Maintenance

Bajaak.

As if to announce Americano’s death, the ice statue shattered into polygons.

Amidst the collapsing polygons, her soul alone remained, and she fell to the ground, landing on her butt.

“(Ugh…)”

Burning in fire.

Freezing over.

“(Haha.)”

That was fun~.

This is how you play a game.

A sense of crisis.

Death.

Thrill.

The pain gained from this battle lingered as phantom pain, searing and tormenting her soul-state body.

It quickly faded but left a refreshing sense of fulfillment.

It seemed stress had been building up without her realizing it.

While clearing subquests, she had endlessly slashed, stabbed, and sliced field monsters,

Musou wasn’t her thing.

No, even if she were to engage in Musou, it had to contain a hint of danger, the thrill of being able to die if she let her guard down.

Those who take lives must also know that their own lives can be taken.

Without even a crisis, it was merely bullying those weaker than oneself.

Not a fight or a battle, but a one-sided massacre.

The Orcs had been subjected to such massacres.

“(It wasn’t that it wasn’t fun, but…)”

It was at first.

“(…It wasn’t so great lately.)”

After getting used to the Orcs, she couldn’t feel any sense of crisis.

Americano was unknowingly annoyed by that.

A fight had to be a competition.

“(It’s only a fight if you can die.)”

She didn’t do much in this raid.

Dodging the Witch’s attacks a bit, then getting caught in an unavoidable area-of-effect magic and enduring it. Then, she struck the unguarded Witch with a straight punch, defeating her.

Overall, it was just a few dodges, enduring, and a straight punch.

Even though she moved less than when she was hunting Orcs, look, the sense of fulfillment lingering on her lips was on a different level.

Giant Kill.

Americano wanted to win against enemies stronger than herself.

“(Ugh…)”

Throbbing.

“(…It hurts.)”

Ahaha.

As she got up, she could feel the lingering effects of the fight.

This pain that tightly constricted her entire body.

She squeezed the pain, giving strength, and exhaled a sigh filled with satisfaction.

“(Haa…)”

[You have updated the Witch Win’s subjugation floor.]

[Would you like to reveal your name on the solo ranking?]

The answer is no.

She selected [Always Anonymous] in the notification settings and closed the window.

“(Come to think of it, everyone in the guild was making a fuss about the ranking being updated.)”

She rationally suspected that it might have been her.

Updating meant breaking the highest record.

It meant that the rankings on the 25th floor, where Witch Win appeared, had been changed.

The difficulty was set to the highest. And perhaps [Ill-Fated Talent] had guided the player to the most difficult difficulty on each floor.

Hee, rankings, huh.

It’s the first time she’s been in the rankings.

‘I wasn’t interested, but maybe I’ll take a look later.’

It was wishful thinking until she saw it for herself.

And there was no guarantee that ranking would continue in the future.

As the floors rose, the gap between the player’s level and the difficulty of the floors would gradually widen.

She, who had chosen the highest difficulty, was likely to fall off someday.

Even if she saw such a future,

‘It feels good.’

It was a wonderful fight where she gave her all.

“(Haa~aam)”

Was it because she was cold?

“(I’m sleepy.)”

She should go quickly.

But before that, she had to go back up to the 25th floor.

Because there was something to retrieve.

After resurrecting at the temple, she briefly visited the 25th floor.

Americano, who had returned to her lodgings, tapped the Mithril Cuirass with a repair hammer to fix it.

She hadn’t had a chance to use it until recently, but,

[Equipment Analysis (Basic)]

Using the blacksmithing skill book she received from Gusta, she examined the condition of the Mithril Cuirass.

As she used the Skill, the repair hammer tapped the Mithril Cuirass.

[Mithril Cuirass]

[Base Defense] [480]

<Analysis Result>

[There are severe internal cracks.]

It was probably because of the sudden back and forth between high and low temperatures.

“Do I have to melt it down and remake it?”

She didn’t really want to.

It’ll be fine for now.

Based on her experience fighting Orcs, Orcs can’t break through a defense of 480 and deal damage.

Unless they used the Orc axe made by Gumiho, but it didn’t hit well in the first place.

“And it seems like there’s a problem with the magic enchantment.”

When she wore it, the chest area wasn’t very comfortable.

The Mithril Cuirass, which had once melted and dug into her skin, had been deformed, so the fit couldn’t be described as good, even with kind words.

If she was going to keep equipping it, honestly, not really.

She’ll probably buy a new one soon.

“Sigh.”

If there’s a good thing, there’s also a bad thing.

“First, I’ll leave it to Gusta and make a decision after that.”

Americano put the Mithril Cuirass in her Inventory and took out something else instead.

Demon King Stone.

It was different now.

[Soulstone of the Witch Win]

She had consumed Demon King Stones to Seal the Witch of the 25th floor into the Demon King Stone.

The consumption was 70.

How much is 70?

The consumption varied depending on the level of the target.

First of all, she got 25 for clearing the 25th floor, and considering it was the first reward, she consumed more Demon King Stones than she thought to Seal one Witch on the 25th floor.

“….”

She heard about the Demon King Stone from Gusta and used it as a test, but she didn’t know if it was a good thing.

She used a precious world item material on a monster that only comes out on the 25th floor.

“Well, there’s nothing I can do about what I’ve already used.”

It was a waste, but that was all.

She had no connection with world items anyway.

Even if it’s a world item material, it’s a raw material.

To make it into a real world item material, you have to catch a raid boss and Seal its soul. Then you have to participate in the raid, but Americano had no intention of cooperating with others.

She wasn’t the type to regret something she had never obtained and didn’t think she could obtain.

Besides, shouldn’t you use items when you feel like it?

Unless you’re aiming for first place in the game or success in life, you should enjoy it while you can.

‘I might quit the Full Dive in the middle.’

Of course, she couldn’t quit the Full Dive halfway, but no one knew if she would quit climbing in the middle and fall into general life content.

When that happens, items that you wanted to use but couldn’t and left behind will all gather dust.

‘How many items have been left unattended like that?’

Americano sighed, recalling her past games.

“More than that…”

How do I use this?

I’ll have to get Mew to appraise it later.

And,

[Level] [21(-5)]

Death Penalty.

She got a Death Penalty because she died after clearing the 25th floor.

It recovers when you clear the floor, but it seems she died while still frozen.

The Tower’s recovery was quite clumsy.

Anyway, there is a way to release it immediately without waiting a week, but,

‘Should I go to the 26th floor before that?’

Thinking that, she got up from the bed.

“Huh… It’s completely broken. What on earth did you fight against?”

“Is it that bad?”

“I couldn’t break it the same way even if I tried to break it on purpose. I’ve been hammering iron for a long time, but I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Gusta tapped the Mithril Cuirass with a small hammer.

“The sound is different.”

“….”

“I can’t fix this unless I melt it down and remake it. I’ll fix the shape for now, but I can’t guarantee the quality. What are you going to do?”

“How long will it take to remake it?”

“It’ll take about a month. But are you thinking of entrusting it to me?”

“Can’t I?”

“There’s an armor shop next door. Have them repair the Mithril Cuirass.”

Americano nodded.

She received the Mithril Cuirass back.

…But.

“What about Gumiho?”

“You named her Miho.”

You gave her a cliché name.

“Miho is in the workshop right now. Hehe, she’s very interested in blacksmithing. It seems she wasn’t just captured by the Orcs.”

“….”

Anyway, Americano left the weapon shop and stopped by the Magic Shop.

But,

[Closed Today.]

It seems to be closed.

Creak.

The door opened.

“Oh? Americano!”

“Hello.”

Mew came out.

But she was in her going-out clothes.

She was wearing a witch-like cloak, carrying a broom and a large bag, ready to go somewhere.

“Are you in a hurry?”

“Yes? No.”

“I’m sorry. I just got a call from my main house and have to go out.”

“Ah, okay.”

“If it’s urgent, I can take a look for a moment.”

“It’s okay. It looks like you’re in a hurry, so go ahead.”

“Woo…”

Mew straddled the broom.

“If the call had come a little later, I would have taken on Americano’s work.”

“It’s okay.”

“Hmm…”

She looked like she didn’t want to go, but the broom Mew was riding on gradually flew into the sky.

Americano, who had been watching Mew disappear, stopped by the armor shop and entrusted the repair of the Mithril Cuirass.

<25th Floor Solo Ranking>

[1st Place (Anonymous) – Witch Win (SSS)]

[2nd Place Armadiller – Little Witch Judy (S)]

[3rd Place Namgung Yun – Orc Elite Unit (S)]

[4th Place Venti – Manticore (S)]

The 25th floor rankings have been updated.

Skilla stared blankly at the rankings.

[1st Place (Anonymous) – Witch Win (SSS)]

There are two main conditions for SSS rank.

The monster must be of a higher level than the floor.

Clear it while ignoring the victory conditions.

When the Heroes climbed the Tower and analyzed the conditions for ranking, the above two patterns commonly appeared.

The Tower’s raison d’être was ultimately to defeat the existence of the end.

The existence of the end doesn’t give victory conditions and follow them obediently,

Strength to insist on one’s own way no matter what monster appears.

The Tower wanted strength that could win even when faced with any absurd situation.

‘But…’

Before strength, the Witch immediately runs away if she thinks she’s going to lose.

A magician is one who prepares.

When the magic installed in the workshop is exhausted, the Witch runs away.

As far as Skilla knew, there had never been a precedent for catching a Witch who flies away even when you try to kill her.

SSS rank.

The Tower seemed very satisfied.

People whisper around her.

They also can’t believe it.

“…A Witch…”

“…Does that make sense…”

“…But if you watch the replay…”

The Heroes who watched the replay were even more shocked, rather than convinced.

Skilla stared blankly at the monument,

[This is an anonymously registered video.]

[Would you like to play the video? (-10 Gold)]

She immediately pressed the payment button.