Entering the Lower Floors

I'd only ever heard stories about it. So it really did exist after all.

A rumor that had circulated through the guild like a piece of folklore. The Main Quest. That, I'd been told, was what the orange mark represented.

Why is that here?

If something had that mark floating over it, that meant it was an NPC. Most of the people in this village were natives of the Tower.

"Oppa, what's wrong?"

"Hmm? Nothing. I just thought I saw someone unusual."

"He's back again?"

"Britus Village, again. They must be in quite a mess."

The villagers gossiped as they watched the man vanish into the distance. They chattered about the stranger as he passed, then glanced our way for a fleeting moment — and their conversation died.

Something's going on.

And it had something to do with us.

I wanted to go after him. But Main Quests, unlike Hidden Quests, didn't vanish even if you missed a strict timing window — I knew that much. Besides, ours was the only party currently in the Lower Floors. Nobody was going to snatch it out from under us.

Na Seoyun looked like she was enjoying herself, so it seemed better to spend the time with her until evening, at least.

The man with the orange exclamation mark racing over his head was heading in a direction that looked an awful lot like the Mercenary Guild office.

I can ask this evening. Tomorrow at the latest.

Just confirming it existed was a major find in itself. Ideally, it would turn out to be a quest connected to my plans. Everything I needed to do was already sitting at priority one — if this didn't fit, I might have to abandon it.

If it really seemed worthwhile, I might even have to steel myself to split the party in two.

Without Information Level, completing a quest meant you wouldn't receive the proper rewards, or you'd miss the system rewards entirely. Still, it was a Main Quest. The payout ought to be good, right? I'd have to look into it at least once. I figured the odds of a connection were high. Britus Village meant Golden Gnolls. The Gnoll Hero. The chances of those two being linked were anything but small.

We walked through the village, taking a stroll to let the meal settle.

"But Oppa… why are you trying so hard to climb higher?"

A casual topic that drifted up in conversation. Thinking about it, I realized I'd never told the party why I wanted to climb the Tower.

For everyone except me, the motivation had been more than enough. They wanted to live. They were crushed under missions. They were surrounded by threats.

But this was a rest period. There was a real chance their drive would start to fade.

We'd cleaned out a considerable number of the scum on the floors below, so the immediate threats had weakened, and their own skills had started to find some kind of footing. From where I stood they still had a long way to go — but they'd never seen anyone stronger than our own party. That was not a good sign.

"I want to see my family's faces."

That was my answer. To give them something new to hold on to.

Na Seoyun looked up at me with round eyes. She clearly hadn't expected that kind of answer.

What had she been hoping I'd say?

I set a hand on her head.

"And I don't want the people who've crossed paths with me to come to a bad end. To make sure of that, I have to get stronger — faster, and more."

I said it with a light smile.

"I… I'll be your strength too, Oppa. I'll get stronger faster, and more…"

"You can take it a little slower. The way I see it, you don't need to rush. If you just keep at it steadily, you'll get plenty stronger."

"Then… I can be more help to you?"

"Of course. I'm counting on you most of all."

Because she was a future Ranker candidate. If she kept growing like this, it was a certainty. She'd be one of the strongest Rankers around — the kind you counted on one hand.

"Most of all?"

"Of course."

"Hehe."

I gently stroked her hair, and Na Seoyun smiled, clearly pleased.

Still running my hand over her head, I added, "And if you want to talk more casually, just do it."

"…Was it that obvious?"

"You keep dragging your words out and tacking on those little polite endings. How was I supposed to miss that?"

It was fine to loosen up with Na Seoyun. In fact, there wasn't anyone in the party I felt needed to be kept on a tight leash anymore.

That was why I'd already eased up halfway with Nam Eun-ju.

She'd still work hard. And I'd firmly established myself ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as the leader. So I decided to let the reins slack a little.

"…I still can't be too disrespectful, though… I'll just… get a little more comfortable. Bit by bit."

"Sure. Go ahead."

The reason Na Seoyun had suddenly wanted to spend time with me — and why she wanted to speak more casually — was obvious.

Nam Eun-ju had recently started treating me more familiarly in private, and Seoyun had been envious. She already seemed to lean on me even more than on Na-yeon, so there was a good chance she'd felt a twinge of jealousy toward Eun-ju, who was acting closer to me than she was.

On top of that, right before we'd left the inn, Joo Ha-yeon had been extremely affectionate with me, and recently Ha Yoo-jin — who was even younger than Seoyun — had joined the party.

She'd probably felt her position was under threat.

The beloved youngest-sibling role had been stolen. She'd thought she was the closest to me, the only one who called me Oppa — then Nam Eun-ju had inserted herself, and both of them had shown explosive growth, snatching my attention right out from under her.

It was enough to make anyone anxious.

When I told her clearly, Na Seoyun looked like she'd accomplished something. Her whole face and posture radiated a sense of achievement.

It was quietly adorable. I smiled, then we headed back to the hill. We trained under the guise of rest until evening drew near, and then made our way toward the inn.

I was planning to eat dinner with the party.

As we neared the inn, I said to her, "I'm going to stop by the Mercenary Guild for a bit. You go on ahead, Seoyun."

"Huh? Why…? Can't I come with you?"

"I'd like you to tell the others I'll be a little late. If I take too long, they should go ahead and eat and rest."

I made a face that said I was asking a favor. Na Seoyun looked a little disappointed, but she'd essentially achieved her goal of spending the day with me, so she nodded.

"Okay, Oppa. You have to come back soon, okay?"

She'd gotten permission to speak more casually, but it still didn't come easily.

"Yeah. I got it. Go on in."

I parted ways with Na Seoyun and headed for the Mercenary Guild office.

The Main Quest I'd seen during the day. I wanted to confirm it.

When I stepped inside, Sirid, who was tidying up, looked at me with some puzzlement.

"What brings you here at this hour?"

"Ah — I see you were wrapping up."

"Well, there aren't any other mercenaries in the village right now besides your team."

NPC.

Sirid. He was an NPC too. I'd already known that — I'd heard as much later on. The people in charge of the Mercenary Guild in each village were all NPCs. It was strange enough that every village had a branch when there were so few mercenaries around to begin with.

The orange exclamation mark I'd seen during the day was floating above his head. The man from earlier must have fulfilled the conditions by coming here.

"I saw some man running this way in a panic during the day."

"…Hmm."

"I overheard the villagers talking. They said he came from another village… Judging by their reactions, it seemed like it had something to do with us."

"…Well, I'll be. Perfect timing. You saw that? So that's why you came?"

"Yes."

"Your instincts are something else. That's right. It does involve you lot."

"What… kind of matter is it?"

"There's a place called Britus Village. The yellowish gnoll bastards mainly raid there. It's a village whose territory sits relatively close to theirs. Those gnolls have been a real pain. All the mercenaries who were in this village until recently got hired and went over there."

I could easily guess what he was going to say next.

"…And it's not enough, is that it?"

"That's right. The village requested help from mercenaries and vigilante groups in other villages. Originally the bloodthirsty bastards from Mohol Village were the most vicious, but these past few years it's been the golden ones causing trouble."

"So they came all the way here…"

"Well, all ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠five of our villages cooperate with Tidrind Castle at the center. I wasn't planning on telling you right away, though… As you know, we don't have any mercenaries besides you. I was going to wait a few days. Our mercenaries all got swept away not long ago, and we were attacked recently ourselves, so I wanted to ask you to do some scouting for a while…"

Sirid glanced at me.

"Curious after all? It's fairly dangerous over there."

"We came here because of the Golden Gnolls in the first place. We were planning to rest ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for a while, but if an opportunity like this has come up, I'd like to take it."

"Tch. Shame. Fine, I understand. I'll give you the request form."

Despite his words of regret, he immediately rummaged through his desk, pulled out a sheet of paper, and handed it to me readily.

"The client is the entirety of Britus Village. The contents are village defense and investigation of the Golden Gnolls."

"The investigation part is just tacked on. They've been like this for years, so of course they want to know… but it's too dangerous. So just defending will be enough. Well? Are you really going to do it?"

"Of course. Would it be possible to meet the person who brought this request?"

"He probably already knows there are mercenaries here, so there's a good chance he'll come looking for you. He cares a great deal about his village. Tch, what a shame. We've barely known each other. Take that request form with you."

"Thank you."

Once my business was done, I left the Mercenary Guild immediately.

Lucky. I could honestly call this lucky.

In the past — in my first playthrough — the Gnoll Hero had come from the Golden Gnolls.

I'd been planning to investigate that region as a priority, and now I'd walked straight into what I suspected was the heart of it.

It wasn't confirmed, of course. It could be something completely unrelated. But that was fine. If it was something the village took this seriously, I could investigate the Golden Gnolls without raising any suspicion. It was even written on the request form, wasn't it? Even if that clause had become a dead letter, if I said I had the ability and wanted to investigate, they'd welcome it rather than refuse.

Getting out of the Labyrinth quickly had definitely been worth it.

The Gnoll Hero wouldn't appear right now. That was something that happened years from now. But I felt like I might be able to find some kind of clue.

And…

Main Quest information.

The system window remained.

If I signed a contract tomorrow with the man from Britus Village, I'd probably be able to check it.

Information Level. It was time to feel its power once again.

When I returned to the inn, it hadn't taken long, so the party still hadn't eaten.

I finished dinner with them, then called everyone to my room.

"What's going on?"

Joo Ha-yeon had come when I called, but she looked puzzled.

"Does anyone have plans for tomorrow?"

"We were just going to take Eun-ju to that Hunting Ground together… She said she wasn't going today because she needed to absorb the training she learned."

"I see. You'll need to cancel that."

"…You went out and did something again? Weren't you spending the day with Seoyun?"

"That's right. We were together the whole time until we got back to the inn…"

"Do you remember the person I saw during the day?"

"That… the person Oppa was staring at…"

"Yeah. That person. After hearing the villagers talk, I figured something was going on, so I just went to the Mercenary Guild. Here."

I pulled out the request form and spread it so the party could see.

"Looks like something's happening. I was planning to take it slow and rest for a while… but if something like this comes up, that's a different story."

"…Britus Village?"

"Yeah. It seems to be what we'd consider a different Area."

"…If it's a different Area, can we just come and go freely? We haven't even explored other Areas yet…"

"We'll have to try."

We could go. That had been proven in my first playthrough — you could cross between Areas if you met the minimum level requirement, or if someone had an active request. Of course, crossing into the next Area without even meeting the minimum level was likely to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be dangerous, but the village side was relatively safer. And at our level, it wasn't a place we couldn't go.

"…Hah. It's only been a few days since we said we'd take it slow, and already…"

"Haha. I didn't expect this either."

"Well. Now that the opportunity's here, it'd be foolish not to take it. I am a little worried about Eun-ju and Yoo-jin, though…"

"I'm fine, Noona."

"You being fine isn't the issue. The issue is whether we can actually handle what we run into. We were planning to take it slow, so Eun-ju's in a weakened state — we don't know what might happen. Don't speak so carelessly."

Ha Yoo-jin flinched.

When the party's safety was at stake, Joo Ha-yeon even spoke sternly to Ha Yoo-jin, whom she'd been treating quite generously.

"I-I'm sorry."

"You don't need to worry about that. They're said to be somewhat vicious, but their actual combat power shouldn't be much different from the brown gnolls — unlike the Labyrinth."

I hadn't actually heard that, but with my first-playthrough knowledge, I spoke as if I had.

"That's a relief, then. If it's at this area's level…"

Joo Ha-yeon seemed to think for a moment, then nodded.

"Even at Eun-ju's current level, it should be fine."

Nam Eun-ju looked a little guilty, but this situation wasn't her fault.

If you had to pin it on someone, it was mostly mine. Though it was a coincidence of overlapping circumstances, so it was a strange situation to blame anyone for.

"Besides, I heard there are hired mercenaries there as well, so it should be all right."

"Hmm… This is definitely the kind of information you'd bring back because you thought it was worthwhile, Shin-hoo."

"Then tomorrow, when the person comes looking for us, we'll meet with them."

"Alright. Hah, we can't even rest when we want to."

"Haha. Sorry about that."

"No, I wouldn't really call it your fault, Shin-hoo. You brought us information, if anything."

"Then everyone rest well tonight, and I'll see you tomorrow. According to the guild, the person who came from there is the eager type, so he'll probably come looking for us first."

"That's good. If they're desperate, the terms will be better too…"

"Right. I have no intention of getting played. If it doesn't work out, we just don't go. There's no need to rush."

I fully intended to go, but in front of the party I played it cool.

"That's reassuring."

I let out a light chuckle.

"Then let's dismiss."

They nodded. The party exchanged see-you-tomorrows and headed to their respective rooms.