Floor 8: War, Peace, and the Thief (2)

Whoof...

Climbers are not enemies of one another. Sure, there's a certain amount of competition as you climb the Tower, but fundamentally, every ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠climber's goal is to conquer it.

Third on the leaderboard—Alexei Braham. The woman standing before me now with that stubborn expression was a skilled and promising climber. There was a good chance she'd become a powerful ally someday, maybe even a party member in the future. A top-ranked climber who could help lead the people of Earth, alongside me.

'Honestly, my plan was just to threaten her...'

After showing Alexei the gap in our strength, I was going to tell her outright that I would choose Plunder. If you didn't want to die, the obvious choice was Maintain. I'd get her to pick Maintain first, then watch her expression, her eyes—read her reactions and let my gut make the final call. My instincts had never been wrong yet.

Under normal circumstances, I'd pick Maintain too. If something felt off and I couldn't be sure, I'd go with Plunder. If the other person was someone you could talk to, we'd both choose Maintain and both walk away better off. And even if I chose Plunder out of suspicion, if she chose Maintain, I'd come out ahead anyway.

'But she doesn't look like someone I can talk to...'

Alexei showed no intention whatsoever of choosing Maintain. Which meant I had no choice but to pick Plunder.

Among my skills, the highest-leveled were Indomitable and Battle Focus. The question was whether the levels granted by Faraktus's Necklace of Will counted toward this. If they did, then Battle Focus and Indomitable. If they didn't, Battle Focus for sure, plus either Indomitable or Sixth Sense.

If we both chose Plunder and went to battle, I would lose skills under one of those two scenarios. Either way it was a heavy loss—but if I had to pick the lesser evil...

'Battle Focus and Indomitable, probably.'

Even if I lost those skills, Faraktus's Necklace would leave me holding lv5 versions of them. Losing Sixth Sense, on the other hand, would sting. It was the skill that had saved my life more times than I could count—hidden missions included.

'Damn it, did I miscalculate?'

I'd assumed I could simply choose Plunder no matter what, but she came at me like a lunatic, and the plan fell apart. No—more accurately, I'd never even considered that she might pick Plunder against me. I'd miscalculated, all right. I never seriously entertained the possibility of losing a skill from the start.

'Okay. Let's calm down and think this through again.'

Think. Think, damn it. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠What happens if I choose Maintain and she chooses Plunder?

'One random skill.'

Random. That damn word, random, was the problem.

Losing a skill like Flame Resistance or Poison Resistance wouldn't be the end of the world. They weren't high-level, and I could grind them back up anytime. But what if my luck ran out? What if, by some nightmare chance, I lost Essence of Lightning?

A skill worth 45,000 achievement points. One whose potential grew without limit every time its level rose. It was a unique item—there was only one—and my current achievement points stood at 44,798. Even if I could buy it again, I'd have to burn every last point to do it.

Essence of Lightning was absolutely non-negotiable. Statistically, the odds of losing it were low, but...

'I can't trust the Tower.'

That was the biggest problem of all. It called the selection random, but looking at everything the Tower had done so far, the odds favored taking my best skill. Damn it, I'd thought about this too simply. Floor 8 wasn't automatically kind to the strong. If the weaker climber had the genuine courage to stake their life, even the strong found themselves in a bind.

'Wait a second.'

All I'd actually seen was Alexei's resolute expression. She was a promising climber, third on the leaderboard. Why on earth would she insist on choosing Plunder—against me, someone stronger than her? Was there really a reason for Alexei to accept death so readily?

...Or.

'Could she be thinking exactly what I planned to do?'

Announce that she'd absolutely choose Plunder, watch my reaction, then pick Maintain. Hmm. I couldn't figure this out by myself. Fine—ask her straight out.

"What's your reason for insisting on Plunder? Are you planning to watch my reaction after saying that, then choose Maintain?"

"No."

With those words, Alexei shut her mouth tight. Irritation bled into my voice as impatience forced the questions out of me.

"Then why are you doing this? If you fight me, you die. Guaranteed."

"I know. You carry yourself differently from everyone else. I'm well aware."

"Then why, knowing you'll die?"

"I hate having things taken from me. We Russians don't run from a fight. We'd rather be the ones taking than the ones taken from."

Still, no communication. Did she think she was some kind of medieval gladiator? It was a maddening situation—no dialogue, not even the faintest opening to persuade her. Was being Russian synonymous with having no sense of self-preservation? I was this close to developing an ugly prejudice against an entire nation.

No. I didn't have time for thoughts like that.

'Let's pin down only what's certain.'

Essence of Lightning could never be recovered. But Battle Focus, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Indomitable, and Sixth Sense—difficult as it would be, I could regain them. They were naturally acquired skills in the first place. And Battle Focus and Indomitable were combat skills; I could level them back up quickly.

So should I just choose Plunder and write off two skills? Or gamble on an unknown possibility and choose Maintain...

'Damn it, enough of this. Seriously.'

I wasn't that generous a person by nature, and I didn't enjoy being dragged around like this either. Image management had its limits. 'There's no need to play nice with a lunatic.'

Essence of Lightning was irreplaceable, but the other skills could be earned back. That was the whole, certain picture. Right, then. Plunder. I'd choose Plunder.

"Fine. Let's do it that way. I'll—"

In that instant, my Sixth Sense slammed the brakes on me. I'm choosing Plunder. The words I'd been about to spit out died in my mouth. My Sixth Sense was ringing the alarm. Had I—missed something?

All those spiraling worries had my head in a tangle. Let me start over from the beginning.

'Hold on. From the beginning?'

The notification window that had appeared the moment I entered Floor 8. Just a second—

'Why the Thief's Room?'

Couldn't it just call itself the Room of Plunder and Maintain? I could let it slide as flavor text, sure, but... Tower notifications were never to be taken at face value. It had baited me with subtle traps more than once. A strange, creeping sense of wrongness bubbled up.

Alexei, glaring at me with that stubborn expression. 'She must have moved with other people on Floors 6 and 7, right?' If she'd always been this arrogant, someone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would have mentioned it on the community boards long ago—and ranked third, she'd have drawn all the more attention for it.

I'd been buried too deep in the stated conditions of the "Plunder and Maintain" game laid out in the notification. The alarm from my Sixth Sense. The Thief's Room.

'There's a thief in this room.'

It was all but a conviction. I swept my eyes across the arena. The same scenery I'd seen before. Nothing out of the ordinary to the naked eye. Was someone using invisibility magic? No—given that something about Alexei was off, it might be me seeing an illusion.

The easiest way to check was...

'Essence of Lightning.'

I pushed the Essence of Lightning to its absolute limit. Lightning blazed up both my arms, dazzling enough to make me squint. And then, toward the center of the arena directly in front of me, I scattered lightning in every direction.

The bolts tore through the empty air, spreading outward—then bit by bit, they shrank and faded away.

"Kkuh..."

But at a single point near the center of the arena, the lightning lingered. The shape of a bipedal primate, about Dobby's size.

Of course. That figures. This was the Tower of Trials. I should have been suspicious from the moment it called itself the "Thief's Room."

I kicked off the ground and rocketed toward the point where the residual lightning crackled. Less than two seconds, and I was on top of my target.

"KKUAAAAAK!"

The throat—that'd be the weak spot, right? Yeah, definitely the throat. I seized the creature's neck.

"Kkeuk! Kkeueuek!"

Through the hand gripping its throat, I poured lightning into it again. Crackle—! The smell of scorched flesh and searing skin flooded my nose, sharp and vivid. The convulsing creature went rigid. In the same instant, the illusion shattered.

The arena stretched out before me, and Alexei's figure scattered like shards of glass.

"No way! I genuinely don't get it. We could both just choose Maintain! I read the community, I thought you were a decent pers—huh?"

Beyond the crumbling illusion, Alexei's face came into view, flushed red. The illusion had shattered mid-rant, and she wore a look of complete bewilderment.

"Wh... what?"

Still struggling to process what had happened, Alexei stammered in a daze. About a second passed—then she let out a gasp, as if something had finally clicked.

"Ah! Right, that's what it was. Of course. No way the rank one would be this kind of lunatic."

"Ah! You idiot! I'm the one who should have figured it out first!"

Spitting mad at having been fooled by the Skill Thief, Alexei exploded. Hmm, looking at her, I doubted she'd have caught on even with more time.

"You'd have figured it out eventually too, if you'd had a bit longer. See you next time, then."

Image management. Image management. I did my best to produce the coolest smile I could manage.

"...Thanks anyway! Because of you, I got a little extra in achievement points. Yeah! Let's meet again with a smile next time."

With Alexei's deflated words, the familiar sensation of weightlessness washed over me.

Back again—to the Waiting Room.