Ravina was bewildered.
On her way back to Serbain. She had suddenly felt her Benefactor’s will to summon her and answered, but…
It was because she had spent the entire day flying around a world so advanced it couldn’t even be compared to Serbain, repeating healing and combat.
She had fallen asleep as if fainting from exhaustion, and when she opened her eyes, her Benefactor had disappeared as well.
‘Ugh… Benefactor… just where did you go…’
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that the people of this world were amicable.
If there was one frightening thing, it was that the people of this world called her Raaga.
“Oh! It’s Raaga!”
“I’m not Raaga…!”
“Ang ang ang!”
“I don’t cry like that…! And how do you even know that?!”
The people of this world seemed to know everything that had happened between her and her Benefactor.
Could it be that her Benefactor had told them everything before leaving?
Whatever the case, she was too embarrassed to walk around with her head held high.
Even when she walked just a little, she could feel people staring at her, and she heard everything they said about her.
“Don’t underestimate Raaga… From the fact that she stably controls the recoil of an S-rank shotgun while fighting, she’s a monster…”
“Jinjo, who subdued such a Raaga so easily, is amazing.”
“Yuyeon, who overwhelmingly thrashed such a Jinjo, is amazing.”
“Ugh…”
What was certain was that the people of this world held extreme affection for her Benefactor.
People walking on the streets, people in shops—everyone talked about her Benefactor.
Just because she had been with her Benefactor, she was receiving an almost excessive amount of goodwill.
“Oh dear. I must stop by somewhere else for a moment.”
“Y-Yohan, if even you leave, I…!”
“Please wait in this cafe for a moment. This place is safe, so you may rest assured.”
When even Yohan, who had been somewhat able to communicate with her in this world, disappeared saying ‘a Gate has appeared that needs handling,’ she had no idea what to do.
Fidgeting awkwardly inside the cafe, she was guided to a seat.
Without even paying, she was treated to sweet drinks and desserts.
As the brain-melting sugar caused her tension to ease slightly, she heard people’s voices.
- Yuyeon Yuyeon’s here!!!!
- If you’d gone into the tower, we almost couldn’t have watched the broadcast!!
- Yuyeon, thank you for protecting Earth!!!!
- You made us crave a kiss and ran away after hello, what the hell, come here!!!
Her Benefactor’s broadcast had turned on. What could that possibly mean?
Once curiosity overcame fear, she finally found the courage to speak up.
“Excuse me… may I ask what you mean by my Benefactor’s broadcast being on…?”
- Gah, Raaga is so fucking cute!!
“I’m not Raaga…!”
- Sit here! Let’s watch Yuyeon's broadcast together!
“……???”
She couldn’t see anything on the small screen the people were watching.
Feeling certain she was being teased, she wanted to cry but held it in.
‘Benefactor… I miss you…’
The divinity she had received from her Benefactor still seemed to remain in her body.
Feeling resentful of the distance that prevented her from seeing her Benefactor despite missing her, she heard a voice.
“Ravina. How do you do. I am Emil D’vorre.”
“Yes…? Ah, hello…”
It was the voice of the woman with the most outstanding divinity among the priests she had seen in this world.
“If it is alright, I wish to have a sincere conversation with Ravina in a place better than here… could you spare a moment?”
“Wh-what kind of place is better than here…”
The woman, from whom fervent divinity could be felt from deep within her pupils, extended her hand with a gaze that said she would absolutely not disappoint.
“Have you heard of… chicken?”
“Chicken…?”
She had heard of it. On the day she first met her Benefactor in the forest, it was the name her Benefactor had been searching for.
If she could learn what chicken was and where to find it, couldn’t she be of help to her Benefactor?
Determined to repay the grace she had received, she had no choice but to take the offered hand and follow.
***
Sufficient sleep and a moderate amount of food.
Having met the conditions to grow taller, she had ascended to the 11th floor.
The chill felt immediately upon ascending and the world frozen white indicated that the tower’s theme had changed.
- YuyeonYuyeon's here!!!!
- If you'd gone into the tower, we almost couldn't have watched the broadcast!!
- Yuyeon, thank you for protecting Earth!!!!
- You made us crave a kiss and ran away after saying hello, what the hell, come here!!!
She had learned that the Tower changed themes every ten floors, and Hell seemed to be no exception.
First, she checked the trial objective.
「Trial Tower 11th Floor – Frozen Plateau」
「A plateau where endless blizzards rage. Almost no traces of life remain, but faint traces of mana continue.」
「Main Objective: Activate Magic Tower Aestrea.」
Hmm. She could certainly feel traces of mana.
If Serbain's theme had been priests and vampires, this time the theme seemed to be mages, for a start.
Even with the chill blowing fiercely, she didn't particularly feel cold.
Maintaining her composure, she greeted the empty air.
Taegeon had told her that she was very famous on Earth.
Then there might be far more people watching her broadcast right now than she had thought.
“Hello. I am Han Yuyeon.”
- IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyou
- I am Jjuin!!!
- Han Yuyeon, return to Earth and take my kiss!!
- Stop bothering Yuyeon, you bastard
- Double peace sign please!!!
“Everyone. I heard something when I briefly went to Earth.”
- Eh?
- p e a c e p l s
While striking a Maid Etiquette Double Peace Sign, she spoke.
“You all probably think I can see the chat, but the truth is, I can’t see your chat at all.”
- What are you talking about, Yuyeon
- Then what was that double peace sign just now
“I heard that I answered the chat a few times, but that was a coincidence too. Amazing, right?”
- Ah, is it that kind of concept?
- Just be honest and say you only want to read chat when you feel like it
- Ha, you bastards, that's why I told you to mind your manners in chat
- Hugmehugmehugme
“???”
Again, she felt like she should hug someone.
Since there was no one around, she made a snowman with magic and hugged it.
“I hugged someone…”
- Fuck, you can see us though
- If you're gonna RP, at least keep the RP up
- I asked for a hug why a snowman why not me why a snowman
“Anyway, since I can’t see the chat, please understand.”
- (Dumbfounded mage costume)
- Talk to us!!!
- Yeah yeah, you just don’t wanna talk to us, right?
- Ah!! Yuyeon is saying she hates seeing chat from losers like me!! What’s the point of living!!
“It’s not that I don’t want to see chat; I’m telling you because I really can’t see it. It’s only natural that I can’t react to the viewers’ chat.”
- If you're gonna lie, at least put some effort into it
- I see... sorry we're so tactless... you didn't wanna communicate with us...
- We'll just stay quiet...
- (Tactless... guardian costume)
Since she had delivered the important information, shall she proceed with the trial?
Stepping crunchingly through the piled-up snow, she advanced through the blizzard.
The snow was piled quite high, so with each step, she was buried up to her thighs.
- Wow, what's with this theme that the field is like this
- Looks fucking cold
- Anyone normal would just freeze to death here
- Yuyeon, can't you at least explain the trial...?
- But you said you can't see our chat
“Ah. They say this trial is about activating Magic Tower Aestrea.”
- You can totally see it though
- Ha, what the hell is this
- If you want to drive me crazy, you've succeeded
Urk. Urgh.
If her height were 7 meters, she wouldn't be buried up to her thighs.
She shouldn't foolishly walk and should just fly—
“!”
She saw snow piled up incredibly high.
She dashed over and buried herself in it.
- ?
- Yuyeon?
“Everyone. Can you see me?”
- No we can't
“You probably can’t see what I’m doing right now, right?”
- You're probably doing a double peace sign
“If you thought I was doing a Double Peace Sign, you're wrong. Because I'm doing a Triple Peace Sign right now.”
- Agh lolololol
- I see~
- You only have two hands, how do you do a triple peace sign?
She modified the Maid Etiquette Sleeping Triple Peace Sign she had practiced while sleeping.
With the Maid Etiquette Triple Peace Sign, she blew away the piled-up snow.
“vvV.”
- ?
- What the fuck, it's really a triple peace sign
- How did you do it
- What the... how did she use mana like that...?
“Shall I find the path again?”
- Aaaack talk to us!!!!
- Selective communication, for real, is driving me crazy
Being buried in snow might be more fun than she thought.
She should just keep walking.
As the blizzard continued to rage, the piles of snow she had blown away instantly piled up again.
Now buried in snow taller than her height, she moved forward.
Her vision wasn't clear, but since she scattered mana to detect her surroundings, there was no problem finding the way.
- Yuyeon, really sorry but we can't see your figure
- The camera just moving on its own is so annoying, gaaack
- Well, I guess since it's a starter layer, they're just making her do pathfinding
- The 6th floor was mostly pathfinding too if you think about it
- They probably make her do pathfinding cuz it's hard enough that you could die searching
Oh. She could feel a structure that looked like a magic tower.
After breaking through the snowfield and moving along a path only up to thigh-deep, she saw strange things in her vision.
“?”
- ?
People were frozen in bizarre poses.
Even approaching and checking for vital signs, there was no response.
It was a situation where one might think they had frozen to death, but the state of the frozen corpses was strange.
“I saw this in a book. These are zombies.”
- Zo-ombiieeees
- Is it a zombie apocalypse this time?
- It's a type I've never seen in the monster dictionary
Eyes that were severely bloodshot, or had only the whites remaining.
Muscles torn here and there from forcibly moving despite lacking an energy source.
Blackish-red blood vessels and traces that looked like they had bitten each other.
Their appearance was so similar to the zombies in the book that she was certain.
“I think this trial's theme is Mages vs. Zombies.”
- Off to make a zombie costume
- Are you the costume director...?
- Make more maid costumes, you punk
“To face the zombies, I suppose I must wield a shotgun.”
- Is the high-rated broadcast coming back?
She rustled and took out her shotgun.
「Maid Points acquired.」
- Due...
Come to think of it, it seemed like it had been a while since she had handled a shotgun herself.
Since her mana stat had increased, she had planned to solve things mainly with magic this time, but since zombies were in sight, it was only polite to draw her shotgun.
Advancing toward the magic tower whose form began to appear beyond the blizzard, she played a heavy metal classic within her mind.
- Yuyeon, why are you dancing again
- Are you a newbie?
- Just feeling it
- (Dancing maid costume)
Knock knock knock. After arriving in front of the magic tower, she knocked on the door, but no answer came.
When she scattered mana to probe the interior, she sensed zombies inside the magic tower, so she decided to force the door open.
“Let's communicate...”
- Aack, it's the serial communication demon
Screech—screeech—
After tearing the locked door off entirely, she destroyed the remaining parts with repeated blows.
After entering and proceeding to do room clearing with her shotgun—
“?”
“?”
- ?
The zombies were sitting across from each other at a table with great dignity, playing a card game.
A zombie who set down the card he was holding looked upon her shotgun, then looked upon the broken door.
“Who might you be?”
“Huh?”
He actually spoke. The zombie did.
“How is it that you remain unharmed? How did you come to be here?”
“?”
“And what is that fearsome rod? Why was the door destroyed? Surely you do not mean to attack us for the reason that we are zombies?”
“!”
“Even though we were once fellow humans? Even though we have done you no harm whatsoever?”
“!!!”
Listening, it was indeed true.
The zombies had originally been human and became zombies due to some accident, yet she had shoved a shotgun at them first.
How could she be so shameless.
Her thoughts stiffened at her own brazen behavior, completely devoid of courtesy.
The zombies sitting at the table looked at her all at once and added a word each.
“Hweeeh...!”
“Urk.”
“We may have become zombies, but we still retain our reason. Would it not befit beings of intellect to settle this through discourse?”
“Urk.”
“You must surely be a grim reaper come to end us completely. We are finished now.”
“Ah, no. I am a maid.”
Hastily storing the shotgun in subspace, she took out a green board and set it up.
Kneeling down and raising both hands, she showed her remorse.
“Hoo. That's an incredible power of apology.”
“Hweeeeh...!”
“I sense that this is the greatest apology a being of intellect can offer.”
“If you are not a grim reaper, then come and play a game with us.”
“! Alright.”
She sat with dignity in the empty seat at the square table.
To think a day would come when she could play card games with zombies.
Truly, this was something you could only see after being reincarnated.