CH 1

Chapter 1: Regressor is too weak (1)

"F*ck! Where the hell am I?"

I woke up from a loud noise somewhere. 

Was there a drunk person going on a rampage outside the house?  

"Ugh...my head..."

I grabbed my throbbing head and carefully sat halfway up. My whole body felt sore and hurt like crazy. 

Did I drink and sleep outside yesterday? No, I even remembered entering the passcode for the front door.

When I forcibly opened my eyes after removing the sticky mucus, what I saw was not the room I was used to, but a plaza with numerous people getting up just like me.

My back was damp with water. Groping around, I realized that the place I was lying on was a moist dirt floor… Apart from being soft, it was miles away from being a bed.

Now that I think of it, there were way too many trees around me - To the point of being excessive.

"...Sigh. Whew."

As I took a deep breath, the air felt crystal clear. It freshened my whole body. 

Was it phytoncide*?

Looking around, I may not know where this place was, but it was definitely not Korea; A vast open space surrounded by trees, with numerous people sitting in groups, greeted me.

"F*ck! Where is this place? You get consent before doing such things, right? Ahh!"

The saying that you can't speak when you're too stunned felt true; Except for the bald guy screaming his head off, no one made a noise.

"What the hell... F*ck... What is this..."

Even the bald guy, who was practically filled with vigor previously, was now gasping for breath on his knees.

Poof!

With a cute sound effect, a creature resembling a winged child appeared.

"Hello! Greetings to all you inferior humans who are wasting your lives! Nice to meet you!"

The cheerful creature greeted everyone, but its teeth, visible occasionally when it spoke, were as sharp as a predator's.

When I regained consciousness, I was in an unfamiliar place, it was filled with people who seemed to have been brought here just like me... and now, even a fairy-like creature had appeared?

This situation felt strangely familiar, almost to the point of being cliche.

"A tutorial fairy that appears in the webtoons..." Someone muttered.

He was right.

The fairy floating above my head was the tutorial fairy that everyone was familiar with - the same tutorial fairy that would make my head explode if I did something even slightly irritating.

"..."

Without realizing it, I clenched my stupidly wide-open mouth shut.

If I blurt out something unnecessary, I might become an unfortunate victim whose head explodes in the prologue.

Many people must have thought the same as me, as the atmosphere in the square became heavy.

"Uh... um... never mind..."

Even the bald man who seemed to have something to say looked around cautiously before sitting down.

People sat like a flock of docile sheep.

Perhaps dissatisfied with our behavior, the tutorial fairy grumbled.

"...Um. Is there anyone who wants to speak up? Or perhaps constructive feedback? Now, I'm willing to consider it positively."

The tutorial fairy wandered around, fidgeting with its hands and making eye contact with people as if its hands were itching.

However, no one dared to confront it and instead avoided its gaze.

"...Everyone seems to know us well now, right? Unlike your lowly kind, are you people good at grasping the atmosphere?"

Although it was trying to provoke us in its own way… Unfortunately for the fairy, there was no one who was stupid enough to give it the excuse to make their head explode.

"...Tsk. I guess I will have to follow the procedure."

The fairy looked noticeably gloomy. It seemed that exploding people's heads during the tutorial was the joy of its life.

"...I'll just give the essential explanation and move on quickly… okay? I don't want to do it either, but this is the procedure, so I can't help it."

The fairy began to explain slowly, its voice mixing annoyance, sadness, and laziness.

To summarize what the fairy said... God was tired of humans' arrogant behavior lately, hence Earth had to face God's judgment now;

Humanity was pushed into a position where they had to prove their worth, and the means to do so was to climb this tower. Thus making us chosen among humans who were summoned to climb the tower.

It was the setting that I had already seen many times.

Roughly, if you don't want to die, climb the tower! That was the content.

"So, someone among you has to clear the 66th floor of this tower. Otherwise, humanity will perish. Do you understand?"

"..."

People nodded their heads cautiously without saying a word.

"Well, since I’ve roughly finished explaining the background… Grab whatever you like here..."

The fairy dropped various weapons in the middle of the square.

"System will give you a detailed explanation... Tutorial start!"

After roughly tapping its wrist, the fairy disappeared with a cute "boing!" sound effect.

But even after the fairy disappeared, there was a slightly awkward silence.

"What the hell, damn it... My phone isn’t working..."

"Isn't this a hidden camera prank? I've seen a YouTuber make an Octopus game set... Isn't it something similar..."

“I heard that there have been simultaneous disappearances recently… Is it also related to that?"

Only then did people start whispering carefully.

They were pouring out the words that they couldn't say earlier due to being overwhelmed by the atmosphere. 

"Ugh. Damn it."

I muttered a curse under my breath as well.

After all, I was at my house until I went to sleep, but when I woke up, I was summoned to the tower. 

I understood in my head that the stories that appeared in novels or webtoons became reality, but it still didn't feel real.

I tried to pinch my cheeks like a comic character, but I stopped because it seemed stupid.

"...Am I really in the tower?"

If this tower was similar to the novels I'd read so far... Various dangers must be lurking outside this square. 

God's malice didn't care about life and death… Starting now, I would have to risk my life too. 

The realization made my headache even worse.

"Whoah... Let's think positively."

Even if I was trapped in a tiger's den, I could survive as long as I kept my wits about me. 

Being depressed wouldn't help. Now was the time to think and make plans for the future.

'In the Tower's tutorial, how do the protagonists usually act?'

"...Hmm, the Tower's tutorial…"

Speaking of tutorials, a certain something naturally came to mind.

An existence that was inseparable from the Tower, like red bean paste to a fish-shaped cake or ketchup to a hot dog.

"Status chaaaaange!!!!!!"

As if someone else had the same idea as me, a cry similar to the ‘status window’ reverberated throughout the plaza.

"Why... what's wrong with that student...?"

"Did he eat something bad?"

Middle-aged men and women who didn't know about the ‘Tower Climbing Material’ looked at the student like he was crazy, but young people who knew the related clichés paid attention to the man's next words with expectations in their eyes.

"It came up! It came up! The status window came up!"

The man who earlier shouted the ‘status window’ screamed and cheered like a striker who scored a goal.

"Status window!"

"Status chaaange!"

"Staaatus! Win-dow!"

And then, seeing the reaction, people started shouting the status window from all over, as if they had been just waiting for it.

"...Status window."

I also whispered ‘status window’ quietly, without anyone’s notice.

Name: Kim Jun-ho [LV: 1]

◆Special trait◆

-Regression [EX]

A familiar transparent message window floated before my eyes.

The status window looked so plain that it was embarrassing to call it that. 

Shouldn’t there be at least some stats?

But soon, there was something else that caught my attention.

"...Regression?" 

Forcibly moving my trembling fingers, I pressed the word that said [Regression].

Regression [EX]

When activated on a floor, you will return to the moment when you first entered that floor. There is no limit on the number of uses.

It was a very simple description. But anyone who had read web novels would know that the simpler the description, the more fraudulent the ability tended to be.

"F*ck! Yes!!" 

I couldn't contain my joy and shouted out loud. 

Regression... 

When one was asked to choose a fraudulent ability, It was an ability that came to mind at least once. 

Returning to the past after death was no different from saying that person was invincible. The key was to be able to return to the past with information from the future. 

And I was given this ability - It was an opportunity that allowed me to constantly become stronger.

Of course, people who had the ability to return after death typically ran around like crazy. 

Would it also be hard for me to run forward from now on? 

But wasn’t it way better than dying once and for all? 

This ability could make one practically invincible as long as one had the mental strength... And I was chosen for it; I was the protagonist. 

‘I will conquer this tower and become the hero who saves the Earth.’

Excitement spread throughout my body. It was hard to control my trembling.

"Wow!" 

I got up from my seat and ran towards the forest in front of me. 

‘Goblins? Orcs? Whatever it is, come out and show yourself. I am invincible, and my ability to return is divine.’

At that moment, while I was trying to run through the forest, "Ouch," my ankle was cut by the sharp grass, causing a drop of blood to drip from the wound. 

‘It's okay. It's just a minor injury.’ 

Information gathering was a priority right now. I needed to check what was outside of this plaza. 

‘No, let’s calm down. I am getting too excited.’ 

Come to think of it, my hands were empty. 

I realized that I had run out without even picking up my weapon. 

‘Let’s go back and pick one first.’

Even with just a sword…

"Huh?" 

However-

Status: Injured

Regressing back to the time when you first entered the 0th floor.

…One weapon... Just one... 

-however, everything went dark.

***  

"F*ck! Where the hell am I?"

I grabbed my throbbing head and carefully sat halfway up.

It was a familiar voice. It was the same bald man from earlier.

Instinctively, I realized that I had regressed. 

But why? When did I die?

Was there poison or something like that in that sharp grass?

However, it wasn't painful at all, and I was in my right mind until just before I regressed.

If so, did I regress because of something other than death?

I suddenly remembered the message I had seen right before regressing.

Status: Injured

Regressing back to the time when you first entered the 0th floor.

Injured? Did I get hurt?

I didn't remember being hit or anything like that.

"No... It can't be..."

Could it be that the slight cut from the grass caused me to regress?

But just a drop of blood had come out.

Instinctively, I looked around the field.

Green here too… Green there too.

As soon as one left the field, the thicket was so dense that one couldn't see the ground.

It was like a living prison made up of grass and trees.

If... No, seriously. If I was regressed by getting just a slight cut from the grass...

"...F*ck."

Even escaping from here… seemed very difficult.