The Regressor Is Brave? (3)
<Floor 24>
-Escape.
"..."
When did I regress? I slowly lowered my head and repeatedly clenched and unclenched my hands. Nothing felt real.
Surprisingly, my mind was fine. Moments ago... I had that sensation of being truly possessed. But now I've snapped back. Like gasping after a bite of unbearably spicy tteokbokki and finding the aftertaste oddly clean.
Of course, saying my mind is fine doesn't really mean 'I'm okay.' The scene I just witnessed is still vivid in my head.
"Huuuuuh..."
I let out a long sigh. That ghost was terrifying. Truly, horribly terrifying. I read somewhere that you have to be careful of smiling ghosts and careful of Dancing Ghosts, because ghosts act opposite to how they were in life. But the woman I just saw was smiling and dancing. In short, she was a ghost that was fucking pissed.
"Why the hell is she taking it out on me?"
If she's angry, she should go after the culprit who pissed her off, not spin my neck round and round. What did I do wrong? I get that women lash out at everyone when they're angry, but there are limits. In that regard, Ji-won's easygoing personality is nice.
"...She's not showing up because she heard me cursing, right?"
I glare at the warped door. The door is still obediently shut. It's bad manners for ghosts to enter the starting point, so I decided to consider this place safe.
-Thud.
I lie down on the cheap bed. It's scary as fuck... but I still have to do what I gotta do. My greatest strength is gathering information, making a plan, and executing it through regression, right? Doing things head-on with brute force isn't my style.
The questions that came to mind right away were roughly three.
First. What is the correct 'escape' method?
This floor didn't set any detailed objective—just 'Escape.' It didn't specify where, how, or when to escape.
"I'll have to figure that out."
I can't simply take that at face value and think, 'So I can escape by any means?' Because from Floor 21 through 23, I learned that the Archangel in charge of this floor loves to play word games.
Floor 21? It said to survive. It really was a floor that could be cleared by surviving. But behind that, there was a suffering girl.
Floor 22? It was set inside a game world, and it just said to submit something... but behind that, there was conflict among players over hidden pieces.
Floor 23 also told us to deal with the 'False Existences' while pulling the atrocity of filling the player count to exactly ten. So what this guy says needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
"Escape, escape..."
I do have a few ideas that come to mind about 'how to escape from a mental hospital,' but I don't have enough information, so... I'll move on.
Second. Why did my field of vision narrow? To put it bluntly, why did I become stupid?
Thinking back on my actions last cycle... they were pretty strange. As soon as I stepped into the corridor, I wandered around scared, and in the end, a ghost killed me and I regressed. It followed the pattern of a typical horror game, and that was what I found odd.
"...If I'd fought, could I have won?"
First, I never once considered resisting. I had a sword at my waist, and I even had a Magic Scabbard that automatically supplies a weapon when I feel intense emotions... yet I didn't think to fight. Was it simply too terrifying? But wouldn't a cornered person flail about and resist anyway? What about mana? Why didn't I use mana? Does my brain just turn into an idiot as soon as I step into that corridor? Then, if I stay too long in the corridor, could it affect me even after regression? So if I don't play around and just climb, will Jun-ho turn into an idiot?
When my imagination reached the point of thinking that the ghost I just saw might regress from 'intense terror,' I shook my head and steadied my mind. That's going too far.
Anyway... to summarize the clear facts, I didn't think to fight. Maybe I was simply too terrified, or maybe it was the Tower's intention. If it's the Tower's intention, I could test resisting by wrapping mana around my body... but I'd probably fail. Like on Floor 23.
"This bastard wants to move us according to his intended script."
It's likely set up so you can't resist. That's his style.
What suddenly came to mind was a trait I got from Floor 21.
-Girl's Cheer [A]
-Five seconds before a threat approaches, you can perceive a sense of foreboding. 'Always be happy!'
On this floor... the Girl's Cheer trait didn't activate. And it's an A-rank trait.
Does that mean that ghost wasn't a threat? Or... is it hinting at something else? Or else, is Girl's Cheer just a garbage trait?
"Damn it."
I briefly pictured the girl who was probably living happily on Floor 21, then decided to try resolving the final question in this cycle.
The third and final question.
"Here goes."
Can the walls of this space... be broken?
There are no windows. I can't see outside. All that exists are these yellowed walls. The material looks like concrete, but honestly, it doesn't seem that sturdy.
If I go out into the corridor, my thinking narrows. I'm crushed by fear and can't think normally—that's my hypothesis.
So what if I just don't go into the corridor at all? What if I smash through the walls here, again and again, until I break out of the building somewhere?
It's an impossible feat for a normal human, but I'm not a normal human to begin with. And this isn't a normal space either.
"Hhhhhh..."
I cycle my mana. A faint mist blanketed the floor, and my heart pounded ominously. I pushed my Health stat up to 20, so I shouldn't just suddenly drop dead.
-Brrrrr.
The tip of my sword glowed white and vibrated up and down, unable to contain the power. The image I picture is a gigantic ice spike. If possible, I want to end this in one shot.
"...!"
Kwaaaang!!!
The moment I felt I'd gathered enough, I fired the force forward. It wasn't even a full-power shot—in game terms, it was closer to an ordinary finishing move, not an ultimate—but the walls were so weak they instantly shattered.
"Hoo."
Dust filled the air. How far did it go? I manipulated the mist on the floor to sweep the dust away.
"...Huh?"
My mouth fell open. The sight before me... was extremely familiar.
I'd fired my mana to the left, which was the blocked-off side relative to the corridor. So there should be nothing beyond it... but past the wall, there was a patient room.
It had curtains, yellowish walls, six beds... a patient room that looked exactly like the one where I'd started.
But my mana didn't just blast through one wall. The next wall too. And the next. And the next.
"..."
What more is there to say? Every single one looked exactly like the patient room where I'd started. As if the space were repeating itself.
"This doesn't make sense."
If not to the right, then to the left. Upward. Downward. Diagonally. I tried breaking the walls in every direction I could imagine, and all that appeared was the same starting patient room. By the time I'd gone so far that I could barely remember where I'd started from...
"Hah, hah, hah."
I accepted it. This wasn't a space governed by ordinary physical laws. A hospital couldn't possibly be this huge.
And every patient room had a door. Open it and look outside, and you'd see the corridor from my memory. So where did the corridors of those other patient rooms even connect to?
Should I regress? No. Let's drill stubbornly in one direction. I'll go as far as I can, and if it doesn't work, I'll regress then.
"...Just a little."
But before that. Let me rest just a little. Just a little is enough.
I flung myself onto a worn-out bed and slowly closed my eyes. A wave of drowsiness hit me. My body is tough anyway... so lying down for a bit should be fine.
Just a little... just a little rest...
**
"...Mister... Mister."
The sound of murmuring.
"Jun... Mister."
The sound of giggling laughter.
"Jun-ho... mister..."
"Huaah!"
I shot upright and looked around. Standing in front of me was a nurse who let out a sigh. She glanced around nervously, then spoke in a small voice.
"Jun-ho! I told you today's the day for your regular check-up. What if you sleep in again, huh?"
"Oh, uh, well..."
"This boy just can't get his act together. Come on, hurry up. Examination Room 1. The doctor is waiting."
"...Yes."
I slowly but habitually got up from the bed. In the other beds, grandmas and grandpas were laughing while watching TV. The sunlight pouring through the window felt quite warm.
"Ahahaha, Yoo Jae-seok is the funniest these days."
"Me, I like that one guy, what's his name?"
I left the elderly folks behind and stepped into the corridor, instinctively turning right. It's a path I take every day, so of course I have it memorized. Other patients and nurses passed by me.
I arrived at Examination Room 1.
Knock knock knock. I rapped on the door and waited a moment, and a voice from inside told me to come in.
"You're late."
It sounded like a scolding at first, but the doctor's lips held a faint smile. I scratched the back of my head sheepishly and took my seat without much of an excuse. Being late wasn't a one- or two-time thing, so that's just how it was.
"Well, since you're late... shall we pick up right where we left off last time?"
The doctor pulled open a drawer with a rattle and lifted out a thick stack of documents.
"Um, where did I leave off last time?"
"...One moment. Ah, here it is. 'After leaving behind the bizarre old man I met on Floor 15, Association Chairman Michael Jeter came to visit...' That's where we ended. Please continue from there."
"Ah, right. So, what happened with that Michael Jeter was..."
"Yes, go on."
This place was a hospital. A mental hospital.
I'm in the middle of confessing my delusions to the doctor, receiving psychiatric treatment.
"I mean, can you believe it... they said the world was being invaded."
The story I fabricated, about what happened in the 'Tower'.