If You Call Earnestly, It Shall Answer #3
- Whoosh!
Lisha witnessed a miracle unfolding right before her eyes, her vision flooded with blinding light.
The unfamiliar memories suddenly seeping into her mind—
'Please, just rest in peace.'
The entity in the memory recalled the name of that boss mob—no, not it.
The names of those horrifically stitched-together corpses.
The man who ran the bakery, the girl who loved flowers, the old woman sitting by the well, the priest who prayed diligently, the healer who stayed until the end to mend their comrades.
Maron, Ethel, Tor, Bell, Erpan, Kael, Orin, Silva, Keron...
"Urgh...!"
Overwhelmed by the poignant emotions flooding in against her will, Lisha felt her mind growing hazy.
How many people, how many had become parts of that monstrous thing, wandering the heavens without even the mercy of death?
- Groooan...!
The calamitous form stitched from all their corpses swung a massive arm toward one man.
"Woojin...!"
Lisha cried out his name in horror, but instead of a reply—
- Whoosh...!
He simply stood there as before, silently accepting the grudge of that abomination.
Domain of the Stigmata activated.
- Crumble.
The King of the Dead, its movements halted, crumbled away on the spot.
As if all the curses and resentment built up over time had finally been resolved, it disintegrated like ashes left from a fire that had burned out.
▶ Stage Boss Mob defeated.
"Ah."
Leaving behind the message that the stage had been completely cleared, it vanished entirely from the world.
That's when she spotted the staggering man—Woojin.
..
...
....
"...."
His consciousness deeply sunken, his body limp and powerless.
Lisha ended up cradling his head on her thigh in a daze.
And so, she sat there blankly for a long while—replaying the current situation over and over in her mind.
She couldn't deny it. Denying the majesty he displayed would mean blocking her own potential.
"...What the."
Struggling to comprehend the incomprehensible, her gaze turned to the newly appeared window.
Quest conditions fully completed.
"...Uh, eh?"
The reward list suddenly filling her vision left Lisha's already complicated mind brimming with question marks.
Cumulative score can be checked in the Waiting Room.
It was a stage, and a rare hidden piece stage at that.
But in her life, she'd never faced a reward list like this.
- Lisha, you're the pride of our tribe. A great warrior never succumbs to material temptations.
Her father's words flashed through her mind.
But the dopamine rush from the visual impact swept all that away cleanly.
Honor doesn't protect your life.
But gear does.
Like the astonishingly powerful Saintess's Robes she was wearing now.
Lisha had lived an ascetic life since childhood to grow stronger.
Her youth, which should have been free, was dyed in hellish training to become an outstanding warrior.
Her fiery temperament stemmed from all that.
Possessiveness, materialism.
Basic desires that bloomed late shook her identity to its core.
- Lisha, everything you'll gain is at the very top. Climb there.
The tribe's great chieftain had demanded only patience from her.
Honing only the fangs and claws of a beast, enduring endlessly.
Just run toward that distant seat she'd eventually claim.
But this...?
- Said we came for a big score.
"...Ah."
The rewards were real.
With this much, the folks in the Waiting Room she'd seen first wouldn't even meet her eyes.
- Thump. Thump.
Feeling an inexplicable heartbeat, Lisha stayed put until Woojin woke.
#
A cozier sensation than my own bed roused me.
It felt so strong—like if I didn't wake now, I'd miss half my life—
"Ugh..."
I whipped my sinking consciousness and somehow came to.
"Y-You okay?"
"Yeah... huh?"
Sky-blue eyes gazing intently at me from the moment I opened mine.
The supreme softness against the back of my head.
"This is why we climb the tower."
"W-What're you saying...!"
Lisha flinched in shock, but she didn't slam the back of my head into the floor.
Hmm, yeah, she's just putting on a tough front—soft inside for sure.
Like, weak to desires?
"Whew."
I wanted to keep mooching, but a more pressing issue awaited.
"Lisha, you see the rewards?"
"...Yeah."
"How is it? Killer, right."
I didn't even need to check myself to know.
After all our grind, considering the Apocalypse difficulty, we deserved jaw-dropping rewards.
"...First time getting something like this."
"Kuh..."
"On Normal, you'd crawl your guts out and still not touch this."
"Good call coming, huh."
"...."
Lisha didn't reply, but her expression said it all—
Now, with excitement bubbling, I opened my reward list too.
Receive rewards?
'Yeah.'
I nodded eagerly, and suddenly—fireworks exploded before my eyes.
- Bam bam baaaam!
"Oh, first time seeing this."
Makes me wanna celebrate so bad, can't even describe it.
'Layer's Master' gazes upon you.
I shoved aside the nosy observer message and checked the rewards tab proper.
▶ Title: Saint
▶ Hidden Reward: Fragment of the King of the Dead's Memory
▶ Massive EXP x1
"Oh."
The moment I opened it, rewards of quantity and quality I'd never seen welcomed me.
"Fucking lit."
Nothing fancy. This was peak bliss.
Feeling the dopamine surge in real-time, my eyes went to the new concept.
"Lisha, you get a title too?"
"...Yeah."
"What? Saintess or something?"
"N-Nameless..."
Nameless Saintess.
Seems no different from the owner of the gear she's wearing.
"Congrats on becoming a true saintess."
"....!"
"Your support was clutch earlier. Got a new skill thanks to it."
"S-Skill...?"
"Yeah, got one."
Domain of the Stigmata.
Replacing Erosion Barrier, it wielded divine power strong enough to one-shot the King of the Dead—
My new skill for good.
Gonna be handy from here on out.
'Still tons of floors left.'
Even if the whole 5th floor's the Waiting Room, plenty more floors beyond that.
Of course, we'll face creepy undead types the whole way.
Every step, my skill—Domain of the Stigmata—would prove super useful.
Next up.
'Title.'
'Titles' are roles bestowed upon climbers who meet specific conditions.
▶ Saint: When equipped, deals bonus damage against undead.
Getting more undead-specialized thug with every step.
"Build's solid. You're saintess, I'm saint."
Together, we make an invincible duo that'd have undead shaking in fear.
"...Woojin."
"Yeah."
"One more thing to say."
My eyes, scanning the remaining rewards, finally turned to her.
The situation was perfectly wrapped up, yet Lisha wore a frustrated expression, like something nagging at her.
"About those unfamiliar memories."
"Unfamiliar memories... the previous saintess?"
"...Yeah."
Memories of the Nameless Saintess.
Who she exactly was, or her purpose here—still not fully revealed.
But according to Lisha, who'd taken in some of those memories—
"The guy who made the King of the Dead is someone else, and he's beyond this layer?"
"From the memories... yeah."
"This info unlocked even in your Normal runs?"
Lisha shook her head at my question.
"At least for me, and the raid team I was with this time, it's brand new. In value terms, who knows how much..."
"Hmm."
Clearing an Apocalypse layer no one's touched—
Even if I just started hunting, my street smarts kept me alive till now.
By that gut, what we had here was drool-worthy for top hunters.
And.
'Object.'
The objects she and I got differently were starting to outline the incident clearly.
"The Apostate... yeah, I got a rough idea who the 4th floor boss is now."
- Ding!
Linked Story Quest
📍 Info: This quest links to the previous story.
"You get it too?"
"Yeah."
Collect objects related to 【The Apostate】 (2/5)
📍 Currently held:
• Fragment of the Apostate's Throne
• Trace of the Apostate's Black Magic
'Guess the rest are up ahead.'
Whatever, if it says collect, we collect.
Play along and rewards overflow—no reason not to.
Checking the quest, I was about to stand.
"If you're ready, let's..."
"W-Woojin."
"...?"
"That."
I turned to where Lisha's shocked gaze pointed, and saw a faint light leaking from my Faded Holy Sword.
- Tick.
A crack formed on the sword's blade, dull and worn.
- Ticking.
Like a baby bird stepping into the world for the first time.
Timidly changing, it soon—
Faded Holy Sword reacts to your title.
"Oh."
—fully restored on its own, gleaming in its prime form.
"Whoa..."
Lisha's stunned reaction.
I was the same.
"Call me Sword Master from now on."
"....?"
One swing, thousands of slashes—I'm confident.
Now laced with the holy sword's divine power.
"Let's go avenge the King of the Dead."
That rotten Apostate bastard—I can't forgive him.
Daring to stitch innocent corpses into abominations?
Promising vengeance, I headed to the next floor with the Nameless Saintess—Lisha.