165 – The Returner Wandering (1)
The reward on the 13th floor was a leap in experience and the trait ‘fast reflexes’.
-Fast reflexes [C]
-You don’t have to worry about tripping over your own feet and falling. Reflexes improve in proportion to your stats.
Because the background of the 13th floor was a wilderness, was he given the skills appropriate for a wilderness gunman? After conducting a simple experiment with Choi Ji-won, I felt that my reflexes had definitely become faster. To be exact… Response to attacks has become faster. I feel like my thoughts have become thicker in extreme situations.
“Jiwon, did you receive this trait too?”
“Uh. “It seemed like everyone besides us had this trait.”
“Hmm… “
In fact, both I and Choi Ji-won have fought by predicting the opponent’s actions to some extent. Since their reflexes are somewhat lacking compared to their body’s athletic ability, it would be correct to say that they fought by predicting the location and timing of an attack by looking at the opponent’s posture or gaze and moving in advance. The reason the battle was split in a split second was because each other’s predictions were different.
The reason why I was able to overcome the top players on the 11th floor was not only because of regression, but also because of the hidden circumstances behind it.
But your reflexes become faster? This makes the battle much more complicated. The opponent may react just before being hit by my attack, and conversely, he may react to the opponent’s surprise attack and injure him in return. From my point of view, where I regress when I get hurt… It would be correct to see it as a disadvantage.
“But in my opinion, the real beneficiaries of this trait are lower-mid tier players.”
Choi Ji-won is talking while patting the bungbungi on his shoulder.
“It must be said that the low point of skill has risen. “If your stats are up to a certain level, you will be able to fight using only your physical abilities, even if you have no skills at all.”
“That’s right.”
“The difference between players who cleared the 13th floor and those who did not will probably widen… “The gap with the general public will become even bigger.”
If the fight up until now had been a sword-to-sword battle, now it feels like each person has been given a shield. If one day this shield becomes bigger and thicker… At that time, the gun may not work on the player.
“For now, let’s think about it later… “
This part is not something I can control. No matter how much regression there is, it cannot stop all players from climbing the tower and becoming stronger. That is force majeure.
“I think there’s something on the 13th floor that hasn’t been discovered yet.”
Now what we need to pay attention to is the 13th floor itself. The structure of the 13th floor was not like the 11th floor, where everyone shared one world, but like the 4th floor, where a new world was created every time it was occupied. And I think there were still hidden secrets on the 13th floor.
“But… “The association said there is no such thing as a hidden route?”
“You should not blindly trust the association’s statistics. “I told you this before.”
“Uhm… In fact, the association also said that there are situations where players are reluctant to talk. “You might be right.”
Of course, the ‘hidden route’ I am referring to may not exist. However, it is certain that there are secrets that have not yet been discovered. This is because the structure of the 13th floor was different from the other floors.
On the 11th and 12th floors, if one person was greedy, the damage would be passed on to others. To exaggerate a bit, it is not unreasonable to say that this was a layer that encouraged betrayal.
But what about the 13th floor? There is no such device on the 13th floor. If you think about it one-dimensionally, ‘not being able to protect the carriage’ itself may be the device mentioned above, but isn’t that too simplistic? ‘Escort mission’ is not that simple. This means that the escort mission has hidden traps and twists.
Monsters running towards us with their eyes turning red. A mustachioed man who first appears and then never appears again. A nun suddenly appeared from within the village, and even a transparent curtain covered the village. There are still secrets that have not yet been revealed.
“If you can’t get information from reality, there’s nothing you can do.”
The only way is to try it yourself.
[You have suffered damage.]
[Return to the moment you first entered the 13th floor.]
***
If you had to pick the most suspicious thing on the 13th floor, it would be this ‘carriage’. The horses were not eating or drinking and were leading the carriage, which was filled with suspicious wooden boxes.
I guess… Starting with opening the box of this carriage, it seemed likely that some kind of event would follow. After opening the box of the carriage, something other than a monster attacks.
“So… “You want to open the contents of the carriage?”
“That’s right.”
“Uhm… “
In fact, the cleanest way is to bait someone else. They would probably not be able to control their curiosity and would try to search the carriage anyway, but if they just leave it alone, they can get information on their own.
But it pricks my conscience to let something happen when I know it’s going to happen. I’ll open it first, and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll order it from someone else.
“I just need to go back. Is not it?”
“… Okay.”
After barely convincing Choi Ji-won.
“Never, never! It must not be damaged. “You must protect him with all your heart and soul.”
After listening to the mustache man’s explanation as before, the carriage began to move. Up to this point, things went the same as in the past.
If we take action, now is our chance when people are dumbfounded.
“Oh, oh!”
“What are you doing?”
Shut up!
Without any delay, I drew my sword and cut the cloth covering the lead carriage in half. As the pieces of cloth fell down, numerous wooden boxes were revealed.
Bye!
The moment I hit one of the dogs hard with my fist, black smoke billowed out from inside the box, staining the entire area black.
“… !”
Instinctively, I held my breath and took a wide step back. However, my skin was momentarily exposed to smoke. What is this smoke? Should we regress?
“Cold, cold…” What?”
“Hyung, are you crazy?”
“… “
However, even if we waited patiently, there was no sign of regression. My physical condition was fine, and I felt no abnormalities. What has changed? There must be a reason for the black smoke to come out.
“Hyung. Are you crazy? “Do you want to die?”
“That… sorry. “I definitely heard a sound inside the box, but I guess I heard it wrong.”
“Is it okay if I’m sorry? “Aren’t we all almost screwed now?”
“I’m sorry, but can you please let me go?”
“Then why are there police and why are there laws…” Choi Ji-won?”
“I will work harder. Let’s move on. “The horse is still moving.”
“… “Okay.”
Thanks to Choi Ji-won’s cover, he was prevented from being immediately punished, but his head was still very confused. Just black smoke coming out, and is that the end? There will be changes.
“… “What is that guy?”
“I don’t know. Choi Ji-won, I guess that’s it.”
I endured the stares of other players glaring at me, desperately looking for any changes. After wandering around the carriage like that, I was finally able to find a change.
“I mean… “It’s changed a bit.”
The carriage I broke the box into. The eyes of the horse leading the carriage had turned red. Now that I think about it, I noticed that he was breathing a little hard, and that he kept showing his teeth and purring.
The appearance has changed closer to that of the ‘monster’ that has attacked the carriage so far. Since all the other horses are intact, it is clear that there is a causal relationship with the box being destroyed.
“… “If a certain number of boxes are broken, does a horse turn into a monster?”
This makes sense. We do not know the way to our destination, the ‘village’, and are moving entirely according to the direction led by the horse. But the horses leading all the carriages turn into monsters? Then game over. The future is likely to dry out and die in the wilderness, with no way to clear the floor.
“… “
However, something still feels uncomfortable. This is because it was not possible to see ‘one person’s greed or incompetence harming everyone else’ that was seen on the 11th and 12th floors.
“Should I intentionally turn a horse into a monster and then follow it wherever it goes? No, I don’t think this is it… “
“Let’s stay for a while. “Something will change.”
“… Okay.”
Following Choi Ji-won’s advice, I continued to observe and took no action. A day passed, and something unusual was finally observed.
“The body… “Why are you doing this?”
One of the players complained of a noticeable decline in physical ability.
“No, really, I was fine until yesterday. Suddenly… Should I say I feel dizzy, or should I say my body feels weak? It’s really strange… “
When Choi Ji-won and I woke up on the 13th floor, this man appeared to be fine until the end. But now you suddenly feel unwell? There is only one reason.
“If even one box breaks… Is this a way to apply a debuff to one of the players? “
If this happens… It satisfies what I mentioned earlier, ‘the way someone’s mistake or greed is passed on to someone else.’ If a player who cannot control his curiosity opens the box at night, the horse pulling the carriage will mutate, and the health of other players will also worsen. Although it is not a method of rewarding selfish players, the fact remains that everyone suffers from someone’s actions.
“Junho. “Isn’t this enough?”
“… “
“We were just lucky and had great skills, so we perfectly conquered the 13th floor on our first try. “There was no damage to the carriage at all, so there were no debuffs, so it felt particularly easy.”
The first attempt… Was it a complete success? It certainly makes sense. My rational self kept nodding that this was the right answer.
But something… An inexplicable feeling of discomfort still remained in my heart. Ah, I found out the cause.
“There are still things left to be confirmed.”
“… ?”
“You didn’t check the true picture.”
Who bothered to escort such a dangerous box? There was one nun who was hiding herself with a transparent shield and was shaking in fear.
If something is hidden, it will be hidden there.
“I have to go into the village.”
Village… I need to check out the village.
Thanks for the update Noble-san!