Entering the Lower Floors

The village had been bustling since early morning.

I'd stepped out a little ahead of the crowd, and still every last person was already in motion — throwing open shop doors, heading out to hunt. They had holidays here, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠same as Earth, and places like the capital did take one day off a week. A border region like this was another matter entirely.

"I came out, but... Seoyun, as far as I know, there's really nothing to do around here."

It wasn't as though we'd gone out to play yesterday, and we hadn't surveyed the area either, but with my experience from the first cycle I could say it with certainty.

There was nothing to do here. Not unless trainees came flooding in someday and this place ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠turned into a city. You walked the market once, took a stroll around the outskirts, and that was the end of it. Even after I told her as much, Na Seoyun only grinned.

"That's enough for me."

"...Enough for what?"

"Ehehe. We're just going to walk around a little today and then train together."

"...That's not playing, though."

"I've never trained with you before, oppa. That's plenty of fun for me."

"...Have I never looked after you?"

I had. It wasn't as if I never had. Just during the tutorial.

"Compared to Eunju unnie or Yujin lately, it's way less."

"...That's because you've been learning magic recently."

I didn't know the first thing about that field. In the first cycle I'd already been short on skill slots — where was I supposed to find room to slot even a single magic-related skill?

"Still, one of my skills is dual-wielding, and you barely pay any attention to me, oppa."

What was the point of meddling with a kid who grew just fine on her own? I'd left her alone, figuring I'd only be asking for trouble.

"Alright, alright. So today I just need to train with you? If that's what you want, I'll do it."

Since I'd promised to spend the day with her, I intended to devote it entirely to Na Seoyun. She was a future Ranker candidate — one day was nothing.

And if training was what she wanted, I was prepared to go along with it. She had a clear aptitude for a Magic Swordsman, so sword practice was necessary anyway.

"Then we need a decent spot nearby..."

"Ah, I know one. I walked around a lot yesterday."

She must have been looking forward to this more than I'd thought. Honestly, at this point I felt a little guilty.

Na Seoyun took the lead and headed out of the village.

It was the complete opposite direction from where I'd gone yesterday.

Not far. A clearing that sat on a gentle rise, the ground a little higher than the village itself. A place that would later be swallowed up as the village expanded. The shantytown of the future.

I had even lived here myself, if only for a short while.

Of all the spots she could have picked for a training ground.

Looking down from that modest height, the entire village lay spread out at a glance.

"It's nice, right? The view isn't bad, and the weather's even good today."

"...Yeah."

We didn't start training right away. Na Seoyun stood looking down at the village for a moment, then settled onto the ground.

Pat. Pat.

She patted the earth beside her. I sat down next to her without refusing.

A breeze swept over the hill.

Na Seoyun gazed at the village in silence for a long time. I didn't rush her. I didn't ask whether we hadn't come here to train. I had already decided that today, I would match her in everything.

...Hehe.

As I sat there without a word, I realized at some point that Na Seoyun was smiling.

I let out a small huff of a laugh.

"That happy?"

"Yes."

We hadn't done a thing. And still she looked like she might burst with joy. She must have wanted to be together that badly.

"Of course I am."

"Why to that extent..."

I started to speak and stopped. Saying it out loud would only cost me.

But Na Seoyun spoke as if she already knew the rest, even without hearing it.

"That's because you saved me, oppa."

Should I say it, or shouldn't I. I hesitated, then opened my mouth anyway. Thinking in terms of practical benefit, staying quiet was the right move. But I didn't think speaking up would cause any real problem. In the end, curiosity won.

"...That's true of the rest of the party too. And as you well know, after that I abandoned more people than I saved."

"I don't care. You saved me. What happens to other people is none of my business."

Na Seoyun smiled, bright and easy. I looked into her eyes. Her gaze didn't waver.

It was a little strange, as expected. Or maybe this was the normal one. Humans were selfish, after all.

No matter how thoroughly you were taught morality, most people put themselves first. There were exceptions, but they were vanishingly rare. Even Na-yeon had only brought up morality with me after her own safety was secured, and even when we'd briefly clashed over it, she had ultimately prioritized the lives of herself and of us, her companions.

Every life is precious — that was the lesson. In the end, you and the people around you came first.

"Honestly, there were times Unnie got on my nerves."

"...Why?"

"We weren't in any position to be sticking our noses into other people's business. But she kept doing it anyway... You're already struggling just to keep us alive, oppa, and she kept doing things she didn't need to do. It's not that I don't understand. But Unnie isn't the only one whose conscience bothers her. I'm struggling, Hayeon unnie is struggling, Eunju unnie is struggling — and she tells us to spare kids who'll come back to haunt us, says life is precious so we can't kill anyone... The one having the hardest time is you, oppa."

It sounded like she was talking about the eighth floor. Which meant that even back then, the weight in her heart had already tipped toward me rather than her own older sister.

"I am grateful to Unnie. Back on Earth she gave up the university she was attending and went to work because Mom was sick and because of me, and here she brought you to me — so yes, I'm grateful. That's just who she is, so she wouldn't have given up on me on Earth or in a place like this. But even so, sometimes she gets on my nerves. I'm a really selfish, awful kid. Right, oppa?"

I let out a quiet laugh at that.

"Yeah, you're awful. But so what? People can't like every part of another person. That's true even of family."

I was the same.

I had regressed to meet my family, and I had chosen an extraordinarily difficult path — killing the Giants to save them. Even the request that had triggered my regression, asking to be sent to Earth, had been a choice I'd made because if I was going to die ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anyway, I wanted to die where my family had been.

And even I, thinking of the family who would still be frozen in time on Earth, did not have only good memories. The family I missed so much had their flaws. There were parts of them that drove me up the wall.

But what of it? It was hard for a human being to love every single thing about another human being. That was why it didn't particularly matter.

"You're the same. Na-yeon is too. She has that frustrating personality, but she's just as responsible."

"Ehh, you can't like every part of a person...? That's not true, though."

Na Seoyun grinned at me, wide and unguarded.

"I don't have anything I dislike about you, oppa. Everything about you is good. There's nothing that gets under my skin the way it does with Unnie."

"...That's because we haven't spent enough time together yet. Stick around long enough and you'll find at least one thing that doesn't sit right."

"Hehe. Then I'll just have to stay glued to you for a long, long time until I find it. I have to check whether you're right or not, oppa."

"...Go ahead."

"Was that permission?"

"Yeah. Stick as close as you want."

Until I save Earth, that is.

Na Seoyun was wearing the face of an ideal, adorable girl. But I knew. She was not the kind of creature who belonged in a fairy tale. Or rather — in a certain sense, she was exactly the kind of person who belonged in a story. The genre was just different.

In the eyes of the girl who had just promised to stay beside me for a long, long time, there was a glint of madness.

I knew. I accepted it anyway. If anything, I was glad. She would never leave my side.

I was the one who had made her this obsessed. I had a responsibility to bear. But that, too, was just an excuse. In the end, I was simply using Na Seoyun's obsession.

And still she felt like a real younger sister, and that was enough, at times, to fill me with disgust at myself. To feel genuine affection for her and exploit her at the same time — I was pretty far gone.

"Hehe. Oppa, let's train, let's train. You taught Yujin Dagger Mastery yesterday, right? Today you have to look at my swordsmanship."

"...Dual-wielding is hard even for me. It doesn't match my aptitude. I have a skill for it, so there's some correction, but if it doesn't fit your aptitude it's still difficult to use. And yours is a straight upgrade ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠over mine."

"Then let's spar, at least. Not the swordsmanship itself — watch how I fight and give me some advice."

"If it's that..."

Na Seoyun requested a spar, a future Legendary weapon in one hand and an ordinary weapon of the present in the other.

My Strength had been reduced, but that towering Agility and Mana of hers weren't going anywhere. She was, without question, the strongest in the party besides me. Take her lightly and I'd pay for it. Even as I blocked her blades and corrected her stance, I found myself wondering from time to time whether any of this was even necessary.

Na Seoyun grew quickly even without me. She had been focusing on magic lately, training it, using it — and yet her swordsmanship hadn't rusted at all. It had improved. There had been more than a few moments when she'd come at me taking full advantage of a sword in each hand, and I'd nearly jumped out of my skin.

The entire morning went to sparring. When afternoon arrived and lunchtime with it, Na Seoyun pestered me to eat out.

I didn't refuse.

She asked me to buy this and that, but she didn't want anything expensive or particularly impressive. Just some skewers they sold now and then in the marketplace, and a little fruit. Even that, she only ate a bite or two, saving room for a proper meal.

"This restaurant! Let's eat at this one!"

Na Seoyun had apparently done her homework. She led me to a restaurant tucked away in a corner.

"Well now, you're back again, mercenary miss."

"If you say that... no. I came back because it was good. I wanted my oppa to try it too."

"Hmm? So you're that harem mercenary captain?"

"...Harem mercenary captain? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't you go around with four women — and women that good-looking, at that? Heard you've even got a kid with you. You're already famous around the village."

"...Yujin is not my child. he's a skilled mercenary."

I answered as if it didn't bother me, but inwardly I thought:

Of all the reputations to spread, it had to be that one?

It wasn't as though it would actually hurt me. The Empire that ruled the Lower Floors and the Middle Floor was a nation that permitted both polyandry and polygamy.

But I had wanted my name to spread for my skill, and I hadn't had the opportunity yet. Gnolls raided this place on a regular cycle anyway. An opportunity would come. It was only a matter of time.

The truth was, this was a border in name only — it was all but abandoned. History said as much: the region had started with criminals, and it existed now because of a mine that had since been closed. The same mine I was after.

Well. It also served to keep the gnolls in check.

"So, what'll it be?"

"This, and this, and..."

Having already been caught coming here yesterday, Na Seoyun started rattling off dishes in a hurry.

"It's all the same stuff you ate yesterday, ain't it?"

"I came back because it was good, I told you."

"Right, right. I'm so obliged I could die. Just wait a bit."

Once the shopkeeper stepped away to cook, I turned to Na Seoyun.

"So you came here yesterday?"

"Yes. I found it while walking around with the unnies. It was pretty good."

They had each ordered something different and shared. She said the dishes she'd just requested were the best of the bunch.

"Thanks. Thanks to you, I got to visit a good restaurant."

I had been here in the first cycle, so I didn't need to worry about the food. I actually remembered the place getting bigger after the village grew. It hadn't been in this location back then. They'd probably moved it when they expanded.

I ate with Na Seoyun, smiling, and we were taking a little more of a walk afterward when it happened.

Someone went tearing past us, running hard toward the mercenary office.

"...Oppa?"

I couldn't help but be startled.

Above the head of the person who had gone tearing past, an Orange Exclamation Mark was shining.