Ch.86Crossroads of Destiny+

# 86. Crossroads of Destiny+

Even a dog that hangs around a Confucian school for three years can recite poetry, as the saying goes. We’re not school dogs and we haven’t been here for three years, but repeating the same thing three times is enough to make it familiar.

In that sense, finding the portal to floor 3-1 wasn’t particularly difficult this time. I was just a bit nervous because of that lockdown order or whatever we heard right before leaving Ayord.

“Nyaaa! Nya-nya! Nya-nya-nyaaa!”

[W-what is this? Are you joking? You secretly made this to make fun of me, right? Huh?]

Ah, there was the issue of Danya freaking out dramatically when she saw the portal. She only knew that we came from another world, so when she suddenly found her familiar world cut off and saw a strange hole spinning around that she’d never seen or heard of before, it must have been maddening.

So before entering the portal, we had to hold a brief explanatory session to calm her down.

“Nyaaaa…”

[You’re saying I, the city, this world… were all created?]

“It’s unclear at this point. We definitely experienced this world indirectly from another world, but we never imagined we’d end up directly rolling around in it like this.”

“Nyaaaaa…”

[I feel like, like I’m being invalidated somehow…]

We seemed to have taken floor transitions too lightly, probably because we were so focused on leaving Ayord. It wasn’t a big deal to us, but Danya was a native, after all.

Eden Gard, Albrant, Ayord, and whatever cities would appear next.

The natives never left their own territories.

Danya was the irregular one.

If suddenly in our Earth, areas just a few kilometers away were completely cut off, dark boundaries appeared, and suspicious portals materialized in mid-air… some might be curious, but most would be terrified.

Time was the answer here—time to get used to it.

Experience had taught us that.

“Danya. Think of it as a mirror reflecting new worlds and possibilities.”

“Nya?”

[Mirror?]

“When you jump in, you might end up somewhere familiar or somewhere unknown. And those who want to move forward are given adventures or trials. Overcome them and you grow.”

And when you grow, Danya, you can return to your original form.

“Nya!”

[Oh, really?]

“Of course. In this world, we’re outsiders, somewhat unusual beings. The pace of growth you imagine and the pace I imagine are probably very different.”

But when there’s no time, dangling an enticing carrot was the next best option.

A strong temptation like “original form” that could momentarily make one forget all negative emotions.

“Nyaaa…”

[I was thinking at least 10 years… so?]

“What do you mean 10 years? It should only take a few months.”

“Nya-nya!”

[Just a few months! Really?]

“Of course.”

Danya now began to feel excitement rather than fear or despair when looking at the portal.

– She grows every time she passes through that.

– The faster she grows, the faster she can return to her original body and maintain it longer.

– And she’ll get revenge for all those farts (?)

That’s probably what Danya was thinking.

“As expected of Ban Sunghyun.”

“As expected of our leader.”

“Hmph.”

“Your mouth is really…”

It’s not agitation or fabrication! I’m being wronged, team members!

We crossed the portal with practiced ease.

**

“Check.”

“Check!”

As always, we confirmed and announced our presence immediately after crossing the portal. Soyu noona and Danya were at the center, Seyeon naturally moved to the front, Yuri to the rear, while Subin and I moved to the sides to survey our surroundings and figure out where we were.

“It’s definitely near Ayord, but somehow…”

Subin’s expression was concerning. Mine probably looked similar.

“If we consider the direction we’ve been moving as forward…”

“Yeah. This is backward.”

“What does that mean? Are you saying we made a U-turn?”

“It’s not Ayord, so that’s not it, Yuri.”

I explained the situation as we understood it.

We had expected to reach a field related to Benas, the next region after Ayord, or a dungeon or quest related to it, but this was between Ayord and Albrant.

In other words, we were somewhere in the Ansila Mountains. On the Ayord side, not the Albrant side.

And our assumption was confirmed by Danya’s words.

“Nyaaa… nya-nya!”

[This is… the place where we’ve always fought those annoying guys, both then and now!]

“What did she say? Danya said something.”

I translated for them.

Subin let out a hollow laugh.

“We avoided it because of the risk, and hurriedly escaped Ayord because it wasn’t our concern, but now we’re entangled like this.”

“This might be the mission for this floor—”

[Quest ‘Crossroads of Destiny’ has been updated.]

[Quest content – Choose 1 of 3 options]

[1. Help the Ayors.]

[2. Help the Albs.]

[3. Ignore it.]

[Reward – ???]

[Failure – ???]

“What’s wrong, oppa? Why did you stop mid-sentence?”

“I was saying this might be the mission for this floor.”

What’s going on? Can’t the team members see the quest message?

‘Since it’s related to Danya, maybe only I can see it.’

I considered various possibilities but quickly narrowed it down to one. The grandiose and suspicious quest name “Crossroads of Destiny,” the choices, and the fact that only I could see it all pointed to that.

I shared what I was seeing with the team members.

“We’ve already entered the floor… so we can choose whether to fight or not?”

“Then isn’t ignoring it the best option? We can pass through without fighting. That would be sweet.”

“The reward would probably be minimal then. Or none at all.”

“Isn’t passing through more important than the reward?”

“Since we’re not at full strength yet.”

“Ah.”

“Still, option 3 is the most appealing. We can always get rewards later.”

The team members quickly went into ranker mode and shared their opinions. As I gathered their thoughts, I glanced at Danya. She was staring at us blankly.

It was the expression of someone seeing a very unfamiliar side of people they thought they knew.

‘This is also who we are.’

Even among the Ayors living in Ayord, there are many different races and differences. We’re people from another world. There was bound to be a gap.

And she’s an Ayor. Naturally, she would side with the Ayors and probably thought we would obviously fight on the Ayors’ side too.

Sorry to Danya, but the only thing that was obvious to us was the principle that “our safety and reaching the top floor are our highest priorities.”

Danya was now part of “us,” but she had the critical disadvantage of only being able to communicate with me, and since we weren’t originally acquainted, she didn’t seem to have become particularly close with the team members.

To the point where no one immediately said, “We should help the Ayors for Danya’s sake.”

‘The anti-Alb quest is pretty tough. If there wasn’t an “ignore” option, we’d probably be planning to help the Ayors, but…’

Because of the “ignore” option, the team members were leaning that way, and I was momentarily tempted too, but my personal choice was option 1.

“Is it necessary?”

This reaction came immediately. The team members had already finished their cost-benefit analysis.

They believed it was better to avoid the anti-Alb quest if possible.

Hoping Danya wouldn’t be too disappointed in the team members, I began to share my opinion.

“I think we need to pay attention to the sequence of events. Right before we left Ayord, there was going to be an unprecedented lockdown. Then we went up a floor but ended up in a location that’s backward. And now this sudden quest appears. Is this really a coincidence?”

“If not a coincidence, then what? How does that lead to helping the Ayors?”

“Let’s establish this first. None of us would choose option 2, right?”

No one would.

“As you all know, the anti-Alb quest is a chain quest. It doesn’t end after completing it once, and how you complete the prerequisite quests affects the subsequent ones.”

“But there’s only been one quest or mission per floor, right?”

“It could link to the next floor.”

I wasn’t making this up. The fact that the anti-Alb quest was a chain quest was true in the game, and it was also true that later quests were influenced by earlier ones.

“So what you’re saying is this? If we ignore it and move on, it could snowball and make the next floor much harder?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”

The connection to the next floor was speculation, but when had we ever not relied on speculation here? As long as it wasn’t absurd speculation, it was fine. The team members were reconsidering because my words made sense.

“And…”

“And?”

“I think this is the right choice for the future as well.”

For Danya, who had become one of “us,” to earn points for when she regains her power. To not emotionally regret this day’s choice in the future.

Also, while the anti-Alb quest was on the tougher side, it wasn’t impossible, and strategies existed, so we might as well collect the rewards too.

I didn’t put it so bluntly.

“I’ll go with what the leader says. The leader has always made the best and most optimal decisions.”

Starting with Seyeon.

“If oppa says so.”

“Yeah. Things might get harder as we go up, so we should take what we can at the lower floors. I agree.”

“Since that’s the consensus, well, I agree too.”

Yuri, Subin, and Soyu noona all agreed with me.

“Danya.”

“Nyang…?”

[Yes…?]

“Let’s go. To help.”

[[You have selected ‘1. Help the Ayors.’]]

By the way, this message has been subtly pushing me in a certain direction…

As always, we will decide and walk our own path.

We followed Danya, whose eyes had regained their spark.