WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Regression is Too Much

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Chapter 302

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The regressor fights (21)

I currently had two choices.

First, close in on the Heavenly Demon while using the chill. Push through whatever ranged attack he threw at me, throwing weapons, spears, a bow, whatever it turned out to be, and successfully close the distance. In this case I could use mana, so I'd move more nimbly, but the problem was that the Heavenly Demon would never let his guard down.

Second, exhaust the Heavenly Demon's techniques first, then use the chill in a surprise strike. But in this case I'd need to burn through all his techniques without using mana at all. Or find a way to make ranged weapons unusable for him.

Just because I didn't use mana didn't mean the Heavenly Demon wouldn't use ranged attacks. As seen in his fight against Choi Ji-won, he'd actually mix in aggressive harassment. But he wouldn't grit his teeth and maintain distance at all costs, and that would eventually lead to his throwing techniques being used up. The Heavenly Demon didn't know I regressed the instant I took a hit. I wanted to exploit the gap created by that information asymmetry.

"Hmm."

The first option was hard, but if I could break through the throwing weapons alone, I'd win. The second was guaranteed to take an enormous amount of time, but had a higher chance of success. It's not like I could spin my sword around and conjure some sword-curtain technique out of a wuxia novel, so my heart leaned toward the second.

Come to think of it, what even was this chill?

I had a small nagging question about the power called "chill," but for now I decided to set it aside. Who would've guessed that a chill originating from a cold caught on Floor 10 would even work on the terrifying Heavenly Demon of Floor 28. I was using it now because I could use it now, but later I'd look into the root of this power.

Anyway. I'd set my goal as facing the Heavenly Demon "without using mana," but actually executing that was another matter entirely. It would take an enormous amount of time. I'd grow that much stronger, but I'd suffer that much more too.

"At least the amenities are decent this cycle..."

If there was a silver lining, it was that Floor 28 was a genuinely great environment for repeating regressions.

No starving in the cold. Food, clothing, and shelter were provided as basics, and there was no shortage of entertainment either. If things got bad, I could always go back to reality and rest properly. No fatal restraints, I guess you could say.

Or maybe not. Maybe the lack of restraints made it harder. If beating the Heavenly Demon had been my only option, maybe I'd have been more desperate. Maybe I'd have felt more urgency to survive.

But the reason I was fighting right now was for the future of humanity. If I were an extremely selfish person, I could just ignore the Heavenly Demon and move on to the next floor. It's not like I'd be the one dying, and he'd end up serving as a check on latecomers anyway. I could just think, once I clear the Tower, that's enough for me.

No, wait. Actually, leaving the Heavenly Demon alone would be the more beneficial choice. Considering the influence on the real world too, eliminating latecomers could be a clear advantage. Future players wouldn't be able to climb past Floor 28, and only the players who'd already broken through Floor 28 would keep growing without end. From a power standpoint, the Heavenly Demon could serve as a reliable gatekeeper.

"...Could the Archangel come back, even at this late stage?"

But since the Archangel remained a variable, that too would stay an unknown. What was the point of even thinking about this? It just gave me a headache.

"Hah."

That was a long excuse. Felt like I'd just spent a lot of words saying I didn't want to do this. I hadn't watched humanity's extinction with my own eyes, hadn't seen the Heavenly Demon slaughter every player, so none of it felt real to me.

"Gotta do it."

Still, I had to. Because I had to. Because I had to win.

First, the sword. Against a Heavenly Demon who wasn't using mana, I needed to gain the upper hand in swordsmanship.

If I kept at it, it would work out. That's what I chose to believe.

At the starting point, the Heavenly Demon used a sword. According to Choi Ji-won, that was because he was most confident with the blade.

But as I'd said before, this guy didn't use mana. He fought purely on a combination of a beastman's physical abilities and swordsmanship, and his swordsmanship was so outstanding that most players died without even landing a scratch.

Choi Ji-won's answer to this had been Heart of Lightning Flash. She'd crushed the mana-less Heavenly Demon with overwhelming raw stats. I couldn't do that. If I used mana, he'd notice and bolt.

So it had to be swordsmanship against swordsmanship. A head-on fight.

Physical stats without mana... gave me a slight edge. Beastmen were inherently fast and strong as a species, but I was a player. Thanks to my achievement levels, I'd never once heard that my body alone was lacking anywhere.

And yet Choi Ji-won had still lost, which just proved how outstanding the Heavenly Demon's technique really was. I needed to approach this with humility. He wasn't an opponent I could beat easily.

"..."

With that mindset in place, I gripped my sword defensively, but it still felt wrong on my body. I'd always fought all-out offense, figuring that if I got hit I'd just regress anyway. And since most fights ended in a single exchange, my swordsmanship had essentially become synonymous with attacking. Even though Choi Ji-won had taught me some swordsmanship, my basic approach hadn't really changed.

The thought that someone who only knew how to attack was now up against the strongest Heavenly Demon made my confidence collapse fast. No mana, no chill, and suddenly I felt like I didn't have much of anything.

"..."

"..."

The Heavenly Demon watched me agonize in silence. He narrowed his eyes, sword still in hand.

-Match start.

"Here I go."

Right, empty my head. Do what I'm good at. No mana, but the experience I'd built up was still there. Steady my breath. Lower my stance.

"Hoop!"

Putting my whole body's weight into it. I cut.

-Chaaang!!!

Sparks flew. Wind brushed past my ears. My eyes, forgetting to blink, began to sting. Attack, attack, attack. I poured every nerve into offense alone, and the Heavenly Demon simply blocked my attacks without moving.

I felt it instinctively. The Heavenly Demon had probably already read my style of combat. Choi Ji-won would've changed her own swordsmanship to resist, but I didn't have that kind of talent.

"Truly... peculiar," the Heavenly Demon said, tilting his head. Blade locked against blade. He twisted his sword to deflect my strength, and as I lost my balance, he tore into my flank with his claws.

"Gah..."

"I don't understand it."

This.

Was the beginning of countless regressions.

[You have taken damage.]

[Returning to the moment of first entry on Floor 28.]

"You were too tense."

Choi Ji-won's voice echoed faintly in my memory.

"You got way too scared just because you can't use mana. Come on, have a little confidence. So what if the opponent's the Heavenly Demon? Is there some guarantee you'll definitely lose? And even if you do lose, so what?"

What had I said back then? I think I'd pounded my chest and promised to try to have confidence.

What happened after that? I'd charged at the Heavenly Demon, gotten countered, and had my gut torn open.

After that... I'd tried to press the attack without giving him any openings, and had my wrist cleanly severed.

After that, I'd tried to defend a bit, and the Heavenly Demon had broken through anyway.

After that, the Heavenly Demon had bluntly told me I had no talent.

After that, I'd gotten drunk and cried pathetically, asking whether my talent could really beat the Heavenly Demon, saying that without mana I was nothing. Ji-won had comforted me.

After that... after that...

I'd steadied my mind, thrown myself at the Heavenly Demon again. Lost. Lost again. Kept losing.

Figuring there was no answer this way, I'd looked into using mana. Accepted the reality that no matter what I did, the throwing weapons would always land a hit.

Fought again, and again, went back to reality and came back, fought some more.

Not taking a single hit against someone far stronger than me. Nobody would call that easy.

It was agonizing. I wanted to give up. I got irritated. Why did I have to go through this shit. Couldn't Ji-won just do it instead. Or couldn't Kang Chan climb up to Floor 28 and just punch the Heavenly Demon to death. I cursed my fate.

The Heavenly Demon was a monster. Within ten minutes he'd absorbed my swordsmanship and figured out that I wasn't used to defending. He'd caught on that my attacks were high quality, but my defense was terrible. Once he'd finished reading me, he toyed with me effortlessly. Because he was a genius.

Growing weaker as a person, I wanted to lean on Ji-won, but Choi Ji-won herself would have to go through countless regressions of her own to beat the Heavenly Demon. In that process we'd end up spending down the emotion called Love, and... the worst-case scenario could arrive. Watching Choi Ji-won hug me and tell me to hang in there, all I could do was grit my teeth.

So I couldn't give up. An ordinary man has an ordinary man's methods. I researched and researched. What was the best move I could actually make? What kind of attack would be the most troublesome from the opponent's perspective? During the grace period before each fight with the Heavenly Demon, I replayed the past battles over and over, agonizing and agonizing over the best move.

At the same time, I felt it. I wasn't a genius. What Choi Ji-won arrived at easily, I could only barely produce after wracking my brain. A genius's ten seconds took me six hours, sometimes more.

Time flowed backward. The world reset. And through that process, time was steadily accumulating in my soul.

My defense improved. I raised my clumsy defense to a respectable level.

My offense sharpened. I became able to wield heavy strikes, precise cuts, flashy flourishes, all of it. All of it was imitation of the Heavenly Demon's sword, reshaped to fit my own tastes.

What started as blind imitation gradually reached a stage of real understanding. I had an excellent teacher in Choi Ji-won at my side, and the strongest possible training material, the Heavenly Demon, fighting me directly.

"Ah."

And at some point, I realized it. How outstanding my own existing swordsmanship had actually been. Why Choi Ji-won had held back from overteaching me.

The doppelgänger. He'd walked the same path I was walking now. In a disadvantaged position, twisting his body every which way to scrape together some strategy, any strategy, to win. I came to understand that.

I stopped imitating the Heavenly Demon's sword. I stopped at adding one or two defensive methods to my existing swordsmanship. Instead, I decided to develop my own swordsmanship further.

That didn't mean imitating the Heavenly Demon's sword had been entirely meaningless. As time piled up, and experience piled up.

Slowly.

The Heavenly Demon's sword began to come into view.

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