The Regressor Accepts Fate (4)
The Regressor Accepts Fate (4)
I knew it at a glance.
A long corridor-shaped room.
I'd taken only a single step, and arrows were already flying in from every direction.
If arrows came the moment you entered, I couldn't imagine what might pop out deeper in. Poison? Spikes? Flames?
From my perspective, where even a scratch means regression, this was a trap that was nearly impossible to clear. No matter how I looked at it, this room wasn't designed to be dodged. It was designed to be endured while taking hits.
But that was fine.
"...Chan."
"What is it."
"Can you smash the path ahead?"
Because I had a cheat key.
"...My power is the kind that shouldn't be used carelessly."
But Chan was showing signs of hesitation.
"Ah."
He seemed to be worried about the fragile cave walls. There was precedent, after all—when he'd misused his power against the giant wolf, the ceiling had collapsed.
"I understand what you're worried about. But I think it'll be fine this time."
"..."
I had a strong conviction that it would work. The reason was simple.
"The path ahead is obviously rigged with traps, right? Which means there's elaborate machinery installed."
This wasn't a naturally formed cave like the hollow where the wolf had been hiding.
The walls and floor were smoothly cut. There were signs of artificial work.
And since the arrow-firing mechanisms seemed to be hidden behind the walls...
"It means simply breaking things won't cause the entire cave to collapse. To hide such complex machinery, they'd have clearly designed it with some degree of impact resistance."
I left off the "probably" at the end. If I was wrong, I'd just regress.
"..."
Despite that, Kang Chan kept mulling it over.
Even though my predictions had been spot-on so far and I'd earned his trust, he still seemed worried about us getting hurt.
"Um..."
That was when Dok Su-hee stepped in to help.
"I put almost all my stats into mana... so I'm really terrible with these kinds of traps... If we do this the normal way, I'll end up a pincushion..."
Dok Su-hee gazed at Kang Chan with glistening eyes, an expression at odds with her sharp features.
"Isn't there something you can do...?"
"Please, Chan...!"
And so the two people who wanted to avoid arrows at all costs clung to Kang Chan.
"...Fine. Stand back."
Unable to withstand their gazes, Kang Chan took his stance.
Whoooooom.
Kang Chan's fist began to glow slowly.
Wind whipped through the narrow passage, and the moment Kang Chan's fist, steadily brightening, shone with full radiance—
KWAANG!
Kang Chan's fist detonated into the trap-laden corridor.
"Whoa..."
I'd kept my distance, worried I might regress from the aftershock, so I couldn't fully witness the punch.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
But through the violently shaking floor and walls, I could indirectly feel Kang Chan's overwhelming force.
The tremors gradually subsided.
"...It doesn't seem to have collapsed."
When Kang Chan lightly dusted off his fist, I poked my head out to look at what had once been the trap corridor.
"Ha, haha..."
Before my eyes could register the various projectiles jammed haphazardly from malfunctioning machinery or the stone walls warped and collapsed here and there...
What I saw first was a hole punched straight through the center.
"...The hole is shaped like a fist."
How to breeze through the worst trap.
Borrow an overpowered character's strength.
**
"..."
Chan seemed to have used a significant amount of power with that punch; his complexion was a bit pale.
Well, if he could spam that level of force, you'd call him a god, not an overpowered character.
And didn't the god who descended on Earth just throw its power around however it pleased?
"Should we rest a bit?"
"...I'm fine."
We passed through the wrecked trap corridor and walked straight for about five minutes.
"...A fork in the road, huh?"
The path ahead split in two.
"Hmm..."
On the left, a man fighting a monster was depicted in a primitive art style. On the right, a man clutching his head in agony.
Each stone door had two palm-shaped grooves carved into it. The intent was obvious: split into pairs and proceed.
"I'll take the left."
It was clear at a glance that the right path held a mental trial.
And I'll say it again: for a regressor, the most important thing is mental management.
Physical pain can be overcome, but psychological pain is one thing a regressor can never escape. Because the mind carries over even through regression.
In other words, I would never walk through the right door of my own accord. I'd rather repeat a few regressions and clear the left door than deliberately go through the right one. What reason would I have?
"Th-then I'll go through the right door with Kang Chan!"
Ahn Gyeong-jun, stammering but insisting he go through the right door with Kang Chan.
"But why with Chan..."
"Kang Chan has that killing intent... so in an emergency, he can force me into a trance state, right?"
He had a point.
Chan could certainly keep himself safe, but Ahn Gyeong-jun was far too vulnerable to ambush when not in a trance.
It made sense for Kang Chan, who could force Ahn Gyeong-jun into combat readiness in a crisis, to pair up with him.
"Then..."
"It's the two of us, then?"
Dok Su-hee gave a small nod and placed her palm on the left door.
I met Dok Su-hee's eyes for a moment, then placed my palm on the stone door as well.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
The floor slowly sank. It wasn't a trap-like sudden drop—it was descending slowly, like an elevator.
"Le-let's meet up after!"
By the time the rumbling that had swallowed up Ahn Gyeong-jun's voice faded...
"..."
The scene before my eyes had completely changed.
What I saw was a small room. A room carved out of the cave walls.
"There is a door, but..."
There was a stone door right ahead, but I couldn't see any mechanism that would intuitively open it.
Which meant something had to be done inside this room for the door to open.
"Hmm."
In the exact center of the room was a stone pedestal. On it sat a small box and a liquor bottle emitting a fragrant grain scent.
"..."
I opened the box without a word. Two cups carved from stone caught my eye first, and in the center of the box, a sharp needle gleamed menacingly.
A needle? Out of nowhere?
"What's this..."
The moment I blurted out my confusion without thinking—
[What is a warrior? Its essence lies in killing the enemy, but its purpose lies in protecting. A warrior with nothing to protect is no more than a murderer.]
A mysterious voice rang out from somewhere.
It was a strange voice that didn't reach my ears—it felt like it was being inserted directly into my head.
[On a grand scale, one fights to protect a nation. On a smaller scale, one fights to protect a family. At the root, one fights to protect oneself. Therefore, a true warrior must know how to protect oneself.]
"..."
The voice preached that a warrior exists not to kill, but to protect.
[Taking it a step further, a warrior must be able to protect their comrades in arms. For only when each strives to protect the other is the true power of a warrior unleashed.]
"Hmm..."
A plausible speech. And now I understood the concept of this room.
It was testing whether we had the heart to protect each other. That must also be why they deliberately split us into pairs—the trial here required cooperation between two people.
All right, so I just had to fight while protecting Dok Su-hee.
I was about to give a small, unconscious nod—
[Drink from the cup of shared blood, and look your comrade straight in the eye. Come to fully understand the comrade who stands shoulder to shoulder with you. Then shall the true trial begin.]
"..."
At those next words, I shut my mouth.
Now I understood the purpose of the needle before me.
They wanted us to prick our fingertips, draw blood, and mix it into each other's cups to drink.
Yes, I knew this custom existed. I'd heard of the idiom 'blood brothers.'
Yes, I 'knew' about it. I just never imagined I'd ever have to do it myself.
"There, I'm done."
Dok Su-hee, without making a big deal of it, let a drop of blood fall into the cup and then casually poured grain liquor over it—gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.
"Here."
The needle she lightly placed on my palm felt as heavy as a log.
"..."
Does this Tower really have no intention of letting me do anything the easy way?
"Haa..."
I softly closed my eyes and pricked my fingertip with the needle.
[You have taken damage.]
[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 3-5.]
***
"I'll take the right."
"...Are you sure? The man clutching his head looks like he's in serious agony..."
"Of course I'm sure."
Obviously I wasn't sure.
I'm a regressor who already struggles with mental management—there's no way I'd welcome a path that deals psychological damage.
But what could I do.
"Really... I'm really fine."
I had no choice...