“So that is why you asked me to enter with you.”
“Right.”
Hwa Yejin covered her nose with one hand, perhaps because the smell of blood made her sick, and looked around.
“Why did Sa Ujin do this? He was always insane, but this is worse than usual. He will not get away with it. That dog b×stard……. What does he think human lives are?”
“Well, we will find out if we ask him directly.”
The truth was that I already knew. I simply had no confidence in explaining it.
Sa Ujin collected every kind of ‘doll.’
Interesting humans, animals, and even monsters.
When his target was human, he considered many things and set his own standards of evaluation. But when the target was not human?
He captured it immediately, like a child filling out a collection book in a game.
And the creature appearing in this Gate was a Demon. It was even the Gate boss.
It would have been stranger if Sa Ujin had not gone mad with interest.
At first glance, what Sa Ujin was doing seemed like a simple, thoughtless rampage. In truth, it was bait meant to lure out a boss that ‘loved the world.’
‘Honestly, I want to leave him alone…….’
If I did, Sa Ujin would turn this Gate into a complete mess. Then even my plan for the tenth Gate would be ruined.
At first, I planned to move as quickly as possible and accomplish my goal before Sa Ujin found the boss. But since Hwa Yejin had offered to help, there was no reason to let this opportunity pass.
Unless something truly extraordinary happened, Hwa Yejin’s chance of defeating Sa Ujin approached zero percent. Still, I had asked her to delay Sa Ujin as much as possible.
“Then will Sa Ujin be somewhere if we follow these bloodstains? If we succeed in ambushing him, even that psychopath will be helpless.”
That was true.
“However, his Ability is useful, so how about leaving the arm that fires threads intact and cutting off both legs to subdue him?”
Oh, this woman had activated her crazy side.
You may not know this, Teacher, but from the perspective of a weak person like me, you are also a splendid psychopath. Even after looking through all 7,200 lives I have lived, there was not a single normal S-Rank.
However, it would be troublesome if I explained all that to persuade Hwa Yejin, so instead I pointed at a building.
“Is there any need for that? I told you that I asked you to interfere with Sa Ujin, not kill or subdue him. And the best way to interfere with Sa Ujin is……”
“To clear this Gate as quickly as possible, right?”
I nodded.
“Do you think that is possible? It is still a Required Gate. We should allow at least five days for the clear. The shortest clear time among the first through eighth Gates was four days and thirteen hours.”
“Really? Want to make a bet?”
“What?”
“I will bet that the Gate is cleared within eight hours.”
Because I proposed a condition that was absurd according to Hwa Yejin’s common sense, her eyes shone brightly.
“What are we betting?”
“Hmm, one wish? If I lose, I will grant your wish—or I will peacefully join All Magic Tower.”
Hwa Yejin’s eyes blazed as though she might fire beams from them.
Seriously, why did she want me that badly? No matter how many times I saw it, I did not understand.
“What if I lose?”
“You give me one wish as well. What do you think?”
I extended my hand and added, “Deal?”
Without even thinking, Hwa Yejin immediately clasped my hand.
“Good, the bet is set, Kang Seon! You will not be able to take it back, so remember that!”
That was right.
I had caught a pushover.
“Leia.”
“This is beginning to feel like fraud…….”
Now, now. Fraud?
I had clearly given her many opportunities.
Hwa Yejin was the one who ignored them and threw herself into the opportunity.
[Leia has used the Skill 「Froststep」(C).]
CRACKLE!
When Leia, who had been grumbling, raised her hand and used her Skill, dozens of footholds made of ice formed in midair, creating a staircase.
The stairs stretched farther and farther until they reached the upper levels of a tall building in the distance. I pointed at that spot and smiled.
“Guild Master Hwa Yejin of All Magic Tower. You will not forget what you promised, right?”
Click.
When I pressed the button on the recorder in my pocket, a familiar voice played.
- Good, the bet is set, Kang Seon! You will not be able to take it back, so remember that!
For the first time, Hwa Yejin’s expression stiffened, as though she had finally realized that something was going wrong.
***
After pushing Hwa Yejin’s back and climbing the stairs for dozens of minutes, we finally reached the end.
If possible, I wanted to enter directly through the top floor of the building, but……
“Huff, huff……. Gasp, huff……. I-I cannot…… I do not have enough Mana…….”
“Good grief. That is supposed to be a goddess.”
Because Leia ran out of Mana, we had no choice but to arrive on the fourteenth floor, around ten floors below the top.
While Hwa Yejin looked at Leia pitifully and fed her a low-grade Mana Potion, I looked outside through the window.
The ninth Required Gate, .
Honestly, I had not entered this place very many times. There was never a particular need to enter, and I never felt very good whenever I did.
As my number of regressions increased, it became an increasingly dangerous place for me as well.
Exotic buildings that looked like streets from an old Western city. Dozens of spires. A sleeping city with no liveliness at all, because most of the people had not yet awakened.
Was it because I thought this was the last time? Or was it because I thought of this place’s boss? Either way, my chest felt slightly tight.
“Hey, if you are done drinking, let us go.”
But what use was it to think about such things?
I was going to die after this was over anyway. Since I had entered, all I needed to do was follow the plan.
“B-Benefactor…….”
“What?”
“Since I worked so hard, once we leave here, could I have an extra-large bowl of pork soup and rice……?”
“Kang Seon……. Do you not normally feed Miss Leia properly?”
Why was I receiving looks as though I were a terrible owner who starved a pet?
I started walking, leaving behind Hwa Yejin and Leia, who were talking nonsense. I already knew the structure of the building, so there was no risk of getting lost, but……
THUMP.
Hwa Yejin grabbed my shoulder.
Her eyes were far more serious than before. Several round magic circles floated from her wrist, and the surrounding air grew hot.
“Kang Seon. There are presences. A great many of them.”
Well, we had hardly made any sound, but the ice staircase was a very conspicuous method.
Since we had moved so openly, everyone would have gathered here unless they were fools.
“Ms. Hwa Yejin. Do you remember when you slapped my cheek?”
“W-What? S-Suddenly, wh-wh-wh-what are you…….”
Good. It seemed she remembered.
Ignoring Leia, who had perked up her ears and was listening closely to our conversation, I continued.
“Do you remember the question I asked then, and what I showed you afterward?”
Hwa Yejin’s face turned bright red. Perhaps because she was a fire-type Skill user, it would not have been strange if she exploded soon.
“I remember, so what about it!”
“Then that is enough.”
Creak.
Several doors in the hallway opened. More than ten figures slowly walked out and surrounded us as we argued.
***
“Come to think of it, this is something you can help me with. Could you help?”
“Me? Of course! What is it?”
Before entering the Gate, I had thought that using Hwa Yejin to restrain Sa Ujin would work well.
However, the ninth Gate, , had an unfortunately bad affinity with Hwa Yejin. If I wanted to help her, she needed some preliminary learning.
“Come to the ninth Gate with me. I think Sa Ujin will cause trouble there, so I want you to restrain him a little.”
“Sa Ujin? Well……. That psychopath is certainly capable of that. But if you are going this far, it seems you have something to do there besides clearing the ninth Gate?”
“Right. There is something I need to obtain there, and it will be troublesome for me if Sa Ujin causes chaos.”
After thinking briefly, Hwa Yejin nodded.
I had never expected her to refuse in the first place.
If it were anyone else, perhaps. But Hwa Yejin was someone whose hostility toward Sa Ujin was stronger than anyone else’s.
“All right! I will turn him into a bloody pulp!”
No, you would probably be at a disadvantage in terms of affinity.
Rather than give Hwa Yejin useless hope, I asked a different question.
“Then I will ask just one thing. It is necessary, so I am asking.”
“Yeah? What is it?”
“Tell me your ideal type. It does not matter whether it is a man or woman.”
Hwa Yejin’s eyes wavered.
“Wh-Why? No, why? Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“I told you, it is necessary.”
“……Ahem, first, I would like them to be kind and gentle. I would like it to be obvious that they care about me when they speak. And, yes, someone who would go on a walk with me every morning would be……”
“Tsk.”
How could she say only such obvious things?
“Not that. External features.”
“Why are you suddenly asking something like that?!”
“I told you, I need all of it.”
There was no point explaining now. It would only make the explanation longer.
People did not like long explanations these days.
In the end, only after several minutes did Hwa Yejin slowly begin listing her answer.
“I would like black hair. Long hair that reaches below the shoulder blades is fine, as long as they are not bald. I would like a sharp impression and some muscles……. I would also like them to be taller than me. Their hands should be large enough to cover my face, too……”
I looked at this woman with tired eyes without realizing it.
“Once you started, it all came pouring out.”
“Do you really want to die?!”
“Yeah, that should be enough. Let us go now.”
“W-Where are we going?”
The place I took her was a small bookstore.
While Hwa Yejin, who had entered an ordinary neighborhood bookshop rather than a famous bookstore, looked around curiously, I picked several books from the shelves, brought them to the counter, and had them wrapped.
Hwa Yejin had been looking at the old books and interior. The moment I put the books in a bag, she approached and asked,
“What is that? What did you put in there?”
I handed her the bag.
“A gift for you. You agreed to help me, and I even received an item from you, so I am specially giving you something in return.”
“……A gift?”
I shook the box containing the item I had received from her. Seeing it, Hwa Yejin’s expression became strange.
Well, the only gifts an S-Rank Hunter like her would usually receive were bribes or amorous advances.
A modest gift like this must have felt awkward.
Hwa Yejin carefully took the books from the bag and flipped through them.
Then, immediately afterward, a slap from an S-Rank who did not restrain her strength enough struck my cheek.
“Y-You insane, low-class b×stard!!”
Every page of the books—no, the magazines—Hwa Yejin dropped contained photographs.
Photographs of men matching Hwa Yejin’s ideal type, posing seductively.
***
Back in the present.
Hwa Yejin’s eyes were shaking wildly.
“Wh-Wh-Wh-wh-wh-wh…….”
About half the figures emerging from the doors were handsome men with black hair and sharp impressions.
They wore only trousers, openly displaying their chocolate abs.
Perhaps she felt overwhelmed, because Hwa Yejin moved closer to me. She could not continue speaking, only parting and closing her lips.
Keeping my gaze on Hwa Yejin rather than the figures slowly approaching us, I asked,
“Did you look through the gift I gave you from beginning to end?”
You really should have.
It would be less embarrassing if you had.