The Weight of a Party Leader

◈ Floor 7, Waiting Room ◈

"What do you think you're— Gahk!"

A silent fireball materialized out of nowhere, and Jo Hyunsoo collapsed without so much as a chance to resist.

The clinging flames burned away his utterly motionless body.

"Heeik!"

The people standing behind Jo Hyunsoo at the apartment entrance recoiled in horror. They were so stunned that they couldn't even scream — they just gulped down panicked, useless breaths of air.

A beat later, Chloe Bennett found her voice, her words stammering out through a trembling throat.

"A-are you i-insane? What — what do you th-think you're doing?"

"This trash sold out his own teammates in a hidden mission. A betrayer."

"S-stay back!"

At a single step from Ha Heijeong, Chloe Bennett plopped down on her rear and scrambled backward across the floor, hands and feet shaking as she desperately clawed herself away.

But then a solid wall met her back.

"Chloe Bennett. Poisoned her non-human allies on the 16th floor. A xenophobe. You son of a bitch — because of you—"

"W-what are you t-talking about?"

"...Hah. Forget it."

Ha Heijeong let out a sigh, then turned her gaze to the two men who were only now belatedly drawing their weapons.

The two railroad tracks and the pillar standing between them blocked Kwon Suhyeok's view, but Ha Heijeong, standing off to the side, could see everything ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clearly.

"And you two. Trash who shoved your own comrades aside while running for your lives."

"...What — what gives you the right?!"

"How could I possibly leave in peace, knowing I left garbage like you behind me?"

Ha Heijeong smiled, clear and bright.

As I lay there scrolling through the community board, post after post praising me kept popping up.

Apparently the trio I'd saved in front of Chungmuro Station had been posting nonstop.

It's not like I could tell them to knock it off.

My face burned with embarrassment, but honestly? It didn't feel bad at all.

In twenty-four years of living, I'd never once been praised like this by other people. It felt like becoming a celebrity, I suppose. I imagine this is what celebrities feel like whenever they read their fans' comments.

"Kkiik……"

Dobi, fast asleep after taking his Physical Enhancement Elixir, snored softly.

He'd earned his share of achievement points ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠too, so I figured I should invest a little in him as well — a companion who'd be climbing the Tower with me from here on out.

Some decent clothes, a staff, the Physical Enhancement Elixir. I felt a little guilty for not looking after him sooner, but seeing the happy expression on his sleeping face, a warm feeling welled up in my chest.

The 'Party Chat Window' that had appeared when we entered the Floor 7 Waiting Room was buzzing nonstop with Ha Heijeong and the others. Despite it being something she could have found tedious, Ha Heijeong was patiently walking the rest of the group through everything.

Thanks to clearing the hidden mission on Floor 6, every member of our party had claimed a spot near the top of the leaderboard. They were all people with strong growth potential who'd earned plenty of points — the idea was to raise them early, before anything else.

Being party leader isn't bad, but……

Truthfully, I figured it'd help the rest of the group more to learn from Ha Heijeong, who knew the Tower inside and out, than from clueless old me. It wasn't like I'd wanted the leader spot anyway — I'd only taken it because I had to.

The notifications came pouring in one after another the moment I stepped into the Waiting Room, and by the time I'd gathered my wits, I was somehow the party leader.

Ha Heijeong said it was a good thing — the party leader receives slightly more achievement points, apparently.

Plus I get to invite and kick party members. Being party leader is straight-up busted, no?

For what it's worth, I'd voted for Ha Heijeong. So which of them had voted for me?

Heijeong and the old man seemed like safe bets…… Hmm, I honestly couldn't say for certain.

My best guess was that it hadn't been her foresight that impressed them, but my raw strength.

The system didn't count Dobi as a party member, so we currently numbered five, with a cap of six.

What do I do about that last slot?

She had a point, honestly. With Dobi in the party, we were effectively six already. And everyone else was more than pulling their weight.

Ha Heijeong didn't reply.

Uh oh. Did I ask something I shouldn't have? Still, she's ranked second on the leaderboard, so she's gotta have a decent amount.

Her expression wasn't great back at the apartment, either.

Was her pride wounded? Either way, Ha Heijeong was a regressor. When she'd called me Earth's hope, she'd meant it — she really had been funneling me every reward, down to the smallest trinket.

But even after going through a regression, maybe it stung that I was sitting in first place. Not that Heijeong had ever been short on confidence to begin with.

Yeah. I'm bringing this topic up again. Never.

In the odd little silences that settled between Ha Heijeong's messages, I caught a faint glimpse of what was going on in her heart.

Trust. Admiration. Awe. Jealousy? How would you even put it into words?

...With my underpowered brain, I couldn't nail down a single label for it. The only thing I knew for sure was that Ha Heijeong carried some complicated feelings toward me.

Ha Heijeong knew what was coming on every floor ahead. As I'd done all this time, I quietly decided to follow her lead.

I wonder what the next floor will be like? The moment I moved to ask, her message beat me to it.

The mace certainly did sit more comfortably in my grip than a sword, that much was true — but Ha Heijeong had been watching me closely since her first run through the Tower. There was no downside to testing things out. If anything, finding a weapon that suited me even better would be a win.

She'd already been buying the things we needed for the climb?

Whew. It was pretty touching, but knowing the truth, I felt a slight weight settle on my shoulders too. Even in little details like these, Ha Heijeong had been looking out for me all along. I'd get stronger and pay her back. That was all there was to it.

...It was such good advice that I had nothing to say back.

It was true that ever since the chat window had opened, I'd been leaning on Ha Heijeong every time a question came up. I hadn't been like that climbing the tutorial alone.

Lately, unless it was something my gut screamed was certain, I'd simply been doing whatever she told me.

I closed the chat window and let out a long breath.

It was something I didn't even want to think about, but her words had sunk deep into my heart. What if, hypothetically, Ha Heijeong really did die?

In her first run — when I watched Heijeong die during her first regression — what must I have felt?

...Wait a second. Ha Heijeong died on the 91st floor. But how did she know I'd made it to the 94th?

I waited a while, but no reply came. Maybe she was deliberately looking away, or maybe she'd fallen asleep in the meantime — there was no way to tell.

Is this her way of making me figure it out? No, this isn't something I can figure out on my own......

Whatever. I'd take the Seraph Elixir and sleep. If it was something I truly needed, Ha Heijeong would tell me in her own time, surely.

When I woke and checked my status window, every single stat had ticked upward.

A new skill called 'Steel Skin' had appeared in my skill list as well. I suppose being a Seraph elixir, the traits of the Seraph's scales had been shared with my body too.

But more ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠than the growth itself, something new that had appeared beside my sponsorship stake was gnawing at me.

0.00% (-?.??%). What in the world is that?

When had it even appeared? I turned it over in my head alone and alone, but no matter how long I chewed on it, the answer wouldn't come.

I asked Ha Heijeong as carefully as I could, but the answer that came back was anything but a clear explanation.

Frustrating as it was, in the end I decided this, too, was Ha Heijeong holding something back for my own sake — so I swallowed my impatience and let it go.

One day, the answer would come to me. It had to.

It was time to head for Floor 8.

"Yes."