Chapter 102

 

Flip~

 

I  turn the first page.

 

<Report of the 4th Floor Survivors>

 

The beginning of the report is structured in a Q&A format. Someone asks, and a survivor from the 4th floor answers.

 

Q: How was your experience on the 4th floor?

 

A1: It was horrible. I don’t want to recall it.

 

Q: Can you elaborate on what was horrible?

 

A1: A deranged player assaulted a female NPC, and the NPC faction immediately retaliated. However, since that deranged player was the strongest on the 4th floor, it turned into a bloody massacre. It was the first time I had seen so many corpses in my life.

 

Q: What happened next? Aren’t there monsters on the 4th floor?

 

A1: On the third day at dawn, monsters swarmed us. We were all asleep and didn’t even realize the monsters had invaded. The weaker players couldn’t respond and were killed, only the very strong survived. Even after barely surviving, the stench of blood in the castle made it hard to sleep.

 

“...Hmm.”

 

As I mentioned before, we prepared meticulously.

 

We blocked all the gates of the castle and spent our spare time searching every corner of the castle for hidden elements. We practically scraped the bottom of the barrel.

 

But if we had spent two days in a daze without any preparation like these people... we would have suffered tremendous losses.

 

Q: What happened after that?

 

A1: Almost all the players died on the first day. The remaining ten of us holed up in a room in the castle and  managed to endure the remaining two days without major issues.

 

Q: What about the NPCs? Do you know what happened to them?

 

A1: I don’t know. I never left the room, so I don’t know. My memory is fuzzy.

 

“Hm…”

 

The entire group of people summoned to the floor was massacred because they didn’t prepare at all.

 

It’s certainly a possible scenario, but it’s too extreme. There’s no useful information either. Personally, I hoped it would prove the hypothesis presented by Glasses Guy, that ‘the attacks stop when the number of otherworldly beings equals the number of players.’

 

Leaving the disappointing Q&A behind, I turn the pages again. About an hour later, I finally find the  Q&A I was looking for.

 

A8: We decided to cooperate with the NPCs, thinking they wouldn’t be given to us for nothing. I had a hunch it was tied to the rewards.

 

Q: I’d like to hear more in detail.

 

A8: Didn’t the tutorial emphasize ‘moral values’? I judged that the main value of the 4th floor would be cooperation.

 

“This is good.”

 

A8. This guy was quite sharp. He didn’t think of blocking the castle walls entirely, but he made some preparations by dispatching some players to scout around the castle and set up traps.

 

As I was reading the report with interest.

 

A8: But my judgment was a mistake. The value of the 4th floor is definitely not ‘cooperation.’

 

Suddenly, A8’s tone turns aggressive.

 

Q: A mistake? I’d like to hear more.

 

A8: The difficulty of the 4th floor is too high. It’s not feasible to survive while protecting the NPCs. The first wave on the third day was manageable, but the wave on the fourth day was beyond our ability to withstand.

 

Q: Please continue.

 

A8: On the fifth day, we boldly abandoned the NPCs. The difficulty then felt drastically easier. We only had to protect ourselves, so it wasn’t hard at all.

 

“...”

 

A8. This person abandoned the NPCs the moment the difficulty increased. Since the reason for protecting people was for rewards, there was no reason to risk their lives to protect them.

​

Q: Okay. What happened next?

 

A8: But... about four hours before the time limit, ‘they’ appeared.

 

Q: ‘They’?

 

A8: They are...

 

-Note: A8′s testimony was interrupted as he suddenly complained of dizziness.

 

“…What?”

 

It really cut off there.

 

Turning to the next page of the report, I found only the Q&A with A9 recorded.

 

“Hmm…”

 

Given the circumstances, the otherworlders must have been randomly killed. Ordinary people without protectors surviving on the 4th floor was nearly impossible.

 

And probably... when the number of players and the number of otherworldly beings would have equaled out, the previously mentioned ‘they’ must have appeared.

 

“Sigh…”

 

For now, Glasses Guy’s theory is wrong. Something that makes a person nauseous just by recalling the memory can’t be positive.

 

However, the description of ‘they’ is lacking. I’ll need to read more to find out.

 

After organizing the information in my head, I turn the pages of the report again. But the following Q&As are ordinary and not much different from the previous ones.

 

To summarize the common points from the survivors’ testimonies...

 

First, players who suffered devastating damage in the first wave on the third day did not suffer greater damage afterward. Most who barely survived the third day made it to the fifth day.

 

Second, those who tried to protect the otherworlders eventually gave up or compromised by saving only a few. They all reported seeing ‘them’. Though their descriptions varied, the common point was that it was a horrifying sight.

 

Third, those who did not prepare did not feel a significant change in difficulty, but those who did felt a drastic change.

 

Fourth, those who cleared the 4th floor vowed never to protect NPCs again.

 

The key point here is the third. The moment you prepare, the difficulty changes significantly.

 

In this round, we made every effort to block the gates of the castle and its entrances, conducting various construction works. However, the monsters melted the blocked entrances as if mocking our efforts, and even winged monsters appeared.

 

Monsters that countered our efforts appeared. This was true for others as well.

 

If you prepare for the monsters in advance, the next day, monsters that neutralize those preparations appear. A single strategy couldn’t last more than a day.

 

However, it is effective for ‘one day.’ This is the key.

 

If I hadn’t realized this, I might have relied on our preparations and relaxed. But knowing this, I can devise new countermeasures. This is incredibly useful information.

 

“Whoa.”

 

Reading so many words has left my mind slightly fatigued. But there’s still a long way to go with the report. After massaging my temples briefly, I resumed reading the report.

 

Even if what I’ve read so far has been repetitive, there might still be noteworthy content in the later parts.

 

So I read, and read, and read some more.

 

When the code names of the respondents went from A20, A30, A40, to finally reaching A60.

 

“…Huh?”

 

I unintentionally voiced out loud.

 

A61: We had no choice. We are sorry to Count Julius, but we did our best. We regret not being able to protect him and his people, but we couldn’t sacrifice ourselves to save them.

 

“…Who is Count Julius?”

 

It’s a name I’ve never heard before. Was there such a person? Could it be a hidden piece?

 

Q: Please explain in detail.

 

A61: We abandoned Count Julius and his people. But he lied to us first. From the moment we were first summoned, he consistently bragged. He claimed all his subjects were trained soldiers, that he was a great mage, that his knights could split mountains...

 

Q: Was that not true?

 

A61: Absolutely not. His subjects were all farmers. There weren’t even twenty trained soldiers.

 

“…What is this nonsense?”

 

From the moment we were first summoned”? His soldiers? His knights?

 

A dreadful suspicion crept in, and I quickly flipped through the report, looking for keywords like baron, count, and other titles.

 

“…My God.”

 

The results were astonishing.

 

Count Julius. Marquess Jacob. Viscount Gorbachev. Baron Irving.

 

The otherworldly noblemen mentioned in the report all had different names. Their described appearances were different. Their personalities were unique.

 

“…Baron Jorge…”

 

I whispered as I flipped through the pages, my mind racing with this newfound revelation. Each noble mentioned seemed to be a piece of a larger puzzle, each one bringing me closer to understanding the true nature of this twisted game we were caught in.

​

It had never been mentioned before. There was only one meaning behind this.

 

The goblin shaman in the tutorial revives even after death. He lives and dies as many times as the tutorial repeats.

 

Efforts to save the goblin shaman are meaningless. Even if he survives once, he will die again anyway, and even if he dies once, he will revive again. He is entirely bound to the tower.

 

But... Baron Jorge is different. The nobles summoned to the 4th floor are not summoned again. They are not repetitive entities but singular beings.

 

This means that the otherworlders are not merely natural elements prepared for the 4th floor. It means they are also living beings struggling to survive. They are not NPCs that can be easily discarded.

 

“…”

 

Realizing this made my chest feel heavy. I had one more reason to save Baron Jorge and his people. The responsibility on my shoulders had become even more burdensome.

 

“Get a grip.”

 

No, nothing changes. I wanted to save everyone, anyway. Instead of wasting time here, I should be gathering more information.

 

Determined, I tried to read the report again, focusing my eyes.

 

Triiing, triiing.

 

“…Hm?”

 

A sound broke my immersion. My phone vibrated with the ringing tone.

 

I thought about turning it off to continue reading the report, but…

 

“…”

​

[Choi Ji-won]

 

…Seeing the name on the screen, I couldn’t bring myself to ignore it.

 

Click.

 

As if possessed, I pressed the call button and heard a familiar voice.

 

“Jun-ho, c-can we meet?”

 

Choi Ji-won’s familiar voice was trembling.

– – – End of Chapter – – -

 

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