Yeon Haneul harbored an aversion toward her own Gift.
Because, several years ago, she had experienced her Gift going berserk.
Back then, her clones had refused to obey her control and had each insisted that they were the original.
—I’m the real one! I’m Yeon Haneul!
—No! It’s me! I’m the real one!
—Gyeonwoo, believe me! I’m the real….
—Don’t believe her! The real one is me….
—I’m… the real one….
The dozens of Yeon Haneuls were completely identical beings.
It was nearly impossible to distinguish them with the naked eye.
At the time, Hong Yena and I had been thrown into confusion because of them.
Since we couldn’t tell who the original was, we couldn’t take anyone’s side.
All we could do was wait for Yeon Haneul, the original, to control her Gift and revert the clones.
Because that had happened.
—I really am the real one, right? Huh? Tell me.
—…You’re the real one. There’s only one Haneul, and that’s you.
Yeon Haneul came to doubt herself endlessly.
The memory of each of them insisting they were the original while denouncing the others as clones remained as trauma, and she could no longer believe that she herself was the original.
—Tell me one more time.
—You’re the real one. There’s only one Haneul, and that’s you.
—Just one more time…. No, keep telling me. Keep….
—….
Once she could no longer be certain of herself, Yeon Haneul began to demand recognition from others.
Especially my recognition.
Because I wanted to ease her anxiety, I never refused that demand.
Even if I had to set aside something important, I would respond until she could feel at ease.
Knowing her circumstances, I couldn’t help but worry.
‘I hope she doesn’t push herself too hard….’
This was an operation where a swift resolution was crucial.
We had to send as many forces as possible up to the rooftop as quickly as possible.
In that situation, Yeon Haneul’s judgment certainly wasn’t wrong.
With her Gift, it should be possible to capture the fourth floor with only a small number of people.
The problem was whether she could overcome her trauma and properly control her Gift.
‘…Haneul will do well.’
It wasn’t that I wasn’t anxious.
If I followed my heart, I wanted to turn back right away, grab Yeon Haneul by the arm, and drag her with me—or better yet, stay where I was and fight alongside her.
But she had said she could do it.
If so, I had no choice but to respect her wishes, trust her, and leave it to her.
As her childhood friend, that was only right.
‘If I don’t trust Haneul, who would I trust?’
Silently wishing Yeon Haneul good luck, I decided to focus on going up to the rooftop with the others.
Meanwhile, from that point on, my friends began to drop out one by one.
“Guys, go on ahead! I think I need to help the rescue team! Please save Arin in my place!”
The first to drop out was Go Eunbi.
Her skills weren’t of much help in climbing the floors.
Even if she could kill monsters, she couldn’t deal with the thorny vines.
With the thorny vines growing more aggressive, the range in which she could move was steadily shrinking.
In the end, she judged that if she kept going like this, she might become an unnecessary hindrance, and decided to remain on the fifth floor.
“Go on ahead, Do Gyeonwoo! Once I’m done cleaning up here, I’ll follow right after you!”
“Hanbyeol! Gyeonwoo! Don’t worry about us and go!”
We parted ways with Yong Haerang and Park Sagun on the sixth floor.
The two of them drew the thorny vines’ attention and opened a path leading up to the seventh floor.
We expressed our thanks to them and passed through before the path was restored.
“Go on ahead! Do Gyeonwoo!”
“We’ll handle this…!”
“Gyeonwoo! Leave the rear to us and….”
At some point, the triplets had disappeared.
It seemed they couldn’t keep up physically and had dropped out along the way.
Even Lisa, a supporter, was panting for breath but still stubbornly following along, so those guys really were pathetic.
“Huff, huff…! G-Gyeonwoo! The condition of the people who are being held captive seems… huff, not good! So I’ll also stop around here….”
“No. If you drop out, who’s going to buff us? Even if it’s hard, endure it a little longer.”
“Th-there are other people too…!”
“I’m most comfortable with you.”
“T-then at least let me rest for one minute….”
“I’d like that too, but we don’t have time. Catch your breath once we get all the way up.”
“Huaaaang!”
“Don’t open your mouth wide and exhale like that. You’ll only waste more energy. Control your breathing while you run.”
Lisa, who kept whining, was surprisingly holding up well through the forced march.
It seemed her morning jogging was paying off.
In any case, we climbed like that, leaving people behind on each floor.
‘It went like this in the game too.’
I recalled the game’s story.
Every time a floor stage was cleared, Kang Hanbyeol’s party members were excluded from battle for various reasons.
Then, at the final stage, a situation occurred where Kang Hanbyeol had to fight alone.
But judging by the current trend, it seemed other people would be able to reach the rooftop as well.
That was something to be viewed positively.
‘There isn’t much left now.’
Before we knew it, we were attacking the staircase leading to the top floor.
Once we passed the top floor, the rooftop would appear.
With our target location close, we forced ourselves to forget our fatigue and faced the thorny vines guarding the stairs.
At last, the path finally opened.
“It’s open! Hurry up! Hurry!”
We didn’t miss that moment and ran under the rescue team’s cover.
I, Do Sieun, Kang Hanbyeol, and Lisa safely set foot on the stairs.
“Ah!”
But Nam Yuri ended up being blocked by the regenerated thorny vines.
Through the gaps between the thorny vines filling the entrance, I could see Nam Yuri’s face, her violet eyes wide and round.
Soon, she waved to us with a look as though she had resigned herself.
“Everyone, go on ahead! I’ll follow right after you!”
“Yeah, hurry up.”
With those words, the gaps were filled.
The surroundings sank into darkness.
“Let the people behind us find their own way. Let’s go first.”
“….”
First-tier light elemental magic.
I created a sphere of light to drive away the darkness.
The others also used magic to illuminate the darkness or lit torches.
Just like that, we headed toward the top floor.
‘As for Yuri, I don’t need to worry.’
Nam Yuri wasn’t someone who would be eliminated here.
She would find her way to us just fine.
* * *
The process of joining forces for a common goal and advancing toward the library rooftop was quite a thrilling experience.
She had been aware that a gap existed between herself and other people, so she had never imagined she would feel the emotion of unity, as though she had become one with them.
The sensation of people’s thoughts linking together was a chemical reaction she was experiencing for the first time in her life.
The exhilaration of being able to run wild to her heart’s content in a library, where she normally had to maintain silence, was refreshing too.
Nam Yuri could truly feel that she was alive.
It moved the heart of someone who, inwardly, had not had any particular interest in rescuing Min Arin.
More than anything, Do Gyeonwoo, the reason she had participated in the operation, wanted it.
She wanted to fulfill his wish.
“Ah, seriously…. I was just starting to have fun, so what is this? It killed the mood.”
But right before reaching the top floor, her feet had been tied down.
Separated from Do Gyeonwoo’s side, Nam Yuri grumbled with a pout.
“Still, maybe this isn’t so bad?”
She had secretly envied the party members who had remained behind on each floor, wishing him luck while saying things like leave the rear to me, go on ahead, or I’ll follow after you.
Because they had planted in him the awareness that they were being helpful to him.
So, at the fleeting instant when the path was blocked, Nam Yuri left words behind just as they had.
‘I won Gyeonwoo-Gyeonwoo’s favor, right?’
Nam Yuri felt proud for no reason.
But she couldn’t just stand there grinning.
Fixing her expression, she surveyed her surroundings.
The thorny vines and monsters were keeping their distance as they targeted her.
‘They’re especially gathered around me.’
The thorny vines and monsters weren’t moving blindly without purpose.
The higher they climbed, the more intelligently the enemies were responding.
From that perspective, the fact that a considerable number of them had designated her as their target meant they had judged her to be the most threatening presence among those there.
“Nice.”
For Nam Yuri, that was something to welcome.
At the same time, she calculated the environment surrounding her.
‘It’ll be hard to use the scythe.’
There were too many bookshelves around.
Like this, she couldn’t secure enough distance to swing the scythe.
Of course, she could run across the tops of the bookshelves and fight.
However, it wouldn’t be easy to protect herself from the thorny vines covering the ceiling.
Kieeeek!
“….”
It seemed they had realized that too.
The monsters were snickering, their red eyes flashing.
The thorny vines narrowed the distance little by little.
Nam Yuri, who had been quietly staring at them, opened her mouth.
“Device Off.”
The scythe in her hand returned to a metal plaque.
At that moment, as if they had been waiting for it, they rushed at Nam Yuri.
Kieeeek!
To those who held the advantage in environment and numbers, Nam Yuri could only appear to have lost her will to fight.
But she hadn’t lost her will to fight; she had merely changed her combat style.
“I am a weapon in and of myself.”
Nam Yuri’s gray hair instantly curled into several strands.
The curled hair changed in material, becoming sharp blades with a blue glint.
Charrrrk!
Nam Yuri’s hair stretched and moved freely.
The blades stabbed to death the monsters charging at her and cut apart the thorny vines.
During all that, she merely took light steps to avoid attacks.
“Aw. Is that it?”
The monsters that had looked down on Nam Yuri and charged at her all collapsed to the floor.
She stepped on the head of a monster that was still barely breathing.
The monster let out a squawk.
Crunch!
Immediately after, the sound that had resembled a duck’s cry turned into the sound of a head bursting.
The monster’s blue blood splattered onto the white hem of Nam Yuri’s skirt.
Without minding it, she stole the lives of the monsters that were still alive.
It was then.
───!!
Thorny vines surged from behind her.
It was a surprise attack that took advantage of the opening while she had allocated her blades to killing the monsters.
At the unexpected attack, her eyes widened for an instant.
But her thoughts were quick.
Clap!
The moment Nam Yuri pressed her hands together, she placed a hand on the bookshelf right beside her.
At that moment, the books on the shelf all poured out their contents at once.
Countless pages layered over one another and wrapped around her.
The thorny vines failed to pierce a hole through the paper barrier.
Soon, the barrier opened automatically, revealing her face.
“You see, paper is actually harder than metal, unexpectedly. The cellulose, which makes up paper, is bonded in a dense structure. So depending on the processing method, it can boast greater strength than metal.”
Even though there was no way the thorny vines would understand after hearing it, Nam Yuri explained with a giggle.
Just then, the papers that had formed the barrier scattered in all directions through the air.
“And also.”
The papers fluttered in the air.
Amid the papers drifting down, Nam Yuri continued.
“It hurts when it cuts you. A lot.”
Those words became the signal.
The papers that had been flying about the area without direction shot toward the thorny vines.
The thorny vines were helplessly cut apart by the sudden attack.
Nam Yuri looked up at the sight and smiled in satisfaction.
“Gyeonwoo-Gyeonwoo told me to hurry and come. So stop clinging to me already.”
* * *
One floor left.
The goal was not far now.
However, before the path to the rooftop, we were struggling desperately.
Because the enemies were trying to defend it with everything they had, as if they would no longer allow us to pass.
‘There isn’t a single opening….’
On the top floor, rank 3 monsters appeared in large numbers.
The creatures, easily over two meters tall, each held weapons with long reach and tried to keep us in check.
On top of that, the thorny vines displayed movements synchronized with them.
We couldn’t approach the enemies, who showed no flaws in either offense or defense.
That said, we couldn’t just hit and run while probing them forever.
Since we had no time to spare, we needed to boldly tear through the enemy ranks.
I made a decision.
“I’ll create an opening. In the meantime, Noona and Hanbyeol, take down the gatekeepers.”
“…Can you do it?”
“I’m good at dodging, aren’t I? So leave it to me.”
If we could take down the monsters, the thorny vines wouldn’t be that threatening.
So I decided to draw the thorny vines’ attention and create an opportunity to sweep away the monsters.
Do Sieun expressed concern, but there was no suitable method.
In the end, she accepted my proposal.
“Gyeonwoo, you really have to be careful. Don’t show off too much.”
“I know. By the way, saying ‘show off’ like that sounds kind of harsh, doesn’t it?”
“Huh? Is this not the kind of situation where you use that expression? From watching the people in class, I thought it was….”
“…It’s not exactly a nice expression. Don’t try to learn how to talk from kids like that for no reason. If you’re going to learn, learn from Haneul.”
“I’m learning from Haneul and Eunbi too. Not long ago, I learned the word ‘eomgeunjin.’”
“Eomgeunjin? What’s that?”
“Strict, solemn, and serious. They said I’m eomgeunjin.”
“Don’t learn weird abbreviations from Eunbi.”
“And Haneul is jaman-chu.”
“What?”
“She pursues natural meetings.”
“…I know what it means.”
Lisa volunteered to be my dedicated supporter.
In preparation for the battle to come, she diligently cast buffs on me.
Meanwhile, I sank into thought.
‘So Haneul is jaman-chu. …That’s hard. How am I supposed to meet her naturally?’
Just what, exactly, was a natural meeting?
It was something I had been curious about since my past life.
I still hadn’t found the answer.
‘It’d be easier to pursue a meeting in a dungeon instead. If I save a member of the opposite sex in danger, I’d at least gain some goodwill.’
In fact, among the reasons Hunters became lovers, meetings in dungeons accounted for a high percentage.
There were even several dungeons famous as places to meet the opposite sex.
So maybe dungeon-meeting was easier than jaman-chu.
‘Let’s stop brooding here.’
We couldn’t delay any longer.
Having received every buff I could, I stared at the enemy ranks.
Immediately after, I plunged into the enemy lines without hesitation.
──!!
The monsters’ attacks chased after me, and the thorny vines filled my vision.
It was a situation where dodging was all but impossible.
Still, it was fine.
Crackle!
Because I had Evasion Instinct.
Without hesitation, I dodged the attacks and toyed with them.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss