WeTried Translations
Translator: ZEROSUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Regression is Too Much
Chapter 151
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The regressor is training (12)
[You have entered floor 12.]
"…"
After coming to my senses, I immediately collapsed onto the bed. It's natural for people to want to lie down somewhere when they've suffered a psychological shock. And if they suffer too severe a shock, they end up lying down forever.
Wait, wasn't he confident? He cleared difficulty level 9 easily, didn't he? But at difficulty 25, his body came back without a head? Damn it, fuck. Can't he even judge my own abilities properly?
And that woman. The flame woman. Was that the first time she saw someone die? Causing all this trouble because she couldn't control her mind properly. Didn't she see people die on floor 4? They said they hadn't been together for long. There probably wasn't any loyalty anyway.
"No, this is too much of a bastard's way of thinking."
I pulled my thoughts together before they could run wild in the wrong direction. Definitely, my mental state has been strange lately. My thoughts keep going astray in violent directions. Actually, this started on floor 3, when I blew off Dok Su-hee's arm. After repeating dodging arrows in traps hundreds of times, my mind became strange.
At times like this, spending time with Ji-won would make me feel better, but Choi Ji-won is far away. Perhaps even farther than I think.
Fuck.
"Let me organize, organize things."
Right, this isn't the time for this. Nothing will change just by lying on the bed feeling depressed. I need to organize the information I've gained and review my plans for the future.
For the next 11 days.
"…"
Let me organize the information I gained. First, the man with the mole handled difficulty level 9 quite easily. If he cleared it with only small scratches on his armor, it's fair to say he cleared it with room to spare. However, difficulty 25 not only took a long time, but he completely failed to clear it and returned as a headless corpse.
The important point here is the fact that it took a long time. The opponent you face on floor 12 is a black mannequin. I don't know for sure, but it probably didn't play with people or deliberately drag out the time. It didn't look like it had intelligence.
So the enemy at difficulty 25 and the man with the mole's abilities were evenly matched, and after a 20-minute death struggle, he barely lost. In martial arts novels, they fight for three days and nights, but a one-on-one battle between equals drains enormous amounts of stamina and energy, so even 20 minutes is quite a long fight.
Didn't I fight for three days and nights on floor 4? That was because of the Hero trait's effects, and the enemies were much weaker than me.
"So difficulty 25 is too hard..."
In other words, the mole man's ability is slightly below difficulty 25. It would be reasonable to see it as about 23. Did that man originally choose 20? If he had just entered 20, he would have lived, but he died because he entered 25 out of his own greed.
This leads to three questions.
First, just how strong are those who are progressing through floor 12 with me?
"…"
At first, I believed without a doubt that the guys progressing through floor 12 with me were top-tier players, but I couldn't help but have growing doubts.
Although I wasted a lot of time in between, it's undeniably true that I climbed the tower quickly using regression. And all the people I met in that process were excellent.
Kang Chan and Ahn Gyeong-jun on floor 3. William Smith, Yoon Joong-hyun, and the glasses guy on floor 4. Felix from Germany and other top-tier players I met on floor 11. Especially the top-tier players on floor 11 faced me head-on and made me regress several times. They were people worth acknowledging, with talent, traits, and tenacity all coming together perfectly.
However, these guys feel slightly different. They hadn't done sufficient farming on floor 11, they lacked tension and concentration, and above all, they didn't have the unique sharpness of top-tier players. That strange sensation where your muscles tense up and the back of your neck tingles just from standing next to them wasn't there.
At first, I thought it was just my imagination, but seeing the man who died at difficulty 25, it seems likely it wasn't my imagination. Of course, there's definitely a possibility that difficulty 25 was just too difficult. This needs to be confirmed later.
This leads to the second question. If someone dies while taking the test, what happens to the test?
Are points still deducted even if the person taking it dies? If someone taking 25 from 90 points died, are the remaining points 65? Or do they stay at 90? It happened so quickly that I couldn't see this either.
Another question is, what if all five people take the test but there are still points remaining? If they only handled 80 out of 90 points and 10 points remain? Then is it a test failure? It could be, or it might not be.
<floor 12>
-Pass three rounds of 'tests.' Each person can participate in each test only once, and if you fail the final test, no rewards will be given.
-All rewards will be given individually after clearing floor 12.
This was the message that appeared when I first entered the floor 12 room. What we need to pay attention to here is the word 'failure.'
How exactly are success and failure determined? Generally, one might think floor 12 is team-based. But we need to remember the malicious design of floor 11. We need to remember the structure designed so that one crazy person's trolling could harm everyone else.
If we assume this floor is not team-based but individual, success and failure might be limited only to individuals. It might be possible to selfishly choose 1 point, easily clear the test, and then ignore everything else while still receiving rewards. This also requires additional information gathering.
But if it's individual, in the worst case, I might have to handle all the points by myself. I must also consider the possibility that all other players might betray me.
Now, this leads to the final question. How much can I, who can't use magic properly, handle?
I didn't know because I hadn't used magic with full power since getting the 'cold aura' on floor 10, but I'm currently in a position where I take damage and regress if I use too much magic. Considering that I'm currently the most familiar with magic among earthlings, this is no small penalty.
"…Hmm."
Gulp.
After thinking for a moment, I took out a bottle of elixir from the subspace in my fingernail and drank it straight down. Unlike the 'Lowest-grade Elixir' I drank before, this 'Lesser Elixir' tasted better.
After waiting for the elixir's characteristic refreshing energy to spread, I slowly tried moving my magic. The existing 'cold aura' hadn't completely disappeared, but it felt much weaker. When I tried infusing magic into my sword, the cold energy emanating from the outside was the same. The elixir seemed to have alleviated the magic-specific penalty.
But since I had already drunk the elixir, I had no intention of stopping here. This time, I drew magic throughout my entire body while also infusing it into my sword, pouring it out in streams. I unleashed the 'magic swordsmanship' I learned from my doppelganger on floor 5 with full power.
"Hueup..."
Spine-chilling air filled the narrow room completely. Frost began to form on the bed, bookshelf, and microwave, and steam filled with cold energy flowed out from my entire body. Normally, inhaling is cold and exhaling is hot according to natural law, but now even my exhales were cold.
However, my mind was perfectly clear. Power overflowed from my entire body, and the sword I gripped tightly felt like it was perfectly attached to my hand.
Just as I was about to swing my sword with full concentration in this perfect state.
"Cough..."
Once again, I felt that squeezing pain around my chest. I collapsed right there while still holding my sword.
[You have taken damage.]
[Returning to the moment of first entry on floor 12.]
***
"Okay."
I confirmed that drinking an elixir makes the side effects of 'cold magic' much less severe. However, it's my honest feeling that I want to save elixirs unless it's really the worst situation. If I can clear floor 12 without using elixirs, wouldn't that be better?
Anyway, this completes all the organizing. Now what I need to do is wait 11 days doing nothing. Anyone who's been to the military would know that truly 'doing nothing' is quite hard labor. Right now it's bearable, but if this accumulates and accumulates, it will return as a severe mental burden.
"…"
I must clear floor 12 with minimal regressions. Repeating this sentence to myself, I slowly fell asleep.
**
11 days later.
"Wow, what's this place? There's a microwave here?"
"Hey guys! Where are you?"
"Hello?"
The people I had been waiting for finally entered floor 12. Having already finished washing my face and even shaving, I quickly led the people to go take the 'test.'
-Then, before starting the first test, each person will select their reward.
[1] Lesser Potion x 10
[5] Custom Item Box (B~D)
[10] Universal Pill – increases all stats by 3.
"Hmm."
In the last cycle, I had chosen [10]. But this time I decided to choose [1]. This is a kind of buildup.
So after finishing my selection, when the protective barrier disappeared, this time I could see other players sitting in chairs, having finished their selections at similar timing. Ah, the bespectacled woman is still choosing.
-All climbers' selections have been completed.
Soon the bespectacled woman's protective barrier also disappeared, and a mechanical voice echoed through the space. Above the elevator, the number [26] was glowing ethereally. This was 35 last time, right? There's another liar this time too, or there are basic points of 5.
"Now, listen. I think this is some kind of loyalty game."
Just like the last cycle, it was time for the bespectacled woman to share her speculation and for each person to discuss the rewards they chose. Ah, when I said I chose 1, the men looked at me with slightly mocking expressions.
Except for such minor differences, almost everything was the same as the last cycle. We passed the first test without major injuries.
However, it can't continue like this. If it continues like this, the man with the mole will die. I'll be caught up in flames and regress.
"Now, everyone."
I slowly stood up from my chair, drawing everyone's attention. My current goal isn't good rewards.
"Could you listen to what I have to say for a moment?"
Even if it means receiving terrible rewards, I plan to return to reality this cycle.
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