Regression is Too Much - Chapter 194

WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 194

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The regressor coasts (2)

"Have you perhaps... ever experienced dimensional travel?"

"...No?"

"Then... reincarnation? Regression? Some unknown trait I'm not aware of? No, that can't possibly be..."

The angel circled around me, rambling. That haughty expression had crumbled entirely, its hands twitching, pawing at empty air.

"What is this? There's some kind of variable..."

"Um... angel-nim?"

"I need to concentrate, so shut... yes, climber-nim."

It had been about to snap at me, then caught itself at the last moment and turned back with a smile.

"May I ask something?"

"If it's something I'm able to answer."

"Is it really that surprising that I can handle mana?"

Honestly, I couldn't quite understand why the angel was making such a fuss. I had learned to handle mana back on Floor 4, and Choi Ji-won was perfectly capable of controlling it too. More than anything, every player from the future had at least a basic command of mana, so to me, it had never felt like anything particularly remarkable.

Though, thinking about it, maybe future players handling mana was down to Floor 17's influence. Either way, the point I was making should have been clear.

"Hmm... it seems you don't understand why this is so impossible."

The angel nodded a couple of times, then brought its palms together like it was playing cat's cradle, shaping them into a beautiful geometric form.

"This shape. You can see it, of course?"

"...Yes. I can see it."

"The fact that you can see this means your soul has already adapted to the force called 'mana.' In truth, depending on the world, this isn't unusual at all. In worlds abundant with mana, even newborns can sense it."

"And the reason you're saying this doesn't make sense... is because I'm from Earth?"

"Precisely. Mana is not something you learn. It's something you feel."

According to the angel, there was no such thing as a "genius at mana." There were those who could display precise mana control beyond what others could manage, and those who processed mana in entirely new ways to create applications no one had ever imagined, but when it came to mana itself, there were no prodigies. No exceptions. Just the way things were.

"The closest analogy I can offer would be high-altitude adaptation."

When an ordinary person climbs a high mountain, the lack of oxygen causes dizziness, difficulty breathing, and in severe cases a loss of consciousness. It has nothing to do with whether you're healthy, athletic, or brilliant. The oxygen simply isn't there, and no amount of talent changes that.

"But stay on that mountain long enough, and your red blood cells increase, your breathing deepens, and your body adjusts its blood pressure on its own. Time takes care of it. Does it seem like talent has any part to play in that process?"

"...No."

"Mana is the same. If the soul isn't given enough time to adapt to this unfamiliar force... it rejects it at an instinctive level. And it's been less than six months since the Tower came to Earth. Now do you understand why I was so surprised? What you're seeing over there, that is normal."

The angel gestured toward the other players sprawled across the floor, unconscious.

So because I had lived for a long time carrying mana through all those regressions, I could handle it. What was happening to everyone else right now was the baseline. The actual norm.

Fair enough. After everything I'd been through, at least this was some kind of reward. A little dazed, but quietly pleased.

Then a question surfaced, the natural kind.

"But... My friend also handles mana incredibly well. I have an unusual trait, so there's a reason for me, but why would she?"

Ji-won. How did she manage it?

Activating Heart of Lightning Flash, that made some sense. But Ji-won's grasp on mana clearly extended well beyond that. She wasn't as proficient as me, but she definitely had her own command of it.

"...Two unusual cases in one place. Could you tell me what trait that person has?"

The angel tilted its head with evident interest. For all its haughty bearing, it was clearly the type whose curiosity lit up when something caught its attention.

"Well... how to put it. Her body becomes like a sword. Something along those lines, anyway."

"The body becomes a sword... it would depend on the type of metal, but in general, metal is a material with no resistance to mana. Special metals even amplify it. If her body takes on the properties of metal, then being able to handle mana well is not at all strange."

"Ah... thank you."

So it was thanks to Sword and Soul as One that she had been able to handle mana so early on. Curiosity satisfied, I thanked the angel.

"Don't thank me. If you really want to show gratitude, just tell me what your own trait is."

"...That's a bit..."

"Well, keeping it secret is fine. This gives me more to work with. Will you be leaving Floor 17 now?"

"No. I'd like to stay a little longer."

"Understood. Then, I'll excuse myself."

The angel's hands moved busily, manipulating something. By the motion of its fingers, it was clearly recording. Clearly the researcher type, probably stationed on Floor 17 to study the relationship between humans and mana.

Leaving the angel to its work, I ducked into the nearest empty building and flopped down flat. If I were back in reality right now, Ji-won would probably be waiting. No idea why we weren't in the same space at the moment, but our task was most likely the same.

"Hmmm..."

The other players, writhing and vomiting. Their unconscious forms were still vivid.

"..."

What if I hadn't known how to handle mana.

If I'd walked in here completely ignorant, with no idea what was happening... wouldn't I have regressed the moment I set foot on this floor?

Looking at the other players, they had clearly been knocked senseless the instant they entered, overwhelmed by the shock. Drool streaming down, tears and mucus running freely, and various other unpleasant details I'd rather leave alone. The shock had been enormous. What if Regression had read that as damage?

A cold crawl moved down my spine. I had come within a hair's breadth of the very thing I'd always feared most. Trapped in time. The man's voice rambling in my head. Regression. The man again. Regression. An infinite loop.

There would have been no way to deal with it normally. Could a soul adapt to mana in a short span of time? I'd have been caught in time with no idea why, slowly fading away.

"Really... I'm really glad..."

Now that I understood this fully, the place in my chest where mana lived began to sting in sharp little bursts. Like a warning: you nearly screwed yourself royally, idiot. Yeah. Thanks for the reminder.

"...?"

But no matter how much I tried to settle down, the tingling wouldn't stop. Not quite pain, just an irritating buzz I couldn't shake, though it was lasting a little too long to write off as a phantom sensation.

"Ugh..."

"Ughhh..."

Come to think of it, the other players concentrating in Meditation were all groaning too, drenched in cold sweat. So this wasn't something only I was feeling.

I walked over to the angel, who was still busy with something.

"Um... angel-nim?"

"...What is it?"

No glance in my direction. Still tapping at the air.

"Um... the part of me where my mana is, it's a little sore. Is this some kind of illness? Or is it something about this floor?"

"Ah. That would make sense."

Only then did the angel stop. It turned to me with a slight smile and began to explain.

"Ordinarily, people who have lived without mana can't even feel the mana inside their own bodies. You're an unusual case here."

"Right..."

"That's why Floor 17 is situated here. This is a special place."

The angel tapped the ground lightly with its toe.

"This place was originally... ah, I'm sorry. That's information I can't share. At any rate, the ground here has the property of absorbing mana."

"It absorbs mana?"

"Yes. A fully charged mana stone left on this ground will be completely empty within a day, that's how powerful it is. The archangel used this property because he wanted climbers to awaken to their mana."

"So... it helps people who didn't even know they had mana become aware of it through this pain."

"Precisely."

The angel clapped like a professor watching a student nail the right answer. But one question always drags another behind it, and my curiosity wasn't satisfied yet.

"Then... what was that sensation when I first entered this floor? The dizziness, the nausea."

"That too was the archangel's design. The ground here is inscribed with a magic circle that exerts mana pressure on any living being the moment they enter Floor 17. A person with no mana at all would come through unharmed, but climbers who carry mana within their bodies feel the shock."

"Ah... then what about the video thing? Someone asking questions, playing inside my head..."

"Yes. That's also one application of mana. Mana that isn't guarded cannot resist external stimuli."

"Oh..."

If you got good enough with mana, you could do things like that. There was clearly an entire field of expertise I knew absolutely nothing about.

And hearing the phrase "mana pressure," a very impure plan had already started taking shape in the back of my mind.

"...Should I try it?"

If I started cycling through regressions from this point on.

If I repeated my entry into Floor 17 over and over.

Eventually... wouldn't I be able to withstand that "mana pressure"?

No need to even say it out loud.

"Let's do it."

The decision to regress had already been made.