WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 043

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Floor 2 is too suspicious (4)

At first, I thought I must have misunderstood something.

But after visiting the mansions of the other ‘nobles,’ I came to the same conclusion as before.

The nobles here… they were thoroughly corrupt.

To summarize their demands, they wanted me to kidnap someone, or beat someone up, or to fight and win against their private soldiers. There wasn't a single request that you might consider elegant, nothing befitting a ‘noble’.

“This is strange… far too strange…”

There were more than just one or two things that were off about this city.

First, the city was unbelievably prosperous thanks to the grace of a god, but despite that, the people of the bronze class wore tattered clothes and lived in rundown houses.

The generosity of the people here was almost nonsensical. If you asked for fruit, they gave you fruit, and if you asked for a sword, they gave you a sword.

It’s a peaceful and prosperous era in the most literal sense. I'm sure you could sleep with your front door wide open and nothing would happen.

And yet… There are beggars on the streets.

With all these resources overflowing, there are beggars sleeping on the streets and pleading for food.

On top of that, the nobles are openly despicable.

It almost feels like they're taunting you, saying, ‘Hey, players and residents can hit each other, you know? Go on, give it a try, hit them~’.

Exploited residents and wicked, lazy nobles. I just couldn't shake the feeling that this was all an artificial setup.

And second. 

This city… was encouraging evil deeds.

From what I heard, there have been players before who profited by kidnapping citizens and delivering them to the nobles.

Of course, the citizens aren't fools, so they put up their own resistance, and there were apparently many cases where they actually subdued a player… but that's only effective up to a certain point.

Once players with powerful traits decide to commit evil acts, the citizens have no way to stop them.

“This is just too weird.”

Let me say it again, this Tower is a structure created by some being called a god for the purpose of judging humanity.

Because humans are evil, selfish, lazy, have lost their faith, and so on… there could be many reasons.

But right now, this Tower is recommending that we grow stronger quickly by doing evil things.

Of course, it's possible that after we clear Floor 2, we'll be judged again, just like in the Tutorial. There's a chance that those who climb the Tower while maintaining an honest and good attitude will receive a fitting reward.

But… What if that's not the case?

What if the judgment only happens after you've climbed all 66 floors?

What if the madmen who enjoyed committing terrorism against civilians in the real world were the very talents best optimized to become the strongest in the Tower the fastest?

What if the god's stance is something like, ‘It's true that the bad guys get stronger faster, but that's just part of the trial. If humans were good, they would have helped each other and climbed up just fine~’?

Humanity would be unable to avoid its destruction.

Finally, the structure of the plaza.

The alleyways of the plaza are extremely narrow. So narrow that if three people were to block it with their bodies, it would be impossible to pass.

It’s designed so that those who finally manage to sell their conscience for a gold sigil will ultimately get stopped by other thugs blocking the way.

There's a saying about crabs in a pot. The story goes that if you put a bunch of crabs in a pot, the ones trying to escape will be pulled back down by the others, and in the end, not a single crab can get out.

“Hmm…”

To be honest… It seems like a hopeless situation, but there is a solution.

I could just persuade a couple of residents to get rid of the guys blocking the path with their bodies, since violence between residents and players is allowed.

But would ordinary residents really be willing to help someone who obtained a gold sigil by sacrificing other residents?

It's a tangled and twisted situation. At times like this, it's best to tackle the problem right in front of you.

"You're the one who guided me earlier, right?"

"Ah... yes. That's me."

"Follow me."

First… I decided to go back to Baron Licht, the one who gave me my first task.

“Hm? Where did Miss Emily go, and why have you returned alone?”

Baron Licht, who was leisurely enjoying coffee and reading a book in the reception room, looked up at me.

Without answering, I strode forward in a single breath and swung my sword, still in its scabbard, at Baron Licht.

“Heh heh… to think that it's useless… Gack!”

Baron Licht was in the middle of creating something like a protective barrier in the air with a wave of his hand, but my scabbard smashed through the barrier and struck his head, causing him to pass out before he could finish his sentence.

“…So he was a pretty tough bastard.”

The power I felt for a moment was quite formidable. If we had fought head-on, I would have regressed nine times out of ten. I was only able to finish him in one blow because he let his guard down.

“…Let's see here.”

When I rummaged through the unconscious man's clothes, various perverted items that no normal adult male would carry came tumbling out, but that wasn't what I was interested in.

“…Found it.”

I finally found two glittering platinum sigils on his hip and a flat golden box in his breast pocket.

“…Is it over?”

A man walked cautiously into the room, watching my reaction. It was the same resident who guided me when I first came to this street.

“Is this what you were looking for?”

“…Yes. That's right. It's a sigil creation box… that only residents can use.”

The resident took the flat golden box I held out and gave a small nod.

“With this… I can create gold sigils as I please.”

He then took out a silver box of the same design from his pocket and shoved it into the clothes of the unconscious Baron Licht.

“Then… as promised…”

“Yes. I will assign normal tasks from now on. Not tasks to satisfy someone's perverted desires… but tasks that will genuinely help the climbers grow. This madness should have been stopped a long time ago anyway.”

This was the solution I had come up with. Replace the noble with someone else and guide them to issue more normal tasks.

Back when I was being guided through the streets… This resident had treated me kindly and had shown a rational side.

If this man took Baron Licht's place, people would no longer need to harm residents to obtain a gold sigil.

“Ugh… ughhh…”

“For now, start thinking about what kind of tasks you'll assign in the future. I'm going to go dump this guy outside.”

“Please do.”

I grabbed Baron Licht's feet and dragged him out of the reception room.

“Kuk… ughh…”

As his head scraped against the hallway floor, Baron Licht seemed to regain consciousness, struggling to open his eyes.

“Hey. You should have been a bit kinder. What's with the kidnapping? Kidnapping, really.”

If I replace all the other nobles in the same way, people will be able to grow stronger without having to commit evil acts anymore.

Since they say this is a Tower built by a god who was disappointed in humanity… just preventing further evil acts can be considered a significant achievement.

If I dismantle the structure of this Tower, which forces ordinary people to commit sins, one piece at a time, there's bound to be some sort of result.

The things I need to think about now are the path-blocking in the plaza, the hidden rewards… and the beggars.

I felt the need to investigate why the beggars are living the lives of beggars.

“Heh… hehehe…”

My thought process, which had been busily working on a plan, came to a halt at the sound of Baron Licht's laughter.

“What are you laughing at?”

“You are not the first. To have had such thoughts.”

“…?”

The man's tone had changed. It wasn't the speech of a noble… but a polite and courteous one.

“Have you heard the saying that the position makes the man? Do you think I was a sex-crazed son of a bitch from the start? It just… happens naturally. Because that is the will of God.”

“…”

“Look behind you.”

When I slowly turned my head… the kind town resident was standing outside the reception room.

A vile smile was playing on his lips.

“Baron Licht may have been careless… but I will not be. I just saw your full power, after all.”

Dozens of orbs of light floated behind the resident's head, and a thick protective barrier enveloped his body.

“…This is just absurd.”

Do I have some kind of gene that makes me get betrayed? I let out a deep sigh and charged at the thing that was once a town resident.

I struggled as best as I could… but it was impossible from the start to perfectly counter something I was seeing for the first time in my life, called 'magic'.

[You have taken damage.]

[Returning to the moment of first entry on Floor 2.]

“This is annoying.”

The situation is endlessly complicated. There are tons of hidden circumstances behind the scenes.

In the first place, the very idea that a person is recalibrated to fit the sigil they obtain is just forced.

“It's just fucked up.”

I'm… trying my best to find the best possible answer, but…

Right now, everything just feels hopeless.

What even is the right answer here?

Am I supposed to overcome this situation through good deeds? What the hell do you want me to do?

I'm not a genius. I'm not a politician. And I'm definitely not a hero. I'm just… an ordinary person who happens to have the ability to regress.

It felt like all these suspicious and seemingly meaningful setups were popping up one after another, urging me on by saying, ‘Why don't you try solving this one too?’.

Regressing tens, maybe hundreds of times here to find the right answer.

And then regressing hundreds more times on the next floor to find the right answer there too.

Just imagining it makes my head throb. I can feel the stress eating away at my mind.

Setting a goal… taking it one step at a time…

I'm tired of all that now.

“…I'm just going to do whatever the hell I want.”

For the first time since coming to the Tower.

I decided to entrust myself not to reason, but to emotion.

Footnotes:

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