The Regressor Strays (2)
"...Left. Ah. Right."
I walked through the maze, focusing on my mana consumption. Strangely, whenever I chose a particular path, my mana consumption gradually increased, which gave me confidence.
Why did my mana consumption increase? Probably because the poison was getting thicker.
Then why was the poison getting thicker?
There could be several reasons, but interpreting it in a way that favors me...
If this 'Maze King' bastard is the one producing the poison... that would make sense.
"This might be one of the hints."
As I'd suspected before, this maze couldn't be cleared through normal means. Expecting someone to escape a massive maze in a few hours is absurd.
I dare say, using the poison concentration to find the path is the correct answer. At the very least, I'm sure it's one of the correct answers. Because otherwise, there are no hints at all.
"First, straight. Then left. Then straight again. Next, right."
So naturally, I made sure to memorize the route I'd walked so far. I'd be moving along the same path next cycle, and if I memorized it, each cycle would flow much more smoothly, right? A regressor's greatest weapon is information. Always keep that in mind.
"First, straight. Then right. Then..."
"Grrrr."
How long had I walked? Even though I was absorbed in memorizing the route, the sound of growling reached my ears.
"What the."
Was I not alone in the maze? Was it the Maze King? I moved toward the sound, about twenty meters away, and what I saw was—
"...A goblin?"
"Grrrr..."
A pure white goblin was looking around right in the middle of an intersection. It was even holding a bizarre-looking spear, and the aura from it was quite menacing.
"Go."
"Keeeek!"
It wasn't strong enough to be my match. Not just me—any player capable of reaching Floor 25 could handle it easily. If I had to compare, maybe around the combat power of a professional fighter? Its movements had power and agility, but not enough to threaten a superhuman.
"Keeeek..."
The peculiar thing was that the half-dead goblin started crawling somewhere. Even though its life was clearly fading, it left a long trail of blood and kept looking around frantically.
"...I feel a little sorry for it."
Pitying it, I finished it off. Honestly, why not just charge at me? What's wrong with it?
Well, setting aside pity for the White Goblin, why was there a goblin here? Why would a monster like that roam around in this poison-filled maze?
And most importantly, where had it been heading? Why was it making a loud 'grrrr' sound and drawing aggro?
"..."
After choosing what I judged to be the 'right path' four times, I encountered a white goblin. Was that really a coincidence? I had a hunch that this, too, was one of the escape hints the Tower was giving.
Until now, I'd been talking to myself, circulating mana, and memorizing things, so I'd been distracted.
What if I hadn't tensed up about the poison gas itself and calmly observed my surroundings? Could I have heard the faint 'grrr' at the starting point and used it to set my direction? Or, if I'd had a detection ability like Choi Ji-won's, I might have seen the goblin's location?
"I see..."
Once I realized that, new information poured in. The vines growing on the walls were quite meaningful. At first glance, they seemed patternless, but upon closer inspection, didn't they form arrow-like shapes?
"No, now that I look, the ceiling too...?"
The ceiling color also differed slightly from the starting point. The ceiling at the start was a bit darkish, but here it was a little brighter.
Just in case, I checked the floor. It wasn't a completely bare stone floor; plants were subtly growing on it. It was a greener floor...!!! Even grains of soil were scattered about...!!!
"Ah... So that's how it is."
I finally understood the concept of this floor. The 'poison gas' was nothing but a tool to push people into a state of tension and excitement. Once a time limit is imposed, humans panic, blood floods their brains, and they can't make proper judgments. If you get swept up in that excited state and run around the maze? That's how you die. Unless your luck is insanely good, escaping the maze is impossible.
But if you don't get swept away by the obstacle of poison gas and maintain your calm? This maze itself is a giant map. It tells you exactly where to go to escape.
If I didn't have my regression, I might have panicked and run around like those stupid players. But I am a regressor. As a result of calmly and coolly observing my surroundings, I pinpointed the core of this floor.
Now that I'd worked out the strategy for this floor.
"Here, left."
I headed left, the direction a large worm had crawled.
"Straight."
I went straight in the direction the vines were growing.
"Right."
I went right after checking the ceiling brightness, and began advancing at an incomparable speed. Just in case, I checked my mana consumption from time to time, and it confirmed that all the paths I chose were correct. My judgment wasn't wrong.
My progress, which I thought would continue smoothly like a sailboat catching a tailwind—
"...What."
—hit a terrifying obstacle.
The direction a fallen spider had headed was left. The vines pointed left. The ceiling was brighter on the left, and the floor was greener on the left. Every object in the maze signaled me to go left.
But mana. Mana alone told me to go right here. The poison concentration itself was ever so slightly denser on the right.
"...Hmm."
There was no time to sit and deliberate carefully. Judging by my mana that was gradually running low, I probably had about five minutes left. I didn't know how much further I had to go, but one thing was certain: I had to decide quickly.
Mana, or the rules I discovered? I didn't agonize for long.
"Right first."
I'd just regressed, so I could afford to try both. It was just a matter of order, and I simply felt like going right first. I was also confident in handling the power of mana.
The right path I chose this way was a little different from before. There were forks, but thanks to my Mana Filter, I had no trouble choosing. The odd thing was that the monsters, vines, floor, and ceiling no longer sent any signals.
My mana signaled me to keep going, but without the other clues, I was quite uneasy. Soon I'd run out of mana entirely. Still, since I'd come this far, I wanted to see it through.
"...A dead end."
I'd reached a dead end. It seemed choosing right was the wrong choice after all.
I thought trusting mana was the right answer. I was wrong. I made a mistake.
"...Argh."
Still, it was fortunate. Since I'm a regressor, I had a second chance. Or not? Actually, even if I weren't a regressor, I could just backtrack and go left. Anyway, let's try again. Next time I'll do better.
After collecting myself, I was about to release the mana in my lungs and regress, just before—
-Whoosh.
From beyond the wall that had clearly looked blocked, I felt a very faint breeze. The wind was thick with poison, enough to make the mana in my lungs throb as if in a spasm.
"...?"
Sensing something odd, I hesitantly walked toward the wall. I spread my palm wide and pressed it against the wall.
-Swoosh.
My palm passed right through the wall. I waved my hand around, as if buried in the wall, and it seemed there was a separate space beyond it.
"..."
Judging by my remaining mana, I had about thirty seconds left. Making up my mind, I pushed my whole body into the space beyond the wall.
In a void where there was no distinction between up, down, left, or right, with only pitch-black darkness visible.
My eyes met the large, innocent eyes of a cow.
"..."
"..."
A large cow's head was just sitting there in what I assumed was the floor, but looking closely, it seemed to be slowly emerging from the black ground. The trapezius muscles were just about to appear. It looked like a giant monster slowly revealing itself from underwater.
-Blink.
The cow blinked. I blinked back. I didn't know what to say.
It was like getting caught secretly playing computer games at dawn by your parents. Or coming home at 4 a.m. after getting drunk, and Ji-won is waiting up for you.
That creature, with only its head poking out of the ground, was one I had seen before. More precisely, it was one I'd seen to the point of disgust in the Tutorial.
"...Are you a Minotaur?"
"...Moo..."
The Minotaur rolled its big round eyes and sheepishly avoided my gaze. It seemed to be saying, 'Let's just let this slide.'
Honestly, I wasn't quite sure what was going on.
"...This seems like a place I shouldn't be."
Once again... it seemed I'd discovered something.