Chapter 19 - Choi Jiwon Is Rude (2)

Maybe my achievement level had improved my physical abilities considerably, because cutting through the grass took only a day instead of the three it used to take. Thanks to that, I could get moving at a very early stage—just one day after entering the tower.

What I did was simple: roam as much of the tower as possible, looking for people. Then urge everyone I met to return to the clearing.

Of course, I was worried at first. They might respond with something like, “Hey, we're doing fine on our own. Let's just ignore that guy.” But the results surprised me.

“Really... Seriously?”

“They'll give us food... and somewhere to sleep... everything?”

For ordinary people, a single day in the tower was far more grueling than I had imagined. Not only were more people than I expected uncomfortable with killing living things in the first place, but lugging heavy weapons around all day left them utterly exhausted.

“Even with someone standing watch... I couldn't sleep... There weren't any blankets or beds... and I missed my mom...”

That was what one woman with hollow eyes told me, wiping away her tears.

In just one day, the fear of dying had eaten away at their minds and left them vulnerable. There must have been only one reason they hadn't returned to the clearing in previous runs: they couldn't survive without killing monsters. They couldn't just starve to death.

But once they knew the clearing offered food, somewhere to sleep, and a fucking powerful guard, they had no reason left to hesitate.

“Ha. Do you even know what level I am? Quit talking bullshit and fuck off.”

Of course, I occasionally encountered people who had adapted perfectly to the tower and seemed to have no need for my help, but there weren't many of them. Besides, from what I could gather, most of those people had traits. The reality of life in the tower was that people without traits, or with lousy ones, were barely dragging themselves along through their exhaustion.

And so, in a single day, I managed to send twenty-two people back to the clearing. If Choi Jiwon found that overwhelming, I could play the nice guy and pretend to help. If it didn't trouble her at all, I just had to keep sending people until it did.

That wasn't all I gained.

“Aaaaaaagh!”

Whenever I ran toward the screams, I would invariably find a person or two being chased by a pack of goblins or a mutant goblin.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

The instant I found them, all I had to do was cut the monsters down. Never mind the pathetic ordinary goblins—even mutant goblins distracted by the prey before them were no match for me. A head-on, one-on-one fight might be another matter, but there was no way I'd lose to a mutant goblin when I had the drop on it. My odds only went down in a direct fight because I couldn't afford to take even one hit.

And once I saved them...

“Thank you! Thank you!”

“Sniff... Sob... I really thought I was going to die...”

Leaving the people weeping with relief behind me...

[You may acquire a trait.]

I could acquire a trait every single time, without fail. My guess was that making people feel truly intense emotions allowed me to acquire traits. It had happened with Scrawny and the punk, and now it was happening when I rescued people. They had all been experiencing extreme emotions, after all.

There was just one problem.

-Relief [FFF]

-When life is painful. When you feel ready to collapse from exhaustion. The sight of you puts their hearts at ease.

“... Huh?”

Every trait I got from rescuing people had a garbage rank. Seriously, what the hell was FFF-rank? It might work as clickbait for a web novel title like “The World's Strongest with an FFF-Rank Trait!” But this thing really was just garbage. It couldn't even elicit reactions from people the way Awe did. All it did was make the people I'd rescued look the tiniest bit more relaxed.

Think I was just unlucky?

-Faith [FFF]

-Respect [FFF]

-Love [FFF]

-Trust [FFF]

-Admiration [FFF]

Every trait I got from rescuing people... had a garbage rank. If Awe had shown up again, I could at least have picked it to see what would happen, but the damn thing never appeared. It wasn't as though duplicates were impossible, either. Admiration had come up three times, I think.

Once or twice is coincidence, but when it keeps happening, there's a reason. After learning the same lesson over and over, I realized something.

“... Oh. Scrawny's trait was S-rank, wasn't it?”

Scrawny's party had been fucking strong by tutorial standards. In fact, taking down a mutant goblin without suffering any harm was practically proof enough of that. Everyone I'd rescued was weak. If stronger people gave better traits, then it couldn't be helped that the people I rescued gave me such crappy ones.

Did that mean my efforts were completely pointless, though? Not quite.

[Conditions met.]

[Fusing traits.]

At some point, those messages appeared, and all my FFF-rank traits vanished in a rush.

-Hero [F]

-In moments of crisis, people think of you. You grow stronger when fighting to protect someone.

A new trait with an impressive name appeared. Its rank was a little low, though. Maybe because I'd earned it by saving people, its description was nothing but positive. Unlike a certain bullshit trait with the word “fear” in its description. The explanation was clear, too. A simple condition: protect others, and you get stronger.

When I was getting nothing but FFF-rank traits at first, I'd thought traits weren't going to be much use... But now that this had happened, I figured I should try drawing a trait out of everyone. I'd also have to check whether I could get a trait from the same person again after regressing.

Of course, my expectations for the trait I'd get from Choi Jiwon had risen even higher. If that loser Scrawny gave me a C-rank trait, what on earth would Choi Jiwon give me?

“Status window.”

[Name: Kim Junho] [LV:6]

[Traits]

-Regression [EX]

-Awe [C]

-Hero [F]

My Status window was looking a little fuller now. It looked much better than when Regression had been sitting there all by itself.

“... My level went up?”

That achievement level was what troubled me most. It never told me when, how, or what I'd done to raise it. Since I didn't know the conditions, I couldn't deliberately earn levels. All I could do was guess.

When I first checked my Status window right after arriving in the tower, I'd been level 1. After my scuffle with the goblins, level 2. When I finished cutting my way out of the grass, level 3. When I checked my Status window with Scrawny, level 5. And now I was level 6.

I pressed it, then pressed it again. But tapping [LV:6] on the Status window got no response. Scrawny had said pressing it brought up a list of achievements. Why was it only so strict with me? Why was it doing this only to me?!

“Whew...”

If I'd been a regressor from the future on my second playthrough, I could have cherry-picked achievements and grown at an insane rate. Even in games, you normally earned achievements just by playing. If you wanted to buckle down and complete every last one, didn't you need a guide?

“How many people did I save... Eight? Ten?”

This time, too, I could only guess that saving people had earned me a level.

“Oh, wait. Maybe not?”

Come to think of it, Scrawny had said he earned the “First to Slay a Mutant Goblin” achievement in a previous run. This time, I'd killed a mutant within a single day, so it seemed I'd stolen the trait Scrawny had gotten. No, wait. Finders keepers, right?

“Hmm...”

Thinking about Scrawny reminded me of the punk I'd killed. When I checked my level after killing him, it had gone from 3 to 5. Even if one level had come from acquiring my first trait... Was there an achievement for killing people, too? Or was it because the punk had been special? Maybe this time I could try killing Scrawny...

“Tsk. No, that's not okay.”

If an examiner for a license to be human were standing in front of me, they'd be giving me a deeply disapproving look. Saying something like, “Hmm... I'll let you off just this once.” I'd almost had my human license revoked. Relax, relax.

Sure, I might be able to get stronger quickly by going around killing everyone. Maybe there were separate achievements for a hundred kills and a thousand kills that would send my achievement level skyrocketing. Some people might wonder why I didn't just kill them, since everyone I killed would come back to life when I regressed anyway.

But as I keep stressing, what matters is my mental state. For people trapped in repeating loops, like regressors who return upon death, mental health is the most important thing. Sure, there are some who have so little going on upstairs that they're nicknamed “Dumbass” and stay perfectly fine no matter how many loops they go through... But most death regressors lose their humanity and break down over the course of their loops. They grow mentally ravaged.

I wanted to live as a human and clear this tower while still human. If I went around killing people like a madman, who knew how my personality would become twisted? Becoming a monster instead of a human was the one thing I wanted to avoid.

“Happy thoughts. Let's stick to happy thoughts.”

Come to think of it, I had been a little too obsessed with Choi Jiwon lately. Who was that crazy bitch that I had to chase after her like this? It was probably my shallow need for approval at work. There was no need to rush. In the end, I'd beat them all anyway. I'd keep growing stronger without limit, while my enemies stayed where they were.

The sun was sinking, and night was approaching. If I entertained horrific thoughts of slaughtering everyone right before bed, I'd have nightmares. I leaned back against a large tree and made myself comfortable. Instead of stressing myself out thinking about Choi Jiwon, I should picture something cute and adorable to get my head back in order.

That reminded me of an animal called a Pallas's cat that I'd seen on YouTube once. I closed my eyes and let my imagination take flight.

Pallas's cats were all round, with thick fur. Even the things they did were cute. When they hunted, they moved in little stop-start motions like a toy with dying batteries, and it was absolutely charming.

“... You.”

Their faces were utterly serious when they went hunting, but that irrepressible cuteness...

“... Answer me.”

Damn it, I was trying to picture a cute little Pallas's cat. Why did I keep hearing Choi Jiwon's hideous voice in my head...?

Huh?

I hurriedly opened my eyes. Choi Jiwon stood before me with her arms crossed and a stony expression.

“... You. What were you thinking, sending those people over?”

Choi Jiwon. In just one day, she'd come to find me herself.

A Word from the Author (Afterword)

With my previous work, I struggled to come up with a title for every chapter...

Doing it this way is so much easier...