WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Regression is Too Much

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Chapter 256

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The regressor is troubled (3)

"It's because of Michael Zetter."

"...Zetter?"

We were being ostracized right now because of Michael Zetter?

Michael Zetter. President of the Player Association. A hero working tirelessly to save humanity. Why would his name come up here of all places?

Choi Ji-won and I froze at that shocking name, and the man in the robe crossed his arms and smirked, looking thoroughly satisfied with our reaction. Or so I imagined, anyway.

"I gave you a hint. If you agree to the deal, I'll provide additional information. What do you say?"

A mysterious information broker had appeared out of nowhere. Should we take this deal?

"Jun-ho, I think—"

"Sure. Let's deal."

"J-Jun-ho?"

Choi Ji-won had blinked in shock at first, her eyes going wide like a startled rabbit when I accepted the deal without a moment's hesitation.

Tap, tap.

I nudged her side with my elbow, and her expression smoothed out at once, like something had clicked.

Right. This man showed all the traits of the "information broker" or "information guild" I'd been searching for all this time.

Someone who held valuable, expensive information and was willing to hand it over for the right price.

Someone who'd give everything to a regressor without complaint, and never even realize he'd been used and discarded afterward. A honeypot of a man, plain and simple. That was this man's true nature, so I didn't hesitate for a second to shake on it.

The most valuable asset a regressor has is information. This man sold exactly that.

Conversely, the most useless asset for a regressor is material wealth itself. Once you regress, everything resets to before you spent it, and there are plenty of ways to make money, so there's no reason to cling to material things. And what this man wanted was precisely that kind of material asset.

He was handing me information of real value in exchange for junk that meant nothing to me. Talk about a giving tree. He might as well be the poster child for the "sustainable management" corporations love to talk about these days.

"Hmm, so you're both in agreement?"

The robed man vanished into the darkness for a moment, then came back carrying two equally rotting chairs. He seemed to want us to sit, but standing looked like the better option compared to those chairs, so we stayed on our feet.

"Well, if that's more comfortable for you. Then let me explain the terms. First, call me Rose."

The robed man, having introduced himself as Rose, crossed one leg over the other and stirred up his mana. Not for an attack. It was meant to wrap around us and keep our voices from carrying.

"You two went to that fantasy-type space first, didn't you? And there were no players around when you looked."

"How did you—"

"Let's just say I have a talent specialized in observation and surveillance. I'm putting it to use for a little business. This right here is part of that business too."

Rose reached into his robe and pulled out a portrait of an unfamiliar woman.

"That's because that place is her home base."

"...Who's this?"

Choi Ji-won had once compiled a list of every famous player worldwide before her regression. For her not to recognize this woman was genuinely startling.

"Nobody knows this woman's real name. Her nickname is the Empress. Her insults are the Whore, or crazy bitch. Ah, my apologies. Not exactly appropriate to say in front of a lady."

Rose made a joking stabbing gesture through the air as he spoke.

"Not many people have seen her in person. But she's spotted on floors that require multiple people, and every single time, she's already there waiting. Which is why she's the unofficial number one ranker. Nobody's ever seen her show up after everyone else."

"...Why's her nickname the Empress?"

"I told you, she's always the one waiting. Every time, whether it's a trait or a hidden item, she's sitting in some glittering chair, eating a full French course meal like it's nothing. Elegant as hell. That's why it's Empress. Oh, and the Whore part is because she uses a spear."

"..."

The Whore because she wields a spear. Considering insults usually come from something this juvenile, I could believe it.

More than that, the shock was that neither Choi Ji-won nor I had ever heard of a woman carrying the grand title of Empress. She wasn't some average player either. She was supposedly sitting at the unofficial top of the entire Tower. How was it possible that most Earthlings, myself included, had no idea this woman existed?

"This woman's got an absolutely rotten personality. She won't hesitate to kill other players. Wondering why nobody's in that forest? She declared it her own territory. Everyone's scared of running into her and getting hurt for no reason."

Rose kept talking, ignoring me as I scratched the back of my head.

"The one small mercy is that she spends all day climbing the Tower, so she isn't spotted often. Still, since you're the 'Hero,' you'd better be careful if you ever run into her."

Honestly, Rose didn't seem all that afraid of the Empress. In fact, it sounded like he'd never even seen her himself. His whole story had the flavor of something passed along from a friend of a friend, lacking any real vividness.

"So... why bring up the Empress at all?"

"You two are part of Michael Zetter's faction, aren't you? Not officially affiliated with the Player Association, but on completely friendly terms. Am I wrong?"

"...So what if we are."

"The Empress and Michael Zetter don't get along. Both of them came from the very first Tutorial, and something happened between them back then, apparently."

I gave him a look that said, that's it?, and Rose waved both hands, insisting that wasn't all.

"That's not the only reason. You know the Player Association and the United States Government, and honestly the whole world, are at odds right now, right?"

"...Yeah, I know that much."

"Well, players naturally end up banding together with their own countries, and that's soured a lot of people's view of the Association. You probably don't know this, but Floor 26 is unofficially split into territories. This volcano belongs to someone, that martial world belongs to someone else, that desert belongs to someone... like that."

"Huh..."

No official claim of ownership, but people carved out their own turf and moved accordingly.

"Of course, that alone wouldn't be enough to ostracize someone like Choi Ji-won. There's an actual, decisive incident that turned opinion against the Association."

Rose extended his palm out toward us as he said this. Universal body language for hand it over.

"Before that, though, let's make a deal. I need some information."

"...Ask away."

We were both fully intending to regress anyway, so we were ready to answer whatever this man asked. Probably something about Choi Ji-won.

"Jun-ho. This question is about you."

But Rose's palm was pointed squarely at me.

"You two saved every human on Floor 4. That's fairly well known at this point, so don't bother denying it."

Rose referenced the incident where the Elixir had spread, snapping his fingers with a crisp click, click.

"But doesn't it seem strange, no matter how you look at it? How exactly did two companions clear Floor 4 using the exact same method? Nobody else has managed to clear Floor 4 the way you two did, not before, not since. I'd call it unprecedented. And that fact bothered me, and some other players too, so much that we couldn't just let it go."

"..."

"The more we dug, the bigger the question got. Why does the Hero Choi Ji-won act together with a man they call the Immortal Sage? The Immortal Sage doesn't seem weak, sure, but nowhere near the Hero's level. Just because they went through the Tutorial together? Or some secret romance? No, that doesn't add up either. There has to be some reason, some actual reason, why you two move as a unit. Am I wrong?"

Rose shook his head even though he'd gotten it exactly right. His palm, which had been facing the sky, flipped in an instant, index finger jabbing toward me.

"You two moved together with an efficiency that would be impossible unless it was planned in advance. There's plenty of evidence. Which means, Jun-ho, you must have some kind of special ability. There's no other way to explain it."

"..."

Don't tell me... this guy...

"Telepathy. Am I right? You've got some way to communicate no matter how far apart you two are. Ah, no need to answer. Your faces already did."

He let out a strange, incomprehensible chuckle, sprang up from his chair, pulled a cigarette from inside his robe, and lit it. The whole gesture had the air of Sherlock Holmes lighting up right after cracking the case.

"..."

"..."

Choi Ji-won and I obviously looked completely stunned. Partly because this man had come close to hitting the mark, and partly because we'd just realized how far our information had actually spread.

"I'll put this information to good use. Try not to take it too hard. It was a deal, after all. Now then, let me finish paying my end of it."

Cigarette smoke curled out from beneath the hood hiding his face. Rose, looking thoroughly pleased with himself, picked back up where he'd left off.

"Not sure if you heard this from an angel, but Floor 26's assigned angel was replaced fairly recently. About two weeks ago, give or take."

Since Anael had become the assigned angel here, I'd already guessed something must have happened before her to trigger the replacement. I'd meant to ask why, but never quite got around to it.

"The angel getting swapped out was just the result. Something happened around that time... and it's what soured the whole Association's reputation."

Rose glanced around to make sure nobody was nearby, then lowered his voice.

"There's a woman in the Association named Dok Su-hee. Ever heard of her?"

"...Dok Su-hee?"

That name, here too? I was already thrown off by that alone, but what came next threw me off even more.

"This Dok Su-hee tried to kill a player affiliated with the United States Government. On Floor 26, no less."

Wait, hadn't she turned over a new leaf?

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