Chapter 80

 

“Jun-ho. You go in.”

 

Kang Chan spoke calmly from within the barrier.

 

“I can feel the seal weakening. It will probably be released in an hour or two.”

 

He lightly scratched the spherical barrier with the tip of his finger, then shifted his gaze to the fallen Dok Su-hee.

 

“Once the seal is broken, I’ll take Su-hee and escape from the third floor. So, you go through the red door.”

 

“But...”

 

It’s all the same to me. There was a necessity to enter through the red door at some point anyway.

 

However, I was troubled by Kang Chan willingly giving up the reward. I hadn’t revealed my regression to him. I couldn’t understand why he was being so generous.

 

“The reason? It’s simple.”

 

Turning his gaze, Kang Chan looked at the door mixed with shades of red and gray.

 

“First off, I’m not particularly fond of the reward itself.”

 

His eyes were heavy with a solemn depth.

 

“This tower was created to judge humanity. Moreover, this floor emphasized cooperation as its main task. Yet, it’s designed so that if one person dies, progress is halted, only to induce betrayal in the end.”

 

Kang Chan’s words were true. The tower induces wrongdoing while threatening judgment for those very acts. It’s inherently contradictory.

 

“So, it’s hard to believe that the reward could be purely beneficial. There might even be a penalty involved.”

 

From the very color of the door being deep red, as Kang Chan suggested, it was unlikely that the reward would be wholly good.

 

“That’s why I won’t take the risk.”

 

Kang Chan spoke with his arms crossed.

 

“I’m already strong enough. Instead of taking unnecessary risks, I’ll settle for the basic reward. You can take the risk.”

 

Outwardly, that’s what Kang Chan said, but I could guess his true intentions.

 

In this regression, Kang Chan hadn’t disclosed his abilities to me. So now, he was playing the role of ‘the merciless and arrogant strongman, Kang Chan.’

 

Perhaps, internally, he acknowledged my past achievements and therefore conceded the reward.

 

“Me, I also... think that Jun-ho should be the one to go in. But my reason is a bit different.”

 

This time, it was An Kyung-Joon speaking.

 

“Jun-ho was the first to spot the initial wolf... And it was thanks to Jun-ho that we overcame the strange maze that appeared midway... Most of all, the arrow trap was practically Jun-ho’s solo show, wasn’t it? I think Jun-ho has contributed enough to deserve the reward.”

 

His words were true. In order to speed up our progress through the regression, I used what one could call ‘insight’ to predict various threats, allowing us to navigate through the third floor with ease.

 

If we were to measure overall contributions, perhaps mine were the highest.

 

“And...”

 

Looking down at Dok Su-hee, An Kyung-Joon continued.

 

“...probably, Su-hee also thought the same.”

 

“Dok Su-hee is a traitor. She’s not an object of sympathy.”

 

Kang Chan spoke with a frown. But An Kyung-Joon could only smile, even as sweat dripped down his face.

 

“...Haha. It’s true she’s a traitor. But would she have acted this way if the tower didn’t exist? After all, it’s the tower that changed a young student like her...”

 

Sighing, Kang Chan shook his head disapprovingly.

 

“...Better not to talk about it.”

 

“...”

 

Looking at An Kyung-Joon taking care of Dok Su-hee, I felt a sinking feeling in my heart.

 

Only then did I notice Dok Su-hee’s injuries. Her twisted expression became clear to me.

 

After seeing Dok Su-hee’s severe arm, what had I thought?

 

Hadn’t I felt satisfied? Deemed it a just punishment for a traitor? Thought myself merciful for sparing her life instead of killing her?

 

Would a normal person, aiming to be righteous, feel pleased after severing a high school student’s arm blown off, traitor or not?

 

Even if severing her arm was a justified punishment, shouldn’t I have felt a sense of duty rather than satisfaction or enjoyment?

 

Unknowingly, my expression twisted. In the process of repeating regression to breach the arrow trap, people stopped looking like people to me.

 

Despite my vigilance against losing my rationality, I had already become somewhat twisted.

 

“...It’s okay.”

 

Kang Chan pulled me out of my sinking consciousness.

 

“You did well.”

 

“...What did?”

 

Kang Chan didn’t respond. He was intently looking at my right index finger.

 

“...Ah.”

 

In the past, when I had been probing Kang Chan’s abilities and planning how to get past the arrow trap, I had a chance to talk to him.

 

At that time, I realized Kang Chan was someone who knew the limits of his abilities and acted under meticulous calculation.

 

He had mentioned having a habit of observing when faced with a new environment.

 

Kang Chan looked at my finger for a while, then nodded slightly.

 

He saw it. It was clear.

 

As soon as I entered the room, he must have seen me rush towards the red door. Even if he didn’t know how I knew about the red door, what characteristics I had that made it blow up, or whether I had anticipated Dok Su-hee’s betrayal...

 

He could easily imagine that I was involved in the explosion of the door.

 

“...”

 

And... Kang Chan, knowing that I may have severed Dok Su-hee’s arm, still gave me the chance to enter the red door?

 

It was a sign of trust. Although Kang Chan verbally provided reasons for not entering himself, his actions showed he trusted me.

 

All the struggles I went through to clear the third floor in the past were not meaningless.

 

That’s what I thought.

 

**

 

After exchanging contact information and briefly discussing how we would proceed,

 

Kang Chan, from within the barrier, looked me directly in the eyes and said,

 

“Think carefully. Will you go in?”

 

“...”

 

The truth is, I’m conflicted.

 

I still don’t know much about how to erase traits. If I were to receive some bizarre trait or reward like ‘The Traitor’s Demise,’ my already unstable psyche could completely twist.

 

Perhaps, I may regret this decision for a long time.

 

“I will go in.”

 

Despite this, I placed my palm above the discolored door.

 

The surface of the door, from which the scabbed layer had flown off, was no different from any other stone door in color.

 

Even if the outer surface had turned red from layers of hardened blood, I believed its essence was no different from any other stone door, perfectly intact.

 

It’s not the door that’s twisted, but the people using it, I believed.

 

I placed my palm on the stone door.

 

-Krrrrrung.

 

A blue portal appeared, indistinguishable from another portal on the right, an ordinary blue portal.

 

“...See you later, then.”

 

I threw my body into the portal, with a large box slung to one side.

 

In an instant, my vision was engulfed in darkness.

 

**

 

When I opened my eyes again, a giant statue stood before me.

 

[Warrior.]

 

I was on a mountain somewhere, and a statue that seemed to be carved in the image of a man spoke to me.

 

[A warrior needs a fitting weapon.]

 

It was a voice from my memory. In a room where we had to proceed in pairs, it was the voice that told us to share blood.

 

Although I could only see the back of the statue from where I stood, there was a solemn weight to it.

 

“...Who are you?”

 

[Warrior. As you passed through the cave, did you conduct yourself as a warrior should?]

 

The statue, not answering my question, continued with what it wanted to say.

 

[Originally, this space was intended for the most honorable warrior. It was created with the meaning of evaluating and acknowledging each other in the process of overcoming trials, and conceding rewards to the most honorable warrior...]

 

The imposing aura of the statue, as vast as a mountain, softened a bit.

 

[...However, at some point, its meaning was distorted by those who lost their reason to greed.]

 

“...”

 

Indeed.

 

The red door, which only one person could enter, must not have been red from the beginning. It turned red after being layered and layered with blood.

 

Such is the way of the world. Exposed to the tempests of life, change is inevitable. Even with the best of intentions at the start... by the time one comes to, things have bizarrely transformed.

 

The same goes for Dok Su-hee... and perhaps for me as well.

 

[Apologies for the lengthy digression. The reward shall be given.]

 

Slowly, the statue began to shine.

 

The entire statue turned white and, in an instant, transformed into a burst of light.

 

[A weapon is, in essence, a warrior’s mirror. To the wicked, a wicked weapon is granted... Have you, in the cave, acted as a warrior should?]

 

The cluster of light moved smoothly toward me, taking the shape of a sword.

 

“...”

 

But what materialized was not a sword.

 

“Huh?”

 

A sheath.

 

Literally, a sheath was now in my hand.

 

“...This isn’t a weapon.”

 

Moreover, usually, when you stare intently at an item, a status window pops up, but this sheath didn’t trigger any status window. It was just like the ring given by the archangel; perhaps hidden items just don’t show anything.

 

[A weapon is, in essence, a warrior’s mirror. Always bear that in mind.]

 

The voice did not respond again.

 

After the solemn voice of the statue, everything went dark in an instant.

 

When I opened my eyes again, I was on the first floor.

– – – End of Chapter – – -

 

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