Regret

"Wh-what the hell is going on?"

"Why are the Lord and Master locked up in there?"

Two translucent, violet-hued spaces, each shaped like a perfect cube. Inside them, the Baron and Grandpa Lu were sealed away, one in each.

Watching the scene, a single word slipped from Aera's lips.

"An... artifact."

What? That thing was an artifact?

I'd heard of them once, back at a tavern. The memory rose up on its own.

The place was a tavern on the sixth floor of the Tower.

"Don't you think that's a bit much, hyung...s..."

I was slumped over the table, one hand wrapped around a beer mug, my head resting against the wood.

Sharing that table with me were a wolf beastman and a middle-aged guy.

The wolf beastman jabbed a finger at me and said,

"A male! *Hic!* Gets dumped by a woman and... don't take it so hard! Half the world is female!"

"Hyeeung... but still.... It's just so disappointing. I really thought things could work out with her...."

Watching the two of us completely wasted, the middle-aged guy knocked back his own beer and said,

"Getting dumped by a girl hurts you more than failing to open the tenth-floor gate, huh?"

"She was really pretty, though...."

"Like the wolf said, there's plenty of women! Of course, you'd need money to meet the kind of pretty ones you're talking about."

That made me wilt. I'd already given up on challenging the Tower and decided to settle for ordinary life — which meant the dream of getting rich was dead too. The idea that you needed money to meet pretty girls only dragged me deeper into gloom.

"So... does that mean I can't meet pretty girls anymore, hyung?"

"Well, in this day and age, if you want to make real money, you either keep adventuring and climb the Tower, succeed in business, or work as a mercenary. That's about it, isn't it?"

Tears welled up in my eyes. Seeing that, the wolf beastman said,

"Hey! A male, sniveling again... Don't give up! There's one way... *hic!* ...to do it."

"Hyung! What is that way?!"

I lunged forward in a burst of excitement, shoving my face right into the wolf beastman's.

He pushed my head away with a grimace.

"Get off! A male shoving his face in like that is disgusting. Ugh, you just sobered me right up."

He'd been so startled that even his hiccups stopped. Crossing his arms, he looked at me.

"Listen carefully. That one way is..."

"Is?"

"Artifacts."

"Arti... factory?"

"No! Ar-ti-fact!"

"What's that?"

The middle-aged guy set down his mug and explained.

"Artifacts. Objects that hold special power. Treasures of the Tower — precious items that can become disasters if used wrong."

"Right! Find one... or claim one, and you can get rich overnight."

That sobered me up a little too.

"R-rich?! From a single item? How expensive are they?"

The wolf beastman thought it over, then said,

"Well, from what I've heard, a C-rank artifact goes for about three hundred gold coins."

"Three hundred gold?!"

"Yeah. And from B-rank up, it starts at a thousand."

"A thousand gold?! Where do you even get something like that?!"

My motivation was suddenly blazing. But what came back was the middle-aged guy's cold water, dousing the fire.

"Ah, just drop it. What artifact? Those things almost never drop."

"They don't?"

The wolf beastman nodded.

"Yeah, they really don't drop much. Still, people have gotten them. Artifacts only appear inside the Tower. Some say they're hidden away; others say they drop when you kill monsters."

"But on the floors we go to, you can pretty much assume nobody's ever gotten one."

Deflated, I went back to drinking.

Gulp—gulp—

I downed the whole mug in one go, set it down, and asked,

"So what kind of power is sealed in these things that makes them that expensive?"

The wolf beastman answered.

"Rumor has it some of them can blast out massive torrents of water, spew boiling lava, summon rare familiars, or even seal an opponent away."

"Lava? Isn't that the strongest thing ever?!"

The middle-aged guy snorted.

"Heh. If the lava one's real, yeah, that'd be the strongest."

"Though there are useless ones too. Like an artifact that gets rid of foot odor."

"Spending three hundred gold on that..."

"Anyway, the rumors are endless, but one thing's certain."

"Certain?"

"Every artifact is unique. There are never two of the same one in existence at the same time. That's what makes them valuable, rare, and expensive."

The wolf beastman chimed in.

"Exactly. Even if it's a trash artifact."

"And anything below A-rank — meaning from B-rank down — can come with penalties depending on its ability."

"So they're things you have to use carefully...?"

"That's right."

The wolf beastman leaned back in his chair.

"Well? Feeling motivated? With just one artifact, you can charm any female you want, anytime."

"Heh. If you can actually get one, that is. Go hunt hard. Who knows? Maybe you'll get lucky."

The two of them tag-teamed me, needling me in perfect sync.

"Hyungs... you're awful.... Fine. Auntie! Six more beers over here!! We're drinking ourselves to death tonight, hyungs."

The wolf beastman shook his shoulders with laughter.

"I'm already sober. Think you can beat me?"

"You two can't take me. Even when you were drunk, I wasn't."

"Shut it, human! I'm the type that lasts forever when I'm only a little tipsy!"

While we were going at it, the tavern auntie came over, deftly carrying three mugs in each hand.

"Beers are here."

"Thank you. Tonight, I'm putting you hyungs under the table! First one to pass out pays for everything — how about it?!"

"Oh yeah? You can't take that back!"

"You're all dead. Cheers!"

We clinked our mugs together.

"Cheers!!"

Of all the things to remember in a situation this desperate — a conversation with those hyungs...

So that was the artifact they'd talked about...

I turned to Aera.

"How did you know that was an artifact?"

She answered,

"A few months ago, I went to an underground auction with my father... I saw that item there. Even the ability is identical."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"So it's confirmed, then."

"Yes. The name was definitely the Binding Cube — a B-rank artifact."

B-rank!! A priceless object that started at a minimum of a thousand gold coins.

Thud—

Trapped inside, Grandpa Lu tried to smash his way out of the cube, but the barrier didn't so much as tremble.

Seeing that, Baron David — sealed in the cube across from him — shouted,

"Butler, stop wasting your energy. This is an artifact. We're completely trapped. Skills won't even activate in here. So quit thrashing around and sit still. I'll kill you soon enough."

Aiham roared back at him.

"You're trapped just the same, aren't you?! Baron Depon!"

The man burst into laughter, then wiped the mirth from his face and glared at us from inside the cube.

"Just the same? You really don't grasp the situation, do you."

"What?"

"No matter how strong that butler is — can he stop me from killing the vice-leader from in there?!"

"...."

Aiham's expression hardened.

"You're so lowborn and stupid I have to spell it out for you. And who do you think you are, calling my name so freely? For you, I'll make a special exception — I'll toss your corpse to a pack of wild dogs. Kill them!"

At his command, the remaining seventy-odd soldiers advanced toward us.

Aiham, the escorts, and I all drew our blades.

But as the soldiers drew closer, the escorts suddenly began dropping their swords to the ground.

"I... I don't want to die.."

"I'm sorry...."

Muttering those words, they backed away, then seized one of the carriages and fled.

The Baron laughed and shouted after them.

"Forget the rats that ran! Tear that insolent silver-haired woman apart first!!!"

"You bastard of a Lord! The moment this thing comes off, I will kill you!"

Grandpa Lu snarled, seething with rage. But the Lord barely reacted.

"Butler, your threats don't work anymore."

A wicked smile spread across his face.

"Don't worry. When the reinforcements arrive, the cube will release — and the second it does, I'll have magic and arrows punched straight through your body too."

"You bastard of a Lord!!"

A deep furrow carved itself between Grandpa Lu's brows, and the veins at his temples bulged. But there was nothing he could do.

Meanwhile, I looked at the soldiers pouring toward us and thought.

That many would be hard to stop.

Then the best I could do was buy as much time as possible.

But if I went in there...

Dying is pretty much guaranteed...

I spoke in a low voice to the man standing beside Aera.

"Aiham."

"Yeah.. Ki-seok."

"You stay here and protect Aera."

"What? What about you?!"

"I'll go out and buy as much time as I can. There's no way that cube of his lasts forever."

At those words, tears spilled down Aera's cheeks.

"No.... Ki-seok..."

"Protect Aera no matter what. Aiham."

Leaving those words behind — and the weeping Aera behind me — I sprinted forward.

Watching him go, Aiham's eyes reddened too.

"Kim Ki-seok, you idiot...."

I closed the distance on them steadily. Poison began to form along my blades.

No point holding back.

The moment I held back, it was over.

I drew a deep breath.

My right-hand dagger clashed with the foremost soldier's blade.

Tang! A clear ring of steel.

But I fought with twin daggers. I spun hard and, with the other hand, slashed open his throat.

"Guh..."

He clutched his neck and went down.

One down.

I kept attacking. The soldiers weren't that strong. With Acceleration running, I was fast — two fell, then three.

But numbers were numbers. Before long, they had me surrounded.

But...

I'd been waiting for exactly this.

I shouted.

Green smoke began to writhe up around me.

"What is this smoke?!"

The soldiers panicked at the sight. The ones closest to me inhaled it through their nostrils before they could stop themselves.

"Wh-wha...?"

The soldiers around me staggered. One of them screamed.

"It's poison gas!!"

"Too late."

I closed on the reeling soldiers in an instant and began cutting them down one-sidedly, one after another.

My level wasn't high, but Poisonous Afterimage was an outstanding skill for fighting a crowd. The soldiers around me were hunted down helplessly by the smoke-wreathed figure in their midst.

But the more flesh I carved, the tighter my grip clenched around my blades. The veins in my arms thickened and throbbed like a second heart, and my consciousness began to blur the way it had before.

Acceleration — four consecutive casts.

The stacks of Acceleration kept climbing. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Breath and mana were running out.

Acceleration — seven consecutive casts.

The more I chained it, the more the acceleration force seized my body, and I grew faster and faster, carving through enemies with ease. Forearms, thighs, chests, throats — I slashed and stabbed with both blades, cutting down every soldier that charged me.

If they hesitated or stepped back, I lunged in and cut them down myself. When a sword came at me, I deflected it with a dagger and took the throat. When a long spear thrust in, I slipped just aside and drove a blade through the chest. When arrows flew, I used the nearest soldier or corpse as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a shield — or offered up non-vital flesh. When I heard the chant of magic, I Accelerated straight to the casters first and severed the wrists holding their staves.

Acceleration — twelve consecutive casts.

Corpses were piling up around me, but the smoke had already faded.

But I didn't stop.

I'd long since forgotten how to breathe. I simply kept cutting down the enemies in front of me.

Even as my heart hammered so hard it forced blood through ruptured vessels, seeping from my arms — even as my whole body turned a corpse-blue, no longer looking human — I did not stop.

In that moment, those things were trivial problems.

The thrilling rush that came with every slash. The sensation at my fingertips with every thrust. My body was falling apart, and yet for some reason the corners of my mouth kept lifting.

This is fun.

The thick smell of enemy blood flooding my nostrils. The corpses piling higher on the ground. The terror-stricken faces reflected in their eyes — as if they were staring at a demon — only excited me further.

"Th-this madman!!"

"Everyone fall back! You demon bastard — eat this!"

The moment I killed the spearman in front of me, the soldiers around me scrambled away. Behind them, another group came into view — more than fifteen magic soldiers and archers.

I couldn't stop this. No matter how fast I was, a simultaneous volley like that was impossible to block. And I hadn't drawn a proper breath in a long time.

Acceleration had already worn off. I froze where I stood.

"That precious speed and poison gas of yours are gone now. Farewell, demon."

A man who looked like a lieutenant raised his arm and swept it down toward me.

Arrows came flying, along with magic of fire, wind, and water. I tried to dodge, but my body wouldn't move. The magic and arrows closed in — and then they hit.

Boom—boom—

Direct hits, every one. A tremendous roar, and smoke and steam wrapped around my body.

When the steam cleared, Ki-seok's form was gradually revealed. More than ten arrows jutted from his body. Flesh was lightly scored in places. Skin blackened and scorched. Everything about him said he could no longer fight.

"Ki-seok!!!!!!!!!!!"

Aiham's voice, distant, reached me as muffled as sound underwater. Strength left my knees.

Thud.

I'd wanted to live a long, thin life. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Even if it shamed me, I'd meant to settle for reality and just get by. And the result was this — failing to protect even the people who mattered, kneeling pitifully in a place like this.

With effort, I lifted my head and looked at the sky. The hot sun was still beating down. Tears slid down my blackened, scorched cheek.

I should've... opened that door...

With that thought, my consciousness faded — and I collapsed to the ground.