Chapter 52
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: The Strange, Tall House in the Fog (4)
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Ji-han entered the classroom and glanced around.
He seemed to be searching for something suspicious.
*This kid… he can’t see me.*
Before my eyes, a vivid replay of Ji-han’s actions during the third-floor clearance was unfolding.
He had failed to assassinate Ria, and the people inside had become infected.
There was no need to watch what happened next.
The person involved in that incident was standing right in front of me.
Whatever happened, he's still alive.
I could hear the rest of the story from his own mouth.
When I closed the video, Ji-han was right in front of me.
“No matter how I look at it, this area is the most suspicious.”
Muttering to himself as he leaned in, as if he'd picked up a new habit.
[Get your face out of here.]
I was back in Kang Han-gyeol’s body.
My missing body was restored after I cleared the fourth floor and tinkered with the system.
However, no matter how much I rummaged through the administrator privileges, I couldn’t find any information about ‘Nodens’ or the 100-year request.
“Whoa!”
Ji-han stumbled back in shock, apparently not expecting me to actually be there.
Even though I had returned to my original body, he still couldn’t see me.
Ji-han sat down on one of the classroom desks.
Why does he always sit on desks instead of perfectly good chairs?
Then again, sitting on the teacher’s podium, I wasn’t one to talk.
Ji-han scowled at the podium.
“Hey, if you were here, you should’ve said so from the start.”
[Who’s the one who shoved his face in mine out of nowhere?]
“How was I supposed to know you were there!”
This kid. To me, it feels like I haven't seen him for about two weeks.
Why has he changed so much in that time?
*Ah, maybe it hasn’t been two weeks for him?*
Just because two weeks had passed for me didn't guarantee the same amount of time had passed for him.
I had no way of knowing how much time had gone by for Yoo Ji-han.
[What happened to you all this time?]
“It’s just…”
As expected, Ji-han hesitated, avoiding my gaze.
While waiting for his answer, I checked his status window.
[Yoo Ji-han (Soter)]
Rank: Guardian
Strength: A- (78%)
Stamina: B- (21%)
Mana: C+ (11%)
Healing Power: B+ (6%)
Contribution Points: 69,690
Skills: <Line>, [Mana Detection]
Talent: [Blessing of the God Soter]
Items Held: [Shower Bomb x32], [Water Ball (500mL) x20], [Hard Bread x5]
His healing power had risen from B to B+, though I had no idea what he’d done to achieve that.
I was pretty sure I’d given him a lot of items, but I had no idea where they had all gone.
The reduced number of shower bombs suggested he’d managed to sell them somehow.
I didn't wait for Ji-han's answer and instead asked about what had happened on the third floor.
Contrary to my expectation that he would spill everything, he watched my expression cautiously.
[If you don't want to talk, don't. I can find out what you did anyway.]
“What did you say?”
Ji-han jumped, clearly surprised.
[What, you think I'm a god for nothing? Just start talking while I'm asking nicely.]
I decided to lord it over him a little.
I was giving him a chance to make his case first, so I figured I was entitled to that much.
With a sigh, Ji-han told me everything.
I already knew he had failed to assassinate Ria.
I had told him that if the assassination failed, he was to kill everyone left behind.
Ji-han had done just that, killing every last person on the train.
Then, after he had vanished, the train had crashed straight into the platform, causing an accident.
[Well done.]
“I thought you’d be angry. That’s unexpected.”
[Why would I be?]
What’s done is done.
If he’d killed Ria as instructed, none of that would have happened, but in the end, Ji-han survived.
The process doesn’t matter, only the result.
Besides, getting angry over something that already happened would do more harm than good.
Ji-han, unable to find a retort, fell silent.
[So, where did you sell off the potions?]
I only gave him ten mana potions, so I could believe he drank those. But I had no idea where all the other potions went.
“I drank them.”
[You drank all of them?]
“Of course. Hey, if you’re going to give me something, give me something good! What kind of potion looks like junk food? It’s not like it restores a lot of health, either. An Elixir! Don’t you have something like a legendary potion?”
He must have had a lot of complaints about the potions, because he started grumbling the moment I brought them up.
I even started to wonder if he’d just gotten too comfortable around me.
As I listened to Ji-han’s complaints, I opened the gift list.
[Gift]
Giftable Items: Small Healing Potion (12), Small Mana Potion (30), Painkiller (5), Shower Bomb (2)
Special Item: Chocolate Bar (1000)
[Huh? A chocolate bar?]
“What did you say?”
[Nothing, just a sec…]
My voice trailed off as I quickly checked the gift window.
On a hunch, I rummaged through my pocket.
A chocolate bar came out of my pocket.
I vaguely remembered buying a bento box at a convenience store just before entering the Tower and adding a chocolate bar from the counter at the last second.
I’d planned to eat it on the way home but had stuffed it in my pocket and forgotten about it.
“Hey, what is it? What’s with you? What about a chocolate bar?”
As the silence stretched on, Ji-han grew impatient and snapped.
From our few meetings, I’d gathered that he was more hot-tempered than he looked. Fiery, maybe. In any case, his social skills didn’t seem great.
Not that I should be saying that about a nineteen-year-old. But it’s not for nothing that people say some kids are just trouble from the start.
[Do you like chocolate bars?]
“You’re so random. I hate sweet things.”
[Oh, really? Then never mind.]
There was no need to force it on someone who didn’t like it.
Ji-han’s expression shifted subtly at my response.
“Wait, do you have a chocolate bar?”
[I asked because I have one. I was going to give it to you, but you said you don’t like them.]
“You only asked if I *like* them, you didn’t ask if I *dislike* them!”
[You said you hate sweet things. What are you going to do with something you hate?]
It seemed Ji-han hadn’t expected me to actually have one.
Ji-han extended a hand toward the podium where I was sitting.
Did this kid think I owed him something?
How could he be so shameless?
“Hand it over.”
[But you said you hate them.]
“Hating something and having it are two different things.”
[How are they different? Besides, it’s just a chocolate b—]
I cut myself off abruptly.
For a moment, I had forgotten that my situation and Ji-han’s were completely different.
Right now, Ji-han and the others in the lobby were surviving on items given to them by other gods, similar to what I was doing for him.
That created a much larger gap between us than I had realized.
[Alright, I’ll give it to you.]
Ji-han’s eyes sparkled at my answer.
Seeing that, I realized he still had a childish side to him.
[1,000 Contribution Points have been consumed to gift ‘Chocolate Bar (Special)’ to ‘Yoo Ji-han’.]
[1,000 Contribution Points have been acquired.]
Ji-han accepted the gift as if he’d been waiting for it.
The chocolate bar from my item window materialized in his hand.
The colorful Korean wrapper had vanished, leaving only a plain silver foil.
I was worried it would be a problem if he found out it was a product from a nearby convenience store, but that didn't seem to be a concern anymore.
Though Ji-han seemed to be eyeing the foil-wrapped bar with suspicion.
“You’re not scamming me, are you?”
[Why would I scam you? Now you’re suspicious of everything.]
“You just seem more like a con artist than a god.”
[The things you say. If you’re that suspicious, just open it.]
The moment I finished speaking, Ji-han tore open the chocolate bar.
Inside the wrapper was a perfectly normal-looking chocolate bar.
Ji-han unwrapped it and took a bite.
For someone who claimed not to like sweets, he ate the chocolate bar with surprising composure.
Watching him, I grew curious about the situation in the lobby.
[By the way, how are you managing for food? Don’t tell me you’re just chugging potions to get by?]
“What kind of nonsense is that? I told you I finished those on the third floor! As for meals… I used to be able to get jerky. But you could only eat it in the lobby.”
Ji-han’s face contorted into a frown as he spoke of the jerky.
Ria’s taboo was ‘cannibalism.’
I, too, had been offered jerky by Ria.
The reason I refused was simple.
I knew what it was made of.
*Maybe I should have told him.*
Then again, even a child knows not to blindly accept things from strangers.
I wanted to lecture him, but seeing his disgusted expression, the urge vanished.
It looked like he was seriously traumatized by it.
The standard food provided was jerky, and here was a kid with a trauma related to it. It was a bit pathetic.
[Are you okay?]
“Ah, I don’t know.”
Ji-han snapped, clearly not wanting to think about it.
Seeing the bread in his item window, it seemed there were other food sources besides jerky.
As long as he didn’t have to eat jerky for the rest of his life, a trauma like this would likely fade soon enough.
“Enough about that. Let’s talk about the fourth floor.”
Having devoured the chocolate bar, Ji-han changed the subject.
This incident had made it clear to me that Ji-han’s clearance of a floor affected the next one.
It seemed Ji-han had more to say than I did.
Without me even having to ask, Ji-han started talking.
“I heard from some of the others that after the fourth floor, things get a bit more open-ended. What does that mean?”
I immediately understood what he was talking about.
It meant that, like this floor, there were floors where the user had a high degree of freedom as long as they didn’t affect the main story, and there were floors that were not like that.
*Well, that request doesn’t really matter what you clear.*
Even finding a neighborhood cat would be enough to clear the fourth floor.
For someone who wasn’t cut out for fighting, there couldn’t be a better floor.
If you wanted to take it easy, it was entirely possible.
[It’s just as it sounds. The process doesn’t matter as long as you get the result. In the end, Ria died, didn’t she?]
“Innocent people died too, not just Ria.”
[I know.]
Ji-han’s expression turned somber.
He was probably regretting not killing Ria from the start, feeling a sense of responsibility.
A high degree of freedom, in other words, meant that there were no guarantees about the process.
“So there’s no guarantee something like this won’t happen again, right?”
[That’s right. Which means my advice isn’t always the absolute answer.]
“For a god, you’re not very omnipotent.”
[There’s no such thing as omnipotence in this world.]
“Doesn’t sound like something a god would say.”
Ji-han muttered, tilting his head.
He fell silent for a long time.
He was the one who wanted to talk about the fourth floor, yet he was lost in his own thoughts.
[What are you thinking so hard about?]
“It’s just…”
Ji-han scratched his head and let out a deep sigh.
[What is it?]
“It’s nothing, just keep going.”
[It’s written all over your face that you can’t concentrate, so how can it be nothing? You seem to have gotten some information in the lobby. Did people not say anything about the fourth floor?]
“Say what?”
Ji-han looked genuinely clueless.
Ah, I see.
From his puzzled expression, I realized the others were hiding something from him.
The fourth floor could be an easy clear depending on your approach, but for some, it was also a chance to turn the tables.
*So they’re not that close.*
Not that it mattered.
[The fourth floor isn’t that hard. So tell me why you can’t focus.]
“I told you I’m fin—”
Ji-han, who was about to raise his voice, saw me and shut his mouth.
It seemed his emotions had gotten the better of him.
“I’m fine… no…”
As if at a loss for words, Ji-han scratched his head in frustration.
Then, with a sense of futility, he muttered to himself.
“Haha, I don’t even know what I’m doing.”
He let out a hollow laugh, as if finding himself ridiculous.
“I should just say it, right? Just say it.”
Truthfully, even before he spoke, I had a rough idea of what the problem was.
Besides the Tower, there was only one other place that could cause him trouble.
As expected, it was a problem with the lobby.
I already knew that Ji-han and the people in the lobby didn’t get along.
The very reason he had entered the first floor alone was because he had refused to join the group that dominated the lobby, the ‘Central Guild.’
Ji-han vented his frustrations about it.
It was a story about the things the Central Guild had done.
“No matter how absurd this situation is, still… how can people… how… dammit. Not that I’m in any position to talk now.”
While talking about the Central Guild’s evil deeds, Ji-han fell silent again.
Not everyone wanted to enter the Tower, unlike Ji-han and the members of the Central Guild.
It seemed Ji-han thought killing people like that was no different from killing them on the train.
[What happened on the train was…]
“This isn’t about the train.”
[What do you mean?]
“After I came out of the third floor, those guys told me they’d forget about the past and asked me to join them. I couldn’t understand what gave them the nerve to say something like that.”
[And?]
“I killed them. They were bastards who deserved to die, but.”
[They were bastards who deserved to die, but what?]
“I don’t know if I did the right thing.”