The Boundary Between You and Me (6)

What on earth was going on? I couldn't help but doubt my own eyes and ears as I stood in front of the store counter, staring at the "person" waving at me.

"Hey! What a coincidence running into you here!"

The voice was identical to the rabbit's. The appearance was different, but the aura, the gestures, and the way of speaking were all far too similar to that guy.

"Aha! This must be your first time seeing me like this, right?"

As if sensing my confusion, she smiled and spun once on the spot.

My gaze traced her from head to toe, starting with her facial features. Silver hair as cold and pristine as snow quietly piled up on a winter dawn, and eyes as deep and red as fresh blood. After only ever seeing the rabbit switch between massive and tiny forms, this human shape created an even stronger sense of dissonance. Yet among it all, one part felt the most awkward.

"You... were a woman?"

Her frame was too delicate to call masculine, yet she possessed the mature body of a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠grown woman rather than a child.

"Oh my? Why? After seeing nothing but my rabbit form every day, does my true self suddenly look pretty to you? Geez, I actually prefer my fluffy self. What a shame!"

She lifted one corner of her mouth in a mischievous grin at my words. I had no idea what she found disappointing, but I decided to first figure out why she was standing here in this form.

A Helper who had guided players climbing the tower. It seemed impossible for someone in that position to appear on the fifth floor without a reason.

'She called this her true form?'

If her human shape was the real one, it meant the rabbit appearance she had always shown was fake. I couldn't fathom why she had appeared as a person instead of the rabbit form she constantly used in the tower.

"Wow, you look like your head is overflowing with questions."

She must have read the chaos on my face, because the still-grinning woman immediately continued.

"Well, the reason I came in my true form is simple. I had to!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't have the qualifications to enter the fifth floor as a Helper, obviously!"

She claimed that Helpers lost their qualifications on the fifth floor.

"Have you never wondered? What exactly are these Helper things? They don't feel as absolute as the Constellations, but it also seems like messing with them would cause huge problems! Why do you think that is?"

Her words made me reflect on everything that had happened so far. It was true that, after the tutorial, my aversion and sense of intimidation toward her had faded considerably as I climbed higher.

Why was that happening? Based on the time and knowledge I had gained, the obvious conclusion was that the difference in status between me and the Helper had narrowed. But the new question that arose was how that gap wasn't nearly as large as I had assumed.

'My status has become similar to hers...'

A Helper needed to be superior in knowledge, mentality, and physical ability to those they assisted in order to have any meaning. I didn't know how many floors the tower truly had, but having a status similar to a Helper's at only the fifth floor felt wrong.

'Then there are only a few possibilities.'

First, the system had been designed that way from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the start, and a Helper's value simply ended at the fifth floor. Second, she had only "grown" to a level comparable to mine after I reached the fifth floor.

Keeping one of those possibilities in mind, I asked her directly.

"Don't tell me... you're a player too?"

"Oh, as expected of the man I acknowledged!"

The woman who had been a rabbit whistled in admiration as she looked at me. After forcing my way through countless trials to reach the fifth floor, my ability to read situations had grown sharp. After turning the current circumstances over in my head, I had concluded she was some kind of special being who had climbed to the fifth floor for a particular reason.

"That was pretty sharp, but it's half right and half wrong!"

"What does that mean?"

"I am a being who has already experienced being a Helper. Unlike you fledglings who have only just started climbing the tower, I am far more seasoned and wise!"

She praised herself with a completely straight face. I couldn't entirely deny it. That relaxed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠demeanor of hers wasn't the kind of cheap showmanship born from empty bravado.

"Our statuses feel similar, though..."

No matter how smoothly she talked, the fact that our statuses were roughly equal was also undeniable. She wrinkled her nose at my words and continued.

"That's because you're the weird one! How on earth did you raise your status this much after only four floors? That's not normal at all!"

"You saw everything I did."

"Ah? That's true, isn't it?"

She let out a laugh filled with exaggerated gestures and various bits of nonsense. But I couldn't help but be stunned by the explanation that followed.

"Anyway, that was a joke. The real reason I came in my true form is because of that! I've started wanting to clear the fifth floor myself."

...Had I heard her wrong?

"What?"

"I told you it was half right earlier. I was originally a player! I've become a Half-Constellation now, though!"

"......"

"This is a secret, but players who reach the fifth floor are given a special opportunity under certain conditions. They can either die gloriously without clearing the fifth floor, or become a Helper and take on the role of guiding others up the tower."

Players who reached the fifth floor were offered the chance to become Helpers. It was like the protagonist of a deadly entertainment show eventually becoming the host of that very program after countless hardships.

"Helpers are actually quite tragic beings. They make pathetic choices just to prolong their insignificant, bug-like lives, then get trapped in an eternal yoke and spend dozens or hundreds of years doing all sorts of things they should never have to do."

Her voice gradually grew heated. Her face looked as though memories she didn't want to recall had surfaced. But soon she relaxed her hardened expression and stared straight into my eyes.

"And in the middle of all that, I saw a possibility."

"A possibility?"

"I've been watching your growth from the closest spot, haven't I? I believe you can clear the fifth floor without falling and becoming a Helper!"

As I listened to her, I gained one crucial piece of information: Helpers and Constellations were not on the same side. At this point, it made sense that even Constellations weren't necessarily allies with each other.

A qualified Helper could become a Constellation. A player with elevated status possessed a similar level of status to a qualified Helper. That meant they were individuals, not a single collective. And if that was the case, then...

'Revenge is possible.'

They were not gods. Those transcendent beings were not a unified whole, and if we kept climbing the tower, we could eventually reach a similar status to them.

'Maybe this woman also...'

The silver-haired woman smiling quietly entered my vision. If she had climbed the tower as a player for some personal reason, I could understand the rage she carried.

"Hoo... Anyway, let's end this conversation here. I used some power to keep those dog-like things from seeing inside the store, but it looks like I've reached my limit."

The conversation ended there. The sense of closeness I had felt in our statuses slowly began to widen. The Constellations must have done something to prevent them from overhearing our talk inside the store. Since their power hadn't been completely withdrawn yet, I decided to ask one question that had suddenly occurred to me.

"But if you're a player too, why didn't you just challenge it alone?"

Reaching the fifth floor proved she possessed considerable strength. Considering the status she had raised while guiding players this far, I couldn't understand why she had held back.

She gazed into my eyes. Those red pupils gave off a mysterious aura. Yet despite their passionate color, they seemed to hold lingering sadness.

"......I didn't like being alone."

This was the first time she had shown such a melancholy side. The rabbit who had always acted exaggerated and playful now wore a sad expression in human form, which made it feel even more awkward.

"Well... having more people to climb with does make clearing it easier, so it's not a bad thing."

Feeling like I had asked something unnecessary, I mumbled what I hoped sounded like consolation. But only for a moment. She tilted her head at my words and spoke.

"Huh? Climb together? What are you talking about?"

Her statement didn't connect to anything that had come before.

"I'm just going to watch, you know?"

With that bold and utterly novel declaration that she planned to ride along, I once again confirmed she wasn't truly on the same side.

Near the Demon King's castle. Cheongrin, who had cleared the fourth floor faster than anyone and entered the fifth floor immediately, was heading toward the Demon King's castle to complete his newly assigned mission.

"I didn't expect all of us to choose the same Constellation."

"We were lucky. Fortunately, everyone thought alike."

Dozens of merfolk had gathered around Geumrin. They had all formed contracts with the Abyssal Practitioner, the Constellation that had shown their kind considerable favor so far. Thanks to that, slightly more than forty merfolk had earned the chance to clear the fifth floor together.

Swoosh!Slash!

They moved with unstoppable momentum. With so many of them, the Demon King's minions fell helplessly, and the same message reached all of them.

"Your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Majesty Geumrin. We seem to have nearly arrived."

They reached the Demon King's castle.

"How shall we..."

"We will open the doors immediately. Move quickly."

Geumrin no longer hesitated and opened the doors to the Demon King's castle. Their mission was to slay the Demon King before he could regain his strength. Since the message had mentioned him regaining power, reaching him quickly was likely the key to completing the mission.

"Understood."

Rumble...!

The massive iron doors opened with a heavy groan. They stepped inside the Demon King's castle.

"It's incredibly dark..."

"We should illuminate the area first."

Cheongrin felt a sense of unease at how unnaturally quiet the enormous lobby was as he slowly advanced. Then a notification rang out.

"Damn it...!"

"Everyone stay alert! We don't know what's coming!"

In the pitch-black fog, Cheongrin drew his spear and sharpened his senses. But moments later, a new notification stole his attention, and he could only fall silent.

The surrounding fog lifted, and Cheongrin's vision gradually brightened. What he saw before him was...

"This is insane...!"

All the merfolk who had reached the Demon King's castle with him had vanished. In their place, dozens of shadow knights stood encircling Cheongrin. They drew their weapons and emitted chilling, blue-white glares.

Cheongrin watched one of the knights charging toward him and swung his spear without hesitation.