Regression Is Too Much - Chapter 358



358 – Regression (6)

Tall trees. Gently swaying grass. 200 people gathered in an empty lot. The sun beating down. Soil that is closer to damp than moist. A distant ‘Keeruk’ sound. A very faint smell of poison.

All of it, exactly as I remember it. Yes, it really is a tutorial. The place where this whole story started, the place where I climbed the tower, the place that still appears in my dreams sometimes.

“Well… I don’t know what to say.”

I looked around, feeling a strange sense of nostalgia. Although it had only been half a year in real time, it felt like it had been much earlier in my perception of time, and I felt like I was really reminiscing about my childhood.

Of course, I felt this way when I went back to my middle school after graduating from college. I was amazed at how it looked exactly like my memories, but I also felt a sense of bittersweetness as I looked back at myself, who had changed so much from the building.

Well, that’s enough of the sentimentality. There’s work to be done. There’s things to take care of. There’s plans in place.

If all else is the same, my plan will proceed without a hitch. It’s a tutorial I could break even when I was extremely weak. It’s easy to bend it to my will.

No, almost everything was the same.

Except for one thing.

“…who are you?”

“yes?”

Choi Ji-won didn’t recognize me.

From noble mtl dot com

**

It was a little disconcerting that Choi Ji-won didn’t recognize me.

… Okay, I’ll be honest. I was quite embarrassed, but…

No, I was bluffing. I’m sorry. I was so shocked. I almost cried because I thought it was irreversible. I went through all this trouble to return while maintaining my memories of Choi Ji-won, but then I realized that the Choi Ji-won I knew had disappeared and I panicked.

“Hello! You’re wasting your life…”

“Shut up, shut up!”

“Ugh, ugh!!!”

Even if I regressed, the situation was the same. She didn’t recognize me at all, and I ended up subduing the tutorial fairy who appeared threateningly in a panic. (For reference, the status screen remains even if you regress. That means all the abilities I’ve gotten through ‘achievements’ so far remain, which means I’m a crazy munchkin now. Oh, and I got the achievement. It gives a lot of abilities.)

Only after all that crap I could calm down a little.

After calming down and thinking about it, this situation wasn’t all that absurd. It was only natural that Choi Ji-won had no memories.

“Yes, at this point in time, Choi Ji-won hasn’t yet received her memories.”

Jiwon Choi became aware of her past after clearing the 4th floor. In other words, it doesn’t make sense that Jiwon Choi’s memories are still there now.

How could the girl who first returned together on the 4th floor still have memories from the tutorial? If she had memories, it should have been after she entered the 4th floor. That would make sense.

However, the reason I didn’t notice this was because I focused on the 6th floor and came back to the past in one breath, and of course, if I went up to the 4th floor, Choi Ji-won’s memories would return.

There is no flaw in the logic. It is an explanation that fits perfectly like gears meshing together. Of course, I couldn’t help but feel very, very uneasy. If you don’t retain your memories even after going to the 4th floor, you can just return. If it’s a problem that can’t be solved even after returning… I’ll think about it then.

Anyway, I regained my cool and clear-headed reasoning and returned to the beginning of the tutorial. To be honest, I was a bit curious about what would happen if I tried to go back further in time from the tutorial point, but it wasn’t worth trying.

If I could go back to the reality before entering the tower, that would be fortunate, but then again, I might have the ability to ‘regress’, and I might not be summoned to the tower in the first place. That’s because I didn’t want to gamble like this when I didn’t know anything about time. I don’t know what return is, and I don’t know what risk is. We call this ‘stupid, retarded behavior.’

The story was a bit off, but anyway, I came to my senses and cautiously approached Choi Ji-won. Surprisingly, Choi Ji-won was aware of me right after she came to her senses in the tower, but the regrettable thing is that the awareness was not a awareness of ‘tension between the opposite s*x’, but closer to a awareness of ‘preparing for a dangerous beast’.

“Nice to meet you.”

“…”

Choi Ji-won glared at me without answering. Judging from the fact that her hand was on her waist, she looked ready to take out the Bbung Bbung at any moment. My heart ached because of the hostility I felt in those eyes, but I calmed my heart with the thought that I could tease Choi Ji-won with this later when her memories came back.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but would you like to hear my story?”

**

“…Does that make sense?”

Of course, Jiwon Choi didn’t believe it. It was strange that she was suddenly dropped into an unfamiliar space, but it was even stranger to believe it when a strange man said, “I’m actually a regressor, but you’ve been through thick and thin with me and we’ve been in a very intimate relationship for a long time.”

“He said something like this happened when he was in middle school… He also told me about it among the anecdotes he had with his father… He also said that he told BbungBbungi to sleep well before going to bed…”

“aaahhh!!! Stop! Stop it! I understand!”

But regardless of her disbelief, what can she do if it’s true? Since Choi Ji-won can instinctively see through lies, she must have figured out that there wasn’t a single lie in what I said. That’s why she’s even more confused.

“… So, why are you doing this to me? If what you say is true, then… I just have to wait for my memories to come back.”

Since it was a tutorial stage, I couldn’t even mention the ‘4th floor’, but Choi Ji-won, who had roughly figured out the context, glanced at me. Why are you doing this? Do you think I’m doing this because I like it? (Some of it is because I like it.)

“We have a plan, and we need you to be part of it.”

Our plan required Choi Ji-won. This plan was made with the assumption that she would have memories from the beginning. I am so strong that clearing the stage itself would be easy, but this is the starting point of everything. To build a solid building, you need to set the foundation stone deep. Everything has to flow perfectly. Choi Ji-won’s cooperation is essential for this.

“Support can give you, no, I can give you a regression experience right now. But then your memories might get messed up, and since it’s something you’ve never tried before, there’s a risk.”

“…”

“So, listen to the plan first. If you don’t like it, then say no. If you look at it now, other people are preparing to go out into the grass. If you do that, people will die.”

As time passed, the people who had been gripped by fear were talking about this and that, and earlier they had even shouted out loudly, “Status Window.” This would make the fear of the unknown surpass the anticipation of the “Status Window,” and naturally, the people holding weapons would head out of the grass. Originally, this plan was supposed to be “executed as soon as they come to their senses,” so there was no time left. They had to execute it while everyone was still in the open space.

“…Okay. I’ll listen to it first.”

“great.”

I quickly explained the plan while spreading my magic around. At first, Choi Ji-won listened to the explanation calmly, but her face gradually turned red, and at one point she even asked this.

“… So, does that mean my future self agreed to this?”

“yes.”

“…”

**

As I was going through the process of going back to the tutorial, at some point I had this question:

“Jiwon-ah. I suddenly had a question.”

“To me?”

“No, just.”

“…huh.”

“I told you that I would wear a mask later and play like some kind of dark hero. Saving people.”

“Isn’t that so?”

When I imagined my future in the past, I think I definitely said something like this. I wanted to hide my identity and act as a hero. I wanted to enjoy the praise without revealing my identity.

“But these days, I think that’s something that might really be necessary.”

But look at the current situation. Since I am acting normally with my face exposed, there are people who suspect me of being a regressor, and there was an incident where they actually found out and spread my personal information to the people in the neighborhood. They say they plan to take action on the ‘book’ in the future, but since the weakness has already been revealed, they cannot help but improve it.

“Anyway… this time, when I go back to the tutorial, I really plan on going quietly and not letting anyone know my identity.”

“however?”

“Will the ‘Hero’ trait activate even if my identity is hidden?”

It started out as simple curiosity. But the results were more surprising than I expected.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Even when I hid all the elements that could infer my identity and saved the person, the hero trait was activated. Even when I said someone else’s name, the hero trait was temporarily activated. (The effect was much weaker than before, but isn’t the fact that it was activated important?)

In other words, the hero trait does not necessarily have to be for the target to be ‘Kim Jun-ho’, and it will be activated regardless of the packaging if the essence is me.

“If this happens…”

I don’t have to reveal my identity. I don’t have to come out in front and be threatened with being found out as a regressor. I don’t have to be exposed to all kinds of nonsense. This fragile mentality doesn’t have to be affected.

“But there are still gaps.”

But let’s say I climb the tower while hiding my identity. Let’s say I’m active in reality too. Let’s say I’m not caught right now. Can that last forever?

As you can see from the book, this world is full of absurd abilities. And since there are still people being summoned to the tower, their abilities will only increase as time goes by.

Among them, is there no ability to reveal the true identity of a person who has hidden his or her identity? It may not be. However, it cannot be said for sure that there will be no. Someone will definitely be curious about the identity and will dig into it.

“But what if there’s no reason to dig?”

But what if the identity is easily guessed? What if there is no need to find out at all?

What if someone is blatantly leading a double life, but other people turn a blind eye to it out of concern for their reputation?

“Choi Ji-won, you have to play that role.”

“…”

“You be the hero.”

Yes, that’s right.

From now on, Choi Ji-won must become a strong person who is obsessed with playing hero…!