I regressed.
Then regressed again.
And again.
It’s been quite a while since I returned to the 12th floor. I’ve regressed so many tis I’ve completely lost track of how much ti has passed—there’s no real way to count it anymore.
Anyone who’s been through infinite regression would agree: when you repeat it enough in a short period of ti, your sense of reality starts to dull. When the sa situation loops over and over again, it gets hard to tell what’s a dream and what’s reality. (Not an infinite regressor? Then just take my word for it.)
“…Sothing feels off.”
It’s the sa today. I was handling the “cold mana” inside my body like always, but the sensation felt different. Off. Almost awkward. Like I wasn’t fully in control of it. Oh, by the way—“cold mana” is just the new na I ca up with for it. Calling it “that cold-type mana” every ti was too long and, well, kind of la. Let’s be honest—stuff sounds cooler when it’s in Sino-Korean*.
Anyway, I was managing the mana with that weird unease when a sharp twinge stabbed near my chest—and that’s when it hit .
“…Ah. I forgot to take the elixir.”
The elixir I’m supposed to drink the mont I regress. I’d completely forgotten. It’s like forgetting to buff before re-challenging the sa boss in a ga. When your mind’s running on empty, you start screwing up the most basic stuff.
“I need a break.”
I flopped back onto the floor right where I sat. Guess my body wasn’t doing too great. Maybe I should go check in on Ji-won? …No. Now’s the ti to clear my head and think about other things.
“…”
Mist swirled on the floor from the chill I’d released—kind of like that puff of fog when you open a fridge—and overhead, the ceiling light glowed down at .
Staring blankly at the bulb, I could feel the cold energy curling inside my chest. Maybe because I hadn’t taken the elixir, the presence of mana felt even stronger.
“You know, the more I think about it, the weirder it gets.”
I spent a long, long ti on the 10th floor. At least three months, probably more. I failed a bunch of tis trying to starve that snow beast to death. But even then, I never expected my mana to change like this.
If I had to guess… that mountain wasn’t normal. A mystical mountain inhabited by a phantom beast—there was probably so kind of spiritual energy lingering there. And because I stayed in that environnt for so long, my mana must have adapted, or mutated.
And this “cold mana”? It’s way more dangerous than I first imagined. Sure, it’s cold—but the real danger is that exposure to it causes muscle tissue to freeze. Every ti I’ve regressed so far, it was because the muscle around my chest—specifically, my heart—froze up.
“…If I didn’t have regression, I might’ve already died.”
Your own mana freezing your own heart—what good is talent then? Unless you’ve got a party mber nearby to quickly feed you a potion, you’d drop dead on the spot. Without so kind of invulnerability or resurrection trait, this power might be more of a curse than a blessing.
So… can I control this mana now?
That’s half true, half not.
There’s no doubt I’ve made progress in training, but I still can’t control it completely.
First off, I did figure out a few conditions for handling cold mana.
You can’t be breathing heavily while it’s circulating through your body.
You can’t let your heart rate spike.
And if your body heats up, it clashes with the cold mana, so you have to stay calm and relaxed.
The problem? In a prolonged fight, your body inevitably heats up.
Which ans… I can’t maintain a mana-enhanced state for long periods.
“But if I get injured, I just regress anyway.”
Since I regress upon taking damage, I’m not built for long fights to begin with. You could say I’m naturally specialized for short bursts of combat. So, this limitation doesn’t hit as hard as it could’ve.
Still, we end up circling back to the core issue:
If I go all out with cold mana, my heart stops.
When I wrap my body in mana to boost my physical abilities, my muscles start locking up. That, at least, I’ve managed to overco with sheer willpower and so trait support. If I concentrate hard enough, I can force my body to move.
But the heart is a different story. Willpower won’t cut it there. Humans can’t voluntarily control their heart muscles. And since the cold mana concentrates right around my solar plexus, anyti I go full power, my heart becos the primary target.
Thanks to a newly acquired trait, I can hold out… for maybe five seconds.
That’s the key point—it doesn’t last longer than that.
“Hmm…”
This is what’s bothering right now.
What do I do to overco this?
Honestly, if it weren’t for the rewards Ji-won shoved into my hands, I might’ve given up already.
Yes—I already used them.
The Elixir of Omnipotence? Just drank it straight away.
And from the Random Trait Box, I got a delightful little gem of a trait called “Mysterious Aura.”
======
-Mysterious Aura [E]-
People feel like there’s sothing different about you.
But they won’t be able to explain exactly what it is.
You just have… an oddly unique vibe.
======
So low-tier traits—like “Hero”—are surprisingly powerful despite their rank.
This one? Just reading the description makes it feel like garbage.
Seriously, what am I supposed to do with a “mysteriously different vibe”?
If I were planning to start a cult, maybe this would be the jackpot.
But right now, it’s basically just a worse version of traits like “Curiosity” or “Awe.”
Still, those weren’t the real prizes anyway.
The main reward was the A-Rank Trait Selection Ticket.
Back then, I was so hyped when I used it.
But the outco… was a bit disappointing.
I expected a massive list—thousands, tens of thousands of traits to choose from.
But nope. Only 100 showed up.
To be fair, those 100 traits had so incredible options.
So boosted physical stats, others offered entirely new attack types.
Reading their descriptions, a lot of them felt downright broken.
Honestly, I wanted to regress a hundred tis just to collect them all.
But—it’s a unique ticket. And that’s the catch.
=====
-A-Rank Trait Selection Ticket (Unique)-
A unique ticket acquired from a single source can only be used once.
=====
It makes sense, really.
If a group pooled their efforts to funnel dozens of A-Rank traits into a single person, they’d create a monster who could trivialize the tower.
And I’m sure the system wants to keep regressors like in check, too.
Anyway, after carefully reviewing all 100 options, I narrowed it down to three finalists:
======
-Indomitable [A]-
You do not yield.
Your willpower will not be easily broken.
-Iron Skin [A]-
The best weapon is your own body.
Your skin becos as tough as steel.
-Cold Affinity [A]-
Cold is no longer your enemy.
You gain a high resistance to all forms of cold.
=====
Back then, I agonized over these three.
Indomitable would reinforce my shaky ntal state.
Iron Skin could help prevent those absurd deaths that send into regression.
Cold Affinity would clearly assist in managing my cold mana.
And that’s where I was—
Caught between my mind, my body,
And the power threatening to destroy both.
Since entering the tower, this was the first ti I’d ever had the luxury of this kind of dilemma. Usually, I had to choose between the worst and the second-worst options, so I never imagined I’d find myself stuck between three genuinely good ones. Maybe that’s why I was being extra cautious.
“Jun-ho, are you an idiot?”
The one who finally broke my endless spiral of indecision was none other than Choi Ji-won.
“Since you can’t use it again, I could just try out the traits in advance, do a little performance testing before you regress. Why are you even thinking so hard about this?”
“…Oh. Right.”
And so, with Ji-won’s help, we ran three regressions to test each trait—and ca to a clear conclusion: Cold Affinity was the most useful of the three.
ntal stability? That could be patched up with Ji-won’s care and affection.
As for Iron Skin, it was… underwhelming. It blocked light attacks perfectly, but any serious, intentional strike still went through.
Since Ji-won already had high durability thanks to her Unity of Sword and Body trait, she ran a few tests of Iron Skin by recruiting volunteers online.
Cold Affinity, on the other hand, was a ga changer. It drastically reduced how much my body stiffened from the cold.
So I used my A-Rank Trait Selection Ticket to choose Cold Affinity, and honestly? I’ve had zero regrets.
“Hmm…”
Thanks to this trait, I no longer suffer cardiac freezing when using cold mana in moderation. The real danger only cos when I push it to the limit.
And knowing myself, I’ll probably have to go all out against enemies at [70] difficulty or higher.
…Or should I try maintaining low-intensity mana use instead?
If I keep my mana circulating at a steady, manageable pace, maybe I’ll discover so kind of breakthrough. Yeah… let’s try that this run.
With my mind made up, I pulled out an elixir, drank it, and sat on the bed.
Working with mana is tough—but there’s sothing oddly addictive about it.
Before you know it, hours—or even days—just lt away. Especially when everything flows exactly the way you want.
“…”
And maybe I got lucky this ti…
Or maybe I finally hit the right pressure point, but my focus went deeper than ever before.
So deep, I didn’t even realize…
Eleven days had passed.
***
In today’s competition-driven world, being upper-mid-tier doesn’t sound like much.
But in the player world? That’s a whole different story.
Sure, if you’re comparing players against other players, there’s a truckload of people stronger than them.
But the mont you compare a player to an average person?
You start to look like a god.
Overwhelming physical prowess.
Abilities that defy human understanding.
A personal status window to track your own stats.
Honestly, not getting arrogant would be the real surprise.
Even players who don’t climb the Tower strut around on YouTube or social dia like they’re celebrities.
So, imagine the ego of soone actually making progress in the Tower.
“Whoa, what is this place? There’s a microwave!”
That sa arrogance applied to the one Jun-ho always referred to as Acne Guy.
This young man had just entered the 12th floor—and was clearly riding high on self-confidence.
Part of it was because players didn’t often fight each other in the Tower, and part of it was because anyti he ca across soone stronger, he convinced himself:
“If we really fought, I could take them.”
A textbook case of ntal gymnastics.
“Hey, where are you guys?”
“I’m over here!”
“Looks like a modern base this ti.”
Unlike Jun-ho, who always stayed cautious upon entering a new floor, the Acne Guy swung doors open and shouted without a care in the world.
He could hear his teammates nearby, so he felt completely safe.
“…Huh?”
Then he saw it.
One very suspicious-looking door.
It looked exactly like the one he’d just co through—sa design, sa color.
But from the gap beneath the door, cold mist was slowly leaking out.
“Guys, co check this out!”
Normally, this would be the mont to dial up your guard.
But in his current overconfident state, Acne Guy didn’t even wait for backup.
He grabbed the handle and opened the door.
“Huh—?”
Fwoooosh!
A burst of white mist exploded outward, and he froze in place.
Not because he was literally frozen solid in ice, but because his muscles had tensed up, like they’d recoiled in shock.
But the key detail was: he couldn’t move.
“…!”
While he panicked, the mist gradually cleared, revealing the room beyond.
His wide eyes trembled violently as he took in the scene.
A bed placed deep in the room.
A figure seated on top in a ditative pose.
The mist—or was it frost?—seed to be emanating from him.
“…”
Acne Guy, for all his pride and bluster, couldn’t bring himself to act cocky anymore.
Because the man before him, with his eyes closed, surrounded by pale mist, and a sword lying across his lap in serene focus—
“…An immortal?”
—Looked like sothing out of a myth.
Like a sage from a story.
No, more than that.
He looked like a god.
– – End of Chapter ––
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