Regression Is Too Much - Regression Is Too Muchchapter 249

249 – The Returner Wanderers (3)

〈25th floor〉

– Defeat the ‘King of the Maze’ and escape.

-Poison is spreading inside the 25th floor. You may not notice any major problems at first, but as time goes by, movement will become more difficult. For the general public, about an hour. Climbers die within 2 to 3 hours. Please be careful.

“… “

After returning to the starting point, I slumped down in my seat and began to worry. This time, I decided to invest my time in thinking about it. Because the head wasn’t usually complicated.

“Why is there a Minotaur… ?”

The Minotaur that appeared in the tutorial under the nickname ‘Demon of the Labyrinth’. The sight of the goblin shaman sacrificing his life to seal him away is still vivid in my eyes. It was designed so that when the boss Goblin Shaman dies and the escape portal opens, the hidden boss Minotaur runs rampant and kills the rest.

Coincidentally, the 25th floor is a maze, and the development of the terrifying monster that appeared in the tutorial reappearing later is a development often seen in creative works. Should I call it a kind of soup and rice development?

If the Minotaur had ‘just’ appeared, of course he would have been convinced. After knocking him out, he thought, ‘I have become this strong. He must have nodded, saying, ‘My efforts so far have never been meaningless.’ Afterwards, I must have burned off my anger towards the Archangel, cleared the 25th floor, and had a tearful reunion with Jiwon.

Is not it? What if we fight now? I guess I’ll have to try it to find out.

Anyway, the reason I’m so dumb is… This is because the minotaur we saw earlier was not in a normal state.

Why was this guy slowly popping out of the floor? Why did he stick his head out and shyly avoid looking at me? What was that black space?

First of all, it is clear that the ‘black space’ I entered just before returning is a space that players should not generally enter. Otherwise, it makes no sense for there to be nothing like before. Also, judging from the way the thick poison-laden wind blows out, it is clear that the source of the poison is also that black space.

“My head hurts.”

The problem is that we can’t find out more than that. That black space creates poison, and the Minotaur sneaks out. So what should I do? There was nothing to see anyway, and it was a space full of poison. Even if I go back, there isn’t much I can do. Is it even enough to kill a minotaur?

“But it’s not that urgent.”

About 20 minutes had passed before I reached the black space. I can’t last more than 20 minutes inside this maze anyway.

But after 20 minutes, the Minotaur was barely sticking out its head. No matter how many times I repeat this floor, I will never have to face the Minotaur. It would take at least two hours for the whole body to come out, but I couldn’t last two hours in this maze anyway.

He plans to kill the Minotaur at least once in case it is the ‘King of the Maze’ or has a hidden achievement… It is okay to postpone that to a later priority.

“But is there a difference between a labyrinth and a maze? Could the demon of the labyrinth be the king of the labyrinth?”

It would be better to take the normal route next time. Go left at the fork, then gather enough information and decide again.

“Okay.”

After gathering my thoughts, I lightly bit my cheek.

[You have suffered damage.]

[It returns to the moment when you first entered the 25th floor.]

***

My memory isn’t terribly good, but it’s not so bad that I forget the way I came a while ago.

“Straight. Left. Straight. Right.”

I walk through the maze at a fast pace. I didn’t have to focus on magic, I just focused on walking and reached the place where the white goblin was in less than a minute.

“Keez!”

Let the goblin go easily at once. Left again. Straight. Right.

He progressed without hesitation to the point that anyone would see him as a speedrunning gamer. As I was walking fast and concentrating on my magical power, my breathing became slightly heavier, and my magical energy consumption also increased slightly… This amount of increase was able to move quickly enough to be seen as ‘something like that.’＜ Br﹥

“Is it here again?”

I was able to get to the previous crossroads in 5 minutes. I think I will be able to run once I get a little more used to the ‘magic attribute filter’, but then I will arrive under 3 minutes. Well, that was back then.

“Here… “

If you go to the right at this intersection, you will see a black space where the Minotaur was. If we go now, maybe only the horns and the top of the head are sticking out. If you stab me with a sword, you will die.

Of course, I decided to go left this time. I headed left, observing my surroundings carefully.

Left. Right. Straight. Go straight again. Left. Straight. Right.

I proceeded by combining the clues given by the labyrinth and choosing the right path, and about 10 minutes had passed.

“Oh.”

A large wooden door with an old-fashioned design blocked my path. It had been 15 minutes since we returned, and the amount of magic power remaining was about 5 minutes.

Considering that the road will become more noticeable in the next round, I think we can get here in 10 minutes in total. About 5 minutes if you run. Of course, being able to memorize the route is a huge advantage.

“Let’s go.”

He took a long breath and opened the wooden door with force. The heavy wooden door opened with a bang.

“… ?”

My eyes were wide open and I took in a lot of information at the same time.

A large space roughly 10 meters by 10 meters. Some kind of decoration roughly hung on the wall. Vines growing on decorations. A red carpet that is not suitable for a maze. A long banquet table. Corroded golden tableware. Old wooden chair. Grains of dirt rolling on the carpet. Dust.

The gaze moves along the long table. In the distance, a seal was seen at the head table.

A middle-aged man with a pale complexion sitting on a once-glorious, faded throne. His body is covered in a rather luxurious-looking tunic, and he also wears a crown on top of his head. His beard is handsomely grown, and the tops of his ears are longer than those of a normal human.

“… “

A middle-aged man resting his chin and maintaining his posture on the throne, only moving his eyes to look at me. Previously, I thought the Minotaur might be the ‘King of the Maze’, but now that I see it, I understand. That person is the king of the maze. To begin with, isn’t he even wearing a crown on his head? He also looked like a king.

So, you’re saying I can just kill that person? Clearly, Sang Tae-chang had told him to kill the ‘King of the Maze’. And that man… Honestly, it doesn’t look very strong. Except for the ears his, he just looks like an ordinary person.

I don’t want to kill people, but I can’t help it if it’s the tower’s mission. I shook my head and walked towards the throne, right before I drew my sword.

From noble mtl dot com

“… “I don’t die easily.”

The middle-aged man spoke in a cracked voice. He doesn’t die easily.

“… Really?”

Of course, that didn’t stop me. It doesn’t seem like a lie, but isn’t it strange to believe that?

“… “I also long for death.”

Did you see through my doubts? The King of the Maze took out a dagger from his arms.

-Phew!

I stabbed myself deeply in the temple. Dark-red blood is leaking out of his head, but the king’s face remains unchanged from before.

“So, gather these.”

The king of the maze, stomping on his feet, with a dagger stuck in his head. As he did something with his foot, the floor tiles in front of me moved, revealing the hidden scroll.

“This… “

Drawn on the scroll is a map of the entire maze. This space where the ‘King of the Maze’ is located is located in the exact center of the entire maze.

“Bring the items shown there. Then you can kill me.”

There were a total of five

“… Aha.”

Now I completely understand the concept of this floor.

If the first task was to find the ‘King of the Maze’, the second task was to go around the maze and retrieve the marked items. These objects were evenly distributed throughout the maze, so no matter how efficient the movement was, it was designed to take a considerable amount of time.

Will the player be able to withstand the pressure of poison and collect all these items? Can you navigate this maze while maintaining your sanity?

Above all, the Minotaur in the ‘black space’ will be released at some point. With a huge monster chasing after them, can the player find all the objects and return to the center of the maze where the King of the Maze is?

The key to this floor is calmness. And courage. This is the floor that tests whether you can remain calm and move rationally even when danger approaches you.

In fact, I’m not worried about staying calm per se. Because I lack the fear of death, I can make correct decisions in most situations.

What I’m really worried about is.

“… “Can this be done in 20 minutes?”

No matter how much I thought about it, it seemed like there wouldn’t be enough time.

The ’20 minutes’ that I keep mentioning is based on walking without straining myself. Even if you get used to the ‘magic attribute filter’ and can run, it is virtually impossible to collect all the items shown here within 20 minutes. This is because magic attribute consumption also increases to some extent.

“… “

Also, no matter how much I think about it, it’s strange… Surely, didn’t Choi Ji-won beat this floor in 10 minutes? If Choi Ji-won runs at full speed… It seems like it could be done in just 10 minutes. Isn’t the time a little too tight?

A cool-headed returner and the embodiment of reason. As I, Kim Jun-ho, judge.

“Hey.”

“… “

“Do you have any weaknesses?”

This. It is certain that there is a way to break it other than the regular method.