Yggdrasil (3-37)
Han Yeoreum trudged along with his head bowed, muttering to himself endlessly under his breath.
'Fuck, no way he gathered all that in just one day?'
Up until lunchtime, he'd been inwardly relieved.
Even after everyone teamed up to hunt monsters, not a single token had dropped—let alone anything of value.
Once a bit of time had passed, people started throwing out all sorts of ideas, searching for another way.
Maybe dig into the ground for items? Or check tree hollows? All kinds of ridiculous suggestions flew around.
That's when humans fear most: realizing their actions mean nothing.
Like in real games—if you grind a mob endlessly because you heard it drops items, but nothing comes, you start wondering if you've been had.
Or when studying yields no results, you doubt your whole approach...
Just as the party was buzzing with anxiety and debate, Seong Su-ho's words and actions stabilized everything.
(Try catching that bird.)
A bird flitting around, fleeing from sight.
Han Yeoreum had thought it was suspicious too.
From the moment it acted unlike any monster they'd seen, his instincts had pinged.
And apparently, Su-ho's had too.
They caught it, and sure enough, a token dropped.
'Fuck... I want to sabotage him, but I can't do shit!'
Without restrictions, he could've just split from Su-ho and stayed put on the first floor.
But he needed items from Su-ho—and that contract bound him to his side.
To make matters worse, Su-ho had given him one order.
(During fights, don't pull any stupid shit. Stick close to me.)
(I-I can fight too!)
(Don't get in the way and shut your mouth.)
(Kgh!)
So Han Yeoreum had no choice but to stick to him like a servant during hunts, behaving impeccably.
'Fuck, I wanna die...'
More than regressing, he wanted to just end it.
As he examined the half-moon token Su-ho had given him, those thoughts swirled.
The key to the second floor.
He didn't know how to get the other villages' tokens, but once he had the last one, ascending would be quick.
'Wait... that means you can't go up without it?'
A sly grin crept across his face as he stared at the half-moon.
'No need to ditch it now and raise suspicion. I'll toss it later when the time's right.'
Grinning to himself like that, the chat window caught his eye.
'Fucking degenerates...'
Han Yeoreum shook his head and scanned his surroundings.
Then he muttered blankly.
'...Where the hell am I?'
***
We were eating in the cafeteria when the clatter of footsteps drew our eyes.
Han Yeoreum stood at the inn entrance, face twisted in irritation.
Han Bom tilted her head at him.
"Where the hell you been?"
"...Out for some air."
"Air my ass... You got lost wandering alone, didn't you?"
"..."
Han Yeoreum scowled at my words, plopped down at our table, and started eating.
Guess he was starving—despite his pride, he didn't storm off to his room.
As he sat quietly scarfing food, we ignored him and resumed chatting.
"What's on the upper floors?"
"Heard the first floor's the easy one."
"Nah, that's only without those inn-stealing bastards."
Now that we'd figured out how to reach the second floor, curiosity bubbled up.
Especially Han Bom, who was dying to know.
"I don't care, let's just go up already. This place sucks..."
Inn wars and regression—she'd spent ages on the first floor because of them and just wanted out.
We chuckled at her inn-war gripe, but one voice dissented.
"...Do we really need to rush?"
Han Yeoreum, meekly eating.
Everyone eyed him dully; Min Hayeon spoke for the group.
"We're not staying forever. It's intriguing too..."
"Know what's up there?"
"..."
His words sowed unease.
He wasn't wrong, really.
We're all here laughing because of luck.
Min Hayeon and I would've died in the boss fight without regression knowledge; Han Bom would've lost the inn war without us.
The trio would've died in the boss or got dragged into the inn mess.
It was all good fortune that pulled us through.
Like winning Jenga—one slip and it crumbles.
Unknown floors could bring that anytime.
Still, I spoke up.
"We gotta go anyway."
"Hmph... What if we die?"
Han Yeoreum sneered, trying to unnerve the others.
No dice.
"I've seen countless idiots die sitting still."
"What?"
"And countless survivors too."
"..."
"But the ones who froze in place? Even survivors didn't look like winners. Just scared cowards."
My turn to provoke.
Stay here like a coward, why don't you?
Han Yeoreum chewed tough meat forever, then stood with a pissed expression, muttering as he headed to his room.
"Hmph, coward? Hilarious. That's just 'cause you haven't died yet. The dead ones probably couldn't yap like you."
His words silenced the table; we finished eating awkwardly.
..
..
Next morning, we prepped early for the dungeon.
Half of us trembled with anxiety; the other half wore worried frowns.
Min Hayeon and Han Bom had grilled me on regression last night, planning contingencies if Han Yeoreum looped again.
Theirs was just worry, though.
The trio? Pure terror over the unknown future—no regression needed.
'No pep talk from me's gonna fix that.'
Like not coddling Han Bom yesterday, I skipped comfort for them.
Can't discuss regression openly, and empty words mean jack.
[Aren't they still helpful allies?]
Yeah, they help. But if they're gonna bail here, better cut 'em loose quick—that's real help.
Not selfish.
Forcing quitters along risks mutual disaster.
Like the women who surrendered in the inn war.
They dreamed big once too.
Forging ahead through darkness for glory.
But long roads break some—they hunker in safe shadows, holding breath.
Whispering to passersby: Nothing ahead... stay with us...
'If they're stopping here, they'll just drag us down. No gratitude if I force 'em.'
[...]
Even for their sake, leaving them might be kindest.
Luckily, the trio hid worry but pushed forward.
"I... don't wanna end up like those girls."
"Channel keeps scaring us—annoying."
"Me too... And curious about upstairs."
Different personalities, but shaking off fear their way.
I nodded at them.
"Yeah, last call here."
What to decide...
"Dungeon route or straight path to the village?"
Per the trio, central village entry means forks; others lead straight to central via dungeon.
Dungeon's convenient.
Sewer stinks and claustrophobic, but proven safe.
Field? Riskier.
Red Summoners.
"I... prefer safe, personally."
"Me too..."
Trio voted dungeon from the jump.
Hunting monsters? No fear after practice.
But Red Summoners? One snag and casualties expected.
"Hm... I like the forest better."
"Me too."
Min Hayeon and Han Bom pushed field.
Dungeon to central, then re-enter for left path—double time theoretically.
They backed field for me.
"After Su-ho cleared 'em last time, no sign of 'em."
"You really soloed those guys?"
"Yeah."
I stayed humble; they hyped me up.
Without level down, even 1v1 would've been tough—Boris or Yang Ji-hyeon? I'd lose.
Trio nodded at their pitch, comforted by my presence.
But opposition rose again.
"No need for the risky path."
Han Yeoreum.
"Think: time savings or all surviving?"
"Field doesn't mean death."
"But risk exists."
"..."
He seemed desperate to unsettle us.
Probably was.
But logically sound.
Nothing trumps your life.
Even if the trio disliked him, momentum could sway.
But I wasn't zoning out.
"I'll follow majority. Even if you three pick different, I'll go with it."
"Then..."
"But know this."
"...?"
"I'm honoring your votes 'cause I still see you as teammates."
Second floor? Unknown to me too.
But deadlier threats lurk, guaranteed.
"First floor was tame, but no promises upstairs. I might not see you as teammates then."
"..."
"Sounds cold, but that's reality. Won't flip suddenly, but it accumulates."
No rebuttals.
'They get it.'
[Perfect. If they don't get it, they're the ones to ditch.]
Meaning: obstruct my path? Cut loose without mercy.
Silence, then Park Seon-hee spoke.
"Hurt? Yeah... a bit."
"..."
"But it's reality. And thinking back, you've been the one shortchanged, Su-ho."
Flanking women nodded.
"I hate freeloading and riding coattails too."
"...Don't wanna be a burden."
Park Seon-hee as rep.
"And just hit me—what we realized."
"What?"
"We're latecomers."
We arrived a year post-summoning.
Inn war folks fled wars up to floor 5.
Meaning they'd cleared it.
"Loafing daily... we'd get ditched for real."
Seeing my silence as assent, they grinned.
"Hurry. To the next village."
---