Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Memories
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These days, there's plenty of information about the Tower, and plenty of video footage that lets modern people get visually accustomed to combat.
Even if they've never held a sword themselves, the adaptation speed of recent beginners is noticeably different from the past.
You can see the difference clearly from the hordes of novice adventurers flooding into the Tower.
On the very first day, they hunted so many slimes that there weren't enough left.
There wasn't a single adventurer struggling to catch monsters among them.
"Now they pop like balloons."
"What, disappointed you can't toy with them like in the old days?"
"A little?"
It's not an excuse, but the time I first set foot in the Tower was naturally a much more disadvantageous situation for adapting than now.
We were the first official batch thrown into the Tower, with no seniors to guide us.
We didn't know how the Tower's systems worked or what kinds of monsters there were.
According to the government, we were the first batch, but if that's true, how did they know there were things like 'monsters' in the Tower?
Where did they get the basis for claims like the Tower being fragments of another world preserved in layer structures for us to explore, or that once you enter, you can never return?
That's why we always refer to ourselves as the 'official' first batch of adventurers.
It's obvious that experimental guinea pigs unknown to the public were thrown in before us.
And we, who accepted the government's proposal without question and entered without knowing exactly what was in the Tower, weren't normal either.
We were all people who could abandon reality without regret, or who had no reality worth abandoning.
"Are you still holding onto that time I teased you for not catching slimes?"
"Do I look that petty? I barely remember it."
"Good, then!"
But things are different now from back then.
With people dressing up like RPG protagonists or comic book characters, more are choosing the Tower over reality.
The increase in manpower is good news for the guilds tackling the Tower.
Whether it has positive effects outside the Tower is unknown, but unfortunately, I'm not kind-hearted enough to worry about my hometown.
"Instead of filming other stuff with the camera, I should've recorded you flailing around while hunting."
"You and I weren't much different on the first floor? Who's the one who cried and screamed when a slime stuck to them?"
"Ugh, why do you still remember that? So embarrassing."
Yeah, tell me about it.
I thought most of it was forgotten.
But talking about old stories with the person involved brought back memories I'd forgotten naturally.
Come to think of it, every time we met, our conversations were far removed from everyday topics.
There was never a moment to talk about memories of hunting slimes.
"Tell me more details about the guild."
"Why? I'm not even a guild master anymore."
"Don't you know how much influence you had among adventurers? It's not something a word can fix easily."
The Crimson Flame Guild is the strongest existing force among guilds.
Naturally, strength is measured by the layers they've conquered.
With some guilds accepting anyone indiscriminately, headcount alone makes rankings ambiguous.
Amelia is the leader of that strongest force.
Former leader now, but it's unlikely her stepping down happened smoothly overnight.
Would the vice guild master accept Amelia's retirement without complaint?
If key forces suddenly leave, it's obvious they'll be overtaken by other guilds.
It affects their external image too.
Pria, who caused trouble in town, was recruited by the guild master's unilateral decision, but now that she's in, the real power who picked her is gone.
"How many people know you left the guild?"
"The vice guild master who took my position... and Jiwoo?"
"You can handle this, right?"
"......"
"Why no answer? You're making me anxious."
For a few days, Amelia not showing her face to the public is fine.
Rankers don't share their lives constantly, so everyone will assume she's busy with guild master duties.
But if it turns into weeks or months, people will notice.
The raiding party without Sua can't even challenge the 61st floor right away, and even if they do, without Sua at the center, all adventurers will question it.
Once word spreads that the Crimson Flame Guild's guild master changed, everyone will start searching for the missing former guild master.
"You pushed without any countermeasures."
"Still, the vice guild master said he understood."
"Without any threats?"
"I did say I'd kill him if he came looking."
Could the vice guild master, faced with supreme power one step above him—a mage he couldn't overpower with force—give any other answer?
If he's a greedy power-hungry type, he'd be grateful, but someone who rose to right below guild master knows what's best for the guild overall.
He's probably shedding bloody tears today too.
"Fine for him, but what about Jiwoo?"
"......Probably okay for a while?"
"A while?"
"I told him politely about the retirement, but he just cursed me out a ton, calling it bullshit."
"That's the normal reaction."
Seo Jiwoo.
An adventurer who entered the Tower at the same time as me, the Sword Saint, and Amelia—the camera's owner.
Among adventurers, he's called the 'Director'.
He films raiding videos of rankers and guilds and sends edited versions outside the Tower.
As far as I know, it's the only way to send things from inside the Tower out.
Naturally, most scenes the Director films feature Amelia.
Even if he films layers other guilds have already conquered, they won't be as popular.
It's natural to capture first clears, and most of those were the Crimson Flame Guild's.
And now, the popular star the Director needs to film has suddenly declared retirement.
"He probably doesn't know I'm on the first floor? It'll take time to find me."
Thanks to that threat-like warning, the Crimson Flame Guild won't cooperate in searching for Sua, so the Director has to scour the entire 60th floor alone.
He's connected to many rankers, but has no personal forces.
Even if found, putting Sua back in Amelia's position is another matter.
"Just show me around town."
"Around town. Doesn't seem much different from the old days."
"Perfect. Better for reminiscing."
Sua walked the same paths as back then, reliving memories,
and I recalled forgotten ones.
We went to the training grounds.
Tiana shouted for a spar the moment she saw my face today too.
I poured out sweat from my entire body.
I regret coming here last,
—too late.
"How about a match with you too?"
"M-Me?"
The first evaluation from the Swordsmanship Instructor was brutal for Sua and me.
Unlike me, who stubbornly kept coming to the training grounds out of spite, Sua quickly lost interest in swordsmanship.
She only sparred with Tiana a couple times and didn't talk much.
She secretly watched my spars with Tiana or sent guild members to record, but days she personally crossed swords were rare.
When she saw Sua, Tiana didn't recognize her at first.
Many things had changed since her beginner days.
Strangely, after their swords clashed about four times,
That adventurer from back then!
—Tiana belatedly recognized Sua.
Tiana seemed to regard swordsmanship as her eleventh fingerprint.
We stopped by the shop where Bell works.
"Was the menu always like this?"
We don't remember what food we ordered back then, but Sua grabbed my wrist and insisted we sat by this window seat.
A bit late for lunch, but the chef said with few customers, he'd prepare food.
"We always swarmed the restaurant together and didn't notice, but this place has a nice atmosphere."
Definitely.
The vague memory was of more adventurers sitting around, eating noisily and chattering.
We visited Raymond's inn.
Additionally, for Sua to settle long-term on the first floor, she needed a room.
"I've reserved the room next to Earthbound Spirit's, as requested."
"Don't say it like that!"
"Oh, shouldn't I?"
We decided to clean his inn after a long time.
After the rush of guests left, used rooms were cleaned immediately, but he intentionally left the warehouse untouched in case quest items were needed.
"Nothing difficult, just check for shortages while cleaning. You've done it often, no need for details, right?"
Aside from Ellie's requests, the first quest I found was probably at Raymond's inn.
It taught me that hunting monsters wasn't the only way to gain experience.
Who found that quest?
The reward was so meager compared to slime extermination that I was disappointed despite the fuss.
I told Sua this memory too, but sadly, she also couldn't recall who found it.
We visited Deina's clothing shop.
Some adventurers who came hunting slimes had their clothes tattered by weak acid, so they visited.
We couldn't stay long because Deina interrogated why I was with someone other than Ellie.
"It's really the same. Nothing changed."
The types of tea on the shop shelves or the village had some changes.
What Sua meant by 'the same' was the overall scenery.
No buildings disappeared or new ones appeared.
No residents died, none born.
Their jobs remain the same.
"I didn't realize back then. This place is nicer to live in than I thought."
We're people who fled to the Tower from lacks in reality.
What we lacked is here, yet we blindly climbed up—ironic now.
"Not bad."
"Good, then."
Lately, I've deeply felt changes in the village, but couldn't describe specifics.
Not wanting to ruin the mood, I didn't refute or deny Sua's words.
Thanks to her, I could reminisce days not in my notes.
But clearly, the first floor changes every day.
"The tea leaf varieties increased by two since last time."