Regression is Too Much - Chapter 67

WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 067

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The Regressor accepts his fate (3)

A regressor is inevitably forced to lie often and there is a simple way to give those lies a sense of credibility.

“This passage… isn’t it suspicious?”

Just spouting some plausible-sounding nonsense.

And at the same time, infusing it with heartfelt emotion. I think my acting skills, at least, have improved remarkably from repeating the tutorial.

“Until now, all the passages had torches hanging on the walls. They were bright and easy to see. But this place… for some reason, it’s completely dark.”

I already know the result.

It means I already know that if we walk down this dark passage, a stone gate will appear, and beyond that lies a mirror maze.

“I believe this is a clue that the next trial will be related to ‘sight.’ It’s hinting that we shouldn’t trust what we see in front of us.”

In other words, I just need to attach a process to the result. It’s not difficult to cook up a convincing story.

“So, if there is an end to this passage… how about we all proceed while wearing blindfolds? I think there’s a high probability it’s a gimmick related to ‘sight,’ and I believe we can overcome it by covering our eyes.”

Of course, it only seems plausible on the surface, but the evidence for it is ridiculously weak. It was simply a suggestion of, ‘There are no torches from here on out, so should we go with blindfolds on?’

“…I’m not convinced.”

Of course, it’s understandable that she isn’t convinced. Because it’s literally nonsense.

It’s also impossible to get away with it easily using the Awe trait like in the tutorial. In my experience, the stronger a person was, the less likely the trait was to work on them. Choi Ji-won never once had the Awe trait activate on her.

This means I have to make them believe that something, which from a common-sense perspective is completely ridiculous, is possible.

But there is a simple way to give nonsense credibility.

Snap.

The nonsense just has to be right every time.

[You have taken damage.]

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

“…Hmm. I think there will be weapons after this. Judging by the pattern here…”

“A goblin will pop out around here. The cave’s formation is artificial.”

“Looking at the shape of this cavern, I think there’s a monster. It’s probably… a wolf, I’d say. Given the symbolism of wolves in primitive civilizations.”

Three times.

I spouted nonsense a total of three times, and all of it turned out to be true.

“Ooh…”

“As expected…”

As a result, my meaningless nonsense gained a sense of authority. Simply for the sole reason that I had been right several times.

As a result, my ‘vision trial theory’ also gained credibility.

“…But, wouldn’t it be dangerous to wear blindfolds?”

“We all have a sense for presence, don’t we? If something happens, we can just take them off. Here, I’ll tear up my leather armor to make blindfolds.”

“…”

Su-hee put on the blindfold with an expression that said she couldn’t believe it, but she would trust me just one more time since I’d been right so far.

“Ah, Chan hyung-nim? Could you lend some of your killing intent to Gyeong-jun-nim… Just in case. You know what I mean, right?”

“…”

And so, after Gyeong-jun’s Spirit Descent was complete and everyone had finished putting on their blindfolds.

“Alright, please place your palms on the door! You must not take off your blindfolds until I say so!”

Rumble.

We each placed a palm on the stone gate and opened the closed door.

“…”

Convinced that every possible preparation was complete, I…

Slip.

Slyly took off my blindfold.

I had intentionally tied the leather covering my eyes loosely. Although I said we shouldn’t look ahead, I didn’t know what might happen if I really couldn’t see.

“…I heard something.”

“…”

But the native warrior possessing Gyeong-jun’s body must have even heard the sound of the leather, as he began to perk up his ears sensitively. What a beast-like fellow.

“…Let’s go in now. You must hold onto my shoulder tightly.”

We held onto each other’s shoulders like students playing train and slowly headed into the mirror maze.

“…Smooth, and cold. Like a mirror that confounds the soul of a warrior…”

Instead of grabbing my shoulder as I’d told him, Gyeong-jun was touching the mirror standing next to him with one hand..

“No, no, there’s no way. Why would a mirror suddenly appear in an underground cave? It’s probably obsidian or something like that, don’t you think?”

“Strange…”

I tried my best to explain it away, but the man didn’t let go of his suspicion and kept stroking the mirror.

“…”

Seeing that Gyeong-jun, who touched the mirror, was fine, it seemed it wasn’t the kind of trap that activates upon contact.

“Hoo…”

Still, I managed to stop Gyeong-jun from freaking out. For now, there was no obstacle to clearing this maze.

Now, there were two main variables to consider.

First, the inherent gimmick of this mirror maze.

And second… Gyeong-jun himself.

But I could think about the latter later. It wouldn’t be too late to think about it after clearing the maze first.

“Well then, let’s go.”

And so, our party, with leather straps wrapped tightly around our eyes, plunged into the mirror maze.

How long did we walk through the mirror maze?

Whoosh.

An eerie wind brushed past.

I was steadily walking through the maze using the wall-following method.

“…”

Walking through a mirror maze where my reflection is endlessly repeated is no ordinary ordeal. I couldn’t tell which way was a passage and which was a wall, and a single movement was repeated dozens of times, making my brain feel like it was being jumbled up.

“…Gulp.”

Was it because my brain was fatigued?

Just now… it felt as if my reflection in the mirror had moved.

It seemed to have lifted the corners of its mouth, forming a chilling smile.

But thinking about it with common sense, there’s no way a mirror could move.

It must be my imagination, right?

“…”

I learned from countless horror movies that if I just brushed it off thinking, ‘It’s probably my imagination~’, I would die.

Besides, this maze is part of the Tower. It’s a space where anything could happen. It’s the right call to raise my guard rather than let it down.

As I walked with my senses sharpened.

“Junho-nim.”

“…What is it? Su-hee-nim?”

Su-hee suddenly spoke to me. I had repeatedly warned her not to talk inside the maze. It must be something really urgent.

“Pardon? Me?”

But Su-hee tilted her head as if she had no idea what was going on, even though she was the one who had spoken.

“…Didn’t you just call my name?”

“No? Did I?”

“…”

Right. So this is how it’s going to be.

Let’s see just how long you keep up this horror atmosphere. If you’re going to be this blatant about it, I have a plan too.

The moment I grit my teeth and stared wide-eyed.

“…”

Just now, I made eye contact with myself in the mirror.

The thing stared at me with somewhat vacant eyes, and then.

Grin.

It smiled brightly. So brightly that it gave anyone watching the creeps.

By the time the corners of the smiling thing’s mouth stretched grotesquely, almost reaching its ears.

“Hahahahahahaha!!!”

It charged straight at me.

“I knew it.”

But I was already mentally prepared. When it’s a mirror maze, there are only a few possible gimmicks.

Usually, a common gimmick is one that pulls the person who touches the mirror into a mirror world, and a monster from that flipped world pretends to be that person.

This case was the same. The moment I made eye contact with my reflection in the mirror, it means I had already predicted that it would attack.

“Hup!”

Slice!

I naturally dodged the sharp claws it swung by a paper-thin margin, and conversely aimed for an opening and slit its throat.

“Easy.”

A shoddy horror atmosphere like this can’t shake the steel-like mind of a regressor. If the archangel intended to fluster me, they would have to prepare a more threatening trap.

The moment I flicked the blood off my sword with a confident expression.

“…?”

On the mirror wall next to me, something that should never have been seen appeared.

“…A mirror.”

“…”

It means Gyeong-jun’s eyes were visible.

“So many, mirrors…”

Gyeong-jun was standing there with a face twisted like a ferocious demon, blood trickling from between his brows.

“…”

It seemed the leather blindfold was cut by the slash the monster just swung. Should I have blocked it instead of dodging? It was a miscalculation.

“Dammit…”

I let out a sigh and gently closed my eyes.

“…Do you seek to delude me again, without ever tiring!!!”

Crash!

[You have taken damage.]

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

Clang!!!

“Keuk!”

This time, after brilliantly parrying the mirror monster’s claws, I cut its throat.

I had been avoiding blocking attacks instinctively because of the rebound force, but in a situation like this, it seems I need to know how to consciously block them too.

“Wh-what was that sound?”

“I smell blood…”

“It’s nothing. Let’s keep going.”

“I’m stepping on something mushy…”

After stepping over the mirror monster’s corpse and wandering for about 30 more minutes as a result.

“I think it’s okay to take off the blindfolds now?”

Finally, the end of the mirror maze came into view.

“…”

I put Gyeong-jun, who was staring at me with a meaningful gaze, and Chan and Su-hee, who were looking at me as if wondering if he ate something bad, behind me.

Objectively speaking, the difficulty of the mirror maze was extremely easy. Although there was a monster lurking, it wasn’t a very strong type of monster…

Except for the fact that Gyeong-jun would freak out, the difficulty was incomparably easier than the wolf monster.

“…”

Yes, that is, except for the fact that Gyeong-jun would freak out.

A certain suspicion was budding in my mind.

The suspicion that perhaps, Gyeong-jun’s freaking out was also included in the difficulty.

If that’s the case… each room might have been custom-made. I had that ominous thought.

“Uh, I see something?”

“…”

My ominous feeling reached its peak when we arrived at the next room.

A long passage stretching straight ahead.

There was no problem with visibility thanks to the densely packed torches, but the fact that it was empty bothered me.

Is another monster going to pop out? No, it’s too narrow for a monster to appear. If it’s a straight passage like this…

“…Could you all step back?”

I had the others move back before carefully taking a single step forward, and.

Click.

As soon as the sound of steel interlocking was heard.

Swoosh!

Immediately after, exactly five arrows were shot, aimed right at me!

“Son of a—!”

I had roughly expected it, so I was able to narrowly avoid the rain of arrows by leaping backward.

“…”

It seemed my ominous premonition had become a reality, and a drop of cold sweat trickled down my face without me realizing it.

This room was undoubtedly a trap room. From the ‘click’ sound just now to the rain of arrows pouring from everywhere.

In fictional works, protagonists usually endure the countless hidden weapons being thrown at them by just avoiding vital spots, barely survive, and then take care of their bodies with potions or the like…

But for me, if I get grazed even once, I regress. Since entering the 3rd floor, I had encountered the worst possible counter.

“…Hehe.”

A laugh escaped me without me realizing.

It’s true that it’s the worst counter. I know that if I were to try to overcome this place normally, I would have to slam into it hundreds, or thousands of times to clear it.

But it’s fine.

“…Chan hyung-nim.”

“What is it?”

“This path ahead, can you destroy it?”

Now, I have a cheat key of my own.

Footnotes:

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