Chapter 18
Clearing the 12th Floor
Clearing the 12th floor.
To be honest, there was no reason to put it off.
That judgment was based entirely on my experience of already clearing the 11th floor.
That was how simple the 11th floor had been.
‘The only thing I really need to worry about is managing my forces….’
But right now, my inventory was packed with magic stones.
About two billion worth, to be exact.
However, perhaps Baek Jin-seong hadn’t expected me to announce that I wanted to clear the 12th floor right here, because he looked flustered.
“Gasp! Right now?”
“Why? You don’t want to?”
“Th-That’s not it….”
Baek Jin-seong spoke cautiously while watching my expression.
“But… um… I turned off the broadcast.”
That was probably the reason for his reaction.
And I could understand it.
‘Well, I suppose it was easy for him to misunderstand.’
Baek Jin-seong must have thought we were going to clear the 12th floor without turning the broadcast back on.
After all, his goal was to grow the size of his broadcast.
There was almost nothing for him to gain from clearing the floor without broadcasting, so his reaction made sense.
I cleared up the misunderstanding.
“You can turn the broadcast back on whenever you want, can’t you?”
“Oh, that’s true!”
“Let’s start the broadcast after we enter the Tower, okay?”
“Yes!”
Baek Jin-seong let out a sigh of relief.
“I wouldn’t be that shameless.”
“As expected, I’ll trust you, hyung. Haha.”
After reaching an agreement, I stood up.
“Then get ready. I’m going to use the bathroom for a moment.”
Before walking into the bathroom, I added,
“Oh, just in case. Don’t bother me because it’s taking too long. And don’t break down the door just because I don’t answer.”
“Yes, hyung! Don’t worry! I’ll sit right here and wait.”
He gave me a loud and confident answer, but for some reason, I still felt uneasy….
I entered the bathroom and locked the door.
There was no harm in making sure.
“Then let’s get this over with quickly.”
What was about to happen was something I couldn’t let anyone see.
Flash!
The bathroom filled with blue light.
The cause was the gate I had opened.
I stepped inside without hesitation.
“W-Welcome! I have been waiting for you, Heir!”
A voice just as loud as Baek Jin-seong’s.
I flinched and turned my head.
Argelair was standing there.
“Why… are you here?”
“I was waiting because you said we would meet again soon, Heir!”
“Uh… okay… I see.”
It had already been more than ten hours since I had said goodbye to it.
I was speechless.
Should I call it loyal or simply foolish?
I shook my head while looking at the small figure.
What an inflexible second lieutenant.
“Why do you look like that?”
“No, actually, this worked out perfectly. Can I ask you for a favor?”
“Of course, Heir! Simply give me an order, and I shall fulfill it with the spirit of a soldier!”
Before making my request, I decided to change its title first.
“And about that title, ‘Heir.’”
“Is there perhaps a problem with it…?”
“I’d like you to call me something else from now on.”
Argelair looked as if it had just been struck by a hammer.
“How can I not call the Heir ‘Heir’? What is this!”
Yes, Gil Dong. I have my reasons too.
“If it’s difficult to understand, think of it as a mission. From the moment you leave this gate, it will be a mission that you absolutely must carry out.”
“…Understood. Then what should I call you…?”
What should it be…?
I thought about an appropriate title.
The reason I wanted to control the use of the word ‘Heir’ was entirely to avoid giving the impression that I had inherited something.
A player who had obtained a massive inheritance containing extraordinary powers.
If people made that assumption, unexpected variables could arise.
‘Should I just decide something without overthinking it?’
Argelair was modeled after a soldier.
Then, if I wanted to replace the authority and atmosphere conveyed by the title ‘Heir’…
“How about Commander?”
“Ah…! What an excellent idea.”
Argelair seemed satisfied as well.
“And from now on, I’ll call you ‘Ar.’ Is that okay?”
“It is an honor.”
“Alright, Ar. I have an errand for you. Take some items to the Core Center where Neia is.”
I took out the items Baek Jin-seong had given me earlier and placed them on the ground.
The city’s power supply was probably running dangerously low right now.
Not only had we been producing drones, but Argelair had just completed its test run.
That was why I had stopped by to deliver supplies in time.
“Leave it to me!”
Argelair transformed into its combat form.
After tearing through the surrounding trees during the transformation, it finished changing.
I gave it another instruction.
“I also have a message I want you to deliver to Neia.”
“……”
Argelair didn’t answer, but I assumed it was listening and was about to continue.
A screen suddenly appeared, and Neia spoke.
『You can tell me directly.』
“…How? Can you tell when I enter this place?”
I asked because of her sudden appearance.
Neia shook her head.
『No. However, there was a small disturbance in this forest a moment ago, so I was checking on it when I noticed your visit, Seonwoo.』
“I see.”
That was disappointing.
If she had said that she could detect me entering this place, I wouldn’t have to keep running to the Core Center every time.
For simple item deliveries, I had been planning to use the collection robots to transport them from here.
“Anyway, I’m sending some of the items we discussed earlier through Argelair, so please check them. In particular, start converting the magic stones into energy immediately. I’m planning to begin clearing the 12th floor now.”
『I have registered your next instruction as the highest-priority task. I will proceed as quickly as possible.』
“Good.”
I watched Argelair head toward the Core Center before turning around and leaving through the gate.
The scenery of the bathroom in the lodging appeared before me.
I closed the gate and returned to my room.
“That made things much easier.”
Neia was popular even among ordinary people who weren’t players.
Baek Jin-seong was proof of that.
After accompanying him just once, his broadcast had gained millions of views, and he had even reached one million subscribers.
Because of this, among players who climbed the Tower while editing videos and making money from them, there had recently been a craze surrounding attempts to target Neia.
In fact, the clear rate of the Sky Garden had noticeably increased over the past two days because of it.
[Baek Jin-seong is so damn lucky.]
[I absolutely have to meet Neia.]
[Look at how greedy these Neia hunters are lol.]
The people obsessed with finding Neia were always watching Baek Jin-seong’s broadcast.
[Welp, Baek Jin-seong turned off his broadcast.]
[Let’s go to sleep. Time to clock out.]
[I thought they’d clear the floor today.]
It was already widely known that Baek Jin-seong had a contract to climb together with Neia until he cleared the 15th floor.
Naturally, this was because the contract had already been revealed on his broadcast.
Perhaps they decided there was nothing else to watch once Baek Jin-seong turned off the broadcast.
From around that time, almost no new posts appeared.
“Hehehe… Maybe I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”
Using his Trait ability to browse MeTube and the day’s community posts, Baek Jin-seong laughed heartily.
Recently, one of the things he found most entertaining was secretly watching the reactions of the Neia hunting parties like this.
It gave him a strange sense of superiority, and it was amusing to see the jealousy directed at him.
But the more enjoyable it was, the more carefully he had to guard against the one thing that could replace him.
There were people aiming for his position.
Among them, there were probably even a few people with broadcasting-related Traits like his.
He reminded himself that he had to remain fearful and nervous at all times and continue working hard so Neia wouldn’t abandon him.
“More importantly, isn’t he taking a little long? Does he have constipation?”
He wondered whether he should go knock on the door.
But he remembered what he’d been told before entering.
So he sat down and continued looking through MeTube comments for a while.
Then he heard the bathroom door open.
“Are you ready? Let’s go.”
“Welcome back, hyung.”
Baek Jin-seong immediately jumped to his feet.
At the same time, a message appeared before his eyes.
[Neia has requested to join your party.]
For a moment, as he looked at it, a thought occurred to him.
‘Come to think of it… what level is hyung?’
He subtly looked at Baek Jin-seong’s face and pressed the button to accept.
[You have joined the party.]
The level displayed in the list that appeared shortly afterward was unexpected.
‘He’s lower level than me?’
「Party List」
[Lv.11 Neia]
[Lv.13 Baek Jin-seong]
Well, Neia’s power was based on those mysterious drones.
She might have other abilities, but that was all that had been revealed so far.
“Let’s go.”
“Uh, yes!”
After forming the party, they walked together toward the Tower and joined the waiting line for the 12th floor.
Soon, the field of the 12th floor unfolded before them.
The scenery of the Sky Garden was slightly different from the 11th floor.
The blue sky from the 11th floor had turned yellow.
The lush green garden had withered and become dry, like autumn foliage.
‘What kind of mission will we get this time?’
I wasn’t worried about whether we’d receive a group mission like on the 11th floor or individual missions.
Because I was with Neia this time.
Ding!
The mission was decided.
[Defeat the enraged plant, Deathvine. 0/60]
Perhaps because we were in a party, the required number was quite high.
But it was an extremely simple mission.
“Shall I start the broadcast now?”
At Baek Jin-seong’s words, Neia nodded.
“Once you’re ready, stay here and talk with the viewers for a while.”
“Uh… yes. Understood.”
I watched him move to a corner of the Safe Zone where he couldn’t be seen, then quickly turned on the broadcast.
Viewers flooded in.
Huh? You’re starting the broadcast again?
Didn’t you say you were going to sleep earlier?
Jin-ha.
Jin-seong, hyung is here. Give him a proper greeting.
“Hello. Actually, I’m about to start clearing the 12th floor with Neia, hyung. I was surprised too because I was suddenly called.”
As he casually responded to the viewers, they asked,
But I don’t see Neia?
Where’s Neia?
Emergency poop?
Emergency poop is understandable, though.
“Hyung stepped away for a moment. He’ll be back soon.”
While he was talking with the viewers, the chat suddenly became excited.
Oh, he’s coming.
Yep, that’s Neia.
Damn… look at all those reliable drones around him.
Each one of those is basically a weapon equivalent to a player above the 40th floor, right? That’s terrifying…
But who’s that guy next to him?
There was an unfamiliar face beside Neia.
Naturally, Baek Jin-seong had never seen him before either.
Because it was Argelair.
“Uh… who’s that next to you, hyung?”
Neia had disappeared into a corner and returned with a little boy dressed in a military uniform.
For a moment, Baek Jin-seong wondered if he was a companion who had joined them.
But considering Neia’s personality, he concluded that was unlikely.
Neia was extremely wary of other people.
The broadcast viewers had a similar reaction.
Rather than thinking that the boy was a newly recruited companion, they assumed he was a relative.
Is that Neia’s nephew?
Is he mixed-race?
Oh, what’s with this little kid? He looks freaking cute lol.
He’s going to make a lot of girls cry when he grows up.
The theory that he was Neia’s nephew made sense in many ways.
No matter how secretive Neia was, it was possible that he wouldn’t hide his identity from his family.
If he had siblings, it wouldn’t be strange for him to have a nephew around that age.
‘He does have somewhat foreign-looking features….’
After all, being mixed-race was common in this era.
And there were people who entered the Tower at a young age.
Internationally, minors weren’t exactly encouraged to climb the Tower.
But Awakenings didn’t necessarily care about age, so it was impossible to completely prohibit minors from entering.
‘Still, even though he’s wearing a cosplay, it doesn’t look out of place at all.’
While Baek Jin-seong looked at Ar with interest in his military uniform, Neia spoke.
“Ar, introduce yourself.”
Argelair spoke proudly.
“Second Lieutenant Argelairhhyuh…! Nice to meet you!”
Argelair had bitten its tongue.
The chat exploded with reactions.
