WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Regression is Too Much

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Chapter 234

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The regressor is brave? (2)

It felt awkward to admit, but... I was scared of ghosts.

I carried a sharp sword that could lop off my limbs with one wrong move, endured three days and nights in places where blood, organs, and everything inside them flew through the air, and fought life-and-death battles against terrifying mannequins... but ghosts were scary.

Logically, I knew ghosts could not be real. I knew all that stuff was just urban legend, irrational nonsense... even so, when I went to the bathroom at night, I got goosebumps for no reason, and when I watched horror movies, I made sure to have a blanket ready first. It was instinctive fear.

That fear had only grown after the Tower appeared, not shrunk. I used to force a laugh and say, "Ghosts? If those were real, we'd have ghost tyrannosaurs too lol," but now that status windows existed, the Tower existed, and monsters existed, I could not just deny ghosts anymore.

And now I get this kind of Floor?

A yellowed old building. No windows, just flickering incandescent bulbs for light. Handcuffs that looked like they had been used for something sinister. No, looking closer now, they even seemed to have blood on them.

It was a hospital, definitely a psychiatric hospital. The kind with "abandoned" in front. Exactly the kind of place that showed up in horror films and games.

Normally, I looked at people who crawled into places like this on their own and wondered, "Why the hell would you go there?" I had never imagined I would get thrown into one by force. Even the mission window looked like it was blatantly going for this.

<Floor 24>
-Escape.

It gave no instructions at all. Just escape. That alone implied a lot. I did not even have the nerve to open that old door and step outside.

Still, I could not wait on this bed forever. "Escape" was not something that happened on its own just because you waited. In this prison-like place with no clock, no windows, and concrete-sealed walls, there was not much information I could gather.

"Courage, courage. Until the East Sea's waters and Mt. Baekdu wear away~"

I whispered the national anthem so softly I could barely hear myself, then cautiously rose from the bed. Think of something soothing at times like this. Pallas's cat... Fu Bao... black-footed cat... American pika...

"...?"

I was walking toward the old door while picturing cute animals, then stopped without realizing it.

Through the small glass window in the door... I saw a dangling silhouette up above.

Normally, silhouettes past a door showed up lower or to the side, because animals on Earth stood on the ground. But above?

"Hoo, hoo..."

I steadied my breath before it got ragged and moved slowly. Slowly toward the door. I had to go out there anyway. If I had to face it someday, better now.

I gripped the metal doorknob hard, and when the cold handle started to feel warm from my body heat, I decided to act.

-Bang!

I braced myself and threw the door open wide, and what I saw was...!!!

-Clink. Clink.

...a rope. Not some human-shaped thing stuck to the ceiling, just a rope hanging from it.

"...Hoo."

Relief came first, then I looked up at the ceiling where the rope came from. It was tied tight into a small crack in the ceiling, and the part hanging down looked deeply eerie.

"...Hooooo."

Why the hell was there a rope hanging from the ceiling? Now that I looked, ropes were hanging all over the hallway. It looked like jungle vines draped everywhere.

The long corridor was not much different from the room I had been in. Ceiling lights flickered, the floor and walls were worn down, and the small chairs placed here and there had cushions so blown out they were practically torn apart.

So I had to escape from here now. If I remembered right, Floor 12 also had corridors like this, but that place felt more like a professional lab. This place felt like anything could pop out at any second.

I stretched only my neck first and looked left and right, then poked the floor with my foot a few times, then finally pulled my whole body out of the room. Yeah, it was fine. Safe, for now.

I did not need to wonder, "Where do I go now?" The left side was blocked by a concrete wall, so the only direction was right.

"..."

Before heading right, I looked through the glass of the door across from me. The light in there was out, so I could not see anything. In the darkness, it almost looked like something was swaying inside... probably my imagination. No need to go in there on purpose.

I swallowed hard and started walking down the hallway. I tried to stay quiet, but my shoes and the clatter of my armor echoed all over the corridor. Fuck. I should have taken the armor off.

Clatter. Clatter. Clatter.

Step. Step. Step.

-Flicker.

For a moment, every light in the corridor went out and came back on. I looked around quickly to check if anything had changed, but nothing stood out. The ropes hanging down from the ceiling swung ominously. Right, the place was old, so the lights could blink out. Think happy thoughts only. Fun thoughts only.

Ji-won. Choi Ji-won. How would she react to this Floor? I was too chicken to watch horror movies with her before. Was Choi Ji-won scared of ghosts? Would she surprise me and tremble? Or would she smirk and shrug like it was nothing? I was curious. After I cleared this Floor, should I try convincing her to watch one with me?

By the time I finished that chain of random thoughts, the corridor bent right. On the wall, very faintly, it said "4F." Did that mean this was the fourth floor? Did I need to go down to the first floor to clear? Or up to the rooftop? Or was it saying I was fucked? Death's 4?

I turned right and kept walking. The corridor looked mostly the same. I intentionally sank into random thoughts again. In Korea, old buildings sometimes did not have a fourth floor, or labeled it as F instead. Because the number 4 and the Chinese character for death sounded the same. Honestly, I thought that was overreacting. How many buildings in the world had fourth floors? Were there ghosts in all of them? If there was really a fourth-floor ghost quota, ghosts would never worry about unemployment.

Speaking of jobs... back in college I worried about employment, certifications, connections... worried about everything. Now I only had to worry about climbing the Tower. Money? I could make money however I wanted. Hell, do you know how much one potion sold for? Even if potion prices were falling fast, I still had piles of potions stockpiled. If I really needed cash, I could even sell an elixir. Material worries were gone. Gone. As long as I made it to the top of the Tower.

Ah, another bend in the hallway. Turn right, dive back into random thoug-

"...?"

Right before I drifted away again, I jerked back and hid behind the wall.

What the hell was that shape far down the corridor just now? It was so brief I almost told myself I had not seen it properly... but my eyesight was too sharp to lie to myself. Superhuman life sucked at times like this.

A woman. What I saw was the back of a woman with disheveled hair. Moving violently. Even from behind, I could see a smile wide enough to show the corners of her mouth. She wore a torn patient gown.

If you met a disheveled smiling woman moving violently in a flickering hallway of an abandoned psychiatric hospital, what were you supposed to do?

"..."

Run like fucking hell, obviously. The message window had told me to escape, had it not? I desperately wanted to run somewhere too.

But the only visible escape path was over there. The route up to now had been one-way, with no stairs anywhere. I had not checked the other rooms... but there was no way they held an exit.

What now. Should I regress? And then what? I would have to come back anyway. There was no path except this one. I steeled myself. I was scared, but this was an enemy I would have to face someday.

"Huuuuuuu..."

I let out a shaking breath and peeked around the bent corridor. The flickering hallway stood empty, as if there had never been any woman there at all. Had she disappeared?

"...Did she go?"

I slapped the annoying black rope aside with the back of my hand and started walking again. Right, in horror movies too, when a closet rattled and you opened it, there was usually nothing there. If anything, maybe seeing something terrifying right now meant I would be safe for a while.

I flexed my ice-cold hands while walking. I kept my mind focused, checking for anything off.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

From somewhere, I kept hearing liquid dripping. Where was it? Was there a bathroom nearby? Usually bathrooms were near stairwells, so this might be a good sign. I might be able to go down to a lower floor.

"..."

But something was strange... the dripping sound kept coming from the same distance away. As if... the source of the sound... kept staying near me...

By the time I got that far, one fact hit me. Back when I first started walking down this corridor... why had that rope been black?

Even though I knew I should not, I forced my body, stiff with tension, to turn and look behind me.

"...Ah."

Our eyes met.

A woman smiling so wide her mouth looked torn open was dancing violently enough for her joints to crack, spinning in circles, dragging blood, and sprinting across the ceiling straight at me.

theslit-mouthedwomanwithfleshtornoffandbonesexposedspunaroundanddancedviolentlybendingherjointsbackwardsstucktotheceilingwithherhairwhippingwhilebloodpouredoutandgutsflewthroughmyvisionandeverythingturnedredassheranatatatatatatatataclaughinglikeamaniacgrabbedmyheadandspunitaroundandthenistartedlaughingtooheeheeheeheespinningandspinningtheslit-mouthedwomanwithfleshtornoffandbonesexposedspunaroundanddancedviolentlybendingherjointsbackwardsstucktotheceilingwithherhairwhippingwhilebloodpouredoutandgutsflewthroughmyvisionandeverythingturnedredassheranatatatatatatatataclaughinglikeamaniacgrabbedmyheadandspunitaroundandthenistartedlaughingtooheeheeheeheespinningandspinningtheslit-mouthedwomanwithfleshtornoffandbonesexposedspunaroundanddancedviolentlybendingherjointsbackwardsstucktotheceilingwithherhairwhippingwhilebloodpouredoutandgutsflewthroughmyvisionandeverythingturnedredassheranatatatatatatatataclaughinglikeamaniacgrabbedmyheadandspunitaroundandthenistartedlaughingtooheeheeheeheespinningandspinning

And when I came back to my senses, I was lying on the bed again.

<Floor 24>
-Escape.

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