Its long tongue lolled out.
The moment I saw it, I hurriedly loosened my grip.
The snake fell limply from my hand toward the ground.
“Whoa.”
THAP.
I caught the falling snake with both hands, cold sweat pouring down my face.
It did not move.
Could it really be dead?
No, more importantly—
“Why did you come with me?”
This creature was a monster that had appeared on the third floor.
It should not have been able to cross over to the fourth floor.
Countless people had tested it in the Tutorial Tower, and every one of them had confirmed the same rule.
In other words, this should have been impossible....
“Could it be possible because this is the Verdant Tower...?”
No.
That could not be it.
When I killed the Bloody Mantis on the second floor, I had been holding a fragment of its exoskeleton in my left hand.
However, the fragment had disappeared the moment I crossed over to the third floor.
That meant objects from one floor could not be taken to another.
Yet this creature had crossed over.
‘Why?’
I could not understand it.
Could it be due to something unique about this creature?
I stared intently at the black snake, its tongue hanging loosely from its mouth.
When it was tightly coiled, it was small enough to fit in one hand.
Now, however, its body was stretched out at full length, and its tongue lolled from its mouth.
“Hey.”
“....”
“I know you are not dead.”
Who did it think it was fooling by playing dead?
I narrowed my eyes and stared at the black snake.
The hand I had used to hold it had been my left hand.
Not my right hand—my left.
It had only been subjected to the grip strength of an ordinary human.
There was no way that alone could kill a monster.
Least of all one that had been so powerful while mimicking a slime.
As I continued staring, the snake flinched and slowly raised its head.
“Tsk.”
This bastard had just clicked its tongue.
It had done so quite openly.
Sulking because its act had failed, the creature coiled itself on my palm.
“Hey.”
“....”
“Even if you ignore me, I already know you understand what I am saying.”
The creature quietly uncoiled itself and stared back at me.
I met the eyes embedded in its face like tiny black sesame seeds and asked,
“Who are you?”
“Squeak?”
“You are not an ordinary snake, are you?”
“Squeeak. Squeak. Squeeeeeak.”
It seemed to be saying something.
However, there was no chance I could understand a voice that sounded like nothing more than a baby’s babbling.
‘That was stupid of me.’
I had asked a question even though I knew I would not be able to understand the answer.
I decided to postpone learning the creature’s identity and moved on to my next question.
“Do you know anything about this tower?”
“...Squeak?”
The creature tilted its head as though asking, ‘What are you talking about?’
From its reaction, I realized that it did not know anything about the ‘tower.’
Then I simply had to phrase the question differently.
“Do you know where we are?”
“Squeak!”
As though declaring that it naturally knew, the creature proudly tapped its chest with its tail.
It then slithered down from my palm and looked around.
Then—
“Squeak.”
Its body went rigid with shock.
I crouched on the ground beside it and tapped the back of its head with my index finger.
“Do not tell me you have no idea where we are?”
“...Squeak.”
The creature lowered its head at my question.
It truly did not seem to know where we were.
This was a problem.
As I scratched the back of my head, the creature struck the ground with its tail as though it had been wronged.
“Squeak! Squeak!”
“What? You are saying it is because I brought you somewhere strange?”
“Squeak!”
That was unfair.
It was not as though I had wanted to be dropped into an unfamiliar forest in the middle of nowhere.
Then there was only one more question.
I decided to ask the one thing I had been wondering about since the first floor.
“Hey. Do you know where the World Tree is?”
“Squeak.”
The creature nodded as though it knew.
That confirmed it.
Every floor of the Verdant Tower was connected.
‘I suspected as much when nothing but forests kept appearing.’
The first, second, third, and fourth floors.
Every floor of the Verdant Tower consisted entirely of forests.
That was why I had begun to wonder.
Perhaps every floor took place within one and the same forest.
I had asked the question to test that theory, and the answer had been exactly what I expected.
That was why the Earth Bear from the first floor had also appeared on the second floor.
It was also why this creature, which had appeared on the third floor, knew about the ‘World Tree,’ the destination on the fourth floor.
I quietly turned my gaze away from the creature and looked into the air.
The System.
The words displayed there read, ‘Find the World Tree.’
This time, the condition was not to kill a monster.
I had to reach a specific destination.
That meant I had to find the ‘World Tree’ before I could move on to the next floor....
‘Should I find it before leaving?’
I had already reached my initial goal of attaining a Synchronization Rate of 1.5%, so the immediate crisis had passed.
I could return home now.
However, I had no particular reason to leave either.
Whether I searched now or later, the fact remained that I would eventually have to find it.
Would it not be better to find it now rather than put it off?
Rubbing my chin, I glanced down.
The snake was busily slithering back and forth around my feet.
“Hey.”
“Squeak?”
“You are certain you know where the World Tree is, right?”
“Squeak!”
The creature nodded vigorously.
Judging by its response, it truly seemed to know.
In that case—
“Lead me to the World Tree.”
“Squeak?”
“You are lost too, are you not?”
“...Squeak.”
Like me, the creature had no idea where we currently were.
However, once we reached an area it recognized, we should be able to reach the World Tree much faster.
If I had to wander around lost anyway, would it not be better to do so with a companion rather than alone?
The creature stared at me with eyes that plainly asked, ‘Why should I?’
It was more or less the reaction I had expected.
I decided to make it an offer it would be unable to refuse.
“If you guide me to the World Tree, I will protect you.”
The creature was strong.
No, to be precise, it ‘could’ become strong.
It only needed to consume enough food and accumulate sufficient power.
One form that accumulated power had taken was the slime it had become on the third floor.
But now—
Because of me, it had lost all the power it had stored.
‘That must be why it did not properly counterattack when I let my guard down.’
If it had truly been strong, then when I lowered my guard enough to deactivate Black Dragon, it would not have settled for biting my hand.
It would have launched a proper attack and torn my hand off.
However, it had done nothing of the sort.
It had merely nipped my hand and played dead in my grip in an attempt to escape the situation.
The implication was obvious.
That was why I was certain.
“...Squeak.”
This creature would not refuse my offer.
As expected, the creature nodded.
A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth.
“Good. Then climb aboard.”
I extended my hand toward the creature on the ground.
Understanding my words, it climbed up along my hand.
I stared at the creature perched on my palm and muttered,
“We will be traveling together for a while. It would feel rather cold to keep calling you ‘hey.’”
Hmm....
Should I give it a proper name?
“How about Squeaky...?”
“SQUEAK!”
CHOMP!
The creature bit my hand as though declaring that it absolutely hated the name.
It did not particularly hurt, but its opinion had been made abundantly clear.
Then what should I call it... Ah!
“Steel.”
“Squeak?”
“What do you think of Steel?”
When I first encountered this creature, it had been eating steel.
Therefore, Steel.
I thought it was quite a good name.
“SQUEEEEEAK!”
The creature apparently disagreed.
It sank its teeth into my hand with all its strength.
It had not hurt before, but this time it stung.
Did it hate the name that much?
As the prickling pain continued in my left hand, I grimaced and shouted,
“Then I will call you Cheori!”
“Squeak?”
“Cheori. What do you think of that for a name?”
“Squeak!”
Did it like this one?
The creature finally released its bite after diligently gnawing on my hand.
I deliberately ignored the red marks left behind and said,
“Then I am counting on you, Cheori.”
“Squeak!”
I stroked the creature with my right hand as it wagged its tail, then took a step forward.
“All right. Let us go, Cheori.”
“Squeak, squeak!”
Cheori let out a cheerful cry as he climbed up my arm.
He soon settled himself on my right shoulder.
Ah, there was one thing I had not told him.
His surname was Kang.
Kang Cheori.
***
After walking for what felt like roughly thirty minutes, I came to a stop and stared downward with my mouth hanging open.
“That was close.”
A sheer cliff, as though the ground had been cleanly carved away, stretched below me.
The grass had grown thick right up to the edge, so one careless step could have sent me plummeting.
I repeatedly gasped at the dizzying height, then tilted my head back and looked up at the sky.
“Setting that aside, the sun sets here too.”
The sky had already turned crimson.
Night would arrive before long.
I had barely walked any distance, yet the sun was already going down.
“I should start moving again once the sun rises.”
If I continued forward in the dark and encountered another cliff like this one, I would plunge straight over the edge.
To prepare for any unexpected situation, it would be safer to move during daylight.
More importantly—
“Squeak....”
Cheori was steadily wilting.
What was wrong?
Was he sick?
As I stared at his drooping body, I belatedly realized the problem.
“Do not tell me you are hungry?”
“Squeak!”
As though demanding to know why it had taken me so long to notice, he slapped my cheek with his tail.
That was unfair.
I was not hungry.
Because of that, I had briefly forgotten that eating was necessary at all.
“Ore is your staple food, right?”
“Squeak.”
Ore....
Rubbing my chin, I glanced down the cliff again.
‘There is a cave down there.’
A single cave was situated halfway down the cliff.
After thinking for a moment, I nodded.
[Black Dragon]
CRACK.
I transformed my hand and spoke to Cheori on my shoulder.
“Hold on tightly so you do not fall.”
“Squeak.”
SWISH.
Cheori wrapped his tail tightly around my neck.
I threw myself over the edge of the cliff.
SCRAAAAAPE.
Five parallel gouges appeared along the cliff face.
I controlled my descent by dragging my claws against the rock and made my way toward the cave.
“Made it.”
As I approached the cave, I put all my strength into my right hand and brought my body to a complete stop.
Then I pulled myself inside.
After entering the cave, I looked around the dark interior, where not even a single ray of light reached.
“It is too dark to see anything.”
I had come here assuming that a cave would contain some kind of ore.
However, now that I had arrived, the darkness made it impossible to see anything.
At that moment, Cheori leaped down from my neck and began crawling forward.
“Squeak.”
WHOOSH.
A flame burst from his mouth.
Although it was extremely small, it was more than enough to illuminate the dark cave.
“...You can breathe fire too?”
“Squeak.”
After his brief answer, he crawled deeper inside.
Before long, he opened his mouth wide at an amethyst-like gemstone embedded in the cave wall....
“Hmm....”
CLACK, CLACK.
The amethyst-like gemstone was larger than my fist.
Naturally, it was far too large for a creature the size of my palm to eat.
I released a long sigh, grabbed Cheori with my left hand, and pulled him away.
Then I swung my fist at the gemstone.
“There. Is that enough?”
CLATTER.
Fragments of the gemstone scattered across the ground.
The moment I put Cheori down, he began greedily swallowing the gemstone fragments whole.
“How did you eat that enormous lump of steel when you were a slime?”
“Squeak, squeak.”
“You crushed it with your slime? You are rather incredible.”
More importantly, why was I somehow beginning to understand what he was saying?
Resting my chin on my hand, I released a long sigh and looked outside the cave.
It had already been dark outside for quite some time.
“We should stay here tonight.”
I was not particularly sleepy, but I was mentally exhausted.
I might as well close my eyes and rest.
I lay down with a suitably sized gemstone fragment beneath my head as a pillow and quietly closed my eyes.
MUNCH.
The only sound in my ears was Cheori swallowing gemstones.
***
The next day.
The moment the sun rose, I got up and looked beside me.
Cheori had eaten his fill and slept soundly through the night.
Now he yawned lazily as he crawled up my arm.
“All right, then. Which way should we go now... Huh?”
TAP.
The moment he climbed onto me, he tapped my cheek with his tail.
I looked at him, wondering what was wrong.
Ignoring my gaze, Cheori stared fixedly in a certain direction.
I swallowed hard and asked,
“Do you recognize this place?”
“Squeak.”
He did.
I could tell from his short cry.
My eyes widened, and I asked again,
“Are you saying the World Tree is in that direction?”
“Squeak!”
The World Tree.
The goal of this floor.
We had found it much faster than I had expected.
Bringing Cheori with me had definitely been the right decision.
I immediately activated ‘Black Dragon’ and ran toward the mouth of the cave.
“Hold on tightly!”
“Squeak!”
Smiling, I leaped from the cliff.
It seemed I would be able to reach the World Tree before the end of the day.