Ch.24Crossroads+

# 24. Crossroads+

[Quest ‘Fugitive’ has been updated.]

[Quest Content – Decide your attitude toward the Elven fugitive]

[1. Protect them.]

[2. Abandon them.]

‘Tsk. The fugitive quest appears here?’

The Elven fugitive quest was a repeatable side quest that could be regularly obtained in Albrant.

Setting aside how hellish life must be there for elves to regularly attempt desperate escapes from what appeared to be a beautiful city, only the first fugitive quest was actually tied to the main storyline leading to Albrant.

But that quest was supposed to be received after entering Albrant.

‘Did we enter faster than expected and things got mixed up? Or is it because the next area is a discontinuous neutral zone?’

I wasn’t sure.

What mattered now was figuring out what we should do. Both Keutjukyira and Saeaeks glanced at me after moving their eyes around, likely seeing the same message.

It seemed they would follow my decision since the situation was precarious.

‘Whether I choose option 1 or 2, it never significantly changed the main storyline in the game.’

But we weren’t trying to complete the game’s main story—we were simply climbing the tower. Even in Edengard, there were plenty of storylines, but didn’t we spend an entire week just doing side quests before leaving?

The main story was just reference material to help predict what might be on the next floor, not an absolute standard to follow.

“May I ask just one thing?”

“You dare to bargain with us now?”

“Why won’t you let me speak? I just need to confirm one thing. Answer this and I’ll give you my decision right away.”

“You inferior human!”

“Stop.”

“But—”

When the lead elf extended his hand instead of speaking, the agitated elf on the left grudgingly backed down, grinding his teeth.

“If you waste any more of our time, human, you will learn what a bloodless massacre is—something far more terrible than a bloody one.”

What an attitude.

How did the game developers decide to incorporate these jerks and their village into the main story? There must have been some masochistic writer on the team who enjoyed being verbally abused.

Anyway, brushing off the elf’s hostility, I asked what was most important to us.

“If we go the way you came, can we enter Albrant?”

“You wasted our time for such an obvious question?”

Okay.

While watching the elves’ faces contort with disgust, I gestured for my party members to back away. They glanced momentarily at the unconscious elf but followed my instructions without question.

[[You have selected: 2. Abandon them.]]

The elves, who had been twitching as if ready to strike us down at any moment, sighed in disbelief when we backed away obediently… only to furrow their brows again and continue their tirade.

“Typical of inferior humans to put on pointless bravado when you were going to back down anyway. Nevertheless, since you did retreat, we’ll overlook how you wasted our time. Now get lost.”

“You son of a—”

Wow.

It was infuriating enough reading these lines as script, but hearing them spoken to my face made me speechless.

Keutjukyira stopped Saeaeks as she was about to lash out. Seeing this, the elves let out contemptuous sneers, which made Saeaeks try to react again, but this time I restrained her too.

We needed to enter Albrant, so there was absolutely nothing to gain by creating friction with these guys.

‘To think we’ll have to stay for a while in a place crawling with jerks like these.’

My head was already throbbing, but since the Albrant elves had confirmed we “could enter,” I decided to let my future self deal with the consequences.

The elf on the left hoisted the unconscious elf onto his shoulder, and they began heading back to Albrant.

We waited until they disappeared from sight, and only after another 10 minutes had passed did we lower our weapons and breathe sighs of relief.

“Wow, seriously. They look like sculptures but act like complete jerks?”

“You did well holding back, Yuri.”

“You and the raid leader are like saints, seriously.”

“Saints? Come on.”

I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants. Though things worked out well, the stress I’d been suppressing was catching up with me.

“But that elf…”

“Yeah?”

“Will they die?”

“Or disappear, I guess.”

“…Are we terrible people?”

Saeaeks asked, suddenly looking dejected.

Keutjukyira held Saeaeks’s arm comfortingly. She also looked at me. Had her mental fortitude cracked a little? Or was she watching to see how I would console Saeaeks?

There seemed to be a big difference for them between killing forest goblins, who were clearly monsters, and allowing an elf NPC to die.

I felt the same way.

But ultimately, it was a matter of priorities.

I made my decision quickly because I believed the positive impact on our party’s survival and ascent by ignoring that elf outweighed the guilt we would feel.

Since they had agreed to follow my decision, they couldn’t be completely free from responsibility… but as the one who always made the final call, I was prepared to shoulder their guilt along with my own responsibility as much as possible.

“No.”

“…Huh?”

“Like in the game, that elf probably had reasons for needing to escape. But we come first. Helping a first-time criminal from a race that despises us? Unless they were someone we knew, or if the reward was incredibly substantial… I don’t think so.”

In the game, choosing [Protect them] did yield rewards compared to [Abandon them], though it became quite troublesome.

That made sense. [Abandon them] was a choice where nothing happened, so there was neither hassle nor reward related to the fugitive incident later.

‘How can we worry about building rapport when we might be chased, interrogated, and treated as enemies even by shopkeepers?’

Call me cold-blooded if you must.

I’m busy enough taking responsibility for myself and my party.

“You’re not a bad person. If anyone’s bad, it’s me. So don’t worry about it.”

“…No. Thinking about it, I think the raid leader is right. Even though they’re a hateful race, they look human enough that it momentarily affected me.”

“My words and judgments aren’t always right, Yuri.”

“But they’re the best answers, aren’t they, Leader?”

So Keutjukyira wasn’t mentally shaken—she was observing how I would handle Saeaeks.

I didn’t mind. In fact, I appreciated it. I’m not a dictator, and they aren’t machines that just follow my orders.

“They’re the best we can come up with from our position.”

“That’s why I always trust you. Ah, if I were the leader, I might have agonized more, but I would have chosen option 2 as well.”

“Hey, sis! When you say it like that, what does that make me?”

“What does it make you? You’re just you, Yuri.”

“Tch.”

I couldn’t help but smile as Saeaeks pouted. She seemed to be deliberately acting this way, knowing she had almost brought down the mood.

She recovered quickly. And we continued our journey toward Albrant.

**

You’re not a bad person. If anyone’s bad, it’s me.

‘How foolish.’

The raid leader was, how should I put it… appropriate. Though I’d only known him for a few days, he was truly fitting.

His appearance was appropriate, his voice had always been appropriate.

His personality was appropriate, his judgment was appropriate, his cooking was appropriate.

The way he spoke was appropriate.

He was appropriate as if calculating what was appropriate behavior for any situation.

“Raid Leader. Why didn’t those elves make a fuss about us being on the road to Albrant in the first place?”

“While they look down on other races, Albrant doesn’t actually prohibit entry to non-elves. Us going to Albrant itself doesn’t violate any principles.”

And when you ask him something, he gives appropriate answers.

“Saeaeks, you were a cutscene-skipper, right?”

“Half guilty. I skipped almost everything around Albrant except the very beginning.”

“Makes sense. You would’ve gotten a lot of abuse in Albrant.”

It was the first time I could talk to an older man without communication issues or stress, so I found myself continuing to engage him.

Seoyeon unnie was definitely not the taciturn type, but she always took a step back and listened attentively when I spoke.

Such a stark contrast to someone who used to nag about everything.

Keutjukyira unnie is so great.

“Leader. Look.”

“Oh?”

But.

When unnie naturally moved closer to the raid leader, casually taking his arm, and he accepted it just as naturally…

Something.

Something felt…

“Raid Leader!”

“Huh? What, what’s suddenly wrong?”

“Nothing!”

“Okay? But my arm kind of hurts, Yuri…”

“Oh.”

When did unnie let go of his arm and step away while gently smiling?

**

‘Given the situation, I overlooked something important while getting caught up in the moment.’

After the vote on future action plans for raid leaders ended in a stalemate, the Golden Wing raid leader left Animus 210 and walked while deep in thought.

‘Regardless of the raid leaders’ intentions, we’re ultimately forced into a situation where everyone must fend for themselves.’

Is there a friend chat here? A general chat? Whispers?

Guild or raid party systems?

One large world with numerous portals?

None of those existed.

Let’s say we establish a new raid party.

No matter who becomes the raid leader, could that party really make it to the end? How can anyone guarantee that everyone who reaches the top floor will be able to return?

Even if that were true, there’s no way to know for certain.

Then someone might suggest:

Cooperate until just before the top floor, then compete individually from there.

‘That’s nonsense.’

These are people who fiercely competed over Percle rankings and class rankings—mere records.

They’re sticking together now because they’re too shocked to think clearly, but once they calm down, they’ll all start thinking like him.

‘While we can cooperate as needed, forming a new raid party encompassing all raid leaders—when we don’t even know how many will arrive—is absurd.’

Having voted for individual survival, he felt that even the single day until tomorrow’s meeting was too precious to waste.

‘Forget everything else… I need money first.’

As he walked toward a general store in the distance, he grumbled about having to work part-time jobs again in his mid-thirties. His complaints disappeared, swallowed by the ambient noise.