A Devout Follower
Three of her kin were dead.
And all of them had been incredibly skilled.
Layser, in particular, was level 20—strong enough to easily breeze through the lower floors.
Yet, despite that.
His head was currently rolling on the ground.
‘...This is impossible.’
Elves.
Three of them, no less.
Defeated by a mere human?
Nairin's body began to tremble.
‘He is absolutely magnificent...!’
Mourning for her fallen kin?
Rage toward the one who had slaughtered them?
She felt none of those things.
Awe.
What Nairin felt was pure, unadulterated awe.
Any elf.
No, even the most primitive of foreign races.
Faced with such overwhelming power, they would have no choice but to feel awe.
"It is a true, true, true honor!"
Her voice shook pathetically.
It was embarrassing, but only natural.
Who wouldn't tremble before such a grand slaughterer?
The death of her kin was only natural.
Since they failed to recognize this absolute strength, they deserved to die.
To elves, power was the most beautiful virtue.
Nairin was an elf who understood this better than anyone.
‘If it is him, he might even rival that person...’
She had unconsciously harbored such a blasphemous thought.
‘I...’
Nairin raised her head and looked at the human before her.
‘I must follow him!’
He was dazzling.
"...Huh?"
Blood was pouring from the elf's forehead.
An honor?
What honor?
I literally just butchered three of her own kind.
‘She's out of her mind.’
That was the only conclusion I could draw.
"My name is Nairin!"
The blood-soaked elf looked up at me, her eyes sparkling.
"May I dare to ask your noble name?"
No... noble?
She couldn't possibly mean that literally.
Reading my expression, the elf flinched and quickly bowed her head again.
"I-I am so sorry! How dare someone like me ask for your name first!"
"No, it's not that..."
"I was thoughtless. Surely, even the name you bear must hold immense power."
No.
My name is literally just Lee Taepyeong.
A super common last name.
And my first name is, well, pretty average, isn't it?
"That's not it..."
The elf looked completely terrified.
"I was just surprised that an elf would ask for my name."
"Ah..."
"Aren't you guys supposed to kill any other race on sight?"
At that, the elf grinned.
"That is true, but only for inferior races."
No, the problem is that you guys treat literally every race other than yourselves as inferior.
"Is that so..."
I was dumbfounded, but I didn't really feel like arguing.
"Anyway, I'm Lee Taepyeong."
"Lord Taepyeong..."
Her pronunciation was a bit awkward. Was it because she was an elf?
Anyway.
I pointed at the three decapitated corpses and asked, "Those three were trying to kill me."
"They were fools."
"Why didn't you attack me?"
"I already knew what kind of person you were."
She knew?
How did she know who I was?
When I glared at her suspiciously, the elf shook her head in a panic.
"I didn't mean anything bad by it!"
"Then what?"
"Last time, in the Hide-and-Seek Map..."
Hide-and-seek?
"I saw it with my own eyes—you killing the Black Dread!"
The Black Dread?
Ah.
The Sullae?
I guess its name was the 'Black Dread'. Its blood was black, after all.
"There was no one around back then..."
"...I am ashamed to admit it."
"Huh?"
"I never dared to think it could be killed, so I was hiding."
Ah.
Well, the achievement I got back then was [One Who Killed the Unkillable].
Anyway.
She was hiding?
Man.
Between this and the ambush earlier, elves are pretty sneaky.
"Tsk..."
I stroked my chin and looked at the elf—no, Nairin.
‘They said elves are dangerous...’
"Avoid them at all costs." It was even written in red ink in the textbooks.
Should I... just kill her too? Like the other three?
Click.
My hand was still resting on the hilt of my dagger.
If I wanted to, I could kill her at any moment.
"..."
But.
‘I really don't feel any hostility from her.’
Maybe that was why I didn't feel like doing it.
Killing someone who wasn't even trying to fight back...
Click.
I slid the dagger back into its sheath.
Well, whatever.
If I wanted to kill her, I could do it anytime, in whatever way I pleased.
Because I had that absolute certainty, I wasn't particularly worried.
"Alright."
"Pardon?"
"You seem like a decent sort, so I'll let you live. Go on."
The elf stared at me blankly.
"What are you doing?"
"Yes?"
"Aren't you leaving?"
"Pardon?"
"I said I'm letting you go. Get lost."
At that, the elf hesitantly stood up.
Tsk, tsk.
Yeah, she's definitely a bit slow in the head.
Clicking my tongue, I left the elf behind and pushed my way through the bushes.
Rustle.
Rustle.
Making this much noise while moving through the brush would probably invite another ambush.
But after taking the heads of three elves, I didn't feel much of a sense of danger.
It felt like no matter what showed up, it wouldn't be a big deal.
Rustle.
Rustle.
How long had I been walking?
"Kekeke!"
With a loud, cackling laugh, a Lizardman appeared.
Ah! This brings back memories of the tutorial!
How nostalgic!
Click.
I grinned and gripped my dagger.
And at that exact moment.
Pfft!
Along with a light, sharp sound.
Pfft!
Pfft!
In an instant, holes were punched all over the Lizardman's body.
Spurt!
Blood sprayed like a fountain from the holes.
Thud!
And just like that, the Lizardman collapsed.
What... what the hell is this?!
Why did it suddenly die?!
I cautiously approached the Lizardman.
Right in the middle of its forehead.
One of its eyes.
Its neck.
Its chest.
Every single spot that could be considered a vital point was riddled with holes.
"What in the..."
It wasn't an effect of the map.
If it were, I wouldn't have been safe either.
"Wow, this is ridiculous."
After looking around for a while, I finally moved on.
Rustle.
Rustle.
I resumed my trek, but then...
"Kahahahaha! What's this? A human!"
Oh! An Orc!
I really put the sword I got from that other Orc to good use.
It wasn't much of a reward, but I should give this guy a quick and painless death!
Click.
The moment my hand touched the sheath again.
Pfft!
Pfft!
Pfft!
That sound again!
Along with it, dozens of holes were punched into the Orc's body.
Spurt!
Blood gushed out.
Thud!
The massive body collapsed.
"Are you kidding me..."
What the hell was going on?!
Even after that.
Every foreign race I encountered collapsed before they could even finish their introductory lines.
Vampires.
Werewolves.
Crickers.
Pfft!
It was that sound again.
I looked around again.
To be precise, I chased after a shape that had vanished right after the pfft sound.
It looked like a round bead.
Rustle!
When I parted the bushes where it had disappeared.
Shhh...
Someone who had been blending in with the grass and trees was revealed.
"Y-you?"
The slow elf.
No, the crazy elf.
"I was providing cover fire!"
The crazy bitch even saluted.
"No, I let you live, so why are you following me instead of leaving?!"
"Because you spared my life..."
Should I have killed you instead?!
I stared at the elf in disbelief.
Then.
"Lord Taepyeong!"
The elf immediately dropped to her knees.
Wow. How can an elf's knees be so cheap?
"Please, take me with you!"
Huh? Take her with me?
This isn't even a party-play map.
"If you take me, I will do anything!"
This chick is seriously out of her mind.
I was about to tell her to get lost while I was still being nice, but then...
Glint!
A longsword, looking expensive at a glance, gleamed at the elf's waist.
"..."
Hmm.
Come to think of it.
I've only used short weapons so far.
I've never used a long one.
Even though I mostly trained with longswords during my training days.
"Would you like to try it?"
She was quick on the uptake.
The elf quickly offered the sword from her waist.
Holding it politely with both hands, she looked so submissive that I wondered if she was really an elf.
I looked back and forth between the elf and the sword.
‘Well...’
Once I clear this map and leave, I don't know if I'll ever meet her again.
The maps assigned upon entry are random, after all.
In that case, should I just bring her along for this run?
I was getting a bit bored of walking around alone anyway.
Grip.
I took the sword the elf offered.
An unknown language was engraved on the silver longsword.
Was it Elven?
"Is it a system item?"
"No. It is a sword of the Empire."
"Hmm."
So it's a sword made with elven technology.
It's certainly light despite its length.
"Well, not bad."
The elf looked at me with a bright smile.
Sigh. You just got mugged. What are you smiling for?
"You have an excellent eye."
"Huh?"
"Although it is not an item of the Tower, it is a weapon that human technology could never replicate."
"..."
"It was personally designed by the Emperor himself..."
Thwack!
I kicked the elf right in the shin.
"Argh!"
The elf dropped to her knees once again.
"Human technology what?"
"A-Ah, nothing! It is nothing!"
"Sigh. You guys can't even make a single smartphone..."
Do you even know what a semiconductor is? A semiconductor!
Well, not like I know much about them either.
Anyway.
"If you want to tag along, watch your mouth from now on."
"U-Understood!"
"Get up."
The elf jumped to her feet.
"By the way."
"Yes!"
"If you give this to me, what are you going to use?"
"Ah..."
The elf gave another goofy smile.
"I am a spirit summoner."
"A spirit summoner?"
"Yes."
With a snap of her fingers, the round bead-like thing from earlier materialized in the air.
Looking closely, it wasn't a bead.
It was a droplet of water.
"It is a water spirit."
"Oh..."
"Thanks to obtaining the Summoner trait, I was able to become a spirit summoner."
"You killed those guys earlier with this?"
"Yes."
It just looks like a drop of water.
To think this thing is powerful enough to pierce right through an Orc's body.
‘I'd better stay on guard just in case.’
Wait.
By the way, what map is this?
Because I ran into this aggro-drawing elf before I could even look around properly, I hadn't even figured out what kind of map this was.
"Hey."
"Please call me Nairin, not 'hey'..."
"Tsk..."
"Please call me 'hey'!"
"Nairin."
"...Yes!"
"So, what map is this?"
"Ah, did you not know yet?"
The elf—no, Nairin—looked around.
"It is a survival match..."
"A survival match?"
"It is difficult to explain in words. Please follow me."
Nairin nimbly climbed up a tree.
Compared to her, I scrambled up awkwardly.
Anyway, once I followed Nairin up the tree, a vast forest came into view.
A land so wide, it was hard to believe it was inside the Tower.
"Look over there."
Nairin pointed far off toward the horizon.
Was the sun setting?
The horizon was dyed a deep crimson.
"That is..."
"The Sun's Wrath."
The Sun's Wrath?
"As time passes, the forest will burn."
The forest will burn?
"There is only one place that will not be consumed by the Sun's Wrath."
"Where is it?"
"That cannot be known until the game ends."
So it's random?
"Avoid the Sun's Wrath and survive until the end."
"..."
"Those are the rules of this game."
This game.
It feels like it's going to be a pain.