318 – The Regressor… (2) –

We entered the 29th floor.

“… Is this place like a fortress?”

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a tall, beautiful woman with the style of an older sister. As expected of a top-tier player, his face and body were handsome, but the large scar on his face added to his wildness.

“A tent, a wooden wall, soldiers… It looks like a field base. What do you think?”

My sister asked me, looking at me. There was nothing wrong with what she said.

A tent that was worn but not old. A wooden wall that was still being repaired. A soldier moving around busily. Above all, where we were standing now was on top of a high hill. Looking at the food and the other side, this was indeed a medieval military base.

“Hello?”

But… I couldn’t answer. Because of my previous experience on the 17th floor, I started by first becoming aware of the soul when I entered a floor, and that was the problem.

“…”

Can’t you feel it? The enormous presence felt in the center of the base. The power of the soul that filled this entire fortress and poured out of it.

The tent in the center. There… I felt a terrifying presence.

The oppression of the Heavenly Demon, or something more. The difference was that the Heavenly Demon had a violent energy that seemed to kill all living things. That energy was just a heavy, rock-like energy that sat there. Even if it didn’t intend to harm me, its presence alone was an energy that made me suffocate.

I couldn’t feel anything magically. The problem was that the weight of the soul was so heavy that I couldn’t bear it.

“Junho?”

“Huh, Choi Jiwon?”

Choi Jiwon was walking from afar. Judging by her calm expression, it seemed like Choi Jiwon hadn’t felt it either. (The older sister couldn’t close her mouth when she saw Choi Jiwon.)

“…” Junho? Did you…?”

“No, that’s not it. Let’s just wait a little longer.”

Choi Ji-won frowned at my serious expression. She asked if I had regressed, but I shook my head.

“Are you the new warriors?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Come this way.”

A soldier appeared right after. The direction he was leading us was toward the tent located in the center of the base.

Whatever it was.

“…”

I soon came face to face with that presence.

**

“You can go in.”

“… Sure.”

The interior of the tent was simple, but it was neatly organized in its own way. It was arranged so that even a complete stranger could tell, ‘This is the office.’

From the desk, to the map, to the large monster head hanging on the wall, to the guest chair. If a sophisticated handsome man had stood up and greeted us, this scene would have been a situation befitting the image of ‘the first meeting with a genius strategist.’

“Oh. You’re here.”

However, what greeted us was an old man lying sideways on the office chair. He was leaning his back on one armrest, his legs on the other, and he was munching on a snack with his body relaxed.

His body hair was completely unmanaged, growing haphazardly and wildly, and there were snack crumbs between his beard. His armor was rotting away in a corner of the tent, and his clothes were… pajamas, or at least, extremely comfortable-looking cloth. Now

that I looked at him, he was handsome. His body was also muscular. He looked more like a “hyung” or “oppa” than an “uncle.” However, because he was so miserably unmanaged, the word “uncle” came to mind as soon as I saw him.

The soul waves that had been oppressing me were emanating from that man. That man was a monster. A monster as big as a celestial demon or something more. How could such a monster pop out on two consecutive floors? Isn’t this a bit much?

“Oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute.”

Whether I was nervous or not, the man waved the hand that wasn’t holding the snack in the air, then clenched his fist.

＜29th Floor＞

– Every day around sunset, you can have your performance verified by the ‘Warrior’.

– You can clear the level if you receive the Warrior’s recognition three times.

A familiar message window appeared before my eyes.

“Th-what is that? I used to be the Warrior, right? So I’m like the manager of this floor.”

“…”

“There are a ton of monsters out there. Kill them and come back to me, and I’ll measure your performance. If you pass a certain standard, I’ll acknowledge you for doing well.”

The warrior again absentmindedly tapped the air.

“On the other hand, you can only be evaluated once a day. No matter what, you can only be evaluated three times total. No more, no less. Do you understand? Now go. Fighting~.”

“…”

“Aren’t you going? Go quickly.”

Choi Ji-won and I exchanged glances and slowly headed out of the tent, and the wild older sister glanced around and followed us.

Walking aimlessly like that, when we reached the outskirts of the base,

“… How is he a warrior?”

my older sister muttered. I also vehemently agreed with that.

A warrior. A brave person.

However, the image of the title warrior is too strong to be evaluated simply based on ‘bravery’. Everyone knows this, so there’s no need to explain further.

“When I saw him, that guy was really strong. The reason I was nervous was because I felt his presence.”

“Did you feel his presence?”

“Yeah. But… No matter how I look at it.”

A warrior isn’t simply strong enough to be a warrior. Why, if he’s a warrior, shouldn’t he be more warrior-like?

“No matter how I look at it, Jiwon seems more warrior-like…”

Compared to that bum who was eating snacks while scratching his stomach, Jiwon Choi, who was wearing a ponytail and casual clothes, looked much more like a warrior. Jiwon Choi didn’t exactly look like a warrior, but she looked that pitiful.

“Well, let’s just leave that aside.”

In fact, I didn’t care if the warrior was old, a bum, or a pretty woman. All I had to do was clear this floor quickly.

“Let’s gather some information.”

“Okay.”

“What’s the relationship between you two…”

Regardless of what my older sister said, Jiwon and I split up and walked around this outpost. We asked the soldiers about various things and went out ourselves.

First of all, according to the soldiers, this was the front line of the war against the demons. It seemed like we were the reinforcements who had been summoned there.

Thanks to that, the soldiers were cooperative and the guides were kind.

After looking around the base, we went outside to catch a few monsters. The ones I met looked like half wild dog and half mole. How strong was it? Hmm… It’s ambiguous. To put it in perspective, it’s about the same as a wild bear? I’ve never fought a wild bear, but from what I’ve experienced, it felt that way.

It’s not weak, but it’s definitely not scary or strong. To normal humans, bears are a source of fear, but to players, they’re not that scary.

“The deeper you go into the front lines, the stronger enemies you’ll encounter!”

According to the soldier, the monster I caught was on the outskirts. The further you go in, the stronger the enemies you’ll encounter, and the mole monsters only appear on the outermost perimeter.

“Hmm…”

With a few questions, I went back to the tent to ask the warrior, who could be called the person in charge.

“Over there…”

“Pass.”

“Yes?”

“Pass. I acknowledge you. Come back tomorrow.”

“… Yes?”

“Go now.”

“…”

But the warrior didn’t listen to me, and just kept saying, ‘I acknowledge you,’ and gave the order to leave.

“… ”

So, you’ll acknowledge me if I catch just one of the weakest moles? Is this how it’s supposed to be…?”

“No way.”

No. It was clear that the warrior was just annoying and gave me a passing grade. It was obvious dereliction of duty, but it was beneficial for me, so I decided to just leave it alone.

Anyway, I rejoined with Jiwon later. We exchanged information and roughly figured out this floor.

For now, it seemed like they were definitely going to give me a passing grade. Even if I came back after catching some stupid monster, the warrior was ready to shout ‘okay’.

The problem was the hidden piece, or in other words, the additional reward. In this type of floor, you should assume that there’s always an additional reward.

“It seems like it’ll be a bit difficult to get an additional reward…”

However, it seemed like getting an additional reward on this floor would be harder than I thought.

The deeper you go, the stronger the monsters appear. The monsters themselves are strong, but the distance is also a problem.

“The really strong ones are going to be really deep.”

Let’s say you move around for 3 days to find a strong monster. Defeating the guy is one thing, surviving in a place teeming with demons for three days is another.

“It takes three days to get back.” It takes

another three days to go there and back. It takes six days just to go back and forth, but the problem is that you only get the warrior’s recognition once for all this hardship. If you repeat this three times, it’ll take 18 days.

Clearing it itself is easy. Anyone can clear it in three days.

However, if you get greedy and try to get better rewards, the time it takes increases exponentially. It was similar to a game in that you get better rewards if you work hard.

Well, except for that part… It’s okay. All I can say is that it’s really okay. All I have to do is catch the monsters and get the corresponding rewards.

“I’ll just do what I’ve been doing.”

“Let’s clear it in the shortest time possible, and then come back and think about it.”

I just thought it would be an okay floor.

The evening of the second day.

“…Huh?”

“What’s wrong, Junho?”

“No, suddenly… My head…”

Suddenly… Until my head started to feel extremely dizzy and painful.