Chapter 2
A certain witch once said.
That life was only fun because it never went as planned.
She was absolutely right.
Right in the face.
Her life hadn't merely gone off the rails against her will; it had completely derailed and landed her in the deepest abyss.
If someone were spouting that kind of bullshit right beside her, even the most compassionate person would have no choice but to raise a fist.
Grrr-
“This is my only option now.”
The girl's great adventure ended, rather unexpectedly, without much to show for it.
No matter how thoroughly she searched the area, she couldn't find anything to eat.
To be precise, she had found a few mushrooms and an old book, but...
She wanted to leave eating those highly suspicious mushrooms as a last resort.
So this really was the only way.
The girl, wearing a pitch-black nun's habit and a veil of black and white, murmured under her breath.
“Status Screen.”
And nothing happened.
In this maddening situation, the girl pouted and plopped down onto a pew.
If she was going to be possessed by a game character, they should at least have given her basic systems like a status screen or inventory.
What was this, some kind of self-imposed hard mode...?
Did she really have no choice but to eat those mushrooms?
Creak.
“...?”
“What? I thought this was just part of the background, but they really added an NPC too?”
The faded oak door, which had been tightly shut, swung open with a grotesque creak.
But the girl was so hungry that she didn't even have the strength to get up.
She merely turned her head slightly to see who the uninvited guest was.
The first thing that caught her eye was hair like flames, a mix of red and orange.
And armor that covered only the most precarious parts.
Wasn't that what they called bikini armor? So people actually wore that.
“Who are you?”
“Sorry for the late introduction. I'm Ifrit. I oversee this floor...”
“Pardon?”
“...Just an ordinary adventurer. Forget what I just said.”
Deciding there was no need to explain everything to an NPC who knew nothing, Ifrit held her tongue.
But the girl wasn't stupid.
She'd accumulated a fair amount of knowledge from online games and all kinds of fiction.
After just those few words, the girl's mind began racing far more fiercely than usual.
First floor, NPC, adventurer. Putting those keywords together...
‘Is this a tower-climbing story? And one with a bit of a game system mixed in...’
If there were no game system, the word NPC wouldn't come up.
It had to play some role, at least to a certain extent.
Besides, Ifrit had immediately classified the girl as an NPC.
In other words, there was some way to distinguish players from NPCs.
Having thought that far, the girl concluded that she might be able to use this situation to her advantage, if she played her cards right.
“I see. Please forgive my rudeness...”
“It's all right. Anyone would be wary in a place like this.”
“Our church may be humble, but I sincerely welcome you. Is there anything I can help you with?”
Naturally, it was a lie.
This wasn't the girl's church, she wasn't welcoming Ifrit, and she had no intention of helping her, either.
Even so, the reason she put on a customer-service smile and said something she didn't mean was to take advantage of the situation.
Let's put ourselves in the other person's shoes.
You're in the middle of playing a game when a building you've never seen before and an unfamiliar NPC suddenly appear.
What would you do?
“Well... you looked like you needed help. Is there anything I can do?”
‘That's right. This is the standard response.’
Gamers were bound to poke around in case there was a new quest.
Just like Ifrit, who was poking around right in front of her now.
Of course, there were crazy people who attacked first and asked questions later...
But they were very much in the minority.
Fortunately, Ifrit didn't seem to be one of those types.
Which meant she was a perfect sucker to put to work.
“Still, asking someone I just met for a favor out of the blue is a little...”
“That's the kind of thing we do.”
“Given the circumstances, I can't offer you a proper reward...”
“It's fine. I just genuinely want to help.”
Seeing the girl fiddle with the edge of her veil and draw back apologetically, Ifrit waved her hands and reassured her.
The girl silently cheered inside. What a good kid.
You really are the greatest sucker of this era... no, the greatest adventurer.
On the outside, however, the girl did her best to maintain a poker face.
She'd made it perfectly clear that she had nothing to offer as a reward.
And since Ifrit had volunteered to help anyway, she had done nothing wrong. That was the excellent rationalization she told herself.
“...If you insist. Actually, ever since I was isolated here, donations have stopped, and I haven't had a sip of water in days.”
“That's terrible. Should I bring you some right away?”
“I would gratefully accept any offerings you can spare.”
“Just wait a moment. I'll bring some right over. By the way, I don't think I got your name...”
The unexpected counterattack left her momentarily speechless.
A name. Something everyone had at least one of, of course.
But the girl had two names, no less.
The first was Kim Hyunseong, the name she'd used for twenty-seven years in Korea.
It was the name she was most familiar with, but probably not one she could use right now.
Then that meant there was only one name left...
“My name is Zion.”
◇
A donation.
A quest to bring a little food to a nun at a ruined church.
And the only reward was a small amount of experience.
This was clearly a trivial quest for Ifrit to take on herself, considering she wasn't just an ordinary ranker but a high ranker who managed an entire floor.
‘If she were just an ordinary NPC, maybe. But this place clearly has a story behind it, and even her appearance is extraordinary.’
If she were an inexperienced novice, she would have refused outright.
But Ifrit was a high ranker who managed a floor, of all things.
She had completed countless quests to reach such a lofty position.
Her experience was whispering to her now.
This was definitely a hidden quest.
More precisely, it was a precursor quest you received before meeting the conditions for a hidden quest.
Naturally, she hadn't reached that conclusion just by looking at the NPC's appearance.
She was a high ranker who had been through thick and thin.
Her experience surviving a cruel world where one mistake could bring her crashing down was no joke.
Even so, there were three main reasons she'd come to that conclusion.
The first was the unusual location and NPC. The second was...
‘I couldn't see Zion's stats. And I'm no ordinary person—I'm a high ranker.’
Using the Appraisal skill let you see another person's stats.
Of course, it didn't succeed 100 percent of the time.
If the target had at least three stats higher than the user's, the skill failed.
Exactly. That was the problem.
True to her reputation as a high ranker, she had stats that overwhelmed most boss monsters, yet her appraisal had failed.
‘She definitely said her name was Zion. I've heard that name before.’
There was an old legend in this tower.
The legend of the Demon King who ruled the tower, and the hero who defeated him and saved the tower.
Of course, it had been dismissed as just another common legend.
After all, no remains had ever been found, let alone relics.
So why had she suddenly remembered that long-forgotten legend?
Simple. The saintess who stood by the hero's side was named Zion.
‘An extraordinary appearance, stats even a high ranker can't appraise, and the same name as the saintess recorded in legend. Could all of that really be a coincidence?’
No, it couldn't.
Just then, rumors were spreading among the monsters and demons that the Demon King's legacy had been found.
So it wouldn't be strange for a quest to appear that could help them fight against the Demon King's legacy.
If anything, that would be more natural.
Ifrit's heart began to pound.
She was the only adventurer who knew about this hidden quest right now.
Bzzzt.
“...Tch, just when things were getting good.”
When the small crystal orb tucked against her bosom began to crackle, Ifrit grimaced as if she'd tasted something foul.
She'd completely forgotten because of the hidden quest.
She'd told the other high rankers that she'd investigate it herself.
Ifrit briefly considered telling them the news... but she'd already made up her mind.
She took out the orb, her expression resolute.
“What is it?”
[How did it go?]
“It was just another ruined church, and that's it. There wasn't even an NPC, let alone a new monster.”
[They just added a building and that's it?]
“Maybe it'll be used as an important location later. I might be willing to sell it if you pay.”
Click.
The moment money came up, the call was cut off.
But instead of getting angry as usual, Ifrit flashed a triumphant smile.
Of course, the other high rankers weren't idiots, either.
Sooner or later, they'd all find out about Zion.
‘In the end, what matters most is how much of a head start I get. I have to get even one step further ahead than the other rankers.’
Whoever completed the quest first would claim all the rewards.
In other words, it was a contest where the person who got there first had an overwhelming advantage.
Besides, even if she did lose the hidden quest...
Building a connection with the great saintess would surely come in handy.
Having reached that conclusion, Ifrit quickened her pace.
She had to clear the quest as soon as possible.
Though she had said it would be beneficial to build connections...
That didn't mean she planned to give up the hidden quest.