Floor 35, Furnace Terror (I)

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠moment I took a single step forward, a notification window rose up before me.

For some reason, it felt slower than usual.

It wasn't as if the Tower had a habit of playing pranks on me… I shifted my gaze to the message.

A genuine elixir, huh?

No, "elixir" wasn't quite the word for it. An inner core, rather. It looked like a lump of filth and the stench was lethal, but still…

Thrown by the unexpected discovery, I found myself at a loss for words for a moment.

So. What was I supposed to do with this?

As I deliberated, a question abruptly surfaced in my mind.

Hold on—is it even safe to eat? It was, admittedly, a little different from every elixir I'd found so far.

For one, it looked way too much like a ball of garbage. The description in the notification window didn't exactly help, either.

It came from a monster that lived in sewer runoff and had fed on experimental waste…

And the smell. God, the smell. Naturally enough, the thought of putting it anywhere near my mouth was repulsive.

No. Come on. It's an elixir—I can't be a picky eater. If it's edible, I should eat it.

That was exactly when my instincts sent up a flare.

The moment I seriously considered eating it, my gut reared up in protest for the first time in ages.

Somehow, it felt like something I shouldn't eat…

Why now, all of a sudden? Would eating it cause something to go wrong with my body?

While I was still wrestling with the question, Dobby turned to me.

"Kkiik! Suyeok! Can I eat this one'?"

"Hm? You? Your intuition's telling you that?"

"Kkiik! Yes! I think I must eat it!"

Had Dobby's instinct kicked in?

It was a strange turn of events. My instincts and his intuition had almost never fired at the same time before.

But there was one thing I needed to confirm first.

"Hmm. You're sure it's safe to eat? You could get hurt, you know."

"Kkiik! I think it will be fine."

Dobby nodded with confidence.

That settled it, more or less. Not that it mattered much—thanks to my instincts, I'd already ruled out eating it myself.

If the man himself said he was fine, then it made sense for the acquirer, Dobby, to be the one to eat it.

After all, if not for Dobby, I never would have gotten it in the first place.

"Alright, then. You eat it."

"Kkiik! Thank you!"

No sooner had I given the word than Dobby popped the lump of filth into his mouth.

And less than five seconds later, he passed out cold.

I lunged forward, hands outstretched, and barely managed to catch him before laying him gently on the floor.

He'd gone down faster than I ever did after eating an elixir.

Well… he'd probably be fine, right?

And then, a radiance began to suffuse Dobby's body.

He'll be okay, won't he?

A full hour had passed, and Dobby still hadn't gotten up.

If nothing were wrong, he'd be lying in bed right now—but he couldn't be.

The radiance clinging to his body was still shimmering and undulating.

That's the glow that appears when Dobby casts his healing spells… except now it looks like Fenrike's power is at work.

It didn't seem like a bad phenomenon, but I had no idea what was actually happening.

One thing was certain, though: Dobby's body was growing, bit by bit.

Noticeably so—even in the span of a moment, I could see the difference with my own eyes.

He looked like he'd gained nearly forty centimeters already?

As I kept watch, a message arrived from Ha Heijeong.

It was about my weapon.

On the 34th floor, the scientist's attack had shattered my axe, and I'd had to scramble to buy a replacement on short notice.

Just as she'd said, the moment I searched the shop, the axe appeared before my eyes.

A double-bladed axe of faded silver.

It certainly resembled the one I'd been carrying—close enough that the resemblance was unmistakable.

Of course, at the end of the day, a weapon was a weapon… but the fine differences were always there, which was exactly why I'd struggled for so long to find a new one that fit.

This was an unexpected windfall.

I glanced over at Dobby. No major change.

With the plans for the upcoming linked floors settled, I turned my attention back to the shop.

Yagmour's Wrath. 60,000 points.

It wasn't an unreasonable price for me, but I couldn't help feeling it was a little steep.

Prices in the shop crept upward with every floor of the Tower you climbed, in proportion to the achievement points you accumulated.

If I'd bought it back around the 20th floor, I probably could have gotten it for under 50,000, I thought with a twinge of regret.

Back then, I hadn't been able to raise my Blood Surge skill's level nearly as much as I'd wanted to, either.

Well, that's just hindsight talking. At the time, it had been the best choice available.

The moment I paid the achievement points, a double-bladed axe materialized on the desk of the Waiting Room.

Part of me wanted to try it out right away… but there was still plenty of time to spare.

It seemed like a fine idea to test it in the training dojo once Dobby came to.

Dobby came to half an hour later.

The radiance gradually faded all at once, and shortly afterward, he opened his eyes.

Honestly, I could hardly believe this was the same Dobby as before.

His height, which had once reached only my waist, had shot up so much that his head now brushed my shoulder.

His skin, too, seemed somehow firmer, denser than before.

But the biggest change was his eyes.

Golden eyes—the same molten gold as when he'd stood before Fenrike—looked up at me.

Could eating a single elixir really cause such a dramatic transformation?

It was as if he'd been reborn. As if he'd outright evolved.

As ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I stared silently at this unfamiliar figure, Dobby looked up at me.

"Suyeok?"

"…Dobby. That is you, right?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"It is!"

An awkward silence settled over us.

And then it hit me—Dobby hadn't said 'Kkiik!' even once.

"Oh? Now that you mention it—you?"

"I have grown a great deal, thanks to Fenrike. My body is stronger, and my holy power has deepened! But it is all thanks to you giving up the elixir for me. Thank you!"

Dobby bowed his head in gratitude.

His mature bearing was too unfamiliar for comfort.

This wasn't the Dobby I knew. A part of me even felt a pang of loss.

My cute little Dobby was gone…

"Don't mention it. You found the thing; of course you should eat it. But if you can talk this well now, why do you still call me Suyeok?"

"'Suyeok' is easier to say than 'Suhyeok'!"

"…Fine, do whatever you want. Is your body okay, though?"

"Perfectly fine! I'm overflowing with strength!"

Dobby nodded with vigorous energy.

Well, aside from being a bit taller and dropping the 'kkiik', his manner of speech and everything else were pretty much the same as always.

Once I'd gotten a little more used to his new look, I noticed his clothes—torn apart by his growth spurt.

Hmm. First I'd need to get him a new set of climbing gear, plus a fresh sword and armor…

Come to think of it, his whole presence has changed, hasn't it?

It went beyond simply looking more grown-up. The power he radiated and his physique itself had both grown stronger.

In a way, that was a relief, wasn't it?

I'd been so worried about Dobby lately that I'd even considered sending him back to the shelter.

I couldn't say for certain, but at this level, it seemed I wouldn't need to keep such a careful eye on him inside the Tower like before.

Well then.

I needed to see just how strong he'd become—the training dojo, immediately.

"Dobby, come with me to the training dojo for a bit."

There was no question about it—Dobby had changed.

How should I put it? The inherent strength of his very existence had shifted.

Running him through a series of tests in the dojo, I concluded that at this level, he could hold his own against even upper-tier climbers of the warrior class.

And his holy power had deepened on top of that…

Part of me wondered: how could one elixir make someone this strong?

But hey—it wasn't a bad thing, so who was I to complain?

Going forward, my worries about Dobby looked to shrink considerably.

"Dobby, anything you're short on?"

"Nothing! Thank you for taking such good care of me!"

Dobby laughed, rapping his freshly purchased sword and shield with a cheerful clatter.

Taking the opportunity to replace his entire equipment loadout had cost me about 10,000 achievement points.

That was a fair chunk to spend, but seeing Dobby standing there looking so dependable filled me with a quiet pride.

I smiled back at him and spun my new axe around my wrist in a flourish.

Yagmour's Wrath.

It still felt a little awkward in my grip, but I liked it. I'd grow accustomed to it soon enough.

Preparations were complete.

It was time to ascend to the 35th floor.

It felt like drifting through the weightlessness of space. In the darkness of my vision, only the Tower's notification windows glowed sharp and clear.

This was the moment of faction selection that Ha Heijeong had told me about.

Not that my choice was ever in question.

Humans.

We'd already discussed how to tackle the linked floors and when to use the Sky Whale's orb.

Since I'd even posted about it on the community boards, plenty of other climbers would be choosing the human faction too.

Just as I opened my mouth to declare my choice—the human faction—the countdown window, ticking away second by second, abruptly vanished.

In its place, a new notification rose up.

Huh? Say what?

Excuse me, Mr. Tower. What exactly do you mean by that?

I tried to say it out loud, but no sound would come.

What on earth was going on—

Midway through my confusion, my vision flipped over, just as it had before.

The place I'd been summoned to was a vast plain.

Beneath a night sky glittering with hazy starlight, the plain stretched out in deep, dark viridian.

It was a beautiful vista. My mood was anything but beautiful.

I was so dumbfounded I couldn't speak. No—I couldn't speak, but the curses came out just fine.

"You've got to be shitting me…"

How was this even possible? Neutral? Out of nowhere?

I stood there slack-jawed. It felt like someone had swung a hammer into the back of my skull.

The trial I'd been handed was just as absurd.

Stop the war between the elves and the humans before all the trials ended on the 39th floor…

You have got to be kidding me. How the hell am I supposed to mediate a war?

On one side were elves who saw humans as vermin. On the other, humans who developed the land in accordance with their doctrine.

An emotional chasm that could never be bridged.

And what exactly could I do about it?

It said it was because of the 31st and 32nd floors, didn't it?

Betraying the suppression squad and turning down Roxanne's offer had apparently been processed as siding with neither the humans nor the elves?

That was almost certainly it.

I'd done one hidden mission and ruined the trials for four whole floors.

A heavy sigh escaped me unbidden.

"Haaa…"

"Suyeok? What's wrong?"

Dobby asked from beside me, his voice thick with concern, but I wasn't in the mood to answer.

Since I couldn't mediate a war through my own strength, I had no choice but to sit on my hands and watch until the 39th floor ended.

Nearly four floors, thrown away.

"Ugh, whatever. I don't even want to think about it. Dobby, lie down too."

Drained of all will, I flopped back onto the plain and stared up at the night sky—and another sigh swelled up in my chest.

And then, right at that moment, a thought flashed through my mind.

Hold on. Why did I assume I couldn't mediate it?