[Currently on the 43rd regression.]
I stared blankly at the button after Armonia's words and asked again.
'How many times?'
[Excluding the last regression, this is currently the 43rd regression.]
I tried to process the situation while spacing out.
But before I could fully grasp what was happening, Armonia began explaining.
[Han Yeo-reum, who went to the upper floor, continues to attempt suicide.]
'And starting here means…'
[That's correct.]
Armonia paused for a beat and quietly said.
[The regression point has changed.]
'….'
[It changed after Han Yeo-reum went to the upper floor.]
According to Armonia, Han Yeo-reum probably pressed the upper floor button as soon as he saw it.
This assumption was based on the fact that no matter how fast I pressed it, Han Yeo-reum was already there in the upper floor.
Upon hearing this, I faintly smiled and asked.
And immediately realized why I wasn't aware of this detail myself.
'Since Han Yeo-reum keeps committing suicide, there's no need to warp, so you just left it like that, right?'
[That's correct. If you leave now, the timing should roughly match up.]
'…You must've gotten tired of repeating this all the time.'
If someone asked if it was tiring, well, not particularly.
But repeating the same explanation over and over certainly wasn't pleasant.
[As I've always said, I'm fine with it.]
'How much time has passed total?'
[About five hours.]
She explained that initially, Han Yeo-reum died quickly but gradually grew more fatigued, increasing the intervals between suicides.
'Alright, let's head to the upper floor again… though I'll be back here soon enough.'
With a faint smile and a mumble, I touched the upper floor button.
...
...
...
The 43rd suicide.
Even with the ability to regress, would someone actually commit suicide so many times?
But Han Yeo-reum didn't stop. He kept doing it.
It seemed he couldn't accept the change in the regression point and was likely trying to get to the Colosseum by continuing to kill himself.
And then came the 44th suicide attempt.
Only when the light from before completely faded could I take in my surroundings.
Min Ha-yeon looking around…
"…"
And Han Yeo-reum, standing pale-faced with unfocused eyes.
'Wow… looks like a walking corpse.'
No exaggeration—Han Yeo-reum looked exactly like a freshly unearthed body.
Except even that undead corpse was insanely handsome.
An insanely handsome zombie.
'Damn, how do you ruin something like that?'
[If the regression point keeps changing like this, perhaps one day he'll transform into his desired appearance.]
Hearing that, I grinned smugly and asked with a chuckle.
'So how did he kill himself this time?'
When I heard Armonia mention "suicide," I assumed Han Yeo-reum would immediately dash out into the field upon arriving at the first floor.
After all, self-harm to the point of death is incredibly difficult.
The quickest way for Han Yeo-reum to kill himself would be to slice his own neck cleanly with the sword he carries.
Swinging a heavy blade to cleanly sever your own neck?
Impossible.
Given human anatomy, it's incredibly hard. And considering Han Yeo-reum's skill with a sword, it goes beyond difficult—it's practically impossible.
More likely, he'd botch the cut and end up suffering horribly for days.
There weren't any buildings to jump off either….
The best option I could think of for Han Yeo-reum to commit suicide was getting killed by monsters.
Even on the first floor, they're stronger than Zephyrum.
[…That's no longer something you need to worry about.]
'Why?'
[Originally, he would've rushed off, disappeared, and regressed shortly afterward. But judging from his current demeanor, it seems he no longer has the energy to attempt suicide again.]
'…Is he giving up at the 44th attempt?'
What kind of unlucky number is this?
Though I don't believe in superstitions, it felt somewhat ominous.
He might regain the energy later and try again, but for now, he looked too exhausted to move.
Meanwhile, Min Ha-yeon, ignoring Han Yeo-reum, turned to me and said.
"…I was really worried. Why are you so late coming out? You had me worried sick."
"Sorry. I was preparing just in case…"
I observed Han Yeo-reum and communicated internally.
'Come to think of it, he didn't attack me right away, huh?'
[He charged at you about ten times, died, and regressed each time.]
'…Crazy bastard.'
Chuckling inwardly, I carefully studied Han Yeo-reum.
Superior looks, divine luck.
And the power to regress.
Yet despite having all of that, Min Ha-yeon wouldn't return to him.
Never.
Misinterpreting my silence as concern, Min Ha-yeon cautiously continued the conversation.
"Sigh… I'm worried. From what I've heard in the chat, things are very different from the 0th floor."
I'd heard a bit from Armonia too. Unlike Zephyrum, where hunting was leisurely, earning points, and securing lodging happened smoothly, none of that applied here.
Sometimes you'd have to sleep outdoors. Other times, you'd run out of food mid-field transfer and starve for days.
And when accommodations filled up, sleeping on the streets wasn't uncommon either…
But among all this, the most important thing was still…
"Ha-yeon. Let's secure lodging first, just in case."
"Alright."
Min Ha-yeon responded while glancing at Han Yeo-reum, whose shoulders were slumped like a corpse.
Frowning, Min Ha-yeon muttered in confusion.
"Why's he acting like that?"
"…Not sure."
Min Ha-yeon being aware of Han Yeo-reum's regressions was thanks to me warping her along during those events.
From her perspective, without experiencing regression herself, she couldn't understand why Han Yeo-reum suddenly behaved this way.
While we debated whether to bring the lifeless-looking Han Yeo-reum along, female voices rang out nearby.
"Oh my! Mr. Yeo-reum!"
"M-Miss Min Ha-yeon too?"
"That… alchemist guy…?"
…Shit.
Still, since the alchemist is impressive, I'll tolerate it.
The figures rushing towards us were the three beauties we'd formed a party with in the Zephyrum village.
'Whoa, didn't expect them to survive.'
[Judging by their presence, it seems they haven't entered the boss fight yet.]
I scanned the people beyond the trio who had cleared the tutorial.
Hmm… There seemed to be more women than men.
'Well… it's not like the male population would just skip the boss fight.'
[…]
Surely, there must've been some reward. Ignoring it entirely?
Male pride wouldn't allow it.
Though, ultimately, life itself denied them entry here.
'Ironically, the brave ones die, and only the cowardly and fearful remain.'
Some entities likely enjoyed watching talented individuals progress smoothly.
But most of those enshrined in Yggdrasil seemed to prefer witnessing desperate struggles.
[According to Zodiac, starting from the 1st floor, the focus isn't solely on reducing the number of participants.]
'Ah, yeah. Having a hundred people reduced to fifty every time would definitely be problematic…'
There were roughly 50 people here now.
Five of them were men (including me and Han Yeo-reum), and the rest were women.
Unless I could distinguish long-haired men or short-haired women, assuming 10% of the group were men seemed reasonable.
The three women clung to the handsome zombie, Han Yeo-reum, asking how he'd been.
Since Han Yeo-reum was mentally absent, Min Ha-yeon answered for him.
She omitted details about our relationship and simply said we'd spent time hunting and clearing bosses in the waiting village.
She seemed to intentionally leave out the part about earning a ton of points, probably to avoid negative attention.
"Phew… We were really shocked when both of you suddenly disappeared."
"You didn't show up at the meeting spot, and your rooms were empty too. We were so worried."
…Excuse me, what about me?
"Still, Mr. Yeo-reum, thank goodness you're safe."
After hearing the last woman's line, I made up my mind.
'Han Yeo-reum, I'll kill you.'
[…]
Feel the resentment of the ignored.
...
...
...
We considered leaving the zombified Han Yeo-reum behind, but the trio insisted we bring him along (somehow reaching a consensus).
Without knowing the name of the village we'd arrived at, we started looking for accommodations to secure lodging.
As we wandered through the village, the expressions of the women supporting and fussing over Han Yeo-reum gradually darkened.
The reason was simple.
'There's no hotel.'
[Plus, compared to Zephyrum, the environment seems worse.]
'Yeah, trash is everywhere…'
In Zephyrum, it was rare to see even a single piece of litter.
The NPCs seemed diligent about cleaning.
But here, discarded plastic and vinyl waste littered the streets, disrupting the medieval European vibe.
Had we come here first, it probably wouldn't have bothered us much.
Trash lying around isn't a big deal.
But after spending a week in Zephyrum, comparisons were inevitable.
And it seemed Min Ha-yeon couldn't ignore it either.
Her expression mirrored that of the other three women.
'Well… After staying in a penthouse suite for four days, I guess it hits harder.'
As I sympathized with Min Ha-yeon, we found an inn nearby.
Its exterior resembled the inns in Zephyrum.
Inside, the sound of lively chatter spilled out into the street.
Creeeak!
The moment we stepped inside, everything fell silent.
Despite it being midday, the dining area was scattered with empty glasses.
The previously noisy crowd hushed and began whispering amongst themselves as they stared at us.
'What's going on? Why go silent just because people walked in?'
Not just me, but Min Ha-yeon and the others sensed something strange too.
"Let's secure lodging first."
I approached the man behind the counter, who appeared to be the innkeeper.
He looked to be in his fifties and fit the role perfectly.
"We'd like to stay here."
"No vacancies."
"…What?"
"I said no rooms available."
This was ridiculous.
No rooms at an inn?
Though I didn't want to argue with NPCs, given the village size, surely other inns existed.
But…
[Strange. It's still daytime, yet there are no rooms…]
'Something's off. We need to check another place quickly.'
Just as I was about to suggest moving on, the men in the inn swarmed around Min Ha-yeon and the women, hitting on them.
"No other places have rooms either! How about my room?"
"Damn, these ones look good!"
"Good? They're practically natural spring water! Especially that one's chest… Hey!"
One man reached toward Min Ha-yeon.
Without hesitation, I grabbed his wrist and yanked him aside.
"Gah!?"
"Back off unless you want to die."
Though I dislike causing trouble, anger surged, and I tightened my grip.
A notification popped up before my eyes.
[Grip Strength Lv.1 has awakened. Corrected to Lv.65 due to Hand Technique Lv.555.]
Under the sudden pressure of my grip, the man began screaming.
"Aaaargh!"
"What the hell do you think this place is!?"
Before the surrounding men could charge at me, the innkeeper shouted angrily.
"No brawling here!"
"…"
Disgruntled, the men returned to their seats but continued glaring at me.
The innkeeper scowled at me.
"Don't cause trouble. Leave."
"…Yes."
"This damn…"
The man whose wrist I'd grabbed shook his hand, trying to ease the pain.
Thanks to the innkeeper's intervention, we exited the inn without further issues.
As we left, whispers followed us.
-"Hehe, interesting newcomers again."
-"How long will that guy last? Wanna bet?"
-"I say a month."
-"A week. Guys who act all high-and-mighty usually crumble the fastest."
As I listened closely, Min Ha-yeon gently took my hand and whispered.
"Suho, don't pay attention. Let's go."
"Okay."
Following Min Ha-yeon, I left the inn.
...
...
...
Afterward, we scoured the village for an inn with vacancies.
But we found nothing.
We regrouped at the spot where we'd first arrived on the 1st floor to discuss this incomprehensible situation.
"No matter how I think about it, it's weird! Why are all the inns full?"
"And all these strange people…"
"…"
It was utterly baffling.
We'd heard that convenience significantly decreased starting from the 1st floor.
But even Armonia hadn't described it being this bad.
The attached commentary from Gekkosu agreed.
└Guardian of the Gay Dick: This is unusual. Even accounting for differences between the 0th and 1st floors, this is extreme.
Gekkosu, who'd visited summoner channels from the past 1st floor, confirmed the atmosphere was nothing like this.
└Guardian of the Gay Dick: The 1st floor wasn't as relaxed as the 0th, but it still felt manageable. What's going on here?
Apparently, the 1st floor, fitting for a beginner village, had a cooperative "let's work together" vibe among anxious newcomers.
Conflicts occasionally arose as survival anxiety increased, but nothing like now.
The current atmosphere felt more like a gathering of failures who'd given up after failing on higher floors.
That was the Gekkosu's opinion.
***
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