A Toast to a Safe Conquest

◇ Floor 41, The Shelter ◇

Of course I'd allow it, but out of courtesy I still had to ask the party for their opinions. I glanced around at my party members with a silent look, and every one of them grinned and nodded their agreement. Hosu had even already gotten up from his seat and gone off to hug Handrake.

I met Alexei's eyes.

"Works for us. Our people all get along with yours anyway."

"Really? Could've fooled me."

"Me? C'mon, of course it works. The more the merrier."

"Just kidding."

Alexei laughed and sat down beside Hakin. Last time he'd insisted on squeezing in right next to me, so this came as a surprise.

Alexei raised his mug and started grumbling.

"No, seriously, I got 1,200 points this time. 1,200 across five floors. Everyone else got less than 1,000. How is that fair?"

Right — Alexei, along with most of the other climbers, had chosen the human faction.

Beside him, Hakin chimed in with a deflated voice and playful whine of his own.

"Aww, I only got 800 points. I picked the human faction because of what Suhyeok's hyung told us..."

"Same. I got 700. And I'm not usually the type to cry, but I'm actually tearing up here."

Every gaze at the table swung toward me.

It wasn't genuine resentment, of course — just eyes full of teasing.

"Hahaha..."

I had nothing to say, so I just laughed awkwardly. Still, I figured I owed them an explanation. My own party members knew why, thanks to Ha Heijeong, but Alexei's people had no idea. Besides, I wanted them to know I'd been wronged too.

Come to think of it, I should post this on the community as well.

After the combat training ended I'd collapsed into sleep without a second to spare, so it had completely slipped my mind. No matter — I could talk about it now and post it before we entered Floor 41.

Looking across the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠table at Handrake, I spoke up.

"By the way, seriously — I didn't choose neutral because I wanted to. The Tower forced it on me for personal reasons."

"Huh? Really?"

Handrake asked back, genuinely startled. I nodded with the most pitiful expression I could manage.

"Yep. I helped the elves on my personal floor, and then turned down their offer to join them. That's apparently why neutral got locked in. Trust me, I was pretty thrown when it happened."

"Whoa, that's insane. What kind of system even does that?"

Alexei spat out his outrage on my behalf, rough and indignant — apparently he'd taken my situation to heart.

"That must have pissed you off so bad."

"It did. But I powered through it, so it all worked out."

"Well, that's something at least. Actually, hold on — I've been curious. How much achievement score did you get?"

"Me? A little over 45,000."

Alexei's brow furrowed and his eyes went wide. Just moments ago the man had been sympathizing with me... but the second the achievement score came up, his attitude flipped entirely. Compassion, gone.

"What? 45,000 points? You don't deserve a shred of pity with a score like that. Take responsibility for mine!"

It was all in good fun, naturally.

"Why would that be my responsibility? Take it up with the Tower of Trials."

"Ugh, you're ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right. Man, that's infuriating. If it weren't for the Tower, I'd have easily pulled 30,000 myself..."

Alexei grumbled and drained his mug in one go. I laughed and clinked mine against it.

In that moment, Handrake abruptly picked up his seat and moved to squeeze in beside me. It wasn't because of me, though — it was because of Dobby. And this, too, happened every single time.

The instant Handrake parted his lips to strike up conversation with Dobby, I beat him to it. There was something I'd been wanting to ask him.

"Handrake, how's the Will Deliverer Project coming along?"

It was something I'd heard back when I first met Alexei on Floor 10. Because of it, several hundred thousand wills had been uploaded to the community in the Floor 11 Waiting Room. When I'd last asked...

Wasn't it that there were too many to sort through at once, so he worked on it whenever he found spare time?

At my question, Handrake nodded with an expression of easy satisfaction.

"Yes. All the wills uploaded before are archived, and lately I've only been processing updates from those who revise theirs."

"Still, it must have been a grind. You were busy enough just working on your own growth..."

"Oh, there's honestly nothing to do after training and resting. I finished everything I needed to, haha."

Handrake laughed it off like it was nothing, but it absolutely wasn't.

Setting aside the psychological stability it gave climbers — the assurance that even if they died, their last words would reach their families — several hundred thousand wills would have taken an enormous amount of time.

Whatever he said, he'd almost certainly sacrificed proper rest to transcribe them, desperate and sleepless.

I could not fathom how priceless that act truly was.

Handrake spoke up carefully.

"That said... are you truly certain you won't write a will, Suhyeok?"

I gave an awkward smile at that.

Right. Like the handful of climbers who'd never written theirs, neither Ha Heijeong nor I had put pen to paper.

There was no grand reason behind it. It was simply a declaration of will — a promise to ourselves that we would absolutely not die.

"Yes. I intend to walk out of this Tower alive."

"...Please do. And I'd like to be part of that journey, if I may."

He didn't show it outwardly, but I sensed Handrake was a little disappointed. Not because he thought I would die — more that he was bracing for every possibility, just in case.

"Then with that in mind — a toast to a safe conquest of the Tower."

Handrake raised his mug with a smile. That small, considerate gesture made gratitude well up in me anew.

"Yes — to all of us conquering the Tower unharmed."

I raised my glass in answer, and Alexei, catching wind of the exchange, perked up with interest.

"A toast for a safe Tower conquest? Count me in!"

"Huh? Safe Tower conquest? Why just Handrake and Suhyeok? None of that — everyone drinks together! To a safe Tower conquest!"

And then Hosu bellowed it out loud enough for the whole room to hear. At that, not only my party members but the climbers around us got swept up in the mood and began echoing the cheer.

The call spread and spread, until before I knew it, every climber in the dining hall had raised a glass and was looking straight at me.

A tiny exchange just turned into... this?

I turned to Handrake; he looked just as flustered, wearing a helpless smile of his own.

Eh, whatever. It wasn't a bad thing, anyway.

I lifted my glass high.

"To all of us! Don't die, and let's conquer this Tower! Cheers!"

The roar of the climbers filled the dining hall from wall to wall. Rough clinks of mugs rang out from every direction.

And as always happens with drinking parties, the attention on us faded just as quickly. The dining hall returned to its usual rhythm as if nothing had happened.

Some fetched instruments and played while others sang; some took a lover's — or a stranger's — hand and drifted off toward the lodgings.

Then Ha Heijeong made a suggestion to the group.

"Looks like some people are drinking out on the fields over there. What do you say we take ours outside?"

The fields — not a bad idea. The nights in the Shelter were dreamlike, and the fields were beautiful.

Everyone else was clearly of the same mind; heads nodded all around. We gathered our drinks and headed out to the fields.

Beautiful every time I see it.

The sky burned in lavish pastel reds, and even at this evening hour the fields were awash in pink light.

We sat down on the grass and clinked our glasses together. The drinking was just beginning to mellow into its richest hour.

Morning sparring. Alexei, gasping for breath, flung his axe down onto the ground.

He was thoroughly spent; he slumped back against the bare earth and glared up at me.

"Damn it, you've gotten even stronger!"

"Maybe you should've trained a little harder, then."

"I trained plenty hard!"

I needled him with a light chuckle, and Alexei bristled instantly. Maybe because we'd grown reasonably close by now, the urge to tease him came naturally.

And I knew this temperament of his very well. He was the type who'd scramble to close the gap the moment you prodded him even a little.

"Well then, I suppose that's the difference in talent. You trained like crazy and this is where you landed — wouldn't you say there's a wall between us that just can't be climbed?"

"You little..."

Alexei — who shared a pride ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just as fierce as Ha Heijeong's — ground his teeth. And then, apparently unable to hold it in any longer, he sprang up from where he sat and snatched the discarded axe back off the ground.

"Again."

"Running it again won't change anything."

"Again."

"Fine, sure."

I nodded at his flat declaration. His eyes were burning hot enough that he was clearly well and truly angry.

Had I pushed too hard?

Hm. No — if this goaded Alexei into greater effort, it was a good thing.

The moment he re-set his grip on the axe, Alexei came rushing at me. An honest attack, swung in a diagonal arc.

Clang— I raised my axe and deflected it with effortless ease.

Then, abruptly, Alexei lifted his leg toward my crotch. Startled, I scrambled backward in a hurry.

Even though it was well within dodging speed, goosebumps broke out across my whole body.

"Hey! Damn it! Who are you trying to kill?!"

I yelled at him, furious, but Alexei didn't seem to care in the slightest. He let out a rough breath, then flopped flat onto his back on the ground again.

A curt voice followed.

"What, come on. It's not like you'd ever use it."

"What do you mean you'd never use it?"

He hadn't actually landed the blow, but my groin still throbbed with a dull, creeping ache. The memory of taking a ball to the crotch playing soccer — the pain carved into my experience — was far too vivid.

Alexei muttered, as if giving up.

"Ugh, forget it. You're too strong. I can't beat you."

"What happened to 'I'll catch up sooner or later'?"

"You have to stay reasonably catchable for that."

It sounded like surrender on the surface, but Alexei's eyes said otherwise. His words might have talked of quitting, but his gaze was still locked in the grip of his competitive fire.

Back to living in the training room once we return to the Waiting Room, I guess...

Suddenly, Alexei turned his head and looked at me.

"Hey, why aren't you asking?"

"Asking what?"

"Yesterday. You didn't sit next to me, and you didn't ask me to drink separately either."

I couldn't tell what he was getting at. It struck me as a little odd, but I honestly hadn't been paying it much mind. I'd just assumed Alexei had finally given up on drinking beside me.

"Do I really need to ask you for the reason?"

"Ugh — Handrake said if I did this, you'd take an interest in me."

"That guy's not even married, is he? What made you trust Handrake's advice?"

"Dunno. Guess I just wanted you to notice me."

It was so bluntly direct that I couldn't find a single word to answer with.

In the silence, the atmosphere turned strange. It had definitely been an atmosphere of passionate training just moments ago...

Alexei got to his feet.

"Aaargh, I'm too wiped to go on today. Let's pick it up tomorrow."

"...Alright."

"Same time?"

"Whatever works for you."

"Good. Tomorrow, same time as today. And see you at dinner in the dining hall later."

Alexei turned away with a huff and strutted off, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠head held high. Of all times to throw me off balance — why did he only bolt like this after doing it?

Wait. Was this also part of Handrake's scheme to get me interested in Alexei?

I couldn't say why, but after that conversation earlier, it seemed awfully likely.

Ugh, whatever. Let it go.

It would soon be time to head to the shop with Ha Heijeong.