WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 135

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The regressor is cunning (2)

"Good."

After confirming from a distance that the players had entered into a discussion, I nodded my head slowly.

This was the best method I'd discovered after repeating dozens of regressions. Acting like a crazed murderer and making them feel fear.

"I'm really tired, so tired."

From the perspective of the players who faced me, it must have felt like they were possessed by a ghost.

All of their attacks missed by a hair's breadth, while every single one of my attacks landed with all of them leaving only shallow wounds at that.

Am I really that strong? Well, if we're talking pure skill, I'm at least three steps above them. I've honed my skills against a superhuman countless times on floor 5, while they've only fought monsters up until now. Naturally, I have the advantage in a fight.

But there's a big difference between having the upper hand and toying with someone without getting hit even once. No matter how exceptional I am, these players are also top-tier warriors. They're people who made it here at breakneck speed because they're confident in their abilities. They're not to be taken lightly, but...

"Regression is really goddamn broken."

If I'm given the chance to preview everything, the story changes completely. By repeating regressions and carefully observing my opponent's minor habits, their martial arts, their physical abilities and such, I could momentarily overwhelm even top-tier players.

Ah, why did I use swordsmanship that only inflicts very shallow wounds, you ask?

At first, I wanted to win fair and square with my skills. Actually, in the beginning I did fight and win with my real abilities.

'Fucking hell! You little shit!'

But I suppose there's a reason they're top-tier players. They also quickly adapted to my combat style. Of course, I still had the advantage, but since I regress even from small wounds, the longer the fight dragged on, the more my chances of victory disappeared.

'Hehehehe... A bastard like you deserves to die and disappear. Even if I die today, I'll take at least one of your arms with me.'

Moreover, they had pride or confidence that came from being top-tier players, so the players who fought me didn't give up easily. No matter how much I screamed inside, 'Please just run away! You idiot! You're really gonna die!' they stubbornly resisted until the very end.

What could I do to make these people give up? After pondering and pondering, I finally found the answer.

The reason players don't give up is simple. It's because they saw me as a villain who needed to be punished. Because they saw me as an enemy who had to be defeated.

"Playing a lot of horror games really helped."

That's right. They resisted to the end because they saw me as an enemy.

Why are ghosts in horror games terrifying? They're terrifying because you can't understand them, because you can't fight back against them.

Isn't it said that the truly scary opponent is one whose actions you can't predict? For this purpose, I wore a skull on my head, smeared animal blood all over my body, and practiced creepy laughter like 'Kihihihihi.'

The swordsmanship that gently slices only the enemy's skin is also part of this. The origin of this swordsmanship is the doppelgänger's technique I saw on floor 5.

The doppelgänger's swordsmanship specializes in inflicting shallow wounds. While it's optimized for dealing with a regressor who regresses from injuries, it's incredibly inefficient in general. After all, people don't die just from having their skin cut a bit.

However, from the perspective of inducing fear, there was no better swordsmanship. A technique that persistently carves away the opponent's skin? From a third party's perspective, it would be extremely bizarre and terrifying.

Once I equipped the doppelgänger's swordsmanship, the players instantly lost their will to fight.

They got scared and ran away before they could even get used to my sword. Thanks, doppelgänger.

But as they say, what you gain comes with a loss.

In my current state, I was carrying one fatal penalty.

"...I didn't think I wouldn't be able to use mana."

Why can't I suddenly use mana? There's a reason for this.

"..."

Hissss.

As I concentrated just a little bit of mana at my fingertips, white frost formed and coldness flowed out.

"It wasn't just a cold after all..."

That's right.

I don't know what happened or how, but when I use mana, coldness forms. Or more precisely, my mana became imbued with coldness. When I tried swinging my sword with mana in it as a test, ice crystals scattered through the air.

Isn't that a good thing?

"...Would that be a good thing?"

To fight at full strength, I need to spread mana throughout every corner of my body. And if I spread mana through my body right now, I'll take damage and regress.

No, what is this 'cold mana' nonsense? I don't know how floor 10 worked exactly, but something definitely went seriously wrong there.

"But it's too wasteful to just gulp down the elixir right now..."

I'll have to use the elixir if it comes to it, but for now I decided to wait and see. It was a situation I could overcome well enough by utilizing regression.

As I muttered to myself like this, I saw the players talking to the dwarves in the distance. It seemed they requested help from the dwarves. Everything up to here was according to plan.

"I can move on to the next stage."

Now it was the dwarves' turn.

Through the past few regressions, I'd confirmed that the dwarves don't scare easily. No matter how much I tried to frighten them, they wouldn't cooperate with the players.

That's why with the dwarves...

"I'll have to threaten them."

I'll put a blade to their throats and threaten them.

Around the time the sun was setting.

Inside a large wooden building, about ten dwarves were sitting around a round table.

"I trust you all understand the situation."

The one leading the meeting was the passage stone shop owner. The others seated there were also aged figures who could be called representatives of the dwarves.

"The climbers requested help. They said one insane climber entered floor 11."

"...So, what kind of help are they asking for?"

"They asked if they could stay inside the fortress and stand guard together. Seems they're quite frightened."

Until now they hadn't particularly blocked players from entering, but giving them space inside the fortress was a different story.

"Shameless bastards."

One dwarf sneered while stroking his black beard.

"They’re killing their own kind blinded by greed, and now they come asking for help? How about we just kick them out? If they're going to reduce their own numbers, that's a gain for us. It would be nice if they all just died."

"..."

The other dwarves thought the black-bearded dwarf's remarks were excessive, but they didn't actively stop him. He had been especially close to the murdered dwarf.

"Calm down. You're too worked up."

The one who stopped the black-bearded dwarf was a white-bearded dwarf. He was the village's eldest, a figure some dwarves followed, calling him Father.

"How about we let the climbers in just until the funeral ends? After the funeral, we'll just give them a passage stone and kick them out."

"Hmm..."

"Seems like the most reasonable approach..."

The dwarves' funeral had three days left. They were truly detestable folks, but if they'd be gone after three days, it wasn't impossible to give them space in the fortress.

"Then, we'll give the climbers the clearing to the north. Does everyone agree?"

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

And so the matter of the climbers' treatment was settled, and discussion about the dwarves' relocation site was about to begin.

Or rather, was about to begin.

"T-terrible news!"

A dwarf burst through the door in a fluster. Judging by his relatively short beard, he appeared to be a young dwarf.

"Hey, can't you see the adults are talking right now..."

"The warehouse, inside the warehouse...!"

"What?"

"The inside of the warehouse has been destroyed...! The beer barrels and water containers are smashed, the food is rolling around on the dirt floor, and in that spot is an animal skull..."

"...?"

The warehouse was destroyed? That couldn't be possible.

The dwarves' fortress looked like a roughly built wooden fortress from the outside, but in reality, complex magical engineering technology was applied to it. The wooden barriers were sturdier than steel, and magical traps were fully installed in key facilities. Moreover, sentries were constantly patrolling.

Of course, if the players joined forces to attack the fortress, it wasn't impenetrable, but conversely, that meant without the players joining forces, it had enough defensive power to not be breached. This was also why all the dead dwarves had died in the forest.

But the warehouse was destroyed? The warehouse they put the most effort into?

"Hmm..."

The shop owner instinctively recalled the various defensive facilities set up in the warehouse. Most of them were traps designed to be harmless if you knew about them, but unavoidable if you didn't.

If someone secretly breached them with pure physical ability without getting caught by the sentries...

"This could be dangerous for us too."

Just as the climbers said, a tremendous monster had undoubtedly entered.

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