The Famous Half-Dragon Heat Inducer Han Do-yoon!
Whether Isana was ready to climb to the 10th floor or not had, of course, already been proven by yesterday's record update.
'Rather, in her current state, she could easily handle floors past the 15th.'
In just a few days, she'd changed dramatically. The loose martial arts uniform she'd inherited from her master Arachne, the white sash around her waist, her large breasts wrapped in bandage-like cloth to minimize discomfort during movement. She looked just like the Sword God herself, wielding her formless sword.
"Never imagined I'd run into you here."
"I never thought I'd see someone who claimed they had no interest in returning home this soon either."
"…It's for the alchemist exam. I need the qualification, and the minimum requirement for the exam is clearing the 10th floor."
"Oh yeah? Here I was thinking, since we're already at it, maybe we'd climb together from now on."
"We could probably stick together for this 10th floor at least?"
Isana let out a big sigh of relief. Her ample chest heaved even through the bandages.
"Just the fact that there's a chance like this makes me happy… So, what about the rest of your party?"
She seemed to have picked up a decent grasp on how to climb the tower in the time we hadn't seen each other. Or…
"No other party members. There are other parties, though."
"Why? Didn't like them?"
"I don't want to entrust my life to strangers."
Isana nodded and sat at a nearby empty table.
"Then we'll have to wait here until someone joins our party?"
"Yeah. Eaten yet?"
"Not yet."
We were both starving and about to order food when a group from another 10th-floor party approached Han Do-yoon after checking the bulletin board.
"…Excuse me. It looks like you're clearing this floor too—how about we merge parties?"
Merging parties to increase numbers was common. The issue was who would lead.
Unless one side had overwhelming numbers, a party couldn't have two heads. It had to move as one under a single command.
In the old days, when Han Do-yoon was grateful just to join any party, he'd been completely oblivious to leader squabbles. But as time passed and he grew, he'd learned the hard way what happened when two people tried to hold the baton—or beat the drum.
He turned his gaze from Isana… The guy was a typical shield warrior.
'Human, but with what looks like a slave brand on his forehead—not from Earth, then.'
Obviously a face he'd never seen before. At this point, less than a month into the Tower World, no one from Earth could've reached anywhere near the 10th floor anyway.
"…I don't like taking orders from someone else."
In other words, he'd only join if he led. The man got it immediately and nodded.
"I see… Well, can't be helped then."
The guy left calmly. But seconds later, after whispering with his elf mage companion, he came rushing back and slammed his head on our table.
"Please! Sir! Take us into your party!"
'What the hell?'
Such a sudden low posture was disorienting. Isana, who'd been gazing at Han Do-yoon affectionately with her head tilted, jumped in surprise and looked back and forth between them.
"Just once! Please take all of us into your party! I beg you!"
The man banged his forehead on the table, pleading desperately. His earnestness drew the eyes of everyone in the tavern.
'What's going on?'
'Did he get some dirt on him?'
'Who the hell is that guy?'
Han Do-yoon stared back in bewilderment.
"Suddenly… why?"
"I heard from my comrade! You're that famous… Half-Dragon Female Heat Inducer Han Do-yoon!"
Half-dragon female heat inducer… what?
"Wha—?!"
"Crazy."
"What kind of bullshit is that?"
I glanced at Isana in shock, but she went from startled to shooting me a look laced with contempt. Even before I betrayed her to death, I'd never seen that kind of disgust on her face.
"N-No! I have no idea what he's talking about! Don't misunderstand!"
"It's already the talk of the town! That you broke the idol of the 18th floor, the half-red dragon Karia Redheart, and turned her into a female in heat!"
"S-Stop—!"
I had no idea how he'd found out, but denying it was priority one. If pure-hearted Isana, straight out of a shoujo manga, learned about what happened with Karia, a kitchen knife might join the Sword God collection—and it might be aimed at me.
"Fine, I'll take your party… so drop the topic."
"Thank you! Truly, thank you!"
His comrades joined the table behind him. Han Do-yoon ignored Isana's piercing glare from the side.
"Your party leader's begging on his knees like that—can the rest of you really accept entrusting your lives to a total stranger like me?"
"You're one of the record-updaters. No reason not to."
"If anything, forcing it on someone who doesn't want it might be better."
Desperation shone in their eyes… They'd coldly assessed their position versus mine and come crawling. No reason to refuse. More people made it easier.
'Six including me… perfect.'
"Meet at the tower entrance in an hour. If anyone's not keen, no hard feelings if you don't show."
An hour later, not a single one was missing—they all showed up at the tower front.
Find and destroy the 6 statues, then defeat the floor boss.
The familiar space unfolded before us. The forest of the tower's 1st floor. The difference was the time.
The 1st floor was fixed at high noon with sunlight pouring down overhead, but now it was the dead of night, lit only by moonlight.
Even so, the bright moonshine kept it from being truly dark. The forest was a mess too—no tall trees blocking the sky. It was like a grassland plain in the middle of the woods.
Han Do-yoon looked toward the hill straight ahead. Atop it loomed a massive wolf, jaws stretched wide as if kissing the moon.
Soon, its howl echoed out.
-Awoooooooo!
Up to the 10th floor, we'd never faced a monster with a bigger roar or bulkier build.
Han Do-yoon, on his second time, just found it ear-piercing. But the others?
"N-No way…"
"You expect us to take that down?"
"There's no escaping now…"
Terror, piss, collapsing to the ground. He turned to Isana.
Impossible to read her thoughts. She gripped her sword tightly.
Sensing his gaze, she met his eyes and gave a quiet smile.
Was the current Isana the Sword God? Or just a swordswoman?
His gut told him her state, but he couldn't pry. Suspicion was suspicion. And just as he hadn't asked about her, she hadn't pried into him.
All he could do was keep up the act.
"Everyone, drink your potions now."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
Right before entering the tower, he'd handed out special potions. The kind that temporarily boosted physical abilities: Strength, Haste, Sixth Sense potions… Side effects, sure, but nothing lethal.
The party downed them… except Isana.
"It says find and destroy 6 statues… so splitting up is fastest, right?"
"Y-Yes!"
"Someone's gotta draw that wolf's attention."
Han Do-yoon eyed the ex-party leader with the shield. His face went ghost-white as he shook his head.
Then he looked at Isana.
"Leave it to m—"
-Bang!
Before she finished, he aimed Last Wish at the wolf and fired.
The thunderous gunshot reverberated through the dark forest. A red bullet streaked across the purple night sky. Loaded with a 3-circle magic bullet, it packed lethal power against the 10th-floor boss.
-Thud!
-Graaaaaah!
The wolf's scream burst out as it caught fire—thanks to the mods from Karia's unfertilized egg.
He pulled the trigger again. Each shot spat comet-like sparks from the barrel.
On the fifth, Han Do-yoon stopped. Controlling the recoil barehanded was… too much.
'Potions let me manage four shots max. Exoskeleton… gotta prioritize that.'
Rubbing his arm, he barked at the party. Polite speech ended here.
"What the hell are you waiting for?! Go find those statues!"
"B-But… with that firepower, can't we just kill it?"
"Did you climb the tower blind? You think it'll die before we smash the statues?"
By the Tower's rules, no matter how hard you hit it, the wolf wouldn't die until all six statues were destroyed. Even at her peak, the Sword God couldn't.
In the Tower World, rules were absolute. Follow the system's orders.
"Isana! You too!"
"…Got it."
Isana hesitated to leave the alchemist Han Do-yoon behind. She'd seen him in danger too many times like this.
Reluctantly, she went. The party scattered in assigned directions… Han Do-yoon faced the approaching giant wolf and yelled as if just noticing.
"…The wolf's shadow's split into six! Follow the shadows! They won't be anywhere else!"
Plenty of hints. The 10th-floor boss strat: find and destroy the six statues linked to the wolf's shadows, then kill it.
Statues positioned along the shadows—easy to track.
'Destroying them's up to individual judgment.'
Past Han Do-yoon had lucked into it. No power to smash a statue, cried his eyes out dodging the wolf, barely evaded an attack—and it obliterated the statue right behind him.
…Remembering made his face burn. He'd pissed himself.
-Graaaaaar!
No time for reminiscing. Wolf wouldn't die till all statues were gone.
He kept firing magic bullets to buy time… Problem was, reloading the 12-shot cylinder wasn't easy for current Han Do-yoon. Worse, each shot numbed his hands and arms.
'…Can't even build my body!'
The higher you climbed, the more trials rewarded body strengthening fitting the floor. Even lazy mages got durable enough for normal stuff by the 10th after the 1st-floor clear.
But Han Do-yoon bore the Thousand-Year Prison curse… Peak Earthling physique maybe, but in the Tower World? Frail, weak, invalid level.
-Scratch…
His trembling fingertips dropped a bullet. The wolf snapped at the spot. Earth chunked out like a crater.
'Can't push further.'
…He pulled a flashbang from inventory and detonated it. Light flashed and vanished in an instant.
Having closed his eyes in advance, Han Do-yoon hurried away. Even blind, its nose would track him quick.
'Statues left…'
They had good instincts—only one remained. Pre-potting had paid off, he decided.
He chased the shadow linked to the wolf… Sensing it charging from behind, he slammed down a pre-drawn alchemy circle.
Buried ink faintly etched the transmutation array on the ground… It analyzed 'earth,' decomposed 'earth,' recombined 'earth' into a wall blocking the wolf's pursuit.
-Boom!
Dam-sized earthen walls erupted in the forest. The charging wolf smashed into one and tumbled.
Using the breather, he reached the last statue.
'…Isana?'
Only Isana stood by it. No time for why she hadn't smashed it, or that she could now.
'Whatever you're thinking… this is life or death!'
Finally reloaded one magic bullet. Aiming at the last statue…
Isana's head turned from the statue, eyes meeting his.
'Damn it.'
…Han Do-yoon couldn't shoot. Body exhausted too. And in her dobok, she overlapped with her final moments from before.
-Thwack!