WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 174

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The regressor wanders (10)

"We are survivors of a world that was destroyed because it couldn't climb the Tower to the end."

Like reciting what he'd had for dinner the night before. The elder said it plainly, no weight behind the words.

"And it wasn't only us... Most living creatures, save for the angels, were in the same position. People who stood at the crossroads of ruin and had to choose: become tools of the Tower and drag out some ugly existence, or simply turn to ash."

Hearing those words, my mind drifted to the residents of Floor 2. They lived on a loop, used as props for us players, and never seemed particularly miserable. The dwarves on Floor 11 had been friendly toward humanity too, at least until the murders started.

The goodwill they had shown us... might not have been simple goodwill at all.

"...Oh dear. I think I've reached my limit. Use your imagination for the rest."

Blood had started trickling from his ears and eyes now, not just his nose. The elder swiped his left hand across his face once, and every trace of it vanished. His skin had gone past pale. It was blue now, unmistakably so.

"Now... I'd like to talk about myself for a bit. Even if it bores you, treat it as wisdom drawn from an old man's life and listen well."

Swaying, yet standing firm. The elder continued.

"The worlds of Floors 11 through 15 are all... worlds I was born and raised in. Just different points in time."

"..."

I couldn't move. But his words didn't add up. Floor 11 was a forest. Floor 12, a modern laboratory. Floor 13, a wasteland. Floor 14, another forest. And Floor 15, where we stood, looked closer to outer space than anything else.

"Yes, I know it doesn't make sense. Let me explain properly. First, our world was something close to what you would call a 'fantasy' world. An emperor of an empire, goblins and orcs, magic and swords."

Noticing the skepticism in my eyes, the elder gave a slow nod and began.

"I was a genius. The greatest mage, swordsman, and inventor on the entire continent. People praised me as a talent sent down by the gods to save the world."

He was the best the world had. Nothing more needed to be said. Built on natural talent and exceptional traits, he had torn through the Tower at a ferocious pace, hoarding every reward along the way and growing stronger with each floor.

One goal. Grow as strong as possible, clear the Tower. Save everyone.

"I had so many talents, but there is only so much one person can do at once. So I thought, ‘What I need is a puppet to carry what I cannot.’"

People called him the Puppet Sorcerer. No matter how many traits he gained, no matter how many items he acquired, he could put every single one of them to use. Items could simply be placed in the puppets' hands, and each puppet could wield its own trait.

By the time he had conquered roughly three-quarters of the Tower, the elder had long since transcended the bounds of any single individual. He alone deserved to be called an army. A legion, even.

"Becoming powerful didn't make me oppress others. Quite the opposite. I took the lead in protecting my world, which was being ravaged by the Tower's influence. Monsters already existed in our world to begin with, but the Tower made them far more violent."

In the chaos that followed, his puppet legion was an enormous force. He defended the entire world without ever leaving his seat, and the people worshipped him for it, hailing him as a hero.

But too much devotion turned to poison.

"I truly... never dreamed of it."

The other climbers who had always resented him for hoarding the rewards. The emperor who feared how vast his influence would grow once the Tower was fully cleared. They decided to remove him before he could grow any stronger.

And so, an entire world came for him.

"I never imagined they thought so little of me."

Every last one of them, subdued. His power, built without pause on a monopoly of the Tower's rewards, had already reached the heavens. He had also prepared countermeasures for every ability any notable climber possessed.

"Curse abilities, I deflected with items. Air manipulation, I broke with traits. Mental-type abilities were the trickiest... but sheer willpower was enough to push through those."

He won. Against the entire world. Natural talent, relentless effort, and layer upon layer of the Tower's rewards had transformed him into something unchallengeable. None of the other climbers could touch him.

"But... I had also underestimated them."

Most of the climbers who had already spent themselves fighting him, even those still writhing on the ground, gave up. They had felt it the moment they crossed swords with him. There was no way to beat this monster. No method in the world would work.

But one climber, a man the elder had always dismissed as "trash who had good traits and still couldn't be bothered to try," had been pushed past every limit. He made the worst possible choice.

"He... blew away every last molecule of air on our planet."

He had been wearing items that amplified his strength. He had a trait that let him borrow massive, temporary power by accepting certain restrictions. And he had already made his peace with dying. Even with all of that, the ability to strip an entire planet's atmosphere bare could only be explained as talent.

The genius who could have saved the world had ended it.

"Those hiding in magically fortified shelters survived. I survived too, thanks to a breathing-related trait. But... almost every other living creature died."

The top-tier players who had poured everything into fighting the elder, along with the vast majority of life on the planet, suffocated.

The elder looked up at the dark sky, bitter.

"The sky turning out like that... that was the reason."

He had been opening and closing both hands, over and over. Then he looked back at me and continued.

"But thanks to the many items and traits our world had accumulated over the years, some hope remained. With the dwarves' technology, we built a city underground and constructed facilities to raise warriors who could climb the Tower."

The elder was already strong enough on his own. What he needed was one partner to climb alongside him. The floors that had blocked him were the ones requiring multiple people. With just one partner, he was certain he could see the Tower to its end.

The underground city expanded at a staggering pace.

The facilities were filled with things modeled after otherworldly designs only seen inside the Tower, and puppets the elder had crafted himself were stationed throughout. They hadn't given up. Not yet. Not on conquering the Tower and returning to a green surface above.

Fifteen years of underground life passed.

The population, decimated, produced no one whose talent could match the elder's.

"...A meteor fell on the surface."

The ground split open. Nothing but red magma remained.

"...Later, the mages told me that the atmosphere was supposed to protect against falling meteors."

The last survivors' hearts broke. The surface they had dreamed of returning to was gone. Their hero was growing older by the day. There was no hope left.

"One day, the leader came to find me."

Face pressed to the floor, the leader said this. Please... couldn't they all just die together? Life underground was too much to bear. Couldn't the elder end their lives himself?

It was a betrayal of everything the elder had devoted himself to. A dismissal of every sacrifice he had made.

"I was going to kill every last one who had betrayed me and then take my own life. Right up until the Tower made its proposal."

The elder lurched and finally sank to the ground. The color had drained from his face completely, past pale, past blue, now verging on black. His eyes, though, remained impossibly clear.

"I hated the world. I hated the stupid emperor who came for my life for his own gain. I hated the selfish climbers blinded by greed. And I hated, with everything I had, that lunatic who stripped the air bare out of some petty inferiority complex. Floors 11 through 15 are floors I designed during that period, when I was nothing but venom."

His eyes gleamed as he spoke.

"But after a long, long time... looking back on it, I think some of the fault was mine too. I refused to communicate. I hoarded every reward for myself. I acted selfishly in the name of saving the world. That much was unquestionably my fault. Among the climbers who attacked me, some had genuinely convinced themselves I harbored ambitions to devour the world. If I had worked alongside them, our world might not have perished."

"..."

"Jun-ho. I hope you do not make the same mistake I did. Build companions you can trust. Share the rewards. Dedicate yourself to the world, but do not make enemies along the way. And above all else... kill those who need to be killed. Do it early, and do it properly. Waver, and you will end up like me."

Trembling, the elder rose and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Just listen. You are facing my true body right now. And I intend to wipe this true body's memories. More precisely, I would say I'm going to overload the soul and reset it."

With his free hand, he pressed his index and middle fingers together and brought them to his own forehead.

"One last piece of advice..."

"..."

"That ability of yours. When an archangel, or something above one, is nearby, it is best not to use it too often. Something about the source of power being similar, I think. It starts to gradually have an effect. Memory confusion, you could call it."

He pulled his gaze from me and looked toward the gleaming sun.

"I will be cheering on your long journey. I believe your way is the right one."

The blinding white flash that began at his fingertips swallowed the world whole.

[You have taken damage.]

[Returning to the moment of first entry on Floor 15.]

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