Regression Is Too Much

eone worth trusting.”

 

“…Is it really true? You're a real firefighter, right?”

 

All the middle-aged and elderly people remaining in the vacant lot gathered around firefighter Park Cheol-jin.
So did some young people.

 

“… let's go.
Judging by the moist ground, there must be a river nearby.”

 

With Park Cheol-jin in the lead, the group consisting of about 20 people left the vacant lot.

 

Only a few scared women and some weirdos remained, along with me.

 

Combined, there were no more than 10 people left.

 

“…”

 

Come to think of it, the ponytail girl who was wielding the sword earlier was nowhere to be seen either.
Did she also follow the firefighter Park Cheol-jin?

 

“Sigh.
Let's do what I can.”

 

The situation wasn't good.
Soon, hunger might cause me to regress and return to yesterday.

 

Without being able to leave the vacant lot, there was nothing I could do about that. 

 

So, I just decided to get used to the sword until I regressed.

 

.

.

.

 

I didn't know how much time had passed – Perhaps lunchtime…?

 

“…
Should I go back?”

 

Hunger got pretty bad.
The same went for thirst.

 

Around the time when I was seriously thinking about regressing-

 

Rustle Rustle.

 

-I heard the sound coming from a place in the clearing where the grass was being disturbed.
Perhaps… someone was approaching. 

 

But because the height of wild grass was too high, it was impossible to tell if it was a friend or a foe.

 

“…”

 

The scaredy-cat girls fled to the opposite side of the sound like frightened cockroaches, and I tensed my muscles, strengthening my grip on the sword.

 

Has a monster finally come this far? Or is it a wild animal?

 

By the time the hand holding the sword was wet with sweat-

 

“Huh?”

 

-What appeared after pushing through the grass was the ponytail girl who had been missing since morning.

 

Surprisingly, both of her hands were full of boxes of calorie bars and bundles of 500ml water bottles.

 

“Uh… Whoa! Unnie! This… Can we eat this?”

 

The short-haired girl approached the ponytail girl with a trembling voice.

 

Seeing the desperate look in the short-haired girl's eyes, the ponytail girl nodded her head slightly.

 

Soon, the ponytail girl distributed the food and water after opening the packaging.

 

Thanks to that, those who remained in the clearing were able to fill their stomachs and quench their thirst after a long time.

 

“Unnie! Unnie! Where did you get this from?”

 

Perhaps trying to get closer through this opportunity, the short-haired girl clung to the ponytail girl.

 

“…I defeated a monster, and the corpse disappeared, but food appeared in its place.
It was too much for me to eat, so I brought it with me.”

 

One of the common clichés in tower climbing stories is that defeating a monster provides food.

 

But that amount of food…
It was too much for one monster to drop.
In the tower climbing stories I knew, only enough food for one person was provided on defeating one monster.

 

If that were to be true here too… I was not sure, but the monster she defeated must have been a fairly strong one then.

 

But the ponytail girl spoke with a light tone as if she had just picked all these supplies up along the way.

 

She was pretending not to show, but it was clear that she had brought food out of concern for the people in the clearing.

 

I thought she was a crazy person who was swinging her sword just to find a hidden piece, but it turned out that she was a good person with a warm heart.

 

“Me too, I want to help too!”

 

Now was my chance.

 

I quickly got up from my seat and strode towards the ponytail girl with confidence.

 

“Please teach me how to use a sword! I want to take you as my master!”

 

“…Get lost.”

 

However, the ponytail girl rejected me fiercely with a sudden turn of her head.

 

But I wasn't going to give up here.

 

Her true nature was that of a warm-hearted person after all.

 

If I sincerely asked her, there was a high possibility that she would accept me as her disciple.

 

“Please, I beg of you! I also need the strength to protect everyone!”

 

I started acting, shedding hot tears like a soldier enlisting in the army to protect their country.

 

“Right now, I'm so weak that I can't even get out of this vacant lot! That is so embarrassing! I want to be strong too! I want to become stronger and protect everyone!”

 

My voice was desperate enough to make anyone's heart ache.

 

Although it was a powerful voice that made tears well up in the eyes of the short-haired girl listening next to me… 

 

“I told you to leave, didn't I?”

 

…the ponytail girl was not affected at all.

 

Whoosh!

 

Suddenly, something barely visible passed by in front of my eyes at lightning speed.

 

“Ah!”

 

I was so surprised that I fell on my butt. 

 

What was that?

 

Screech.

 

The ponytail girl slowly sheathed her sword back into its scabbard with a scraping sound.

 

Then, she spoke in a cold voice.

 

“Student? I have no intention of taking any student.
And bringing food was not an attempt to help you.
Don't get any ideas.
Next, it'll be your throat.”

 

“…”

 

I stayed silent.

     

When I touched my nose, it stung.
My fingertip had a drop of blood on it.

 

Did she just swing her sword? At an invisible speed?

 

Judging from her words, ‘Next, it'll be your throat,’ it seemed like she had only cut the skin of my nose as a warning.

 

However, there was a problem-

 

Status: Injured

 

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

 

***

 

“F*ck! Where the hell am I?”

 

“…F*ck.”

 

-for me, there was no such thing as a warning.