Floor 2: Orc Great Warrior Karakshi (1)

Ha Heijeong's 1st regression, Floor 55. The community forum.

The same stark white room I'd seen before stepping onto Floor 1. The only changes were a small bed and desk now standing in the room, and a restroom tucked into the corner.

It was finally over. The body that combat had left stiff and aching felt refreshed and loose, and even my wounds no longer bothered me. Apparently, the Waiting Room healed physical injuries naturally the moment you arrived.

The notification windows kept refreshing without end. How many were there? Hundreds — no, it felt like thousands. So I was this popular? I felt a little moved, honestly. My view was so completely buried under notification windows that I couldn't see anything at all.

Calm down.

Ha Heijeong had told me never, under any circumstances, to sign a contract. And truthfully, even if I'd wanted to, there were so many windows that choosing one seemed impossible. Reading through all of them would take hours at the very least.

...I wish they'd just disappear from my sight entirely.

The instant that thought crossed my mind, the endlessly unfolding wall of notifications vanished in a heartbeat. A new message replaced them.

Along with the dry, mechanical voice, a small loaf of bread and a bottle of water materialized on the little desk. The moment I saw the water, a thirst I'd forgotten came roaring back. I hadn't had a drink in nearly ten hours.

I snatched up the bottle and gulped it down. The water level dropped fast.

"Kkiik! Human! Goblin! Water! Give!"

"Kghk— hack!"

I was so startled by the voice behind me that I sprayed the water right out of my mouth. The coughing wouldn't stop. My pride stung almost as much as my throat.

"Kegh! God, you scared me!"

"Kkiik! Goblin! Water!"

Dobby was stretching both hands toward me, his eyes locked on the bottle. His skin had turned a golden hue, but this was the original Dobby — nothing like that dignified presence from earlier.

Right... the message had said that Dobby would follow me through. Which apparently meant the Waiting Room was shared between us, too.

"But I basically finished the whole bottle."

"Kkiik! What nonsense! Water! Plenty!"

"Huh?"

I turned to look, and the bottle was somehow full to the brim again. Self-refilling water — the mysteries of magic truly were something else.

"Here."

"Kkiik!"

I handed Dobby the bottle, and he brought it straight to his mouth. He wasn't seriously about to drink with his lips pressed to the rim, was he? Sharing a water bottle with Dobby was something I refused to do even a little.

"Hold it!"

"Kkiik?"

"Don't put your mouth on it when you drink."

"Kkiik?"

At Dobby's baffled expression, I snatched the bottle back and decided a demonstration was in order. I tilted my head up, opened my mouth, tilted the bottle, and drank without touching it.

"Like this. If you put your mouth on it, you'll die. Got it?"

"Kkiik! Understood! Now give water quickly!"

Still looking dubious, I handed the bottle back to Dobby. Taking it, he tilted his head up just as I had.

"Phwahk! Kkiik!"

"Pfft!"

He'd completely missed his own mouth and dumped the water all over his face. He looked like a rat caught in the rain — it took everything in me not to laugh.

"Kkiik!"

Annoyed now, Dobby brought the bottle back toward his mouth. Wait. He really was going to drink straight from it, wasn't he?

"Hey!"

Only after Dobby and I had thoroughly enjoyed the endlessly provided bread and water did we take turns rinsing off in the restroom and collapse onto the bed. Unfortunately, it was a small bed — there was no room for Dobby to climb up with me.

He sat on the floor beside the bed, staring up at me with those pitiful eyes. Sorry, Dobby. Once I can afford to buy a bed, I'll get one for you too.

After over half an hour of frantically stuffing our stomachs, I finally had some breathing room. The goblin holy knight's sword and shield leaned against the corner of the room. Losing the crossbow stung a little, but I'd gained something good in its place, so I was reasonably satisfied — after all, if I was carrying a sword and shield, I wouldn't have the freedom to use a crossbow anyway.

Lying there at my leisure, my thoughts naturally began to wander. Come to think of it, Dobby had said something strange right after we cleared Floor 1.

"Dobby, what was that you said back in the boss room? Fendrik? Fenrike?"

"Kkiik! Fenrike! Goblin! God!"

"A god, you say?"

"Kkiik! Yes! Fenrike! Was trapped!"

"Wait, what kind of god gets sealed inside a necklace?"

Shouldn't a god be something far grander? Omniscient and omnipotent, or something along those lines?

"Kkiik! That! Don't know!"

"Then why do you have a necklace with a god sealed inside it?"

"Kkiik! Goblin! Was holy man! Necklace! Fenrike's holy relic!"

...Dobby was a saint? The little scamp had hidden depths.

Hmm, well — fair enough. A goblin saint is definitely better than a goblin priestess. With Dobby's face, the word "priestess" is horrifying even to imagine.

"So I rescued a goblin ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠god, then?"

"Kkiik! Right! Fenrike! Said thank you to human! Goblin! Follow human!"

"...Yeah, okay. Thanks."

Rescue a god, and my reward was Dobby. The math felt a little off somewhere, but there was no point arguing with Dobby about it.

"So do you know what this Tower actually is?"

"Kkiik! Goblin! Don't know!"

Getting information out of Dobby was clearly going to be a lost cause. I'd have to ask Ha Heijeong later. She was doing fine, right? Of course she was — she was a regressor. She'd be doing just fine.

That said... the Tower of Trials. Wasn't this whole thing absurdly difficult? Like I said, I was originally a mage. Me, clearing Floor 1 with magic? How? I couldn't even picture it. Did the tutorial change direction depending on your class?

Actually, that made sense. It had to work that way — otherwise, everyone who picked a priest-type class would just die.

Still, this is pure hell, isn't it?

If even I — a melee genius certified by the regressor Ha Heijeong herself — struggled this much, then anyone who'd chosen a warrior class was probably dead.

Is that why Ha Heijeong told me to pick a melee weapon? Because they need a warrior?

Hmm. I couldn't say for sure. Something else to ask her about.

Still, I was lucky to come out of Floor 1 with Dobby, who could cast healing spells. If I'd killed him instead, I never would have gained him. Would there be another being like Dobby on Floor 2? The fact that hidden pieces like this existed meant that whenever I ran across something strange, it might be worth taking a closer look.

"Dobby, as a saint, how far can you take your healing spells?"

"Kkiik! Goblin! Young! Heal wounds! Can!"

I'd gotten my hopes up over the words "goblin saint," but apparently it wasn't anything spectacular. Still, wound healing was nothing to sneeze at. Floor 1 had been hard enough that it was exactly the kind of ability I needed.

"By the way, can you maybe stop with the 'kkiik' sound? It's driving me up the wall."

"Kkiik! Goblin! Vocal organs! Different from! Human! Kkiik! Can't help it!"

"But that Fenrike guy talked just fine."

"...Kkiik! Fenrike! God!"

"Uh-huh. Sure."

If that was just how his body was built, I had no argument to make. I'd have to put up with it.

Chatting with Dobby had left me feeling pleasantly drowsy. My wounds may have been healed, but apparently my fatigue hadn't recovered with them.

About eleven hours left. Plenty of time for a full night's sleep. Time to rest up — I'd need at least a little for the next floor.

"Dobby, I'm going to sleep now, so you should too. We've got Floor 2 ahead of us."

"Kkiik! Understood! Goblin! Sleepy!"

No sooner had I resolved to sleep than the Waiting Room dimmed to darkness. The mysteries of magic... Funny how it was always so considerate in the most useless ways. A little warning window would have been nice too.

The time limit had shrunk compared to Floor 1 — from eighteen hours down to ten. Did that mean the distance had gotten shorter?

Honestly, Floor 1 had given me plenty of room to spare. But that was only because I'd taken no injuries. It was boredom, not danger, that made dodging arrows for hours drag on — if I'd been wounded, that long march would have felt utterly hellish.

A corridor with a layout similar to Floor 1's stretched out before me. Unlike Floor 1's natural-looking cave, though, this one seemed deliberately constructed: every wall was a tidy surface of fitted stone. The proportions were similar — about five meters wide, the ceiling around four meters high. Torches hung from the walls, and unlike Floor 1's oppressive darkness, there was nowhere my sight failed to reach.

Well lit is nice and all, but...

Two branching paths opened up ahead. Floor 2 appeared to be built like a maze. Which way to go? I glanced back at Dobby standing beside me.

"Kkiik?"

Dobby looked up at me with those guileless eyes. Unlike before, the red necklace now hung openly outside his clothes.

Looking at him like this, his outfit honestly broke my heart. Clothes riddled with gaping holes, hanging off him in tatters. I'm hardly one to talk, strolling around in battle-shredded jeans and a ragged hoodie, but something about Dobby's face made him look even more pitiable.

Besides, Dobby was a priest. I'd have to fight while protecting him. Damn it — I should have grabbed the goblin holy knight's plate armor from the boss room too.

Too late now. Nothing I can do about it.

At the time, my eyes had been locked on the holy knight's shield. I hadn't known Dobby would be tagging along with me, and I had no spare attention for plate armor I couldn't wear anyway.

So — left or right? It's not like picking the wrong path would kill me... right? Thinking back on Floor 1's traps sent a creepy chill down ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my spine. If Floor 2's traps were similar, I could handle them, but who knew what this floor had in store. Stay careful.

"Dobby, which way do you think we should go? Doesn't the god you serve tell you about this kind of thing?"

"Kkiik! Fenrike! Doesn't tell!"

Useless little guy, aren't you.

Still, he was a goblin saint — surely his instincts had to be decent, at least?

"Which way do you want to go, Dobby?"

"Kkiik! Goblin! Goes where! Wants to go!"

"That's not what I asked. Left or right — which one?"

"Kkiik! Left! Go!"

Fine. Left it is. Nobody knows which path is actually right anyway. Might as well put my faith in the goblin saint's word.

As I turned toward the left passage, a faint unease crept up on me. Hmm... but still, better to trust Dobby — connected as he is to some divine being — over my own gut feeling, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right?

"There might be traps, so stay back there and walk slowly behind me."

"Kkiik! Understood!"

Just to be safe, I sent Dobby a couple of paces behind me and started forward at a moderate pace. Careful, careful. I'd gotten used to Floor 1's traps, but I had no idea what Floor 2 might throw at me yet.

Alright. Let's move.