Regression is Too Much - Chapter 115

WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 115

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The regressor gets to work (10)

In truth, there's no such thing as a lazy genius. A genius is a being who learns ten things when taught one, someone who understands the answers to problems others struggle with as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

However, a genius is still a being that learns. If someone knew something without ever learning it, they wouldn't be a genius, they'd be a reincarnator or a transmigrator. It's just that the speed at which geniuses learn is astonishingly fast.

People often say that because someone is a genius, because they were born with talent, they trample on the efforts of others with their innate gifts. But for a genius at the very top of their field, it's highly likely they've worked harder than anyone else. It’s probable they dedicated their entire lives to making their talents bloom.

And if you had to point out one characteristic of these geniuses.

“Tell me. What exactly is the difference between the tutorial and now?”

Self trust. Self love. Self confidence.

To put it in simple terms, their self esteem is unbelievably strong.

Having achieved mastery in their field through relentless effort on top of their natural talent, it’s only fair they’d consider themselves special. And in reality, they are special.

So, when I spoke to her with the nuance of 'you're not as good as the Choi Ji-won from the Tutorial,' it was almost a given that she would react so intensely.

“Um… I’m sorry. I really misspoke.”

But I had no intention of taking back my words.

Of course, it was true that I had been incredibly rude to Ji-won. The most tiring type of person in any relationship is the one who gets their hopes up on their own, and then gets disappointed on their own. From the other person’s perspective, it feels like they did nothing, yet suddenly the other person has grown cold for no reason.

However, I hadn't gotten my hopes up arbitrarily, I had evaluated her based on the Choi Ji-won I had personally seen and felt in the Tutorial. The Choi Ji-won of today is certainly different from the Choi Ji-won of the Tutorial. No, her past self was better.

Of course, if I let those words slip out, I might actually get slapped hard enough to trigger a regression. I repeatedly bowed my head and murmured words of apology.

“Forget about whether you were wrong or not, just talk. I’m not asking for anything difficult, am I?”

But Ji-won, showing no signs of letting it go, pressed on with a fire in her eyes. It was hard to believe this was the same woman who had been struggling with failure just a moment ago.

“Sit down again. I absolutely have to hear your answer. No, it’s getting late, so just come out. Let’s go to my place.”

Ji-won grabbed my wrist tightly and led me out of the cafe. When we first met, it was around late lunch, but now the sun had already set and the streetlights were on.

“Uh, uh…”

Her grip was too strong. To prevent an absurd regression, I had no choice but to follow her…

Ji-won’s house was, surprisingly, an ordinary country house. I heard her father ran a dojo, so I imagined something out of an anime where the dojo was right next to the house, but it seemed the dojo was on the fourth floor of a nearby shopping center, and the house was separate.

“Drink up.”

She had me sit at the dining table and poured me a glass of milk. She poured milk into her own cup as well, then added a spoonful of supplements and stirred it briskly.

“…You drink protein?”

“Yes.”

After her short reply, she immediately downed the protein milk. Seeing her, with her cold and beautiful impression, chugging milk so combatively felt incredibly unexpected.

“I didn’t used to drink this stuff either.”

Ji-won said, wiping the milk from her lips with the back of her hand.

“Now, let’s get back to the main point. The current me and the Ji-won from the Tutorial. What on earth is the difference? What is it that makes you look at me with those eyes?”

“…”

Just as I had seen something in Ji-won’s eyes, it seemed she had seen something in mine. And that’s what had hurt her pride.

But as I said before, I had no intention of taking back my words either.

“Well, for a basic point, there’s a difference in strength.”

The Choi Ji-won of the Tutorial was practically a living god, but the current Choi Ji-won is just an overwhelmingly strong person. That’s how it felt to me.

You could say it's the difference between an EX-grade Hunter and an S-grade Hunter. Both are incredible, that's a fact, but the former had an overwhelming presence.

“But that could also be because I've gotten stronger, and because our timelines are different. That part isn't very important.”

The core of it started now.

“The Choi Ji-won of the Tutorial was a hero. She never knew how to give up. Even if it meant she would fail, she always looked toward the ideal.”

No matter the situation, the Tutorial's Choi Ji-won didn't give up. She didn't despair. Even in a situation where everything went wrong and countless people had to die, she was a woman who could still smile.

“I’m saying she wasn't broken like you are right now. When I first saw you at the cafe, I thought you were a corpse. There was no light in your eyes.”

“That’s an oversimplification.”

Ji-won immediately retorted.

“The ‘Tutorial’s Choi Ji-won’ you speak of would have been frustrated too. She would have shed tears. You said you were betrayed by the Goblin Shaman in the middle of the day, but you met again in the clearing at dusk, right?”

“…Yes.”

“She would have collected herself in that time. She was probably about to suggest you eat the Golden Marbles with her and move on to the next floor. I am a person who gets frustrated by failure, but I’m not someone who can’t overcome it.”

“But…”

“And you said the Tutorial's Ji-won never knew how to give up? No. I give up quite easily. It's just that I only give up after I've done my absolute best.”

Ji-won took Bung-bung out of her bag and set it on the table with a thud.

“If I truly hadn't given up, would I have been sitting around chatting leisurely with you in that clearing? Wouldn't I have been running around frantically trying to do something? I listened to your story because I had half-given up.”

“…”

I recalled the somewhat faded memories of the Tutorial. Did the Ji-won of that time really not give up? She did tell me 'don't give up,' but that was after I revealed the fact that I could regress.

Seeing me lost in my memories, Ji-won’s voice grew even louder.

“And you say there’s a difference in strength? I don’t understand that either.”

Ji-won went to the veranda and came back with more than a dozen empty protein containers.

“Like I said before, I never used to drink this stuff. But why do you think I suddenly started? It's because a superhuman's body has poor fuel efficiency.”

As a player's stats increase and their physical abilities improve, the amount they eat naturally increases as well. While it’s also true that the period they can endure without eating gets longer, it means they aren't sports cars that can run without fuel.

“You said you trained by repeating regressions, right? So you might not know. When a superhuman starts to train, the amount of food they consume is truly endless.”

No matter how much she ate, it was never enough. That was why she forced herself to start drinking protein. After clearing the Tutorial, Ji-won had truly pushed her body to its limits through her efforts.

“You may have activated your Hero trait, but in that moment, you were stronger than me. So I worked hard too. To surpass you.”

Ji-won drew Bung-bung and threw the glass she had drunk milk from into the air.

“Hup!”

Slash!

A brief moment passed, and the cut pieces of glass clattered onto the floor.

“…”

Right, it was cut. Not shattered. She had cut the glass cup. In mid-air, no less.

I once again compared the strike I had just witnessed with the Ji-won of the Tutorial. If the Tutorial’s Ji-won felt like she was controlling her rampaging physical abilities with skill, the current her was fully utilizing her physical abilities while her technique had also grown even sharper.

While I had climbed from F-grade to A-grade, she had also grown from S-grade to SS-grade. It’s just that the gap between us has narrowed.

“My past self was not a perfect person. I’m not the kind of superhuman you think I am.”

Click.

Ji-won sheathed Bung-bung back into its scabbard.

“But I am a person who improves. Whatever kind of person the Tutorial’s Choi Ji-won was, I am better now. And that will continue to be the case in the future.”

A relentless desire for improvement. That was Choi Ji-won's pride. And I had just poked the beehive.

“…The Choi Ji-won of the Tutorial would have matured as a person after experiencing hardship.”

“It’s the same for me now. The faces of the people who died on the 4th floor are still clear in my mind. I will not forget this moment. It’s only natural to strive not to experience the same situation again.”

“The Ji-won of the Tutorial always yearned for a better way. For example… what if she wrote ‘Don’t go up to the 4th floor!’ on a memo and had someone else deliver it to you? Doesn’t that seem plausible? The Ji-won of the Tutorial would have thought of that method.”

“I thought about that too. I just didn't mention it because I judged the feasibility to be low. Here, let me explain the circumstances from when I cleared the 3rd floor to when I entered the 4th floor. The structure made it impossible for anyone else to interfere in the first place, you see?”

“…”

I had to admit it now.

The ‘Tutorial’s Choi Ji-won’ I was thinking of was a giant I had looked up to when I was at my weakest. Because she was the one who reached out a hand to me during my hardest moment, her presence had been inflated within me. And because of that, I had been overestimating her too much.

“…The Choi Ji-won of the Tutorial spoke informally with me.”

“I can speak informally too if I want to.”

Not wanting to admit it, I found myself making a stubborn claim, but Ji-won shut it down immediately.

“Kim Jun-ho. Admit it. The only thing the me from the Tutorial has over the current me is the fact that she shares memories with you.”

Thump, thump.

Ji-won tapped the table with her palm as she spoke. But on this point, I had something to say as well.

“…Alright, maybe you’re right. The current Ji-won might be better than the Ji-won from that time. But what about the memories you just mentioned?”

The current Ji-won may have become a better person. But that doesn’t make her a more precious person.

The Ji-won who comforted me in my most difficult moment, who cheered me on, who shared memories with me. Her value cannot be compared to anything else.

We had already strayed far from the point of ‘the past Choi Ji-won is better than the current one.’ But wasn't the fundamental reason for my sadness the disappearance of the Choi Ji-won who shared memories with me?

“This is the reason I was sad. Let's set aside the earlier nonsense, this is how I truly feel.”

“…”

Ji-won gripped Bung-bung tightly, contemplating something.

“So, you’re saying you’re sad because you’ve lost a precious friend, is that it?”

“…Yes.”

“Alright.”

She took her phone out of her pocket and naturally opened the calendar app.

“You said you cleared the 4th floor perfectly, right?”

“…”

“And at the same time, you want to save me somehow, but you’re agonizing because you have to choose between one or the other.”

Bzzz.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out to check the message, and saw that Ji-won had sent an address.