The Sixth Floor

Not bad.

No—far better than "not bad." With this ability alone, I could check every companion's stats and unique abilities in full.

Level and unique abilities were among the most sensitive topics in the Tower. Even with comrades, people hesitated to bare every last stat and power they possessed. Unless you were like me and Kang I-jun, friends from long before the Tower, no one who'd only climbed a few floors together would be sucker enough to spill their entire hand.

From that angle, this will definitely make running a party a lot smoother going forward.

I could confirm everyone's stats and unique abilities without ruffling any feathers and put them to use where they belonged. Especially handy if someone like Lee Mi-eun—who hadn't been a companion in the previous cycle—suddenly joined the party; I'd still be able to adapt.

To make sure it actually worked, I turned my gaze on Kang I-jun first.

"Hmm."

So he'd only just scraped Level 10 after the boss fight. Well, couldn't be helped. That boss battle had been an experience bomb, and my contribution had been the highest by far.

Still, barely hitting Level 10 didn't matter. Reaching it meant the effects of Binding Expansion had grown.

Bindable Members: 2/4

That single line was enough. With this, I could include Choi Min-seo among the bound targets and still have a slot left over.

"Wh-why are you staring like that? It's creepy…"

"Hey, Kang I-jun."

"Yeah?"

"If any of your traits changed when you hit Level 10, tell me. I want to check."

"…Fine, okay."

He let out a small sigh but obediently told me about his traits just as I'd asked. He explained that Binding Expansion had increased the maximum number of bindable members to four, and that a brand-new trait called Sound Transmission had been added at Level 10.

"Sound Transmission?"

"It seems like a trait that lets me send words into someone's head from close range. Only between bound targets, of course."

"Hmm, so basically a kind of telepathy?"

The new Level 10 trait of Kang I-jun's Coordinates of Binding. On top of the location sharing and danger detection he already had, he'd gained a way to communicate mid-battle.

Whether the fight was too noisy for spoken words, a situation where making sound was forbidden, or an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠enemy intelligent enough that you needed to hide the content of your conversation—any of those made it useful. Especially the higher we climbed, where operating as a party became more and more essential.

"Try it once."

"Right now?"

"You won't know what it's like until you use it. Send me whatever you want through Sound Transmission."

"I still don't really know how to do it."

"Just think of talking to me in your head. Hurry up."

"Umm…"

Kang I-jun scrunched his face, awkward as he reached for a new sense he'd never used before. Then, not long after, his voice rang inside my head.

-Can you hear me?

"……"

-Hey, I asked if you can hear me.

"……"

-Seo Ha-yoon's an idiot. Suohi's trash. 148 centimeters…

"…I can hear every word, you bastard."

"I-if you can hear it, say so…"

…I'd just been startled because it had been so long. Yeah, this was exactly how Sound Transmission felt when it echoed in your head.

The first time I'd heard it in the previous cycle, it hadn't felt this ticklish—maybe it was just because so much time had passed.

"Does this work the other way too?"

"Umm, I think so…"

"I'll try it, so just wait."

…It was a little nerve-wracking after so long. I hadn't needed it since Kang I-jun died in the last cycle, so it felt like nearly a year since I'd last used Sound Transmission.

I pictured Kang I-jun's face in my mind and strongly imagined the words I wanted to say….

-Can you hear me, bonehead?

"……"

"Didn't get through?"

-I heard you, you shrimp.

…This little shit.

-I was taller than you until elementary school.

-That's why you're still stuck at that height.

-A bonehead who barely scraped into college through the arts-and-PE track.

-Says the humanities major.

-Even in humanities I'm smarter than you. You read "Anniversary" as "already" or whatever.

-So what, shortstack.

-You're the one who's freakishly tall, you idiot.

-Second-place dwarf after you.

-Second-place Suohi trash after you.

-You're the trash. You rage-quit the final game before we even entered the Tower.

-Says the pure-DPS junkie…

"Ahem, kids? I can see you're both very dedicated to checking I-jun's little brother's ability, but maybe wrap up the lovers' spat soon? Min-seo's waiting, you know."

"Ah, ahaha…"

"…Sorry."

"……My apologies."

I'd completely forgotten while we were going at it through Sound Transmission.

…If Kang I-jun hadn't started it for no reason…

"A-anyway."

I cleared my throat and looked away.

"We've confirmed Kang I-jun's bindable members went up to four. And he can use Sound Transmission."

"Yeah, that's good."

"Which means we can bind Min-seo…-ssi now too."

Blurting out "get bound already" might put her off, so I carefully gauged her reaction. We were practically companions already, but that didn't mean Choi Min-seo joining for real was a settled thing.

I carefully made the offer to Choi Min-seo, who was quietly watching me with her leather mask off.

"Umm, hey. Min-seo-ssi."

"Yeah."

"So, we're going to keep climbing to the upper floors of the Tower. Even if there's a floor good for stopping, we won't stay. If we can, we plan to go all the way to the hundredth floor and actually clear it."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"So, um, if Min-seo-ssi doesn't feel differently…"

I averted my eyes under the suddenly awkward atmosphere and carefully made the proposal.

"Would Min-seo-ssi like to join our party? Not just this once—meaning we keep climbing together from now on."

"What are you talking about, Ha-yoon?"

"……Huh?"

"I thought it was already a given that we'd keep going together?"

The smile Choi Min-seo gave with those words finally let me calm the heart that had nearly leaped out of my chest. I'd been startled thinking she was about to refuse. Of course I had—most of the climb ahead had been planned on the assumption that Choi Min-seo would join us here.

"Hey, Kang I-jun."

"Yeah."

"Bind Min-seo-ssi and explain it to her."

"On it. Min-seo-ssi, my unique ability is called Coordinates of Binding…"

Kang I-jun went on explaining danger detection and experience sharing to Choi Min-seo. Meanwhile, I used the Library of Knowledge to check the new trait added to Choi Min-seo's unique ability.

Checking with the Library of Knowledge, it looked like her existing Taunt trait had been enhanced. Having roughly confirmed the content, I didn't bother saying anything about it. Using the ability was Choi Min-seo's job, and thinking back to how she'd fought in the previous cycle, me butting in with instructions would only get in the way.

So I left them to handle the binding themselves and checked my own ability.

Hmm, nothing particularly different from the previous cycle on my end either….

"Whoa! What is this?! I-jun's voice is suddenly ringing inside my head!"

"That's Sound Transmission. If you try it, Min-seo-ssi, you should be able to use it too…"

"This is amazing, amazing! Do other parties talk to each other inside their heads like this too?! Wait, have you guys been talking like this the whole time without me?! And that experience sharing thing—does that mean during the boss monster earlier…"

The moment she became a party member, Choi Min-seo bounced around with an excited, flustered voice, completely dazzled. Hearing that lively voice tickle my ears, I finally started to feel like this was the party from the previous cycle again.

We passed through the white fissure of light that had opened after we defeated the Sentinel of the White Night.

The first thing I felt the moment we crossed was warm air wrapping around my entire body.

"Wh-whoa?"

"This is the sixth floor?"

Just like when we'd entered the fifth floor, my party members had been tense, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠half-expecting a boss fight the second we stepped through the door. What greeted them instead was the warm weather of spring and a peaceful village landscape.

While the others looked around, still not quite understanding what was going on, the sixth-floor objective notification appeared in my head.

"……"

"……"

"……"

The three of them stared blankly into the air, struck speechless by the sixth floor's sudden order to rest. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠waited a moment while they processed it—and then a bright voice rang out from empty space.

"Welcome, climbers!"

"……!"

"…What is that?"

Kang I-jun reflexively gripped his sword at the sudden voice. Lee Mi-eun raised her staff and grew slightly wary.

"Whoa, a fairy…"

Only Choi Min-seo murmured with an oddly casual voice as she looked at the tiny fairy that had appeared before our eyes.

"Welcome to the Obsidian Tower 6th Floor! To Ansk's Village, the Village of Rest!"

-Toot, toooot~!

With a flurry of noisy wingbeats, a single fairy spun in circles right in front of us, blowing a horn trumpet.

"A-a fairy…?"

"Hmm, so things like this exist?"

"Of course they do! Guiding the climbers of the Obsidian Tower is the duty of us Tower Fairies!"

The Tower Fairy beamed and fluttered about in front of Lee Mi-eun's mutter. Looking as if she had some doubt about that claim, Choi Min-seo carefully spoke up.

"Umm, but why do you only show up starting on the sixth floor?"

"Pardon?"

"If guiding is a fairy's job, shouldn't you appear from the first floor?"

"……Ahahaha! Ahahahahaha!! Oh my sides, my sides!!"

The fairy flipped through the air in cartwheels as if she'd just heard the funniest joke in the world, flying around in the most grating way possible.

"You climbers really know how to joke!"

"Uhh? I wasn't joking…"

"Why would we bother guiding from the start a bunch of maggots who can't even clear the fifth floor on their own? Why should we waste effort on garbage that can't even crawl their way up without a guide?"

"……"

"In that sense—welcome once again! To the true climbers of the Obsidian Tower~~!!"

-Toot, toooooot~!!!

The Tower Fairy blew her horn trumpet even louder than before, chattering away in high spirits.

"……"

"……"

"……"

At that attitude, the three of them lost their words all over again—for a completely different reason this time.