WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Regression is Too Much
Chapter 040
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Floor 2 is too suspicious (1)
[You have entered Floor 2.]
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a stone fountain.
A large square. A fountain placed in the center. Countless alleys intricately connected to the square.
In the middle of the circular fountain, two cute baby angels were aiming bows at each other, and the streams of water spraying from their arrow tips crossed in mid-air, creating a beautiful spectrum of light.
Next to the fountain, an angel stood before a large wooden board, passionately explaining something to about three or four men in brown clothes, who were listening and nodding their heads repeatedly.
“...Hmm.”
I turned my gaze to look around and saw a city with a medieval fantasy feel. Wooden houses, stone-paved ground, small alleyways, a blue sky, and numerous people.
I had literally woken up in the middle of a medieval city.
“...”
I scanned my surroundings with a bit of tension, but the people were too busy going their own ways to pay me any attention.
Come to think of it, the sensation on my skin feels a little awkward.
“...My clothes have changed?”
I was now wearing not my familiar modern clothes, but a full leather set including a leather top and bottom, leather armor, and leather shoes, a look that anyone would call a ‘beginner set’.
I was wearing jeans and a hoodie when I entered the portal, so it seems my clothes changed naturally upon entry.
Seeing that the cell phone in my pocket was also gone... it seemed that all possessions were lost when entering Floor 2.
“...This is still here, though.”
I’ll correct myself. Almost all possessions were gone. The ‘Berserker's Pill’ that I had shoved into my pocket was still there.
It seems that items from Earth cannot be brought over... but items obtained in the Tower can be carried to the next floor.
I was pondering if there was a way to use this when I felt a presence behind me and dodged without thinking.
“...Huh?”
A large black man froze in the posture of trying to grab my shoulder. It didn't seem like he intended to harm me, but I had trained so hard in dodging that I avoided it instinctively.
“...Hey man, you've got some quick moves.”
The black man awkwardly scratched the back of his head. His clothes, like mine, were a full leather set. Seeing that the person in front of the fountain and others around were wearing the same clothes, it seemed to be the standard issue equipment for all players.
“Well, alright.”
The black man, who had been scratching his head, soon grinned broadly, showing his perfectly white teeth.
“Friend, you just got summoned, right? I saw you appear out of thin air. I was probably about 10 seconds faster? My name is David Trout. Nice to meet you.”
“...”
He extended his hand for a handshake, but I didn't bother to accept it.
It was because I thought I might regress if this man suddenly decided to start a power struggle and squeezed my hand with all his might. I mean, he looks like he’s at least two meters tall.
“Not the touching type? Sorry, sorry. I was being inconsiderate.”
But even though I didn’t shake his hand, David just laughed it off cheerfully.
He was speaking to me in fluent Korean, but upon closer inspection, his lip movements and voice didn’t match. It was probably due to some convenient feature like auto-translation magic being attached to the Tower.
“It’s nothing much... I was going to suggest we stick together temporarily. Have the stage objectives appeared for you yet?”
“...No.”
“Same for me. It’s about time they told us, if this were an online game it would have failed by now. How can it be so unfriendly.”
David chattered away, shaking his head. I could tell from our brief conversation. This black man... is a massive social butterfly. And I’m an introvert who gets his energy drained just by being near one.
“Hey, friend. Where are you going?”
“...Go away.”
Leaving David, who kept trying to continue the conversation, I approached the angel who was giving a passionate speech next to the fountain.
“You understand? You just need to bring back the sigil!”
Just as his explanation seemed to have finished, the men who were listening to the angel scattered in different directions.
“Ah, nice to meet you! Climber-nim! Welcome!”
“...”
The angel, boasting the same crazy energy as David, bounced on the spot.
“You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you? Phew, I don’t know what that guy who designed Floor 0 was thinking. I mean, wasn’t it just made for people to die? It’s no wonder he’s a fallen angel, you know?”
“...”
“But you can rest assured! Archangel Raphael-nim, who is in charge of the 1st to 5th floors, loves humans! We will never force you into death!”
The angel clapped his hands with a bright smile.
Clap!
Then, a familiar message window popped up before my eyes.
<Floor 2>
-Clear Condition: Gain the recognition of a city resident and bring back the sigil of recognition to clear. However, you must not leave the city area. Get along with your fellow climbers!
-Clear Reward: Varies depending on the grade of the sigil.
“Ooh...”
The black man, David, who had appeared behind me at some point, let out a cry of admiration. The problem was that his reaction only served to hype up the angel’s energy even more.
“If you go to a resident, they will give you a task suited to you! In modern terms, you’d call it a quest! Anyway, once you clear the quest and return here with the sigil!”
Pang pang!
The angel slapped the wooden board set up next to him with its palm.
“This floor is cleared! As a bonus, you can choose one reward for each grade! What’s more, the reward is given after you’ve safely moved to Floor 1! There's no risk of it being stolen! It's truly killing one bird and eating its egg!”
“...?”
‘Was there a proverb like that?’
Anyway, the wooden board had four stages written on it: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum. I decided to read the details later.
“Archangel Raphael-nim loves you humans! There is only one thing you must do! Effort! Endless self-improvement! To paint a better future is the very essence of humanity! Show us your potential!”
“Woooooow!!!”
Clap clap clap clap clap clap!
Leaving behind the angel, who was completely absorbed in his grand speech, and the black man, David, who was clapping his hands wildly in awe, I decided to look around the square with the fountain a bit more.
First of all... as the angel said, whether the archangel truly loves humans or not, there were no signs of direct threat. The thing I'm most wary of is a situation where I get stuck in an infinite regression without being able to leave the entrance... but that didn't seem likely to happen.
Of course, letting my guard down was a no-go. I could try to sleep in a place like an inn, only for the people to turn hostile at night.
And... I could see the potential for the rules to be exploited if one tried.
I could feel gazes on me from here and there, too.
I tried my best to ignore the stares and quickened my pace.
I headed to where the men who were listening to the angel earlier had gone. They were reading a large poster attached to one side of the square, and even though the content was in English, I could read it smoothly.
<After obtaining a Bronze or Silver sigil, it is recommended that you exchange it for a potion. On Floor 1, it is possible to duplicate items you already have. Naturally, the value of consumables is much higher. If infinite healing becomes possible, you will be able to train much more actively. Please make good use of the 1st floor. -M.Z.>
“I see... so this is the rumored M.Z....”
“As expected... of M.Z....”
“...?”
The men chattering while looking at the poster were all white. At first, I thought I had misheard.
But then I was convinced after seeing the signature scrawled at the bottom of the poster. To think the initials were M.Z.
“...Could it be Michael Zetter?”
It had to be the initials of Michael Zetter, who would later be praised as America’s top player. I remembered his name clearly since the fate of my coin was in his hands.
“Oh, you know him too? I thought he was only known in the American community... you Eastern friends are quick with the news.”
A middle-aged white man turned his head to look at me.
“...There’s a community already?”
“Huh? There is. Of course, it’s not an official community... but ordinary people can’t hear what we’re talking about anyway, can they.”
He said America already had an unofficial climber community established. Well, come to think of it, Korea probably has one already too. The predecessor to Playernet must already be established somewhere on the web.
“...He says to stock up on potions.”
It seemed Michael Zetter had conducted the same experiment as me, as he was recommending acquiring potions first.
What Michael Zetter was recommending was the ‘potion training method’. He was proposing a training method of pushing oneself to the point where all the muscles in the body tear, and then chugging potions to recover.
“...He's smart.”
If I didn't have a body that regressed whenever I got injured, I would have trained like Michael Zetter. They say torn muscles become much stronger in the process of recovery.
But for me now, it was nothing but useless advice. In the first place, what's the point of super-regeneration when I regress if my muscles are excessively torn. I was destined to become stronger purely by raising my stats.
“Then, it’s about time...”
Just as I was about to look around the city to get a feel for the quests.
“Pant, pant...”
“...?”
A woman, with a large golden sigil floating above her head, was running like crazy from inside a narrow alley towards the square.
“Hoo, hoo!”
Her stats seemed to be quite decent, as her running speed was on the faster side, but…
“Where do you think you’re going?”
As three men who had been waiting nearby blocked the alleyway with their bodies, she had no choice but to stop.
“...”
There was no violence whatsoever. It didn't seem like they were using any abilities either.
They were simply blocking the alleyway with their bodies.
Besides, the men blocking the path... had considerably sloppy stances. They were definitely not strong.
Judging from the performance the woman had just shown, it seemed she could just jump high over the men or push through them with force, but...
“...What do you want?”
Instead of resorting to violence, the woman entered into negotiations.
Watching this series of farcical events, I could be sure.
<Floor 2>
-Clear Condition: Gain the recognition of a city resident and bring back the sigil of recognition to clear. However, you must not leave the city area. Get along with your fellow climbers!
-Clear Reward: Varies depending on the grade of the sigil.
You have to get along with your fellow climbers.
Violence was forbidden on Floor 2.
Footnotes:
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