290 - Regression Is Too Much

--- Chapter 290 – Battle of the Regressor (9) "Hey!" "He's coming out!" As I stepped out into the hallway to gather information, I was greeted by a variety of species. Not only water spirits but also foreign creatures I had never encountered before showed an interest in me. They chattered with me as we walked. Of course, let's ignore the nature of their interest and the details of their words for now. The important point to remember is that I've caught everyone's attention. Naturally, some of the water spirits didn't just talk to me but also took action. Since water spirits are inherently temperamental, they don't simply stop at watching. "Ah, Junho!" New water spirits who had been observing from afar slyly brushed their bodies against mine as they drew closer. I noted the slight arch of Choi Jiwon's eyebrow as I gently nudged them away. "Junho, are you doing this because of that woman?" "No, it's not that." "A strong man should marry an attractive woman. Wouldn't someone with plenty of fur like me be better than a slender girl like her?" "Heh, hey." "Hehe. With this fur, you can come to my home. We could have strong children, don't you think?" A new water spirit stroked my hair before moving away. Meanwhile, the other water spirits cheered, and I glanced over at Choi Ji-won. "…" "…" Choi Ji-won upheld the notion of 'lover of the water spirit' with impressive patience, yet the vein in her forehead was hard to ignore. She gazed at me with those bulging eyes as if she wanted to pluck out every single strand of fur. To prevent any further misfortune, I quickly moved along the hallway. I ignored anyone who spoke to or touched me, solely focused on purchasing information. Once I returned to our shared room, Choi Ji-won yanked out the fur and broke it in two. "Jun-ho. I'm telling you this because it might happen." "No, really, it's not like that. You know it too." "Isn't it?" "Then again. The fur is too much for me." The affection from the new water spirit is genuinely overwhelming. The fur itself is physiologically challenging. "Not fur, just the fur?" "Let's focus instead on the information I bought." I manipulated the terminal to display the screen so Jiwon could see. Currently, whenever a match takes place in the arena, the stands always fill to capacity, and my name consistently tops the betting charts. The stakes are substantial. The information on 'The Massacre' was so highly priced that I had to spend more than half of my savings to obtain it. This was the case even before it gained widespread notoriety. “I can’t believe the price of information will keep escalating over time.” “… Junho?” “Fortunately, I managed to buy it now. Going further into the future, the information itself will be abundant, but the cost could skyrocket to an unattainable level.” “Junho?” The information sold in the arena might have been in paper book form, but it was essentially a file. You couldn't actually feel the texture, but you could flip through the hologram with your hands. Naturally, the paper book format wasn't convenient for two people, so I converted it into a standard file format. You could call it a PDF style. "Hey, take a look at this. This photo was taken from the first page." "... See where." Only then did Choi Jiwon focus on the terminal screen. As mentioned, there was a large photo attached on the first page of the report. A bespectacled werewolf, resembling a scholar. The man in the photo was smiling brightly. Lately, I've become keener on mermaids, but he was quite handsome. His eyes shone brightly, his teeth were clean, and his ears were perked up, making him the target of many women. Silently impressed, I quickly flipped the information file to the next page. "…" "…" Alongside descriptions of the 'recent sightings of the individual,' I saw a mermaid with a drastically different appearance from the earlier mermaid. Her eyes were sunken, her fur had lost all its sheen, and her eyes glowed intensely. What could have caused this mermaid to end up like this? "Let's read on." I swallowed hard and turned the file. If you know your enemy, you'll win every battle. Now was the time to understand the adversary. ** – The entity registered in this arena is named Guntar. – Analysis indicates that the registered entity name 'Guntar' means 'mischievous' in the Suin language. It is assumed that his real name is not used. "Hmm." The report read. The name the person registered under was ‘Guntar.’ Guntar. Guntar. Since it's not his real name, there's no need for concern. I continued reading the file. – The entity Guntar was registered in the arena 1,411 days ago. – His current record stands at 71 victories and 0 losses. Throughout these 71 victories, he has demonstrated a variety of martial arts techniques. – He possesses extensive knowledge and skills in martial arts, gaining immense popularity because of this. His highest ranking was 51st. "Wow." The file included an image of Guntar extending a hand to a fallen human. It seemed he was assisting a defeated opponent after his victory. Judging by his calm smile and the glint in his glasses, he appeared to harbor no ill will towards humans so far. "There's a reason why he carries so many weapons in his bag." Jiwon's words were on point. If he had a variety of weapons, it made sense to carry them all. "But is this even possible?" At the same time, it was a puzzling thought. Could one person really learn 71 types of martial arts? Winning 71 times in the arena implied a certain level of mastery. Although it's said that water creatures naturally have a longer lifespan than humans, I knew their lifespan was only about twice that of humans. And Guntar was clearly still young. "Is this some kind of ability?" "Let's keep reading." – The individual Guntar returned to his home planet 1,344 days ago. The arena management made certain offers, but the individual declined them. – The subsequent contract was to hold a match in the arena once a year. – The individual Guntar would come to the arena annually, compete, and then return to their home planet, repeating this cycle. "Hmm." Attached to the file was a photo of Guntar smiling after defeating a tentacled alien. So far, the content was rather ordinary. I turned the page again. -■■ days ago, Guntar challenged 'Kaisar.' They stated they would fight for their life. "What?" – The cause was identified as the murder of dozens by ‘Kaisar.’ Many were from Guntar's home planet. – Management advised ‘Kaisar’ to disregard it, but Kaisar immediately requested a match. – The match was kept confidential by management's decision. (The video is inaccessible.) – The individual ‘Guntar’ was defeated. "…" "…" That was the end of the file. Even though I had paid a hefty price for this information, much was missing. Why was the match made private? How did Guntar lose? How could Guntar survive when Kaisar killed all opponents? Why did the surviving Guntar… end up like that? There was too little information. "I feel repulsed by this." But what I could discern was that Kaisar played a major role in the reason why the slayer turned out like that. "Kaisar," ranked number one, is a madwoman. At the same time, she claimed she wouldn't initiate a fight unless provoked. The smooth continuation of reality is a testament to that. Is her mercy limited only to other players? Or do the beastmen not count as humanoid and thus fall outside Kaisar’s restrictions? I don't know. If I meet Kaisar, I will ask then. I have uncovered an important clue. "The deaths of the beastmen from the home planet." The transformation from ‘mischievous’ to ‘slayer’ is tied to the deaths of his kin. ** If you're wondering, ‘Didn't you think of asking other beastmen?' I already did. I did it quite some time ago. I tried it in the previous round. "Are you a werewolf?" "So what?" "Do you know the notorious 'slayer' at the moment?" In the previous episode, I searched for the 'feral werewolves' active in the arena. I caught them and kept asking if they knew anything. They all gave similar answers. "Hey, human. Your skin is yellow, right?" "... Please say yellow." "Anyway, broadly speaking, yellow. White. Black. Because your skin is yellow, don't you know all the yellow-skinned people? Are they all from the same hometown? How can you not know this when you can speak the beastmen language?" "…" Exactly. This is the largest arena in the universe. In a place like this, assuming we all know each other just because we're both werewolves? That's as silly as saying 'Don't Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans all know each other?' That's why— I failed miserably in the previous episode. I didn’t gain any useful information at all. "Oh, Junho. What happened?" "Well, I have a request." But this time is different. I’m popular as an oddity among the beastmen. I have their support. Plus, I have an additional clue. It's not the 'feral werewolves' that matter. What matters is that we're beastmen from the same hometown. (This could have been deduced, but in the previous round, I didn’t understand beastmen enough. I didn't know they valued their hometowns.) With their substantial support, I went around seeking information from the beastmen. After about two days, "I... come from there." I managed to find a beastman from the same hometown as Guntar. It wasn’t a werewolf beastman. It was a cat beastman. Coincidentally, he was a beastman I had fought before. Maybe I had given him some jelly. "Can you tell me more?" "... As much as I know." This begins to unravel the true nature of 'the slayer.'