#42 Inverted Skyscraper (2)
#42 Inverted Skyscraper (2)
—Inside the skyscraper.
Unlike outside in the dungeon, the traces of human hands were faint here. Rusted, stained, unmaintained.
'The Illusion Realm was a mirror, they said.'
That explained why the buildings stayed clean no matter how many people touched them. The dungeon was different. No matter how large a creature's wings, flying forever was impossible. Rest was necessary, and the only shelter to be found was in these upside-down buildings. The stench of accumulated filth was so thick I shut off my sense of smell entirely.
'Still, though.'
The question was how any of these buildings stayed suspended without crashing to the ground. An inverted skyscraper ought to collapse under its own shifted center of gravity.
'Not that it's the only mystery.'
My understanding was too limited to puzzle all of it out. Dungeons were inherently full of things that defied common sense. Baekrok met my eyes, and I gave a small nod. Getting up here had cost us considerable mana. Leaving before we recovered wasn't an option.
'And besides.'
The instant we stepped outside, Bicheonmang would strike. I could feel it — the creature hadn't given up. It was watching, waiting for its chance.
"We climb."
I know how it sounds, but after everything it took to scale Rotte Tower, having to climb another full 120 floors just felt like punishment. I glanced up, caught a cluster of monster presences, and my eyes lit up.
'This is.'
I shook my head at Baekrok and Perry, signaling them to stay back, then activated Stealth and took the stairs. About ten floors up, I found a monster that hadn't yet woken. It resembled one of my earlier evolutions.
The species was different — wolf versus bird — but that was about the only difference. The black fur and exposed skull were strikingly similar.
Like the Skull Wolves in the Blind Spot lab, the creature wasn't particularly strong. I severed its throat in one motion while it slept and devoured it.
[Skull Bird consumed. Experience Points and Satiety increase.]
Even the naming was a copy. Stealth and ambush. I made my way up the skyscraper, Predating on monsters in the same manner. They were all about the same caliber — nothing threatening. Occasionally a sharper one would jolt awake and lunge for me, but those weren't meaningfully different either.
"Hoh. I've missed this."
Baekrok's short appreciation came just as the lunging monster crashed to the floor, thrashing.
—!!
A violent gust tore through the membranes of its wings and left it flightless. The shockwave shattered the window behind it, and glass shards whipped into the Cave Predator's body from every direction. It collapsed soon after.
[Cave Predator consumed. Experience Points and Satiety increase.]
[Experience Points at maximum. Lv.20 → Lv.21]
"...!"
The first boss I'd ever faced in an Illusion Realm dungeon. I didn't have time to savor the memory. A roar loud enough to deafen rang through the broken window. No question who it was.
'Bicheonmang.'
Our eyes met through the empty frame. Its gaze held thick killing intent and a flicker of unease. Animal instinct? It seemed the creature sensed, on a primal level, that entering the building meant losing. It stared at us for a long while, then seemed to decide we weren't coming out, gave up, and retreated.
'I thought it would just tear the building apart...'
Apparently not. In the time it took for the beast to fade, I hurried up the floors. When I reached the first floor, I found the evidence — scored claw marks and broken glass where it had been.
'That's why it never came inside.'
Loteworld Tower. The tallest skyscraper in this inverted city. The creature must have deemed it the rightful lair of the dungeon's master. That was another reason we hadn't been attacked here.
'.......'
Bicheonmang had withdrawn into the distance. The sky still teemed with winged beasts, but my Detection told me there were presences on the ground as well.
'They're asleep.'
Even monsters needed rest. I'd already cleared the inside of this skyscraper, but plenty of other buildings remained.
'I should go alone.'
I glanced back. Baekrok shook his head, exhaustion written plainly on his face. Scaling the tower had leveled me up — my health and mana had recovered in the process — but Baekrok had no such luck. When I looked again, he nodded for me not to worry. I left Perry with him, created a foothold, and leaped.
Taking a deep breath, I extended my tentacles. The long appendages wrapped tight around a building pillar, barbed spines digging in as if refusing to let go.
'This'll work.'
I was uneasy, but when I pulled, the tether held and I reached the next building. I barely caught the outer wall and steadied myself, grimacing as the wind howled past.
'Damn it...'
I did my best not to look down, following the presences as I moved between the buildings.
***
Two weeks had passed since Baek So-yul began staying at Dawn. Keeping her there indefinitely under the pretense of protective observation was untenable. She had every reason to resent it, yet Baek So-yul seemed almost to welcome the arrangement. She wasn't permitted to leave clan grounds, but that meant she could devote every hour to training.
'It's hard work.'
Everything Hong Yuri assigned her bordered on unreasonable, but when she actually did it, she found she could manage — exhausted, but managing. All this time she'd thought she'd been working hard, but it had been nothing. The door opened as if to rouse her from her thoughts, and Lee Eun-ha walked in.
"Oh? So-yul. Your mana is— again?"
Lee Eun-ha's eyes went wide, clearly startled by the sudden spike in Baek So-yul's mana. Baek So-yul gave a wry smile. From anyone else she might not mind, but receiving praise from Lee Eun-ha always felt strange. She'd never thought she lacked talent, yet next to Lee Eun-ha she couldn't help feeling shabby. Envious, even. A little jealous.
—Until recently.
"Thank you. I think I've just been in good shape lately. But yesterday..."
"Yeah. Right. I went to visit the Vice Leader in the hospital~"
Since Baek So-yul couldn't leave the clan, Lee Eun-ha brought her updates on Hong Yuri. She knew how it had happened. It had been on the news — she couldn't not know.
"......."
A complicated feeling. When she'd first heard that her temporary teacher Hong Yuri had clashed with the Wolf who had saved her, her heart had dropped. When she learned Hong Yuri was injured, her mind had gone blank.
'But.'
Beyond that, she had felt relief. More than the news of Hong Yuri's injury, it was the fact that Wolf hadn't been caught that let her breathe easier...
"......."
Baek So-yul slipped her hand into her coat and drew a long breath.
She wasn't afraid of the night anymore. Since Wolf had saved her, she didn't even have nightmares. The night she'd hated so much. —Baek So-yul thought of the 'phantasmal' dream she'd had last night and quietly closed her eyes. Somehow she'd become someone who waited for the night to come, every single day.
***
Four days passed like that.
[Thunder Hawk consumed. Experience Points and Satiety increase.]
[Experience Points at maximum. Lv.24 → Lv.25]
"You really never get tired of eating. Watching you, I start to wonder whether I'll end up on the menu myself someday."
I let out a dry laugh at the idle joke and spread my Detection wide. Aside from us, only one presence registered.
'Finally.'
Over the past few days, Bicheonmang had attacked us periodically, but every time we slipped inside Rotte Tower, the beast would seethe and retreat. Four days of maneuvering around it — the memory replayed like my life flashing before my eyes.
'But now.'
Every preparation was complete. Only the hunt remained. Even a monster couldn't beat its wings forever. Ascending into open sky would make us targets for Bicheonmang, so we'd had no choice but to wait for every winged beast to exhaust itself and return to its nest. That was why it had taken four days. Perry yawned hugely and closed her eyes, clearly spent.
"That tired?"
"She's still young."
I nodded at Baekrok's comment. A time to eat plenty and grow plenty. I didn't know how many years she'd spent as a dragon-bug, but as a Fairy Dragon, Perry hadn't yet reached three months.
"Something just occurred to me."
"What is it?"
Perry seemed to understand me, but I couldn't understand her. I'd gotten better at reading her actions and gestures, but that was nowhere near actual communication. I asked whether phantom beasts had their own language, but Baekrok shook his head.
"A phantom-beast tongue? There is no such thing."
"But you and Perry can communicate."
I wasn't sure about the fairies, but Baekrok at least had always appeared to speak with Perry. Baekrok shook his head at my confusion.
"It isn't speech — it's sensation. We phantom beasts are adept in that domain. We simply feel each other's emotions as if they were language."
"...Feel them?"
"This is difficult to explain. Look into my eyes."
Baekrok met my gaze. The White Deer's deep-set eyes sank into stillness. The only thing reflected in Baekrok's retinas was me. We held the stare for a long moment before Baekrok spoke again.
"Do you feel anything?"
"No. I don't sense anything."
Nothing in particular. If it were about reading intent, that I might understand. Baekrok let out a short breath and closed his eyes in what looked like regret.
"...My explanation fell short. I don't mean simply reading the emotions in someone's eyes. Have you never had such an experience? That moment when your eyes meet, and you read your opponent's intent in their gaze."
I turned the thought over slowly, tracing back through my memories. Something similar surfaced.
'Mortal combat.'
When my life was on the line, I could read something in the other's eyes. Deep killing intent. Hostility. Not language, but enough to faintly sense intention and the next move.
'The most recent instance.'
Four days ago. Bicheonmang's eyes had been exactly that. Hostility and fear — that was how I'd known it wouldn't enter Rotte Tower. When I described the experience, Baekrok nodded in agreement.
"That's close."
"......."
"Your life has been one of struggle, so it seems you've developed particularly in that direction."
There was a trace of regret in Baekrok's voice. I exhaled. I'd hoped there might be a way to learn to communicate with Perry, but it was a gift only phantom beasts shared.
'That's a shame.'
Just as our conversation ended, the sole presence apart from us — Bicheonmang — began gaining altitude, approaching slowly.
The final preparation before Neverland. It was time to settle this.