The Third Star (1)
Elena’s ears flushed bright red. “Ugh, you jerk!” Her flapping movements were anything but ordinary. It had been a while since I’d seen that heavy armor, too. Come to think of it, Elena hadn’t worn armor in quite some time.
“What’s wrong?”
“You took my clothes…!”
Too furious to hold back, Elena stomped her feet. Her fists opened and clenched, as if she were barely stopping herself from swinging. She remembers.
The memory had returned. But bringing it up felt awkward. The whole regression thing was still hazy, after all.
“Ah, whatever! Take this.”
Elena whipped her head away and tossed a weapon at me. A one-handed sword. She no longer offered me a shield.
Yoo Dahui approached. “She seems to remember, doesn’t she?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow, so the number of regressors is increasing. We’ll be able to clear faster.”
Yoo Dahui didn’t see other regressors as rivals. She was simply delighted at the prospect of clearing the tower more quickly.
“By the way, the starting point didn’t update? What exactly is the trigger for that? Ugh…”
We had begun at the entrance to the Academy. Regression reset at the 1st Floor Academy and again after entering the 5th Floor. Yoo Dahui frowned. It was a natural reaction. The ring exchange, the pregnancy attack—everything had been undone.
Yoo Dahui muttered, “Everything loses its meaning after regressing…”
“Not everything. My Mana Oath is still in place. That’s enough, isn’t it?”
“…Well, that’s true, but…”
Yoo Dahui smacked her lips as if something still felt lacking. She kicked at the dirt and trudged along, her displeasure obvious.
“Here, put this ring on first.”
She pulled a ring from her inventory—the same plain one I’d seen earlier.
“When did you even get that?”
“…None of your business.”
She took my hand naturally and slipped the ring onto my finger, then held out her own hand.
“Aren’t you going to put one on me?”
Her tone was blunt. I slid the ring onto Yoo Dahui’s left ring finger.
“We just have to put the rings on every time we regress. The starting point should update eventually.”
Yoo Dahui kept fiddling with her left hand, staring at the ring. At least she looked happy.
After arriving at First City, we repeated the same process. We could head up right away, but the extra mouths to feed made things complicated. Eloin, Elbaren, Elysha. The elves, who always hovered around level 10 after each regression, slowed our progress.
I could just leave them behind. I wanted to, but Elena was tied to them, so it wasn’t an easy decision.
I subdued the rowdy Horin and explained the ancient spirits. It was nice to see the pig, cat, and rabbit beastmen again after so long. With nothing else to do, we wandered aimlessly through First City.
Yoo Dahui spoke up. “Want to go look for the crystal ball?”
“…Do we have to?”
“It can split the sea. The 2nd Floor is an island, after all. Might come in handy?”
It was a forced errand. Normally it would be essential—without Isilia, we couldn’t do without it. But now we had Isilia, an excellent mount. Thanks to the Submission Oath, she let me ride her without complaint.
Kill the 2nd Floor Giant Lava Worm, fly straight to the portal on Isilia’s back, and we’re done. No need to mess around splitting seas.
“We have Isilia. We can just ride her.”
“Ah…”
“Dragon Rider. That’s pretty badass. Ride her whenever you need to. I’ll give the order.”
“No need. She listens to me just fine.”
Why did she listen so well? Sodahui never let me ride, yet Yoo Dahui’s words were followed without issue. I couldn’t figure out the difference.
Yoo Dahui asked, “So what should we do?”
It was a difficult question, but I already had an answer. There was nothing else to do anyway.
“Let’s head straight to the 2nd Floor.”
“…What about Elysha?”
“Elena will have to stay here for about a month.”
We couldn’t wait a whole month. We wouldn’t sit idle during that time either. Lingering on the 1st Floor when there was nothing left to see was a waste.
“You’re leaving Elena on the 1st Floor and going up?”
“If we want to keep Elysha alive, that’s what we have to do. If we leave her alone, who knows what kind of trouble she’ll run into.”
Regression would erase it all, but from an omniscient regressor’s perspective, that wasn’t an option.
Yoo Dahui pondered deeply, arms crossed and face sullen, as if running calculations. Then she suddenly brightened, clapping her hands in approval.
“Good. Sounds like a plan. We’ll leave Elena on the 1st Floor and go up ahead, just the two of us.”
So we decided to inform Elena and head up. I called her over while she was with Elysha. She was dressed in a simple shirt and leather pants. She’d stopped wearing armor even sooner than before.
“…You want us to follow once Princess Elysha reaches a level suitable for the 2nd Floor?”
“Yeah. We’re planning to go ahead.”
“You two seem strong for humans, but you still shouldn’t take it lightly. You could die.”
Elena was against Yoo Dahui and me going up first. She thought it was still too dangerous at our current level, fresh out of the Academy. It was a reasonable concern. Anyone would try to stop rookies who had just graduated early via special admission from rushing to the 2nd Floor.
But we were regressors. I couldn’t explain the regression, yet she already sensed we weren’t ordinary. We carried memories from previous cycles.
I smirked at Elena’s worried expression. “Wouldn’t it be good for you if I died? No one left to bother you. You could throw a festival.”
“…Right. That’s true. If Pluto’s disciple dies on the 2nd Floor, I could finally spend time freely with Princess Elysha.”
Elena hesitated, then nodded as if granting permission. She patted my shoulders with both hands.
“Still, don’t die.”
“What?”
“Ahem. I’ll explain things to Princess Elysha. You can go now.”
Elena turned away sharply, avoiding my eyes. She covered her bright red ears with her hands, yet they kept flapping. Unable to hide her embarrassment, she bolted. She was so fast I couldn’t catch her.
Yoo Dahui sidled up and muttered, loud enough for me to hear. My balls shrank at her words.
“…I’m seriously pissed. What should I do? Huh? Jinwoo, what do you want me to do?”
“Want me to bring a chastity belt…?”
At my suggestion, Yoo Dahui raised her tiny fist in front of my forehead, trembling.
“Agh, you little—!”
I thought she was about to give me a smack, but her hand had already grabbed my crotch.
“I can’t even rip this off!”
In the past she would have squeezed hard enough to burst them. Now she was just holding on.
“We’ll settle this outside the Tower, Jinwoo. Understood?”
“Yes…”
We headed straight for Third City. Once the decision was made, there was no point hesitating. Unfortunately, today’s boss raid had already ended.
“Ugh… How many potions did they use? We don’t even have a single coin left. What do we do…?”
“Be grateful you survived. Kek!”
“It might be better to try again later.”
When we arrived at Third City, players who had fought the golem were returning in ragged groups. Among them was a vampire.
“We need to deal with the vampire before hunting the golem.”
From previous regressions, we knew the vampire was trolling among the players. He used charm to turn others into meat shields and was more interested in PK than the golem.
Yoo Dahui asked, “How are we going to kill him?”
“Lure him out and finish him. Tonight.”
“Lure him?”
“I don’t know why, but that guy really wants my blood. Says it smells delicious or something. So I’ll use myself as bait.”
That was why we were standing around stupidly in the plaza of Third City—to wag our tails so the vampire would notice and follow.
Our eyes met. For a moment, his gaze turned pink.
Yoo Dahui muttered, “He’s using charm.”
“You’re not affected?”
“My blessing protects me. What about you? You look fine.”
I didn’t ask what other blessings she had. After roughly thirty regressions, she probably possessed all sorts of them.
“It was the same last time. I don’t have any special skill for it, but charm doesn’t work on me.”
I didn’t know the reason. Whatever. As long as I could kill him easily, that was enough.
“I’ll draw him outside and kill him.”
“Think you can? Have you ever killed him yourself?”
“I always had Elena do it, but he’s not that strong. The two of us should be enough.”
We had grown over the past month. We had an extra month compared to the first time we met him.
“Let’s head out.”
The defeated players scattered. The vampire remained in the plaza, watching us. I could feel him following at a distance.
We moved a suitable distance from Third City. Having done plenty of PK before, I knew the right spots and atmosphere for it.
My guess was correct. The vampire revealed himself.
“Hehehe, you have delicious blood.”
“Idiot.”
I didn’t want to waste any more time. Yoo Dahui felt the same. We skipped the conversation and charged straight at him.
Pluto's Hand
I poured every bit of my remaining life force into creating black hands. I focused on supporting Yoo Dahui.
Swish—!
Yoo Dahui’s sword aura easily sliced through the vampire. But he was a pureblood vampire who could turn his body into blood. At her current level, she couldn’t capture him once he became liquid.
Absorbing Life Force.
“Kuaaak!”
I was different. Black magic grew more lenient with its conditions the more it developed. The same spell that once required the life force of five people now needed only three. From near-death to severe injury, severe to light…
If the gap was too wide it didn’t matter, but at similar levels, I was stronger than anyone.
I drained the vampire’s life force. His blood dried up as he thrashed.
“T-This can’t be!”
The vampire vanished without a trace.
Player 'Verden Vladimir' has been killed.
Acquired 3,000 coins.
“He was weaker than expected.”
Yoo Dahui’s reaction was indifferent. We returned to Third City and rented a cheap house for the night—only 50,000 coins a day.
Yoo Dahui opened the door. “Wouldn’t it be better to spend a bit more on coins?”
“We’re only staying one night. This is fine, right?”
At my question, she replied. The plank walls and roof were definitely better than a 100,000-coin mud hut. Just enough space for a bed and sleep.
“I guess so?”
“You spend coins too freely. You’re getting careless without realizing it.”
“…I’m the one getting coins from you…”
“Ah, right… Sorry. Want some coins?”
As Yoo Dahui reached into her inventory, I stopped her hand and pointed at her chest. Her face flushed red.
“Not coins. Give me your chest.”
“…If you ask for my chest, I have to say ‘Yes, of course’ and give it to you?”
Even as she spoke, Yoo Dahui had already taken off her top. My hand naturally reached for her breasts. They were too large to hold with one hand. Their heavy weight filled the heart with satisfaction. The pink areolas and nipples glowed beautifully—I wanted to keep sucking and biting them.
Lying on the bed, kneading them, I couldn’t understand why people fought and struggled in this world.
“Nice chest…”
“A-Aren’t we having sex?”
“……”
Zzz—.
“Wow, seriously. You’re not a baby. You’re just going to sleep like this?”
With my face buried in Yoo Dahui’s chest, filled with her scent, and feeling her gentle, soothing hand stroking my hair, I fell asleep.
The next day.
From morning, the plaza was crowded with players. A large party of forty. They were heading out to face the golem.