Chapter 59 - Sprouting Emotions (2)
‘It’s not impossible. The others won’t just be sitting around idle, right?’
Even if the labyrinth kept shuffling its traps and paths like mad, there were limits. And we weren’t the only ones cleaning them up. By now, Kim Ji-eun and the other party members were probably breaking through the maze too. If we swept up the traps and monsters, others could reap the benefits. They’d surely move according to their own plans, so neither I nor the constellations watching every moment knew how things would turn out.
“At this rate, we won’t see the end. Reina, dial back the intensity of your radiance. I’ll handle the poison myself.”
Diana spoke up just as my breath was starting to catch in my throat. Noticing my paling face, she suggested I conserve my strength.
“We both need to have some reserves left. If one of us collapses, we’ll just burden the other.”
“...You’re not wrong.”
At her serious expression, I dimmed the brilliance that had been brightly purifying the surrounding poison. Diana frowned as the toxic fumes began to reach her, but it wasn’t enough to poison or injure her badly.
“You act like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
But Diana’s words didn’t end there. We paused in the middle of the passage, lowering our weapons for a brief rest, when her distinctive blue eyes fixed on me and her clear voice rang out.
“Among those who’ve climbed this far, who isn’t?”
I had no idea why she was bringing this up now, but I couldn’t deny it. The higher you climbed and the stronger you grew, the more burdens piled on. Broadly speaking, it started with protecting the tower to prevent the world’s destruction, then Kim Ji-eun and my guildmates, and even further, the expectations of those watching me on Fate Road. Even without knowing about Fate Road, any ranker in the top ranks had to carry some inner weight.
“I know. Plenty have crumbled under that heaviness, and both you and I passed them by to reach this point.”
Diana nodded as if it were obvious. My instincts picked up that her true intent lay elsewhere, making me flinch. What’s this woman suddenly getting at?
“...That’s not something just anyone can do. It takes innate talent or countless hours of tempering. Moonlight Sword Radiance, you entered the tower at 18 and you’re barely 26 now. What kind of life did you live before to make this possible?”
After a brief hesitation, she dropped an unexpected bombshell, asking about my past. My mind blanked for a second, eyes widening. Why the hell is she asking something like that now?
My past—or rather, ‘Reina Frontier’s’ life before entering the tower—was ancient history that even Kim Ji-eun had given up prying into. Because it didn’t exist in the first place. I’d kept it buried thoroughly, and naturally, no one had uncovered it. Sure, weird rumors about my bloodline or past deeds had circulated as if they were real, but after I personally smashed them to pieces, no one dared spread blatant nonsense openly anymore.
“If you can’t talk about it, that’s fine. I was just curious. I’d rather hear it from you than believe the rumors floating around.”
Had I failed to keep a straight face? Diana hurriedly shook her head. Her reaction suggested genuine curiosity.
If I asked about your past, what then? You wouldn’t tell me either.
But it was absurd coming from Diana of all people. Among everyone I knew, you’re the one who guards your past most tightly.
“You give up pretty easily for someone so curious?”
“No. Everyone has things they want to hide. Yeah, everyone.”
When I probed lightly, she shook her head firmly. Her resolve not to pry if it might offend was clear. Polite as it was, I noticed her gaze on me had shifted subtly.
“Let’s move.”
With that slightly awkward air lingering, our break ended. As we resumed our path, the labyrinth shifted relentlessly, paths realigning and monsters pouring out.
The spirits of the graveyard are enraged.
“?!”
Soon after, the dungeon’s atmosphere shifted again. The monsters’ momentum surged into a frenzy.
“Not again...”
“No, this could be natural. It’s common during these kinds of dungeon clears.”
I chuckled at Diana’s startled words. I’d flinched too, but this wasn’t the malicious constellations stirring trouble. It meant our comrades elsewhere were steadily progressing—likely taking down the mid-boss while we pulled all the aggro from traps and monsters.
“Don’t worry. Your allies are pushing hard, so you’ve done enough.”
Serpina’s voice confirmed it indirectly, vouching for the party’s success.
‘Pulling all that aggro wasn’t for nothing, the bastards.’
If the troublemakers dumped traps and monsters on us, the opposite side naturally eased up. Dungeon resources were finite; even manipulation couldn’t conjure more from thin air. The result: the labyrinth clearing at this rapid pace.
By my raid knowledge, with the mid-boss—Gravedigger Derek—down, the boss room was just ahead. Others were uneasy about the boss, but Lee Se-jin, ranked 6th, was with them. Centered on her, they could succeed even without Diana or me joining till the end.
The special reward unicorn, though... who knew? Would the tower’s system favor the boss clearers or those tanking most traps and mobs? Not that my goal was just proving my purity to the unicorn anyway.
“If our guess is right, we’re almost there. We’ve come this far—let’s hold out till the end.”
“Yeah. No quitting now.”
I glanced at Diana with a smirk; she nodded faintly, lips curving up. Archer and warrior positions aside, we meshed better than expected. Her personality wasn’t the type to drive events in the story, so I hadn’t noticed.
The labyrinth is changing.
‘They’re dead set on it.’
The jerks watching us had clearly abandoned the others, focusing sabotage solely on us. I moved cautiously, but sure enough, paths shifted immediately.
“What’s that noise?”
As the rumbling from the rearrangements settled, a slithering shh-shh sound echoed from behind.
Naturally turning, I spotted something writhing and surging toward us. At a glance, it looked like a black wave crashing in.
“Bugs...”
My eyes widened as I identified them. Fist-sized insects, larger than an adult man’s, swarmed in countless numbers, blanketing walls and floor.
“Eeeeek... Hyaaaaa!!!!”
Before I could react, Diana beside me let out a horrific scream and staggered back. Then it hit me—a forgotten trait: Diana had an extreme fear of bugs.
“N-no! I hate them!!!!!”
“W-wait! Hold on! It’s just this much?!”
Her composure shattered, Diana bolted without looking back. The warrior who’d unflinchingly nocked arrows at undead horrors now fled in high-pitched terror, face drained pale. In the original story, it was a light gag—cool Diana secretly scared of tiny bugs, that kind of twist.
But her phobia here exceeded that; something deeper was at play, unknown even to me.
“Damn it. Dangerous!”
The real issue: panicked Diana triggered a trap she’d never fall for normally. A clunk sounded as her boot hit the switch; the floor collapsed, sucking her into a black abyss.
‘Shit.’
No time for second thoughts—I launched myself into the void. Grabbing her flailing waist mid-air, I pulled her face to my chest as we plummeted together.
“Kuhk.”
As planned, my back hit unknown hard ground first. Bracing with max strength, the impact still filled my mouth with blood and wracked my body in agony.
Why am I suffering like this for nothing?
On the cold stone, I clenched my jaw against uncontrollable shivers. I cursed the saboteurs turning an easy dungeon into hell mode, and the pointless virginity debate dragging me here.
“Moonlight Sword Radiance... you okay?”
As I caught my breath, Diana—now somewhat calmed—spoke in a weak voice.