Chapter 79 - The Regressor Takes a Beating (10)

After finishing my conversation with Dok Suhui and taking out the golem in one blow with Kang Chan's punch...

"..."

The four of us reached the final room once again.

"What's this?"

Ignoring the chests in the center, I hurried into the room and examined the red door first.

"H-hey... Don't touch it carelessly... Who knows what'll happen if you put your palm on it..."

"I'll just touch it with my finger, not my palm."

I lightly rested a finger on the red palm-shaped recess. My fingertip glowed faintly, then the light faded.

"This... is blood."

Touching it made that clear. The red door hadn't been red to begin with. Layers of people's blood had turned it that color.

"Blood?!"

Ahn Gyeongjun was utterly taken aback.

<Final Trial>

-Pass through the doors before you to clear Floor 3. However, only one person may pass through the red door. Passing through the red door grants an additional reward.

Right on cue, a message window appeared before our eyes.

"..."

"..."

Just as in the previous iteration, an awkward tension settled over the room. In an instant, we had become one another's enemies.

"... Would you hear me out for a moment?"

As before, I cleared up their misunderstanding. I explained that we didn't need to fight in this room, and urged them to cooperate and open the stone door on the right first.

"Opening the door doesn't immediately clear Floor 3. It said we have to ‘pass through’ it to clear the floor. There's nothing stopping the four of us from opening the regular door first, then having one person open the red door."

"... All right. That makes sense."

Ahn Gyeongjun and Kang Chan, who had been on edge, calmed down, and the atmosphere became conducive to rational discussion again.

"... Then shall we open the regular stone door first?"

RUMBLE.

The four of us gathered to open the stone door, revealing a blue portal.

Yes, everything so far was the same as the previous iteration. Things would change from here.

"So... how do we decide who goes through the red—"

"One moment."

Dok Suhui interrupted Ahn Gyeongjun as he began to discuss the red door.

"Everyone. I'll be the one going through that red door."

Instead of suddenly stabbing us in the back as she'd done before, she boldly declared that she would go through the red door.

"What? Huh? What did you say? What are you talking about...?"

"... Are you out of your mind?"

Despite her choosing a relatively rational approach, their reactions were fierce.

Ahn Gyeongjun and Kang Chan stared at her as if wondering what on earth she was saying.

"I'll explain from here."

Letting Dok Suhui explain might cause needless misunderstandings, so I decided to step in.

"... I'll hear you out. Your insight is uncanny, after all."

Kang Chan's sharp demeanor softened considerably, and Ahn Gyeongjun, whose eyes had been darting wildly about, barely managed to calm down.

"First, let me tell you about Suhui's past."

I began by explaining the Goblin Shaman, the tutorial's boss.

The heroes of the tutorial. The Goblin Shaman's betrayal. And how the people who had chosen death had placed an immense responsibility on Dok Suhui's shoulders. I told her story as briefly as I could.

"..."

"..."

The mood grew even heavier than before. Death carried a weight that words could never express.

A brief silence passed.

"I still don't understand."

Kang Chan was the first to speak.

"I've heard Dok Suhui's tragic story. But everyone carries a story of their own."

"..."

"What I'm saying is, I don't see why we need to give up the reward behind that red door."

He was right.

Among those capable of entering Floor 3-5, was there anyone without a story? Kang Chan, Ahn Gyeongjun, and I all had burdens of our own. His reasoning was undeniably sound.

"... I think it's all right."

But Ahn Gyeongjun wiped his reddened eyes and placed a hand on Dok Suhui's shoulder.

"How... how hard it must have been... She's still just a young student. How much must she have suffered in this tower...?"

"..."

"I'm strong enough... Strong enough to look after myself in this tower. I believe the same goes for the rest of you... If we're thinking in terms of improving our chances of survival, I think Suhui, the weakest of us, should take the extra reward."

Ahn Gyeongjun smiled at Dok Suhui.

"We're climbing this tower to stay alive, aren't we?"

"... Whew."

After hearing him out, Kang Chan rubbed his brow irritably and turned his gaze to me.

"... Fine. I have no intention of opposing the majority. But Kim Junho, there's one thing I have to ask."

"... Go ahead."

"Do you think it's right for Dok Suhui to pass through the red door?"

"... Yes."

"Fine. Then I'll agree too. Not because I trust Dok Suhui... but because I trust what I've seen of you on Floor 3."

With that, Kang Chan stepped away from the red door. He seemed to be going to collect his chest.

"Th-that's wonderful, Suhui!"

Ahn Gyeongjun ruffled her hair, as happy as if he'd been chosen himself. He seemed to have grown fond of her already.

But a moment later...

"... Huh?"

With a look of sudden bewilderment, Ahn Gyeongjun dropped to one knee and braced a hand against the floor.

"...?"

I'd seen this before. In the previous iteration, Ahn Gyeongjun had collapsed like that after falling victim to Dok Suhui's paralytic poison.

Hoping against hope, I turned toward Kang Chan.

With a brilliant flash, he was trapped inside the Goblin Shaman's barrier.

"..."

I was too stunned to speak. After searching and searching for the right words, all that escaped my lips was a simple question.

"... Why?"

"Why what?"

"... I told you I'd persuade them."

"But..."

Dok Suhui, the cause of all this, tilted her head with an unconcerned expression.

"You might have failed to persuade them. I know it was underhanded, but it was necessary."

"..."

"So I took my own precautions to make sure..."

She kept rattling off excuses.

Her gaze toward me was friendly. My Awe trait was still active, after all.

But there was madness in it too. The madness of someone willing to do anything to achieve her goal.

Only then was I certain. Dok Suhui was not in her right mind.

"But you understand, don't you? This isn't just for me. It's for the people who died because of me."

With those words, she approached the red door.

Dok Suhui's past was unimaginably tragic, and her determination to climb the tower was noble.

But perhaps her character was another matter entirely.

She was... merely using her story to justify her wrongdoing.

"Well, then..."

Smiling brightly, she placed her palm on the red door.

"... Why?"

Unable to bear watching, Ahn Gyeongjun squeezed his eyes shut.

"... Damn."

At the moment Kang Chan clenched his teeth inside the barrier...

BOOOOOOM!!!

An explosion suddenly rang out from the red door where Dok Suhui stood.

The blast wasn't particularly large, so it didn't reach us on the opposite side of the room. But...

"Aaaaaaah!"

Dok Suhui took the explosion at point-blank range.

Her arm shattered in an instant. Her body flew like a puppet with its strings cut.

She bounced across the floor several times before coming to rest before us on the other side of the room.

"..."

"..."

She was still breathing, but seemed to have lost consciousness from shock. Blood streamed from the stump.

"... What, what is this...?! She may have betrayed us, but she's just a child...!"

Trembling, Ahn Gyeongjun tried to help her, but his paralyzed body wouldn't let him do even that.

He twisted, trying somehow to move, until his eyes suddenly rolled back and he rose to his feet. I didn't know why, but Spirit Possession had activated.

"... Traitor."

But the possessed Ahn Gyeongjun showed not the slightest inclination to help Dok Suhui.

"I owe no loyalty to a traitor. She tripped over her own greed. How satisfying. Back home, we'd have thrown her to the lions."

He gave a derisive snort and ended the possession. Back in control of his body, Ahn Gyeongjun could only writhe helplessly on the spot because of the paralytic poison.

"..."

Meanwhile, Kang Chan silently looked down at Dok Suhui from inside the barrier.

"What an absurd ending."

That was all he said.

At that moment, when everyone had turned away from her...

"... Suhui...!"

As the only one who hadn't been paralyzed, I supported the fallen Dok Suhui and examined her wound.

"..."

It was severe, but not life-threatening. And with her arm blown away without a trace, a potion would be pointless.

-Awe [A]

-Praise for your greatness. Fear of the incomprehensible.

-You may use a weakened version of a trait belonging to a target affected by Awe, once only.

-Dok Suhui: Inventory (SSS) >>> Synthesis/Explosion (B-) <Use complete. The trait will be deleted.>

Her injuries were a little worse than I'd expected...

But in any case, things had gone according to plan.

* * *

Dok Suhui had lost her right arm in an unforeseen accident.

Quite some time had passed, but she showed no signs of waking.

I'd thought the traitor deserved to be taught a lesson, but the result was more gruesome than I'd expected. I looked down at Dok Suhui with a complicated expression, one that included a measure of satisfaction.

"... It's not your fault, Junho. It's all right."

Whatever he'd read into my expression, Ahn Gyeongjun placed a hand on my back.

"... More importantly, look over there."

He pointed at the red door. Though calling it red was questionable now.

Had the explosion on its surface blasted away much of the crusted blood?

The once-red door was now an indistinct mixture of gray and red.

"It looks like the trap only worked once..."

Once again, we were back where we'd started. Only one person could obtain the additional reward.

Then who would take it?

"..."

"..."

For a brief moment, we watched one another, trying to gauge each other's intentions.

"Kim Junho."

Kang Chan looked straight at me and said,

"You go in."

A Word from the Author (Afterword)

Floor 3...

Overall, I wanted to write a floor where every character had the makings of a protagonist.

Ahn Gyeongjun, the kindhearted growth-oriented protagonist accompanied by a spirit who serves as both mentor and fighter.

Kang Chan, the misunderstanding-based protagonist who keeps people's misconceptions about him alive through his killing intent ability and the high-risk combat ability that backs it up.

Dok Suhui, the crazed, monopolize-everything protagonist with a story of her own. (Honestly, a regressor would have suited this role better, but I didn't think introducing a regressor here was the right choice.)

I think the concept was decent, but...

The sudden betrayal was definitely my mistake. I'm sorry. I should have laid enough groundwork, but I handled it poorly...

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