Floor 15, The Waiting Room (1)

"I am Kwon Suhyeok."

"Kwon Suhyeok... I see. It has been an honor to fight alongside you, my lord."

The legion commander offered a faint smile and inclined her head slightly. Her gleaming silver armor and long braided golden hair were soaked through with lizardman blood, and the spear she had planted straight into the earth still bore black flecks of flesh upon its tip.

The marks of a brutal battle. Even the legion commander herself had fought without rest on the front line — that much was plain to see.

"The honor was mine. I was glad to fight beside the Deiorn Imperial Army as well."

"Haha, an honor, you say? You flatter me. The continent's people needed time to regroup at the fortress, so in truth, this was a line we marched out to die on. Had it not been for you, my lord, we would truly have perished."

Her voice thick with emotion, the legion commander turned to look over the soldiers cleaning up the battlefield. There was a look in her moist eyes — the expression of someone lost in quiet remembrance.

It was true. More than double their numbers, and a dragon on top of it all. This had been a defense line destined to collapse, a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠battlefield meant to be lost. Just as she'd said, these people hadn't built the line to win it. They were nothing more than sacrifices to buy the empire time.

"Even when the Saint prophesied that the Shadow of the End would send us reinforcements, I could not bring myself to believe it — I feel ashamed of my own doubt. For the Shadow of the End, and for the god's reinforcements."

The legion commander closed her eyes for a moment. In that instant, I felt her shadow ripple and sway.

The Shadow of the End. Being a god associated with shadows, that must be why. This spiritual communion between a god and their faithful was something I was witnessing for the first time, and I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠found it rather fascinating.

If a shadow could tremble like that, then did a fire god's flame flicker and dance?

...Hold on. Shadows?

Something suddenly brushed across my mind. On the 11th floor, I had obtained Ronsyark's Dagger and, through it, the skill called Shadow Monarch. A god of shadows — and a dagger bearing a shadow-related skill. It was too much to dismiss as coincidence, especially with the black dragon connection now in the picture.

"Does the Shadow of the End go by another name, by any chance?"

"It is said the deity bore the name Ronsyark before ascending... though it is rarely used."

"Ah, I see."

Well, I wondered... but they really were connected after all.

It was strangely disorienting to have my suspicion proven right. Come to think of it, the dagger's options had been absurdly strong even for a counterfeit. Of course they were — it was the dagger of Ronsyark, the Shadow of the End. A god's name was inscribed upon it; it was practically a holy relic. A counterfeit of a unique-grade divine armament, no less. That explained everything.

"You wielded the power of shadow, my lord. Have you perhaps received grace from the Shadow of the End?"

"Hmm, no. I've never received anything from the Shadow of the End."

"Ah, of course — the Saint did say the god's reinforcements were practitioners from another dimension. You wouldn't follow the same god we do."

"Haha... Right, well — the 588th Bombardment Brigade has already departed. What will you do now?"

The conversation kept drifting back toward gods, so I deliberately changed the subject. Katley considered my sudden question for a moment.

"Our original orders were simply to hold the defense line. His Majesty the Emperor never imagined we would return victorious, I suppose — hence the orders."

"Mm, I see."

"Well, thanks to you we won, so now we march to the fortress and fight the enemies advancing upon it. Is that not so?"

Mm, being praised to my face like this, I honestly don't know what to say.

I just gave an awkward smile and nodded. "I heard that the god's reinforcements cannot remain in this world for long. Will you also return to your own world, my lord?"

"Yes, probably soon."

"Then if the prophecy holds, we shall meet again at the fortress. Until then, may you stay safe..."

"And may your road to the fortress be a safe one."

"Thank you once more."

The legion commander smiled first and extended her hand, and I took it in mine.

Once the handshake ended, the commander hastily finished the battlefield cleanup and led her army away toward the upper reaches of the river. After that brief farewell, only the climbers remained on the field.

The climbers' time. They recovered the bodies of their fallen comrades, gathered the equipment the enemy had left behind, and reunited with the party members who had survived. Thankfully, every one of our party members was alive. There were injuries, great and small, but none of them life-threatening.

Some wiped away tears; others smiled through exhaustion. The smiling ones were more numerous — and among them were those who looked at me with admiration and gratitude. That fact alone gave me some small measure of comfort.

The moment we entered the Waiting Room, I sent Dobby off to the shower. We had spent twelve hours on the 14th floor, seven of them in battle. With so many dead and wounded, Dobby — who had been buffing and healing — was in a pretty filthy state himself.

And after that, I opened my status window.

Every single stat had risen sharply compared to usual. It seemed the sheer number of kills had been factored in accordingly. Well, I had fought without a moment's rest. I hurled lightning into the river, spread the Shadow Veil with my accumulated mana, and swung my axe without pause. And these hadn't been small fry like the bugs of the 13th floor, either — they were seasoned lizardman soldiers.

My skill levels climbed a lot too.

Essence of Lightning, Combat Focus, Berserker Blood... every combat-related skill had gone up by a level. The most eye-catching among them were, naturally, Fire Resistance and Poison Resistance. Ten and eighteen. I wasn't likely to burn to death or die of poison anywhere, anytime.

Not that it matters — if I die, every climber dies with me.

All right, that's enough window-shopping. What now?

Dobby was the type to take long showers. He'd only just gone in, so it would be a while before he came out. Hmm — Ha Heijeong and the party members would be washing up too, so there was no one around to talk to anyway.

Might as well check the community.

Mm. My face grew hot under the excessive praise. Something similar had happened on the 6th floor, but back then the climbers had been split up by sector, so only a handful of people were singing my praises — nothing on this scale.

So this is what "face burning with embarrassment" means, huh?

Still, it didn't feel bad. Thank you, grateful, amazing, is he even human, Kwon Suhyeok is a god. All this gratitude and praise being heaped on me... it was strangely addictive. I kept scrolling through the community, trying to force down the corner of my mouth that kept twitching upward.

Well, there were some weird posts mixed in too.

"Kwon Suhyeok is colluding with the Tower"? What kind of bullshit is that?

Apparently the claim was that Kwon Suhyeok was in bed with the Tower, which was why it showered him with items and skills. It was such garbage that I brushed it off without a second thought. I barely had enough time to enjoy the compliments as it was.

About twenty minutes had passed when Dobby finally emerged from the bathroom.

"Kkiik! Suyeok! Making! A pervert face!"

"Huh? Me? No, I'm not."

"Kkiik! Yes! Go wash, now!"

"Hang on, just a little longer."

With several hundred thousand climbers now climbing, the friendly reactions were still pouring in nonstop. I wanted to look a little longer. I gave him a half-hearted reply, and Dobby got annoyed.

"Kkiik! Suyeok! I smell! Blood!"

"I'll wash in a bit. You sleep first."

"Kkiik! Dirty! You always! Tell me to wash fast! Suyeok! Wash!"

"Ha... fine."

I sighed and got up from my seat. Dobby had a point — lecturing him about hygiene while ignoring it myself was hypocritical. More than that, Dobby was a growing goblin, which meant I had to set a better example.

Only once I rose from my seat did Dobby finally nod in satisfaction and fling himself onto the bed.

Hmm, no matter how tired he is, his stomach has to be killing him.

"You're sleeping without eating? Want me to buy you a steak?"

"Kkiik! Tired! Eat! When I wake up!"

"Okay, then we'll eat together later."

"Kkiik! Got it!"

After a light farewell with Dobby, I headed into the bathroom. I scrubbed away every last crusted flake of dried blood, then let the hot water run and closed my eyes. I was never one to linger in the shower, but for some reason, today I just wanted to stand there like this for a while.

With my eyes shut and the water pouring over me, the battlefield of the 14th floor suddenly rose unbidden in my mind.

That was close.

One hour of holding out until the bombardment brigade arrived. While I fought the lizardmen under the Shadow Veil, there had been one truly dangerous moment. Lizardmen who couldn't see a thing had been stabbing their spears around at random, and one of them had nearly pierced my heart. The thrust had come from behind, and with the bombardment blasting everything into chaos, my senses hadn't caught it in time either. I'd barely deflected it thanks to one of Ronsyark's Dagger's options — negates all physical attacks once.

Attacks from blind spots I never expected — that's what's truly dangerous. From now on, I'll have to fight with that in mind too.

And in that moment, a small realization had come to me.

The battles fought inside the Shadow Veil flashed rapidly through my memory. Fighting enemies who couldn't see. In the shadows, you have to exploit their state of mind. Fear, confusion, anxiety...

Lean even harder into the psychology of an enemy whose vision is restricted...

So this is how you're supposed to fight from within the shadows.

A momentary flash of insight. Even without checking my status window, I was certain my Axe Mastery level had gone up.

Hmm, so was that why I felt like lingering in the shower today?

Who could say.

I came out feeling good, and a message from Ha Heijeong was waiting for me.