Regression is Too Much - Chapter 50

WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 050

──────

Choi Ji-won is too strong (1)

The core of the plan I've set up this time is to draw attention.

I have to completely disrupt the master of the city’s nerves. I have to create an environment where she cannot concentrate.

To rattle the nerves of the master of the city, who says to fight her if you’ve got a problem, there’s probably no more ideal method than to actually fight her.

And of course, I cannot fulfill that role. I'll just regress if I get hit by a single bolt of lightning. The option of me fighting directly is impossible from the start.

But they say the virtue of a great leader is not to be good at everything, but to make good use of people who can do those things well.

If I can't fight, then I just need to find someone who will fight in my place.

And as far as I know, the strongest human among those who have not yet come up to Floor 2 is Choi Ji-won.

The poignant conversation we shared in the clearing in the past is stuck in a corner of my heart, so I'm also a little reluctant to face her… but it can't be helped.

There's no alternative. What am I supposed to do?

But how can I just wait indefinitely, not knowing when Ji-won will come up? I did this because I have a plan for that, too.

First of all, it is incredibly easy to hold out on the 2nd floor.

The silver-grade residents are faithful to their work itself because of the compulsory force.

And perhaps because there's nowhere to spend the money even if they earn it, or because they lack the free will to use it, they don't have much interest in money. The majority of places provide all services for free.

I've never been outside the city, but they say the resources are tremendously abundant… so I can understand why they have no will to demand payment.

What does this mean? It means it's possible to dine and dash.

Food? I can just go into any random restaurant and eat.

Clothes? If I go into any clothing store, they’ll give me permission to take whatever I like.

Sleep? There's an inn in this city. Of course, since there's no floating population, no one comes and goes from the inn, so it’s just collecting flies… but it still exists. If I want to sleep, I can sleep.

The entire environment is optimized for holding out. If it were a perilous environment like the tutorial, I wouldn't have dared to wait for Ji-won either.

When I reviewed the plan in my head, I felt it was perfect.

In two months, Ji-won will succeed in climbing Floor 10.

If that's the case, then the calculation is that she'll enter the 2nd Floor within a month, at the latest. There's no possibility of having to hold out for years.

"Alright, then…"

I found a spot in a corner of the clearing, squatted down, and began to watch the people being summoned.

When are you coming, Ji-won?

If possible… I'd like it if you came quickly.

"…"

The sun was slowly starting to set.

There was still no sign of Ji-won. I could only learn the useless piece of information that mostly Asians were summoned during the daytime, and as time passed, the proportion of Westerners increased.

I guess it's probably because time is different on Earth depending on where you live, but the Tower's time is fixed.

"Shall I go to sleep now?"

When darkness fell and I began to feel drowsy, I made my way to the inn. I don't plan on sleeping for long. I don't think Ji-won will come to the 2nd floor during the dawn hours by Korean standard time… but you never know.

My long wait was just beginning.

"Hyung-nim, what's with that punk over there?"

"I don't know. He's just over there like that every day. Just ignore him. Just watch and see if any bastard carrying a gold sigil shows up. Haa~ damn it. I heard the dawn shift is the real sweet spot."

"The dawn shift?"

"If you got a gold sigil, would you come during the day or at dawn? They say the success rate is much better at dawn."

A week passed.

Ji-won had not yet arrived.

The biggest problem with doing nothing was overcoming the boredom.

Scanning the faces of the people arriving on the 2nd floor and checking if Ji-won was there was a terribly uninteresting task.

"But do you think this gold sigil is really meaningful? I'm not even sure if the reward is that much different…"

"Hey. You really don't know shit, do you? Rumors about the 'magic potion' have already spread all over the underworld. I only recently found out it came from the Tower… but anyway, it's a huge craze these days. Do you know that rich old geezers are buying up every single item that comes out of the Tower these days?"

"...Is it that serious?"

"I'm from Detroit, you know? Potions are the hottest thing right now. Especially the low-grade ones, you can't even get them with money. You think I came to the 2nd floor for no reason? If I take this back, my life will be set, I'm telling you. I can buy a truckload of women. You can't make women on the 1st floor, after all."

"That's true…"

But it seemed to be the same for the thugs blocking the alleyway, as they didn't rest their mouths for a moment.

Come to think of it, that's how it is. How could they wait here endlessly, not knowing when a punk carrying a gold sigil would show up?

Me too. And the thugs too. In the end, we had to win the battle against ourselves.

At least the guy blocking the street near me was a good talker, so I wasn't bored for a while, but that also had its limits.

I think this is harder than fighting to the death with goblins.

Ji-won. When are you coming…

Two weeks passed.

Last evening, the black man David, who had been acting friendly towards me, cleared the 2nd floor with a gold sigil.

What did he do about the guys blocking the way, you ask?

"Alright, alright, move aside. I brought four sigils, you see. We're all supposed to help each other out, right?"

"Oh, ooh…"

He bribed them with sigils. It probably took him about two weeks because it took a long time to prepare enough gold sigils to silence the guys blocking the way.

"It took a while because of those NPC bastards getting in the way… but I was on the football team. When you play a game, you have to win, don't you?"

David had a triumphant expression like a running back who had scored a touchdown.

I debated whether to say something… but I felt it was meaningless, so I gave up.

Ji-won. When are you coming? I'm really going to go crazy at this rate.

Two and a half weeks passed.

Koreans were seen from time to time, but I still didn't see any familiar faces.

Because of that, I couldn't overcome my boredom and got acquainted with the thugs blocking the alley near where I had settled. (The guys who were chattering before had long since extorted a gold sigil and cleared. They called it 'graduating'.)

I asked them something I had been curious about for a while.

The bastard who made the Tower in the first place had publicly declared he would judge humanity, and he actually showed that in the tutorial.

I asked why, despite that, they still commit evil deeds…

The answer was more shocking than I expected.

"Well… someone else will probably do something about that judgment. In the first place, no one expects me to clear all 66 floors. Isn't it okay for at least one guy like me to live like a bastard? It's not like I'm the only one doing this."

One person with the mindset of ‘it’s just me’.

"The judgment, that's over, isn't it? Then I've paid the price, right? What? What if there's another judgment later? Then… I'll just give up some stats or whatever. Isn't it okay as long as I pay the price?"

One person with the mindset of committing evil acts in return for paying the price.

"I just don't think about it? My life is already fucked anyway… so we all just get fucked together."

One person who just doesn't think at all.

"…"

The Earth is wide.

On a global scale, are there more good people or more bad people?

Are there more educated people or more uneducated people?

I came to think that it was somewhat natural that crime never ceases throughout the world.

When too much power is given to an individual, it's inevitable that things turn into chaos.

I really need to climb the Tower quickly.

Three weeks passed.

After a long wait… I was finally able to face a familiar face.

"It's been a while… or should I say that."

That's right.

The person everyone was waiting for.

If this world were a novel and I were a reader, the person whose reunion I would have anticipated.

A person who holds a righteous heart.

The person walking towards me with a dignified stride, extending a handshake.

"Good to see you. Do you happen to remember me?"

It was the middle-aged firefighter, Park Cheol-jin.

"Thank you for everything during the tutorial. Thanks to you, my life was saved…"

"…"

"At first I suspected I was dreaming… but it turned out I wasn't the only one who had the same experience. The fact that we can create a portal to the 1st floor at any time, too… I've come to accept it to some extent now."

"..."

"Doing the tutorial together, and now the 2nd floor together... I think this might just be fate. Ah, have you been on the 2nd floor for long? There doesn't seem to be any immediate threat... but the mission objective hasn't appeared yet."

I was glad to see him.

I was glad, but… it would have been better if it was someone I was even gladder to see.

Becoming dejected, I unwittingly clamped my mouth shut.

"Excuse me, there are many things I want to ask and many things I want to say… but there is someone who is supposed to come. Ah, she's here."

The firefighter Park Cheol-jin turned his body and looked towards the center of the plaza.

Thud. Thud.

From the direction he was looking, a woman was walking towards this place.

"...What are you doing here? Looking like that."

A swaying ponytail. A familiar style of sword.

As I slowly turned my head, the face from my memory was staring intently at me.

Those cold eyes were gazing at me.

"...Thank you for your help in the tutorial."