Ways to Enjoy the Game 2
Past the 25th floor, through the 26th, 27th, 28th… As the tower floors climbed higher, the enemies grew gradually stronger and larger packs began to appear — but Han Se-ah's tower climb remained smooth as ever.
Goblins and kobolds that once numbered around thirty now roamed in packs of forty to fifty, and the cave spiders' shells had grown tough enough to deflect arrows. Even so, the party's skills, honed day by day within the tower, had long since reached a level where such hardships were easily overcome.
Even if numbers swelled, it was simply a matter of methodically cleaning them up. Even if shells grew tougher, the insides of their mouths never did. From Han Se-ah's growing magical proficiency to Grace's archery and Kayden's swordsmanship, their skills improved daily until the title of Intermediate-grade adventurer no longer felt like an exaggeration.
Celebrities really are something else, huh.
Amid that peaceful routine, a hardship of my own had arrived — namely, the invasion of my privacy.
Even if she called Grace "Unnie" and treated her with affection, to Han Se-ah, Grace was ultimately an NPC in a game. No matter how much attachment she showed, how intimately she behaved, how much she treated her like a real person with a personality of her own — it was still different from dealing with an actual human being.
I don't mean she looked down on her, ignored her, or used her however she pleased. I mean Han Se-ah had become rather uncomfortably honest about her own desires.
Behaviors that, in a real-world relationship between people, would have been called out as rude. Secretly trailing us on dates, getting us drunk and steering us toward sharing an inn room — her desires were on full, unfiltered display.
"Unnie, how about we take a break from adventuring this weekend? We could use the rest to do some maintenance."
"Take a break from adventuring… ah?"
Just look at them now. Whether they were underestimating an Upper-grade adventurer's superhuman senses or simply planned to push through even if they got caught, the two of them were openly whispering and scheming. They kept a little distance from me, but made no effort to hide it from Irene and Kayden either — heads pressed right together in plain sight.
When two out of four people do that, the remaining two getting curious is only natural. Irene, who had learned the whole story when we were planning a drinking party for team bonding, and Kayden, who put on a stoic front but was a middle-school-syndrome girl at heart, were both gradually leaning in to listen.
Grace, who got shy but never once tried to escape, and Han Se-ah, who would invent any excuse to keep Grace and me together. The reason I called this a hardship wasn't because I disliked Grace.
It was because of this fucking camera.
I'd rather she just turn the stream on…
Han Se-ah was a professional streamer.
Much like the competitive drive she felt in games, she was quite serious about streaming — and it showed in her expert approach. She didn't just stand there like a mannequin banking on her pretty face; she knew when to goof off and when to charge headfirst into her viewers.
Which meant that while the stream was on, I was safe from the camera. The problem was after the stream ended — when she decided to skip the boring parts alone and keep it secret from her viewers. With nothing that needed filming, the camera drone stalked me like a paparazzo, and it was driving me crazy.
It wasn't that Han Se-ah was constantly watching me. She left the camera drone floating beside me while she stuck close to Grace — an efficient arrangement. The downside was that every time I turned my back under the pretense of keeping watch to secretly browse the internet, I had to hide my fingers.
"Roland, what do you think? Once tomorrow's adventure is over, let's have that after-party we never got to do."
"Works for me. Got a place in mind?"
I was standing with my arms crossed, diligently web-surfing at an angle the camera drone couldn't see, when Han Se-ah — who'd been chatting with Grace while organizing her inventory — came over. The goal was the team drinking party that had already been canceled twice.
The first attempt had gotten derailed when Han Se-ah got tangled up with mercenaries and it turned into something closer to an adventurers' drinking free-for-all. The second time, Irene had joined us and we were about to head out when we got a tip about a golem and naturally canceled.
I glanced over and saw three pairs of sparkling eyes fixed on me from a distance. Grace was one thing, but Irene and Kayden looking that eager suggested a different kind of anticipation.
Well — the romance of drinking with your companions, the fantasy of adventurers sharing a round after a job well done. That sort of thing.
"Someone suggested the Lucky Scoundrel. Apparently it has the best food of any restaurant in the area."
"It costs as much as it delivers."
To find better food and drink than the Lucky Scoundrel, you'd have to leave the inns that catered to adventurers and seek out a proper fine-dining restaurant. The fact that the waitresses were openly prostitutes might make Irene a little uncomfortable… but better that than bad food at a group celebration.
Besides, the fact that they openly sold sex to adventurers in a city with a Temple right there meant it wasn't illegal or considered blasphemy.
"So, the Lucky Scoundrel?"
"Yeah. If you want something better, you'd have to go to some high-class restaurant and sip wine from crystal glasses."
"Wearing expensive suits and dresses to match the dress code?"
"Some places even check your social status."
"Good heavens — places that only admit nobles?"
After chatting about food and restaurants for a bit, Han Se-ah turned back toward Grace. Just from her light footsteps, it was clear the spring in her step wasn't from the profits of their tower adventures. Han Se-ah strutted off like a triumphant general, and Grace beamed as she welcomed her back.
At this point, she could just ask me out on a date and I'd accept without a second thought — but a woman's heart always seems complicated. One of these days, I should be the one to ask first.
The middle watch — the one where you sleep a little, stand guard, then sleep again — fell to me with my solid stamina. Han Se-ah, the weakest mage, took the first watch, and Irene, who habitually rose early, took the last.
In the order of Han Se-ah, Grace, me, Kayden, and Irene, we finished our watches and greeted morning in the dim cave. Then we packed up the golem's mana stones and the gathering materials from our commission and headed out of the tower.
Once you start pushing into the late twenties, even going back down becomes a chore. Unlike the grasslands and forests, you have to wind through twisting paths, so even on the same floor number, travel takes longer. If Han Se-ah hadn't opened her minimap under the pretense of mana marking, we would have stepped out of the tower to a bright full moon.
"There's a goblin pack up ahead… should we just ignore them and pass by? Even if we take a detour, avoiding combat would be faster."
"Alright, Unnie. Then… if we go a bit further and take the right path, that should work."
Thankfully, Grace the skilled scout could sense monsters with uncanny precision. Players who'd put a thief in their party must be regretting it — unless traps that need a thief show up later, an archer's performance is just too superior.
Once Grace pinpointed the monsters' locations, Han Se-ah would immediately open her minimap under the guise of casting magic and adjust the route. Her steps looked remarkably light — probably from anticipation of the after-party.
With all the commissions already finished, we avoided every monster we could and pushed through with minimal combat, down and down again. Leaving the damp cave air behind for the fresh forest breeze felt wonderful.
"Haaah, the tension just melts away the moment we get here."
"Technically, this is still inside the tower…"
The rest of the party seemed to feel the same — everyone naturally stretched and drew deep breaths. Emerging from the dark cave into the beautiful sunlit forest scenery had everyone's lips twitching into smiles.
With monsters growing scarce and the situation turning peaceful, Han Se-ah murmured curiously.
"Isn't there barely any monsters on the path from the 20th floor gate to the 21st floor passage? Or is it just me…?"
"It's probably because most of the forest monsters are beast-types. With human presence felt so frequently, the beast-type monsters keep their distance, and even orc hunters feel the pressure. Of course, newly spawned ones will still charge at adventurers."
"Like right now? There's a moss wolf crouched in that brush pile up ahead."
Grace replied lightly after I answered Han Se-ah's question. The distance was closer than expected — must be a freshly spawned moss wolf, still warm from the oven. I would have preferred to ignore it and walk past, but a newborn apparently had no eye for people.
Grr, kyaaang—!
The price of a beast's instinctive all-out strike aimed at the nape of the neck was, of course, passive reflection damage. We picked up the mana stone that the moss wolf had become after leaping from the brush, and headed out of the tower.
After the musty damp cave air and the fresh forest breeze, what next filled our noses was the savory aroma of freshly baked bread. Whether some adventurer had brought snacks near the gate, the hunger hit hard enough that the darkening sunset barely registered.
"Let's finish the commissions first, then head straight to the inn."
The women all nodded in perfect agreement with Han Se-ah. Minimizing combat had left everyone looking fresh and energetic. With a one-night, two-day adventure complete, all that remained was settling up and the after-party.
Elise must have been off that day — we collected a hefty bag of silver coins from an unfamiliar receptionist and headed for the Lucky Scoundrel Tavern. …Accompanied by the camera drone that had stuck to me like a ghost.
Why the hell does it keep filming my face like that.