Chapter 43
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Lesson 10. You Are My Master - 3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Trick Room.
A term used in the Tower to refer to spaces governed by special rules and orders.
Though they were said to appear extremely rarely even within the Tower, this wasn't anything new for Ban Yu-won's group during their exploration.
In those spaces existed ironclad rules that could absolutely never be broken, and yet anyone who violated them would suffer severe penalties from the Tower itself.
Of course, like all high-difficulty rooms in the Tower, clearing a Trick Room guaranteed solid rewards.
"Grrgh, a brute of a human, but impressive. How can you wield such monstrous strength right up to the moment of death...!"
From what he could guess, the penalty As Light had received this time was 'strengthening the enemy.'
And at the same time, his own power seemed to have been weakened.
Was it just his imagination? Staring at the Orc Captain Kuros, who looked even more darkly stained than when he first appeared, Ban Yu-won gritted his teeth.
"Hah."
Meanwhile, Dokgo Yeon, who had watched the seamless sequence from As Light's charge to his death, let out a scoff as if utterly baffled.
"I knew that sword messed with your mind, but I didn't think it'd turn someone into such a complete idiot."
It was a harsh assessment.
Of course, Ban Yu-won couldn't believe that As Light's actions just now had come from a sane mind either.
He hadn't known As Light for long, but he knew the guy wasn't normally that hot-headed.
Slashing the last orc in Room 15 without a second thought, ignoring the Trick Room's order and charging the Orc Captain—none of that fit the real As Light.
Perhaps being unable to hold the sword throughout the exploration had caused an even greater backlash, Ban Yu-won thought.
"That sword can't be trusted after all. It'll make him screw up at the critical moment again... I need to drill some sense into him once we're out."
"But first, let's focus on that guy."
"No."
Dokgo Yeon spoke firmly and stepped forward.
At that instant, a heavy thud echoed as enormous pressure bore down on her shoulders.
Ban Yu-won reached out toward the strings of pressure tormenting her, but Dokgo Yeon waved him off.
"With As Light dead, further exploration is pointless. So why not use this chance to experience firsthand just how steep the price is for breaking a Trick Room's rules?"
"You...?"
Ban Yu-won stared at her in disbelief, unable to fully grasp her words.
He'd thought he knew her pretty well by now, but apparently that was just wishful thinking.
"Kyahahaha! Fools, utter fools! Do you not know this place's order, or do you fancy surviving defiance of absolute law with those pathetic bodies?!"
"Hmph."
The Orc Captain Kuros laughed gleefully, realizing from her increasingly heavy steps that Dokgo Yeon wasn't some weakling.
Dokgo Yeon snorted and twisted her shoulders as if savoring the pressure crushing down on her entire body.
And then.
"I'll step out first. Ban Yu-won, have fun alone with the beast."
"What...?"
Even under pressure so crushing it made taking a single step agony, she turned to Ban Yu-won and spoke.
A faint smile played on her lips.
"Don't forget what I said before we entered the Tower."
Could it be that she had deliberately arranged for him and Lucelle to be left alone?
"Die, you insolent human!"
A massive halberd swung down toward Dokgo Yeon.
Ban Yu-won clearly saw the pressure on the halberd double the moment it neared her.
Part of the crushing strings bearing down on her flowed up the halberd and assimilated into it.
"...Hng!"
In that instant, the halberd's trajectory and the orc's balance inevitably twisted wildly. Dokgo Yeon seized that opening and drew her sword.
—Shing
—Boom!
The moment her shortsword beautifully sliced through the air.
Her body was crushed flat under the halberd.
She, who could have easily overwhelmed him one-on-one under normal circumstances, had met such a powerless end for defying the Trick Room's order.
'No, not powerless.'
After retrieving everything left behind at the site of her death, Ban Yu-won blankly looked up to inspect the result of her sword draw.
"Guh... Guuuuh!"
With just one draw, one slash.
The Orc Captain screamed in agony from a deep diagonal wound running from his right waist to his left arm.
"My arm, my arm!"
His left arm couldn't withstand the slash and finally snapped off, rolling across the floor.
Ban Yu-won could see the lingering aura of death—even after her 'lost' (the Tower term for dying)—clinging to the orc's wound, tormenting him.
"You filthy bitch...!"
The one-armed orc bared his teeth and raised his other arm, but it too had been badly wounded by As Light's sword, moving unnaturally.
Moreover, after Dokgo Yeon's lost, the orc's body had darkened further. Ban Yu-won finally realized this was visible only to his eyes.
'Could it be from the Fruit of Good and Evil? Detecting sinners?'
That made sense.
Why was the orc a sinner? Because he'd killed people.
He'd killed As Light right in front of Ban Yu-won, so of course he was a sinner.
He'd darkened a bit after losing As Light, even more after Dokgo Yeon.
But what it meant? He wasn't sure yet.
Just detecting sinners, or something more?
The weakest soldier charges first.
"Guess I'll find out by facing him directly."
Sneering at the unchanged Trick Room announcement even after two people had been lost, Ban Yu-won finally stepped forward.
The orc had lost one arm, suffered horrific wounds from waist to chest, and even his remaining arm was slashed and far from whole.
No matter how monstrous he was, didn't this give Ban Yu-won a shot?
"You... you're the weakest one...!"
Orc Captain Kuros ground his teeth at the advancing Ban Yu-won.
He surely knew Dokgo Yeon's lethal strike had left him unable to guarantee victory even against Ban Yu-won.
But his expression soon turned strange—not anger, but a gaze mixed with doubt and ecstasy.
"Foolish, ignorant, reckless fools! But this is my fortune!"
"What, you...!"
Ban Yu-won frowned at the incomprehensible words, then something clicked, and he turned.
There was Lucelle lunging at him.
Not a single strand of her hair remained untainted black.
"Ah, the timing is insanely perfect."
"Kyaaang!"
Before he could resist, Lucelle charged.
He felt her claws lightly gouge his body.
"Kuh!"
"Kyaaa...!"
In an instant, she pinned him to the floor and straddled his chest.
Her feral eyes gleamed down at him, then she bared her jagged fangs.
'Danger!'
His heart pounded like it would burst.
He couldn't quite judge why he was in danger right now, but danger it was!
At least the Orc Captain wasn't acting. That was a relief.
Or maybe he couldn't act because Lucelle targeted Ban Yu-won, not the orc.
'No time for that now!'
Ban Yu-won pulled out every bit of her positive emotions stored in the Code Core and thrust them at her chest as she went for his neck—whether to bite or suck, he couldn't tell.
'Absorb it! Calm down!'
His will manifested strongly, and the moment the strings absorbed his profound qi.
Like magic, the concept of emotion was sucked into her.
The strings battered her heart furnace, pounding until their tips pierced part of the solid concept.
—Crack
Suddenly, everything turned red.
"Kuhak?!"
"Kyaaaaaaa!"
Lucelle wailed loudly.
She flung Ban Yu-won aside and bolted straight ahead.
He belatedly realized she'd bitten his neck.
"You've finally hurt your comrade too. Once I finish you off, somehow... Kuhak?!"
The orc's ecstatic shout, groan, scream, and roar cluttered his ears.
But right now, with his body drained and head spinning, rational thought was impossible.
Amid it all, the urge to reposition himself was clear, so he pulled out the ointment prepared for such moments.
Ointment made by bundling 50 concepts of Healing.
Applying it to the wound finally stemmed the bleeding, but recovering his drained body was still tough.
'Elixir...!'
Peach jam made from Eden's fruit.
He'd confirmed it boosted potential and healed current wounds.
His sluggish mind barely recalled it. He took it from his inventory, scooped some on his finger, and ate.
Oddly, his senses sharpened instantly.
Obtained Life 2, Body 1, Profound Qi 2, Charm 1.
Wound natural healing rate greatly increases.
Just one bite yielded insane effects.
It wouldn't always be this potent, but the elixir's potential was clearly limitless.
He still didn't get why Charm increased, though.
More importantly, the bleeding had fully stopped, the wound was closing, and his head was working again.
"...Hah!"
Stowing the elixir and scrambling up urgently, Ban Yu-won realized he'd shifted.
The Orc Captain was already dead and gone.
At least the concepts it held had naturally settled in one corner alongside Room 16's reward (treasure chest), which was some small comfort.
Everything else was the worst.
"Kraaa!"
"Kyaaak!"
Lucelle rampaged, covered in wounds large and small.
All the monsters from the unfolding Room 17 charged at her.
As if Ban Yu-won were invisible—which he wasn't.
Even in her frenzy, Lucelle was protecting him, prioritizing monsters approaching him.
"Lucelle!"
"Grrr!"
But that didn't mean she could communicate with him.
She turned at his call but didn't approach, diving straight back into the monsters.
'Damn it!'
Observing Lucelle, Ban Yu-won saw her heart furnace in total chaos, rampaging wildly.
Messing with it externally wasn't something half-hearted closeness or storing her emotions enabled.
Because he'd poked it clumsily, everything in her heart furnace had jumbled up, leaving her no chance to care for her own body as she thrashed.
'Even now, she's trying not to hurt me.'
The neck bite was probably the cost of failing to suppress a surge of savagery.
Sensing she'd hurt him more if she stayed, she'd flung him off and charged the Orc Captain—
Leading to this disaster.
'I failed.'
It was his fault for not checking beforehand.
None of his assumptions had been right.
Was it naive to rely so heavily on his abilities?
Arrogant to judge and tweak Lucelle's concepts on his own?
Ban Yu-won bit his lip in self-reproach.
One thing was clear: he couldn't leave her like this.
"Lucelle, stop! If you trigger Room 18, we're really done for!"
"Grrrk!"
Of course, she didn't listen.
Her frenzied strength, ignoring her own body, was so vicious that even four of them would struggle with Room 17's monsters—and they were all getting swept away by her alone.
But Lucelle, bearing the penalty for breaking the Trick Room's rules, killing the Orc Captain, and battling Room 17's monsters fiercely, wasn't in good shape either.
Ban Yu-won could clearly see her body nearing collapse.
But with no way to stop her, what was he supposed to do?!
'That beast seems to like going all out strong.'
Dokgo Yeon's parting words flashed through his mind then.
'...Wait, what?'
'You get it, so don't play dumb. When facing a beast that won't heed words, don't half-ass compromise.'
No half-assed compromise.
Maybe it was her way of calling him out for meddling with Lucelle's emotions arbitrarily while acting all noble toward her?
'Don't forget what I said before we entered the Tower.'
No.
Dokgo Yeon wasn't one for petty jabs.
Being so ruthlessly pragmatic and cynical, she'd meant it literally... right? Suggesting a more effective way for him to handle Lucelle.
'If she meant that.'
Ban Yu-won looked up.
Lucelle was swinging her half-broken claws at the few remaining monsters—Masked Goblins.
"Lucelle!"
"Grk?!"
His shout, infused with profound qi, echoed through the room.
Lucelle flinched and froze.
The problem: the monsters didn't stop.
A way to handle both her and the monsters flashed in his mind.
And he had the material for it... the 'Pressure' strings he'd grabbed from what was crushing and dissolving Dokgo Yeon.
"Lucelle, sit!"
"Kyeng!"
The pressure extended from his hand, crushing Lucelle and the monster horde alike.
An immense force, but just shy of lethal.
Which made it perfect.
"Stay!"
"Kyeng, kyeng..."
Lucelle, struggling against the pressure, suddenly calmed at his voice.
He could see the rampaging in her body slowing eerily.
Really? This easily?
Even he'd done it, yet couldn't believe the situation. Still.
He acted as it demanded.
"Come here, Lucelle."
"Kyeng!"
He released the pressure only on her and commanded.
Lucelle shot to him like she'd been waiting, halting before him.
Pink strands began mixing into her formerly pitch-black hair.
Blending with her vivid, beautiful pink eyes.
Like cherry blossom petals fluttering ethereally through spring branches.
Simply beautiful.
"...Ban."
Her reason returned.
The heart furnace rampage resolved that astonishingly simply.
But the real issue started now.
"My... Master!"
"No, seriously, drop that. Please. For real."
Ban Yu-won shuddered as the concept of 'Subordination' newly took root in her body.
'Lucelle's become mine, by me, for me...!'
It was the kind of thought that'd have Lincoln leap from his grave with a Gatling gun.