The Regressor Is Panicked (2)
The Regressor Is Panicked (2)
Floor 2 had been relatively easy to clear. That meant I could return to Floor 1 often, and I visited the real world frequently too.
But Floor 3 was my first time actually clearing it. I'd spent an absurdly long time rolling through that arrow trap, so by my internal clock it felt like I was stepping back into reality for the first time in half a year.
"Haaah... huff..."
After breathing nothing but dank cave air for so long, the acrid Seoul air hit my lungs and it felt like my whole chest was opening up.
The first thing I did when I got back to my long-missed studio apartment—
Rrrring.
—was call Choi Ji-won and Park Cheol-jin.
-After the beep, you will be connected to voicemail...
"...Still not picking up."
I don't think the two of them will fail. Park Cheol-jin is a bit borderline, but Choi Ji-won has the firepower to wreck even Floor 3-5.
After sending them both a quick text asking if they were okay, my next task was digging through the internet.
-Floor 3-1 Clear Review
-Barely survived Floor 3-3. AMA.
-Went into 3-2 with a friend, looks like we got split into different trials. Still can't get in touch with them...
"...That's weird."
Browsing through the posts, I noticed something genuinely uncanny.
-How did you guys handle the room where five wild dogs jump out at the start?
-Wild dogs? I got goblins.
-What difficulty were you on?
-I was 3-2?
-Wait, me too?
Even players who entered at the same difficulty reported completely different trials.
Some got goblins, some got wild dogs, some got orcs, some got slimes.
Piecing together the testimonies, the difficulty levels seemed roughly equivalent, but the specifics were worlds apart.
I can only assume the trial contents vary depending on who enters.
"No one's talking about a red room."
No matter how hard I scoured the internet, there was no mention of a red door suddenly appearing in the final room. It seemed to be a mechanic unique to Floor 3-5.
"...I've seen enough by now..."
After trawling through the internet, including some foreign sites, the next thing I did was...
—take stock of the rewards I got from Floor 3.
Creeeak.
First, I decided to open the box and check its contents.
<Mid-grade Potion>
<Mid-grade Potion>
<Scroll (Empty)>
"Potions... and potions... and what's with 'empty'? And... what's this?"
I pulled out the object that had caught my eye.
"...Hm."
A blue liquid swirled inside a thick glass vial. The color instantly made me think of a mana potion.
But would a mana potion even mean anything to me? I can't handle mana in the first place.
"...Tch."
Clicking my tongue, I was just about to put the vial back into the box when—
<Experience Elixir>
-Upon consumption, grants a fixed amount of experience points.
-Unique item. (Cannot be copied.)
"...Huh?"
My eyes flew wide open as I skimmed the description.
It gives experience? Drinking this does?
I quickly finished checking the box and found nine more vials of the exact same design.
"...Hold on."
Right now, my Status Window looks like this:
[Name: Kim Jun-ho] [LV:21]
[Traits]
-Regression [EX]
-Flash Step [S]
-Heart of Lightning [S]
-Curiosity [A]
-Awe [A]
-Hero [C]
-Swordsmanship [D]
"...Was Swordsmanship always D-rank?"
Anyway, that LV there isn't my normal level. It's my Achievement Level.
Even when I kill monsters, I get a message saying 'The disparity in rank is too great,' and I don't earn experience points. That's what's been limiting my growth.
I want to get stronger, but I can't. The classic regressor privilege of grinding levels is sealed off to me.
"But...!"
An Experience Elixir—
—if it's something that doles out a fixed amount of experience regardless of rank or anything else...!
"..."
Gulp. Gulp.
Carefully, but boldly, I downed an entire bottle in big gulps.
The taste was a weird mix of traditional fur-seal herbal medicine spiked with Sprite, but... if it was for my growth, I could endure it.
The moment I emptied the bottle, a message window finally popped up before my eyes.
[No level exists. Experience points will accumulate. Accumulated experience will be applied in bulk the moment a level is obtained.]
"Ah."
...Right. Of course it wouldn't be that easy.
**
I'd basically wasted one bottle of Experience Elixir, but I still had nine left. I could funnel them all to someone else, or trade them for a different item.
"...Right, next up..."
The next thing to check was the scabbard the statue gave me.
No matter how I looked at it, it was just an ordinary scabbard.
It was extremely sturdy, maybe to be expected from a Tower reward, but it was nothing more and nothing less.
Just in case, I used Floor 1's function to generate a sword and slid it into the scabbard, but... nothing happened.
Did it really just hand me this to use as a blunt weapon? No. It's more reasonable to assume there *is* something to it, but it's either sealed or I simply can't utilize it yet.
"...Haaah."
I wrestled with the scabbard for a long time after that, but produced no meaningful results.
After studying the scabbard almost to the point of exhaustion—
—I commemorated my return to Floor 1 by generating everything I'd been craving: pizza, cola, fried chicken, pig's trotters, you name it. I ate until I thought I'd burst. I hadn't eaten a thing in that cave, so my appetite erupted all at once.
After stuffing myself, I collapsed onto a soft bed, watched some TV, and fell asleep.
It was a small thing, but it was happiness.
And that was when I finally felt it.
I've been pushing myself harder than I realized.
**
A day passed.
Still no word from Choi Ji-won or Park Cheol-jin. The fact that an entire day has gone by without contact... It seems Floor 3-4's mechanics involve something that takes up a huge chunk of time.
Should I wait for them? But what if it's another floor, like this one, where the mechanic splits everyone up? Or, worse, a floor you have to clear completely solo?
Taking it to the extreme, what if it takes over a week for Choi Ji-won to get out? The time I'm spending right now is critical.
"Kang Chan and Ahn Gyeong-jun said they were taking a break..."
Kang Chan mentioned he had circumstances that would prevent him from entering the Tower for a while.
He phrased it that way, but I think he's probably waiting for the cooldown or conditions on his 'Fist' to be met. I know he has comrades of his own, but climbing the Tower without his ultimate trump card would be suicide.
Ahn Gyeong-jun also said he'd take time to train, feeling his own inadequacy.
He said he'd aim to control his Possession freely. Looking back at Floor 3 alone, Ahn Gyeong-jun relied pretty heavily on Kang Chan's killing intent to trigger his Possession. If he could activate that state at will, he'd become far stronger.
"..."
Alright, so... what should I do now?
Dok Su-hee. Kang Chan. Ahn Gyeong-jun.
I think back on the days spent on Floor 3.
The cave. The monster wolves. The mirror maze. The arrow trap. And the golem. And at the very end... Dok Su-hee's betrayal.
It was the first time I'd joined forces with anyone besides Choi Ji-won.
It was the first time I'd regressed so many times for a single objective.
It was the first time I'd been betrayed by someone, and the first time I'd used my regression to punish a betrayal.
"...Is this really okay?"
Entering Floor 4 means my past becomes fixed. It means I can never change this future again.
I asked myself: if I go to the next floor like this, will I regret it?
I probably will. There might be some way to persuade Dok Su-hee, to enlighten her without taking her arm.
But if I regress, I feel like I'd regret it even more.
My feelings about Dok Su-hee right now are complicated. Anger at the betrayer, disgust at the lunatic, pity for her wretched circumstances, guilt for getting so carried away that I severed her arm.
If I regress and meet a Dok Su-hee who knows nothing again, I don't know how I'll act. And I don't know how my mental state will change after that.
I agonize over it again and again.
I weigh what I gain by not regressing against what I could gain by regressing. It's not as simple as just thinking, 'Can't I just regress and do it over?' The mental fatigue is too immense.
"..."
If I'm tired... should I just rest a bit? Thoughts of the delivery-food binge from earlier and the warm, soft bed naturally drift into my mind.
I want to play some games. I want to sleep as much as I want. Rewarding myself for clearing Floor 3 wouldn't be a bad thing either.
Plus, in about a month, that crypto I bought is going to moon. The world might be in chaos, but if I want to enjoy myself, I've got every means to do it.
Enjoy myself as much as I like, then regress and redo Floor 3...
No. Bad idea. People run on inertia, and the moment you stop, getting back into a sprint is twice as hard.
I can still endure it. And thinking about it again, the punishment I dealt Dok Su-hee was justified.
Above all, the bond I've built with Ahn Gyeong-jun and Kang Chan is solid. The situation isn't absolutely perfect, but it's close to the best possible.
Kang Chan. Ahn Gyeong-jun. Choi Ji-won. Dok Su-hee. And above all, my own mental state.
After racking my brain for what felt like ages, I finally reached a conclusion.
Let's go to the next floor.
"...Hoo."
I took a deep breath and threw myself into the portal.
[Entering Floor 4.]