The Shelter on the Tenth Floor (3)

Ha Heijeong's first run, Floor 51.

"Trust the mages? Ah, right, the Earthlings' number one is a mage. I've thought so for a while now—you're all nothing but weaklings. No wonder you slink around stabbing people in the back."

"...We deeply regret what happened on the 16th floor. Chloe Bennett, the one who caused it, is dead. Still, shouldn't we form an alliance on this floor?"

"I have no intention of dealing with treacherous weaklings. The fool here is me, for showing up to this talk at all. Trust the mages, he says! I'll never face your kind again, you garbage race."

Hendrake, the chief negotiator, sighed inwardly.

Damn it, that whole mess on the 16th floor has tangled everything up. Even if we have to bow a little, we need to get these talks back on track somehow...

"Hey, you. You son of a bitch. Get out here. Let's fight."

The words burst out of Kwon Suhyeok without warning, and Hendrake felt his heart drop for an instant.

Ah, right—Kwon Suhyeok has a lot of pride in his magic. This is bad. And now there was no way to walk it back.

The Koshark race worshipped strength above all else. Their physical specs were on a completely different level from the Earthlings'.

If they could win, nothing would be better—but he couldn't guarantee a victory.

No matter how strong Kwon Suhyeok was, he was still a mage. Could he actually win? Hendrake worried that Earth's one hope might be snapped in half for nothing.

"So... we're agreed on the alliance, then?"

"...Fine, let's do that. I'll apologize for earlier. I misjudged the Earthlings."

Kwon Suhyeok, having just beaten one of the Koshark race's greatest warriors senseless with nothing but a staff and a mace, flashed Hendrake a bright, sunny smile.

The pained sounds had come in her sleep. What kind of dream was she having? Was it about the first timeline? Or her parents?

Ha Heijeong had gone longer without seeing her parents than I had.

There was no way to pin it down to one thing. It was probably all of it mixed together—the first timeline, her parents, everything.

Then it struck me: maybe the person carrying the heaviest burden on that floor wasn't anyone else. Maybe it was Ha Heijeong.

They call me the hope of Earth, but...

Still, the weight she'd been shouldering alone couldn't have been light.

Suddenly, I thought that Ha Heijeong needed comfort too.

And with that thought, I headed for her room.

I hadn't gone with any grand idea of how to comfort her, or how to be her strength.

That's not what gives a person strength. It's never that grand.

The things we hadn't finished talking about today—Alexei, armor, where we were headed from here. Small talk like that would be more than enough.

For her, being woken up and chatting about trivial things beat tossing and turning through a nightmare.

I knocked carefully on her door.

Knock knock. A small sound, but the pained noises stopped. A moment later came the faint patter of Ha Heijeong's footsteps.

"Who is it?"

"It's me."

Without asking anything else, she opened the door. Her eyes were rimmed with red. What on earth had she been dreaming about?

Rubbing at her eyes, her fingers looked more delicate than usual somehow.

"What?"

She'd just woken up, and her voice was a little curt—and a little wet.

I didn't point out that I'd pulled her free of a nightmare. Instead—

"Can't sleep. Let's have a drink."

Surprise flickered across Ha Heijeong's eyes.

Then she let out a short laugh. "Fair enough. You did say before that this kind of thing helps. Alright, come in. Let's drink some more."

Even after I'd talked with her and returned to my own room, I spent a long while gazing up at the night sky.

No more pained sounds came through the walls.

The stars were still holding their places up there. People draw strength from other people. It was a night that felt full, somehow, in the spirit.

Hoping that Ha Heijeong would dream something good for once, I lay down in my own bed.

We kept breakfast light.

My stomach was fine, but after drinking for the first time in ages, I felt a little worn out.

It was the same for the rest of the party. Everyone's eyes were sunken—they'd all apparently slept badly too.

Seo Harin even had puffy bags under her eyes.

So she'd ended up crying alone last night after all.

The old man's eyes were puffy as well, though not as bad as Harin's.

Whether he didn't remember last night or was just pretending not to, he kept shoveling down bowl after bowl of haejangguk—Korean hangover soup.

Ah, I should've ordered that too.

I'd followed Cole's lead and gotten onion soup instead...

The old man ate with such relish that watching him made me regret my choice. Should I get one more bowl even now?

"Oooh, that hits the spot. Man, this is good."

The old man wiped his forehead as he ate rice soaked in the steaming red broth.

The atmosphere was bright, so unlike the night before.

The other climbers were no different. The dining hall that morning felt almost lighthearted.

Maybe because everyone had poured their emotions out last night—whether that meant desire or grief.

I even spotted close acquaintances teasing each other about the tears they'd shed the day before.

I was taking all this in when Ha Heijeong suddenly spoke up.

"Should we stop by the equipment shop after we eat?"

"Heh heh, sure, why not?"

"You seem to be in a good mood today, Heijeong. You're chatty today, and even the tone of your voice is different. Did something good happen?"

"Huh? No? Do I seem that way?"

"You do. You seem a bit more upbeat today? Softer than usual, too."

At Cole's words, Ha Heijeong put on a puzzled expression.

Had she been in a good mood today?

Hmm, now that I thought about it... she kind of had.

She'd been more ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠talkative than usual over breakfast. Her voice did seem a little softer, too.

While everyone else looked tired, hers was the only face that was bright.

I figured our conversation last night must have given her some comfort after all.

So it really had been an emotional solace to her. I was glad.

We wrapped up breakfast in a leisurely way, and then our party headed to the equipment shop together.

The interior of the two-story, wide-open equipment shop was like looking at a giant supermarket.

Every conceivable weapon lined the walls, and the tables were heaped with gauntlets, boots, accessories, and more.

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

The moment we stepped through the entrance, the shopkeeper of another race spoke mechanically.

"Climbers! Welcome. Browse freely—just pay on your way out. Take your time. Repairs, crafting, and selling are all on the second floor."

A flat, toneless voice. He looked rather bored.

The being resembled a human, except he had four arms.

He stood around two and a half meters tall, and his skin looked as hard and solid as carved stone.

"Well then, we all use different weapons, so let's split up and browse."

"Heh, good. Harin, let's go."

"Yep! Dobby, want to come look at maces with me?"

"Kkiik! Goblin! Coming!"

The old man called for Seo Harin, and she took Dobby along with her.

That left me, Ha Heijeong, and Cole.

"...Then I'll go look around too. See you later."

"Sure. See you in a bit."

Cole hesitated a moment, glancing at us, then slipped away.

Sharp as ever, that Cole.

I was secretly in a good mood, being able to talk openly with Ha Heijeong like this... but still, watching Cole walk off alone didn't sit right.

Was it just my imagination, or did his retreating figure look a little lonely?

"Let's start with armor. The equipment in the Shelter shops changes randomly every time. The Tower shop is better overall, but occasionally you find something here that's even better."

"Really? Sure, let's do that."

I followed Ha Heijeong toward the armor displays.

The armor section was deep inside the sprawling shop—it took a long while to walk there.

Naturally, my gaze drifted to the side along the way.

Rings, necklaces, bracelets... all sorts of accessories caught my eye.

Two thousand points for this. Three thousand for that. Hmm, isn't that a bit pricey?

I was skimming the price tags when Ha Heijeong, walking ahead of me, suddenly froze in shock.

"Huh? So this was here?"

I followed her gaze to a single pair of dark iron-gray plate gauntlets.

Was that what they called a gauntlet?

From the fingertips all the way to the wrists, plates of dark metal overlapped like dragon scales.

Even at a glance, it looked anything but ordinary.

Seventy thousand points? For a single pair of gauntlets?

Nothing I'd glanced at so far came anywhere near that expensive.

Maybe I'd just missed it, but even when I'd browsed the shop in the Waiting Room, I hadn't found anything over 70,000 points.

"...No, that can't be right. If this had been here before, I would've known."

"Why? What's the problem? Why is this thing so expensive?"

Instead of answering, Ha Heijeong just stared blankly down at the gauntlet. Her face was sunk deep in thought.

She was thinking, so I decided to wait quietly.

Before long, she spoke.

"You remember when they said four stellar-race civilizations would be joining when the Tower of Trials first opened?"

"Huh? Ah—yeah. I remember."

"Those gauntlets belonged to the number one climber on another planet's ranking board. Because of that thing, I went through absolute hell..."

"Another planet? So other races start showing up later on?"

"Yeah. As far as I knew, this was never supposed to appear in the Earth Shelter, but the future I remember has changed. ...Well, I suppose it could happen. The equipment in the Shelter shops is random."

Ha Heijeong quietly picked up the gauntlet. The bewildered look in her eyes was already melting into a faint, quiet joy.

Whoosh—she turned her head and looked straight at me.

"Suhyeok. Forget the armor for now. Let's buy this first."

"Buy this? I don't have enough achievement points. I've only got 54,000."

"I'll cover it."

"What?"

You could transfer achievement points?

Her next words answered my question.

"Nobody knows it yet, but achievement points can be transferred. It's not like your cumulative total changes or anything shifts on the ranking board."

"You can just hand them over, like that?"

"They skim a 10% fee, but if we can get this, it's a bargain."

"Are your points enough?"

Ha Heijeong broke into a wide grin. I couldn't say why, but her face was full of anticipation.

I'd never seen her this worked up before...

Was it really that big a deal?

"You said you have 54,000 points right now, yeah?"

"Yep. Exactly 54,804."

"I can give you 15,200, maybe a little more. I've been pinching every point I could this whole time."

"What? Didn't you buy a staff with them?"

"This?"

Ha Heijeong held up her staff with a perfectly straight face. A smooth, reddish-brown staff, topped with a red jewel.

It looked pretty expensive to me?

"This is a basic staff. It cost next to nothing."

Had my romantic notions about magic been making that thing look classier than it was?

Hearing her say it, I looked again—it did seem rather shabby. Not exactly a venerable master's relic...

"Honestly, every staff I can afford right now has something lacking. At my level, I don't want to bother buying some mediocre middle-grade staff. The truth is, with magic, the person matters more than the staff."

Fair enough. Ha Heijeong wasn't at the stage where she'd be picky about gear from the low floors anyway.

When I nodded, she went on.

"And I've been saving up for exactly a moment like this. I always planned to pitch in when you were short buying a weapon—but we're using it here instead."

"Huh? Seriously? ...That's kind of moving, actually?"

"Then do well. Don't slack off like you did in the last Waiting Room."

"Got it. Thanks, Heijeong. I'll pay you back, I swear."

Ha Heijeong looked up at the empty air, manipulating something—she was probably reading her notification window.

A moment later, a window popped up before me.

"Yes."

Now that I actually had the points in hand from her, I grew curious—what on earth was that gauntlet, that she wanted it this badly?

Something that cost 70,000 points had to be worth something, surely.

"So what is that gauntlet, that you're willing to go this far for it?"

"You said you're short on mana, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"Every time you fight while wearing those, your mana builds up. It'll accumulate ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slowly at first, but once you adapt, it'll skyrocket. I heard it scales to the wearer's level."

"Oh."

"And on top of that, the mana it can store is practically infinite?"

Did that mean I could now unleash the Essence of Lightning as much as I wanted, without worrying about mana at all?

Expensive things really did live up to their price, it seemed.

I bought the gauntlet for 70,000 achievement points. What remained: 104 points.

Watching all those points drain away made my stomach churn—but the notification window that appeared soon after changed my mind.