WeTried Translations
Translator: ZEROSUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Regression is Too Much
Chapter 076
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The Regressor racks his brains (7)
Thud!
The stone door we had entered through slammed shut. Just like that, the space became a sealed room.
“…Seriously, what the hell.”
Even the tutorial had a hidden element. There was a reward for defeating the Minotaur, which had seemed utterly impossible to beat.
The 2nd floor also had a hidden element. If you managed to subdue the master of the city, you could claim the diamond reward—a reward that was a cut above the rest.
And now, the 3rd floor had a hidden element as well. This wasn't some kind of game from a web novel, so why was some hidden whatever popping up every time we went up a floor. It was absurd.
“…”
I decided that was enough complaining about whatever god or archangel designed this tower, and I carefully looked around at the others.
“Uh, uhh…”
Gyeong-jun’s teeth were chattering, making his nervousness blatantly obvious.
“…”
Su-hee was staring intently at the red door with a hardened expression.
“…”
“…What is it?”
And then there was Chan, whose eyes met mine.
As I expected, it seemed Chan was thinking the exact same thing I was and had been observing everyone else's reactions.
The door on the right had four palms. The door on the left had one palm.
The meaning was clear.
<The Final Trial>
-You will clear Floor 3 upon passing through the door before you. However, only one person may pass through the red door. Additional rewards will be given for passing through the red door.
A message window appeared before my eyes, as if to confirm my suspicions.
After emphasizing cooperation this whole time, was it now telling us to fight each other? I couldn't shake the feeling that this was devious.
“…”
Should I just kill them all and monopolize the reward? I should probably check what the red door's reward is at least once. It's not like they won't come back to life if I regress…
No. That's not right. I need to think like a normal person. If I kill everyone here, my mental state would truly become unbearable.
I rolled my eyes and carefully read the message that had appeared right in front of me, then looked at the two doors.
Do we really have to fight? Isn't there another way?
"There is?"
There was a way.
I don't think… we have to fight.
“Excuse me… could everyone listen for a moment.”
All eyes turned to me.
“You see the message that popped up, right? The one that says only one person can pass through the red door.”
The message that appeared before our eyes clearly stated, ‘only one person may pass through the red door.’
At a simple glance, it sounded like it wanted us to fight each other. As if it wanted one person to kill the other three, take all the rewards here, and receive the additional reward before leaving the 3rd floor.
“First of all, there’s no need for us to fight. If anyone was thinking of killing everyone, you don’t have to.”
From what I had seen so far, there wasn't a single evil person among the four of us… but you never knew. I continued speaking with a faint smile on my lips.
“You don’t clear the 3rd floor as soon as you open the door. It says you clear it by ‘passing through’ the door. It doesn’t matter if the four of us open the regular door first, and then one person opens the red door.”
It was a petty play on words. They placed a blood-red door, herded people into a terrifying sealed room, and then suddenly displayed a message. It was a situation where anyone would feel rushed and become short of breath.
But I consciously thought logically, and because I had the mindset of ‘I can just regress,’ I was able to see the bigger picture. In this final room, there was no need to fight.
If the 3rd floor was cleared the moment a door was opened… then the person who wanted to go through the red door would have had to kill everyone else. The moment someone went through the red door, the other three would lose their way of clearing the 3rd floor. There was no way they would let someone enter meekly.
However, the tower set the standard as the ‘moment of passing through.’ In my opinion, this was an intentional loophole. A loophole created so they could induce people who had been cooperating until now to fight, and then argue, ‘What? You could have cleared it without fighting.’
To emphasize it once more, this Tower was built with the purpose of ‘judging humanity.’ And while it was inducing situations where people had no choice but to fight… a peaceful solution definitely existed.
“Let’s solve this rationally. First, let’s open the regular door, and then decide who will go through the red door with rock-paper-scissors or something. That should work, right?”
Everyone takes their own share of the reward. And the person who passes through the red door is decided by luck. It was a rational and reasonable solution befitting a democratic citizen.
Of course… I was planning on grinding until I became the one to enter the red door. I have to get the reward, you know.
“…I think that sounds good too!”
Su-hee nodded her head.
She approached the stone door first, then looked back at us.
“Come on, quickly.”
She urged us on with a grin.
“Alright, Chan-nim here, Gyeong-jun-nim here, and Jun-ho-nim here…”
When we first entered the 3rd floor, she seemed like the quiet type who only said what was necessary… but now she seemed more energetic than I thought.
“…Are you ready?”
And so, the four of us gathered and placed our hands on the damp stone door.
Rumble.
The stone door moved, and a blue portal revealed itself. We would be able to move from the 3rd floor if we entered that portal.
The 3rd floor was over. Now, all that remained was to decide who would get the additional reward from the ‘red door.’
"Alright, shall we do it with rock-paper-scissors?”
“Hmm… but with four people, won’t there be too many variables with rock-paper-scissors?”
“We don’t know what the reward is… but since it’s the hardest difficulty, let’s decide carefully.”
“Hmm… then how about drawing lots? But do we have anything to use for lots…”
"My legs hurt, so let's sit down and talk."
The atmosphere was friendly.
Su-hee, smiling brightly, suggested various methods.
Gyeong-jun, while looking awkward, participated actively.
Even Chan, who stood there with a blank expression, would firmly state what he disagreed with, saying, ‘I don’t think that’s right.’
It was a situation where any one of them could have gotten greedy, but there was no sign of it.
The reason was simple.
The theme of the 3rd floor was cooperation, and we had come this far by watching each other's backs. A strange sense of camaraderie had formed.
Of course, I was the one who presented the strategy by repeating my regressions… but it was the four of us who executed it.
We combined our strength to defeat the wolves and navigated the mirror maze by relying on each other’s shoulders.
The arrow trap and the golem battle were my and Chan’s solo stages… but the memory of joining forces against a common enemy called the tower doesn't just disappear.
“What is there…”
“Let’s think about it slowly, shall we? It’s not like the reward is going anywhere, right?”
The bastard who made this Tower probably wanted us to fall apart here. But they were wrong. Not all humans are complete assholes.
About 10 minutes had passed since we started our meeting.
“Alright, should we decide on the method soon? So far we have rock-paper-scissors, drawing lots, and rolling dice…”
Our meeting, where we sat in a circle and talked, was slowly coming to an end.
“Shall we stand up and talk?”
Gyeong-jun said, dusting off his trousers and getting up from his spot.
“…Huh?”
Suddenly, Gyeong-jun knelt on one knee with a look of confusion, placing a hand on the floor.
“…What’s wrong?”
The moment I, flustered, tried to approach Gyeong-jun.
“Huh??”
A large piece of cloth suddenly appeared before my eyes, blocking my vision. It didn't fly in from somewhere, nor did it rise up from the ground. It just appeared.
Slice!
It wasn't an action based on rational judgment. It was more of a spinal reflex. Without realizing it, I drew the sword from my waist and cut down the cloth blocking my view.
And the moment I cut the cloth.
Swoosh!
A dagger, holding an ominous light, came flying from beyond the severed cloth.
“…!”
I was able to dodge the dagger with my reflexes, which had been trained by going through the trap passage.
“Huh?”
But the dagger’s path wasn't aimed at me from the start. It was aimed at Kang Chan, who was behind me.
“?!”
Roar!
Kang Chan dodged the ominously shimmering dagger while emitting killing intent. An immense killing intent shot out in all directions.
But just when I thought he had dodged it, the dagger that had been aimed at Chan seemed to pass him by, then suddenly emitted a light.
Flash!
As soon as the dagger flashed, a transparent shield surrounded Chan.
The shield was made of a material like glass, and it enveloped Chan’s body in a sphere.
The design gave me a sense of deja vu. Where… where had I seen it…
“…Goblin Shaman?”
Right, the sphere that had been sealing the Minotaur had a design just like that.
Words that failed to form into thoughts flashed through my mind, and all sorts of emotions muddled my head.
But before that.
“…”
My body felt numb. My physical senses were dull, and I felt somewhat dizzy.
I recalled the sight of Gyeong-jun kneeling earlier. And Chan, who I glanced at from the corner of my eye, was fine. He was just trapped in the shield.
‘It’s not a fatal kind. It’s a paralysis poison. But it’s the type that gradually accumulates in the body.’
Those were the words Gyeong-jun had said.
A paralysis poison. Probably the same stuff that was on the needles shot in the trap passage.
But when? We passed the trap passage long ago. Did I eat something? No. Was there paralysis poison gas in the air? If so, Kang Chan should have been paralyzed too.
Did I touch… something?
But since entering this room, the only thing I had touched was…
“…The stone door.”
But why? For what reason?
I gripped the sword that kept trying to fall from my hand and slowly lifted my head.
“…”
And then, I was able to meet Dok Su-hee’s cold gaze.
At the very, very end. Right before clearing the 3rd floor.
Dok Su-hee had betrayed us.
Footnotes:
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