WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Regression is Too Much

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Chapter 216

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The regressor is too strong (3)

Even after I got hurt, regression was not triggered. I was locked into this timeline.

"W-What do I do?"

The world spun. Cold sweat poured down my whole body, all my strength drained out, and before I knew it, I had dropped to the floor.

"J-Jun-ho?"

"No..."

Even without regression, clearing was still possible. Yeah, "possible."

But the odds of getting the ending I wanted dropped exponentially. Even if something went wrong, I could not fix it. I could not turn it back. I just had to live with it.

"I said no..."

I couldn't say I was worthless without regression... but my value crashed hard. Steamed buns with no red bean filling. Sweet and sour pork with no sauce. Hero or not, I would go back to being just an ordinary guy worrying about my own survival. A plain nobody who did not belong at the side of the real hero, Choi Ji-won.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Regression, my regression is blocked..."

"...What are you talking about."

"Even when I take damage... it doesn't trigger... because this is a virtual world..."

"Huh?"

"My life... my life is ruined..."

I wasn't just sitting anymore. I fully collapsed onto the ground. I had lost the source of everything that let me stand proud all the time. How was I supposed to live now? Me, as a person!!! What was I supposed to do now!!!

"Can't you just return to reality and regress there?"

"Huh?"

"The reward changes based on the rarity of what you submit to the Exchange, right? So... just submit anything, go back to reality, and regress there."

"...You're right?"

Once I heard Ji-won's words, I realized she was right. The process was a little annoying, but regression was still possible.

"..."

The moment I thought that, my hunched shoulders straightened. Life returned to my face, which had been full of despair. My shaky vision cleared, and my cold skin warmed up again.

"So regression is still possible!"

Right, the answer was there if I just thought for a second. I really was an idiot.

I think I panicked just because I could not regress right away. Regression was my source of confidence and self-esteem, like pedigree or a big dick, and the thought of losing it made me lose my mind. Normally I was rational, smart, and calm. I was just flustered this time.

"And that blocked regression thing? If anything, I think it helps you, Jun-ho. I don't think it hurts you."

Choi Ji-won walked up beside me, put a hand on my shoulder, and smiled.

"What do you mean, helps me?"

"Until now, you couldn't go all out. You were scared of getting hurt, so you fought super carefully. Right?"

"True."

Up to now, I had fought with the shackle of "if I get hit once, I have to regress." Anyone who had learned how to fight knew this, no matter how big the skill gap was, not getting hit even once was hard. If it was hard even then, what about enemies equal to me, or stronger than me? Because of that, I was always forced into bad fights, and I could never let a fight drag past five seconds, no, even three. If it became a long fight, I was the one who lost.

"So this means you got stronger, right?"

Not here. Here, getting hurt was fine. Getting grazed in a fight was fine. Even if my heart stopped for one second, it was fine. Why? Because this was a virtual world.

My shoulders felt broader than usual now. Somehow, a smile crept onto my face too. Ordinary nobody? No. I was a hero who would save the world.

"Uh..."

Ji-won watched me getting carried away, and her face said, "Yeah, I wanted to cheer you up, but not this much."

"For now... should we regress?"

When I asked if I could submit a huge tree branch to the Exchange, they said yes. Of course, the rarity was F. It was a pretty big branch, so I had hoped a little, but I guess branch size had nothing to do with rarity.

Maybe because it was F-grade, there was no reward, but my goal had been returning to reality anyway... so right after I came to my senses on Floor 1, I wounded myself and regressed.

Right after regressing, I met up with Ji-won.

Then we started a strategy meeting beside a stream far from the village.

"I think... we should head for the mountain."

"You do?"

"Yeah. Honestly, it's way too suspicious."

The terrain here was extremely varied. It started with a warm, cozy forest at the spawn point, then the babbling stream, then a river if you followed the stream, then the sea if you kept going along the river, then a desert spread out from that sea, and far away, snow-covered mountains.

I could not call the land small, but this level of environmental variety made no sense. It was practically shouting, "There is definitely something special here, go explore!"

Well, it was a game, so I was not going to nitpick realism. What mattered was where we should go.

"As a game expert, I can tell you desert and mountain maps are usually the hardest."

A blazing desert, or a snow-covered mountain. Perfect spaces for harsh conditions plus powerful monsters.

"And since it's a snowy mountain... you could call it my home ground too."

With my chill, this was an environment that favored me, so naturally I leaned toward the mountain instead of the desert. Ji-won did not object either and nodded.

After we chose the destination, everything moved fast. We met hostile creatures like wolves and bears on the way, but we reached the mountain in less than five hours.

"Wow."

"This is cool."

The whole way here had been a forest with warm breezes, but the moment we reached the mountain's base, an eerie cold wind clawed at our skin. This kind of sudden temperature shift was probably only possible because this was not reality.

"...It's cold."

"Want me to breathe warm air on you?"

"What are you saying? You're cheesy."

"..."

"...You're not hurt, right?"

We climbed while chatting lightly. I was basically immune to the cold because I had chill plus the Chill Affinity trait from Floor 12, and Ji-won could protect her body with mana, so the cold should not have bothered her either.

"No, seriously, it's cold..."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, totally."

I take that back. The closer we got to the summit, the more Ji-won felt the cold, biting her lip. Not bad enough that she couldn't endure it, but enough to seriously bother her.

I watched her carefully because her teeth kept chattering, and then at some point, her trembling stopped.

"...You okay?"

"Don't talk to me."

"...Bung-bung?"

"Shut up."

Did she switch with Bung-bung because she could not handle the cold? Someone without a human heart might not feel cold at all.

"Hey, is this right?"

"...How would I know."

Around the time we reached near the summit with snappy Bung-bung in tow, we saw the entrance to a huge cave. It instantly felt like we had found the right place.

"Couldn't this just be a cave entrance?"

"No way."

If Ji-won was cold enough to struggle, then average players could not even attempt this climb, and even top-tier players would have to push themselves hard to get here. That meant this was definitely abnormal cold, and if there was a cave at the summit after pushing through this... it was a hidden piece, one hundred percent.

"Let's go in. Hidden piece."

"I don't think so..."

"Just watch, Bung-bung."

"Don't act friendly."

Inside the quiet cave, strangely, the walls were crystal, and it was bright. Not a wet, dark cave, but a bright, sparkling one.

"Definitely feels like something out of a game..."

"There, there is something over there!"

How long did we walk? Where Bung-bung pointed, there was a huge hexagonal crystal chunk floating in midair.

Small shards spun around the huge crystal in circles, and every little piece gave off serious chill. I could tell from a distance. If those shards grazed you, the wound would freeze. No, maybe it would not stop at just freezing the wound.

"Jun-ho, want help?"

Ji-won had already taken back control of her body and asked, but I did not answer, just shook my head. Right now, I wanted to test my own power.

"Hoo..."

Focusing my mind, I took one step at a time toward the crystal mass. First was a test. How could I endure those sharp attacks...

"...?"

I take that back. I did not need to endure anything.

My chill was colder than theirs, so it posed zero threat, and the sharp crystal shards could not pierce my dwarven armor. The ones that brushed my face stung pretty badly, but still, not dangerous.

-..!!!!

The crystal mass seemed just as startled and suddenly blasted out an extremely cold wind, but when I released my chill, its wind got pushed back instead. In other words, I was its direct upgrade.

"...That was less fun than I expected."

If its chill had worked as a debuff, this could have been a hard fight, but unfortunately I held the advantage in the cold attribute. My excitement gone, I just walked up and sliced the crystal mass in half.

"...Is that it?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

With Ji-won still looking unconvinced, I walked deeper into the cave. In game logic, this was where the reward should appear.

"There it is."

We had not even walked far before we found a small spring. Strangely, the water shone in five colors, like it was bragging about being special.

-Essence of the Mountain [Hidden]

-Essence where nature's clear aura gathers at the place closest to the sky.

Along with the game UI that appeared before me, a small glass bottle appeared in midair.

As if an invisible person were handling it, the bottle filled itself with the sparkling spring water and was placed in my hand.

"I got one too?"

No, not just me, Choi Ji-won also had sparkling spring water in her hand. I had been wondering how to carry it, but it seemed to be automatically granted with no need to collect it manually. If that was how it worked, no one would need to split rewards even in a large party.

"This should be enough, right?"

"More than enough. Most people probably couldn't clear this."

The matchup favored us, and our power was way above average. Other people would not get this so easily. Even with a low estimate, I thought this had to be at least S-grade.

"For now, let's head back to the village."

"Yeah. We should check the grade and the clear reward too..."

Climbing up had been rough, but our steps going down were light. We had succeeded, and we were looking forward to the rewards.

But the good mood did not last long. Around when we crossed the middle of the mountain and reached near the entrance.

"Huh?"

What we saw was, unbelievably...

"I-I'm first!"

"Move, get out of the way!"

A group of players running straight toward us. There were more than twenty at a glance, and they were charging like maniacs with bloodshot eyes.

"Damn."

Was their target... the Essence of the Mountain in our hands? Right, I expected little rats like this. Let them try. I was different now.

I gripped my sword tight and focused. I would cut off the arm of the first one who reached us. It was a virtual space anyway, so no one would die. No harm in teaching them a harsh lesson. My razor-cold senses locked onto the player charging straight at us...

"Huh?"

They didn't lock on.

"Huff, huff!"

"Run faster!"

The other players blew right past us. They showed no interest in us at all... and just kept going.

"What is this?"

If we were not the target, then what was? Why were they running that desperately?

"...No, wait."

That direction was where we had come from. Their eyes were fixed entirely on the summit. And instead of dwarven armor, they were wearing warm winter gear.

As if...

"How did they know?"

As if they knew where the Essence of the Mountain was.

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