WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Regression is Too Much

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Chapter 243

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The regressor is certain (2)

-Girl's Cheer [A]
-5 seconds before a threat strikes, you can sense any ominous sign.
-The trait has been activated and removed from your status window.

Girl's Cheer, the A-grade trait I got by repeating regressions on Floor 21. Its effect was simple. It was basically an alarm bell. Or maybe more like a canary in a coal mine.

"So... Girl's Cheer activated?"

"Yeah."

Girl's Cheer had stayed quiet this whole time, but right now, right before entering Floor 25, it suddenly activated. Along with a message saying the trait activated and was removed from my status window.

"But the status window stays even after regression..."

Why had I been able to copy elixirs until now? Because elixirs affect the status window, and status window data remains even after regression.

But removed from the status window? That meant it would never activate again, across all regressions.

No, wait. It was an A-grade trait, and it was one-time use? Seriously? They could have written that in advance.

Other similar A-grade traits I had were Curiosity, Awe, Meditation, Swordsmanship, and Chill Affinity. Every one of them was useful, core traits I was still using to the fullest. For reference, my S-grade traits were Flash Step and Heart of Lightning Flash. I had planned to use Heart of Lightning Flash right before fighting the dancing ghost, and honestly, Flash Step was still useless right now. I still did not know why it was S-grade.

Either way, an A-grade trait being one-time use felt disappointing, maybe stingy. It staying quiet all this time and only activating now also felt strange. My head was full of thoughts.

"No, hold on. Let's think about this the other way around."

The one who cooled my head was Choi Ji-won.

"Instead of thinking, this junk is an A-grade trait, doesn't this mean Floor 25 is dangerous enough to trigger an A-grade trait?"

"...You are right."

Yeah, I needed to change how I was looking at it. Instead of Girl's Cheer being trash because it only triggered once, maybe Floor 25 was dangerous enough to trigger an A-grade trait.

In fact, this trait never activated when players ambushed me on Floor 22, when I faced monsters on Floor 23, or when I fought ghosts on Floor 24. Looking at the results, those were all situations I could handle. Then Floor 25 had to contain a direct threat I could not handle.

"Hmm."

Objectively speaking, I was pretty strong. And thorough. Every single time I entered the Tower, I never let my guard down.

So if even I hit a crisis the moment I entered, what was the cause? What could trigger an A-grade trait like this?

Three possibilities came to mind right away.

First.

"Poison."

Poison, and hostile environments like it. That kind of crisis was impossible to deal with.

Poison... I still could not deal with it. I just could not. It had been that way since the Tutorial.

I heard that if you control mana well enough, you can slow the spread of poison, or create some kind of field to block poison for a short time. The source of that rumor was the U.S. civil war. They said combat there had turned into a bizarre mix of player superpowers and modern warfare principles.

But I had never tried those methods myself, and the information was still just rumor, so trying it right away was unrealistic.

And it did not have to be poison. Any floor with constant low-level damage would be bad for me.

Even if extreme cold was covered by Chill Affinity, extreme heat, sandstorms that tear up your skin, thick hail falling from the sky, or even razor-sharp grass that could cut you just by brushing past, all of those were environments I wanted to avoid.

If it was not that?

Second.

"...archangels."

If archangels had set up some kind of trap to catch a regressor.

Maybe they made Floor 25 temporarily impossible to clear. Maybe they placed a trap that instantly sealed whoever entered. Or maybe archangels themselves were waiting at the entrance to Floor 25.

That possibility only worked if archangels had noticed what happened on Floor 24. Contrary to my prediction, archangels noticed changes to the past, removed the ghosts to stop the collapse of Floor 24, and were now waiting on Floor 25 to deal with me.

Common sense said, can beings on the level of archangels really move around like that? But all my assumptions about what archangels would do were just assumptions. You cannot apply human standards when predicting an unknown being.

If it was not archangels either?

Third.

"If there is just... a monster."

The simplest possibility. Just an insanely strong monster waiting at the entrance. Then Girl's Cheer activating would make sense.

"Mmm..."

All three were plausible, and each had its own logic. The problem was that if I threw myself in just to confirm, I could end up in an inescapable checkmate.

My regression point was the moment I first entered each floor. Once I entered Floor 25, I could not come out until I cleared it. I needed information to turn guesses into certainty, but if I entered, I could be destroyed. That irony.

How... how should I...

"Jun-ho?"

"Hm? Did you think of something good?"

"What if... I go first. I go in, clear it, then tell you what was dangerous."

"...Even if you tell me, I still will not perceive it anyway. Information about uncleared floors cannot be transmitted."

"Mmm... true. Then how about this? I clear Floor 25 once first."

"...And then?"

"Then we do companion regression. And clear Floor 25 again. I will have memories of clearing Floor 25."

"..."

"And as that keeps going, once I build up enough info and become sure I can clear it no matter what... then I go in with you and clear Floor 25 together. How about that?"

"...What if it is a solo-progress floor?"

"Then, well, nothing we can do. But in this situation, isn't this still the best option?"

"..."

I wanted to argue. I really did. I wanted to say anything, just to prove Choi Ji-won's words were wrong.

But nothing came to mind. My reason admitted it. Her opinion was valid.

"That is the best option..."

An A-grade trait literally warned me, be careful, before I even entered. If I charged into a floor like that headfirst, there was no telling what kind of disaster would happen.

If regression did not exist, I could just enter and test it. But as long as regression existed, as long as the risk existed that I could be trapped in endless repeated time, it was obvious that Choi Ji-won entering first was the best move.

"I will go. Michael Zetter and the other players all cleared this floor, right? You do not think I cannot do it. Right?"

"...Right."

"You trust me?"

"I trust you."

"Then leave it to me. Do not worry too much."

"..."

She picked up the gear she had set down for a moment. Her resolve was firm.

"...Okay."

I nodded like a husband who got laid off, turned into an unemployed bum wasting his days at home, and stood there seeing his wife off to work. My pride took a hit, and sighs kept spilling out, but there was no choice.

From the standpoint of purely clearing the Tower... this was right.

"I will be back soon."

"...Yeah."

Choi Ji-won disappeared beyond the portal. Then no one was left. When there were two of us, the room felt full, but now it felt instantly empty, like a studio apartment after someone moved out.

"..."

I stared blankly into the air, doing nothing. Then I thought I should at least do something, pulled out my phone and fiddled with it for a bit, gave up, and just stared at the clock instead.

Watching someone I loved sacrifice herself for me... was painful. I knew there was no choice. I knew this was right. But that did not erase the uncontrollable disgust inside me.

Irritation. Gratitude. Helplessness.

I sat with that storm of feelings and stared at the clock in silence.

Choi Ji-won came back two hours later.

About two hours later, Choi Ji-won returned with a pale face, clenching a potion vial between her teeth. The veins in her neck stood out blue, and her breathing was visibly rough.

"Cough, cough, urgh..."

No, now she dropped the potion from her mouth, ran to the bathroom, and kept vomiting.

I had never seen Choi Ji-won this weak before, at least not physically cornered like this.

What the hell was on Floor 25? What was there that pushed Choi Ji-won this far?

"Ughhh..."

She said nothing. No, she could not. Even if she did, I would not hear it anyway.

So the way she kept vomiting, that thin streak of blood running from her mouth, her lips gone past blue into black, and her unfocused eyes all hinted at Floor 25's environment.

"...Poison."

It was a floor with the worst possible matchup for me.

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