The Ponytail Girl Is Too Strong (2)
The Ponytail Girl Is Too Strong (2)
<Tutorial Stage>
-Clear Condition 1: Swallow a 'Golden Orb' hidden somewhere in the forest to advance to the next stage. However, only 50 Golden Orbs exist.
-Clear Condition 2: Defeat the Boss, Goblin Shaman, to generate a portal to the next stage.
"Everyone! I don't know whose scheme this is, but in a crisis like this we have to stick together!"
"...What's with that guy."
"...No clue."
Quiet murmurs reached my ears. Yeah. They must be dumbfounded.
Still, I'd already seized the flow. Whether by my own doing or not, I'd fostered an atmosphere where people were at least willing to hear me out.
"The number of people gathered in this clearing is well over fifty, just at a glance. That means not everyone can swallow a Golden Orb and advance to the next stage. This Tower is pushing us toward division."
I kept speaking, fist clenched tight.
"But it says if we defeat the Boss, a portal will open. That means there is definitely a path where we all survive together. It's called a Boss for a reason, so it won't be easy... but if we combine our strength, we can absolutely bring it down!"
I finished my passionate speech with such fervor that I worried the strain in my throat might draw blood and trigger a regression.
The reactions to my solemn address were remarkably consistent.
"...What's he on about, what a moron."
Total, thorough indifference.
But while the response was uniform, the reasons behind it split into two camps.
First. They didn't believe me.
"Let's think realistically. Boss? Portal? Do you actually believe this isn't reality? Just because those people are going on about Status Windows and fairies, you're taking it at face value? Rather than wandering around, let's stay put without taking unnecessary risks. Let's wait for rescue."
"...But something did pop up in front of my eyes just now..."
"They probably sneaked in some contact lenses or something. Are you going to believe everything that floats in front of your eyes?"
A firefighter soothing the others gathered around... Choi Cheol-soon, was it? Anyway, the firefighter uncle.
He hadn't seen a goblin with his own eyes yet, so he seemed to be in denial that this was inside the Tower.
Since he couldn't accept the whole concept of monsters and tutorials to begin with, my words would have sounded like nonsense.
And the second reason.
"...Combine our strength? For whose benefit?"
"If we fight the Boss, who's going to step up in front? Is he gonna be the meat shield?"
"Has that bastard never read a webtoon? If you group up here, you all die. Doesn't he know you have to be selfish to survive?"
People with zero intention of working together.
They weren't wrong, honestly. The Tower is a place of survival of the fittest, a space where the altruistic get devoured by the selfish.
With everyone busy scheming to save their own skin, I must have looked like some clueless idiot spouting idealistic nonsense.
And so, not a single person approached me.
"...Haah."
I slumped down onto the ground, drained.
I looked up at the sky for a moment, then slowly buried my face.
Because everything had gone exactly according to plan, and it was getting hard to keep a straight face.
**
Why am I suddenly doing something I've never done before, you ask?
The concept is: a man who has a righteous heart but lacks the strength to realize it.
And the first step in that performance was the proposal to join forces and defeat the Boss.
Of course, I didn't say it expecting success.
Unless someone was exceptionally stupid, no one was going to agree to suddenly go hunt the Boss.
We're still at a stage where people can't even gauge how strong the 'monsters' are, and everyone here is a beginner who's never touched a weapon in their lives.
The violent nuance carried by the name 'Goblin Shaman,' versus the hopeful image conjured by 'Golden Orb.'
And on top of that, only fifty orbs? If everyone else runs off and escapes through the Golden Orbs while you waste time trying to hunt the Boss?
You'd do all the hard work and likely end up throwing your life away for nothing.
Any normal person's mind would gravitate toward searching for the orbs. My proposal failing was only natural.
But even that failure was part of the show I was putting on for Ponytail Girl.
I figured the kind of kind-hearted, slightly foolish person I was imagining would act recklessly in exactly this way.
Think of it as me playing the role of Captain America before he got his superpowers.
What if Ponytail Girl is disgusted by it, you ask? I'll just regress. Whatever.
I have an infinite number of attempts, so there's absolutely no need to play it safe.
Now, back to the present.
How will the brave little citizen, whose proposal to hunt the Boss together was unanimously rejected, act next?
I pretended to agonize for about thirty minutes, waiting for enough time to pass.
"..."
This should be enough.
I rose unsteadily to my feet and began to walk.
My steps led me to the weapon pile at the center of the clearing. From the pile, already picked thin after people had swept through it, I grabbed the first random sword I could find.
My stance—as idiotic-looking as I could make it.
Feet positioned awkwardly, center of gravity all over the place. My hands gripping the sword in the most uncomfortable way possible.
After holding the sword like a complete novice that anyone could see, I swung it with all my strength.
Whoom.
Compared to Ponytail Girl's 'Fwoom!', it was a pathetically feeble sound.
But as if that were sufficient, I gave a small nod and then moved toward the thicket where others had already passed through.
One step.
Two steps.
Grab me. Come on, grab me already. If I walk into that thicket like this, I might accidentally regress.
I was acting calm, but the closer I got to the thicket, the more my heart felt like it was burning up.
Finally, just as I was about to set foot into the thicket.
"Hold on."
Ponytail Girl blocked my path.
"You... what are you planning to do right now?"
The fish took the bait.
**
"You. What are you planning to do right now?"
The woman Kim Jun-ho had arbitrarily dubbed Ponytail Girl—Choi Ji-won—was thoroughly irritated.
The reason was simple.
"...Huh?"
It was because of the man standing in front of her, answering with a blank expression.
The moment the notice appeared, he'd started shouting about joining forces to hunt the Boss.
When no one responded, she could tolerate him moping and burying himself in a corner.
But when he picked up a sword with a look of sudden resolve and started trudging off—that, she absolutely could not let slide.
"The sword. I asked what you were planning to do with it."
When she gestured toward the sword with her chin, the man flashed an awkward smile.
"...I was going to go hunt the Boss."
"Alone?"
"The name is Goblin Shaman, right? Who knows, maybe they're unexpectedly weak? They're still goblins."
The reason he admitted it was exactly what Choi Ji-won had imagined.
This fool intended to recklessly throw himself at the Boss, even if he had to do it alone.
It would be nothing but a meaningless death. Did he not understand that?
'I don't like this.'
Irritation surged up for no discernible reason.
'...Ji-won. Just let him go. You can't save everyone. Just by deciding to protect this clearing, you've already done your duty.'
It was her beloved sword, Boongboong-yi, trying to dissuade her. The name was a bit childish because she had inherited the sword at age seven.
You might be wondering why a sword is suddenly talking to her here.
The reason was simple. It was the power of one of Choi Ji-won's traits.
-Sword-Body Unity [SSS]
-A realm where the person becomes the sword and the sword becomes the person. To the person, the sword's sharpness and sturdiness; to the sword, human wisdom.
Sword-Body Unity is typically a term used in martial arts novels when someone can wield a sword as freely as if it were a part of their own body, but Choi Ji-won's case was a little different.
Because the sword had become a part of her in the truest sense. With its own sense of self, no less.
Choi Ji-won could feel what the sword felt. The sword could also feel what Choi Ji-won felt.
Truly, Sword-Body Unity. The two had drawn close to each other's essence and had become one.
Her sharpened senses, her increased strength—all of it was thanks to the trait.
In the previous cycle, the fact that she'd seen through Kim Jun-ho's act was also because the sword had told her.
'It's true that man is a good person. But there are plenty of good people. It's not like you can save every good person. Right now, getting used to your changed physical abilities should be the priority. You haven't fully adapted yet, have you?'
As if understanding exactly what Choi Ji-won was thinking, the sword Boongboong-yi tried to persuade her.
Rationally, Choi Ji-won acknowledged that Boongboong-yi was right.
Thanks to the Status Window, Choi Ji-won's physical abilities had skyrocketed, but she still hadn't gotten used to her new level of performance.
That meant she couldn't control her body freely, which meant a significant portion of her fighting strength was compromised.
And that wasn't all.
Now that her senses had sharpened through the trait's effect, she could sense it.
Far off in the distance, she could feel the presence of an unbelievably powerful monster.
If that was the 'Boss,' then even Choi Ji-won would have to give up on defeating it and set out to find a Golden Orb instead.
But...
"You. If you do that, you'll die."
"Haha... It'll be fine. Probably."
If she escaped like that, what would become of this man smiling blankly in front of her?
Was he thoughtless, or excessively brave?
Someone kept overlapping with him in her mind, and it made her deeply uncomfortable.
'...Hoo. You've made up your mind, then.'
Boongboong-yi let out a sigh. Since the sword could read Choi Ji-won's thoughts, it had already grasped what she'd just decided.
"...The sword."
"Huh?"
"I'll teach you, just for a little while. Follow me."
It was a simple whim. Hypocrisy, driven purely by her own discomfort.
A meager kindness—on the level of tossing a coin to a beggar on the street.
But even that meager kindness.
"...Really? You're going to teach me swordsmanship?"
To someone, it could be the kindness of a lifetime.