Chapter 64 - The Regressor Loves Sweet Payback (6)

“There, all done!”

After spending ages working on the wolf's corpse, Dok Suhui tucked some finely chopped pieces of its heart inside her clothes.

“... Why are you taking those?”

“To use as Enchant materials! I can just give something the property I want, but with materials like these, I can produce even better effects!”

“Really? Th-then... shall we get going now...? I think we've rested enough...”

“Just a moment... Let me wipe off the blood!”

While Dok Suhui beamed over the fine materials she'd acquired...

“...”

My head was full of paranoid suspicions about Kang Chan.

Kang Chan. The guy was far too suspicious.

Honestly, judging by this run alone, suspecting him might seem excessive.

But think back to the previous run. When I hadn't warned everyone about the monster, Kang Chan hadn't left.

Instead, he'd diligently searched the cavern, showing no sign of noticing any monster.

Yet this time, I mention there's a monster, and he suddenly disappears? Then, once all the fighting is over, he slips back in, shows off some loot, and claims he killed another monster?

It didn't add up. If Kang Chan really had sensed a monster, he should have left in the previous run too. Or, at the very least, noticed the wolf hiding on the ceiling.

“... Something's off.”

In other words, his claim that he'd killed a monster was almost certainly a lie. That red orb was probably a reward from an earlier floor, not something he'd received for killing a monster here.

Which meant I needed to reconsider why Kang Chan had run away.

There were two main possibilities.

First: Kang Chan had some unavoidable reason he couldn't fight right now, forcing him to leave.

Second: Kang Chan was actually a fucking weakling, and he was bluffing.

And to me, the latter seemed far more likely.

Why suspect him despite the overwhelming presence he'd displayed so far? Because there was already a similar character archetype.

In fiction, there's a genre built around misunderstandings.

The protagonist is actually a total scrub with nothing going for him, but everyone around him thinks he's incredibly powerful.

They worship him, going, “Oh, just as we'd expect of our esteemed so-and-so!” World-renowned powerhouses come to visit and acknowledge him with a “Hmm... Not bad...”

Meanwhile, the protagonist is trembling in terror, endlessly worrying about ordinary things like, 'What do I do now?' The fun of these stories comes from that gap in perception.

Now that you've read that explanation, think about it again.

What if... Kang Chan's ability was nothing more than emitting killing intent?

What if he'd only barely managed to subdue the fairy through a string of coincidences?

But everyone around him had worshipped him, going, “That's our Kang Chan!” His reputation had skyrocketed day after day, and he'd maintained it until now by blasting anyone who doubted him with killing intent?

Then his running away made sense.

He'd fled in terror upon learning there was a monster right in front of him, and might have been trembling in some corner, crying, “I'm scared...”

Kang Chan. Even his name sounded fucking strong—“Kang” meant strong, after all. But he was really Weak Chan.

“...”

I turned to give Kang Chan a sidelong look as he walked along expressionlessly.

Of course, I could be wrong. This was nothing more than my speculation that it might be the case.

He'd be the first person I met when I regressed anyway. I could check then.

“We're here?”

After walking for quite a while, barely paying attention to the path as I sorted through my thoughts about Kang Chan, we returned to the cavern where the wolf had been.

The stone door blocking our way was gone.

“Hmm...”

Beyond it lay a pitch-dark passage without a single torch. I took a torch off the wall and held it into the darkness. It revealed the path, but the place felt deeply unsettling.

“... We have to go, don't we?”

I didn't want to go at all, but we had no choice.

Once we'd entered this tower, the only thing we could do was move forward.

* * *

THUD.

“Ow...”

Ahn Gyeongjun groaned in pain.

You'd think someone would show some concern, but the other three of us simply kept walking in silence.

After all, this wasn't the first time he'd banged his head against a stone wall. It must have happened five times already.

“Tss...”

The reason was simple. Gyeongjun had crushed his glasses while under Spirit Possession, so he couldn't see properly.

What should you call Ahn Gyeongjun without his glasses? With the “Ahn Gyeong,” the glasses part, gone, should we just call him Jun? Entertaining pointless thoughts, I walked down the damp cave passage.

We walked in silence for about ten minutes before Dok Suhui broke it with a question.

“By the way, why did the spirit possessing you break your glasses?”

“Well... the spirit really hates glass and mirrors.”

“... Is there a particular reason?”

“He says he doesn't like how they distort a person's image... The last time he possessed me, the first thing he did was break my glasses too.”

Gyeongjun scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he explained.

“Could I ask something too?”

Since Suhui had opened the conversation, I decided to ask what I'd been wondering.

“That spirit—you can actually see him with your own eyes right now, Gyeongjun?”

“Yes. I can see him.”

“What does he look like?”

“Hmm...”

He considered the question as he walked slowly along.

“He has dark skin... and wears something like a feather ornament on his forehead. He's bare-chested, and I don't really know about his lower half, since it doesn't take form in his spirit state. Oh, and he carries a really elaborately designed spear on his back.”

“...”

Imagining him from that description brought to mind someone indigenous to a jungle. With his throwing spears and all, he seemed like someone who might hunt elephants in Africa.

But indigenous Africans couldn't summon wooden spears out of thin air. Considering I'd met a wizard who used magic on Floor 2, it was probably more reasonable to assume he was a spirit from another world.

“That must be hard.”

I'd spoken my thoughts aloud without realizing it.

Timid Gyeongjun, stuck with a rough spirit.

Being constantly stuck with someone your polar opposite was painful. A bad senior in the military could break a person down in no time. And Gyeongjun had to stay with that spirit right up until he fell asleep... I felt a surge of sympathy for him.

“... It's hard, but I'm all right.”

But rather than hang his head, he gave a faint smile.

“I don't actually do anything myself... but just lending him my body helps, doesn't it? With clearing the tower.”

“... It does, yes.”

“Climbing this tower ultimately amounts to contributing to humanity... so I'm satisfied.”

“...”

Without answering, I turned my gaze forward.

I could tell from listening to him. This man was kind and good-hearted.

But that was all the more reason not to get close to him.

Anyone could die as we progressed through Floor 3-5.

Watching a kind, decent friend die over and over would quickly wear away at my heart.

I quickened my pace a little to put some distance between us.

“Well, enough of my boring story... I'd love to hear about you, Suhui.”

“Oh, me?”

“Yes. You look like a student... May I ask how old you are?”

“Oh, I'm in high school—”

RATTLE.

A sudden tremor in the ground cut Suhui off.

“Up ahead...”

At the end of the dark passage we'd navigated by the light of a single torch, a familiar-looking stone door blocked our way.

“...”

Sure enough, it had four palm-shaped recesses.

The four of us exchanged glances, then each placed a hand in a recess.

RUMBLE.

The stone door slowly moved, sending vibrations through the ground.

“Hmm...”

The sight revealed as it disappeared was astonishing.

“... Mirrors?”

Mirrors. Mirrors. Mirrors.

The entire space was filled with mirrors.

A passage with a mirrored floor, ceiling, and walls had appeared before us.

Was it just me, or did it bring to mind a theme park's mirror maze?

The space was dark, lit only by our torch. The flickering flames and the four of us reflected in distorted shapes all around, while an eerie wind whistled like the soundtrack to a horror movie.

“Hmm...”

These couldn't be ordinary mirrors. This was a mirror maze on Floor 3-5, of all places. It was only reasonable to assume there were traps or some unusual mechanic.

Would touching a mirror abduct you into another world? Or were there doppelgangers? Assassins leaping out of the mirrors?

As I racked my brain for possibilities...

“J-Junho!”

Dok Suhui tapped my shoulder urgently.

“What's wro—”

Snapping out of my thoughts, I turned to look at her.

“No... No...!”

Behind her, I saw Gyeongjun clutching his head and groaning in agony.

“There are too many... mirrors...”

Drool streamed from his mouth as he clutched his head, his face flushed bright red.

“Ah.”

He'd said it earlier.

The spirit possessing him absolutely loathed mirrors and glass.

From that moment on, the world seemed to move in slow motion.

The three of us hurriedly turned and started backing away from the mirror maze.

“... Will you never tire of trying to beguile me?!”

With a completely crazed look in his eyes, Gyeongjun summoned that familiar old wooden spear.

CRASH!

His spear streaked out like a ray of light and smashed a mirror.

Propelled by his terrifying strength, shattered mirror fragments sprayed in every direction, filling the air.

“Aaaah!”

I tried to run as far away as I could, but it was already too late.

THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!

I twisted desperately to dodge, but couldn't stop tiny shards of mirror from embedding themselves in my exposed skin.

[You have taken damage.]

[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 3-5.]

Slowly, my vision blurred.

* * *

Grief. Anxiety. Despair. Fear.

This was fucking bullshit.

I liked satisfying payoffs.

More than anything, I loved stories where the protagonist smashed straight through every trial in front of him.

But what the hell was this? Why did I have to keep getting screwed over like this?

What? The spirit possessing someone doing Floor 3-5 with me hated mirrors, so he smashed a mirror maze, and the shards hit me and made me regress?

I was furious.

I couldn't contain my anger.

“... Get up, brat.”

Maybe it was because I'd gone blind with rage.

“... Hey.”

“...?”

“Fight me.”

I lunged at Kang Chan.

A Word from the Author (Afterword)

Kang Chan...

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