113 – The Returner’s Efforts (8)

Immediately remove the bed that was split in half, create a new bed, and throw the body on it. The feel of the king-size bed, which is like a privilege of the first floor, and gently wraps your body as always. (Currently, the first floor takes the form of a hotel room.)

“Ha, hahahaha… “

I couldn’t believe it so I laughed out loud. Finally, finally, everything was saved. I didn’t see the end in person, but the message window that appeared in front of me tells the story. That I was successful.

Some might say. Why are you losing your strength like this when you’re only on the 4th floor? But I am satisfied. It was a very difficult, painful, and tiring process, but I finally got the ending I wanted. That is enough.

Of course, it is true that I am overly exhausted. From a mental perspective, it might have been the right answer to just save the life of someone from another world and move on to the 5th floor. But I didn’t want to do that. This time, I wanted to save everything perfectly. Perhaps… The story with Dok Soo-hee ended unpleasantly on the third floor. It might be compensation for that.

No, the complicated thoughts end here. Let’s rest for a bit first.

Bury your head in a soft pillow, cover your body with a blanket, and roll over in bed. Having been on a cold, dry, and bloody battlefield just a moment ago, even this small happiness makes me feel happy.

“… “

However, as my heated heart slowly cooled down and cool-headed reason began to take effect, I could no longer roll around.

“What should I do with this?”

Saving all the people on the 4th floor? Good night. Succeded. We delivered a huge blow to the chicks who designed the 4th floor with an incredibly difficult level of difficulty.

But what about Choi Ji-won? How do I save her?

Get up from bed and check inside the box given as a reward. What was given as a reward of 50,000 points was none other than a ‘lesser elixir’.

Good. It’s a good reward… But it’s not something that will help right away.

If this happens… After returning, you won’t be able to leave the 4th floor.

The last of the last episode. If I hadn’t personally intercepted numerous wolves, the players would have been helplessly exterminated. Because no more than 10 people could fight the monsters while they were cold, hungry, and exhausted.

But what if I don’t have it? What if I leave the 4th floor through a portal? What should the wolves do?

No, it’s not just wolves. Because I knew the future, I was able to push ahead with the move despite a lot of opposition. It’s hard, my legs can’t move, I’m frostbitten, etc. Even though I heard heartbreaking stories, I forced myself to continue my march.

But what if I don’t have it? Would other people be able to repeat the arduous march I did just because of the possibility that ‘monsters might appear’?

Okay, let’s say I don’t leave. There is definitely a way for me to convey information to Choi Ji-won without leaving the 4th floor.

For example… What if I don’t leave the 4th floor and send the memo through someone else? Let’s say you write a detailed memo starting with ‘Choi Ji-won, I am actually a regressor, from your family history to the secret of the sword~’ and deliver it to Choi Ji-won.

Can Choi Ji-won completely trust that memo? And can we replicate it in the same way?

“Let’s experiment.”

First, let’s experiment to see how far I can convey information.

**

Choi Ji-won has already entered the 4th floor. I can’t contact you.

“hehehe, Junho. Long time no see. How have you been? It’s been a while since we split on the third floor. Now, drink this. “You cleared the 4th floor?”

But firefighter Park Cheol-jin is different. From what he heard, he hasn’t quit being a firefighter yet.

“… What happened on the 4th floor? “My complexion is a little bad.”

Park Cheol-jin asks carefully while sitting on a chair at a convenience store.

At first, he handed me a can of coffee with a cool smile, but now he started to look at me. Do you think I have a bad complexion? Am I okay?

“More than that, I have something to tell you. “You have a good time, right?”

“Okay then. It’s the weekend today, so it’s okay. Oh, come to think of it, Jiwon also went to the 4th floor. “Have you met him?”

“… No. “Because it is not structured so that we can meet.”

“… “

Firefighter Park Cheol-jin does not answer. He taps the plastic table as if something is strange, then shrugs his shoulders.

“I just didn’t hear anything. “It seems like there are information restrictions.”

Yes, this is the situation I was worried about. Even if you want to give information to Choi Ji-won in advance, if it gets caught in filtering, it’s a waste of money.

“There is a simple way to cooperate. From now on, I will try to convey as much information as possible.”

“… “

“I think you can tell me whether you can hear me or not. “Is it possible?”

“Okay. “Let’s get started.”

Therefore, we wanted to experiment to see exactly how much filtering is possible.

“You have to run away from the 4th floor.”

“I can’t hear you.”

“Monsters appear on the 4th floor.”

“I can’t hear you.”

“At the top, you must not blindly trust your own thoughts.”

“I can hear it.”

“At the top, you must not be caught up in modern common sense.”

“I can hear it.”

The questions and answers are repeated. Firefighter Park Cheol-jin, who sensed that I was trying something seriously, willingly participated in my experiment.

Time passes like that.

“Did you hear all of this?”

“That’s right.”

The experiment finally came to an end when the convenience store roll cake that firefighter Park Cheol-jin bought with his canned coffee became dry.

“… “Then do you see what I wrote here?”

“Hmm. “I can see it.”

The draft of the ‘memo’ that was completed like that. The content is a memo filled with abstract sentences, starting with ‘You must not be caught up in common sense at the top,’ ‘People must care for each other,’ ‘If you want to gain more, you must sometimes know how to bend.’ Has been completed.

“Seup… “

It is quite ambiguous. If you think hard enough, I think you can come to the conclusion that ‘the right answer is to run away from the castle.’

“Looking at this, can you infer the contents of the 4th floor?”

“… “Is that possible?”

The problem is that it is filled with too many random stories. This is because efforts were made to avoid being caught in TOP’s filtering.

“Actually, I kind of understand what you’re saying. I’ve seen you working hard right in front of me. What’s the order of the question? Directional? When I saw it, I got a general feeling. “We are also close friends.”

Firefighter Park Cheol-jin pours a dry roll cake into his mouth.

“But… “I don’t think I can convey that feeling if I just look at this note.”

“… “

That’s right.

You wouldn’t know it if you met them in person and went through all of this, but if you could come up with the right answer just by looking at these notes, that person is a genius.

Of course, it was confirmed that ‘information delivery’ itself was possible. However, it is much more abstract and inaccurate than you might think.

If this happens… Things get bigger. Even if the memo is delivered to Choi Ji-won, its appeal is problematic. Let’s imagine that Choi Ji-won racked his brain and came to the conclusion, ‘Leaving the castle is the right answer.’

Will Choi Ji-won be able to lead everyone and leave the castle?

Like Eom Hong-jun, there may be people other than me who left the castle. There must have been people who simply did not post anything on the Internet, but who secretly took food with them and left the castle and survived. That’s possible.

However, ‘leaving the castle alone and surviving’ and ‘leaving the castle with everyone and surviving as a group’ are completely different problems. The level of difficulty is incomparable.

I have a curiosity trait. It has a reverential quality. Has hero characteristics. We even repeated regression to understand people’s tendencies and gained their favor by giving them items in advance.

Even in such situations, it was never easy to control people. There was actually an attempt to steal one of the sleds.

Okay, let’s put aside the difficulty level. Choi Ji-won will succeed somehow. In fact, when it comes to her strength alone, she was stronger than me.

However, it is another matter for her to completely believe in my ‘memo’ and act completely. Is it possible to continue the forced march, relying on just one random note, while seeing so many people suffering?

Is it possible to ignore the people who whine about dying and move forward endlessly?

That can’t be possible.

“Whoa… “

My heart sinks in frustration as I cannot see any way. What should I do about this?

Are you saying that saving the people on the 4th floor and persuading Choi Ji-won can never coexist?

Without me, I can’t save all the people on the 4th floor. Without me, I can’t convey what I want to Choi Ji-won.

Choi Ji-won. Choi Ji-won. Choi Ji-won.

The only friend who understood me. The person who gave me the driving force to move forward. A precious person who can never be allowed to be ruined.

But that person is no longer there. Disappeared beyond time, never to be seen again. The Choi Ji-won that exists now is a different person than the Choi Ji-won I long for.

“… “

Is there a need to be this obsessed with her as she is now? Even if Choi Ji-won is defeated once here, she will rise again. The more difficult her wounds are, the stronger and heavier they will heal.

Even she is not alone. She has many friends and even has a companion named Bungbung. I don’t know if there is a way I can help, but I can’t see any right now… When you think rationally, it is right to give up.

But the thought of just letting her go makes her heart ache again. It is an indescribable feeling. An inexplicable feeling of frustration, different from sadness or irritation.

“… Okay.”

I have already found the correct answer to the 4th floor. Since the correct answer can be repeated at any time, it was okay to assume that there was time to spare. Isn’t time something that a returner has in abundance?

There is no need to judge hastily. I decided to make the most rational decision I could here.

After waiting for two days, eating delicious food and playing games.

“Mr. Jiwon.”

“… Long time no see.”

“It may be sudden… “I am actually a regressor.”

It is to meet Choi Ji-won in person.