Chapter 34 - The Regressor Is Conditionally Strong (3)

"..."

The Minotaur's head rolled over and met my eyes.

Yeah, you must be dumbfounded too. How could something as strong as you have expected to die in a single stroke in the tutorial, of all places?

But life is full of surprises. I never expected to get dragged into a tower, either.

Come to think of it, nobody was exclaiming in amazement.

I flicked the blood off my sword and turned to look at the others.

"..."

Their response was decidedly lukewarm.

No, it was probably more accurate to say that none of this felt real to them.

They'd woken up in a clearing out of nowhere, and then a fairy had appeared and rattled on about this and that.

Right afterward, some guy had told them to trust him, performed a sword dance, and led them off somewhere.

They'd followed along without thinking much of it, only for a huge bull-headed monster to bellow and get its head lopped off in an instant.

From their perspective, it really must have been bewildering. All they'd done was walk where they were told, and things had just happened around them.

"... Achievement level? What's this?"

A man was fiddling with something in front of him.

His voice sounded awfully familiar... Ah. He was the man who shouted "Status window" at the beginning. We hadn't all called up our Status windows together this time, so he must have quietly done it on his own.

He really did adapt faster than most.

Anyway... I ought to tell them what they needed to know.

"Everyone, could you try saying 'Status window'?"

At my helpful instruction, they began murmuring "Status window" one by one... and soon became absorbed in the message windows appearing before their eyes.

Of course, like me, they would only have achievement levels, with no regular levels yet. They hadn't killed any goblins, after all.

"... It should be fine, right?"

My achievement level had risen when we'd pushed the Minotaur into the swamp before, so apparently it went up even without a direct contribution.

We'd killed a hidden boss, no less, so their achievement levels should have shot up.

I was managing to compensate for my lack of regular levels with achievement levels myself, so there might not be much difference in their actual combat strength.

Besides, once they started gaining regular levels too, wouldn't they become far stronger than in the previous runs?

Or they could simply kill a monster or two in the next stage after going through the portal.

The problem was that they had no actual combat experience and weren't used to fighting...

But actual combat inevitably meant casualties. We'd have to betray the goblins, too.

I couldn't just let people die to give them combat experience.

While I was mulling that over, the Goblin Shaman came up beside me.

"Hey."

"... Krrk."

He stood beside me, looking down at the Minotaur's head. After nudging it a few times with his foot, he looked up at me.

"Human. Now that you have what you wanted, will you betray us? Krrk. I hear humans must kill my kind to grow stronger."

"No. Besides, achievement levels will probably be enough."

"... Krrk."

The Goblin Shaman nudging the enormous bull's head faded away, and the real Goblin Shaman trudged over from the direction of the swamp.

Wow, this bastard. Testing me right up to the end.

"... Krrk. Well done, human."

He waved a hand, and the assembled goblins began scattering in different directions.

"... Yeah. You too. Want me to make it quick?"

"Krrrk. This is a historic day, when humans and my kind did not kill one another. Would you stain your hands with blood on such a day, human?"

He rummaged inside the skull he wore on his head, then gulped down something he took from it.

"Human. That Regression of yours... resembles my kind's repeated deaths in the tower."

"... I guess it does."

Goblins came back to life after dying, and I regressed whenever I was injured. You could call them similar.

"But human... you retain your memories. Krrk."

"... So?"

"Sometimes... remembering can hurt more. One day, it may feel like a curse. Krrk."

"..."

"Do your best, human. I shall keep working hard at killing humans here."

With those words, he grinned and toppled forward on the spot.

"..."

Apparently, whatever he'd swallowed earlier had been poisonous.

So, Regression might feel like a curse?

I knew that perfectly well. I was doing my best to keep it from becoming one.

What a shitty thing to say at the very end.

And how was I supposed to collect that special contribution reward? Why weren't there any instructions?

As I grumbled to myself...

HUM.

-[Achievement Alert!]

-Boss defeated.

-A portal will appear where the boss died.

The portal finally appeared.

"Hmm."

After giving it some thought... I decided to go in for now rather than regress here.

This was the only way to save every last person, anyway.

And I would have to experience the next stage eventually.

"All right, go in one at a time. It should be sa—"

No. On second thought, that could end badly.

What if a monster suddenly jumped out?

They might have achievement levels, but they had neither regular levels nor combat experience.

I should go in first and regress if anything seemed wrong.

"... Wait a little after I go in before following me. About five minutes."

With that, I threw myself into the portal.

[Moving to the next stage.]

A man in a suit bowed politely.

"Welcome, humans. Did you enjoy yourselves?"

There was something orderly yet cold about the space. Perhaps not all the lights were on, because most of it was shrouded in darkness...

But judging by what was visible, it was designed like a courtroom in the human world.

The only unusual features were that there were no seats for defense attorneys or prosecutors, only a judge's bench, and that a large scale stood in the center of the courtroom.

"You thought you'd barely survived... Does this come as a surprise?"

Having finished his greeting, the suited man took his seat behind the judge's bench with practiced ease.

"First, let me ask you a question. What do you think you will be doing here?"

This tower had been built to judge humanity.

At the same time, it had been built to test humanity. It was mankind's last chance to escape God's wrath.

Perhaps that was why God did not allow just anyone to enter the tower.

Only faithful lambs who had obeyed his rules were permitted entry.

But he also knew full well that such people were few in a world that had grown so corrupt.

The generous God had decided to show mercy. Anyone would be given a chance to enter the tower, provided they paid the price.

"Now, humans, you will stand in judgment. You will undergo an assessment to enter this tower."

The man pointed sharply toward something resembling an enormous spring scale.

"This scale... measures the 'weight of your sins.'"

He rubbed his white-gloved hands together.

"What sins did you commit to survive? Did you stab a companion in the back? Strangle a sleeping benefactor? Or did you finish off a dying Goblin Shaman just to save your own skin?"

He rapped on the scale's platform.

"Every sin you have committed... this scale will calculate them precisely. And you will have to pay the appropriate price."

It was unreasonable. It was unfair.

They created a situation in which people had no choice but to kill and be killed, then demanded they pay for their sins.

It was nothing but tyranny.

But... God had always been that way.

It was God who flew into a rage whenever his creations behaved in ways he disliked.

It was God who made rules as he pleased and punished those who broke them.

It was God who erased an entire kingdom for daring to challenge him.

It was God who forced a father to offer his two sons as sacrifices.

God was capricious. God was cruel. God forced his rules upon humanity.

And humans always simply accepted it.

This time would be no different.

"Now. Step onto this scale one at a time. And pay the price."

Humans... simply accepted it.

They always had.

"You are free to choose how you pay. You may offer your lifespan, the stats in your Status window... or, failing that, parts of your body. All that matters is that you pay enough."

The man grinned.

Or rather, Judgeiel, an angel of the fifth rank, did.

This was the moment he enjoyed most.

When humans wailed, unable to accept their sins. When they frantically racked their brains for a way to pay. When they begged him after realizing that even their lives would not cover the price.

The finest spectacle had been a man who asked whether he could pay with someone else's life.

Humans became endlessly selfish the moment their lives were at stake.

Perhaps that was only natural... but God had said he disliked it. The angels merely carried out his will.

"Now, come up one at a time."

While the angel sat at the judge's bench, the humans sat in the public gallery.

SNAP!

He snapped his fingers, and the lights above the darkened gallery came on.

At last, the humans were revealed.

"... Huh?"

Judgeiel drew in a breath before he knew it.

So many.

There were far too many people.

A total of 201 people entered Floor 0. Why 201 instead of 200?

Because God loved the number three and summoned people in multiples of three.

Accordingly, the public gallery had 201 seats.

Naturally, most of those seats were normally empty.

Floor 0 was designed to make people kill one another. It was built to make survival difficult without committing sins.

But... every single seat was occupied now.

Judgeiel swept his eyes over them, but could not find an empty seat.

"..."

An unprecedented situation. Every human had survived Floor 0.

The angel Judgeiel had to admit it.

Something... was not going as it should.

A Word from the Author (Afterword)

Thank you for reading...

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