Chapter 47 - The Regressor Takes Action (4)

I knew it too. I was being unreasonable.

This wasn't how I usually operated. Until now, I had acted with concern even for the safety of the people I would leave behind when I regressed.

I had been careful, considering the possibility that this world would remain after I alone regressed. As a result, I had severely limited my own options.

But I had decided not to worry about any of that now. Again, I was going to follow my feelings, not my reason.

Whatever. The world would probably regress along with me. I had decided not to dwell on questions that no amount of worrying could answer.

And right now, my heart was telling me to talk to the city's ruler.

"I said, get me the manager!"

While I was busy throwing my tantrum, and the angel was wondering whether to just clear this bastard already...

"Huh?"

I had merely blinked, yet an unfamiliar woman stood before me. Like a glitch in a game, something that hadn't been there had appeared in the blink of an eye.

A longsword hung at her waist. Her full suit of armor had a remarkably sleek design, perhaps custom-made. But she wore no helmet, and her brilliant golden hair streamed in the wind.

"... A pleasure to meet you. The rules prevent me from appearing unless someone commits a crime or asks for me. So only now can I introduce myself."

Her voice was clear and pleasant. Though she spoke quietly, it carried a charisma that commanded the entire crowd.

The excited residents' faces had already gone rigid.

At some point, the feverish atmosphere in the square had turned ice-cold.

"I am the city's ruler."

The city's ruler had arrived.

"..."

I knew the moment I saw her. She was the owner of the "Flash" set in the Platinum rewards.

With streams of electricity pouring from her fantasy-style plate armor, it would have been stranger not to realize it.

"Shall we start with a handshake?"

The city's ruler extended a hand, her face expressionless.

"Ah... I'm afraid I can't."

If I took that crackling hand, I wouldn't last even a moment before regressing.

I didn't even want to go near her. Sparks were flying from her whole body like some electric mouse. Even without my Regression ability, I wouldn't have shaken her hand.

"First... put down that sack, and let's talk. I knew climbers were an unpredictable element, but I never imagined anyone like you. What do you want?"

The city's ruler glanced pointedly at the sack in my hands.

"The token boxes are completely useless outside Floor 2. You have no reason to take them, do you?"

"... I'm sick of watching the people in this city suffer."

"Suffer? Certainly not. They are in the process of 'understanding' one another. Can't you see this perfect system?"

"... What?"

The city's ruler surveyed the residents crowding the square.

"Everyone in this city is a sinner. No, they were sinners."

"..."

"Lazy, selfish nobles. Commoners who made a show of politeness but cared for nothing beyond their own well-being. Beggars who had to eat rotten food and drink muddy water because the city's resources were limited and they were lowborn. They all loathed one another."

It was a common sight on Earth, too.

People slandered anyone better off than themselves, insisting they must have dirty secrets, and looked down on those worse off, claiming they simply hadn't tried hard enough. They never even considered trying to understand someone whose circumstances differed from their own.

"It was so bad that this place was nicknamed 'the city where the shouting never stops.' People gathering in their little cliques in the square to talk behind someone's back was an everyday sight."

"... And?"

"I agonized over it. Conflict between the classes had reached its peak, and I felt that the city would be turned upside down if things continued this way. There was even a noble who threatened to kill all the residents with magic."

Distrust. Hatred. Contempt. Negative emotions had permeated the city.

This wasn't right. God taught that people should live with understanding and consideration for one another. She had a duty to guide the city she had inherited from her parents down the right path.

But there was no way to resolve the conflict. Should she intimidate them with force? Take the political risk and replace all the corrupt nobles? But what would that accomplish? The residents would only split into factions and fight again anyway.

Wasn't there a way to eliminate conflict at its source?

One day, as she agonized over it, God whispered to her.

Offer this city to the tower he was building.

Dedicate her life to God.

In return, he would bring peace in the truest sense, allowing everyone to understand one another.

"And so I offered this city to the god Luminus. The result is the beautiful city you see today."

"... Luminus?"

"Human beings cannot understand other people. They are born into different circumstances, lead different lives, and have different personalities."

The city's ruler continued, casually ignoring my question.

"And that... is why this city is beautiful. Here, you can truly become someone else and understand them from the very depths of your heart."

One token box represented one human being. When a resident took a token box into their possession, their way of life changed completely.

Humans couldn't understand other people. So, by this lunatic logic, living someone else's life would allow them to understand.

"Even without the climbers' influence, the residents' tokens are designed to be shuffled every ten years. There is no aging in this city, so someday, after a very long time... everyone will understand everyone else. They will have lived one another's lives, after all. With plentiful resources as well, this city will be reborn as a true utopia. When that day comes, we will have no need for token boxes."

A Garden of Eden where everyone understood one another perfectly.

That seemed to be the ideal the city's ruler sought.

"... What do you think?"

The city's ruler looked straight at me with her blue eyes.

After hearing all of that, my verdict was simple.

"... Why the hell should I care? What's that got to do with me?"

I dropped the polite tone, too. I had no interest in her bullshit philosophy.

Everyone in this city was a sinner? Sure, they were selfish people with lousy personalities... but I wasn't so sure that made every last one of them a sinner.

Still, if that was what she believed, I had no intention of trying to persuade her otherwise. There was something wrong with her eyes to begin with. What was the phrase these days? A clear-eyed lunatic?

"My problem is with the nobles ranked Gold and above. I don't like the fucked-up tasks those bastards hand out. This system forces Players to commit crimes if they want to get stronger. And I feel sorry for the residents forced to live someone else's life, too."

"..."

"Instead of this stupid class game, couldn't you just give us reasonable tasks yourself and reward us according to the difficulty? Do the residents really have to understand one another?"

But the city's ruler merely shook her head.

"... They do. For reasons you cannot understand."

She rested a finger against her chin in thought.

"I absolutely need that sack... but the rules won't let me beat you up first. How about we do this instead?"

She rummaged through the pouch at her waist and took out a brilliantly shining, diamond-colored token.

"I'll give you this. It is the highest-grade reward. Archangel Raphael told me, 'Give it out whenever you wish. But you only get one.'"

"..."

"Originally, I intended to give it to someone talented enough to captivate me... but circumstances are what they are. I'll give you this, so leave all the token boxes behind. I like Floor 2's current system, and I have no intention of changing it. So let's each take what we want."

"Are you... trying to buy me off? With that diamond-colored reward?"

"Think whatever you like. These residents have nothing to do with you in the first place, do they?"

"... Ghh."

A brilliantly shining Diamond reward. Or freedom for the city's residents, who were bound to Floor 2 by their ruler's unilateral decision and forced to live out their assigned roles.

Which should I choose?

The residents had been selfish. It was true that they had torn one another down without a shred of consideration.

But... had they really done something so wrong that they deserved all this suffering?

Did they have to spend their lives playing someone else's part, all in the name of understanding others?

"I've decided."

I undid the knot at my waist and put on the leather gloves I had been given upon first entering Floor 2.

They settled softly around my hands. These should do.

"... You intend to fight? Well, very good. I don't dislike a man with spirit."

"... No."

I stretched my hands out a little and cupped them into a triangle.

"Please toss the token over from there. I think I'll get electrocuted if I come any closer."

I didn't know whether the Diamond token was actual diamond or merely that color...

But wouldn't it be a waste to regress while accepting the token? As far as I knew, leather didn't conduct electricity.

"... Yes, well. All right."

The city's ruler tossed me the token, looking thoroughly unimpressed, while countless residents stared at me in hollow disbelief.

Unfazed, I handed the Diamond token to the angel, who opened a portal with an equally unenthusiastic air.

Before stepping into the portal, I made sure to leave the residents with a few words.

"Um... just wait a little. I'm going to regress."

I had intended to regress anyway. If I really took every last token box with me, wouldn't everyone coming after me, including Choi Jiwon, end up trapped on Floor 2?

Before regressing, I had tried to make the system a little more reasonable for the residents... but that woman was just too adamant. If I pushed my luck any further, she'd probably hit me.

In that case, wasn't taking the Diamond reward on this run the right choice a hundred, a thousand times over?

I felt bad for the residents... but I hoped they would wait just a little. I planned to regress soon.

I eased myself into the portal.

[You have cleared Floor 2.]

[Please select your Diamond reward.]

It was finally time to check out the hidden reward I'd been waiting for.

A Word from the Author (Afterword)

Apparently, some people had already read this chapter before I even posted it...

Could they have regressed?