Regression is Too Much - Chapter 60

WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 060

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The Regressor likes a satisfying resolution (2)

[You are entering Floor 3-5.]

“…Wake up, brat.”

The moment I heard someone's growling voice, I squeezed every muscle in my body and shot up from where I was. It seemed I had lost consciousness and was sprawled on the floor.

"...Shit."

No. This isn't right. This can't be happening. This is just unfair. This can't be real.

[You have taken damage.]

[Returning to the moment of first entry on Floor 3-5.]

“…Wake up, brat.”

“Ah.”

A sigh escaped me unknowingly, and my eyes clamped shut on their own, as if they refused to see the scene before me.

My cold, rational mind was screaming at me to accept reality and figure out a plan, but my emotions were wailing hysterically, "It's a total meltdown. Run for your life."

Anyone who has read a few web novels knows there are different kinds of infinite regression.

First, there's the type where if you die, you start over from when you were a baby.

And second, there's the type where the save point gets updated once you meet certain conditions.

My case was the latter. After all, the condition stated, ‘You will return to the moment you first entered each floor.’

That's why I used to have a choice after clearing a floor, to either regress or to move on to the next floor and lock in the past as it was…

[Returning to the moment of first entry on Floor 3-5.]

The message I saw as I regressed was a death sentence.

It felt like the moment a military enlistment date arrived via KakaoTalk. The feeling of going to sleep after setting up crypto leverage, only to wake up and find an email confirming, ‘You have been liquidated.’ The feeling of opening an exam paper and realizing there's more you don't know than you do.

The blood drained from my face, but paradoxically, my head grew hot, the world spun around me, and my breathing became slightly ragged.

The first line from the novel ‘The Martian’ flashed through a corner of my mind.

‘I’m so fucked.’

How much time had passed?

As I was staring blankly at the stone wall, engaged in some wall-facing meditation, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Excuse me…”

The one who tapped my shoulder wasn't the owner of the earlier growling voice, but a timid man with a weak presence.

If the ‘glasses guy’ from the tutorial had a cool and smart feel, the man in front of me seemed shy. He was lanky and tall, his face was so white it was almost pale, and his voice was as quiet as an ant crawling into a hole.

“Could you come over here for a moment…? I think we should all check this together…”

His voice trembled, as if it took a great deal of courage to speak to a man who was drooling while staring blankly at a wall.

“…Of course.”

I finally grabbed hold of my senses and hesitantly got to my feet. What's done is done. What’s important is how to deal with it now.

It’s true that my save point was messed up. I was separated from Ji-won, forced to proceed through the highest difficulty alone, and even if I regressed, I would return not to the moment I first entered the 3rd floor, but to the moment I first entered this difficulty.

Of course, thinking about it rationally, I haven't lost that much. I just can't ride the Choi Ji-won bus anymore. All I have to do is clear Floor 3-5 on my own and grab the dazzling rewards, right?

Of course, depending on the difficulty of Floor 3-5, my future could range from a healing story to a grimdark tragedy… but I can worry about that when it happens. There's no reason to tremble with anxiety already.

“…”

I silently followed the lanky man, slowly observing the surrounding space.

This place seemed to be an extension of the cave where the five doors were.

It was a damp, dark, and narrow space where the only light sources were the torches hanging here and there.

“W-we’re here…”

After walking for a while along the narrow, winding cave path, the path suddenly widened.

It was a circular space with rounded edges, as if the cave walls had been artificially carved out. A man and a woman were waiting for us there.

“…”

Directly ahead was the rough stone gate I had touched when entering Floor 3-5…

A quick glance behind me revealed three more paths similar to the one I had just walked out of. It seemed the 3rd floor was designed for a party of four.

“…”

While I was getting a grasp of the situation, the two people who were already waiting here were silently glaring at me.

“…”

Not to be outdone, I started glaring back at the two of them, but since there were two people, figuring out where to look was a bit awkward, so I compromised by staring at a point midway between them.

“Um, uh…”

The atmosphere froze over rapidly, and just as the flustered, timid man was stammering, trying to do something in the middle.

“Hmph.”

The man glaring at me was the first to look away.

“…”

Then, the woman also slowly averted her gaze.

Just as the tense, touch-and-go atmosphere finally settled down, and the timid man was breathing a sigh of relief.

‘…Hm.’

I was busy racking my brain.

The place I am in now is the floor with the highest difficulty within the 3rd floor. Naturally, no one in their right mind would enter this place.

They're either overflowing with confidence in their skills, or they're delusional guys who think they're the protagonist and haven't grasped a sense of self-awareness… I think it's one of the two.

From that perspective, the man and woman in front of me seemed confident in their skills. Their presence, or maybe you could call it an aura. The atmosphere flowing from them is different. It's sharp, like a well-honed blade.

“Is… is everyone a bit calmer now?”

On the other hand, the timid man had so many openings it was hard to believe he was a skilled person. But then again, he didn't seem to have the kind of personality that would enter the most difficult level without any thought…

“Then… c-could you please look at this door?”

I stopped my train of thought and shifted my gaze towards the crude stone gate as the timid man suggested. There, a total of four palm-shaped indentations were carved into it.

“Ah, it seems… it probably works only when we all place our hands here together… They’re all right-hand shapes, so I don’t think one person can do multiple…”

Just as he said, the hand shapes were all for the right hand. Four humans gathered in the cave. Four palm-shaped grooves carved in front of us.

“I don’t know for sure, but… isn’t the 3rd floor a floor where we have to cooperate? Not a floor where we each get our own rewards like the 2nd floor…”

The timid man finished what he had to say, his voice trembling.

I secretly agreed with his opinion. The fact that four right hands are needed to move forward implies an intention for us to cooperate, not to fight or argue with each other.

“…”

The man and woman, who had been listening silently, also seemed to agree with that opinion, giving a small nod.

“So, so what I’m saying is… shouldn’t we know some basic information about each other…?”

Therefore, when the timid man suggested sharing basic information about each other, no one objected. We were potential competitors, but at least within the 3rd floor, we were in a position where we had to cooperate.

“First… my name is Ahn Gyeong-jun…”

“…Ahn Gyeong-jun? Are you perhaps related to Ahn Gyeong-nam…”

“Uh, uh uh… he’s my older brother… Do you happen to know him…?”

“…”

I just took a shot because the names were similar. Ahn Gyeong-nam, the glasses guy I briefly got involved with in the tutorial. His younger brother, Ahn Gyeong-jun, was the timid man in front of me.

But when he asked how we knew each other… I was at a loss for words. I had saved his life before, but that became an event that never happened because I regressed.

“Well… I know the name because a friend told me it was unusual. I guess that makes me a friend of a friend.”

“Ah, aha… It’s a small world…”

After that brief moment of friendly chat, Gyeong-jun cleared his throat and continued his explanation.

“I… fight using a spear. My specialty is the javelin…”

A javelin. Not just a spear, but a javelin, which doesn't appear often even in fiction. I thought it was unusual.

And so, Gyeong-jun finished his explanation.

“My name is Kim Jun-ho. I use a sword as my weapon.”

My turn passed quickly, and then it was the turn of the woman who had been quiet the whole time.

A black bob that barely touched her shoulders. Cat-like eyes with slightly raised ends. And a slender body like a panther.

If Ji-won had a cold impression, this one was closer to a sharp impression. The kind of feeling that she gets annoyed a lot.

“…Dok Su-hee. Weapon is a dagger.”

The woman, no, Dok Su-hee, answered, her lips moving slightly.

“…”

The word ‘Dok-su-ri?’ (Korean word for “Eagle”) flashed in my mind, but I didn’t bother to say it out loud.

More importantly, a dagger. She also uses a pretty unique weapon.

From what I saw in the tutorial, over 60% of people picked up a sword, and another 35% picked up a spear…

Are the crazies who come to Floor 3-5 just that far removed from the ordinary?

The short self-introductions were now down to the last person.

“…”

A handsome face. A short sports-cut hairstyle. But the expressionless mask he wore and his deep-set, sunken eyes gave off a somewhat dangerous atmosphere.

It was the feeling of a human weapon, as if his entire body was a deadly instrument. I’m sure of it. This man is strong.

“…Name is Kang Chan. I use my fists.”

Kang Chan, with a voice that sounded like a low growl. He finished his self-introduction, leaned his back against the wall, and closed his eyes.

I remembered hearing this voice. It was the voice that spoke to me when I regressed, saying, ‘Wake up, brat.’

More importantly, Kang Chan… Kang Chan… I think I've heard that name somewhere…

“Uh, uh uh…!”

At that moment, Gyeong-jun’s eyes gradually widened, until they were as round as a startled rabbit’s.

“Kang… Kang Chan? The real Kang Chan???”

“…”

Su-hee didn’t show it, but she seemed to know the name, lightly biting her lip. Kang Chan. Kang Chan. I’m sure I’ve heard it before…

“Perhaps, the tutorial…”

“Ah.”