"What Is That?"
Han Ji-woo urgently asked Palas Laporte.
"What is that?"
"They say if one dwarf shares their soul with a sleeping dwarf, the sleeper wakes up faster by that amount."
"...Then what happens to the dwarf who shares their soul?"
"They fall asleep instead."
"Ah."
In other words, it meant taking on the penalty that Osgeelro Haiban was supposed to bear.
"It seems the dwarves have a unique skill like that. A skill for sacrificing for a comrade."
"What a noble skill."
"But the dwarves I met would never be the type to shave off their own lifespan to save someone else."
"I see."
That wasn't just true for dwarves—it applied to other races too. For any living, breathing creature, nothing was more precious than their own life. But when he thought, 'Would they really sacrifice their lifespan for someone else?' it just felt skeptical.
But there was a bigger problem.
'That's only if there's another dwarf around.'
There was no dwarf here to share a soul with Osgeelro.
Palas glanced at Han Ji-woo's slightly deflated expression and apologized.
"I'm sorry that the thing I recalled isn't much help."
With those words, Palas's satisfaction dropped by 1.
'Wait, why is your satisfaction dropping because you're disappointed? Did I say something?'
Startled, Han Ji-woo quickly reassured him.
"Not helpful at all? Before your story, I felt like I was groping around in the dark, but now it's like a brilliant dawn is breaking. Knowing a solution exists versus not knowing—there's a huge difference!"
"Is that so?"
"Absolutely! Right, guys?"
Han Ji-woo looked around at his pets.
Quuuu~
Nyaang!
Myang!
"Master's words are always right!"
"Of course it is! That's exactly what I was going to say!"
"Yohoho~"
Just as Toryong tried to join in, bursting out from underground—
Puk!
"Eep!"
Han Ji-woo shoved its head back down with lightning speed. Then, pressing his mouth to the ground, he muttered lowly.
"Use some common sense."
Palas didn't have great feelings toward Toryong, so seeing it might drop his satisfaction. Fortunately, Palas's satisfaction rose by 1 again.
'Good. Good. Just fill up 4 more points for a perfect score!'
Judging by the shadow's direction, it was around 5 p.m. And above Palas's head, the 24-hour countdown that had started from their first meeting was ticking down. He had a little over 20 hours left here. That should be enough to max out satisfaction at 10.
'Man, it's a real shame about Osgeelro, though.'
The grateful dwarf who had helped him and the dungeon survivors, burning through his own soul. Han Ji-woo had hoped to wake him sooner, but it seemed impossible now. He felt a bit down, but with how sensitive Palas was, he tried not to show it.
Han Ji-woo checked on the suddenly quiet Palas. But he was staring entranced at something.
Where Palas's gaze landed was Lucy, perched on the table, diligently grooming herself.
'Still scared of the pets?'
If so, he'd have them go inside the mansion, even if the pets might feel a bit neglected.
But looking closely at Palas's face—his eyes were sparkling, and the corners of his mouth were twitching upward?
'Huh? Could it be...'
Han Ji-woo scooped up Lucy and approached Palas.
"Want to pet her?"
"Uh... Is that okay? She won't bite?"
"Ask Lucy that."
"Lucy. So her name's Lucy. Um... hi? You're so cute. Can I pet you?"
Lucy stared at Palas for a moment, then hopped onto his lap as if granting a favor. She looked up, meeting his eyes.
At that instant—
Thud!
Overwhelmed by Lucy's immense beauty, Palas felt his heart drop to his stomach.
"Whoa. A cat this pretty actually exists in the world."
Palas gently stroked Lucy's head. Pleased with the touch, she immediately went into loaf position, swishing her tail.
Completely enchanted by Lucy, Palas's smile stretched ear to ear. His satisfaction rose by 1 again as he petted her diligently.
The dungeon survivors were still on the 19th floor.
Anticipating a boss-grade monster on the 20th, they were resting while practicing various skills in hopes of strengthening them even a little.
Then Esperona appeared before them.
At her arrival, the survivors all groaned in unison. Her overwhelming presence crushed their bodies.
But one person gazed at Esperona unfazed: Seol Ara.
'As expected of demigod blood. No fear at all.'
Esperona, who thought this, was also a woman who had known no fear in life.
In her eyes, she saw a small golden flower blooming in Seol Ara's soul. Once that fully blossomed, Seol Ara would wield demigod powers.
It would start with subtle influence she wouldn't even recognize, but eventually, she'd become an immense being.
'But she'll die before that.'
If Seol Ara fully awakened her demigod power, clearing the dungeon's odds would rise. But dungeons weren't designed to be that lenient.
As Esperona predicted, death before full power was far more likely.
"...What do you want?"
Jonathan squeezed out the words amid his choking breath.
Esperona had appeared out of nowhere, arms crossed, doing nothing. Puzzled by her behavior, Mitchell stepped forward as representative.
"What brings you here?"
He too suffered under her presence but faced her boldly, pretending otherwise.
She cast a bored glance at Mitchell and asked.
"What are you all doing? Not going down?"
"We're preparing before heading to the 20th floor."
"So slow. This won't do. Guess I need to give you a quest."
Everyone tensed at her words. Her quests somehow felt far more dangerous than Ferrofero's.
"Hmm."
But Esperona, who had mentioned a quest, furrowed her brow and kept pondering.
Watching closely, Seol Ara raised her hand.
"Excuse me."
"...?"
Esperona's gaze turned to her.
"You're just annoyed, right? Thinking up a quest tough enough for us."
"Anyone would think you read minds. So?"
"Just leave us be, and we'll go down by tomorrow night. How's that?"
Esperona pondered briefly.
"By tonight."
Seol Ara haggled on.
"Tomorrow evening!"
"Tomorrow morning."
"Until tomorrow lunch. No more than that. If that's no good, we'll take the quest."
"... "
Esperona was starting to find the bargaining annoying.
She scanned the group and said.
"If you're not down by tomorrow lunch... prepare yourselves."
With that, Esperona left.
"Haaah."
"Huff. Huff."
"Every time she shows up, she drains the life out of us."
"Hnnngh. I almost cried."
The survivors vented wearily.
Yui, furious at freezing up before Esperona, ground her teeth.
"That bitch is just nasty-tempered! Next time she comes, I'll smash her skull!"
Jonathan, staggering over and using her as support, chimed in.
"Yui, not sure about the rest, but calling out someone for a bad temper when you have one too... maybe not?"
"Those your last words?"
"My bad."
Yui shoved Jonathan away and approached Seol Ara.
"Thanks to you again, we dodged it."
The others, seeing this, thanked Seol Ara too. Without her, they'd have been stuck with Esperona's extra quest.
"Ara, you're amazing. I couldn't even meet that woman's eyes. How are you so brave?"
Irene Luker admired.
"Yeah. Weirdly, I'm not scared at all."
"Doesn't your strength drain and breath catch?"
"Not even a little."
Answering made Seol Ara realize something was off too. Everyone suffered when Esperona appeared—why was she fine?
Pondering, she turned to nearby Pierre Rasbon.
"Why is that, Pierre?"
His face pale, Pierre shook his head.
"Doesn't seem like something racking my brain will solve."
Then Josh McConnell approached, rubbing his numb arm, with a sly grin.
"Heh. Looks like you've just got guts to me. We've seen it plenty—Ara's so straightforward. Tougher than most guys. That's your charm."
Diya, listening from a step away, murmured, 'Maybe...' and Red nodded in agreement.
Then Kayla Aleksandrov's voice echoed in their minds.
-Who cares about that~? The point is we bought another day thanks to Ara. How about we stop wasting precious time and train hard together~?
That was the right answer. They resumed practicing to strengthen their skills.
But Mitchell's expression was dark.
Closest to him, Seol Ara didn't miss it.
"Something bothering you?"
"...No."
"With 'worry' written all over your face, who would believe you? Tell me. If the leader's brooding, it makes everyone uneasy. Might be something I can help with."
Mitchell couldn't help but chuckle at her bold push. Disarmed, his hidden worry spilled out.
"Actually..."
Since arriving in Hidden Space, Palas was living a dream.
Healing his wounds, eating delicious food, petting cute pets, even showering in the lake.
His satisfaction was now at 8.
'It shot up fast at first, but it's slowing down.'
Han Ji-woo pondered how to raise the remaining 2 when Palas's face suddenly soured.
"Urk."
"What's wrong? Hurt somewhere?"
"N-no, it's... my stomach."
"Ah, big business?"
Palas nodded. All that greasy food after so long had upset his gut.
Confused where to handle it, he panicked. But Han Ji-woo calmly led him somewhere.
"Handle it inside here."
"O-okay."
Palas opened the small building's door and stepped in. The sight before him made fireworks explode in his head.
There was a toilet just like those on his home planet. Even toilet paper on the wall!
"Gods above!"
Overjoyed by the unexpected luxury, Palas cheered and sat on the throne.
At that moment.
"Yes!"
His satisfaction hit 10.