Five Time Regressor Walks the King’s Path - Chapter 16
Chapter 16. First Encounter
How far ahead of me did that person go?
I wasn’t sure, but it was highly likely that the person who entered and cleared Floor 23 before me was a regressor.
‘Among the regressors, I’m guessing it’s…’
First Place: Inferno
Second Place: Lord
Third Place: Strategist
Fourth Place: Magician
Fifth Place: Ferrie
I thought of the top five rankers first.
I also remembered one more person: Yashin.
‘I heard all five of their designated names during my previous regression.’
But what if the person wasn’t a regressor?
I erased such thoughts.
It was impossible for a newbie to be on our tail at this speed.
Looking through the rankings, I could somewhat assume the current state of Yashin, whom I should be wary of the most.
Meaning, Yashin did not level up enough to be placed among the rankers.
Well, even if he did climb the ranks, he wouldn’t be able to beat me.
‘Anyway, I currently have no clue about the one clearing the Floors.’
For some reason, even though Floor 23 was cleared, an announcement was not made.
Crown Road always made an announcement to the previous Floor when a Floor was cleared, and it announced the clearer’s name.
But this time, there was no such thing. It was questionable.
It was clear the person had used a skill I didn’t know of.
As if the person did not want to reveal their identity.
The moment I climbed the stairs, what I saw was a space that was all jumbled and messed up.
The space created by ‘The Spirit of All Things’ was bizarre, but I took no mind and walked on.
I headed toward the stairs at the center of Floor 23.5.
I rushed for the stairs, but I saw a certain something, and my eyes widened.
A man standing in front of the stairs.
A tree-shaped tattoo covered his entire body. He had long black hair and closed eyes.
And he was dressed in red clothes.
“Ha, hahahaha!”
A wild laugh left his mouth.
I noticed him at once.
“Ya…shin!”
As expected, it was him.
The moment his name stuttered out from my mouth, his gaze pierced through the tattoos on his face, landing on me.
The white and black part of the eyes were reversed, and for some reason, when we made eye contact, I felt a strange sense of joy.
“As expected, you bastard. You’re still alive.”
The person who killed Emperor and betrayed the regressors that wanted to clear Crown Road was standing right before me.
“You have no sense of fear. Even though you must have heard the news about me from Heretic, I didn’t expect you to appear like this. And to even challenge the Floor before…”
My voice was laced with anger.
It was almost as if my bones creaked from my tightly clenched fists
The same guy I once thought would help finish Crown Road… Had crushed that thought himself.
My resentment toward this man who ruined all our hopes was beyond imagination.
“Keep one thing in mind.”
Yashin, who had silently listened, spoke.
“It wasn’t me who cleared the previous Floor.”
“What bullshit are you spouting? Explain why you’re here, then.”
“Explain, you say. Why do I have to do something like that? Lightning Emperor.”
As soon as I heard my previous designated name, my feet moved first.
The fight was already over the moment he appeared in my sight.
Ambient noise faded away.
The aura entered the Heavenly Star Sword that was sleeping in its scabbard. With the aura, it grew in size in an instant and my sword began to move at a speed that far exceeded common knowledge.
Buzz.
The sound of a small spark.
Third Form—
Lightning Sword Extraction.
The fastest sword technique up my sleeve.
The space wavered as soon as the Third Form, Lightning Sword Extraction, was unleashed.
The Heavenly Star Sword had already returned to its scabbard, and only small sparks crackled and stayed in the space that had been cut.
Yashin’s gaze turned to me.
He acted as though he didn’t even know he’d been cut.
But soon enough…
My eyes slowly grew in size.
“You…”
“I’m not the central figure this time.”
Yashin’s body remained intact. His body was translucent and had a shine to it.
My sword could not cut him.
To be precise, he wasn’t cut by my sword.
My sword passed through his body, as if from the beginning he had never been standing there.
“What have you done?”
“Again, I’ve got no reason to explain anything to you.”
A skill I’d never seen before.
I knew all the skills up to A-rank. The only skills I didn’t know were those of S-rank and above.
Was he inactive this whole time so he could obtain that skill?
‘He sure picked up something troublesome.’
The fact that he was using a skill I’d never seen in my previous regressions meant that he had prepared a lot for this round, just as I had.
“One Floor.”
Yashin opened his mouth.
“There’s someone above, waiting for you. I just came to tell you that.”
Frowning at those mysterious words, Yashin turned and began walking away.
Of course, I didn’t want to just let him go like that. I swung my sword again, yet it only passed right through him.
“Fuck.”
I cursed.
I couldn’t even capture him because I had no clue what skill he was using.
“Go up. Lightning Emperor, Ha Chun-Sung. Meet with the person waiting for you. You still won’t be too late to chase me after that.”
Then, he disappeared.
I ground my teeth and furrowed my brows after missing the enemy that was right in front of my eyes.
“Fuckity, fuck, fuck!”
BOOM.
A building was sliced down by my sword, swung out in anger.
He just appeared in front of me, said what he wanted to say, and then disappeared just like that.
“I’ll kill you.”
A guy waiting for me on the next Floor?
Although I didn’t know who he was.
“I’ll be sure to make you regret meeting me.”
Both him, and Yashin.
* * *
After being played by Yashin, I had no intention of delaying any more, so I climbed up the stairs right away.
[You have entered Floor 24, Stage ‘Dungeon Maker’, administered by ‘Afterimage of You in Action’.]
[The ‘Proprietor of Floor 24’, ‘Afterimage of You in Action’, sincerely welcomes you.]
‘Dungeon Maker’.
Surely enough, it was my first time hearing it.
My eyes opened and my sight cleared, allowing me to slowly look around.
This place was a forest beneath a cliff.
In this forest there lived small, black slimes. Those slimes wriggled around.
‘Clear conditions.’
As soon as I thought that, words appeared in front of my eyes.
[‘Afterimage of You in Action’ presents the conditions for clearing Floor 24.]
[‘Dungeon Maker’. Create the best dungeon with your own hands! This is one of the forests located in the Parasta Empire. In this place, where many adventurers come, dungeon fluid that will become your dungeon was born. And you are the boss monster of that dungeon. Create the best dungeon and do your best as the boss monster.
—Hint: You cannot leave the dungeon. You will have to protect an adventurer called the Black Knight. (On Floor 24, two weeks are equivalent to a day in reality.)]
[There are currently two participants.]
When I confirmed the existence of another contestant besides me, I frowned.
As Yashin said, there was a guy who entered this Floor before me.
‘If it’s as he said…’
The person who cleared Floor 23 wasn’t Yashin himself.
Then that meant the person who cleared Floor 23 was here with me.
‘What the hell are you doing right now?’
Anyway, was it possible to stay in the area leading to the next Floor without clearing the previous Floor?
Many thoughts crossed my mind.
Annoyance spiked.
However, even if I continued to get needlessly irritated, it wouldn’t help me clear Crown Road.
‘It doesn’t matter that Yashin gained a skill I’ve never seen before.’
There was no way for him to beat me.
As I thought so, I began to notice my surroundings.
‘First things first, this guy.’
I did not know who the Black Knight was, but for now, I stared at the black blob that was wriggling around.
The clear condition was to grow this Blackie into a dungeon first.
‘The condition is so ambiguous. And to fulfill my duty as the boss monster…’
Above all, it was not clearly indicated that everything ends the moment I raise him into a dungeon.
It seemed clear what the ‘Afterimage of You in Action’ was intending.
I seemed to be caught by another wicked Constellation.
“Hey, Blackie.”
When I called out to him, he wriggled.
I looked down at it, thinking it looked kind of gross, when it came closer to my feet.
Ddi-ring!
At that moment, a window appeared in front of me.
[Dungeon Fluid (Blackie)]
Lv.1
Bellicosity Amount: 50
A dungeon fluid.
If it swallows a dead body as a medium, it will instantly grow into a dungeon. The dungeon grants original memories to bodies that have been swallowed, since they have to live their daily lives even while in the dungeon. Be careful as disposition changes depending on the body swallowed. An advance warning! Even dungeons can die if hunted.
After that, cautionary sentences followed.
1. Since you are the boss monster, you cannot go more than one meter from the center of the dungeon.
2. Dungeons feed on bellicosity and grow.
‘Bellicosity? Is it like aura?”
Then another window popped open above the status window.
What is bellicosity?
It’s an element that allows the dungeon to grow. It is the power that adventurers emit when fighting in the dungeon. With bellicosity, you can summon monsters or decorate the Floor.
I think it could be taken as a kind of cost.
I finished reading the rest of the points.
3. Whenever the fluid-form dungeon moves one kilometer, it consumes ten bellicosity.
4. The monsters inside the dungeon come back to life one hour after their death.
5. As the dungeon becomes stronger, the dungeon’s owner also grows stronger alongside it.
6. Monsters born in dungeons no longer level up.
This seemed to be Blackie’s status window.
‘I literally have to grow this guy.’
But really, a dead body? Its preference sure was disgusting.
‘Anyway, where do I find corpses?’
First, we had to find out if there were any creatures around us.
I gathered mana in my ears.
At that moment, I heard the sound of a dog barking.
A monster by the sound of it.
Awesome.
“The Pied Piper.”
My voice transformed into that of a whistle.
The sound of the whistle stretched out, and the barks of dogs disappeared, replaced by the sound of rapid footsteps.
The first to come were the Rabid Dogs.
Dogs with deep cuts on their flanks ran furiously at me, salivating and licking their chops. I immediately raised my Heavenly Star Sword.
“I welcome you. You guys are the first monsters for Blackie.”
WHIMPER!
The Rabid Dogs, cut instantly by my sword, tumbled across the floor.
When I placed Blackie on top of the Rabid Dogs, he started to wriggle a little and swallow them.
Creak Creak.
Sounds of bones colliding echoed throughout.
Skinny and white human bones.
The monster with shabby clothes and a sword was a skeleton.
I stared into the empty black eye sockets, and a smile adorned my face. I raised my sword and spoke.
“Welcome.”
The skeleton was destroyed.
How long had it been since I was picking up each bone fragment? I heard the loud sound of wings flapping, echoing through the sky.
I raised my head, only for the sky to darken.
“…Gosh, that skill works wonders.”
There, a dragon that dwarfed me in size by thousands of times was flying.
[The ‘Proprietor of Floor 24’, ‘Afterimage of You in Action’, applauds.]
* * *
Hofura of the Wind
The dragon, also called the Savage Dragon, was spending a peaceful day in Soer, the country she destroyed.
The dragon destroyed the kingdom because King Soer ticked her off. She wondered if there was more prey to hunt.
One who could make her boring life livelier.
She had been thinking about it for a while, when she suddenly heard a strange whistling sound drifting through the wind.
There was no way Hofura, whose hearing was at a whole other level from ordinary creatures, could miss the sound.
She rose up as if possessed.
Intrigued, Hofura raised her huge body and faced the direction of the sound. And soon, she stirred up tremendous winds as she flew up.
Flap.
With a single movement from Hofura, all birds in the vicinity fled.
At the end of the whistle, she found a man.
‘Olala, he’s my style.’
