Chapter 65 - The Regressor Accepts Fate (1)

“Hey.”

“...?”

“Fight me.”

“...”

Kang Chan pressed his lips together and frowned.

“... Get a grip.”

He spoke in that familiar low, growling voice.

Get a grip?

Was I out of my mind?

Probably. One bullshit disaster after another had left my head spinning.

And from Kang Chan’s perspective, I probably did look like a lunatic.

He’d told some guy who’d just arrived on the floor to get up, only for the guy to suddenly pick a fight with him.

That had to be pretty bewildering.

“What? Scared?”

“...”

“Come on! Huh? You said you killed a wolf! Show me!”

“... You’ve completely lost it.”

But I wasn’t going to be satisfied until I saw Kang Chan’s fighting ability for myself, right here.

Having just been summoned to Floor 3-5, I had no weapon. (Everything except items vanished when you entered the tower.) But if Kang Chan was the fucking pushover I thought he was, I could easily subdue him without one.

I clenched both fists and raised my guard like a boxer.

“... I don’t fight pointless battles.”

Kang Chan shook his head.

“It has a point for me. A very important one: verifying information.”

“... Hah.”

“I’m not going to be satisfied until we fight, you know.”

When it became clear I still wasn’t giving up, Kang Chan let out a deep sigh.

WHOOSH!

He began pouring out an immense wave of killing intent.

Just as I’d expected. My skin tingled, and I saw an illusion of blood dripping from his eyes.

Devil. Ghost. Monster. Mass murderer. Every kind of sinister image seemed to overlay Kang Chan, and my legs trembled faintly with a fear I hadn’t even realized I felt.

If we fought, I would definitely lose. That was the thought that came to me.

If I resisted that indescribable something, I would be overwhelmed with despair and self-loathing before regressing in an instant.

“Heh heh...”

But precisely because that despair was so overwhelming, I became convinced that Kang Chan was weak.

That killing intent was absurdly effective.

Even without Regression, my combat ability ranked among the very best in the tower. Of course, since I’d met him on Floor 3-5, he must have top-tier abilities too, but it was strange for mere killing intent to be so oppressive.

Wouldn’t it make more sense if the killing intent itself was his ability?

Having reached my conclusion, I slowly lowered my body.

“... What are you doing?”

I relaxed every muscle and kept my eyes forward.

I drew a deep breath, and the instant I felt ready—

I exploded into motion, throwing every muscle into a charge at Kang Chan!

“What?!”

Kang Chan immediately reacted to my attack and stepped back, but I was faster.

Alarm spread across his face. I thought this was the first time I’d seen that expressionless mask crack. A petty satisfaction welled up in a corner of my heart.

“Damn...”

With a look of sudden resolve, Kang Chan belatedly swung his fist, but his timing was far too late. My fist would reach his jaw well before his reached me.

Now then, Kang Chan. Once I knocked you out, I had plenty of questions. Why had you entered Floor 3-5? What was your trait? Had you really beaten the Tutorial fairy?

As I extended my fist, entertaining those pleasant thoughts in accelerated time—

“Huh?”

I thought I saw something flash below.

BOOOOOOOM!!!

And I blacked out.

[You have taken damage.]

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

* * *

“...”

“... Get up, rookie.”

What? What just happened?

It was just like when the city’s ruler got me. I didn’t even know what had hit me, and this time, there hadn’t even been any pain.

“...”

Again. Let’s try again.

This time, I didn’t even speak to Kang Chan. I slowly crouched down.

Then I exploded forward, every muscle propelling me into a sudden charge!

“What?!”

He must have been truly startled this time. His eyes opened even wider than they had on the previous run.

He pulled back to dodge my outstretched fist, but apparently realizing it was too late, he swung his fist again.

This time, though, my goal wasn’t to hit him. It was to watch his fist.

Come on. Use it again. That technique that took me out in one shot.

Even as I threw my punch, my gaze stayed fixed on his right fist.

True to my expectations, it began to glow.

Was it thanks to the hellish training I’d gone through with Choi Jiwon?

The angle of his shoulder. The position of his legs. The veins standing out on his muscles. By observing his body, I could roughly trace the path his fist would take.

In that case, if I stepped back to the left, I could dodge—

“Huh?”

Kang Chan’s fist, which I hadn’t taken my eyes off for even an instant, suddenly vanished.

There was a flash of light.

BOOOOOOOM!!!

[You have taken damage.]

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

* * *

“...”

“... Get up, rookie.”

I’d definitely been throwing a punch just a moment ago, but when I came to, Kang Chan was lecturing me and calling me a rookie.

Even after getting hit twice, I still had no idea what had hit me.

I hadn’t taken my eyes off his fist right up until he swung it.

But then it suddenly vanished, a light flashed, and I lost consciousness.

Could that be it? Had he gotten Flashstep as his Platinum reward on Floor 2? Those shoes that let you move two meters in an instant?

But a quick glance revealed that Kang Chan wore the same crude leather shoes as me.

There was no sign of him using an item. In that case, I had to assume it was entirely his fist’s ability...

“... What are you doing all of a sudden?”

“Doping.”

I pulled the Lowest-Grade Elixir I’d been saving out of my clothes and gulped it down. I intended to regress anyway, so I had no qualms about using items.

“Ahh...”

Sweet and refreshing. The moment I drank it, my vision sharpened, my heart raced, and my blood began pumping faster.

I’d already tested this on Floor 1. Drinking an elixir temporarily boosted my metabolism. It should help me catch sight of his fist.

Once again, I slowly crouched down.

Then I shot forward, charging Kang Chan along exactly the same path as before.

“What?!”

Kang Chan looked startled. So far, everything was the same.

He pulled back to avoid my incoming fist, then apparently realized it was too late and countered with a punch of his own. That was the same too.

“Hup!”

But this time, I put tremendous force into my ankles, abandoning my punch midway and launching myself backward. A reversal that defied inertia, possible only for a superhuman.

His fist was already glowing. In other words, he couldn’t cancel the technique now.

Come on, show me that magnificent fist of yours. Let’s see just how strong it is.

With a nasty grin, I sprang far backward.

“Huh???”

A flash!

His fist shot forward at a speed too fast to see.

An immense blast of wind and a beam of light poured out of it, as though bent on shattering the world itself.

I’d tried to dodge, but how could a human resist a natural disaster?

“A-aaaargh!”

My vision lurched wildly, and agonizing pain tore through my entire body.

It felt as though every part of me was being dismantled molecule by molecule.

As I let out an ugly scream like Cell getting hit by Goku’s Kamehameha, the last thing I saw was—

BOOOOOOOM!!!

The unreal sight of the cavern wall being utterly pulverized.

[You have taken damage.]

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

* * *

“...”

“... Get up, rookie.”

“Boss.”

“...?”

“I’ll follow you as my boss.”

I dropped to my knees and bowed my head to Kang Chan.

Submitting to the strong was embarrassing... but helpful.

* * *

I was bitterly repenting for daring to doubt my boss, God-Chan.

He wasn’t some all-talk protagonist from a genre built around misunderstandings. He was a truly powerful fighter whose strength matched his bearing.

Granted, despite carefully studying our surroundings as we walked, I hadn’t seen the “terrifying wolf” Boss Kang Chan had mentioned. All I saw were goblins and bats.

But how could I dare doubt Boss God-Chan? Surely he had valid circumstances, a perfectly reasonable explanation.

I would never doubt the boss again...!

“...”

This time, I kept my mouth firmly shut and walked silently through the cave. Naturally, we reached the familiar cavern.

“There’s a door up ahead, but...”

“... Do we need to find a hidden mechanism?”

“Sh-should we split up and look...?”

Perhaps because I hadn’t warned them a monster was waiting this time, we decided to split up and search for a hidden mechanism, just as we had on an earlier run.

“Oh, just a moment...”

“...?”

“Boss Chan. Would you mind giving this area a careful look? I’ll search over there.”

“... Very well.”

I’d guided Kang Chan to the spot where I’d searched the cavern on the previous run, while I was heading to the spot he’d searched.

In other words, if things continued like this, a giant wolf would drop onto his head.

But it was fine. He was God-Chan.

“...”

“... Why do you keep looking at me?”

“It’s nothing, boss.”

Boss...

I’m counting on you...!