The Regressor Is Convinced (3)
Choi Ji-won had chugged those expensive potions like water and was back to full health.
"Jun-ho, can I think for a moment?"
"Uh, yeah."
Instead of launching into a long explanation, she gripped Boongboong-yi tightly in her hand and sank into contemplation.
"..."
"..."
From the way Boongboong-yi occasionally vibrated, they were definitely exchanging opinions, but since I couldn't understand it, the frustration was beyond words.
So, what kind of floor is Floor 25? Is it a solo run? Or multiple people? Since it seems to involve poison, solo is more likely, but I still don't know.
And wasn't Floor 25 typically one of those floors where an Archangel shows up and it's a freebie? Ah, so not all of them are like that. Even on Floor 10, there was a yeti instead of an Angel. On Floor 15, there was an old man instead of an Archangel. You can't generalize.
First, if it's poison, there's no way I can clear it through conventional means. So what is Choi Ji-won agonizing over right now? She doesn't look like she's despairing over a problem with no answer. It's more like she's pushing herself toward a sliver of an opening.
"...Yes, sis. Can you talk right now?"
"..."
Soon, Choi Ji-won pulled out her phone and contacted someone. At first, I heard the sound of a call, but it soon cut off, so it seemed she was discussing Floor 25.
What should I do now?
There's nothing I can do. Might as well wait.
After idly scrolling through reels and shorts, I just flipped my phone face-down and lay on the bed.
Endless waiting. I found myself bouncing my leg unconsciously, then sat up and checked the time. Barely two hours had passed.
"Jun-ho."
"Uh, yeah?"
Just then, Choi Ji-won, who had finished her call, spoke first.
"Hey, want to go on a date?"
"...To regress?"
"Yeah. I think I have to."
**
"You're not open today?"
"Yes... a player committed an act of terror on the second floor of this building and is hiding, so..."
"Oh no..."
The restaurant we'd found based purely on online reviews was closed. Not because they'd taken direct damage, but because the second floor of the same building had been sealed off after being attacked by a criminal player.
The player who'd robbed the place had escaped through a portal and hidden when the police and a nearby player arrived, so the police sealed the building. Because if you enter Floor 1 through a portal, the exit spawns in the same location.
"These days, if you see someone missing an arm or an eye, be careful. I'm telling you this as if you were my own children."
"Ah, yes... thank you."
"Sure."
In the end, we couldn't go to the place we originally intended, and ended up sitting down at a nearby café.
"So... do you know something? Do you think I can clear Floor 25?"
"..."
"Even if you can't tell me about the Tower, what do you plan to do now?"
"I'll give you the bottom line, Jun-ho. I'm thinking of regressing with you. A lot."
"..."
For Choi Ji-won, who'd stubbornly insisted we should cut down on accompanied regressions, to be the one suggesting we 'regress a lot'...
"In your judgment, do you think that's necessary? Absolutely?"
"...Yeah. It's something we have to do. I thought about it a lot, talked it over with other people... I think this may be the only way."
"..."
Absolutely necessary. Honestly, I'm burning with curiosity. Part of me wants to just charge into Floor 25 right now.
"If you say so, then that's how it is. More importantly, want to try going here? How's this place?"
But just as Choi Ji-won would trust my word, I'd decided to trust Choi Ji-won's word. So without doubting her, I began preparing to regress together.
[You have taken damage.]
[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 24.]
***
We cleared Floor 24 in a flash. And Choi Ji-won headed for Floor 25 once more.
This time she returned after 30 minutes. After downing a potion, she again talked with Boongboong-yi about something all night...
"Jun-ho, want to go on a date?"
"...Got it."
Again, we regress.
[You have taken damage.]
[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 24.]
***
"Jun-ho. Want to go on a date?"
"...Got it."
[You have taken damage.]
[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 24.]
***
"Jun-ho."
"Yeah."
[You have taken damage.]
[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 24.]
***
I wiped the sweat off my pants onto my thigh and traced the fabric pattern like a maze. Oh, there was some mold there. I'd have to clean it later.
'Jun-ho, this cycle... I think I'll need to use some time. Can you wait?'
'How much?'
'Maybe... a month?'
This was Choi Ji-won's place. I was lying on the living room sofa, looking at my phone. It had been two weeks since we regressed.
'Is there anything I can help with?'
'Nah. Just rest comfortably.'
'...Okay.'
It had been two weeks since Choi Ji-won had shut herself in her room for something.
I had done nothing during that time. Ate when I was hungry, slept when I was sleepy, looked at my phone when I was bored. It was the perfect life of a jobless person. My body was comfortable, but my heart was indescribably restless. This 'excessive comfort' kept tormenting me.
"Haaah."
Fine, let's admit it.
It's frustrating. I just... hate this 'ignorance'.
People naturally don't know what's a single step ahead. One day, a stock could blow up out of nowhere and make you an overnight millionaire, or you could go in for a light check-up and get a cancer diagnosis that makes your heart drop. You could confess your feelings expecting a yes and get rejected, or you could splurge to go watch a sports game live and watch your team get crushed.
Does the person who dies in a car accident today know they're going to die? That's just how it is.
But I... no. I always moved knowing the future. Once I closed my eyes, threw myself into it, and struggled through, I could move step by step based on information about the future. That's why this current state of ignorance feels uniquely suffocating.
"...No, that's not it."
No. Having thought it over, it's a little different. It's not the 'ignorance' that frustrates me. It's the situation where I can't do anything that frustrates me.
As long as I have the power of regression, I could always act proactively. The first cycle I might not know, but after that, I was always out in front. Crushing crises. Smashing through situations that were practically bullying. But what about now?
Isn't there nothing I can do except look to Choi Ji-won, trust her, and wait? That was unbearably frustrating, and I felt pathetic for it.
How much had I cursed those stories where the protagonist can't act proactively and is just dragged around? And now I'm exactly in that position. The sight of me lying on the bed like a bum, waiting for my girlfriend to do something for me. A perfect specimen of a kept man. I want to die.
No, it's not my fault. It's not Choi Ji-won's fault either.
"Those shitty Angel bastards."
The problem is the Archangels who designed this Tower, and this garbage regression ability where a single hit makes me regress. It's not our fault. Let's not mistake the enemy.
Let's wait. I decided to trust her, so I'll wait until the end. Even if it's suffocating... let's hold on a bit longer.
With the heart of a princess waiting for her prince, I fervently prayed for time to pass quickly.
And so, one day, two days, a week, a month...
"Mail?"
"Yes. It came from the United States, apparently?"
"...Huh."
Around the time a month had passed since we regressed, a letter arrived from America. The sender was unexpectedly Michael Jeter.
-To Miss Ji-won and Mr. Jun-ho. This is Association President Michael Jeter. Since you are hard to reach, I am sending this letter.
-I am doing my best to reclaim the Association and stop the human sacrifices. The resistance is fiercer than expected, but I believe I can end it before the monsters' invasion begins.
-I confirmed the text you sent. Regrettably, Miss Su-hee has not yet returned. We, too, are waiting for her to return from the Tower.
-Mr. Jun-ho and Miss Ji-won must also be focused on climbing the Tower. Thank you on behalf of humanity. I will remember your dedication. I will certainly repay you.
-Let us do our best in our respective positions. Sincerely, Michael Jeter.
To summarize: the situation wasn't good for contact, he was working hard, and we should work hard climbing the Tower too~, was the gist.
"...Like I'm doing this because I don't want to climb."
Michael Jeter probably just sent it as a greeting... but it's not like we are doing this because we don't want to climb the Tower. I can't even enter it, so what can I do?
I carefully folded the letter and went back to surfing the internet. The United States was in a silent war, people were openly being dragged into the Tower, and players were committing acts of terror... yet the world still spins.
People who need to go to work still go, the internet works, commercial districts still exist... a world not far removed from the framework of the existing human society.
What would happen if you told these people that monsters would soon appear?
No one knows the scheduled cataclysm is coming. They plant apple trees, unaware a meteor will soon fall.
No, even if they knew, would anything change? What could an ordinary person do, just knowing monsters would appear? At best, they might buy a personal bunker or stock up on daily necessities. Even that would all melt away if a dragon let out its breath.
Humans are infinitely small before a natural disaster. Perhaps it's better not to know than to live in fear day by day.
"Ah."
It suddenly occurred to me that those people and I weren't so different.
Aren't we the same in that we can't do anything right now?
**
About a month and a half after we regressed.
"Jun-ho, can you come here for a sec?"
"Is it done?"
"Yeah."
Choi Ji-won.
Her long confinement was over.