Logan
The first thought that struck me, once I stepped out of the Nyx Merchant Guild Headquarters, was a simple one.
I made a decent amount of money.
Of everything I'd brought over, I kept only a few things I might actually use and handed the rest to Taeyong. I didn't know the going rates, so I couldn't say whether I'd been paid fairly, but at least I was past the point of worrying about living expenses for a while. The price of cigarettes, in particular, had caught me off guard. They went for far more than power banks or canned food.
Maybe I should bring more next time.
The thought didn't last. Taeyong's warning came back to me, and I shook my head. If word of my ability got out, there would be no living quietly after that. Making money mattered, but for now, not standing out mattered more.
He had also pointed out that the place I was staying sat well toward the back even of Avenue 2, and recommended I move closer to Avenue 1 if I could. Still, if Nyx stepped in right away to arrange a decent room, that itself might draw eyes, so he had said it was better to stay put for about a month. I agreed with him there, grimy little windowless box though my current room was.
A month. That's nothing.
Besides, I could go home once a day. If I used that time to wash up and gather whatever I needed, the thought of it put me a little more at ease.
"I'm hungry."
The problem was food. I could live off the instant ramen and canned goods I'd brought from Earth, but I needed to get used to life here as well, and as things stood I could only remain on Earth for thirty minutes. More than anything, Taeyong had told me the restaurants around the plaza were decent enough to use.
So for the first time, I went looking for a place to eat on my own. Only a few days ago, simply walking the alleys had been one long stretch of tension, but since I'd changed clothes the stares had definitely thinned. They hadn't vanished entirely. Even so, I seemed to have erased at least the one mark that read new arrival.
Once I reached the plaza, the atmosphere improved considerably. Shops lined the way, and everyone passing through was busy with something of their own—someone tending a weapon, someone walking with a pack strapped to their back, someone hauling a shield as big as their own body. I was watching them as I went when I stopped in front of one restaurant. The sign had something painted on it that looked like meat.
This should do.
The menu board set out front carried pictures alongside the prices.
80c
1s
1s 10c
About one Silver a meal—roughly what Taeyong had told me. I peered inside for a moment, then opened the door.
"Welcome."
The interior was plainer than I'd expected: wooden tables and chairs, and the smell of something on the grill. One thing, though, stood out.
Nobody's sitting with their back to the door.
I'd wondered if it was a coincidence. It wasn't. Not a single person had their back to the entrance, and I took a seat facing the door as naturally as the rest of them.
"What can I get you?"
"It's my first time. Is there anything you'd recommend?"
"First time?"
The owner looked my clothes over once and nodded, as if that explained everything.
"Then giant rat's the safe bet."
"...Giant rat?"
"Yeah. Tender, and it doesn't smell much."
I turned it over. Giant. Rat. Enormous... rat?
It's rat meat.
I barely kept my face from locking up. Still, if they were selling it openly as food, it had to be edible. People ate rat somewhere in the world, didn't they?
"I'll have that, please."
"Sure. One."
The owner vanished into the kitchen. I rested my hands on the table and looked around—what people were eating, what they were talking about, what kind of gear they carried.
"Heard another one died today."
"Which floor?"
"Somewhere in the fifties, I think."
The low voices carried easily enough. Death came up lightly here, and that, more than anything, reminded me again of what kind of place this was.
"One giant rat."
The owner set the plate down.
It's more normal than I thought.
Cooked just enough, the meat even looked appetizing.
Don't think of it as rat.
Just meat. I cut off a small piece with the knife and put it in my mouth before I could hesitate—the longer you stall, the worse it gets.
"Hm?"
It was better than I'd expected. A little plain, but there was hardly any gaminess, and it wasn't tough: fattier than chicken, cleaner than pork. From the second piece on, it went down much more easily.
I can live on this.
A small measure of relief settled over me. That was when it happened.
"Welcome."
At the owner's greeting, my eyes went to the door on their own. A large frame nearly filled the entrance—a man with faded blond hair. He swept the room once, then looked my way, and his gaze stopped dead on me.
Why.
He held my eyes for a moment, then came over slowly. There were plenty of empty seats. Even so, he went out of his way, and with a solid thud he sat down in the one right beside me.
Everyone else was leaving a gap, so I figured it was the urinal rule.
Guess not.
This is putting me on edge for no reason.
I dropped my eyes to the plate and went back to eating, but the stare from beside me didn't let up. One second. Two. Three. I couldn't ignore it any longer.
"Did you have something you wanted to say?"
It might have come out a little sharp. I just didn't want to look like an easy mark. The man studied me for a moment, then spoke.
"Scorpion is decent eating as well."
"...Pardon?"
"Tastes rather like crab."
"Ah."
It wasn't a fight. Just a recommendation off the menu. I let the tension out of my shoulders.
"I'll try it next time."
"Mm."
The man nodded. A moment later, he spoke again.
"Logan."
A name, out of nowhere. Ah. So I was meant to introduce myself.
"Park Minsu."
"Park..."
Logan started to repeat it, gave up halfway, and nodded.
"Minsu."
"Yes."
His eyes ran once over the leather vest I was wearing.
"New here?"
"Does it show that badly?"
"Very much."
"Ah."
No hesitation at all. Was that the end of it? I waited, but Logan didn't ask anything else. Strange. He was the one who had spoken first. The owner came over just then to take the order.
"The usual?"
"Mm."
A regular, then.
"One scorpion."
The owner took it with easy familiarity and disappeared into the kitchen, and I went back to my food.
"We crossed paths yesterday."
"...Ah!"
The man with the shield—the one I'd run into the first time I entered the building.
"So you remember."
"We're neighbors, then."
Logan hummed once and nodded.
"The Tower..."
He looked me over again, a quick pass from head to foot.
"Not yet, I take it."
"Well. No."
"A weapon?"
"I don't have one."
His eyes moved over me once more.
"Armor."
I looked down at the leather vest I had on.
"If what I'm wearing doesn't count, then not that either."
"That is clothing."
"Haha..."
Not a man who appreciated a joke. I felt a little foolish. Logan regarded me a moment longer, then turned his head.
"You mean to climb?"
"I do."
I hadn't set a date, but I did want to get out of this Tower for good.
"I see."
Logan answered short. Just then his food arrived.
Lobster?
At a glance, that was what it looked like. The shell had cooked to a deep red, and the steam curling off it was enough to make my mouth water.
I'll have to try that next time.
Logan peeled the shell with practiced hands and started in, and I turned my attention back to my own plate. After that, neither of us said much. There was the sound of chewing, the tap of a knife against a plate, and the low murmur of the room around us.
Logan finished first and stood. I was nearly done myself, so I put the last piece in my mouth. Coins clinked onto the table as he set them down and gestured to the owner.
"His as well."
"Ah, you really don't have to..."
I reached for my pocket in a hurry. Logan lifted a hand and stopped me.
"It is fine."
"Even so—"
"It is your first time."
That was the end of it.
"...Then, thank you for the meal."
"Mm."
Logan waited until I was on my feet. Thinking he meant for us to leave together, I followed him out, and once we were outside he turned toward home as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"You live on the second floor?"
"I do."
"I'm on the third."
His stride slowed for just a moment.
"Mm. Third floor, left side. I knew."
"Ah."
When had he seen that? Then again, we lived in the same building. It wasn't strange that he would know which room was mine, and we didn't exchange a single word the rest of the way to the inn.
At the building, Logan took the stairs first. On the second floor he turned to me before opening his door.
"Minsu."
"Yes."
"Buy a weapon before you enter the Tower."
"Ah."
"And it is better not to go up alone."
Advice.
"I heard Floor 1 is easy."
"It is. With a skill, they are the sort you can finish with your fists alone."
Logan nodded.
"Even so, the ones who die, die."
I had nothing to say to that. His gaze shifted briefly toward the third floor—more precisely, toward the room I was using.
"I hope you last a long time."
With those few words, he went inside. The latch clicked shut, and I looked at the closed door for a moment.
Is he a good man?
I couldn't tell yet. Still, he was the first person since I'd arrived to tell me to stay alive.
I stood there a little longer, then climbed the stairs, and just before I went into my room the thought came.
A weapon.
I would need one sooner or later anyway. Return was a way to run, not a way to live. I opened the door and stepped inside.
Fine. I'll just buy one.
Tomorrow, I would go get a weapon.
© GrandJackpot#1qxce
Author's Note
Thank you.