WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 027

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The boss is too weak (7)

Human.

I think you must be wondering why I did this.

To be honest, I quite liked you.

You were the first human who treated me as a person, even though we are different species.

But I hate humans.

You seemed to trust me, but I lied to you. I lied to you many times.

I told you that the young goblins who were playing tag in the labyrinth undid the monster's seal.

That was a lie.

It was the humans, rummaging through the ancient labyrinth looking for treasure, who undid the monster's seal.

In the past, I was strong enough to have successfully sealed one monster on my own.

But there were two monsters. While I was busy sealing one, my clan was annihilated.

My clan had fled to this island to escape from being hunted by humans.

We came to this island to get away from humans, and yet, it was because of humans that we all died.

Human.

Just as I fell into despair and was about to kill myself, I heard the voice of a great will. He told me he would give me a chance to get revenge on the humans.

Human.

I already knew that this place was a space called the 'Tower'.

I knew that I was only given seven days to live each time.

I knew that once all the humans were dead or had escaped, I would be revived with my memories erased.

I knew that gold trinkets were precious to humans.

I knew that if I died, a means for the humans to survive would be summoned.

Human.

The truth is, things like gold trinkets are not needed for the shamanistic ritual at all.

Human.

I know that I could kill far more humans by unsealing the monster the moment I came to my senses.

But even if I die and am revived again, I will maintain the seal until the very end and help the humans.

The reason I help humans with all my might is simple.

I want the humans to struggle while clinging to hope.

It would be nice to see them miserably defeated by the monster, but I want them to defeat the monster splendidly and feel the greatest happiness.

Because I know that the worst despair, the kind that comes after the greatest happiness, hurts the most.

I wanted the humans to feel exactly what my clan felt.

Human.

Because of my fondness for you, there were times I hesitated to drag you all down into the abyss.

But human, I think I told you before that I have a sensitive sense of smell.

Human.

Your body… reeks with the smell of my kin’s blood.

To be honest, I do not really care whether my kin live or die.

My kin are already bound to the Tower. They were summoned here to die repeatedly.

I know you killed my kin to survive.

But in the end… I came to think that you are also just one of them.

O, humans.

I pray that you feel just as I did in the past, when I had resolved myself to die.

Human.

I'm sorry.

The voice of the Goblin Shaman flowing out from the broken stone ended.

The place I was sitting was the clearing where everything had begun.

The shaman’s voice had ended long ago, but I was still staring blankly at the fragments of the stone.

"It's okay."

I was caught off guard, but this is just a passing part of the process.

"I just have to regress."

In the next run, I just have to make the first move.

I will never be backstabbed by that guy again.

"Let's get a grip."

I only slipped up at the very end.

In fact, the value of what I gained in this cycle is truly beyond words.

An enormous amount of achievement level experience points. The grade of my traits shot up. Even the trick concerning the Minotaur and the Goblin Shaman.

The ending was bad, but in terms of results, I gained more than in any other run.

If I can acquire emotions from the same person multiple times after regressing, I can become incredibly strong just by repeating this run in a similar way.

After repeating it about a hundred times, I'll probably be able to kill a Minotaur with my big toe.

It's okay.

It's okay.

"Fuck..."

It is not okay.

It felt like my mind had been directly struck by an earthquake.

The Goblin Shaman's final "I'm sorry" keeps replaying in my head.

I failed. I was defeated.

This too… I felt that this was the god's intention.

The Goblin Shaman is utterly weak in terms of its own physical power.

Since the weak guy who did not have much time left was desperately asking for help, it might be human nature to help without any particular suspicion.

But he was a goblin to the very end. Being weak does not mean being good.

The Goblin Shaman's heart… was completely filled to the brim with malice for humans.

The fact that he had taken a liking to me was even more disgusting.

...Because I had also grown to like the Goblin Shaman quite a bit.

"Should I regress?"

The group of survivors was already a complete mess.

After they accepted what had happened to the situation, everyone was like a time bomb about to explode.

Hope had united people, but despair divided them.

The large-scale brawl that started with accusations of someone hiding a Golden Marble in their body was barely stopped only after Cheol-jin intervened.

After that, people went their separate ways. They did not forget to glare at me as they left.

Going from a hero to a traitor happened in a literal instant.

Cheol-jin comforted me, saying, 'It's not your fault,' but his gaze was also endlessly empty.

Frankly, it's a situation where it would be strange to be mentally sound.

We lost 22 Golden Marbles in an instant.

The portal, which was the means to save everyone, was generated in a poison swamp.

The hope of being able to move on to the next floor was shattered to pieces.

Of course, we are still alive.

But… how long can we stay alive?

We get food when we kill goblins.

The number of goblins is not infinite.

Someday the goblins on this island will be wiped out, and then the only future left for us is to starve to death.

"...There's no answer."

No matter how much I think about it, there is no solution. This run is ruined.

Just at that moment, when I raised my fist to strike my chest.

"There you are."

Step. Step.

A familiar footstep, and a familiar voice.

"Why are you moping around here?"

It was Choi Ji-won.

Ji-won looked remarkably composed for a person whose death was imminent.

"...What are you doing here? Food is going to be scarce from now on."

I disliked how she looked, so I spat out my words bluntly for no reason.

"...Food? Ah. You've been here the whole time."

Ji-won shook her head.

"They committed suicide."

"...Huh?"

"The goblins. They all jumped into the swamp and killed themselves. It seems the Goblin Shaman had a hand in it. It looks like he has an ability to control other goblins."

"..."

It seems the Goblin Shaman even knew that we could get food and Golden Marbles by killing other goblins.

He is screwing us over so thoroughly.

Bravo. That's awesome, Shaman.

"..."

"..."

Neither Choi Ji-won nor I said anything.

As I said before, I can just regress and that will be the end of it.

I will not make the same mistake. I was not an idiot who repeats mistakes.

But… a thought occurred to me. When I regress, what happens to this world?

It would be for the best if it returns with me. Because it would be as if it never happened.

But what if… only I regress, and this world remains as it is?

The people of this timeline will starve to death in terrible despair.

Because of my misjudgment.

My nerves were not thick enough to just brush it off thinking, 'This world? Is that my problem?'

Is this the weight that a regressor must bear?

I think I can now understand a little why death regressors who have accumulated more than ten regressions go crazy.

It's amazing that one wouldn't go mad thinking they are carrying the lives of not just the people in this tutorial, but of people all over the world on their back.

"Ji-won."

"Yeah?"

Maybe that was why I felt an intense impulse to confide my story to someone.

"I'm a regressor."

"...A regressor?"

"Not just any regressor. I'm a pathetically weak sunfish regressor who regresses if I get hit even once."

Whether she was listening or not, I poured out the stories in my memory without hesitation.

The story of when I first woke up in the Tower.

The story of regressing after being cut by a blade of grass.

The story of regressing because of a goblin hiding in a bush.

The story of learning the sword from Choi Ji-won while repeating regressions.

The story of being mistaken for a pervert by Choi Ji-won, getting smacked, and regressing.

The story of gaining traits from other people's emotions.

And thus, the story of finally reaching this current cycle.

After confessing everything, I felt refreshed.

"...Hah. Sorry."

But the refreshment was brief, and a deep wave of stark clarity washed over me.

Common sense says there's no way she would believe such a story.

What? A regressor? You regress from a single hit?

The explanation that I've gone crazy from the stress of imminent death would be more persuasive.

I would have nothing to say even if she were to cut me down with her blade right now.

But Choi Ji-won just nodded her head slightly.

"I believe you."

I could tell from her voice. She genuinely believes me.

"...Why?"

If it were me, I wouldn't have believed it. I just could not understand why she believed my words.

But without answering, she lightly stroked my sword, which was lying on the ground.

"Your swordsmanship. I did think it didn't make any sense."

"...My swordsmanship?"

"I've spent my entire life swinging a sword. What, you got a trait? There's no way I wouldn't recognize my own swordsmanship, which I've learned my whole life, right?"

"...Haha."

In the past, I lied that I was in the kendo club and got caught because of my swordsmanship, causing me to regress.

And now my swordsmanship has become the proof that makes Ji-won believe in my regression.

"Come on. Get up."

Ji-won stood up, dusted off her pants, and then took my hand as I was crouching, pulling me up.

"...Where are we going?"

"You'll know when we get there. It's right next to us."

Just as she said, the place we arrived at was quite close, and also a familiar place.

The place where Ji-won would swing her sword every time I regressed.

In this run, it was the corner of the clearing where she and I had practiced swordsmanship together.

"Grab your sword."

Ji-won said calmly.

"From now on, I'll teach you everything I know about the sword."

Footnotes:

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