WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 183

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The regressor agonizes (5)

My studio apartment, after parting ways with Kang Chan.

"What do you want to do?"

First thing Ji-won said after hearing out the whole story about Dok Su-hee.

"First of all... I'll be honest, I don't think much of this Dok Su-hee. High school is old enough to know better. Even back then, good kids were good and rotten ones were rotten."

Twenty years old, now twenty-one with the turn of the year, Ji-won declared with complete confidence that Dok Su-hee was rotten through and through. To her, Dok Su-hee was basically a younger peer. No particular reason to go easy on her.

"But... I believe people can change. No, people change more easily than you'd think. Give them the right reason, and anyone can turn around. Dok Su-hee might be one of those cases."

But that was Ji-won for you. Disapproval plain on her face, and still she found a way to defend her.

"I want you to do what you want. Bring her in as a companion, ignore her, or... neutralize her."

"I have no intention of making her a companion."

That much had to be nailed down first. I had no intention of taking Dok Su-hee in. Not right now, at least.

The feelings I held toward her weren't exactly positive. And the same was true in reverse. Whatever Dok Su-hee felt toward me was twisted somewhere inside.

"She probably wouldn't do my mental state any favors either."

To me, a companion was someone you could trade good influence with. Back and forth. Like me and Ji-won.

Bringing Dok Su-hee in, though? I didn't know her well enough to say for certain, but the odds seemed high we'd just drag each other toward ruin.

Unless things became truly unavoidable, I would never regress alongside Dok Su-hee.

Recruiting her was off the table. But leaving her alone didn't sit right either, and there was no clean way to neutralize her. The ring Raphael had given me on Floor 2 was an option, but that was my last resort.

Kill her. Talk some sense into her and let her be. One of the two.

"..."

And that wasn't the only decision pressing down on me. I had to figure out when to regress.

As long as I stayed in reality from here on, accidental regressions were essentially gone. Unless a monster on par with America's dragon suddenly appeared on my doorstep, or someone broke in demanding elixirs, nothing would trigger one. Which meant the timing was entirely mine to choose.

But when, exactly? How? Would I have to separate from Ji-won again? What about Dok Su-hee? What about everyone else?

It pressed down on me. Just the fact that I had to face one impossible choice after another.

I wasn't Ji-won. Wasn't built for this.

My body had grown to something beyond imagination, and my mind had hardened with it, but inside I was still just an ordinary person. Knowing full well the choices were mine to make, part of me still wished someone else would step in and decide.

How naive had I been, calling myself a hero back in the Tutorial. A real hero was someone who made choices like these over and over, without end, and still found their way to a happy ending.

"..."

Emotions alone made it exhausting to run through every possible option. The time each one would cost was its own consideration.

"...You need time to think, don't you? I'll get out of your way."

"Thanks."

Ji-won put on her mask and left. I nodded after her, then sank back into thought.

Beep beep beep beep beep.

"...Oh, Jun-ho?"

Less than a minute later, she was back.

"Wait... you need to see this."

She handed me her phone. Written in English:

-Choi Ji-won. Is there any way to reach Kim Jun-ho?

"Who is it?"

"Michael Zetter."

I scrolled down and the reason for the message came into view.

-The Saint wants to meet you. I would also like to meet you both while I'm at it. Could you come to America? It is quite urgent.

"...The Saint?"

At this point in time, there was only one person who could carry that name.

William Smith.

The world's greatest healer, met on Floor 4. The man whose time was the most expensive thing on Earth. The clergyman every sick person wanted to lay eyes on.

"...He wants to meet me?"

William was looking for me.

Experiencing long-range teleportation for the first time turned out to be surprisingly uneventful. You went and stood in the spot William had designated, waited quietly, and somewhere along the way the taste of the air just changed.

None of the sudden dizziness or nausea you'd expect from a story. Maybe it just suited me.

"Oppa, then I'll see you 'next time.'"

Sending off Dok Su-hee, who had teleported with us claiming Michael Zetter had called for her too (she was probably one of the players he sponsored), Ji-won and I headed into downtown California.

A gleaming white building that screamed newly built. The one visible in the distance had been constructed for William Smith alone. More accurately, a waiting area for patients.

The closer we got, the more our expressions soured. Because the building looked less like a hospital and more like the epicenter of a zombie outbreak.

"Let us in! Let us in!"

"Save me, please save me..."

Every person gathered around the white building was dressed in a hospital gown, with bandages and IV lines and walking sticks as a given. Simply put, people on the edge of death, screaming with every last bit of strength they had left.

"There's no hope anywhere else! The doctors told me to live out my days in peace! Please, please, save me!"

"I came from China... I'll pay whatever you want... please save my son..."

"My mother, my mother can't die without seeing me get married... please, Saint-nim..."

"My wife..."

"My husband..."

"My daughter..."

People with countless stories, every one of them desperate, crying out for help. The front gate of the white building was sealed shut, no sign of opening. Worse, the hard-faced men blocking the entrance gave off mana. Players working as security.

"..."

"..."

The two of us stood there stunned, overwhelmed by the living hell that had descended on this world. A presence approached from behind. A man in a red plaid shirt and jeans who looked every bit the country boy, but his eyes were sharp and his body gave off mana. Another player?

"Are you Jun-ho-nim, and Ji-won-nim?"

"...Yes."

"Please follow me. Entry through the front gate isn't possible."

The man led us naturally about a block away. He walked straight into an ordinary-looking bakery and lifted one of the kitchen tiles. A passage leading underground revealed itself. He descended first. Ji-won and I followed.

"Who are you?"

"I'm an agent with the Player Association, and... someone who owes the Saint a great debt."

As he led us through the secret passage, his right hand never stopped moving. A touch of mana to my eyes revealed what he was doing, disarming magical traps one after another. No, the whole passage was plastered with them.

"We've arrived."

Before any further questions, the agent announced we were there. We climbed a ladder and wound our way through the maze of the building until he stopped dead in front of a door.

"...Please. I'm counting on you."

He opened the door and stepped aside. Ji-won took a step back, clearly not coming in. Right, the one William Smith had asked for was me.

I steadied myself and walked through.

"You're here."

William Smith, sitting in a chair and staring blankly at the air, looked up and gave a faint smile.

"...Good God."

Was that really the William Smith I remembered?

William, a middle-aged white man, looked far older than I remembered. Only a year had passed. He looked a decade older. More wrinkles, duller skin, but above all, there was no life left in his eyes. He barely looked any different from the patients gathered outside.

"Can I offer you a potion?"

"It won't help. I've been drinking them like water already."

William lifted a mug slightly to show me. There really was a potion inside.

"If you don't mind... may I get straight to the point?"

"Ah, yes, please."

"The reason I sought out Jun-ho-nim... ah, I heard your name from the Association. In any case, I needed advice."

He ran a hand across his cracked lips as he spoke.

"On Floor 4, seeing you gave me tremendous motivation. The reason you stepped forward and saved the others. Watching you walk out ahead of everyone, all your back gave off was 'because I can.' Nothing more than that."

So William had done the same. He used his ability and threw everything he had into saving people.

Along the way, this large building was constructed, and the number of people who owed William their lives was now beyond counting. He could have stood before God with his head held high. He had given everything he had.

But amid the surge in patients brought on by the recent monster attacks, while treating them all... he hit a wall. Not a mental one. Physical.

His body was screaming.

He could push further. But every time he used his healing ability, a stabbing pain shot through every extremity, and the sensation of his body coming apart was vivid.

He could. It was possible.

But it was agonizing. Unbearable. He didn't want to.

"Is it a sin to be able, and choose not to?"

William steadied his trembling hand with the other as he spoke.

"Where do I... draw the line? How far do I have to push myself? I gained the ability to save people's lives, but my body can't hold out. If I give up here, won't God be disappointed in me?"

He was exhausted. Whatever resolve had once burned in him was long spent.

"I need your advice desperately. Someone who moved the way you did, like you already had all the answers... I thought you could give me the kind of advice that comes like rain after a long drought."

"..."

"What should I... do?"

As much as I wished I could give William what he was looking for.

I was carrying the exact same burden.

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