WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 096

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The night is too dark (5)

-16 : 12 : 55

The world was stained with the color of sunset, but the setting sun itself was nowhere to be seen. The snow was falling heavily and the sky was hazy.

“Hoo…”

I sat perched on the castle wall, looking down at the monsters. They were squirming and bickering amongst themselves, and sometimes, the way they glared at me was fierce.

What Gyeong-nam had said, strictly speaking, was not correct.

In the end, even in the tutorial, the ones who did wrong received their due punishment, and the same was true for the 2nd floor.

Moreover, the final room on the 3rd floor was not a trap as Gyeong-nam had thought. It was just that a room established with good intentions had become stained red as a wrongful history repeated itself.

"...Did he say the first tutorial was two months ago?"

Of course, there was no way the room turned red in just two months, so it would be right to assume it was red from the moment the Tower was first created. The bastard who made the Tower would have likely induced this misunderstanding as well. But the important point was that it wasn't a trap as Gyeong-nam had said.

The Tower was consistently telling us something. Walk the righteous path. Otherwise, you will pay the price.

The reason I still thought the words of Gyeong-nam had some credibility was simple.

"...Raphael."

The archangel I met on the 2nd floor. He didn’t consider anyone other than Earthlings to be human. Did he say something about beings of a different class? That man, who sees humans not as humans but as livestock, is currently the one in charge of the 1st to 5th floors.

When I considered his words as background knowledge, the claims of Gyeong-nam seemed plausible enough. Sins? You shouldn't commit them, of course. But killing otherworlders isn't a sin, right? There was a possibility he could come up with that kind of logic.

"..."

Even so, I didn't have the courage to test this out myself.

Objectively speaking, my current state was not normal. It would be more accurate to say I had lost my marbles a bit, and I was aware of that fact myself.

But if I were to voluntarily massacre civilians in this state... I don't know what would become of me then.

"So here you were."

Just as I was lost in thought while looking down at the monsters, I felt a touch on my shoulder.

"Are you feeling any better?"

Baron George grinned as he stroked his beard.

"Are you alright yourself, Baron-nim?"

"I've made all the preparations I could. The rest is up to the heavens."

Saying so, Baron George looked up at the sky.

"It's a bit hazy, though. Haha."

Baron George, who had always carried a heavy atmosphere, now felt as light as a feather. He was buoyant and ethereal.

"Is there something you wish to say?"

"...There is."

Baron George plopped down next to me. He put his hand inside his coat and fumbled for something, then pulled his hand out with an awkward expression.

"That's right, I don't have cigars. It seems my memory has gotten worse with age."

Baron George, who was idly clenching and unclenching his hand, asked out of the blue.

"Jun-ho."

"...Please speak."

"Why are you protecting us?"

"...Didn't I make a promise?"

"A promise means nothing. In the end, it's a matter that depends on the person."

Baron George picked up a broken stone and tossed it toward the horde of monsters.

"The day I inherited my title as Baron... I gathered the people in the plaza and made an oath. That I would always fulfill the duties of a noble, and that I would protect the people of my domain."

"..."

"Of course ------ still, I can proudly say I have fulfilled my duties to a reasonable extent."

I couldn't hear the middle part due to the Tower's filtering, but his emotions were conveyed to me in their entirety.

"But... we will see devastating losses today. There will be more who die than those who survive. Surviving completely is nigh impossible."

The sky gradually darkened. The last of the sun was setting.

"...I intend to challenge the impossible. Even if I have to burn my own body to ash, I will try to save as many of the people of my domain as I can."

Baron George turned his head to look directly at me. The wrinkles etched around his eyes were deep.

"I will not ask you to join me. I will not ask you to burn yourself out as I will."

"...Baron-nim."

"Instead... please do as much as you can. It's a favor."

Baron George put his arm around my shoulders. I could feel a gentle energy flowing in from his arm.

"This is all the mana I possess. As much as I have tamed it, it will be of help in your training... I am sorry that this is all I have to give."

"..."

I had no choice but to squeeze my eyes shut.

This was a dignified plea for his life. A noble was casting aside all of his pride and begging me. Please, just save the people of my domain.

"Well then... let's see each other alive."

Baron George descended the castle wall with staggering steps. His retreating figure was so pathetic that I couldn't bring myself to stop him.

Immediately after, Joong-hyun announced the list, assigning people to each room.

"Fuck, I'm telling you this is not it, right?"

"Is it a sin to be strong? Huh? Is it a sin?"

The atmosphere among the players was incredibly tense. This was especially true for the stronger players.

Joong-hyun had performed the task I entrusted to him brilliantly. He had assessed the players' combat power as objectively as possible and distributed their strength in the most balanced way. The difference in ability between the rooms was probably not significant.

"I got good traits because I'm skilled, and I worked hard to become strong, so why do I have to make the sacrifice?"

In other words, it was the same as saying that the strongest person in each room had to take on the largest role.

That is how a community is supposed to work. The person who has a lot gives up a lot, and the person who has little gives up little. For the sake of a common goal, this is a natural phenomenon.

"I'll be blunt. Do I have to take a loss because of these weakling fuckers? Is this right?"

But this was, at best, the story of an ideal community. In reality, the strong never yield. If anything, they take more advantage.

"Hey, and you know we have to fight for at least five hours, right? With this roster, I'll have to fight for three of those hours. Isn't this just blatantly telling me to go die?"

Moreover, if you listened closely to the strong players' stories, their words were not entirely nonsensical.

Even I, who currently wielded power close to that of an overpowered protagonist, could allow a critical hit if I was careless. Combat was not only about skill, but also about split-second judgment and concentration.

If even I was in this situation, how would it be for the other players? If they were told to continue a tightrope walk between life and death for three hours, would they accept it obediently?

This meant that the strong players' current reactions were by no means an overreaction. Their lives were on the line.

However, if they were to act tyrannically as the strong, I also had a plan.

"Hey."

"What, you son of a... Jun-ho-nim?"

"Just do it."

"..."

"I said, just do it. I've memorized all of your faces. I heard they're making something like an Association in America, and in Korea too. You think you can live your whole life without ever seeing me again?"

If it had been me from the tutorial, I would have tried to persuade them instead of yelling like this. I would have used Regression to understand their personalities and stories, befriended them on a personal level, and then gently reasoned with them. The people who were genuinely moved by me would have followed my words.

But I'm too tired to go through all that one by one. I was exhausted, too.

If these bastards were going to be disgraceful by asserting the authority of the strong, I planned to treat them the same way.

"Jun-ho-nim, the preparations are more or less finished."

Joong-hyun approached at just the right time.

"We have also prepared some emergency food, and all the weapons have been set out. I don't think it will have much of an effect, but we have also set up traps. I can assure you, this is our best."

A question suddenly occurred to me, and I asked Yoon Joong-hyun.

"Joong-hyun-ssi."

"Yes?"

"Why are you working so hard?"

"..."

Yoon Joong-hyun. The man who suggested we go together as soon as I was first summoned to the 4th floor.

Even though the situation was consistently turning desperate, he did not waver and did his best. To be precise, he trusted my judgment and followed me. I was curious about that part.

"The direction I'm leading us in might not be the right answer. Haven't you ever thought that?"

"Well... it would be a lie to say I haven't."

Joong-hyun shrugged his shoulders.

"But what's scarier than the wrong direction is a divided one. At least, that's what I think."

Joong-hyun, who had grinned, glanced around for a moment before whispering to me.

"And I have my own reasons to be confident. You don't have to worry too much."

"I wasn't worried."

"Oh, really? Thank you. I suppose I must look trustworthy. Here… Here is the magical tool."

Joong-hyun handed over the magical tool and walked away. I silently watched his retreating back.

-6 : 12 : 11

The castle wall shaked.

The sky turned into a bizarre red.

"They're coming."

The hourglass was running out.

Footnotes:

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