The Price of Mercy
"..."
"..."
Nairin and I stared at each other in silence.
When she had first heard about the team match, Nairin's face had gone so pale it looked almost blue.
Now, however, she looked strangely composed.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Nairin approached me with calm, measured steps.
There was a look of firm resolve in her eyes.
"Lord Taepyeong."
Thud.
Without another word, Nairin dropped to her knees.
Then, she spoke.
"The moment I first met you, I knew."
"..."
"If anyone were to take my life, it would be someone like you."
What is she even talking about?
"So, please."
Nairin offered her elven sword up to me.
"Make it quick."
"Hey...!"
Who is she calling a psychopathic mass murderer?!
"..."
Nairin kept her head bowed, remaining silent.
She simply kept holding out her sword.
"Sigh..."
Seriously, are all elves like this?
They don't even think about fighting back. They just kneel and beg to be killed?
Do they not have any pride?
"..."
But on the other hand...
I felt a bit bad for her.
Do I really have to kill this girl?
I knew the match wouldn't end until one of us died.
But still.
It felt dirty. Way too dirty.
You might ask why I'm hesitating now when I've killed so many others without a second thought.
Well, obviously...
The ones I killed before were nameless monsters and aliens whose names I didn't even know.
But the person in front of me right now was Nairin, who had been following me around, calling me "Lord Taepyeong" and helping me out.
Sure, she occasionally made some incredibly rude, elf-like remarks.
But she had still helped me in various ways, making her my first... alien companion? Or something like that.
If we had been on opposing teams from the very beginning, maybe I would have just killed her.
But starting from the first round, we went from White Team, Blue Team, Blue Team, White Team, Blue Team, White Team...
Somehow, we kept ending up on the same team, and fighting alongside her had actually been...
Fun.
It was a pure kind of fun that I hadn't felt back when I was just carrying useless teammates.
That was the problem.
...I can't bring myself to kill this idiot.
However, the rules of this team match were clear.
For one side to live, the other had to die.
If so, there was only one solution.
All that's left is for me to die.
Nairin's intuition was correct.
Slide.
Lee Taepyeong picked up the elven sword she had offered.
Gulp.
Nairin swallowed hard without realizing it.
No matter how composed she tried to sound, facing her own death made her incredibly tense.
It wasn't a bad life.
A life spent pursuing strength and beauty.
She had lacked for nothing in either pursuit.
Especially after meeting Lee Taepyeong and gaining enlightenment, she had been growing stronger than she could have ever imagined.
That was why she accepted it.
If it was Lee Taepyeong, he was capable of killing her.
And he had the right to do so.
Lee Taepyeong was someone who had transcended the natural limits of humanity.
He was a being who had surpassed the inherent limitations of the human race.
In fact, every time she saw him, he had grown far stronger than she could have ever anticipated.
Even when she first saw him in the Hide-and-Seek map, he was already unbelievably strong.
By their second meeting in the Wrath of the Sun map, he had become twice as powerful.
And at this very moment, in this Team Match where only the strongest of all races at the same level gathered, Lee Taepyeong was overwhelmingly dominant.
Even if they hadn't split into teams and had fought a battle of annihilation from the start, Lee Taepyeong would have easily claimed victory.
That was an undeniable fact.
Thus, Nairin thought.
Perhaps Lee Taepyeong was the legendary figure who could climb to the very top of the tower...
"Hey."
Nairin snapped out of her thoughts.
She looked up at Lee Taepyeong with a startled expression.
By all accounts, her head should have been severed by now.
Why was she still alive?
As she looked up at him with questioning eyes, he spoke.
"Open your inventory."
Ah!
Nairin realized what he meant.
If she died here, all the items in her possession would disappear.
What an incredible person...!
As an elf, she naturally possessed items that humans would find extremely difficult to obtain.
Letting those items vanish would be a terrible waste.
Lee Taepyeong had already thought that far ahead!
He wants to collect all my items before he kills me.
Nodding in understanding, Nairin opened her inventory, deeply impressed by his cold rationality.
She had quite a few valuable things.
The Blessed Laurel Whip, the Ring of Strength, and various elixirs...
"Yes. I shall offer everything to you, Lord Taepyeong."
Nairin began pulling items out of her inventory.
Lee Taepyeong stared at her, dumbfounded.
"What are you doing?"
"As you commanded, I am offering my everything..."
"No, when did I ever tell you to offer anything?"
"Pardon?"
"I just told you to open your inventory."
You idiot!
Lee Taepyeong smacked the back of Nairin's head.
Nairin barely managed to keep her eyes from popping out, staring at him in utter confusion.
"I thought you were going to take everything..."
"I'm not mugging you. Why would I do that?"
"But..."
"Do you have an Auto-Clear Ticket?"
An Auto-Clear Ticket.
It was a type of pass that allowed a hunter to clear a previously cleared floor once more.
There was no level limit, and it guaranteed a reward of Platinum rank or higher.
Since using it on higher floors of the tower significantly increased the reward level, it was already selling for a very high price in the shop.
As it turned out, Nairin actually had one.
She had received it as a reward when she cleared the Wrath of the Sun map with Lee Taepyeong.
"I-I do..."
How did he even know?
Nairin marveled as she pulled the Auto-Clear Ticket from her inventory.
It looked like an ordinary ticket, but it shimmered with a holographic sheen.
Nairin handed it to Lee Taepyeong and spoke her final words.
"Please, end it in a single strike."
Nairin closed her eyes.
She imagined the noble, silver-glowing elven sword slicing through her neck.
"..."
Yet, even after a long moment, her head remained firmly attached to her shoulders.
It was strange.
This was Lee Taepyeong, a man who had decapitated hundreds of other races without a single shred of hesitation.
Could it be that he didn't like the weapon?
Or...
Am I not even worth killing...?
Did he want her to commit suicide?!
Nairin broke out in a cold sweat and slowly opened one eye.
"..."
She saw a figure moving slightly in front of her.
Before long, a bright light enveloped the figure.
What on earth was happening?
Unable to contain her curiosity, Nairin opened her eyes fully.
Flash!
Right in front of her eyes, a new item was glowing brilliantly.
◈ Allows the user to automatically clear any floor, including uncleared ones.
◈ Clears the floor with an F-rank evaluation. No rewards are granted except for Magic Stones.
I was lucky.
Synthesis Successful.
I had nine Auto-Clear Tickets that I'd gathered from Platinum Chests, plus the one Nairin had.
Along with those, I used 100 highest-grade Magic Stones required for the upgrade.
The High-grade Auto-Clear Ticket.
While a regular Auto-Clear Ticket could only be used on floors that had already been cleared, a High-grade Auto-Clear Ticket allowed the user to clear floors they hadn't even attempted yet.
However, unlike the regular ticket which granted top-tier rewards, the High-grade version recorded the clear as an F-rank.
This meant no rewards were given except for Magic Stones. In other words, you couldn't use it to farm chests.
Despite this drawback, countless people desperately desired the High-grade Auto-Clear Ticket.
In fact, there were entire nations that searched for it with bloodshot eyes.
Why? Because it was the ultimate emergency escape card.
Whether it was failing to meet the Contribution Points quota, facing an imminent Demonic Outbreak, or being forced to climb the tower within a strict time limit...
Under such constraints, the High-grade Auto-Clear Ticket was nothing short of a ray of hope.
An insanely expensive ray of hope.
"Here, take it."
I handed it to Nairin.
"...Pardon?"
Nairin stared at me, her face blank with confusion.
Ah, seriously. What am I going to do with this idiot?
"Use it and get out of here."
I waved my hand dismissively.
Only then did Nairin realize what I meant, and she leaped to her feet.
"D-Do you not know what kind of item this is?"
"A High-grade Auto-Clear Ticket."
"Then why...!"
"What do you mean, 'why'?"
"I-I cannot use this! How could I possibly...!"
"Just leave before I change my mind."
Shoo, shoo. I shooed her away.
Nairin's face went paler than ever, and she began to tremble violently.
Then, thud!
She threw herself to the ground, bowing deeply once again.
"I will remember your mercy for the rest of my days!"
Is she crying?
Drip, drip.
She actually was.
"For crying out loud..."
Tsk. I clicked my tongue and turned around.
To be honest, it would have been better for me to use the High-grade Auto-Clear Ticket myself.
The 30th-floor clear that Choi Muryeong had mentioned could be resolved instantly with this ticket.
That was actually one of the reasons I had entered this random floor in the first place.
I had nine tickets saved up from grinding the tower. Since random floors offered great rewards, I figured I could get one more here, upgrade it, and easily clear the 30th floor.
However...
"..."
My pride wouldn't allow it.
It just felt too cheap.
Besides, I doubted the system or the world would truly acknowledge a 30th-floor clear achieved through a High-grade Auto-Clear Ticket.
So...
"Nairin."
"Yes, Lord Taepyeong!"
Nairin raised her head. Her forehead was already bruised and bloody from bowing so hard.
"By any chance, do you have a mental defense item?"
"A... mental defense item?"
"Yeah. I need one."
Nairin immediately shook her head.
"I do not. The souls of us elves are inherently resilient, and..."
Oh? There she goes again with the annoying elf superiority talk.
"We receive regular blessings from the temple..."
"Is that so? Maybe I should just kill you after all."
"Though they are low-grade, I am certain I can find one if I search!"
Now we're talking.
"Fine. Let's consider this a trade for that item."
"But trading such a low-grade item for a High-grade Auto-Clear Ticket is..."
"Then go find a top-grade one yourself!"
"I-I will absolutely find one for you, no matter what!"
Nairin saluted with intense determination.
"At ease."
"Yes, sir!"
"Now hurry up and use the ticket."
I wanted to go back and rest already.
Nairin carefully tore the High-grade Auto-Clear Ticket.
The ticket dissolved into flames in midair.
And then...
Participant's use of the High-grade Auto-Clear Ticket has been confirmed.
Lee Taepyeong wins by default.
White Team Victory!
Ding-dong-dang-dong~!
A gentle chime echoed, signaling the end of the match.
"Y-You are truly magnificent!"
Nairin stared at me with sparkling eyes.
I couldn't care less.
Instead of marveling at me, I just wanted her to hurry back and find that mental defense item.
"Whatever. Let's add each other as friends first."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
We entered each other's IDs into the system window.
It seemed that adding someone as a friend allowed you to trade items directly without having to go through the shop.
"Send the item as soon as you find it."
"I will find it, no matter what!"
Now, all I could do was trust her.