WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 193

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The regressor coasts (1)

“…”

“Jun-ho, what’s that look on your face?”

“Huh, uh… nothing.”

I was reading through the Grim Reaper’s report when Choi Ji-won tilted her head and set a carefully carved rabbit-shaped apple slice down in front of me.

“Something on your mind?”

“Mm… not quite a worry. Just… you know.”

“If you don’t want to tell me, don’t.”

She pursed her lips and sipped her coffee. Even if she was sulking, this wasn’t something easy to explain.

“No change at all, huh…”

Some time ago, I had passed the Grim Reaper the personal details of two criminals. The Grim Reaper had warned them off, told them never to do wrong again, and had been watching them from a distance ever since.

Four months in. According to the Grim Reaper, the two of them were getting on with their daily lives without incident.

Being players, they spent a lot of time inside the Tower, which made a perfect watch impossible, but at least whenever they surfaced in the real world, they were keeping their noses clean.

“…”

Four months without incident. Was that enough to leave them alone? But if four months wasn’t enough, how long would actually count as “sufficient”? A year? Two? Their whole lives? That felt just as murky.

“For now… on hold.”

I almost messaged the Grim Reaper to keep watching, then stopped. I’d be regressing anyway. It would all be wiped. No point saying anything.

“Done with what you were working on?”

“Yeah. I think we’re good to regress now.”

Ji-won had been reading a webtoon over her coffee. She set it down, stood, and stretched. Tomboyish as she was, she had always had a soft spot for romance webtoons, but knowing how every ongoing series ended had pushed her toward hunting down older classics instead.

“Ready to go?”

“Let’s go.”

I drew the blade lightly across the tip of my finger.

Time to move forward again.

[You have taken damage.]

[Regressing to the moment of first entry on Floor 16.]

The first thing we did on returning to Floor 16 was spar. Or at least, calling it a spar was generous.

“Alright. Done.”

“Done? You barely did anything.”

“Yeah. It helped.”

I had just stood there with my mana raised, staring her down. A little mutual reading of each other’s stances, some light probing. That was it. Was that really enough?

“It was enough. I could see where you unconsciously aim. Why risk a real fight and end up regressing?”

“…Fair enough.”

If Ji-won said it was enough, I’d take her word for it. It felt strange to push back when she was the one saying so. Besides, this floor had something to do with her subconscious. She’d know better than I would.

“Now, if you do it like this…”

“Thank you so much!!”

I triggered the Awe trait by teaching another player and cleared Floor 16 without any trouble. Everything was going according to plan. It felt good.

“…I haven’t missed anything, have I?”

That lingering unease before moving to the next floor never quite went away, but that was part of the territory. I’d have to carry it.

We finished preparations quickly and headed straight for Floor 17.

No idea what was ahead.

-Entering Floor 17.

Nothing to see. Nothing to smell. Nothing to touch.

In this void, a man with no visible face spoke.

“How much do you know about yourself?”

The man asked.

“Humans tend to fall into the illusion that they know themselves better than anyone. More often than not, that is fiction. Again, how much do you know about yourself?”

The man asked.

“The house you live in. How much of it do you truly know? The spaces you use every day, certainly. But under the bed. Between the walls. Beneath the floorboards. Do you know those hidden corners too?”

The man asked.

“People who understand themselves in full are vanishingly few. Are you among that handful?”

The man asked.

“Prove it.”

Whoosh.

The moment those words ended, the world flooded with light and everything snapped back into view.

“…What?”

It felt like sitting in a dark cinema and having the lights suddenly come on. I knew I’d returned to reality, but something felt foggy, sluggish, wrong.

What was that? Like someone had forced an entire film reel directly into my skull. There was that saying, wasn’t there, about hearing something not through your ears but through your head. That was exactly this.

“That was… strange.”

A dull throb pulsed behind my eyes. Dizziness. I forced myself to focus and looked around.

The first thing I saw was a scatter of old thatched houses. A mountain backdrop again, and again the kind of settlement that only just earned the name village, huts huddled together in a loose little cluster. Eastern style, again. The West probably didn’t have thatched houses. Did they? Maybe they did.

“Uggh…”

“Uuuugh…”

My thoughts drifted briefly into the differences between medieval Eastern and Western housing before the groaning around me snapped my attention back. A handful of sturdy young men were sprawled on the ground making ugly sounds, bodily fluids leaking onto the dirt.

“…”

I instinctively took a step back, then focused to gather more information. First thing, Ji-won wasn’t here. I couldn’t feel that familiar electric tingle of her mana.

Following the rutted dirt path toward the center of the village, I spotted a large rock, similar to the one on Floor 16. Around it, other players sat in meditation with their eyes closed. I assumed they were players from their gear. A resident of the Tower probably wouldn’t be kitted out like that.

There were more than fifty of them. Floor 16 had been relatively quiet. Floor 17 was noticeably busier, yet the atmosphere felt eerily still.

“Hff… urgh.”

I figured I’d gathered enough for now. I released the mana running through my eyes and barely held back the nausea clawing up my throat. My head spun. My balance felt off. How long had it been since my body had given me this much trouble? The mana inside me surged, pressing against my throat like something trying to break free.

“My mana isn’t… cooperating…”

I pressed myself against the large rock at the center of the village and steadied myself. That explained why some of the players had been writhing on the ground like grubs. Something felt deeply wrong in my gut.

“Hff, hff…”

There was no water anywhere, so I swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva and tried to slow my breathing. Then I sensed a presence nearby. Not a player. An angel.

Swish.

“Welcome to Floor 17.”

An unfamiliar angel descended slowly from above, touched down, and bowed with quiet formality. Anael had the energy of an enthusiastic girl. This one felt different. Calm. Composed. Like nothing could shake them.

“Your memories are in disarray, your body feels off, and you are likely experiencing a tingling sensation in various parts of your body. That is fine. All of it is a normal response. There is no need to panic.”

“…?”

They spoke in a steady, measured tone, like a doctor explaining a diagnosis. The problem was, I only had dizziness, and none of the other symptoms.

“Floor 17 draws out the potential within each climber. It is a floor brimming with the archangel’s generosity. You need not worry. By the time you clear this floor, you will find yourself grateful for the archangel’s grace.”

“Um, excuse me…”

“From this point forward, there is one force you must come to feel. Ki. Mana. Chakra. It goes by different names across cultures, but the essence is the same. A natural power that exists in the world, refined into a form humans can wield. The moment you received a status window, this power was already sleeping within your body.”

“So what I’m trying to say…”

“Awakening that power is the goal of this floor. It will not be easy, of course. Coming to sense mana takes a great deal of time and effort. That is precisely why so many climbers end up staying on Floor 17 for extended periods.”

“…”

“The dizziness you are experiencing is the backlash from your mana being forcibly stirred. Remember this sensation of disorientation well. In time, it will…”

“Excuse me.”

“…Climber. I understand you have many questions, but might you wait until I have finished before speaking? I do not enjoy being interrupted.”

“No, it’s not that, it’s…”

I pointed at the air.

“Floor 17… it says cleared.”

“…Pardon?”

Floating right in front of me:

-You have cleared Floor 17.

The floor’s introduction had barely begun, and it was already showing a clear. Nothing like this had ever happened before. I was genuinely thrown.

“That can’t be…”

The angel looked just as shaken. With a trembling hand, it gently pushed me aside from where I’d been leaning against the rock. That was when I noticed it.

On the rock’s surface, right where my hand had been, there was a palm-shaped patch of blue.

“Wh-what…”

They opened their mouth slightly, raised their hand, and worked something in the air. A blue portal flickered open beside me.

“You have… actually cleared it…”

“…”

“…”

“Congratulations…”

“Oh. Thank you.”

Another first.

I had cleared Floor 17 the moment I walked in.

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