Those Born to Fly Will Fly

"Nngh..."

Minjun woke and gave a light stretch. Maybe because he'd gone at it like a maniac until late the night before, he'd slept as if he'd been knocked clean out. Yeah. When it comes to beds, expensive is better.

He slowly pushed his upper body upright, and was just about to climb off the bed.

Squeeze—!

An arm shot out of nowhere, wrapped his waist, and hauled him back in. He turned his head. It was Charlotte, still wandering deep in dreamland.

"M-Master... nngh..."

Was she having a nightmare? Her lips quivered, and she screwed her face up tight, forcing every bit of strength into the furrow of her brow.

Stroke, stroke. With a quiet little laugh, he gently ran a hand over her hair. Only then did she seem to settle; grinning vacantly like a fool, she slowly let go of the waist she'd been clutching so hard.

The first thing he did after leaving the bedroom was get breakfast started. Living in a house this extravagant, he was hit with the sharp feeling that the food had better look the part.

Sizzle—!! He laid two strips of bacon in a well-heated, high-end frying pan, cracked an egg right beside them, and whisked it briskly into a scramble. Add toast browned to a golden crisp, and a perfect breakfast was done.

Drizzle. He poured sweet syrup over the bacon and the bread, moist within and crisp without, then stabbed a fork through the middle of a strip. He didn't bite it off. He crammed the whole thing into his mouth and set his jaw to work, chewing loud.

Ahhh. Cooked it just right. Salty-savory depth, a tender chew, and the sweetness of all that syrup piled on top of it—a perfect sweet-and-salty harmony dancing all through his mouth. Take one huge bite of soft scrambled egg and white bread with that, and—

Holy shit.

This is real food sex.

Thud, thud. He was nearly finished with breakfast when quiet footsteps came out of the bedroom.

Charlotte appeared before his eyes, sleep still clinging to her face.

"Did you sleep weeell, Mastaaah..."

"I'll make your share too, so go wash up first."

"Ah, yeees..."

She dipped her head, then trudged off toward the bathroom.

Once that thoroughly sweet, satisfying meal was over, he rolled his shoulders. All right. Time to work hard again today? He used his trait and stepped into the Tower.

Once again, as the floor rose, the world around him changed in a flash. A wall of enormous logs lashed roughly together and a massive gate rose before his eyes, and all around them flags snapped in the wind, marked with grotesque patterns that looked painted in beast blood. Don't tell me this is some orc fortress?

That was when summoning circles unfurled in a long line around the gate. They were the orcs in crude armor he'd met back on the third floor. There's a different one mixed in? His gaze locked onto the one that stood out. Steel armor of a finish that couldn't even be compared to the orcs around it, and in its hand a terrifying beheading blade—the kind people called an executioner's sword. The gatekeeper of this place? An aura anything but ordinary poured off its whole body. No question about it. An officer-class monster of the orc fortress waiting behind.

"Charlotte."

He didn't bother with a long explanation. He just tipped his head, ever so slightly.

"Understood, Master."

Charlotte read the intent hidden in those words at once, and a gaze gone ice-cold flashed. Shing—! She drew the greatsword at her waist in one sharp pull.

The one minute of preparation time passed in a flash.

Thud! The gatekeeper slammed the tip of its greatsword roughly into the ground.

"Urrrrraaaaaaah—!!!"

A thunderous roar burst from its gaping maw, and at the same time something grotesque happened. The orc bastards' skin turned bright red! He had no idea what trait that orc had just used, or what effect had gone off. But he understood by instinct. This was no simple game of colors. Enhancement, without a doubt—a trait that yanked physical ability up several times over. This floor's gonna be pretty tough, huh? Not that he thought, even for a second, that his trusty golem Charlotte was about to lose.

"Urrrrraaaaaaah—!!"

The thing lifted its massive blade and pointed it straight at the two of them. The instant the order fell, the orcs came charging like balls of fire. Thud, thud, thud, thud! Like dogs in heat, mouths wrenched wide, they closed in with the momentum to pile onto Charlotte.

"Haaah—!!"

She had kept her calm right up until then. Now she swung as if to shout it out, a pure-white aura wrapped around the blade. A meaty chop—and a spraying slash! One attack, elegant and destructive at once. The upper bodies of the orc pack that had packed his vision tight were blown away in a single stroke, and blood splattered wild in every direction.

As expected. As expected. Those ant-bastards could thrash around with vicious weapons all they liked; an ant was still an ant. He watched her back as she carved through the orc mob clean and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠easy, as comfortable as if he were shelling popcorn.

Not a single small-fry orc was left. All that remained now was the gatekeeper with the executioner's blade.

"Huuu—."

It blew out a thick snort. Even by its own reckoning, its subordinates had been wrecked like trash, and it let out a long sigh. Don't worry, asshole. I'll send you off to join them, nice and friendly, real soon. Watching the thing still taking its ease, as if it hadn't read the room at all, Minjun smiled a wicked smile.

Thud! Thud! It came on slowly, heavy steps shaking the earth. Its body too was dyed a grotesque dark crimson, thick tendons writhing along its forearms and chest. This one used an enhancement trait too. A rough, scorching breath that seemed fit to tear the air. It poured out a ferocious aura, as if it would rip to shreds everything in front of it with the blade in its hand.

But Charlotte had already slipped inside its reach. As if she had no intention of giving it a moment to bluff, she swung at once.

Slash! One clean, refreshing cut. The neck, thick as an old tree, sliced with perfect smoothness, and from the neatly severed face of it, blood under tremendous pressure fountained upward.

"Ahahahaha! Kah! Hahaha!"

Minjun, who had watched the whole thing from the start, burst out laughing. Yeah, figures. Things with nothing to them just puff themselves up. The orc had come at the two of them with crushing weight, like it meant to chew them alive—and its end was a hollow death, without so much as one swing of its blade. So this is why sketch comedy died? The orc's last moment refused to leave his head no matter what he did, and he laughed hard enough to hurt his gut.

"Pfft—kahaha! Ah, shit, my stomach!"

Minjun's laughter showed no sign of stopping.

Ding!

Reward messages rose without end, packing his vision full. At the loot pouring in, the corner of his mouth ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kept climbing. But before he could savor that sweet afterglow for long—

Fwaaaash—!!

"Huh? What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the—?!"

With a bizarre ripping sound, as if an error had hit, a vicious-looking system window thrust itself up. A chilling, ominous window, as if it had been drenched in blood.

Pop—! His vision inverted for an instant, and he was back in the living room. Right. I thought it'd been way too easy so far, for Extreme Difficulty. Recalling the red afterimage still faint across his retinas, he clicked his tongue. Of course, the odds that Charlotte—stronger now for all the climbing they'd done—would lose were vanishingly small. But you never knew when or where something might go wrong. I need to be ready for anything.

After a quick round of getting ready to head out, the two of them made for a blacksmith market in Dongdaemun.

"Whoa, this place is huge!"

The exclamation burst out of him on its own. The scale was staggering, worthy of the rumor that it was the largest marketplace for weapons and gear in the country. Somewhere in here, there's bound to be something strong enough to help with the boss floor. Minjun and Charlotte hurried their steps, bustling this way and that.

And a short while later—

"Not a single thing worth using."

He'd wandered for quite a while, digging hard, and found nothing he liked at all. How many wasted trips does this make?

"Huuu—."

His expectations had pretty much hit bottom. He just walked into whatever shop happened to be in front of him.

"Well now, Hunter! Welcome, welcome! This is a brand-new A-grade item that just came into our shop..."

The moment they stepped inside, the clerk's pushy touting poured over them. He deliberately ignored the words ringing in his ears and looked around, slow.

"Huh...?"

That was when an utterly unexpected presence seized his gaze. Tucked almost into a corner sat used gear marked for disposal, discounted by a whopping ninety percent. He didn't know why his eyes were drawn to weapons that were basically scrap. But something in that pile of garbage kept snagging at him.

"H-how much is this?"

What he pointed at was a longsword so caked in rust that a junk shop wouldn't even have taken it.

"Ah, that? You can just take that one for free."

"...For real?"

"Yes, it's fine. It wouldn't sell no matter what we did, so we were going to scrap it this evening."

The clerk tilted his head, plainly unable to understand why anyone would take an interest in trash like that. Minjun crushed the cheer trying to burst out of him and hardened his expression.

"No taking it back later!"

"Yes, yes. Keep it or throw it away—that's your business, Hunter."

The instant the clerk's word was given, Minjun swiftly slipped the sword into his inventory.

"Charlotte, objective complete! We're leaving, now!"

"Huh? Ah, yes! Understood, Master."

Worried someone else might have seen, he hurried off the spot. Shit. What kind of insane jackpot is this?!! Having landed an unexpected windfall, Minjun quietly rejoiced.

A moment ago, when Minjun had first laid eyes on this shabby sword, the trait Discerning Eye had activated for reasons he couldn't name. And the result the trait confirmed was this.