.
"...Is that it?"
"Yeah. Let's go."
I led a dumbfounded Ji-won deeper inside the cave. If you go by game logic, it was time for the reward.
"That's it."
We hadn't walked far when we spotted a small spring. The water glittered in iridescent colors, as if boasting of its own specialness.
-Mountain Essence [Hidden]
-An essence where the clear energy of nature gathers, from a place nearest to the sky.
A game UI floated before my eyes, and a small glass vial materialized in the air. The vial filled itself with the glittering spring water, as if an invisible person was operating it, and then landed in my hand.
"You're getting one too?"
No—not just me. Choi Ji-won was also holding a vial of the glittering spring water. I'd briefly wondered how to carry the spring water, but it seemed to be auto-collected without needing manual extraction. That meant there wouldn't be a need to split rewards if multiple people showed up.
"Think this will be enough?"
"More than enough, probably? I don't think most people could even clear this."
We'd had favorable compatibility, and our combat power far exceeded the average. Others won't get this so easily. I figure it'll be worth at least an S-rank, even by a low estimate.
"For now, let's head back to the village."
"Sounds good. We need to check the grade on this thing, check the Clear Reward, too..."
The climb up had been tough, but our steps going down were light. Probably because the journey had succeeded and the reward was within reach.
But the happy feeling didn't last. Around the time we passed the midpoint and neared the entrance,
"Huh?"
What we saw was, unbelievably...
"I'm, I'm first!"
"Move, I said move!"
A crowd of players rushing toward us. There were easily more than twenty of them. Their eyes were bloodshot as they ran like mad.
"Oh boy."
Their target... must be the Mountain Essence in our hands. Yeah, I figured there'd be opportunists like this. Go ahead and try me. I'm different right now.
I gripped my sword tight and focused my senses. I'd cut the arm off the first one to get here. It's a virtual space anyway, they won't die, so giving them a taste of pain is fine. My razor-sharp senses honed in on the player running straight at me head-on...
"Huh?"
They didn't attack.
"Huff, huff!"
"Run faster!"
The other players shot right past us. They paid us zero attention... and just went on their way.
"What the?"
If we aren't the target, then what the hell is their target? What on earth are they running so urgently for?
"...No, wait."
That direction. It's the direction we came from. Their gazes are entirely fixed on the mountain peak. And they weren't wearing standard dwarf-forged armor but warm, insulated cold-weather gear.
As if...
"How did they know?"
As if they knew exactly where the Mountain Essence was.