Luck or Misfortune 3

There's a gimmick you run into every so often when you're playing games.

Whether it's an RPG dungeon, a mobile game's resource farm, or even FPS and survival titles across a dozen genres — the same setup keeps showing up. A dungeon where waves of enemies pour in and you have to hold out for a set amount of time.

Shit. I wasn't supposed to kill them.

The golems that started appearing from the 21st floor were exactly that kind of gimmick.

Encounter a rock golem in the maze and survive for ten minutes, and a bigger steel golem shows up. Hold out another ten minutes against the steel golem, and an even larger golden golem appears. That was the system.

"How did you figure that out?"

"We happened to find it on our way back after finishing our scouting run, Sister. We'd heard no other monsters would show up, so we were taking our time killing the golem, but…"

After Elise's first aid, the adventurers had been escorted to the Temple late that evening through Irene's connections. The moment they opened their eyes, they spilled everything without holding a single detail back. Hard to get cocky with a nun who'd brought you straight into the Temple free of charge — natural enough reaction.

The golem had been nothing but tough and slow, so they'd planned to take it down at a leisurely pace. Then time passed, and a steel golem appeared behind them.

Slow as golems are, ignore one and your backline mage turns into paste. One of them drew the new steel golem's attention while the rest of the party smashed the rock golem. But they couldn't finish the steel golem in time either, and an even bigger golden golem showed up — and that was that.

"How did you get out of the maze?"

"…We didn't think we could win, so we baited their movements and ran. If anything stronger than that golden golem had shown up after it, we wouldn't have been able to escape. We'd have died right there."

"Oh, and another thing!"

The middle-aged male adventurer with a bandage wrapped around his head explained it all in a flat, matter-of-fact tone. He'd been hurt, but there was no lasting damage — gear intact, no serious losses — so he was keeping his composure.

Unlike the unflappable older man, the young adventurer was practically vibrating with excitement. If the middle-aged one had been the tank, this kid looked like an archer or rogue from his light gear. He flapped his arms as he piled detail onto his companion's account, launching into his own war story.

"When the golden golem appeared, the maze walls changed! I didn't get a good look, but it was just like when we first entered the maze — mana circuits started spreading out from wherever the golden golem showed up!"

The kind of kid who still had a romantic streak about adventuring. His cheeks were flushed red with the thrill of discovering something unknown, and Han Se-ah nodded along as he talked. All of the adventurers' testimony had already been captured on camera, but she was probably organizing it in her head so she could act like she already knew when she told her viewers.

Survive ten minutes after meeting a rock golem, and a steel golem appears. Survive another ten against the steel golem, and a golden golem appears. The moment the golden golem shows up, the maze itself changes — and whatever comes after that, we'd have to experience firsthand.

They were Tower monsters, so of course I'd assumed they needed to be dealt with and killed them on the spot. That was how we'd ended up here. Then again, thinking about it from a game-balance perspective, this setup actually made sense.

"Hmm. Looks like we're heading straight to the 21st floor first thing tomorrow morning."

"A golden golem… why would the Tower make something like that?"

"All right, everyone — meet at the Adventurer's Guild at daybreak."

It was late, so we put off drinking until next time and scattered to our lodgings. On the way, I ran the numbers in my head.

Even if I never attacked personally, our party was still far stronger than the average player's. A defense rating that wouldn't crack even if a 4★ swordsman, a 4★ archer, and a mage player dumped every bit of their DPS into it. Han Se-ah had weakened that defense with magic, sure — but that just meant a mage was mandatory for the gimmick.

Specs that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nothing 4★ or below could punch through. A gimmick you literally couldn't clear without a mage.

If this kind of design dropped in any other RPG, the community would be screaming bloody murder and the game director's mother would start getting name-dropped on every forum. The average star rating for companion NPCs among users on the boards started at 2★, so by the time people reached the 21st floor, the average would be around 3★.

When some newbie asked why a particular monster wouldn't go down, you couldn't exactly answer, "Just whale for a full party of natural 5★s and you can auto it ^^." That wasn't a guide — that was pure flexing, pure gatekeeping. Nobody could follow that.

So what I needed to do was clear.

"Okay, who is this guy that he keeps nailing it like some kind of psychic? Is BB Games secretly running a hidden-camera prank on me?"

Morning. Before I'd even headed to the guild, Han Se-ah's stream-start notification was already buzzing. I turned her stream on in the corner of my vision while I showered. There she was, throwing on leather armor and a cloak in place of a robe, shoving an internet hologram at the camera drone.

On it was the post I'd hammered out as Jjanhae-jwa last night while walking home. Apparently everyone had already been guessing there was a special gimmick after watching the golem hunts repeat, because between that and Jjanhae-jwa's growing reputation, the post had racked up recommendations ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fast.

But what had actually shocked Han Se-ah wasn't the "gimmick" part — it was the "one-dimensional idea that monsters just have to be killed" part.

"So last night I turned off the stream and was about to enjoy a little cyber drinking session with the party, right? Then I get a message through the Adventurer's Guild that some other adventurers found something."

"Oh, come on, so impatient. When a person's talking, they organize things in order and tell you properly. What's this about farming donations?"

Viewers hammered her with chat as she grabbed her staff last and stepped out of the inn. Unable to withstand the barrage, Han Se-ah shook her head and played back the adventurers' recorded testimony from yesterday instead of Jjanhae-jwa's post.

The middle-aged adventurer with the bandaged head, and the young one with flushed cheeks. Viewers were disappointed at first that a man had appeared on screen — but the moment the testimony continued, chat lit up on fire.

A steel golem and a golden golem after the rock golem… just how ridiculous did all of Han Se-ah's flailing look now? I always thought it, but these people really were a pack of hyenas. The fact that I was the one who'd smashed the golems without a second thought didn't matter to them in the slightest.

"Morning, Roland."

"Good morning."

I'd been watching the stream and walking more leisurely than usual, so the rest of the party had already beaten me to the guild. Once Han Se-ah arrived and we all sat down at the table, the first one to speak was, surprisingly, Irene.

"The adventurers who came to the Temple ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠yesterday all left this morning. They said there was no lingering injury and that they were heading to the Mage Tower."

"The Mage Tower, huh. That does sound like something worth reporting."

"If patterns spread out from the golden golem, that clearly falls under a mage's domain."

After talking it through, we started preparing for the Tower the same way we always did.

The moss-gathering request for that melancholy middle-aged mage had come with a request for extra volume, and from the guild we'd also taken commissions for ore and mushrooms that could be gathered alongside the moss. We checked our gear, confirmed the camping equipment and ingredients in Han Se-ah's inventory, and double-checked the lanterns at our belts and our adventurer tags.

And just like always, the adventure began.

"Today, based on what we heard yesterday, we're going to find a golem on the 21st floor and stall for time against it. From what they said, it sounds like once the steel golem appears, killing the rock golem still triggers the golden golem."

"So as long as you keep holding the latest one that shows up, a stronger new golem keeps coming… that's a really unique and interesting design."

We left the Adventurer's Guild and headed for the Tower with the party.

…An RPG where your companions are so strong that quests can't progress normally. I was starting to roughly understand why Han Se-ah's nickname on the Heroes Chronicle boards was solidifying into "18."