WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 024

──────

The boss is too weak (4)

"Alright, Goblin Shaman. You said you need help?"

"...Ker-reuk. Ke-reuk."

"...Why'd you stop talking halfway?"

Seriously, where did you learn the bad habit of starting a conversation just to ignore someone?

It feels just like when a girl texts you first, and you get all excited and reply instantly, only to be left on read.

If you're going to do that, don't text me at all... Don't go putting your fingers in my heart...!

"Ke-reuk…"

"..."

"Ke-reuk… I know you're listening, human…! I need help!"

The Goblin Shaman repeated himself, maybe he's gone senile.

Taking a closer look at its face, I saw it was covered in wrinkles, and its eyes were milky white and blind.

If the Goblin Shaman ever entered an 'Oldest Goblin Contest,' his looks would make him a strong contender for first place.

"Human…! Ke-reuk…"

"..."

At first, I thought he was senile and spouting nonsense…

Wait, is he just really hard of hearing?

I carefully approached him as if I were speaking to an elder and spoke right into his ear.

"...Can you hear me? Ke-reuk?"

"Ke-reuk…! Human! So you were there! Cough, cough… Keu-hek..."

"..."

…So he really was just hard of hearing.

"Ke-reuk… human…"

"Why do you keep calling me human?"

"Ke-reuk… Don't you all call me Goblin Shaman instead of my name, too. Ke-reuk."

"..."

He was so right I couldn't find anything to say back. Is this the wisdom that comes with age?

"Ke-reuk… Help… I need help…"

The Goblin Shaman kept muttering that he needed help.

"That monster… That intruder must be killed… Ke-reuk…"

The Goblin Shaman pointed a trembling hand, the one not holding his staff, at the Minotaur.

Come to think of it, it was strange.

This island? This forest? Whatever this space is, there aren't really any other monsters besides goblins.

Of course, with no water or animals, it couldn't be called a normal ecosystem…

But whatever the case, every enemy that popped out was a goblin.

So why a Minotaur as a hidden boss all of a sudden? It's a situation that would make anyone curious.

"Ke-reuk… Beneath this island… there was originally an ancient labyrinth… Ke-reuk…"

The Goblin Shaman slowly began his explanation.

"It was a labyrinth that had long been sealed… so no one gave it much thought… Ke-reuk…"

"..."

"Ke-reuk… But one day, a young goblin was playing tag in the labyrinth and ended up undoing the seal of an ancient demon… Ke-reuk…"

The demon of the labyrinth was freed. The goblins were massacred.

The Goblin Shaman, who was the leader of the goblin island, had to make a decision.

"Killing it was impossible… Ke-reuk. Sealing it was the most I could do. And then… Ker-reuk."

The Goblin Shaman, who was once strong enough to seal the Minotaur, was now on the verge of death.

He must have spent an incredibly long time maintaining the seal, without even sleeping properly.

"That monster must be killed… Ke-reuk. My lifespan is nearly at its end. Ke-llock, ke-llock!"

Green blood trickled from the Goblin Shaman's mouth.

"I'd like to help, but… I can't kill that thing."

I can't fight in the first place.

"Ke-reuk… Foolish human. I have a way. First, as much as possible..."

"Kim Jun-ho."

A cold voice cut off the Goblin Shaman who was in the middle of his passionate speech.

"Let's talk."

It was Choi Ji-won.

Ji-won brought me to a place not too far away.

"...What is it? Why the serious mood?"

"...Kim Jun-ho."

"What."

Choi Ji-won.

The feelings I have for her... are very complicated.

Choi Ji-won is the very person who made me regress dozens of times.

She's the same crazy woman who slashed the bridge of my nose with a sword just for asking what university she went to, and who knocked me out by striking the back of my neck for acting suspicious.

But she's also the master who taught me swordsmanship, and a guardian deity who protects the weak in the clearing.

And more than anything... Choi Ji-won is the goal and the milestone I set for myself.

To obtain a trait from her, and to surpass her.

That was the driving force behind my regressions.

"If you have something to say, say it."

"...Kim Jun-ho."

Choi Ji-won just kept repeating my name.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Choi Ji-won, who had been repeatedly tapping the hilt of her sword with her fingertips, seemed to have made up her mind as she stared right into my eyes.

"Kim Jun-ho."

"What is it, for goodness' sake."

"Earlier, you talked about the ruin that killing the boss would bring."

"...What about it?"

"You're deliberately not mentioning one possibility."

"..."

She was right.

I had intentionally hidden one of the possible outcomes.

Ji-won let out a smirk.

"In a normal case, killing the boss means ruin. But our situation is different, isn't it? Because I'm here."

"..."

It's true.

In most cases, killing the boss leads to nothing but ruin, but we're a special case.

Choi Ji-won... is a strong fighter who could go toe-to-toe with the Minotaur.

I couldn't be certain she would win, but it wasn't a guaranteed loss either.

"I'll buy time. In the meantime, the others can pass through the portal, right?"

The words I didn't want to hear flowed from Ji-won's mouth.

To be honest, it was the most rational method.

Even if the Minotaur is freed from its seal, if Ji-won lures it far away, the majority of the people could use the portal to move on to the next stage.

"I just need to buy enough time, then I can come back and take the portal too, right?"

Ji-won shrugged, as if trying to persuade me.

She says that, but she probably knows best.

That there would be no coming back in one piece. The strongest sacrifices herself. The rest are saved.

"...No."

I know it's the most rational choice, but I can't agree to it.

Reason and emotion. Both were against it.

First reason.

I'm going to regress anyway after I get what I can from this turn. That means I have no intention of taking the portal right now.

Therefore, the plan for Ji-won to buy time while others escape through the portal has almost no reward for me.

It would be more rewarding for everyone to join forces and defeat the Minotaur. Therefore, I'm against it.

And emotion...

Simply put, I don't like the fact that Ji-won has to be sacrificed.

A thug who tried to harm others dying, and Choi Ji-won who is trying to protect everyone dying, held different weights for me.

That woman may be rude and cold... but she is definitely a good person.

I don't like a scenario where Choi Ji-won is sacrificed. Therefore, I'm against it.

I wanted to say that I had reached the final conclusion of 'against' through this logical judgment algorithm...

But because I'm so introverted, I just ended up shouting, "Fuck it, no way!"

"Ha... did you just swear at me?"

Choi Ji-won let out a disbelieving laugh.

Ah... Did I just lash out? Is she going to go 'slice' just like that?

I squeezed my eyes shut without realizing it.

Thud.

What I felt in return wasn't a cold blade, but a soft hand on my shoulder.

"Thank you for worrying about me."

Ji-won showed a faint smile.

"But this is something I want to do, too. Firefighter Cheol-jin-nim has already agreed."

"...What?"

"I was always curious."

Curious? About what?

After saying those incomprehensible words, Ji-won started walking somewhere.

"...Where are you going?"

"I'm going to get the people from the clearing. If they're going to use the portal while I buy time, they need to be somewhere around here, right?"

It seemed she had prepared her heart.

Prepared to make a noble sacrifice.

Seeing her like that made my blood boil for some reason.

Maybe it was an inferiority complex. Or a sense of powerlessness. Or something mixed between the two.

The important thing was that I felt fucking awful.

So I blurted it out before I could stop myself.

"Give me time."

"What?"

Ji-won, who had been walking, stopped.

"Until tomorrow morning. I'll think of a way. Wait until then."

"..."

Ji-won turned her head and looked me straight in the eye.

"You really are... a strange one."

With those words, Ji-won started walking toward the clearing again. But I definitely saw her give a small nod.

The sun was rising.

It's dawn.

I haven't slept a wink, so I'm sure there are huge dark circles under my eyes.

"Ke-llock… Ke-llock… Human. With my help, the Minotaur can be…"

"Shut up for a second."

I ignored the Goblin Shaman who kept pressuring me to go one-on-one with the Minotaur.

I can't fight anyway. I'm trying to think if there's any other way besides combat.

My head is a mess, so no good ideas were coming to mind.

My head ached, maybe from lack of sleep, and I felt a wave of nausea.

On top of that, this place was near the swamp on the outskirts, so the air smelled absolutely foul.

Right, let's go into the forest and try to think with some fresh air.

Of course I'm having bad, negative thoughts while smelling this rotten stench.

"..."

…A swamp?

The Minotaur.

A spherical protective barrier.

Can't be hit.

Swamp.

Minotaur.

Spherical.

"Hey. Shaman."

"Ke-llock… Ke-llock… Huh? Human? Did you call me?"

"The protective barrier around the Minotaur… does it move?"

"Ke-reuk… It probably moves… but are you a fool, human? That Minotaur is incredibly heavy. It won't budge with ordinary strength."

The Goblin Shaman sneered at me as if to say, 'Humans think they're so smart, ke-reuk.'

"But what if... I gather a whole bunch of people with incredible strength?"

Choi Ji-won. Park Cheol-jin. And others with high strength stats that I could find by searching this forest.

People with superhuman strength that goes beyond the limits of an ordinary human.

If I gather all of them and have them push that spherical shield with all their might...

Couldn't we bury the Minotaur in the swamp?

Footnotes:

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