I wasn’t particularly fond of the rain.
It’s not that I completely despised it, but if someone asked whether it was better than sunny weather, I’d shake my head.
I rarely had good days anyway, and when I looked outside and saw the gloomy sky with rain pouring down, it only dragged my mood down further.
Still, I had to admit that there was a certain charm to it.
Sometimes, I’d sit on the chair on the balcony, hugging a pillow, and stare blankly at the rain-soaked clouds.
But now, my feelings were quite different from those times.
I couldn’t see anything; I only heard the sound of the rain.
Moreover, my hearing was on a whole different level compared to back then, so my perception had changed in many ways.
Also, back then, I was alone in my musings, but now I wasn’t by myself.
“Did Ahrin watch that movie? What was it called… Frozen Empire?”
“Yeah, I watched it when I was young, and I’m glad I still have some materials about it because it was really fun.”
“Oh… a movie from 200 years ago. It feels like an ancient relic. Speaking of which, Ahrin really loves old stuff, like that weird candy.”
“Eliya… Are you mocking my tastes?”
The sound of their chatter brushed away the raindrops nearby.
It was a conversation between Baek Ahrin, who was leaning against the opposite wall, and Eliya, who was sitting next to me.
Ahrin had popped up with a weird joke about making a snowman during the rain.
When I showed a hint of defensiveness, she raised her hands in surprise to signal she wasn’t attacking.
After some back and forth, we ended up huddled together in this cave.
With the already cramped space, sounds echoed throughout the cave.
“Eliya, did you see it too? They were fighting like crazy.”
“I watched from a distance. It was so intense I sneakily ran away.”
“It was pure chaos. Right now, the weather is calmed down a bit, but back then, it was a complete disaster.”
Ahrin shook her head in exasperation, lamenting how she had come here after being super active outside.
I heard there was a huge melee with nearly a hundred cadets involved.
It’s now the second night, and by this point, it should have happened a time or two. My being chased was really just a result of the gang-up and the brawl.
‘……’
Ahrin and Eliya were chatting away in a cozy atmosphere.
Since neither had a weird personality and were pretty sociable, they naturally got close in such a short time.
I paused for a moment to gather my thoughts and then gently nudged Eliya at an appropriate time in the conversation where it seemed to pause.
Eliya turned her gaze.
I communicated my question to Eliya using sign language.
“Yeonhwa is probably causing a big fuss right now. The melee earlier was pretty much because of her.”
“?”
I heard a response. Of course, I had asked a question to hear an answer.
I turned my head. The response I got just now was from Baek Ahrin, not Eliya.
It was indeed my intention to ask Ahrin through Eliya, because I couldn’t speak…
“I’m picking up sign language as part of my education. Thanks to the Tower of Harmony, it gets translated automatically, making it easy.”
Ahrin chuckled as she said that.
The heir of the Changhae Clan, naturally, she’d get the appropriate education, including sign language.
…I wonder if Hong Yeonhwa learned it too? I should ask later.
Anyway, I used the answer I just got to ask a question using sign language.
Why was Hong Yeonhwa rampaging?
Considering her aggressive nature, it wasn’t weird for her to go wild, but it was strange that she was causing a fuss involving a hundred cadets.
Ahrin answered nonchalantly.
“Oh~ it’s nothing special. While we were hanging out, Lee Ha-yul mentioned he was being chased by a lot of cadets, and she just flipped out and rushed in.”
“?”
I didn’t expect that kind of response. It seemed Eliya was equally baffled.
“By that point, wasn’t Ha-yul hiding in the cave already?”
“Yeah. I spotted the crowd of cadets and thought, considering Ha-yul’s situation, he might be over there, so I mentioned it, and Yeonhwa just exploded.”
She shook her head in disbelief as if to say it was ridiculous.
So, essentially, because of Ahrin’s tall tale, Hong Yeonhwa was getting into a tussle?
“Ahem. Let’s brush over that little incident. More importantly, I have something significant to say.”
Seeing the absurd look on my face, Ahrin cleared her throat and changed the subject.
“What do you think about us teaming up to take down a boss? With three of us, the points we get will be super sweet.”
After finishing her statement, Ahrin looked expectantly for a response. Eliya’s gaze turned to me, seemingly curious about my answer.
‘Hmm…’
Teaming up. It’s nothing special. As soon as we step outside, many cadets would be teamed up too.
Splitting points means lower income, but it’s safer and more efficient, so it’s not entirely a loss.
‘But is it necessary?’
But why did Ahrin insist on teaming up with me and Eliya?
“Well, there’s a reason for it. When we received announcements, we were told the boss would be a level 5. A level 5 seems like a lot for me to tackle alone.”
Ahrin shook her head in reluctance.
“It’s not some dog name or anything. I can’t attempt it alone right now. If I fail, it’d be a huge loss, so let’s team up with familiar faces and tackle it safely.”
That was indeed a reasonable point.
In the original story, the main characters attempting the level 5 boss at this point would be under a lot of pressure.
I thought for a moment before turning my head toward Eliya.
‘What do you think, Eliya?’
I asked in sign language, and Eliya smiled brightly as she replied.
“I think it’s okay. There’s no harm in fighting alongside Ahrin, right?”
That’s a good point.
Ahrin was the top of the 122nd batch. Although she wasn’t as strong as Hong Yeonhwa in combat abilities, her overall capability was superior.
With her title of Jack of All Trades, she’d be even more powerful when in a team.
It was more of a welcoming proposal than a rejection.
I briefly lowered my head and sensed my mana. Compared to my surroundings, my mana was surely of outstanding purity, just like Eliya’s mana, warm like sunlight.
And then, there was Baek Ahrin’s clean yet chilly mana.
As my mana affinity grew, I could perceive mana in more detail, which made Ahrin’s coldness even more apparent.
This was one of the reasons I felt hesitant about this proposal.
But that wasn’t the only reason.
It was because of Ahrin being the one suggesting it. I harbored some reluctance toward her.
Why? Just because of some knowledge from a mere game.
Ahrin hadn’t done anything to me, yet I still felt uneasy.
What a stupid thought. I swore not to judge people based on knowledge from a game.
Yet now, it was that very game knowledge causing me to feel uneasy.
I hadn’t experienced it myself. I didn’t know this person well at all.
‘……’
I felt Ahrin’s peculiar gaze on me.
– Nod
After a brief hesitation, I nodded.
.
.
.
Day 3 of the Tower.
Due to the bloody winds blowing on days 1 and 2, the number of cadets had significantly decreased.
The remaining cadets would have to take down the boss or spend some time in a whispering atmosphere together.
Of course, if we weren’t careful, we might get blindsided.
I could hear the faint sound of birds chirping and water flowing gently. Morning seemed to have arrived.
Cautiously, I sat up. Sleeping in the tight cave wasn’t as uncomfortable as I expected.
Though I had no sleeping bag or anything, using magic to level the ground and replacing it with large leaves made for a pretty comfortable resting spot.
“Ugh…”
Crawling out of the cave, I poked the leaves underfoot with my toes, and an odd sound caught my attention.
The source was Baek Ahrin. She had her arms stretched up, shaking off her stiff body. Her sizable chest puffed up as she filled her lungs with fresh air.
Just hearing made me feel refreshed.
It was a far cry from Baek Ahrin’s usual soft ambiance; it was a rugged sound.
I turned my head with a strange expression.
I started thinking about the boss we were soon to track down. I had already received guidance about the tower’s schedule and ate the explanations about the boss.
“A level 5 parasite moth. An alpha creature, no less.”
Level 5. In the original story, it was just fodder monsters that would pop out from the aftermath of attacks by grown player characters, but in reality, its status was different.
Though such occurrences were rare now, if a level 5 monster were to suddenly break loose in the military district, hundreds of people would easily be swept away.
And it had an alpha designation attached to it.
An alpha creature signifies a notably dangerous entity at its tier.
There are various reasons. The creature could be a variant considerably stronger than the standard type or be enhanced by the dungeon’s protection, etc.
From now on, we needed to track down this monster, a level 5 alpha creature that appeared somewhere within the Tower of Growth.
If it were reality, I would’ve run away immediately, but being inside the tower negated the danger. It was a good opportunity to experience and give it a try.
After finishing her stretching, Baek Ahrin clapped her hands.
“Alright! Let’s get going!”
The temporary party leader was Ahrin. With her strength and experience, it made sense.
Ahrin stepped up front, and in the center stood Eliya, who had the weakest combat abilities here.
I took the rear, having already informed them about my poor sensing abilities.
It hadn’t been long since we started searching. Probably just over ten minutes or so.
“…Wow!”
Ahrin at the forefront gasped in awe. Eliya behind her wore an expression of surprise and shock.
Though my eyes were in no shape to see what was happening, I could sense it in another way.
The wind blowing was hot, and the surrounding mana was entirely ablaze, with still unextinguished fires flickering here and there.
I carefully pressed my foot against the ground. The heat seeped through the soles of my shoes.
Crumble. The ground sank. Scraping my foot, I felt the grass crumbling around me.
At the very least, this forest was undoubtedly annihilated.
‘What on earth went on here?’
Ahrin mumbled, feeling disheartened.
“Wow, you really went wild, didn’t you?”
There were blatant signs of Gop-hwa.
My right hand twitched. I absentmindedly checked the protective sleeve that wrapped around my arm.
“If she tries to take me out for lying, you have to protect me, Ha-yul!”
‘Me?’
“Yeonhwa can’t get the upper hand against you.”
When I showed a look of curiosity, the answer I received seemed to imply I was just asking the obvious.
Is Hong Yeonhwa that way toward me?
…Thinking about it, it seemed that way.
We passed by the completely burnt forest created by Hong Yeonhwa.
Ahrin skillfully led the party, and I did my best to sense my surroundings with my heightened senses and mana affinity as we moved forward.
We occasionally hunted random monsters for a little bit of score.
We took breaks here and there and gathered some food such as suitable fruits.
After a few hours passed, this happened.
Lucky for us, we could locate the boss within this vast tower.
– Beep beep beep beep beep!!
– Eek, eek, eek!
“Ao! Damn it!”
Even Hong Yeonhwa, who was currently clashing with the boss.
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