One might think my claim—that humanity would self-destruct within a re decade—is an exaggeration.
However, the reason I think this way is because there are mainly two types of people who are passionately climbing the Tower right now.
Either heroes who risk their lives for the sake of humanity out of a sense of duty, or lunatics who can risk their lives without a second thought simply to beco stronger.
The problem lies with the lunatics.
They are likely growing by leaps and bounds as they fervently ascend the Tower.
Even at this mont, I could probably win a gold dal if I participated in the Olympics. But what if a year goes by, or five years, or ten?
What if imnse power that can part the sea and level mountains ends up in the hands of a madman?
What if a lunatic, who could destroy Earth ‘just for fun,’ erges?
Humanity wouldn’t stand a chance.
That’s why I think humanity will be dood in 10 years.
It’s the sa reason why modern political systems distribute power in fragnted pieces here and there.
Power that is consolidated is strong, but it’s also unstable. Everything would be reliant on that one individual who wields the power, after all.
In the end, the task at hand is simple.
Climb the Tower as quickly as possible. Conquer this Tower before people beco too powerful. And prevent the Earth from being destroyed as soone’s twisted joke.
But first, I decided to wait for about another month to observe how things would unfold.
『 U.S. Governnt Officially Recomnds Climbing to the 2nd Floor... ‘Internal Investigation of Survival Rate Proves It’s Not Dangerous.’ 』
It seems that the floor embargo might apply to players as well, as I was unable to access information about the 2nd floor. Probably because I’m still lingering on the 1st floor.
All I could learn was that it was ‘relatively safe.’
『 ‘Tower’ Items: The Future Resource for Humanity? Global Corporations Begin Investigations. 』
Since it was revealed that items could be brought back from the Tower, countries started to systematically support Tower expeditions.
They also began to craft hero narratives around native players who showed visible achievents.
『 U.S. Governnt Launches Player Association... Inaugural Chairman is ‘Mighty Michael’ Michael Jeter. 』
The United States was the first to take action.
They churned out special legislation at an impressively rapid pace, as if they had been preparing in advance.
They also created a ‘Player Association’ to officially support players. But the “support” mostly consisted of connecting them with special forces instructors, promoting them as national heroes, and providing generous financial backing.
Though players who have reached the first floor might not see much benefit in this... it was surprisingly effective.
Of course, Players could lead materially abundant lives on the first floor, but… As is always the case with humans, they were not alone…
『 High-Grade Potion Auctioned for 2 Billion Dollars in New York. 』
…For their families, for their friends, for their lovers, or because they aspired to be heroes—the number of people registering with the Player Association continued to grow day by day.
『 Korean Governnt Awards Player Choi Ji-won Presidential Comndation... First in the Country to Successfully Climb to the 10th Floor. 』
Another familiar na appeared in the Korean news.
Choi Ji-won. Given that she’s an incredible overachiever, her rising prominence seed inevitable.
The dia even took the opportunity to put her father back in the spotlight.
The reason governnts around the world were elevating heroes was simple—To placate an enraged public, visible achievents were needed.
They needed sothing to show that the governnt was taking action.
The politicians chose players as that symbol.
『 China Announces World’s First Successful Climb to the 20th Floor. Credibility Low. 』
In the current situation, there was no way to verify how far anyone had actually climbed.
Society had not improved. Incidents of cris by Players hadn’t decreased. But thanks to the existence of these heroes, the people could see a glimr of light.
Of course, if I set my mind to it, I could regress and find myself right beside Choi Ji-won. No, eventually, I could even beco the world’s best player and monopolize wealth and fa.
But there was a reason I chose not to.
It might seem out of the blue, but survivors of the tutorial, officially called ‘players,’ wanted to share their stories.
Those who had gone through extre experiences had been ntally drained, and they found solace in sharing their stories.
But, only a player could listen to another’s story and empathize with another player.
Thus, the establishnt of a site called ‘PlayerNet’ was, in a way, inevitable.
The reason I suddenly brought up PlayerNet was simple.
Because my story got posted there.
{You know, I’ve read all the tutorial-related posts you guys wrote? Really, fighting through life-or-death situations... it seed grueling.
But here’s the kicker—I never fought. To be precise, I didn’t do anything in the tutorial. Sounds impossible, right?
I find it unbelievable myself.
First of all, just like you guys, I woke up in an empty lot after fainting. I was so out of it that I was just sitting there, staring into space, until this elf-like creature appeared.
Then suddenly, so guy stood up. I can’t rember his na, but he had this oddly captivating aura about him. Not model-level good-looking, but you can’t help but keep watching him, you know what I an?
Anyway, this guy starts going on about how we need to stick together... but I wasn’t listening. I was too busy checking out his face. Then he suddenly picks up a sword and starts dancing with it.
Honestly, it was the first ti I’d ever seen soone handle a sword that well. Should I say I felt a little overwheld? After his sword dance, he looked like a different person. Cool but also a bit frightening.
I was slightly intimidated, so I just sat still. Then this guy started chatting with so woman, told us to wait for a mont, and vanished after cutting so grass. He reappeared about an hour later and told us to follow him.
When I followed him, I saw literally thousands of goblins fighting among themselves, and he just told us to ignore them and keep walking;
I was so freaked out I almost ran away, but then thought, “screw it” and followed him. I felt like this guy must have so sort of plan.
But when we got there, there was… umm… this massive bull-headed monster…? The thing was as big as a truck, wielding an axe and making a racket, so I naturally shrunk back a bit.
Then all of a sudden, the bull-headed thing charged straight at ; I was running away in panic, and then so middle-aged guy grabbed and told to look behind.
I turned around, and the bull-headed monster’s head was rolling on the ground;
Next, a goblin shaman or sothing suddenly dropped dead, and a portal opened. Since I didn’t do anything during the trial, they said I was innocent and let go.
I’m glad to be alive, but I can’t shake this uneasy feeling. They say it’s safe, but I’m too scared to go to the second floor.
If that guy suddenly decides to go berserk and kill everyone, I have no confidence that I’ll survive.}
===
-Is this for real? You expect us to believe this?
-No joke. I was in the sa tutorial as this guy, and it’s all factual, no exaggeration. By the way, that ‘so woman’ turned out to be Choi Ji-won. That guy is even stronger than her.
-I’ve seen the bull-headed monster too. It looked like it could wipe out a thousand people.
-If this is real, isn’t that guy a regressor? How does a newbie just entering the tower pull sothing like this off?
-Exactly. Earth must’ve already been destroyed once, and the last survivor used so sort of regression artifact to co back. He’s probably monopolizing all the hidden pieces.
-If anyone knows the contact info for the person in the post, I’ll compensate you. Please DM .
“…”
I had no intention of playing the hero anymore.
To be precise, I was planning to lay as low as possible.
Even if I had to utilize my abilities, I planned to keep my identity a secret.
I showed too much in the tutorial. In my obsession to save everyone, I unknowingly made a terrible mistake.
The greatest vulnerability for soone like , who’s essentially invincible because I’m a regressor, is ‘having the fact that I can regress discovered.’
Why? Because there’s a clear counter to regressors.
Sealing.
Death regressors are fearless. They boldly show their faces here and there, ard with the confidence that if they die, they can just restart. They’re inherently careless.
But what happens if a regressor, be it through magic, items, or whatever, gets sealed?
Their ability to regress becos useless.
They’re stripped of the right to die and restart. Their body remains frozen until the end of the world, maybe even beyond that.
Of course, the conditions for my regression are far less stringent. I can regress with just a scratch, so if I quickly self-harm before being sealed, I might be able to avoid it. Maybe I can even regress while getting injured in the sealing process.
But still, there’s nothing good about being known as a regressor. There’s no telling when or where so lunatic will appear to target .
Yet, I haven’t given up my dream of earning so fa.
My goal is... to build casual relationships with the top heroes in the tower, including Choi Ji-won.
I’m aiming for a relationship where we know each other, but aren’t overly close. A relationship that won’t ss with my ntal state.
I believe that if they are genuinely good heroes climbing the tower, they will help out knowingly or unknowingly, even if they don’t know about what I’ve done.
Once they conquer the tower and get their rewards, I should be able to claim a spot by their side.
To put it in a nutshell... I plan to ascend the tower as quickly and secretly as possible.
And there was one prerequisite for achieving my goal.
Increasing my strength.
I must beco as strong as possible. And I must ascend the tower as quickly as possible.
After scanning the news to cram information into my head, I slamd the back of my hand with a strong fist.
You’ve been injured. Regressing to the mont you first entered the 1st floor.
***
“Ah, it’s a bit disorienting since it’s been a while.”
Is this my first regression in two months?
In truth, I had been extrely cautious during this period, wary of accidentally triggering a regression.
I had not only put up mosquito nets for fear of mosquito bites, but I had also padded my hard furniture with foam.
I was able to safely endure two months, but experiencing this sensation again felt incredibly unfamiliar.
‘But I’ll have to get used to it.’
I intend to exploit this ability to the fullest from now on.
“Shall we begin?”
The current mont is right when I entered the 1st floor—To be precise, the instant I received the Berserker’s Pill from the angel and entered the 1st floor without being able to injure myself.
I wasted no ti and took the ‘Berserker’s Pill’ I was holding.
Your Strength stat has increased by 10!
A warm energy surged deep within my body. Sweat beads ford on the surface of my skin.
Yet the stat window, only revealing a ssage of increased stat, continued to keep its details hidden.
You elusive little thing. Planning to hide until the very end, are you?
But that’s okay. What matters is that my stats have increased, even if I can’t see them.
I slamd the back of my hand once more.
You’ve been injured. Regressing to the mont you first entered the 1st floor.
***
Once again, I looked down at the ‘Berserker’s Pill’ in my hand.
There was a reason why I didn’t imdiately swallow it after I received it from the angel.
For an Infinite Regressor like , such pills are more precious than anything else. If you know their location, you can consu them repeatedly.
A senior Regressor I know, Mr. Baek, always starts his regressions by first collecting elixirs hidden in sacred mountains.
Of course, I can’t infinitely increase my Strength stat through this pill... but that’s okay.
The re fact that I can increase my strength up to its current possible limit will bring enormous benefits.
Gulp!
I swallowed the ‘Berserker’s Pill’ imdiately.
From now on, there won’t be a place where I’ll be outmatched in terms of strength. A face-to-face confrontation? I’ll overco them all with overwhelming power.
As I was envisioning such a rosy future and reviewing my plans...
“...Cough!”
Sothing wriggled in my throat.
Even though I had swallowed it, the ‘Berserker’s Pill’ seed to co back to life and jump back out from my esophagus.
Unique items cannot be consud repeatedly.
“...Ha.”
I let out a sigh of disappointnt as I read the ssage that appeared before my eyes.
God, you...
You blocked this, huh...
– – – End of Chapter – – -
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