WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

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Chapter 227

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The regressor is mentally weak (6)

The sky did not look much different, but the damp air told us it was morning. When did I fall asleep? I must have been exhausted, because I was out cold.

No, more importantly, I was on night watch. Why did no one wake me?

"..."

"..."

The other players got up from their beds, slow and shaky. One, two, three... ten. All ten of us were getting up from beds.

"...Looks like a gimmick. I was definitely on guard, then I came to and found myself like this."

It seemed everyone had to sleep at night, guard duty or not. Otherwise, someone standing watch would not wake up in bed.

"...There was a well. Should I draw some water?"

"I don't think we should drink it."

"...I'll draw some first."

While one person went to fetch water, I looked over the others.

Everyone looked awful. Their complexions were darker than yesterday, with hollow eyes. They looked like people from the Noryangjin exam district.

"Here. Do you think it's safe to drink?"

A player handed me a bucket of water. The face reflected on the surface looked unfamiliar.

I looked... shocked. Like someone who had seen something they should never have seen.

"Hey."

What happened while we were asleep? Why did all of us, me included, end up looking like this? Only traces of negative emotions from last night drifted through my head, but I could not grasp what caused them. What... did I see?

Now I understood. While we slept, we were probably hit with a direct mental attack. Then, right before waking up, we forgot everything. In the end, only shitty feelings like irritation, despair, and anger were left behind to churn in our brains. No wonder none of us looked normal.

"When someone talks to you, answer, you fucking bastard."

While I was trying to sort things out, a rough hand suddenly lunged for my neck.

-Clang!

I knocked it aside with the back of my hand, and with my other hand drew my sword to cut his arm-

"Stop!"

"Hey, hey! What are you doing?!"

I barely stopped before slicing him, because he looked just as startled.

"No, uh..."

"..."

"Sorry. Why am I acting like this... I'm not the type to swing first."

"I'm sorry too."

He was not like this yesterday. Which meant I was not the only one on edge.

A small clash in a situation where everyone had grown sensitive. Not hard to understand. I reacted roughly too.

"Everyone, I don't think any of us are in good shape. Right? Right now... I feel fucking awful."

"Same."

"Me too. I feel like beating someone to death."

As soon as I openly admitted I was not okay, the others started venting too, like they had been waiting for someone to say it.

"This is probably... the Penalty the Tower mentioned. It attacks your mind while you sleep."

"Should we be grateful it erases the memory of the Penalty itself? If those memories stayed, I don't think we'd even be able to talk like this."

"If we don't do the Daily Mission, won't the memory stay? It said the Penalty would be severe."

"That's possible."

Once people realized their strange behavior was not personal weakness but something the Tower intended, they regained their reason and moved into constructive discussion. This Penalty suggested a lot.

"This is just my guess, but... the monsters may be much weaker than we thought."

"Much weaker? You need to explain."

"This floor is different from a normal mafia game. You all know mafia games, right?"

The details vary, but mafia games have a common core.

There is a mafia that can kill. A cop who can identify mafia. And a doctor who can block mafia attacks.

"The key is that both sides have ways to beat the other."

The townspeople side has numbers and a cop who can expose mafia. The mafia side has fewer people, but they can directly shoot and kill townspeople.

Or compare it to Among Us, which used to be popular. The crewmate side can win by finishing all missions. The imposter side is eventually doomed to lose, so they are forced to act.

"But what about us?"

Floor 23 had a different structure. First, we had no way to identify the monsters. No cop, and no doctor either. (Maybe there is one, hiding.) If monsters attack us, we are helpless.

"But the monsters haven't killed anyone."

Was that because they did not want suspicion? Or because they could not kill? And that was not the only clue.

"This Penalty... isn't it way too harsh?"

If we got this kind of Penalty every single day, it was overwhelmingly unfavorable for the players. Suppose the monsters decided to do nothing at all. Say a year passed like that. Would anyone here stay sane? No chance.

"So I think... the monsters' real combat ability is weak. Or they might be the type that self-destructs after a set number of days. Either way, waiting is the key. We'll definitely be given a way to expose the monsters. If not... this would be unfair."

"If that's true, doesn't that make this floor too easy?"

"No. We have the Penalty. If the Penalty makes us unstable and we leave openings... the monsters will exploit us whenever they want. That's how I read Floor 23."

Everyone's mental state was shaky, and if the sparks of conflict grew, the monsters could slip into that gap. It was still just a guess, but this seemed most likely to me.

"So... because the Penalty is so strong, this Penalty itself is Floor 23's alpha and omega?"

"If we just avoid fighting because of the Penalty, we can clear it. Is that what you mean?"

"Yes. It also means anyone trying to stir up conflict here, or picking fights for no reason... can be treated as a monster."

"Hmm."

"Sounds plausible."

"Wait. There's still one part I don't get."

Everyone seemed to agree, but one man objected at the end.

"So... I don't feel great either. If I have to choose, yeah, I feel bad."

"And?"

"But... this is way too mild to call a Penalty. It feels like a truck drove by on a rainy day and splashed mud on me. That's it. This is a Penalty? Aren't we getting something wrong?"

"...I'm way worse than that, so shut up."

"...Ugh. If that's the case."

After we roughly sorted things out,

"Then... our immediate goal is simple. Don't fight. Don't fight, and keep doing the Daily Mission. Everyone agree?"

"It could be the monsters trying to make us lower our guard, so let's stay alert."

"What about food? I found bread in a building."

"Food..."

"Let's not eat or drink, just in case. We're players. We can last a week."

"Yeah, no reason to take unnecessary risks."

The players endured hunger and split up to do their Daily Mission. We stayed on guard in case of disaster, but we felt no clear presence. While doing the Daily Mission, we only brushed past each other now and then.

"No one got hurt, right?"

"Right. Looks like your prediction was correct."

"Good."

There were no casualties today either, and no one found any anomalies. The day ended a little faster than yesterday.

Then night came again.

[Penalty is applied.]

Morning. My eyes were forced open, so it was definitely morning.

"Ugh..."

"Urk, blegh..."

"Hold it in. Smells like shit."

"Hoo, hoo... I held it. The revulsion is pretty intense."

The other players staggered up and stretched out. They did not look well at all, but they still looked able to endure it.

"How much longer do we have to keep this up..."

"Remember that floor with the wasteland? It was similar. In the end, this is a mental endurance fight."

"Heh... let's see who wins."

Even in bad shape, the players steadied themselves and looked after one another.

"Hey. You okay?"

Right as someone kindly reached for my shoulder, I stepped sideways and avoided that hand.

"W-why? What's wrong?"

"..."

But I... was not okay.

I was dizzy. Nauseous. My body hurt, but beyond physical pain... I felt sickened. Like someone shoved a hand into my brain and stirred it around.

"..."

This had gone too far. I could not endure this. If today was this bad, then tomorrow? And after that? What if I had to survive here for a month?

No, what if I failed in the process? What if I regressed midway? Then what damage would stay in my brain? What about me? My reason?

I did not know the exact cause, but the Penalty given every night seemed far stronger for me than for everyone else. It hurt. I felt like collapsing.

"...This won't work."

Plan change. I could not wait forever like this. Even if waiting really was the right answer...

I needed a faster solution.

[You have taken damage.]

[Returning to the moment of first entry on Floor 23.]

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