126 – The Returner is Tired (1) (Start of Part 2)
Do you know of an unknown creature called the Yeti?
Anyone in the know will probably think of a huge ape that is over 2 meters tall and covered in white fur all over its body. I knew about the Yeti because it appeared in a card game I often played.
Anyway, these yetis usually live in cold mountain ranges, bring blizzards, and prevent climbers from climbing the mountains. If you think about it, it’s just a rather large, white-furred gorilla.
“Grrr, grrr…” “
That’s why I once thought of yetis as a piece of sh*t. This is because I had tremendous physical abilities gained through attribute levels and sharp swordsmanship that I honed thanks to my alter ego. Human beings, the lord of all creation, have acquired mysterious abilities, so there is no way they should be afraid of a mere white gorilla.
“A little… die… “
“Grrr… “
However, the yeti I actually met was much more threatening than expected. He was one of the most fearsome enemies I’ve ever encountered.
＜10Th floor＞
-Clear conditions: Defeat the Yeti, the owner of Mount Luft.
A spiky coniferous forest has grown as if piercing the sky, and large snowballs are falling from the sky on the steep mountainside.
“Grrr… “
Something thin and thin, barely crawling on the floor with its withered arms, picking at the snow on the floor. That thing that looks like a white furry earthworm is the Yeti guy mentioned earlier. Why is my condition so bad?
“Already… It’s been 2 weeks….”
That’s because I’ve been arguing with this yeti for two weeks.
But first, I would like to explain what has happened.
After struggling to clear the 5th floor, I took a break for about two weeks with Jiwon and then returned. After that, I quickly cleared the 5th floor and entered the 6th floor.
＜6Th floor＞
-Clear conditions: Defeat the cursed woman, Medusa.
-If you make eye contact with Medusa, your body will slowly petrify starting from the extremities.
“Oh… ?”
The concept from the 6th to 9th floors was simpler than expected. A fantasy monster appears, and the player must defeat it alone. If you look at this alone, it may seem very difficult, but…
The guy who designed the 6th to 10th floors prepared several devices to help even the weakest players survive.
Medusa, who appears on the 6th floor, wears glasses sold in a nearby village and she is just a woman with snakes on her head.
If you spray the benshi that appears on the 7th floor with the holy water you can get from the old church, she will instantly burn up.
The vampire that appears on the 8th floor will melt on its own if you wait until the sun rises in the cabin where you first start.
The large wild boar that appeared on the 9th floor ate poisoned food and collapsed.
Assuming that you properly utilize the information obtained after entering the tower, the difficulty level up to the 9th floor was quite easy. Rather than fighting for my life with monsters, it felt like I was solving some kind of puzzle.
The problem is on the 10th floor. We have long since figured out the weakness of the yeti that appears on the 10th floor. It is active for only 6 hours a day, and sleeps in the cave for the remaining 18 hours. At this point, he can easily be killed by driving a knife into his neck, avoiding his thick fur.
Why are you doing this if you know? The problem is the magical cold aura that the Yeti is surrounded by.
The temperature around the animal’s body was particularly low, possibly due to the snowstorm caused by the Yeti tribe. When a person approached the animal, its movements naturally slowed down, and its skin instantly turned bluish.
Yes, the skin is necrotic. That also meant that I was returning.
“f*ck, f*ck… “
If you throw a weapon from a distance, it will have no effect because of the hair on the entire body. However, if you approach it, its cold aura instantly causes it to return.
Truly the worst enemy. A monster of the same level as the golem encountered on the third floor, countering the returner head-on.
At this rate, he thought he might be trapped on the 10th floor. As it happened to be a cold mountain range again, the nightmare of the 4th floor came to mind again.
However, after observing the Yeti closely, I was able to figure out its weakness.
He cannot escape a certain range. Since he only goes where he always goes, there is no doubt that his radius of action is set.
“… “Do you eat something too?”
Moreover, this guy eats the theme of fantasy animals. He usually slows down creatures such as birds and antelopes using his unique aura and then catches and eats them, but the important thing is that he eats something.
“… “
If you can’t kill it yourself, starve it to death.
Let’s kill all the creatures he can eat in advance and get rid of them all. Then he will die.
From then on, I started killing all the animals I saw and throwing them over the cliff, and I roasted some of them and ate them.
“Guooooo!!!”
“You’re slower than me, man!”
At first, the Yeti tilted its head wondering where the animals had gone, but soon noticed my presence and chased after me, but this one clearly had the upper hand in agility. I maintained a distance that made it almost impossible to get caught, and destroyed all creatures that the yeti could eat.
“Grrr!’ “
The result, two weeks later, is the skinny hairy earthworm you see over there.
“… Please die… “
Of course, I am now at my limit. What we ate as rice was nothing more than roughly roasted wild animals with a delicious aroma, and sometimes we had to eat the meat raw without even grilling it.
Moreover, all living things that were not eaten were thrown from the cliff, so at least there was no living thing left on this mountainside. This means that I have run out of meat to eat.
“… “
“… “
The yeti raised his head with difficulty and glared at me. I also did not lose and glared at him.
Die quickly. Please, please, die… !
Was it because my earnest wish was conveyed?
“… That’s right.”
The yeti lowered his head.
-Wow.
The long-awaited blue portal appeared before my eyes.
“Whoo, whoo…” “
I quickly passed through the portal and returned to my room without even checking my reward.
“Are you okay? What happened?”
As soon as I returned, Choi Ji-won approached me with worried eyes. Since I haven’t been able to leave the 10th floor, which I should have cleared quickly, for two weeks, it’s natural to be worried.
“By any chance… You couldn’t get close to the yeti?”
“… That’s right. When I got close to it, it returned instantly. So I waited until it starved to death.”
“…Oh my god.”
Choi Ji-won, who understood the situation, shook his head and then fell into my arms.
“…I was worried. I thought something had happened.”
“Actually, I was worried that I might not be able to go out either.”
“Hey!”
“Okay. I’m sorry.”
“…That’s all you need to know.”
“…Yes.”
The conversation to check on each other’s well-being is cut off awkwardly, and the two people’s eyes meet. Since it was just right there, a pleasant scent wafted out, tickling my nose.
“…”
“…”
There was no need for further conversation. Choi Ji-won gently closed his eyes, and our lips slowly got closer…
“Sniff.”
“…?”
I sniffled without realizing it. Snot? Is this the first time since the status window was created?
Now that I think about it, my throat feels a little sore, and my mucous membranes tickle to the point that mucus is coming out.
It’s been a really long time, but… These are symptoms in my memory.
“Jiwon… “
“Huh?”
“I think I have a cold… “
“Cold? Junho, you?”
Coughing does not occur. It wasn’t even a fever.
However, I felt a subtle, unpleasant sensation that was unique to colds, like my body was slightly heating up. A virus was lurking inside the throat.
Was the problem of not being able to eat properly for two weeks and rolling around on a snowy mountain? Or was the problem that the hero characteristics were not activated, unlike on the 4th floor?
It has been confirmed that even the body of a superhuman can become ill if exposed to extreme environments for a long period of time. It was information I never wanted to know.
“… “
Of course, the fact that I only ‘barely’ caught a cold is also proof that my body has far surpassed that of an ordinary person. This is an environment where a normal person would have died long ago.
Moreover, these days, it is embarrassing to even call a cold a disease. Taking medicine doesn’t mean you’ll get better quickly, but it doesn’t mean you’ll have any major problems if you get it. You can just cough, have a fever, and be slightly ill for a day or two and then return to your daily life.
“What if I go back because of a cold?”
But what if you are a ‘regressor who returns when you take damage’? What if the cold virus itself is applied as ‘damage’? What if regression begins the moment the cold energy dormant in my body blooms?
From Noble mtl dot com
What if the timing of the disease blooming is right after entering the tower, and from then on you are trapped in an eternal cycle of time?
“… “
“… “
Choi Ji-won also seemed to recognize the seriousness of the situation, and his expression hardened. Right now it’s just a weak cold, but he realized that it could evolve into a deadly weapon at any time.
“Junho.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s drink a potion first.”
Choi Ji-won casually hands over a mid-level potion that, in reality, is traded for the same weight of gold. I received the potion and went straight to the first floor, then gulped down the potion that was duplicated with the effect of the first floor.
“…Why doesn’t it work?”
It is a potion that heals wounds from severed limbs, but for some reason the itchy feeling remains the same. Is it because I was exposed to the yeti’s magical cold for too long? A cold that can’t be cured even with mid-level potions.
“Seup…”
Of course, there is a low-level elixir obtained on the 5th floor… But I thought it would be too wasteful to use it here. After checking the situation, I took the portal and returned to my room.
“How do you feel?”
“It doesn’t work.”
“…”
Choi Ji-won bites her lip gently. The situation was worse than I thought.
“Do you want to go back? If you go back, there might be a way to clear it without catching a cold. Anyway, I didn’t do anything, so it doesn’t matter if my memory disappears.”
Choi Ji-won, like a married woman, recommends a return.
“…I tried everything, but there was no answer other than starving it to death.”
But unfortunately, I didn’t have any mysterious way to kill the yeti right now. This is because the yeti is quite intelligent, so it does not get caught in traps, and it does not eat food unless it has been caught by itself.
“…”
“…”
In the end, the best I can do is try to keep this cold from getting worse.
“First of all… lay down. I’ll make you abalone porridge. Even though it’s hot, I endure it and cover myself with the blanket.”
“… Uh, uh… “
“Don’t think about moving until you’re fully healed. Okay?”
“Yes… “
So I was stuck under a blanket for two weeks and had to eat nutritious food.
『 The US government officially recommends climbing to the second floor… ‘According to the internal investigation of the live exchange rate, it is not dangerous.’ 』
『 ‘Top’ mountain item, will it be the future food of mankind… We begin investigating large companies around the world. 』
『 Players Association launched… The first president of the association was ‘Mighty Michael’ Michael Jeter.』
『 Korean government awards Presidential Award to player Choi Ji-won… Successfully climbed the 10th floor for the first time in Korea. 』
Time passed so quickly that it had been three months since the first tutorial began.
In real time, two months have passed since I entered the tutorial, and one month has passed since I beat the 5th floor.
In other words.
[Mighty Coin]
[+19832.41%]
“Wow.”
I became rich.