Regression Is Too Much chapter 116

116 – The Returner’s Efforts (11)

A week passed in an instant. Time passed quickly as I collected information, trained my sword, and practiced moving my mana around.

“Here are three more bowls of udon!”

Of course, I didn’t invest all my time in self-development. The first thing we did was a restaurant tour. On the 4th floor, I had to eat preserved foods such as beef jerky and dry bread, so my craving for delicious food was always strong.

As I was enjoying the sweetness of society like a private on a 100-day vacation, a week had already passed. I always set a goal and worked hard to achieve it. As a result, I found it enjoyable just to lie in bed.

Actually, if you look at it, the world was originally like this. Working. Eat. Playing. Sleep.

It wasn’t a place where a man was torn apart by a monster attack or where a sword was swung until his head throbbed from stress. I realize that once again.

“Whoa.”

Anyway, time passed by like that, and the appointment time finally arrived. I arrived in front of Choi Ji-won’s house.

I wouldn’t have minded if she didn’t keep her promise and just went back, but I felt sorry for her unreasonable behavior last time, so I decided to hang out with her for today.

“You’re here.”

“Uh.”

Since I am also a man, I scanned Choi Ji-won’s outfit without realizing it.

Aside from her trademark ponytail, she wore slightly tight jeans and a white oversized short-sleeved shirt with it untucked. It’s the same outfit as in the tutorial. Was it intentional?

Whether my feelings were complicated or not, Choi Ji-won looked the same as usual. It looks like she has somewhat shaken off her miserable failure on the 4th floor over the past week.

“Have you had lunch? Let’s eat rice first. I’m hungry.”

Choi Ji-won nods her head as if asking her to follow him. As she walked down her street, led by her, she arrived in front of her restaurant.

“… Meat? “From lunch?”

“What? “Are you dissatisfied?”

Choi Ji-won smiles and walks into her restaurant. It felt awkward to just stand in front of the door, so I followed him in.

“The apron… Here it is. Now, sit down. “I’ll order it.”

She took out two of her aprons with natural movements and called her restaurant aunt to begin her order.

“Aunt! Here are 5 servings of pork belly, 5 servings of pork neck, and pork skin. Oh, what is this? New menu? “Please give me this too.”

“Jiwon, aren’t you eating too much these days? And who is the man next to me? If… “

“Ah! Aunt!”

Choi Ji-won, who was arguing with her restaurant aunt, scratches her neck and puts on her apron.

“Are you going to eat soybean paste stew? How many bowls of rice? Since I buy it, feel free to order it. “I said I would see you today.”

“… “You are so surprising.”

“What?”

“It doesn’t look like that.”

Choi Ji-won’s first impression of her… Cold. She is chilly. Her eyes are sharp.

Seeing Choi Ji-won, who has an image that fits the description of a tea girl, ordering meat so naturally, would you say it feels awkward? I think she would look good eating rolled pasta at a restaurant.

“I like pasta too. Vongole pasta. But pasta doesn’t fill your stomach. They seem to notice that I order them a lot. Ah, the meat has arrived.”

Choi Ji-won, who was holding a wooden board full of meat, suddenly glares at me.

“Hey. I came to the meat restaurant thinking of you and what? It doesn’t suit you? Should I just go to a pasta place? Tteokbokki? Mara Xiangguo?”

“Ah, okay. Sorry.”

“It won’t work. “I was going to buy it, but I’ll just have to pay half.”

Choi Ji-won grumbles and picks up meat with tongs.

Chii Iik.

Just hearing the meat on the grill makes a sound that makes your mouth water. On the contrary, our conversation suddenly stopped.

Although we talked without hesitation, we were essentially a bit distant. When I realized that fact, an untimely silence came.

“… “

“… “

It took a while to grill meat in silence.

“Should I eat it soon? “I think it’s ripe.”

“Uh, uh. Okay.”

A quiet meal begins. The sound of news coming from the TV hanging on the wall. The sound of an old fan spinning round and round. The sound of a phone call coming from the kitchen. The sound of cars passing outside the open door. There is no sound except the conversation between the two of us.

I should say something, but I don’t know what to say. I don’t even know why I asked to see you today in the first place. What should I do?

“What did you do before the tower was built?”

While I was worrying, Choi Ji-won opened the conversation.

“Me? Just what… “I went to school.”

“Oh, really? Where’s the school?”

She rests her chin and shows interest. Memories of her constantly asking me about her school and getting cut during her tutorials slowly come back to me. Wow, why am I shaking?

“I almost got into a Korean university, too. “The physical education department said they would select me as a special student.”

Choi Ji-won continues the conversation whether I am suffering from PTSD or not. Wait, Korea University?

“… Korea University? Really?”

“Uh. I refused because my father had just passed away. Still, I wonder sometimes. “What does it feel like to go to college?”

Resting my chin, I pick up a piece of meat and put it on my rice, then pick up a piece of meat myself.

“I graduated from an all-girls high school… I don’t have any male friends. All the men I know are old men. “They say you’ll make a lot of friends when you go to college, right?”

Choi Ji-won chews a piece of pork neck while saying that.

Come to think of it, this woman. She was 20 years old. Because of her unique strength and cold appearance, she forgot about it.

No, then I was in a fight with a 20-year-old girl. She felt sorry for herself and stuffed the meat into her mouth.

“Wait, wait. “Let’s not just eat, but talk.”

However, Choi Ji-won still seemed to have many questions, so the conversation continued afterwards.

“What do you usually do when you rest?”

“Then do you know this YouTube channel? “It’s fun here.”

“Do you use Instagram? “Why are you doing that?”

“MBTI? I only do kendo so I don’t know much about that. What is it?”

“Sword? Do you want to talk about swords while eating?”

“But do you really go back to just passing by? Experiment… “It won’t work if you try.”

“Oh, I ate all the meat.”

As we chatted about each other’s personal affairs, we quickly ran out of meat.

“Shall I order more?”

“No. Let’s go out. “Auntie, here’s the bill!”

“Yes~! “Oh, thank you for your support.”

“Ah! Aunt!”

After finishing her checkout, Choi Ji-won walks out of the store carrying her bag containing her Bungbungi.

“Kim Jun-ho. “Do you play games?”

“Games? I’m amazed. “You want to go to the PC room?”

I never thought Choi Ji-won would play games too. Just as a bright smile was about to cross my lips.

“No, are you a b*tch? I meant to go to the arcade. Follow me.”

Choi Ji-won shakes her head and sighs deeply. No, I didn’t know it was that kind of game.

That’s how we arrived at the arcade.

“Shall we play a basketball game first?”

“Good.”

When you put money into the machine, a basketball comes rolling. I grabbed it roughly and threw it cleanly, and it hit a goal. Choi Ji-won and I continued to mechanically score goals over and over again, and eventually we were able to set a new arcade record.

“Seup… “

“Hmm… “

It’s not fun. It’s so f*cking boring.

Not long ago, we were fighting for our lives at the top of the tower, competing against time, so how could it be difficult to get the ball into the circle? It’s a little more difficult than eating rice cake while lying down.

“It won’t work. “Come out and see me.”

Perhaps it was the same for Choi Ji-won, but this time he led me out of the arcade.

“Let’s do this.”

“… This?”

What she was pointing at was a punch machine. The machine must be quite old, so the mitts are frayed here and there.

“Hey, won’t this break if we hit it?”

From Noble mtl dot com

Although he has only just cleared the 4th floor, his physical abilities are already far beyond that of an ordinary person. If I wanted to, it would be no problem to break this machine.

“No, that wouldn’t be fun. Now, look at the score here.”

Choi Ji-won touches the scoreboard with 000 written on it.

“Let’s assume that the person who gets this to exactly 777 points wins. How is it?”

“Oh, are you okay?”

Getting the score right will be much more difficult than destroying the machine. Now, I will try to defeat Choi Ji-won here.

“Huh?”

“Foot.”

But the result was my crushing defeat. While I got an ambiguous score like 600 or 900, Choi Ji-won played around 700 points the whole time and eventually succeeded in scoring 777 points.

“Are you still immature in body control?”

“… Tsk.”

Because my achievement level increased significantly on the 3rd and 4th floors, my body grew dramatically. When the hero trait is activated, my physical abilities completely change, so I wasn’t used to the current state.

“I lost the bet, so you buy ice cream.”

“Shall we go to the convenience store?”

“… “Are you kidding me?”

After eating ice cream from a franchise that boasts 31 flavors, the sun was slowly setting.

“… “

“… “

We walk the streets in silence. The orange sunset shines behind Choi Ji-won. Yeah, just like in the tutorial.

When I realized it, my heart ached.

“Choi Ji-won.”

“Huh?”

“Why did you ask to see me today?”

The time I spent with Choi Ji-won was enjoyable. We had some overlapping hobbies and we communicated well. First of all, Choi Ji-won is so f*cking pretty.

But the closer I get to her, the heavier a part of my heart becomes. The uncomfortable feeling slowly grows.

“I will return anyway. I told you, right? “I will shorten the time until clear as much as possible.”

“…”

Choi Ji-won fixing the bag containing Boongboong. Choosing her words carefully, she finally gives her answer.

“Just… I was curious too. “I told you I told you about my father in the tutorial, right?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s something I’ve never said before. Of course my close friends know, but I’ve never had a conversation about that topic. “It’s such a sensitive and secret story.”

“… “

“What did I believe when I told you that? That’s what I don’t understand. Because I’m about to die? “I told you there was a golden ball.”

“That’s right.”

“What did I believe in and tell my most secret story to a man I first met in a tutorial? I was curious about that. “I thought I could find the answer if we stayed together.”

Instead of walking, Choi Ji-won turns around and looks straight at me. Her eyes crinkle slightly as the glow of the sunset shines directly on her.

“Is this enough of an answer?”

“… Huh.”

But there were still questions left.

“So, what was it like when we went together today? Why do you think he told me that story?”

Just as I observed Choi Ji-won today, she must also have observed me. To my question about the results.

“I’m not sure yet.”

Choi Ji-won bursts out laughing.

“So, come out next week too. In front of my house.”

“Uh, um… “

“You have a lot of time anyway, right? If you go back, you’re back on the 4th floor? Before that, shouldn’t you train and train your mana to create new possibilities? “They said they already know the perfect way to clear it.”

“… Okay”

It is not wrong.

Since it wasn’t a mistake, I had no choice but to nod.

Ignoring the pain in my chest.