Chapter 52 - Choi Jiwon Is Too Strong (3)

Zhuge Liang. Sima Yi. Zhou Yu.

What capable strategists have in common is that they reap two or three benefits from a single move.

I might not be a phoenix, but I figured I was at least a stork...

The core of this plan was to have Choi Jiwon retrace the exact steps I had taken to liberate Floor 2.

Getting the city's ruler to let her guard down was the most basic benefit.

Putting Choi Jiwon at the forefront instead of me and clearing Floor 2 came with no fewer than three additional advantages.

First.

I could keep my identity hidden.

Stepping into the spotlight and being hailed as Korea's hero wouldn't be bad...

But again, Regression was the problem.

For starters, what would I say my trait was? Even if I lied my way out of it at first, what if someone eventually invented a machine that could examine traits, like in hunter stories? Or what if someone had an ability that let them identify other people's traits?

Let's say I got incredibly lucky and somehow managed to gloss over the whole trait issue.

When I obtained useful information through Regression, sharing it would be enormously awkward too.

As an outsider, I could just toss them the information and run... But as a fully fledged ally, I would inevitably be asked where it came from and how I'd obtained it.

At first, I could rattle off excuses about coincidences and whatnot... but that wouldn't work forever.

Koreans, familiar with towers through webtoons and web novels, were bound to think of regressors eventually.

The only weakness of an infinite regressor was having their regression discovered. Operating in the spotlight would do more harm than good.

That made putting Choi Jiwon forward an extremely appealing option. She was going to be hailed as Korea's hero anyway. Adding a little more to that reputation wouldn't stand out, would it?

Which brought me to the second advantage.

I could strengthen my relationship with Choi Jiwon and firefighter Park Cheoljin.

I wasn't talking about becoming comrades like in the previous run. I meant deepening our business relationship.

Right now, all we shared was a brief connection from the tutorial.

They were still grateful that I'd saved them, but it went no further... Our relationship was ambiguous, plain and simple.

But take another look at the two people standing before me.

Choi Jiwon was destined to become Korea's undisputed leading Player, and firefighter Park Cheoljin would make quite a name for himself too.

What if I made a really solid impression on them here?

It was bound to be a huge help later, both in the tower and in reality.

Kim Junho, trusted supporter of Choi Jiwon, whom the government treated like its most precious treasure? Oh, man. Just imagining it felt amazing.

Third and last.

I could get Choi Jiwon a Diamond reward.

Of course, taking an elixir with me when I finally headed up to Floor 3 would have tremendous benefits too.

But I thought investing in Choi Jiwon was worth even more.

If I built a good relationship with her here on Floor 2, I'd be able to get her help in the future.

I could outsource fights against enemies I couldn't overwhelm, just like this one... (The city's ruler was a terrible matchup for me in the first place.)

I was also curious how much stronger the already powerful Choi Jiwon could become with an S-rank trait.

It would also be a way of repaying her for her help.

I wasn't that much of a shameless bastard.

Brazenly using her, then washing my hands of the whole affair with a casual "Thanks for your hard work" and turning my back on her would weigh on my conscience.

I'd already gotten everything I needed from the Diamond rewards anyway... It would be fine to let Choi Jiwon have the last one. I'd give firefighter Park Cheoljin the Platinum reward.

"First... let's start working on the Bronze-grade residents in each street."

And so, Choi Jiwon, firefighter Park Cheoljin, and I split up, each heading to our assigned street.

Now it began in earnest.

We collected the Bronze-grade residents' token boxes. Then, with their cooperation, we swept through the Silver-grade residents in one fell swoop.

Wasn't this just a repeat of everything I'd done before? Sure.

But the difference was that Choi Jiwon was running the operation. I merely helped out now and then from behind the scenes, my hat pulled low.

"Everyone. Let's fight. Let's change this unjust system with our own hands!"

Where I had used Curiosity and Awe to get people to do what I wanted, Choi Jiwon commanded them with her natural charisma.

Her confident bearing. Her unwavering gaze. Her radiant looks.

The accursed leather armor, which would have made even Vin Diesel look like a total newbie, looked neat and smart on her.

"... Whoa."

She handled the nobles differently too.

Unlike me, hiding among the residents for fear of getting hit as I tried to land one-sided attacks, Choi Jiwon simply smashed her way straight through their mansions.

Choi Jiwon probably had no levels right now. She'd cleared the tutorial without killing a single goblin, and even with the bonus stats from her achievement level, she likely fell short of the stats she'd had back when she was slaughtering goblins.

That meant the strongest Choi Jiwon I remembered was the one who had pushed the Minotaur into the swamp.

Yet the Choi Jiwon before me looked stronger than she had then.

Of course, she'd been faster, stronger, and sharper back then.

But while her physical abilities now fell short of those she'd possessed when she took down the Minotaur, the precision and finesse of her movements were on another level.

'Has she completely adapted to her changed physical abilities?'

The genius named Choi Jiwon had been given three weeks.

She had steadily improved throughout that time. And Whoosh must have matured over those three weeks too.

There was a reason she would clear Floor 10 one month and one week from now.

"... I've improved a lot, haven't I?"

After seizing a token box from an unconscious noble, Choi Jiwon turned to look at me.

"... I worked like crazy on Floor 1. To become stronger than you were that day. I adjusted my swordsmanship too, to suit my body as it is now."

The corners of her mouth lifted slightly.

The result of her fully adapting to her changed physical abilities and adjusting her swordsmanship accordingly... was truly overwhelming.

Of course, for now, I'd been stronger when I'd stacked the Hero trait.

But... if she kept building up her levels and outfitted herself from head to toe with high-quality traits and items...

Maybe Choi Jiwon would be the strongest in the world. That was what crossed my mind.

"A pleasure to meet you. I am the city's ruler."

At last, we faced the city's ruler.

"Now, I'll give you this Diamond token... so leave that sack and go. Or would you rather fight me and win the residents their freedom?"

An abrupt challenge to a fight might have thrown her off, but I'd warned Choi Jiwon about the city's ruler beforehand, so she wasn't particularly flustered.

"... Jiwon?"

"..."

Nope. She was flustered as fuck. Her eyes darted about, unsure where to settle.

"... I don't think I can beat that."

Choi Jiwon bit her lower lip slightly.

"That woman... she's a monster."

Even Choi Jiwon was calling her a monster.

Could she not even hope to compete with the city's ruler, despite having completely adapted to her physical abilities?

"It's all right."

But it was all right. Winning the fight wasn't the goal.

"That woman... she's the type who enjoys fighting for its own sake. She won't go all out from the start."

Was I crazy enough to send Choi Jiwon to her death? I'd thought this through.

I trusted Michael Jeter's account.

The city's ruler didn't use her full strength from the start. He'd said she'd toyed with him as though playing a game, then hit him hard at the very end.

I would exploit that opening while her guard was down.

"But..."

"You remember the plan, right? Do your best, but subtly aim for the spot I told you about. Make it as inconspicuous as possible. I'll drive the point home while she's rattled. Please trust me."

If it looked like something was really going to go wrong... I'd regress before Choi Jiwon got seriously hurt.

"... I'll trust you."

Apparently steeling herself after hearing my words, Choi Jiwon stepped forward.

"You want to fight? Good. I don't dislike people with spirit."

The city's ruler nodded with a satisfied smile, while the angel looked deeply flustered.

"Uh, uhhh...! If you fight here..."

"Surely this much is fine, isn't it, angel? I'll keep things under control so the residents won't be harmed."

"Uh... Oh, fine! I'm not taking responsibility!"

Grunting with effort, the angel picked up the wooden board listing the rewards by grade and disappeared somewhere.

"F-fight? The city's ruler? Weren't we just going to talk it out? Threaten her with the token boxes..."

"Let's get out of here first. This is a bad idea."

At the news that a fight was about to break out, the residents who had swarmed into the square hurried home. The Players who'd caught on to what was happening mingled among them, peeking out.

"If I win, you'll have to leave that sack behind and go."

"... If I win, you stop playing this class-system game."

"Well, if you can win, that is."

An empty square.

At its very center stood Choi Jiwon and the city's ruler, facing each other.

The terrified residents had long since holed up in their homes, and the alleys were packed with Players who'd claimed spots to watch the fight.

Though quite a crowd was watching the two figures, the square was utterly silent.

But it wasn't a cold silence. It was a burning silence, ready to explode at any moment.

"... Is this fight seriously happening?"

One Player swallowed without realizing it.

Ever since the residents had started acting strangely, there'd been a vague sense that something on Floor 2 had gone off the rails.

Then, suddenly, a riot? A revolution? Something had happened, anyway.

At first, they'd wondered what on earth was going on...

Now every Player understood why.

That woman. The one with the ponytail was behind it all.

She was the culprit who'd turned Floor 2 upside down, and now she was about to face off against the city's ruler.

Having fought battles of life and death in the tutorial, they understood instinctively.

The fight they were about to witness would be unlike anything they'd ever seen.

"This should be fun. Don't you think?"

The city's ruler loosened up, rolling her neck from side to side.

"Hoooo..."

The moment Choi Jiwon slowly exhaled and drew Whoosh from its sheath,

both she and the city's ruler vanished.

A Word from the Author (Afterword)

I'll revise this when I wake up...

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