"Soul Yeast is an item that, once you obtain the raw material, can later be cultivated in the Greenhouse."
When he would ever be able to open that damned Greenhouse remained one of Yeon-woo's great regrets.
"It is primarily found in liquid-based Hunting Grounds, including this seventh floor."
Yeon-woo walked through the fog-blanketed town. It had not felt real when it was a sprite image, but confronting it firsthand, the scale was unmistakably that of a 'city.'
The Drenched One followed quietly behind him. It seed to take great interest in these Hunting Grounds.
"I am glad it seems to be to your liking."
"......"
"Yes, it must be rather comfortable for you, considering you are on land."
"......"
"...Ah, you an the liquid-based Hunting Grounds?"
Splash --
Shallow water grazed his shoes.
"It is exactly as it sounds. As you might imagine, there are areas with seas and reservoirs, but zones where blood has pooled are also classified as 'liquid-based' by the system. However, those zones require descending to deeper floors."
"......"
"Not to your taste, I see."
Water and blood were fundantally different in nature. For The Drenched One, a Water Ghost, water would be akin to a sanctuary, but a zone filled with blood would be an entirely separate space.
"However, the Soul Yeast found in such zones can be obtained in larger quantities at once. That is why one usually descends as deep as possible...."
"......"
"Yes, as you can see, I cannot go there right now. My body is not in a state to withstand such extre environnts, either."
It was only because this was the seventh floor that he could set foot here at all. He had a degree of resistance to water-related threats. Had he needed to go to the fifth or sixth floors, he would likely have lost his life several tis over.
To that, The Drenched One asked further.
"......"
"Its uses, you an?"
A fair curiosity. Yeon-woo nodded and answered.
"Soul Yeast is typically used as a dicinal ingredient. It can be processed into a sedative that stabilizes the mind, or conversely, a stimulant that heightens the senses."
"......"
"Beyond that... it is also used for sowhat specialized purposes."
Such as masking a specific taste or aroma to render drugs or magic undetectable, or destabilizing an opponent's mind to induce carelessness. It could also be used to disguise sothing and avoid suspicion.
"Ultimately, it is frequently used as dicine or poison, but the essential effect of Soul Yeast is closely tied to 'mory.' Depending on the thod of refinent, its uses split into two."
Yeon-woo added.
"Reproducing a mory from the past, or imprinting a mory that never existed."
"......?"
"No, I have never used it on you."
"......"
"There is no need for such concern. It is typically an ingredient used on Human Guests. Its potency is not strong enough to be effective on guests such as yourself."
It was not impossible, but the efficiency was abysmal. Processing it to a concentration effective on Monster Guests required trendous effort.
"Refining the yeast halves the usable quantity, and processing it further into dicine or poison halves it again. And then, to concentrate it enough to work on a being like you...."
Coco looked at Yeon-woo. The Drenched One did the sa.
"...Indeed."
"......?"
"That is precisely the situation we find ourselves in."
"......!"
"I did not deceive you."
You followed along of your own volition.
"The thod for obtaining Soul Yeast is simple."
Yeon-woo smiled quietly.
"Just kill everything in sight."
"......"
"I am not joking. It is a randomly appearing item in this zone. If you hunt and gather repeatedly, you will find one tucked among the spoils now and then."
Hunt the monsters here and scrape together the items, and before long, Soul Yeast would take up a corner of the Inventory. Yeon-woo's smile turned wistful.
"So normally, I would run the Hunting Grounds for other items and simply stockpile any yeast that accumulated along the way...."
"......"
"Yes, right now the Soul Yeast itself is the objective."
"......"
"And we are in a hurry."
The path to the 14th Floor had been secured, so now he needed to devise a way to reach the Central Control Room.
"My plan was to buy ti for that, but if this small and cunning sche of mine fails, then there is nothing I can do. My only option would be to drag The Guest Without Taste along and play a friendly ga of tag on the 14th Floor."
"Not fine."
"Even Coco says as much. That is correct. This is the reality I face. I must therefore buy ti to secure any ans of preserving my life, by whatever trick necessary. And what is absolutely essential to that plan is this Soul Yeast."
The most pressing problem was that The Guest Without Taste's patience was approaching its breaking point.
"If negotiations fall through, I will ultimately have to face him head-on. However, in that case, there is a strong chance of serious confusion to my identity."
"......?"
"What a remark worthy of a combined edition of ten thousand nations' Water Ghosts. If you are fine with
transforming into The Guest Without Taste or a Mass of Liquid Blood, then by all ans. While we are at it, I shall try being a triple personality."
"......"
"Your friend Lee Yeon-woo, The Guest Without Taste -- presud lord of a principality in the eighteenth-century Holy Roman Empire, and a self-aggrandizing blood with an uncontrollable compulsion to dominate any body it enters."
"......"
"I wonder if there could be a more perfect combination for a multiple personality. Do you not agree, friend?"
"......"
"I cannot tell you how deeply moved I am by your great concern for my situation."
Yeon-woo thought this must be the truest friendship, forged over twenty-six years with his life on the line.
Perhaps the prospect of rging with an eighteenth-century curmudgeon had made The Drenched One recoil. Its expression was far from pleased. As expected, it did not care for other monsters.
Yeon-woo was lost in thought.
'As I suspected, it's not just the Room 14 monster it singles out. This aspect is consistent with the ga, but now that it's beco reality, that exclusionary tendency seems far stronger.'
Looking at The Drenched One's face, which had been pale to begin with but now looked more cadaverous than ever, Yeon-woo smiled faintly.
"......"
'It's already dead, so how does blood-flow regulation even work?'
"No?"
'I'd appreciate it if you didn't suddenly read my thoughts, Coco.'
The monsters of this hotel needed to learn to respect Yeon-woo's privacy.
Gently patting Coco in his arms, Yeon-woo continued.
"So there is nothing more I need to specially request of you."
"......"
Splosh....
The sound of waterlogged footsteps.
"As I ntioned earlier. This is the third ti I am bringing it up, friend."
"......"
"Would you be willing to assist
with a hunt?"
"......"
Fortunately, it seed to have no intention of backing out.
***
Sounds like water balloons filled with porridge being burst echoed in every direction.
'I'm not entirely sure what those sounds are, but.'
Splashing, sothing popping, and detonations far heavier than either. All of it was noise produced by The Drenched One slamming 'drowning corpses' into the ground.
The overwhelming physical force rendered the knife in The Drenched One's grinning hand utterly superfluous.
"Oh."
Another one burst apart.
'As expected of a Common to Both Versions Monster Guest.'
Its disposition was fundantally different from Open Version-exclusive guests. If the latter at least put up a pretense of decorum, The Drenched One's instinctive aggression was beyond comparison.
'Its concept was a rainy-day killer from the very start.'
The ferocity of The Drenched One, endowed with the identity of a Water Ghost, reached its peak on the high-humidity seventh basent floor. It rampaged so spectacularly that Coco's mouth fell open.
"Oh."
"To think you have learned to express admiration. I am deeply moved, Coco."
Yeon-woo smiled with his hands clasped behind his back.
The drowning corpses, bloated white and glassy-eyed, were tenacious enemies that pursued relentlessly and dragged users underwater, but before The Drenched One, none of that mattered.
'What do you expect to accomplish putting a fish in water?'
They were troubleso monsters in the early stages when one had no decent weapon, but yes. Before two Water Ghosts, 'dragging into the water' was not much of an attack.
"Of course, I do need to be careful...."
Yeon-woo looked down at his own hands in their white cotton gloves.
He could not respond as brutishly as they could. No matter how bloated the hands grabbing him might be, the instant they seized him, his entire body would quickly dissolve into a Mass of Liquid Blood.
"......"
Then Yeon-woo looked at The Drenched One.
"...Hmm...."
He, too, needed to at least make a show of contributing.
In Hoone, hunting skills existed. Like cooking, it was one of the basic skills granted upon completing the tutorial. Yeon-woo fixed his gaze on the pack of drowning corpses being herded by The Drenched One.
Adjusting his glasses, he quietly extended a hand.
'...Like this,'
Was it?
BOOM—!!!
"......"
"......"
KER-SPLAT, SPLAT-SPLAT-SPLAT!!!
"...Hmm."
Yeon-woo silently lowered his hand.
An eerie silence settled over the harbor where every drowning corpse had been reduced to pulp. Amid the landscape of drifting fog and scattered flesh, The Drenched One slowly turned to look at Yeon-woo.
Yeon-woo touched his lips as if embarrassed and managed to speak.
"...A misunderstand...."
"......"
"This is a misunderstanding."
He ant it.
He could not clearly explain what the misunderstanding even was, but judging by the other's expression, those were the words that needed to co out first. The Drenched One, having been hit in the face by rotten flesh in rapid succession, looked thoroughly baffled.
"I did not expect it to turn out like this, either."
He was not being polite. Who could have known that a hunting skill without a single level-up would produce this kind of destructive power? He had no weapon, and the skill was only at level one. Above all --
"Originally, it is not this crude a skill."
"......"
"No, truly. Please believe , friend. I had no grievance with you."
"......"
"Yes, of course. I truly... did not expect this."
"......"
"This is not how this skill is supposed to work...."
"......?"
Only then did The Drenched One furrow its brow and look down at him. It must have been hard to believe it was unintentional, but even assuming it did, there was a clear air of puzzlent as to why such an anomaly had occurred.
"Well, it is...."
"......?"
"...Most likely."
Yeon-woo smiled awkwardly.
"It seems to be because my body is not in a normal state."
That was roughly how it could be summarized.
"......"
"No."
"......"
"No, I am not going."
"......"
"I will not get in."
"......"
"I will not enter no matter what you say."
Yeon-woo shook his head firmly. This unruly Water Ghost kept trying to shove him into the water, and it was nothing short of exasperating. He was decidedly one who aspired to live as a human being.
"From the perspective of soone with ordinary sensibilities, it is unsettling."
It had been the sa just monts ago. This creature had neither interest nor concern for Yeon-woo's well-being. That was why it ceaselessly tried to drag him into the water.
"Is that not so?"
"......"
It did not care if he was hurt or killed by another Monster Guest.
Just now, had he not inford it that he might rge with The Guest Without Taste, it would never have agreed to help.
'What it wants from
is simple.'
A 'friend' that provided warm comfort. That alone was what it sought to protect. It was obsession and possessiveness. Nothing more than a child's tantrum, demanding sole ownership of a toy.
Its 'protection' stemd from precisely this tantrum.
'Maintaining its possession so it does not spoil.'
It rely defined that under the na 'friend.'
"......"
"......"
The Drenched One, which had been silently gazing down at Yeon-woo, broke into laughter. A long, thin laugh echoed eerily.
Coco poked its head out.
"Hello."
"Yes, the Water Ghost's infamy is alive and well."
"Danger. Danger. Danger."
"This is genuinely frightening...."
Even at this very mont, it was watching for any opportunity to drag Yeon-woo underwater. It seed to have taken quite a liking to this zone, so the mont his guard dropped, it would not hesitate to act.
"I am sorry to say, but I have no intention of dying for your convenience."
"......"
"Please do exercise caution. As you saw just now...."
Yeon-woo adjusted his gloves and narrowed his eyes.
"Controlling my strength is difficult."
***
"Controlling my strength is difficult."
That was what his friend had said, a short while ago.
"......"
That he, too, had not expected it to turn out this way.
A worn-out soul and a ruined body. That transparently visible state lent credibility to his words, yet the Water Wraith did not take them at face value. None of the monsters in this hotel would have.
Naturally so.
"It would be best if we moved on."
"......"
"Do you not agree?"
It was not that he had not expected 'this.' He had not expected it to go 'this far.'
"......"
The Water Wraith walked behind its friend and thought.
'...Ah....'
What a sha.
If only he were a little more stupid. A little weaker.
How wonderful that would have been.
"...--."
...A slow humming trailed behind.
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