335 – The Past (14)

Even though the tower was built and the world was in upheaval, the leaders of each country were people with extremely common sense.

“What is a regressor?”

I didn’t understand at first.

“Are you saying that you can go back in time?”

“Mr. President, that’s a bit too much of a joke.”

Then he denied it.

“Really…?”

“This is, this is. What the heck.”

I finally accepted it. Is it true that there are time travelers in this world? Is this true?

“Mr. President, I don’t doubt it, but… I just don’t understand.”

The German Chancellor then raises his hand and asks a question.

“If there really are time travelers… why did you share this fact with us… ?”

A very valid question. In fact, if you think about it a little, you will realize that the value of this information is not small. If you monopolize it, you monopolize it. Why share it?

“That’s right.”

The US President answers with a pale face. In fact, Michael Jeter was against this meeting, but it was the President who pushed ahead with the meeting nonetheless.

There may be several reasons for this, but the most important reason is… responsibility.

With the crime rate out of control and the world situation in turmoil, the pressure of the regressors has become too much for the president to handle. He has not been able to sleep well at night due to stress, and has already reached the limit of sleeping pills prescribed by the doctor.

Responsibility diminishes when shared. The president has evaded it in a way.

Of course, the president is not a retard, and he did not make this decision simply to reduce his sense of responsibility. Of course, there was another plan.

“I don’t want other countries to clash with the regressors.”

First of all, the president wanted to make Kim Jun-ho untouchable. Right now, the regressor is just quietly climbing the tower. The president’s opinion was that a ‘collision’ could happen at any time. Whether by accident or by necessity. It was a disaster that should never happen.

“I don’t want the political power to mess with the regressor. I don’t want a situation where he could have a negative view of the existing social order. I think he should be left independent. Especially in Korea.”

“… I didn’t know he was a regressor. I had already blocked his access to Ms. Choi Ji-won.”

The Korean president answers with a trembling voice. It was largely his fault that Choi Ji-won was able to climb the tower with ease. It was because the Korean president was the one who did his best to prevent members of the National Assembly or businessmen from bothering Choi Ji-won.

This was meant to be used later in a critical situation as something like, ‘I stopped you~’. In any case, it was true that he had blocked Choi Ji-won’s approach.

“Well, that’s fortunate.”

The president’s goal was to eliminate any possibility of resentment toward the existing social order, and to instill in the regressors the perception that ‘the current situation is okay.’ Of course, this is not the end.

“Everyone. Do you know what this is?”

“paper?”

“…contract.”

“Someone knows. This is a contract that can be obtained from the tower.”

The contracts purchased by players belonging to Team Alpha. The President distributed them to everyone.

“The contents of the contract are simple. You must not tell anyone what you hear here, and you must not do anything that could directly affect the regressor. All interference with the person named ‘Kim Jun-ho’ is simply prohibited.”

Control. Another goal of the president was control.

The President had obtained a clue about the Regressor through the transcendental means of the ‘book’. According to Jeter, the Regressor could give ‘memories’ to others. It was a very small possibility, but it meant that someone else could have noticed the Regressor’s presence.

If by any chance another government should become aware of the regressors and turn evil, destruction might come. So the President’s purpose was to put a leash on them in advance.

“My opinion is that rather than stepping on a landmine when you don’t know, you should be careful when you know. I know that elected officials will declare a state of emergency and extend their term anyway. I am also prepared to run for a third term or more if necessary.”

“…”

“So, let me make a suggestion.”

The US President said with a pale face.

“From now on, I will not use the ‘Book of Truth’. I will not use it privately until a sufficient amount of sacrifices are collected to help the regressors. It is important to stabilize social order, but I believe that it is more important to quickly climb the tower.

Last resort. Securing legitimacy for not using books privately in the future. Up until now, the president’s overwhelming authority came from prophecies from ‘books’. The prophecies will stop for now, but by disclosing information about the regressor, the president will be able to maintain his influence.

“Let’s leave the Returner alone. When it’s time to intervene, I’ll call another meeting. I’ll share all the facts with you. So don’t do anything stupid. Do you agree? If you have any questions, please ask now.”

There were a lot of questions. There was also a heated debate that was hard to believe for an upper-class group. But as the exchange of opinions continued and voices grew louder, they came to agree with the US president’s opinion.

The Regressor was a bomb. A bomb that could bring destruction to anyone who touched it. There was a return that could take over the world if you played it right, but the risk was too great.

To be frank, these were the people who had most of what they wanted. They were the leaders of society. They were already living an affluent life.

Rather than doing something useless and losing this life, I chose to maintain the status quo. I wasn’t going to climb the tower myself, and if I just sat still, the regressor would destroy the tower on his own. There was no reason to refuse.

“When you provide support to the regressor in the future, we all agree…”

“Of course I will convey it. My goal, as I have said before, is to show that the current order is beneficial to the regressors. Who would want the regressors to overturn everything and reign supreme with overwhelming force?”

“Hmm…”

“Yes.”

“The Association President and I will do our best. We will approach things as cautiously as possible. So leave it to us. We will support the regressors with all our might and prevent the destruction of humanity.”

As the president pressed the button, a serving robot appeared and placed the cooked food on the table.

The excitement of knowing the secrets of the world. The relief that someone with such great power is on the side of order. And the joy of not having to worry about destruction. The greed of wondering if there was a way to exploit it.

Each emotion surged through them, and the leaders gulped and swallowed their saliva, looking at each other.

“Then… I take it that everyone agrees. We didn’t know anything. Let’s just forget everything and go back to our daily lives. As for the ‘Book of Truth’… let’s not touch it anymore.”

“…”

“Those who agree, please begin eating.”

At the same time, the sound of moving dishes broke the silence. The leaders had made their choice. To maintain the status quo. To leave the issue of the regressors to the United States. To handle things as amicably as possible, even if they happened to come into contact with the regressors.

“I’ll give you the contract when you leave here. By the way, the penalty is… death.”

Even upon hearing the word ‘death’, the reaction was relatively calm. Everyone agreed that it was something of ‘that level’.

With this, Kim Jun-ho will be able to focus solely on climbing the tower. No one will bother Choi Ji-won and Kim Jun-ho. The usual recruitment and immigration offers, or even the honey trappings, that are usually used for great players will also stop.

but.

“…I’m just going to let this slide.”

The thoughts of primates called humans are truly diverse, and they are beings who can reach different conclusions even after acquiring the same information.

“That won’t work.”

Sometimes, a variable that seems trivial can change everything.

**

“Thank you for going along with my stubbornness.”

“no.”

Again, Jeter and the President return to the secret laboratory of courtesy.

In fact, if it had been Jitter before he fought Dok Soo-hee, he would have tried hard to prevent such a gathering. He would have thought it was better to monopolize information than to share it with the leaders.

But after the fight with Dok Soo-hee, Jeter began to think that he might have been wrong and agreed with the president. The idea of ​​taking preventive measures in advance is not entirely unreasonable.

Of course, there was still one part that Jitter did not agree with, namely, the ‘maintaining the existing social order’ part. He had already openly said that the player’s order should come, and he actually believed that it was efficient. His opinion was that strong players should be favored, and that all of the country’s resources should be consumed primarily for the players.

Perhaps the President didn’t know this far ahead of time, but Jeter had no intention of speaking up. It was time to decide on something more important than that.

“So… this time, let’s hear your plan. How exactly do you plan to support the regressors?”

“Yes, my plan is simple.”

The conclusion that Jeter and Team Alpha ultimately reached was quite simple.

“Ask the book for the fastest way for the regressor to climb the tower. Then, you tell the regressor this method. It is a method that allows for maximum results with minimal intervention.”

It’s asking the book for the ‘right answer’. Anyone can think of it, but not everyone can do it.

“Can you match the amount of the sacrifice? Even if you can… what are you going to do after that?”

The reason why this method is difficult is obvious. Not only is it difficult to match the amount of sacrifice in the first place, but it is also difficult to handle the aftermath that follows.

“No, it is possible.”

But it is possible. With jitter, it is possible. However, there is one prerequisite.

“If you regress, it will be like nothing happened.”

Regression. Time had to go back to the point before the sacrifice was made. To ask such a question, a huge amount of sacrifice would have to be made. If time does not go back after that, America will just perish.

“Of course, we need to leave a mark on the book. Our team has even come up with a code system for this. We can even put a short English sentence in a very small dot.”

Here, the detailed plans were different, such as ‘notify the returnee in advance and obtain cooperation’ or ‘ask for other information about the returnee’. In any case, the core was the same.

“You have to wait for the moment when the regressor ‘must’ regress.”

Jeter’s plan was eerily similar to the decision Jeter had made in the bunker. Yes, it was as if it had to happen.

The water of the river always flows downstream. The leaves always fall to the ground. Winter passes and spring comes. Birds return to their nests. The full moon also wanes in its time. What is meant to happen will happen.

Today is the day when all those causes and effects come together.

“Association President!”

“I’m talking to the President now…”

“Soohee appeared on the 26th floor.”

“…Mr. President.”

“Go ahead. I’ll think about the book a little more.”

In terms of time, it was the time when the regressor had just entered the 20th floor. The time when he became enraged by the tyranny of the angels. Five months had passed since the first tutorial.

No one could have imagined that so many things would be decided today, but it was bound to happen.

as it were.

It’s fate.