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[Lee Hyung-jin]
[Lee Hyung-jin, 16th floor: Can I do it?]
[Lee Ho-jae, 60th floor: Of course you can. There isn’t a big difference between you and . Don’t fret over it.]
I re-read the conversation that took place quite a while ago.
I kept reading.
Hyung firmly believed that I could clear the 17th floor without any problems.
The basis of our faith varied.
It depended on the presence of magic. At the ti of the 17th floor, Hyung said that he couldn’t use magic. This difference was huge.
Magic skills didn’t determine everything, but an opponent who didn’t know about magic was less responsive.
It was better to stop magic attacks smartly than to be strong or swift.
Next, there was also a difference in items. The only items held by the mirage were a long sword, two daggers, and a small, dium-sized shield.
Of course, I heard that there were a variety of potions, but the items were of no use to , who had more of them than anyone else.
Hyung didn’t like using the items, saying that it stunted your skill growth, but the items had always shown to be more effective than what I had expected.
Finally, there was also the difference between the basic stats. Hyung told about his stats and compared them to mine. Our physical stats were almost identical, but his muscular stats were far ahead of mine. And in the case of agility, his was almost twice as much as mine.
The massive difference in agility also ant that I could not win without a wide gap in skills.
The difference in agility made a difference in ability since basic body movents and speed were different.
For those reasons, Hyung was positive about my victory, but I myself wasn’t.
I’d been preparing for a long ti.
17th-floor stage.
Ever since Hyung cleared the 17th floor and told about it, I’d been thinking about this stage.
Not once had I expected a victory on the 17th-floor stage.
“Can I start?” I spoke aloud, not by ssage, but by voice.
The person I spoke to was, of course, Kirikiri.
“Sure.”
When I asked about the 17th floor, Kirikiri would always answer that she didn’t know. That was when I had first heard about the 17th floor. Even now, she stayed silent.
It may be possible that she didn’t reply as an act to refrain from informing of so results.
I took out the monster ball that I always carried and held it tightly in my hand. This monster ball always reassured . Sodays, when I felt like I couldn’t make it, I was comforted that this would be my lifeline.
The monster ball had made co all the way here.
I was quietly looking at the monster ball when a pale hand snatched it away. It was Kirikiri. Kirikiri had run away swiftly to the other side, taking the monster ball from my hand.
Shocked and bewildered, my body froze for a mont.
Anxiety, anger, and fear that Kirikiri might really take it away ca crashing on .
The next mont, I started running after Kirikiri, who was faster than I thought.
When I felt a sense of urgency beyond impatience, I managed to catch up with Kirikiri.
I lifted her by the scruff of her neck.
“Keeyek.” As soon as Kirikiri was caught, she stopped moving and dangled in the air, flailing like a cat.
“What are you doing!?” I shouted at her, taking back the monster ball from Kirikiri with my other free hand.
I was anxious because I thought I was too rough, but I cald down when I took back the monster ball.
“I told you before. You’re going to die because of that ball,” said Kirikiri, still hanging in the air, looking at in the eye.
It felt even more embarrassing when she said it so calmly as if it were natural.
Not long after returning from the Tournant, Kirikiri had ntioned it when she saw holding the monster ball. I didn’t know why Kirikiri was so negative about the monster ball.
I asked for the reason several tis, but she never answered.
First of all, I dropped Kirikiri and apologized. It was not right to treat her carelessly.
“Can I use this?”
“I’ve told you before. You can’t send it to another level of difficulty.”
“Then, you can send it to Hyung.”
Kirikiri shook her head with a hard, grim look.
“I suggest you don’t.”
“...Why so?”
Kirikiri never answered again. In the end, I had to infer the answer for myself.
I ca to two possibilities. First, I had been neglected.
Hyung’s protection was essential for to survive on the stage that ca after the 60th floor. If Hyung neglected , the odds of surviving on my own wouldn’t be high.
Second, I was going to die because of Hyung.
With that eccentric personality, he could try to stop in anger at the fact that I’d been running away. He had pulled out John Overton’s arm because he was drinking and crying in a Tournant.
Of course, he wouldn’t really try to kill , but it was another matter whether I actually died or not.
“It’s still the sa. No matter how it goes, there won’t be a good ending.”
* * *
[Kirikiri]
“So loathso,” I murmured quietly, sitting alone in the field.
There was a reply to my murmur.
[But you’re worse. Why didn’t you just let go?]
“...You keep saying that because you know I can’t let you go. You even hide the fact that it’s ‘new’. It’s loathso.”
The voice laughed. [Thanks, anyway. Because of you, I had a lot of fun.]
The voice hid its presence in the field at the end of those words.
I mumbled once again, “So loathso.”
* * *
[Lee Hyung-jin, 17th floor: I’m going in now.]
[Lee Ho-jae, 60th floor: Yeah. Be careful. Don’t talk to the mirage, just in case. Ignore anything it says.]
[Lee Hyung-jin, 17th floor: Yes.]
Hyung had repeatedly stressed not to talk to the mirage.
[Lee Ho-jae, 60th floor: No matter how tough the opponent, the mirage can only find a way out through dialogue. Just don’t hold a conversation.]
[Lee Hyung-jin, 17th floor: Okay. I got it]
[Entering the stage on the 17th floor]
The monster ball, which had been made into a necklace and was hung around my neck, was once again held tightly by hand.
Thanks to this monster ball, I was able to co all the way here. In my despair, this monster ball was like a ray of hope to . It gave a mont of optimism and a chance for to breathe.
As soon as I entered the stage, I looked around. The peculiar thing was that the interior was hard to see.
Beyond that, I could see Hyung’s mirage, and there was a transparent wall separating from the mirage.
[After 30 seconds, the 17th-floor stage will start.]
Damn it. Give a little more ti.
As soon as I saw the ssage, I squatted on the floor and drew a magic circle.
I didn’t know the principle, but it was a magic circle that was often used because of its excellent effects.
I worked hard to complete the magic circle in 30 seconds until soone talked to in a calm voice.
“What is that?”
“This is....”
A familiar voice asked in a monotonous manner, and I almost answered without realizing it.
When I looked up in amazent, it was the mirage that had co right in front of . He had squatted down and was staring at intensely.
“What is it?”
I instantly thought of a crow.
Once in a while, when I walked along the street, so cats and crows stared at people.
They never attacked people, and I knew it was not dangerous to attack them, but sotis I got nervous and scared.
It felt like that.
I knew he couldn’t attack right now because the wall was blocking him, but I felt like he would rush at right away.
It was as if a knife was being pointed at , in front of my eyes. I couldn’t turn away.
Like a stone statue, he was sturdy, and unmoving, but was also vigilant.
[After 15 seconds, the stage will start.]
Note from Imagine:
[1]: It’s a question mark as this is Hyung Jin’s Floor and not Hojae experiencing it, hence why it has no numbering.
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