WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 188

──────

The regressor reflects (3)

My approach to the Tower, summed up, went something like this.

Whether spending a long stretch of time on a floor, running regression over and over, or waiting for someone else's help, whatever it took, I stayed on each floor long enough to find the right method. Once enough experience and information had built up, once I felt I'd worked out what I was ready to call a perfect approach, I'd regress and clear that floor in one clean sweep. To anyone who hadn't lived through the regressions, it probably looked like I walked into the Tower and breezed straight through. Climbing as fast as possible also meant fewer variables could get in the way.

"Why am I always this unlucky?"

But if the benchmark for "how strong you've become" was measured from the moment you first set foot on the current floor, that was genuinely terrible news for me. Like Zeno's paradox, the stronger I got, the higher the threshold would climb right along with me.

"Mm..."

It wasn't hopeless, though. If I added a small twist to my usual approach, it might just work.

"What's the twist?"

Choi Ji-won tilted her head. I was happy to share.

"It's..."

"It's?"

"Not training at all."

"...?"

The core problem was that training raised the strength benchmark.

But what if I didn't train? What if I just sat on this floor and did absolutely nothing?

I'd have all the time I needed to gather information. Turn over every hidden corner of Floor 16, pick it clean to the bone, squeeze every last thing out of it, and only then start training.

"...But wouldn't that put you at a disadvantage in terms of raw strength?"

"Trying to clear this floor multiple times in the first place is too arrogant."

Others thought highly of me, but I knew myself better than anyone. Not a genius. Not a dullard either. If I had to place myself somewhere, just a notch below the genuinely talented. Getting insight by swinging a sword alone was, quite literally, impossible for someone like me.

"So, exactly once. Clearing this floor has to happen in one shot."

The more I looped, the longer each attempt would take. One shot was the only real option.

"Of course, this is all just theory. The threshold might be lower than I think."

"Fair enough."

"That's why I need your help. Ji-won, I need you to get a rough sense of what the threshold on this floor actually is."

"...Me?"

"Yeah. You're a genius."

For someone like me, every extra hour here was a liability. Ji-won was a different story. The more times she cycled through this floor, the stronger she'd likely become, no ceiling in sight. And she could pass me whatever she picked up along the way.

"So, to put it plainly, my role from here on..."

To do absolutely nothing. Like some kept man living off Ji-won.

A week into Floor 16.

I said a word I hadn't spoken in a long time, one that felt oddly warm on my lips.

"...Status window."

[Name: Kim Jun-ho] [LV: 68]

[Traits]

-Regression [EX]

-Flash Step [S]

-Heart of Lightning Flash [S]

-Curiosity [A]

-Awe [A]

-Hero [C+]

-Meditation [C]

-Swordsmanship [A] [Specialization Acknowledged]

-Chill Affinity [A]

-Mysterious Aura [E]

-Quick Reflexes [C]

-Excellent Cardiopulmonary Endurance [C]

-Right Mindfulness [C]

"Mm..."

Not much had changed. The achievement level had gone up, still no idea how that mechanism worked, and a few new traits had been added.

Oh, and the Hero and Swordsmanship traits had both gone up a grade, which was a nice bonus. The "Specialization Acknowledged" tag next to Swordsmanship was a mystery.

"Wait, A-grade already?"

Only Floor 16, and Swordsmanship was A-grade. Was I really at that level? If it ever hit EX, would I start slicing through time or something? And Ji-won, what grade was hers at? S, at minimum, probably.

The unfamiliar new trait was Right Mindfulness, picked up from the C-grade Trait Selection on Floor 15.

-Right Mindfulness [C]

-A righteous mind that moves straight toward its purpose. You do not waver.

Reading it, it didn't feel like Descartes' theory of the passions. More like the Buddhist concept of right mindfulness. Same vein as Indomitable, that mental support trait I'd weighed up when the A-grade Trait Selection came around. Was it called Indomitable? Didn't matter. Knowing it would be useful was enough.

Phew.

Lying on a bed of fallen leaves, taking in the scenery, drowsiness crept in. The swaying orange trees were beautiful.

This was a small side path near the training cave. I was out here, enjoying the quiet.

A week on Floor 16 had taught me a few things.

First, clearing Floor 16 didn't mean I had to leave right away. The actual method was to mark a specific rock to satisfy the clear condition, then talk to an angel to exit.

I'd figured this out because a fair number of players had already cleared the floor but weren't leaving. They hung around what might be called a training yard, passing their insights on to other players, though none of it was out of pure goodwill.

"Potions? Come on. Everyone who makes it this far has more potions than they know what to do with."

"Ugh..."

They traded their insights for items. But a great warrior wasn't the same as a great teacher, and plenty had pocketed the items without delivering anything of real value in return.

The genuinely good teachers had all rushed ahead to keep climbing, so anyone still hanging around was, more or less, chaff. The kind who preyed on the naive.

On the subject of other people, word was that Floor 16 took about a month to clear on average. There was a lot of individual variation, though, and anyone on Floor 16 at this point was already upper-tier, so generalizing was probably pointless.

"Apparently Michael Zetter finished in a day."

"A day? Man, there's a reason he's Association president."

"..."

Overheard while eating, so I couldn't take it as hard fact.

Second, the temple on this floor was sealed inside a large spherical barrier.

Around the third day, I'd found myself wondering whether this floor was a world the Tower had absorbed or just some fragment it had carved out. If it was a real world, there should be people here beyond angels and players.

If there had been a mountain peak somewhere, I'd have climbed it to look around. But this place was all gentle rolling forest, nothing tall enough for a proper view. So I walked out of the temple and ran straight ahead, on the theory that something would eventually turn up.

"...Blocked?"

After a while, a semi-opaque white barrier stopped me cold. I could make out forest beyond it, not completely solid, but getting through was impossible.

Cutting through it with my sword crossed my mind. Odds were it wouldn't work, though, so I'd simply turned around and come back. If I were some absurdly overpowered figure from the far future, maybe I'd have tried.

I wasn't.

Third, this floor had not locked out conflict. Unlike Floor 2, killing was possible here.

Apparently someone had tried it once in the past, intending to kill others for the insight it might bring. The other players took them down fast. Anyone who'd made it to Floor 16 was, even at their worst, the kind of crazy that still had judgment, so intentional killings were rare. And when they did happen, everyone here being exceptional meant the culprit was caught quickly.

Unintentional deaths? Obvious. Sparring accidents.

The proportion of proper martial artists on Floor 16 wasn't high. Anyone who'd made it this far without a fighting background was a battle-hardened fighter, shaped by the Tower's grind rather than any formal school.

Hand those kinds of fighters a secret martial arts manual and tell them to study it? More than unfamiliar, most of them couldn't make heads or tails of the principles inside even staring directly at the page.

"Then... how am I supposed to get stronger?"

"Hmm..."

The answer those players arrived at was simple.

"Hey, want to fight?"

Just getting stronger the way they always had: real combat. Once two parties reached an agreement, they'd slip into some secluded stretch of forest and fight for their lives. The number who died unluckily in the process wasn't small.

None of that was the real problem. The real problem was Ji-won.

"Ji-won. Could we spar, just once? I feel like fighting you would give me the breakthrough I need."

"Just one spar, please? We're both women, after all..."

"Draw your sword! Come at me!!!"

"...Please. All of you. Leave."

Everyone had latched onto this golden goblin who'd appeared out of nowhere, hoping she'd be the key to their breakthrough. Ji-won had not the slightest interest in obliging any of them. So she'd fled to a private cave further up the mountain. Fame was always a burden.

I was staying near the cave to drive off anyone who came to bother her. There were actual idiots tracking her all the way there and demanding a fight.

So what was Ji-won doing right now?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

Clang!

A hysterical scream and the sharp ring of metal, from somewhere behind me. From inside the cave I was guarding.

Yes. Korea's hero, genius, and pride, Choi Ji-won...

"This is so FRUSTRATING!!!"

Had, remarkably, hit a wall.

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried