Chapter 54
The day after I made plans to enter a dungeon with Ms. Sonya.
“Is my trusted subordinate an idiot?”
The first thing I heard after arriving at work was the manager’s grumbling insult.
“…Huh?”
“Since you couldn’t understand Jinjo’s words the first time, you must be an idiot.”
Her voice was brimming with spite.
The manager stared at me with her arms crossed and her lips pursed into a duck bill.
The moment I saw the golem resembling her standing beside her, I immediately understood why the manager had said that.
‘She told her.’
The red golem had reported that I was going to the dungeon with Sonya.
“Well, you see, one of the Seven Heroes asked me to come along. She said she’d pay me a slightly—no, much higher hourly wage.”
“…Even so, you’re saying my trusted subordinate is going to climb the Tower? Don’t you have any sense of danger?”
“She’s one of the Seven Heroes, though?”
I’d heard she was one of the seven strongest people in Taepyeong City.
Apparently, she was powerful enough to rival a Hero.
I figured my safety would be guaranteed if I went with someone that strong.
Besides, the strongest person in the setting had said it was fine. How dangerous could it be?
“Well, that beast woman is strong, but you are the great Jinjo’s First Trusted Subordinate! A mere member of the Seven Heroes is nothing compared to you! You don’t need to climb the Tower at all….”
Honestly, I agreed that I didn’t need to climb the Tower.
I was already earning a decent amount as a convenience store clerk.
There was no need to deliberately seek out danger.
But still.
“She agreed to pay me a thousand times my usual hourly wage.”
“……”
“The hourly wage was thirty million won. Even if I only worked for a short while in a single day, I could easily earn a year’s income—or several years’ worth. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like that.”
It was far too much money to ignore.
When would I ever get another chance like this?
It probably wasn’t something that happened every day.
The manager fell silent at my words.
“Y-you slave to capitalism! D-do you really like money that much?”
“Yes. Money was why I started working at your store, too.”
“Eek!”
Since I was right, the manager couldn’t say anything in response.
I had started working after hearing that the hourly wage was thirty thousand won.
There were some troublesome customers, but there was no easier part-time job than this.
“Th-then are you saying you’ll leave if Jinjo pays you too little?”
“Well, if my paycheck were delayed, that might happen.”
“Th-that won’t do! You can’t leave me!”
Perhaps the thought of me leaving had shocked her, because she frantically waved her hands.
“My First Trusted Subordinate is supposed to leave Jinjo? That, at least, is absolutely forbidden!”
“I’m joking. I’m not leaving. It’s not as though you’d suddenly lower my hourly wage, and I’ve gotten fairly used to working here.”
“R-right?”
Only then did the manager look relieved.
“Yes. Remember that you are Jinjo’s First Trusted Subordinate! That is not a position given to just anyone!”
“Of course. I know that.”
“If you know that, how can you say you’re going to work with a woman other than Jinjo? It’s betrayal! Betrayal!”
Her lips poked out again.
“…I’m only working on my day off.”
“Gah! Th-that’s betrayal too!”
“…Manager, are you jealous?”
At my question, the manager jumped and opened her eyes wide.
“I-it’s not like that! I’m only saying this because I’m worried about you!”
The manager was cute when she got jealous, too.
“Don’t worry. I’m not suddenly going to become interested in this and switch jobs to become a Tower porter.”
“Gah! I said it’s not like that.”
The manager, who had been vehemently denying it, let out a deep sigh before continuing.
“Anyway, you can’t back out of a promise you’ve already made. And it isn’t a small amount of money, as you said. I won’t tell you to forcibly terminate the contract.”
Her voice grew quite serious.
As the tone that had risen while she complained lowered and became calm, a different air surrounded her than usual.
“The Seven Heroes are strong. As you said, they are probably the strongest people in Taepyeong City. Even so, do not let your guard down.”
“You mean I should watch out for the monsters?”
The manager shook her head at my question.
“That lot of monsters will all be dealt with by Sonya. She is strong, just as you said. The one I’m telling you to be careful of is Sonya, that Seven Hero. Be careful so that little wolfkin doesn’t do anything to you.”
“Huh? What does that mean…?”
“The main gimmick of the seventy-fourth floor is an outbreak of desire. Beastkin are a race that is naturally more vulnerable to their desires. She probably wants to keep you, protected by the World Tree, beside her so that she can calm her desire to fight.”
“I heard that. She said she thought she could calm her desires if I stayed beside her.”
On the day we agreed to go together, she had briefly explained the dungeon’s characteristics to me.
Because beastkin were vulnerable to their desires, she had been unable to control her fighting spirit and urge to battle.
But when I was beside her, she felt calm and could no longer hear the voices of desire.
That was why she wanted me to accompany her.
“Do you think the only desires it will stimulate are the urge to fight and the urge to destroy? It will stimulate the three basic desires of living beings as well.”
The three basic desires.
Hunger, sleep, and lust.
If even those desires were stimulated…
“You mean I’ll have to suppress those urges somehow?”
“Of course. That is why I’m telling you to be careful of Sonya. She will definitely target you.”
“Will Ms. Sonya try to eat me?”
“She will. She certainly will. She’ll try to eat you.”
Eat me.
That word overlapped with the image of Sonya pressing her nose into the nape of my neck yesterday and breathing strangely as she sniffed me.
‘…Surely she doesn’t mean being eaten in that sense.’
A bead of cold sweat trickled down my spine.
Still, it would be better for lust to be stimulated before hunger.
Losing my chastity would be better than losing my life, wouldn’t it?
“Because of their nature, beastkin may become unable to stop once their desires run wild. So, if that little wolfkin threatens you…”
After finishing her sentence, the manager snapped her fingers.
Swish.
A red collar appeared.
“Put this around her neck.”
“…What is this?”
“It is an artifact that forces beastkin to obey commands. It is filled with Jinjo’s power. I modified it so that she can carry out three commands: stop, sit, and lie down.”
The collar came into my hands.
Unlike an ordinary collar, it held a faint warmth.
“Um, Manager?”
“Why?”
“Even if Ms. Sonya is wolfkin, putting a dog collar around a person’s neck is a little…”
“Hmph. If that little wolfkin runs wild again, she will have forfeited her status as a person and qualified as a beast! What restraint could suit such a beast better than this?”
“……”
To say that she had forfeited her status as a person and qualified as a beast…
“Understood. It’s not as though I’m in a position to be picky.”
“You understand that well.”
“By the way, the aura coming from it is extraordinary.”
“Naturally! It contains Jinjo’s power. I will not have Jinjo’s First Trusted Subordinate unable to control a mere beast and end up pinned beneath her.”
I felt reassured.
Just having it made me feel as though the manager were watching over me.
The equipment had a somewhat extreme appearance, but knowing that it contained the manager’s power alone put me at ease.
“Seal her movements by force while exposing as much of the World Tree’s power within your body as possible. She will calm down quickly.”
“Understood.”
“Remember this. If she runs wild, use it without hesitation. You must!”
The manager earnestly urged me to do so.
“Yes.”
And so, the weekend I had promised Sonya arrived.
***
The day I was supposed to meet Sonya.
Today, I stroked the World Tree with unusual care.
I felt that I needed to carry more of the World Tree’s power than usual.
I wiped the dust from each leaf, covering my fingertips and the collar of my shirt with its fresh, green phytoncide scent.
“I might be a little late today.”
As though responding to my words, the World Tree trembled its branches.
Its fragrance grew thicker, and a refreshing feeling spread throughout my body.
A plant that acted as though it understood what I was saying.
I suppose there was a reason elves regarded it as sacred.
And then came the grand finale.
Spritz! Spritz!
I generously sprayed on the perfume Sonya had given me, too.
According to Sonya, this scent alone should be enough to drive away most monsters.
She had told me to spray it generously.
Spritz-spritz.
I sprayed a little more.
“Shall we go?”
Project Guild headquarters, a tall building located in the center of Taepyeong City.
As befitted one of Taepyeong City’s most prestigious guilds, its lobby was bustling with countless people.
There are more people here than I expected.
I hadn’t expected so many people to be here even though it was the weekend.
Did hunters not get weekends off?
The moment I opened the door and entered the lobby, its atmosphere froze strangely.
“What is that smell…?”
“Eek!”
Several beastkin who appeared to be hunters affiliated with the guild were the first to react.
The moment they saw me, they jumped in fright and pressed themselves against the wall.
Several of them went pale and lowered their heads.
Apparently, the scent was strong enough to frighten beastkin.
‘I absolutely can’t use this while working at the convenience store.’
The gazes of the non-beastkin hunters also fixed on me all at once.
I could hear their whispers from a distance.
“That must be him. The one going to the seventy-fourth floor with Ms. Sonya.”
“Wait, isn’t he an ordinary person? She’s bringing an ordinary person?”
“He must have something special about him. Otherwise, why would Ms. Sonya cover him in her mana?”
“At this point, hasn’t she practically branded him as her property?”
Everyone looked at me with a mixture of shock and curiosity.
Embarrassed by the barrage of stares, I awkwardly scratched the back of my neck for no reason.
Did I spray too much?
I only sprayed so much to drive away monsters.
I hadn’t expected to make people recoil like this, too.
“Mr. Mincheol!”
At that moment, Sonya approached, calling out in a familiar voice.
This was the first time I had seen her without the cap she always wore pulled low over her head or the mask covering her face.
With her black hair, sharply raised animal ears, and combat uniform I had never seen before, she immediately drew everyone’s attention.
When she spotted me, she waved her hand enthusiastically and ran over.
Then, perhaps because she smelled the perfume and World Tree scent radiating from my body, she happily wagged her black tail back and forth.
“You really did spray it generously!”
“It’s a little embarrassing because it seems like everyone is avoiding me… But at least this much should definitely drive away monsters.”
She approached me, then stopped abruptly while maintaining a certain distance.
“Ms. Sonya?”
“Ahem! Th-the scent is definitely strong—very strong. I think I can understand why the other beastkin were so frightened.”
Her tail stood bolt upright.
Her cheeks instantly flushed as red as tomatoes.
She had said that she had infused the perfume with her own mana.
Apparently, I had sprayed a little too much.
If even she felt this much aversion to it…
“Did I spray too much?”
“N-no! Safety comes first! Of course. Hahaha. Ah, come this way. We prepared equipment for you to wear, Mr. Mincheol. They’re the highest-grade items that even an ordinary person can wear.”
With her head bowed, she fanned herself with both hands and hurried ahead as though fleeing.
The people’s gazes did not leave us until we reached the operations room where the equipment had been stored.
We sat down and began discussing the route for conquering the seventy-fourth floor and how to ensure my safety.
“Since I’ve already experienced it once, I know most of the information on how to conquer that floor.”
“…We’ll definitely clear this section before moving on.”
“Among the equipment Mr. Mincheol will wear, there’s an item that creates an area-of-effect shield, so it should be enough…”
It was then.
“Whoa, I thought Sonya’s mana had an incredibly strong scent, but was it all because of this person?”
A gentle, fresh voice.
I turned my head, and someone was standing at the entrance to the operations room.
She wore dazzling armor reminiscent of a paladin, with long blond hair tied back in a ponytail.
It was obvious who she was at a glance.
She was the legendary hunter known to be challenging the eightieth floor of the Tower: the Hero, Yusera.
“Y-Yusera? What brings you here?”
Sonya sprang to her feet in surprise.
“I happened to hear from your guild manager. Our Sonya is bringing an outsider to the seventy-fourth floor—and not just any outsider, but an ordinary man.”
Yusera added that as she sauntered into the room.
“I was curious who the man was that Sonya had consulted about giving perfume to, so I came to see for myself.”
Yusera’s blue eyes turned toward me.
After looking me up and down with interest, she seemed to notice the thick layer of Sonya’s mana soaked into my body and burst out laughing.
“But I never expected you to cover him in so~ much of your mana.”
Her gaze then shifted to Sonya, who was standing beside me restlessly.
“So you’re the one who gave her the World Tree pollen?”
“……”
“I hinted that she should bring someone who could restrain her because of the dungeon’s side effects.”
Yusera smiled with her eyes as though she had perfectly grasped the situation.
“How did she manage to bring someone like this?”
The Hero smiled like a child who had found something amusing.
In the face of that smile, Sonya’s face flushed so red it looked ready to burst.
Yusera approached me.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Yusera. My class is Hero.”
“I’m Kim Mincheol. I work part-time at the Hunter Tower branch.”
“The Hunter Tower branch? Isn’t that the place run by Jinjo?”
“That’s right. She’s my manager.”
“I knew it. I thought I could sense Jinjo’s power from you…”
Yusera looked me up and down once more and hummed a tune.
Her eyes were like those of a child who had found something interesting.
“Sonya, this dungeon must be really hard to conquer.”
“I-I’ll be fine. With Mr. Mincheol here, we should be able to stop the manifestation of desire on the seventy-fourth floor.”
“No, not that.”
“Huh?”
Sonya blinked as though she didn’t understand what Yusera meant.
“Never mind. I said something unnecessary.”
Yusera shook her head and stepped back.
“Good luck conquering it. Neither of you should get hurt. I’ve had a good look at something entertaining, so this outsider will take her leave~. Have a pleasant time.”
With those meaningful words as her parting shot, the Hero fluttered her hand and skipped away as though she had finished enjoying the show.
She seemed like a pure, refreshing idol.
And yet she was a strange person whose thoughts were impossible to read.
After Yusera left, Sonya turned the conversation back to the conquest.
“Ahem, sorry. Where were we?”
“You were saying that the equipment would be sufficient.”
“Ah, to explain from there…”
The twenty-minute briefing finally ended.
The high-end magical equipment wrapped around me in layers to protect me as an ordinary person was heavier than I expected.
It felt like I was wearing full battle gear.
“Let’s go in.”
Following Sonya’s lead, I stood before the portal leading into the Tower.
It was my first time ever climbing the Tower.