Ken jumps into the trap and gets swallowed by the black liquid with a splash!
Only after Ken’s figure completely disappears does Siegfried release Raphne’s arm.
“KEEEEN!!”
Freed Raphne immediately charges toward the trap’s floor.
But the trap is already inactive and quiet.
Once a trap is triggered, it won’t activate again for another week until a new one is created.
“No…! Ken, KEEEN!! Huh, don’t go, you promised to stay by my side…!!”
However, oblivious Raphne keeps pounding on the innocent floor.
“…Ken, …KEEN.”
Soon realizing there’s no response, Raphne lowers her head and soaks the section where the trap was with her tears.
“I’ll free two of you first.”
Siegfried and Adrian watch the scene.
Among them, Adrian approaches Mary and Emily with Ken’s petrified magic tool.
Standing before the two statues, Adrian holds the magic tool in hand as Ken did earlier.
Fwoosh!
Then, the magic tool emits its signature light and shines on the statues.
Crack, crack.
Thanks to the magic tool’s effect, chunks of petrification fall from the two, and soon they regain their freedom.
The curse of petrification has been lifted for the two.
Emily immediately rushes to Adrian.
“Why…!! Why didn’t you stop him!! Adrian!!”
Emily glares at Adrian with an intimidating look, one she had never shown to her friends before.
She grabs his collar with a desperate face, glaring at him.
“It’s obvious I should have stopped him…! But, why…!”
“Ken did this because he knew you all would have protested if he jumped into something like this.”
The fierce Emily’s expression turns into one of confusion with Adrian’s calm words.
Seeing her speechless, Adrian continues with a troubled look.
“If I were you, I bet you would have insisted on going with him or at least argued against it.”
“Uh, insisted…? Of course we would’ve gone together…!!”
“Exactly, that’s why Ken chose to leap in alone, keeping it a secret from you three.”
“….”
Emily can’t argue back and simply gazes at Adrian with trembling eyes.
Eventually, she lowers her head.
Adrian’s words – no, Ken’s thoughts were certainly right.
There was no way they would have let him go alone.
Regardless of his thoughts or plans, going in there alone was a guarantee for death.
Even if Mary and Raphne weren’t highly combat-capable, she, with her healing magic, would have clung on and begged to join until the end.
If that hadn’t been the case, they would have jumped in together at the right moment.
Having already experienced his death once, Emily couldn’t bear to see him facing death again.
But…
Even so…
“…Why, …why does Ken have to go alone to such a dangerous place? Huh, why?”
Ultimately, tears flowing down Emily’s cheeks wet the floor.
“It’s because it’s that dangerous, he went alone.”
Siegfried answered Emily’s words.
He too didn’t want to send his junior, friend, and precious student alone into a hellish place.
But the night before, while explaining his plans at their lodging.
Ken’s determination was something that had to be respected.
“If he dies, he’ll only die himself. That’s how he feels.”
It may sound indifferent, but Siegfried’s hands were trembling, clenched into fists.
And amidst that conversation, someone who’d remained quiet finally spoke.
Mary, who had been standing still ever since she was released from petrification, opened her mouth.
“So, …what should we do?”
Everyone but Raphne turned to look at her quiet words.
Under the gathered stares, Mary, with a cold and fierce gaze, asked again.
“What should we do to help Ken?”
He couldn’t have jumped in there thoughtlessly.
Despite thinking of their safety, there must have been a reason for him going alone.
Then there must be something he conveyed to Adrian or Siegfried.
Her hands were trembling with worry, anxiety, and anger, but all those feelings were tightly bottled up as Mary asked the question.
Adrian responded to her.
“We must head to the 10th floor. There, we need to watch over a certain monument at the exact moment Ken tries to escape.”
“…The 10th floor?”
The voice asking quietly again inquiring Adrian’s explanation belonged to Raphne, who had been seated, shedding tears at the spot where the trap was.
Upon hearing Adrian’s words, she staggered to her feet.
Then she turns to face the group.
Adrian’s face grimaced under her gaze.
‘…Those eyes could stop my heart.’
Adrian had felt Raphne’s gaze on him was like that of a wild beast that had given up on living. Her empty-eyed look radiated pure ferocity.
Under her intensity, Adrian began to sweat.
“Then let’s leave immediately.”
Keeping that gaze on her, Raphne pointed her spear at Adrian.
As if to threaten him that she would kill him if he refused.
Her spear had a clear aura of death behind it.
“Calm down, Raphne.”
“Calm down? How can I calm down right now━!!”
Her voice erupted like a roar, causing everyone present to flinch.
They felt like they were facing a beast ready to pounce at any moment.
Raphne, glaring with a murderous shine in her eyes, continued.
“Ken has vanished… he’s not here anymore… Ken, Ken, he’s not here, Ken, KEEN, Ken… KEN…!!”
Raphne’s state continues to spiral out of control.
With her hair disheveled and eyes trembling, she keeps repeating the name of the person she wants to see.
Thud.
In the end, she dropped the spear she was holding, gripping her head, and slumped back to the ground.
Adrian had no choice but to be shocked at her unsettling appearance.
It hadn’t been an hour since Ken’s disappearance.
‘…Things are different now. Ken Feinstein.’
Adrian recalled his resentful words.
‘Raphne will be fine. She’s been so much better since coming out of the tower.’
He wanted to show Ken what she looked like now.
‘What’s fine about this?’
Tears streaming down her face, her vacant gaze looked into the void, calling Ken’s name with a voice that sounded like she was on the brink of death.
Adrian realized.
Throughout their journey, the only reason she had appeared to be fine was that Ken was always by her side.
And directly after he vanished, she became this way.
However, he couldn’t just sit idly by as she started to unravel.
Ken had entrusted Adrian with the aftermath.
It was his responsibility to move forward.
“Raphne… you can see Ken again in a week.”
Excluding all other explanations, he conveyed just the words that would calm her down.
Then, Raphne stilled.
Her tear-streaked, hollow eyes and expressionless face turned into a menacing gaze toward Adrian.
“…Explain.”
There was a heavy pressure felt in her quiet voice.
‘What are they all doing right now?’
I’m in the world of traps.
If I had to name it, I’d call it “The Bottom of Tarros,” tucked away in a cave.
The cave feels rather cozy.
Of course, that’s only my view after nearly three months of hellish living.
Still, it hasn’t been bad.
However, it wasn’t easy from the start.
For the first few weeks, I kept regretting coming here.
I had anticipated it from the game, but still…
There was only bizarre plants and tasteless monster meat to eat.
Water could be filtered from muddy swamps using a filtration skill.
Outside, high-level monsters vastly outnumber lower-level ones.
The temperature difference between day and night was sharp, making both traveling and sleeping a struggle.
But now, I’ve gotten used to it after developing a sort of ‘veteran’-like vibe.
“…How much time has passed outside?”
A year has 365 days, and a week has seven.
I wonder if it’s a day and a half-ish?
Considering it, I realized just how outrageous the time difference is.
What could everyone be doing right now?
Since I disappeared about a day ago, Adrian should have told them the details by now.
“…They must be doing well.”
It’s not that I don’t trust my companions.
It’s just that I need to find the key while living here for a year.
If the people outside make a mistake, I might have to wait another year.
So, ideally, I want to leave without a hitch the first time.
“Though, before that, I need to find the key myself.”
Having spent too long alone, I found myself talking to myself.
Maybe I should create a volleyball like Wilson.
“…Hah, it should be fine.”
During my moments of rest, my worries about what’s happening outside keep bobbing up.
I want to leave this place soon.
‘…Why did it have to be a shortcut like this?’
I resent the game developers like a bunch of perverts.
Shortcut.
Commonly, a shortcut is designed to speed through a specific path in a game.
Such shortcuts exist within Tarros Tower’s dungeon too.
Of course, the developers didn’t initially inform us about it.
I discovered its existence through a player’s inquiry.
“Why isn’t there an instant death in the trap on the 3rd floor?”
Typical traps either diminish health or let players escape without instant death.
But this hellish trap on the 3rd floor was different.
The protagonists, Emily and her team, fell here and fought endlessly for survival.
They must either keep fighting until death or load a saved game.
Players began to investigate this trap, wondering about this odd situation.
Then, they stumbled upon an unexpected place that revealed how to escape the trap.
It involved an NPC on the 50th floor.
If you rescued Gile, an S-class ex-captain of the Knight Brigade NPC from prison, an event would trigger.
‘While finding Gile’s connection to the trap was strange, the original escapee wasn’t normal either.’
After rescuing Gile, here’s how it went down.
You’d be stuck on the 3rd floor while being trapped and finally reaching this “Bottom.”
It feels like an eternity, with a game time of a year passing.
I have no clue why the first person discovered this and how they survived for a year here, but they probably just had a thing for survival games.
However, it was through that twisted player’s creepy playstyle that the escape method was revealed.
After a year, Emily discovered a portal forming at the center of this place.
Once you enter that portal, you can pop out to a corner of the 10th floor.
In that location, you see countless corpses of monsters, and Gile’s dead body, leaning against one of the pillars next to the portal.
And in front of that portal is a seemingly special monument.
By piecing together the tower’s settings, players speculate that Gile sat at the 10th floor, guarding the portal after knowing Emily had fallen into the “Bottom.”
The reason the portal doesn’t open if Gile isn’t rescued is because an onslaught of monsters would destroy the monument.
“…But getting to the 50th floor takes quite a while.”
So I decided to give up on saving Gile.
Since I had the companions who came with me.
After falling into this hell, my team would guard the monument on the 10th floor.
Then I would find the key to this place and escape from the “Bottom.”
“…Please, may they manage to pull it off safely.”
I lay on a makeshift bed, staring at the dark cave’s ceiling as I prayed.
“Everyone just dieeee!!!”
BOOM!
Six days have passed since Ken entered the trap.
Now, Raphne’s team is heading towards the 10th floor to protect the portal as Ken had planned.
Currently, they are on the 5th floor.
Leading the way, Raphne bellows with rage and murderous intent.
Her spear stretches freely, sweeping away the attacking monsters like they were nothing.
“Raphne━!! Slow down a bit…!!”
“Shut up━! You better keep up!! I don’t have time to wait for you━!!”
In response to Adrian’s shout trailing behind her too quickly, Raphne growls sharply.
‘How does Ken tame that beast?’
Adrian clicks his tongue inwardly.
Without Ken, Raphne has turned into a wild animal in desperate hunger.
She radiates an atmosphere of being on edge, as if she’d bite anyone who even slightly bothers her.
Her gentle and docile demeanor whenever Ken was around feels unbelievable now.
Adrian remembers her exact same self from freshman year.
Faced with her uncontainable vibe, Adrian resolved to cast a curse on her.
If only she had been a tad less fiery, he would have taken another approach.
Thus, he secretly admired Ken for handling Raphne like a cute kitty.
“At least this way, it’s speeding up our progress.”
Siegfried adds as they run beside each other.
Indeed, the speed of clearing floors is astounding.
Adventurers who have challenged this tower for long would be left speechless.
Mary and Emily, wanting to save Ken just as much as Raphne, followed closely behind her without hesitation.
Thus, the party rapidly penetrated each layer and reached the 10th floor half a day ahead of the estimated time.
“Huff, huff.”
They quickly dispose of the monsters blocking their way while ignoring those chasing behind them.
Their only goal is to keep running ahead.
That’s why a seasoned adventurer team, which takes five days to reach it, made it in less than a day.
“…That’s it, …the monument?”
“…Ah, it seems so.”
While the weary party looks on, the vibrant energy radiating from Raphne leads her spear towards a certain spot.
Over there stands a broken ruin illuminated by a mysterious light.
In the midst of the column remnants, amid the blue grass and beautiful flowers, is a lonely blue monument.
This enchanted place starkly contrasts with the gloomy, purple woods of the 10th floor.
“…Wait for me, Ken.”
Raphne gently strokes the monument while imagining his face that she wants to see soon.
