The Regressor Takes Action (5)
The Regressor Takes Action (5)
A signboard in the plaza listed the rewards for each grade.
Bronze-grade rewards were minor consumables or junk potions.
Silver-grade rewards offered weapons or armor with the modifier "sturdy," plus lowest-grade potions.
Gold rewards granted weapons and armor with the modifier "well-made," plus low-grade potions.
And finally, at the Platinum reward tier, a blatantly overpowered "Flash" set was prepared, along with a medicinal pill that would be satisfying to eat anytime.
Honestly, if you ignore the systemic absurdity, it's impossible to deny that Floor 2 is an incredibly generous stage from a player's perspective.
There's practically no risk. Regardless of the size of the reward, you're guaranteed to receive one. Compared to the Tutorial Stage, which was a bloodbath of death, this place is heaven.
No bull-headed monster trying to kill you. No food shortages. If you decide to stay, Floor 2 is a place where you can linger indefinitely, and if you want to move on, you can clear it in an instant. As long as you don't get greedy and aim for exactly a Silver-grade reward, clearing it is never a problem.
Yet despite that easy clear sitting right in front of me, I went through all sorts of hell to earn a Diamond Reward.
It would be a lie to say I wasn't looking forward to it.
Another medicinal pill this time? Or an item with insane performance? Come to think of it, I remember other people having a "Mana" stat in their Status Windows... Maybe the reward includes a lightning mana cultivation method? Could I shoot streaks of lightning from my whole body like the City Master?
I unconsciously swallowed and checked the message floating before my eyes.
[Please select your Diamond Reward.]
-Heart of Lightning [Trait]
-Flash Step [Trait]
-Lowest-grade Elixir [Consumable]
"...Hm."
An elixir is an elixir, so what's with the "lowest-grade" label?
Pushing aside the useless thought, I decided to read the detailed descriptions.
-Heart of Lightning [S]
'When a Lightning Knight uses this technique, it means they are prepared to die.'
Upon activation, consumes all current mana and replaces it with lightning-attribute mana. All physical abilities, including reaction speed, are greatly enhanced, and all attacks deal additional lightning-attribute damage. The user takes continuous damage during the duration, and "Heart of Lightning" persists until all lightning-attribute mana is exhausted.
-Flash Step [S]
'By the time you see it, it's already too late.'
A footwork technique utilizing extreme control of speed and pacing. Consumes a large amount of mana to enable instantaneous high-speed movement. Movement distance is affected by proficiency.
-Lowest-grade Elixir [S]
'Immortality may be impossible, but a long and healthy life seems within reach.'
Fully consuming one bottle heals all physical defects. Unlike the original, it has little effect on curses.
"Tch..."
Heart of Lightning. At a glance, its performance looks incredible, and it would look damn cool too.
The cornered protagonist. The people he has to protect. An overwhelmingly powerful enemy. After agonizing, the protagonist makes his decision and activates "Heart of Lightning." Yeah, that's awesome.
On top of that, my regression ability pairs extremely well with short-term decisive-battle traits. Just like when I pumped my strength with the Hero trait and lopped off the Minotaur's head, I could amplify my combat power in an instant, grab the reward, and regress. Done.
But since the description says "the user takes continuous damage during the duration," it's all an impossible fantasy. The moment I activate the trait, I'd regress.
In the first place, as long as I regress upon taking damage, any trait that relies on "hold on, body!" is useless to me.
Similarly, the Lowest-grade Elixir is a consumable. If I could take it to the real world and sell it, I'd get my hands on a massive fortune... but I can't take it with me when I regress. Drinking it right now wouldn't be bad, but my body right now is the picture of health. There's no real merit in choosing the elixir.
In the end, one option remained. Flash Step. It's a Diamond Reward, so maybe I should just be grateful there's even one thing I can actually use.
"...How exactly do I use this?"
I'd never gotten a skill like Flash Step that requires manual activation before.
With a bit of curiosity, I tapped "Flash Step" with my fingertip. The moment I did—
"Ugh, uuaagh..."
A pain like my head was splitting open assaulted me. It felt like every brain cell was burning, but apparently, this didn't count as damage because I showed no sign of regressing.
Information was forcibly pouring into my head. How to maintain balance on the tips of my feet. When and where to guide my mana. How to step to avoid straining my feet.
"Huff... huff..."
After about a minute, the pain gradually subsided, and I managed to lift my head.
As if someone had crammed the contents of an entire book into my brain, all the information about Flash Step was inside my head.
"..."
The footwork used by the Lightning Knights. Flash Step.
They say you see as much as you know.
With the knowledge in my head, I understood that the secret behind the City Master's strange movement—the reason she could suddenly appear after I blinked—came from this peerless footwork called "Flash Step."
And I noticed something very important.
"...I'd need to know how to use mana to make this work."
The descriptions attached to various items saying "consumes mana"... it wasn't like a game where mana is automatically consumed.
The activation structure requires me to directly move the mana. And I have no idea how to use mana.
I got an S-rank reward... and I have no way to use it right now.
"Status Window."
[Name: Kim Jun-ho] [LV:16]
[Traits]
-Regression [EX]
-Flash Step [S]
-Curiosity [A]
-Awe [B]
-Hero [C]
-Swordsmanship [F]
My achievement level had risen from 13 to 16.
And a reliable S-rank trait had been added. One with no use.
"Well, that aside..."
Originally, I had planned to experiment with the S-rank reward I got this time, but... there was no point now. I already knew I couldn't use it right away.
In that case, I should move to the next step.
First, I opened a portal back to reality and moved to my familiar little studio apartment.
Right now, I've cleared Floor 2 but haven't entered Floor 3 yet. So if I take damage, I'll regress to the moment I first entered Floor 2...
The part worth paying attention to is that I'm currently in a state of having cleared Floor 2.
What does that mean? It means Floor 2 embargo has been lifted. Which means I can freely browse the reviews of other people who have already cleared Floor 2.
If I listen to other people's stories, I'll definitely find something I missed.
There must be a way to persuade or force the stubborn City Master to submit. Someone said there were people besides me who tried to replace the nobles. That means I'm not the only one who tried to change the Tower's structure.
Immediately, I turned on the computer and dug through various Korean communities. Thanks to my years of experience browsing forums back in the day, finding the information I wanted wasn't hard, but...
-Got this as a Silver reward, is it okay?
-What happens if you hit each other on Floor 2? Too scared to try.
-Wanna kill every last one of those roadblock bastards, seriously.
-But why does the Bronze reward even exist? Don't get it.
"...This hasn't changed at all."
The problem was that there wasn't a single piece of useful new information. I already knew all of it.
Through repeated regressions, I'd already seen through most of the situation on Floor 2, while these people had only been through it once. Plus, it hadn't been long since the US President publicly announced the Tower's existence.
At this point in time, the number of people who had cleared Floor 2 could be counted on one hand. I didn't know if they were training on Floor 1 or just lazing around, but everyone was reluctant to go up to Floor 2.
"...A waste of time."
After about two hours of web surfing, I reached the conclusion that searching for information online was completely pointless.
The climbers' community hadn't been activated yet, and almost no one had gone up to Floor 2. And most of those who did probably picked the Silver reward.
Come to think of it, I might be the person on Earth who knows the most about Floor 2 right now.
"Tsk."
I turned off the computer and was about to flop onto my bed to plan when—
"...Huh?"
I remembered Michael Jeter's wall poster stuck on one side of the plaza.
And I remembered the story the American guys were chattering about in front of it. They said there was an unofficial player community in the US.
"...The American community?"
Everything I'd looked at had been limited to Korean communities. Why hadn't I thought of checking foreign communities?
I immediately got busy, scrolling through the major American communities.
It turned out the American guy's chatter wasn't just empty talk. I confirmed that several player communities had already formed.
I accessed the largest one among them and scrolled down. Finding what I wanted didn't take long. The post had an enormous number of recommendations.
"...Found it."
A familiar nickname. Exactly the content I wanted.
<My experience on Floor 2 was extremely unpleasant. The City Master nearly killed me.>
Author: M.Z.
I think I've found a lead.