A Second Chance
Dozens of knights came pouring toward us. Taking every last one of them didn't look possible.
Should I turn back now...?
But then—
Clank. Clank.
The scrape of death knights started up behind us as well.
We're fucked...
That was when Karante shouted.
"There's a safe zone on the second basement floor!"
"What? A safe zone?"
"Yeah. It's warded — enemies can't get in. We head there!"
"Where is it?"
"Take a left at the fork up ahead and you'll see it right away!"
We held formation and punched through the corridor as the death knights came flooding in. Rin and Aria poured on damage from range, then Kiki, Karante, and I would surge forward and smash whatever was left. We ran that cycle over and over. Their numbers, though, were nothing to sneeze at.
"Fuck! There's no end to these things!"
Then it happened.
"Aria! Watch out!"
A death knight burst from a blind spot and brought its greatsword down toward Aria.
"Keruk!!"
Kiki launched himself, slamming his tower shield into place in front of her. A heavy crash rang out and his small body went sliding backward. He'd thrown himself in so fast that his stance hadn't settled, and it crumbled almost at once.
And then—
A wet, tearing slash.
"Keruk..."
Another death knight seized the opening and swept its blade across, carving a deep gash through Kiki's chest. Blood sprayed. His body lurched hard.
"Kiki!!!"
Aria and Rin screamed at the same time. Karante was already moving, catching Kiki and hauling him up.
"You... you motherfuckers..."
Rage flooded my skull until everything went blank.
You dare hurt our cute little Kiki?
Lightning cracked. Then it cracked again, louder.
I hauled my Primordial Power up to its limit, kicked off the stone, and flew into the death knights, hacking them apart without aim or mercy. Greatswords came at me. Wounds opened on my body. I didn't give a damn. I slashed, stabbed, and smashed whatever was in front of me.
I don't know how many I cut down before Karante shouted from in front of an iron door.
"Here! This is it!!"
"Oppa!!! Hurry!!"
"Minwoo!! Over here!!"
The massive door groaned open and we piled through. Even I, still butchering death knights a second earlier, snapped back to myself and went in last. Karante slammed the door shut.
The instant it sealed, the scratching and pounding started up outside. And just as he'd said, a barrier shimmered over the closed door like a sheet of rippling glass.
"Huff... huff..."
I dragged in air and let the Primordial Power bleed off. My mana was already scraped down to the dregs.
Once the fury receded, the room finally came into focus. A worn, shabby stone chamber. Four figures huddled in the corner — one lizard beastkin, one orc, and two ordinary-looking human men. Karante's comrades looked ready to fold where they sat.
"Ka... Karante...?"
The orc blinked like he couldn't trust his own eyes. The lizard beastkin spoke in a hoarse rasp.
"Don't tell me... you came to save us?"
"That's right! I'm here!"
"But... this place is crawling with death knights. How the hell did you even get here?"
Karante pointed at us.
"I didn't come alone. They said they'd help with no conditions attached. That's the only reason I made it."
Their eyes turned toward us — and then they flinched at the sight of Rin.
"Th-the Younger Sister Witch...? And is that Primordial Power?"
The man who looked like a mage started visibly panicking as he stared from Rin to me.
"That's right! Even after we acted like complete assholes, the Younger Sister Witch came to help us. She didn't even hesitate!"
The other human, a spearman, bowed his head toward Rin.
"Kh... th-thank you, Younger Sister Witch... this debt, I swear I'll..."
"It's fine~! More importantly, is there a healer here? Our kobold kid needs a heal!"
"I'm the healer! Is that kobold friend the injured one?"
The one who stood up claiming the job was, of all people, the lizard beastkin. He looked so hideous I'd figured him for a curse caster, but a healer...?
Anyway, he set his hand on Kiki's chest. A green light bloomed, and the torn wound began closing over almost at once.
"Keruk! Keruk!"
Kiki's color came back. It was the first healing I'd seen since being summoned as a Participant, and it was genuinely impressive.
We could really use a healer of our own...
Once Kiki was done, the lizard beastkin pointed out that I was covered in wounds too and treated me as well. Warm light touched the cuts with a ticklish, settling sensation that felt strange and comforting all at once.
When the healing was finished, we sat in a circle and talked through how to get out.
"So how do we leave? Can we just go back the way we came?"
The spearman shook his head.
"You could leave that way. We can't. Our mission is Recovery — if we don't finish it, we can't return at all."
Aria leaned in.
"Have you been down to the third basement floor?"
"Yeah. We actually almost made it to the treasure chamber. Then death knights swarmed us in a pack... we got pushed all the way back here."
My ears pricked up.
Treasure chamber?
Then that place would be packed with gold and jewels, right? That's just common sense. It's called a treasure chamber.
The gold coins I'd let slip when I killed Karvan last time flickered in front of my eyes.
Heh heh heh... so that's how it is...
A second chance. Everyone gets a second shot at things. My brand-new opportunity to turn my life around had just walked in the door. See? Do something decent and decent things happen to you.
This time... I am not letting it get away.
I could finally put a home gym in the Base Camp. And I'd buy Assistant Manager Yuna an apology gift while I was at it. A perfect plan.
I was still turning that over when Rin spoke up.
"Then were there any enemies on the third floor besides the death knights?"
"No. From what we saw, besides a few dozen death knights, there was nothing else."
Yeah? Then there was only one answer.
I looked at all of them.
"We punch through."
"What?"
"With our combined strength, we can push through, right? Those four are experienced Participants same as Karante, and with us that's nine people. We can make it all the way to that treasure chamber."
Karante's party glanced at one another. The orc opened his mouth carefully.
"In terms of raw strength, that's true, but..."
"But?"
"We've been trapped for days... we haven't even eaten properly. Honestly, we're on the verge of collapsing."
"Wait. You didn't bring any food?"
"We thought it'd be a quick mission... we didn't expect it to turn out like this..."
"Aigoo... fuck..."
Couldn't be helped. If I wanted to get rich in a treasure chamber, I had to invest first.
I opened the Subspace Bag and pulled out instant abalone porridge, energy bars, Choco Pies, and the like, and handed them around.
"Wh-what is this? I've never seen food like this in my life."
"Did you pick this up on some other mission?"
I scowled and put an edge in my voice.
"Just eat it and forget about it. Don't you dare go blabbing about this anywhere."
They nodded and dug in with gusto.
"Holy shit — what even is this black sweet bread? I can't believe food like this exists!!"
After the meal and a short rest to get our legs back under us, our nine-person party left the safe zone.
"Let's go! To the treasure chamber!!"
On that shout we started shoving through the death knights toward the third basement floor.
The fighting went smoothly. No — overwhelming was the better word. The orc was a Guardian same as Kiki, so two tanks made the front line rock-solid, and the lizard healer's work lifted our stability to a completely different level. The spearman kept them pinned with his long reach. Aria and the human mage fried them with lightning and fire. Rin finished anything that slipped through the cracks, and Karante and I jumped in whenever the fight called for it and carved them apart.
Heh heh heh... this smooth? Treasure chamber, just you wait!!
We kept rolling the death knights back and pushed deep into the third floor.
"There! That's the treasure chamber!"
The orc pointed at a massive iron door. A few death knights still stood in front of it, but against a nine-person pile-on they couldn't do a thing. We turned them into scrap in moments and hauled the door open.
The hinges screamed.
Finally!
Heart hammering, I was first through.
And then—
"Huh...?"
An empty stone chamber. A single worn necklace sitting on a central altar. That was it.
"Found it! It's the holy relic!"
Karante's mage snatched the necklace off the altar.
That's a holy relic?
I felt like even something I'd cheap-ordered out of China would have looked better than that. No — never mind the necklace. This was a treasure chamber. Where was my gold?
The high I'd been riding plunged straight back into the basement. Was this how bipolar disorder started...?
"Yes! Mission complete!"
"Minwoo, Lightning Girl, the kobold kid, and the Younger Sister Witch too — thank you all. I'll never forget this debt."
"We survived thanks to you! You all make it back safely too!"
"We took care of the death knights, but still — be careful on the way back, just in case."
Karante's four comrades vanished in a flash of light.
"Aigoo... fuck... let's go. We should head back too."
"Yes, Minwoo."
"Keruk!"
We turned and walked out of the treasure chamber. Karante and Rin moved to follow.
That was when the floor began to growl.
"Huh? Wh-what?"
The stone inside the treasure chamber bucked hard. A nasty feeling hit me and I shouted.
"Get out now!! Rin! Karante!"
"Yap!!!"
Rin hopped clear and landed outside the door. Karante, right behind her, started to step through—
The floor gave way with a roar that shook the whole chamber.
"Wh-what the hell is thiiiiis!!!"
Karante's scream dropped away into the dark.
And then the treasure chamber door slammed shut with us on the outside. It did not open again.
"A barrier..."
Same shimmer as the safe zone. No amount of force was going to move it.
I took a breath and checked the hall. Aria, Kiki, and Rin had all made it out.
"Whew..."
The only one still inside — the only one who'd fallen — was Karante.
He's alive, right...?
Participants were close enough to superhuman. He'd survive somehow. Karante wasn't that weak. And he hadn't turned out to be as much of a bastard as I'd thought — he'd owned what he'd done, and the way he treated his comrades said something too.
Well. Nothing to be done about it.
"Good luck, then, Karante. If you're dead, rest in peace."