Chapter 54
CHAPTER 54: #17. The Rumor (3)
Ordinary goblins were easy to handle. That meant the only reward you could get from them was coins.
“Let’s head into the forest,” Yoo Dahui said, gripping her sword and shield, leading the way.
Among the party, Elouin was the strongest, yet he kept to the rear like a quiet shadow. Elysha stayed glued to Dahui’s side.
We passed a short stretch of open plain before entering the dense woods. Every step required maximum alertness, because any moment a goblin could spawn and ambush us.
*Swish… swish…*
The earth suddenly erupted. A goblin materialized, clutching a rough wooden stick like a club.
“There are four of us,” I said. “Let’s take them one by one.”
The weakest player in our group was Elbaren. Same level as me, but I had my Shadow Spirit. Against a goblin, I still had a fighting chance.
The goblin swung its club at me. No martial arts input—pure brute strength. Apart from the body stats, it was almost identical to me.
“Shit… this hurts!” The pain wasn’t from any wound; it was just the raw difference in physical specs.
I blocked with my shield, but my arm still went numb. If I got hit directly, it would snap. Potions were the only option, but they were ridiculously expensive out here. Academy potions couldn’t be brought in—strictly for use inside the tower.
‘Best to avoid taking damage.’
I delegated the dangerous role to the Shadow Spirit. The thing couldn’t feel pain anyway.
*Kiyaaaaah!*
“Shiit!” My Shadow Spirit caught the goblin’s club with its body and let out a scream.
I hadn’t revealed yet that spirits could make sound, so I raised my middle finger in a silent warning.
“You really put on a show, huh?”
The Shadow Spirit rubbed its left arm and hesitated. It was protesting that it didn’t want to be a tank—it wanted to deal damage. As an ancient spirit, its pride was stronger than any nature spirit’s.
I had no choice but to draw aggro myself.
*Boom!*
Damage traded back and forth. The fight was messy, but I was grateful that the others were busy too.
“Hyap!” …Elouin had just sliced a goblin in half. His mana-charged sword carved through the enemy like butter.
“Princess Elysha! I’ll help!”
Elouin rushed to her side. The moment he opened the vanguard, Elysha smashed the goblin to pieces.
*If this keeps up…*
I’d be left as nothing but a spectator. I had to crush the goblins right now, but there was no easy way. At my current level, a long war of attrition was the only option. I just wished for one clean opening.
*Ah.*
I remembered the shabby Protection from the Kobold. Useless against players, but maybe it would work on these pathetic goblins.
[‘Protection’ is activated.]
I took a deep breath and merged with the surrounding air. The moment I did, the goblin lunged at the Shadow Spirit.
*Huh!*
The Spirit got hit. *Thud… thud…* Shadows fluttered everywhere.
I seized the chance. With perfect timing, I slammed into the goblin, blade flashing.
I sliced its neck clean through. The head rolled across the dirt.
The goblin dissolved into dust. Clean victory.
“Dahui!”
“…Ah… I’m fine. Don’t worry. You don’t need to help.”
While I was dealing with the goblins, Yoo Dahui had been swatted by one and was rolling in the dirt. Her pants were covered in mud. She didn’t seem in much pain, but she shot Elena a sharp glance before putting her helmet back on properly.
Dahui had fought for a few exchanges and dropped the goblin.
—- [Battle Settlement in progress…….] [1,200 coins acquired!] —-
The settlement screen appeared.
The coin gain was decent compared to the difficulty.
“You look like you’re in real pain. Ready to keep going?”
“No guy gives up.”
“…Yeah…”
Dahui gave me a disdainful look and walked forward.
We followed the direction the beastkin had told us, never stopping.
Eventually we reached a wide lake. On the opposite side, a boy was reaching toward the water, shouting every ridiculous thing he could think of.
One of the 1st floor residents. The difference from the 0th floor was that he lived outside the safety zone. That’s why no goblins spawned here.
“…You go.”
“Me? Why?”
“Kids prefer pretty girls.”
“…Just come with me.”
I pushed Dahui’s back.
Dahui, pretending she couldn’t win, suddenly turned around.
“Hmph. That means you think I’m pretty?”
“Eh? Why are you talking like that?”
“…What! What are you talking about! Just answer the question I asked!”
“Uh…”
When Dahui stopped walking, we all froze awkwardly in place.
“We’ll go separately. Elouin, Elbaren, Captain Elena?”
Elysha naturally separated from the group, leading the elves away.
Dahui kept glancing at the departing elves, urging for an answer.
“Am I the prettiest? You’re asking now.”
“Uh, uh. Of course. You’re the prettiest. Super pretty.”
Clap, clap, double clap.
It wasn’t a joke—Yoo Dahui was the most beautiful. The higher you climbed the tower, the more top-class players from the Struggle Tower would rush to court her. That stress was already causing premature graying.
She answered sincerely, but something wasn’t right.
“But… why do you seem so close to Captain Elena? It’s completely different from when you were with Unnie.”
Her eyes were calm yet icy. Arms crossed defensively, legs planted like she was ready to prick anyone who got close.
I didn’t know what the problem was, but this was her signature move when she was pissed—the novel-style Yoo Dahui pose.
But the vibe felt off. The target of her anger wasn’t me.
Dahui hesitated with her words.
“Honestly, from your perspective this might seem funny. Still… even though we’ve gone all the way to sex….”
“Ah.”
“Of course I get it. Since I’m the one who forced myself on you, it’s weird and you hate it. If it makes me look bad, I’ll feel pretty bad, but I understand. But this… I really can’t take it.”
She narrowed her eyes and shot Elena a glare.
“Captain Elena’s eyes are so weird. Ever since we came out of the academy, she’s been staring at you like she wants to devour you right now. It’s making it hard to hunt.”
“Uh, it’s not like that…”
“Not like that? But Captain Elena’s eyes look desperate, like she’s in love with you. Anyone who saw her would think she’s in love with you.”
It wasn’t puppy love between master and slave; it was obsession. The sweet expressions and gazes were probably from the vibrator.
Even now, the vibrator was buzzing inside Elena’s anus.
Dahui let out a deep sigh and muttered so softly I could barely hear.
“My feelings and yours have such a big temperature difference. Even regressing alone and repeating it is starting to wear me down…”
“Eh?”
My brain couldn’t keep up with the tempo. She was fine just moments ago, then suddenly exploded with anger, and now she was completely deflated. But I knew she was in some kind of slump.
A regressor’s problem. Repeating regression made you powerless. Even if you were slowly growing, how long could you keep doing this? The end wasn’t in sight, so you broke.
Regression was eating away at Dahui.
The Yoo Dahui in the novel, Sodahui, overcame her slump through sex. By mixing with the men she met in new, different ways, she jumped the slump. Like playing the heroine routes in various different paths, experiencing new reactions.
*This advantage wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t been raped.*
I could give her that advantage.
“Nothing at all, don’t worry about it. So? Just go ask her.”
“…Let’s just go together. I’ll ask.”
We walked toward the boy still shouting.
As we got closer, his shout grew louder.
“Hyaaahaaaaahaaaaah!”
He reached toward the sky and bellowed.
If he could cut a lake like that, I wouldn’t have to suffer.
Seeing his pathetic act up close made it clear just how different the actual sensation was.
I muttered in a blunt tone without thinking.
“You’re friends. How long are you gonna keep doing this to cross the lake?”
“If you’re gonna be a nuisance, just go away.”
He didn’t even look at me. He’d done this a few times before.
Dahui poked my side.
*Why did you talk like that?* her face asked.
“Hmm. Can I ask what you’re doing here?”
“…Practicing how to cut a lake.”
“Practice how to cut a lake? Can you even do that? How?”
Dahui spoke to the boy.
The unfamiliar female voice made him glance at her. He smiled dumbly, cheeks flushed, and answered.
“You just have to train every day. I still can’t cut this lake, but one day I will cut the sea too.”
Looking at his determined eyes, I couldn’t hide my grin.
When reading the words, it was just that. But feeling it in reality, nothing came out.
“Why? What’s the reason you want to cut the sea?”
“The reason to cut the sea?”
Dahui asked for the reason. The boy began to guard his words.
It was a private matter.
“Yeah. Practicing to cut a lake just to cut a sea. It sounds amazing. I want to hear the reason.”
“…….”
“When someone does something, there has to be a reason to motivate them. Big or small.”
The boy lowered his arm that had been reaching into the air.
He seemed to have decided to talk.
Far away, the elves were whispering something. They weren’t coming closer, just talking among themselves.
“Then why did you climb the tower?”
“Me? I’m climbing because I want to get stronger.”
“Why? What’s the reason you want to get stronger?”
“Because there’s someone I need to take revenge on.”
Dahui glanced at me.
She definitely knew I was the masked man. I had never seen her suspect any other player. Every regression cycle I was the only one she suspected, so now it was safe to assume she knew.
“Revenge?”
“Yeah. I want to kill the man who did something bad to me with my own hands.”
“Kill… even kill?”
“Yeah. I’m gonna kill him.”
Dahui asked while holding back the anger that hadn’t yet rusted.
“Then you?”
“Huh?”
“I answered your question. So you have to answer mine. What’s the reason you want to cut the sea?”
“That’s….”
Normally this would have ended with just a request at the first meeting. Sodahui would throw this question in the next cycle.
“…I want to go back to the original world and cut the sea.”
“Eh? Can you go back?”
“The Angel said so. If one player clears the tower, he’ll send you back to the original world.”
It was almost identical to the novel’s lines. The boy wanted strength before returning to the original world. He didn’t know if he could actually return. The novel ended with Dahui’s wish, so even I who had read the ending didn’t know what came after.
Probably he couldn’t return.
From the moment he was summoned to this world, a clone would live his life in the original world in his place.
Dahui hid her surprise and asked.
“I don’t know if I can go back to the original world, but why do you have to cut the sea?”
“…The villagers are being chased by the kingdom soldiers. Because of the sea, everyone is cornered. If we can cross the sea… everyone can survive.”
The boy clenched his small fists and made his resolve.