Festival

I'd forgotten one very important fact. Because the entire 6th floor was a labyrinth, the infrastructure in the village area was incredibly lacking. Naturally, the inn facilities were shit, and there was barely any soap for showering or bathing.

Thanks to that, I had to rent out every room in the inn and scrape together all the complimentary soap they had—a pretty bizarre endeavor. Clean water was scarce too, so I gritted my teeth and washed up using milk and potions from my inventory as substitutes.

I swapped out all my clothes for fresh ones and even changed into spare armor from my inventory to minimize the blood stench as much as possible.

"Feels like I'm actually heading out on a blind date." That self-mutter reminded me of my words from a month ago, but by then, the event had already been underway for two hours.

I didn't need to obsess over being first in line, and I wasn't meeting anyone, but I still felt oddly late.

"Yes."

I placed my hand on the portal and accepted the alert message. A sensation slightly different from using the transfer gate in the boss room enveloped my body, and soon another world unfolded before me.

It was a plaza with a modern European vibe, featuring a fountain at the center. In the middle of the square were several portals leading to other sectors. Those must be for coming and going from the event map.

And as expected, there were a ton of people. A disgustingly huge number.

"Ugh, fuck..."

After years holed up in my room and soloing even inside the Tower of Trials, this atmosphere felt utterly alien. The swarming crowds and raucous voices grated on my nerves.

Did I develop some kind of social anxiety without realizing it?

But as uncomfortable as it was, there was also a strange sense of welcoming familiarity. Ever since witnessing the shocking change in the shepherd girl on the 2nd floor, I'd been deliberately avoiding even NPCs that gave off a human-like vibe.

Now, after so long, smelling actual people made me feel alive again, somehow. Not that the mood was terrible, anyway. The festive atmosphere was pretty decent.

I'd originally planned to head straight for a mini-dungeon to farm event currency, but I changed my mind. For now, let's just walk around and see what there is to see.

I get why people in the community were so hyped about the Festival news. The Festival event was literally a festival. Separate from the event system, the challengers were creating the vibe themselves.

"Hey, one large popcorn and a soda! Whoa, careful there!"

The guy selling popcorn and drinks over there wasn't an NPC. He'd prepped his stall and set up shop the moment the Festival announcement dropped. And get this—that popcorn was handmade. He'd used corn from a repeatable quest on the 22nd floor, researched recipes obsessively, and perfected it himself.

He wasn't the only one. Every alley near the central plaza was packed with stalls set up by challengers. The food quality was about college festival or back-alley food truck level.

But since you couldn't find this kind of grub normally in the Tower, they were super ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠popular. Over there, someone had hauled out massive pots to brew and sell pork soup.

That glowing bald caricature on the sign was probably handmade too. With all sorts of weirdos entering the Tower, folks with unique talents like this were a dime a dozen.

"Kuh... Never thought I'd eat pork soup in the Tower. Am I insane?"

"But didn't that guy say he's a Seoul native? Why's he a Busan man?"

"Who gives a shit? The broth's infused with Busan soul—that's what matters."

Overhearing the challengers chatting like normal humans after slurping down a bowl made me crave some myself. Tch, but I can't buy any. Regular trading's blocked, so payments are only in event currency or guild-issued credit notes from individual servers.

Looks like I just got one more reason to grind those mini-dungeons hard.

I took a portal from the central plaza to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the dedicated map for entering mini-dungeons. Since only one party could enter per dungeon, lots of people were switching maps to find open spots.

I spotted a portal with no line and headed over.

Perfect—recommended level 40-50, right in my range. I'm currently level 52; the EXP requirements explode after 50, so I hadn't leveled up much.

Of course, my specs far outstrip your average level 50 challenger, but those recommendations are for party play. With my actual power equivalent to level 60+, this should be ideal for solo clearing.

I placed my hand on the entrance portal, ready to go in—

"Hey, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wait a sec!"

A high-pitched voice called from behind, and three strangers came rushing up, panting.

Out of habit, my hand went to the dagger at my waist as I sized them up. A long-haired woman with a wand, a heavy-armor guy with a massive blunt weapon on his back, and a light-armor guy with a kite shield and dual swords.

A standard-ish 3-man party, slightly off the norm.

I pulled my hand from the portal and approached them, fiddling with my dagger.

"You heading in right now? Uh, if your other party members haven't shown up yet, could we go first...?"

They were hunting for a dungeon in their level range. Too bad—I planned to solo.

"Nah, I'm soloing."

I kept it short; talking felt awkward.

The long-haired woman looked like the sky had fallen.

"Oh... I see. Thought we'd finally snagged a spot. One step too late."

Her voice dripped with regret and reluctance. Not enough to make me yield, though.

She shuffled back to her two party members, shaking her head and muttering about how today was a bust.

Feels like she's saying it loud enough for me to hear on purpose. Nah, probably not.

I ignored them, placed my hand back on the portal, and tried entering again.

"But, uh, if you're soloing, what's your level?"

The woman challenger piped up again, interrupting. I dropped my hand and answered vaguely.

"52."

"Huh? 52?"

"Yeah. Why?"

She jumped in surprise, then forced down her twitching smile and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠continued.

"You can't just waltz into a 40-50 recommended level dungeon! That's for party play!"

Yeah, I know.

The woman introduced herself as Kim Jin-ah. She gestured wildly, passionately explaining how tough this mini-dungeon was. Then she went on about how soloing could get you killed and suggested partying up instead.

"We've got a perfectly balanced 3-man party right here."

Basically, join us. She said since I couldn't clear it solo anyway, and rewards don't drop much with more members, it was a win-win.

She had a decent way with words, using her whole body for dramatic flair. Reminded me a bit of that shepherd NPC—except that one couldn't even win a word-fight against her dog, while this one seemed sharp.

I'm not obsessed with solo play, so I decided to go along this time.

"Sure, whatever."

If rewards are similar either way, might as well try party play for once.

"Great! Sending the party invite—oh, you can be leader!"

"Accept."

The party leader rights transferred immediately upon joining, and the party UI popping up in front of me felt weirdly unfamiliar.

"Our party's 1 tank, 1 melee DPS, 1 ranged DPS comp. These two are Holy Knight and Gladiator classes; I'm the Mage."

The heavy-armor guy with the hammer was the tank/healer Holy Knight; the light-armor sword-and-shield guy was the melee DPS Gladiator. Names: Holy Knight was Kim Min-hyung, Gladiator Kim Jin-seok. All Kims.

Excluding the mage Kim Jin-ah, both had rare classes, levels 44, 45, 46 respectively—a bit below mine.

"Your name's Jin-hyuk, right? What class are you? Warrior type?"

"Yeah, just Warrior."

"Oh, just Warrior... Normal class?"

She blinked in mild surprise when I revealed my class. Then the Holy Knight, Kim Min-hyung—who'd been silently watching—suddenly spoke up.

"What, you a basic bitch Warrior?"

This fucker's got a rough mouth?