Memoirs of the Returnee - Chapter 167



Only Krnovel

The Regressor’s Notepad 167

2nd test (3)

… … 24 hours have passed.

“I think it’s over.”

Room 106 at the Elise.

We took care of all the crimson figures for almost 4 hours. It was much easier than before thanks to Soliet joining us.

Gulp-

Suddenly, the sound of a ship’s horn echoed. I looked at Soliet. She lowered her head with a slightly red face. Elise, who was next to me, also snickered.

“Solid. Are you hungry?”

“Yes. I think I moved my body too much… … .”

Gulp-

A similar sound rang out again, but this time it wasn’t Soliette.

It was Elise. I asked the guy.

“Are you hungry?”

“… … .”

Elise turned around abruptly, clutching her stomach.

Gulp –

But my stomach was the same.

“Don’t you think so?”

Elise grumbled.

“… … Ahem. Let’s eat first. How many hours have passed since then?”

I asked as I took the food out of the cart.

“It’s been exactly 24 hours.”

We fought almost all day.

I picked up a large frying pan and placed it on the burner. Snap – I started the flames with a snap of my fingers and then placed the meat on it.

“Wow… … This looks delicious… … .”

Terence is amazed as he watches the meat sizzle and cook.

Elise looked at him with a rather displeased expression.

“Don’t you have anything?”

Because he’s the kind of guy who almost hates free riding.

“Ah. Right. Just a moment.”

Terence created a magical portal in the air. He put his hand into it and pulled something out. It was a 1-liter bottle of water. Elise’s eyebrows furrowed.

Terence said shyly, putting down the water.

“Now you can put things in or take things out of the ‘house’ without having to call the ‘house’ itself.”

“Oh~ You’ve grown up too?”

“Yeah. It’s still imperfect though.”

“It’s useful.”

Elise also praised him.

“thank you.

Terence smiled, but his expression quickly darkened again.

“But how many hours do we have to last?”

“well.”

I divided the meat and put it on a plate. I don’t know how many hours I have to wait.

But, if this continues, I won’t be able to hold out until the end. My physical strength is too disadvantageous for this kind of long-term battle. I think I need to find a way out before I become a burden.

That was when.

──Bang bang bang bang bang!

There was a sudden knock on the door.

Another enemy?

I was on alert though.

─Open the door!

This time it was a human voice.

─If you don’t open it, I’ll break it!

“Hey, hey. Wait a minute.”

I quickly went and opened the door so it wouldn’t break.

As expected, there were three seniors outside, not monsters. The guys had deliberately made their expressions look scary.

“What are you eating? Hand me that-”

“What are these?”

Elise peeked out from next to my shoulder. As soon as they saw Elise, they hesitated and stepped back.

“Uh, ah, that… … sorry.”

They lowered their heads and tried to run away, but Elise caught them with her psychic power.

“… … You guys seem to be from the 13th floor. Are you looting?”

“Ah… … Ha, hahaha. The smell came up… … I have very sensitive senses. I didn’t realize it was Elise’s room. We also have nothing to eat… … .”

He bows low and scratches his back.

Elise twisted her lips.

“Get out.”

“Sorry, sorry! I’ll go!”

The seniors hurried down the hallway.

“……hey!”

I called them. They stopped – I threw four chocolate bars and half a pound of meat at them.

“Take it. Don’t nag me next time.”

“… … Thank you! Sorry! I won’t nag you next time! I’m just so hungry!”

“Okay, then go.”

They quickly packed up and went up the stairs, and I closed the door.

Elise stood there with a discontented look on her face.

“What a compassionate heart you have.”

“So what? We have enough left to last a month.”

“That’s not the point. If you come begging again-”

Just when the nagging was about to continue.

Kwaaaa …

A slightly clearer cry.

Again, the wave has begun.

* * *

… … 48 hours have passed.

In total, eight waves of waves came at me. By the end of the seventh wave, I had already retired.

By the way, I also consumed all the fruit. I even took back the one I had given to Elise. The guy had a sad expression on his face, but there was nothing he could do.

“Is this what you made me do?”

I muttered while lying on the floor.

It’s honestly ridiculous. Efficiency depends on efficiency, but if you keep pushing like this, there’s no way you can handle it…

So if it’s College Board – College Board – then it’s recognized.

It’s difficult.

“It seems to be getting harder and harder.”

Elise and Solliet also have poor complexions, though not as much as I do.

“Hold on tight. It’ll probably be over soon.”

Elise seemed to have such hopes.

──Hahahahaha! There are still a lot of survivors!

Again the speaker blared from the ceiling. It was that damn statue.

──But it’s still far away! There are 120 hours left!

“One hundred and twenty… … .”

Elise was speechless, and I suddenly had a headache.

“Where on earth do these people come from?”

Elise muttered irritably.

“I know.”

I was playing the janggu without a soul, and then suddenly.

“… … Now that I think about it, that’s true.”

Where on earth do they come from?

By any chance, is there a set ‘total amount’?

If so… …

I jumped up.

“Zion?”

“I’m going to go explore.”

I have to figure something out. I can’t last 120 hours anyway. I know my body’s limits better than anyone else.

Soliet said.

“Then together-”

“If there are two, they stand out.”

Instead, I pointed to the walkie-talkie, which was something Terence had brought from “home.”

“Let’s communicate with this. Does it work?”

─Let’s communicate with this. Does it work?

Solliet picked up the radio.

“Yes, it works. But I’d rather go together-”

─Yes, it works. But if you go together-”

Elise caught the awkward Soliet.

“If you go, what will we do?”

“……ah.”

“That’s right. Soliet, you stay here. I’ll keep communicating with you via radio. If it gets too dangerous, I’ll give up anyway.”

At the word give up, Solliet looked a little sad.

I shrugged.

“You know it. I’m already done. I can’t even last 12 hours, let alone 120.”

“… … .”

Elise clicked her tongue, and Solliet let out a small sigh.

My whole body is overloaded right now. I need at least half a day of sleep to recover.

However, asking them to watch over me until I wake up is a ridiculous nuisance. Even if they say they will hold out, I refuse.

“See you later.”

I said with a sigh.

“Or, after the second quarter ends. If I find out anything, I’ll send it to you via radio.”

“… … Yes. I will wait.”

“Have a nice trip.”

“Hey, Zion! I’ll be waiting!”

Greetings from Soliet, Elise, and Terence respectively.

I chuckled and opened the door.

I stepped beyond that.

Creak… … .

I closed the door carefully.

The hallway was quiet, but just in case, I activated the “Shadow” spell. A hazy shadow clung to my entire body.

The dormitory was a mess. It was like hell. There were dried blood stains everywhere, and the claw marks of animals were everywhere.

“The first floor is… … .”

It’s total destruction.

There is no sign of life.

I looked at the dormitory map on one side of the hallway.

[map]

There is a ‘dormitory’ building where we are staying now, a ‘park’ in front of it, and a ‘facility management office’ including a disaster prevention room, broadcasting room, and electrical room in the back.

“… …Broadcast room?”

Among them, I glared at the broadcasting room.

Broadcast room.

No matter how much I think about it, this test is one that cannot be cleared alone, or with two, or with three, or with four.

Also, the voice of the stone statue that fell from the ceiling.

I raised my head.

There was a speaker.

Speakers in the broadcast room.

At the same time, a thought suddenly popped into my head.

“if…….”

What if this test was a collaborative test rather than an individual test?

What if the test was not about all seniors ‘competing’ but rather ‘working together’?

“… … .”

I went out the main gate on the first floor of the dormitory. The sky was dark. The entire dormitory grounds were wrapped in a barrier.

At that moment, a summoning spell shimmered in the air. I quietly hid and watched.

Tsk tsk tsk tsk───!

Sparks flew through the space. The ritual became a ‘passageway’. Countless monsters, howling madly, surged forward. They surged through the dormitory windows.

I was convinced when I saw the minister.

… … The total amount of monsters that all seniors have to deal with is ultimately fixed.

If the person next to me dies, I have to take care of it, and if I die, the person next to me has to take care of it.

Therefore, only when as many seniors as possible join together can we survive this test.

That’s why──

I walked quietly to the other side of the dormitory.

─Kurrrrrr!

But these guys’ eyes, nose, and mouth are quite bright.

─Kraaaaaaa!

“Oh, shit.”

I was quickly discovered, and I changed course to sprint again.

After running for about 20 minutes, we arrived at the facilities management office. It was a building separate from the dormitory.

Let’s open the door there and go in-

─Kyaaaaah!

“Huh!”

There were already several monsters inside. I killed them all.

Then he went straight up to the broadcasting room.

──Oh my! It’s you!

There was a stone statue in the broadcasting room. The guy raised his eyebrows in front of the microphone.

──What’s going on here?

“What is going on? You know everything. Get out of my way, I have something to do.”

I pushed the statue away and took its place.

* * *

“Gerken! The wave has started again!”

At that call, Gerken on the rooftop opened his eyes.

As a top-floor resident, he formed a ‘team’. In fact, it was semi-compulsory. Even that was a test that could not be cleared alone.

“Wow… … How do you really do that?”

One of the team members muttered absentmindedly.

A monster that falls madly from the sky. The individual itself is not difficult, but there are so many of them that it’s almost exhausting.

“There is no answer. There is no answer.”

James and Brown, the two top players also sighed.

“Step by step.”

Gerken said just that. James drew his sword.

“That’s because it’s impossible to do it step by step. There’s still 120 hours left. And the number of monsters seems to keep increasing.”

A top-tier team of six, including Gerken.

The moment they were mumbling in exhaustion.

──Ahh.

A strange voice echoes from the speakers on the rooftop.

Everyone looked in that direction.

“A stone statue… isn’t it?”

──Ahh.

Gerken stared at the speaker.

──Can you hear me?

That’s for sure.

This is the tone of Zion Ascal.

“… … I can hear it.”

Gerken answered absentmindedly.

… … .

“Oh! It’s a chocolate bar. It’s mine.”

27th floor. Raye was rummaging through someone else’s room when she found a chocolate bar.

“where!”

At that moment, Kane and Asher turned to look at him. Raye flinched and hid the chocolate bar in her arms.

“You were mistaken!”

“It’s a joke. I saw it just now.”

“It’s half done.”

Kane and Asher glared at her.

“… … Half?”

“Oh. Eat half. Because you found it.”

They tried to persuade him cleverly, but Raye hesitated and pointed to the end of the hallway.

“Hey! Hey!! Here it comes Aaaah!!!”

“What, already?!”

“where!”

Kane and Asher drew their swords. They also pulled up their machetes.

Yum yum yum yum yum.

Raye quickly ate it during that gap. Kane turned around with a jerk.

“There isn’t any.”

“… … Ah. Sorry. I guess I was mistaken. I was mistaken about the chocolate bar too.”

“You have chocolate all over your mouth.”

“……sorry.”

“Oh my. It’s too spicy, I won’t eat it.”

That was when.

──Ahh.

“Gyaaaah!!!”

Raye screamed. Kane and Asher also started to stir.

“Oh my!”

“Oh, I was even more surprised because of you!”

──Ah. Can you hear me?

A voice coming down from the speaker.

It’s a familiar tone.

“Wait a minute, isn’t this Zion?”

“……what?”

Kane and Asher frowned.

──Can you hear me?

Kyaaa …

The cries of real monsters permeated the hallway.

──From now on, I’m going to make the only offer that will allow you to survive this test.

The three men listened as they prepared for battle.

──The number of enemies that rush in with each wave will increase at a constant rate… … .

… …

Room 106 on the first floor.

Elise, Solliet, and Terence are busy fighting. Numerous monsters are streaming in through the broken windows and doors.

Solliet burned them with her sword, Elise crushed them with her psychic powers, and Terence also tried his best to help in any way he could.

──From now on, I’m going to make the only offer that will allow you to survive this test.

I heard Zion’s voice flowing out of the speaker.

──The number of enemies that rush in with each wave increases steadily anyway.

“so?!”

Elise threw the monsters away and asked back.

──Therefore, as the number of seniors decreases, you become more disadvantaged.

She nodded.

─It means that you can’t last 120 hours by ‘competing’.

That’s true.

If the total number of enemies is fixed, then if half of the remaining seniors give up, the other half will have to bear twice as much.

However, because all seniors are aware of the well-known fact that they are each other’s competitors.

Even though ‘team battles’ were possible, ‘overall cooperation’ was not in Elise’s mind. It was as if such a thought process itself had been somewhat excluded from the beginning.

──Therefore, rather than being defeated individually as an imperfect team, the surest way to win is to form a front line with complete cooperation.

Elise looked back at Terence.

“Terrence, can you put the cart in the ‘house’ too?”

Because the situation was urgent, I ended up using informal language.

──The location I recommend is the park in front of the dormitory. Create a front line and barricade in the open space.

“Yes, yes, it is possible!”

Terence got ready right away.

──Well… … . It’s up to you whether you listen to me or not.

Zion let out a small sigh inside the speaker. Suddenly, Elise’s hand stopped moving. She looked up at the speaker.

──Good luck.

I wish you good luck.

To those in room 106, these words were somehow ominous.