[Entering the 3-5 floor.]
"... Get up, runt."
The moment I heard someone's threatening voice, I squeezed every muscle in my body and shot up from my spot. It seemed I had been unconscious and sprawled on the ground.
"... Damn it."
No, this can't be. This can't be happening. This is a joke, right?
[You've taken damage.]
[Regressing to the moment you first entered the 3-5 floor.]
"... Get up, runt."
"Ah."
I let out an involuntary sigh, and my eyes closed instinctively, as if they didn't want to see the scene before me. My rational side was urging me to accept reality and find a solution, but my emotional side was screaming, "It's a disaster! Hell no!"
Anyone familiar with web novels knows there are types of infinite regression.
Firstly, the type where, when you die, you start over from infancy.
Secondly, the type where fulfilling certain conditions updates your save point.
In my case, it was the latter. The condition was 'regress to the point when you first entered each floor.'
So, after clearing a floor, I could decide whether to regress or move on to the next floor and fix my past...
[Regressing to the moment you first entered the 3-5 floor.]
The message I saw during my regression was like a death sentence to me.
It felt like getting the draft notice on KakaoTalk, waking up to find an email stating 'You've been liquidated' after leveraging a coin, or realizing there are more questions you don't know than those you do when unfolding an exam paper. My face was pale, my head was burning, everything was spinning, and my breathing quickened.
A line from the novel 'The Martian' briefly crossed my mind: "I'm screwed."
How much time had passed?
As I was staring blankly at the stone wall, I felt someone tapping on my shoulder.
"Um..."
The one who tapped wasn't the growling voice from earlier, but a frail-looking monk.
If the 'glasses man' I saw in the tutorial was a composed and smart guy, the man before me looked timid. He was tall, pale as a ghost, and his voice sounded as weak as an ant's.
"Could you come over? We need to check something together..."
It seemed to take a lot of courage for him to speak to a man blankly staring at a wall and drooling. His voice was shaky.
"... Sure."
Finally, I regained my composure and stood up hesitantly.
What has happened has happened. The important thing is how to deal with it.
It's true that the save point has been messed up. Alone, I proceeded in the hardest difficulty, and regressing would take me back to the moment I first entered this difficulty, not the 3rd floor.
Of course, if I think rationally, I haven't lost much. I just missed the bus with Choi Ji-won, but if I clear 3-5 floor on my own and receive a splendid reward, that's it. Depending on the difficulty of 3-5 floor, my future might range from a healing story to a tragic one. But I can worry about that later. There's no need to fret now.
I followed the monk, observing the surroundings.
The space I was in seemed to be an extension of the cave where the five doors were located.
It was damp, dark, narrow, and the torches hanging here and there were the only light sources.
"We're here."
After following the winding cave path, it suddenly widened into a circular space that seemed artificially carved from the cave walls. In that space, a man and a woman were waiting for us.
Straight ahead was the rugged stone door I saw when I first entered the 3-5 floor...
When I sneakily looked behind, there were three more paths similar to the one I just walked through. It seems the 3rd floor was designed for a group of four.
While I was assessing the situation, the two who were already there stared at me silently. I began glaring back at the two who were staring at me, but as there were two of them, it was a bit awkward to split my gaze. So, I compromised by focusing on a point midway between them.
"Um, so..."
The atmosphere quickly grew icy. As the monk, flustered, tried to break the silence, the man who was glaring at me shifted his gaze away first.
Then, the woman slowly averted her eyes as well.
The tense atmosphere gradually eased, and just as the monk let out a sigh of relief,
'...Hmm.'
I was deep in thought.
The place I'm currently in is the highest difficulty level within the 3rd floor. Naturally, no sane person would enter here. They must either be extremely confident in their skills or delusional enough to think they're the protagonist. I thought they must be one of the two.
From my perspective, both the man and woman seemed to exude confidence. Their aura was different, sharp like a well-honed blade.
"Is everyone calm now?"
In contrast, the monk, whom I couldn't believe to be skilled, seemed to have many flaws. Yet, he didn't appear to be the type to thoughtlessly enter the highest difficulty either.
"Can we... look at this door?"
Interrupting my thoughts, the monk directed my attention to the rugged stone door. There, I saw four palm-shaped indentations.
"I think... we all have to place our hands here to activate it. All the indentations are for the right hand, so one person can't do multiple..."
True to his words, all the indentations were for the right hand. Four humans gathered in the cave. Four palm-shaped indentations.
"I'm not sure, but... isn't the 3rd floor about cooperation? Not like the 2nd floor where everyone grabs their own reward..."
The monk's voice quivered as he finished speaking.
I inwardly agreed with his opinion. The fact that four right hands are needed to move forward implies that we should cooperate rather than fight.
Without speaking, both the man and woman seemed to agree, nodding slightly.
"So, I think we should share some basic information about each other..."
When the monk suggested sharing basic information, no one objected. Though we were potential competitors, within the 3rd floor, we were in a situation where we needed to cooperate.
"First off... my name is Ahn Kyung-jun."
"...Ahn Kyung-jun? Are you related to Glasses-man by any chance?"
"Ah, um... he's my older brother. How do you know him?"
I had casually asked because of their similar names. Glasses-man, whom I briefly interacted with during the tutorial, was the older brother of the monk, Ahn Kyung-jun, standing before me.
But when asked about our relationship, it was a bit awkward to answer. I had once saved his life, but due to regression, that event never happened.
"Just... I heard about him from a friend. So, I guess you're a friend of a friend."
"Oh, the world is really small..."
After a brief moment of camaraderie, Ahn Kyung-jun continued explaining.
"I... fight using a spear. Throwing spears are my specialty."
Throwing spears? An uncommon weapon even in fiction. I found it intriguing.
After Ahn Kyung-jun finished explaining,
"My name is Kim Jun-ho. My weapon of choice is a sword."
After I quickly introduced myself, it was the woman's turn.
With her sleek, black hair reaching her shoulders, cat-like eyes, and a body as agile as a leopard, she had a sharp aura. If Choi Ji-won had a cold demeanor, this woman was more piercing, with a kind of irritability about her.
"...I'm Dok Su-hee. I use daggers."
The woman, no, Dok Su-hee, responded with lips barely moving.
The word 'eagle' (Doksuri in Korean) briefly crossed my mind, but I didn't voice it.
What's more, daggers? She too had a rather unique weapon of choice.
From what I saw in the tutorial, over 60% of people chose swords, and the remaining 35% chose spears...
Those who made it to the 3-5 floor, these oddballs, are they inherently different from the norm? The brief introductions were soon drawing to a close, with only one left to introduce himself.
A handsome face, short sporty-cut hair, but his mask-like stoic expression and deep-set eyes emitted a dangerous aura.
He felt like a human weapon, as if his entire being was a blade. One thing was certain: this man was strong.
"...My name is Kang Chan. I fight with my fists."
Kang Chan's voice was deep and growling. After finishing his introduction, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.
I remember hearing that voice. It was the same voice that had said, "Wake up, kiddo," when I regressed.
But Kang Chan... Kang Chan? It sounded familiar...
"Ah, um...!"
At that moment, Ahn Kyung-jun's eyes widened in shock, looking startled like a frightened rabbit.
"Kang... Kang Chan? The real Kang Chan???"
Dok Su-hee didn't show any reaction, but she slightly bit her lip, indicating she recognized the name as well.
Kang Chan. Kang Chan. The name definitely rang a bell...
"Could it be, from the tutorial..."
"Ah."
The moment Ahn Kyung-jun mentioned the 'tutorial', memories of articles I had read in the community resurfaced.
If Choi Ji-won is currently the hottest Korean player, then the second would be this man.
"The man who... subdued the Fairy of the Tutorial with a single punch!"
He was, after all, the 'Slayer of the Tutorial's Fairy.'