WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Regression is Too Much

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Chapter 280

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The regressor advances (6)

The sun rose. It was dawn.

Footsteps sounded. Car tires hummed somewhere below. It was still quiet, but a certain restlessness stirred beneath that quiet. Night had ended. Human society was waking up.

"That is my story."

In contrast, Zetter's eyes looked completely dead. Only then did I realize it. Everything he'd shown us so far, the emotion we'd mistaken for emotion, had been a product of the Adaptation trait. He'd broken, and then adapted to being broken.

"..."

"My emotions have not vanished completely. It would be more accurate to say they have faded."

I wanted to ask if he was okay. I realized the question meant nothing.

So that was why Choi Ji-won's sharp instincts hadn't picked up on anything.

"Are you... still experiencing time slowly, even now?"

"Yes. I can make it feel even slower if I choose, but I cannot restore it to normal. I think of it as a benefit, honestly. I have more time to think."

"..."

"..."

People often looked at the sheer volume of work Zetter handled and called him a monster. Attending Association president duties, climbing the Tower, handling paperwork on top of all that, and still finding time to meet players like me. I'd always thought that would be impossible even with three bodies.

What was I supposed to say? What words could possibly fit? Did someone whose emotions had faded even need sympathy? I didn't know. Nothing I said would mean anything. Ji-won seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"I've made a long preamble. Let me get to the point."

Zetter seemed to be thinking along the same lines. Before starting, he dug up the very first thing he'd said to us. Was that consideration? Or just mechanical procedure?

"I place extreme value on efficiency. The reason I handled things alone was that doing so was more efficient."

Whether I was still wrestling with it or not, Zetter kept going, saying what he needed to say.

"That's simply how the world works. The only thing a human can truly trust one hundred percent is themselves, and working alone means skipping unnecessary rounds of communication. And yet humans have lived by cooperating, because we are weak. Because we cannot survive alone. If humanity had been the strongest force in nature, a social structure like this one could never have formed."

Zetter looked down over the edge of the rooftop. People were already heading out for an early commute below. Rubbing sleep from their eyes. Chewing on sandwiches. Yawning wide. Because they couldn't survive alone, they moved their feet forward, doing their part to keep the whole thing running.

Zetter looked down on them with a flat, cold gaze, then turned his eyes back to us.

"Efficiency is a sharp blade. Direction matters as much as sharpness does. Right now, I have lost the ability to correct my own direction."

"..."

"It seems that, in order to survive, I gave up the thing most important to a human. I find it difficult to judge whether a plan forming in my head is something I should do, or something I should not. I'm not talking about outcomes. I'm talking about process and method."

Zetter confessed it himself. That he'd become something like a monster.

"So far there have been no major problems. But I cannot guarantee there won't be any going forward. So I will ask you something."

He paused for a moment, holding his breath. I could tell something important was coming.

"Let's assume there's a way to save the world."

Zetter spoke in a flat, even tone.

"But saving the world requires sacrificing one innocent person. If that one person alone is sacrificed, the world is protected. No one asked for that person's consent. No one could ask."

"..."

"If a situation like that arose, would you think it was right to sacrifice that person?"

The dilemma Zetter carried was one I'd wrestled with countless times myself. Ji-won would say it wasn't right. The elder on Floor 15 would say it couldn't be helped. I could almost feel the black mage's eyes on me.

But.

"I think we'd step in and save the world without sacrificing that person. I think we'd find another way."

I was different. With my Regression. With Choi Ji-won's strength. If we combined our power, we could overcome that kind of unfair reality. I had power. Even in an unjust world, I had the power to chase what was right. I'd been given the privilege of infinite regression.

I knew I'd regret it if I didn't act. So I would do what needed to be done. Because I believed that was right.

I could do it. If it was me.

Carrying that conviction, I turned to look at Ji-won. She gave a small nod too.

"...I was wrong. Good. Now I'm certain."

Watching us, Zetter made an expression that could be called a smile. It was faint, truly faint, but it was unmistakably a smile.

"I'm relieved."

It looked somehow different from the fake smiles he'd worn at official events until now. More... I want to say it felt sincere.

"To be honest, I gave up on ever seeing the Tower's summit. I don't have what it takes. A leader who doubts himself shouldn't be a leader. I lost faith in myself."

"...Zetter-ssi."

"And yet I clung to the president's seat because I believed I was the best option available, the most efficient choice. I've met many players. Many strong ones. Many good and righteous ones too. But no one who satisfied both at once."

The direction this was heading was obvious.

"And then I found the two of you. Your reputation is excellent, and your skill is proven. If anyone is going to see the Tower's summit, I'm certain it will be the two of you."

"No, wait..."

"I ask myself every day: would things be fine without me? I think they probably would be. Just getting that proof is enough for me."

He looked happy, and relieved, and at the same time, somehow sad. What I mean is, faint as it was, I could feel those emotions in him. His expression stayed just as blank as before.

Had he set down the burden of responsibility he'd carried? Or had he simply realized that letting go was more "efficient"? I didn't really know.

"Wait, wait a second."

"Once this conflict ends, the Association will support you both. I'll see you again."

Zetter gave a small bow to us as we reached out toward him.

"I'll trust you."

With a soft pop, he vanished. Long-range teleportation.

"..."

"..."

The morning sun was bright. Looking down at the street below, life stirred everywhere. Even with players appearing, even with the Tower's arrival, society looked no different from before. Just as it always had, and just as it seemed it always would.

But within a year, monsters would sweep over society. We could never go back to how things were. That was probably where Zetter's worry came from. He'd been the one running himself ragged trying to stop a disaster everyone knew was coming.

"Did he see... hope in us?"

A man who couldn't trust himself, forced to occupy the top seat of the world regardless. It felt tragic, and it felt impressive at the same time.

I understood Zetter now, someone who'd always felt distant before. Pity has a way of drawing people closer. I felt like I'd gotten closer to him.

Wait, but what exactly had he felt relieved about? He wasn't asking Ji-won to take over as Association president, was he? I really didn't want that.

Well, whatever. I just hoped the war he was fighting now would end well. No innocent sacrifices, no serious wounds. I just wanted it to end without much trouble. I wanted the wicked to fall and justice to win.

"Jun-ho."

"Hm?"

"My head's spinning like crazy too, honestly. Should we just go home and think it over there? I'm kind of tired."

Only then did I realize I was more exhausted than I'd thought too. Not physically. My mind was worn out.

"...Should we?"

We opened the rooftop door and headed back down to the Steel Guild office. I figured I'd at least say goodbye before we left.

"...This is really annoying."

Someone's irritated voice reached us. Judging by the silhouettes, it looked like they were cleaning up people who'd gotten wasted drunk. The headcount had dropped, so the ones still standing had probably split off for a second round somewhere else.

"Thanks for your hard wo... huh."

I greeted them out of habit, meaning to ask where Kang Chan had gone.

The person dragging bodies over to the couch... was Kang Chan. He'd thrown off the expressionless mask he always wore, face scrunched up, hauling some passed-out man across the floor.

"..."

"..."

Our eyes met. An awkward silence settled in.

"...You're here."

He snapped back to composure fast, back to managing his expression. If Zetter had been performing emotion, Kang Chan had been performing the absence of it. Look at him, so flustered that killing intent was leaking out of him without him noticing.

"Never mind, forget it. You're not planning on joining the guild anyway, are you. Sit."

Right after that, the moment his killing intent vanished, his expression reset too. Still blank, but a more natural kind of blank.

"I kept some cup ramen on hand just in case. It's a bit late, but do you want some?"

Kang Chan tossed the man onto the couch and asked while boiling water in the electric kettle. With his usual killing intent and Intimidation stripped away, I finally saw what Kang Chan actually looked like underneath. Just a coldly handsome young man.

Right, Kang Chan was human too. A little aloof, a little cold, a man of few words, sure. But once you spotted the cracks, you could finally feel something human in him. That was the kind of person he was.

This was an expression of trust. In his own way, Kang Chan was showing us he trusted us. Revealing your weak spots, showing your human side, that's something you only do for people you trust.

"You got any kimchi?"

"...No."

This cycle, I'd gained more bonds. More things to remember. More memories to hold onto.

It was a heavy weight to carry, honestly. But somehow, I felt like I had one more reason to keep climbing the Tower.

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