WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 127

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Plans Are Meant to Be Broken

Even to me, someone who couldn't read thoughts, it was obvious she was only pretending to cut the sync. So how would it look to a sensitive regressor?

Haa. The regressor let out a deep sigh and grabbed Skywarbler.

"Fine. If you really can't cut it, I'll cut it for you."

『...!』

Thud.

This time, the attachment doll really was disconnected and went limp. Its short arms and legs dangled with gravity.

I clutched the doll, looking like its soul had left, and burst into tears.

"Noooooooo! My Attachment Dooooooll!"

"Who names their doll Attachment Doll? Stop making a scene."

Still, if we were going to get through the serious conversation ahead, I had to lighten the mood somehow.

Despite my desperate effort, the regressor kept a solemn face.

"I have a favor to ask."

"Wow, will the sun rise in the west tomorrow? Mr. Shei is seriously asking me for a favor. What is it? Let's hear it."

I'd already read all her thoughts. I knew what she was going to say, and why.

And yet, the person in front of me was squeezing out social skills she'd never had, just to say it and ask me herself.

Meaningless? No. That's what made it a problem.

If she did this, I'd have to face her wish head-on. Which made it hard to refuse.

"This time, if everyone reaches the source of the Abyss under Jiseon's guidance..."

The regressor remembered the welcome Jiseon had received just a few hours earlier. Most of the people here knew who Jiseon was, and looked ready to spend all day listing her achievements.

Compared to that, whatever she had been in the previous loop, in this loop the regressor was just a drifter with no ties and no record.

'My opponent is Jiseon, famous and known for kindness to everyone. Unless it's the Jiseon remembered later as a calamity, right now she's far more famous and trustworthy than someone insignificant like me.'

The regressor knew how to evaluate herself objectively.

And she knew exactly who the other person was, and how great and dangerous she was.

She knew very well the power of Jiseon, the heaven-defying earth serpent that heralded calamity.

Jiseon was the original owner of Jizan, the Earth Sword. The tragic figure who lost her life after defeat by the Holy Sword Corps and the Holy Maiden. At the same time, the Sanctum's nightmare, and the beginning of the Sanctum's downfall.

Combined with the Earth Sword, her earthcraft had the power to split the ground and tilt mountains. Armies were no match for her. Even accounting for the short prep time at the start of a regression, the regressor had never once beaten her one-on-one.

But now, she had to challenge the impossible.

"Most likely, I'll have to fight Jiseon. So..."

She was afraid, but that was a separate issue. To get meaningful results in this loop, the regressor had to defeat Jiseon.

Only then could she learn Jiseon's plan and hatred, gather information, and decide how to respond.

All she needed was the result. No need to posture for training, no need to feed her pride.

What the regressor needed was victory over Jiseon. Nothing more.

But.

"Help..."

Before she could finish, she swallowed the words and shut her mouth tight.

'...Whose side would he take? Probably not mine. I treated this as a throwaway loop, so I never won anyone over here.'

The regressor had never tried to win people's hearts.

No, to be exact, she had.

Once, instead of assassinating the Progenitor, she tried to persuade her to turn the vampires' hearts. She succeeded. At that time, they needed to unite against the coming threat, and the regressor had the strength and standing to find common ground with the wounded Progenitor.

She had cooperated with the Resistance once. That had succeeded too. She struck bizarrely at the military state's weak points, rampaged without worrying about the aftermath, and brought the military state down.

They didn't run the country well afterward. No, they made it even worse... but regardless, at that time, the regressor had gained her strongest political backing.

But once she regressed, all of it ended.

Not just the failures. Even the small successes she'd built came to an end. Like water sucked into a drain, even the little kingdom she'd carefully cultivated disappeared.

No matter how hard she'd built it.
No matter how much effort she'd poured in.
No matter how attached she'd become.

'The only one I can ask right now is this man at the center of everyone. But will he really help me?'

Success built through relationships carried too much to lose for the effort it took. It also varied wildly depending on when they met.

This regression was the clearest example.

An uninjured Tyr didn't pay the regressor much attention.

The Beast King showed a different side from the one she'd known in earlier loops.

Naturally, the regressor's focus shifted from relationships to power and weapons.

Tools don't betray you once they're in your hand.

Even if you get attached to tools, you can cut them off quickly.

But maybe this was the price of neglecting relationships.

'Even if he won't help, I just hope he won't deny me.'

She wasn't sure whether that came from fear of failure, or from not wanting to be hurt.

"When I fight her, make sure no one interferes."

The regressor asked me with a more desperate resolve than ever.

I read wishes. The more desperate and earnest the request, the harder it is for me to refuse. It's a kind of occupational disease. Or maybe a side effect of my ability.

But wind doesn't always blow one way. Sometimes opposing winds clash, bickering like cats and dogs.

A wish to bring someone down is bound to be scattered by a headwind.

But a request not to interfere?

"Huh? Why would we interfere?"

I accepted her request like it was nothing.

"I don't know why you want to fight, but handle it yourselves. If possible, settle it nicely."

"...You won't stop us?"

"Why would I stop adults from fighting? Ah, are you a minor? You do look kind of small."

"N-no way! It's been ages since I became an adult!"

'W-wait, I'm nineteen right now, right? I started regressing, grabbed Skywarbler and a few items, then jumped straight into the Abyss...!'

Honestly, I wouldn't have cared even if she were a minor. This just made it easier.

The real issue was something else. She said she grabbed just a few items, and that much treasure still came out? How much would there be if she took everything?

Anyway, I dug in my ear with my pinky and said:

"If you're both adults, then that's that. And both of you are ridiculously strong, right? In that case, unless someone wants to get crushed in the middle, wouldn't it be stupid to interfere?"

"That's true, but..."

"And Jiseon-nim is a good person, so go easy. She probably won't try to kill you either, Mr. Shei... wait, isn't this basically a spar? If it's a spar, couldn't you do it now?"

"N-no. The fight itself will be serious..."

"Really? Well, I guess you've got your reasons."

A request not to interfere was easy, since I had no intention of interfering anyway. I waved my hand.

"The others probably think the same. Tyr isn't the type to jump into someone else's business, Azzy will hole up if humans start fighting, and Rashy-ssi will be too busy protecting Callis."

"Is that... so?"

"Ah, you're not hoping Nabi interferes, right? If you are, you're honestly awful. Who keeps a cat hoping it'll fight?"

"I'm not! And Nabi isn't my cat! I'm just looking after her for a bit!"

Anyway, that settled it. Looking much more relieved, the regressor said:

"Anyway... thank you. That's enough."

"By the way, that was a little unpleasant."

"What now?"

"No matter what, we've still got history over all this time. Did you think that if you two suddenly started throwing punches, we'd instantly side with Jiseon-nim? Rush in yelling, 'How dare you attack the renowned Jiseon-nim! Die!' and attack you on the spot?"

The regressor fumbled, then answered.

"...No?"

You've done that before, haven't you? Jump in out of nowhere yelling, "How dare you attack someone I know!" and pick a fight.

Whoever was on the receiving end must've felt completely wronged. This is exactly what regressors are like.

"Of course not. Even if you've shown that you lose your mind whenever you see a right arm and try to cut it off, and even if I learned you're a loner who kept drifting outside the group because you couldn't read the room."

"...That's an insult, isn't it?"

"Still, awkward as you are, whenever something happened, you were always the first to run in and try to solve it. That's impossible if you truly don't care about other people at all."

"So is that an insult or a compliment?"

"If we're being strict, half and half. Anyway."

I patted the regressor on the shoulder as I spoke. She absolutely hated being touched, but maybe she was grateful I'd agreed so easily, because even when I grabbed and shook her narrow shoulders, she stayed still.

Or maybe she'd grown attached enough that touch didn't bother her.

"Those three months meant something, in their own way."

Come to think of it, it hadn't even been a full three months since we first fell into the Abyss.

Someone invaded, we fell, we fought. It felt like so many huge things had happened, but the gaps between them were barely a month.

Like entranced, the regressor muttered too.

"...It's only been three months. So much happened."

Strange. I felt the same way, so why did hearing it from her make me want to tease her?

I said:

"What do you mean, only three months? Three months is a whole semester. That's enough time for Mr. Shei to go from elementary school graduate to middle school dropout."

"You really are impossible to the very end!"

The regressor snapped and shouted.

"Fine, next time I'll graduate and come back! Just wait, seriously!"

"Next? There's no next."

'Ah. I can't reveal that I regress...'

No, wait. Didn't you say you were eighteen at the start of a regression? Then even if you regress, you still can't go, can you? Middle school comes after elementary school graduation.

My point lasted only a moment, because the regressor came up with a very unique plan.

"I'll just fake my identity!"

"You're going to fake your identity just to attend middle school?"

"I can do it! I'm actually very good at disguises!"

'If I use Heavenly Mirror's bone-shrinking technique and wear the Mask of Agartha, I can probably pass as a fast-grown male student...!'

More than whether it was possible, what was shocking was that she'd actually thought of doing it.

"This isn't about possible or impossible. Morally, this might be a serious problem."

"Shut up! This wouldn't have happened if not for you!"

"Before that, what if you'd just gotten good grades in elementary school?"

"Middle Military School is where every dog and cow goes! Stop acting smug over that!"

"If even dogs and cows go, then why..."

"Heyyy!"

This was the unavoidable defense-breaker in this society. You had Skywarbler, and I had the education system. How's that, elementary school grad?

I succeeded in teasing the regressor to the fullest, but learned nothing new. The regressor hadn't uncovered what was really going on with Jiseon in previous loops either.

In the end, there was only one conclusion.

Until we reached the bottom, we'd know nothing.

Please, let nothing happen.

Forgetting that this place was the Abyss, I prayed to Mother Earth.

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