The Regressor Is Panicked (1) (Revised)
The Regressor Is Panicked (1) (Revised)
"Kim Jun-ho. You go in."
Inside the barrier, Kang Chan spoke evenly.
"I can feel this seal weakening. It'll probably break in another hour or two."
He scratched the spherical barrier with a fingertip, then shifted his gaze to Dok Su-hee, who lay collapsed.
"Once the seal breaks, I'll grab Dok Su-hee and get us out of Floor 3. So you take the red door."
"But..."
I had no problem with it. I had to go through the red door at least once anyway.
What bothered me was Kang Chan yielding the reward so readily. In this cycle, I hadn't told him about my regression. I couldn't figure out why he was being so generous.
"A reason? That's simple."
Kang Chan turned his eyes toward the door stained with red and gray.
"First of all, I don't like that reward to begin with."
His eyes were heavy, sunken.
"This Tower was supposedly built to pass judgment on humanity. On top of that, cooperation was the main point of this floor. Yet here they are, making it so you can't advance if someone dies, and then at the very end they push people into betrayal."
Kang Chan wasn't wrong. This Tower goads people into evil acts, and at the same time threatens to judge them for committing evil. It's nothing if not hypocritical.
"So it's hard for me to believe that reward is simply good. There might even be a penalty attached."
The door's color alone was deep, deep red. Just as Kang Chan said, the reward was unlikely to be purely good.
"Which is exactly why I won't take the risk."
Kang Chan folded his arms.
"I'm already strong enough. Rather than gamble on some pointless risk, I'll settle for the basic reward. You carry the risk."
That was what Kang Chan said aloud, but I could guess what he was really thinking.
In this cycle, Kang Chan hadn't revealed his ability to me, so right now he was playing the role of the ruthless, arrogant powerhouse Kang Chan.
Inside, he probably yielded the reward because he acknowledged what I'd accomplished in the last cycle.
"I, um... I also think Jun-ho should be the one to go in. But my reason is a little different."
This time it was Ahn Gyeong-jun.
"Jun-ho was the one who figured out the wolves at the start... and breaking through that bizarre maze in the middle was mostly thanks to Jun-ho too... and more than anything, the arrow trap was basically Jun-ho's solo stage, wasn't it? I think Jun-ho contributed more than enough to deserve that reward."
He was right. I'd predicted every threat under the pretense of "insight" to push this cycle along faster, and because of that, we'd gotten through Floor 3 smoothly. If you went by overall contribution, I was probably the highest.
"And..."
Ahn Gyeong-jun looked down at Dok Su-hee and went on.
"...Su-hee probably would've agreed."
"Dok Su-hee is a traitor. Not an object of pity."
Kang Chan frowned. But Ahn Gyeong-jun just laughed, sweat beading on his face.
"...Haha. It's true, she is a traitor. But would she have acted like that if the Tower wasn't here? In the end, it's the Tower that turned a young student into this, so..."
Kang Chan sighed and shook his head.
"...Forget it."
"..."
Watching Ahn Gyeong-jun take care of Dok Su-hee, I felt my chest sink.
Dok Su-hee's grisly wounds filled my vision. Her twisted expression, too.
Would the "normal person" I'm trying to be really have blown off a high schooler's arm?
Dok Su-hee is a traitor. But do I have the right to hand down a "verdict" on a traitor like that? I don't know. In the end, it's a matter of choice.
I should've done something about it, maybe... but it's always a matter of intensity. Going too soft is a problem. Going too hard is a problem. And seeing Dok Su-hee's entire arm gone right now was clearly too much.
My expression twisted before I could stop it. During the repeated regressions to break through the arrow trap, I'd started to stop seeing people as people.
I'd been so vigilant against letting my reason break down like that, and yet I was already warped to some degree.
"...It's fine."
It was Kang Chan who pulled me out of the swamp I was sinking into.
"You did well."
"...In what way?"
"..."
Kang Chan didn't answer. He was staring intently at my right index finger.
"...Ah."
In the past—when I'd pressed Kang Chan about his ability and was working out a plan to break through the arrow trap—I'd had a chance to talk with him.
At that time, the Kang Chan I knew was someone who understood his ability's limits precisely and acted on careful calculation.
So he had a habit of observing first whenever he encountered a new environment.
Kang Chan stared at my finger for a long moment, then gave a small nod.
He saw it. He definitely saw it.
He must've seen me dash for the red door the moment we entered the room. He might not know how I knew the red door would be there, what trait let me blow the door open, or whether I'd acted because I knew in advance that Dok Su-hee would betray us...
But he could at least deduce enough to know I was involved in the door exploding.
"..."
And yet... Kang Chan, even knowing I'd blown off Dok Su-hee's arm, had yielded me the chance to enter the red door.
That was trust. He'd said out loud why he had no reason to go in himself, but his actions showed he trusted me.
All the struggling I'd done to clear Floor 3 in the last cycle—none of it had been meaningless.
That's what I felt.
**
We exchanged contact information and talked briefly about what we'd do next.
Inside the barrier, Kang Chan looked me squarely in the eye and said:
"Think carefully. Are you going in?"
"..."
I won't lie—I was torn.
I still don't know how to remove a trait. If I ended up with something weird like "Traitor's End" as a trait or reward here... my psyche, already unsteady, might completely snap.
Maybe I'd regret this decision for a long, long time.
"I'll go in."
Even so, I laid my palm on the discolored door.
Because once the dried blood caked on the surface was blown off, the door underneath was ordinary stone-colored, just like any other door.
Because even if its outer surface had turned red from layer upon layer of caked blood, its essence was the same as any other stone door—still intact.
Because I chose to believe that what had been twisted wasn't the door, but the people who used it.
I laid my palm on the stone door.
Rumble.
A blue portal revealed itself. An ordinary blue portal, no different from the other one on the right.
"...I'll see you later."
I tucked the large box under one arm and threw myself into the portal.
My vision went black in an instant.
**
When I opened my eyes again, I saw a giant stone statue.
[O warrior.]
I was on a mountain, and a statue carved in the image of a man was addressing me.
[A warrior requires a fitting weapon.]
I recognized the voice from my memories. It was the same voice that had told us to split into two groups and share blood in that room.
From where I stood, I could only see the statue's back, but it radiated a solemn weight.
"...Who are you?"
[O warrior. As you passed through the cave, did you act as a warrior should?]
Even when I asked who it was, the statue gave no answer—only spoke the words it meant to speak.
[...Originally, this space was meant for the most honorable of warriors. In the course of overcoming the trial, they would evaluate one another, acknowledge one another, and yield the reward to the most honorable warrior. That was the intent behind its creation, and yet...]
The statue's presence, which had felt as immense as a mountain, softened a little.
[...At some point, its meaning was twisted by those who lost their reason to greed.]
"..."
That made sense.
The red door that only one person could enter hadn't been red from the start. It had turned red only after blood piled onto it, over and over and over.
That's how everything in the world works. Expose it to the world's storms and it changes. Even if the original intent was good... the moment you try to stay sane, things twist into something grotesque.
Dok Su-hee is like that... and maybe I am too.
[I've rambled too long. The reward shall be given.]
Slowly, the statue began to glow.
Its entire form turned white, then dissolved into a cluster of light in an instant.
[A weapon is the mirror of its warrior. To the wicked, a wicked weapon is given... Did you, in that cave, conduct yourself as a warrior should?]
The cluster of light drifted toward me, then coalesced into the shape of a sword.
"..."
And the sword that materialized... wasn't a sword.
"Huh?"
A scabbard.
Just a single scabbard sat in my hand.
"...This isn't a weapon."
On top of that, normally if you stare hard enough at an item, the Status Window pops up, but this scabbard didn't show a Status Window either. The ring from the archangel did the same thing—do hidden items just not display anything by default?
[A weapon is the mirror of its warrior. Always remember that.]
Once again, the voice gave no real answer.
With those final words from the solemn statue, my vision went dark in a flash.
[You have cleared Floor 3-5.]
[Entering Floor 1.]
When I opened my eyes again, I was on Floor 1.