The Regressor Is Panicked (10)
The Regressor Is Panicked (10)
"This is an emergency."
Early morning of Day 3. Every player and every resident had gathered in the courtyard before the castle.
All eyes were on me, and I felt it as naturally as breathing.
"Everybody, open your Status Window."
-73 : 11 : 41
The timer had ticked down overnight. A full two days had passed since we reached the castle.
"What's the time got to do with anything?"
At someone's offhand question, I quietly stepped aside.
"Mr. Ahn. Please explain."
"Ahem. Ah, as you all may know, our search team discovered a suspicious library on Floor 1. It was full of countless books. Most were novels about a Hero traveling, or technical books on farming and the like, but..."
While Ahn Gyeong-nam stepped forward and launched into a lengthy account of how the secret library was found, I quietly pulled Yun Jung-hyun aside.
"...Mr. Yun."
"What is it?"
"Do you have anyone you can trust?"
"...About two people."
"That makes four, including me. Bring them once the meeting is over. Quietly."
"...Understood."
I tipped off the man with the narrow eyes, Yun Jung-hyun, in advance. Ahn Gyeong-nam's story came to a close in the meantime.
"Only once we had managed to decipher the language could we read these red letters. The book says: When the past that remains and the future that approaches become the same, you shall once again realize that you all die."
"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Ahn."
As soon as Ahn Gyeong-nam finished, I stepped to the front again.
"You probably think this is a load of nonsense. We felt the same at first. But after closely analyzing the passage, we reached this conclusion."
When the past that remains and the future that approaches become the same means precisely when sixty hours remain.
And the line that says you will realize that you all die suggests that something is going to happen.
The interpretation is straightforward, and what we must do is equally clear.
"We will now throw up barricades not only at the outer walls but at the castle entrances as well. We will consider every possible scenario and prepare for the coming disaster."
In order to survive.
**
All the humans on Floor 4 fell into three broad groups.
"We're short on stone!"
"Just patch it! We don't have time!"
First. Those barricading the entrances to the castle.
The castle had six entrances in total, and after much deliberation, we decided to seal five of them.
That would be a foolish choice if something were to happen inside the castle, but we had no intention of being inside the castle when the fated hour arrived.
"You've inspected the weapons here, right?"
"Yes! That's correct!"
Second. Those double-checking our current resources, including weapons and food supplies.
Ahn Gyeong-nam had forewarned that something would happen, but a fair number of people didn't believe him. And not believing Ahn Gyeong-nam meant having no motivation to act.
"It's not a hard job. Just do it accurately. Let's finish early and get some rest."
"...Fine, got it."
They lacked motivation, but they weren't entirely clueless either. They knew that half-assing the work while others were breaking their sweat would earn them grudges.
And finally, the third group.
"Mr. Yun, there's something loose here."
"Ah, that's just old."
Yun Jung-hyun, myself, and two players I didn't know: Floor 3 search party.
Yesterday, I'd told Yun Jung-hyun there was no need to search Floor 3, but that was purely a decision to maintain the status quo—a choice to coast to the end of the floor. Now that the situation had turned out like this, I had no intention of sticking to that old plan.
"Ah, this one catches on something."
Rumble.
When I gave the torch on the wall a gentle tug, the wall rotated to reveal a hidden space.
"This is..."
A large box sat there by itself. I opened it immediately, but there was nothing inside.
"We'll have to look into the details, but for Floor 3, this is worse than Floor 2. Is this all?"
Yun Jung-hyun shrugged, shooting the breeze.
"..."
Some unknown reward might have appeared... but secretly, I was relieved.
I don't fully trust Yun Jung-hyun. If a portal had appeared here, I wasn't confident he wouldn't walk right into it.
I was actually glad there was no such thing.
"Let's finish the search. Something else might turn up."
After noting the location where we'd found the box, we spent the remaining time thoroughly combing Floor 3.
But in the end, we found nothing.
And at last, the fated hour arrived.
**
"Does the moon not rise here normally?"
"I thought I saw it yesterday..."
A night so dark you couldn't see an inch ahead without a torch.
Ninety-nine players and over three hundred otherworlders stood on the castle walls. (One player had reportedly fled beyond the wall.)
"Alright, act as briefed beforehand."
If something were to happen, the possible scenarios boiled down to three.
First. Something swarms toward the castle from outside.
Second. Something spills out from inside the castle.
Third. Something previously indistinguishable from a person mutates into a monster and attacks.
Weighing those three possibilities led to the paradoxical answer: the safest place was atop the walls.
The personnel layout was simple.
Players spread out along the wall, each standing at a distance and keeping watch on the outside.
Watching the outside meant we could prepare for external attacks. Standing on the walls meant nothing coming from inside the castle could ambush us. And the spacing meant no one would be instantly caught if a person mutated.
"So we just stand here?"
"The baron and his guard, come on up."
Most of the otherworlders would stand in the courtyard below the walls. They were more numerous and were, frankly, a potential threat to us.
For the most part, the plan was that if monsters burst from inside the castle, the players would descend from the walls immediately and subdue them.
"Is everyone ready?"
With that, everyone took their positions in turn.
"...It's almost time."
-60 : 03 : 10
The sand in the hourglass fell steadily. Three minutes. Two minutes. One minute.
-60 : 00 : 00
At last, the fated hour was upon us.
"...!"
"..."
Everyone stopped even breathing and watched the surroundings.
Did we see anything outside the walls? No.
Was there any sign of something emerging from inside the castle? No again.
Then, any omen that someone might mutate into a monster? Nothing at all.
About thirty seconds of silence passed, but the players' sharpened senses detected nothing.
"..."
Just as a thought began creeping into everyone's heads—"Maybe nothing's going to happen after all?"—
"W-wait a moment."
Ahn Gyeong-nam spoke to me, his eyes trembling.
"What is it?"
"I can f-feel it..."
Ahn Gyeong-nam pointed toward the distant horizon. His glasses were crooked, the sign of someone badly startled.
"...My Trait's name... is 'Analysis Complete.'"
"..."
"And according to my Trait... something is coming from that direction. I can't get a more detailed analysis, but..."
"...From there?"
Everyone stared in the direction Ahn Gyeong-nam was pointing, but with no moon in the sky, they could see nothing at all.
"Sir Thomas, does your sight catch anything? You have sharp eyes, don't you?"
Baron Jorge asked, placing a hand on his retainer's shoulder.
"I see it. But I'm not certain. Please wait a moment."
Sir Thomas answered in a stiff tone, then narrowed his eyes and stared into the darkness beyond.
I don't know how many moments passed.
"...I see waves."
"Pardon?"
Sir Thomas had suddenly spoken nonsense.
"It is so dark that even I cannot see well. But... there are waves."
"..."
"..."
Everyone studied Sir Thomas's face, wondering if he was joking, but he was dead serious.
In this bitter cold, with snow flurrying and ears turning scarlet... waves, all of a sudden? Did that even make sense?
"...Magical waves, maybe?"
"Is there such a thing?"
"Since it's magic, wouldn't it be possible..."
"...Is that so?"
Amid the pointless chatter from some players,
"Step aside. I need absolute concentration. That's the correct direction, yes?"
The woman with the prominent jaw walked out with a supremely confident stride. She was the same one who had once argued, point by point, why we should join forces with the otherworlders.
"Huuup...!"
She stepped to the fore, raised both hands above her head, and closed her eyes.
Her already jutting jaw extended even farther, and her face flushed red. It was quite a comical sight, but no one was laughing.
"Oh, oooh...!"
Above her hands, a massive fireball was beginning to form.
"Huuuuup...!"
A fireball that had started fist-sized quickly outgrew a human head and swelled to the size of a gym ball.
Not exactly gigantic, but the sheer intensity contained within the fireball was far from ordinary. No run-of-the-mill player would walk away unscathed from that.
"Watch... closely...! I'm throwing it... as a flare...!"
Gritting out the words, the woman thrust both arms forward. Instantly, the great fireball ripped through the freezing night air and hurtled away.
Fwooooosh!
"Whoa!"
"That's awesome!"
Propelled by the players' awe, the huge fireball raced fiercely toward the horizon.
It streaked onward, illuminating its surroundings...
"Can you see anything?"
"Nothing but snow on the ground..."
Even when the gym-ball-sized fireball had shrunk to a grain of rice in the distance, there was still nothing to be seen.
"Hm..."
"Hmm..."
Just as doubtful eyes began turning toward Ahn Gyeong-nam—
BOOOOOM!
The fireball reached its destination, detonated in a fierce explosion, and served its purpose.
"Seriously, what a fuss for nothing."
"Let's just get some sleep. I'm getting drowsy."
"I want fried chicken, dammit."
The tension lifted, and the players finally began joking among themselves. All that commotion and fanfare, and it turned out to be nothing.
"Hey... let's go, mister. We're cold."
Players were smiling, urging Kim Jun-ho to get moving.
But Kim Jun-ho stood rooted like a stone statue.
And it wasn't just Kim Jun-ho. Sir Thomas, Yun Jung-hyun, and everyone else of note showed no intention of budging from their spots.
"...What's wrong? Why's everyone standing around?"
A player finally sensed something was off and cautiously asked Kim Jun-ho.
"...Waves."
Kim Jun-ho muttered something incomprehensible.
Truthfully, he had been confident. When his 'Hero' Trait fully activated, he believed he could take on anything that came.
"Get everyone on the wall assembled here."
But the moment that fireball exploded, Kim Jun-ho saw it beyond any doubt.
At first, he'd thought it really was a wave. It was broad enough to span the horizon, ceaselessly writhing—a sight close to a wave.
But when he concentrated and observed, he realized his mistake.
"...They're coming."
"C-coming? What is? How many?"
Orcs. Wolves. Goblins. And unfamiliar monstrosities that humanity had yet to name.
"...Beyond counting."
Over the horizon, a wave of blood and death was sweeping toward them.