The Seventh Floor
“Welcome home, son.”
I had run the whole way, and the moment I reached the estate the family came pouring out barefoot to greet me.
“Yes. Everything all right here?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary. How was the Founding Festival?”
“Fine. I’ll tell you inside.”
Once we were settled I recounted everything that had happened at the festival. Father went pale at the part about killing a marquis’s man; Mother, on the other hand, clapped her hands like a girl listening to a knightly romance.
“Oh my, our boy rescued a duke’s daughter! Your father used to—”
She even started gushing about how we might end up in-laws with a ducal house. I shut that down hard, then reassured them that everything had been handled cleanly and that I had even made a few useful connections. They finally relaxed.
“Irene leaves tomorrow, doesn’t she?”
I steered the conversation toward my sister. Thanks to the rush I had made it home before she set off for the Academy. The entrance ceremony was only a few days away; she would depart first thing in the morning.
“Don’t worry about anything else—just focus on your studies.”
“Studies? Please. I’ll get into Class A, take the top seat, and snag every scholarship there is!”
“You don’t have to push yourself that hard. I can cover the tuition.”
“I-I don’t need that! I can earn the scholarships myself!”
Irene repeated her vow to claim the top rank several times. She was excited about the Academy, yet still fretted over the family’s finances. For all her daily sniping, she really did care about the house.
“Here. Take this. You’ll need extra money at the start of term.”
I pressed a generous sum into her hands—a sizable chunk of what I currently carried. It didn’t matter; I could always exchange more magic stones from the fifth and sixth floors.
“Th-this much? What about the family?!”
“Don’t worry. I’ve been climbing the tower in between and picked up some decent items. Plus I rubbed elbows with a lot of nobles at the festival—opportunities will come.”
“But…”
“You’ll need spending money until the scholarships kick in. The other noble students will have far more than this. I’m sorry I can’t give you more.”
“H-hmph… Oppa! Waaaaah!”
In the end Irene burst into tears. I smiled and patted her back.
“I-I’ll definitely take the top seat! I’ll get the scholarships, graduate first in my class, become a royal researcher, and bring home tons of money!!”
“Sure. That means you’ll have to do well at the Academy too.”
She kept wailing. Maybe the pressure had been weighing on her more than I realized. Top rank was fine, but I also hoped she would experience the same ordinary academy life as any other young lady—study hard, socialize hard, the whole package.
I fussed over her with last-minute advice and supplies.
“Take care, Irene!”
“Come back safe!”
“I will! I’ll be home for the break!”
The next morning Irene climbed into a carriage and left for the Academy. Mother and the newly hired maid went with her; a young lady’s entrance ceremony required a lot of attention. The household staff was still thin, but I insisted on sending someone.
“Well then…”
After seeing her off safely I returned to my room. I had earned tens of millions of gel so far, yet the family coffers remained painfully empty. Noble life burned through money at a rate I had never imagined. Unlike the modern world, these people never invested—they simply spent every coin on luxury the moment it arrived.
“Eleven kilos… one hundred ten million gel.”
The magic stones I held weighed eleven kilograms. One hundred ten million gel was no small sum, but repairing the half-collapsed manor and hiring servants would drain it in no time. Of course more stones would appear as I climbed, yet the outside world still believed I was only a Normal Difficulty climber. I had to pace my spending carefully.
“Keep the staff light for now and fix the house first.”
The manor was so ruined there was nowhere to put servants anyway. At this rate no one would grow suspicious.
“Time for the seventh floor.”
Clearing it would yield another seven kilograms of magic stones. No sense dawdling.
“Seventh floor is a purge, right?”
According to the Climbers’ Plaza the clear condition was wiping out a goblin nest—accept the villagers’ request and completely eradicate the nearby den. Whether Hell Difficulty followed the same script remained to be seen.
Challenge the Tower of Ordeal, Floor 7 (Hell)? (O/X)
I pressed O. White light swallowed me and my body lifted.
The instant I entered the tower a roar of voices crashed over me.
“Long live Kim Hunter! Long live Kim Hunter!”
It was the villagers I had saved on the sixth floor. Exactly as when I left that floor, the entire village was shouting my name in unison. So the seventh floor picked up right where the sixth ended.
“Hey! Hey!”
I yelled until they quieted. If they kept cheering forever we would never get anywhere.
“We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Divine Kim Hunter! Ooooh!”
“We are unworthy! Unworthy!”
“Unworthy!”
The cheers ended and they all dropped into full prostrations. They really did see me as a god. In an age like this, a gun would look like a divine miracle.
“Y-yet, Divine Kim Hunter! We have one more humble request!”
“Oh? What is it?”
After a long stretch of bowing, the man at the front—trembling violently—spoke up. He was one of the men I had rescued on the fifth floor. Leadership radiated from him; he had to be the village chief.
“M-might we dare beg your aid once more?”
Finally, the quest. But why was he shaking so hard? On the Climbers’ Plaza people said the request was delivered casually.
Because they think I’m a god, maybe.
Perhaps asking a deity for help felt blasphemous. I just wanted the quest already.
“I’ll hear anything. Speak.”
“O-ooooh! We are unworthy!”
“The mercy of Divine Kim Hunter! His grace!”
“Unworthy!”
“…Just say it already.”
Even getting a single sentence out was a struggle. After I prodded him the chief finally managed the request.
“A goblin nest has appeared nearby and the village is on the brink of ruin. If you would…”
“Done. I’ll take care of it.”
“Ooooh! Long live Kim Hunter!”
—Long live! Long live!
Thankfully the quest content matched every other difficulty. Clearing it, however, would be far harder.
“We shall follow you!”
I was about to leave when the village men fell in behind me, clutching hoes and sickles. They clearly meant to help. I almost told them to stay home, then changed my mind. I still had no idea what the hidden clear condition might be; better not to disrupt the NPCs’ natural flow.
“Fine. But until I say otherwise, stay behind me.”
“Understood!”
Guided by the chief, I led the men toward the goblin nest. The path ended at a cave that exhaled an ominous aura.
“Is this the same cave where I rescued you before?”
“It is. We were held in the shallower tunnels, but goblins still lurk deeper inside. After you freed us we managed to escape, yet…”
On the fifth floor I had fought a hobgoblin lord. Something stronger waited below.
I checked my remaining bullets. Not critically low, but not generous either. If the numbers got out of hand I could run dry.
“Might have to herd them and detonate…”
An enhanced grenade dealt the damage of a hundred ordinary rounds. Used well, numbers wouldn’t matter. The problem was not knowing how the enemies were arranged inside the cave.
“Under no circumstances step in front of me.”
“Understood!”
I drilled the warning into the men. The last thing I needed was one of them caught in a grenade blast.
Scratch, scratch—
Just as I was about to enter, a sound came from behind. I turned and saw a man scribbling furiously in a notebook.
“What’s he doing?”
“Huh? You idiot, Yuda! What do you think you’re doing in front of Kim Hunter?!”
“H-hieek! Forgive me! I was recording Kim Hunter’s words!”
So that was it—he had been writing down everything I said. I hadn’t even said much yet. What was there to record?
“It’s fine. Let’s go.”
I stopped the chief from scolding him further and stepped into the cave.
“…No goblins right at the entrance.”
“They poured out in force earlier, so the outer tunnels are empty. But their chieftain is definitely deeper inside.”
The goblins I had slaughtered on the sixth floor had been countless; they must have all come from this nest. Clearing them had left the place quiet for now. I took the small mercy and pressed deeper.
When the air grew thick enough to choke, a heavy thudding vibration began to roll through the stone.
“H-hieek…!”
“Quiet!”
One of the men yelped; the man beside him slapped his back hard.
“Keep your distance and follow.”
“Yes, sir.”
I ordered the chief to hold the others back and went ahead alone. That vibration was far too large to be ordinary goblins.
Thud— thud— thud— thud—
The deeper I went the stronger it grew—steady, rhythmic, as if something enormous was pacing.
Revolver raised and ready, I walked on. The oppressive air thickened until a vast cavern opened before me. The moment I saw what waited inside, my stomach lurched on pure instinct.
“What the hell is that…!”
I couldn’t even name the creature. Calling it a living thing felt wrong. A mass of black metal-like substance tangled with countless goblin corpses. Arms and legs were nothing more than mashed, compacted goblin bodies.
Gii— gii ge—
It produced a sound that should never exist.
“Kik, kieeeghek!”
In front of it a hobgoblin was screaming in terror. The abomination seized the hobgoblin with one “hand.” Then its body split open with a wet crack and swallowed the hobgoblin whole.
“Kim Hunter… hieek!”
The chief, who had followed too closely, saw the sight and screamed.
“Get the others farther back.”
“Y-yes!”
I drove them away, then swapped the enhanced rounds in my revolver for standard ones and opened fire on the ordinary goblins scattered around the cavern.
Bang— bang— bang—
Goblins dropped one after another. The gunshots made the abomination turn toward me.
Gik— gii— gege—
It charged with that same nightmare sound. I never stopped shooting until every lesser goblin was dead and only the abomination remained. Then I drew five enhanced rounds.
Grenade Throw
Without hesitation I hurled the enhanced grenades. Clearing the lesser goblins first had been deliberate—so every scrap of the blast would slam into that single target.
Craaack—
The abomination split its body wide and swallowed the grenades whole. That was the worst choice it could have made.
KABOOOOOM—!
A colossal explosion erupted inside it. Unable to contain the force, the creature burst from within, spraying chunks of flesh in every direction.
Splat— thwack—
“Ugh… well, it’s dead at least.”
The horror was completely obliterated. I peeled the sticky pieces of it off my clothes.
“Something looked familiar, though.”
When it had opened to swallow the bombs I had glimpsed its interior—goblin meat and black metal packed together. For a split second something else had been nestled among the mess. Whatever. It was dead now.
You have cleared the Tower of Ordeal, Floor 7 (Hell)!
The clear message appeared at once. That was it—floor complete. The thing had looked so grotesque I had worried it might be unkillable, but even it couldn’t tank an enhanced grenade.
“Ah… aaaah…! Aaaaah—!”
“?”
A wail rose behind me. I turned and found Yuda, the man who had been scribbling earlier, sobbing openly.
“A miracle… it is a miracle…! Aaaah…!”
“I told you to stay back.”
He had ignored the order and followed far enough to watch the entire fight. Yuda wept like a man who had just witnessed a god, then suddenly whipped out his notebook again and began writing with feverish intensity.
“…Whatever.”
I had no idea what to say to him. Leave him be. He was only a tower NPC anyway.
“Time to check the rewards.”
I tuned Yuda out and read the system messages. The usual cascade of enhanced rewards scrolled past. Yet something felt off.
“…No hidden clear.”
I had failed to meet the hidden clear condition.