Chapter 94 |
“Huff, huff, huff...”
As soon as I reached the basement, I rolled my eyes around, staying on guard. There was nothing visible, and there was no sign of anything appearing from behind.
“...Phew.”
Only then did I check the state of the sword in my hand. The blade was so damaged it looked more like a saw than a sword. It urgently needed to be replaced, but I had left the pile of swords in the previous passage.
“Damn it.”
Who would have thought the blocked passage would be breached? Did the bastard who designed the 4th floor anticipate we’d be blocking the passage? Would it have been different if we had blocked it with dirt instead of bricks? Then would the wolf or cat monsters have dug through?
More importantly, why is it so quiet down here? Up above, there are booming noises and various monstrous cries resonating, but down here in the basement, it’s endlessly silent.
“...It’s probably because there are no people.”
The monsters showed a blind tendency to move upward. There were several possibilities... but that was something to think about later.
Was it a failure?
The regression is already confirmed. Whether it’s the player or the otherworlder, the sacrifices wouldn’t be small.
“No, let’s think positively. It’s okay.”
A lot of information was gained. We learned that if we block the entrance carelessly, the cat monsters can infiltrate, and we discovered the secrets hidden on each floor.
We also learned that on the fourth day, slime monsters appear and melt the barricades. If we block it with bricks without breaking them and carefully place them, it should be fine, right? But then the work speed would slow down indefinitely.
But it’s okay. Once I regress, we can do it again.
Once I regress...
“...”
I’ll have to start the act all over again.
I’ll have to seize control of the players, persuade Baron Jorge, and go through this hell all over again.
Of all times, the period is 5 days. The likelihood of my mental strength running out before thoroughly investigating the 4th floor is high.
Choi Ji-won’s face suddenly surfaced in my mind.
‘Should I have waited?’
“...Hah.”
Yoon Jung-hyun. William Smith. Baron Jorge. The man with glasses. Baek Da-hye.
Unknowingly, bonds have formed. Once I regress, it’s back to the first meeting. It’s okay the first few times, but can I handle it if it keeps repeating?
As the tension eased, all sorts of thoughts came to mind. The booming noises from above didn’t bother me at all.
“...”
I moved forward, leaning against the wall. It wasn’t that I had lost my balance, but I remembered that there was a secret passage around here.
I would wait until it was quiet in the secret passage, then go up to the first floor and deal with the remaining monsters. Even if the influx of monsters stopped, the ones already inside had to be dealt with.
Thunk.
As I felt the stone brick sink in, the wall spun around, revealing the hidden passage. Though narrow, it was enough to crouch down and rest...
“...”
“...”
Our eyes met. There was already someone there.
“...What are you doing here?”
He was a man with a grumpy look, constantly annoyed at the otherworlders.
“Uh, um, well, you see…”
The man stammered, unable to answer. His body was free of wounds, and he had even taken off his shoes, likely trying to ease the pain in his feet from the cold.
“Why is your weapon in this condition?”
The ax lying next to the man was quite damaged, but the bricks in front of him were also chipped. It was obvious. He must have smashed the ax against the bricks to make it look like it was damaged in battle.
“Have you been hiding here the whole time? While others were dying?”
“…”
This man had been hiding here from the start. Perhaps even since yesterday.
While others were fighting with all their might, escaping for their lives as the blocked passage was breached...
This bastard was leisurely hiding in the secret passage, fiddling with his feet.
Smack!
“Argh!”
As my foot moved, blood spurted from his nose. Thanks to some control over my strength, his head didn’t explode.
“Explain yourself.”
“…”
“I said, explain yourself.”
Aside from killing a thug during the tutorial, I hadn’t killed anyone. But that didn’t mean I had a strong aversion to killing.
I just feared that if I started killing everyone, my humanity would become irreversibly damaged. I was ready to kill those who deserved it.
“People are still dying out there. Do you know why no monsters are coming here? Because everyone is fighting with all their might to keep them away. So what the hell are you doing here?”
“You, you came here too! It’s the same thing….”
“Do you really think I’m the same as you, when I’ve killed more monsters than all the others combined?”
Smack!
I hit his head again. It was infuriating. Was I going through all this trouble to save this kind of scum? Did I really have to keep him alive? Killing him might just bring me peace.
“No, this isn’t right.”
I needed to get a grip. I had to stay rational and only do what was necessary. Monsters are the only ones that rejoice when people kill each other.
“Hic, hic…”
While I was shaking my head, the man suddenly started crying, tears streaming down his face.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”
“…”
“I was so scared, terrified of dying…”
“You think others aren’t scared?”
“The others… they’re strong… But I’m just a D-rank with no abilities left, I used up all my items on the 3rd floor…”
The man grabbed my foot, sobbing.
“I’m useless, I realized it yesterday. I almost got killed by a goblin that others easily take down. Even if there were ten thousand people like me, we wouldn’t be as helpful as one person like you…”
“…”
“I won’t ever climb the tower again. During the tutorial, I picked up a golden orb rolling on the ground and thought I was the protagonist of the world… I thought I could do anything because I was lucky… Please, just give me one more chance…”
It was the pathetic excuse of a coward.
A pathetic excuse, but…
What if?
What if I Didn’t Have the Regression Ability?
What if I had an ordinary, unremarkable ability and faced real death while climbing the tower?
Can I be certain I wouldn’t be in this man’s position?
It’s disgusting.
But ordinary people tend to become disgusting when faced with a crisis.
“…”
Would it be right to push this man to fight again? His skills are terrible, and his spirit is already broken. If I make him fight tomorrow, he will surely die.
But what about the others fighting desperately on the 4th floor right now? Would it seem justifiable to them if I ignored this man? They are risking their lives, fighting like madmen.
The time for a choice had come, and the decision was mine. The man cowered endlessly, just begging for mercy.
“…What’s your name?”
“Ryutaro, it’s Ryutaro…”
“…I’ll be watching you from now on. I’ll let this go for now.”
“Thank you, thank you…!”
I said that and left the secret passage. I thought making a decision immediately would be hasty, so I decided to watch him. From now on, that is.
“…”
My mouth tasted bitter. It could be that Ryutaro came to the 4th floor out of greed, or it could be that this tower is the real problem.
Was he always a coward? Or did this tower make him this way?
***
-26:31:00
As the commotion subsided, I quietly walked out of the basement. Thanks to the halt in the monster influx, there were only a few visible monsters in the hallway.
I swung my badly damaged sword to force my way through. The blade was so dull that I just took an ax from a passing orc.
“A better weapon would be nice.”
I looked resentfully at the scabbard at my waist and then swung the ax again. Though it was an unfamiliar weapon, my physical stats were so high that killing monsters wasn’t a problem.
I passed through the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors.
Slaughtering the hordes of monsters, I surged through the castle and finally reached the stairs leading to the 4th floor.
“No, I mean…!”
“How can that make sense…!”
Voices echoed from the stairs above. I roughly threw the orc’s ax and climbed the stairs.
“Is everyone alright?”
All eyes turned to me. I looked around and saw that the 4th floor was packed. As I had expected, Yoon Jung-hyun had led everyone here to escape.
“Is the situation serious? I was also…”
I had to stop speaking.
“…”
“…”
The atmosphere was chilling. Overwhelmingly so.
“…What happened?”
I asked Yoon Jung-hyun, and he reluctantly nodded.
“…Two things happened. One is… some of the otherworlders fell to their deaths.”
“It’s because you forced them to climb up. Didn’t I ask for time? Time to make space.”
“With monsters chasing us, where would we find time?”
“Seven people fell to their deaths. No, rather, it would be fortunate if they died from the fall. Better than being torn apart by monsters while alive.”
Baron Jorge glared at Yoon Jung-hyun with bloodshot eyes, but he continued speaking to me, ignoring him.
“…And the second is…”
Yoon Jung-hyun let out a small laugh.
“We found the portal you hid, Jun-ho.”
– – – End of Chapter – – -
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