WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Regression is Too Much

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Chapter 303

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The regressor fights (22)

I'll admit it. At some point, I'd started enjoying myself too.

Regression is not fun in the slightest. Repeating the same actions over and over to control variables grinds down the mind. To fight the Heavenly Demon, I had to make contact with angels, fight beastmen, talk Colosseum Management into cooperating, all sorts of nonsense on repeat. Along the way, my old symptom came back too, everyone but Choi Ji-won starting to look like NPCs, like set dressing. That was a minor mental illness, though. Nothing to worry about. It'd heal with a bit of rest.

The thrill of growing stronger. That was what I was feeling.

Looking at it honestly, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the perfect training environment, a kind of leveling event. Excellent facilities. An enemy physically similar to me, but nearly flawless in technical mastery. A wonderful teacher and lover who supported only me.

Every regression gave me something. Things to fix, things to learn. My swordsmanship was coming together. Sharper attacks. Sturdier defense.

The feeling of getting better, the belief that I could keep getting better, that's what pushes a person forward. It becomes fuel. The joy of learning is one of the greatest joys a human being can feel. I was learning. Asking myself how to get stronger, and answering myself.

Fight. Lose. Organize what I'd learned during the grace period before facing the Heavenly Demon again. Fight. Organize. Fight. Organize.

Lose. Learn. Lose. Learn. Losing teaches you the most, but for most people, losing means dying. With the broken trait called Regression, I learned more, and more, and more. Then steadied my mind again.

The Heavenly Demon's sword swings. I block. I thrust. He blocks. I cut. I dodge. I block. I thrust.

Cut. Duck. Thrust. Upward slash. Deflect. Glancing blow. Downward strike. Dodge. Strike. Strike. Strike. Strike. Is that a real opening? No. A trap. Don't get greedy, go for the wrist. Failed. Regress. Again.

Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. I could see it. Slowly, I could see it. The difference between a false opening and a true one.

"You."

"?!"

The Heavenly Demon's voice pulled me out of that strange trance. He wasn't looking at me. He was staring at my sword, tilting his head over and over.

"You are truly bizarre."

He said it with our blades still locked together.

"I have seen countless geniuses. They pay off the resource called time with their own talent. Concepts that would take others three days to grasp, they solve on the spot."

"...So what."

"But that lacks the smoothness that only time can carve out. No matter how brilliant the genius, there are always things they miss, things they never considered while chasing immediate growth. Things an ordinary person could improve, if only they looked closely enough."

Time. That was what the Heavenly Demon was pointing to. Talent wasn't everything. A sharp mind and quick understanding could grasp certain things, but there would always be gaps left behind. A genius would surpass an ordinary person in far more areas, but an ordinary person who poured in long hours would often end up better in some.

"Your swordsmanship is a swordsmanship built by time. A martial art honed over long deliberation. I can see that effort in it."

"..."

"Normally I'd assume it was some secret transmitted style. But your swordsmanship fits your body perfectly. It makes no sense unless it was made specifically for you."

He was right. This swordsmanship had been forged on Floor 5, in blows traded between me and my doppelgänger, and it was being completed now, through fighting the Heavenly Demon. A technique I'd wracked my brain over for longer than I could even measure. At its core, it was a swordsmanship I had made for myself.

"And yet you are young. I see no trace of a body transplant. You don't look like you've been replaced with machinery either. And still, the martial art you use is tailored to your own inclinations, weighted entirely toward attack. Too little understanding to be a genius, yet too advanced a level to be a dullard. You truly are a strange human."

"So what. What's your point."

"What are you."

The Heavenly Demon laughed.

"Did some terrifying master craft a swordsmanship just for you? Or did you travel back through time from the future? You are a creature that shouldn't exist. A human who defies reason. Part of me wants to know your secret. And part of me can't stand how much Revulsion I feel toward you."

"Revulsion?"

"You wield strength that far outstrips your garbage talent. How could I not feel Revulsion at that?"

Shhhk!

His sword went for my throat. I pulled back too late, and the blade left a thin cut. I'd braced for it and still wasn't fast enough. A drop of blood flew.

I thought "garbage" was a bit much, but if his talent was on that level, I guess I could look like garbage to him. I'd grown too, but that guy grew strong so fast he made my growth look laughable. The distance I covered by running, he closed just by walking.

But did the Heavenly Demon know?

"You know something?"

"?"

"I can see it now. Slowly."

Slowly, I was getting used to the blade the Heavenly Demon pulled out. His habits, even his weaknesses, starting to come into view.

He read my swordsmanship and pulled out new techniques to match it. That whole process was like the switch of a strict teacher pointing out my flaws. I fixed the flaws he pointed out in the next cycle.

I was getting better. If a genius used one hour like a hundred, I was pouring in two hundred. Water dripping endlessly onto the same cornerstone.

"Pretty soon, I'm going to win."

Water can wear through stone. The tortoise can overtake the hare.

I.

"Just wait."

I can beat the Heavenly Demon.

[You have taken damage.]

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

"You doing okay, emotionally?"

Choi Ji-won asked me once.

"Is there any chance the Heavenly Demon regresses too?"

"Probably not."

I hated the Heavenly Demon. I wanted him dead. But that emotion didn't burn hot enough to make me shake with rage. Not what you'd call a "strong emotion."

"Honestly, the more we fight, the less I hate him. Is that a problem? Am I gonna start liking him or something?"

"Don't even joke about that."

"Okay, okay."

The Heavenly Demon had become my personal answer key. He showed me all kinds of martial arts, pointed out where I was wrong, and stabbed straight through any weakness without mercy. Compared to everything he gave me, the minor rudeness of getting stabbed over and over was something I could forgive.

The gap between us was shrinking and widening at the same time. The more we fought, the more varied swordsmanship the Heavenly Demon pulled out. Which meant I got to see it. How deep his understanding ran. What a genius of martial arts he really was.

"Ji-won."

"Hm?"

"Just thought of something. I think using martial arts at all might be some kind of penalty for the Heavenly Demon."

"...Why?"

"No matter how I look at it, all of it seems like other people's martial arts."

The Heavenly Demon supposedly could steal a martial art just by watching it. And from what I could tell, every technique he used belonged to someone else.

"It's impressive enough that he uses so many different weapons, but doesn't it feel terrifying how well he understands when to pull out which one?"

"That's true, but..."

"But compared to that terrifying understanding, the actual martial arts he uses feel like... one step below, I guess? A bit lower grade. You can tell just from what I can handle right now, right?"

"..."

I was learning just how monstrous a munchkin the Heavenly Demon really was. And, in the same breath, just how weakened he currently was.

"Works out fine for me, though."

But whatever. Not my problem. If it bothers him, he can come at me at full strength. All I needed was to win against him.

Again, I started centering my mind to face the Heavenly Demon. Against heavy blade, dodge. Against illusion-blade, block. Against swift-blade, counter. Fierce hard-blade... was still murky. Ji-won had tried explaining it to me, but it wasn't something I could actually execute yet.

What is a sword. At its root, a sharp blade meant to kill an opponent. A weapon to efficiently kill my enemy. That is the foundation of a sword.

But the more I studied it, over and over, the more I couldn't shake the thought that a sword held more potential than that. A sword carried with mana could hold meaning. It could hold intent.

Choi Ji-won's sword was a sword for winning. Not a sword for killing. Victory could be achieved without killing, after all. That kind of righteousness lived in her blade.

The Heavenly Demon's sword... couldn't be defined. Every swordsmanship style he used carried a different meaning, which only confirmed for me that none of it was truly his own.

And my sword... if I had to define it, it was a coward's sword. Since one hit meant regression, it was a sword built from studying, over and over, ways to never get hurt at all. A sword that subdues the enemy before they can strike me. A sword that time itself was completing.

I always braced for the worst. Regressed while worrying over things that hadn't even happened yet. Maybe that had taken shape as a sword.

Cut. Cut the enemy before they cut me. Win. Win before I get hurt.

Now. If I cut his arm right now...!

Clang!!!

The sword in my grip flew out of my hand. Caught by a surprise blow, I lost my grip in an instant. The Transparent Gloves kept me from getting hurt, but now I had no weapon. Defeated again.

"Hahahahaha!!!"

"...Is he insane."

No weapon. The Heavenly Demon was one step from killing me. And still, I laughed. I was happy. I laughed until it brought tears to my eyes.

What the Heavenly Demon had in hand now was a spear. He'd let go of the sword. In an instant he'd scooped a spear off the ground and caught me off guard with it.

He'd made a judgment. That a sword couldn't exploit my weakness. That only a spear could pierce my opening.

Because it felt like a strict teacher had just acknowledged me.

"Guess the sword's off the table, huh?"

The world felt endlessly delightful.

[You have taken damage.]

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

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