The Visitors' Oath of the Peach Garden

This time it was Guan Yu who stepped forward.

He was a man of few words, but his presence was unmistakable, and honestly, the sheer weight of him as he approached was intimidating.

It was like watching a boulder move of its own accord.

Yang Myeonghyeon, facing him head-on, must have felt something similar, because his mouth twitched and stiffened.

"Righteousness... is not a light thing."

Guan Yu's straight, unwavering gaze pinned Yang Myeonghyeon in place.

"Once it is sworn, it cannot be severed."

The expression on Yang Myeonghyeon's face, the one about to receive the blessing, was anything but comfortable.

Ever since he'd first laid eyes on the briefing for the Peach Garden Oath quest, he had carried a peculiar burden about it that the rest of us didn't share.

The quest's already a success, so he could just take those words at face value and move on. What could he possibly be agonizing over?

Yang Myeonghyeon's behavior had always been subtly strange, but on this floor he'd been stranger still.

A cyan light gathered around Guan Yu and shot toward Yang Myeonghyeon.

"Therefore, accept it only when you can bear its weight."

Guan Yu's low voice resonated deep enough to scrape along the floor.

It sounded like a warning—as if to say that even now, it was not too late to turn back.

Yang Myeonghyeon's lips quivered for a moment before he finally lifted his head.

And with visible effort, he forced the words out of a suppressed throat.

"I accept it."

Shwaaaa—

The second leaflet unfolded in midair.

Yang Myeonghyeon was staring down at Guan Yu's hand resting on his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shoulder.

More than the heavy weight of that palm, he seemed weighed down by something else entirely—something he alone would have to carry.

"Hm."

The moment Guan Yu had finished his duty, he turned without a hint of hesitation.

The back of him as he walked to his original position seemed unusually resolute.

"Ha."

Last came Zhang Fei.

Arms crossed, he let out a short laugh.

It was a sound that mixed scorn with genuine amusement.

"Never thought I'd end up giving my blessing to the likes of you lot."

He strode toward us with enormous strides.

Go Gyumin instinctively shrank back at the sight of Zhang Fei barreling toward him.

It was less a walk and closer to a full-body charge.

"Ugh—"

Zhang Fei's thick hand clapped down on Go Gyumin's shoulder.

Whether he'd actually meant to place it there gently, who could say.

Go Gyumin took the full force of the impact and let out a groan of pain.

He clearly has no concept of holding back. Poor Mr. Ko.

"Still, it was a good time."

Zhang Fei bared his teeth in a hearty laugh.

A crimson energy burst from his hand.

It was less like light and more like an eruption of lava—violent and wild.

"Fear nothing. Charge."

The energy warped, lost its shape, and burst apart midair, and Go Gyumin reflexively curled in on himself yet again.

Watching Go Gyumin fail utterly to protect himself from the very blessing meant for him, Zhang Fei heaved a deep sigh.

It was, all in all, a blessing that was pure Zhang Fei—part encouragement, part provocation.

Shwaaaa—

The crimson energy pierced into Go Gyumin's skin, sharp as an arrowhead.

We had now received the blessings of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei in full.

"This parting is not the end. We shall greet one another again."

"I'm sorry?"

Because next time we met, we'd no doubt be dragged into a war quest with no way in or out of it.

I asked back dumbly, not wanting Liu Bei's words to come true.

"Bonds, once forged, are never severed."

Even Guan Yu nodded and echoed Liu Bei's words.

No, seriously, this quest alone was more than enough.

Yang Myeonghyeon and Go Gyumin were wearing sour expressions too.

Then Zhang Fei threw his head back and roared with laughter.

"Have you already forgotten your grand declaration? That you would become our strength?"

"No. I haven't forgotten, but—"

We were petty, small-minded people, so I'd assumed they'd hand over the reward and be done with us.

This lingering, ominous foreshadowing of a send-off line felt an awful lot like foreshadowing for its own sake.

I just stared, praying it was nothing more than an NPC delivering a parting line for dramatic effect.

Shwaaaa—

In that instant, a leaflet displaying the materials inventory unfolded before us.

And the goblet illustrated in the materials slot slid free of the page, materializing in reality right before my eyes.

The same went for Go Gyumin and Yang Myeonghyeon.

So it's finally time to go back down.

The moment I wrapped my fingers around the goblet, my vision swayed and the space around us warped ever so slightly.

As our bodies began to lift, the boundary between floor and sky slid out of alignment—as if announcing that this exhibition hall would soon be no more.

"!!"

I closed my eyes once, then opened them again—and my feet were planted firmly on an exhibition hall ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠floor.

The soil and trees of Floor 30 had vanished completely, replaced by solid ground underfoot.

Oh.

The last time we'd been here, the hall's atmosphere had been rather bleak, but the scenery had changed considerably in the meantime.

It was still silent, still empty of any trace of life besides our own—but.

"Flowers."

Go Gyumin brushed a fallen petal off the top of his head.

A thoroughly indifferent tone, entirely at odds with the beautiful scene around us.

The peach tree shape that had once floated above a pedestal had become a real, living piece of nature.

Its roots had burrowed deep into the pedestal and anchored themselves there, rock solid.

A tree with roots grown into the pedestal itself. It's so improbably literal that it feels even more like a work of art.

Just looking at the blossoms in full bloom was a feast for the eyes.

"Hey, Jisan. Snap out of it."

"Mr. Ko. Isn't this just beautiful?"

"If we're being pedantic about it, I'd say wine's prettier than flowers."

Go Gyumin smacked his lips, swirling the goblet in his hand.

Somewhere along the way, wine had filled the cup, swaying to the motion of his hand.

Shwaaaa—

Just then, a leaflet bearing the quest's contents floated up between the three of us.

It read like a warning: reread the instructions carefully and act accordingly.

Even with the blessings of the three Liu Bei brothers, speaking a single falsehood here would mean quest failure.

"Once we clink our cups together, we're bound as brothers—we can't betray each other after that. It might be a little embarrassing, but we hold the line. Agreed?"

"...Understood."

Go Gyumin was the first to extend his hand, goblet held forward.

Yang Myeonghyeon barely managed a reply, his voice shrunken small.

His lukewarm response made me nervous instead. And then—

"What is thy reason for seeking victory?"

The same voice we'd heard in this exhibition hall before drifted down from above.

Go Gyumin wasn't startled; he'd passed through Floor 29 before meeting up with us too.

That voice. It's guiding us to confess our wishes one by one.

"This is embarrassing, so let's just go by age."

Thankfully, Go Gyumin volunteered to go first.

Though, back at the inn, he had assured us his wish wasn't the kind of thing that would count against him.

Still, anyone who'd entered this tower had to be carrying something out of the ordinary.

What could Mr. Ko's wish ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be? Whatever it is, it must be something terribly important to him—

"The reason I want to win is... I want to be passionate. When I do something, I want the kind of passion that actually makes me try. That's it."

"...?"

"Done."

When I kept staring at him, blinking, Go Gyumin barked out that final word.

He was the one who'd insisted we hide nothing from each other.

Granted, he'd warned us in advance that it wasn't anything shameful.

But still. That's really the whole thing?

"Next."

...I genuinely could not believe it.

To think everyone's stories could differ this wildly.

There was plenty I wanted to ask Go Gyumin, but it was my turn to confess now.

"I want to go back to the past."

Like Go Gyumin, I kept my explanation brief.

I spoke the truth, but distilled it down to something very simple, careful not to drag out the full weight of my family history.

Except this time, the mysterious voice didn't come.

Instead, Go Gyumin—his own turn long finished—turned and glared at me like I'd shortchanged him.

"Jisan, don't lie."

"I didn't lie. Are you saying I need to go into more detail? But you got through just fine, Mr. Ko."

"That really was all I had, so— look, Jisan. Why don't you try elaborating a little?"

Ugh.

Why did he get off with a one-liner while I had to append footnotes?

I let out a long sigh and pushed my goblet forward.

"I want to return to the past—so that I can change the fate of my parents, who died in an accident."

"Next."

It was still a condensed sentence, but the content carried considerably more weight than before.

Only after I'd coughed up my family history and wedged it into the explanation did the voice of acceptance finally ring out.

I hate this. This heavy, sinking atmosphere.

Go Gyumin and Yang Myeonghyeon, considerate of me, deliberately kept their gazes fixed on empty space and pretended to be elsewhere.

A reaction and a mood I'd endured so many times it had grown tedious. And yet it was always, always uncomfortable.

"I..."

At last, it was Yang Myeonghyeon's turn.

His face, always so composed and still, rippled with agitation.

And after letting the moment stretch out for a long while, Yang Myeonghyeon finally extended his goblet.

"I want to become human."

"?"

What on earth kind of wish is that? It was even harder to parse than Go Gyumin's.

"Now, clash your cups and swear the oath."

"Come on, everyone, let's do this. Cheers."

Whatever Yang Myeonghyeon's wish meant, we had no choice but to shelve our curiosity—the next instruction had already arrived.

Go Gyumin, clearly trying to shift the mood, clinked his cup against ours with extra flourish.

Cling—

The sound of three goblets meeting rang out, clear and bright.

And then the fruit hanging from the peach tree began to change.

"?!!"

The peach, which should have ripened plump and full, suddenly shriveled.

The fruit withered, its form decaying into something shabby and pitiful.

"One of the three has spoken falsely."

A lie? ...It's more likely Yang Myeonghyeon than Mr. Ko.

Yang Myeonghyeon, whose complexion had been off since earlier, was by far the most suspicious.

"Yang Myeonghyeon. You should tell us more, too."

"Like Mr. Ko, that was all there was to it. That truly is my wish."

That's a lie.

The muscles of Yang Myeonghyeon's face had gone rigid, and his voice had cracked under the strain.

"Myeonghyeon. What do you even mean, you want to 'become human'? We already are human."

"......"

"Yang Myeonghyeon, are you, like, a sociopath or something?"

He wouldn't come clean to Go Gyumin either.

What exactly was this wish, that he was hiding it so desperately?

The peach is rotting way too fast.

"Before the fruit rots all the way through and drops, hurry and—"

"I really did not lie. You two didn't exactly elaborate either."

"Yang Myeonghyeon!"

His flat refusal to explain anything finally pushed me into shouting.

"Whatever happens, we have to get up the tower first, don't we?"

"......"

"Sworn brotherhood is just shed skin, a shell for the sake of the quest—I know that. But we're already tangled up together, however ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠awkwardly. Pulling this now is not acceptable."

There wasn't time for gentle persuasion.

I pressed him hard, urging Yang Myeonghyeon to speak the truth before it was too late.

Even amid all this, the fruit had festered to the point of turning black.

I have to climb. I am not dissolving here in this place because of your secrets.

"I... want to become human. A real human being."

Head bowed low, Yang Myeonghyeon finally laid bare the true wish he had buried so deep for so long.

Not to become more human-like—but to become a real, actual human...?