WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Regression is Too Much

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Chapter 236

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The regressor is brave? (4)

Life in a psychiatric hospital was monotonous.

When they gave you food, you ate. When they told you to exercise, you exercised. You could spend all your spare time fooling around. As long as you did not leave the hospital grounds, you were free to do whatever you wanted.

Of course, just because I had freedom did not mean I wanted to stay in the room. Every patient here except me was elderly, and they all seemed to hate moving around in the first place. They just lay in bed and lazed around all day.

"Ku-hahaha!"

"Grandpa, you're too loud."

"Oh, sorry! But it's funny, what can I do!"

One grandfather burst into loud laughter while watching TV. Honestly, the scene was not that funny, but he was cracking up way too hard. Maybe he was just the type who laughed easily.

"Kkakakakaka!"

"Ku-hahahahaha!"

"Uhehehehehe!"

Still, this was better than gloomy faces. It was nice seeing them laugh so brightly. Leaving those elders behind, spraying spit as they laughed, I looked down at the hospital yard through the window.

"Hahahahaha!"

"Uahahahahahaha!"

"Puhaha, khk, khk... khk... uweeeek..."

I could see patients down there laughing just as brightly. This hospital really did nail the atmosphere. They were all here for treatment, but it was nice to see them trying to stay cheerful.

"Jun-ho-nim! Please go to Consultation Room 1!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

I liked this hospital. The patients were cheerful, the nurses were kind, and the doctor was thoughtful. No, wait, hold on, but... I... well... if possible, I wanted to stay here forever.

My head throbbed for a moment, but your head hurts when you lie around too much anyway. I shook it off and headed for Consultation Room 1.

"So, the moment I entered Floor 17..."

"Hoh..."

Just like always, I told the doctor my made-up stories about the "Tower," and he nodded while taking notes on what my story implied.

How much time passed like that?

"Good. Very good."

The doctor shut the paper file with a sharp thwap, then smiled and nodded.

"You are improving. Illness of the mind often gets better just by speaking honestly about it. Since you have been actively cooperating with treatment, I think you will recover quickly."

"Really?"

"Yes. At the earliest, in five years... at the latest, within five thousand years. I promise you will be discharged."

"..."

"What is wrong?"

"Haha... I guess I have grown attached to this hospital too. Thinking about leaving makes me feel kind of... weird."

"..."

Without saying a word, the doctor gave me a smile full of faith and trust.

"Assistant Kim! Bring that in!"

He suddenly signaled outside, and soon a nurse noona came into the room, tapping a syringe with her finger.

"Uh..."

"You need your shot. I almost forgot."

"...A shot?"

"Yes, a shot. You know, the one with sedatives in it. Helps you sleep."

"...Do I really have to take it?"

"Oh, come on, it's not like this is your first or second time. Why are you acting like this today?"

The nurse casually rubbed my arm with an alcohol swab. But my eyes were locked on that sharp needle. Why was it so scary? I got these all the time.

"It's just something that calms your mind, okay, do not worry~"

In my memory, I had taken that needle way more than once or twice. Run. But why, why was it this terrifying?

"I, uh, I have a condition where I cannot get skin wounds..."

"There is no such thing. It will just sting a little."

The syringe came closer. Uh, no. Not good. If that goes in, if my skin gets pierced...

-Stab.

"I regress."

I muttered it, and then,

I was back in that first hospital room.

That hospital where all the grandpas and grandmas laughed like they had gone insane. That hospital with unusually high walls. If I had not had that aversion to being stabbed by a needle, I would still be in there.

I tapped my cheeks to wake myself up, (if I hit hard enough to make smacking sounds, I might regress) and sank into thought.

"This is weird."

I had already regressed twice. In ways I could neither understand nor resist.

Against the dancing ghost, I could not even think of resisting. On that bed just now, I fell asleep instantly. What if I had taken the shot? Whatever would have happened, it would not have led to anything pleasant.

"I can deal with it, fine."

From my point of view, sure, it felt unfair, but I could accept it. Even after such absurd regressions, my mind was still, for now, intact. I could just stand back up and try again. I just had to avoid making the same mistake. If I kept struggling and struggling, I would clear it eventually.

But what about everyone else? The other players? How were they supposed to clear this kind of floor? You just die if you mess up. You die if the dancing ghost catches you in the hallway. You get trapped in some hospital if you fall asleep in bed. In this place where one wrong move kills you, how were you supposed to escape?

The difficulty was wrong. No, beyond wrong, it was bizarre. It felt like being told to clear Squid Game's stepping-stones game alone. You had to make perfect decisions in every situation to clear it? What kind of nonsense was that?

Rage surged up, and I shot to my feet. I paced in circles around the room and let out a long breath.

"Something... there is something I'm missing..."

There was no way this difficulty was normal. I was mistaken about something. That much was certain. What mattered was where I was mistaken...

Clank.

A sinister sound I should not have been hearing came from somewhere. The source was below me.

"...Huh?"

A shackle was locked around my ankle. Sure, I had been wandering around this room in a daze. Sure, there had been handcuffs on the bed opposite mine. But was this thing supposed to lock itself on automatically?

"Uh, uhhh???"

Then both wrists and my remaining leg were cuffed too. At the same time, an invisible force pulled my limbs wide apart and fixed my body spread-eagle on the bed.

"No, no, no..."

My mana would not move. My traits and status window were dead too. I could do nothing except twist my body hard enough to make the bed rattle a little.

-Bang!

The door flew open, and a doctor in a blood-soaked gown walked in. No, could I even call that thing a doctor? The skin on its lips was gone, gums fully exposed, and where eyes should have been, there were reflective mirrors. That monstrosity strode toward me holding a huge iron rod.

"We will begin surgery. Frontal lobotomy."

"Aaaaargh!"

This was not it. This was really not it. My mouth still moved, so I bit down on the inside of my cheek with all my strength.

"...Ah."

Instead of a regression message,

I tasted blood. Blood.

This had happened on Floor 22 too...

-Grab!

The monstrosity fixed my head in place with one huge hand. I twisted with everything I had, but I could not resist that crushing grip.

Tilting my head forty-five degrees, it shoved the giant iron rod straight into my nostril and started poking my brain, poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke ah uh ek uk ah uh ek ak uh ak et uk eu ok uk eu

...

...

"Fuck this!"

The instant I came to my senses, I pinched my nose shut with my thumb and index finger. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck, seriously. I felt disgusting. Forget the pain, the way things flashed in front of my eyes and scrambled my thoughts was revolting on its own.

At the same time, my cold reason checked my body condition.

My body was fine. My mana was fine. My mind was also... well, I had not gone completely insane.

I drew my sword and cut the tip of my finger. Blood flowed, perfectly naturally.

"...This isn't reality?"

Even when I got hurt, I did not regress. That meant this place was not reality.

Also, my body was too normal. More precisely, I did not feel the dizziness that always came right after regression. No matter how used to it I was, that feeling was distinct. I had ignored it until now because I was not paying attention, but once I focused on it, the difference was huge.

"...I never regressed?"

What if I had not actually regressed even once until now? Then returning to this hospital room was not regression... but a Tower gimmick? What if Floor 24 was originally designed so that after experiencing something close to death, you returned to the first hospital room?

What if other players also cleared Floor 24 the same way I did, repeating it over and over? What if the floor was designed from the start to make you loop through Floor 24, collect information, and move forward? What if it was not absurdly unfair difficulty after all?

If that was true...

"...Regression gives me no advantage."

I... had to clear Floor 24 with a pure straight-up method.

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