The Regressor Is Mentally Weak (9)
The Regressor Is Mentally Weak (9)
(The two suspects were forced to go around naked,) but in any case, the first day's mission was successfully completed.
"Did anyone see what the two were doing?"
"Just... carrying stuff around. Pretty ordinary."
"...Hmm. Are they trying to clear suspicion? Or are they genuinely innocent?"
"Could they actually be human? They don't look like they're acting..."
"But there were clearly eight people at the campfire. What if they're monsters who don't even realise they're monsters?"
"...That may be so, but what if the Tower is trying to trick us? What if it forced ten humans together and is pushing us toward a massacre?"
"That's why we're waiting, isn't it. To get certainty."
The players were ready to kill without hesitation if the naked man and woman did anything suspicious. The pair knew this, so they went out of their way to act as harmless as possible. Not having weapons didn't stop them from helping repair the village.
The players gathered again. They decided not to consume any food or water to guard against mishaps, and once they had set a watch order—
"So... did you figure anything out?"
Their eyes narrowed as they looked at me. They had given me time for 'information gathering,' so they were asking whether I had any results. They weren't cooped up with monsters, but they weren't truly with the other people either... Outwardly they seemed fine, but they had to be feeling considerable anxiety.
"...Let's wait a little longer."
Of course, I didn't really have an answer I could give them. I still didn't know much—what could I do?
Are those two monsters? If we kill them, does this floor end?
Or are they human? Must we not kill them? Is this a floor we can't clear unless we keep waiting without killing? It's impossible to judge yet.
"But there's no need to rush."
"...What?"
"Because we will certainly find the answer."
As I've said before, according to the 'Perfect Kim Jun-ho' theory... if I simply act on impulse, clearing is guaranteed.
Why? Because even this 'acting on impulse' is entirely part of an intended direction. If he's 'Perfect Kim Jun-ho,' he would have predicted every situation.
Even if things seem glacial right now, this is deliberate. There's absolutely no need to hurry.
"It's only a matter of time. Please wait a little longer."
"...Hnngh."
After quelling the discontent that way, we decided to all gather and sleep together to reduce variables, hauling beds out of the buildings and arranging them in a circle around the campfire.
"Better to sleep even a little, right."
"For reducing variables, that's best."
"You two. Sleeping is fine, but don't cover yourselves with blankets. Just bear the cold."
"Yes, yes..."
The only light source left was the campfire. Somehow sleep wouldn't come, and I lay there staring wide-eyed up at the sky.
"...?"
I felt... my body tensing up on its own. Why? Is there a reason to be tense? Were those two about to try something...
[Night has come.]
[A disadvantage is applied.]
**
Morning. I simply felt it.
"...Ugh."
"Feel like shit."
The other players' expressions were none too good. Like the faces of people who had just had a nightmare. Twisted with stress, they looked downright rough.
"..."
I was the same way. My head pounded as if it would split, and even sitting still, the world seemed to spin.
No, 'the same' was an understatement. It was worse. This horrific headache suggested this moment wasn't the first time. The pain had accumulated layer upon layer, congealed like a sticky residue, and now it tormented me relentlessly from some deep corner of my brain. So much that I could barely think.
"...Ghhurgh..."
Even if you lose the memories, the stress remains. That's the downside of regression. The mental agony accumulates. If I kept running Floor 23 and stacking disadvantages cycle after cycle... this level of pain is only natural. By repeating deep breaths over and over, I barely managed to calm myself.
While I was pulling my mind together, the other players were holding a discussion with scowling faces.
"Don't tell me... the disadvantage is applied every night."
"Isn't that way too unfair to players?"
"Hm. Looks like those two brats stayed quiet through the night."
"W-We had nightmares too! We're in bad shape! Because we're human just like you!"
"...For now, wait."
As rational people, the players quickly sized up the situation. As they said, the floor seemed increasingly stacked against players the more time passed.
"At this rate... if we drag this out, we might end up fighting among ourselves."
"We with the leaves... we're definitely human, right?"
"I saw the text [8/8]. I believe that's certain."
"If that reading is correct... then aren't those two definitely monsters?"
"You know as well as I do, the Tower always tries to incite conflict among us. We shouldn't jump to conclusions."
"Hng..."
A conclusion about 'how we should act' didn't come easily. This wasn't like a typical mafia game where clues are handed out; we were only told that 'monsters exist'... It would actually be strange if a conclusion did come. With an absurd lack of information, there was no way any plausible guess could form. It was just frustrating.
"So, is your information gathering finished now?"
"Are those two monsters or not? Give us a definite answer soon."
No, there was one. There was me—the one who had boldly proclaimed that if we waited, 'I'll figure out how to clear Floor 23.'
"For now... let's wait a little longer."
But I still couldn't produce a satisfactory answer. My head hurt, sure, but... I still didn't know.
What do these leaves mean? Why a diagonal line of all things? I couldn't grasp it at all. Was the 'Perfect Kim Jun-ho' just an illusion? Why do I still not know anything?
'Deduction' means producing a rational conclusion based on the clues you're given. When there are no clues, producing a conclusion is for prophets or regressors. Oh, correction. Regressors who haven't lost their memories.
Do you think I want to be like this? I want to nail it in one shot, reach a conclusion, and smash through Floor 23 with a refreshing rush. I'm frustrated too, and my throat feels clogged, as if I'd swallowed a chunk of sweet potato and it's stuck tight. But I genuinely don't know. What the hell is this leaf?
"...You want us to wait again?"
"Just waiting forever isn't an answer. You saw the effects of that 'disadvantage' too, didn't you."
"I'm sure he has his reasons. Let's just get on with our missions first."
"...Fine."
The players each left to carry out their newly assigned tasks. Even the naked man and woman, who had been walking on eggshells, dispersed, and I was the only one left beside the campfire.
"..."
I stared at the leaf desperately, as if something would reveal itself if I just kept looking, but nothing changed. Even after considering whether I should regress dozens and dozens of times... the existence of the disadvantage made me hesitate. If a perfect plan had already been set in motion, the only point of failure would be my own condition. Every repeated cycle drove the odds of success lower.
"For now... the mission first..."
Even this might be part of 'Perfect Kim Jun-ho's' plan. It could be a piece of some brilliant scheme I came up with at the last moment. It's too early to jump to conclusions. Hang on just a little longer. Surely, surely I'll reach an insight.
But by the time I finished my mission, and even by the time the others returned from theirs... I still hadn't figured out the leaf's meaning.
"Do we need to wait even longer?"
"...Yes."
"..."
Night came. Knowing that setting a watch was pointless, we all lay on our beds waiting for the disadvantage.
Please, just let me finally understand the meaning of the leaf...
[Night has come.]
[A disadvantage is applied.]
**
"Ghhh..."
"Hurk, bleegh..."
"Hold it in. It stinks like hell."
"Hoo, hoo... held it. The revulsion is pretty bad, though."
The players wobbled to their feet and shook off their bodies. Even putting it kindly, no one looked fine, but they seemed fairly capable of enduring.
And as for me.
"Heh heh, heheheh..."
My brain, my brain... it felt contaminated. After witnessing such an unbearable scene, I wanted to tear my eyes out. Even if the earth swallowed me, the sky collapsed, and I was hurled into an endless abyss, it would feel better than this.
Fine. I was aware my mental strength had grown weak. But was it this bad? Was this disadvantage that others endure truly this unbearable for me? Was it? Wasn't it? Was it? I don't know?
Because of the headache, I almost pounded my forehead with my fist before barely stopping myself. Almost regressed. But why shouldn't I regress? Why? Ah. Right. I have the plan that Perfect Kim Jun-ho set up. I have to carry that out.
I pulled out the carefully kept leaf and stared at it fixedly. So, what's the plan? What is it that I still don't know? Why? Why? Why? Am I defective? Is that why I can't even recognize a plan I created myself?
No, that's wrong? That can't be? Could the plan be flawed? But I'm the one who made the plan? The fact that I'm defective doesn't change? I am defective? So I really am garbage human waste, an incel who doesn't deserve to stand beside Choi Ji-won?
No, no. I've gone too far. I just need to figure out the meaning of the leaf.
Half. A leaf cut only halfway, cut along a diagonal line. Leaf. Leaf. Leaf. Diagonal line. Saseon?
"Ah?"
A strange feeling. My thoughts flowed in a direction I couldn't have imagined normally, and that, in turn, uncovered a new meaning. I took apart the word saseon—"diagonal line"—dismantled it, reassembled it... and found the hidden meanings within it.
Ah. So that's it. So that's how it was. That 'Perfect Kim Jun-ho' fellow is quite playful. To have hidden it this thoroughly. If I hadn't been the same 'Kim Jun-ho,' I would never have figured it out. But I succeeded. Because it's me.
"Hey, are you okay? Your face looks weird..."
A player approached, but I lightly ignored him. This was a moment of enlightenment. I wanted to savor this instant. Omnipotence. Right now, this world was endlessly delightful.
"...I've got it."
I'd figured it out completely. The secret behind the diagonally cut leaf.
"...That bastard looks like he's gone crazy."