Mistaken for Monsters
Calculating the rewards would take some time, it said.
And that meant only one thing.
Jackpot.
A wild laugh nearly burst out of him. Nearly — but not quite. He could feel the stares burning into his back.
Lee Sia. Park Ji-hoo. Vivian.
The moment Omophnes fell, the 3 No had somehow made their way back, and now their heated gazes were searing a hole through the back of his skull.
His shoulders couldn't help but square up a little.
After a display that overwhelming, their opinion of him had to have shifted at least a little, right?
Especially Lee Sia's. Lately she'd been getting a little too bold, inching her way up the pecking order. With any luck, this would knock some sense back into her.
Yujin forced his body — which felt ready to collapse at any second — to stay upright, holding a posture that was equal parts dignified and cool.
Click.
He sheathed the Galaxy Sword [B].
And the instant he did, the power that had filled every inch of him drained away like air from a punctured balloon. His whole body went heavy as waterlogged cotton, and the urge to just drop where he stood flooded his mind.
But he held on.
He still had a cool image to maintain in front of his three slaves, after all.
He turned around slowly.
What kind of faces would they be making? Shock? Awe? Reverence?
Ideally all three.
Keeping his expression carefully neutral, he looked at the 3 No.
"Hmm."
They did look surprised. But…
What the hell kind of faces are those?
Not quite what he'd been hoping for. They were startled, sure — but it wasn't awe or reverence so much as…
They were completely blank. They simply hadn't been able to process what they'd just witnessed.
Ah.
Of course they couldn't. Even if the 3 No had broken past level 60, on the scale of the Tower they were still bottom-tier trash. The battle between first-timeline Yujin and an Administrator had taken place in a realm of power so far beyond their comprehension it might as well have been another dimension.
To them, it had probably just looked like a bunch of flashing lights, whooshing sounds, and a final BOOM — and then the fight was over.
So much for reverence. They were just standing there, dumbfounded.
"Mister."
Lee Sia called out to him.
"What?"
"What was that just now?"
"What was what?"
"Who even was that, and then all of a sudden…"
She hadn't even heard their conversation, apparently. Given how frantically Yujin had ordered them to run, they'd probably poured every ounce of strength into getting away.
"An Administrator."
"An Administrator?"
The 3 No's eyes went wide. To them, Administrators were practically gods. The only one they'd ever seen in person was Didascalia, the manager of the Tutorial Floor — and the overwhelming terror of that encounter was something they still hadn't forgotten.
"Her name was Omo-something. She's the Administrator in charge of floors twenty-one through thirty."
Yujin answered while scraping the sole of his shoe against the ice-covered ground.
"And you killed someone like that? You did, Mister?"
"Pretty much."
"How?"
"Stabbed her with a sword. Stepped on her with my foot."
Technically true — but not the answer Sia was looking for.
"No, I mean how is that even possible? A player killing an Administrator — is that actually a real thing?"
"There's nothing dumber than arguing about whether something is possible or impossible after it's already happened."
Omophnes was dead. That was an undeniable fact. Which made Sia's question completely meaningless — a hollow waste of breath.
"So then…"
"Enough."
She didn't even seem to know what she was saying anymore. The story was simply too absurd for her to process. Yujin cut her off and spoke.
"I'm pretty wiped out right now. So let's save the talk for later and get moving."
As Flashback [S] released its hold, the backlash from wielding power he was never meant to have came crashing down. The price was far steeper than anything he'd paid back on the Tutorial Floor.
"A-Are you okay?"
Park Ji-hoo, who had been quietly listening the whole time, asked with a worried face.
"I'm just a little tired."
"Need it?"
That was Vivian. The second Yujin nodded, she'd be ready to pull out a dollar bill on the spot.
"I'm fine. A good night's sleep will fix me up. Don't go wasting money for nothing."
He waved her off with a flick of his hand.
"We need to find a place to spend the night before it gets too late. It gets even colder after dark. Those coats you're wearing won't cut it."
So they had to move. The unexpected fight had cost them time — they needed to make up for it now.
"Kid, you carry me. Sia, clear the path. Vivian, back her up."
Honestly, he wasn't sure he could even walk at this point.
"Ah — yes, Hyeong!"
Park Ji-hoo hurried over and hoisted Yujin onto his back. The height difference meant Yujin's feet dragged a little against the ground, but it was still far better than walking on his own.
"You know the direction?"
"I forgot."
Sia said it with such brazen confidence that Yujin was briefly speechless. He sighed and pointed.
"The village is a day's walk that way. Keep the heading right and you'll find places to rest along the way."
Shelters the NPCs of Frost Veil had built out of consideration for players — rest stops scattered across the twenty-first floor.
"So move."
At Yujin's urging, the 3 No set out.
An endless expanse of frozen earth. The land that cradled its now-headless master continued to breathe out its cold silence, unbroken and unyielding.
KRRRRRK—!
Black Wing [B] carved deep into a mass of ice.
"Are you kidding me?! This thing is ridiculously hard!"
The Ice Golem's durability was nothing short of astonishing. The only reason Sia could bring them down in a single strike was because her sword was B-grade. Anything less, and it would have taken a long, long time.
"Nuna, right side!"
At Park Ji-hoo's warning, Sia spun her body in a sharp turn.
KRADDDRK—!
An Ice Golem that had lunged in from her blind spot shattered to pieces and collapsed.
"Ugh, my palms are killing me."
It didn't feel like cutting so much as smashing and pulverizing. Completely inefficient. Blunt weapons would work far better against these things than blades.
"Ji-hoo, want to switch?"
Having finished off all ten golems that had suddenly erupted from the ground, Sia turned and asked.
"Are you tired, Nuna?"
"Yeah, being tired is part of it — but more than that, I think your fists would work better."
The Champion Glove [C] was a blunt weapon, and Park Ji-hoo's fists were devastating wedges. Even ice this hard wouldn't stand a chance against that kind of force.
"Then Nuna would have to carry Hyeong."
"Uuuugh."
Sia shuddered from head to toe. The mere thought of putting Yujin on her back sent goosebumps crawling over her entire body.
"Yeah, no. I'll just keep fighting."
Between the pain of her hands being torn to shreds and physical contact with Yujin — the former was obviously the better option, right?
"Ah… yes."
Park Ji-hoo gave a dry little laugh and nodded.
"How much farther?"
"He said it was a day's walk, so we should be seeing it any time now."
They had already spent one night out in the open wastes. Fortunately, they'd found one of the shelters Yujin had mentioned and avoided freezing to death — but the cold they'd endured had been vicious enough to make their teeth chatter for hours.
Then, from the moment the morning sun rose, they had walked without a single break.
"Really?"
Sia's face lit up. She was someone who had spent her whole life as a shivering mess. Cold was a kind of suffering she found nearly impossible to bear.
"Let's hurry!"
The chill rushed back the instant the fighting stopped, and Sia trembled violently as she picked up the pace.
"Need it?"
"Ah — no, I'm fine!"
When Vivian asked, Sia flinched and shook her head hard. Burn one of Vivian's dollars just because she was cold, and who knew what kind of payback she'd be in for.
Sia snuck a glance at Yujin, still slumped across Park Ji-hoo's back. Remarkably, he still hadn't come to. She didn't fully understand what had happened, but yesterday's fight must have taken a serious toll on him.
I hope he just keeps sleeping like that.
The old saying that people look their best when they're asleep wasn't just for babies. Not that she meant he actually looked cute or anything.
Sia gagged inwardly, then took off across the frozen plain almost as if she were flying.
How much time passed after that?
"Oh — that must be it!"
At a glance, it looked like a crevasse. A massive fissure carved into the earth. But looking closer, people could be seen moving near it — NPCs, all of them bundled in thick furs.
Frost Veil.
The village of the twenty-first floor, bearing the name Frost Valley. They had finally come within striking distance.
"Ahahahahahaha!"
Sia broke into a huge grin and started sprinting like a madwoman.
And then…
"Hm?"
The NPCs patrolling the village outskirts spotted the 3 No.
"…What is that?"
Their expressions turned grave. Some tensed up; others clenched their jaws. They had every reason to.
"A monster?"
Whatever was charging toward them at high speed did not look human.
The NPC serving as the village guard captain tightened his grip on a spear of enormous thickness and began drawing up his fighting spirit.
"Everyone, get ready. Looks like a monster's coming."
"Was there a monster like that around here?"
A creature with long black hair streaming behind it, cackling with a bone-chilling laugh — something like that belonged on the sixth floor, not the twenty-first.
"Who knows. Could be something that wandered out looking for new territory. Better safe than sorry."
The twenty-first floor was vast, and the environment was hardly suited for free exploration. The NPCs of Frost Veil only knew the area immediately around them; anything farther out was a complete blank.
"Either way, battle stations. Something about this feels off. And you — head into the village and request support from the players there, just in case."
If this turned out to be a monster they couldn't handle, they might need the help of that player who wielded the golden spear.
"Understood!"
The youngest of the men sprinted toward the stairs leading into the village.
"Ahahahahahaha!"
The laughter grew louder.
"Nasty piece of work."
It occurred to him that it might even be some kind of mental-attack skill.
Humanoid. Three of them. No — four?
They were still a little too far to make out clearly. But it didn't matter. Those monsters would never make it this far anyway.
"Javelins!"
At the guard captain's bellow, the men who had already prepared their throws hurled their spears.
Pabababababababat—!
The javelins sliced through the air, flying true toward the monsters.
One volley won't deal serious damage, but if we can just slow them down for the follow-up—
That was as far as the NPC's thoughts got before his eyes flew wide open.
Javelins as thick as a grown man's forearm snapped like toothpicks — shattered by the long-haired monster that was still laughing like a lunatic.
"…A sword?"
Incredibly, she had cut down the javelins with a single swing of her blade. All twelve of them. In one stroke. A sword path so perfect it was hard to believe even after seeing it with both eyes.
But he no longer had the luxury of being impressed.
"You son of a bitch — who the hell just attacks out of nowhere?!"
A thick, furious stream of curses exploded out of her.
"Huh?"
"Wait—"
"Th-That's…?"
They weren't monsters.
"You all want to die?"
They were simply something far more terrifying than monsters.