The Regressor Is Too Lazy
The Regressor Is Too Lazy
Was this clearing really a safe zone?
Surprisingly, it actually was.
Not once in all the time we'd spent here had we felt any threat.
If you pushed through the grass and stepped outside, goblins were everywhere, yet for some reason they never entered the clearing.
The air was warm, and there was no life-draining rain.
I kept my guard up, thinking something might happen... but nothing ever did, and the tension drained away in an instant.
At last, the real healing began.
**
Five days passed since I decided to do nothing at all.
I guess it's been six days since I regressed.
Why did I suddenly skip ahead in time?
Because there's nothing to talk about.
That's just how life is.
People who burn themselves out on the front lines of life, giving it everything they've got—every single day is packed with stories and gossip.
Who did what today, what I heard over there, the person I mentioned before apparently has a rumor going around, and so on.
But for someone who stays home every day, scratching their belly and fiddling with a computer, there's really nothing to say even when they meet a friend.
Yesterday, I was on the computer all day. Today, I was on the computer all day. Tomorrow, I'm planning to be on the computer all day.
The only thing that changes is the menu. Sometimes not even that. A monotonous daily life is, by any reasonable measure, about a million light-years removed from anything interesting.
What did I do over the past five days? Nothing.
Lie around until Choi Ji-won brought food, then eat. Sleep when bored. When the occasional scream sounded, I'd offer a moment of silence for the dead.
I was leading a life so peaceful it was hard to believe this was the Tower.
If someone wrote this as a web novel, the title would be something like, "Healing Alone in the Tower Tutorial," or "Every Scratch Sends Me Back, So I Just Want a Quiet Life."
Am I bored?
Of course I'm bored. But being bored is better than suffering.
Besides, I wasn't just bored.
I'd managed to find someone to talk to.
"I mean, isn't that ridiculous? He said he'd protect me and told me to follow him, but he was grinning like a total creep."
"Oh, was it that guy with the glasses and the bowl cut? I think I've seen him too."
"Yes, yes, that's him! It gave me goosebumps, but... when Ji-won glared at him, he flinched and just walked away."
"Haha, Ji-won can be pretty intimidating."
"Hehe, isn't Ji-won amazing? She's my role model."
Who am I talking to? It's the Short-haired Girl.
Remember her? The Short-haired Girl who asked if I had anything to eat that night.
Her name is Baek Da-hye.
She said she was a university student before she was summoned to the Tower.
She's timid, but she seems like a kind person by nature. And she has a cute face.
If she hadn't been summoned to the Tower, she probably would've been treated well by guys and had a lively social life... it's a shame in a lot of ways.
"Oh, this is my friend! Say hello!"
"...Did you two already know each other? You seem really close."
"No! We got close after we came to the Tower!"
"...Is this what a social butterfly looks like?"
I also got introduced to a woman who always sat next to Baek Da-hye.
Her name was... Kim Se-in, I think? I haven't gotten close to Kim Se-in yet. She doesn't talk much, so we haven't had many conversations.
Stare.
"...Uh, did you want to say something?"
"..."
"I guess not..."
Kim Se-in would sometimes scrutinize me with a searching look, and it creeped me out every time... Honestly, I don't think we'll get close.
But even the gloomy Kim Se-in had one distinctive feature: her hair was blonde.
She said one of her parents was a foreigner. An easy way to remember her: "blonde mixed-race beauty Kim Se-in."
Speaking of other people...
The older guy who'd been digging suddenly vanished yesterday.
The hole he dug is still there, and his shovel is still there, but his body is gone.
Did he really find a hidden piece? Did he eat a legendary elixir and couldn't contain the surging power?
Or maybe he found the entrance to a secret dungeon and is challenging it right now?
I decided I'd check what happened next time I get the chance. I'll just lie in wait and ambush him.
Incidentally, the man digging through the weapon pile gave up a while ago and left the clearing. Looks like he never found that legendary weapon.
I genuinely couldn't help feeling disappointed. If that guy had actually found the legendary weapon, I could've just grabbed it the moment I regressed.
I don't know the names of the others in the clearing, but we're at the stage where we recognize each other's faces.
The kind of awkward neighbor relationship where you exchange a nod if you happen to make eye contact? A little society had formed inside this clearing.
Are there any inconveniences to living in the clearing?
Well... the biggest one is bodily functions.
A guy whose name I don't know wrestled with the grass for a long time and put together a makeshift toilet.
You dig a hole in the dirt with a shovel, do your business, and then cover it up...
The problem is you can hear everything. The women were dying of embarrassment. And no matter how much dirt you pile on, a certain smell inevitably seeps out.
Still, after that older guy left, we could use his pit as a toilet, so it got a little better.
Thanks, old man.
If you were challenging a dungeon... sorry. When you come back, your pit's gonna stink to high heaven.
Another inconvenience is... the messages the Tower keeps tossing at me.
[Remaining Golden Orbs: 27/50]
"Ah, come on."
A message blocking my view while I was lying around comfortably.
The Tower liked to needle me like this from time to time.
It felt like nagging: Hey, everyone else is running around collecting Golden Orbs. What are you doing? Aren't you going to escape the Tower?
Argh! I get it!
"Jun-ho! Ji-won's back!"
Baek Da-hye called out cheerfully. I turned my head and saw Choi Ji-won standing there, arms full of food.
"Oh, Ji-won! Hold on! Let me help!"
Since I'm mooching, I should at least help. Even just lying around was starting to make me feel self-conscious.
I took a bundle of water bottles from Choi Ji-won, tore open the plastic, and started handing them out.
No matter what anyone says... this is nice.
**
The next day.
It was a day like any other.
I lazed around, chatted with people about this and that.
Choi Ji-won practiced her swordsmanship, and when she figured it was time, she left the clearing briefly to gather food.
Everyone in the clearing knew that if we waited about an hour, she'd come back with water and supplies.
It's like we'd all turned into baby birds waiting for the mother bird to bring back food...
But so what? Both mother bird and baby birds are happy with the arrangement.
"What do you think dinner will be? I'm already hungry."
Baek Da-hye rubbed her stomach playfully. Come to think of it, I was getting a little hungry too.
"Those chocolate bars last time were good. They really fill you up."
"Right? I want another chocolate bar. Ji-won should be back any minute, I'm looking forward to it."
Thumpthumpthumpthump.
Baek Da-hye tapped the ground with her hands, making a "thump-thump" sound with her mouth.
"Hey, stop hitting the ground. It's making the whole floor ripple."
Dirt was flying everywhere, and the floor itself seemed to be shaking. I guess because the ground was so soft, even Baek Da-hye's tapping made it shake.
"Hey, quit tapping... Huh?"
"..."
When I turned my head, Baek Da-hye's expression was frighteningly stiff.
I glanced down. Her hands had stopped moving a while ago.
But the vibration in the ground kept going.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Was Choi Ji-won causing trouble again?
Or was firefighter Choi Cheol-soon, who went out carrying that huge axe, chopping down a tree?
Thud. Thud. Thud.
No. I put my hand to the ground. The vibration was traveling through the earth.
This felt like... something seriously massive was moving.
"Run! It's heading that way!"
KABOOOOM!
That instant, a tremendous explosion erupted.
It sounded like Choi Ji-won's voice, but the noise of something detonating drowned it out so I couldn't hear properly.
"..."
Everyone in the clearing froze, as if checking whether I'd misheard. Only the blonde Kim Se-in shot up from her spot.
What's going on? Did some monsters start fighting each other? But could it really make a noise this huge?
And why... has the vibration stopped now?
"Kim Jun-ho!"
Kim Se-in urgently called my name.
I think that was the first time I'd ever heard that woman say my name.
"Above! A-BOVE YOUUUU!!!"
Kim Se-in let out a piercing scream.
Come to think of it, it was especially dark around me.
As if a shadow had been cast over me.
The instincts I'd honed through many regressions were screaming a warning like mad.
You're fucked.
I slowly raised my head upward.
"Whoa-a-a-a-a-ah!"
"...Shit."
The last thing I saw was a giant bull-headed monster falling from the sky with a deafening roar.
KABOOOOOOOOOM!!!
"No!!! Ah..."
[You have taken damage.]
[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 0.]