Chapter 131

 

“Hey, weren’t you on the second floor...?”

 

“...Mr. Junho?!”

 

A human and an angel recognized each other. When you run into an old elementary school friend and one of you doesn’t remember the other, things can get awkward fast... But when both recognize each other, joy and delight well up from deep within your hearts.

 

“Wow, weren’t you on the second floor? What are you doing here, man!”

 

“Hehe, there’s a story behind that!”

 

Grinning brightly, the angel waved a sign that read, “Buying Rare Items,” back and forth. Along with the sign, its white hair swayed from side to side.

 

“Long story short, I’m a temporary replacement!”

 

“Temporary replacement?”

 

“Yes! The angel who was originally in charge of the 11th floor got disciplined due to an unfortunate incident, so I’ve taken over as the guide for the 11th floor!”

 

Instinctively, I felt that this “unfortunate incident” was closely related to the current state of the 11th floor. Yeah, something serious enough to get an angel fired must have happened for the 11th-floor to end up like this. I was about to ask the angel more about the “incident,” but then...

 

“Mr. Junho!”

 

“Uh, uh...”

 

Putting down the sign for a moment, the sign-holding angel grabbed both my hands and pulled them toward its chest.

 

“For the past two months, I’ve been wanting to tell you this! Please, will you hear me out?”

 

“Uh...”

 

“Thank you! Thank you for defending me on the second floor! Thank you for keeping me from getting disciplined! I was really, really scared...!”

 

With sparkling eyes, the sign-holding angel met my gaze. Its hands were clasped over mine, fingers interlocked, resembling someone in prayer.

 

“Well, uh... sure.”

 

“Please call me Anael! That’s my name!”

 

“Oh, okay. Anael.”

 

Honestly, I hadn’t thought much about it then, so I felt a bit awkward, but it seemed to mean a lot to Anael. He (or she) was beaming with a radiant smile. The halo above his head shimmered brightly, almost radiating light.

 

“Isn’t it fate that we’ve met again like this? Actually, when I saw you conversing with the Archangel on the second floor, I thought, ‘This climber is going places!’ I should’ve said you had great potential! And as expected! You’ve climbed all the way to the 11th floor so quickly!”

 

Still holding onto my hands, Anael continued to chatter incessantly.

 

“Hee, heeek...!”

 

Suddenly, he jumped in surprise, quickly stepping back. His face turned pale, and his gaze was fixed behind me as if he’d seen something terrifying.

 

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

 

Startled, I quickly turned around, but there was nothing there. Just Choi Ji-won looking at me nonchalantly.

 

“Ji-won, did you see anything?”

 

“Hmm? No? Not really?”

 

“...Really?”

 

“Yeah. I was just watching my boyfriend getting all friendly with a pretty angel.”

 

“...”

 

A chill ran down my spine. That day, I realized for the first time that although Choi Ji-won is usually easygoing and tomboyish...

 

She is more jealous than I thought...

 

After things settled down a bit, I asked Anael to tell me more about the “unfortunate incident.”

 

“Actually, I don’t know much myself!”

 

“You don’t know what happened?”

 

“No! I meant I’m not sure if I’m allowed to tell you! If another player had come asking for this information, I would have ignored them right away!”

 

Anael tapped his fingers in the air. Probably something only he could see, like the players’ status windows. Maybe an “Angel Window” or something.

 

“There’s no specific rule against it, so it’s a bit ambiguous... But hey, we’re friends, aren’t we! I’ll tell you!”

 

“...”

 

In the army, there’s a saying: “If you’re wondering if you can do it, don’t. If you’re wondering if you should do it, do it.” But I didn’t bother saying that out loud. If Anael gets into real trouble, I can just regress.

 

“While I’m not certain since it happened when I wasn’t here, I’ll tell you what I know!”

 

He didn’t know the exact timing, but around the time players first entered the 11th floor, the dwarves had a favorable impression of humans. Since they believed the reason they were brought into the Tower was to “assist climbers,” they decided to fulfill that role.

 

**

 

“Hey, come check out this weapon we made! It’s nothing like human craftsmanship!”

 

“People often mistakenly think dwarves only handle ores, but that’s not true. Wood, glass, clay—a true artisan should excel at everything, don’t you think?”

 

The first player to enter the 11th floor stayed for three days, taking full advantage of what it had to offer before clearing it, leaving the dwarves deeply satisfied.

 

Like the ancient stories of craftsmen and their patrons, an artisan’s joy comes from someone appreciating their work. A skilled warrior recognizing the value of their goods and purchasing them—how could they not be pleased?

 

“Hmm, I’ve sold two spears. But none of your axes have sold.”

 

“Th-that’s because the climber happened to use spears! If a climber who uses axes comes along, my axes will sell like hotcakes!”

 

“Oh, look, three more humans are coming. Let’s see who sells more this time.”

 

Not long after the first player cleared the floor, more players began entering the 11th floor. The dwarves even started competing to see who could sell more, the atmosphere remaining positive.

 

“...You got robbed?”

 

“Yukor’s shop was hit. They took the entire safe.”

 

Specifically, the atmosphere remained positive until one of the shops got robbed.

 

“Damn it, damn it!”

 

“Those greedy bastards...”

 

The culprit had already purchased a Transit Stone and cleared the 11th floor. For an artisan, “selling an item for money” is more than just economic activity—it’s a testament to their worth. The value of the item reflects the sweat and passion poured into its creation. To steal it is to trample on that value.

 

“...So humans from another world are no different, huh.”

 

“Shit, I thought chosen climbers would be better than this...”

 

Radical opinions like, “Climbers are just as detestable as anyone else!” started to circulate among some dwarves, but they were still the minority.

 

“Drink. Drink and forget.”

 

“Yeah, there’s always some scumbag who deserves to drown in a barrel of beer. Climbers are no exception.”

 

“True. You can’t judge the whole based on a few.”

 

Most dwarves took a more measured stance. Sure, it was shocking that a player had stolen from them, but theft wasn’t an entirely new experience for artisans. They chose to drown their frustrations in beer, eat their fill of meat, and brush it off as an unfortunate incident.

 

“Gelbin hasn’t returned?”

 

“Don’t tell me...”

 

The next night, a dwarf was found brutally murdered in the forest. The culprit was obvious—a group of players who had been recklessly spending money during the day and left the 11th floor shortly after.

 

“Those damned bastards...”

 

“Damn it, damn it all...”

 

The artisans who poured their sweat and blood into their creations had sold them to those players, only to be repaid like this. Even the most jovial and tolerant dwarves had their limits, and this had gone far beyond them.

 

“...Not all climbers are like that.”

 

“Yeah. There are definitely good ones out there.”

 

Still, some sense of reason lingered. It would be wrong to blame all players for the crimes of a few. Though anger and disgust surged within them, the dwarves held back.

 

By lunchtime the following day, three more dwarves were found dead, their bodies horribly mutilated. Once again, the perpetrators had left the 11th floor early that morning.

 

“Those fucking bastards!!!”

 

“I’ll throw them into the furnace myself!!!”

 

The dwarves finally snapped. The rational voices urging against generalizing all climbers had been drowned out by boiling rage. Armed dwarves were on the verge of ambushing sleeping climbers.

 

“Wait, wait. Hold on.”

 

The elder of the fortress stepped in to calm the enraged dwarves.

 

“What do you plan to do now?”

 

“We’ll kill them!”

 

“...Even if you ambush them, can you kill them?”

 

“...”

 

Dwarves were master artisans and formidable warriors, but their opponents were elite players, some of the best among humanity. The odds were not in their favor.

 

Could they even win in a direct confrontation against climbers blessed by God?

 

Even if they somehow managed to win, more climbers would inevitably arrive. Could they sustain a never-ending war against all climbers? Would the Archangel stand idly by?

 

As their blood cooled, reason returned. The climbers were despicable, and vengeance was justified, but physical confrontation wasn’t the solution.

 

“Stop selling them items. And block their escape.”

 

“Block their escape? How?”

 

“Don’t let them leave the 11th floor.”

 

The root cause of the climbers’ actions was clear—they could commit crimes and simply escape the 11th floor before being caught. By cutting off their retreat, they could put an end to this cycle.

 

“But... didn’t the angel say we had to sell Transit Stones?”

 

“Then sell them. For, say, 1 billion gold.”

 

This was an impulsive decision and one fraught with potential consequences, but...

 

“Damned bastards...”

 

Dwarves were not the type to take things lying down.

 

**

 

“That’s the story!”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

Anael finished the tale, but neither Choi Ji-won nor I could find any words. From our perspective, it was incredibly unfair to be persecuted for crimes we didn’t commit, but we also couldn’t fault the dwarves for feeling the way they did.

 

Frankly, if two consecutive murders occurred in Korea and both culprits turned out to be from the same country, public sentiment toward that country would plummet. It wasn’t our place to criticize the dwarves for their prejudice.

 

“So, what do we do about this?”

 

Earning trust is hard. Rebuilding broken trust is even harder. The 11th floor was deeply tangled. The culprits had long since fled, leaving behind only unfortunate victims to glare at one another.

 

No wonder the previous angel got fired over this mess.

 

“So, your predecessor was dismissed for failing to prevent this situation?”

 

“No, not at all!”

 

“...Then why?”

 

“The previous angel tried to de-escalate the situation and immediately reported it to the Archangel for guidance!”

 

“...What?”

 

That sounded like the most exemplary way to handle the situation—calm things down, assess the problem, and consult a superior for further action. It was the kind of response deserving of applause. So why was the previous angel dismissed?

 

Anael’s answer was shocking.

 

“The previous angel was fired for ‘reporting something so trivial’!”

 

“...”

 

“The Archangel said there was no need to make a fuss over something that was bound to happen!”

 

Aside from the fact that the Archangel overseeing floors 11 to 15 was apparently very temperamental, my assumptions were completely off the mark.

 

The previous angel wasn’t dismissed for neglecting the 11th floor’s collapse. He was dismissed for bothering to report what the Archangel saw as an inevitable occurrence. Their perspectives had been completely different from the start.

 

“...I think I get it now; the theme of this floor.”

 

The 11th floor was ruined by human greed. It was destroyed by villains who preferred to exploit and kill other beings rather than achieving success through legitimate effort.

 

All of this, I realized, was exactly as the Archangel intended.

– – – End of Chapter – – -

 

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