The Third Slave
“Nnngh—”
Lee Sia stretched hard and cracked her eyes open.
“Ugh. My whole body is wrecked.”
She had no idea how many hours she had been out. Even after coming to, her head still felt thick and foggy, which meant she must have slept for an absurdly long time. And yet every joint still ached. The aftermath of yesterday’s battle had not fully faded.
“…Should I just sleep more?”
She let the arm she had flung upward drop back onto the mattress and shut her eyes again. Sleep, of course, refused to come. Unbeknownst to her, she had already slept a straight twenty-four hours. There was simply nothing left to sleep off.
“Augh, why am I this tired and still can’t pass out?”
After thrashing around for a while she finally had no choice but to sit up.
“Still dark out.”
The room was bathed in a dull green glow, so it always felt like night no matter the hour.
“Gotta get up.”
Looking every bit as ragged as the zombies she had hacked to pieces the day before, she dragged herself out of bed.
“Uurrgh.”
Thankfully her clothes had been laundered. She pulled them on in clumsy handfuls and stepped out of the room.
The hallway was still dead quiet. Only then did the forgotten emotion come flooding back, fresh and sharp.
“Eek!”
This was a ghost city. Right now there were probably ghosts standing right next to her. No—definitely. That innkeeper, Moston or whatever his name was. The thought that he might be watching her right this second sent a cold crawl down her spine.
“Back inside.”
She slammed the door she had just opened, scurried back to the bed, and yanked the blanket over her head.
“W-where is everybody? Are they up yet?”
If they were, she really wished they would come to her. Being alone in the room only made the fear worse.
“Uuuuugh.”
Two thoughts waged all-out war inside her skull: stay put, or bolt for Park Ji-hoo’s or Seong Yujin’s room this second. The latter won by a landslide.
“J-Ji-hoo’s room. Going there.”
If he was still asleep it would be rude, but Sia no longer had the bandwidth for manners. She shot upright, poured mana into her legs, and rocketed out the door and into the next room over at ridiculous speed.
Bang bang bang bang bang—!
What followed was less knocking and more a full-on fist assault.
“Ji-hoo! You up? If you’re up, open the door! Huh? You better open it while I’m still asking nicely!”
Threat or plea—it was hard to tell. She was still hammering away when—
Creeeeak—
—the door swung open just before it could be reduced to splinters, hinges shrieking in protest.
“…Nuna?”
Park Ji-hoo stared at her with wide round eyes.
“You’re already up? Oh thank god. I just knew you’d be awake already, you know? Right? Can I come in?”
Even an AI would have sounded more natural.
“Ah—yes. Please come in.”
Looking thoroughly flustered, Ji-hoo stepped aside to clear a path.
“Thanks!”
She darted inside.
“Haaah—”
Only then did a little of the terror drain away.
“When did you wake up? I didn’t wake you, did I?”
Now that coherent thought was possible again, she asked with an embarrassed face.
“No, I’ve been up for a while. I was just about to go back to sleep…”
“Don’t you dare. Don’t leave me alone and fall asleep.”
“…Yes.”
Faced with a plea that bordered on desperation, Ji-hoo let out a soft snort of laughter and nodded. He seemed to have a pretty good idea why she was acting like this.
“But why are you up so early? You must’ve been exhausted too.”
“Ah, the kid over there asked me for help. Say hello, Nuna. Her name’s Nia.”
Ji-hoo pointed toward one side of the room.
“Huh? Who?”
Sia followed his finger with her eyes.
No one was there. Only an empty chair sat in the spot he indicated.
“…You’re messing with me, right?”
“What? No. Nia’s a girl who lives in this city. She came to me earlier and asked for help…”
“Aaaaaaaah! Stop it!”
The scream finally tore free. She scrambled behind Ji-hoo—who only came up to her chest—and hid.
“Ah. So you can’t see her.”
Unlike the other ghost NPCs, he had assumed Nia was visible to every player. Apparently not.
“You don’t have to be that scared. She’s a good kid. Honestly, I think she’s more frightened of you right now.”
He wasn’t kidding. In Ji-hoo’s eyes, Nia had flinched and curled in on herself at Sia’s wild-eyed display.
“Mmm.”
Ji-hoo’s expression turned awkward.
“Nia, can you make it so Nuna can see you guys too? The way you did for me?”
“No! I don’t want to see her! I’d rather not!”
Crash—!
Unable to take any more, Sia kicked the door open and bolted out into the hall.
What the hell happened while I was asleep?
Only one option remained: Seong Yujin’s room. Having to rely on that psychopathic lunatic was the last thing she wanted, but rooming with a ghost was worse.
This time she skipped knocking entirely and just planted a solid kick against the door.
With a splintering crack the tightly shut door of Seong Yujin’s room flew wide open.
“What the actual fuck is this bullshit.”
“Please save me.”
Pretending she hadn’t heard the inevitable stream of curses, she begged straight at him.
“What? Who’s trying to kill you?”
“Exactly. If I stay here any longer I’m going to die. So please save me.”
It was the most polite she had ever been. The corner of Yujin’s mouth twitched upward at the sight. Her pride stung, but she kept her face blank. Showing anything would only get her treated worse.
“And what exactly do you want me to do about it.”
“I want to go outside. We’ve rested long enough by now, haven’t we?”
She wanted out of this place even one minute sooner. They had made it all the way to the tenth floor; taking a break outside would be faster than climbing higher anyway.
“Fine. Do that. You’re right—we’ve rested plenty.”
Yujin waved a hand as if to say stop bugging me. If that had been an option she never would have come here in the first place.
“You have to take me. The pillar’s going to be right in the middle of the city.”
The stone pillar—the same kind that had stood in Pine Breeze—would be here in Viridgrave too, dead center. She could roughly guess where it was, but she could not bring herself to walk there alone.
“Jesus fucking Christ.”
This was the same person who had butchered thousands of zombies, and she was terrified of ghosts she couldn’t even see? It was so pathetic it was almost funny.
“If you don’t take me, huh? I’ll start wrecking shit.”
“Haaah—”
Yujin sighed and shook his head.
“Fine. Let’s go. Better to kick you out than deal with the headache.”
He stood.
“Go grab Park Ji-hoo. Tell him I’ll ask someone safe to look after that Nia kid or whatever.”
“…That was real?”
There had actually been a ghost there. Sia swore to herself once more that she was getting the hell out of this place.
“What a goddamn mess.”
Lee Sia storming in like a hurricane the moment she woke from her long sleep had left Yujin’s head pounding. Remembering how she had freaked out the entire way to the pillar still made his teeth grind. Only after he had forcibly booted the girl who could barely take a single step out of the Tower did peace finally return.
“She definitely didn’t use to be like this.”
Whether climbing the Tower had changed her or something had simply gone wrong, he couldn’t tell.
“Tsk tsk.”
Clicking his tongue at the memory of her theatrics, Yujin left Bones Inn.
He had left the Nia that Ji-hoo asked him to help at the inn. He had handed Moston a few byproducts from hunting the Flame Dragon, so the man would look after her. Besides, the ones who used to torment the kid no longer existed; there was nothing left to worry about.
“Pretty much finished everything here.”
Even Park Ji-hoo’s unexpected side quest had ended in luck. As expected, no special skill or item dropped, but the kid had gained a pretty solid trait.
“Self-Rationalization [D], was it?”
The name was trash-tier, but the effect was excellent. Perfect for calming the heart of someone who used to flinch hard at violence. From now on, no matter what he did, he would rationalize it on his own. The chances of him suffering from mental issues going forward had dropped dramatically.
“Smacking around a few ghosts and getting an effect like this is basically winning the lottery.”
A worry that had been gnawing at him had been wiped out in one go; his shoulders felt lighter. If that problem had detonated on a higher floor it would have been a real headache.
Anyway, Ji-hoo’s issue was settled and both of them were outside. There was nothing left to do here.
“Which means…”
Time to handle the thing he had been putting off.
“The third slave.”
The two of them had one week until they returned. He had to find someone in that window. If the candidate had talent on the level of the Sword Empress or the Fighting Demon, all the better—but it wasn’t required. A reasonably sharp head and the right aptitude would be enough. Healing skills and traits could always be scavenged and handed over later.
“Wonder what floor everyone’s on by now.”
No one would have reached the fifth floor yet. Even pushing hard, most would still be on the third. Only a handful of true freaks might have set foot on the fourth.
“Guess I’ll hit the fifth floor first and work my way down one at a time.”
Back at the city square where the stone pillar stood, Yujin stretched out a hand.
Woooong—
The pillar, saturated with mana, began to vibrate. Moments later—
Fwaaaaash—!
—a pillar of green light swallowed his form and carried him elsewhere.
Pine Breeze. A peaceful, beautiful village utterly unlike Viridgrave.
“Huh? That’s the player from before.”
“He’s back here? Don’t tell me—”
“He already reached the tenth floor?”
“No way that’s possible.”
Villagers who spotted Yujin stared with eyes wide in pure shock. None of them had ever seen a player climb this fast.
Yujin scanned the crowd, then walked straight toward the man who looked the strongest.
“Hey. Got a second.”
His tone had all the courtesy of dog food. The man still swallowed hard and nodded. Maybe it was the crazy glint in Yujin’s eyes.
“You seen any other players around here? Not counting the idiots who came with me last time.”
“P-players?”
“Yeah. Players. Don’t make me ask twice.”
He cocked a hip and let an irritated look settle on his face. The man jumped like he’d been electrocuted.
“Th-there is one!”
“…There is?”
This time Yujin was the one who looked surprised. Players had only been summoned into the Tower a little over a month ago. And someone had already made it to the fifth floor? Without his help?
Yujin clamped a hand on the man’s shoulder.
“Where. That guy.”
A little extra force had slipped into his grip without him noticing. The man winced and jerked his chin toward one side of the village.
“Th-there. The village inn…”
Yujin was already walking before the rest of the sentence finished. The spectators scattered in every direction.
Pine Hill. The inn lived up to its name, filling the air with a clean pine scent. Yujin shoved the door open without hesitation.
And there he was.
In the middle of the first-floor dining room, a white-haired Caucasian man was eating with a vacant expression on his face.
“…A player.”