Chapter 100

I am not a hero. I am not a white knight riding in to save the world with unwavering mental strength.

But still, trying desperately to save everyone is because… I can do it.

Because I can, I will.

Every life of the people who accompanied me on the 4th floor is as good as being in my hands.

Someone lives, someone dies based on my choices. And I give up because it’s hard?

I can’t say to those dying, “You died because I was too tired to care.”

As long as I have a conscience, I can’t utter such nonsense.

Let’s face it. Let’s give it our all, using everything we have. It won’t be too late to consider compromising afterward.

“Phew...”

And for this grand plan, what I need to do right now is very clear.

“Let’s… Let’s play some LoL first…”

First, take a deep, thoughtless rest.

I felt it throughout the progression of the 4th floor. My current mental state is extremely precarious.

Even if everything resets with regression… the pressure of knowing someone dies because of my choices is beyond imagination. People say you stop seeing others as human? The shock of death is still an exception.

I think I understand why generals in war don’t see soldiers as people.

The moment you realize the weight your choices bring, the human mind rapidly deteriorates.

But this is also a green light. Even if I’ve become desensitized to others, it means I haven’t crossed the line yet.

I am still human. It feels reassuring to confirm that.

“...Even without the jungler playing, we won?”

I holed up in my apartment for two days, playing games non-stop.

The news was abuzz all day about the Tower, thousands of people were being kidnapped globally every day, and player crimes were rampant… yet people’s daily lives hadn’t changed drastically. That’s why gaming companies are still running.

- Kim Jun-ho: 831 points

“...Damn, this is fun.”

Playing after a long time was excessively enjoyable.

At first, I wondered why people had become so bad at the game, but then I realized it was natural. My physical abilities far surpass ordinary people. The game can’t be difficult.

One might ask what’s the fun in stomping noobs? But games are fun when you win. That’s why people create smurf accounts.

After reaching the highest rank within two days and mending my mental state, I finally checked my phone.

Choi Ji-won: Mr. Jun-ho. You contacted me earlier. Are you feeling better? I am about to enter the 4th floor soon. Our timing seems off. (4 days ago)

Park Cheol-jin: Jun-ho, did you clear the 3rd floor? We were tasked with completing a 4000-piece puzzle in the Room of Patience. (4 days ago)

Messages from Choi Ji-won, Park Cheol-jin, and other acquaintances had come in.

Ahn Kyung-joon: I haven’t been able to reach you… It’s already been over a week since you entered the Tower.

“...Shit.”

Gently putting my phone back in my pocket, I moved straight to the 1st floor to check the clear rewards.

Approaching the large chest I had long ignored, -thud. I opened it roughly.

As soon as I opened the chest, a message window popped up before my eyes.​

​

“…What the heck is a voucher?”

A bunch of items I had never seen before popped out. A weapon choice voucher? This isn’t even a game.

But this made the tower’s intentions clear. The tower wants us to save the otherworlders. That’s why the rewards are given. The more we try to save the otherworlders, the more difficult the challenges will become.

No, even so, the difficulty of the 4th floor is abnormal. I must have missed something.

“Well, for now…”

I’ll worry about that later. Now is the time to check the rewards.

Picking up the ticket labeled ‘Weapon Choice Voucher,’ a status window appeared, listing all the available weapons.

Since I only use swords, I immediately chose a sword, and as soon as I made my choice, a steel sword fell from thin air.

“Hmm…”

The quality is quite good. But it’s not exceptional. It’s a superior version of the weapons usually provided by the tower. Given that it’s a 3000-point reward, I didn’t expect anything extraordinary.

Next up were the two ‘customized’ boxes.

There were two mint-colored boxes. Unable to tell them apart, I opened them both at the same time.

“Oh…”

First, the transparent gloves were quite useful. Even though the gloves were completely transparent—gripping the sword felt almost the same as without them—touching them felt like stiff leather.

The biggest problem during long battles is the condition of the palms. The skin on the palms is delicate and easily torn and split. In the previous round, I wore gloves to combat this, but it reduced my precision.

Fortunately, the enemies on the 4th floor are much weaker than me, but if I have to fight a strong opponent for a long time, these transparent gloves will be a big help. They should be quite useful even on the 4th floor.

Next, Meditation. This trait will be useful when training mana. Just trying it out, I felt my mind calm down and sink into a deep, serene state.

Given that these are ‘customized’ boxes, the results are quite satisfying. Now, the last thing remaining is…

The first thing that came to mind was Dok Su-hee, who betrayed me on the 3rd floor. A subspace pocket as a top contributor reward? Then what happens to Dok Su-hee, who boasted about her SSS-grade trait?

With a bit of doubt, I picked up the small coin-sized piece of paper. The intricate pattern on it seeped into my fingertip.

Using the subspace pocket was simple. By focusing my mind, an invisible but tangible subspace portal opened.

As a test, I brought one of the potions from my reward closer, and the low-grade potion slowly got sucked into the subspace.

“Hmm.”

After a quick test, the subspace pocket proved to be a perfect lower-tier version of an inventory.

​

First of all, the speed at which the subspace opens is annoyingly slow. The speed at which items go in and out is also slow. Items can only be accessed from the point on my fingertip, and it requires intense concentration, making it difficult to use during battle.

Compared to Dok Su-hee, who could manipulate her inventory freely, this is embarrassingly inferior.

However, it’s still quite useful. I couldn’t save Baron Jorge because the elixir bottle broke. Just having a secure storage space is satisfying.

In summary… the rewards from the 4th floor were both satisfying and frustrating.

Firstly, the rewards were helpful and customized, living up to the term. I didn’t receive any trash traits with grand names like ‘Heart of Thunder’. The Meditation trait is likely dozens of times more useful than Heart of Thunder.

And the frustrating part… is the way the items are given.

“…Do they think this is a game?”

There are status windows and abilities. It already felt enough like a game, but now even the rewards are given in a game-like manner.

It feels like a child playing a prank. “You like games, right? I’ve set up a similar environment. But if you die, you really die.”

Do they think this is a joke?

“Phew…”

After calming my boiling emotions with the Meditation trait, I returned to my apartment and turned on my computer. This already proved that Meditation is more useful than Heart of Thunder.

‘Hmm…’

As I mentioned earlier, I must have missed something on the 4th floor. The difficulty of the 4th floor I experienced was clearly abnormal. Was it the same for others? I lack information.

The most important thing for a regressor is information. Information is the reason regressors have an advantage.

At this point, there are two main ways to gather information about the 4th floor.

First, wait for Choi Ji-won, who seems to be entering the 4th floor now. Second, search for information online.

Naturally, I intended to do both.

With familiar hand movements, I opened several well-known communities and quickly skimmed through the posts.

There were noticeably fewer posts about the 4th floor. In stark contrast to the abundance of posts about the 2nd and 3rd floors.

Even the posts describing the 4th floor lacked detailed descriptions, only using abstract expressions like ‘it’s painful’ or ‘it’s scary’. No one described what happened on the 4th floor. Well, there was one.

<Do you know who Kim Jun-ho is? I saw him on the 4th floor.>

But even that post seemed like it was written by someone who cleared the 4th floor with me. It’s not helpful at all.

“…I guess I’ll have to write a post myself.”

Tap, tap, tap.

<Anyone cleared the 4th floor? There are hardly any related posts.>

As soon as I posted, comments started pouring in.

-You want to write about that?

-Psychopath?

-Fuck off, idiot. Don’t feed the troll.

“…?”

The reactions were extremely intense. It was like poking a hornet’s nest.

​

Even after posting several more questions, I was either treated as a troll or completely ignored as if I were blocked.

“No way...”

Yes, clearing the 4th floor must leave a trauma. Unlike the 2nd or 3rd floors, where you could survive cleanly, the environment of the 4th floor was extremely harsh, inevitably resulting in sacrifices.

But how am I supposed to gather information like this? I need to know what other people’s experiences on the 4th floor were to plan accordingly.

“Do I have to look at foreign sites?”

Clicking my tongue, I was about to search foreign communities when I received a notification.

-Ding.

A message had arrived.

-Why are you so curious about the 4th floor?

A message from an anonymous user, with a provocative tone that was far from trustworthy.

But I couldn’t afford to be picky right now. I quickly typed a response.

-I want to gather information.

-Why gather information? It’s not like you’re going back in or can tell anyone.

-I have my reasons.

-Okay. I can help you. I’ve secured dozens of testimonies on the matter.

“Hmm.”

I don’t trust internet communities. People say anything when they don’t have to take responsibility.

-Instead, I want to talk face-to-face. The location is XX Cafe in Naegok-dong. Tomorrow at 2 PM. How about it?

They even wanted to meet in person rather than share information online. This level of caution made me suspicious of organ trafficking.

“Hmm...”

What do I lose if I regress immediately?

Firstly, I lose the chance to hear Choi Ji-won’s experience. Also, I miss the opportunity to train my mana diligently. Additionally, I am still mentally exhausted and don’t want to meet people who died on the 4th floor.

“…Let’s go for it.”

Despite my reservations, I decided to take the risk.

Thinking it over, there is a hidden portal in the castle. Even if I have to regress, I can return to reality immediately.

The next day, as I arrived at the designated cafe...

“…Jung-hyun?”

“…Jun-ho?”

Yoon Jung-hyun was there, waiting for me in a neat suit.

– – – End of Chapter – – -

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