Queen!
“Agh, I drank so much water.”
“H-Hey, Yang. S-Saves on food costs.”
As the waves in the wave pool finally died down, people poured out in a rush. Only then did Kim Yang finally slide off my back.
“Where’s Renea?”
“D-Dunno.”
She didn’t seem like she had any intention of looking. We headed out of the wave pool anyway, when an unintended conversation drifted over from a couple nearby—a guy from Cyber City wearing something like a scanner straight out of an old comic, and an Earth girl.
“You’re late. I told you we had to hit the wave pool.”
“Purified water 92.4%, sweat and urine 3.2%, cosmetics mix 2.1%, fryer oil 1.3%, and all sorts of fine particulates... That’s human soup, Mijin. You can’t go in there.”
“I told you not to scan everything, oppa! If you analyze the whole world like that, nothing’s clean anymore.”
“……”
“……”
Passersby, forced to swallow the red pill of truth, shot dirty looks at the guy. I was no exception. After filling my stomach with that very water, it wasn’t something I wanted to hear.
“B-Boss. T-Tasty stuff.”
“……You buying?”
“Y-Yeah. Sh-Shall I get some antiseptic?”
“You want me to drink that?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“Forget it.”
Embarrassed, I scanned for Renea when I spotted a pink shape submerged under the wave pool.
“What’s she doing down there?”
“R-Right?”
I waded back in, and she poked her head above water, plastered herself to me, and whispered.
“Boss, hide me!”
“Why? What’d you do now?”
“Now? You think this lady goes around causing trouble all the time?!”
Even as she said it, she kept glancing around suspiciously—clearly guilty as charged.
“Elves... Elves are here.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. They got a group warning earlier and got kicked out of the wave pool.”
“Is that so?! This lady didn’t hear underwater.”
Even with her sharp elf ears, sound wouldn’t carry well submerged.
“This lady was once the Elf Queen, you see. So everyone recognizes my face on sight—”
“Mm.”
I recalled how she’d hated going up to the 4th floor last time, and how she avoided shooting her bow. Elves—her own kind—seemed like people she’d rather not run into, carrying the burden of her past title. She wanted to be just Renea, free of it all.
“Got it. Let’s steer clear of the elves and get around safely.”
“Thanks!”
Not everyone can hide their past so easily.
Renea clung to my back like a koala. Lighter than Kim Yang had been, it was easier to move.
“……”
Tap, tap.
In the Hunter Association vice president’s office, the simple act of drumming fingers on the desk betrayed her anxiety.
Across the monitor on her desk was Cyber City’s new mayoral candidate.
With the city-management AI Axis stepping down, opportunistic politicians were emerging one by one. They hadn’t even started campaigning yet, but he was already riling up crowds like this—must be desperate. Wasn’t that illegal electioneering?
Too many things to worry about.
The next leader of Cyber City—the mayor equivalent—mattered greatly, even to other floors. Their direction would shift based on who took the seat.
Maybe Axis was better after all.
Yu Ye-na’s brow twitched at the stubborn-looking Elric. Personally, she’d liked Axis. It countered only with logic and accepted reasonable points. Its unintended slide into darker paths was regrettable.
She flipped screens. No time to watch the old man spit and shout forever.
Oh, right.
Next was the procedure to lift Baek Yeonhwa’s 3rd-floor entry ban. With only months left anyway, she insisted on coming down now. After her and the Azure Dragon’s huge help in the last op, approval was a given—but…
Can’t help feeling a bit petty about it.
She considered ignoring it but chided herself for pettiness and sent the approval.
While handling backlog, a direct line from the director pinged.
Hm?
The Tower Management Bureau was handling a critical task: interrogating Axis. Officially scrapped, but they were extracting intel.
The edited real-time feed lagged, freezing on a dark screen.
“Ugh, seriously…”
Her reflection stared back: sharp suit, flawless face, colder than expected. Yu Ye-na flinched at the unfamiliar chill.
Was I always like this?
She washed, made up, checked herself before work—it felt like an extension of duties then. Now, seeing it privately… She touched her cheek softly. Her remembered face was fresher, warmer—from back then.
Juseon, after training camp graduation, wanna go somewhere to celebrate?
What face had she made? Probably beet-red as a radish.
Graduation trip? Sure, sounds good.
His crisp reply—probably awkward, hiding a grin. He’d called her cute, laughing.
The screen lit up with Axis’s top-secret footage.
“Sentimental fool.”
Short nostalgia over. Back to vice president Yu Ye-na, viewing the interrogation.
Question 57.
Yes, go ahead.
A small room like an interrogation cell. Tower Management researchers and agents stood watch: silk robes from ancient murim, armored holy knights. Critical enough for reps from every floor.
Axis, in an air-gapped mini-computer, responded calmly.
6th floor Cyber City’s Tower Elevator was blocked recently. Explain in detail.
Ah, curious about the 6th floor travel restriction? Let me explain.
Cyber City’s travel ban: elevators couldn’t go up or down to 6. Unprecedented—normally accessible, then suddenly sealed. Now open again.
Axis explained like a diet-tip AI, polite and smooth.
50 years ago, post-interfloor war, Cyber City prepared for worst-case.
Seal the Tower as final bastion, survive independently.
Then 7th floor discovered.
I found it.
Found it. What? Tension rose despite the recording. Director McKellen sent it for a reason.
More precisely, I met them.
The Tower’s owner.
Through a deal with that one, I sealed the floors.
“Kuhuuugh—! I’m exhausted!”
Sunset sky. Water park fun and hot springs had drained us, bodies heavy as lead. Strangely more tired coming back.
“Driving’s a pain.”
My beloved Argent S felt annoying right now. I’d driven there too. Freshly fed after dinner, post-meal drowsiness hit hard. Thought of booking a nearby hotel, but prices killed it. Sleep at home.
“T-Tired.”
“S-Sleepy.”
Kim Yang and Renea, who’d matched my energy all day, shuffled zombie-like to the car.
“Hehe, look at this.”
“Came out great.”
Conversely, Kim Da Jeong and Raichen Spilcold glowed differently. We looked like subway commuters; they, a couple heading for date two.
Good thing Raichen doesn’t take a salary.
Who has employees this happy? That’s his pay.
As we reached the car—
“Qu-Queen…?”
An exclamation from afar. Turning, my cheeks were suddenly gripped—Renea, sweating bullets, pupils shaking, whispering urgently.
“E-Elves! Elves! Th-they recognized this lady!”
“Huh? No, they’re too far—”
Good distance, but elves live in forests—sharp eyes. Glancing over: elves picnicking on a tarp in the manicured grass by the parking fence. Water park by day, camping by night—these lunatics.
“Queen? I-Is that you?”
The male elf who spotted Renea strode over—and she caught my eye, nodding firmly.
“Saw it in a drama. How to fool people like this!”
“Huh?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle!”
No time to call bullshit. Her pursed lips lunged at mine—and.
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I shoved her off, slamming her to the ground.
Splat!
Renea sprawled awkwardly. I felt a twinge of guilt, but staying put wasn’t an option.
“B-Boss. Wh-What?”
“Oh my?”
“……”
The three hadn’t caught up to the chaos.
“Renea… Queen?”
She just flinched at the elf’s cautious call, showing no sign of getting up.
