Five Time Regressor Walks the King’s Path - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

If I respond here, I would immediately gain Time Reset.

The name of the skill sounds really grandiose.

As if you could freely reset time.

However, this skill wasn’t in such a special class.

[Time Reset (F-rank)]

Type: Active

You can take yourself one level into the past.

Congratulations.

With this ability, you can live at level one forever!

Your body can also return to level one and taste eternal youth.

Of course, it will probably reset in five years anyway.

If used, it brings yourself back to the past. To be exact, by one level.

It’s called a shit-tier skill.

Even among F-rank skills, it’s the trash of all trash.

It was the first trash skill I chose when I entered Crown Road.

The only good thing about it is that even if you stood at death’s door, by using Time Reset to go back one level, your body could be restored to its original state.

However, in Crown Road, even just one stat could cause a huge gap. The damage of leveling down was too high.

Even if you survived, if you became weak, it was useless.

In addition, with plenty of better skills, Time Reset was a skill that no one chose.

Nevertheless, I chose Time Reset.

The first skill I chose.

“Yes.”

[F-rank [Time Reset] was chosen. You will be moved to the Floor 0.5 safe zone momentarily.]

As soon as the words appeared in front of me, I stepped onto the Floor.

The moment I opened my eyes, which I had closed due to the bright light, and raised my head, new letters were listed in front of my eyes.

The moment I opened my eyes, closed due to the bright light, and raised my head, new words had appeared before my eyes.

[Crown Road Participant, Ha Chun-Sung]

[Crown Road, Fifth Regression]

Constellation: None.

Aura Attributes: Electric.

Age: 24 years old.

LV.1

Vitality: 5

Magic Power: 5

Strength: 5

Intelligence: 5

Agility: 5

Remaining Stats: 0

– Skill Window –

F-rank [Time Reset]

[Skill is empty.]

A simple window.

But this window was an absolute disgrace.

As the stat numbers go up, you become stronger.

It was that simple.

Having erased the window with my hand, I began to walk through the familiar village.

The village, which felt like a mixture of fantasy and modernity, was a place I had stayed for a long time and knew everything about.

‘The goal is Floor 10.’

Time Reset is of no use until I get ‘that skill’.

In that case, I had to somehow break through to Floor 10 where I could get the next skill.

As it’s a skill with no power at all, breaking through to Floor 10 would be impossible alone.

So what I thought of was…

“First-time participants of Crown Road! I will help you!”

You can follow the one who is shouting confidently.

It’s strange but there were always guys like that.

The ones who survived the previous regression would come forward in that way and help the newbies.

‘Well, it’s obvious why.’

They were planning on taking advantage of the newbies who didn’t know anything.

Crown Road was very dangerous in the beginning.

This was because, even if one had a good skill, the chances of success were slim due to the low stats.

Therefore, to facilitate early growth, gather the newbies who knew nothing and use them as shields.

From my point of view, I was going to use the guy who’s using the newbies to break through to Floor 10.

‘Besides, among the newbies, there wouldn’t be any Yashin.’

They’ll definitely move again.

In my position, where I planned on clearing Crown Road, they must be ruled out.

“May I join you?”

“Yes, of course.”

When I deliberately picked a guy who didn’t know my face and spoke to him, they gladly accepted.

This guy had no way of knowing which regression I was on. I’ll have to make it look like I’m a newbie.

“Which skill did you choose?”

“Oh, Time Reset.”

I answered his question innocently.

Originally, I would have never told him, but Time Reset was a skill you could tell anyone about.

When he heard my answer, he sighed regretfully.

Probably because he knew that Time Reset was a garbage skill for a regressor.

But for this guy, a newbie’s skill didn’t matter.

‘And he doesn’t seem to know my face.’

Because I had returned to Crown Road five times and was on the frontlines, many regressors knew who I was.

Of course, there weren’t many left now because they died in the last regression.

Perhaps repeated regressions had dulled me, making me indifferent to the death of my comrades, but I wasn’t affected by such things.

“Is it a bad skill?”

I asked innocently as if I were a newbie.

Then he showed a sly smile.

“It’s okay. If you reach Floor 10, you’ll get another skill. Besides, aren’t you a soldier? You’ll be able to endure it well until then.”

This rotten uniform.

Anyway, when he let me join his group, I went into the crowd.

Judging by their appearance and behavior, they were all really newbies.

There were more than 40,000 newbies in this regression, but even so, there were too many of them.

‘The first item can’t be helped.’

Each time a Floor is cleared, Crown Road rewards a useful item.

Naturally, those who clear the Floors first are given better items than the latecomers, so regressors compete to clear the Floor first.

If I had chosen my usual Thunderbolt as my skill, I would have joined them. Now that I chose Time Reset, though, I couldn’t join such a competition.

I just had to quietly go up to Floor 10 while mixed in with the crowd.

“Oh.”

A woman recognized me as I approached the group to join the mumbling newbies.

It was the office lady who spoke to me right before stepping through the white door.

She frowned as soon as she saw me.

“What are you frowning for? I’ll rip it off that face.”

If it were before, I would’ve just blurted it out. But I avoided her gaze by pressing down on my beret.

It was because I wanted to avoid any unnecessary trouble since I got into a group without any problems.

But I continued to feel that hot gaze.

“Then I’ll give you the details of Crown Road.”

As I quietly mixed into the group of people, the guy who gathered us started to explain about Crown Road.

“Let me introduce myself first. My name is Igor. I’m Russian. You were originally meant to die, but you were chosen by the Constellations to escape your fate and participate in Crown Road.”

I silently listened to Igor, who started the explanation with an introduction.

The Constellations chose us to avoid the fate of death.

As I had already regressed in Crown Road five times, I knew all about it.

Everyone here was originally meant to die.

Accidental death or illness, something happens and you’re destined to suddenly die.

It’s complicated to cover now, so let’s deal with it again later.

I’d also learned about it after I caught the Semi-Constellation, ‘Catalmin’s Slave’.

‘Although it seems like he doesn’t know as much as I do.’

Igor, who gave a long-winded explanation with folded arms, raised his hand after he finished.

“Now, I’ll take questions.”

Oh, even questions.

Several people raised their hands at Igor’s statement.

For newbies who knew nothing, Igor’s information was like lifeblood.

“What do you mean when you say we’ll clear the quests given by the Constellations on each Floor?”

“Exactly that. Every time you go up a Floor, you will encounter the quests of the Constellations. They will test us and determine if we are fit to advance.”

Another person raised their hand once Igor finished.

“Are the quests dangerous?”

“Yes, you could die.”

A murmur of voices.

People’s murmurings spread over Igor’s words that they would need to risk their lives.

Looking at such newbies, Igor raised his hand once more as if to calm them down and spoke again.

“Those who are afraid of losing their lives, please remain here. Of course, if you work on Floor 0.5, you can make a living and survive. But if we don’t advance, we’ll be back here in five years. The helplessness of that time is beyond description. You all have skills. And levels. Remember, you’re stronger than you could ever imagine.”

Igor calmly persuaded them.

He argued and persuaded endlessly based on the existence of strong skills.

Still, there were many people who hesitated after hearing Igor’s words.

This was because fear from ignorance makes people unable to move easily.

“I’ll go to the very end. Because I’m going back home.”

The office worker I saw earlier spoke as she raised her hand.

Her eyes were full of determination.

Igor clapped with satisfaction.

“That’s a great mentality. Don’t worry, everyone. I’ll protect you all at least to Floor 10. Trust me and just go to Floor 10, and then decide. There won’t be any big problems for you guys.”

“W-Well then…”

“Should I join too?”

Thanks to the collaboration of the office worker and Igor, one by one, people decided to participate.

The nameless office lady had gotten close to Igor and was chatting. Seeing them, I snuck into the crowd, entering the side that wanted to participate.

Most of the newbies expressed their intention to participate when Igor said he would help.

“That’s good. A lot of you stayed. We’ll go straight to Floor 1 without waiting, since Floor 1 is like a tutorial. You’ll be able to test your skills to your heart’s content.”

Was he trying to break through right away?

But as Igor said, Floor 1 was nothing much.

[The ‘Proprietor of Floor 1′, ‘Mocking Cinderella’, criticizes you.]

Fuck off.

It’s a fact that it’s nothing much.

[The ‘Proprietor of Floor 1’, ‘Mocking Cinderella’, is sad.]

Maybe because I spent my first round, a full five years, on Floor 1.5. ‘Mocking Cinderella’ seemed to remember me and talked to me like this every time I returned to Floor 1.

But in my position, it was a completely unwelcome interest.

Although you can be empowered from being baptized by a Constellation, ‘Mocking Cinderella’ was famous for not picking anyone.

So I had no interest in ‘Mocking Cinderella’.

After following Igor for a long while, we faced stairs that went up.

It was the stairs that led to Floor 1.

Like kindergarten students, Igor, the ‘teacher’, guided them up the stairs. As soon as they stepped on the last step, it flashed before their eyes.

An inverted view.

Tens of thousands of stars filled the night sky, and above a huge clock spun.

A glass-built tower at the center, and endless stairs.

This was Floor 1.

It was Floor 1 that was overseen by ‘Mocking Cinderella’, ‘Glass Slipper’.

[You have entered Floor 1, which is overseen by ‘Mocking Cinderella’, Stage ‘Glass Slipper’.]

* * *

When I looked around, small Glass Rabbits were running around in the distance.

Each of them had a watch on their chest, with the clock ticking toward 12 o’clock.

“Floor 1, ‘Glass Slipper’. Overseen by the Constellation, ‘Mocking Cinderella’, all you need to do is leave for Floor 1.5 before the clock hits 12. So before that, it’s kind of like a tutorial where you can level up by hunting these Glass Rabbits. Let’s hunt separately until 11:30, and then go up the stairs again.”

The Floor famous for being the safest place in Crown Road was Floor 1, ‘Glass Slipper’.

People were still suspicious of Igor’s words, but still stepped forward. The quick-witted ones approached Igor during this time, trying to get friendly.

I didn’t pay them any mind and approached a Glass Rabbit.

The Glass Rabbit that shone the lights in the sky sparkled brightly.

I apathetically grabbed the rabbit with my hand and raised it up.

‘The weakest of all monsters, Glass Rabbit.’

It was easily broken and infinitely weak, but it gave more experience than Floor 15.

I immediately struck the glass rabbit onto the floor.

Clank.

With the sound of glass shattering, a fragment pierced my hand.

But I didn’t care and I trampled on the glass rabbit with my boots. At that moment, light enveloped my body.