WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Regression is Too Much

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Chapter 245

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The regressor is certain (4)

The moment Choi Ji-won stepped out of the bedroom, she grabbed my hand and pulled me outside.
She was not wearing a mask or sunglasses, so people whispered, and some even took out their phones to film us. The only reason our address had stayed hidden until now was because the neighbors had kept their word, so if she kept walking around this openly, our privacy disappearing in an instant was guaranteed.

The fact that Choi Ji-won was acting like she had nothing to lose meant one thing.

"You are planning to regress."

"Yeah."

We finished a meal at a famous Chinese restaurant, spent one night at a hotel, then came back home. I had been happy, but I could not just smile. What I felt was heavier than that.

"Alright, then I will tell you what I am going to do now, and how."

Choi Ji-won came in with a suspicious package tucked under her arm, put it on the table, and sat down.

"I have been researching a new way to use mana these days. Can you hear this?"

"Yeah, I can hear that."

"Good. Anyway, with mana, I..."

"I cannot hear this."

"What, not even that? I mentioned it super indirectly. That is so unfair. Seriously."

Choi Ji-won stuck out her lips and grumbled. She had probably thought the Tower would allow at least this much.

"Can you hear this? What about this? Ah, this one?"

"I cannot hear any of it..."

"That is a problem."

Still, I could figure out one thing. Choi Ji-won was creating a new way to use mana for me. And if it was for me, there was only one possibility.

She was probably trying to create a technique that could resist poison for my sake. I did not know what kind of poison appeared on Floor 25, but she was likely making something tailored to it.

The idea of inventing a kind of martial art for one person was absurd enough, but what was even more absurd was that she had already made progress in such a short time.
Was this what a genius looked like?

"Jun-ho, then..."

She suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

"Were you talking just now?"

"Yeah. Looks like nothing really works. Maybe that is why we can only give indirect hints."

Choi Ji-won crossed her arms and thought for a moment, then grabbed both my hands and looked straight into my eyes.

"Then I will just get to the point. From now on, I am going to research that unusual mana application I mentioned earlier."

"You are going to research it?"

"It feels like it should work in theory, but I have to test whether it really works or not. So until it does, I am going to keep crashing into it. Which means I want you to use regression next to me."

Keep crashing into it until it worked. If what she was about to do was related to me and poison, then...

"You mean you are going to pour poison into your own body? To test whether what you made works?"

My breath caught. Forget whether the method was effective. Guilt that Choi Ji-won would suffer because of me, regret, helplessness, all of it squeezed my throat. The emotional resistance was too strong, way too strong.

"No, this is not right. Does it really have to be you? Let us investigate a little more. Or wait until we discover new know-how from the American Civil War side."

It already hurt to see Choi Ji-won working for me, but directly putting poison into herself was a different issue. That was real pain.

"If there is truly no other answer, that is one thing, but we still do not know yet. Let us watch a little longer. Or just keep waiting. If it really seems impossible, we can ask Michael Zetter for help too. You experimenting on your own body... that does not help my mental state or yours. I am against it."

"You know."

She listened quietly, then finally spoke.

"Jun-ho, I do not think your way is wrong."

"My way?"

"The way you make careful plans, gather information, and move forward as cautiously as possible. The way you have been doing things until now."

"..."

"It is low-risk, the results are reliable, and you can protect your body, but, how should I put it. It is not my style."

I had always imagined the worst case. So I had been careful, and careful again. I chose a method that conserved mental strength, avoided killing people, and kept distance from others.

"Jun-ho. Human limits are often much higher than people think."

"..."

"Not just you, most people are like that. They get scared first and draw a line for themselves, saying this is as far as I go. Ah, I am not talking about mental limits. I mean physical ones."

She did not say it directly, but what she meant was clear.

"I learn faster when I use my body. I am the type that figures out what works and what does not by trying it directly."

Even if I opposed her, she was going to push forward. She was going to test poison on herself.

"You do not need to feel guilty. You do not need to feel sorry. I am doing this because I want to, for one, and you have helped me plenty of times too. Why are you making such a big deal out of this?"

"...But."

"Come on, seriously. The idea just sounds violent, that is all, it is really not a big deal. I know you have been having a hard time mentally these days. So why do you think I am doing this? It is fine."

I stood there, frozen, unable to tell whether she was truly okay, or giving me a white lie for my sake.

"I will say it again, I do not think your way is wrong."

Strength entered her clasped hands. There was no fear or hesitation in her eyes.

"It is just that I have my own way. Not making plans, predicting the future, and moving in a systematic way, but following where my heart points. Stubbornly. If it does not work, keep pushing until it does. That is a way too."

"But when I see you get hurt..."

"If I think too long, my head starts throbbing. Ah, whatever."

Choi Ji-won tore open the box on the table. Whatever was inside was blurred, so I could not see it clearly.

"Hey, hey, hey!!!"

"Watch."

Before I could stop her, Choi Ji-won did something with a bright smile. I could not perceive exactly what she did, but after she coughed, a line of blood ran from her mouth.

"Cough, cough... oh, it works? If this were a normal person, they would die... or maybe not? Is it because I am tough?"

"...Hey."

"Look. I am way more fine than you think. It does not hurt that much. I am not just anyone. I am Choi Ji-won."

She was smiling. She did not even let out a groan of pain. She just shrugged like nothing was wrong.

"Should we wait a little more before regressing? I thought we would have to regress right away, but this is way more manageable than I expected. I got it now. I think if I tweak it a little more here, it will work."

Choi Ji-won smiled in satisfaction. Her complexion had worsened a little, but her expression and voice still seemed normal.

"Ha, haha..."

I ended up smiling too. I was just too grateful.

I did not know if she was truly okay. Maybe I had overreacted, and she had her own safeguards ready, so she just went for it.

But one thing was certain. Choi Ji-won was pretending to be more okay than she really was right now. She did not want to burden me. She was sacrificing her body for me, yet she also did not want to see me crushed by guilt.

...

My throat tightened on its own. I did not know what to call this feeling. I just... just... felt grateful. Grateful that she would endure pain for me.

And I realized it then. This was what Choi Ji-won must have felt all this time.

Back when I kept repeating regressions on Floor 4 to save her, what had she felt when she got her memories back?

The irony of someone else suffering to save me. Gratitude. Helplessness. Despair. Gratitude again.

In the early days of joint regression, Choi Ji-won used to jump in panic even when I came back with a small injury. How much did it hurt her heart to see the person she loved return looking hollowed out?

"Jun-ho."

And over all of that, there was this.
The psychological stability of having someone who could throw themselves in for me, someone I could trust no matter what happened.

"Let us do it just three more times. I think I will know then."

Choi Ji-won, her face gone pale blue, wiped the blood from her mouth. Tears flowed from my eyes too.

People usually close their eyes by reflex when tears fall, but I endured it on purpose.

The fading evening glow.
Long shadows stretched by the curtain.
A brand-new mattress that did not match the old blanket.

A desk stained from spilled coffee. A laptop. A small bookshelf gathering dust because I did not even use it these days. Michael Zetter's medal shining especially bright in the sunset. Her jeans sprawled on the floor. A coat poking out of the closet. Armor left alone in the corner of the house.

And lastly, Choi Ji-won with a worn-out complexion, smiling brightly with all of that behind her.

Even while crying, I remembered every moment. I stored this instant like a photograph, deep in my mind. No matter how many regressions I went through, I would never forget this moment.

"...Thank you."

"For what?"

I was certain.

The greatest luck I had gained in my life was not the Regression trait.

"For everything."

It was being summoned into the same Tutorial as Choi Ji-won.

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