Regression is Too Much - Chapter 89

WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 089

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The Regressor is flustered (10)

"This is an emergency."

On the morning of the third day, all the players and the residents were gathered in the courtyard before the castle.

Everyone's eyes were on me, and I felt their gazes naturally.

"Everyone, please open your status windows."

-73 : 11 : 41

The timer had gone down overnight. A full two days had passed since we arrived at this castle.

"What about the time?"

As someone tossed out the question, I gently stepped aside.

“Gyeong-nam-nim. Please explain.”

“Ahem. Ah, as you all may know, our search party found a suspicious library on the first floor. Inside, there were countless books. Most of them were either novels about a hero's journey or specialized books on things like farming, but...”

While Gyeong-nam stood before everyone and went on explaining 'how they found the secret library'.

“…Joong-hyun-nim.”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you have anyone you can trust?”

“…I have about two people.”

“Then that's four of us, including me. After the meeting is over, quietly bring them.”

“…Understood.”

I gave a heads-up to Joong-hyun, the man with the narrow eyes, and by then, Gyeong-nam's story was mostly finished.

“Only after figuring out the language were we able to read this red text. The book said this. The moment the remaining past and the future to come become the same, you will all realize once again that you are going to die.”

“Alright, thank you for your hard work, Gyeong-nam-nim.”

As soon as Ahn Gyeong-nam finished talking, I stepped to the front again.

“You're probably wondering what kind of nonsense this is. We were the same at first. But after carefully analyzing the sentence, we were able to reach the following conclusion.”

The remaining past and the future to come being the same means the moment when there are exactly 60 hours left.

And the sentence about realizing once again that everyone will die is a hint that something is going to happen.

It's an intuitive interpretation, and what needs to be done is also clear.

“From now on, we will barricade not only the castle walls but also the entrances to the castle itself. Let's keep all possibilities in mind and prepare for the coming disaster.”

To survive.

All the humans on the 4th floor were divided into roughly three groups.

“We're short on stones.”

“Just patch it up with whatever. We don't have time.”

First, the people blocking the entrances to the old castle.

The old castle had a total of six entrances, and after much deliberation, we decided to block five of them.

If something were to happen inside the castle, this would be a foolish choice, but we had no intention of being inside the castle when the fateful hour arrived.

“You've checked the weapons here, right?”

“Yes. That's right.”

Second, the people re-checking the things we currently had, including weapons and food supplies.

Although Gyeong-nam predicted that 'something would happen', quite a few people didn't believe it. And not believing Gyeong-nam's words was the same as having no motivation.

“It's not a difficult job. Just be precise. Let's finish early and rest early.”

“…Got it.”

These people lacked motivation, but they weren't entirely clueless. They knew that if they slacked off while others were working hard, they could earn some grudges.

And finally, the third group.

“Joong-hyun-nim. Something is loose here.”

“Ah, that's just old.”

The third floor search party, which included Yoon Joong-hyun, myself, and two players I didn't know.

I had told Joong-hyun yesterday that there was no need to search the third floor, but that was just a choice to maintain the status quo. A choice to see the end of the floor without incident. However, since the situation had come to this, I had no intention of acting according to the original plan.

“Ah, something is here.”

Rumble.

When I gently pulled a torch hanging on the wall, the wall rotated, revealing a hidden space.

“This is…”

A large box was sitting there alone. I opened the box right away, but there was nothing inside.

“We'll have to look into it more, but for a third floor, this is worse than the second. Is this all?”

Joong-hyun shrugged, making light of the situation.

“…”

Some kind of unknown reward had appeared… but I was secretly relieved.

I don't fully trust Joong-hyun. If a portal had appeared here, I couldn't be sure that he wouldn't have entered it immediately.

I felt it was better that such a thing didn't happen.

“Let's continue searching. We might find something else.”

After memorizing the location where we found this box, we meticulously searched the 3rd floor for the remaining time.

But in the end, we found nothing.

Finally, the fateful hour was approaching.

“Does the moon not rise here normally?”

“I think it rose yesterday…”

A night so dark you couldn't see an inch in front of you without a torch.

99 players and about 300 otherworlders stood on the castle walls. (One player was said to have fled outside the castle.)

“Alright, just act as you were previously notified.”

If something were to happen, there were three main possibilities.

First, something swarms in from outside the castle.

Second, something swarms out from inside the castle.

Third, something that previously looked like a person transforms into a monster and attacks.

After considering these three possibilities, we came to the paradoxical conclusion that the safest place was on top of the castle walls.

The personnel arrangement was simple.

The players would stand one by one on the castle wall, spaced apart, to guard the exterior.

By guarding the exterior, they could prepare for an external attack, and since they were on the wall, they wouldn't be caught by a surprise attack from inside the castle, and with the spacing, they wouldn't be immediately taken down if someone transformed.

“Should we just stand here?”

“The Baron-nim and his escort should come up.”

Instead, the otherworlders decided to stand below the castle wall, in the courtyard. There were more of them, and they were also a potential threat to us.

It was agreed that if monsters burst out from inside the castle, the players would immediately come down from the walls to subdue them.

"Is everyone ready?"

Like that, everyone took their positions in sequence.

“…It's almost time.”

-60 : 03 : 10

The sand in the hourglass steadily trickled down. Three minutes. Two minutes. One minute.

-60 : 00 : 00

When the fateful time finally arrived.

“…!”

“…”

Everyone stopped even breathing as they scanned their surroundings.

Was something visible outside the castle walls? No.

Were there any signs of something coming out from inside the castle? That wasn't it either.

Then, were there any omens of someone transforming into a monster? There was nothing like that.

A silence of about 30 seconds followed, but the players' keen senses detected nothing.

“…”

Just as the thought, 'Isn't it just going to pass?' started to surface in everyone's minds.

“W-wait a moment.”

Gyeong-nam said to me, his eyes trembling.

“What's wrong?”

“I can… I can feel it…”

Gyeong-nam spoke, pointing toward the horizon. He must have been incredibly surprised, as his glasses were crooked.

“…The name of my trait… is 'Analysis Complete'.”

“…”

“And according to my trait… something is coming from that direction. I can't get a detailed analysis, but…”

“…That way?”

Everyone looked in the direction Gyeong-nam was pointing, but with no moon in the sky, nothing was visible.

“Sir Thomas. Can you see anything? Aren't you naturally gifted with good eyesight?”

Baron George asked, placing a hand on the shoulder of his guard, Sir Thomas.

“I can see it, but it's not very clear. Please wait a moment.”

Sir Thomas replied in a stiff tone, then narrowed his eyes and peered into the darkness beyond.

How much time had passed like that?

“…There are waves.”

“What?”

Thomas suddenly spouted nonsense.

“It's so dark that I can't see well either. But… there are waves.”

“…”

Everyone stared intently at Thomas's face, wondering if it was a joke, but he was completely serious.

In this severe cold where snow flurries were flying and ears were turning bright red, waves were suddenly crashing? Did that even make sense?

“…A magical wave?”

“Does something like that exist?”

“It should be possible since it's magic…”

“…Is that so?”

While some players were spouting nonsense, having a meaningless conversation.

“Step aside. I need to focus. That's the right direction, isn't it?”

The woman with the prominent chin walked out with confident steps.

It was the same woman who had previously argued point by point, 'Why should we join forces with the otherworlders?'

“Hmph…!”

She stepped to the front, raised both hands above her head, and closed her eyes.

The woman's already prominent chin jutted out even further, and her face turned red. Objectively, it was a rather funny sight, but no one was laughing.

“Oh, ooh…!”

Because a large fireball had begun to form above the woman's hands.

“Hnnnnngh…!”

The fireball, which was only fist-sized at first, instantly grew larger than a person's head, and now it was practically the size of a gym ball.

It wasn't a size you could call gigantic, but the power contained in the fireball was extraordinary. An average player would not be able to survive a hit from that thing.

“Watch… carefully…! I'm… throwing it… as a… flare…”

The woman, who had been struggling to speak, finally stretched her arms straight forward. At the same time, the large fireball began to fly, cutting through the cold night air.

Whoooosh.

“Whoa!”

“That's so badass.”

The large fireball flew fiercely toward the horizon, fueled by the awe of the players.

The fireball rushed onward, illuminating its surroundings, but…

“See anything?”

“There's nothing but snow on the ground…”

Even though the gym ball-sized fireball had moved so far away that it looked like a grain of millet, nothing was yet visible.

“Hmm…”

“Hmph…”

Just as doubtful gazes started to turn towards Gyeong-nam.

BOOM.

Having finally reached its destination, the fireball exploded spectacularly, its role fulfilled.

“Geez, what was all that fuss about.”

“Let's just go to sleep. I'm getting sleepy.”

“I want some chicken, fuck.”

The relaxed players finally started joking around. They had made such a huge fuss as if something was there, but when they looked, there was nothing at all.

“Hey… hyung-ssi. Let's go. We're cold.”

The players urged me on with smiles.

But for some reason, I stood there motionlessly, frozen like a stone statue.

No, it wasn't just me. All of the so-called 'heavy hitters', including Sir Thomas and Yoon Joong-hyun, showed no sign of moving from their spots.

“…What is it? Why are you acting like that?”

A player who finally realized something was wrong carefully asked me.

“…Waves.”

And I muttered the incomprehensible word.

In truth, I was confident. Confident that if my 'Hero' trait fully activated, I could defeat whatever came my way.

“Gather everyone on the castle walls.”

But when the fireball had just exploded, I had seen it.

At first, I thought it was a real wave. It was wide enough to fill the horizon, and its constant writhing resembled a wave.