288 - Regression Is Too Much

288 – Battle of the Regressor (7) When you experience regression repeatedly, one's emotions undergo significant transformations. To explain it more simply, one could say that your 'priorities' shift. "Hey, hey, hey. Is everything alright here? They say we earn 500,000 won per person?" "Huh? Why is that?" "... Junho, you claim you're a player, but you're wealthy? Even when you were still in high school..." First, your sense of money becomes dull. Since your bank account is replenished with 2 billion won every time you regress, the priority of money as a material object significantly diminishes. You don’t pay attention to price tags when purchasing meals or items. It's not just about money. I’ve adjusted the value of 'things affected by regression' to be lower. Money returns with regression. Items regenerate with regression. Human life… and relationships… regress too. The sole exception is Choi Ji-won, and that is why Ji-won holds immense value for me. It’s not because others aren't valuable. It’s just that she, alone, remains consistently significant. On the other hand, some things become more valuable than ever before. "Alright. I’ve got some food for her, so I’ll give you some crucial information." "Huh, really???" "... Aren’t you getting overly excited?" "Just tell me quickly." Information. Statistics. Achievements. These are things that remain in my memory even after regressing. Things I can utilize when time resets. Things that don't vanish. I'm sure you understand why without me having to explain. This logic also applies to the enemies I face. The enemies I fear the least are those that are 'easy to handle if you know how to approach them.' Even if I lose to them now, they are the type of enemy I can effortlessly defeat with regression. Conversely, the most feared enemies are the ones that remain "unrecognizable regardless of your efforts." The reason is the same. It's because you know that your current defeat would persist indefinitely. "Ugh…" Thinking from that perspective, the water carrier going around senselessly killing humans floats between the unfamiliar enemies and those that would be easy if only you knew them. They would be easy if you knew them, but there's no way to discern that right at the moment. The situation is utterly challenging. "I want to buy information on that water carrier." "Who are you talking about?" "Wow, him. The one indiscriminately killing humans..." "Oh, please wait a moment." "... Is this the right price?" "Yes, it is, sir." "..." This water carrier (I don't even know the name) is currently the most popular celebrity in the largest arena in the universe, and she's known for causing a stir about buying information from everywhere. The already expensive price of information continues to soar. It reached such outrageous levels that I couldn't even think of buying it, even though Ji-won and I had saved all our money. "Human butcher!" "Executioner!!!" "Master of slaughter!!!" The nicknames given to her are equally brutal. Not only does she kill, but she toys with various weapons and then kills people, making those who despise her truly loathe her, yet those who admire her absolutely adore her. Negative attention is still attention, and when you add positive attention, the price of information becomes exorbitant. "Is there no way to meet her directly?" "No. She refuses all meetings." I have no choice but to meet her directly and speak with her, but this monster fundamentally rejects all meetings. She doesn't just refuse me; she also turns down sponsors and other aliens. She locks herself in her room and selects humans one by one. If a human refuses, they become her next target. If they accept, she battles them. One by one, she kills those humans. Naturally, the "humans" here are tense. This place isn't like Earth, where humans are the majority, but that doesn’t mean they don't exist. There are humans modified into cyborgs, humans wielding sci-fi-style weapons, and those blending martial arts, fantasy, steampunk, and more. Their skin tones are varied, but the Suin are omnivores and don't discriminate among types of humans. "I'm going home. Oh, I mean, I'm leaving the arena." "I'm sick of this... I'm sick... What kind of game is this..." "I'm not human? I'm a machine, a machine." Most of them flee. The Suin's attacks are brutal and their skills are exceptional. "You refuse to be mentioned?" "Damn, if we fight, we'll die. What do you want from me?" Players also shy away from her. The pride of being at the top, the pride of being a fighter. Those things hold no value when faced with death. "If I kill her, I..." "Hehe... That beast is weak..." Of course, not everyone runs away. There are those who bravely accept the challenge of being called her prey. They pretend not to know from the outside, but the reason is money. If they win. If they survive. They are greedy, thinking they might get rich. "Ahhh! Aahhh!!!" "Just save me! I'll give you potions and martial arts!!!" None of them end well. The monster does not stop. It seems as if she intends to erase the human race from this arena. "Eeeeeeeee..." If the 28th floor were a game, this person would certainly be its boss. Extraordinary skills. Exceptional appearance. And above all, there's hidden information cloaked in secrecy. If he could defeat this person, the floor would surely be a breeze. However, I didn't have enough money to purchase the information. Why not ask someone else who possesses the information? Information from the arena was "digitally locked," making it impossible to learn from others. The only way to uncover it was by purchasing it oneself. Couldn't we make more money? That was the second issue. "Junho... I... can't fight..." "You too...?" To make money, we first had to battle, but Choi Ji-won and I were facing the same dilemma as Su-in. The people we were supposed to confront were too scared. I thought we were playing it weak, restraining our power, and setting various traps. Yet, for some reason, everyone avoided us. "Hey, hey! Where are you going! You claimed you were sick! You said you were too unwell to fight! So why are you drinking now?" The fish-like human woman fled from Choi Ji-won's shouts. "No, this isn't right. There's no way we'd get caught..." While my acting may have been clumsy, Choi Ji-won's wasn't. It was clear that Boong-Boong was in charge of management and surveillance. As I was feeling uneasy, I suddenly realized something frightening. "Ji-won." "Huh?" "What if we bought our own information...?" A bizarre situation where I ended up purchasing my own information. The price for information about me and Choi Ji-won was exorbitant, equivalent to information for 10,000 people, and I was barely able to afford it after spending all my funds. The result was the worst. - Choi Ji-won and Kim Jun-ho seem to be closely associated. - Analysis of muscle movements and magical power processes suggests they are concealing a significant amount of strength. - Particularly, the individual 'Kim Jun-ho' seldom uses magical power during combat. Exercise caution. - The individual 'Choi Ji-won'... "..." "..." The arena was entirely closed off. We had hidden our strength. Exercise caution. For a moment, I forgot. This is an SF setting, and even though they don't comprehend the full scope of my characteristics or powers, these people can deploy drones to the surface. Since we were officially labeled as 'those who conceal their power' by the arena, no one would be foolish enough to challenge us. "No, but... that beastly human exterminator... she fights occasionally, right?" "Because she's popular, and many place bets on her." That person was making money. If she fought and won, if she survived, she could earn a substantial sum. The money from her matches alone must have been enormous. "But we're not making any money..." On the other hand, we weren't that well-known. We felt like skilled players known only to those in the know. We acted as if we were deliberately restraining our power. What did that mean? It meant we weren't making money. There were plenty of more tempting targets for fools chasing profit. "We're ranked low... There's no reason for the higher ranks to fight us." Does that mean the top elite would engage with us? No. The timing was just bad. Usually, if you sent a challenge to a top ranker who was just messing around, they might accept. If a top ranker doesn’t fight for a certain period, their score drops, and so those just trying to maintain their rank would deliberately choose weaker opponents to battle. Under normal circumstances, they could have a decent chance. "Because of Kaisar." However, right now, everyone was restless, trying to seize Kaisar's top position. They were competing for the title of number one. Instead of fighting weaker opponents for few points, they were eager to take on strong adversaries on their level to climb the ranks. They paid no heed to us, the underdogs. "To summarize." So, to calmly sum up the current situation, "This round is a bust." There was no way out. The situation was too complex. The only solution was to wait until the beastman killer set their sights on us. No one knew when that might happen. "Restart?" "Yeah." There was a better approach. The key was somehow making a connection with that insane beastwoman. Whether good or bad. They needed to be tied together in some way. "How?" "I’ll develop a concept." So I decided. "Should I take on the persona of someone who adores Suin so much?" I was going to craft an image that would undeniably pique her interest.