WeTried Translations
Translator: ZEROSUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 346: Ruin (7)
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There was nothing to be done about not getting the Hero's cooperation. I needed to find another way.
The plan I came up with had two tracks. The principle was simple.
First, Choi Ji-won would climb the Tower. Right now she was climbing with me for the sake of stability, but at her core, Choi Ji-won was stronger than me. And if the goal wasn't a "perfect clear" but just clearing, period, she wasn't the type of woman who'd fold here.
So Choi Ji-won would leave me behind and climb ahead. But like on Floor 25, even if she cleared it faster than me, there was no way for her to pass information back to me. So why climb the Tower at all?
"Find Dok Su-hee for me."
The goal was simple. Find Dok Su-hee, who was probably still climbing the Tower right now.
From what I'd experienced so far, the Tower's floors came in several types. Some had time limits. Some required everyone to team up on a mission. And some, like Floor 29 right now, put everyone on a shared field. That last kind was what I was after.
If there was a floor where every player gathered in the same place, and Dok Su-hee happened to be clearing it there... and if Choi Ji-won could reach that place within a reasonable window...
"She knows you, so... you should be able to clear up the misunderstanding."
If I could get word to her that I was looking for her, she'd come out of the Tower. She was fixated on me for reasons I couldn't fathom, so the calculation was that she'd be friendly toward me.
"Got it. I'll do it your way, Jun-ho."
"Thanks."
So Choi Ji-won worked hard climbing the Tower, and I worked on finding a way in the real world. Each of us doing our best in our own place.
"Ji-won-ah?"
"...Yeah."
A month passed.
"..."
No results.
* * *
Choi Ji-won didn't say anything to me about it. No, she couldn't say anything. It was content from a floor I hadn't climbed yet, so it made sense that she couldn't talk about it.
Still, from how uneasy she looked whenever she came back to reality to spend time with me, I could guess she hadn't found any trace of Dok Su-hee. And in fact, Dok Su-hee never came to me either.
What was I doing this whole time? For one, I investigated everyone who could be called an acquaintance of the President. Who he talked to regularly, who he met, who he trusted. I went through every single person who could be considered part of the President's network.
And after carefully reviewing that list...
"...There's no one I can trust."
Surprisingly, the conclusion was that there was no one fit for a companion regression. It wasn't strange that I didn't recognize any of them, but each one had some disqualifying trait. Too close with Zetter. Turns into a different person when drunk. Had some secret hobby that raised red flags.
And even setting aside disqualifying traits, even if someone had a great character on top of that, whether it was okay to companion-regress with them was a separate question entirely. As I'd mentioned before, deciding on a companion regression now meant carrying that person forward with me for good. So what exactly was I supposed to trust in order to go through with it?
If it were someone small-minded enough for me to easily manipulate, someone who only believed in the desire right in front of them, maybe I could've trusted that. A person that petty, I could control, since I had Regression.
But maybe because he was the President of a country, everyone around him was accomplished in their own right, so there wasn't a single person that petty. In the end, all I confirmed was a pile of uncertain bombs, and the conclusion kept repeating itself: Dok Su-hee was the most suitable person for a companion regression.
The people I could trust had no way to approach the President. The people who could approach him, I couldn't trust. I turned it over and over in my head, but waiting for Ji-won to find Dok Su-hee was still the best option.
So what was I doing with my time?
"Wow."
Honestly, I spent it pretty enjoyably. Over the past month, I spent my time looking at "nature."
"No, seriously, what kind of fish looks like this?"
Diving barehanded into the deep sea, somewhere no human had explored before.
"Ugh, so bright."
Flying through the sky with nothing but my own body.
"Whew. Cold. So cold."
Spending a night at the summit of the mountain range said to be closest to the sky.
"Hello there."
Sharing a meal with native warriors I met while exploring a jungle.
I spent my time doing things a normal human couldn't, either because their life was too precious to risk or because death would be a certainty. Earth still had plenty of mysteries left, and those things filled my hunger for exploration more than enough, to the point of overflowing.
And here, you'd probably notice one thing in common.
"Hey, isn't that a person?"
"What are you talking about? There's nothing there."
"Huh? I swear... there was someone in midair..."
"You feeling okay? I told you to take your vitamins."
"N-no, it's..."
The truth was, I'd been deliberately avoiding people this whole time. Thinking they'd recognize me wasn't some kind of delusion, it was plain reality. I didn't want to see someone in the real world go, "Huh? It's Kim Jun-ho!"
Their reaction was one thing, but I doubted I could respond to it well myself. Would I get angry? Would I feel good? Would I fall into despair? Was my reaction really going to come purely from my own emotions? My state wasn't normal right now, so an abnormal reaction would come out of it.
And I was afraid that whatever reaction came out now would carve itself into me and turn me into an "abnormal" person going forward. That's why I avoided people.
Not that I avoided every single human being. I made sure to meet the people I thought mattered, and among them was the owner of the Book of Truth, a boy named Ronald.
"Oh, hello there."
"...Nice to meet you."
"Wow, I don't really know what to say... could I get a picture? To post on Instagram... oh, I'll only put it up for close friends. I promise."
Ronald, the owner of an ability that rivaled my Regression, turned out to be a shockingly ordinary high schooler. Aside from a somewhat cultured way of speaking, good posture, and good manners, he was a high schooler you could find anywhere.
"The book? Honestly, I don't really know much about it..."
Whether it was intentional or he'd simply never thought to look into it, Ronald knew his book was important, but he didn't know exactly why, or in what way, it was important. He'd given up on climbing the Tower, so he was no different from an ordinary person.
That this boy was the owner of such a critical ability. Aside from being healthier and having a better body... there was no real difference. So if this boy died...
"I'll head out now."
"Oh, okay. Take care!"
My thoughts started drifting somewhere strange, so I hurried away. God, what was wrong with me. I needed to get a grip.
Anyway, by the time a month turned into two, then three, both Ji-won and I were a little worn down.
There was no sign of finding Dok Su-hee. Time kept flowing on and on. And in the middle of it, I kept seeing people bring up accountability arguments like, "Society is falling apart right now. So what exactly is the regressor doing about it?"
I felt disgusted. I wondered if there was even any point in wasting time like this. It felt like I had no choice but to either just climb the Tower, or take responsibility for this entire world. Like the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility, and with power this great came responsibility that was far too great. I didn't know if I could handle it.
So let's say I just cleared the Tower. Let's say I used this great power to successfully finish off the Tower, free the world, and become a hero.
And after that... what then? In a world where everyone knew I was the regressor, where everyone knew how strong I was... how was I supposed to live? The me right now, the "Kim Jun-ho" I thought of myself as, couldn't endure that. Ordinary citizen Kim Jun-ho couldn't handle that kind of reality.
I'd have to change. Probably change a lot. People say people always change, but I couldn't hold on to who I used to be in a situation like that. But would that change... be the change I wanted? Really?
I'd struggled so hard not to become a monster, not to become some emotionless regressor. But if things kept going the way they were, I'd be facing yet another change I didn't want.
And judging by the fact that Dok Su-hee was nowhere to be found, her mental state had clearly taken a real turn for the worse. If she wasn't in the Tower either, maybe she was holed up on Floor 1.
It was true this was exactly the kind of situation that could break someone's mind. But was it right to bring a woman in that state into a companion regression?
I just... wanted to make it all go away. Back to a time when nobody knew who I was, when I didn't have to agonize over any of this, when the only thing I had to worry about was climbing the Tower.
The book, the root of all this misfortune. If it just didn't exist, then my Regression never would have been discovered. If that were true... if that were true...
Suddenly, I felt a small presence in my pocket.
"..."
A possibility I'd deliberately avoided thinking about. The most dangerous option, but also the most certain one. The last resort I'd been saving.
"The ring."
The ring the angel gave me. The ring that could erase one trait.
With this.
"If I erase the book's trait..."
Could I make it all go away?
Footnotes:
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