How To Use Regressors

21 – Episode 21 – Training Center (2)

While resting in the dormitory, everyone’s minds seemed to be in a turmoil, and they slowly began to speak up.

“Ha… Damn, how the hell is the situation unfolding? Is there no immediate situation to fight monsters?”

In Kangiseo’s questioning gaze, Seo Yujoo slowly began to open her mouth, as if she wanted to explain what she knew.

“…. From what I’ve heard, it seems like this place is a facility for training newcomers like us. Perhaps we undergo a three-month training here and then join the clans that have offered us.”

Hyunjin spoke with a grimace, possibly because the situation was complicated.

“Ugh… Does that mean we’ll all be scattered after three months?”

I watched Seo Yujoo’s reaction, curious about her thoughts.

“…. Some may scatter, and others may join the clans that have offered them.”

Everyone had a complex expression. Although they had overcome crises together, the idea of going their separate ways didn’t sit well with them.

‘If their reaction is like this… I’m actually glad.’

From my perspective, the group’s reaction was very welcome. Considering my high risk of being abandoned, the lower the group’s loyalty, the better.

The weaker the group’s bond, the higher the chance I would join the same clan as them.

‘I have to stick with Seo Yujoo… No matter what.’

It would be insane to separate from a regressionist, especially when I didn’t know what danger might befall me. Regardless of the uncertainty, I had to stay close to Seo Yujoo, who knew the future. Based on her reactions so far, it didn’t seem like she would abandon me, but there was no absolute certainty in this world.

I wanted to know Seo Yujoo’s thoughts, even if it was just a rough idea, so I asked her, “Miss Yujoo… What do you think? Do you have any rough thoughts on the matter?”

Everyone was waiting for Seo Yujoo’s answer. Implicitly, she was the leader of the group.

“Yeah… You won’t abandon me, right? Huh? We have the connection we built during the first round… Right?”

I believe in our returnee. No, I had no choice but to believe.

“Regardless of which clan I join… I think it would be great if we all stayed together.”

Her answer was the best answer for me. My anxious heart started to feel a sense of relief.

‘The me from the first round. I’m really grateful.’

The expressions of the others also seemed satisfied with her answer.

“By the way… Those kids who just hid during the tutorial, their treatment here doesn’t seem to be so good…”

It was clear that our treatment was different from those who did nothing and cleared the dungeon.

The man I saw earlier, Kang Sungjoon, would likely be one of the top players on this continent. Just by seeing that he personally guided us, I could tell how much attention he was giving us from above.

On the other hand, those people probably couldn’t find any value in treating the guys who gave up fighting during the tutorial and hid.

Hawon ajusshi spoke up in response to Kang Eseo’s words.

“Don’t worry too much. They’re just paying the price for being comfortable all that time.”

No one could deny those words. While they ate and slept comfortably without worrying about monsters, we were risking our lives in battles.

“…I know too, ahjussi. Well… It’s just like that. Then, are we treated better?”

This time, Seo Yujoo responded.

“Perhaps they will offer us a generous reward. They must be eager to recruit us from their end, no matter what.”

“Um… We did clear the dungeon, but isn’t the reward a bit too extravagant?” Kang Eesuh questioned.

To Kang Eesuh’s doubts, I replied this time.

“It’s probably because we cleared it much faster than the average clear time.”

She listened to my response and asked, looking somewhat puzzled.

“How do you know that?”

I began to explain calmly to her.

“Think about when they first saw us, Miss Lee. They were looking at us as if they couldn’t believe it. It hasn’t even been a month, and they are already offering us something.”

“Yoon Sung is right. Maybe… we passed the tutorial much faster than the average. I think that’s why we’re getting this treatment. They probably expect us to shine on their side.”

There is one question that arises for Seo Yujoo at this point. What is the reason for my clearing the tutorial so quickly?

“Do you want to stand out? It didn’t seem like it.”

If it were her, she could have led us slowly and cleared the dungeon in the average time. Yet, she seemed puzzled about why I cleared it so quickly.

“Is there some reason behind it? Well, I don’t know. Perhaps the reputation of clearing the tutorial in the shortest time is what’s needed.”

After some time, a man named Kang Sungjun, who had guided us earlier, came to see us again.

“How are you feeling? Is everything all right?”

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Seo Yujoo replied to him politely.

“Yes, thanks to you, I feel a bit refreshed. I appreciate it.”

“Haha… No, it’s not a big deal. I’m glad you got some rest.”

‘… What’s going on?’

She’s being overly kind.

I was certain that Kang Sungjun wouldn’t come personally but would send someone else to guide us. In fact, until just a while ago, it didn’t seem like Kang Sungjun himself would bother guiding us.

“If you follow me, you’ll be fine. We have a large auditorium where we’ll provide a comprehensive explanation about the training. Oh! The other newcomers have already arrived at the auditorium, not just you guys.”

‘… Did he hear about us?’

There’s a good chance that he’s heard something about our behavior during the tutorial from those people.

‘I understand why this man came back in person.’

We… well, at first, it would have been just Seo Yujoo, but anyway… our group probably turned the starting building into a camp, gathered people, and told them the story of clearing the tutorial.

‘I can easily understand why he’s doing this.’

From their perspective, it must have been baffling. During the tutorial, they were usually too busy looking after their own lives to think about clearing it in the shortest time.

But as it turns out, that wasn’t all; they had to look after others too.

How do we appear to them?

No different at all. Kang Sung-jun began to speak.

“I’ve heard some stories from others… that you gathered survivors in the tutorial, obtained food and shared it, and even protected them from monsters. Could that be…”

Seo Yoo-joo replied to Kang Sung-jun’s words.

“Ah… Yes, that’s right.”

She seemed quite surprised by her answer.

While earlier, it felt like she was looking at us as if we were precious gems while guiding us, now it was as if she was looking at us like monsters.

‘… A person like this, looking at us as if we’re monsters…’

It was a peculiar feeling.

Suddenly, Ahn Tae-woo opened his mouth to Kang Sung-jun, as if he had something to say.

“… To be precise… at the beginning, Miss Yoo-joo did everything alone. As soon as the tutorial started and the monsters arrived, Miss Yoo-joo took a spear and directed people to block the monsters from the building.”

“… You mean she blocked the monsters in the building at the very beginning?”

He must have only heard a rough account from others and didn’t know the details.

Now, it felt like he was carefully examining Seo Yoo-joo with a sidelong glance.

‘Probably, he’s significantly revising his evaluation of Seo Yoo-joo in his mind.’

“It’s not just that. In reality, Yuju was the one who took on the role of the leader, and if it wasn’t for Yuju, several people would have died when fighting the boss monster.”

Seo Yuju seemed visibly burdened by Antaeu’s words. She had a greatly startled expression, as if she didn’t expect to be praised to this extent.

“T-Taehwi?! That… um…!”

Kang Sungjoon seemed to have a question and asked us.

“What…? Excuse me, but I heard that no one died in the dungeon…”

Anetaeu seemed rather flustered by Kang Sungjoon’s question. Well, since no one died in our group.

“Oh…? Yes. Fortunately, everyone is safe.”

Kang Sungjoon looked at Seo Yuju and opened his mouth.

“Truly… impressive.”

Kang Sungjoon seemed to be at a loss for words. He didn’t seem to believe what he had heard.

‘… It seems that in dungeons, someone always dies.’

Well, considering the fact that we felt the difficulty was extremely insane as we progressed through the dungeon.

Actually, while clearing the dungeon, my impression was that the difficulty was adjusted to ensure that at least half of the participants would die before clearing it.

“… We’ll be arriving at the auditorium soon, so I’ll give you some information in advance. After listening to the speech in the auditorium, there will be time the next day to assess your occupations. You will all be able to open your status windows here, but you should not casually disclose the contents of your status window to others.”

Yurim asked Kang Sungjoon.

“Is there any particular reason for that?”

“Well… it’s not a special reason, but rather a natural one. It’s like exposing one’s weaknesses when their profession or characteristics are revealed to others.”

What Kang Sung-joon said accurately captured the reason why I couldn’t reveal my unique characteristics to others.

‘I won’t let someone who can freely open my status window off the hook… It exposes my weaknesses.’

This is the decisive reason why I worried that I would be abandoned by my companions at the Education Center. Except for my unique characteristics, I’m just a useless loser with no abilities.

Since I can’t reveal my abilities, gradually, in the eyes of others, I will appear as a worthless idiot.

“Anyway, that’s why I assume you will have time to write about your profession, but you don’t have to write everything. It’s enough to just mention the type of role it is. For example… prosecutor, priest, archer, something simple like that. Oh! There’s one tip I want to share.”

“Can you tell us what it is?”

“If you write down the rank of your profession, it will be advantageous for you when receiving offers from clans. Usually, the rank of a profession indicates its performance. Just don’t falsify it though. Once you join a clan, they will accurately verify your profession anyway.”

Certainly… it was inevitable that I would have to check whether the clan leaders were fools or if they had falsified their professions.

“Or… you can accurately record the name and rank of your profession, but just hide your unique characteristics. Usually, with just the name of a profession, one cannot know its exact abilities. This way, you can hide your weaknesses and still receive offers from good clans.”

By explaining in such detail, it seemed that this person named Kang Sung-joon didn’t come across as a bad person by nature.

No, to be honest, at this level of detail, I thought he was quite honest.

‘… If it were me, I wouldn’t have explained it in such detail.’

Since there was no guarantee that we would join our own clan, Kang Sung-joon didn’t need to provide us with this information in preparation for joining other clans.

“Or maybe they just want to present themselves as good people to us. Honestly, the odds are higher on this side.”

“As we were talking, we arrived at the auditorium. Please take a seat in the empty front row. I’ll go ahead and get ready to give the speech since I’m the head instructor.”