Regression is Too Much - Chapter 77

WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 077

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The Regressor racks his brains (8)

It felt as if the entire situation was unfolding in slow motion.

“…!”

I urged my paralyzed, unmoving feet to rush toward Dok Su-hee.

“Traitor!!!”

Gyeong-jun, having used Spirit Descent, summoned a wooden spear with his eyes wide with rage. It seemed he had succeeded in activating Spirit Descent the moment Chan had indiscriminately unleashed his killing intent.

“…”

Just like the piece of cloth I had seen before, something materialized above Su-hee’s hand without any warning.

One was a chunk of the monster wolf's heart, and the other was a fragment from the golem we had just destroyed.

They instantly turned into light and seeped into Dok Su-hee's armor. It was the same light she showed whenever she used ‘Enchant.’

Whoosh!

“Heup!”

And at the same moment Su-hee's armor began to glow, I swung my sword with the flat of the blade.

Tap.

Dok Su-hee quickly stepped back, dodging my sword.

"?"

No matter how paralyzed I was, I hadn't expected to miss.

I had watched Su-hee through dozens, hundreds of regressions until now. I had observed her movements and watched her combat sense.

I was someone who had crossed swords with Choi Ji-won. Dok Su-hee was not strong. Her physical abilities were close to that of a normal person.

If that's the case…

My gaze naturally shifted to Su-hee's armor.

Just a moment ago, she had enchanted the monster wolf's heart and the golem's fragment. Thanks to that, it seemed her physical abilities had improved dramatically.

“Traitorrrr!!!”

But it wasn't enough for Su-hee to have just dodged my sword.

Spirit Descent Gyeong-jun threw his spear. The spear flew at a speed that was barely visible to the eye and embedded itself squarely in Dok Su-hee’s side.

Crack!

“Keuk…!”

Su-hee coughed up blood, her face contorted into a deep frown.

Whether the enchanted golem fragment was effective or not, Su-hee wasn’t torn to pieces, but her body was flung into the air and slammed against the wall. The impact knocked a torch from the wall, and the space was plunged into darkness.

“…Ugh…”

Su-hee gritted her teeth, and a low-grade potion appeared on her palm. Since it didn't have a cap to begin with, Su-hee poured it directly onto the wound.

“Bold of you to think I'll let you heal!”

Gyeong-jun, having no intention of missing this chance, stretched his right hand out to the side. He intended to resummon the spear he had thrown, just as he had done before.

“?!”

But even though Gyeong-jun extended his hand, the spear did not appear in his grasp. No, the spear that had been lodged in Su-hee's side had vanished in the first place. All that remained in its place was a hole gushing blood.

“…!”

Losing his spear, Spirit Descent Gyeong-jun was momentarily flustered, but he immediately rushed at Su-hee. I also had no intention of letting this opportunity slip by, so I forced my unmoving legs to move.

Of course… I could just regress. The moment I regress, I am granted an absolute informational advantage. But right now, I felt like I needed to subdue Dok Su-hee and hear the full story to feel any sense of relief.

I felt like I needed to hear why she betrayed us and started all this bullshit to feel at ease.

“…!”

With a face pale from blood loss, Su-hee retreated. Although she had put out the immediate fire with a potion, her condition was far from normal. She had been directly exposed to Chan's killing intent and was hit squarely by Gyeong-jun's spear.

Su-hee retreated, and Gyeong-jun and I followed.

Swish!

A dagger came flying through the darkness. It was certainly threatening, but not to the extent that I, who had passed through the trap-filled passage, couldn't block it.

“…!”

No. I hastily stopped the sword that was about to parry the dagger. It couldn't be just a simple dagger. It was probably enchanted with 'Explosion'. Hadn't I seen her use psychological warfare against the monster wolf in the past?

I reflexively twisted my body to get out of the explosion's range but

Slip.

I missed my footing, and my body was flung into the air.

“Son of a b…!”

The floor was slippery to begin with, but not so much that I would slip in a situation like this. I glanced down at the floor and saw that the cave floor was shinier than usual. It seemed Su-hee had taken some measures as she retreated.

“Ugh…”

I managed to twist my waist and land… but the soles of my shoes were already completely slick. Judging by the smell, it was oil. My attention was drawn to the dagger, and because the cave had gotten dark, I hadn't noticed it right away.

Zing.

And from the area that touched the oil, a stinging sensation gradually intensified. It seemed she had 'enchanted' the oil with paralysis poison.

“Traitorrrr!”

Gyeong-jun had also fallen for the oil trick, but he immediately kicked off his shoes and rushed at Su-hee barefoot.

No matter how much Su-hee's physical abilities had improved, they couldn't match the explosive power shown by Spirit Descent. The amount of paralysis poison was also insufficient to stop the man who was letting out a barbaric roar.

“…!”

Swish!

Su-hee tried to counter by holding daggers in both hands, but…

Whir. Spirit Descent Gyeong-jun dodged the daggers with a strange movement and, at the same time, drove his knee hard into Dok Su-hee's stomach.

Thwack!

“Heok…!”

The blow must have been tremendous as Dok Su-hee's body lifted into the air, and blood spurted from her mouth once again.

“Eugh…”

Without even thinking of summoning a potion like before, Dok Su-hee collapsed onto the floor.

“…Keuheuk.”

But Gyeong-jun was also unable to move.

His body trembled slightly, then he collapsed where he stood. The ends of his limbs were trembling minutely. It seemed the paralysis poison had spread throughout his entire body.

“…”

Looking closely, a trickle of blood was flowing from his knee. The very spot he had used to hit Su-hee.

‘…A needle, I guess.’

I had a rough idea of what happened. She must have summoned the paralysis needle she got from the trap passage onto her armor just before being hit. Thanks to the enchanted golem fragment, the needle didn't pierce Dok Su-hee, but it seemed to have dug deep into Gyeong-jun's relatively soft knee.

“Hah, hah, hah…”

Lacking even the strength to drink a potion, Dok Su-hee converted a potion into light and brought it to her body. Her leather armor, which had been glowing coldly, had now lost its color.

“Hoo, hoo…”

I too staggered to my feet and barely gripped my sword. All sensation in my body had disappeared, and my head was spinning like crazy. To put it simply, my body wouldn't listen to me. I fumbled around trying to find the elixir in my pocket, but it was impossible to even recognize what part of my body I was touching.

“…”

I glanced over at Chan, who was trapped inside the protective barrier, but…

“…The status window is sealed.”

It seemed Chan wasn't in a situation to do anything either.

“Hah, hah, hah…”

“Hoo, hoo…”

Two people, both completely battered. Their eyes met in mid-air. I stopped looking into her eyes and asked nonchalantly.

“…Is your Trait an inventory?”

“…!”

Su-hee's breathing stopped for a moment, then resumed.

She didn't answer, but… I was certain I was right.

A piece of cloth appearing out of thin air, the wolf's heart, the golem's fragment, potions, oil and the paralysis needle—you'd have to be an idiot not to notice.

The inventory is a common cliché in stories that feature a status window. You take out weapons from the inventory, store items in it, and use it conveniently in daily life.

It wouldn't be strange for Su-hee to have an inventory or a subspace.

“…Do you have two Traits? Inventory and Enchant?”

“…It's a function that comes with the inventory trait. Not a separate trait.”

Su-hee answered obediently. We were talking to each other, but our intentions were the same. To buy time and recover stamina.

“…Why didn't you use the paralysis poison on Chan?”

“…Because I thought he would notice.”

The current Chan was a shell of his former self who couldn't use his 'Fist,' but from Su-hee's perspective, he would have been the most threatening enemy.

Therefore, she must have decided to neutralize Chan first, then deal with me and Gyeong-jun. She must have judged that as long as she had the wolf's heart, the golem fragment, and the inventory ability, she had a chance of winning.

She thought Chan would notice immediately if she used the paralysis poison on him, so she only used it on me and Gyeong-jun. She probably applied the poison to the handprint grooves on the stone gate. Designating our spots was the beginning of her plan.

Furthermore, she held the meeting while we were sitting down so we wouldn't notice the poison spreading. As a finishing touch, after being hit by Gyeong-jun's spear, she put the spear in her inventory. She healed her wound with a potion, while I and Gyeong-jun were forced into close combat.

I don't know when she came up with it… but it's a fairly complete plan. And it almost succeeded.

“…”

I had many questions.

Why did she have the Goblin Shaman's protective barrier, which she seemed to have gotten from the Tutorial. Whether she brought the oil and the piece of cloth from the real world in her inventory. Whether the cheerful demeanor she had shown so far was all a lie. Why was she trying to subdue us instead of trying to kill us?

But more than that, there was something more important.

“…Why are you doing this?”

Why?

The reason, more than anything else, was what I was most curious about.

We were working together and progressing through the 3rd floor just fine.

We could have just laughed it off and shared the rewards.

So why betray us at the very end?

What reason could there possibly be to use up a valuable item to trap Chan and fight a bloody battle with me and Gyeong-jun?

“…Because it's something I have to do.”

After a moment's hesitation, Dok Su-hee gave a somewhat detached answer.

“…I don't expect to be understood. I know that I'm in the wrong. And I know how amazing the three of you are.”

“…Then why?”

“…Because I, and no one else, must be the one to clear the Tower.”

“…”

“Because I have to monopolize the rewards and become stronger. That's why I betrayed you. Even knowing it was a gamble.”

Su-hee said calmly. As she brought her trembling hand to the box in the center of the room, the box vanished into thin air.

“Hahaha…”

I couldn't help but let out a dry laugh. The reason was just so absurd.

“...You're dead.”

For a moment, I felt the urge to kill, but I slowly calmed it down. I couldn't just kill her outright.

“Here I come.”

I took one careful step after another toward Su-hee. While forcing my paralyzed body to stay upright, I didn't forget to keep my eyes wide open and stare straight ahead.

The difference between us was simple. Thanks to my achievement level, my stats were insanely high, and even while paralyzed, I could still move my body to some extent. Not to mention, my recovery speed was fast.

But Su-hee's stats seemed to be pathetic. Therefore, her recovery speed was slow, and she still couldn't move her body.

“…”

Su-hee used her inventory to spread oil on the floor, set up needles, and block my vision with a cloth, even trying to set up a rock with a golem fragment…

“It's no use.”

It was a strategy that wouldn't work on me. As long as I was aware that something might suddenly pop out of thin air, there was no reason for me to fall for it.

And so, one step, then another. The distance closed.

“You don't have something like a tank in your inventory? I think you'd need at least that to stop me.”

One step.

“Blocking my vision with the cloth was a fresh idea… but why a cloth? Wouldn't something like a thick mattress have more stopping power? I guess your inventory has a capacity limit?”

One step.

“First… Let's start with a beating. We'll talk after that.”

Finally, the moment when only a single step remained between me and Dok Su-hee.

“…Kim Jun-ho.”

“…What?”

“…Look up.”

A shadow fell over me.

“…Ah.”

When I raised my head, a large wooden box was floating above me. It was the same box Su-hee had put in her inventory earlier.

And with my paralyzed body… there was no way I could dodge it.

"Fuck."

Thud.