Gifts Are Always Great (1)
A certain witch once said:
Life is only interesting because it never goes the way you want.
She wasn't wrong.
She was just asking for a punch in the face.
When your life doesn't merely refuse to go your way but careens completely off the rails and plunges straight into the abyss, and someone next to you starts spouting garbage like that — even the most saintly person alive would have no choice but to raise a fist.
Growl—
"This is the only option left."
The girl's great adventure had ended, rather unexpectedly, with nothing much to show for it.
No matter how thoroughly she searched the area, she couldn't find a single thing to eat.
To be precise, she had found a few mushrooms and one tattered old book…
But eating mushrooms that looked that suspicious was something she wanted to save as a last resort.
So in the end, this was the only way.
Clad in a jet-black habit, a veil of black and white draped over her head, the girl murmured through small lips.
"Status window."
And nothing happened.
Faced with this utterly maddening situation, the girl pulled a sulky face and flopped down onto a pew.
If you're going to stick me inside a game character, the least you could do is guarantee the basic systems — a status window, an inventory, something. This isn't some self-imposed hardcore mode…
Am I really going to have to eat those mushrooms?
Creeeak.
"…?"
"What the — I thought this was just background scenery. There's actually an NPC in here too?"
The firmly shut, weather-worn oak door swung open with a grotesque screech.
But the girl was too hungry to even stand. She merely turned her head a fraction to see who the uninvited guest was.
The first thing that caught her eye was hair the color of flame — red and orange tangled together.
And armor that covered only the barest, most precarious places.
Bikini armor, I think they call it. So people actually wear that.
"Who might you be?"
"Sorry, introductions first. I'm Ifrit. I oversee the first floor of this place…"
"Pardon?"
"…Just a regular Adventurer. Forget what I just said."
Figuring there was no need to explain everything in detail to some clueless NPC, Ifrit cut herself short.
But the girl was no fool.
She had accumulated a fair amount of knowledge through online games and all kinds of fiction. From just those few lines of conversation, her mind began spinning at a speed far beyond its usual pace.
First floor. NPC. Adventurer. Put those keywords together and…
The genre is tower-climbing. With a bit of game system mixed in…
If there were no game system at all, the word "NPC" would never have come up. It clearly occupied some meaningful weight in this world.
Moreover, Ifrit had classified the girl as an NPC without a second's hesitation.
Which meant there was a way to distinguish users from NPCs.
Once her thoughts reached that point, the girl arrived at a conclusion: if she played this right, she could turn the situation to her advantage.
"I see. How rude of me…"
"It's fine. Anyone would be on edge, stuck in a place like this."
"Humble as it is, I sincerely welcome you to our church. Is there anything I might assist you with?"
All of it was a lie, of course.
This was not her church, she was not welcoming anyone, and she had zero intention of helping.
The reason she forced a customer-service smile and spat out words she didn't mean was simple: she was going to use this.
Put yourself in the other person's shoes.
You're in the middle of a game when a building you've never seen before appears, complete with an NPC you've never met.
What would you do?
"Well… you look like you could use some help. Is there anything I can do for you?"
Yes. That's the standard move.
Any gamer would poke around, hoping there might be a new quest. Exactly the way Ifrit was poking around right now.
Of course, there were always a few lunatics who attacked first and asked questions never — but those were a tiny minority.
Fortunately, Ifrit didn't seem to be one of them.
Which meant she was the perfect mark to put to work.
"Even so, asking a complete stranger for a favor right away feels a little…"
"That's just how our line of work goes."
"Given the circumstances, I don't even have a proper reward to offer…"
"It's fine. I just genuinely want to help."
Watching the girl fidget with the edge of her veil and shy away as if apologetic, Ifrit waved a hand dismissively.
Inside, the girl crowed with triumph. What a precious little thing. You are this era's true sucker — no, this era's true Adventurer.
Outwardly, though, she kept her poker face locked down tight.
She had made it perfectly clear she had nothing to give as a reward. And yet the other party had volunteered to help of her own free will. Armed with that magnificent piece of self-justification — I did nothing wrong — she pressed on.
"…If you insist. The truth is, ever since we were cut off, the donations stopped. I haven't had so much as a sip of water in days."
"That's serious. Want me to bring something right now?"
"If you would offer it as alms, I would receive it with a grateful heart."
"Just hang on a second — I'll grab some supplies. Oh, wait. I don't think I caught your name…"
The unexpected counterattack left her momentarily speechless.
A name. Something every person was supposed to have at least one of.
But the girl had two.
The first was the name she had used for twenty-seven years in Korea: Kim Hyeon-seong.
It was the most familiar name she had — but not one she could use right now.
Which left only one option.
"My name is Zion."
A donation.
Bring a little food to a nun in a ruined church. That was the quest.
The reward was a pittance of experience points and nothing more.
For Ifrit — a High Ranker who managed an entire floor, far beyond an ordinary Ranker — it was an unmistakably trivial quest.
If she were just some generic NPC, maybe. But this place reeks of a backstory, and her looks are anything but ordinary.
A complete amateur would have turned it down on the spot.
But Ifrit was a High Ranker who oversaw a floor. Climbing to that height had meant completing countless quests, and that experience was whispering to her now.
This was a hidden quest. No question.
More precisely, it was a precursor quest — the kind you received before meeting the conditions for the real hidden one.
Of course, she hadn't reached that conclusion based on the NPC's appearance alone.
She was a High Ranker who had weathered every storm imaginable. In a brutal world where a single mistake could mean total ruin, her experience was nothing to sneer at.
Still, three things had driven her to this conclusion.
First: the extraordinary location and NPC. Second…
I couldn't see Zion's status. And I'm a High Ranker.
Using an appraisal skill let you view an opponent's stats. It didn't succeed one hundred percent of the time, of course — if the target's stats exceeded the user's in at least three categories, the skill failed.
And that was the problem.
She possessed stats that could overwhelm most boss monsters, befitting her High Ranker reputation — and her appraisal had failed.
She said her name was Zion. I've heard that name before.
There was an old legend in the Tower.
The legend of the Demon King who once ruled the Tower, and the Hero who slew him and saved it.
It had always been dismissed as just another common fairy tale. Not even remains had been found, let alone relics.
So why had that dusty old legend suddenly come to mind?
Simple. The name of the Saintess who stood at the Hero's side was Zion.
An extraordinary appearance. Stats that even a High Ranker can't appraise. A name identical to the Saintess recorded in legend. Is all of this just coincidence?
No. Impossible.
And right now, rumors were circulating among the monsters and demonkin that someone had found the Demon King's legacy.
A quest appearing that could stand against that legacy wouldn't be strange at all. If anything, it would be the more natural outcome.
Ifrit's heart began to pound.
Right now, she was the only Adventurer who knew about this hidden quest.
Crackle.
"…Tch. Of all the timing."
The small crystal orb she kept tucked against her chest began to crackle and hiss, and Ifrit's face crumpled as if she'd bitten into something foul.
She had completely forgotten about it, distracted by the hidden quest.
She had told the other High Rankers she would investigate personally.
For a brief moment she considered whether to report this — but the answer was already decided.
With a resolute expression, she pulled out the crystal orb.
"What is it?"
"So? What were the results?"
"Just one more ruined church, that's all. No NPC, no new monsters — nothing."
"You're saying they just plopped down a single building and that was it?"
"Who knows? It might turn into something important later. I'd be willing to sell it if someone's paying."
Click.
The moment money entered the conversation, the connection cut out cold.
But instead of getting angry the way she usually would, Ifrit wore a smile of pure satisfaction.
Of course, the other High Rankers weren't idiots either. Sooner or later, they would all find out about Zion.
In the end, what matters most is how much of a head start you get. You have to stay even one step ahead of the other Rankers.
Quests rewarded whoever completed them first. The one who claimed them early held an overwhelming advantage.
And even if the hidden quest got stolen out from under her — building a connection with the great Saintess would still prove useful.
With that thought settled, Ifrit quickened her pace.
She had to clear the quest as soon as possible.
Building connections was profitable, sure.
But that didn't mean she had any intention of giving up the hidden quest.