The Regressor Accepts Fate (3)
The Regressor Accepts Fate (3)
A regressor inevitably ends up telling a lot of lies.
And making those lies sound convincing is actually pretty simple.
"This passage... doesn't it seem suspicious to you?"
You just say something that sounds like profound bullshit.
And at the same time, you pour genuine emotion into it. After repeating the Tutorial so many times, I'd say my acting skills have improved by leaps and bounds.
"Every passage so far has had torches on the walls. They were bright and easy to see. But this one... for some reason, it's pitch black."
I already know how this ends.
Which means I already know this dark passage ends at a stone door, and behind it there's a mirror maze.
"I believe this is a clue that the trial will involve 'sight.' It's hinting that you shouldn't trust what you see ahead."
In other words, I just have to fit a story to the outcome I already know. It isn't hard to make something up that sounds plausible.
"So if there's an end to this passage... how about we all put on blindfolds before we proceed? The gimmick is most likely related to 'sight,' and I think we can overcome it by blocking our vision."
Of course, it only looks plausible on the surface. The reasoning behind it is ridiculously flimsy. I was basically suggesting, "There aren't any torches from here on, so want to walk through blindfolded?"
"...I'm not convinced."
Naturally, it wouldn't be convincing. It was literal bullshit.
And I can't just coast through with my Awe trait like I did in the Tutorial. In my experience, the stronger someone is, the less likely a trait is to work on them. Choi Ji-won has never once been affected by the Awe trait.
Which meant, by any reasonable standard, I had to make them believe in something completely absurd.
But making bullshit sound convincing is simple.
Clack.
The bullshit just has to keep being right.
[You have taken damage.]
[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 3-5.]
***
"...Hm. I think there should be weapons up ahead. Based on the patterns here..."
"There'll be goblins popping out around here. The cave structure looks man-made."
"Judging by the shape of the cavity, I think there's a monster. Probably... a wolf. Wolves are symbolically significant in primitive cultures."
Three times.
I spouted pure bullshit a grand total of three times, and every single time it turned out to be right.
"Ooh..."
"..."
As a result, my utterly meaningless bullshit gained authority. For one simple reason: I had been right several times in a row.
"So if there's an end to this passage... how about we all put on blindfolds before we proceed? The gimmick is most likely related to 'sight,' and I think we can overcome it by blocking our vision."
And so, my 'sight trial theory' became persuasive.
"...But wouldn't blindfolds be dangerous?"
"We all have Ki Perception anyway, don't we? If anything goes wrong, we'll just pull them off. Here, I'll tear up my leather armor to make blindfolds."
"..."
Still seemed impossible to believe, but since I'd been right so far, Dok Su-hee put on the blindfold with an expression that said she'd trust me just one more time.
"Ah, Chan? Would you mind giving Gyeong-jun here a little dose of your Killing Intent...? Just in case something happens. You know?"
"..."
With that, the subjugation of Ahn Gyeong-jun was complete, and once everyone had put on their blindfolds—
"Now, please place your hands on the door! Don't take off your blindfolds until I tell you!"
Rumble.
Each of us placed a palm on the stone door and opened it.
"..."
Certain that every possible preparation was done, I—
Slip.
—secretly took off my blindfold.
I had tied my own leather blindfold loosely on purpose. I told everyone they probably shouldn't look ahead, but if I actually couldn't see, who knows what might happen.
"...I heard something."
"..."
But the native possessing Ahn Gyeong-jun must have heard even the leather sliding. His ears pricked up sharply. Beastly bastard.
"...Now let's head in. You need to hold my shoulder tightly."
We grabbed each other's shoulders like children playing Follow the Train and slowly moved into the mirror maze.
"...It's smooth and cold. Like a mirror that disturbs a warrior's soul..."
Instead of grabbing my shoulder like he was told, Ahn Gyeong-jun was using one hand to touch the mirror beside him.
"No, no, no, how could that be? Why would a mirror suddenly appear in an underground cave? It's probably just obsidian or something, right?"
"Strange..."
I tried my best to explain it away, but the bastard wouldn't stop stroking the mirror, suspicion still written all over his face.
"..."
Judging by the fact that Ahn Gyeong-jun seemed fine after touching the mirror, it didn't seem like a trap triggered by contact.
"Hoo..."
Still, I had stopped Ahn Gyeong-jun from going berserk. There shouldn't be any obstacles to clearing this maze now.
I only had two major variables left to consider.
First: the mirror maze's own unique gimmick.
And second... Ahn Gyeong-jun himself.
But the latter could wait. First, I could work on clearing the maze—the rest could come later.
"Alright, let's go."
And so, our group plunged into the mirror maze with leather straps wound tightly around our eyes.
**
How long had we been walking through the mirror maze?
Whooosh.
A chilling wind swept past.
I was steadily navigating the maze using the left-hand rule.
"..."
Walking through a mirror maze where my reflection endlessly stared back was no small ordeal. I could barely tell the paths from the walls, and every movement repeated dozens of times, making my brain feel scrambled.
"...Gulp."
Was it because my brain was tired?
Just now... I could have sworn my reflection in the mirror moved.
It seemed like the corners of its mouth curled up into a spine-chilling smile.
But, rationally thinking, a mirror can't move.
Had to be my imagination, right?
"..."
I had learned from countless horror movies that if I brushed this off as 'just my imagination' I would die.
Besides, this maze was part of the Tower. It's a space where nothing strange is out of the question. Raising my guard was the right move, not relaxing it.
While I was walking with my senses sharpened like that—
"Jun-ho."
"...What is it? Su-hee?"
Dok Su-hee suddenly spoke to me. I had told everyone repeatedly not to talk inside the maze. It had to be something urgent.
"Huh? Me?"
But Dok Su-hee tilted her head as if she had no idea what I was talking about, even though she was the one who spoke.
"...Didn't you call my name just now?"
"No? I did?"
"..."
Right. So that's how it's going to be.
Fine, let's see how long you can keep up this horror atmosphere. If you're going to be this blatant about it, I have my own ideas.
The moment I gritted my teeth and opened my eyes wide—
"..."
"..."
I locked eyes with myself in the mirror.
The bastard stared straight at me with a strangely vacant look. Then—
Stretch.
It grinned brightly. So brightly it made the skin crawl.
The corners of its smile climbed higher and higher, twisting grotesquely until they nearly reached its ears, and then—
"Hahahahahahahaha!!!"
It lunged straight at me!
"Knew you'd do that."
But I was already mentally prepared. The possible gimmicks for a mirror maze were pretty limited.
Usually, one common gimmick was: touch a mirror, get pulled into a mirror world, and a left-right-reversed monster pretends to be you.
Same thing here. The second I locked eyes with my own reflection, I had already predicted it would attack.
"Hup!"
Slash!
I dodged the swing of its sharp claws by the width of a single sheet of paper, then exploited the opening and slashed its throat.
"Easy."
A cheap horror vibe like this isn't enough to shake the steel-forged psyche of a regressor. If the Archangel wanted to rattle me, they should've prepared a much more dangerous trap.
The moment I wore a self-satisfied smirk and flicked the blood from my sword—
"...?"
On the mirror wall beside me, I saw something that should never have been visible.
"...Mirrors."
"..."
It meant I could see Ahn Gyeong-jun's eyeballs.
"Mirrors, so many of them..."
Ahn Gyeong-jun stood there, face twisted into a horrific grimace, blood trickling from between his brows.
"..."
The monster's slash must have cut the leather blindfold off.
Should I have blocked instead of dodging? A mistake.
"Fuck..."
I let out a sigh and gently closed my eyes.
"...Do you never tire of this? You dare try to beguile me again!!!"
Crash!
[You have taken damage.]
[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 3-5.]
***
Clang!!!
"Hurk!"
This time I cleanly deflected the mirror monster's claws and then cut its throat.
I'd been avoiding parrying by instinct because of the recoil, but I guess in situations like this I need to know how to deliberately block, too.
"Wh-What was that sound?"
"I smell blood..."
"It's nothing. Keep moving."
"...I think I stepped on something squishy."
After stepping over the mirror monster's corpse and wandering roughly thirty minutes more—
"I think we can take off the blindfolds now?"
At last, the end of the mirror maze came into view.
**
"..."
Putting aside Ahn Gyeong-jun, who was staring at me with a meaningful look, and Kang Chan and Dok Su-hee, who were looking at him like he'd eaten something weird—
Objectively speaking, the mirror maze had been incredibly easy.
Sure, there was a single monster lying in wait, but it wasn't a particularly strong type...
And as long as you ignored Ahn Gyeong-jun going berserk, it was so easy you couldn't even compare it to the sheer difficulty of the monster wolves.
"..."
Yeah. As long as you ignored Ahn Gyeong-jun going berserk.
A suspicion was starting to sprout in my head.
That maybe Ahn Gyeong-jun going berserk was part of the difficulty itself.
And if that was the case... then each room might have been custom-built for us. A chilling thought.
"Oh, I see something up ahead?"
"..."
That ominous feeling reached its peak when we arrived at the next room.
A long corridor stretching straight ahead.
Visibility wasn't a problem because of the torches crammed densely along the walls, but the fact that it was completely empty bothered me.
Was another monster going to jump out? No, the corridor was too narrow for a monster to pop out.
A corridor stretched out in a perfectly straight line like this...
"...Can you all step back for a second?"
I moved everyone else behind me and then cautiously took one step forward.
Clank.
The moment I heard the sound of steel interlocking,
Whizzzz!
Exactly five arrows shot straight at me!
"Oh shit!"
I more or less expected it, so I managed to leap back and barely dodge the rain of arrows, but—
"..."
It felt like my ominous premonition had become real, and a bead of cold sweat ran down my back despite myself.
This room was definitely a trap room. The 'clank' I'd heard just now and the hail of arrows coming from all over confirmed it.
Usually in stories, the main character survives countless barrages of projectiles by only dodging their vitals, barely makes it through, and then tends to their injuries with a potion or something...
But the instant even a single arrow so much as grazes me, I regress.
Ever since entering Floor 3, this was the worst possible counter I could've run into.
"...Heh."
A laugh escaped me before I knew it.
It really was the worst possible counter. I know that normally, to overcome this place, I'd have to throw myself at it hundreds, maybe thousands of times just to clear it.
But it's fine.
"...Chan."
"What is it?"
"Can you just... smash everything ahead of us?"
This time, I've got a cheat code.