WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Upbeat Newbie the Infinite Regressors Are Obsessed With ◈
Chapter 25: Solo Player Hero
──────
A very long time ago.
The war against the Demon King, which had dyed the Fantasia Continent in blood, had reached its final phase.
In the heart of a battlefield where the embers still had not died out.
The mingled stench of burning and blood weighed heavily on the air.
The blonde knight Recovel Mirazian gripped Excalibur, the legendary sword that only the chosen could draw, and muttered at the Demon King.
Wheeze. Wheeze.
Air leaked from her pierced lung.
Blood streamed between her tightly clenched teeth.
“Demon King, you fucking bastard...”
There were already fist-sized holes through her lung and side.
Even forcibly prolonging her life had its limits.
It was obvious that she would regress before long.
But it had not been fruitless.
Recovel rolled her bloodshot eyes toward the black blood running down the Demon King’s cheek and smiled.
“Figures. You’re demonkind, so even your blood is disgustingly murky...”
She had confirmed that she could land a meaningful blow against the invincible Demon King, whom none under heaven could oppose.
There was a sliver of hope for her.
Because Recovel was an Infinite Regressor.
“When we meet again, I’ll take your head.”
It was a provocation of sorts.
Even if she lost now, she would turn back time and return. The resolve of an Infinite Regressor.
Yet the answer she heard was something Recovel had never expected.
The Demon King looked at her with hollow eyes and spoke.
“Have you not even reached the end of the blue sky?”
Ha!
Recovel laughed inwardly.
She had thought the Demon King was an emotionless being, but the provocation worked?
What did that mean, she had not reached the blue sky?
She could topple mountains and split seas with a single stroke.
“I have. Did a cat scratch that wound on your cheek?”
“Know that above the blue sky is a black sky.”
“You keep talking nonsense.”
She intended to swing her sword with everything she had until the very end.
Then she would take in even one more of the Demon King’s attacks before regressing.
That had been her plan.
But she never got to see it.
“Try a little harder next time.”
Slash!
A moment of carelessness.
Thrown off by the Demon King’s words, which made it seem as though the Demon King recognized Infinite Regression, Recovel Mirazian died on the spot without even seeing the final strike.
* * *
She opened her eyes.
Gasping as she rubbed her neck, she flinched and looked around.
Her regression routine was to draw Excalibur, the Hero’s Sword, from the rock where it was embedded.
A rock in a field outside a quiet rural village, so ancient a legend that it was no longer even a tourist attraction.
Sweating coldly, she tried to draw Excalibur.
But she could not.
“!”
The Demon King had appeared before her without her noticing.
And was trying to draw Excalibur.
Grrrk.
“As expected, it will not come out.”
“Y-you, you...!”
She was so flustered that she could not even speak properly.
Regardless, the Demon King took a step back from the rock where Excalibur was embedded and continued.
“The Hero’s Sword. It truly is a divine relic weapon worthy of its name. Hero, draw this sword and challenge me again.”
“!”
Recovel instantly raised her Aura and moved into her footwork.
“You!”
This was an emergency unlike anything she had ever experienced.
“How? How the hell?”
“Did I not tell you? Know that above the blue sky is a black sky.”
Grit.
She had never spoken of Infinite Regression.
Then why was the Demon King, the final boss, waiting right at her regression point?
Recovel’s mind went blank.
Just as her breathing quickened and panic threatened to overwhelm her, the Demon King left her with one sentence before turning away and vanishing.
“This time, aiming for my neck rather than my cheek would not be a bad idea.”
“...”
Flash!
Only after the Demon King vanished in an instant could she finally release the breath caught in her throat.
“Haah, haah!”
The world had gone mad, Recovel thought.
* * *
She regained her composure and began carrying out her regression routine.
Quickly recruiting companions scattered throughout the land, people who would grow tremendously powerful in the future.
But once the Demon King became aware of her Infinite Regression, her routine was completely ruined.
“Ah, Recovel! Are you done living as a wandering knight?”
“Oh my, is this the genius swordswoman he always talks about? How cute!”
Recovel felt the muscles beneath her eyes twitch involuntarily.
“Who are you?”
“Hmm? Ah! You didn’t know?”
Beside Evan, the bakery owner who would someday grow into the Master of the Mage Tower and single-handedly hold back the Demon King’s army, stood a woman Recovel had never seen before.
“I got married. And we’re having a child. I guess I want to focus on my family now instead of devoting myself to magic. Haha.”
“What do you think, Recovel? Want to feel it? The baby is so strong. Maybe they’ll become a knight like you!”
A heavily pregnant woman stood beside Evan with a happy expression.
“Evan, Evan! Wait. You’re giving up magic to simply inherit the family business? What the hell does that...!”
Persuasion did not work.
She could tell him he had an innate talent for magic, that it had yet to bloom, but it meant nothing to a father who now had a family to care for.
.
.
.
.
It was strange.
This could not be happening.
All the future knowledge, the greatest advantage of Infinite Regression, had gone wrong.
The elixir was gone, and her companions refused to join her for all manner of reasons.
The kindly old woman who had once helped her while she was fleeing the Demon King’s army had robbers inside her house, and being framed for absurd crimes became routine.
Strangely, every time something like that happened, her strength grew day by day.
And around then, she realized it.
Whenever the Demon King manipulated reality to use some underhanded trick, the resulting backlash increased her strength.
But becoming stronger did not help at all.
Recovel was nearly driven mad by the feeling that the Demon King, a massive transcendent being she could not resist, was molding her life however it pleased.
How many more regressions had passed?
Recovel opened her eyes before the rock holding Excalibur once more.
“...Ah.”
She was tired.
She could not make herself take a single step.
What did she have to do to reach a happy ending?
What was she supposed to do...?
A lonely wind wildly scattered her blonde hair.
Then.
“Hero.”
Recovel did not panic.
The bastard waiting at her regression point was part of her routine now.
“Try harder. Why are you hesitating instead of drawing that sword at once?”
The Demon King sounded as though subtly mocking her.
Recovel stared blankly for a while before moving her lips.
“Stop. I’m done.”
“...”
With that, she turned away from Excalibur, the Hero’s Sword embedded in the rock, and staggered into the field.
Watching her retreating figure, the Demon King smiled coldly.
“Have you given up on being a hero, Recovel Mirazian?”
The Demon King had manipulated causality and broken Recovel’s spirit.
As the price of the Demon King manipulating causality, Recovel had become endlessly stronger.
That was the price the Demon King had decided to bear.
But it was fine.
No matter how strong she became, strength was worthless once her spirit was broken.
Recovel was no different from a fish caught in a trap.
Now, the Demon King only had to wait.
“Even after entering the realm of transcendents, forgetting shall be a blessing.”
The Demon King could recognize Infinite Regression whenever he wished.
But unlike the Demon King, the countless accumulated years and memories would erode her mind.
The day Recovel, an Infinite Regressor, eventually killed herself.
Would be the day the Demon King completely devoured the world.
Breaking the spirit of an Infinite Regressor.
That was the only way to bring an Infinite Regressor to eternal death.
* * *
Countless years passed.
The ruined Recovel was gone.
She had been a retired hero for a long time now.
The head mod of the Infinite Regression Gallery, freely throwing out bans according to her mood.
Recovel Mirazian saw a newbie’s post declaring that he would become some bizarre magic-swordsman hybrid and burst out laughing as she rolled around.
“Pfft, hehehe!”
The hammock strung between palm trees swayed wildly.
Vacationers passing by looked at her like she was insane, but what did it matter?
She had probably stopped caring about other people’s opinions at least five thousand years ago.
“Seriously. How did we ever manage the IRG without the newbie?”
Honestly, even if the newbie said he was fine, how could she not worry?
The other gallery users seemed to feel the same way, so they had given him more enthusiastic head pats than usual.
But then.
“Magic, pfft! What even is a magic swordsman?”
The newbie had turned the mood of the gallery upside down in an instant with his sudden declaration.
The phrase “we worried for nothing” could not have suited the situation better.
If anything, Puppetmaster was the only one who understood the newbie, Amor Fati, even a little.
“Damn it! That sly bitch Puppetmaster. She scored huge points with the newbie all by herself.”
She clicked her tongue regretfully.
Poisoned My Blade, who had teased her with that “two ways to make someone angry” joke, had thoroughly gotten on her bad side, but she truly agreed with Poisoned My Blade’s opinion one hundred percent.
She could no longer even imagine the Infinite Regression Gallery without the newbie.
“Seriously, what kind of mindset does he have?”
The smile would not leave her lips.
The feeling of a transcendent being watching her every move and unfairly screwing her over.
The helplessness of struggling beneath an enormous, irresistible existence.
Anyone who experienced it even once would be forced to give up in fear.
But the newbie was happy, saying that at least it had unlocked the Trade feature.
How could she not find him adorable?
With her sunglasses propped atop her head, Recovel eagerly browsed the gallery.
The newbie’s magic-swordsman declaration was already a complete mess beneath countless comments.
ㄴDungeon Rogue) Newbie! Then what about my dagger? What happens to my dagger? Please don’t throw it away, I liked watching videos of you using the Snake Dagger T_T T_T
ㄴAmor Fati) Why would I throw it away? I’m a magic “swordsman.”
ㄴAmor Fati) Doesn’t swordsman mean someone who uses a sword?
ㄴAmor Fati) It’s perfect for a sub-DPS plan.
ㄴDungeon Rogue) Haaah, Newbie-chan...
ㄴSolo Hero*) Ah, Archmage. Is this how you feel? My blood pressure is shooting through the roof lol
ㄴArchmage) Ho ho. You will get used to it too, Head mod.
ㄴSolo Hero*) Still, I’m really happy that the newbie has made the Infinite Regression Gallery bloom with laughter.
ㄴSolo Hero*) It was a funny joke hehe
ㄴAmor Fati) ?
ㄴAmor Fati) Why are you taking this as a joke?
ㄴDungeon Rogue) LMAO, do you think MAX piercing power and cutting power are nothing, Head mod~~~
ㄴAmor Fati) Anyway, I’m going to seriously learn swordsmanship and magic with Split Thought from now on, so everyone help me out.
ㄴArchmage) I will help with all my might!
ㄴSolo Hero*) Think you can keep up?
ㄴAmor Fati) First, Head mod, maybe wear some proper clothes when recording...
Seeing the newbie’s comment, Recovel lay in her hammock and merely lowered her head slightly to look over her own body.
Maybe showing too much skin really was a problem.
ㄴMartial God) Head mod, I’ll teach the newbie the footwork at least. No objections, right?
ㄴSolo Hero*) That’s fine. I can develop it by mixing Heaven-Shaking Mad Steps into my swordsmanship anyway. It does feel like the newbie is well suited to that footwork too.
ㄴVampire Princess) You say developing it by mixing it into your swordsmanship so casually...
ㄴSolo Hero*) By the way, Newbie, do you have a sword? If possible, it’s good to get used to using a good sword early on.
ㄴAmor Fati) Pinocchia went to get one right now. Should be here soon.
ㄴSolo Hero*) lol Good.
Recovel rose from the hammock after that last comment.
“Whew!”
Warm sunlight.
The pleasant salty scent of the sea.
A cool breeze.
‘Really...’
It had been a long vacation.
It was not bad.
She put her hands on her waist, then stylishly slipped on her sunglasses.
“Alright. Shall I go get it for the first time in a while? Excalibur.”
There were many divine relic weapons sleeping in her pocket-dimension ring with better performance, if that was all one considered.
Excalibur was a personal weapon that responded only to her.
Its performance was worse than Dungeon Rogue’s dagger for supporting the newbie through the Trade feature.
A symbolic sword that meant nothing to anyone else, but meant something to her alone.
Her most familiar beloved sword.
Excalibur.
“I need to be even a little more helpful to the newbie.”
It would not do to record a video holding some other weapon and have a negative influence on the newbie.
Recovel Mirazian, Solo Hero, the Infinite Regressor who had given up on being a hero.
For the newbie’s sake, she decided to wield Excalibur once more.
Footnotes:
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