WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 168

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The regressor wanders (4)

Red text filled the entire screen.

After a brief moment of deliberation, I picked up Ji-won's phone and headed to the nearest convenience store.

"Welcome to..."

"Excuse me. What does this screen look like to you?"

"...Sorry?"

"This screen right here."

The clerk answered obediently, despite wearing an expression that clearly said, ‘Who is this guy?’

"...It's an ad for feminine hygiene products. But why are you suddenly..."

"Thank you."

I walked straight out of the convenience store and headed back to my studio apartment. I had figured out how the ad's system worked.

"...So it can be used like this too."

The reason Michael Zetter had been able to brazenly post his email address on the internet. He had exploited the condition that 'information about the Tower cannot be conveyed to ordinary people no matter what you do.' To a regular person, this would look like nothing more than an ordinary advertisement. The red text contained Tower-related content, so it would only be visible to players.

"But... wouldn't this be visible to every player then? For something like that, there's no reaction about it anywhere online. And shouldn't an email address at least be visible from a normal person's perspective too?"

"No, look closely at the text."

Ji-won pulled up the same video on the computer, zoomed in, and showed it to me.

Just as she said, when I peered closely at the red letters... I realized that each character was actually a cluster of incredibly tiny text. The writing was so small that anyone who wasn't a player would have had a hard time noticing it.

Reading some of the sentences that were barely visible...

'An old man appears on Floor 15.'

'The sky on Floor 15 is dark.'

'On Floor 15, there is an old man carving a statue.'

And so on. Information about Floor 15 was written out in a long string. With this kind of structure, unless you were a player who had cleared Floor 15, you wouldn't be able to read the text. The ad was in Korean, so it was clearly targeting Korea.

"Do you think there's anyone in Korea besides us who's cleared Floor 15?"

"Among those registered with the Association, no. As for the rest... I have no idea."

Since there were either zero or extremely few people besides us who had cleared Floor 15, Michael Zetter had been able to scatter a letter 'addressed to Choi Ji-won' across YouTube ads. The more I thought about it, the more impressed I was by how cleverly he had used his head.

"For now... Ji-won. What was Floor 15 like for you? Let's get our bearings straight first."

"I picked 'the old man's wise counsel,' the one with the lowest number. I'm guessing you picked the same one?"

"...Yeah. Since I can get the rest of the rewards through regression anyway."

"I thought the same thing. But don't you think the structure of Floor 15 was strange, no matter how you look at it?"

I shared everything I had seen and experienced on Floor 15 with Ji-won in detail. Our respective experiences on Floor 15 were nearly identical, with just one difference.

"When I went, that person was carving a dragon-shaped statue."

"...Not a goblin?"

"Yeah. You know, a winged dragon like the ones in fantasy stories."

Judging by the fact that Ji-won had returned to reality just slightly before me, it was certain that she had entered Floor 15 before I did.

So what did this difference in the statues mean? Was Michael Zetter's request for help related to Floor 15? Had the old man truly not lied to me? My head was spinning.

"But... this line that says, 'Please do not inform the Association..'"

Ji-won lightly tapped my shoulder as I sat lost in thought, and pointed at the screen.

-This is Michael Zetter, president of the Player Association. I need help from players who have cleared Floor 15. Please contact me at the email below. Especially Choi Ji-won. I am waiting for you. Please do not inform the Association.

"Why did he include this line? That's the part I don't understand."

"...What do you mean?"

"Michael Zetter is the Player Association president. If he wanted to reach out through normal channels... he would have contacted us through the Association, right?"

"That's true."

As Player Association president, he should naturally know that Ji-won had established a link with the Player Association. And under normal circumstances, he would have contacted her through the Association.

Yet he deliberately chose to reach Ji-won by hiding a message in an advertisement? It was safe to assume this implied something was happening independently from the Association. That much was basic reasoning.

"So then, why did he go out of his way to include the line 'Please do not inform the Association'?"

Was the person who wrote this ad not actually Michael Zetter? A scheme to impersonate Michael Zetter and lure Ji-won in?

Or was it meant to imply 'I am currently having trouble with the Association'? The questions only kept piling up.

Under normal circumstances, this would be the time to start gathering intelligence. We hadn't fully grasped the situation yet, but one thing was certain: something strange was going on. For all we knew, we could be walking on thin ice without even realizing it.

"Let's try reaching out by email for now."

Of course, that would be the approach if I didn't have regression.

-If possible, I would like to speak in person. You might not be Choi Ji-won, and you probably can't trust that I am Michael Zetter either. However, the United States government is watching me closely, so I cannot freely use air travel. Online meetings also carry the risk of being wiretapped. Would you be able to come to the United States?

That was the email from Michael Zetter. Being the Player Association president, it was fair to assume that moving around 'in secret' was practically impossible for him.

"...That's the same for me, though."

The problem was that this applied equally to Ji-won. This was a woman who wore a mask and a hat even just to go to the convenience store in front of her building. There was no way she could leave the country in secret.

When Ji-won sent an email with a negative tone, the reply from Michael Zetter was surprising.

-We have a player on our side with a long-range teleportation trait. If you provide us with precise coordinates, we can open a passage for you to come here.

"...That's way too dangerous."

Through all the regressions I had been through, this was the first time I had ever heard of a 'long-range teleportation user.' Such an ability existed? Honestly, did that even make sense?

And even if such a user truly did exist... trusting and stepping through a portal was an entirely separate matter. We hadn't even confirmed whether this man was really Michael Zetter. What were we supposed to do if we went and it turned out to be a trap?

"Then, let me tell him to prove that he's really Michael Zetter."

-I still cannot trust that you are Michael Zetter.

-I sent a photo of my face... Is that not enough?

-Deepfake technology has gotten too advanced these days.

-In that case, I have a live speech scheduled approximately two hours from now. Is there a specific word you would like me to mention? I would like to use that to prove that I am Michael Zetter.

-Can't you just mention something about Floor 15 like you did with the ad you ran in Korea? Other people wouldn't even be able to hear it anyway.

-If I suddenly pause in the middle of a speech, wouldn't that look suspicious to everyone watching?

-Then please mention 'kimchi' during your speech.

-Understood.

Sure enough, exactly two hours later, a live broadcast began on the Player Association's official channel. It was a broadcast that drew worldwide attention, with public networks in every country carrying the feed.

"Good day. I am Michael Zetter, president of the Player Association."

Slightly dark blond hair, deep-set eyes, and thick eyebrows. Broad shoulders and a tall, towering frame.

Michael Zetter appeared on screen, a Western man who gave off the impression of being 'solid' or 'imposing.'

"Citizens of the world. I stand before you today with the conviction of representing every player."

Dressed in a suit, he slowly but clearly recited his formal opening remarks while gazing into the camera.

"Wasn't he a former special forces or something?"

"U.S. Marines, I think."

While we chatted among ourselves, Association President Michael Zetter's speech continued.

"I want to emphasize that the citizens of every nation must take the lead in supporting players. Right now, our players lack the motivation to climb the Tower. Moment to moment, they lack the motivation to put their lives on the line."

Michael Zetter paused briefly for a deep breath.

"This is a matter of Earth's survival. This is a matter of humanity's survival. This is a matter of whether we can preserve the cultures of every nation across the globe. This is a matter of whether we can continue to enjoy the food we love, pizza, hamburgers, pasta, curry, kimchi, sushi, going forward. No one knows what kind of catastrophe will unfold if the Tower is not climbed."

-Why is he suddenly bringing up kimchi?

-That came out of absolutely nowhere.

The internet's reaction was along the lines of 'Typical Player Association president, no tact whatsoever,' but Ji-won and I looked at each other and nodded silently. It seemed like... the emails really were from Michael Zetter.

"I ask that you recognize this is not merely a matter of player rights, but a matter concerning all of humanity. Thank you."

Immediately after the broadcast wrapped up with the main message of 'support for players needs to be expanded,' an email arrived from Michael Zetter.

-I hope this convinces you that I am indeed Michael Zetter. That bizarre speech cost me some influence.

-I believe you now. Honestly, I was suspicious because you used email instead of a messenger.

-Messengers like Telegram are actually more dangerous. They already have information-sharing agreements with the United States government. Email, on the other hand, is such an outdated method that nobody pays attention to it.

"But no matter how I think about it, isn't it way too dangerous for us to go there?"

"Should I ask if he can come to us instead?"

-I don't mind coming to Korea instead. However, I would appreciate a discreet location where we won't attract attention.

"...Let's invite him to my place."

"Your house, Ji-won?"

"Yeah. It's spacious."

After providing the exact address and setting a time, the next day arrived, and it was around noon.

Ji-won and I sat in chairs at the dining table, waiting for Michael Zetter. The appointed time had come. If the 'long-range teleportation user' truly existed, Michael Zetter would appear right about now.

Vwooom!

Was he the punctual type? Along with a distortion of space, a massive Caucasian man revealed himself. Even at a glance, he looked to be about two meters tall, and the aura radiating from his body was no joke.

He was strong. I wouldn't know the exact difference without facing him head-on, but... that man was strong.

"..."

"..."

While I studied him, he studied me in return. After we had taken a moment to size each other up,

"Hello. I'm Michael Zetter. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Choi Ji-won."

With a brief greeting, Michael Zetter sat down at the dining table without hesitation. He gave Ji-won a courteous nod, then turned his gaze to me.

"And... Mr. Kim Jun-ho."

"..."

I had expected he would know who I was, so I wasn't surprised, but it still felt slightly surreal to have a world-famous figure call me by name. It was kind of like having a celebrity talk to you, if I had to describe it.

"I'm not much of a talker, so I'll get straight to the point."

"Please do."

I thought that was just a polite formality, but Michael Zetter really did launch straight into the main topic from the very first sentence.

"Approximately ten months from today... a crisis may befall Earth."

"...?"

"...Excuse me?"

Come again?

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