[+5P]
‘This guy is only worth 5 points? The points system is so inflexible. It’s a deficit, a total deficit.’
The robot, slashed by a dagger and beaten with fists and feet, had completely lost its original form.
“…Rohan. Drink a potion quickly. If you don’t have a spare, I’ll give you one of mine.”
“I have a spare. I always keep potions handy.”
Out of the three, Sion was the first to finish her fight.
While Rohan was dealing with one unit, she smashed two robots in an instant with her three-section staff.
Sion must have also noticed that monsters in a parasitic state are particularly vulnerable to electricity.
After finishing her fight, Sion kicked off the wall and flew in to lend a hand to Rohan, who was wrapping things up.
Clara had finished dealing with the robots by the time Rohan was done with his fight.
Fighting robots is completely different from killing living creatures with blood and guts, so it seems to be a bit tricky in various ways.
And so, the 30th floor was settled.
In this battle, Sion and Clara remained unscathed, but Rohan’s wounds were quite spectacular.
Thanks to that.
As the battle ended, a balisong fell from Clara’s hand.
——Ting! A clear sound as it hit the floor.
“O-oppa…!?”
When Rohan turned his head, the sunlight streaming through the window made it clear.
Clara’s expression was indescribable. Her eyes were brimming with tears, ready to spill at any moment.
Amid the silence, the sound of sniffling. Rohan was more flustered than he had ever been since arriving in the academy city.
His feet automatically moved toward the girl.
“I’m really fine. Don’t cry. Okay?”
“You always… always just say you’re fine…”
Clara, pouting like a duck, hung her head low.
Rohan gently took Clara’s hand with his clean, blood-free hand.
“It’s just a surface wound, not deep. Sorry for worrying you.”
“…”
Clara herself was just as flustered by her uncontrollable emotions as Rohan was.
Sion, who had been watching the two, was also quite surprised.
About a minute passed like that.
Clara, who had been sniffling, seemed to regain her composure and whispered softly.
“Oppa… I-I’m sorry…”
“I’m the one who’s sorry. I’ll train harder when we get back.”
Rohan had no intention of asking the girl what she was sorry for.
The true meaning of her apology was obvious enough for even Sion, who was watching from the side, to understand.
Wounds are inevitable in battle. Clara knows that fact well.
She knows that showing her emotions like this and burdening someone with her concern isn’t the best behavior. That’s why she apologized after regaining her composure, but Rohan wasn’t burdened at all—he was actually happy with the emotions Clara showed.
It gave him more motivation to push harder in training.
It can also be a good source of motivation.
··
··
After Rohan drank the potion and finished stopping the bleeding, the group headed up to the 31st floor. When they arrived, they were baffled to find it completely empty.
The reason became clear when they went up to the 32nd floor, which was noisily echoing with the sound of footsteps.
As they headed further up, a robot was descending from the 33rd floor. It was the same security robot they had seen on the 30th floor.
Perhaps the parasitic plant had judged that it couldn’t win with its current numbers.
Suddenly, vines burst out from one of the standing robots, wrapping around and pulling in the nearby robots.
*Whoosh! Crunch! Crack!*
The robots crumpled under the physical force of the vines. They were forcibly pulled together, their vines tangled and intertwined.
The robots from the 31st to the 33rd floors gathered, achieving an absurd fusion.
Through a mechanism that was completely at odds with precise machinery, they amplified their strength. Hence, we refer to it as a monster.
“···.”
The vines tangled together, thickening several times over, with miniguns jutting out haphazardly here and there.
The shattered display spilled glass fragments, sparking and crackling with light.
*— Intruder detected.*
*— Commencing cleanup.*
The machine spoke with a clarity unlike before.
The sense of intimidation was on a completely different level compared to the previous robots.
However.
Rohan’s group, when united, fought more seamlessly against a single target than when they were scattered.
They had been fighting non-stop for about three days, and while not perfect, their coordination was more than sufficient.
Rohan had Sion draw her pistol. There wasn’t much left now.
*Ratatatat!*
An entire magazine was emptied in one go. The deafening gunfire brought a swift resolution.
Sion quickly ended the situation with her unique magic-infused bullets.
Rohan had expected a high point value from the fused monster, but it was only 7 points.
It felt like a loss.
··
··
There were no monsters on the 34th floor.
It was clean, with no vines in sight, but that created an undeniable sense of unease.
From what Rohan remembered, this was a resting area before facing the boss.
Sion and Clara, unaware of this, remained on guard for a while. After confirming the area was safe, they finally listened to Rohan.
“You saw what was written on the 1st floor, right? This building has 35 floors as its top. The next floor is it.”
“Ah! I didn’t know that···.”
“You managed to pick up that info in all the chaos? Then there might be an even stronger one next time.”
In truth, no such information was written on the 1st floor.
Rohan is just scheming to deliver information.
“Let’s be fully prepared. If you feel like your magic is running a bit low, just drink a potion.”
At Rohan’s words, Sion and Clara gulped down the blue potions.
The bitter taste made the girls frown, and Rohan, as if he expected this, popped a macaron into each of their mouths.
“Ah~ say ‘ah’.”
As Rohan held out the macarons, not just Clara but Sion also opened their mouths to receive them.
It felt like they had grown closer through shared hardship.
<35th Floor>
Unlike the lower floors, there were iron doors on both sides at the end of the staircase. A unique design, even though it wasn’t the rooftop.
They turned the doorknob as quietly as possible.
“Oppa, there’s something weird inside!”
“As I always say here, it’s indeed bizarre.”
The girls, who had peeked inside, looked as if they had seen a bug.
Rohan checked through the gap to see the monster he remembered from his memories.
‘Oh.’
Countless thorny vines were tangled together, forming a massive pillar.
From there, the ends of the vines swayed as if dancing.
At the tips, televisions of various sizes hung like fruits, drawing emoticons as if expressing emotions.
It felt like watching a piece of modern video art.
[^_^] [^_^] [^_^] [^_^]
Like the monsters they had seen so far, the dungeon boss also had a form that didn’t fall short in terms of bizarreness, just as Sion had said.
Rohan rolled his eyes around and whispered to the girls.
“That’s a Monolith, isn’t it? See it?”
At Rohan’s words, the two girls showed interest and leaned in again.
They focused on the thorny vines Rohan mentioned. And they found it.
In the narrowest gap of the thickest, tree-like vine, a space as small as a fingernail wriggled, subtly revealing a black stele with carved letters.
As Rohan had said, there was something presumed to be a Monolith. Unlike its first appearance, it had lost its brilliant light and now emitted a faint, subtle glow.
“Ah, it’s really there!”
“Definitely.”
The moment they discovered it, they felt an intuition.
The knowledge that destroying it would allow them to escape this place seeped into their minds.
“!”
The three exchanged glances, nodded, and discussed their plan.
They were confident that the information in their consciousness was likely true.
“Can you hit that with a gun?”
Sion and Clara had a special talent for imbuing projectiles with magic.
If things went well, they might be able to return without having to fight through the hassle.
“Piercing a gap like that is no big deal.”
“Me, me too…!”
Their target wasn’t the monster but the Monolith. Different.
The path back to the name.
The two girls confidently nodded at Rohan’s question.
Sion pulled out a heavy pistol from her chest, checked the magazine, and Clara also drew a pistol loaded with subsonic bullets.
They were now certain it was the moment to unleash their ammunition without holding back.
“Rohan. But it won’t show the destructive power you’re expecting.”
“Why?”
“Unless it’s a specially crafted gun and bullets, it’ll explode the moment you overload it with magic. At best, it’ll be like what we did against that robot earlier.”
Clara nodded slightly, acknowledging the truth in those words. Sion also looked regretful for not having a sniper rifle.
‘So that’s how it is.’
Rohan, while remembering this new information, said that much was enough and made his request.
The girls pushed their pistols through the gap in the door.
Sion sat down and took her stance, while Clara stood and aimed the muzzle.
“Clara. Fire when you’re ready. I’ll hit it.”
“Got it…!”
*Pik!* A thin sound rang out, and at the same time, *──Taang!* a powerful gunshot echoed.
The bullet flew towards the Monolith, precisely targeting the gap where the vines were swaying.
But the vines seemed to sense the attack, stiffening and shrinking in an instant.
The bullet pierced through the vines but stopped its advance.
*──Chiiiik!* Steam rose as evidence of the strong impact and friction.
[⸌_⸍] [⸌_⸍] [⸌_⸍] [⸌_⸍]
The emoticons on the TV changed all at once.
It was clear what state they were in.
Although it didn’t reach the Monolith, the damage seemed certain.
“O-oppa! That… its expression changed scarily…!”
“Rohan. It seems the nature of that entity has changed.”
Rohan placed his hands on the shoulders of the two girls, who were reporting urgently.
He calmed them with a voice that showed no tension.
“Don’t worry. We just need to keep doing what we’re doing.”
It’s time to go back now.
