WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

________________

Chapter 219

──────

The regressor is too strong (6)

Lately, I've felt like the prestige of the term SSS has dropped a lot.

All kinds of bizarre things keep popping up, "SSS-grade this," "SSS-grade that," spreading like weeds and becoming a trend of their own. At this point, plain old S-grade almost feels cooler than flashy, tacky SSS-grade.

Maybe that's why.

"We found everything, but..."

Finding two SSS-grade ones was not that hard. We just went to places that looked like they would have something, and they actually did. A massive pyramid was buried in the desert, and deep under the sea there was a giant temple. Getting there empty-handed was tough, but with items bought in the village, reaching them was possible. There were even traces left by people who had gotten there before us.

Then why were those hidden pieces still there?

Because the gatekeepers were strong.

Ridiculously strong.

If Choi Ji-won had not been there, and if we had not fought together, we would have lost for sure. I could hold off the giant sea dragon in the deep sea with my chill, but Anubis in the pyramid would have been a close call if Ji-won had not gone all out.

Now that I've seen their combat patterns a few times, it looks manageable, but even so, these are enemies ordinary players cannot beat.

Anyway, we succeeded in tracking down the SSS-grade submission items, Tear of the Oasis and Rose of the Deep Sea, and securing each one once.

"I can see why they're so obsessed with these..."

So that is how it works. Hidden pieces that are hard to find have easier fights, and hidden pieces that are easy to find have harder fights. It is intuitive, and it makes sense.

Either way, we secured two SSS-grade items, but...

"They're coming."

"Already? Ugh."

No matter where we go, that group following us is the problem.

They chased us even faster than usual when it came to the pyramid and the deep-sea temple, probably because they already knew about those places. It is not like those sites are as far from the village as the mountains, either.

"Blocking them with mana is too much, right?"

"Eight hours is... a bit too much..."

Even if I tried to block them by force like before, the round trip itself did not take that long, so naturally the time I had to keep them out got longer. I do have more mana than most people, but suppressing them for over six hours was too much. They are not pushovers, either. They are good players, so the longer it goes, the harder it gets.

"And we can't destroy it, either..."

If we could not block people directly, I considered stopping them from entering the building at all. But maybe because these are special hidden-piece buildings, when they were destroyed, they reset after a while. Even objects used to block the entrance got teleported away.

So why not destroy the hidden pieces themselves?

They were basically treated as invincible. I swung my sword down at Tear of the Oasis, and instead my blade bounced back with the message, "Adventures are meant to be shared together!" So that failed too. Destroying hidden pieces to increase scarcity was not an option.

"In the end, there's only one answer."

"What is it?"

"You draw aggro, and while that happens, I collect all the SSS-grade ones."

The more complicated the problem, the simpler the solution. Right after we regress, Choi Ji-won pulls the attention of the other players, all eyes on her. While they are focused on her, I collect the two SSS-grade hidden pieces and submit them to the Exchange.

"...I don't think that'll work."

The key question was whether we could actually pull it off.

We could sync memories once after returning to reality, so it was possible to execute the plan without meeting in person. I already had enough experience that, given enough time, I could beat SSS-grade gatekeepers alone, but...

"Those people aren't idiots. If I just drag things out a little, will they really keep watching me?"

Whether they would take the bait was a complete unknown. They might run into random players passing through instead of the village players. Or they might see the submission item I bring back and rush in late hoping to skim off the top.

"Ah, Jun-ho. How about this? We go for the other S-grade or SS-grade submission items we found."

Ji-won's suggestion was pretty reasonable. While repeatedly regressing to find the SSS-grade ones, we had also found a few other hidden pieces that were harder to locate but easier to clear. Using those as bait might make this easy.

"Let's save those."

The other hidden pieces we found could be used in negotiations later, so it felt wasteful to spend them like this. And since Floor 22 gives item rewards, we could not use the trick of taking one SSS-grade reward and then regressing.

"Here's my plan. While you draw attention, I submit both SSS-grade items at the Exchange. Then we call in a few decent players, tell them where some S-grade or SS-grade hidden pieces are, and make them owe us. What do you think?"

"So how exactly are you going to do that?"

"Listen."

I explained the whole plan from start to finish. Ji-won listened with an uneasy expression at first, but little by little, her face relaxed.

"So? Not bad, right?"

"...It's good, but..."

"Then let's regress now."

The players will not be able to resist this bait.

"How many days has it been already?"

"Two weeks? Three?"

"Fuck."

Just because the players camping in the village plaza stayed there did not mean they liked it. They wanted to leave this boring village too.

But they still sat there fiddling with items for one reason. You only get one chance to clear Floor 22.

Anyone still here at this point had ambition by default, plus talent and effort to back it up. Prodigies, maybe even geniuses. So far, they had never faced a task in the Tower so hard it felt impossible.

But just because that had been true until now did not mean it would stay true. They could hit the next floor and die for nothing because they lacked strength. They might regret taking a mediocre reward here.

If they were desperate for immediate power, they would have no choice but to climb and get stronger right away. But that was not the case, and of course they had no idea monsters would invade Earth. So instead of rushing, they climbed slowly, building themselves up as much as possible.

"Hey, where'd you go?"

"The jungle. Ran into a massive queen bee and died."

"You dumbass."

After staying so long, everyone recognized each other's faces, and things had gotten friendly. It was fair to call them veterans at this point.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"It's Choi Ji-won."

"What???"

So whenever a new face showed up, they would size them up among themselves. But Choi Ji-won?

"She's still here?"

"Who cares about that? It's Choi Ji-won."

"Oh shit."

Choi Ji-won, one of the most famous players. Her achievement of completely changing Floor 2's structure earned her the nickname Hero, and the incident on Floor 4 where she saved every player was famous too. People even said the dwarven armor they were wearing now was thanks to her.

Things had quieted down lately, so slander like "Choi Ji-won is overrated" or "she was only strong early because of her trait" had started to spread. But changing an entire floor's structure was still an unprecedented feat. She was famous enough to be second only to Michael Zetter, the Association president even ordinary civilians knew.

And now she had arrived here?

"This is our chance."

"We're finally getting out."

Smiles spread on their faces. Back when they had first entered, they watched people get rich by double-submitting a French ranker's hidden piece and leaving, and they had envied them like crazy. But Choi Ji-won? This was their chance.

"Shh."

"Just watch. Just watch."

Choi Ji-won walked toward the village, swept her gaze over the players gathered in the plaza, then headed straight to the chief's house. While that happened, everyone tore their Friend Registration Tickets.

"When's she coming out?"

"I hope she kills that stone golem one. That's the closest, easy profit."

"I swear that one is at least SS-grade."

"What if Choi Ji-won gets pissed and comes back for revenge?"

"Come on, at our level, we won't get steamrolled that easily. And from what I heard, she's nice. She'll probably let it slide."

"Really?"

The players chatted while waiting, and after some time, they realized quite a while had passed. It had to be at least ten minutes, but Choi Ji-won still had not come out of the chief's house.

"...What is she doing?"

"Wait. I'll use my trait."

A man with a trait that let him control small insects sent a fly into the chief's house. No matter how strong Choi Ji-won was, she would not detect something that tiny.

"Can you see anything?"

"...Hold on. Huh?"

"What?"

"She's reading a book?"

Inside the chief's house, Choi Ji-won had pulled books from a shelf and was reading them closely. True to the name chief's house, there was a small study in one corner, stocked with books that could help beginner adventurers.

"There's nothing there, though."

How did they know that so well? Simple. They had already read through them once. A study in the Starting Village chief's house practically screamed suspicious.

But even though these supposedly smart players had examined that study carefully, they found no clues. So they concluded there were no hidden pieces in the village except the All-Purpose Stone buried near the entrance and the Black Abyss in the Exchange trash can.

"When is she coming out?"

"Is she an idiot? There's nothing there."

Choi Ji-won showed no sign of leaving the study. One hour, two hours, then three...

"Yawn."

"I'm sleepy..."

Tension eased, and even the players waiting in hiding started yawning.

Bang!

"May I take this?"

"Of course."

Choi Ji-won burst out of the chief's house, abruptly asked a guard for a wooden axe, then sprinted out.

"W-what is this?"

"Just follow her, from a distance!"

She only stopped when she reached the forest in front of the village. It was where you could find the lowest-grade collectibles, and even if you got lucky and found a Beehive, it was only B rarity, so people rarely came here. Still, because the starting point was in this forest, everyone had passed through it at least once.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

"What is she doing...?"

"She's chopping trees...?"

As soon as she got there, Choi Ji-won started chopping trees. Trees had a separate hit mechanic, so no matter how strong you were, you needed five hits to bring one down. If you submitted logs from here to the blacksmith, you got gold.

"Why is she doing that?"

"Hmm..."

Sure, if she was chopping for gold, that would make sense. But she checked the study the moment she reached the village, then suddenly ran to the forest and started cutting trees. She glanced at each felled tree's growth rings, tossed it aside, then cut another.

Since this world ran on game logic, fallen trees regenerated soon enough, but she cut faster than they could recover. In less than two hours, the forest looked devastated. She glanced around, turned, returned to the village, and locked herself back in the chief's study.

"What is this?"

"Seriously."

It felt like a storm had swept through and left only confusion. The players had no idea how to take what they had just seen.

Had she really figured something out?

Was she trying to fool them?

But if she was, why? She did not even know anything yet, so why would she think to deceive them? It made no sense. There was no reason to be suspicious.

If so, then those actions had to be genuine. But if they were genuine, why did that lead her into the forest?

If a newbie who had not even properly figured out Floor 22 yet suddenly went crazy cutting trees like that, then whatever it was had to be...

"A hidden piece...?"

It smelled like a jackpot.

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