The Regressor's Guide to Conquering the Urban Legend Tower

Chapter 4 of 15

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The elevator doors opened with a mechanical sound.

But only one thought occupied my mind.

Second floor.

It was the second floor.

Hopeless.

That was all I could think.

Instead of an exit...

There was another floor.

Which meant that even if I cleared this place, there might be a third floor waiting for me.

Did an exit even exist?

Cold sweat trickled down my body.

"..."

Nobody felt happy when a bad premonition came true.

You just cursed yourself for being right.

"Damn."

"..."

For now...

"...Why are you here?"

"..."

Standing beside me was the mascot.

It tilted its head and stared at me.

The same bear mascot that had given me cucumber sandwiches on the first floor.

"...?"

"Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"...?"

"If you understand me, nod."

"...!"

The mascot nodded enthusiastically.

"Why did you come here?"

"?"

At that question, it merely shrugged.

It said nothing.

"You don't know?"

Again, it only shrugged.

"...Then why did they send you?"

Fine.

Let's check something else first.

The ticket.

Right.

There was a ticket.

I examined it.

Half of a torn ticket.

What did it say?

I narrowed my eyes.

[...vival Ticket]

"Vival Ticket?"

What kind of ticket was that?

"..."

I thought through various possibilities.

Nothing came to mind.

If they'd only given me half, that probably meant I couldn't use it yet.

Just in case, I waved it around in the air.

Nothing happened.

"I'll use the ticket!"

I hadn't expected an answer.

"Then I need to get one complete ticket?"

Unfortunately, there was no response.

"..."

Fine.

Let's leave that aside.

I turned to the mascot.

It was still quietly staring at me.

A gift.

Or a special privilege.

Either way, it had to be something positive.

"You came to help me, right?"

"...!"

The mascot nodded.

"How?"

"?"

I still had no idea.

There was nothing I could do about that.

I should read the notebook first.

I was about to open it when...

A broadcast came from the elevator.

Until now, the elevator had ignored most of my questions.

What did it mean that I couldn't stay any longer?

Before I could process it...

We?

I had only a moment to wonder.

With a mechanical announcement, the doors began to shut with a creak.

I had to get out?

Here?

I hadn't even looked around properly.

While I was hesitating...

"Ugh!"

The mascot, which had been standing still until a moment ago, suddenly grabbed my arm and dragged me outside.

Why was this thing so strong?!

The moment it pulled me out...

Thud!

The elevator doors closed behind us.

"..."

Before I could even understand what had just happened...

Hissssss...

An ominous sound filled the air.

Where was I?

I hurriedly looked around.

Only occasional flickering lights greeted me inside a dark, narrow passageway.

It looked like a basement.

Hissssss!

I listened carefully to the sound and desperately scanned my surroundings.

Countless pipes were tangled together like spiderwebs.

The hissing sound was coming from them.

Other than that, it was ordinary...

Could I even call this place ordinary?

No.

This wasn't the time.

Since I'd been forced out here, I needed to check the notebook quickly.

I hurriedly opened it and started reading.

[9. Am I the first one who escaped?]

[I'm just going to die here. Good luck to whoever comes next.]

[11. Does your number continue from the previous floor? Anyway, it looks like you shouldn't touch the steam coming from the pipes. The part of my body that touched it just melted away.]

[13. Found a corpse. Don't know who it is, but rest in peace. Doesn't look like they've been dead long.]

[15. Setting it on fire doesn't work either?]

[17. Don't touch the steam coming from the pipes. Just keep moving as much as possible. As long as you're careful around the pipes, there doesn't seem to be much else that's dangerous. Unlike the first floor, there don't seem to be rules like only moving when the lights are off or only when they're on. But it keeps getting hotter.]

[21. Can't find the exit. The pipes aren't the problem. The layout itself is way too difficult. For now, based on what I've walked through, the route is as follows.]

[22. Writing with one arm is damn hard. How are we supposed to find this?]

[22. Why does it keep getting hotter?]

[24. Hello. I am ■■■ from the Management Bureau. If the first floor was meant to teach us the basic structure and rules of this place, then this floor seems designed to test our ability to adapt.]

[I tried using my ability, ■■, to clear this place, but it doesn't seem to work here.]

[And please don't give up hope. The path you walk may become hope for the people who follow.]

[24. At present, it seems there is no way to find the exit other than wandering until you happen to discover it by chance. There is certainly some gimmick I haven't identified, but for now, you will have to wander.]

[28. Like No. 21 said, finding the exit is pretty hard.]

[30. This place is really difficult. If you don't find the exit, the lights slowly begin to dim. It's hot.]

[30. Hot.]

[30. It's too hot. I want to die.]

[30. Hot.]

[31. Think I found the exit. Like No. 24 said, you basically have to wander... I kept following the left wall. Isn't there some rule that says you'll eventually find the exit that way?]

[35. Trusted No. 31 and kept following the left wall. Got lost. It's hot.]

[38. The longer you wander, the hotter this place seems to become. I can't walk anymore.]

[45. Just saying "walk until you escape"... how the hell are we supposed to escape?]

[51. Looks like you have to escape within roughly 12 hours. After that, the temperature becomes too high for a human to survive.]

"..."

I snapped the notebook shut.

I wanted to read more, but for now...

"Let's walk."

"..."

The mascot slowly moved behind me.

"...You're coming with me?"

"...!"

It nodded enthusiastically.

I looked at it curiously.

"It's supposed to get hot."

"...!"

The mascot struck some incomprehensible pose.

I had no idea what that meant.

Apparently, it could handle the heat?

"..."

I thought for a moment, then nodded.

"...Fine. But help me if you can."

"...!"

With that, I began walking.

The mascot fell into step beside me.

Pssshhh!

Steam burst from a pipe.

I jerked my body away.

"Damn it."

"..."

Fortunately, the mascot beside me wasn't a burden.

If anything, it was extremely good at dodging.

I'd been worried that taking care of myself would already be difficult enough, and I'd have to watch over it too.

Apparently, that wasn't necessary.

I wanted to read the notebook while walking, but...

"..."

Steam kept hissing from pipes all around.

If I lost focus and got hit by it, the result would be disastrous.

For now, let's find the exit.

I strode forward while dodging bursts of steam.

"...Ah."

Right.

I should make full use of my ability.

My ability was regression.

If I died...

Probably...

Probably, I would return to the elevator on the second floor.

"Should I memorize the route...?"

Drawing a map would be useless if I died.

Better to memorize it.

Good.

Let's memorize.

"Left. Right, right, left..."

"..."

I wouldn't backtrack.

I'd only turn back when I reached a dead end.

I had plenty of time.

If I died, I could take a different path next time.

I kept moving.

After a while...

"...Phew."

It was getting hot.

Sweat began to gather on my skin.

The temperature felt like late spring.

I took off my suit jacket and tied it around my waist.

I glanced at the mascot.

Unfortunately, with that huge costume on, I had no way of knowing whether it felt hot or cold.

"Are you hot?"

"...!"

It waved both hands.

Fine.

If it said it wasn't hot, then whatever.

I resumed walking.

"...Phew."

A dead end.

That's fine.

We can go back.

Even the mascot's steps were slowing.

"If you're hot, take some of that costume off."

"..."

The mascot hurriedly shook its head.

As though it absolutely refused to remove the mascot suit.

"Fine. If you don't want to, don't."

If it died of heatstroke, that wasn't my fault.

"...Haa... Haa..."

Sweat poured down my body.

The mascot occasionally tried wiping it away using the fur of its costume.

It didn't help at all.

"...Haa..."

Fine.

Whatever.

If I died, I died.

"..."

My head hurt.

I felt nauseous.

I was barely sweating anymore.

"H-Hot."

"..."

"So... hot..."

My words came out strangely.

"..."

The mascot stared at me.

Then...

It smiled.

No.

Was it crying?

My vision blurred.

My body stopped responding.

Something collapsed with a dull thud.

"..."

At some point, I had fallen onto the floor.

"Ah... ngh..."

My head hurt so much.

It felt like my brain was cooking.

Something appeared in my blurry vision.

The mascot was crouching there, staring at me.

"..."

I tried to say something.

I didn't have the strength.

"Uh... ngh..."

"..."

I could barely move.

How could the mascot still move so easily?

They said that once the temperature rose past a certain point, you couldn't even sweat anymore.

Maybe this was what they meant.

"..."

The mascot slowly walked toward me.

Then it pulled me up.

I wanted to say something.

I couldn't.

I didn't even have enough strength left to speak.

Without making even a groan, the mascot supported my body and started walking.

But even that couldn't stop the suffocating heat from rising.

In the bone-dry air, I could feel death approaching.

My head continued pounding as though it would explode.

Then my consciousness slowly sank.

The last thing I saw was the mascot desperately carrying me forward.

Why was it helping me?

Was there some reason?

Or...

With the sensation of my mind drying out...

My consciousness fell away.

That was my first death on the second floor.

"Haaah!"

I jolted upright, clutching my pounding chest.

Ding.

The elevator doors opened.

"..."

I felt someone looking at me.

The mascot was already standing beside me.

"..."

I stared at it.

It stared back and raised one thumb.

"Why did you do that?"

"...?"

The mascot threw both arms up as though it had no idea what I was talking about.

Apparently, it didn't remember regressions.

I felt both relieved and strangely disappointed.

I sighed, steadied my breathing, and looked around.

The notebook on the wall.

The mascot staring blankly at me.

And finally...

Ding!

The elevator doors opened.

The second floor appeared before me again.

At least it hadn't told me to get out yet.

Then let's read again.

Ignoring the familiar hiss of steam with one ear, I quickly scanned the notebook.

Nothing especially different.

The layout was random.

And apparently, there was no way to find the exit except wandering endlessly until you stumbled upon it.

For someone like me with regression, that meant I could eventually clear it if I kept trying.

Good.

I kept scanning the notebook.

Then...

"..."

Three entries caught my attention.

[83. I think there's some kind of pattern. But even if there is, you still have to wander around to find the path... and the steam makes walking pretty hard.]

[121. I'm ■■, so I've just been walking nonstop. But once it gets hot enough, don't the pipes start making way too much noise?]

[130. I think there might be some cooler areas. I don't think I'm getting out, though.]

"..."

I straightened up.

My eyes met the mascot's blank face.

"Hey."

"...?"

It tilted its head.

"I think I might know how to get out thanks to you."

"???"

The mascot tilted its head even harder.

Fundamentally, this floor was a time attack.