Regression Is Too Much

Vrooom.

The blue portal faded away.

In the last round, it was Baron Jorge who informed me about the portal. Since he was the one who discovered it, I thought it was only right to return the favor by saving his people.

Well, now that the portal is dealt with...

“Let’s get back to work. Oh, and for the record, I didn’t mean to imply I think of you all as livestock. You get what I mean, right? I was just referencing the apple analogy from earlier...”

“...I understand.”

Baron Jorge nodded solemnly.

If he doesn’t see me as a dimensional chauvinist, then the thoughts running through his head are obvious. He’s probably wondering, “How does this guy know all this?” And my indirect answer was, “Don’t ask.”

Does it really matter how I know? The important thing is to survive, right?

***

Time flew by.

“Are we really just supposed to smash through like this?”

“Apparently. We’re supposed to connect the rooms...”

“Hmm... is this right?”

“Didn’t you see that guy earlier? He seemed like a total nutcase. Just do it.”

The players had begun the ‘giant room’ project. Naturally, without a detailed explanation, they were probably thinking, “Why are we even doing this?”

“What are you doing over there?”

“Uh, well...”

“I see hammers. Get on with it!”

“...Yes, sir.”

If I went over and glared at them, they cooperated eagerly. That’s right, just shut up and work.

Why don’t I tell the other players about the future? The reason is simple.

Yoon Jung-hyun, William Smith, and Baron Jorge are competent. They can think critically and make sound judgments. They weigh the pros and cons of what I do and cooperate actively because they’ve figured out it’s beneficial.

But not all players are guaranteed to be like that. Most would likely react in a one-dimensional way, thinking, “Is this guy crazy?” and resist. And it’s better to be perceived as just a “madman” than as a “lunatic who thinks he knows the future.” The former earns fear, while the latter earns disdain. Given the choice, I’ll take fear over disdain any day.

“Break the walls carefully, making sure the ceiling doesn’t collapse. Got it?”

Regardless of the players’ enthusiasm, the work progressed incredibly quickly. Breaking through stone walls by brute force is tough, but with gloves, it’s not impossible. Besides, most players are very strong. Since only close combat weapons are available in the tower, most people have put points into strength.

-112:14:11

By the time the sun was setting, the demolition work was complete. It was a straightforward job of smashing walls, requiring no special skills, so the outcome was inevitable.

“Alright, now...”

“Now?”

“Rest. That’s enough for today. You can maintain your weapons or have a meal. I’ll see you in the morning.”

With the unnecessary processes of exploring the castle, fighting among ourselves, and negotiating opinions removed, we have plenty of time. We also need to match the tempo with the otherworlders. Tomorrow’s tasks can’t be completed by the players alone.

“Well, if we’re done...”

“Hey, let’s explore the castle a bit more. There might be hidden pieces.”

“Shall we?”

The players scattered in small groups. By the way, I already collected all the hidden pieces long ago. The ‘emergency escape stone’ that Yoon Jung-hyun should have found is safely tucked away in my subspace. They can search all they want; they won’t find anything.

With the interior done...

I headed outside to the main gate, where the construction was nearing completion.

“Baron, how’s it looking here?”

“See this. Is this sufficient? As you said, even if monsters appear, the main gate should be secure. We’ve also roughly reinforced the side gates...”

Under the sky tinged with the colors of sunset, Baron Jorge showed a satisfied smile.

The first day was over.

***

The second day’s sun rose, casting light over the courtyard in front of the castle, which was bustling from early morning.

“The foundational work is the most important, as you all probably know. I trust everyone here has had the experience of fixing their own floors at home. No? Was that you, Enrique?”

“Baron, Enrique still lives with his parents! His dad fixes the floors!”

“Sigh... Enrique... How do you plan to get married? If you keep this up, I’ll propose a law to tax bachelors more.”

“Ha ha ha ha!”

The otherworlders were in high spirits. They had absolute trust in Baron Jorge and would believe anything he said, no matter how absurd.

Baron Jorge, for his part, was taking a route of ‘feeling suspicious but willing to trust Kim Jun-ho’ stance.

I didn’t need to convince all the otherworlders.

On the other hand...

“So... we need to prepare to block the passageways, but we shouldn’t actually block them?”

“Yes.”

“Prepare everything up to the point of blocking them, then do nothing?”

“Exactly.”

“What’s the point of that nonsense?”

“...Indeed.”

The players’ morale was plummeting.

Yoon Jung-hyun was diligently explaining ‘what needs to be done next,’ but the players simply couldn’t accept it.

Saying something like, ‘If we block the passageways in advance, the monsters will bring countermeasures!’ had zero persuasive power. How could anyone believe that without being a time traveler?

It was impossible to convince them.

“Aren’t you working?”

“Well, I mean...”

“What?”

“...Nothing.”

I didn’t feel the need to convince them one by one, so I just suppressed them with force again. As these people had made it up to the 4th floor quickly, they were perceptive enough not to openly defy me.

Of course, that only meant they didn’t defy me openly.

“Hey, no matter how I think about it, this isn’t right. What are we even doing here?”

“Aren’t we going to get screwed if we keep going like this? The mission is survival, survival.”

I could feel the mounting dissatisfaction reaching its breaking point. More people were whispering insults about me behind my back, thinking I couldn’t hear them.

“Hmm...”

But this was still within the expected range. As much as I wanted to grab one of them and explain in detail why I was right...

Actions speak louder than words.

***

Day 3. A pitch-black night with no moon.

The castle, which should have been infinitely quiet, was strangely noisy. That’s because I had woken everyone up in the dead of night and had them climb up the castle walls.

“Ah, damn it...”

“Hey, keep it down. They’ll hear you.”

“What does it matter if they hear? Let them hear! How long are we going to put up with that idiot’s orders? Do you even know what time it is?”

“Can’t we just gang up and take him out? I think we can do it if we all try.”

The murmuring didn’t stop. It felt like a middle school classroom where a weary old teacher was trying to lecture.

“Shouldn’t we make an example out of someone? The atmosphere is getting dangerous...”

Yoon Jung-hyun whispered to me. He was right. If I picked out one conspicuous troublemaker and beat them down, no one would dare to challenge me again.

“Leave them be.”

However, I am not a tyrant. I had no intention of crushing the players completely. I was only suppressing their autonomy temporarily out of necessity. If someone came up with a genuinely novel idea, I would be willing to accept it.

Of course, the most novel idea was mine.

After waiting on the castle walls for about 30 minutes in the biting wind, signs of monsters finally began to appear.

“Hey, man. What do you think you’re doing? And more importantly, who are you? You haven’t even told us your name...”

“Shh. Shut up for a moment.”

A player had taken the initiative to confront me, but this was no time to get bogged down in petty arguments.

“Is there any woman here who believes she has a protruding chin? Someone who is good at handling fire...”

“...It’s not that protruding.” The woman complained.

“Alright, look over there and shoot your flames.”

I called forth the woman who could handle fire and instructed her to shoot a fireball in the direction I pointed.

“Huff!”

Whooosh!

Just like in the previous round, the fireball flew through the darkness.

“Ah, damn it. I can’t take this anymore. Is this a joke to you?”

“Hey, you. Get out here. Do you think being strong is all that matters?”

Ignoring their complaints and suddenly sending a fireball into the air was the last straw for some players, and they were ready to explode.

“Uh...?”

“Did I see that right...?”

The brightly glowing fireball illuminated an uncountable horde of monsters.

And then... it gradually faded away.

“…”

“…”

The players were speechless, shocked. They rubbed their eyes, unable to believe what they had just seen.

Suddenly? Monsters? So many of them? Come to think of it, the mission was about survival... And could the construction work they had been doing be related to this?

The moment the players realized something, their eyes widened in astonishment.

“Nice to meet you all. I’m Kim Jun-ho.”

Finally, after three days, I revealed my name. There was no point in telling them earlier, as it would only have earned me more scorn.

“I never explicitly said it, but from the moment we were first summoned to the 4th floor, I foresaw this situation. That’s why I planned all these measures in advance. Think back on everything I instructed you to do. Now, think about the horde of monsters approaching us.”

I walked slowly along the wall, making eye contact with each player. Those who met my gaze quickly looked down at the ground.

“It seemed like there were a lot of complaints earlier... Does anyone still have any objections?”

“...”

The castle was now utterly silent. Everyone was watching my mouth move with trembling eyes.

“It’s good to see that everyone understands.”

I could sense their emotions.

Shock. Fear. Confusion. Admiration.

And... expectation.

The hope that I would protect them—

“Alright, let’s start preparing before the monsters arrive.”

The effect of the Hero Trait activates! The effect of the Hero Trait activates! The effect of the Hero Trait activates! The effect of the Hero Trait activates! The effect of the Hero Trait activates!

—I had no intention of letting them down.

– – – End of Chapter – – -

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