Five Time Regressor Walks the King’s Path - Chapter 40
Chapter 40. Break Down the System
I climbed one step ahead of Sword Queen and immediately headed to Floor 29.
I couldn’t waste a second in order to chase Ha Il-Sung, and that meant I needed to conquer the next Floor as soon as possible.
‘Damn it, I’m way too late.’
I stayed on Floor 28 for quite a long time because of the last clear condition.
Therefore, it was impossible to know how far Ha Il-Sung would have gotten by now.
‘If I was Ha Il-Sung, I would head for Floor 50 as soon as possible. Floor 50 and above is merged with other words. From that point on is where the real Crown Road begins. Everything before that is just a test.’
It was definitely Ha Il-Sung’s first time in Crown Road.
I ground my teeth at the fact that he was leading, sitting at first amongst all the regressors.
It was annoying, but Ha Il-Sung was the most outstanding person I’d ever seen.
Whether it be back on Earth or in Crown Road, he was always ahead.
“This freaking older brother.”
I cursed the fact that I didn’t like anything about my brother as I arrived on Floor 29.
[You have entered Floor 29, Stage ‘Are We Slaves?’, administered by ‘Indolent Pleasure’.]
[The ‘Proprietor of Floor 29’, ‘Indolent Pleasure’, passionately welcomes your entrance.]
Once again, a name I’d never heard.
I looked around as I waited for the next notification, thinking about how I really didn’t know how many new challenges I’d overcome because of the Constellation change.
A typical medieval family house. Unlike the previous Floor, I noticed that it had a fantasy theme.
[‘Indolent Pleasure’ presents the conditions for clearing Floor 29.]
[‘Are We Slaves?’ — Your close friend is 20 years old, and it’s time to join the army after being conscripted by the country. As a woman, you don’t enter the army. But your friend, a strong man, will live a bloody life every day once it’s time to go to the army. But what can you do? There’s nothing to do about it. You drink a lot to console him.]
[This Floor’s time is warped. Five days on this Floor are equal to one day.]
[This Floor is cleared individually. Upon entry, you may enter with those who have been registered as a team.]
As soon as I saw the explanation of this Floor, a vein bulged on my forehead.
What… This bastard.
“Hey, are you from my fucking country?”
[‘Indolent Pleasure’ tilts their head.]
[‘Indolent Pleasure’ acts as if it doesn’t know what you’re talking about.]
This damned Constellation.
For a moment, I felt such fierce anger that I even forgot my anger toward Ha Il-Sung.
I wanted to grab the Constellation by their neck and pull them beside me, but I decided to clear the Floor first.
‘I’m going to have to clear this Floor quickly.’
Thinking this, I began to turn my head, having briefly forgotten one thing.
[As a woman, you don’t enter the army.]
As soon as I remembered those words, I used Glass Fabrication to create a mirror.
At that moment, my figure was reflected in the mirror. The face shown in the mirror slowly began to frown.
My reflection in the mirror was not my usual appearance.
Black hair down to the waist and a thin face. At a glance, one could tell the figure was feminine.
It was a gender conversion Floor that I’d only experienced once before.
“Shit.”
Cursing, I broke the Glass Fabrication.
Then, I looked down just in case. It was also gone.
This was a Floor where every participant became a woman when they entered.
“You bloody Constellation! Is there no such thing as a public interest system here?! Why did you make me a woman?”
[‘Indolent Pleasure’ makes an expression as if they don’t understand your anger.]
If you don’t understand, then try to understand.
This is the body that returned to the time just ten days before military discharge for the fifth time.
I rattled open the door, barely suppressing my rough breath.
“So where’s this friend?”
[‘Indolent Pleasure’ is a little scared as they show you next door.]
After hearing the answer of the frightened Constellation, I left.
Looking around, there was a house that looked like a farm in the distance and I walked there without hesitation.
“Hey.”
Arriving in front of the house built like a farm, I knocked on the door and called out to the person inside.
Soon, I heard someone walking and the door opened with a squeak.
“Chun-Sung.”
Whimper.
The guy inside had swollen eyes, seemingly having been crying until now.
Seeing such a fellow, I went inside with a sigh.
“Did you get the draft notice?”
“…Yeah. What am I going to do? Chun-Sung, now I have to rot away in the army for a decade.”
It was five times longer than my country.
For the first time in five regressions, I felt sorry for a Floor’s character.
I patted him on the shoulder even though it was my first time seeing him.
“I’ve been there, so this big brother knows. Time flies. There’s nothing much to the army, so just work hard in the beginning. Get close to your seniors, and if you look good to the executives, your time in the army will end without any issues.”
“What do you mean by big brother? And why are you talking like you’ve been to the army?”
“Shit, just listen. Don’t complain. I’m already annoyed.”
“Oh, okay.”
I went inside with the dazed-looking guy.
An old and shabby-looking house, but everything seemed to be there.
“Do you have alcohol?”
“I do, but…”
“Bring it all. I’ll drink it with you.”
“Chun-Sung… As expected, you’re the only friend I have.”
Usually, people who are nice to you before going to the military come to mind the most.
I pulled out my chair and sat down, instructing the jittery fellow to bring me a drink.
Fortunately, the only thing that had changed was my gender. My clothes were the same, and the Heavenly Star Sword was at my waist.
‘The clear condition is probably to just figure it out.’
For now, I followed the Constellation’s suggestion to drink a lot of alcohol with him, but there must be a separate condition for clearing this Floor.
Then, I’d have to somehow find the clear condition.
‘I don’t want to stay too long on this Floor.’
I’ll have to clear it and move up.
While I was thinking about that, the friend brought out a lot of alcohol that seemed to have been in storage.
As it was an old house, the condition of the alcohol wasn’t great, but what was certain was that it was the type of alcohol that would get you drunk no matter what.
“Let’s have a drink first.”
The man, listening to me, immediately poured alcohol into the glass.
And when we lightly tapped each other’s glasses and drank the alcohol, the guy let out a loud sound and wore a sad expression.
“The alcohol is sweet. The damn alcohol is sweet, Chun-Sung.”
“Everything is sweet before going to the army. Pour another drink. When will you join the army?”
“It’s tomorrow. I have to go to the army training center by three tomorrow.”
Crazy. As soon as the notice came out.
They don’t even give them time to prepare mentally.
“Then I’ll teach you all the army tips, so listen carefully.”
I didn’t know how different this country’s army would be from the army of my own country.
But at least if the country drafted him as a soldier, his rank would be a low-level soldier.
After all, people live in similar places.
As long as you’re a soldier, it was obvious what you would have to face.
So I told him about the army.
An army story that any Korean man would know.
One glass and two glasses turned into one bottle and two bottles. Once we went over ten bottles, the bastard was crying with a half-dead look.
“Chun-Sung, I really don’t want to go to the army. Why should I go? The government didn’t do anything for me. They say that nobles don’t go to the army because they work for the country, but aren’t they the ones who are there to protect the country? Why don’t they have to go when I, a regular citizen, have to?”
“Yeah, like you said, I don’t know why you have to go when there’s nothing the country does for us. Even if you go, they’ll only treat you like a slave.”
“I’ve heard a lot. They treat you like their son until you get hurt. I don’t even have a mother to call me a son. Then whose son am I?”
He cried like he was really drunk.
Well, thanks to my aura, I was okay even while drinking. But for a guy who couldn’t even handle aura, there was no way for him to fight off the drunkenness.
Come to think of it, what was this guy’s name?
To think I was complaining about the army with a guy I didn’t even know the name of.
I gave a long sigh, thinking I was also doing all sorts of things.
“Chun-Sung, I’ve never even dated a girl. When I go to the army, there’s only going to be men. What should I do?”
“That’s a pity, but…”
That wasn’t the case on my end.
When he heard my answer, he sniffed and suddenly began to stare at me.
I soon realized his gaze and frowned.
It was because I immediately realized what his stare meant since my body was a woman’s due to this Floor.
“Do you want to die?”
“N-No, I’m sorry.”
Rotten bastard.
I was about to hit him on the head but crossed my arms and legs instead, asking him a question.
“Your name is…?”
“My name, uh, Rush. Why my name all of a sudden?”
“I just couldn’t remember.”
“That’s right… In ten years, you’ll forget about me.”
I stood up from my seat when I saw Rush was depressed no matter what I said.
“Hey, get up and go to the city.”
“Why the city?”
“I thought I’d help someone who has never dated before. Just look around for women all you want before you head off to the army. You never know, you might just meet a girl who’ll wait ten years.”
“Y-Yeah! You never know!”
There was no way that would happen.
There were people who broke up over just two years in the army. No woman besides a man’s own mother would wait ten years.
If they really existed, she’d be a great woman you’d have to bow down to for the rest of your life.
Thinking of that, I took the crying Rush outside.
Under Rush’s guidance, I walked a long way to the city. The sun had set, and the city was already blanketed by night.
“Rush, is there a club or something here? It’s a place where a lot of people who can’t control the excitement of their 20s gather.”
“I don’t know what a club is, but there is an underground bar like that. The country is cracking down on it, saying it’s unpleasant, but they pop up secretly. But aren’t aristocrats the only ones in their 20s who can’t control their excitement? In our country, ordinary men spend all whole 20s in the military.”
“Let’s go there instead of talking about more depressing stuff.”
“Oh, but I’ll probably be kicked out before I even get in. There’s a dress code, since they want to make sure everybody’s an aristocrat, and my clothes are like this.”
Rush’s clothes were definitely those of someone who worked on the farm until recently.
When I saw such a Rush, I sighed lightly and told him to follow me.
After finding a clothing store, I took Rush inside.
“The one that’s most popular, and dress him in something that you’d think would suit him.”
With those words, I took out some money and handed it to the staff.
“Yes, yes!”
Perhaps because I handed over quite a lot of money, the employee rushed inside in a panic.
Crown Road’s currency was all the same.
There wasn’t any problem with money, since it could be used on any Floor. Rush, who couldn’t possibly know that, looked surprised.
“Chun-Sung, is that really okay? That was quite a lot of money just now.”
“Never mind that. Just change your clothes.”
Until I understood the clear conditions, I needed to do everything to help this guy out.
Of course, no matter what I did, it seemed like Rush would end up having to enter the army.
