Regression Is Too Much

“So, you’re saying there was something that looked like a mannequin?”

“Yes. In an all-white space, a pitch-black mannequin rushed at me with a weapon. But since I was at difficulty level 1, it was ridiculously weak.”

“Hmm… sounds similar to the duel battles on the 5th floor.”

The four players listening to my explanation nodded in agreement. Their expressions were bright—they seemed confident in their ability to handle one-on-one fights.

“More importantly, how did you decide to divide the difficulty levels?”

“Ah, well, since 34 is an awkward number, we split it into 9, 9, 8, and 8. The second and third players will take the 8s.”

“Seems reasonable.”

Difficulty 1 might have been exceptionally easy. So it made sense to test level 8 first before challenging level 9. As expected from top-tier players, they had a logical approach.

“Oh, and over there, there’s a cabinet with weapons. Feel free to use them if you need.”

Alright, with that, all the preparations were—

“Wait, hold on a second.”

Just as I was about to move on naturally, an odd feeling crept up on me. Something felt off. But what? What was strange about this?

Ah. I figured it out. The source of my unease.

“Hey…”

“Yes? What’s wrong?”

“You guys… don’t have weapons?”

Now that I thought about it, they entered the 11th floor unarmed. Some might argue it didn’t matter since weapons were provided at the start of each floor, but it did matter. If they had cleared the 11th floor properly, they should have at least had one dwarven-made weapon.

The reason I hadn’t noticed earlier was that they were all wearing dwarven armor. But… they only bought the armor and skipped the weapons?

“Oh, you mean weapons?”

The Glasses Girl shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“They were too expensive… It didn’t seem cost-effective for the time investment. So we just bought Transit Stones and moved on. The armor was free, so we took that.”

“The armor was free?”

“Yeah. They said it was some sort of commemoration for Choi Ji-Won or something.”

“…”

So… they really just farmed Transit Stones and climbed the tower?

“Since we’re confident in our skills, we thought climbing the tower quickly was more important than farming items. It’s just a matter of priorities, right?”

“W-Well… I suppose that makes sense.”

Right, they were top-tier players. In the end, it was just a difference in values. Gathering every possible item before progressing wasn’t necessarily the correct strategy. If you had the skills to clear the tower efficiently, climbing fast to maximize rewards was a valid approach.

But then why did they wait 11 days? Ah, they must have been summoned late in the tutorial.

“Anyway, we’ll be back! It’s difficulty 8, so it shouldn’t take too long.”

While I was rationalizing things in my head, the Glasses Girl stepped into the elevator. The doors closed, and a moment of silence followed.

“Hey, have you ever fought against a person before?”

“…No? But it shouldn’t be that different.”

A few moments passed before they started casually chatting among themselves. It seemed they had no intention of speaking to me or getting friendly—but that suited me just fine.

So, while I focused on planning my next moves, they engaged in small talk for about three minutes.

“…Why isn’t she back yet?”

“He came back quickly last time.”

“…Dumbasses, the difficulty is different this time.”

“Oh, there she is.”

The elevator doors opened, revealing the Glasses Girl.

“H-Huh?”

“Are you okay?”

No, I should call her Ex-Glasses Girl now. Because in her hand… was a pair of shattered glasses.

“I… let my guard down.”

“Can you even see without your glasses?”

“I’m a player; of course I can. It’s just slightly blurry.”

Alright, I’ll just keep calling her “Glasses Girl.” According to her, the difficulty 8 mannequin was quite challenging. While she had superior physical abilities, the mannequin had better technique—almost like the fight I had against my own clone on the 5th floor.

“Still, I have a trait that lets me see weaknesses, so I overcame it quickly.”

Even if she was outmatched in skill, she was still a top-tier player. By relying on her overwhelming physical strength and ability to spot weaknesses, she managed to adapt and defeat the mannequin relatively easily. Her glasses only broke because she let her guard down at the end.

“Hmm…”

This was a cooperative floor, so she wouldn’t have lied about it. That meant the difficulty 8 mannequin was strong enough to land a hit on a careless top-tier player.

This difficulty spike was steep. The gap between levels 1 and 8 was massive.

“So, I’m up next?”

The next one to enter was the Acne Guy. He confidently carried his large axe onto the elevator.

Four minutes later.

“Dude, your armor’s dented.”

“Yeah… I kinda let my guard down. How do I fix this?”

He returned with a deep dent on the side of his armor. Since he had no other injuries, it was clear he dominated the fight, but he must have taken an unexpected hit at the end.

“Alright, watch and learn.”

The next guy, the one with a mole, went in. When he returned, he looked fine on the surface, but his armor had a few scratches.

“I’ll go next!”

Finally, the Short-Haired Girl entered the elevator. When she returned, there was no visible damage—except for the faint, heated steam rising from her body.

Well, they were top-tier players. Of course, they should be able to clear this easily. In the end, the first test was successfully completed. It was a satisfying result.

-Before proceeding to the second test, please select the rewards you want. Everyone, please take your seats.

Before we had time to celebrate this small victory, a monotone voice echoed through the space.

Feeling a surge of confidence, I immediately took my seat in the metal chairs.

Just like before, a protective barrier formed around me, cutting off all sound as a message window appeared before my eyes.

[10] Customized Item Box (A- ~ C+) [15] Elixir of Experience (Medium) [20] Random Trait Box (Unique)

“…?”

The difficulty just skyrocketed. The lowest option is 10? And the highest is 20? What’s going on? Is this the same for everyone? Or is it just me because I chose 10 in the first test?

I need to be careful here. The difficulty 8 mannequin was strong enough to land a hit on a careless top-tier player. If I choose 20, can I really clear it without getting injured?

“…But there’s really nothing else worth picking.”

The issue was that the Elixir of Experience(needing 15 points) was completely useless to me. And even if I chose 10 to get an item in the end, it would disappear when I regressed, so I could only benefit from it in my final round.

On the other hand, looking at the rewards alone, the [Random Trait Box] at difficulty 20 was the most tempting. Traits remained even after regression.

“…”

What should I do? Gamble on 20? Or should I test the waters with 10 first? No—15 seems like the safest choice. The sudden jump in the lowest reward to 10 was suspicious.

If my choice in the last test set the baseline at 10, then choosing 15 now might push the lowest reward to 15 in the next test.

Why not just pick 10 again? Because someone else might choose 15. And if this shift in the baseline applies only to me, I’d be the only one affected.

- All climbers have completed their selections.

With the barrier disappearing, I glanced around at the other players, who seemed relaxed.

“Oh, you’re done too?”

“This time, the starting is 10, huh?”

“Wow, the requirements increased quite a bit.”

So, the baseline changed for everyone. The fact that they were commenting on it meant it wasn’t just me.

Ignoring their chatter, I turned to check the elevator display. The number [90] was shown.

Wait. 90?

“Ah, I picked 20.”

“…Me too.”

The Short-Haired Girl and the Mole Guy confidently admitted to choosing [20]. If those two make up 40… that means there’s one more person who picked 20, and two—including me—who picked 15.

“So, did you pick 20, too?”

“…No? I chose 15.”

“…Are you sure? Because we both picked 15, too.”

It was the same problem: Someone was lying again.

If Glasses Girl and Acne Guy also picked 15, the numbers don’t add up. Someone had to have chosen 20.

“…Maybe there’s a base score? Like, we all start with 5 points by default.”

If no one was lying, this was the most likely explanation. I’d be able to confirm it by regressing later, so I decided to let it slide for now.

“Alright then, I’m going first.”

As I was lost in thought, the Mole Guy stepped into the elevator with a confident stride. Having easily won his previous [9] difficulty battle, he seemed eager to take on the next challenge.

“Wait, what? Why are you setting it to 25?”

“There’s still 5 extra points left, right? I’ll handle the liar’s share. Just wait.”

Before anyone could stop him, he swiftly input [25] and disappeared into the elevator.

The same guy who yelled at me for ‘hogging the growth opportunities’ just did exactly that. Hypocrite. Or maybe… was he only mad because I had taken 34 points back then?

“I-Is he gonna be okay?”

The Glasses Girl hesitated, clearly uneasy about his reckless decision.

“He must be confident if he’s doing this. Let’s just trust him and wait.”

Without missing a beat, Acne Guy reassured her. Judging by how he subtly moved closer while speaking, he was probably trying to use this opportunity to win some favor.

“Hey, we’re top players—there’s no way we’d lose to anyone. Did I ever tell you about that time I went to a club in Gangnam? The moment they heard I cleared the 11th floor, people were like, ‘Whoa!’ and—”

“…”

Acne Guy had a way with words. Even as I absentmindedly checked my sword, I found myself getting drawn into his story.

“So, this guy was like, ‘Hey, do you know Minjoo’s ham?’”

At some point, even the Short-Haired Girl had gotten lost in his tale, completely unaware of the passing time. The story, which had started in a Gangnam club, had somehow shifted to a bar fight in Busan.

“So then, I—”

“Wait, hold on a second.”

“Huh? What’s up?”

“I hear the elevator.”

Had it been about 15 to 20 minutes? At last, the low hum of the elevator reached my ears. Damn, I really lost track of time. But… doesn’t 20 minutes seem a bit long?

Ding.

“Hey, what took you so long?”

“Told you 25 might be too much.”

The elevator doors slowly slid open, and everyone stood up, ready to welcome Mole Guy back. We were all in a good mood, having just enjoyed a funny story.

…Until we saw what was inside.

“…Huh?”

Inside the elevator stood a headless corpse.

“Huh? Huh? Huh?”

Acne Guy repeated the same syllable over and over, like a broken machine.

“A-Ah…”

The Glasses Girl’s legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor.

“Kyaaaaah!!!”

The Short-Haired Girl let out a bloodcurdling scream, her face turning beet red. In that moment, as everyone reeled in horror over the death of their comrade—

“…F*ck.”

—I was busy calculating how to handle the situation when a test participant died mid-trial. After all, he’d come back to life once I regressed.

But then, I felt it.

A heat unlike anything I’d sensed before.

“?”

I quickly turned my head—the Short-Haired Girl, the one who had been screaming, was now glowing red-hot.

And in that instant, her voice from earlier flashed through my mind.

“It’s always active.”

“…!”

Acting purely on instinct, I leaped backward while awakening the dormant cold mana inside me. By the time I had distanced myself by about three meters—within just 0.3 seconds—

“Kyaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

Fwoooooosh!

A surge of crimson flames erupted from her entire body. In this enclosed space, there was nowhere to escape.

“Tch!”

But there was no way in hell I was going to die this easily.

I channeled every ounce of cold mana into my sword and swung it wide in a circular motion, over and over.

Shhhhhhkk!

A wall of frost formed instantly, intercepting the raging flames. It was just a theory I had in my head—a defensive technique I had only imagined. But… it actually worked.

“Ha! I knew this would happen!”

A victorious grin curled at the corners of my lips—just before I felt it.

“…Huh?”

A sharp chill settled near my chest. My muscles contracted uncontrollably, and then—

Pain.

Intense, searing pain.

“Ah.”

And just like that, I blacked out.

You have been injured

Regressing to the moment you first entered the 12th floor

– – End of Chapter ––

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