The fireplay that started from the outskirts quickly spread throughout the entire Fifth Floor.
It was only natural for the adventurers, whose strength was extraordinary yet always outsmarted, to feel joy in a situation where their brute force mattered more.
After all, there were quite a few monsters that simply enjoyed watching the world burn.
You need to understand that they are basically a bunch of lunatic criminals.
Right. Just like the Selvier in front of me.
“Huff… huff…”
“Our dear one looks sexy even when exhausted, huh?”
“Even in a situation where everything’s dying, your mouth still has life in it.”
“Heh heh. In this world, whether you win or lose, guts are what matter… you understand that well, don’t you, dear?”
One arm was cut off near the elbow, both legs were entangled in thorn vines, dripping blood, and the remaining arm was smirking at me while being crushed.
Surely, her aging must have slowed down as much as her strength, so she was likely much older than she looked.
Although there wasn’t much time left, thanks to the sanctuary that exerted its effect for that brief moment, my stamina was rapidly recovering.
During that brief moment, I took a breath and plunged the greatsword into her abdomen.
Thwook!
“Gyaaaaaaah!”
Selvier trembled from the sharp scream, her body shaking with agony.
It looked quite pitiable, but knowing what kind of person Selvier was, any sympathy vanished.
Originally, I was supposed to write about the protagonist suffering various hardships on the Fifth Floor until getting sold to Selvier.
In other words, Selvier was a villain crafted with considerable effort.
And while I liked giving villains a backstory, I didn’t want to romanticize them.
“Selvier. I know all about you.”
“Oh my? That’s surprising, dear. Everyone in this street knows me.”
“I know what you went through in the arena when you were sold as a child, how you killed the parents who sold you, how you became obsessed with that pink-eyed priest who treated you well for a short time, and how all you needed was just a little genuine affection… I know everything.”
“…That’s a bit shocking.”
“But you know, right? That you’ve already crossed the line?”
“….”
Despite still smiling, Selvier neither negated nor confirmed my words.
Instead of just ending it with her revenge, Selvier decided she couldn’t bear her dignity, her life, being treated as mere toys and spectacles, and thus, she chose to inflict the same pain on others.
She kidnapped countless individuals, sold them off, and killed anyone who got in her way… including the pink-eyed priest who had pitied her.
After that, Selvier began to excessively obsess over those pink eyes, and there was no one to stop her from amassing immense wealth through human trafficking.
That’s all there is to the story.
If this were the original novel, the kidnapped protagonist would seduce Selvier without realizing it, leading to a confrontation, only for Selvier to ultimately give her life, unable to stab the protagonist at the last moment.
While the details might vary slightly, it’s essentially about a short yet impactful villain.
Yet the kidnapped ones are not me but other party members, and I am pressed for time to find them before this chaos ends.
The undead have already expired, leaving only this unfinished fight.
Still, as I chase the human trafficking organization on the Fifth Floor, Selvier must know something, being at the very top.
I looked down quietly at Selvier, coughing up blood.
Unlike her missing arm or the gaping holes in her legs, the greatsword lodged in her belly was clearly a fatal injury.
Before her who was dying in real-time, I took out a potion and shook it.
“I’ll ask you one last question. Is there anyone among those I mentioned who rings a bell?”
“Well… I too want to live, but I have no idea if the people you mentioned are even captured somewhere in this damned town.”
Even while dying, her laid-back tone continued. There was a sneer at her lips.
“If you can’t find the person you were looking for even like this… it would just be a matter of time before you become completely one of us.”
“…”
“Welcome. To this splendid yet ugly world.”
“…Fiery flames.”
A second-tier magic. But enough flames to burn a person turned Selvier’s head into black ash.
I collected one of the intact accessories hanging from Selvier and split open the heart of her motionless corpse to extract the mana stone.
And just like that, Selvier began to scatter into powder as if she had never existed at all.
I hadn’t left the labyrinth yet, but thanks to the Seed of the Mountain Range’s blessing, I could feel my body growing beyond limits in real-time.
Though my mana, aura, and divine power had run dry, what troubled me more than exhaustion was still not having any leads on Ellie, Lydia, and Benny.
“Ha.”
I downed the potion and slumped into the luxurious room, releasing a deep sigh.
Selvier was the matriarch of the human trafficking ring on the Fifth Floor. This was something I had explicitly set in place, and everything I had seen and heard while infiltrating this far proved it.
If even Selvier didn’t know, then there was only one possibility left.
It felt absurd, and I wondered if this was even plausible…
As that drug-addicted detective had said, no matter how nonsensical the rest of the possibilities were, that was just the truth.
What was impossible had already happened. As adventurers… or rather, as players needed to participate on this gigantic game board, they functioned as chips or trophies.
“I’m going crazy.”
Scratching my head, I pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from my pocket.
– You have been robbed of your party members. Retrieve your treasures or substitute them with others!
A notice indicating the peculiar nature of the Fifth Floor. The sender of this message, received by all, was the last remaining suspect.
“God of Thieves.”
The God of Thieves was a legendary figure who was born human and rose to divinity by building his own mythology.
He monopolized faith from the underground criminals even gods rejected and managed to survive until the end, hiding from the eyes of all gods during the Divine War.
Though in truth, he probably didn’t care a bit about whose faith he received or what anyone called him a coward.
The one person the God of Thieves truly cared about, past and present, was simply his sister.
She was the reason he started writing a mythology and the only blood relative he couldn’t save after becoming a god.
…and one of the victims of the tragedy born from my setting.
From now on, I must confront that God of Thieves and retrieve my people from her.
It probably won’t be an easy task. Just like the God of Death had revealed that he knew me on the Fourth Floor.
The God of Thieves on the Fifth Floor must have deduced my identity and stolen my party members.
So I need to prepare my mind thoroughly.
“Phew…”
After a deep breath, I stood up.
By now, the sanctuary’s effect had ended and disappeared, but thankfully my stamina and divine power were recovered.
It’s disappointing that my aura and mana are still at rock bottom… but, well, what can you do?
Lingering around trying to fully recover would only leave me vulnerable to other powerhouses who’d approach to claim a domain since they’d discover Selvier’s death.
It would be fine if it were a one-on-one in perfect condition, but I’m certainly not ready to tackle several mid-boss-level monsters in my current state.
So, I’ll have to meet the God of Thieves just like this.
…I already know how.
Sif.
The name used when the God of Thieves was still human, hiding somewhere in this vast back alley.
The God of Thieves had concealed herself somewhere on the Fifth Floor, embodying her self just before her myth began.
She is the Guardian of the Fifth Floor.
Being a recreated entity, she’s more like a mannequin than other NPCs when classifying, but the history and strength contained within her are so great that she became a guardian.
The position is random, and because of her thieving nature, it’s not easy to find or confront her…
But if I can find her sister, Lif, at the house where she is recovering, Sif will likely show up before long.
Fortunately, I already know that location. Since it’s an extraordinary case for a mortal to reach divinity, I invested considerable thought into it.
Of course, I don’t know exactly where it is, just that it has certain characteristics nearby.
I have strong reason to believe I will be able to retrieve my party from Sif… but if I fail again this time.
“I guess there’s no other choice.”
I’ll have to kill Sif, even if it’s forced.
Just like how if you reclaim your robbed treasures, it’s accepted as a clear, clearing the Fifth Floor will reclaim my treasures.
The Fifth Floor isn’t a low one, and to clear it through ordinary means would require taking down an enormous number of monsters…
However, just like every other floor, taking down Sif, the Guardian of the Fifth Floor, will grant immediate clearance.
Though that’s obviously impossible right now. At least it would mean going back and forth twice.
To return to the surface once to make thorough preparations and then spend a day turning the entire Fifth Floor into a sea of flames.
And then come back again to adapt to the growth I achieved through my prior accomplishments, spin the gacha with the mana stones I gathered the previous day, and prepare to face off against Sif would require another day.
While I know my safety is likely guaranteed in the meantime, it surely isn’t perfect.
How can I comfortably wait for two days?
So first, if there are any party members in Sif and Lif’s house, I’ll bring them out as is, and if not, I’ll have no choice but to resolve matters through dialogue with Sif.
If that doesn’t go well either, I can always run away, prepare, and come back to fight again.
“Let’s go.”
Having set my rough course of action, I began to stroll through the gradually calming chaos, relying on my memory.
Before long, I could locate Sif and Lif’s house.
The moment I opened that door.
Creeeak—
With the sound of a stiff hinge, the surrounding scenery transformed, along with my senses.
Before I knew it, I was no longer on the Fifth Floor, but inside the very first harem that served as the inspiration for the Fifth Floor.
To be precise, I had been sucked into the memory landscape shown by the God of Thieves.
This looks like the right answer this time.
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