The Regressor Is Mentally Weak (6)
The color of the sky was no different, but the damp air announced it was morning. When had I fallen asleep? I must have been pretty tired; I'd conked out without even knowing it.
More importantly, I was supposed to be on watch. Why didn't anyone wake me?
"..."
"..."
The other players were rising uneasily from their beds. I watched all ten of us get up, one, two, three... ten in total.
"...Seems like a gimmick. We were definitely on guard, but the moment we came to, this is how we were."
It looked like at night, everyone was forced to fall asleep, regardless of any standing watch. Otherwise, there was no way someone who had been upright and alert would wake up in a bed.
"...There's a well; shall I go fetch some water?"
"I don't think we should drink it."
"...I'll go and fetch some anyway."
While one person went to draw water, I swept my gaze over the other players.
They all looked terrible. Their faces were darker than yesterday, with dark circles under their eyes. The sort of faces you'd see around the Noryangjin exam village.
"What do you think? Does this look drinkable?"
A player handed me the bucket of water. The face reflected on the water's surface looked decidedly unfamiliar.
It was quite... a shocked expression. The face of someone who had seen something they shouldn't have.
"Hey."
What had happened while we slept? Why did my face and everyone else's end up like this? Only the afterimage of the negative emotions I'd felt during the night drifted through me; I couldn't grasp the substance of it. Just what had I... seen?
Now I understood. We'd probably been directly attacked mentally while we slept. Then, just before waking, we forgot all of it. As a result, only the shitty feelings—irritation, despair, rage, and the like—remained to cloud the brain. No wonder our faces looked terrible...
"When someone talks to you, you answer, you fucker."
While I was analyzing the situation, a rough hand suddenly shot toward my throat.
-smack!
As I smacked it away with the back of my hand, my other hand drew my sword and moved to slice the bastard's arm—
"Stop!"
"Whoa, whoa! What's the matter with you!"
Just before the blade bit flesh, I barely stopped. The guy looked shocked too.
"I, well..."
"..."
"My apologies. Why am I acting like this... I'm not normally the type to throw hands first."
"I apologize too."
This guy hadn't been like this yesterday. That meant I wasn't the only one on edge.
A minor clash in a situation where everyone was touchy. It was understandable. I'd reacted roughly myself.
"I suspect none of you are in a good state. Am I wrong? Right now, I feel like absolute shit."
"Same."
"Same. I feel like I want to beat someone to death."
Once I candidly admitted I was in bad shape, the others seemed to have been waiting for that and began voicing their own complaints.
"Most likely... this is the 'Disadvantage' the Tower mentioned. It strikes at our minds while we sleep."
"I suppose we should be thankful that it erases the memories of that Disadvantage. If the memories had remained, I don't think we'd even be able to talk like this."
"If we weren't progressing the mission, wouldn't those memories remain? They did say it was a major disadvantage."
"That's possible."
Once they recognized that their own abnormal behavior came from the Tower's intent, not personal weakness, people regained their composure and resumed a constructive discussion. This 'Disadvantage' suggested a lot.
"This is just my speculation... but the creatures might be far weaker than we think."
"The creatures are far weaker? A detailed explanation is needed."
"This floor doesn't work like a typical Mafia-style game. You all know the Mafia game, right?"
The rules of Mafia games can vary in minor details, but a kind of universal meta exists.
The Mafia, capable of killing people. The Police, capable of identifying who the Mafia is. And the Doctor, capable of blocking the Mafia's attacks.
"The core point is that both sides have a way to take down the other."
The Citizens outnumber the Mafia and have the Police to ferret them out. The Mafia are outnumbered, but they can directly shoot and kill Citizens.
Or to analogize with Among Us, which was trendy for a while... the crewmates can win by completing all the missions. The impostors, whose defeat is a foregone conclusion eventually, are forced to act out of necessity.
"But what about us?"
Floor 23, however, has a slightly different structure. First, we have no way to figure out who the creatures are. There's no police (there could be one hiding), and no doctor. If a creature attacks us, we'd be helpless.
"Yet the creatures haven't killed any of us."
Is that because they don't want to be suspected? Or because they can't kill? That's not the only piece of evidence either.
"This so-called Disadvantage... isn't it too excessive?"
Just think about it. If this 'Disadvantage' is applied with every passing day... that's overwhelmingly unfavorable to the players. Suppose the creatures have no intention of acting at all. Say a year passes that way. Would any of us remain of sound mind? No way.
"So, in my opinion... the creatures' actual combat ability is likely weak. Or they might be the type that self-destructs after a certain number of days. Whatever the case, I believe waiting is the key. We'll definitely be given a way to expose the creatures. Otherwise... it'd be unreasonable."
"If that's the logic, wouldn't this floor be too easy?"
"No. There's a Disadvantage. If the Disadvantage makes us irritable and creates an opening... the creatures will target us whenever that happens. That's what I've figured out about Floor 23."
A structure where everyone's mental state is shaken, and if the seeds of conflict grow, the creatures exploit those gaps. It was only speculation for now, but to me, this was the most plausible scenario.
"So... because the Disadvantage is so severe, this Disadvantage itself is the alpha and omega of Floor 23?"
"Are you saying as long as we don't end up fighting because of the Disadvantage, we can clear this?"
"Yes. It also means that anyone who stirs up conflict here, or goes around picking fights for no reason... can be safely considered one of the creatures."
"Hmm."
"That sounds plausible."
"Hold on. There's still one part I don't understand."
Everyone seemed to agree, but at the last moment, one man raised an objection.
"So... I don't feel great either. If I had to pick good or bad, I fall in the bad camp."
"So?"
"But... my condition is ridiculously fine for something called a Disadvantage. It's the level of annoyance when a truck drives past on a rainy day and splashes muddy water on you. Is this measly thing a Disadvantage? Aren't we all thinking about this the wrong way?"
"...My condition is way worse than that, so just shut up."
"...Ugh. If that's the case, then fine."
The discussion more or less wrapped up after that.
"Then... let's make our goal for the time being simply not to fight among ourselves. Not fighting, and focusing on progressing the mission. We're all in agreement, yes?"
"The creatures might be trying to get us to lower our guard, so let's not drop our vigilance."
"What about food? We did find some bread in the buildings."
"As for food..."
"Let's avoid eating or drinking anything, just in case. We're players, so we should be able to endure a week."
"There really is no need to take unnecessary risks."
The players endured their hunger and split up to carry out their respective missions. We stayed on guard to prepare for any potential disaster, but there was no particular sign of anyone around. Only the occasional brush past someone else while proceeding with the missions.
"Nobody's hurt?"
"No. Looks like the prediction was spot on."
"Good."
Again today, there were no casualties, and no one found any anomalies. The day's work ended a little faster than yesterday. And then, once more, night fell.
[A Disadvantage is applied.]
**
Morning. My eyes opened whether I wanted them to or not, confirming it was morning.
"Urgh..."
"Hurk, bleurgh..."
"Hold it in. It smells like shit."
"Hoo, hoo... I held it. The revulsion's pretty bad."
Other players staggered up from their spots and stretched. They didn't look good by any stretch of the imagination, but they seemed fairly able to bear it.
"How much longer do we have to hold out like this...?"
"Wasn't there something similar before, on that floor with the wasteland? In the end, it's a battle of mental fortitude."
"Heh... let's see who wins."
Even in poor condition, they were pulling themselves together and looking after each other.
"Hey. You alright?"
The moment someone kindly tried to place a hand on my shoulder, I stepped one pace sideways and evaded the touch.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"..."
But I... was in bad shape.
Dizzy. Nauseous. Putting my body aside, it went beyond physical pain to something far worse... a deep sense of violation. It felt like someone had shoved a hand inside my brain and churned everything up.
"..."
This was over the line. I couldn't endure this. If it was this bad today, what about tomorrow? And after that? What if we had to stick it out for a month here?
No, what if we failed in the process? If I regressed midway through? The damage left on my brain, then? What about me?? My sanity???
I didn't know the exact reason, but it seemed the degree of the 'Disadvantage' applied every night hit me far harder than the others. It was agonizing. Felt like I might collapse.
"...We can't go on like this."
Plan revision. We couldn't just wait around endlessly like this. Even if waiting truly was the correct answer...
I needed a quicker solution for my own part.
[You have taken damage.]
[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 23.]