I Became the Upbeat Newbie the Infinite Regressors Are Obsessed With - Chapter 16

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Became the Upbeat Newbie the Infinite Regressors Are Obsessed With ◈

Chapter 16: Okay, Got It

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“Uh, what are you doing? Straighten your back. Straighten your back!”

“Ghhk. N-no, I have to show my sincerity to someone who has cooperated with us so fully...”

Crack.

“Argh! I said straighten your back!”

This was driving me crazy.

It was uncomfortable enough seeing someone older than me bow that deeply.

It hurt just watching.

“To someone who has devoted their whole body to the countr...”

Crack.

“Okay! Okay, I get it!”

After a brief struggle, I had saved one person from nearly shattering their spine. Damn right.

The Director and I sat across from each other at a reception table.

Slurp.

After taking a sip of tea, I immediately got to the point.

It had been far too long since I was supposed to enter the Tower, and I was practically itching to get back in.

I had no time to waste on introductions.

“First, I’d like an explanation. For the record, you’d better not lie. I have a lie-detection skill.”

That was a lie, of course.

I had only just cleared the tutorial.

There was no way I had a skill yet.

‘But I do have something similar.’

A little trick for detecting lies through heartbeats.

According to Vampire Princess, it was a vampire-exclusive technique called Bit Search.

Apparently, it was nearly impossible for human hearing to pick up heartbeats from a distance, but the S-rank Core and Archmage’s circuits really were something else.

I condensed and fixed mana into my auditory circuits.

The Management Bureau Director’s eyes widened briefly. Then their gaze sharpened as they nodded.

‘Looks like the Director already knows most of it.’

This was a national organization wielding extralegal authority.

It made more sense to assume they understood the Tower’s basic structure.

That was why the Director was not surprised to hear I had a skill that could detect lies.

“Please ask whatever you wish. This is an exceptional case, but I will answer Awakened Lee Han-gyeol’s questions with complete honesty.”

It was true.

And honestly, I was a little surprised.

‘Whoa... look at those eyes.’

The two agents I met earlier had been such a comedy duo, and the Director had opened with a self-inflicted physical gag.

So I might have underestimated the Director a little.

But that gaze was worthy of the Management Bureau’s head.

Despite being an unawakened ordinary person, he had an unusual charisma.

“I heard the general situation, but you were the one who made the kidnapping plan, right?”

“Phew. That is correct. I gave every order from beginning to end.”

The Director admitted it more cleanly than I expected.

‘I thought the Director would at least be a little surprised. That reaction was kind of disappointing.’

Still, it meant the Director trusted my lie-detection skill that much, so it was not a bad thing.

“Oh, and I only found out through my lie-detection skill, so please don’t be too hard on the two agents.”

“That will not happen. You need not worry about that.”

It was true.

“Okay. We’ll put what happened behind us for now. Let me ask one more thing. You said you originally did not intend to kidnap anyone. Your policy changed after an unfortunate incident, right? If that incident had not happened, would you not have used such extreme methods?”

The Director stroked their chin as though considering it deeply before answering.

“Hmm. I believe that would have been the case. It was a major incident in which people who had resolved to devote their lives to the nation were brutally killed by an Awakened. Moreover, once we had a case of an Awakened killing people without the slightest hesitation, we could not simply stand by.”

It was the absolute truth.

‘Okay, confirmed.’

As expected, that crazy player was the problem.

“Understood. Can I see that crazy bastard’s personal information or case file?”

The Director tilted their head slightly, but they did not hesitate for long.

“It is highly classified information, but if you need it, then by all means.”

The Director readily handed me a file.

‘Name: Lee Geon-woo. Twenty-four years old. What the fuck? A gangster?’

There was a photo of a man covered in tattoos.

Below it were gruesome photos of the scene of his murder spree.

‘He’s worse than I imagined.’

Maybe this was what a person beyond redemption looked like.

‘He tore an agent’s limbs apart just because the agent asked for his cooperation, saying, “How dare a mere human...”’

Seeing those horrific scene photos, I could understand why the Director had gotten furious enough to stage such an extreme kidnapping.

Not that I completely understood, considering I had been naked and shot full of tranquilizer darts.

I only understood it in my head.

Anyway, they must have felt like they were dealing with uncontrollable monsters by ordinary standards.

“Then, just one last question.”

“Please ask as many as you need.”

“What would you do if I did not come to the Management Bureau, hid somewhere, and kept climbing the Tower in secret?”

“Hmm. If you continued climbing the Tower, we would be immensely grateful. We would probably be considering how best to support you. But why do you ask...?”

Oh, that was fairly good news.

In other words, as long as I climbed the Tower without revealing that I was an Infinity-difficulty player, they would leave me alone.

‘The secretly-overpowered routine really was the right way to go.’

I had my answer.

I felt sorry for Agent Lee Juhui, but I would not be getting involved with the Management Bureau.

Now that they had secured an Infinity-difficulty challenger, excessive protection was guaranteed.

‘Han Siyeon was proof enough.’

Everyone knew Han Siyeon, humanity’s savior, had been stressed out by the Management Bureau’s overprotectiveness.

‘Banning even late-night snacks for condition management was crossing the line.’

Anyway, I had obtained information on both the Management Bureau and that crazy player.

I rose to my feet and held out a hand to the Director.

“It was just personal curiosity, Director. I’ll keep climbing the Tower, so don’t worry. Let’s do our best!”

The Director immediately broke into a bright smile.

“Ah, thank you, Awakened Lee Han-gyeol! Thank you so very much! You are the savior of this nation, no, of all humanity!”

The Director clasped my hand with reddened eyes.

As I shook it up and down, I spoke.

“Take care of your back. If we get the chance, I’ll see you again!”

“...Pardon?”

“Enter!”

Flash!

* * *

Inhale.

Haaah!

That felt refreshing.

My cluttered thoughts had been completely cleared away.

“So the answer is just to keep climbing the Tower.”

Of course, Lee Geon-woo was a major complication, but I had already found a solution.

As soon as I entered the Tower, I drew the Snake Dagger that automatically followed me and checked the results of my week of training.

Ssssss.

“I’m starting to get used to this too.”

The second stat boost for taking down the Three Hopeless Brothers.

It was Mana Thread Manipulation.

Thin mana threads, barely visible to the naked eye, poured from my fingertips and wrapped around the dagger’s handle.

It was a form of mana control that felt entirely different from the three basic applications of mana: condensation, fixation, and release.

‘Pulling out incredibly fine mana threads and controlling them with my will.’

Whoosh. Whoosh.

The dagger connected to the mana thread began gliding through the air.

‘If I put on blue makeup and started whistling too, that would be plagiarism, right?’

I put aside the pointless thought and sent firm intent through the thin mana thread alongside the movement Puppetmaster had taught me.

Whip!

Whoosh!

The Snake Dagger flew off in an instant.

The dagger connected to the mana thread was not limited to a one-time attack.

When I reeled in the incredibly thin mana thread connected to my Core, it came back like I was fishing.

Catch!

I retrieved the Snake Dagger, excitement swelling in my chest.

“Damn, that’s awesome.”

It was that technique often used by those shady, squinting butler characters from comics!

When the Infinite Regression Gallery had split into martial and magic factions and turned into the site of a massive keyboard war, Puppetmaster had offered this brilliant idea.

ㄴPuppetmaster) Newbie, don’t listen to Archmage. Hear me out.

ㄴAmor Fati) Yeah?

ㄴPuppetmaster) You need an effective ranged attack, right? With Newbie’s current stats, you can’t pierce Orc hide or that slingshot hide no matter what you do. So just use the Snake Dagger.

ㄴAmor Fati) Dagger throwing? But wouldn’t it be over once I throw it?

ㄴPuppetmaster) Heh.

Archmage had gone into a frenzy, so the gallery had been flooded for quite some time, but Puppetmaster’s suggestion had appealed to me.

Mana Thread Manipulation.

Its applications were practically limitless.

I wondered why they had not told me about it sooner, but thinking back, it was true that I had not had much use for it compared to magic or martial arts.

I had not had the Snake Dagger then.

The moment I got the monstrously overpowered Snake Dagger, with maximum piercing and cutting power, Puppetmaster had decided the time was right to pass on this knowledge.

Of course, it was not easy.

It was more than twice as difficult as learning the basic applications of mana or the principles of martial arts.

If I had to compare it to something, it was like dipping the tip of a hair in ink and using it to write a novel.

Still, that difficulty meant the past week had not been boring.

I had enjoyed every second of training when I imagined wrecking the Three Hopeless Brothers with this mana thread control and the Snake Dagger.

Now it was time to see the results for myself.

“The calm before the storm.”

The results would reveal whether the Three Hopeless Brothers were weak or my Mana Thread Manipulation was weak.

Pumping mana from my Core, I stepped out of the safe zone.

* * *

The scenery was familiar now.

I immediately began my footwork.

Boom!

The same heavy club swing as always.

Then came...

“Wooooo!”

The shaman’s War Cry.

The moment the chieftain’s body turned red, I immediately condensed and fixed mana in my legs before leaping high.

Flash!

As I rose to around three stories high in an instant, the Three Hopeless Brothers came clearly into view.

‘You ranged-DPS bastard, you’re dead.’

The instant the Orc Chieftain’s shoulder charge missed was when the bastard unleashed its strongest attacks.

So I needed to neutralize its offense first.

‘It’s fucking huge.’

They called it a slingshot, but it was really just a massive sling pouch loaded with rocks.

‘I have no idea what kind of hide it’s made from, but...!’

Whip!

I threw the Snake Dagger, wrapped in mana thread, directly at its slingshot grip.

Slice!

Whoosh!

The monster’s stone shot flew uselessly wide.

“Snort, snort?”

I immediately reeled the mana thread back into my Core, retrieved the dagger, and performed a hero landing on the grassland.

Boom!

For the record, even though I fixed mana at the point where I hit the ground, the impact still traveled through my body. This probably was not a good landing posture.

Anyway, I had disabled the ranged attacker for the moment. Next came a pattern I did not know.

So I would take out the mage, who I had no information on, first.

Pew! Pew!

It dealt far less damage than dagger throwing, but Blindness was an overwhelmingly faster crowd-control skill.

“Graaaargh!”

The monster screamed and rubbed its eyes.

“Graaah!”

The Orc Chieftain looked at me again and roared.

‘If I blind this guy too and finish off the ranged attacker, I could really clear this on my second try.’

Of course, that would be a problem.

As long as Lee Geon-woo remained an issue, I had to regress eventually anyway.

Without letting my guard down, I put the ranged attacker in my sights and was about to turn the enhanced Orc Chieftain’s eyes to mush too.

“Uwaaargh! Uaargh!”

The ranged Orc smashed a boulder into stone fragments and hurled them at me.

‘Shit!’

What was this guy, the Beast Titan?

Stone shells came flying in a wide spread.

The Orc Chieftain approached while swinging its club.

And the shaman had already healed its eyes with a recovery skill.

“Wow. What a legendary team comp.”

This was exciting. Really exciting.

I activated my Core to its limit and fixed mana throughout every circuit in my body.

Then I took the stone shells head-on.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

“Ghk!”

This was insane. The fist-sized rocks were shattering into powder against my body.

My skin had already been torn to ribbons, and blood covered my entire body.

The impact was no joke either.

A massive shock that penetrated all the way to my organs.

‘This won’t end with bruises.’

Whoosh!

The chieftain’s club swing had already come close.

“Ghh.”

The damage was serious, but I had reached the point where I would not get hit by the enhanced Orc Chieftain’s straightforward club swings.

Or so I thought.

“Wooooo!”

The shaman’s second War Cry.

I heard the shout and took a step.

Crack!

“...Huh?”

My body lost its balance and collapsed.

For an instant, I looked down and saw my legs, which had rotted away in moments.

‘The shaman was the real boss!’

The ranged bastard had made such an impression that I thought it was the problem.

Buffs, healing, and real crowd control too?

‘Button! Button!’

Whoosh!

The Orc Chieftain’s buffed club swing.

I tried to press the regression button immediately before my Core went berserk, but unexpectedly, the Core was calm.

‘Huh?’

Smack!

With that happy miscalculation, I regressed immediately.

* * *

After returning to my studio apartment, I immediately opened the Infinite Regression Gallery.

[Archmage Sir]

[Author: Amor Fati]

(The “You tricked me” emote)

Didn’t you say it takes a long time to adapt to the Core?

I just regressed, but my Core did not go berserk?

ㄴArchmage) ?

ㄴPuppetmaster) Newbie! How could you do this! Wasn’t I supposed to be the mentor this time?! How could you look for Archmage first thing after regressing! I’m hurt!

ㄴMartial God) Ah, this old man is going to flood the gallery again.

ㄴArchmage) Ho ho ho! Ha ha! Newbie, my boy. You really are meant to become a mage. Everyone eventually finds their destiny!

ㄴPuppetmaster) Newbie! My Mana Thread Manipulation must have been useful! Right?!

ㄴDungeon Rogue) And my dagger!

ㄴArchmage) Silence, you ignorant fools! Puppetmaster, you should give up as well. Even within the magic faction, there are upper and lower tiers! Ha ha ha!

ㄴAmor Fati) Archmage, really sry, but I’m going to go learn more Mana Thread Manipulation.

ㄴAmor Fati) Mana Thread Manipulation feels seriously busted;;

ㄴAmor Fati) And DunRogue, I’m getting amazing use out of your dagger too. Always thanks.

ㄴPuppetmaster) LOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOL

ㄴDungeon Rogue) Aaaah Newbie-kun, you’re happy, so I feew good too.

ㄴArchmage) ...?

I enjoyed the gallery users’ fussing for a while, but then I checked how much time had passed.

“What’s with time getting deleted?”

Remembering my second goal for this run, I prepared to head out.

The agent would be murdered the following evening.

That bad kid disrupting my comfortable Monolith play deserved some “punishment,” right?

Wondering what mask would give me the most mastermind swagger, I headed to a costume shop.