WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Regression is Too Much

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Chapter 263

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The regressor proves himself (3)

"Hwahahaha!!!"

"Ohohoho!!!"

Cheerful laughter echoed off the mountainside. Small birds and wild animals poked their heads out and fled. The bigger animals prowled at a distance for a while, but once they got a good look at the size of the group, they cleared off too.

A pack of shirtless blond men and women, followed by the five of us players. The ones leading the way were obviously the "warriors," and the ones trailing behind were the players.

"Tch..."

The Italian man clicked his tongue.

"I'm not exactly ex-military or anything, but... we're going to kill a villain here. Is it really okay to be this loud about it?"

"Well... maybe they have a plan?"

"Hey, what would a gymnast know about it."

"Shut up."

While the players bickered about something only they understood, I focused on something else.

"Ji-won."

"Hm?"

"You gonna be okay?"

"With what?"

"Killing the black mage."

Starting from Floor 25, the Tower had gotten blatant about making us kill people. Even if those people had been made subordinate to the Tower, killing a human being triggered a kind of instinctive resistance, and I figured it would weigh on Choi Ji-won, who already had a strong aversion to killing.

"...Honestly, I don't like it. But there's nothing to be done about it."

Choi Ji-won answered my question evenly.

"If there were some kind of trick to it, sure, but... when a mission this openly demands someone's death, there's not much I can do about that. I guess the one silver lining is that the target is an evil person, or at least someone who wants to die."

If it's a mission, there's no helping it — that was Ji-won's stance. Of course, she added that we should be careful not to grow numb to killing through repeated experiences like this. She could probably keep herself in check just fine. That comment was probably aimed at me.

"Don't worry."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

We kept up idle chatter as we marched on. At first the group pushed through the snowfield. Around midday, the ones in front stopped, so the players stopped too.

"You lot! Impressive stamina!"

The Captain said this while wiping sweat from his brow. His rippling upper body had gone flushed red.

"We've barely been walking a few hours."

"Walking through snow is no easy task! Seems I underestimated you! I admit it!"

The Captain slapped a nearby player on the shoulder, said they'd rest here a while, and handed out the same bread as before. The warriors ate it happily. (Obviously none of the players touched it.)

"Where'd the bread come from?"

"Hm?"

In the end my curiosity got the better of me, and I asked the Captain outright.

"You know how to bake bread? Doesn't seem like it."

"Of course not!"

"Then where'd the bread come from?"

Normally this would sound like picking a fight, practically an invitation to brawl, but these people were... simple, I guess, or maybe just dim. Somehow it felt like he'd answer honestly, so I just asked straight out.

"Hm!"

Just as I expected, the Captain answered without hesitation.

"Found it under the snow!"

"...Sorry?"

"The snow around here is thick! Dig through it properly, and you'll find useful things! We make use of them!"

"No, wait, that's weird, isn't it?"

The French woman suddenly raised her voice.

"You dig through snow and get food, log cabins, glass windows?"

"That's right!"

"..."

She'd probably expected some more proper answer, but faced with the Captain's easy admission, there was nothing left to say. Conversation only worked between people with some shared intelligence to begin with.

"Captain! Captain!"

Just then, another warrior came running up, grinning ear to ear.

"What is it!"

"Found some! Meat!"

"Meat?"

"Meat!"

"Eat your fill!"

Before the Captain had even finished giving the order, the men were already tearing into something. It was the carcass of a dead reindeer.

"Delicious!"

"Fresh!"

The savages stirred through the reindeer's guts and tore straight into them. Being buried under snow probably had kept it fresh, sure, but the sight wasn't exactly pleasant to look at.

"..."

"..."

None of the players were weak enough to throw up. That didn't mean they were fine, either. Their expressions had twisted, plain as day. Any civilized person would feel their stomach turn at that sight.

"You're not eating?"

I asked in passing. The Captain kept swallowing hard, throat bobbing, but stayed rooted in place.

"I am the Captain! A Captain must set an example! Which means knowing how to hold back!"

He pounded his chest again, same as before. That answer alone pushed my curiosity past its limit.

"Why are you fighting the black mage?"

These people showed flashes of civilization while still being savage. Some kind of morality was planted in them, yet they were also completely free. Somewhere between savage and civilized. Like looking at something bizarrely mixed together.

So I asked the fundamental question. Why fight the black mage at all?

"He is the enemy of our clan."

The Captain answered, still staring at the reindeer carcass, but with real seriousness this time.

"My father. And his father. And his father. And the very first father. All of them challenged the black mage and died. They fought to kill him and went to god's side."

"..."

"The black mage is our enemy. He must die. Our clan exists to kill the black mage. This will does not waver."

"...Does it mean anything if you die?"

"Meaning? I don't know what meaning you're asking about. It's fine if I die."

The Captain tapped his lower belly a couple times.

"I have three sons. Two daughters. They will challenge the black mage again. If my son cannot do it, then my son's son will. Then his son's son. Someday we will strike down the wicked black mage and bring peace back to our clan."

"..."

"Even if we fail, there is a next time. As long as we don't give up, there's a chance. We will succeed someday. This failure now is only fertilizer for the future. The wicked black mage will die. Without fail."

Will. Pure will. That was what I felt in the Captain's eyes as he spoke. Clear, gleaming, luminous will. The unshakable resolve to see the goal through no matter what.

"...What did the black mage even do?"

"Hm?"

"What did the black mage do, that it's worth this — generation after generation, all of you throwing your lives away to go fight him? What did he do to earn that kind of hatred? What's the reason?"

The Captain burst out laughing.

"Don't know."

"...?"

"Does that matter? I learned it from my father. That he must die. That he's wicked. That he commands corpses. I am a warrior. So I do as I was taught. Nothing strange about it."

By then, the reindeer carcass was down to hide and bone. Normally they'd have taken the hide, but these were people about to march off ready to die. The Captain raised his voice and called out, "Move out!"

"That's bitter."

"I'm getting... goosebumps, honestly."

The players rubbed their arms as they watched the scene unfold. Something felt deeply wrong about it, but they couldn't quite pin down why.

The Captain had unshakable willpower, but no free will of his own. He had the strength to march forward, but no wisdom to look ahead. Like a well-programmed robot marching steadily into a furnace, these people were simply throwing themselves into a future of ruin, all while clinging to the hope that someday, somehow, it might work.

There was plenty I wanted to say, but I kept it to myself. None of it would help morale, and it was all just speculation anyway.

"Let's focus."

The black mage first. Worry about the rest later.

A full day passed. Which meant night had fallen again.

"There it is!"

After a grueling march, the group finally reached the mountain. Partway up the slope, an unnatural chill dripped through the air. A cave came into view, exhaling something sinister.

"Anyone tired!"

"No, sir!"

"Then let's go!"

"Woooaaaah!!!"

No long speech, no final gear check, no strategy session. The warriors simply charged straight for the cave without a second thought. The players exchanged a quick glance and ran after them.

At the cave's mouth, human bones lay piled everywhere. The warriors ran on without a care.

Further in, a half-rotted corpse ambushed them from the floor. The warriors dealt with it while flaunting their fine masculinity, but since they hadn't reached "superhuman" territory, there were a few casualties. Naturally, nobody seemed to mind.

Sharp bones burst up from the ground. Three warriors died.

A massive hand suddenly shot out from the wall. Two warriors got dragged off.

A giant fish made of bone blocked the path. Four warriors bled out and died.

"Woooaaaah!!!"

"Let's go!!!"

The death of a companion gave these men no fear, no hesitation whatsoever. They just kept running, same as before. The players were the only ones who spared a moment to wish peace on the cooling corpses.

They ran, and ran, and ran some more.

"We're here!"

"It's him!"

At last, the warriors came to a stop.

At the deepest point of the cave, barely visible in the distance, something faint took shape. When I wrapped mana around my eyes, the full form revealed itself.

"That's it, huh."

A black robe. A staff topped with a skull. Fragments of ice jutting from all over its body. A miasma of death coiling ominously around it.

Above all, a body twisted far beyond normal. Purple skin, wrinkled all over, contorted every which way. It looked less like a person and more like some kind of human chrysalis.

Nobody had to tell me. I knew it the instant I saw it.

That was the black mage.

"Guess I won't feel bad about killing a person, then."

I readjusted my grip on the sword.

I had a strong feeling that thing, too, had left humanity behind long ago.

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