CHSE 16

Chapter 16

“What the—?! You! How did you find me??”
The snowflake fairy tapped Tichi’s head with her tiny hand, her face full of curiosity.
Tichi wasn’t exactly a giant teddy bear, but compared to him, this fairy was less than half his size.

<What do you mean how? I just saw you.>

“Really? That can’t be right… I should be invisible. Our elder blessed me with concealment…”
The fairy tilted her head, confused by Tichi’s response.
But then she giggled and started flying circles around him. Seeing that, I let out a sigh of relief.

‘Tichi’s actually being useful for once?’
He didn’t have any combat power or buff skills, so other than being a companion, he hadn’t contributed much to conquering the tower.
Still, thanks to his resemblance to a fairy, he managed to spot this snowflake fairy. I never would’ve expected that.

Anyway, with the fairy found, the quest could move forward much faster.
“Good thing, too. I don’t know when the Chinese are going to show up.”
Even if the Frost Queen had a respawn time, I couldn’t be sure when exactly she’d reappear. At any moment, Chen Shiyi might appear before me.

And then—
Something strange pricked my senses.

<?!> Tichi must have felt it too. He stopped playing with the fairy and stiffened, glancing at me. That’s when I noticed a tree branch, moving like a living creature, creeping toward the fairy. “Monster?! Tichi! Watch out!!!” <Danger!> I drew my sword at the same time Tichi scooped the fairy into his arms and dove away. The massive branch smashed into the spot they had just vacated, burying itself in the ground. “The Frozen Wight Tree…?! How did it find us?” The fairy’s face turned pale at the sight of the branch embedded in the ground. I quickly stepped between her and the monster, swinging my sword at the branch. *Crunch!* The icy limb shattered into pieces under the strike of **Oath of Frost**. “GUOOOOHHH—!” A massive tree, cloaked in ice and snow, emerged from the forest, radiating a suffocating killing intent. The Frozen Wight Tree. A treant-type monster found in the Thousand-Year Ancient Grove, known for sucking the life force out of anything living. “GRRRRAAHHH!!!” Its frozen branches whipped at me with terrifying speed. *Whoosh!* It was just a normal monster, but being on the 61st floor, the sheer power behind its attacks was no joke—comparable to elite monsters from lower floors. Blocking was out of the question, so I ducked under the swing and countered with my sword. *Crack!* Golden mana split through the branch, scattering shards of ice everywhere. ‘Good… my attacks are working.’ Thanks to the growth buffs from the Tower, I could still hold my own here. I might be weaker in raw stats, but my overwhelming mana made up for it. “GRAAAHHH!!!” Frustrated that its attacks weren’t landing, the Wight Tree roared and began targeting me instead of the fairy. ‘Even better.’ I crushed the branches coming at me one after another, waiting for my chance. When its offense slowed, I dashed forward. A sharp branch lunged for my chest—I tilted my head just enough to avoid it. *Slash!* It grazed my cheek, but nothing a potion couldn’t fix. Now within range, I thrust my sword forward. “Die!” The blade pierced deep into its trunk. I flooded it with mana— *KABOOM!* Golden energy erupted inside the monster. The Wight Tree’s massive body splintered apart and collapsed to the ground. Dead. I turned back, only to see— <Are you okay? You’re not hurt, right?>

“……?”
Tichi was holding the fairy gently, consoling her.

The fairy looked at him with teary eyes, a mix of relief and admiration on her face. Then she shyly smiled and nodded.

“…Do I really have to witness this?”
I wasn’t talking to Tichi.
I was scolding myself for failing to notice the Wight Tree before it attacked.

“Thanks for helping. You saved me.”
The fairy spread her wings again, her fear fading away. Mischief sparkled in her expression once more.

“Really, thank you. But… who are you two?”
“My name’s Han Jimin. I’m a hunter.”
“A hunter? Ah—!”

The fairy fluttered excitedly.
“I’ve heard stories about hunters from the others! But I thought you’d never come this far into the tower!”

The longer she spoke, the more Tichi stared at me. What? Why?

“There’s a lot behind that story.”
Too much to explain. She didn’t seem eager to hear it anyway.

“Well, either way, I’m glad you came. Follow me. I’ll take you to our village.”

Perfect. Not only did I gain their trust, but now I’d learn the location of their settlement.

On the way, we ran into several monsters, all targeting the fairy.

“This is strange…”
<What do you mean?>
“The monsters of the Ancient Grove shouldn’t be able to find us. The Snowflake Barrier protects us. We need to get back quickly.”

The fairy flapped her wings urgently.

Eventually, we reached the snowflake fairies’ hidden village, deep in the forest.

“Wow…”
I couldn’t help but gape.

The houses, seamlessly woven from branches and leaves, shimmered like they were made of snowflowers under the sunlight. It was breathtaking—like a magical painting come to life.

“I wish I could take a picture of this…”

But the beauty masked a grim reality. The inside of the village was under attack.

“W-What?! How did monsters get in?!”
The fairy rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

I scanned the battlefield.
Dozens of monsters—each as strong as a B-rank hunter’s opponent—ravaged the village.

But to me…

“Blessing.”

With the buff active, they weren’t even a threat.

Slash!
A Frost Wolf lunged at me, only to be sliced in half instantly.

Even the Ice Queen—a C-rank boss monster—had fallen to my blade before. Normal monsters didn’t stand a chance.

More poured in—giant frost beetles with jagged carapaces and massive pincers.

Crash! Crack!
Their armor shattered like glass under my sword.

<Whistle—!>
Tichi let out an impressed whistle, then turned his attention back to fussing over the fairy.
‘That’s it. No more cherry peppers for you.’

While I fought tooth and nail, he was busy playing guardian angel.

Still, with Blessing active, clearing them out wasn’t difficult.

‘I made the right choice picking Support over Healer.’
Healing skills could be useful, but hunters already had potions. Better to not get hit at all.

“HAAAH!!!”

BOOM!
One strike split a Frost Bear’s head into fragments.
I hunted down the beetles hiding between trees, crushed more Wight Trees, and turned the battlefield to ash.

“Who is he?”
“Who saved us?”

One by one, the fairies emerged from hiding, their hopeful eyes fixed on me.

I kept fighting, determined to leave a good impression.

“They’re all dead!”
“We’re saved! Incredible!!!”
“A strong human!”

The last monster fell, and the fairies fluttered toward me like falling snowflakes.

“Thank you, thank you!”
“You’re a kind human. Want something to drink?”

Some bowed with sparkling eyes, others circled me in excitement.

Then, one fairy—clearly their elder—floated forward, lifting her tiny dress hem in greeting.

“Thank you so much. Call me Snow. You saved us.”

[Faction: Snowflake Fairies reputation unlocked.
Current reputation: 5000/15000 (Friendly)]

‘…Oh!’
The system prompt appeared instantly.

‘Starting at Friendly? That’s pretty high…’
Normally, faction reputation quests began at Neutral or even Hostile. But saving them gave me a big boost.

“One thing, though. I heard you were safe because of the Snowflake Barrier. What happened?”

Snow turned serious.
“You’re right. We were always protected. But lately… the barrier has been weakening.”

“Why?”
“…It’s old. It’s been around too long. And that’s why… I need to ask you a favor.”

“Of course.”
Anything for reputation points.

Snow gestured to the monster corpses littering the ground.
“To restore the barrier, we need the essences of these forest monsters. Can we have them? We’ll offer you fair trade.”

“Trade?”

She signaled to a group of fairies, who flew up and scattered snowy dust into the air.
Before me, words formed like a glowing menu board:

[3 Essences: Snowflake Ice Cream]
[10 Essences: Snowflake Powder]
[20 Essences: Leather from Snowflake Wings]

A price list.
Basically, I could farm essences to both help them and exchange for items.

‘Just like Save Earth’s faction system…’
Except back then, NPCs did all the farming for me.

‘But… are these even worth it?’
Monster essences from the 60th floor and up were extremely valuable on the market.

‘Three essences for ice cream? Not even five-star hotels sell it that overpriced…’
Still, since I couldn’t sell loot outside this tower, it didn’t matter.

I kept reading down the list—

[1000 Essences: Snowflake Elixir (Requirement: Firm Alliance, One-Time Only)]

That last entry caught my eye.

“What’s this Snowflake Elixir?”

Snow brightened immediately.
“Our essence! The most precious treasure of our kind, obtained only once every thousand years.”

“Once every… thousand years?!”
“Mm-hmm!”

“So… if I take it, no one else can?”
“Exactly!”

She pointed to the [1-time only] note.

“Hmmm…”

That was tempting.
If I took this elixir, the Chinese hunters who managed this tower would never get it. It would be payback for all the achievements they stole.

I quickly pulled up the item details.

[Snowflake Elixir – Unique.
+2 Mana.
If using two or more Mana Circuits, reduces mana consumption of each by 10%.]

“…Whoa. Mana +2 AND mana cost reduction?”

No wonder she called it priceless. Even with the Tower’s growth boosts, I wanted it badly.

If another hunter saw this, entire nations might go to war over it.

“There’s no way I’m letting this fall into Chinese hands.”

Frozen Wight Tree? Frost Bear? Frost Beetles?
You’re all dead.