Chapter 401: The Weight of a Star 1

“What the hell is this…?”

Morning had come, and time starting to flow meant Han Se-ah had begun gaming. As soon as she logged in, she couldn’t believe what was happening before her eyes and stared at Irene with a dumbfounded expression.

“This is quite solid. It even follows my movements.”

“If I swing my sword… it doesn’t get blocked. So I can cut freely, but the enemy can’t attack me?”

“Impressive. It’s more refined and pure divine energy than most Temple Knights.”

As a player, Han Se-ah could clearly see Irene’s title of 5★ ‘Saint Candidate’. So while she hadn’t achieved a feat or upgraded to 6★, she had somehow improved and strengthened her holy magic. Lukius and McDonagh, lightly swinging their swords at each other inside the barrier, exclaimed in admiration, snapping her out of her daze.

Originally, Irene’s protective holy magic was a kind of shelter creation. It formed a dome of divine energy centered on her, blocking attacks from the outside while allowing attacks from the inside to pass through.

But what they were seeing now had some similarities to Laurencia’s holy magic they’d seen in the Harpy Archipelago. To be more precise, it was like a mix of the Second Kingdom Knight Commander’s enhancement skill and Laurencia’s wide-area holy magic.

The truly frightening part was that this evolution had occurred without an upgrade.

“Wait a second. Irene’s still 5★? Her skill evolved, but she didn’t upgrade. What’s going on here?”

Irene was indeed a greenhouse flower. A temple lady born and raised in the center of a safe city, showered with love as she grew up.

But in this world, there are delicate young ladies who crumble under the harsh winds despite their sheltered upbringing, and there are those who use their first taste of adversity and hardship as a stepping stone for tremendous growth.

“Applying holy magic? Oh, I get it! Until now, the party was doing fine with just the basics, so she didn’t think about improving!”

As soon as they saw Irene’s protective holy magic evolve into something like ‘Protective Holy Magic (Improved)’ when Han Se-ah connected to the stream, viewers started chiming in. While there was a lot of nonsense, the donations that came in slower than the chat had quite a few sensible comments.

In short, Irene hadn’t improved because of me.

‘…Well, that’s not exactly wrong?’

A pack of horned wolves jumping out of the plains and full moon wolves? An orc chieftain randomly summoning orcs after getting rammed?

We just broke through.

A giant snake that should be hunted with a mounted golem? Lured it with my bare body and broke it.

A black magic lich? Dismembered it with the holy sword.

The legendary underground monster and the harpy queen who controls storms? Killed them with my teeth, not even bare-handed.

With a tank doubling as a DPS and ridiculous 6★ performance smashing boss heads effortlessly, how could the word ‘ascetic practice’ possibly fit Irene’s adventure?

At most, she’d used her protective holy magic a few times with incredible reflexes to save Han Se-ah and Grace.

“…So that was talent.”

“What is, Roland?”

“Remember when you quickly cast protective holy magic against attacks flying towards the rear?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. That’s what I’m supposed to do.”

Back then, I thought she was just showing off her 5★ reaction speed, but thinking about it now, that was subtly revealing her brilliant talent.

A idiom like ‘hidden gem’ would fit perfectly here.

Just as Han Se-ah could use magic however and wherever she wanted, it seemed Irene’s barrier could also be applied freely. Of course, I had no reason to need Irene’s barrier, but it’s always good news when a party member improves.

Irene, placing barriers on the curious party members, looked like a kind adult blowing soap bubbles for children.

“Hey, but this barrier… seems to be mixed with purification holy magic? The big one ignores damage below a certain threshold, and the small barrier has immunity and purification. It’d be great for moving through contaminated areas.”

I guess there might be times when I’ll need a barrier after all…

The tower was vast beyond measure.

Adventurers scattered in all directions had to spend an average of 2-3 weeks on foot before finding a gate. From what I knew, Joseon Dynasty scholars took about 20 days to walk non-stop from Seoul to Busan, and their knees gave out in the process.

On top of that, adventurers moved while fighting, so one layer was roughly the size of Gangwon Province, if we’re estimating. Sometimes gates were close together, sometimes far apart, so situations varied, but that’s a very rough calculation.

So no matter how much Irene’s heart ached, it was physically impossible to find the two aunties. From the 51st to the 54th floor, four layers – that’s roughly the area of the Korean Peninsula. How could it be possible to find two women without any hints in such a vast area? It’s not like finding Mr. Kim in Seoul, it’s more like finding Mrs. Lee somewhere on the entire Korean Peninsula.

“That’s why we need to move forward as quickly as possible. We need to get information about the fake safe zones on the 55th floor to end this tragedy.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Irene, who seemed to have sorted out her feelings while practicing holy magic in her sleeping bag all night, shouted energetically. The rest of the party showed relieved sighs and warm smiles at her behavior.

I thought her spirit wouldn’t be broken, but to recover her mental state so quickly in just a day or two – maybe bamboo suited her better than a flower after all.

Just as bamboo shoots grow several meters in a day, Irene, who had started to grow, seemed to be shooting up as well.

While we dawdled trying to save just two people, dozens could disappear into the tower. So, as Irene said, quickly breaking through the tower was the hero party’s mission.

“But I’m really, really happy that Irene has grown… when are the fake safe zone and the ogre gonna show up?”

Our party was smoothly sailing along without any issues. When Manaashi and I charged in heavily, Lukius and McDonagh, supporting Katie, tore through the enemy lines. Whether it was centaurs rushing in quickly or goblins advancing in formation, nothing could withstand the charge of our 26★ combined force.

But the problem was that our exploration continued peacefully, almost too smoothly. Neither the berserk ogre that could be exchanged for special enhancement stones, nor the fake safe zones disrupting our nighttime rest, stubbornly refused to appear.

Instead, what appeared before our eyes was a familiar and almost welcome arched gate.

“…Found the gate leading to the 55th floor.”

“Indeed. How’s our food situation, Hanna?”

“…Hmm, it’s tricky. I think we should just record it, report to the guild, and come back.”

A centaur unit that had been charging somewhere suddenly changed direction oddly. Considering that Grace’s and the centaurs’ detection abilities were roughly equal, it was very strange, so we headed in that direction and found the gate leading to the 55th floor.

It seemed that because the game system prevented monsters from waiting at gate entrances to spawn kill, the fast-moving centaurs had avoided the gate and failed to detect us.

In other words, Han Se-ah had managed to climb from the 51st to the 55th floor without experiencing a single gimmick event of the layers.

At this rate, the joke about “meeting the 55th floor mid-boss before the berserk ogre” might become reality.

…Was this good luck or bad luck?