The Golden Carriage (1)

Something damp brushed across my cheek. Lick. Lick. A familiar sensation.

Today, it felt even rougher.

"Ugh... Mong... cut it out..."

Dogs must be able to read clocks, no doubt about it.

They always lick your face awake right when you're oversleeping like a ghost.

"Mong, just five more minutes..."

Mumbling in my half-asleep daze, I reached out and pushed away what I thought was Mong's face.

'Huh...?'

Something was off.

Mong's muzzle was way too big. A chill ran down my spine. And the texture was all wrong—some bizarre curve.

"...!"

Right. I'm possessing a goth loli girl right now.

This is the Demon King Tower 25th floor.

'So what's licking my face right now...'

My eyes snapped open, and I jolted upright in shock.

"Waaah! What the hell!!!"

"Hiiing-!"

The beast reared back on its front hooves, letting out a startled cry at my scream.

"...A horse?"

Two horses. The one that had been licking me—still shoving its muzzle in my face—had pitch-black sclera, not a hint of white.

Clatter—

Next to it was a skeletal horse made entirely of bones, tilting its head at me.

"What the heck are you guys..."

Visually, they screamed Demon Army team, but it was still confusing. I looked up at the ceiling.

"Did you come down from an upper floor?"

Why had they suddenly shown up on my floor? Were they waking me up to stand guard or something?

More importantly, I'd heard the Demon King Tower was one-way—you couldn't go down from upper floors...

I scooted backward on the floor. My view widened, revealing something beyond the two horses.

"A carriage?"

A ridiculously ornate golden carriage was hitched to the horses.

"Ah. So this is the Golden Carriage..."

It clicked.

The mobile shop the gallery folks had talked about.

The one that came every payday.

"......"

I stared up at the carriage in a daze.

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

"Ah..."

My lips trembled.

"No way. Three days passed?!?!"

My scream echoed through the 25th floor. Prrrruu! The horses reared and stomped in fright. I rushed over, stroking their necks to calm them.

"Whoa... whoa... sorry for scaring you..."

Then I opened the hologram to check the time.

"For real... three days gone. Felt like a quick nap..."

Were Reapers supposed to need sleep? After meditation, my mind had felt sharp—no need for it, I'd thought.

I hadn't even been hungry.

Grrrowl—

Now... I was starving for the first time.

"Thought I lived on dew like some fairy..."

I'd deluded myself into thinking this body was beyond human limits.

Turned out I was just a sleepy human after all.

"Why'd the hero warn me, then..."

All that panic about fleeing to the upper floors ASAP felt ridiculous now.

For now, I pulled up the hologram and logged into the gallery. As expected, it was in chaos.

They'd even made a memorial portrait. The gallery had ruled my absence as death.

"This makes it scarier to show up..."

A new fixed nick I'd never seen. Golden Carriage expert, maybe.

I memorized the name, then checked other posts.

One title made me gasp.

"Gasp..."

Profanity everywhere. Death Note Captain and 574F were getting flayed alive.

Guilt hit me. I hurriedly typed a new post.

"Gotta use polite language..."

Posted. One second, two. Hit refresh—and the comments exploded.

A mix of curses and cheers laced with intense love-hate.

They were dying to know what happened. I scratched the back of my head and replied.

Question marks flooded in.

Excuses poured out, met with disbelieving chuckles.

Then, one of the flayed nicks appeared quietly.

Straightforward survival report. Then, the other culprit showed up.

Right then, 574F commented.

Fatigue system, huh.

Familiar and plausible to a gamer like me. But why apply the human fatigue system to me?

Was this goth loli Reaper hated by the Demon King? No way to know—no memories inherited.

Anyway, if fatigue's a thing, max 20 floors a day?

"That's a problem."

Fatigue recovery items exist. Good. With my money, I'll stock up.

Those horses woke me. Lucky break.

Hero's sword could've ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠knocked on my skull instead.

Possessed gold. I tapped the tiny resources tab in the corner of the status hologram.

Payday alert. Weird feeling.

"I'm... a salaryman now..."

Hired successfully.

Landlord would be thrilled.

'Cept it's black-collar work.

Promotion rewards from 2F to 25F: 100G each, totaling 30,000G exactly.

Plus salary 25G.

Posted the number—reactions exploded.

Dazed. 30kG must go a long way. I headed to the carriage.

"Inside here..."

I cautiously flung open the golden carriage doors.

Creeeak—

The items on display... I couldn't help but gasp.

"No way...? Huh?"

The wares were insane.