Reaper
Solomon finished the request and immediately returned to Hotel Snark through one of the ‘Doors’ on 8th District Street.
It was a door standing alone in the dark predawn street, like something out of a Salvador Dalí painting. A door suspended in midair with no pillars or walls to support it.
When Solomon turned the knob and opened it, the scene behind the door wasn’t the nighttime streets of the 8th District. Instead, the interior of Hotel Snark unfolded before him. He took a single step forward, and with a faint sense of disorientation, the hotel’s interior welcomed him.
“Welcome back, Sir Solomon.”
He was about to head straight to his room, 104, when—
“Pardon me, Sir Solomon.”
One of the hotel’s ghosts called out to him. It wasn’t a rotting corpse or a skeleton. It was a hazy, floating specter. Even so, it wore the hotel uniform and name tag in perfectly physical condition.
“You have completed the request. Excellent work.”
The tone suggested it had been watching his every move.
“Additionally, based on your request performance, we have upgraded your room grade accordingly.”
“Room grade…”
“Yes. Please move from your current room 104 to room 117.”
From 104 to 117.
‘They said there are forty-four rooms per floor, so I still have a long way to go.’
Still, considering the life-or-death nature of every single request, it didn’t feel like an especially dramatic increase. The floor itself hadn’t even changed.
“Understood. I’ll pack my things and move right away.”
“Ah, there’s no need for that.”
The ghost hotelier shook its head.
“Please proceed directly to room 117.”
“You moved my stuff without my permission?”
“Oh… My apologies for the delayed explanation.”
When Solomon asked sharply, the ghost bowed in a businesslike manner and continued.
“When a room grade upgrade occurs, the existing room of the guest is relocated to the new position.”
“…The room moves by itself?”
“Correct. From the time of its original construction, this hotel was designed so that each room’s location can be shifted to any floor and room number. The architect, V. Natalie, referred to this structure as a ‘Cube.’”
A cube. Solomon nodded, setting aside the strangely ominous name.
This hotel was suspicious from top to bottom.
But Solomon wasn’t in any position to be picky. He had drunk a recovery potion and healed the wounds on his upper body, but the aftereffects of the fight remained. His body felt as heavy as a lump of lead.
“Fine. I’ll do that.”
“Then, have a pleasant evening.”
As instructed, Solomon walked past room 104 and stopped in front of 117. The door felt unfamiliar. Yet when he opened it and stepped inside, the interior was identical to his previous room without a single doubt.
Even the crystal shot glass and vodka he had left half-drunk were exactly where he had left them.
So Solomon immediately poured the remaining liquid down his throat, lay down on the bed, and the moment his head hit the pillow, his consciousness sank into deep darkness.
Congratulations, Sir Solomon. You have leveled up.
“…”
The voice reached him. Solomon opened his eyes without any sign of panic.
This brings you to Level 4. The following bonuses are provided.
The being before his eyes—the narrator inside his head… the Game Master—spoke. Right in front of him.
Everything Solomon was supposed to receive.
You may now select one of the general thief-line subclasses.
The archetype Solomon had chosen, Spell Assassin, broadly fell under the thief category. It wasn’t surprising.
The four thief-line subclasses are as follows:
Reaper, Stealth, Sharpshooter, Predator—
Once you designate one subclass as your Focus, you will acquire random Perks along its path each time you level up.
They were auxiliary jobs focused on melee ambush, stealth and infiltration, crossbow shooting, and survival ability, respectively.
“…”
Note that you may freely switch subclasses each time you level up. Previously learned Perks will remain even if you change subclasses.
In the long term, the system was structured so that he could eventually learn all four subclasses evenly. The key was to quickly learn and discard the core Perks from each subclass.
But no matter how many rabbits you wanted to catch, you could only grab one at the start.
“Reaper.”
Then I will display the Perks and paths available for the Reaper subclass.
At the Game Master’s gesture, a sheet of paper with the distinct texture of medieval parchment slid in front of Solomon’s eyes.
The paper was covered with nodes and dots branching out from a single point like constellations. It looked exactly like a skill tree from a video game.
Subclasses possess their own separate level and experience pool. Each level grants points that can be used on Perks.
‘This is ridiculously complicated.’
All sorts of synergistic effects piled on top of each other every time he leveled up.
Solomon already had spells and traits to learn as a Spell Assassin, and now he had to worry about subclasses and Perks on top of that. Even so, he couldn’t afford to gloss over a single thing.
Reaper
Starting Perk — Inescapable Fate
: 1 Perk Acquired
From the moment he had first read the rulebook, he had roughly decided what to take at each level. This was no different.
Tag — Special Dice, Consumable Dice
When an ambush roll results in a critical failure (fumble), you may consume that die to attempt a Reroll.
This die is classified as both a special and consumable die. Up to 1 die can be replenished during a rest.
Among the countless dots embroidered like stars, the words Inescapable Fate glowed brightly.
Below it, the branching paths of stars twinkled faintly as they caught the light.
Of course, he had only just acquired the subclass. Aside from the starting Perk, he couldn’t learn anything else yet.
For now, they were nothing more than stars of possibility.
How would you like to allocate your 4 Attribute Points (AP)?
“I’ll save them for now.”
Understood. The 4 Attribute Points will be preserved.
Solomon answered calmly. It was still too early. To learn the traits that could truly be called core, he would need to invest at least six points no matter what.
That was why he had saved them at Level 3 and was saving them now. For the next level.
Level-Up Bonuses Acquired
Attribute Points (AP): +2
1st-Level Spell Slot (⚀) increased by 1
2nd-Level Spell Slot (⚁) increased by 1
Subclass Reaper acquired
1 Perk acquired
Solomon organized his character sheet one last time and etched the information into his mind.
“I have a question.”
Please speak.
“…Fate Dice.”
He spoke the name of the dice that he absolutely could not ignore.
“You said that if an ambush critically fails, I can consume that die to attempt a reroll.”
Correct.
“How am I supposed to know in the first place if I critically failed… if I rolled a 1?”
Solomon asked. No—how could a physical act like ‘intentionally stabbing a blade into someone else’s back’ even result in a dice failure?
You will come to know.
“Specifically, how?”
I cannot explain at this time.
At those words, Solomon answered coldly. As if he would absolutely not let it slide.
“Don’t try to brush it off. Didn’t you tell me? Any action that interferes with fair and enjoyable gameplay is subject to penalty.”
That is correct.
“You’re not going to force rules on me that you don’t even follow yourself, are you?”
I told you that you will come to know.
“Is there some reason you can’t tell me right now?”
“…”
The shadow beneath the hood fell silent. At the end of the silence, the shadow writhed like a living creature.
Very well.
After writhing, the shadow shrugged as if it had no choice.
Then I shall let you know right now.
Suddenly, a single die appeared before Solomon’s eyes.
A die glowing with rainbow colors… a hue unlike anything in this world. It felt strangely familiar. He realized it immediately.
‘That radiance from the Gears…!’
It was the same rainbow-colored blood and vomit the dwarf had spewed in Deadlock’s workshop when he tried to defy the Geas.
As you can see, this is your Fate Die. One is currently active.
“…”
To demonstrate with an example… attempt an ‘ambush’ on me.
“Sure, let’s say I did.”
No. What I mean is…
The robed shadow answered the nodding Solomon.
I want you to actually try it.
“What the…”
He didn’t even have time to respond.
Before he knew it, the place where Solomon stood was a street in Guild City. He couldn’t say exactly where. Only that it was somewhere in Downtown.
Right in front of him, someone was walking.
‘The Game Master!’
It was that very robed figure. Just as it had said—attempt an ambush on me as an example.
‘Stay calm.’
That was why Solomon held his breath more carefully than usual and erased his presence. In that state, he closed the distance and drove down the Ghostwhale Bone Blade already in his hand.
Just like always—to deliver a fatal blow from behind the figure in front of him.
Then—
He felt a force like someone pushing him from behind. It was the same as before. An invisible current of power seemed to push him forward.
But something was different. It didn’t feel like it was adding strength. It felt like it was forcibly shoving him to interfere.
‘What the hell is this…!’
His hand slipped without him realizing.
The moment he realized it had slipped—the robed figure immediately turned around.
“!”
Where a human face should have been, there was only writhing darkness.
The roll just now resulted in a 1. Critical failure.
The narrator’s voice rang out right in front of him. An invisible die. Yet he could feel it.
Will you consume 1 Fate Die to attempt a reroll?
“…What?”
Since this is to show you an example, we should use it.
The robed figure continued speaking without concern.
Because the roll resulted in a 1, you may consume a Fate Die to attempt a reroll.
The voice of the Game Master and narrator rang out.
Not in front of him this time, but inside his head as usual.
“!”
He didn’t even have time to respond.
Before he knew it, the place where Solomon stood was a street in Guild City. He couldn’t say exactly where. Only that it was somewhere in Downtown.
—Right in front of him, someone was walking.
‘…!’
It was that very robed figure. He realized it immediately. It wasn’t déjà vu or anything of the sort.
‘I’m back… again.’
To the exact instant he had tried to ambush that being.
As if someone had rewound the hands of a clock to the past. It wasn’t a metaphor.
—It had given him the chance to try again from the beginning in order to correct the failure.
Just like the name Inescapable Fate. Just like the Fate Die.
‘So this… is what a dice reroll is?’
The demonstration has been sufficiently shown.
The voice rang out once more. Before he knew it, Solomon was no longer on a Downtown street but sitting back in the Tabletop Room. The rainbow-colored Fate Die that should have been on the table… had already vanished.
Even so, he understood.
The die definitely existed. And it wasn’t just existing—it was exerting influence all across this world.
It wasn’t a metaphor.
As I told you, this is all for the sake of fair and enjoyable play.
Fair and enjoyable play. Before he could even realize that the word ‘game’ was missing from that phrase, the shadow beneath the hood continued.
Then, have a pleasant evening.
Like a candle flame flickering in the wind, the invisible darkness beneath the hood writhed like a candle.
“Wait…!”
He shot upright as if talking in his sleep. The place he found himself in was a room in Hotel Snark.
‘Was it a dream?’
For a moment he thought so and shook his head. No way. It wasn’t a dream.
Job Trait Blade in the Dark is now active.
A new die rested in his hand.
A Fate Die that could correct failure in order to carve inescapable death.