Chapter 55
Flash!
As soon as we passed through the portal, the scenery around us changed with a slight lurch.
‘This is kind of awful.’
It felt like I was aboard a rocking ship.
If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve taken motion-sickness medicine before coming.
“Urk!”
“Mr. Mincheol, are you all right?”
“Ugh, I’m fine. I’m just a little dizzy.”
“I understand. Everyone who comes here for the first time reacts the same way. I did, too.”
The scenery on the 74th floor was bleak, to say the least.
Barren earth and huge stone pillars jutting skyward here and there.
Around the pillars thrusting up like a giant’s grave, the withered grass had begun to grow, then simply stopped.
When I inhaled, the smell of crumbling dry grass and dust rushed into my nose.
“Cough! Cough!”
A land of death devoid of any sign of life.
This was the 74th floor, the Cradle of Desire.
Hummm-.
The equipment I was wearing activated as soon as we entered the 74th floor.
“You aren’t having any trouble breathing, are you?”
I nodded at Sonya’s question.
“Yes, I can bear it.”
“Looks like the equipment is working properly. If you suddenly have trouble breathing, just turn up the dial attached to your arm.”
“Understood.”
“From now on, stay right behind me. This is the monsters’ territory.”
Sonya stepped in front of me and lowered her stance.
No sooner had she finished speaking than a grotesque cry erupted from beyond a massive stone pillar.
-Kyaaaaargh!
-Grrrrr!
What burst out, kicking up clouds of dust, was a pack of dozens of deformed monsters.
They were beast-type monsters the size of bulls, their entire bodies covered in sharp spines.
Some of them had tentacles growing from their limbs.
Each one looked like the boss of one of the lower floors.
The monsters spotted us and growled as if they intended to kill us for trespassing on their territory.
Murderous intent glinted in their eyes.
‘So these are dungeon monsters…….’
They looked utterly different from the nonhuman races living in Taepyeong City.
I could see why the beings in the Tower were classified separately as monsters.
Orcs and goblins, even undead, possessed reason and self-awareness and could communicate.
But the monsters I had encountered in this Tower showed not the slightest trace of such reason.
Instead, they scattered murderous intent as if determined to kill everything around them somehow.
If I hadn’t had the equipment supplied by Sonya’s guild, that murderous intent would have frozen my hands and feet.
‘What incredible pressure.’
I had a hard time holding back my trembling hands.
It was then, as I nervously swallowed because of the sight I was witnessing for the first time in my life.
“Don’t worry. It’ll be over soon.”
Sonya’s words as she stood in front of me could not have sounded more reassuring.
And then.
Boom!
Sonya kicked off the ground and shot forward.
The hard stone floor beneath her foot split like a spiderweb and caved in.
And.
Crack!
With a sound like the air itself breaking.
-Kueeegh!
The monster at the very front flew backward and slammed into a stone pillar.
Only a black silhouette remained where it had been.
By the time I realized that silhouette was Sonya’s form.
Slash!
Her body vanished.
Every time she moved in a black arc, parts of the monsters around her disappeared.
Swoosh!
A head flew off,
Rip!
tentacles were torn away,
Crack!
bodies were pierced.
She slaughtered the monsters around her, quite literally.
Her speed was too overwhelming for my eyes to follow.
It was impossible even to perceive.
Thud.
As the last monster fell, a shock wave swept across the barren earth.
It was beautiful, and cruel.
Seeing it like this, I could truly grasp how powerful she was.
‘So this is one of the Seven Heroes…….’
She’s really strong.
Seeing her power with my own eyes left my jaw hanging open.
Monster blood splattered in every direction, but not a single drop touched her combat suit.
But something was strange.
‘Why does she keep looking back?’
While taking down the enemies, Sonya kept sneaking glances back at me whenever she had an opening.
I wondered if she was keeping watch for any enemies that might appear, but that wasn’t it.
Every time she caught her breath, she sniffed and inhaled the breeze blowing from my direction.
As if.
She were smelling something.
***
‘Perfect. Clean. This is it.’
After finishing off the last monster, Sonya opened and closed her eyes as though intoxicated by her own ability.
The last time she had entered the 74th floor, her mind had been filled with nothing but uncontrollable bloodlust and the desire to destroy.
As it had grown worse, her surroundings had turned red, and an enchanting voice had shimmered around her ears.
-Kill them. Tear them apart.
-Kill every last one of those bastards.
-Those things are your enemies.
-I said kill them.
But now was different.
Even after dealing with every monster she had encountered, her impulse had not risen as violently as she’d expected.
Even with the stench of blood stabbing at her nose, her reason remained intact.
The reason was simple.
The refreshing power of the World Tree blooming from Kim Mincheol’s body.
It was suppressing her instincts.
The dense mana blooming from Kim Mincheol’s body, blessed by the World Tree, was keeping her from going berserk.
On top of that.
‘What a good smell.’
The rich scent of her essence coming from his body.
A male scent saturated with her mana—one so strong that even the World Tree’s floral fragrance or the smell of blood could not erase it.
That smell was satisfying the 74th floor’s desire in a slightly different direction.
Possessiveness.
Whenever her bloodlust boiled up, she looked back and inhaled Kim Mincheol’s scent.
Then the instinct that had been about to run wild settled down.
Rather, the senses sharpened by her bloodlust temporarily honed her combat ability to a razor’s edge.
Thanks to that, her body had become much lighter and keener than usual.
‘I’ve gotten faster.’
Enough that even she could feel it.
Her condition was at its peak.
It was a little different from when she had pummeled the countless enemies she had fought before.
She was certain that, in her current state, she could set the fastest time on the 74th floor.
The cave where the final boss monster awaited.
A massive cave at the end of the barren wasteland.
The 74th floor’s boss monster was inside.
‘I can do it.’
She had not gone berserk even once on the way here.
It was all thanks to Mincheol.
She glanced at Mincheol, standing half a step behind her.
Her scent clung to his body.
It was slightly different from the scent that came from her own body.
A heavier, harsher smell, mixed with his body odor and the perfume he had sprayed.
Sonya could sense that her scent on his body was laced with a trace of male pheromones.
‘My scent is coming from Mr. Mincheol’s body.’
Her heart pounded.
At the thought that her mana had mingled with that man’s body odor and covered him.
It stirred a strange heat in her, as if it proved he was entirely her possession.
A damp, sticky desire was slowly rising from her lower abdomen.
‘This is a little strange…….’
She had never felt her heart pound or her mouth go dry this intensely before.
Until just now, the World Tree’s mana had been what held on to her reason, but the male scent covering him felt far denser and sweeter.
I want to smell him up close one more time.
I want to bury my nose in his nape and confirm through his skin that he is completely mine.
-Take him.
-Make him yours alone.
-You can protect him, can’t you?
-You want him, don’t you?
-I want to protect him.
Faint voices echoed in her mind.
The desires of the 74th floor.
Voices that stimulated her desires.
The fact that she could hear the voices meant that this possessiveness had grown much stronger than her desire to destroy.
‘It’s all right. I can control this much.’
Perhaps it was fortunate, in fact.
The 74th floor’s boss in that cave was a monster on an entirely different level from the minnows she had faced here.
Once she began fighting it, her fighting spirit and desire to destroy would surely boil over fiercely.
The World Tree’s mana might not be enough to keep her mind together.
‘So…… it’s safer to leave this possessiveness even stronger.’
My very own male.
My possession, which I must protect.
If she held this strange obsession and lust in her mind, she could keep from losing her reason during the boss fight.
-That’s right. So crave that man a little more.
Without realizing it, she moistened her dry lips with her red tongue.
And the moment she realized what she was doing.
Smack!
She slapped her own cheek.
Her flushed cheek stung.
The voices vanished.
‘Sonya, are you crazy?’
I need to calm down.
Right now, I can’t afford to focus on anything but the monsters.
Don’t think about useless things.
“Hoo.”
Kim Mincheol approached her.
“Ms. Sonya, are you all right?”
A gentle voice.
A man she could trust with her back.
Seeing him, Sonya felt her heart pound.
The exhilaration building before battle.
Suppressing her excitement, she opened her mouth.
“Mr. Mincheol, from here on out, it’s truly dangerous. No matter what happens, you must not leave my side.”
Looking back, she said it as gently as she could.
Because she couldn’t let him become anxious.
But Sonya had no idea.
That her voice as she spoke had become strangely sultry, unlike before.
That the desire of the 74th floor was slowly welling up in her clear amber eyes.
And.
“Don’t worry. I’ll stay behind you and let you escort me obediently.”
Kim Mincheol answered calmly, smiling, his gaze
already fixed on her eyes, which had turned orange.
‘…Why is her gaze becoming dangerous?’
In Kim Mincheol’s hand, held behind his back, Jinjo’s red collar was clenched, damp with sweat and ready to cinch around a beast’s neck at any moment.
***
Before entering the boss room.
I saw Sonya’s gaze turn orange.
And the moment I saw it, the manager’s warning came back to me.
The warning to be careful around Sonya.
I wondered if I should stop here.
“Let’s go in.”
She showed no intention of backing down.
And I had no way to stop her.
Should I put the collar on her now?
But the only commands I could issue after putting it on were three:
Stop. Sit. Lie down.
If I put it on now, she might become suspicious instead.
With enough explanation, perhaps I could put it on her.
But would she willingly accept a dubious restraint made by Jinjo, and in the form of a ‘collar’ at that?
I found the manager cute, but I knew people in this world perceived her a little differently.
‘If she became wary and took it off, I’d be finished.’
Pale orange eyes.
There was still reason left in her.
She was clearly driven by the compulsion to protect me and the purpose of defeating the boss monster.
If I tried to restrain her by force in this state, her resistance would only shatter her trust in me.
On top of that.
-Remember this. If she goes berserk, use it without hesitation. You must!
The manager had emphasized that I should use it when Sonya went berserk.
What if Sonya broke the collar while she was still in her right mind?
The final safeguard that was supposed to protect me when she truly went berserk would be uselessly lost.
This collar was my joker card.
‘I have to use it all at once when she’s truly dangerous.’
The moment she completely lost her reason and approached me defenselessly.
Only if I fastened it at the instant she offered me her nape could I restrain her for certain.
It wasn’t time yet.
“……Yes. Let’s go in.”
I wiped my sweaty palm on my pants.
We entered the cave where the boss was.
Boom!
The fight was decided in an instant.
The boss monster’s body collapsed, making the earth tremble.
“Phew…….”
Red blood dripping from Sonya’s fingertips soaked the floor.
She herself seemed surprised.
Lost in the feeling, she gazed at her fist and heaved her shoulders as she caught her breath.
“It’s over, Ms. Sonya. You worked har…… Huh?”
There was something I had heard before entering the Tower.
-Once you defeat the boss monster, a blue portal will open. Then it’s over.
Sonya had said it in a breezy voice.
But the blue portal that should have opened to signal a clear, just as she had said, did not appear.
The dungeon wasn’t over?
But.
‘We definitely killed them all, though?’
But only for a moment.
“Mr. Mincheol, do you know something? I’ve never moved this fast before. Strange, isn’t it?”
Sonya spoke while looking down at her hand.
“I was in really good condition today. I don’t think it was because of my battle lust; it was probably the World Tree’s mana coming from your body, Mr. Mincheol. But you see.”
“Ms. Sonya.”
“They say female lycanthropes become strongest when protecting a male they share a connection with. I’ve never experienced it, actually. I mean, it’s never happened before. But today……. I think I experienced it for the first time.”
Her words quickened.
“Hehehe, I’ve never felt this way before. It feels like I’m flying through the sky. You know, every time I smell Mr. Mincheol, that feeling grows stronger? I smell your scent before I smell the World Tree’s. My heart pounds every time I smell you. My chest aches. I was so worried you might get hurt. Funny, isn’t it? I’m the one who brought you here, yet I’m the one worrying. But this is real. Every time I smell you, my lower abdomen grows hotter and hotter. I feel like I’m going crazy. I’ve never been like this before. I’m sweating, my heart is pounding, my lips are parched…….”
She turned around.
Her eyes were a little redder as she looked at me.
A deep orange.
“So, about that…….”
She approached me.
“So let’s stay here just a little longer. I want to smell this scent of yours a little more, Mr. Mincheol. I want my heart to pound more.”
Haa, haa.
Her breathing had grown ragged.
[Warning: The conqueror’s suppressed desire has exceeded its limit.]
[The dungeon is assigning a new trial.]
The moment I read the system message floating in the air, I understood the situation.
Her suppressed desire had warped into ‘possessiveness’ and ‘lust’ toward me, bursting past its limit.
And the dungeon had chosen that explosive desire itself as a new ordeal.
“M-Ms. Sonya? Calm down first…….”
Fwoosh-!
Before I could finish speaking, she vanished from sight and plunged into my arms.
“Ugh!”
Her hot, soft arms wrapped tightly around my waist.
“Ms. Sonya, snap out of it! It’s not over yet……!”
“……Your scent.”
She buried her nose in the nape of my neck, her eyes hazily unfocused.
“My scent, the scent of my mana……. And your scent, Mr. Mincheol……. Ah, I can’t resist it. I want to smell more. I’m going to smell you.”
Riiip-!
My protective gear was ripped away without mercy,
Riiip!
and the front of my shirt was torn open.
Her hot breath fell directly on the bare skin of my exposed shoulder and nape.
“W-wait! Don’t rip it! Isn’t this expensive? They said it was Project Guild equipment. Aah!”
Just as I hurriedly tried to stop her, I felt a sharp pain near my shoulder.
Sonya lightly bit my exposed shoulder with her fangs.
A tiny bead of blood formed where her teeth had sunk in.
“Did you know? Among us lycanthropes, biting someone like this is an expression of affection—it means you love them.”
“Ms. Sonya…….”
“Mr. Mincheol, you’re mine. I won’t give you to anyone. So…….”
Her hot breath touched the tender skin sensitized by her bite.
“Haa, Mr. Mincheol……. My male……. Just a little, hold on, okay? I’ll make you comfortable in no time. Ngh!”
She ran her hot tongue over the wound marked by her teeth.
That dizzying sensation against my shoulder.
I squeezed my eyes shut without meaning to at the sensual sensation.
This is bad.
If this continued.
We would remain trapped on the 74th floor, unable to escape forever.
We were all in danger of being devoured by her desire, helplessly.
Because of the way she roughly bit and sucked at me, even her neatly arranged combat suit had come undone.
Her black hair was damp with sweat and clung to her face, while her combat suit, already stripped off, lay sprawled on the floor.
“It’s in the way!”
Crack!
She grabbed her shirt and tore it straight off.
Buttons ripped away, and the deep valley between them and the white skin exposed beneath shimmered in the cave.
“More, more……”
The moment she took her hands off my body to tear at her own clothes.
I slipped the red collar I had been secretly holding around her neck.
The protective tool the manager had pressed into my hands with repeated instructions.
Jinjo’s artifact.
Was it because she was so excited that her movements had slowed?
Or because I was too weak for her to regard me as a target of attack?
Sonya did not react to my movement and…….