Chapter 114 – 16th Floor. Aaaah No

Tweet-tweet—

The pearl-like chirping of birds announcing morning wasn’t audible, but I opened my eyes to the suffocating weight I felt on my chest.

Forcing open my heavy eyelids typical of just waking up, I rolled my eyes to identify the weight pressing down on me, only to find a familiar form lying on my chest, steadily compressing my ribs.

The large, gleaming cross-section of volcanic glass, hands that could be called dragon-like for their sharpness and hardness.

The flowing black hair and the occasional glimpse of blue membrane when her tongue habitually flicked out.

The dragon who had swallowed the spirit’s heart was sleeping soundly on my chest, face resting on me and purring—a rather extraordinary sight.

Except for being unbearably heavy and the feeling that my solar plexus was caving in whenever her chin pressed down.

“Ah… I don’t want to get up.”

Unconsciously, I raised my hand and gently scratched under Blue Tongue’s chin, becoming addicted to the growling sound she made in response, which I couldn’t tell whether indicated pleasure or not. I ended up lying there for quite some time before finally getting up.

Of course, Albert hadn’t returned by then, but I wasn’t particularly worried.

Wearing a full set of dwarf armor, that old man could handle himself just fine.

“Mm. Did it hurt a lot, human?”

“Quite a bit?”

Though we had left the cocoon, Blue Tongue still seemed somewhat sleepy, struggling to keep her eyes open as she spoke apologetically upon seeing me clutching my solar plexus.

“Then I’ll overlook the fact that you nearly tore my jaw off.”

“Hmm… sounds like a good deal.”

I avoided Blue Tongue’s gaze as she placed her hands on both cheeks and massaged the joints of her jaw.

I certainly did get too excited and went a bit too hard.

After offsetting the potential destruction of one of our body parts against the other, Blue Tongue casually approached as I lit a fire to prepare breakfast, growling and leisurely resting her chin on my shoulder.

As a result, the load on my spine increased, but I wasn’t man enough to point that out.

“What are you making? It doesn’t smell like milk.”

Blue Tongue sniffed curiously at whatever I was stirring in the pot over the fuel-soaked logs that had been easily ignited with modern technology.

“Ha! This is none other than a convenient food created by modern scholars putting their heads together.”

“Hmm…”

It’s truly amazing how food engineering has advanced—just dissolve soup powder in cold water, bring it to a boil, and you have delicious cream soup.

Normally, since I was alone, I could just open a can and eat whatever, but now that I had someone to share meals with, I could make things like this.

Blue Tongue stared at the water with air bubbles rising before it became soup, then sat on a fallen bookshelf and naturally wrapped her tail around my waist.

“Do humans from this modern place just eat this pale water? How pitiful.”

“…”

“If needed, I’ll share my smoked meat with you.”

Turning my head, I saw Blue Tongue looking at me with genuine pity.

“Obviously we don’t just eat this.”

I flicked her forehead because her expression was so annoying.

Thwack—!

Despite my considerable strength making quite a loud sound, Blue Tongue just blankly stared at my hand and scratched the spot where I’d hit her.

Only after showing her packaged bacon and eggs from inside the mimic did I manage to dispel her misunderstanding that the modern world was a grim dystopia where people only drank soup.

Bubble-bubble went the soup heating in the pot over the campfire, while sizzle-sizzle went the bacon and eggs cooking in the pan, making delicious sounds.

Brown, toasted bread giving off a savory aroma waited to be eaten on a plate.

“Wonder when that fellow will be back.”

Who would have thought we’d be leisurely making breakfast during this damn maze exploration?

It was an unexpected situation, but one I found quite pleasant.

Occasionally slapping away Blue Tongue’s hand as she tried to secretly snatch bacon, or hearing the pitiful squeaking sound coming from inside the cocoon…

“Squeak-squeak?”

“Why are you suddenly making mouse noises, human? Is that flirtation?”

After pushing away Blue Tongue’s face as she spouted nonsense without changing her expression, I ran into the cocoon…

Squeak- squeak-squeak!!! Squeeeeak!!!

There I found Noto-something, 39 years old, tightly bound in spider silk, dangling and swinging.

He was squeaking so vehemently that I couldn’t understand what he was saying, but I could tell he was hurling insults at me.

He was even cursing with his eyes—my dream of extending my lifespan would likely be realized today.

“I completely forgot about you. Sorry, hey! We had such intense battles that I forgot our spider had tied you up as emergency rations.”

Squeeeeak!!!

Chuckling and apologizing, I noticed Noto-whatever shed a single drop of tear, seemingly accepting my sincere apology.

It seems the saying that sincerity is essential in an apology holds true.

After freeing the Noto-whatever mouse and placing him on my head, I came down to find Blue Tongue imitating what I had been doing, stirring the soup.

Though with each stir, about 3.7 ml of soup overflowed along the pot’s curve and the floor got to taste it instead, I decided not to mind.

“I didn’t eat any, human.”

“The bacon is disa…”

Before I could finish pointing it out, Blue Tongue had already confessed. I stared at her intently as her neck rotated quite smoothly, as if it had been oiled.

It was an overreach to have no bacon left in the pan when there were originally more than ten strips—she seemed to realize that.

“In my generosity, I’ll let it slide just this once.”

Well, what could I do? As long as she enjoyed it.

Although breakfast turned out a bit sloppier than I’d planned, I decided that breakfast should be light anyway and started to eat the toast with eggs on top.

The eggs were soft but a bit bland—I should have added salt.

“What now, human?”

Blue Tongue, for whom such a leisurely morning seemed to be a first, looked somewhat bored as she prompted me about the plan ahead.

“There’s nothing more to do on this 16th floor. If anything, we could collect artifacts if we find them along the way.”

“Is it alright not to meet this ‘Curator’ you mentioned?”

Blue Tongue asked while slurping the soup, which she seemed to quite enjoy for its warm, thick texture, pouring it into her mouth carefully so her tongue wouldn’t get burnt.

“It would be nice to meet him, but there’s no need to specifically meet him here. We can meet him on any floor.”

The Curator appears on the 16th floor, but he can appear on any floor in the Gallery area.

Of course, not just anywhere—you can only encounter him after defeating a mini-boss and reclaiming an occupied area, but for me, who’s been eliminating all mini-bosses as I progress, this isn’t much of a restriction.

Besides, the quest completion rewards don’t decrease, so it’s a low priority.

Chewing on the crispy, golden-brown toast with the soft egg whites, I drew on my knowledge from D.D. and laid it out.

“The 17th floor is the Necromancer’s domain.”

“Necromancer?”

“Yeah, remember those corpses and souls mixed in with the mannequins we saw burning yesterday? They probably came up from the 17th floor.”

The Infinite Gallery of Knowledge is divided into four factions.

First is the Puppeteer who originally created and managed this gallery; second is the Necromancer who emerged from somewhere and overwhelmed the Librarians with endless undead; third is the Mushroom that grows parasitically on the corpses controlled by the Necromancer.

The mushrooms apparently can be used for food, but personally, I’d rather not eat them.

Squeak, squeak-squeak.

The squirrel, having forgiven me after receiving the walnuts I gave him, squeaked while gnawing on a walnut.

“He’s asking what the fourth faction is.”

I gave a thumbs-up high in the sky, blessing the helpful hedgehog that is Blue Tongue, who can understand animal language—a skill I completely lack.

“The fourth is… the Blacksmith.”

“The Blacksmith? That’s quite random.”

Squeak-squeak-squeak.

This time Blue Tongue didn’t translate, perhaps just taking it as a mere response, so I stroked my chin.

“Actually, the Infinite Gallery of Knowledge looks like a library, but that’s only true for the 16th floor. Below that, other things are exhibited.”

“Other things?”

“Things like paintings or sculptures.”

The Infinite Gallery of Knowledge could more accurately be described as an art gallery or museum.

Blue Tongue seemed to struggle with the concept, probably because such things didn’t exist in the remote region where she lived, but the squirrel nodded as if he understood, even crossing his arms.

“It’s hard to understand… Do humans find joy in creating such useless things?”

“Well… I don’t have a particularly artistic brain either, so I’m not sure.”

While I didn’t dislike art class, I was among the majority of 21st-century modern Koreans who mysteriously lose interest in such hobbies once school days are over, making it difficult to give a satisfactory answer.

“Anyway, the Blacksmith won’t be hostile to us. We also definitely need to meet him.”

Briefly recalling the pommel, crossguard, and hilt sleeping inside the mimic, I popped the last bite into my mouth and dusted off my hands to remove the crumbs.

“Hmm… So the Necromancer and the Mushroom are invaders? They don’t seem to fit in here very well.”

“Probably? Ah, we might be able to learn something if we ask.”

Severa and Cali are heroes who have already passed through the Infinite Gallery of Knowledge once.

However, considering that Severa, from a much earlier era, found the presence of undead strange, it probably happened after Severa died following her journey.

If so, I could ask Cali.

Thinking of Blue Tongue and Mateo, Cali probably isn’t a recent figure either, but at least she might know.

“Cali.”

Now familiar with summoning her, I murmured her name almost casually, and the mimic’s mouth opened automatically.

Simultaneously, light flashed and a sticky magical force swirled around, returning Cali to her original state.

And the sight that appeared before me was horrific.

“Uh…”

“Hnngh, hic..♥ Ahehh♥”

Pshhht—

I covered my mouth at the appearance of the female form, drenched in fluid that emitted a headache-inducing sweet scent, spattering pink-tinged droplets that soiled the pristine white floor whenever air touched it.

“…If that’s your preference, I should have been given time to prepare, human.”

“I-It’s a mistake! A mistake!”

Blue Tongue’s suspicious gaze fixed on my lower half, but naturally, I had no choice but to quietly recall Cali as a tent had already pitched itself.

The spot where Cali had been was slightly warm.