Tutorial — Sixth Floor

The instant I finished collapsing the dungeon passage, the raid-complete message sprang up. The others must have finished their end of it. I'd bought more than enough time — it would take them a good long while to discover that this passage connected to the Underground Waterway.

I didn't press the button just yet. Instead I detonated another Artifact Bomb against even the wall I had already brought down, burying the entrance for good.

The blast roared through the stone.

Good. The entrance is sealed...

I hit Y at once and let the System carry me to the entrance.

My vision flooded white as space warped around me. When I opened my eyes, I was standing at the mouth of the dungeon.

"Oppa!"

"Shin-hoo!"

"Shin-hoo!"

"Party Leader!"

All four of them shouted for me at once. They must have been worried sick; the moment I materialized, they closed the distance in a rush.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

Na-yeon came in close, checking me over from head to toe.

"I'm fine. You think I'd get hurt with defense like mine? I said I'm okay."

"You didn't come back right away, so I was worried. I really thought something had happened..."

"No. There wasn't any particular crisis. I was in the middle of holding off an attack and didn't have the luxury. Pulling back far enough took a little time."

I'd come back in one piece, and I was the one who'd been there — they had no real reason to argue. At my explanation, the tightness in their faces eased.

"Ah — and let's not mention that monster, if we can help it. We're heading to the next floor anyway. No need to go poking a hornet's nest. Explaining how we made it out alive would be a headache besides."

There was no need to hand anyone a handle to grab us by. I'd already sealed the entrance, but I had no way to explain that to the party. The missions on the next floor and the one after were both survival trials — we'd have to last a set amount of time either way.

"All right. We'll do that."

Joo Ha-yeon agreed at once, apparently finding the logic sound. Na-yeon, though, spoke as if something sat wrong with her.

"But then, the next time they go to clear it..."

"This is a dungeon. What happens if we leave and that wall restores itself? And even if it doesn't, if they ask us to explain, how do we tell them we left the undead in there and got out on our own? Besides, even if they find it, a knight can handle it just fine. Let's just bury it."

It varied by dungeon type, but this one was tied to a linked trial, so it wouldn't restore. That was why I'd brought the wall down.

She still looked uneasy, but I was the leader, she owed me more than she could count, and this was to her own benefit — and her sister's. She agreed, as if she had no other choice.

There it is...

Na-yeon's troublesome streak. She was kind, in her own quiet way. Unlike the first cycle, I'd been the one leading the party, so her personality hadn't shown itself much — but now that we'd grown closer and she had room to breathe, it was starting to surface.

I wanted her to see a few more ugly things and adapt to the Tower.

Kindness was fine — but only after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you had the luxury for it, and only after you'd secured your own interests. Used in that measure, her nature could even become a strength. Start giving things away just because you were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worried about someone, and you'd be overtaken in a heartbeat and used in turn. That was exactly what had happened to me. All for the sake of Earth... ah, enough of that.

The further you climbed, and the more only the strong remained, the higher the concentration of garbage among them. You had to secure your own gains and guard them without compromise — even if it was just a scrap of information. In this case, going public with what we knew would gain us nothing. It would only cost us. Na-yeon needed more experience.

"Shall we head out, then?"

Had the Ring of Life been found by now?

I stepped out of the dungeon turning over the best way to make Johann eat shit even harder — and how to squeeze every last drop of advantage out of it for us.

A rush of light swallowed us as we passed through the portal. Unlike last time, no soldiers closed in to surround us.

Didn't look like they'd found it yet.

A message window appeared at the same time.

The moment we stepped out of the dungeon, the party was already on the 6th Floor. The two still in treatment had probably been transferred right where they lay.

We hadn't grown our levels or stats through this dungeon, so things were only going to get harder. But there was no helping it. I knew full well they wouldn't fully recover no matter how long we waited, and we couldn't postpone the Lord's request. Not that I would have postponed it even if we could.

There it was at last. The Elixir of Magical Power. That was what had let us survive the 7th Floor.

I opened my inventory at once. The Elixir of Strength and the Elixir of Vitality had already been issued.

These elixirs had to be saved. In the last cycle I'd had no choice but to use them just to stay ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠alive, but the longer you sat on them, the more they were worth. The item descriptions said it plainly enough: they unconditionally raised a stat by 1. A single point from 16 to 17 and a single point from 70 to 71 were worlds apart.

Theoretically, using one at 99 was peak efficiency.

Stats displayed up to 100. Past that, I'd heard, they weren't expressed as numbers at all. 101 didn't display, so the stat didn't increase — the elixir raised a numerical value, after all. Exceeding 100 meant transcending a limit the System itself had set. You couldn't use the System to break a ceiling the System had imposed.

Once I'd confirmed the rewards had come through properly, we went to find the officer in charge and make our report.

The man startled at the sight of us.

"You're already finished?"

"Yes. Fortunately, they were well within what we could handle."

"That may be, but... how did a mere five of you clear that vast Underground Waterway in three days..."

There was a note of suspicion in his voice.

"You're welcome to go verify. We completed the mission, without question."

"Fair enough. After everything you've done for this castle, for me to doubt you like this... I'm sorry."

"Not at all. It's a necessary procedure, in any case. We made a thorough sweep, so there shouldn't be many left."

"That's more than enough. They come back no matter how many times we wipe them out, anyway. I still can't figure out how they keep appearing no matter how many we kill. Do they just spring up out of nowhere?"

He's not wrong.

Spring up. Sometimes they appeared from behind a wall as if they'd always been there. Sometimes they dropped out of thin air. Most of the time they simply respawned on the spot, sudden as a blink — though that was only true of official System-managed Hunting Grounds and dungeons.

Even now, the Tower was a strange place: a tangle of game and reality that never quite sat right.

"Well, you've done good work. While we verify on our end, go get some rest—"

"If I might have a moment?"

"Hm?"

At the unexpected voice, we all turned.

An elderly man in immaculate dress stood waiting.

The officer startled at the old man's sudden appearance and bowed.

"Butler? What brings you here..."

"Ah. I have a matter to discuss with this gentleman."

"...Me?"

"Yes. You are Yoo Shin-hoo, I presume?"

"I am, but..."

"I was told you'd gone out on a request. You've returned rather quickly."

"It wasn't a difficult mission, thanks to the Lord's consideration. And you are...?"

"Ah, how rude of me. I am Jules, butler of this castle."

"A pleasure. I'm Yoo Shin-hoo."

He already knew who I was, but I gave my name again for courtesy's sake. I could guess easily enough why he'd come looking for me.

Johann moved fast.

"A matter arose while your party was out on the request, you see. I'll need you to come with me for a moment."

"...A matter?"

I played dumb, as if I hadn't the faintest idea.

"This isn't... quite the place to discuss it."

Jules glanced at the people around us. I nodded.

"Understood. I'll come with you. Will I do on my own?"

"No. I'm afraid your companions ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠will need to come as well."

The others looked bewildered, but they agreed at once.

"This way, then."

He led us to a reception room.

"What... is this about?"

"An artifact was discovered in your room, Yoo Shin-hoo."

"...An artifact?"

"Yes."

"I don't have anything like that. I lost all my belongings in the forest before I even reached Mellid Castle. I never had an artifact to begin with. Even this armor cost me everything I owned — an artifact, of all things..."

I got my word in first, clean and simple.

"Is that so... However, there is a problem with the artifact in question."

"What kind of problem?"

"That artifact belongs to the Lord. The seal of the Lord's house is engraved upon it."

"...Don't tell me you think I stole it?"

"I am aware this is no way to treat a hero who has saved this castle from crisis more than once... but the situation admits no other explanation. The artifact a maid discovered while tidying the room this afternoon is the Ring of Life, specialized in restoring the body."

Restoring the body.

I saw at once what Jules was driving at.

So that's how they're connecting it?

I'd had no such intention whatsoever, but they seemed to think I'd stolen the Ring of Life to heal my party. I hadn't. The artifacts I'd seen in the secret vault had all been garbage — trashy enough that I hadn't hesitated to use them as bombs. A low-ranking priest's recovery spell would have done more good.

"Is that artifact even good enough to heal our party? No — that you'd look at me and think I'd do something like that... frankly, I'm disappointed. I've given every request I've taken everything I had."

"...Mm."

In the last cycle they'd thrown me straight into a cell. This time, the butler himself was sitting me down in a reception room to talk it through.

They still hadn't been to the secret vault, by the look of it.

The timing was razor-thin.

A little later and the Lord would have checked it first. That would have tangled the plan. But because I'd smashed the vault and cleaned it out ahead of them, the effect was going to be as sharp as it could get.

"On top of that, the request came in a day after my party was injured. I was busy enough just preparing for it. I haven't even been in this castle a full month. I didn't know a Ring of Life existed, let alone where it was kept — and the moment we get hurt, I'm supposed to have known about it, stolen it, and hidden it in my room? And then left it there when I went out on a request? That doesn't make any sense."

I looked the old butler in the eye and went on.

"If I'd stolen it before that, there's even less reason I wouldn't have used it. If I had, my party members wouldn't have been hurt as badly as they were. None of it fits. Not the front, not the back."

"...Mm."

Jules hummed, as if he found the argument reasonable.

That was when it happened.

The door slammed open with a crash, and a man burst into the reception room, shouting.

"Butler! It's an emergency — an emergency!"

"...What is it? What on earth is going on that you'd—"

Jules frowned, clearly displeased with the man's manners.

"Th-the Lord is in a rage...! H-he's asking for you urgently, sir!"

He's been to the vault.

I felt things getting interesting.