Chapter 23 - The Boss Is Too Weak (3)

“... Krrk. Khuugh...”

The dying Goblin Shaman, and...

“Grrrrr...”

The snorting Minotaur.

The Minotaur was tightly curled up, its body bound fast by something resembling purple ropes. Their ends connected to the Goblin Shaman’s staff.

“... That’s terrifying.”

Sure, that monster had killed me before, but that was back when I’d been a total scrub... and it had stomped me flat in an instant. I hadn’t really gotten a feel for how strong it was.

Now, facing it head-on, I understood.

I couldn’t beat that thing. Absolutely not.

How strong would I have to become to beat a monster like that in a head-on fight... without taking a single hit?

Just imagining it made my head spin.

“As you can see, this is the situation.”

Park Cheoljin spoke calmly. Now I thought I understood why he’d evacuated everyone. If a monster like that were lurking near my base camp, I’d have evacuated them too.

“... Miss Choi Jiwon. Now that you’ve seen it yourself, what do you think? Can you win?”

“...”

Choi Jiwon couldn’t give him a ready answer. Her eyes busily scanned the Minotaur’s body.

“... It’s a bad matchup. It’s so large that inflicting a fatal wound doesn’t look easy.”

After a long deliberation, she finally spoke, and her assessment couldn’t have been more negative.

Even Choi Jiwon, the strongest fighter on the human side, couldn’t guarantee a victory.

Let me say it again: I still couldn’t react to her swish-and-slice attacks.

If I fought the Minotaur, I probably wouldn’t last five seconds before regressing and muttering a quiet “Fuck.”

“What if you, I, and young Kim Junho joined forces?”

“... I don’t know.”

I desperately wanted to say, ‘Mr. Cheoljin, I can’t fight that thing...’

But I couldn’t exactly tell him that a single hit would make me regress, either. Damn it...

Wait, couldn’t that thing not move?

“Can’t we just cut its throat while the seal is still holding?”

If Park Cheoljin, Choi Jiwon, and I all went for its neck at once, I thought we could inflict a fatal wound. It wasn’t moving around, just crouching there...

Wouldn’t a full-power strike to the neck kill the Minotaur?

“... Naturally, we considered that ourselves.”

But Park Cheoljin shook his head.

“It’s impossible. We’ve already tried all sorts of things. Try touching it.”

“... What?”

“It’s safe. Go ahead and touch it.”

... Touch what? Surely he didn’t mean that gigantic bull-headed monster?

“It really is safe.”

Apparently, he did. Park Cheoljin pushed me forward, urging me to touch that enormous mass of muscle.

“... I’m really going to touch it, okay?”

“Grrrrrrrr...”

The Minotaur let out a low growl as I approached, glaring at me with bloodshot eyes.

Easy there, Mr. Minotaur. I’m not doing this because I want to, either...

“Ugh...”

I reached out little by little, and just as my hand was about to touch the Minotaur’s fur...

TAP.

“... Huh?”

My fingertips met something smooth rather than the Minotaur’s stiff fur.

This... felt like touching glass.

Something like a spherical glass shell surrounded the Minotaur’s body.

“It’s sealed, but it’s protected at the same time. Miss Jiwon... could you break that, by any chance?”

“... I don’t think I can.”

“Hmm... That’s a shame.”

If we killed the boss, that glass shell would probably disappear. But so would the purple ropes binding the monster.

With perfect timing, we might be able to land a blow on the Minotaur... but it would be much harder.

Whoever designed this tower was a real fucking bastard.

They’d made it sound like everyone could survive by using the portal once we killed the boss.

But there was actually some absurd monster sealed right in front of it? We had to take that thing down if we wanted everyone to survive?

I’d thought this before, but this tower was really good at creating fucked-up situations—

“Huh?”

An ominous sensation crawled up my spine.

My brain considered the worst-case scenario... and concluded that it was entirely plausible.

“... Mr. Park Cheoljin?”

“My trait offers excellent defense, so... Hm? What is it?”

“How many people know the boss is here?”

“... Four, including me. They’re all trustworthy men.”

“... That’s a real relief.”

Again, this tower was steering people into fucked-up situations.

Take the golden orbs.

People with overpowered traits could obtain them easily, but think about it from the perspective of an ordinary person with an ordinary trait.

Choi Jiwon sliced through mutant goblins with ease because she was a monster herself. They were incredibly difficult for ordinary people to fight.

Even several ordinary people with plenty of levels under their belts would barely win, and only if they charged in prepared to suffer casualties.

Imagine about fifteen ordinary people risking their lives and just barely bringing down a mutant goblin.

They would get enough food for fifteen people to eat roughly two meals, along with one or two golden orbs.

What would go through your mind?

Once this food ran out, you’d have to risk your life again. Someone had died to a stray thrust from the mutant goblin’s spear earlier. Next time, that could be you.

The leader told everyone to hold on until they had enough golden orbs for everyone to swallow one.

But there were only fifty golden orbs. Could you really get fourteen more?

Anxiety became distrust, and suspicion became certainty.

At some point, the people you’d seen as companions just moments ago began to look like competitors.

Ruin was the inevitable outcome.

It was now the afternoon of day six.

Even now, somewhere, companions were probably fighting to the death over those orbs.

“... I know the golden orbs encourage distrust. But what does that have to do with the boss?”

The firefighter, Park Cheoljin, turned the question back on me. He didn’t seem to understand what I was getting at.

“... If we kill the boss, the Minotaur will be released, right?”

“Is that thing called a Minotaur? Yes, it will.”

“And a portal will appear.”

“...!”

“Do you understand now?”

Killing the boss would create a portal.

The Minotaur would be released at the same time, but whoever killed the boss could simply slip into the portal right in front of them.

If someone killed the boss... at least that person could survive.

The boss was a decrepit old goblin. Killing it wouldn’t be difficult.

“If I were desperate... I think I would just kill the boss first and worry about the rest later.”

This tower had put a truly fucked-up mechanism in place.

The people who killed the boss could advance to the next stage.

Everyone outside that group would die, of course... but people driven to extremes were bound to be selfish.

The moment someone pressed the escape button, disaster would begin.

This tower was encouraging division among people right to the very end.

“... Damn it. Goddamn it! Does that bastard of a god think we’re toys?!”

BANG!

Unable to contain his anger, Park Cheoljin struck the trunk of a nearby tree.

He’d made a career of saving people as a firefighter.

Not only was he a good man... his concern for others must have been far greater than most people’s.

For someone like him, this place brimming with malice must have been unbearably repulsive.

“... Whew. I’m going to cool my head.”

He left, grinding his teeth.

“... Kim Junho. I need a moment to calm down too. When I get too emotional... my body won’t listen to me.”

Radiating murderous intent, Choi Jiwon stroked her sword and disappeared somewhere as well.

“... Where’s everyone going?”

Now all that remained here were...

“Grrrrr...”

The glaring Minotaur, and...

“Khhuuugh...”

One old goblin on the verge of drawing its last breath.

After cautiously watching for a moment, I carefully sat down beside the Goblin Shaman.

Yikes, look at its staff arm trembling.

“... Sigh.”

Honestly, I could just regress.

My goal was to collect the rewards available on Floor 0, not kill the Minotaur.

Sure, I wanted the rewards for killing it, but I had no intention of endlessly banging my head against something impossible.

Besides, I didn’t necessarily have to find a solution right now.

I might come up with a brilliant solution on the next run, or the one after that.

And if I still couldn’t see any way to beat the Minotaur after repeated regressions?

Then I could simply gulp down a golden orb.

“It’s too early to worry about that.”

But it was also too early to give up now.

There was still time, and there was no guarantee I could recreate this run’s circumstances next time.

As old Mr. Kim Gundo’s case had shown, even the smallest trigger could change the future.

Besides, Choi Jiwon seemed to trust me in her own way now. It would be a shame to waste the relationship I’d built.

I’d regress if I truly hit a dead end, but until then, I needed to try everything I could so I wouldn’t have regrets.

All right... Think. Let’s go over the timeline.

“... Hmm.”

The Minotaur had attacked the clearing around noon on day seven. Right now, it was the afternoon of day six.

Whether the Goblin Shaman died naturally or was killed by someone trying to escape, it would die tomorrow if events followed the same course as the previous run.

If someone killed it, I could stop them... but if it died naturally, there was nothing I could do.

Assuming the Goblin Shaman’s cause of death was natural, I had about twenty hours left.

Was there a good way to kill that enormous bull-headed bastard within twenty hours...?

“Khugh... Human... I smell a human...”

Hmm... What if we dug a hole and buried it? Mr. Kim Gundo might be able to pull it off.

“Human...!”

“... Huh?”

“Help... I need help... Krrk... Cough...”

“... What the hell?”

Day six. Afternoon.

The Goblin Shaman spoke to me.

A Word from the Author (Author’s Afterword)

“Regression Is Too Much” operates on a strict write-it-today, sell-it-today policy...

I wanna post multiple chapters too...

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