A Way to Grow Stronger
“Aaahhh... this is the best.”
The outdoor hot spring of The Tale of Blooming Frost Flowers was nothing short of paradise.
Scalding water and frigid air.
The combination of the two delivered pure bliss.
Thanks to that, Lee Sia was melting into the water with the kind of contented groans only a middle-aged man should make, soaking every last bit of tension from her body.
“Do you think the old man is awake yet?”
Sia, who had been submerged until her skin had gone thoroughly wrinkled, asked as if the thought had only just struck her.
“Dunno.”
Vivian shook her head.
According to what she had confirmed with her Super Spacetime Information Collector [C], Yujin’s condition was not particularly serious.
He had exhausted himself, yes, but his outstanding physique and willpower were already carrying him through it.
At first the state had looked worrying, yet even left alone he was visibly recovering on his own.
There had been good reason she had stopped them from wasting money on him.
“He said with his own mouth that one day of rest would be enough, so he ought to be getting up any time now.”
More than twenty-four hours had already passed since he had lost consciousness.
“Are you worried?”
“It’s not that.”
Sia shook her head firmly at Vivian’s question.
“It’s just... when that old man isn’t around, I get a little anxious.”
Yujin was strong.
No matter what danger appeared, there was a rock-solid belief that he would somehow deal with it.
Yesterday’s incident had been the same.
The woman who had suddenly appeared.
An Administrator, was it?
The power of that nameless Administrator had been on a completely different level from theirs.
They would have died before they even got a proper fight going—that much was certain.
Yet Yujin had defeated a being like that.
Killing an Administrator.
The idea that such a thing was even possible had never crossed their minds.
“What if something like that shows up again? There’s no way we could win with just our strength, right?”
Even if she became twice as strong as she was now, she still could not feel confident she could put a sword through Didascalia.
Hell, could she even leave a scratch?
That was how far above them the Administrators stood.
“It’ll be fine.”
Vivian answered in an unconcerned tone and dipped her face lightly into the water.
Administrator.
The image of that Administrator—carved from ice itself—rose in her mind.
A powerhouse so overwhelming that even Yujin had shouted for them to run the moment he spotted her.
In the end he had won, yes.
He must have gotten lucky.
Vivian had a rough measure of Yujin’s ability.
All thanks to her Super Spacetime Information Collector [C].
It was not perfectly accurate, of course.
But one thing was certain: Yujin absolutely did not possess the strength to kill that Administrator.
And yet he changed.
Just what had he done?
The Yujin who had yelled for them to flee and the Yujin who had killed the Administrator were so different she could almost believe they were two separate people.
For a moment it had felt as though he alone could tear the Tower down.
But it had lasted only five minutes.
That was all.
Yujin had returned to normal, and the fight had ended.
Because of that she had not even had the chance to gather more detailed information.
If he could keep using that power, fine. But if it was a one-shot skill?
That would mean he could never use it again.
And that meant if something like yesterday happened once more, they might face an entirely different ending.
I need power.
Vivian did not particularly like Yujin.
He had dragged people off without warning and worked them like slaves.
Of course she resented him.
But that was separate from acknowledging his strength and ability.
Without Yujin, she, Sia, and Park Ji-hoo would not have been strange to die at any moment.
The same went for this world.
If they failed to conquer the Tower in the end, everything would simply meet destruction.
I have no lingering attachments, but...
Even so, they were the people with whom she had formed the deepest bonds since her birth.
They had grown closer than family.
She did not want to watch them die meaninglessly.
Therefore.
I have to get stronger.
She still did not know the method.
But Yujin would know.
He knew suspiciously much about the Tower and its secrets, after all.
He might even know a way to grow stronger in a short time.
“Huh? Unnie, you’re already getting out?”
“An hour’s passed.”
“...When did that happen?”
As wonderful as the hot spring was, staying in too long was not entirely a good thing either.
“I’m coming too.”
Sia rose as well.
The cold air swept across her body, still burning hot from the water.
“Uuuugh, I’m going first!”
Wrapping a towel around herself, Sia even used mana as she sprinted inside.
Vivian shook her head at the sight and followed at a leisurely pace.
I wonder if he’s up.
If he was awake, she would ask.
Whether there was a way to grow far stronger, far faster than now.
And if so, what they needed to do.
“Feel good?”
Yujin, dark circles hanging all the way down to his jaw, asked the 3 No.
“Uh, yeah. It was great.”
Having thoroughly cooked herself in the hot spring, Sia nodded while proudly showing off her newly soft, glowing skin.
Of course she was the only one being that tactless.
Vivian showed her usual lack of reaction, and Park Ji-hoo wore an apologetic expression.
Yujin stared at Sia for a moment, then shook his head with a weary sigh and turned to Vivian.
“Nothing much happened after I blacked out, right?”
“Right.”
They had run into monsters on the way, and NPCs had mistaken them and attacked, but that sort of thing did not even register as “something” by Yujin’s standards, so she did not bother mentioning it.
“Good. So how’d you even know to come here?”
“The captain of the guard introduced us.”
“...The guard captain?”
“Yeah. That big, friendly-looking guy.”
Yujin’s face twisted slightly.
He remembered roughly who that was.
“Ah. That damn bastard.”
He had been infamous even in the first timeline.
An NPC who milked the spines of players who had barely dragged themselves to the 21st Floor after nearly dying to get there.
He did not remember the name, but he had heard stories of some people being stripped of everything right down to their underwear.
They must have looked like they had money, so he brought them here.
He had almost certainly taken a hefty commission under the name of a referral fee.
Still, Yujin had no intention of hunting the man down and forcing him to spit the money back out.
NPCs had always been the type to stab players in the back like that.
Not every one of them, but the NPCs of a barren floor like this had no other choice.
It was a kind of survival method.
So even if it stung, there was no need to hold him accountable.
Of course, after spending that much money, they were going to squeeze every bit of use out of the place.
“Anyway, you made it here somehow. Can’t have been easy.”
“We really went through hell, you know? Monsters kept charging us. They were ridiculously tough so the swords barely stuck. And the second we rested our bodies started freezing.”
Just remembering it made her shudder.
“It’ll get a lot better once you get some proper clothes.”
They needed to replace the gear they were currently wearing first.
The Frost Veil Coat [D] had excellent cold resistance, but it was still nowhere near enough to handle the chill of the 21st Floor.
“Where can we get those?”
“We buy them.”
“Ah...”
She had expected some kind of fortuitous encounter or a quest reward like on the 20th Floor.
The wind went out of her sails a little.
“There are plenty of clothes that are the same grade as the coats you’re wearing, but their cold resistance is on a completely different level.”
They threw defense out the window and poured every last bit of their power into one single effect: blocking the cold.
“They’ll be pretty expensive. So about that...”
Yujin held out his hand.
“Cough up all the junk items you’ve been collecting.”
“Are you shaking us down right now?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I’m shaking you down.”
They had already been forced to spend an enormous amount of credits just to stay at The Tale of Blooming Frost Flowers.
So they had to recoup it somehow.
“Leave out the material items you have to give to Mr. Lee Ki-seok. Hand over everything else.”
When Yujin spoke with a wicked expression, Sia’s lips moved.
No sound came out, but the curse was unmistakable.
“Here.”
The first to open her pouch was, of course, Vivian.
A diamond-spoon girl who had never fretted over money, she casually offered up all the junk items she had gathered so far.
“That’s a lot.”
“I have a related skill.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Yujin looked at Vivian with clear envy.
He had heard of such skills a few times before—ones that raised item drop rates or related to luck.
She probably had something in that category.
I really should check what skills she’s learned sometime.
He had been treating her like a walking wallet or a bank, but it seemed Vivian was a far more useful slave than that.
If he figured out exactly what traits, skills, and items she possessed, he would be able to use her more efficiently later.
Assuming she told him willingly, of course.
“I-I have some too.”
Next was Park Ji-hoo.
Watching Yujin’s expression carefully, he gingerly took junk items out of his Subspace.
The amount was not small, but compared to Vivian’s it fell short, so he looked a little cowed.
“This is plenty.”
Yujin gave Ji-hoo’s head a single pat and then turned to Sia.
“What about you?”
“...You thug bastard.”
She looked like she did not want to give up a single coin, yet she opened her own Subspace as if she had no choice.
“If I catch you holding anything back, you’re on your own.”
He cut off any funny business in advance.
Sia’s face crumpled even harder as she began pulling junk items out.
“Aigoo, do you know how hard I worked to collect all this? And now some gangster’s taking it all...”
“What are you, a squirrel?”
Just like digging out acorns hidden in a wall.
With a thoroughly wronged expression she emptied everything.
“Perfect.”
Looking at the pile of junk items on the floor, Yujin nodded in satisfaction.
“Eat up, Chunbae.”
“Kkuwaaaaaang-!”
Chunbae, who had been staring at the glittering pile with sparkling eyes, stretched its mouth wide open and stuffed every last item inside.
Even with that enormous quantity, they vanished in an instant.
“What is that thing, a vacuum cleaner?”
“Cute.”
Sia’s and Vivian’s evaluations of Chunbae diverged sharply.
“Then rest here for a while. This place is expensive, so do everything you can. It’s all included in the price anyway, so we might as well squeeze every last drop of value out of it.”
“Is there more to do besides the hot spring?”
“If you go further inside there’ll probably be something like a jjimjilbang.”
“Ooooh!”
Sia let out a cheer.
“I’ll go buy some clothes, so...”
“I’m coming too.”
“Huh?”
Vivian unexpectedly volunteered to accompany him.
“I don’t mind, but...”
“Then we’ll just play here! Let’s go, Ji-hoo!”
With an excited face, Sia grabbed Park Ji-hoo’s hand like some alley boss and dragged him out.
Left alone with Vivian, Yujin looked at her.
“Is there something you need?”
Otherwise there would be no reason for her to follow him.
When he tilted his head and asked, Vivian thought for a moment before slowly opening her mouth.
“A way to grow stronger.”
“...What?”
“I need a way to get stronger. Faster than now. And more.”
A completely unexpected answer.
Yujin blinked a few times before asking,
“Why all of a sudden?”
They were already growing stronger at a speed incomparable to ordinary players.
At least twice as fast as Kang Mu-hyun’s group, who had reached the 21st Floor ahead of them.
So why did she want to grow even faster?
“To live. And to keep them alive.”
Vivian looked straight at Yujin as she answered.
“You and those kids.”
It did not sound like empty words.
Sincerity came through in her usual vacant eyes.
Seeing the fight with Omophnes must have left a deep impression on her.
Unlike the still-childish Sia.
Yujin let out a short laugh.
A voluntary slave who thought and fretted for herself was better than a slave who only moved when ordered.
And Vivian was clearly the former.
“There is a method like that, you know.”
Whether she was confident she would not regret it, though—that was another question.
Yujin’s smile deepened.