Five Time Regressor Walks the King’s Path - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“Haah.”

Floor 21.5, where the evening sun was setting.

A captivating woman was sitting in a chair, sighing.

Her black hair had a light purple tint, her face was somewhat somber, and a sword was tied to her waist.

With the name Sword Queen, she was currently in the top ten of the tower’s ranking. Presently, she was staring out a window at the stairs leading to Floor 22.

Three months had passed since she joined the frontlines and advanced to Floor 21.

If only the Constellations remained the same, three months should have been more than enough to clear up to Floor 30.

‘Each Floor takes too long.’

In the past, she was a regressor skilled enough to be Emperor’s bodyguard.

Although she was not able to protect Emperor from the hands of Yashin, it would have been possible for her, a four-time regressor, to clear up to Floor 50 in a flash.

However, with the Constellation change, the time it took to attack and clear a Floor was only getting longer the more they advanced.

The more Floors she cleared, the more brutal the clear conditions proposed by the Constellations were. Even the regressors were losing their energy.

Even though they were still in the early Floors, it felt to them like they cleared over 50 Floors.

‘What should we do?’

Crown Road, Fourth Regression.

She knew how terrible this regression was since she had repeated Crown Road four times.

Many of the regressors were lost due to the war.

The Constellation change.

These two unfavorable factors stacked together, causing the situation to take a turn for the worst.

The spirit of the regressors was lost due to the war, and they regressed only to discover the Constellation change.

‘If only that man was here.’

She could only sigh in regret upon remembering Emperor, the leader she once followed.

Would he have broken through this situation if he was still alive?

No, in the first place, he would have cleared Crown Road during the last regression.

Grit.

With that thought, she clenched her teeth hard and radiated anger.

The windows around her cracked, and a slight tremor caused the room to vibrate as if an earthquake was happening. A blood-red aura seeped out from her body.

She became enraged thinking of Yashin.

‘I have to calm down.’

There had been no news of Yashin since then.

She was sure that man had died at the hands of Emperor.

However, the remnants of Yashin still crawled around the tower.

Her information network was spread all over the previous Floors, inquiring about people related to Yashin. It was only a matter of time before traces were found.

‘I have no idea what the hell they’ve been doing, but I haven’t heard about them for three months.’

She’d rip up the roots of Yashin the moment she spotted a strand of hair.

Sword Queen slowly shook her head while thinking such sad thoughts.

‘Let’s forget what happened then. I should focus on the present.’

She failed clearing Floor 22 once.

She led people talented enough to be standing on the frontlines to Floor 22, but it was too difficult.

So what she had to do right now was to figure out a way to clear Floor 22.

‘Floor 22, Stage ‘Witch Museum’, administered by ‘Parman’s Flute’.’

This Floor, where she had to solve the witch’s grievance, was quite a headache to clear.

The witch’s grievance was problematic, but it wasn’t the biggest problem.

[The witch’s grievance has become a miasma, spreading throughout the air.]

Due to that, it was difficult to stay on the Floor for a long time.

The miasma, which penetrated the abnormal status immunity skills, couldn’t be blocked even by aura and had to be endured with just pure physical vitality. So those who tried to conquer the Floor faced difficulties and failed.

She had been on the current Floor for a month. She’d been tied up on one Floor for far too long.

‘This is a problem. It’s not like there’s someone out there who only raised their vitality.’

Even if one cleared the Floor in the shortest amount of time, they’d need a vitality of 300 or more to withstand the witch’s miasma.

Considering the average vitality level of regressors in the frontlines was 70, they stood no chance.

‘Though there are other regressors who are leveling up and raising their vitality in the previous Floors.’

Thinking there may be another way, Sword Queen remained here and was pondering.

“Hey, stop right there. Floor 22 is off-limits for the time being. It’s dangerous up there.”

Sword Queen turned her attention toward the voice.

There stood a man and a guard, just in case someone entered Floor 22 without knowing the risks and ended up never coming back.

Of course, he was also standing guard to look out for Yashin.

“Was there a time Crown Road wasn’t dangerous?”

Sword Queen couldn’t help but let out a laugh hearing that.

‘Well said.’

However, she couldn’t tell who the stranger was from behind.

That meant he wasn’t a regressor she stood side by side with on the frontlines.

‘But I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere.’

She couldn’t remember.

While she was trying to remember, the man passed the guard and tried to climb up the stairs.

Sword Queen jumped out the open window before the guard could stop him.

‘He may be one of Yashin’s remnants.’

Furthermore, even if he wasn’t part of Yashin, it was too dangerous to rush into Floor 22.

“Wait.”

Sword Queen stopped him.

With her words, the man wearing a robe turned his head to make eye contact, and she tilted her head.

“I’ve seen you before. Who are you?”

“Aren’t you Sword Queen.”

It was more of a statement than a question.

Sword Queen blinked.

The stranger seemed to know her, and she felt like she had heard that assertive tone before.

“Ah.”

She raised her head. She’d remembered.

He was…

“Lightning Emperor.”

He was someone called Lightning Emperor during their previous regression.

She questioned his sudden appearance.

He was at the level fit to become Emperor’s bodyguard, and they had stood together in the frontlines, so she did know him.

“You, where in the world have you been, to only appear now?”

Talented regressors were extremely valuable in the current situation.

So a guild was created by putting together regressors capable of standing on the frontlines.

Torrent.

From the perspective of Sword Queen, who had been busy creating this guild, the sudden appearance of Lightning Emperor was somewhat questionable.

“Sorry, but I’m no longer Lightning Emperor. I don’t have a designated name. My name is Ha Chun-Sung.”

“What?”

Her eyes turned round at the words of Lightning Emperor, no, Ha Chun-Sung.

He hadn’t received a designated name?

A designated name means imprinting one’s existence to the Constellations. It’s received when a person reaches level 50.

To say he didn’t have one was the same as saying he was below level 50.

“Lightning, no, Ha Chun-Sung. Are you trying to enter Floor 22 when you haven’t even reached level 50?”

“So what?”

“Are you crazy?! You’re a regressor, so what in the world are you thinking? You already know about the Constellations changing on every Floor. What you’re doing right now is just glorified suicide!”

Ha Chun-Sung made an expression of not listening in response to Sword Queen’s shouting.

Seeing that, she furrowed her eyebrows and a faint anger flowed out from her body.

“What kind of reaction is that?”

Ha Chun-Sung’s expression remained the same even after the guard shrieked and retreated away from her.

Seeing him ignore her words, she grew even angrier at his attitude.

“I’m looking after you right now. I’m afraid you’re going to die on Floor 22, so what’s with that attitude?”

“Sword Queen.”

After hearing the angry voice of Sword Queen, Ha Chun-Sung finally opened his mouth.

“Stop bothering me. You’re being nosy.”

Naturally, that only made her angrier.

Sword Queen, formerly Emperor’s bodyguard and a ranker who fought on the frontlines, had an insane level of 728.

Her sword could split the earth and the sky, not to mention the sword itself was also gorgeous, so the name Sword Queen was appropriate.

* * *

However, the Sword Queen in front of me, now in my fifth regression, was just a very weak woman.

Crown Road’s ranking was determined by level.

Sword Queen. Her rank was nine.

Her level, 87.

It was quite the number considering the average level of regressors was in the 70s.

However, that number was nothing in my eyes.

My current level was 10.

It was abysmally low compared to Sword Queen’s level, but I had overwhelming stats.

And so level 87 was meaningless before my absurd stats.

“Seems like you can’t get what I’m saying through that skull of yours.”

The irritated Sword Queen drew her sword.

To draw her sword just because of this, how impetuous.

“What, you gonna kill me?”

“I’m trying to show you how important levels are. If you realize the difference between you and me, knowing you’re not strong enough, maybe that’ll stop you from going to the next Floor.”

“I wonder which of us isn’t strong enough.”

The face of Sword Queen twisted in anger at my mocking words.

Then, her figure suddenly disappeared.

Zero Step. It was a C-rank skill that narrows the distance in an instant.

The more of a master one was in their field, the more they knew the importance of distance control. That’s probably why Sword Queen chose this skill.

However…

In my eyes, which were infused with mana, she couldn’t be any slower.

‘Is she planning on knocking me out with the flat of the blade?’

I watched the blade heading for my neck and smoothly leaned back to dodge.

The tip of the blade swished across my face, nearly grazing it, and she looked taken aback.

‘He dodged?’

She mouthed.

“Sorry, but I don’t wanna waste any more time.”

Then, I clenched my hand into a fist.

Bam!

“Keuk?!”

I won’t go easy on her just because she was a woman.

Anyway, she was a woman talented enough to become Emperor’s bodyguard.

When I threw a punch at her stomach faster than she could dodge, Sword Queen’s body flew up into the air and dropped to the floor with a thump.

“Keuk, cough.”

I turned my back on her, who couldn’t even stand due to the pain.

Because I subdued Sword Queen with a single blow, the guard was making a face as if he couldn’t quite understand the situation.

I walked past him and climbed the stairs.

“W-wait…a min…ute.”

I didn’t stop, even after Sword Queen barely managed to get those words out.

[You have entered Floor 22, Stage ‘Witch Museum’, administered by ‘Parman’s Flute’.]

[‘Parman’s Flute’ is interested in you.]

As soon as I climbed the stairs, I was blinded by bright light.

Then I saw it. A glass box filled with water, and inside it was a woman.

Air bubbles occasionally escaped from her nose, as if she was breathing.

[The witch’s grievance is spread through the air as a miasma.]

At that moment, the miasma enveloped and attacked my body. At least, it tried to.

The miasma of grievance was quite appalling.

I understood why the frontline regressors couldn’t clear this Floor.

Certainly, with this miasma, it would take more than 300 vitality to withstand it.

It must have been difficult for them with their current power.

‘Though for me, it’s nothing.’

It just tickled a little.

I approached the glass box when the words appeared in front of my eyes like the previous Floors.

[‘Parman’s Flute’ presents the conditions for clearing Floor 22.]

[‘Grievances, come to me.’ Camoa Arda, who was called a witch, was previously the director of an orphanage. Get to the bottom of her grievance and figure out what it is. Then free her of her grievance. However, keep this in mind. Your identity should be kept hidden. Exposure means failure.]

With those clearing conditions, the view before me brightened once more.

With the white light fading, I opened my eyes to see a field of greenery and a four-story school-like building located in the center.

Children were running around in the field, and I realized my gaze had lowered considerably.

‘I’m smaller.’

I looked down at my hands to find cute, tiny palms.

‘Did I possess one of the orphan children or something?’