Hell Begins at Twenty-One
"...Is it really that dangerous?"
Lee Sia asked, anxiety written across her face.
Yujin knew exactly what she was worrying about. That was why he answered so casually.
"You don't have to look like that. He and Lee Do-gyeom never got along. He won't go looking for your family."
"R-really?"
Relief washed over Lee Sia's face.
"Even so, he's still a dangerous bastard. Especially inside the Tower."
Yujin thought back to the White Devil of the first timeline.
He was completely out of his mind.
He killed people with a smile on his face. Similar to Jin Taeho—the Smiling Man, another of the Ten Evils—but different in one crucial way.
He didn't discriminate.
Unlike Jin Taeho, who mainly targeted those weaker than himself—women and the elderly—Lee Do-jin was the opposite. He preferred killing the strong. Something about watching cocky bastards cry and beg for their lives with tears and snot running down their faces, apparently.
In every way, he was a lunatic. But the fact that he could pull that off at all was proof of Lee Do-jin's strength.
He's not that strong yet, though.
Still, he would already be far beyond ordinary players. The exact details were never confirmed, but rumors had circulated that Lee Do-jin had obtained an astonishing trait in the lower floors—and the consensus was that it was an A-grade trait.
"Well, no need to worry about him either way. It'll take him a long time to catch up to us."
Barely the fifth floor. He might be on the sixth or seventh by now, but it made no difference. They were already on the twentieth. Unless Lee Do-jin somehow matched Yujin's pace, they wouldn't run into him for a while.
...Later was another matter.
"That's a relief, then."
The anxiety hadn't completely left her, but Lee Sia nodded with a noticeably lighter expression. Yujin was a maniac, but he wasn't the type to spout nonsense.
"By the way."
With the worry that had been nagging at her roughly settled, it was time to satisfy her curiosity.
"Go on."
"What was that earlier? You suddenly froze solid, then your bones twisted every which way. I thought you were some broken ball-jointed doll."
"I already told you. I picked up a few elixirs and they didn't sit well."
"What on earth did you eat? No—what even is an elixir?"
"Think of it as a multivitamin that's good for your body. It raises your mana a bit and toughens you up."
"...And you ate something that good all by yourself?"
She shot him a look that said, So of course you got sick. What did you expect?
"Do I really look like that kind of cheap bastard?"
"Yes."
Lee Sia answered without a single second of hesitation—pure reflex. Yujin clenched his fist for a moment, debating, then let it go. He had no more time to waste on pointless nonsense.
"Whatever. Just take these."
"Kku-a-a-a-a-ang—!"
He pulled two of the three leftover scrap elixirs he'd stashed in Chunbae's belly.
"What is this?"
Lee Sia accepted the white thing that looked like a green onion root, her face dubious.
"It's White Binding Herb [C]."
"Huh? You're telling me this weed is a C-grade item?"
Her eyes went round. Looking at it this way and that, it really did look like a green onion freshly pulled from a field.
"It suits you. Eat it and your mana goes up, and your body gets lighter. Using a sword should get a lot easier."
"Whoa, that's insane."
The dubious look vanished. Lee Sia suddenly cradled the White Binding Herb [C] against her chest like a sacred treasure.
"You too."
This time, Vivian. A small glass vial that glowed with a soft blue light.
"This is Soul Wine Woven of Azure Silk [C]. It raises mana, of course, but more importantly, it strengthens your skill effects."
Vivian was the party's core power. She was the healer. The better her recovery skills, the greater the benefit to the entire party—and it would cut down on their dollar spending as a bonus.
Vivian accepted the gently sloshing glass bottle and dipped her head slightly. The movement was so small you might miss it if you weren't looking carefully, but she was clearly expressing her gratitude.
Yujin coughed awkwardly, covering his embarrassment.
They're just leftovers.
The ones with the weakest effects among what he'd gathered, or things he simply didn't need. He'd tossed them over without much thought, and that made him feel a little guilty.
But only for a moment.
"Eat them now, all of you."
There was an old saying: sight breeds desire. See something, and you start wanting it. They weren't alone on the twentieth floor. Besides Kang Mu-hyun's party, there were plenty of NPCs who treated backstabbing players as a daily routine. If any of those bastards got funny ideas, they could have these elixirs stolen right out from under their noses.
The odds are low, sure.
But there was no reason to leave even a sliver of anxiety behind, was there?
Yujin jerked his chin, and Lee Sia and Vivian both nodded.
Pop—!
Vivian uncorked the glass bottle first and took the liquid into her mouth. Then she closed her eyes, savoring the effects of the Soul Wine Woven of Azure Silk [C].
Lee Sia, on the other hand, hesitated.
"Why aren't you eating?"
"Do I just... eat it like this?"
As she'd said, the White Binding Herb [C] looked almost exactly like a green onion. Just holding it and chomping down felt a little off.
"What, you want me to cook it for you?"
"Can I?"
"Shut up and eat the damn thing."
Lee Sia's face had lit up for a second, then fell right back into a sulk as she chewed on the green onion root—no, the White Binding Herb [C].
"Could've at least brought me something pretty like Unnie's... Why this junk..."
Munching away and glaring at Yujin, Lee Sia's eyes suddenly flew wide open.
Fwaaaaaash—!
Brilliant light burst from both of their bodies. White radiance and pure azure light. The mystical glow swirled around them for a long while before slowly being absorbed into their bodies.
Good.
He'd worried they might go wrong the way he had, but with only one each, nothing of the sort happened.
Their mana went up, too.
The scent of mana rising from both of them had grown denser—not just in quantity, but in cohesion as well. At the considerably firmer density of their mana, Yujin nodded.
Worth the trouble of finding them after all.
Even if they had been leftovers.
Yujin waited for the two of them to wake.
Time is relative.
To some it races by like an arrow; to others it crawls like a slug. Wasn't that the nature of time?
It was the same for Yujin and the 3 No.
"Wow, two whole months already. Time flies, doesn't it?"
"Yes, it really does."
Park Ji-hoo nodded at Lee Sia's words. Two months spent roaming the twentieth floor in search of one opportunity after another. After all the brutal overwork under Yujin's whip, this stretch of time had felt like heaven itself.
That was why time had seemed to pass so quickly.
Yujin was different. Having consumed the Essence of the Stars [C] and become something entirely new, he no longer needed further opportunities of his own. He simply pointed the 3 No toward where the opportunities were and how to claim them, then spent his days sprawled out at the Drunken Moon Pavilion.
Of course every day dragged on for him.
But that was his problem. The 3 No soaked in this long-overdue happiness and hoped, as hard as they could, that it would last forever.
"Have you fully absorbed what you ate before?"
Lee Sia asked.
"Y-yes. I finished absorbing it last night."
"Oh, so you can use the ability now?"
"I still need a little practice, but it's a lot smoother than before."
Mad Beast Pill [C].
That was the name of the elixir Yujin had found for Park Ji-hoo. The tiny, bean-sized pill had an astonishing effect: it granted the skill Mad Beast Transformation [C]. Once activated, attack power and vitality surged sharply. The effect was so strong that absorption had taken a considerable amount of time.
"Can you show us now?"
"Th-that might be a bit..."
Park Ji-hoo looked uncomfortable. Mad Beast Transformation [C] gave its user tremendous power, but the backlash was nothing to shrug off either. Using it when he wasn't fighting an enemy—in a situation like this—was too much.
"Then you have to show me next time!"
When Lee Sia smiled and made him promise, Park Ji-hoo nodded timidly.
"We should head back."
Vivian's voice drifted from behind them.
"We've gotten pretty much everything we can. It's about time we moved on."
At her words, Lee Sia's mood sagged. The last day of this paradise that was the twentieth floor—and that day was today. The fact of it was simply too sad.
"Let's go."
Leaving their regrets behind, the 3 No set off in the direction of Unmonghyang.
"We're starting to see other players here and there."
It had begun about two weeks earlier—one or two at a time reaching the twentieth floor. By now, dozens of players were staying in Unmonghyang.
"That's why Kang Mu-hyun left three days ago and went on ahead. He said it was getting needlessly noisy."
"Did he? No wonder I haven't seen him much lately."
Kang Mu-hyun had focused on training more than hunting opportunities. After taking Yujin's advice and claiming a few suitable finds, he had stayed at the Drunken Moon Pavilion and thrust his spear without rest. His growth had been so rapid you could see the improvement with your own eyes.
But that had only been true until a few days ago. No wonder he had vanished—he must have decided to climb higher.
"Let's go that way!"
"Whoa, I didn't know the Tower even had a floor this nice."
"Should we stay here for a while? The monsters aren't that strong, and it's beautiful. Perfect place to rest, don't you think?"
Excited voices floated past as other players brushed by them.
She's right.
Lee Sia nodded. It really did feel like time to go up. Knowing Yujin's personality, he would never stand for falling behind anyone else.
Still taking in the beautiful scenery and the new faces around them, the 3 No finally reached the Drunken Moon Pavilion.
"Oh, you're back?"
Yujin, sprawled on a wooden platform he'd set up like a daybed, greeted them without getting up.
"What are you, some idle playboy?"
Lee Sia spat the barb, but Yujin didn't so much as pretend to hear it as he sat up.
"We're heading up today. You know that, right?"
"Yes."
Park Ji-hoo nodded.
"I'm saying this because you stayed here so long you might've forgotten—this is the Tower of Light."
Yujin stretched as he continued.
"From the twenty-first floor on, it's hell again."
It wasn't a joke. Players who had adapted to the twentieth floor had dropped like flies on the twenty-first. It was that dangerous, that brutal.
"Well, you three will manage better than most. Still—don't get careless."
The 3 No were nothing like ordinary players. Levels, items, traits, skills—they crushed other people in every category. Even so, the warning not to let their guard down was not empty talk. From the twenty-first floor up, a single slip could get you killed in an instant.
"Remember what I said. Time to head up."
With the 3 No at his side, Yujin left the Drunken Moon Pavilion and made for the stairs.
But he had no idea what was coming.
That the one who would fall into danger was not the 3 No—but himself.