132 – The Returner is Tired (7)
“… “
One robbery. Two murders. It’s strange that the dwarves aren’t angry. Even though they were getting along well among themselves, the players invaded and this happened.
“Hmm… “
Talk. Talk. Talk. I tapped his thigh with my fingertips, lost in thought. How should I solve this? Why is the situation so complicated? There is still not enough information to be sure of everything, but the rough outline has been established.
Then, I made eye contact with Anael to fill in the missing information.
“First of all, I want to roughly know the value of money.”
Bronze, silver, and gold don’t really make sense. Retail stores usually say that 1 gold can feed a commoner’s family for a month, but from a modern person’s perspective, the term ‘eating and living’ is too abstract. Subsisting on ramen and triangular kimbap is what I eat for a living, and visiting high-end restaurants every day for fine dining is also what I eat for a living.
Anael nods his head after hearing my question.
“I heard that when you first designed the 11th floor, you created it assuming that players would earn 1 gold per day!”
The forest on the 11th floor is an artificially created environment. From precious mushrooms to various minerals. Even rare animals. If you collect them and submit them to Anael, you can get money equivalent to their value.
“Of course, expensive items are more difficult to obtain! “It is a principle of capitalism!”
Anael is waving the sign in his hand. The voice was so lively that it seemed like there was an exclamation mark at the end of every word.
“However, the people who are currently on the 11th floor are very talented, so at least 5 gold. You can earn up to 20 gold per day! “I know that on average you earn about 10 gold!”
“… “How many seats are there?”
“50 Gold! Oh, for your information, a well-made famous sword costs approximately 20 gold! Accommodation costs 30 silver per day! 100 Silver equals 1 gold!”
“Hmm… “
For top level players, it takes an average of 5 days to clear the 11th floor. It will take longer to buy various things, including weapons.
If I were a psychopath with no patience, the idea of stealing from dwarves would seem very attractive. Killing… Although I don’t understand.
However, a question suddenly arises.
“… “Didn’t you say that the first player who came in left after three days?”
“Isn’t he amazing! “It may not be as good as Junho!”
It would make sense to say that he earned 20 gold every day, took only the pass, and left… If you take everything you need and wake up after 3 days, it probably isn’t an ordinary monster.
Anyway, I have a rough idea of the value of money. Next is crime.
“Aren’t there separate sanctions for crime? “Like the second floor.”
Like the 11th floor, the second floor also had an otherworldly city. If you commit a crime there, the owner of the city will come out and bang! They used to grind criminals to dust. I wondered if there might be a similar system on the 11th floor.
“Um… It’s not like it’s not there, but… “It’s not as deterrent as the second floor!”
According to Anael, there are punishments for crimes even on the 11th floor. If a player commits an immoral act, a debuff is applied that reduces the status window’s stats according to the crime. If you look at this alone, it is quite fatal…
“Debuff only applies on the 11th floor!”
It is said that the moment you leave the 11th floor, the debuff is lifted. Moreover, since the dwarves do not have very high combat ability, it is said that a strong player can easily defeat the dwarves even if they are debuffed.
“Hmm… “
Was the reason why Cheadle, who committed a crime, left the 11th floor in a hurry was because of the debuff?
No matter how much I think about it, I can’t help but think that the Archangel induced this situation. If you commit a crime and run away, it was no risk, high return. From a criminal’s point of view, this will make your mouth water.
The situation is no different from setting up a precarious Jenga tower in the middle of the street and saying, ‘If it falls, you’re all screwed hahahaha.’ Yeah, if she just left Jenga alone, nothing would happen. Instead, the probability of it collapsing is very, very high.
“… “
I realize that Archangel Raphael’s words, ‘I am friendly to climbers,’ were not a lie. It has been proven that it is possible to design an unreasonable floor while pretending to be fair on the outside.
“But this is just a story I heard from my fellow angels! “The person involved is being disciplined, so the truth may be slightly different!”
Of course, this is a story I heard all over the place.
“… “Who represents the dwarves?”
I felt the need to talk to the dwarves as well. If you tell me.
**
“Hello.”
“… “
“See you again.”
Surprisingly, the representative of the dwarves was the owner of a passage shop. Fortunately, although he is not very cheesy, he is someone you can talk to.
“… Why did you come? Have you already collected 100 million gold?”
The store owner, who had been looking closely at one of the paving stones with his monocle on, puts down the stone and monocle and looks at us.
“I want to discuss the current situation.”
“I have nothing to say.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Why don’t you do that? “They say they have nothing to say.”
A store owner who spits out words. As if to express that he really wasn’t interested, he picked up the passenger seat he had put down for a moment.
It won’t work. There is no progress like this. After exchanging glances with Choi Ji-won for a moment, I got straight to the point.
“Murder case.”
“… “
Stop. The hand holding the passenger seat stops.
“… “Are you sure this is what the player did?”
“… “
The store owner thought about what I said for a moment.
Boom!!!
“What a f*cking bastard!!!”
His face turns red, and he hits the glass display case with his fist.
“I don’t know where I picked this up, but what? “Are you sure the climber did it?”
A month later, the store owner came over the glass display case and tried to grab me by the collar.
Teok.
“Please stop.”
“… f*ck, f*ck… “
When Choi Ji-won overpowers him with one hand, he roughly shakes off his hand and takes a couple of steps back. I could have overpowered it…
Anyway, the store owner stopped, so I continued what I wanted to say.
“No, if you think about it, it’s true. Just because the dwarf died and the player escaped from the 11th floor the next day, doesn’t that mean there’s no confirmation that those people did it? It’s all just circumstantial evidence. Of course, I agree that it’s suspicious, but… “I know that there are various creatures living in the forest on the 11th floor. Couldn’t it have been their doing?”
“… You know quite a bit. “You must have just entered the 11th floor.”
The store owner jumps slightly backwards and sits down on the glass display case. Judging from the fact that his complexion had calmed down a bit, it seemed like he had calmed down.
“Yes, some people thought that way at first. I wonder if this friend fell into a hole or was bitten by a monster somewhere. “Have we not thought about that?”
“… “
“But it is a different story if the wound is a mark of a sword cut and the weapon used to cut it is thrown away next to the body. Moreover, the second murder was made into a mush using a hammer. “Animals don’t kill their prey that way.”
Since the store owner spoke in such a definite tone, it seemed certain that at least the dead dwarves had been hit by weapons. Holy sh*t. A lot of trolls came and went.
Then, now is Plan B. We warn of threats that may realistically occur.
“… I will apologize on your behalf. I’m so sorry this happened. But if you push it this hard, it will backfire. “At the very least, the price of passing seats should be lowered.”
Just as a cornered rat bites a cat, people tend to try extreme measures when there is no way out.
“There are people who have been trapped on the 11th floor for a week now with no hope of escape. What about those people? “It’s not even the party who committed the mistake.”
“… “
“I’m holding on to it now, but… People who are tired and half-turned can hurt you. You have to think about that possibility… “
“Try to kill him.”
“… Yes?”
“Try to kill him.”
The shop owner’s face turns red again.
“Whether you boil it, fry it, fry it, try anything. Our brothers and sisters would rather die than live in shame. We couldn’t even honor the souls of those who died unjustly, so what? Could it hurt us? The desired sea. “We will all die together, and I will take one or two climbers along the way.”
“… “
You can tell because I am talking to you right in front of me. This is by no means a bluff, this is my complete sincerity.
“… We have no back. Are you in a corner? It’s the same for us too. Try. “It will never go the way you want it to.”
A normal person would not make such an irrational decision. But the dwarves were never in a normal state.
It could be said that he was supported by evil. Or, it could be said that the unique single-mindedness of dwarves was displayed. Whatever it was, the dwarves were not afraid of death.
“… Of course, we know that this situation cannot continue indefinitely. “You might also be an unfortunate victim.”
The store owner’s tone, which had been very excited, gradually calmed down. He himself seems to be aware that it would be foolish to come out this strong right now.
“So we are also discussing our own preparedness measures.”
“… “A preparedness plan?”
“Temporarily, we plan to sell passes only at certain times. After checking that all brothers and sisters are well, we will distribute seats. Price is… About 10 silver. Don’t even ask me to sell you a weapon. “That is disrespectful to our species.”
10 Silvera. Certainly, selling cheap passes will pay off in the short term. From the perspective of simply trying to beat the tower, it would be disappointing not to receive benefits such as equipment or consumables, but I was still able to clear the 11th floor easily.
However, this is only a stopgap measure. Because there may be people who commit theft or murder and come out without knowing. From the dwarves’ perspective, there was no proper means of punishing criminals.
“So ultimately, the goal is to move here. “I will completely vacate this fortress and live somewhere far away.”
Therefore, the dwarves’ ultimate goal is to migrate to a place completely away from humanity’s influence. Their ideal was for dwarves to live as dwarves, and for players to live as players.
“… So what are the players supposed to do?”
But in this case, it becomes impossible to purchase a pass. There is no way to beat the 11th floor…
“Don’t players need passing seats?”
A store owner picks up a blue passenger seat and spins it around.
“I am making the passage seats myself. I’ll be the only one left here. “Then it’s okay.”
“… “You’re making it yourself?”
“Then where did you think it was falling from the sky? This was originally intended to counter magical pressure. “It’s a culmination of magical engineering technology.”
Tuk. The store owner, who put down the passenger seat, looks directly at me and Choi Ji-won.
“We want one thing.”
His eyes were not burning with anger or drenched in sadness. Just… He just looks extremely tired.
“Living in an environment without threats. And now you climbers are our threat.”
“… “
“Tell them to wait three days. Sales of passes will resume. The funeral ends in three days. “It’s time to honor the souls of the dead.”
Then, the store owner orders customers to convey the conversation they just had.
“… “
“… “
Choi Ji-won and I were kicked out of the store and were staring blankly at the sky.
“Junho, if… “
“Yes. “I was thinking that too.”
If.
Really, if the store owner dies because of some crazy person…
It might be okay for now because of the pre-made passage seats, but…
For future players, the way to beat the 11th floor will disappear forever.
And what the unfamiliar young man who called us out as soon as we came out of the fortress said:
“Choi Ji-won. Right? I have a suggestion. Dwarf village, let’s destroy it. How is it?”
It was close to an express train heading toward that dark future.