I went in.
An empty, dark space. The sound of footsteps echoed bleakly. Every time a cold, dry wind brushed past, goosebumps rose across my body.
"Excuse me?"
The moment I spoke.
It felt like some gigantic figure came pouring down from the sky, and in response, a wolf leaped out from my chest. Clatter-crash—amid the sudden chaos, I finally opened my eyes properly.
"...A bat?"
Flying Nightmare.
The giant bat standing on two legs was pinned beneath Marang. No, not Marang. It was pinned beneath the Ghost Wolf.
—Grr! Grrrr!
—Gwaaaa!
The bat that had ambushed me was fighting the Ghost Wolf with everything it had. However, it seemed lacking in strength, and soon its neck was caught, twisting like a doll.
That bat is probably an intermediate 6th-grade. Completely useless.
"I can just leave close combat to him."
I would just pew-pew from long range, and if an enraged enemy launched a surprise attack, the wolf would finish them off.
Truly. A very good method.
Squeak—
Soon, the back door opened, and small footsteps rang out.
I turned around.
It was the Captain, as expected.
The Captain alternated her gaze between the fallen bat and the wolf and asked,
"Is it a pet?"
"Huh? Ah, something like that."
"It's cute. Sit down for now."
The only furniture in the empty space.
The Captain pointed at the table.
I sat there, and the wolf settled down and lay beside me.
I asked the Captain,
"Did you leave this bat here on purpose?"
"No. This place is swarming with monsters, after all. It probably crawled in on its own. More importantly, didn't you say you wanted to negotiate?"
"Yes."
"I see. Which condition didn't you like?"
The Captain took out the contract again.
Official Mercenary Contract.
It was a good contract, rare for a mercenary, including even an annual salary condition.
However, the condition I wanted couldn't be written on the contract, and shouldn't be either.
"I like the conditions."
"You do? Then why."
"It's just that I have one request."
The Captain looked bewildered and tilted her head.
I smiled faintly and told her what I had to do.
"I would like you to help me kill a person."
Silence settled. The Captain didn't even make the faintest breathing sound.
Truthfully, I had personally investigated whether I could kill Chae Jinyun alone.
But it was impossible.
The VIP ward was no easy place. Each room was fortress-class, capable of withstanding even an upper-intermediate Hero committing to firing mana at it, and Chae Jinyun's room in particular was guarded by three competent mercenaries in three shifts.
Compared to when upper-intermediate Heroes and above had been deployed alongside mercenaries at the start of his hospitalization, security was very relaxed now, but I couldn't break through.
And even if I somehow did,
my identity would inevitably be exposed.
I wanted to stay, for now, with certain comrades I had unknowingly come to rely on.
"You... want to kill someone?"
"Yes."
I offered the document envelope with a stiff face.
The Captain stared at the envelope for a long moment before picking it up. Her small, delicate hand came into view.
She drew out the contents.
Documents containing Chae Jinyun's personal information and his photographs scattered out.
For a moment, a meaningful change occurred on the Captain's usually expressionless face. She looked at me with widened eyes and said exactly one thing.
"...Is there a separate reason?"
I nodded.
"What is it?"
"Um... for the stability of the world."
I was telling the truth, but the Captain's face fell into a sulk.
I couldn't help it. It wasn't something I could say was driven by a personal grudge.
"..."
The Captain said nothing for a long while.
Naturally, because Chae Jinyun was a burdensome opponent even for her. To be precise, the Chae family was.
"I'll do the killing myself. You just need to create the opportunity..."
I had no intention of asking her to do the killing itself. She wouldn't have agreed to begin with.
Yet, to her silence, I added the word I had saved.
"...Captain."
For this day, I had not called her Captain even once until now.
In that instant, the Captain's eyebrows twitched.
She seemed to try to maintain her stern composure, but I caught the faint trembling of her lips.
* * *
Meanwhile, the 'past gang' excluding Gim Hajin gathered at a coffee shop inside the Cube. With the final exams only a week away, the idea was to study together, but the only one actually studying was Yu Yeonha. Even Gim Suho was immersed in texting today.
Chae Nayun looked at Gim Suho suspiciously.
"Hey, Gim Suho. Are you texting Seungah unni?"
"Huh?"
"I knew it. No wonder she's been asking me about this and that."
Gim Suho's body flinched.
"Uh... ah, it's just casual conversation, though."
Slurp.
Yu Yeonha cut in while sipping her coffee.
"Isn't that even stranger? A mere cadet having private conversations with another guild's vice-master. And with the hero most in the spotlight in the media these days, at that."
"Huh? Ah, but it's not like that..."
The flustered Gim Suho began to ramble, but fortunately the topic quickly shifted. I Yeonghan playfully said something to Chae Nayun, who was sitting there looking sullen and pouty for no reason.
"But Chae Nayun, why are you sulking? Are you thinking about Gim Hajin?"
"Why would Chae Nayun think about that blockhead?"
But it was Sin Jonghak who immediately reacted to those words, and Yu Yeonha frowned slightly at his remark.
"...Jonghak. He's not a blockhead, is he? He ranked first in the written test, after all."
"Right. Sin Jonghak, you asked Gim Hajin a question yesterday."
"What? When did I do that, Gim Suho? Have you finally lost your mind?"
"I saw everything. You had Gim Horak ask him."
Gim Suho had seen it clearly. Sin Jonghak coughing and handing a notebook to Gim Horak, and Gim Horak fidgeting as he passed it to Gim Hajin.
"...He was asking about a problem he didn't know. He asked him."
"What kind of nonsense is that..."
"Shut up—!"
"Ugh, shut up. I'm already in a shitty mood thanks to this hellish training."
Chae Nayun quickly suppressed Sin Jonghak's rampage.
And Yu Yeonha smiled bitterly and closed her textbook. It seemed no one was interested in studying from here on out.
"Anyway, you three are going to change completely. The Yu Sihyeok Camp goes until March?"
"Yeah. Early March."
"Hmm... then when should we set the trip?"
The highlight of school life was still a trip with classmates. At Yu Yeonha's words, Chae Nayun answered with a slightly brighter face.
"Right after finals end, next week. How about December 17th?"
"Ah, I can't that day. I have plans with Hajin."
"What?"
Chae Nayun's eyes went wide at Gim Suho's words.
"Wha-wha-what, what plans?"
"Uh. That, together..."
Gim Suho paused for a moment.
A week ago, Gim Hajin had told him he found a dungeon and asked him to go raid it together.
Naturally, it was something that must not be revealed to a third party.
"...Fo-for a drive."
"A drive?"
"Yeah. I wanted to ride a bike too."
"Pfft. What a fitting pair."
At Sin Jonghak's sneer, Chae Nayun suddenly flew into a rage and began banging the back of her head against the sofa backrest.
"Wow. Wow, me. I can't believe it. Wow, seriously."
After repeating that like a woodpecker for a while, Chae Nayun sprang up from her seat.
"Hey. I'm leaving first."
Gim Suho asked her,
"Where are you going?"
"To train. I'm going to train, why. Sin Jonghak, don't follow me."
"...Ahem."
Sin Jonghak, who had been stealthily getting up, sat back down.
Thump-thump-thump.
And so, Chae Nayun stormed out of the Cube, venting anger for no apparent reason.
* * *
9 p.m.
After finishing my talk with the Captain, I returned to the Cube and met Rachel immediately. These days, 9 p.m. was a training time for the two of us, fixed almost like a promise.
"But what made you ask me for help? Of all people, a 334th-ranked player?"
Right before training began, I asked, suddenly curious.
Rachel looked at me without answering, then broke into a grin and said,
"I'm not that stupid. I already know, Mr. Hajin. You're intentionally not raising your rank."
"...Huh? Ah, well..."
Her sudden high evaluation made the back of my neck prickle, but she was right. If I properly utilized my Stigma's mana, I felt I could rise to at least the top 30.
Beyond that, I had doubts because my stats were too pathetic.
Ether 0.6, Under Armor 0.3, Ghost Wolf 0.1, total 1.0. Even with a whopping 1.0 in stats boosted by items alone, my stats were still in this state.
"Let's just train~ Try activating your Barrier first."
Rachel made an expression as though she thought 'Now we're getting serious,' and nodded eagerly. Then she sprang up and cast a Barrier.
The Barrier's shape was crooked, but it at least properly covered her upper body, and its defense looked considerable at a glance.
"Now I'll try attacking."
I took out a cadet pistol and aimed at her Barrier.
A cadet pistol could kill a lower-to-mid-grade monster if fired repeatedly, but it wouldn't pierce that Barrier.
"Before that, coat your entire body in protective aura too. Just in case."
"Yes!"
Rachel wrapped herself in protective aura with an enthusiastic reply.
Truly, her attitude toward learning was quite serious.
"Now block my pistol with that Barrier."
"...?"
But this time, she seemed quite puzzled. A gun and a Barrier. No matter how she looked at it, she probably thought it would just block automatically if she held the Barrier up.
"With the Barrier?"
"Yeah. You'll understand when you try. It'll probably be incredibly difficult."
"..."
Rachel wordlessly crouched inside her Barrier.
I smirked and aimed the gun barrel at her.
"Firing."
I immediately twisted the pistol and fired. The bullet curved in a very bizarre trajectory. It brushed past the lower edge of Rachel's Barrier, then suddenly shot upward, striking her forearm.
"...Ugh!"
Rachel flinched at the sudden shock. She rubbed her forearm with her palm.
Since she had wrapped herself in protective aura, it probably only stung.
I provoked her slightly.
"It'll probably take about three years to block bullets with that kind of Barrier."
"..."
Rachel's eyes widened as though her pride was hurt.
"Again, I'll try again."
"Okay."
To block the curved shot, Rachel's choice was simply to make the Barrier larger.
I smiled faintly and fired at the part the Barrier couldn't cover—namely, the tip of Rachel's toes.
Bang.
"Ouch! Ah, it stings!"
Perhaps the protective aura was weak at the extremities; she grabbed her foot and crouched down. Then she glared at me with an unfair face brimming with tears.
"This, this is really too much!"
"What's too much. It's your problem, Ms. Rachel. Why are you so intent on blocking with just one Barrier?"
"...Huh?"
"Ask the grass for help. Or ask the wind."
I had memories depicting it.
Later on, the fantastic sight of Rachel wielding tens and hundreds of Barriers through the numerous spirits following her. With a power seen only in fairy tales, Rachel would save thousands of lives and simultaneously overcome her trauma.
"..."
Of course, it was still a distant future, and the seventeen-year-old Rachel, who hadn't even fully lost her baby fat, simply stared at the grass, seemingly unable to grasp it at all.
Vrrr—
Suddenly, the smartwatch on my wrist rang.
This was the 'alarm function' I had added to check immediately should any change occur.
===
[24 hours have passed since consuming the wild ginseng elixir. All stats have increased by a total of 0.0012.]
[Medicinal Property—Memory of 'Physical Tissue Strengthening' has reached 100% completion.]
4. Physical Tissue Strengthening
▷All stats increase by 0.001~0.002. (However, regardless of the consumer's stats, efficiency is determined solely by luck.)
▷Reassembly waiting period—24 hours
===
After taking the wild ginseng elixir diligently without missing a single day, it had finally appeared.
This much isn't bad.
The wild ginseng elixir's effect was a permanent increase of 0.001 to 0.02, but the maximum stat increase was only possible when starting from the stats of a frail old man or child, so I hadn't been able to obtain more than 0.0015.
If I assume based on this 'Body Tissue Strengthening' that I rise by roughly 0.0018 every day, that's 0.657 in a year. In ten years, 6.57……
"Hmm."
I nodded in satisfaction and picked up the gun again.
"Now, let's go agai—"
That was when.
—Rustle, rustle
The sound of bushes moving was clearly heard.
Who is it.
I hurriedly turned to look, but whoever it was didn't seem to be there anymore, as if they had already fled.
However, my Thousand-Li Eyes had already caught the retreating figure of the person in the distance.
"…Hmm?"
A familiar silhouette and brown bobbed hair.
It was Chae Na-yun.
* * *
Time flowed like a river, and the final exams… that hellish schedule for Cube cadets… had finally begun.
But as always, the written test was passed with ease.
For all cadets, the real exam always begins with the practical.
"Now. Everyone starts the final exam from an equal position."
Today was December 8th, dreary as befitting winter.
All first-year cadets had gathered in Gyeonggi-do for the final exam.
"The final exam is a mock tower ascent!"
Today's final exam is apparently called a 'Tower' ascent, but I don't really know the details either. I only wrote about the Cube exams from the first semester of the first year in detail, and mostly skipped the rest after that.
What a pointless regret.
"This is a training program commonly used before actual guilds raid towers, and its interior can accommodate up to 1,500 people."
A building so rectangular that it hardly looked like a tower.
I stood blankly, looking up at it.
At most it looked about ten stories high, but the interior was probably far more expansive.
"The entrance to that tower is a magic engineering machine similar to a portal. Once you enter, you'll be placed in locations suitable for each individual, so go in without being surprised!"
At the instructor's shout, the cadets in the front row began entering in order.
When it was my turn, I also closed my eyes and entered the gateway.
A sensation similar to a portal swept across my entire body, and soon I could clearly feel that I had been transferred to some other space.
The surroundings were nothing but pitch-black darkness.
I opened my eyes wide and looked around.
Perhaps because the test hadn't started yet, the darkness was dense, but my abnormal eyes saw the interior brightly.
"Hmm."
A white space of barely three pyeong. Three sides were completely blocked, and there was only one small path on the right wall.
For now, escaping this room seemed to be my first objective.
I widened my eyes and tried to look through the walls.
But perhaps because it was indeed a 'Tower'. There seemed to be some kind of interference; I couldn't see very far.
Ah, my eyes hurt.
I felt like I could break through if I mobilized the mana of my Stigma, but since I didn't know what might happen later, I decided to save it for now.
Then, perhaps because the test had just begun, all the lights in the room suddenly turned on, and blue letters were engraved on the white wall.
[3 Commandments]
[Ascend in cooperation with White.]
[Beware of traps.]
[Trust must carry weight.]
"…At a glance, this looks fucking set up for either Mine or Lancaster to jump out."
The way things are unfolding is all too familiar.
Of course, these days there are many eyes watching Cube, so they can't act out openly, but about 30% of Cube has already been eroded by Mine.
"A bridge……"
There was a single passage toward the right wall. The left and right were empty, a narrow bridge like a wooden plank.
I stepped onto that bridge, which seemed to be the only one.
The moment I was carefully advancing step by step.
Swhaek—
An arrow flew accompanied by a fierce tearing sound.
It wasn't just one.
One from the front, and one from each left and right.
But all the arrows lost their speed exactly three steps ahead.
Arrows like these are worms compared to Rachel's Three Swords.
Inside the bullet time I had grown all too familiar with, I grabbed the two arrows ambushing from the sides with my hands, and lightly dodged the arrow charging from the front by tilting my head.
And in my hand