WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 057

──────

Choi Ji-won is too strong (8)

Looking at the Archangel Raphael, dressed in flowing, white-toned clothes, I became certain of one thing.

“…So that's how it is.”

These beings are no angels. If anything, they're the minions of an evil god.

I once saw a post in a community titled 'The True Form of Angels', and according to it, angels had grotesque appearances, like a wheel within a wheel covered in eyes, or monsters with four faces and six wings.

But the angel before my eyes was a beautiful, handsome angel. Of course, there’s no way an angel from the Bible would look like this…

“You only know one side of the story!”

A baby angel, who had been vigorously blowing a trumpet, suddenly interjected, having interpreted my expression in his own way.

“The ‘grotesque form’ you’re thinking of is only one of many angelic forms! Only a very small number of angels appear in non-humanoid forms! Most angels mentioned in the Bible appear as beautiful human males! Besides, a high-ranking angel like Raphael-nim isn't bound by appearance, so he can change it at will whenever he…”

“That’s enough. You’re making the climber-nim uncomfortable.”

“Ah, I understand! Raphael-nim!”

The baby angel, who had been spouting a ton of TMI, returned to his spot and began to play his trumpet with vigor once more.

Archangel Raphael watched the baby angel for a moment before turning his head.

“It is true that I have taken on an appearance that can easily earn the favor of others. If you are uncomfortable, I will change it.”

Raphael said, smiling.

It was what one would commonly describe as a ‘gentle smile’, the kind that warmed the heart just by seeing it.

A harmless, warm, and somehow holy smile. An image of a nun caring for a newborn in an empty church flashed through my mind.

“…It doesn’t matter.”

I felt like I was about to let my guard down without realizing it, so I clenched my jaw and widened my eyes.

I had to stay sharp. Before me was a minion of the evil god who had turned Earth into a mess.

This being didn't come here with the genuine intention of congratulating me.

The current situation was, so to speak, like a critical bug appearing in a game. It was a situation akin to, ‘GM Raphael. A progress-blocking bug has been discovered. We apologize for the inconvenience.’

It’s only natural for the operator's feet to be on fire when a bug occurs. He only intervened because the 2nd floor could be completely ruined if I had ill intentions here. I must not misunderstand.

As I was burning with hostility.

“Hmm… I had many things I wanted to talk about, but it seems this isn't the right situation for it.”

Raphael, who had been staring at my face, suddenly stretched his right hand straight out.

“H-hieeek!”

“Stay still. If you have sinned, shouldn't you at least clean up your mess properly.”

And in the blink of an eye, an angel was caught by the scruff of his neck in Raphael's right hand.

It was a familiar face. It was the angel who held a placard in the plaza and explained the basic rules.

“Junho-nim. I would like to discuss changing Floor 2 now, if you are alright with it? As it stands, the 2nd floor cannot fulfill its function.”

Raphael spoke to me cordially, holding the placard angel in one hand.

“…”

Instead of answering, I gave a small nod.

As I thought, he must have come here in person because there was something he wanted. I had to be on my toes from now on.

The current situation was very positive. Ji-won had gained a lot of combat experience, all the city residents were freed, and I had even summoned an archangel who managed the Tower.

And even if I repeated the regression, I couldn't be sure that I could recreate the same situation again. I had to do my best in every moment with the mindset of ascending to Floor 3 this time.

Instead of beating around the bush, I decided to get straight to the point. This should fluster the archangel a little.

“…Change Floor 2.”

“Very well. I was planning to change the rules of the 2nd floor to some extent when the time came anyway.”

Raphael answered refreshingly, contrary to my expectations.

“The part you dislike is likely having to commit evil acts to receive good rewards, correct? I will revise the rules. The sigil boxes will be abolished… and rewards of gold grade or higher will be obtainable only by proving a certain level of strength. Ah, and by abolishing the sigil boxes, I mean that the residents will be left alone, like so-called NPCs.”

“…”

“Moreover, we will grant diamond rewards to all three individuals who were central to improving the city. The diamond sigil is a hidden reward, which means we will give you three times the amount. Originally, the principle was to grant the highest-grade reward to only one person… but this is a token of our appreciation for the wonderful strategy you showed us.”

As Raphael waved the hand that wasn't holding the angel through the air, a message window appeared before my eyes.

-Clear Condition : Complete a task given by a city resident and return to the plaza with the resident who gave the task to clear. However, you must not leave the city area. Get along with your fellow climbers!

-Additional 1: The standard for violence has been relaxed, and it is no longer possible to physically block another's movement.

-Additional 2: To receive rewards of gold grade or higher, you must solve a task given by the city's instructor. You can gain experience points in the process of solving the task.

“I will bring in a few strong individuals to act as instructors on the 2nd floor. This will be of great help to the climbers who lack combat experience. And while we’re at it, I’ve relaxed the standard for violence so that blocking paths is no longer possible. Simple contact will not be recognized as violence. Is this acceptable?”

“…”

The compromise was completely different from what I had imagined. I thought a tense tightrope walk would follow from here…

But looking at the revised rules, they were fine. They contained everything I wanted.

So fine that it was actually suspicious.

Especially the ‘instructors’ the angel mentioned… it felt like they perfectly scratched an itch I had been worrying about.

I was worried about the other people who hadn't been able to build up their levels and combat experience because I had cleared the tutorial by myself.

I could feel a great deal of goodwill from Archangel Raphael. I didn't know if that emotion of ‘goodwill’ was the same as human goodwill, but it was a clear fact that he was acting favorably towards me.

It had been that way since Floor 1. It provided all sorts of convenient facilities. If one just had the will to train, its applications were literally endless.

Floor 2 outright banned violence between climbers, so there was no threat of death unless you committed a crime.

“…What are you thinking?”

And to me, that goodwill felt itchy and awkward, like wearing a stiff, woolen sweater.

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Hmm…”

Raphael closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then slowly opened them and looked straight at me.

“I believe you are misunderstanding something… The 2nd floor is a floor designed entirely for all of you. To be precise, it is a floor created to inspire the climbers’ will to resist and their desire to move forward. It was designed to be unreasonable from the start.”

“…What?”

“What do you think it means for there to be a hidden achievement? Have you ever thought it was strange that the master of the city would go around with her weakness dangling from her waist?”

“…”

“It seems you understand.”

After calming down and thinking it over carefully… Raphael’s words were true.

To have doubts about Floor 2's unreasonable system, and to have the will to change it.

If one carefully followed the clues scattered here and there… it was true that it was designed to eventually lead to the master of the city.

Besides, if the master of the city hadn't carried the pouch containing the sigil box dangling at her waist.

If she had kept the box deep inside her armor, in her bosom.

There would have been no way to defeat her at all. She was a powerhouse that even the ridiculously overpowered Ji-won couldn't dare to resist. It was right to assume there was no possibility of winning in a head-on fight with such a strong opponent.

This meant that Raphael’s words were not just nonsense spouted to escape a crisis.

However, there was no guarantee that it was the complete truth either. Don’t they say that mixing a little lie with the truth works best?

“Even knowing I will be hated by you all, I will still give. Human love is conditional, because it is an equal love. But a god's love is a descending love. It is possible to love, even without conditions.”

Raphael said, spreading his arms and smiling gently. He was claiming that everything he did was, in fact, for the sake of humanity.

“…”

Perhaps because I held suspicion in my heart, I felt a slight sense of incongruity from his smile, unlike before. Should I call it awkward?

As I thought, these beings were hiding something. Just because they wear white clothes and have a handsome appearance doesn't mean they can all be trusted.

But instead of pointing that out, I decided to change the subject. It was wise to act as if I were somewhat persuaded for now.

“But… What about the city residents?”

Archangel Raphael had created the environment of the 2nd floor where the city residents were bound to suffer.

He had just spouted a bunch of nonsense about loving humanity, yet the residents were being treated worse than street livestock. His words didn't add up.

The corners of Raphael’s mouth stiffened slightly.

He pondered for a moment, then spoke in the gentle, admonishing voice of a teacher.

“Junho-nim. Just because they have the same appearance, doesn't mean they are the same kind of people.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Just as I am not human despite taking a human form, they too are not the same humans, despite their appearance. It's complicated to explain in depth… but they are beings of a much lower status than you climbers.”

“…”

“I will not force you not to give them your affection. But, that’s just how it is, you know?”

I wanted to ask who decided such a ‘status’, but the answer was clear even without asking.

God must have decided it.

Everything that happens in this Tower must have been induced by that bastard of an omnipotent god.

What on earth could that being's intention be? Was giving me the Regression ability also the god's intention?

While my head was bowed from the complexity of my thoughts, Raphael turned his steps and slowly moved away from me.

“Well then, it seems our business is all concluded… I will wake the others. This has been a fruitful time, Junho-nim.”

“…”

I clenched my teeth, my gaze fixed on the floor.

Right, the god's intentions and all that. Let’s set aside problems that have no answer even if I think about them.

I was just so utterly disgusted by the fact that I had been played by them from beginning to end.

The creation of the Tower was according to the God's will. The 2nd floor was all according to Archangel Raphael's will. Perhaps even my Regression ability was according to the God's will.

Looking at it this way, was I not a puppet who danced on a stage, no different from the city residents?

Heat rushed to my head.

Was it recklessness born from a regressor's ignorance of the fear of death, or was it because of my inherently hot-headed nature?

“You… you better be prepared. Is it even acceptable to just drop off a report and run away?”

“Hiek…”

“Wait.”

I had a thought that I couldn't let Raphael go just like this.

“What is it?”

Raphael, who was about to step into the pillar of light with the placard angel still in his hand, stopped and looked back at me.

“Hand it over.”

“…Pardon?”

“The reward.” I said, "Give me more.”

“…”

“In the first place, the diamond reward is like a bonus you get for subduing the master of the city, isn't it? Simply giving three of them doesn’t add up. A special reward for achieving a hidden achievement. I feel it's insufficient.”

“Didn’t I change the city rules for you in return?”

“That’s because you changed the rules on your own since the 2nd floor became unplayable.”

If I could have it my way, I felt like smacking the archangel hard on the back of his head once…

But realistically, getting into a fight with an archangel here was out of the question.

I couldn't feel any aura from his body, but if you read martial arts novels, you know that when the difference in level is too great, you don't feel anything. In the first place, since he's an ‘archangel’, it’s reasonable to see him as a transcendent being.

In other words… picking a fight was the worst possible choice.

“A special reward.”

The best course of action was to accept the situation and extract the maximum possible benefit.

“Make it happen.”

Now that things have come to this.

I had no intention of stopping at just three diamond rewards.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried