Regression is Too Much - Chapter 317

WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 317: The regressor... (1)

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The Heavenly Demon was dead. He no longer moved.

"...The soul?"

"It's gone."

A soul whose body had died would naturally fade away over time, and the same was true for the Heavenly Demon's body. I watched clearly with my own eyes as the two souls slowly faded into nothing.

"I-is Guntar dead?"

"He's really dead?"

"Well... it seems this really was the Heavenly Demon pretending to be Guntar."

"No, no..."

"They said... he was really Guntar."

"We were all deceived."

"...But."

I tried explaining as best I could to the beastmen, but they could not accept it. It was especially hard for the cat beastman, since he had spent the past while overjoyed that his friend had returned.

"You said... there was a way to cure him."

"...I'm sorry. There was no way."

"...Was that monster called the Heavenly Demon really inside him?"

"Yes."

"..."

He reached out and fumbled at Guntar's fallen body, then hung his head low. The other beastmen gathered around and patted his back.

"He really was the Heavenly Demon. You saw him admit it earlier."

"...Leave."

"...All right."

Maybe I should be grateful they weren't grabbing my collar and shaking me right now. I hadn't explained the plan to them beforehand, and it hadn't even been an hour since I first mentioned that Guntar might be the Heavenly Demon.

Leaving the beastmen behind, we returned to the waiting room from before.

"Well then... let's leave this floor for now."

We started mechanically climbing the rankings. Climbing the rankings itself was easy. We did it with plenty of room to spare.

Once we hit rank 100, we escaped immediately. I asked the angel about the reward, but he only kept thanking us, without offering any reward at all.

"I don't have the authority... once the Archangel returns, I'm sure the Archangel will reward you properly!"

"..."

Similarly, killing the Heavenly Demon did not raise our achievement level or grant any extra items. He had literally been an "error," after all.

Either way, we returned to reality. Seeing the familiar sight of the studio apartment finally made it feel real.

"...We won."

We won. We tricked the Heavenly Demon, the one I had thought could never be killed, and finally, we won.

"I... won."

We stopped the Heavenly Demon's resurrection.

I did.

I won.

* * *

"You okay?"

"Of course."

It had been Choi Ji-won's request to be the one to personally kill the Heavenly Demon. This had been, effectively, the first person she'd killed, and she'd said she wanted to share the weight I was carrying.

"I can't just leave it all to you."

"...Thank you."

Either way, regression was off the table now. If I regressed now, the Heavenly Demon would come back to life, and a truly unimaginable monster would be born this time.

Which meant entering Floor 29 was mandatory.

But unlike before, when I always tried to move to the next floor as fast as possible, we decided to take a little time to breathe. That plan had been that grueling, and had taken that long. My mental exhaustion was bad enough, but the physical toll had been considerable too.

We ordered a ton of good food, watched a fun movie together, and played games until we were sick of it, something we hadn't done in a while. It didn't feel like the fatigue was fully gone, but there was something nice about the simple act of wasting time like this.

And that night.

"Remember that? Back then?"

"Ahaha, of course I remember. You know how funny you were?"

"No, it wasn't that bad."

"Bung-bung says it was. Apparently it was seriously pathetic."

"...Hey. You come here."

We snacked away, reminiscing about the days behind us. Sometimes, once you crack open the door to the past, you get this urge to just talk about the old days endlessly. That was us, tonight.

A warm, pleasant tipsiness, moonlight slipping through the curtains, the person I loved, bittersweet memories.

"Wow, thinking about it like this... I've really worked hard to get here."

"That's why I like you."

"What if I said I'm quitting everything?"

"You wouldn't, and I know it."

"...That's true, yeah."

Chewing on a piece of squid leg, I looked up at the moon and traced back through my memories.

The Tutorial, where I first realized my ability. When the Goblin Shaman betrayed us, I thought it was really over. Losing Ji-won was heartbreaking too.

Floor 1, which served as a home base. Floor 2, with its "no violence" condition. I heard it's turned into something like a wholesome training camp these days, which I'm a little curious about. What did the Floor 2 I changed turn into now?

Floor 3, where I made precious connections. Ahn Gyeong-jun, Kang Chan, and... Dok Su-hee. The golem that deflected every attack had been despair itself.

Floor 4, brutally hard. I think all the fundamentals of my swordsmanship were forged there. Killing monsters, killing them, killing them again... if I'd had a level like everyone else, I probably would have hit level 2000 there. The dumb things I did just to avoid disappointing Choi Ji-won still stick with me.

Ah, and healer William Smith was there. the Association staffer Yoon Joong-hyun too. Some guy with a lucky-power ability too. I wonder if Baron George made it back to his original world. I wonder if he's doing well by now.

Floor 5, where I fought a doppelgänger. If Floor 4 forged the basics, Floor 5 built up finesse. In a place where both of us kept regressing, my doppelgänger invented a swordsmanship style for my sake. I'm still grateful to him. I respect the time he had to endure.

It took a week from being summoned into the Tutorial to reaching Floor 5. But it took a month to go from Floor 6 to Floor 11, most of that time spent because of a cold I caught on Floor 10.

The chill that's become such a reliable strength now. I still don't know why spending an obscenely long time on Floor 10's mountain gives you a strange power like that, but well, I guess I should just call it luck.

After that came Floor 11, where dwarves and players were locked in conflict. I played the grim reaper to reconcile the two sides. That took a long time too.

Floor 12, where there just weren't enough people, so we had to wait two weeks. We had to pick a difficulty and fight puppets, and I remember those sneaky bastards well.

Floor 13, where we had to escort a carriage through the wasteland. That one took three days too. Floor 14, cleared in a single day riding on Choi Ji-won's coattails.

And Floor 15, where I met the elder. The truth about this world I learned from him had been shocking, but I also remember meeting Michael Zetter afterward and hearing that monsters would soon appear.

Up to this point, it had been four months since Michael Zetter cleared the First Tutorial. By my own count, I'd reached Floor 15 in barely three months.

After that, Ji-won and I agreed to witness the monster invasion directly. Around this time, I also heard rumors about some warehouse, and waited ten months to defeat the tiger that appeared at Namsan. I also confirmed that Dok Su-hee retained memories.

Then, regression. After that, Floor 16, where I had to wound a stone. The twist there was that the real success condition was my own subconscious.

Floor 17, which I could only clear by becoming aware of Mana. Having already awakened my Mana, I learned to sense my soul there instead. It's one of the techniques I still use to this day.

Floor 18, where I had to go to a martial world. There, I met an actual immortal sage. The "immortal sage act" I keep overusing, I learned it there.

Floor 19, where I had to write and submit a single book. By that point, I was already so familiar with Mana that I think I ended up writing about Mana itself.

After that... I went to check on the warehouse in America, which had turned up strangely empty. I'm guessing it was some kind of butterfly effect.

After regressing from that, I met the archangel's clone on Floor 20. (Apparently the archangel had stepped out too, it seems like there's never an archangel actually at their post.)

Floor 21, where I had to save Areum. There, I honed my ability to handle "soul." What I learned on Floor 17 came in useful on Floor 21, and the girl's encouragement I received as a reward on Floor 21 later saved me.

Floor 22, the simulation world where you didn't regress even if wounded. There, I confirmed just how strong I was without regression, and it gave me confidence. Even without regressing when wounded, I'm strong. Damn strong. Strong enough to wipe the floor with most strong fighters.

After that, I heard something about a Book of Truth. Met Michael Zetter. Set Floor 30 as my target.

Floor 23, where I had to face things without memory. I'd believed a version of myself who had already regressed countless times would be there, and the anomaly caused by that belief accidentally became the clue that cracked the floor open. It was also the floor that confirmed a memoryless regressor is basically useless.

Then Floor 24, where ghosts appeared. It was genuinely scary, and it was the first floor where I confirmed that some things don't come back even after regression. Apparently if something vanishes at the center of the universe, it's gone forever. (For the record, I heard there's no archangel here either. Where do they all keep going.)

Next, Floor 25, where the girl's cheer saved my life. Seriously, whose idea was it to fill a maze with poison gas? Without Ji-won's help, and Areum's help, I would have been trapped there forever. Honestly a garbage floor.

Next, Floor 26, which serves as a kind of checkpoint. I wondered how the highest-tier players communicated with each other, and it turned out this kind of exchange hub was exactly how it was possible. You can even sell items here.

Floor 27, where I faced the dark mage. There, I learned humility. I learned madness. I should never end up like that bastard.

And... the most recent, Floor 28. I tricked and defeated the Heavenly Demon, an impossible enemy. Honestly, it still doesn't feel entirely real.

Laying it all out like this... really. I really tried hard. Getting here was rough, and I got lucky too.

Still, I can say this with confidence.

"I mean, come on, I even took down the Heavenly Demon. What could possibly be beyond that?"

Choi Ji-won. Regression. And my own will.

With just these three things, there's nothing in the Tower left to fear. Given enough time, I can do anything.

I have a beautiful and insanely strong girlfriend, I have regression, a broken ability that basically makes me invincible, and I have the will to keep moving forward. Whatever comes now, I can overcome it.

Floor 30. Floor 30 is right around the corner.

Once I clear Floor 30, I'll prepare. For the day the monsters come pouring into Earth.

Before, I had no choice but to regress helplessly. But now it's different. I've grown incomparably stronger than I was back on Floor 15.

Once I clear Floor 30, I'll protect this world. I'll save it from the monster invasion.

Yeah. Just like the hero I always looked up to.

"Should I wear a mask once I clear Floor 30?"

"...Didn't you say you absolutely hate people knowing who you are?"

"I do, but if I wear a mask, no one'll figure it out, right?"

"Do whatever. My identity's already fully out there anyway. Isn't it?"

"Seeing your elementary school photos floating around online is a little creepy, not gonna lie."

"Good thing I was cute since I was little."

"..."