320 – The Regressor… (4)

After Regression.

“… Is that, really?”

“…”

“It’s true.”

After hearing my story, Choi Ji-won became silent with a serious expression. This was an unprecedented situation, and something I had never expected.

What is this pain, and why does it follow me even after I have returned? And why do I feel pain but not return? And what did the hero think of me that he suddenly cut off my head? I

couldn’t understand the situation at all, and I had little basis for judgment.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“For now… Just wait until tomorrow.”

There was nothing I could do just because I had a headache. So I proceeded the same way as the previous round, and the warrior acknowledged us this time as if he was annoyed. It was the complete opposite of the fierce attitude he had shown yesterday.

“It’s strange.”

Why is that? The pain I feel is the same, but why has the warrior’s attitude returned to its original state? No, why did the warrior’s attitude change in the first place? Yes. There must be a connection. The more

I thought about it, the more certain

it became. It would be reasonable to assume that there is some kind of connection between the strange phenomenon that occurred in my body and the warrior’s changed attitude. The disease I had, or something similar, must have made the warrior feel disgusted, or perhaps something that made him wary. I don’t know the details, though.

“… Warrior.”

The warrior knows something.

**

The next evening. When the familiar pain started again, I sent a signal to Jiwon and headed to the tent in the center.

This time, there were no soldiers guarding it. Let’s focus on our souls. At some point, even our presence had disappeared.

If I go into that tent like this, my head will be cut off again. I can’t make the same mistake.

-Thud.

For now, I threw the sword on the floor. I threw it outside the tent, but the warrior would have figured it out long ago. After that, he raised both hands and faced the front with his palms. It’s a posture that generally shows ‘no will to fight.’

“Whew.”

In that state, I walked into the tent with steady steps. The pain and dizziness were still there, but I endured it with my mental strength.

There was no one inside the tent. However, I stopped as if someone was there and spoke in a trembling voice.

“Warrior.”

There was no answer at first.

“… I want to talk.”

However, I was sure that the warrior was watching, and I felt his presence somehow, so I stood there and waited for the warrior.

“…”

As if living up to my expectations, the warrior appeared out of thin air. Unlike during the day, his expression was stiff.

“My body is in a strange state. It’s been like this for a while now. I was born strong, but I don’t understand why I’m in so much pain.” To

prevent him from doing something unnecessary, I poured out my business. Even though my body was aching and my head was dizzy, I was still wearing a blue-collared shirt.

“Could you help me? If not, maybe give me some advice. Why am I like this, what should I do from now on? Even if it’s just something simple.”

“…”

The warrior didn’t answer, and continued to glare at me. I somehow felt that he was probing me.

“Even a little help would be appreciated.”

The warrior didn’t respond, but I thought that just him staying still was an achievement, so I continued to ask for help. After about a minute had passed like that.

“So…”

“Really… you don’t know?”

The warrior finally responded. He frowned as if he didn’t understand. No, I really don’t know?

“I really don’t know, so please tell me.”

“… Huh.”

The warrior let out a breath and glared straight into my eyes. There was more pressure in his eyes than I could see, and I almost flinched a little.

“… What?”

I was confident, so I straightened my shoulders and faced him. I could have looked a bit pitiful because I was shaking, but I tried to be as strong as possible.

“Do you not understand?”

“…?”

What are you hinting at? My head is spinning and I can’t think properly. My body was only driven by my obsession to get some information.

“Enough.”

The warrior suddenly moved away and buried himself in the chair.

“I don’t want to get involved in troublesome things. I’ll acknowledge it tomorrow too, so get out of here quickly.”

“No, I’ll just get out of here. Can you give me some advice…”

“Wait.”

The warrior shook his head and spoke.

“If you wait, time will solve it. You will probably be the first to understand.”

He said that and waved his hand. My body was pushed in line with that gesture… It didn’t move, and only shook slightly.

“… Go out on your own feet.”

“…”

I still didn’t fully understand the situation, but I walked out of the tent limping.

“… Wait.”

In any case, this was the direction I was going to take.

**

The sun rises even on the battlefield. The birdsong that should have been heard was not heard, but the noise of life created by the disciplined movements of the soldiers replaced it.

“Ugh…”

I couldn’t sleep a wink all night. Choi Ji-won, who was taking care of me, was the same. We just waited for the sun to rise, shivering in bed.

“How are you now?”

“… Not yet.”

As time passed, the unidentifiable pain only grew. It wasn’t just the pain that grew, but several symptoms that I couldn’t understand with my common sense also occurred.

First, my senses were running wild. Sometimes, it felt like my body had become infinitely small, and sometimes, it felt like I had grown as big as a giant. It felt like someone was playing with my body.

My vision wasn’t normal either. My eyesight was blind, I could see, sometimes it felt like I was looking down at everything from the sky, I was stuck to the floor like an ant, at one point, I could see through people’s souls.

My body itself was just shivering on the bed. Only my senses were endlessly distorted. I couldn’t do anything like planning and thinking like I usually do. It was the limit of what I could endure.

Still… It was now daytime. It was time to move on to the ‘next day.’ With this, I could escape the 29th floor.

What would change if I escaped? There was a possibility.

“Like I said earlier, just come to the 26th floor.”

Choi Ji-won explained softly. This plan was made by Choi Ji-won, and even my dulled mind thought it was okay.

First, I cleared the 29th floor. After that, I went to the 26th floor and searched for a way to heal my body using the ‘contribution points’ I had collected so far. If there was no answer here, I planned to go to America and visit healer William Smith. The elixir didn’t work, but if it was another player’s ability, it might be different.

The warrior told me to wait, but wouldn’t it be better to wait while doing something rather than just waiting?

“On the 26th floor… What could it be?”

“Even if I use up all the contribution points I’ve collected, I just need to find the cause of this pain. Once I know the cause, I can return and use the contribution points again.”

“… Yes, Jiwon, you’re right.”

There was still hope. My body wouldn’t listen to me, but I still believed that it would be okay.

“… Ugh.”

My feet were giving out, and even walking was difficult, so I left the base with Jiwon Choi’s help. I reached my limit near the entrance and had to rest, and soon after, Jiwon Choi placed a dying mole monster in front of me.

“Can you stab it with a sword? Do you want me to help you?”

“… I’ll do it.”

I raised my sword with difficulty and stabbed the mole monster. Failing to control my strength, the blade pierced through the mole monster and sunk deep into the ground. I stabbed so deeply that only the handle of the sword was sticking out above the monster. The handle was cracked because I held it too tightly.

“Should I take it out?”

“… No. I don’t need it anymore.”

I left the sword where it was and trudged back into the base. It was toward the tent where the warrior was.

“I admit it.”

A voice resonated from far away.

“Junho?”

“The warrior admits it.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t hear anything…”

The warrior admitted me even before I entered the tent. I wondered if this was really enough, but according to Jiwon, the phrase ‘Conditions met’ appeared on the status screen. (My status screen was now dead.) When

I turned my head with difficulty again, a blue portal had appeared in the direction of the base’s exit. A blue portal that was invisible to other players and was prepared just for us.

“… Shall we go, Jiwon?”

“Oh, where?”

“… There’s a portal over there.”

“Oh, really?”

Jiwon also seemed to be very flustered, and she didn’t seem to be able to come to her senses. I pointed in the direction, and Jiwon supported me and we moved toward the portal.

“Let’s meet on the 26th floor. We can go straight from the 1st floor. Can you get there by yourself?”

“… I’ll try.”

I broke free of Jiwon’s support and staggered through the blue portal.

Up until this point, I had only been worried about my body. I wondered what was going on, and what I should do to get better. –

Cleared the 29th floor.

Not knowing what was waiting for me.