Regression is Too Much - Chapter 15

WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 015

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The status window is way too unfriendly (2)

“Thank you so much for saving us, is there anything that makes you uncomfortable?”

“…”

I had just finished explaining that I rescued them from those bastards who were about to kill them, yet the mood was still painfully awkward.

Anything that bothers me, they ask, and the first thing that pops into my head is how uncomfortable their attitude toward me is.

The survivor group kindly offered me water to wash the blood off and even shared their meagre rations, but every time I hinted that I would like to join their party they flatly turned me down.

To put it in the right metaphor, they treated me the way students treat the principal‑nim, full of respect and formal courtesy because of age and status, but the moment the principal‑nim suggests, “Shall we hit the PC bang after school?” they would reject him without hesitation.

By the same logic, no female student would ever want to date the principal‑nim, so I had to let the pretty woman in front of me go without trying anything shady.

I folded away those dark impulses early and decided to focus on gathering information instead.

“By the way, what is your name?”

“Ahn Gyeong-nam… sir.”

“…Glasses guy?”[1]

“Yes, I am Ahn from the Sunheung Ahn clan, just call me Gyeong‑nam for short.”

Amazingly, the man I had been calling glasses guy was actually named Ahn Gyeong‑nam, living proof that a person’s fate really does follow the name his parents give him.

For the record, I am speaking informally at their request, they claimed my polite speech made them more uncomfortable.

I am not some rude jerk like Choi Ji‑won who drops honorifics without permission.

“So, Gyeong‑nam, those Golden Marbles, where did you get them?”

“The Golden Marbles, right.”

Glasses guy rolled the two Golden Marbles in his palm, chewing on his words as though weighing how best to begin.

“I am not sure where to start, but I actually have a trait.”

He had kept it hidden from the scrawny kid and the thug, but glasses guy apparently possessed a trait as well, it simply was not combat‑oriented.

“The trait is A-grade, and its name is… Analysis Complete.”

He lifted his glasses with an index finger, it almost deserved a flashy sound effect.

“The trait level is still low, so I cannot analyse a person’s level yet, but I can read a monster’s threat level.”

“…And?”

“There was one goblin with an unusually high threat level. Its outfit and equipment were nothing like an ordinary goblin’s.”

Yesterday morning, while the party was wandering around looking for clues to the marbles, they ran into that special goblin.

“It was about the size of an adult woman, had a weird blood‑red tattoo painted on its face, and instead of a crude wooden spear it carried a spear with a steel tip.”

In short, a goblin that looked absurdly strong, like the Francis Ngannou or Jon Jones of the goblin world.

“…Compared with a normal goblin, how did it look?”

“If a regular goblin is threat level one, that one felt like a solid five.”

I still had no idea how the standard for threat level was set, but even a level‑one goblin, weaker than a small child, could inflict serious wounds if you slipped up.

They are monsters after all, crazy beasts that attack without caring about injury.

Yet they encountered a level‑five goblin and still managed to secure a Golden Marble, something in the story did not add up.

“In truth, two members of our party supplied more than ninety‑nine percent of the firepower.”

Glasses guy jerked his chin toward the scrawny kid still lying face‑down and shaking.

“That guy’s ability lets him dominate a monster if he keeps his hand on its head for ten seconds, though there is a grade limit…”

“…Hmm.”

So the goblin squad lying there had been dominated that way.

“But is it even possible to hold a hand on a monster’s head for ten full seconds, I would expect it to claw and bite and go crazy.”

“We had a telekinetic on the team.”

“Ah.”

I could picture it.

The thug pinned down a goblin that strayed from its group with telekinesis, the scrawny kid slipped behind it and laid a hand on its head, and a brand‑new goblin soldier was born.

“A dominated goblin looks exactly like a normal goblin on the surface, so we ambushed the big one with them acting casual.”

One of the fake ordinary goblins walked right past, then suddenly stabbed with a wooden spear, and with telekinesis backing it up, even a threat level‑five goblin could not stay intact.

“Unfortunately, the giant goblin proved immune to domination, so we had to kill it, which is probably a blessing, because if domination had succeeded it might have slaughtered us all on the spot.”

Glasses guy laughed at himself, clearly remembering the close call.

“When we killed the giant goblin we leveled up, it dropped some food, and two Golden Marbles.”

“…You leveled up?”

“Yes, every one of us reached level ten.”

“…I see.”

I stood, brushed the dirt from my backside.

“Right, thanks for the good intel, I have somewhere to take this scrawny kid.”

“Ah, of course.”

The three survivors all waved exaggerated gestures of regret as we parted but never once tried to cling to me.

I must have looked impressive yet uncomfortable to be around, but I could not very well have chosen Fear, this was the best compromise.

Once the survivor group was safely distant, I spoke to the scrawny kid still lying on the ground.

“Hey, scrawny, follow me.”

“Y‑yes, understood.”

He leapt to his feet and trailed after me like a fresh recruit with his spine ramrod straight.

“…”

The feelings he held toward me were Fear, Revulsion, and Awe. Since I had picked Awe, that one must be even stronger now.

“This spot will do.”

I brought him to an area where there was less grass and soft soil underfoot.

“Scrawny.”

“Y‑yes.”

“Write your status window here on the ground.”

“Yes,” he said, grabbed a stick in a hurry, and scratched letters into the dirt.

[Name: Choi Jun‑woo] [LV:1] [Level:22]

[Traits]

‑Monster Domination [S]

[Stats]

[Strength:9] [Agility:13] [Intelligence:18] [Vitality:11] [Mana:24]

“…What is this?”

“Sir?”

“The stats, what are these?”

I had asked to see whether other people’s status windows differed from mine, but I had not imagined they would be this different.

There were so many things to point out it was hard to choose a starting place.

First, there was a stats pane I had never seen in my life.

Second, he had two separate levels showing.

Third, the rest of his party said they were level ten, yet he alone sat at level twenty‑two.

For comparison, my own status window looked like this.

[Name: Kim Jun‑ho] [LV:5]

[Traits]

‑Regression [EX]

‑Awe [C]

Put next to his it was pathetic beyond words.

“…I am afraid I do not understand what you mean.”

The man himself seemed genuinely unaware that anything was off. Right, it seems I am the odd one here.

“First of all, why are there two levels?”

“Ah, about that…”

He started to explain, then frowned.

“By the way, how should I address you?”

“Call me whatever, you punk.”

“Then I will say boss.”

He drew a circle around [Level:22].

“This one, boss, you must have it too…”

Then he circled [LV:1].

“And this little fellow here, you mean this, right?”

It was actually the other way round, but I kept a stern face and nodded.

“I got that one after finishing off the big goblin, I landed the last hit.”

“…Explain in detail.”

“When the big goblin went down, a message popped up saying, ‘Legendary Venture!’ and a second level appeared. All of my stats went up by five as well…”

“…”

“And when I press it, it says, ‘First Mutant Goblin Kill.’”

“…”

I was at a loss for words.

What I had been treating as my level was apparently nothing of the sort.

Legendary Venture, a legendary adventure, it seemed I had unknowingly completed five achievements already.

Thinking back it did make sense.

No matter how many goblins I slaughtered my level never rose, but at random moments it would jump by one.

What burned me up was, why had nobody bothered to notify me.

It was not like I had turned off notification settings, so why was I the only one who had to learn every feature of my status window from other people’s mouths.

“When did you get your basic level?”

“Oh, that was in the bushes right outside the first clearing, got it after killing one goblin.”

“…Really, hold on.”

I knew something was badly wrong, but I would not know exactly what until I checked.

My hand trembled as I opened my status window and pressed the blank space next to [Name: Kim Jun‑ho] [LV:5].

A flood of messages filled my vision as if they had been waiting.

[The gap between you and the monster is too great, you gain no experience.]

“…”

The wall of messages scrolled far below.

A savage headache struck and I pressed a hand to my forehead.

Everyone else gets a basic level and stats.

The only possible reason I do not is this.