The Regressor Takes Action (2)
The Regressor Takes Action (2)
"Easy."
Floor 2. This is how you clear it.
See? Really easy, right?
All you have to do is gather intel that you can beat up nobles, acquire the actual power to beat them up, come up with the idea of changing clothes to avoid the players' eyes, and at the very end, have the physical prowess to shove past the Punk blocking your way and reach the Angel within three seconds.
Actually, it makes you wonder how anyone figures all this out without being a Regressor... but listening to those Punks earlier, it seems there really was someone who cleared Floor 2 this way.
Or, you could just stockpile about four Gold-grade Badges beforehand and head over to the Angel all la-di-da with the three bastards blocking the way. Aside from the fact that you'd have to give the same benefit to the same little shits who were trying to screw me over, it's actually the most rational choice.
The structure is incredibly unreasonable, yes, but it is true that they designed it so you *can* get good rewards if you're willing to pay up.
"Phew."
Using the properties of Floor 1, I imagined a plush bed and immediately flopped down onto it.
This feeling, it's been so long. It's healing me. The softness feels so good.
"...My mental fortitude has gotten a bit weak."
Honestly, back in the Tutorial, I regressed far more frequently and many more times than this, yet I still challenged it relentlessly.
There were several reasons. There was a clear goal of clearing the Tutorial, there were enemies blocking the path, and I was brimming with willpower back then.
But now, my mental state has gone as soft as this plush bed.
Even if there are Punks blocking the road, they aren't enemies. They're just free-riders trying to leech a little honey. If anyone is the enemy, it's the God who created this unreasonable system.
Clearing Floor 2? That's easy. But the moment you set your mind on clearing it *properly*, it becomes infinitely difficult. The rules were twisted into a ridiculously complicated mess.
On top of that, I've already gorged myself on modern civilization. Being asked to bang my head against the wall again—it's inevitable that I'd feel tired.
Despite being so guarded against it, Floor 1's comfort had eroded my spirit without me even realizing.
"...Let's just get the reward first."
As soon as I thought about wanting to see the message window floating small in the corner of my vision, the shyly hidden window slowly expanded and covered my view.
"Hmm..."
[Platinum Reward List]
As a result of scanning through the reward list, in my view, the appealing choices could be narrowed down to three main ones.
- Flash Footsteps [B+]
Once per day while wearing these shoes, you can instantly move about 2 meters at ultra-high speed.
- Flash Sword [B+]
Once per day while equipped with this sword, you can call down a weakened lightning bolt at a desired location. Consumes the user's Mana.
- Flash Fist [B+]
Once per day while wearing these gloves, you can enchant a weapon with the Lightning attribute. The effect lasts for 5 minutes.
They're all good items.
Flash Footsteps is specialized for creating distance in an instant. No matter how skilled someone is in combat, imagining an opponent suddenly moving about 2 meters at ultra-high speed is difficult. It lets you land a virtually guaranteed fatal blow. Personally, I think it's the gear with the highest potential peak.
Flash Sword also has a cheating ability. Lightning suddenly striking from a clear sky? It would be nearly impossible to dodge. It's a weapon that's practically a perfect counter to me, specifically. If someone else got that sword... I'd never be able to beat them. I'd regress before I could even react.
Finally, Flash Fist is also an appealing choice. I don't know exactly what kind of effect Lightning attribute enchant has... but just imagining sparks flying with every attack, it's cool as hell. Lightning has a romantic appeal, doesn't it? I don't know about its practical effectiveness, but its charm is top-tier.
The items on the Platinum Reward list are only rated B+, but they're so high-performance it's unbelievable they're given out on Floor 2.
Or maybe the B+ grade itself represents items that are nearly impossible to obtain on the lower floors. To begin with, the Platinum Reward itself is a rare reward with a limited quantity. Only about 30 people among the entirety of humanity can obtain this reward.
They're all good items... They're really good items... but the problem is that they're items.
I can't take them with me if I regress. I wasn't planning on moving to the next floor in this cycle anyway, so they're just a picture of a rice cake—something to look at but not eat.
- Flash Pellet
Increases your Agility stat.
"...Another pellet?"
In the end, what I chose was another pellet.
Because among the rewards on the list, pellets were the only ones whose effects remained after regression.
I'd harbored a faint hope that since the nobles used magic, maybe there'd be a magic book on the reward list, but my expectations were completely betrayed.
Everything on the reward list was either a doping-type consumable or a high-performance item.
"Ugh..."
[Agility stat has increased by 10.]
I swallowed the pellet—which had a tangy flavor—in one gulp, confirmed the message that my Agility stat had gone up, and lightly jabbed the empty air. I could definitely feel my body had become more agile.
"Nice."
Yeah, stats are what last, and a Regressor's friend is always spiritual medicine.
Those flashy items can wait; I can just get them again next time.
The desire to lie back in that plush bed a little longer was burning fiercely, but I knew well enough that if I gave in and collapsed at a time like this, I'd lose the drive to keep moving forward.
"This time... shall I cause a little trouble?"
There was one more thing I wanted to try.
The structure of Floor 2 is practically a caste system.
What would happen if I just destroyed the entire class structure here?
After tearing off a piece of skin inside my mouth, I rolled the wound around with my tongue a bit and closed my eyes.
[You have taken damage.]
[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 2.]
***
It's a city drained of energy by the repetitive life, yet it is still abundant.
This city received God's grace from the very beginning. The moment you crossed the walls, the Garden of Eden unfolded before your eyes.
Clothes to wear were overflowing, the food that rotted and was thrown away outnumbered the food that was eaten, and everyone had a house to lay their head in.
Recently, there had been some unsettling rumors because of certain Climbers, but once the residents formed a Vigilante Corps, the rumors quickly died down.
Before being incorporated into the Tower, the city had been called 'the city where the shouting never ends.' Comparing it to that time is embarrassing—it's that peaceful now. God's grace lurked in every corner of the alleyways. People had minor complaints, but overall, they were happy.
"Ugh, uuugh..."
Except, that is, for this beggar lying in the gap between buildings.
If he wore clean clothes, his whole body itched as if hundreds of bugs were crawling all over him. Even if he ate delicious food, it tasted and smelled like he was chewing garbage. A plush bed felt more painful than a bed of thorns. Water touching his skin sent chills running through his whole body, so he couldn't even wash.
This beggar didn't want to be a beggar.
He had simply chosen the less painful, less agonizing options one after another, and the cumulative result landed him as a beggar.
He knew the cause. The copper-colored box in his chest. That was what was forcing his behavior.
But knowing it changed nothing. He was still a beggar groaning in the dark, and while he couldn't exchange the box, just throwing it away was an act against the city's rules.
"Uuugh..."
The beggar, who'd been lying on the ground and groaning, immediately flipped onto his stomach, pressed himself flat, and stretched out his hand as a man in leather armor carrying a bucket of water stopped in front of him.
"P-please... give me something to eat... I'll even give you my Badge, if that's what you want..."
He knew from past experience.
He could never figure out the reason, but food thrown to him by Climbers tasted like normal food. It had the fragrant aroma of real food, not the stench of decay like something fished out of a sewer.
And so, whenever someone in leather armor approached, pressing himself flat and stretching out his hand to beg for food had become this beggar's routine.
"Please, please..."
But he sensed no presence.
Was this heartless Climber someone who simply had no time to waste on someone like himself? Did they lack the mercy to fetch just one piece of food from those overflowing streets?
"Get up."
But contrary to expectation, the Climber grabbed the beggar's own filthy, dirt-caked arm and pulled him to his feet.
"Uh, uuh..."
Without giving the stunned beggar time to react, he reached into the beggar's chest and pulled out the achingly familiar copper-colored box.
"Stand back."
BAM! BAM! BAM!
The Climber, who'd produced a hammer from somewhere, slammed it down on the box repeatedly. He clicked his tongue, then shoved the brown box into the sack tied at his waist.
"..."
A continuous string of bewildering events. As the beggar froze, still unable to grasp what was happening, the mysterious Climber looked at him and flashed a dashing grin.
"How is it?"
"...Excuse me?"
"Your body. How does it feel?"
"...How does it feel, you say... Eeeyah!"
The Climber poured the water from the bucket over the beggar's head.
The beggar, knowing that a piercing chill would assault him the moment water touched his skin, squeezed his body tight—
"Huh?"
But the water wasn't cold. It was actually cool and refreshing. When he pressed a finger against the grimy film covering his skin, he felt a pleasantly moist sensation he hadn't enjoyed in ages.
"Uh... how..."
"I took it, didn't I? The box. You're free now."
"..."
"First, get yourself washed up... fill your stomach a bit... change your clothes, get a haircut too. Isn't there a lot you've been wanting to do?"
He's right.
The things he'd wanted to do—there were so many.
And what he'd had to give up to live as a 'beggar'—that too was so very much.
"After... after you're done with all that, please help me."
The Climber smiled brightly.
Because the beggar was collapsed powerlessly on the ground, the brilliantly shining sun aligned behind the Climber's head, cascading down like a halo.
This Climber had grasped the rules of this city.
That this box... forces the residents' behavior.
That a resident can never throw away a box of their own will.
And that if someone else takes this box away, the resident is liberated.
Because tears welled up in his eyes, the beggar—no, Thomas—ended up shutting his eyes tight.
"Now, repeat after me. ¡Viva la revolución!"
"...¡Viva la revolución!"
This Climber was the hero he had been waiting so long for.