233 – Are the Returnees Brave? (One)
I lay out the snacks I bought at the convenience store, open a can of beer, and drink it. Wear comfortable clothes. I feel this every time, but Jiwon is pretty no matter what she wears.
“… Ugh.”
“Why, what’s wrong?”
“It’s too bitter… “
“… Ugh.”
I bought a beer labeled ‘Super Dry’, but instead of being dry, it was fucking bitter. If it’s going to be like this, it should be called super bitter, why is it super dry?
Anyway, now is the time for a short break. This is a drinking bar to cool your head before going up to the next floor.
I have no intention of going through the 23rd floor again. To be honest, I was lucky. The 23rd floor is a floor that takes a serious toll on my mental strength the more I repeat it, so if I lingered here for a long time… I don’t know.
Don’t give yourself a headache. I was eating snacks with the mindset of just enjoying the moment.
Maybe it’s because it’s late at night, but strange thoughts keep coming to mind.
“Sometimes, I think about this.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I think we’re making too much of a fuss.”
I felt it after seeing the reactions of other players on the 23rd floor. They… Ready to kill people if necessary. It’s the same for me too. I actually killed someone in a tutorial. But it has become something that never happened.
“But they said they were murderers… “I didn’t think he was a villain.”
Even if they said, ‘I have committed murder,’ they were not bad people. I was rational, felt compassion, and hesitated before doing anything. This means that he is far from the ‘crazy psychopath without blood or tears’ that I worry about.
A father who killed someone to protect his son, and a psychopath who has never committed murder but whose character is rotten. Wouldn’t the former be better… This is the story.
“At the point when I was already used to cutting… Killing a clearly evil person might not change much… That kind of thinking.”
“… “
Choi Ji-won quietly sips a can of beer while listening to me. Her cheeks are a little red.
“… Are you drunk?”
“Uh. How can I use my magic so well that I can get drunk? Hehe.”
Choi Ji-won tilts her head about 90 degrees, rests her chin and looks at me quietly.
“Actually… “I think there’s nothing I can do about it, even if you commit murder.”
“Yeah, really?”
“Huh. In the world… Because there may be people who don’t change. If you are someone who is consistently trash… “I can’t help it.”
“… “
“Nevertheless, I don’t want you to kill anyone… Because it seems like it’s becoming a line of resistance within you. “You said you wanted to be a hero, right?”
“… Right?”
“I don’t think a hero would kill someone just because he had no choice… Because I think you’ll be disappointed in yourself too… That’s what I’m saying. I completely trust your judgment, but… Still, I wonder if I want to prevent murder, even if it means using force.”
We are frantically climbing the tower. We are already a million light years away from ‘everyday life’. Would the other cold-hearted players on the 23rd floor have been like that from the beginning? In order to adapt to the abnormality, he himself became abnormal.
“Anyway, climbing the tower itself wears down humanity… It would be accurate to say that I don’t want it to accelerate. Ah, my head hurts trying to write difficult words.”
Choi Ji-won grins and sips his beer again, as if embarrassed. As she licked the moist beer foam with her tongue, she crossed her legs and was about to say something.
-Wow.
When my cell phone rings, I instantly get rid of the intoxication and check the screen.
“… Oh, I got a call.”
“What contact?”
“I told you I would ask that sister. “How did other people wake up?”
Because the association is in shambles, and because Michael Jeter himself is leading the mess… I was unable to get any information by contacting the association. Therefore, the next best option was to utilize Choi Ji-won’s network. (I wanted to utilize my connections, but Kang Chan is climbing the tower very slowly… And I can’t contact Dok Suhee.)
This is how Choi Ji-won contacts the older sister she became close with on the 23rd floor and collects information.
“I said this girl is a complete idiot in Europe. “Just wait.”
Choi Ji-won is quickly tapping her cell phone. After quickly getting in touch with her, she begins to explain after a while.
“Therefore… I believe she got this from her older sister or an acquaintance of hers.”
“Yes.”
“Normally… It is cleared when a person dies.”
According to the player who provided the information, the 23rd floor was ‘a floor that is easy to clear if a person dies.’ To do is kill the tentacles that are defenseless from eating the corpse.
“… There are people like us who endured for 5 days and woke up… “It’s not that many.”
“… “
How did you know this information? Well, maybe you should have experienced it yourself. Is the reason why your mouth feels so dry because of the alcohol, or because of the story you just heard?
“Okay, let’s skip this.”
“Then.”
“Compensation. Should we talk about compensation? “I ate all the cookies.”
I took out the equipment I got as a reward on the 22nd floor and put it on the table.
-Bracelets of Growth [S]
– Gain 30% additional experience gained from battle.
The reward obtained through hard work on the 22nd floor is this bracelet. The design looks like a bracelet made of twisted threads, but at first glance it is so thin that it appears as if there is nothing.
In the original game, rewards such as large weapons or armor are given at low levels, but as the level increases, rewards such as accessories and passive items are given.
“Well, I really like it, but… “
Gain 30% additional experience. The explanation is concise, but equipment with a concise explanation is really good equipment.
The source of a player’s physical ability is stat points. And the way to get stat points is through level. You can gain 30% additional experience points, which is a means of raising this level. This is an effect that would make even a stranger look at it and say, ‘It’s a scam!’
“Junho, aren’t you effective?”
For me… The problem is that it has no effect. Because I still don’t have a level.
“But still, it’s not a loss.”
Of course, it’s just that I can’t use it right now, but it’s clear that this reward is great.
Later, you can either give him Michael Jeter or give him Dok Soo-hee. (Assuming you are rehabilitated.) For now, you can just keep it as if you have prepared a couple bracelet.
Next is the turn of the rewards obtained on the 23rd floor, and mine and Choi Ji-won’s rewards were slightly different.
-Condensed Royal Jelly (Unique)
-When consumed, the selected stat can be increased by 20.
-Royal Jelly (Unique)
-When consumed, the selected stat can be increased by 10.
The former is my reward, and the latter is Jiwon’s reward. Since I personally overturned the village and dealt with the tentacles, it seems there was a difference in compensation. (If you say that it is the rule to return to the original medicine and eat it twice… I didn’t want to go back to the 23rd floor.)
More than anything, the stats are a whopping 20. Considering that 5 stat points are given every time you level up, it gives you a stat equivalent to a whopping 4 levels.
Oh, by the way, driving both to one person failed. The (unique) effect appears to be uniformly applied to elixirs of the same series. Anyway, I swallowed the wriggling blue jelly and then manipulated the status window to increase my stats.
“Where did you put it?”
“Me? “I am healthy.”
“… Health?”
“Huh. Anyway, if you get hit once, it’s the same as returning… “I saw potential on the 22nd floor.”
On the 22nd floor, I was incredibly strong. It was strong to begin with, but it was much stronger. Why? Because my body held up.
So, consistently invest in your health stats… I calculated that if my body could handle this cold, I would crack the egg and fly. Anyway, thanks to the ‘achievement level’, other stats were rising all at once, and I didn’t feel like my attack power was lacking at all.
Anyway, this is the end of the settlement. My body got a little stronger, and I got a new small bracelet on my wrist. After a good night’s sleep, all that’s left is to move on. I’m tired, but… A little bit. If you climb the tower a little more, you will have time to rest.
“Are you ready?”
“Of course.”
It is said that Michael Jeter climbed from the 24th to the 29th floor in just one week. There is nothing we can’t do.
After kissing Jiwon, I make up my mind. So far I’ve been doing well. So, you will be able to do well in the future. As long as there is regression… I am the one who wins.
On the 21st floor, the angel spoke. Man’s greatest weapon is ‘courage.’
“Let’s go.”
And I’m not afraid of anything now.
-Entered on the 24th floor.
**
-Entered on the 24th floor.
I’m not afraid of anything now…
There was a time when I thought that.
-Flash. Blink.
The incandescent lights hanging from the low ceiling flicker precariously. The place where I woke up was on the bed. When I got up, a ‘squeak, squeak’ sound rang out from the mattress.
“… “Jiwon?”
No answer comes back. Only an eerie silence hangs in the air. I carefully pulled back the curtains surrounding the bed and realized that there were a total of six beds in this room.
“… Hospital?”
Yes, hospital. This kind of interior is the interior used in hospitals.
-Jeobbuk.
Peeling paint rustles as I step on the floor. The walls, the floor, etc… It’s just as old as ever. There is a strong impression that it has not been managed. No, it’s closer to being neglected.
And unlike regular hospitals, there were no windows here. What exists is a flickering incandescent light. An eerie silence. Thick cement walls, a door leading outside. And the bed.
Something attached to the bed that looks like handcuffs that can bind your hands and feet.
“…”
The sound of breathing can be felt loudly. It seems like something is going to pop out at any moment. The moment the silence is broken, something very scary seems likely to happen.
I couldn’t even think of moving from the bed where I first came to my senses, and I stared endlessly at the door that was the only way out of this space. The dented door is full of ominousness, as if it might move at any time.
No, right now…
-Tiring!
“… Fuck.”
I was started by the sudden sound, but it was a notification sound from the message window. I thought my liver was failing.
I sigh in relief and carefully read the goal for this floor.
〈24th floor〉
-Escape.