episode_0064

64. The beginning of the 3rd floor.

“Then you’ll be alone?”

For some reason, he felt like he’d committed a sin. He answered in a voice barely audible.

“Ah, that’s not it. I’ll assign a few······.”

Whoosh─

Immediately, there was a strange noise like wind leaking somewhere. At the same time as the sound, Sarah’s body disappeared.

‘······In what gap!’

The man was flustered. At that moment, a chilling piercing sound was heard from behind.

Thwack!

The man’s head snapped back in surprise. There, Sarah was plunging a longsword into the back of someone’s neck. She was floating in the air.

Tap, she lightly landed on the floor and looked at the enemies. Soon, a chilling voice flowed out.

‘Just a few?’

Grind-!

Her teeth were grinding. She was furious at the complacency of the new team members.

“Come quickly. Let’s clear these away and return as quickly as possible.”

She couldn’t leave John in the hands of people whose faces she didn’t even know properly. She decided to clean up these trash as quickly as possible, even if it meant pushing herself a little.

***

Splash-!

The wave brushing his toes tingled. Unable to ignore that sensation, John unconsciously lowered his gaze. There, an olive-colored lotus leaf, definitely thicker than his waist, was supporting John.

It’s gotten bigger than before. He thought so absentmindedly. He raised his head again.

Splash-!

He saw the wide puddle of water that he used to call a pond. He decided to revise his expression a little. The word pond was not appropriate to contain these guys.

It’s gotten bigger than before, and above all, it looked full of confidence.

─Lake.

He decided to call it that. Nothing changed just because the name changed. John slowly surveyed the surrounding scenery.

Splash-!

It wasn’t a calm lake. Fierce waves created ripples, and the ripples gathered to create even larger waves. It was so severe that even the soles of John’s feet tingled.

He was a human who liked unchanging, peaceful situations. So he wanted to stop the shaking of the lake. But they didn’t stop. They couldn’t stop.

He had tried several times. But this time it was different. As if to avenge being used haphazardly, they rebelled against him with a clear will.

What should I do······.

At that moment, a familiar voice pierced his mind. He listened to the sound.

─······Oh!

It was Sarah. He didn’t know what she was saying. But it seemed like she was angry. He broke his promise with her. He said every time that he wouldn’t overdo it, but he broke it every time.

What can I do, it’s already done. I’ll have to apologize to her later······

‘······!’

Suddenly, John looked at the lake. It was still rampaging.

······Maybe?

John’s hands slowly clasped together. And he politely lowered his head.

─I’m sorry.

At that moment, the wave that was tapping John’s toes changed. It subsided a little.

─I’m sorry.

Around the lotus leaf, the vibrations gradually stopped. But it was still not enough.

John continued to beg for forgiveness. The more his sincerity was added, the more the lake regained stability.

How long did it last, the waves no longer crashed.

And, John opened his eyes.

***

Blink-blink-

John’s pupils scanned the surroundings with a blank look. They weren’t unfamiliar faces, but there were still many awkward faces. The most familiar face among them said.

“······Are you okay? Why do you look like that.”

“······.”

“······Hmm.”

She looked at John with a blank look. Somehow, his condition wasn’t good at all.

Slap-!

“Cough!”

Her gentle touch brushed John’s face. John was startled awake by the affectionate touch.

“W-what is it!”

“Oh, you’ve finally come to your senses.”

Sarah replied in a nonchalant tone. John was dumbfounded. However, he straightened his posture at her following words.

“Magic depletion, considerable bleeding, and numerous lacerations all over the body.”

“······.”

“If you had performed a comrade summon at the appropriate time, this wouldn’t have happened, how long did you drag out the time?”

“······.”

John had nothing to say. Her words were true. He tried to find the optimal timing to annihilate the enemies, which resulted in an increase in the size of the risk.

In the end, he had no choice but to remain silent. Ambiguous excuses were not good.

“······.”

Sarah, who had been glaring at John, sighed for a moment.

“Okay. Well, you must have had your reasons.”

“······.”

“Anyway, I was just telling you to be careful. Rest more.”

Sarah said that and got up from her seat. The place where John was lying was a roughly made tent made of leaves. She removed the front door of the tent.

John asked.

“······Where are you going?”

“I still have something left, so I’m just going to tidy it up a bit.”

“Ah, I see.”

The moment Sarah said that, her figure disappeared from sight.

Whoosh-

John looked at the leaves fluttering in the wind she had created. Certainly, the speed had increased compared to before.

‘She seems to have gotten stronger.’

He thought that and lay back down.

“······.”

He was still tired. He woke up briefly at Sarah’s urging, but he hadn’t fully recovered. It was just a fleeting spark.

John once again fell into his inner self.

***

It was quite a while later that John woke up from that. John didn’t know the details, but his inner world had suffered quite fatal damage.

This was because he had repeatedly used excessive magic several times in a state where he had not even entered magic for long.

It was a case that occurred because there was no proper teacher. If he hadn’t received Jerry’s help, it wouldn’t have been easy to overcome the crisis earlier.

Anyway, John lightly shook off his seat and got up. Having recovered his physical condition, he jumped into the area hunt without hesitation.

It was like adding wings to a tiger for the team that was already subjugating areas one by one thanks to Sarah’s performance.

Many team members died due to the players brought by the parrot middle-aged man, but there were also as many reinforcements. After all, the tower is winner-take-all.

Still, one disappointing thing is······

‘Oh Tak-hun. He was the best thief I’ve ever seen.’

He lost a valuable talent. Still, it was easier to kill the parrot middle-aged man thanks to him. But it was unavoidable that he felt regret.

Pew- Pow!

John smashed the enemy’s skull by firing a magic missile with a light gesture. In fact, the tower takes them to a safe space so quickly that I don’t know if it actually smashed. It’ll probably be fine.

Soon, something blocked his view. There were a total of 5 photos. He selected 2 photos with a familiar gesture. He had already decided what to choose.

Swish-

Immediately after his gesture ended, pure white particles gathered around him. John thought as he looked at the gradually increasing number of team members.

‘If things go well, it’ll be over by tomorrow.’

Not much is left. It’s time to get out of the 2nd floor soon.

***

Crunch-!

The sensation felt in his grasp is quite unfamiliar. John turned the longsword this way and that, looking around.

‘If things go well, it’ll be over by tomorrow.’

Not much is left. It’s time to get out of the 2nd floor soon.

***

Crunch-!

The sensation felt in his grasp is quite unfamiliar. John turned the longsword this way and that, looking around.

“It’s over.”

At that moment─

[The tally is complete.]

[2nd floor ends.]

[Moving to the room of rewards.]

Flash-

***

Unlike the 1st floor, John knew that he would come to the room of rewards. So he wasn’t flustered at all. Rather, he looked around as if he had been waiting for it. And he was able to realize a new fact.

‘It’s getting wider.’

As he said, the width of the reward room continued to become obese. What could be the reason? John thought that power was the standard.

That’s the only thing that’s changed since he came to this tower.

‘Will something like a function be created later?’

John waited for a new message to appear while thinking that. Immediately, a blue window popped up as if it knew his mind.

[Settling rewards.]

[Acquire 472 karma.]

[Acquire 100,000 gold.]

[Item: Trait Enhancement Ticket is awarded.]

[Item: Affection of Magic is acquired.]

‘This time, it doesn’t give a trait and only gives two items.’

I wanted to have a trait rather than an item if possible. John thought so. He had seen the effects of acceleration of thought.

John immediately tried to open the inventory to check the new items. It wasn’t in his nature to waste time.

However, the tower was even more impatient than John.

Flash-

“······Hmm.”

‘Too fast?’

The moment John thought that, he had already arrived in a new space. John straightened the senses of his whole body and drew up his magic power.

In the next moment, he wore a flustered expression. There were too many.

‘······What is this again.’

As if representing John’s thoughts, a voice full of embarrassment was heard from the surroundings.

“Uh, uh?!”

“Team leader? We meet again?”

The former was a face he didn’t know at all, and the latter was familiar. It was Jang Deok-su, a player who was on the same team on the 2nd floor. However, John wasn’t flustered because of Deok-su.

Murmur-

There were too many. At least thousands of players were lined up in front of the red line. It was like watching a marathon.