Chapter 38 - Earth Is Changing Fast (3)

You might think I was exaggerating when I said Earth would be doomed in ten years.

But I had a reason for thinking that. Right now, the people enthusiastically climbing the tower fell into two broad categories: heroes who risked their lives out of a sense of duty to humanity, and lunatics who thought nothing of risking their lives to grow stronger. Those were the only two.

The problem was the lunatics.

They would be diligently climbing the tower, growing stronger by the day.

Even as I was now, I could win a gold medal if I entered the Olympics. But what about in a year? Five years? Ten?

What if a psychopath gained enough power to split seas and bring down mountains?

What if a madman emerged who could destroy Earth just “for fun”?

Humanity would have no way to escape destruction.

That was why I said ten years. I thought ten years would be enough for humanity to go extinct.

It was also why modern political systems broke power into pieces and scattered it among different hands.

Concentrated power was potent, but just as unstable. Everything depended on the one person who held it.

Ultimately, what I needed to do was simple.

Climb the tower as fast as possible.

I had to conquer it before people grew powerful enough.

To keep someone from destroying Earth on a whim.

I waited about another month to see how things unfolded.

『 U.S. Government Officially Recommends Advancing to Floor 2... “Internal Survival Rate Study Shows It Is Not Dangerous.” 』

Apparently, the information embargo between floors applied to Players too. I couldn't see any details about what was inside Floor 2 either. It must have been because I was still on Floor 1.

All I could learn was that it was safe, at least.

『 Could Items from the “Tower” Become Humanity’s Next Economic Mainstay? Major Corporations Worldwide Launch Investigations. 』

Once it became known that items could be brought out of the tower, countries began systematically supporting tower climbs.

They also began building heroic public images for their own Players who had produced tangible results.

『 U.S. Government Launches Player Association... “Mighty Michael” Michael Jeter Named First President. 』

The United States was the first to act.

They churned out special legislation at an astonishing pace, as if they had been preparing for this all along.

They also created a “Player Association” to officially support Players, though that support amounted to connecting them with special forces instructors, promoting them nationwide as heroes, and providing generous financial backing.

That might not sound particularly appealing to Players with access to Floor 1... but it was a surprisingly effective approach.

Players could use Floor 1 to live in material abundance...

But, as was always the case with human beings, they weren't alone in the world.

『 High-Grade Potion Sells for $2 Billion at New York Auction. 』

For their families, their friends, their lovers. Or because they wanted to become heroes. The number of people registering with the Player Association increased by the day.

『 South Korean Government Awards Presidential Commendation to Player Choi Jiwon... First in the Nation to Reach Floor 10. 』

A familiar name was also making the rounds in the Korean news.

Choi Jiwon. Given how ridiculously overpowered she was, it was only natural that she would stand out. The media were lavishing praise on her, bringing renewed attention to her father as well.

The reason governments around the world were putting heroes in the spotlight was simple. They needed tangible results to placate the angry public.

They needed something to show that the government was doing something.

Players just happened to be the symbols the politicians chose.

『 China Announces World’s First Successful Ascent to Floor 20. Claim Lacks Credibility. 』

As things stood, there was no way to verify who had climbed how far.

Society hadn't improved at all. Crimes involving supernatural powers hadn't decreased. But thanks to those heroes, the public could at least see a ray of light.

Of course, if I wanted to, I could regress and stand alongside Choi Jiwon. No, someday I could become the world's greatest Player and claim all the wealth and fame for myself.

But there was a reason I wasn't doing that.

This might seem a little out of the blue, but tutorial survivors—officially called Players—wanted to share their stories.

Their harrowing experiences had left them mentally worn down, and they sought support by sharing what they had been through.

Only Players could empathize with other Players. In a way, the creation of a website called “PlayerNet” was inevitable.

There was a simple reason I had suddenly brought up PlayerNet.

Someone had posted about me there.

<Here's how everyone survived our tutorial.>

I've read every single tutorial post you guys wrote, okay? All that fighting and nearly dying... It honestly sounds brutal.

But I never fought anything. More precisely, I didn't do a single thing in the tutorial. Wondering how that's possible?

Yeah, so am I.

First off, I passed out and woke up in a clearing just like you guys. I was so out of it that I just sat there in a daze, right up until that fairy-looking bastard showed up.

Then this guy suddenly stood up. I can't remember his name, but there was something weirdly magnetic about him. Not handsome, but you couldn't stop looking at him. Know what I mean?

Anyway, he started going on about how we needed to stick together... I wasn't listening, just looking at his face. Then he suddenly picked up a sword and started doing this sword dance.

Honestly, I'd never seen anyone that good with a sword in my life. It was kind of overwhelming, I guess? He seemed different after that. Cool, but a little scary to approach.

I was a little intimidated, so I just sat there. The guy talked to some woman, told us to wait a bit, then disappeared somewhere, slicing through the grass as he went. About an hour later, he came back and told us to follow him.

We followed him, and there were literally thousands of goblins cackling among themselves. He told us to ignore them and just keep walking. Like, seriously?

I was scared shitless and thought about running, but I went “fuck it” and followed him. I figured that guy must have a plan.

Then we got there, and there was this huge bull-headed monster. The bastard was the size of a truck, holding an axe and snorting. I shrank back without even thinking.

Then Bullhead suddenly came fucking charging at me. I freaked out and ran, but some middle-aged guy grabbed me and told me to look behind me.

So I looked back, and the bull monster's fucking head was rolling around on the ground.

After that, the Goblin Shaman, I think? He suddenly keeled over, and a portal opened. At the judgment, they said I hadn't done anything, so I had no sins, and just let me through.

I'm glad I'm alive, but I feel kind of weird about it. They say Floor 2 is safe, but I'm too scared to go up.

If that guy suddenly snapped and decided to kill everyone, I don't think I'd survive.

* * *

-Bullshit. You expect us to believe this?

-It's true. I was in the same tutorial as this person, and every word is a fact. No exaggeration. Also, that “some woman” turned out to be Choi Jiwon. That guy's stronger than her.

-I saw the bull-headed monster too. I don't think even a thousand people would've survived that thing.

-If this is true, isn't that guy a regressor? Seriously, how the hell does someone who's just entered the tower pull that off?

-You're right. Earth probably already got destroyed once, and the last survivor used a regression artifact to come back. Bet he's hoarding all the hidden rewards.

-If anyone has contact information for the man mentioned in this post, I will compensate you. Please send me a private message.

“...”

I had no intention of playing the hero anymore.

More precisely, I intended to stay hidden as much as possible.

Even if I needed to use my Hero trait, I planned to conceal my identity.

I'd shown far too much in the tutorial. So obsessed with keeping everyone alive, I'd made a terrible mistake without even realizing it.

The greatest weakness of a regressor, someone practically invincible, was having their ability to regress exposed.

Why? Because there was a clear counter to regressors.

Sealing them away.

Death regressors were fearless. Confident that they could simply try again if they died, they often stuck their noses into everything. They were fundamentally incautious.

But what if a regressor was sealed away, whether by magic, an item, or anything else? Their regressions would stop.

They would be stripped of the right to die and start over. Their body would remain frozen, never released until the world ended—perhaps even beyond that.

Time would flow forward naturally, forever.

Of course, my Regression had a much easier trigger. Even a scratch sent me back, so I might be able to avoid being sealed away by quickly injuring myself first. I might even take damage during the sealing process and regress.

Even so, nothing good could come from people learning I was a regressor. There was no telling when or where some lunatic might show up to target me.

But I still hadn't abandoned my dreams of success and fame.

The goal was... to quietly get acquainted with the heroes climbing the tower's highest floors, including Choi Jiwon.

I was aiming for the sort of relationship where we knew each other, but weren't especially close. Close enough that it wouldn't damage my mental health.

If they were heroes climbing the tower out of pure goodwill, I believed they would look out for me in their own quiet ways, even if what I'd done never became public.

Once the tower was conquered and they were being celebrated, surely I could snag a position alongside them.

In short... I intended to climb the tower as quickly and secretly as possible.

And to achieve that goal, there was something I had to do first.

Make myself stronger.

I needed to become as strong as possible. And climb the tower as fast as possible.

After scanning through the news and cramming the information into my head, I struck the back of my hand hard with my fist.

[You have taken damage.]

[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 1.]

* * *

“Ugh, it's been a while. That made me a little dizzy.”

My first regression in two months, huh?

Actually, I'd been living very carefully all this time, afraid I might regress by accident. Not only had I put up mosquito netting in case I got bitten, I'd also plastered hard furniture with foam padding.

That was how I'd made it through two months safely... but experiencing this sensation again after so long felt incredibly strange.

Still, I'd have to get used to it. I planned to regress constantly from now on.

“Shall we get started?”

Right now, I had only just entered Floor 1.

This was the very moment I'd arrived, after the angel handed me the pill and sent me here before I could even react.

Without hesitation, I gulped down the Berserker's Pill in my hand.

[Your Strength has increased by 10!]

Heat surged from deep within my body. Beads of sweat formed all over my skin.

But all I got was a message saying my stat had increased. The stats window still refused to reveal its contents.

What a tease. Planning to stay hidden to the bitter end?

But that was fine. I couldn't see it, but what mattered was that my stats had gone up.

I struck the back of my hand again.

[You have taken damage.]

[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 1.]

* * *

Once again, I looked down at the Berserker's Pill in my hand.

This was why I hadn't swallowed it the moment the angel gave it to me.

For someone who could regress endlessly, elixirs were more precious than anything. As long as you knew where they were, you could consume them over and over.

A certain Mr. Baek, a senior regressor I knew of, always began each regression by picking up an elixir hidden on a sacred mountain.

Of course, I probably couldn't increase my Strength infinitely with this pill... but that was fine.

Simply being able to raise my Strength to its limit was an enormous advantage.

GULP!

I swallowed the Berserker's Pill in one go.

From now on, no one would outmatch me in strength. A head-on fight? I'd overcome it all with overwhelming power.

As I pictured that rosy future and reviewed my plans...

“... Gah!”

Something wriggled inside my throat.

I'd definitely swallowed it, but the Berserker's Pill was coming back up my esophagus as though it were alive.

[Unique items cannot be consumed more than once.]

“... Ha.”

I read the message floating before my eyes and let out a hollow sigh.

God, you bastard...

You'd blocked this loophole...

A Word from the Author (Afterword)

All this stuff about Earth is fine and all...

But... it's about time we climbed the tower... right?

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