Thanks to the level of my achievements, my physical abilities had greatly improved. What used to take me three days to complete, gathering herbs, now only took a day. This allowed me to begin my activities in the tower just a day after entering.
What I did was simple.
I wandered as much as I could within the tower, searching for people.
And with every person I met, I encouraged them to return to the open ground.
At first, I was worried.
Responses like, 'Hey, we're fine just the way we are. Let's just ignore that guy,' could have come up.
But the results were astonishing.
"Really... truly?"
"You'll give us... food... and a place to sleep?"
For the average person, a day in the tower was much harder than they'd imagined. Many people were naturally repulsed by the idea of taking a life. Not to mention, carrying heavy weapons and walking all day made them extremely tired.
"I can't sleep... even if I set up a watch... there's no blanket... no bed... I miss my mom..."
A woman with dark circles under her eyes said through tears.
The fear of potential death had taken a toll on people in just one day, making them fragile.
The only reason they hadn't returned to the open ground in the previous episodes was simple: if they didn't kill monsters, they couldn't survive. They couldn't starve to death.
But now that they knew the open ground offered food, a place to rest, and strong security, there was no reason to hesitate.
"Ha. Do you even know my level? Stop talking nonsense and get lost."
Of course, there were some who seemed to have adapted perfectly to the tower and didn't seem to need my help, but they weren't the majority. Most of those people seemed to have some unique abilities.
Those without any special traits or with weak ones were the ones suffering the most in the tower.
Thus, I was able to send 22 people back to the open ground in just a day.
If Choi Ji-won finds it burdensome, he can pretend to help. If not, he can keep sending people until he does.
But the rewards didn't stop there.
"Wow! Aaah!"
Whenever I heard a scream, I'd run towards it and almost always find someone being chased by goblins or mutant goblins.
With a swift swipe of my sword, I'd take them out.
Even mutant goblins, focused on their prey, were no match for me. If it were a head-on fight, it might be different, but in an ambush, I had the advantage.
After rescuing people, I'd often hear:
"Thank you! Thank you!"
"I really thought I was going to die..."
As they expressed their relief through tears, I'd receive a notification:
"[You can acquire a trait.]"
It seemed that causing people to feel strong emotions allowed me to acquire traits. It was the same when I dealt with bullies and hooligans, and when I saved these people.
However, there was a problem.
- Relief [FFF]
"When you're in distress or exhausted, seeing you brings peace."
"...What?"
The traits I got from saving people were... trash-tier.
I mean, what is FFF rank? It might be alright as a clickbait title for a web novel like 'World's Strongest with an FFF-Tier Trait!' but this was just trash.
It didn't even make people feel awe towards me. It just made those I saved slightly more at ease.
Is it just bad luck, you ask?
- Trust [FFF]
- Admiration [FFF]
- Love [FFF]
- Respect [FFF]
- Belief [FFF]
The traits I got from saving people were... all trash-tier.
If 'awe' had come up multiple times, I might have chosen it to see what would happen, but it didn't.
It's not that duplicates didn't come up at all – 'admiration' came up three times. Once or twice might be coincidence, but repetition is inevitable.
After repeated experiences, I realized one thing.
"...Ah, that anchovy guy had an S-tier trait." The Anchovy party was pretty strong by tutorial standards. In fact, their strength was evident when they defeated the mutant goblin without any harm.
The people I saved were all weak.
If the stronger ones provide better traits, then it's understandable that the weaker ones I saved gave me crappy traits.
However, was all my effort entirely in vain? Not necessarily.
[Conditions have been met.]
[Traits will be merged.]
At some point, this message appeared, and all the FFF-ranked traits vanished.
- Hero [F]
- In times of crisis, people think of you. You become stronger when fighting to protect someone.
A new trait with a cool name appeared, albeit with a low rank.
Given that I acquired it by saving people, the description of the trait was very positive. It was different from some trashy trait involving the word 'fear'.
The trait's description was clear: I become stronger when protecting others.
At first, when I only got FFF-ranked traits, I thought traits weren't that significant.
But now, it seems worth trying to extract traits from everyone.
When I regress, I should also check if I can obtain duplicate traits from the same person.
Of course, my expectations for the trait I could get from Choi Ji-won increased even more.
If Anchovy, who was weak, gave a C-rank, what would Choi Ji-won give?
"Status window."
[Name: Kim Jun-ho] [LV: 6]
[Traits]
- Regress [EX]
- Awe [C]
- Hero [F]
Now, my status window looked more plentiful than when it only had 'Regress'. It was more pleasing to the eye.
"...My level went up?"
The most challenging part for me is that achievement level.
It doesn't tell me when, how, or why it increased.
Since I don't know the conditions, it's impossible to intentionally earn it. I can only speculate.
When I first checked my status upon entering the tower, it was level 1. After the goblin fight, it was level 2.
After collecting herbs, it was level 3. When I checked with Anchovy, it was level 5. Now, it's 6.
Tapping on the [LV: 6] in the status window doesn't provide a response.
Anchovy said that he got a list of achievements when he pressed this. Why is mine so strict?
I recalled the hooligan I killed.
After killing the hooligan and checking, my level had risen from 3 to 5.
Is there an achievement for killing people?
Or was it because the hooligan was special? Maybe I should try killing Anchovy next...
"Shh. That's not right."
If there was a human qualification examiner in front of me, they'd probably be looking at me disapprovingly.
'Well, I'll let it slide this time,' they might say.
I almost lost my human qualification. Relax, relax.
Of course, if I went around killing everyone, I might become powerful quickly.
Maybe there's a 100 kill achievement, or even a 1000 kill achievement, allowing me to rapidly increase my achievement level.
After all, when I regress, everyone I killed comes back to life, so some might wonder why not kill them?
But as I've repeatedly emphasized, my mental well-being is crucial.
The most important thing for those stuck in a death loop like me is mental health.
While some loopers might be fine repeating the loop endlessly because they're thoughtless...
Most of them lose their humanity and break down mentally as they repeat the loop. They deteriorate.
I want to live as a human, clear this tower as a human. If I went around killing others madly, who knows how my personality might change. I don't want to become a monster as much as I want to remain human.
"Stay positive, think positive thoughts."
Come to think of it, I've been obsessing over Choi Ji-won too much recently.
What's so special about her that I have to chase her this much?
Maybe it's my shallow desire for recognition acting up. There's absolutely no need to rush.
In the end, I'll win. I'll become infinitely stronger, while my enemies will remain stagnant.
The sun was setting, and night was about to fall. If I entertained the horrific thought of slaughtering everyone before sleeping, I'd surely have nightmares.
I leaned against a large tree and made myself comfortable.
Instead of stressing over Choi Ji-won, I should relax my mind with cute and delightful imaginations.
I remembered this animal called a 'Manul Pallas's cat' I once saw on YouTube.
I closed my eyes and let my imagination take flight.
The Manul Pallas's cat is round and fluffy. Its actions are cute.
When it hunts, it moves like a toy with a drained battery, and that's incredibly charming.
"...Hey..."
Even though its face looks serious when hunting, its undeniable cuteness...
"...Answer me."
Damn it, I'm trying to imagine the cute Manul Pallas's cat, so why does the sinister voice of Choi Ji-won keep coming to mind?
Huh?
I opened my eyes abruptly to find Choi Ji-won, with a stern expression and arms crossed, standing in front of me.
"...Why did you let the people go?"
Choi Ji-won.
She came to find me in just one day.