The Regressor Is Mentally Weak (7)
-You have entered Floor 23.
I was back in the dark forest from before. Clutching my throbbing head, I struggled to organize my memories.
"...So those two were the monsters."
Perhaps because I was free from the fog's influence, roughly half my memories had returned. I couldn't grasp the finer details—they were still too hazy—but I remembered who the two people who hadn't been at the campfire were. One man, one woman.
But if there was something slightly odd about it... it was that those two hadn't done anything noteworthy. They hadn't tried to provoke conflict or stir up any suspicion. At least, not within the scope of what I could remember.
"..."
Well, let's leave it at that. The next thing I needed to consider was the 'disadvantage'.
I still couldn't remember what the 'disadvantage' itself was, even after regressing, but its aftereffects remained vivid. My head throbbed like it was being stabbed, I kept dry-heaving, and my brow furrowed involuntarily. Proof that I was under extreme stress.
Can I endure it? I don't know. I really don't. It's an unpleasantness so profound that I can't guarantee anything. I couldn't be certain I'd be able to shrug it off later.
That wasn't all. If I feel intense emotions, I can regress together with someone else. So what if, as a result of my mind becoming unstable due to the disadvantage, I unintentionally felt something for another person? A new regressor would be created, introducing a whole new variable.
If possible, I needed to find a way to clear this without receiving the 'disadvantage'. The best plan was to kill both monsters the moment we entered.
"Hoo..."
In that case, the part I had to think about now was 'how'. I didn't know how far the smoke erased memories, but let's assume the worst. Suppose it erased even the memories from before the regression.
[8/8]
"Ah, damn."
Right as I was about to formulate a plan, a Status Window appeared before my eyes. I hadn't even reached the campfire yet. Had I taken too long? The gloomy smoke slowly tightened around me. It seemed there was indeed a time limit, and a pretty tight one at that.
"...Hold on."
I needed more time. And time is what you make of it.
[You have taken damage.]
[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 23.]
***
Again, back to the plan.
There was one incredibly intuitive way to identify the two monsters. It was to mark the players' bodies before we entered.
Think about it. If we entered this unfamiliar space, and exactly eight people had marks on their bodies? If we remembered that eight people had been together at the campfire just before? Anyone who wasn't an idiot could figure it out.
But the act of marking them itself was the problem. Leaving wounds on their bodies? I couldn't leave one on my own body, so that would create plenty of room for misunderstanding. Carving marks into their armor? Dwarf-forged armor wasn't something you could easily scratch. It would take gathering my strength for a long time just to try, and they weren't stupid enough to just let me do that.
So, the next best option was.
"This will do."
A handful of leaves I'd plucked from a nearby tree. This would work. Even if all my memories disappeared, I would absolutely be able to recognize this. Because it could be made utterly ordinary, yet utterly alien at the same time.
"..."
But... would leaving a mark really be enough? Really? Would there truly be no variables at all?
No. Variables exist.
As I walked toward the campfire, I prepared one final safety measure. Time seemed quite short when I'd checked earlier, so I had to speak as quickly as possible.
"You're here."
"You made it."
The players greeted me just as they had before. I infused mana into the leaf clutched in my hand and posed a question.
"Forgive me for asking out of the blue, but..."
"...What?"
"So suddenly?"
"Hurry, there's no time."
"Uh, well..."
[8/8]
The gloomy smoke closed in. The moment that smoke touched me, I would probably forget everything. So, right before the smoke reached me, at the very, very last moment, I had to leave a record...
A record...
Record...
...
...
...
"Is everyone alright?"
"Yes. We're fine. No physical issues either..."
The smoke suddenly scattered, and the stuffy, obscured view brightened. The scenery was the same. The small campfire. The drearily clean town. Even the unsettling sky.
"I feel like... I was trying to do something."
But a strange, unpleasant taste lingered in my mouth. I felt like I'd been trying to do something just a moment ago... but I couldn't remember.
<Floor 23>
-Find and kill the two false existences. They will aim for the climbers' lives.
-Each day, one disadvantage will be given to the climbers.
-Every day before sunset, there is a task you must complete. If any task is left uncompleted, a great disadvantage will be given.
The fog in my mind scattered the moment the Status Window appeared. Wait, two false existences?
"How many of us are there right now?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Weren't there clearly eight of us?"
"There were definitely eight. I even saw the number [8/8]."
Eight people had come in, but now there were ten. Two more had appeared.
"So, the two false existences the Status Window mentioned... it meant this."
"So, two people here aren't real humans, but monsters?"
"That's probably it."
Among the players murmuring with serious expressions, none seemed particularly awkward or stood out. They were all people I'd seen at that campfire, at the campfire, at the campfire...
My memory was hazy. Not to the point of forgetting a face I'd seen just ten minutes ago. This was definitely the Tower's doing.
"I can't remember."
"He was definitely right next to me..."
This memory confusion wasn't just happening to me; the other players were also clutching their heads in bewilderment. Everyone looked around like children who'd lost their parents, mumbling meaningless phrases and unable to calm down.
After the confusion had continued for quite some time...
"Wait. What's this?"
A man who'd found something drew everyone's attention.
"What is it?"
"Look at this. I don't think I'm the only one."
He peeled a leaf off his shoulder and held it up for everyone to see.
"Why a leaf?"
"When you touch it... it's really crisp. Which means... it's slightly frozen. And most importantly, I can feel mana."
"Frozen? A leaf? With mana?"
"Oh, there's a leaf on my shoulder too..."
A leaf frozen by mana stuck to my shoulder. Anyone could see it was a strange situation.
"...Um, everyone."
"Yes?"
And from what I could tell.
"I think... I might have done it."
That... was definitely a leaf I froze. I didn't remember doing it, but the mana left on the leaf was unmistakably mine.
"You did it? What do you mean?"
"I mean... the mana on that leaf is definitely mine. I have a unique constitution, so my mana is cold."
As I let out a puff of frosty white vapor from my hand, the players who had been looking back and forth between the leaf and the vapor slowly nodded. Even to them, the two looked similar.
"So you're saying that you gave us these leaves? Before the fog hit and our memories became hazy?"
"Yes..."
"Why did you do that?"
"That is... please wait a moment. I can't remember."
Was this... my first cycle? It felt vaguely familiar, so it probably wasn't my first, but I wasn't even sure which one it was. My memory was cloudy.
But I didn't think the person I am would have done something like that without sufficient preparation. There had seemed to be enough time to get to the campfire, so I could consider time to have been infinite.
So if I'd left leaves like that... it was definitely intentional.
"Those... are marks I left."
"Marks?"
"Yes. I have a kind of intuitive trait. I think I probably gave you all the leaves because that trait guided me to."
"...You predicted we'd lose our memories? So you marked us with those leaves?"
"That's right."
"...Hard to believe."
"But if they're marks... what for?"
"Probably... to distinguish the people who were originally at the campfire. It seems not everyone has those leaves. I seemed to have known even that two monsters would appear."
"..."
"..."
The people tightened their grip on the frozen leaves. As if presenting an important ticket, they even placed them where others could easily see.
Two people reacted differently here.
"...I'm not a monster. Fuck, don't joke around. You hear me?"
"Hey, what are you looking at? Cut the shit."
The two without leaves: one man, one woman.
The two couldn't bear the cold, expressionless stares and burst out in anger. But after quickly assessing the situation under the unchanging gazes...
"...I'm really not. I swear."
"Do I look like a monster? I don't, right? I'm a person. A monster might have taken my leaf while the fog was there."
Now they tried to reason with us... but their pale, drawn faces and trembling voices had no effect on the others' gazes. Once you're branded, after all... any excuse can only be interpreted negatively.
"..."
"..."
No words were exchanged, but a thick killing intent hung in the air. No one made a move yet... but if the situation continued like this, those two would be the first to die.
"Wait a moment."
But there was one thing that made me hesitate to just kill them off.
"The leaf I was holding... is cut diagonally."
"So what?"
"There isn't another leaf cut diagonally, is there? This is probably... a trace of something I was trying to convey."
"...Who, to whom?"
That, of course.
"Me, to myself."