13. The Regressor (3)

“Kill him!”

The enemies charged toward us, each swinging their weapon.

The spear, the sword, and the axe all slashed toward Joo Yeon-woo at once.

Clear murderous intent—every strike aimed to cut into his flesh.
But he avoided them all with light, effortless movements.

“Urgh…!”

“Tsk…!”

Their weapons sliced through empty air as he slipped past them, their swings thrown off balance.

The moment the men staggered from the force of their own attacks—

—he moved like lightning.

Thud—!

“Graaagh!”

With a sickening crack, the arm of the man wielding the axe bent in a direction no arm should bend.

The man dropped his axe and screamed.

“Wh-what— Aagh!”

“W-wait, stop—!”

Panicked by their companion’s scream, the remaining two froze for a moment—
but Joo Yeon-woo didn’t give them even a second to recover.

The dull sound of breaking bone rang out several more times.

Then the clang of metal hitting the ground, followed by groans of pain.

He tossed the completely subdued men aside and spoke calmly:

“It’s done.”

And it was.

None of the men could pose a threat anymore.

“Ghh….”

“Urgh…!”

They lay on the ground, clutching their limbs and writhing in pain.
Their weapons had been kicked far out of reach.

[The Abandoned Princess is impressed.]
[The Goddess of Fate applauds.]

The Constellations filled my view with excited messages.

…They actually enjoy this?

I forced down the nausea rising in me at the brutal scene before my eyes.

“…You’re incredible.”

Anyway, he did help me, so I should probably thank him.

If it weren’t for him, I might’ve died.

“It was nothing.”

Joo Yeon-woo replied as if it truly was nothing.

Then he asked,

“So, what will you do now?”

“Oh, that? I thought we should scout the area like I said earlier.”

“Hm? Ah, I suppose I phrased my question poorly.”

As if it were obvious, he pointed to the men sprawled across the ground.

“I was asking how you intend to deal with them. Wouldn’t it be best to kill them now? To prevent future trouble.”

My thoughts froze for a moment at how casually he said it.

“…Kill them?”

“Yes.”

“Those people?”

“Yes.”

Seeing my expression, he tilted his head and added,

“Something bothering you?”

“…There’s no reason to kill them, is there? It looks like all their bones are broken— they won’t be able to hurt anyone. We can just take their weapons and leave them…”

“Yes. For the moment, it should pose no major risk. At least on this floor, they won’t be a threat. But after that, who knows? Especially since this incident would’ve made them resent us even more.”

“……”

“Showing half-hearted mercy and leaving behind a possible danger—wouldn’t it be far more rational to eliminate them now?”

“So basically…”

I calmly summarized his logic.

“Kill them now, just in case?”

“Exactly. Those who attempt to kill must be prepared to die.”

[The Goddess of Fate agrees with Joo Yeon-woo’s opinion.]
[The Abandoned Princess approves of Joo Yeon-woo’s words.]

“In this Tower, this is the natural way of thinking. It is the most appropriate approach for survival.”

“…Maybe. But unfortunately, I haven’t been in the Tower that long.”

I felt like Alice was dumped into Wonderland.

Maybe from the perspective of someone who’s lived in this place longer, my actions looked strange.

“The idea of killing someone just because they might be dangerous later… I still can’t accept that.”

“……”

“So leave them.”

He fell silent.

Then he said, while looking down at the men still groaning and crawling weakly across the ground,

“Injuries to the limbs greatly reduce one’s mobility. And on this floor, loss of mobility is a fatal disadvantage for survival.”

“……”

“They’re highly likely to die if left like this. Are you planning to take responsibility for them?”

“I’m not going to take responsibility. I just don’t want to kill them myself.”

“Leaving them to die and killing them directly are not all that different.”

“They are different.”

I looked up at him, fear tightening in my chest, then glanced at the men crawling on the ground trying to escape.

And I remembered that night—
the moonlight,
the blood,
and him looking down at me from above.

And the points displayed in his window—proof he had killed.

I still hadn’t asked him the truth of that day.

I was too afraid of what answer I might hear.

“And I feel that difference quite strongly. If someone dies right in front of me because of my choice, I think it would ruin my mood.”

Even now.

I was scared, so I didn’t want to kill.

Even if I couldn’t help these attackers…
I didn’t want to be the one to take their lives.

Death was still heavy to me—too heavy.

Even if I pretended not to see, even if it wasn’t noble…
I didn’t want to be the person who killed with my own hands.

“So just leave them. You said you wanted to cooperate with me, right? Then you should at least accommodate me on this much.”

The ridiculous part was that even while I said that, even while I was terrified,
I was planning to use this man to survive.

A man who had already killed several people.

I clenched my fists so he wouldn’t see them shaking.

I didn’t want him to notice that even after everything, I was still afraid of him.

With a face that showed nothing of what he was thinking, he looked at me.

“…Understood. If that is truly what you want.”

Then he sheathed his sword.

Relief washed over me.

“Thank you. Then shall we get going?”

It seemed he was at least willing to show leniency toward people he considered useful.

“We have a lot to do, right?”

I memorized that information—
if I based my arguments on my usefulness to him, sometimes he would change his stance.

And with that thought, I turned to him and smiled.

* * *

Afterward, the men who had attacked Chae Noeul and Joo Yeon-woo were tied to nearby tree trunks.

Their broken limbs were roughly splinted as basic first aid—
but that was all.

The man who seemed to be the leader grit his teeth as pain throbbed through his leg.

“F-fuck… those bastards…! Acting like our lives are in their hands…!”

Rage surged as he remembered how they had been pinned down and casually judged—killed or spared at whim.

“Damn it… they really screwed us over…”

“If we hadn’t let our guard down!”

“Next time we see them, we’ll tear them to shreds!”

“How about we torture them to death? That’s your specialty, isn’t it?”

His subordinates weren’t much different.

Even before being dragged into this Tower, they had been committing crimes. Killing wasn’t something they hesitated over.

That was why they had easily killed people even during the tutorial.

“Those cocky brats…!”

Besides, killing humans gave far more experience points than killing monsters, so they expected this floor to be more of the same.

Most of their skills were body-enhancement types, so they had won every fight so far with little trouble.

“When we meet again, we’re killing them for sure!”

They raised their spirits—
as naturally as if they’d done this many times.

“Yes, it’s best to make sure and kill them, after a—huh?!”

“Yeah! We’ll—wait, what’s that—hiiik?!”

Until the shadows beneath them began to writhe.

The darkness slithered and climbed up their bodies like something alive.

Squelch… squirm…

“W-what the hell—”

“What is this?! There weren’t any monsters like this around!”

Wherever it touched, an unnatural cold, a chilling dread seeped in.

Before they could process what was happening, the shadowy mass pulled them in like a swamp.

“Help! Help me!”

“Get it off—!”

Squelch… squirm…

The heavy, cold darkness swallowed them whole while they were still alive.

Their bodies felt dull—numb.

Then the numbness turned into something worse, as if they were dissolving into the darkness.

“Hggk—!”

They thrashed, forgetting their injuries completely, but nothing changed.

The dark mire swallowed them slowly—
and inevitably.

Is anyone there?! Help us!
Please—save us!

Even their screams, a mixture of terror and despair, never carried far.

“Sa—save—”

Their final dying cries never even formed.

It all ended quietly.

Nothing remained in the spot where the men had been.

Only the peaceful sound of the wind swept through the now-silent area.

“Noeul. Did you know?”

“…Know what?”

“That it feels refreshing to take out the trash in advance.”

“…?”

Her eyes made it obvious she had no idea what he meant.

Finding that expression adorable, he let a faint smile appear.

“It’s nothing.”

In some futures, those men would become the head of a major crime organization—
or kill tens of thousands of people—

—but she didn’t need to know that.

“Are you saying that because of earlier?”

“No.”

Because none of that mattered to him anymore.

Still watching Chae Noeul, who continued looking at him with wary eyes,
Joo Yeon-woo smoothly shifted the topic.