295 – Regressor Fight (14)
“I was planning to tell you anyway, but this floor has a hidden reward, an ‘Elixir’. Of course, it is a top-tier reward, and one that is not easy to obtain.”
“But?”
“If someone gets this top-tier reward, the Archangel will be able to recognize it immediately. And given our Archangel’s nature, if someone gets this top-tier reward, he’ll come check it out right away. How did it happen, and what happened?”
“Ah.”
So, the elixir itself isn’t important. The fact that ‘someone got the elixir as a 28th floor reward’ was important.
“As far as I know, the Archangel is always able to recognize it when someone gets their hands on this top-tier reward. So, if the Archangel sees this message, he’ll probably come back from his trip…!”
“Oh…”
That’s okay. That’s a good idea. It’s also the best we can do in the current situation.
If the Archangel’s return can solve everything, then we can just call the Archangel. It’s simple, intuitive, and the most efficient.
“For that… I intervened in the tower like this.”
Jake showed the gold accessory hanging around his neck.
“Actually, the reason I approached Junho… was to leak information about the elixir. “I wish someone had gotten the elixir before the Heavenly Demon awakened.”
“… Is that okay?”
“No. Of course not. I am prepared for punishment… maybe even more.”
He folded his wings and put on his baggy jacket again.
“But I can’t let this continue like this. If we just sit back and do nothing, all the players who come up to the 28th floor will die. That’s not just punishment, it’s a disaster for the entire tower. It’s an act that ignores the will of the Archangel and God who designed this tower. Someone has to do it.”
His eyes were burning with determination. He was filled with a sense of responsibility. Seeing the angel like this made me feel bad for no reason.
“But you know.”
“Huh?”
“What is God doing right now?”
We don’t climb the tower because we want to. The tower was built, so we climb it for the survival of our species. It’s all the result of that great god’s actions. He decided to judge humans.
If you were going to hold humans to a moral standard at the risk of their lives, shouldn’t you at least avoid the mistakes that angels make? If you’re going to judge us, shouldn’t the judge be perfect? Because of the discomfort and resentment that came from that, I blushed without realizing it. But
I just sighed because I thought that this angel probably didn’t mean it, so I didn’t. Isn’t it wrong to ask the lower-level about the mistakes of the higher-ups?
“I don’t know. But I’m sure he has a purpose.”
Jake, the angel, answered with sparkling eyes, whether I sighed or not.
“No matter how this situation unfolds, the great One knows everything. It’s all going according to His will. It’s just that I’m too small and weak to fully grasp His will. There must be a greater purpose that we can’t even imagine.”
“…”
“Even this mistake of mine must be His will. That’s why I’m not giving up and am doing my best.”
“What if the archangel doesn’t come?”
“Huh?”
“The Heavenly Demon wakes up. The Archangel isn’t coming. What if the players who come here are in danger of dying?”
“… I will do my best until the end. According to His will.”
“…”
Just before. On the 27th floor, I mentioned doing my best.
Doing my best means putting in my best effort with all my will and ability. It means that an individual will do everything they can within their capabilities.
If the situation is beyond their capabilities, it also implies that there is nothing they can do. That is the best.
“Ha.”
If the Archangel doesn’t come. We have to handle it on the player’s behalf. No, it has to be me and Jiwon’s turn to finish it.
Even when he was just waking up, he was on par with the emperor.
I hope we don’t have to fight.
I hope my ominous imagination doesn’t come true.
**
Jake, the angel who hid his identity, said that ‘direct intervention’ was impossible. I don’t know if all angels speak like that, but this suggested that ‘indirect intervention’ was possible.
“I’ll help you raise your rank.”
“Didn’t I say I can’t intervene?”
“This isn’t intervention.”
Jake then explained the various complicated rules of the angels, but most of it was incomprehensible to me. To put it in context, he said that he couldn’t make any visible changes, but he could slightly adjust the situation in his favor.
“First… I modified the entire arena system a little.”
“How?”
“To explain it in human terms, I readjusted the weight vector of the multivariate regression model applied to point calculation…”
“Enough, enough.”
I don’t know much about the lifespan of angels, but it’s certain that they’re much longer than humans. And Jang Saeng-jong realized that if he studied hard, he could talk about incredibly painful stories without any trouble.
“So, you’re saying that the top rankers gave me a reason to fight?”
“That’s right.”
Why hadn’t he been able to quickly climb the ranks before? He had climbed the ranks by fighting money-hungry idiots and beastmen, but the true top rankers didn’t fight him. However, the angel adjusted the system of the arena, giving them a reason to fight him.
It didn’t end there.
“Take this.”
“This is…”
“This is the analysis file of my opponent this time.”
Jake had sent me a file that had everything from my opponent’s martial arts to his physical specs and even his minor habits.
“I’ve placed a bet under Jun-ho’s name. This will spread your reputation even further.”
“… Is that okay?”
“It’s not direct intervention, so it’s okay.”
He had committed every possible intervention other than ‘direct’ intervention, such as playing around with money. It’s safe to say that he had learned all the tricks that weren’t illegal.
Under the full support of the angel who could be considered the tower manager, my rank rose exponentially. 50,000th, 3,000th, 100th. As
my rank rose rapidly, at some point, I received a message from the slaughterer, the Heavenly Demon, asking me to fight him. I ignored it and focused on fighting others.
Fighting wasn’t just fighting. After receiving the angel’s file and mentally training myself to think about it, if the odds were against me or the enemy was too strong for me to win right away, I just skipped over it. Since I was in a position where I would regress after getting hit once, I needed to choose my opponents carefully.
That’s how I got to 80th. 50th. 10th. 5th.
Now, I got a call from the Heavenly Demon every day, no, every hour, almost every minute, but he still cheerfully ignored me.
“You have to reach 1st place to receive the elixir.”
4th. 3rd. 2nd. Now, there was no one above me but the name of the ‘Emperor.’ Even that was just an empty shell of the one who had already left. It was all thanks to my own strength, and the angel’s cheat-like assistance. There were also times when I only fought those I wanted to fight.
“Is this the last one?”
1 win. If I just got 1 more win, I would be in first place. There was only one step left until the elixir.
“This time, you’re going to lose!!! Immortal!”
“Kill that furry b*stard!”
-Ladies and gentlemen!!!
Since I didn’t do anything that seemed like a ‘beast lover’ this time, my nickname was ‘Immortal.’ It was all thanks to the oriental-style cloth I was wearing. (For some reason, there were still forces that slandered me as a furry b*stard.)
Since I would be newly crowned first place if I won this match, everyone’s eyes were on me. My opponent wasn’t an easy opponent either.
“Kill him!!!”
“Burn him!!!”
The opponent was a human female swordsman, with fearsome swordsmanship and overwhelming physical abilities, but above all, she was famous for her unique blue lightning technique. It was said that she had never been defeated by anyone until now, and she was considered one of the rising super rookies following me, the ‘Shin-sun’ and the ‘Massacre’, who were currently in second place.
Her name was Choi Ji-won.
“Ah. Why all of a sudden. My back hurts.”
-T, what is this! Choi Ji-won is being pushed back so badly!!!
Of course. It was a set-up.
-S, the winner is Shin-sun! Shin-sun!!!
That’s how I was able to push aside the Emperor’s name and rise to first place. My achievement level went up, and I was given various rewards.
After that, the arena management called me and I was taken to a very suspicious space.
“Ah, here, you just need to press this button. Then here…”
There, Angel Jake appeared and took care of everything by himself. Originally, it was supposed to be a place to evaluate courage and strategy, but he just gave me all the answers right next to me. It seemed like I could do anything except actually move ‘directly’.
“Oh, oh…”
“It’s done!”
– An unbelievable achievement!
– You get an ‘intermediate elixir’ as a reward!
Although it was somewhat of a trick. I was finally able to get my hands on the intermediate elixir. It was an achievement I had made without a single regression, solely through my own efforts.
“It’s done! It’s done!!!”
“You did it?”
“I did it!”
At that time, I think I hugged Jake and jumped around in joy without realizing it. After that, Jiwon comforted me and we ate a lot of delicious food. And… And…
3 months passed.
The archangel did not return.
Ominous imaginations always come true.
**
In a quiet room. I checked the terminal on my wrist. All players except for me and Jiwon Choi had lost contact. No, more than half of the registered creatures are offline. Angel Jake is also a total idiot.
“…”
“…”
We were in the same space, but we didn’t say anything. That’s because we sensed a presence gradually approaching us.
At first, I thought a bomb had exploded. No. It was just… the magical power of one being, the murderous intent it was emitting, spreading out like a bomb.
Heavenly Demon. The energy of Heavenly Demon that had regained its body… made me doubt whether the angel who had thought to put that in was really in his right mind. Just how strong are angels? How strong must they be to think that he could ‘control it’ while putting that in?
“This is truly… a disaster.”
That’s not an opponent to fight. It’s an opponent to avoid. It’s not called ‘Heavenly Demon’ for nothing. An overwhelming presence, a definite death, a being embodied by destruction, is walking towards this place.
I know one thing. Three months have passed, and Heavenly Demon has fully awakened… There’s no way I can win. Absolutely, absolutely not. There’s no chance of winning if I confront it head-on.
So.
“Let’s try again.”
I’ll deal with you in the regressor’s way.
[You’ve taken damage.]
[You’ll regress to the moment you first entered the 28th floor.]