The Regressor Likes Cider (4)
The Regressor Likes Cider (4)
"Huff... huff... huff..."
They ran.
And ran.
Ran again.
They sprinted through the narrow cave passage, again and again.
"Fuck, fuck... Ahn Gyeong-jun! Do something!"
"Hah, hah... when, when is it gonna work..."
"Huff, huff... well... it's supposed to kick in, but... weird... I'm sorry..."
I kept pressing Ahn Gyeong-jun, but all I got back was a deflated sigh.
"Grrrrrrrrr!"
Behind us, that damn monster wolf had bunched its muscles and was chasing us like mad.
Whoom!
The monster wolf must have invoked some ability — it lunged toward us with its pure-white fur blazing a blue flame.
Shiiiiing!!!
I managed to knock its fangs aside at just the right moment, but that was getting harder by the second.
My arms were already numb from blocking several attacks, and my breath was scraping the back of my throat.
"Fucking hell..."
How did things...
How did things end up like this...
***
"Fuck..."
The crunch of my nose breaking still felt vivid.
If my body had been in normal condition, I could have used my arms to balance myself even while falling forward — but they were briefly paralyzed from blocking the giant wolf's ambush, so I couldn't.
As expected, evasion will always serve me better than blocking. If my stance had been even a little clumsier when I stopped that strike, my wrist, shoulder, or fingers would have shattered, and I would have regressed on the spot. Even if I'd stepped into the realm of the superhuman, the human body is still this fragile.
"Hoo..."
I was replaying that fight in my head, giving myself feedback on how I should have reacted, when —
"..."
— a cold, sharp sensation just wouldn't go away. At first I thought it was lingering bloodlust from the wolf, but... something felt off, so I lowered the hand that was covering my face.
"...Huh."
When I opened my eyes, I was staring straight into Kang Chan's expressionless face.
He must have heard me mutter that quiet "fuck..."
Did he think I aimed it at him? No, that's exactly how it would look.
"...I wasn't speaking to you..."
For a second I considered acting tough and pushing back, but Kang Chan's icy gaze reminded me too much of Choi Ji-won in the tutorial, and I gave up.
Better to build a little goodwill now than to throw a fit, take one hit, and regress — that was the rational call.
"...The others are waiting."
Kang Chan seemed to accept my apology, said what he needed to in that low, flat voice, and left the hollow where I was lying.
"..."
Kang Chan. Just as the internet described him in a thousand different ways, the Kang Chan I met in person was just as impossible to pin down.
For one thing, I've never seen anyone in real life who actually says the word "youngster" other than a YouTuber. His words are outrageously few, and his face is fixed in a perpetual blankness, as if life's impermanence were an old friend.
On top of that, he never stops leaking that subtle aura — or is it bloodlust? — around him the whole time... What is he so on guard against? Does even a brush past him trigger a regression, like me?
"...If we fought, would I win?"
I'd been privately curious how strong Kang Chan really was. His name itself already looked incredibly strong.
From his well-trained muscles and that oppressive pressure, I guessed he was on par with someone like Choi Ji-won... Well, I'd probably get my answer when I saw him fight a giant wolf.
I stood up, knocked the cave dust off my back a couple of times, and started walking along the passage.
This time, I wouldn't get caught by a surprise attack.
***
What happened next was identical to the previous cycle.
We all gathered, exchanged names, I gave a startled reaction when I heard Kang Chan's name, opened the stone door, grabbed our weapons, and trudged endlessly through the narrow cave passage.
"..."
After who knows how long spent fighting goblins and bats,
after walking for what felt like forever, I caught sight of that familiar large cavern up ahead.
"Whoa...!"
I suddenly jumped in place as if I'd sensed something. It was a little embarrassing, but I had no choice.
- Curiosity [A]
- Opposites naturally attract. People feel an inexplicable curiosity toward you and instinctively pay you attention.
I planned to grab aggro hard using my Curiosity trait right here.
"Guh..."
I took a few cautious steps backward as if on guard, even wrung out a fake bead of cold sweat.
My gaze, unwavering, toward the ceiling.
Exactly.
"I... I'm sensing something. Something really strong..."
If I suddenly blurted, "Hey I think there's a monster wolf on the ceiling!" it would have zero credibility, and I couldn't reveal the regression either.
So this was my next best option: pretending my sharp senses had picked up the monster wolf ahead of time.
"First, if we use Ahn Gyeong-jun's javelin to attack—"
Just as I was spinning an extremely roundabout explanation about the monster wolf being up on the ceiling—
"Hold on."
It was Kang Chan who cut me off.
He suddenly twisted his face into a deep scowl, then—
Whooooom!
—started releasing a maddening, viscous bloodlust!
"?!"
Flustered, I backed away from him step by step.
How many people had this man killed? Every hair on my skin stood on end, and a phantom iron scent filled my nose, though it couldn't possibly be real.
The sense of threat made me unconsciously draw my sword, and Dok Su-hee, equally startled, gripped a dagger in each hand.
"Uh, n-no, no no — he's an ally! Wait!"
Ahn Gyeong-jun looked like he was about to start babbling at thin air again.
Yet the bloodlust that had seized the space vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.
"...I'll be back soon."
His face still deeply contorted, Kang Chan began walking back the way we had come.
"H-hey, where are you—"
But Kang Chan didn't answer.
Ahead of us, he simply radiated stream after stream of killing intent and walked in silence.
"..."
"..."
Had he detected something?
Should I follow him, or should I wait like he said?
My brain felt like it had crashed from the sudden situation, and I stood there with my mouth hanging open — when.
"...Um, Jun-ho."
This time Ahn Gyeong-jun had slid a hand onto my shoulder.
"...Since a fight's right in front of us, I should tell you now."
"...What."
"My ability... isn't under my control."
"..."
What...
What the hell kind of situation is this...?
Spirit Descent.
A term for a supernatural being possessing a person or object.
In real life, a shaman receiving a spirit and walking on knife blades is a Spirit Descent; in fiction, shrine maidens, sorcerers, and other ability users with an Eastern rather than fantasy flavor commonly employ the technique.
"My trait is... 'Spirit Descent.' To be precise, the soul clinging to me right now is my trait. I can voluntarily hand over control of my body..."
So when Ahn Gyeong-jun revealed his trait as Spirit Descent, the awkward silence that hung in the air was, in a way, inevitable.
"Are you saying... you entered Floor 3-5 because of that as well?"
Dok Su-hee asked cautiously.
"Yes... because the soul attached to me pressured me, I was forced to enter Floor 3-5... it threatened to keep me from sleeping for the rest of my life unless I took the hardest difficulty..."
Ahn Gyeong-jun nodded weakly.
That explained it. I'd wondered why someone as timid as Ahn Gyeong-jun would pick the hardest difficulty. It wasn't his will — it was the will of the soul latched onto him.
"More importantly, what do you mean it's not under control?"
"...First, the activation condition: it only activates when my life feels threatened."
"..."
So when Kang Chan let loose his bloodlust earlier, he must have blocked the Descent. I'd assumed he was just rambling at the air, but apparently not.
According to Ahn Gyeong-jun, the soul attached to his body was a spear master. Naturally skilled at throwing javelins, and also adept with a spear in general.
"But the condition — 'feeling a threat to my life' — is already pretty arbitrary, and even after the Descent kicks in, that's where the real problem starts..."
The problem is that once the Descent happens, he has no control over it. The soul isn't evil, so it listens if Ahn Gyeong-jun asks, but its personality is quite capricious.
Activation, effect, even the point when it ends — everything about the Descent was bizarre. I understood why Ahn Gyeong-jun was reluctant to trigger his trait.
"So... I'm a little hesitant about starting a fight proactively..."
"...Still, waiting for Kang Chan and then fighting doesn't look like an option either..."
Even after about thirty minutes, there was no sign of Kang Chan returning. Were we supposed to wait forever, just as Ahn Gyeong-jun had said?
"Hey... but a certain amount of cooperation is possible, right? With that soul."
It was Dok Su-hee who spoke up then.
"Jun-ho, you wanna just give it a shot with the three of us? I've been thinking it over... With the three of us, I think we can do it."
She pulled out a dagger and began explaining her trait calmly, step by step.
"I don't know about much else... but in pure destructive power, I've got confidence. Especially, it feels like my trait would pair really well with Ahn Gyeong-jun's."
Her trait was surprisingly different from Dok Su-hee's initial impression, but... if what she said was true, bringing down the monster wolf with just the three of us didn't seem impossible.
"...The soul says it seems fine too..."
"...Then screw it, let's do this."
Fine. If it all goes to shit, I'll just regress.
I steeled myself for the three of us to subdue that wolf bastard.
"..."
The three of us slowly entered the cavern, then raised our heads and met eyes with the wolf that had been crouched silently above us.
"Grrrrrr..."
Realizing it had been spotted, the monster wolf descended from the ceiling and began snarling.
Even my skin prickled from the bloodlust it radiated.
"...Let's go! Ahn Gyeong-jun!"
But it's fine. With the three of us, this was an enemy we could definitely take.
Dok Su-hee flipped her daggers into reverse grip in both hands, and I drew my sword from its scabbard.
Three against one, sure, but... it's fine. With our combination... we can totally win...!
"U-um..."
But Ahn Gyeong-jun's voice was far too small and weak for someone supposedly undergoing a Spirit Descent.
"Why won't it work...? I'm terrified I might die..."
Muttering that the Descent wasn't kicking in, he awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
"This isn't... how it's supposed to go..."
"..."
"..."
Dok Su-hee and I just stared blankly at Ahn Gyeong-jun.
Slurp.
The giant monster wolf licked its chops as if it had just spotted a tasty snack — and in that instant,
"...First, let's bolt back the way we came."
As if we had made a pact, the three of us started sprinting like mad down the path we'd walked.