WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 147

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The regressor is training (8)

Whirr.

Inside a room with documents scattered everywhere, a haggard man was shaving his beard with an electric razor. Until now, his messy appearance hadn’t mattered, but with an important presentation ahead of him, he was hastily tidying himself up.

"..."

It had been a week since he'd contacted his family, and all the hard work over the past week had been for this moment. The man glanced sideways at the materials on his desk, then refocused on shaving. A business card sticking out of the briefcase in the corner of the room read 'Yoon Joong-hyun, Director, Player Management Department' in neat handwriting.

"Phew."

After finishing his grooming and putting on the suit he'd ironed earlier, the man, Joong-hyun, carefully sat down in front of his laptop. 

Five minutes remaining.

"..."

But once he actually sat in front of the laptop, the screen looked a bit problematic. He flipped the desk 180 degrees so the background faced the window, making sure the camera wouldn't capture the shabby state of his room, and just as he finished, the fateful moment arrived.

-Hey, Joong-hyun. You're all set, right?

Joong-hyun had recently succeeded in clearing floor 9 and at the same time distinguished himself in the Association's work. Naturally, the Association's leadership had their eyes on him, and shortly after the 'Grim Reaper' incident broke out, he was assigned a critical mission.

He was tasked with compiling and organizing all the data the Association possessed, then reporting it in a 'secret meeting' as an executive.

In this modern age where information is power, this vast database the Association held could be called their greatest asset. Being entrusted with organizing it meant the Association trusted Joong-hyun, and his background as someone from a national intelligence agency also played a part.

"Then, I'll begin the report."

Just because it was called the Player Association's secret meeting didn't mean multiple person-shaped holograms appeared, or that mysterious alphabet letters showed up on screens with distorted voices.

It was just close to a Zoom meeting using their own program, a thoroughly ordinary meeting with everyone's faces displayed in a grid pattern on their respective screens.

However, the lineup of people attending the meeting was far from ordinary. Not only were the Association's core leadership present, but there were several faces of G20 presidents, and occasionally the faces of players who could be called not just top-tier but 'pioneers' themselves. However, Player Association President Michael Zetter's face was nowhere to be seen.

"Haha, well now."

"Is that friend not showing his face today? You know, the one who showed us that 'book' last time..."

"Now, now. Let's focus."

As Joong-hyun's voice entered the meeting, everyone else's microphones turned off. In the somewhat burdensome silence that was created, Joong-hyun's presentation began.

"According to the Association's database estimates, approximately 3.8 million people have been summoned to the Tutorial so far."

The estimated number of humans from Earth who had experienced being summoned to the Tower was about 3.8 million. It seemed like a really large number, but when considering all of humanity, it was only 0.0475 percent. Roughly one out of every 2,000 people had experienced being summoned.

"However, the Tutorial's survival rate is about 22 percent, so the estimated number of players who set foot on floor 1 is 836,000."

Rounding up, that was 840,000 people. The number of players who finished the Tutorial and safely returned to Earth was 840,000, meaning only 0.01 percent of the 8 billion human population had obtained a status window.

"And 200,000 players have registered their information with our Association and are actively exchanging information."

200,000 out of 840,000. Considering that the Association had been established for less than half a year, this was an incredible achievement.

"..."

"..."

However, the meeting participants' reactions were lukewarm, as this was information they already knew.

"Then, I'll get straight to the main point."

Joong-hyun also quickly flipped through the slides, skipping all the content they likely already knew. Even though organizing all that had taken well over a day, presentations were supposed to be conducted flexibly.

"Now, this is our Association's proud 'Player Distribution Chart.'"

Having finally reached the desired section, Joong-hyun slightly raised his voice.

"As you can see from the chart, about 40 percent of the players registered with the Association are still staying on floor 1, too afraid to risk their lives climbing the Tower."

About 40 percent didn't even attempt to climb the Tower at all. But even this was a greatly improved figure. If the Player Association hadn't continuously promoted that 'floor 2 is safe,' this figure would have approached nearly 90 percent.

"However, once they climb to floor 2, players quickly move up to floor 3, so the number of players staying on floors 2 and 3 isn't large."

Floors 2 and 3 were structured with difficulty levels that anyone could clear, assuming they chose appropriate difficulty. Players who gained confidence through these easy floors fearlessly climbed straight up to the next floors.

"On floor 4... over half of all players give up on climbing the Tower."

Out of consideration for the presidents who had no experience climbing the Tower, Joong-hyun didn't mention the specific details. Anyway, anyone who had cleared floor 4 would know exactly what he was talking about.

"But the players who overcome floor 4 and move on to floor 5 once again start climbing the Tower rapidly. As you can see here, the preparation time between floors is short, and the survival rate is quite high."

Was it because most of the weak ones had been filtered out? Once a player reached floor 5, they climbed the Tower without hesitation. Whether they were hooked on the fun of getting stronger or the fun of making money by selling items, they didn't stop climbing the Tower.

"However... that trend has recently changed."

Lowering his voice tone slightly, Joong-hyun swirled his mouse around the bar marked 'floor 11.'

"Players who cleared floor 11 a while ago might be exceptions, but all players who recently cleared floor 11 have stopped climbing to floor 12. Literally 'all' players."

"How is that possible?"

An Association executive couldn't help himself and turned on his microphone to address Joong-hyun.

"Even though they're top-tier, I know floor 11 has quite a number of people. But you're saying 'all'? Isn't it possible the statistics are wrong, or that players who didn't register with the Association climbed to floor 12?"

"No. It really is 'all' players."

Shaking his head, Joong-hyun advanced the slide.

"I'm sure you all know about how the 'Hero' Choi Ji-won recently punished a criminal called the 'Grim Reaper' on floor 11."

"..."

"The lineup of players the Grim Reaper killed is extraordinary. They were all people known for their excellent traits, and the prevailing opinion was that even if their personalities were bad, they had ability. However, the Grim Reaper was strong enough to easily slaughter such people and broadcast it on the deep web."

"...And?"

"Choi Ji-won easily subdued such a strong Grim Reaper."

This was a variable Kim Jun-ho hadn't anticipated. Because he was exhausted from repeated regressions, he neglected the 'acting of fighting evenly' and focused on the 'acting of being defeated spectacularly at the end,' so rumors spread that although the careless Ji-won was injured by the Grim Reaper, she took him down in one blow once she started going all out.

To say it again, Ji-won's 'Heart of Lightning Flash' was currently nothing more than a shiny but hollow fruit. But rumors never rely on reality, and people mistakenly believed on their own that Ji-won had obtained a transcendent-grade trait.

This fact and the reputation of the players the 'Grim Reaper' had killed through stealth up to now created synergy, and Ji-won's stock was currently not just piercing through the sky but reaching Mars. Even the players who had refused to provide information to Ji-won had actually been holding out to draw her to their side. If they had waited just about two more weeks, there would have been groups quietly offering information to gain her favor.

"They say the lightning Ji-won unleashed was blinding and deafening. Players who cleared floor 11 unanimously testified that 'she's a monster,' and even players who entered floor 11 after Ji-won cleared it said they were terrified just seeing the traces of the battle."

What does Ji-won being strong have to do with other players not climbing the Tower? As mentioned earlier, the Tower's difficulty itself, excluding floor 4, is hard to call particularly difficult. Therefore, what sets top-tier players apart from other players is precisely their 'ambition,' their desire to climb the Tower faster than others, become stronger than others, and stand above others' heads.

Those very people had hit a wall. They faced Ji-won, a monster for whom they could see absolutely no way to win in the current situation. They had never thought of themselves as weak before, but now they keenly felt their lack of power for the first time.

There were no cowards who gave up just because they met a wall. However, they took time to look back at themselves, checking their abilities, honing their skills, and acquiring various knowledge that might be needed.

"The absolute majority of players are currently honing their skills. They're reportedly inviting famous martial arts instructors and special forces trainers to go through the process of becoming familiar with combat itself. Cases of injuries from sparring between players are not uncommon either."

It had been three months since the Tower opened, and most players still showed signs of being ordinary people. Those very people had begun preparing to be reborn as true warriors.

Of course, not all players were sharpening their skills. Some of the players not climbing to floor 12 had different schemes.

'The body of the player who cleared floor 12 had multiple weapon wounds.'

'Looking at floor 11, there's a high possibility the archangel will openly encourage conflict between players. The weapon wounds would be the result of that.'

'What if there's a floor where players have to fight each other? Or if rewards are distributed differentially among players based on performance?'

'If you get caught on the same floor as Ji-won, you're screwed.'

They judged based on their floor 11 experience and photos of people who finished floor 12 that if they proceeded through floor 12 together with Ji-won, there was a high possibility of suffering great losses. And they also understood that if rewards were distributed differentially, competing with latecomers would be far more advantageous than competing with fellow top-tier players.

Of course, this was all just a rational prediction. There was also a high possibility they were wrong. However, the players had already reached some kind of agreement, deciding to stop climbing the Tower for two weeks after Ji-won cleared floor 11.

"If this trend continues..."

Joong-hyun's mouse circled the 'mid-tier' players currently progressing through floors 5 to 10.

"The existing 'top-tier' players will be overtaken by the 'upper-mid-tier' players who ignore such agreements."

Being overtaken wouldn't cause any major problems, as the top-tier players had the talent, traits, and guts to crush the upper-mid-tier players.

But the truly important fact was... that the quality of players progressing through the Tower would decline.

One day. Two days. Three days. Four days. Five days. Six days. Seven days. Eight days. Nine days. Ten days. What comes after that? I don't know. Fuck. Does that even matter?

Eleven days had passed, and my heart felt like it was being torn apart every meaningless day that went by.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuuuuck..."

You think eleven days is okay?

This one day isn't just a simple day. It's the 'repeated' eleven days I have to go through every time I regress. If there were stages like 3-1 or 3-5 like on floor 3, maybe it would be different, but the message I saw when entering just said 'You are entering floor 12' and that was it. It probably has a similar mechanism to floor 4.

I'd already thoroughly searched the surrounding space. This place was probably some kind of research facility somewhere. When I pushed through the hidden wall at the end of the corridor, there were several complex mechanical devices inside, though of course, not being a science major, I couldn't tell what was what.

How many times do I have to repeat this? No. This really isn't okay.

"..."

This was a different kind of terror from the floors I'd passed through so far. When I repeated regressions until now, at least I had a sense of purpose. But this was truly indefinite, aimless waiting, and there was a high possibility this wouldn't be just once.

"Huff, huff, huff..."

I steadied my rough breathing that had come from anxious imagination. If Ji-won were here... no. It's better that only I suffer.

"..."

I unconsciously picked up my sword then put it back down. I wanted to practice swordsmanship, but I couldn't even dare try, worried I might accidentally regress. How long do I have to wait? I really felt like I was going crazy now, and while I was ripping pages out of a book that had been stuck in the bookshelf.

"Whoa, what's this place? There's a microwave here?"

"Guys! Where are you?"

"...!"

On the eleventh day of entering floor 12.

I finally heard other people's voices.

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