Variant

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Yu Ji-seong came back to the office after a flustered call from Yu Seo-ha.

"...This?"

His eyes landed on the documents heaped in a thick stack, and disbelief spread through them.

"Y-you didn't actually read all of this, did you?"

I answered with a shrug. A little of the color left Yu Ji-seong's face. Then he turned a faintly reproachful look on Yu Seo-ha.

"And what have you been doing all this time?"

"...Working. Then I fell asleep. Haaahm..."

"You should have told him to take it easy. It's the middle of the night. You're wearing the mage out."

Yu Seo-ha finished her yawn and snorted.

"I told him. More than once. He was so locked in he didn't hear a word of it. What exactly was I supposed to do?"

...Ah. Had she? I must have been too focused to hear.

It was fair enough. The matter mattered that much to me.

"Would you wait just a moment...?"

Yu Ji-seong gathered the papers and went to the computer. While he did, Yu Seo-ha looked at me with a soft smile — the exact opposite of the cold face she had turned on her brother.

Right. So this was the classic Korean-sibling routine.

"The files wrapped in gray bands are requests whose deadlines have already passed. If I remember right... it was an old man. Old Man Choi. He ran a junk shop nearby."

"I heard his son is a hunter. Good with his hands, so he got hired at a small workshop. He said the item came from there."

"...I think they told him it was useless, and gave it to him to play with before they scrapped it. That sort of thing is more common than you'd expect. The Labyrinth doesn't only turn out good items."

By then Yu Ji-seong had come back over.

"I've finished the call with the client. He still has the item, but he says the request he originally wanted resolved is already closed."

I gave him nothing.

"I suggested we meet tomorrow, and he seemed a little troubled. His son still hasn't come out of the Labyrinth. So we've agreed to meet at the office the day after tomorrow."

"It isn't uncommon. Some go in to earn money. Lower-level Awakened go in to raise a skill's proficiency more efficiently."

I nodded. Yu Ji-seong's handling of it was flawless. There didn't seem to be anything left for me to do.

I dipped my head, then rose and brushed myself off. Coming in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the morning and leaving at night felt a little strange, but there was no sense of fatigue in my body.

Well. Severed nerves did have their advantages. I laughed quietly at the thought and got into the car. The mana threads turned the engine over, and the sedan started south.

I set my hands on the wheel with nothing for them to do and watched the window in silence. Out in the dark the Han River crouched, still and quiet, and I turned the reward over in my mind.

The Cursed Heart. The effect itself could not have suited me better. Whether it could be undone once I absorbed it was another question entirely.

"Will this be all right..."

That was a judgment to make after Yu Ji-seong met the client. Until then, I had my own work to do.

Day broke. I headed straight for the Tower.

I stopped by the skill shop. As expected, there was nothing I could buy. The Hispanic merchant grinned and tossed me a line half soaked in mockery.

"Hey. Come back when you're stronger."

...What a thug.

Next, the equipment shop. The knight's damp, shadowed gaze swept over me. Behind the visor, it felt as if he were smiling.

No point buying a weapon, for now. An accessory like the cursed wooden doll expressed its effects just by resting on the utility belt. Weapons and armor only worked when worn. Take up even a single staff, and I would be giving up four hundred mana threads.

Not an easy choice.

...Armor was much the same.

Inside the Tower I could live with it. Reality was the problem. In a light training suit I could move smoothly through the mana threads, but put on proper hunter gear and free movement would become difficult. Take the equipment off only in the real world, though, and the mana would fall out of balance. The prevailing view on the community was that the gap between the Tower and reality was fatal in a fight. It was not a decision I could make lightly.

Last, I went to the alchemist. A white woman in gaudy silk that all but shouted money looked at me and smiled.

"Oh my. If it isn't the rookie who bought up all those potions."

A face whose age I couldn't read. From one angle she looked like a girl in her teens; shift the angle and she might have been a grandmother of ninety. The attitude was arrogant. Still better than the other two. At least I sensed no malice.

The alchemist kept an unusual list. You could imbue an item or a piece of gear with a magical effect. You could also burn points on a gamble whose odds of producing anything good were abysmal — though when something did come up, it was a jackpot. You could buy or sell jewels of the sort set into a mithril bracelet. Or you could expand your inventory.

The cost was quietly steep. But I couldn't keep walking around on four slots forever. I was going to have to grow it to a reasonable size eventually, one way or another.

"Hey. Thanks."

I left the giggling alchemist behind and entered the Tower.

Chieftain Ternish. The first variant to appear in the Tower.

Unbidden, the darkened face of the man who had lost his younger brother in the Labyrinth rose in my mind. A variant had killed that brother too — and not a kobold variant, but an orc variant. There was a reason Floor 5's death rate ran so high.

Tension stiffened my body, just a little. But I had something to rely on. The moment I entered Floor 5, the limit was already gone. Kill even one, and I could climb straight up.

Step. Step.

I followed the narrow forest path and checked the board. A forest backdrop, as expected — too many living things, a cluttered read. Even so, I held my perception out to a kilometer. Better than the eight hundred meters of last time.

I couldn't ease off. The orcs' perception range had been confirmed at four hundred meters, but Ternish was different. There was no telling when or from where he might come crashing in.

Once I take one down, this gets easier.

That was when it happened. Three orcs appeared at the edge of the board. Not around the village — scouts circling the perimeter.

I swallowed dry. Killing them outright mattered less than something else. The shape-change of Crimson Flame, which I had been training all this time.

It had been impossible inside the motel, so I had gone to a deserted stretch of the Han River and practiced whenever I could. The results were decent. Not to the point where the flame formed exactly as I consciously pictured it — but if not an arrow yet, a thorn was possible.

Fwoosh!

A crimson triangular spike the size of a fist. An ordinary fireball with penetrating force added to it. Less piercing than a sharp arrowhead, and the air resistance would be worse, but this alone was enough for now. There was no reason at all to rush. The higher my level climbed, the finer my control over flame would become. For the moment, I only had to focus on killing what stood in front of me.

I took a good position and launched the thorns. Three spines of flame flew at the orc scouts. Whether the shape-change was doing its work, they were far faster and quieter than the old fireballs.

Thuk!

There was barely even an impact. In place of the old wet burst, only a small piercing note circled the forest once and faded.

Shape-change of Crimson Flame. Just as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the community had said, it worked.

In an instant the red dots vanished from the board, and the message I had been waiting for rose.

The limit broke. At the same time, the strengthened Detection skill caught the change running through my body.

Thump — my heart pulsed once, hard. Blue mana tore loose and raced the length of me, remaking the body as it went. Some places stronger. Some places more elastic. Some places more supple. Elasticity settled into the muscle, and the bone grew a degree harder. The destination was the head. Mana that reached the crown burst like fireworks and melted swiftly into somewhere inside the skull.

"...Hoo."

Was it the expanded Detection? The change of that instant etched itself clearly into my mind. I could feel, intuitively, in what way my body had changed, and by how much.

I widened the range at once. What had been one kilometer stretched to a kilometer and a half. My mind had grown stronger; it wasn't much of a strain.

Then — shall we try?

I summoned a fireball over my palm and attempted a shape-change. No rush. Slowly. The thorn form came in an instant. One step further from there. I focused my mind to its limit and sculpted the flame with will. The fire stretched, slowly, long. A slender shaft formed, and fletching grew. A complete arrow.

...This works.

A max-level fireball, and Flame Burst. Because of them my volume of flame was overwhelming, while the finesse had been lacking. This level-up seemed to have covered that gap completely. I would still need training to raise the proficiency, but confirming the possibility was enough for now.

I have everything I need.

There was no longer any reason to force my way into the enemy's lines. The goal was to bring the orc village down. Once the distance closed far enough, I could blow the whole of it apart from afar.

Thuk.

A flaming arrowhead punched through the skulls of three orcs circling nearby. They never even managed a scream before they turned to powder and scattered on the air.

Rustle...

I looked up. A bird sat on a branch above where an orc's head had been. It flicked its wings lightly and did not take off. Proof enough that the attack had grown that much quieter.

Thud!

I took down three more scout teams after that, then advanced at an even pace for a while. All at once, the dots on the board multiplied. More than twenty red points gathered in a single place, and at their center sat the largest, deepest point of all.

Chieftain Ternish.

...Good. He doesn't perceive out to a kilometer and a half.

As with the orcs, I briefly considered testing how far his perception reached, then abandoned the idea at once. I thought of the archer who had died in the Labyrinth. The Tower was not a game. Never drop my guard. Give it everything. No matter how strong an Awakened was, an axe buried in the skull ended it there.

Fwoosh.

A huge mass of condensed flame rose before my eyes. A Flame Burst the same size as the one I had used on the kobold colony. I could have scaled it larger. I didn't. Destructive power to spare, either way — and this was not a matter of sweeping an entire canyon clean. I had to hold strength in reserve, in case Ternish survived.

I caught the flame in my hand and hurled it with everything I had. A light tearing of air — and far off, a red light flashed.

"......"

I didn't look at it. I didn't look at the explosion that followed, either. I looked at the board.

KWA-AAAAAAANG!!!!

Beyond a kilometer and a half, a colossal flame shot into the sky. I didn't see it. I couldn't. A massive red dot was already running across the board toward me.

"KROOOOOOH!!!!"

The roar became an echo and shook the forest raw. Movement in a perfect straight line, as if measured with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a ruler. He already knew my position exactly.

I didn't fire a skill in a panic. I needed time for the dizziness to settle.

Distance: eight hundred meters.

Fortunately, he was not unharmed. Every time his left foot struck the ground, his balance slipped, just slightly off. He was injured.

In an instant I finished weighing his movement speed against the projectile speed of a fireball. A strange sensation, as if the conclusion Detection had reached were being carved straight into my mind. The level-up, maybe. Every step of it entered faster than before, and more precisely. The calculation ended in a flash.

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh...

I summoned fifteen fireballs. Flames the size of a head roared and lit the surroundings bright.

Distance: five hundred meters. I could see him with my own eyes now — a huge variant orc, charging, breath ripping out of him.

"KRAAAAAAAAH!!!!"

He screamed and kicked off the ground. For an instant both feet left the earth. The judgment took no time at all.

Now.

Fifteen flames tore through the air at once. Ternish sucked in a useless breath, spun his body, and swung the axe wild. Axe and fireball collided.

"Krk!!"

Shock burst from Ternish's mouth. Flame climbed the very axe that was supposed to split the fireball.

FWOOOOSH!

He had tried to destroy the fireball, and that was the wrong call. The fireball was not meant to explode. It was meant to burn. Fire that ran up the axe haft spread to his hand in an instant.

"Krrt...!!"

His panic lasted only a fraction of a second. That was enough. In the brief moment he wondered whether to drop the axe, the remaining fourteen fireballs crashed into him.

FWOOOOOM!!!!

Flame roared over his massive frame. Even as his whole body burned he charged me, and it did him no good. A precisely aimed flame slammed into his skull.

This time, it was condensed flame.

KWA-AAAAAAANG!!!!

There wasn't even time to scream. Everything from the waist up blew apart. Ternish's legs ran a staggering step or two more, then collapsed. Dirt kicked up hard, and blood and chunks of flesh pattered down like rain. That was the end.

"...Hoo."

The variant had been stronger than I thought.

But I was stronger.

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