Floor 16: The True Target (1)

It was a night of hazy moonlight.

Yet the corpses of lizardmen spread endlessly across the battlefield stood out with stark clarity. Torch-bearing allies moved among them, tending to wounded climbers and imperial soldiers and finishing off the lizardmen still clinging to life.

One imperial soldier, his arm severed, scooped up Koshak — a hole punched clean through the lizardman's flank — and managed a smile.

We had won the war, and we had defended the fortress.

I turned my head toward the fortress. Under the veiled moonlight, it looked steadfast even with its gate shattered.

We've come so far.

The fortress was roughly three kilometers away. The path we'd charged down, trampling lizardmen underfoot, lay spread before my eyes, and watching the route I'd sprinted only moments ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ago, a smile crept across my face unbidden.

What a heart-pounding charge it had been.

They were otherworldly races I'd met for the very first time on Floor 16, yet we'd fought in perfect sync, like old friends.

Time to head back.

I retraced the path I'd raced down breathlessly, walking it slowly this time, savoring the victorious battlefield. The stench of corpses spread through the air, mingled with the iron tang of blood — and yet it didn't disgust me at all.

On the road back to the fortress, the eyes of climbers and imperial soldiers alike settled on me. Amid all those awestruck gazes, one elderly imperial soldier bowed his head deeply and without a word. And one by one, everyone we passed on the battlefield followed his example, bowing slowly.

Gratitude and reverence, held in silence.

The atmosphere demanded that someone say something. So I looked around at them all and drew a deep, resounding breath.

"Today! We! Have won the war! Let us return to the fortress!"

"WAAAAH! Commander! Commander!"

"WAAAAAAH! Kwon Suhyeok!"

"Dragonslayer! Dragonslayer!"

My words had been nothing grand, but the rough cheers battered my ears all the same. Everyone on the battlefield was looking at me, cheering for me. Even those with reddened eyes, even those shedding tears — every single mouth was smiling.

It was a strange feeling. Amid the roar of hundreds of thousands of voices, I set off toward the fortress once more.

And at the shattered gate, my party members were waiting to greet me.

Seo Harin reached me first, running up at a quick trot.

"Oppa! Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Hm? Oh, no, I'm fine."

"You were so amazing back there!"

"Haha..."

Seo Harin chattered on, her eyes wide as saucers. When I smiled sheepishly in reply, the old man and Cole piled on as well.

"Man, Suhyeok. You were seriously out of control today."

"I knew you were strong, Suhyeok, but I never imagined you were this strong..."

"Ah, come on, it was nothing."

"It was not nothing. You couldn't say much earlier because you were wounded, but you took down a dragon in a single blow..."

Praise from strangers was one thing, but hearing it from my own party members made my face burn. As I answered them awkwardly, I caught sight of Ha Heijeong silently mouthing the words good work. I just flashed her a grin.

"Lord Kwon Suhyeok!"

And then Katley Monaka came running up, her arm wrapped in bandages.

"Thank you. Thank you so much... Thanks to you, Lord Kwon Suhyeok, we were able to protect the continent and the empire."

Her face flushed scarlet, Katley Monaka took my hand and bowed her head deeply. She looked utterly ashamed of herself.

Well, fair enough.

She was the fortress commander in name, and she'd been knocked unconscious barely minutes into the battle and hauled away...

She'd been on the field for, what, twenty minutes?

Come to think of it, the locals really did carry the whole thing.

Even the imperial soldiers had ended up under our command.

Honestly, I was starting to suspect that the continent's near-collapse owed less to the lizardmen than to the empire's own incompetent leadership.

The suspicion ran deep. The fortress defense had made that plain enough.

The imperial commander had fallen, and no one had stepped forward to succeed him. Not a general, not the Emperor, not a legion commander from another front...

I distinctly remembered there being plenty of other commanding officers in that first war council.

Don't tell me they ran off while we were fighting?

Nah, no way...

He was still the Emperor of the empire, after all. He wouldn't run for his life. If the fortress defense failed, the continent was as good as gone anyway.

The faint note of a horn broke my reverie. I turned toward the sound and saw the Emperor and the Grand General leading the empire's high command toward us.

"His Imperial Majesty the Emperor!"

Not a hair of them to be seen during the war... and now they show up quick as anything.

Katley Monaka had been in the infirmary, so her lateness could be forgiven. But the ones who'd been sitting inside the fortress only arrived once the battlefield cleanup had entered its final stages. Did they seriously try to sneak away?

Groundless suspicion bloomed in my chest. Still, they were wearing their armor, so apparently they hadn't simply been planning to bolt.

"Ohh! Commander!"

The Emperor hurried over in great strides and threw his arms around me. Shameless didn't begin to cover it.

Honestly, I could have dodged or shoved him off, but I held back. He was the Emperor of the empire, after all — there was etiquette to consider, and it wouldn't do to strip the man of his dignity in front of everyone.

Hm. Being embraced by an old man isn't exactly my idea of a good time...

His bristly beard tickled the left side of my neck.

"Thank you! Thank you so much! I hear it's thanks to you that the continent was saved! Ohh! That brave charge! I shall have this feat of yours made into a song and spread far and wide, down through the generations!"

He pounded my back as he spoke, and the blows landed considerably harder than I'd expected.

What kind of thank-you comes with hitting that hard? I couldn't tell whether his hand was just naturally heavy or whether he was swept up in the euphoria of holding the fortress.

The Emperor finally released me and smiled down at me. A manufactured, stiff smile.

Then he spoke, carefully.

"Then I take it I may now have back the holy relic lent to us by the Shadow of the End?"

Hm... did he really have to bring that up right now?

I wasn't pleased. I'd gone to all that trouble to save his continent, and his very first move was to demand the relic back. And he'd phrased it as if it were his own property — "may I have it back." The nerve was boundless.

Why was he so desperate for the relic? His greed for it seemed strong enough to raise my suspicions.

Well, whatever. I was going to give it back anyway.

The thing would vanish the moment we cleared Floor 16. Better to hand over Ronsyark's Dagger and get something in return.

This empire had ruled an entire continent. Surely they could spare some decent equipment or elixirs.

"Of course. As for the compensation you promised in return..."

Still, just in case the Emperor had forgotten his own promise, I casually brought up the matter of what I'd receive for handing over the relic.

The Emperor's face registered naked surprise.

I'd wondered. Sure enough.

This guy — an Emperor, no less — had forgotten his own word. I'd very nearly done this bastard a favor for free.

The Emperor covered his fluster with a hearty laugh.

"Haha, of course I remember. The empire's treasury lies within this fortress. Even as we retreated from the capital, we carried out the treasures of our ancestors. Go and pick out whatever you like, later."

Well, at least he isn't going back on his word entirely.

A treasury, hm? That suited me fine.

There had been a set of armor I'd wanted to buy from the shop, but the treasury might hold something even better. With any luck, it might even hold unique-grade equipment.

"Thank you."

"Then, the dagger—!"

The Emperor rushed me for Ronsyark's Dagger with an almost abnormal urgency.

Even as something felt off, I thought I understood why he was acting this way.

Because we're climbers.

They knew us as reinforcements sent by the gods. And on Floors 14 and 15, once each trial ended, we had returned to the Waiting Room.

No doubt he was rushing me because he had no idea when we might vanish.

Come to think ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of it, the trial's over, but the floor still hasn't ended.

The message in the notification window was unchanged. Perhaps, with a war this large, it was a courtesy — giving the climbers time to gather their spoils. Or maybe there were still quite a few lizardmen drawing breath out on the field.

Either way, the Emperor's attitude made sense now. If the relic was about to vanish before his eyes, I'd probably be pushy too.

In that case, I should hand it over fast and head straight for the treasury.

If my luck was bad, we could get pulled back to the Waiting Room the instant I surrendered the relic — before I ever set foot in that treasury.

I hurriedly drew Ronsyark's Dagger from its sheath. And just as I was about to place it in the Emperor's hands, the notification window refreshed.

Don't tell me we're going back to the Waiting Room right now?

I hastily checked the notification.

What the...?

I was too dumbfounded to speak. The trial of Floor 16 was already over — done, finished. And now they wanted to sponsor me with 'Information'? Nothing about it made sense.

Well, if the stake were reasonable, I might have shrugged and accepted it on the off chance...

81%? What information could possibly be worth that? Is this thing insane?

It was an absurd figure. Granted, judging by everything so far, my sponsor Sinjwa probably wasn't a malicious deity. But I couldn't be a hundred percent certain of that. Raising my Sponsorship Stake by 80% under those circumstances was unthinkable.

Sure, I could limit my stats to keep control, but...

Floors 17 through 19 are floors even Ha Heijeong doesn't know.

Since the fortress hadn't fallen, the branching point had shifted. Floors 17 through 19 — floors that no one, anywhere, could know.

Heading into those floors after burning 80% of my stake to limit my own stats was impossible, even for me. The answer was obvious. I had to refuse.

No.

The moment I refused in my mind, the notification window refreshed once more.

I was flustered. It made no sense. He'd said he wanted to sponsor me with Information. And then, out of nowhere, he was rolling the Dice of Fate to force my actions...

Betting on a 1.09% chance, no less.

Tuk— tuk— tr-r-r-r—

The sound of rolling dice severed my thoughts. It was not a sound my ears could hear. It came from beyond the five senses — a distant, echoing roll received through some sixth sense.

I couldn't see the dice. Before my eyes, only the Emperor stood frozen in place, his pupils stained with greed.

Within the stopped time, the rolling grew quieter.

Tr-r-rk— tuk... clack.

The dice came to rest. And in the same instant, the notification window updated.

What... this is insane!

It had actually punched through a 1.09% chance and landed on action compulsion?

Even as I reeled in shock, the next notification rose before me — and stunned me all over again.