The Regressor Is Conditionally Strong (4) (Revised for Real)
The Regressor Is Conditionally Strong (4) (Revised for Real)
"...I thought I heard there were no issues."
Angel Jeziel rubbed his chin with dissatisfaction.
He distinctly remembered receiving a report from a 9th-rank Angel: 'No abnormalities!'
They'd done a headcount. They'd explained the background knowledge, including the Status Window. They'd handed out the weapons and then withdrawn—or so he'd been told...
He was normally full of mischief and enjoyed intimidating humans, but he was the type who still got the job done. Had trusting him with the task been a mistake?
No. If he'd had the ability to predict this, he wouldn't be stuck at the 9th rank.
Whatever had happened, his own task remained the same.
To measure the humans' sins and make them pay the appropriate price.
Jeziel's gray eyes swept rapidly over the mass of humans.
"You first. Come forward."
With a flick of the Angel's hand, a human was lifted into the air by a supernatural force and dragged before the scale.
"Wh-what the...! Fuck!"
The one dragged forward was a paunchy, middle-aged bald man.
The first case always had to serve as an example.
The wise Angel Jeziel, through long experience, had come to understand the creations called humans to a considerable degree, and he had reached a state where he could deduce a human's inner nature from appearance alone.
In human terms, he could judge a person by their 'physiognomy.'
And as far as Jeziel could see, this middle-aged man had a thoroughly rotten character.
He'd keep a drink and a cigarette perpetually at his lips, zigzagging through the streets and spitting everywhere.
Every sentence out of his mouth would be a curse, and he'd have no consideration at all—a pitiful human who caused others harm without even realizing it.
That was the true nature of the bald middle-aged man... or so he judged.
"Fuck, fuck... I shouldn't have listened to that bastard... fuck!!!"
And astonishingly, every single one of Jeziel's bold guesses proved correct.
The man was selfish, pathetic, and utterly useless.
"Urgh, uwaaaaaah!"
"Come now... accept your fate."
The middle-aged man was finally brought onto the scale.
"It's all right. We'll only measure the sins committed on Floor 0."
Humans and sin are inseparable.
Ever since the first man and woman committed the original sin, the human race has carried sin on its back from the moment of birth.
Thud.
The heavy body of the bald middle-aged man was placed on the scale.
The needles on both ends of the silver scale began to spin round and round.
"You'd best start thinking about how you'll pay the price."
The humans might think this situation was unreasonable...
But Angel Jeziel believed this 'price' was the very device that demonstrated God's mercy.
To grant them entry into the God-created tower after exacting a price was, in the end, the same as saying their sins were forgiven.
"I... recommend paying with stats."
The Status Window and stats were all part of the grace bestowed by God.
They were far more valuable than the lifespan of a mere human or some body part. Even a murderer who had killed several people... could enter Floor 1 if they paid an appropriate amount of stats.
Yet most humans, especially the younger ones, often chose to pay with their lifespan.
The reason was simple.
'Greed.'
Greed for power.
They want to hold onto their strength, even if it means sacrificing a cost they can't immediately see, like their lifespan.
Greed for life.
Though there is no more glorious death than dying in the Tower, they flail about pathetically, trying to preserve their shallow lives.
They were too unlike the Angels, who could sacrifice their own lives for the greater good.
"Ugh... uwaaaaaaah!"
"Pathetic."
This was why Jeziel despised humans. Because they were unsightly.
"Urgh, ughhh..."
Had about thirty seconds passed?
Just as the middle-aged man's struggles began to subside, the spinning needle of the scale snapped to a halt.
A moment of anticipation. A smile crept onto Jeziel's lips.
"Let's see... shall we check the weight of your sins?"
The Angel's cold gray eyes slowly reached the scale's needle.
"...Huh?"
And then his eyes began to tremble wildly.
"Next."
Nothing.
"...Next."
Nothing again.
"..."
Nothing this time either.
The humans' sins... were nonexistent.
The core of this 'Judgment' lay in the way the humans paid the price.
Whether they paid with their lives, with stats or abilities, or by creatively offering precious memories, future bonds, or innate luck.
The method of payment itself was the test...
But these humans had no price to pay in the first place.
Thus, there was nothing to test. They all had a free pass straight to Floor 1.
He had already sent around thirty people to Floor 1 so far.
The number of scenarios that could lead to this situation... was exactly one.
"...So they defeated the Hidden Boss."
A case where they defeated the Hidden Boss and everyone came through using the Goblin Shaman's portal.
In that case, it was possible for no one to have committed sin.
Killing a mere goblin wasn't counted as a sin.
"Hmm..."
He had heard that in the past, talented humans summoned to the Tower had united and brought down a Minotaur.
Not that everyone survived, of course... but it meant the story wasn't impossible.
"You. Did you defeat the Minotaur?"
Jeziel pointed at a human woman with a ponytail. Compared to Jeziel, she was infinitely weak, but she was the strongest among the humans here.
But the human woman shook her head. Her expression seemed troubled.
Instead of answering, she reached out and pointed at another man.
"...So it was you. Come forward."
Jeziel summoned him before the scale.
"...Indeed, he has no sin."
The scale's indicator pointed to 0, just as before.
The only difference was that a pattern in the shape of a bull's head had appeared in the center of the scale.
"This is..."
The mark of a human granted a Special Reward.
It was a symbol he had in his memory.
He had been told that occasionally, when a human managed to defeat the Hidden Boss through an extraordinary trait or innate talent, a mark like this would be given.
He had even heard of other Tutorials where a group of talented individuals joined forces to defeat a Hidden Boss.
To Jeziel's senses, this human male looked even weaker than the ponytailed woman from earlier... but, well, he must have come up with some clever method.
"First, congratulations. We rarely see cases where the Hidden Boss is slain... you have accomplished a great feat."
Jeziel recited the prepared lines in a businesslike manner.
"...Thank you."
The man nodded with an awkward expression, but for some reason he had his right arm raised high.
It was a posture that looked as if he were ready to slam it down onto his own chest at any moment... but Jeziel simply let it go.
Humans were a strange race to begin with. It didn't do to try to understand a mentally ill human.
"Now, there are three choices in total. Please select one of the three."
Jeziel first held out a large axe.
"The name of this axe is 'Berserker's Axe.' The more grievously you are wounded, the more your physical abilities increase."
"...Show me the next one."
This axe held considerable value in the lower floors.
It seemed this human had no eye for quality.
Jeziel immediately brought out the next reward.
"This is the 'Berserker's Potion.'"
"...What's its effect?"
"It greatly enhances recovery. It is a miraculous elixir that can heal an injury that would be fatal to an ordinary person in about a week."
"...Show me the next one."
He wasn't even choosing the potion?
Sighing inwardly, Jeziel finally brought out a small medicinal pill.
"Lastly, this is the 'Berserker's Pellet.' Its effect is simple. If you eat it, your Strength stat increases."
"...I'll take that one."
The human man took the pellet without hesitation.
To think he had such a poor eye. Had it been Jeziel, he would have taken the axe or the potion without a second thought.
Well, the choice was entirely the human's to make. And it was not the Angel's place to judge that choice.
"Then I shall send you to Floor 1."
"Wait..."
Jeziel roused his Divine Power and sent the human male straight to Floor 1.
About 170 humans remained. Jeziel had been assigned the task of passing judgment on them all as quickly as possible.
It was highly likely that none of them had sinned... but, still, work was work, was it not?
"Next. Step forward to the scale."
Merely by performing the work God had given him, Jeziel was happy.
[You have entered Floor 1.]
"..."
I didn't even have a chance to wound myself.
If I'd known he could send me to the next floor that fast, I would have regressed sooner.
I should have checked whether I could receive the Special Reward multiple times; it's a real shame.
Well, it's not like there was anything I could do about it.
It feels like I got everything I could out of Floor 0, so I don't have many lingering regrets.
It bothers me a little that I didn't reveal my regression to Choi Ji-won, but... whenever I see her, my chest hurts and I just can't bring myself to speak to her.
I was lost in thought for a long while like that... until I abruptly noticed that the scent brushing my nose felt familiar.
A musty... and cozy smell.
"...What the hell?"
When I came to my senses and looked around, a familiar space greeted me.
I was pretty sure I'd seen a message saying I'd entered Floor 1...
So why was I back in my studio apartment...?