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3.01% The Lone Healer / Chapter 7: The First Floor

Capítulo 7: The First Floor

The group stood outside the main dungeon.

Despite how ominous the castle appeared, no one was looking at its structures. Instead, all 100 adventurers were looking at one thing.

The portal at its gates.

"What is this?" A girl asked.

"A portal inside of a portal?" Another one responded though he sounded unsure. "How is this possible?"

Neve shared their confusion. This hadn't happened before, in any of the dungeons she'd visited.

Almost as though the people in charge of the Unity Trials were trying to make it as clear as possible what this was, some words appeared over the portal.

{Main Dungeon}

{Your Fate Lies Here}

"Uh… Guess that answers our questions," Neve muttered.

"It's almost midnight. If that's where we have to go, then that's where we have to go," Carson told them all. "We don't have time to gawk at it. You all know your roles and positions, right? Is everyone ready?"

The group, understandably, looked hesitant. However, they nodded little by little, as the ticking clock in their HUDs reminded them of what would happen if they weren't inside this dungeon by the time 12:00 am came around.

"Good. Let's go."

Leading them all, Carson was the first to walk into the dungeon. Stella and John followed him in, then Uriel and Allen, and finally, the low-levels poured in one at a time.

Neve wasn't too sure what she'd expected, but what she saw certainly wasn't it.

"You're joking…" A man murmured beside her.

It was another world entirely. Just like when they'd come in through the first portal, they'd been teleported to a different land.

The only difference was that, from here at least, this land didn't quite seem as large.

"Welcome, humans," a familiar voice spoke, and the adventurers looked up. Sure enough, Tamira was floating above them. "This is the main dungeon."

"How exactly does this count as a dungeon?" John asked, stepping forward. His black and gold armor shone brightly as he looked up defiantly at the snake. "Where exactly are we supposed to go?"

"I will answer any and all questionsss," the snake hissed, "before that, however, let me say a few things, alright?" She asked him. Reluctantly, the man nodded. "Good. Well, here is how the main dungeon works. The main dungeon consists of 10 floors. You are standing in floor 1. Each one will present you with different monsters, landscapes, climates, etc. Each one will present you with different obstacles as well. And, each one has a boss fight at the opposite end of the portal. Defeat that boss fight and a new portal will appear that takes you to the next floor. The boss fight is marked on your map. You can fight it at any time."

"Ah… I see," John replied as he quickly checked it.

"This dungeon, as… unconventional as it might seem," she continued, "functions like any other dungeon. That means that there are secret rooms with hidden treasures and safe rooms where you can rest in between fights and heal. Not every floor will have one, however. If you check your map, for example, you will find that there is no safe zone here."

Doing so, Neve found that her words were true. She also found that, indeed, this land, or this "floor" was quite small.

"In addition, there will be chests, traps, and obstacles you can choose to tackle or ignore."

Neve took a second to look around, upon hearing that. It was hard to imagine what a "secret room" would look like in this sort of area, given that they'd been dropped in the middle of nowhere, with no buildings in sight.

"One last thing," Tamira added, "take a look behind you."

All of the players gathered did just that. Neve's eyes widened when she noticed what Tamira was about to explain.

"As you can see, the portal is still open. While you are inside the first 5 floors, you may leave the main dungeon at any time. Your progress will be saved, should you choose to do so, meaning you can leave and head back inside at a later point to resume your clear. However, two things. One, if you leave the main dungeon and you had not filled your AP quota before coming in, you will be punished. Two, from the 6th floor on, you will not have the option to leave, anymore. You must remain inside until the entire main dungeon is finished. Understand?"

"But, we can leave right now... This is good, right?" A player asked.

The players voiced their appreciation, but Neve could not do the same.

Maybe she should have just been grateful, but she wondered why this dungeon would function unlike any other dungeon when it came to this one, very important, detail.

An answer, unfortunately, did not come to her. She wasn't *that* clever, after all.

Despite what her father would have said in the past.

"Now, any questions?"

"Where are all the monsters?" One meek girl asked shyly.

Tamira began spinning in the air.

[Shit.]

The snake waited. No one else said anything.

"Well, if that's your only question, I will answer it this way: BEGIN!"

Tamira suddenly disappeared.

The players were left confused and alone, until, up ahead, a rumbling began.

Carson was the first to react.

"Everyone! Get ready! Like we said, mages and archers, stay behind the others! Fighters, draw your weapons! Form a half circle, everyone! Keep our backs to the portal!"

The rumbling became louder and louder, with growls and roars joining the sounds to form a chaotic harmony.

As Neve looked ahead, her eyes widened.

[You're joking,] Neve thought, as she pulled out her staff. [This is all one big battleground!?]

Monsters appeared from the darkness, illuminated by the moon, charging toward the group.

They came in so many different shapes and sizes. Spiders, goblins, trolls, orcs, Neve swore she could even see wraiths and ghosts among them, flying in with the other creatures.

She quickly understood this was a statement, on behalf of the main dungeon.

If they couldn't handle this, they wouldn't be able to handle anything that they'd be seeing throughout the 10 floors.

As the monsters arrived, the higher-level players moved to meet them.

Neve trailed behind them.

Instincts that had been hammered into her through countless hours of online gaming and the hours she'd spent clearing dungeons since the Unity Trials began, kicked into gear.

She followed them into battle, intending to do her best as a healer.

And, hoping she'd get killed in the process, of course.

[Well, let's see if it finally happens!]

The first person to begin fighting was Carson since he was the closest to the incoming horde. Knowing he'd take quite a bit of damage due to his position, Neve cast two spells back-to-back.

She first cast {Sacred Ground}, to reduce the amount of damage the man was about to take, and then cast {Healing Ground} on top of that, as soon as Carson clashed with his first enemy.

[Remember your fundamentals, Neve. Keep track of your mana, pay attention to all of the allies around you, and protect the high-priority targets. Mind your positioning, and try to stay out of sight.]

Listening to her own advice, once those two spells were out, Neve checked her mana.

MP: 225/330

[As much as I'd love to spam my abilities on people, there are literally more people in this fight than I can heal. I need to economize my mana. That means…] She looked around, as the monsters surrounded them, engaging all of the other players. [I'm just going to have to let some of these people get hurt.]

She didn't want to, of course. As a healer, it hurt her pride to allow her team to take any damage at all, but it was simply a fact that this was the optimal course of action.

And, well, some people simply mattered more than others.

Stella, in the distance, took out her spear and began skewering multiple enemies at once. Some goblin archers had her in their crosshairs, though. Noticing that Neve cast {Hard Target} on her.

Spending the 75 mana required to cast that ability hurt, but she hoped it would be a good investment.

To her left, John Dulan was using both his swords to maximum effect, cleaving and cutting creatures in half.

[Wait,] Neve saw, squinting as she watched him fight. [Why are these creatures so hard to kill? He should be…]

Neve then checked the monsters' levels for the first time. She'd been so concerned with her allies that she hadn't taken the time to do that yet.

What she found made her pause.

[Level 21, level 19, level 22… Aren't their levels too high?]

They'd been told that the enemies inside the main dungeon would scale with the group's levels. Had that been a lie? The majority of the players here were under level 20. Many of them weren't even above level 15. So, why were these monsters so much stronger than them?

She couldn't focus on answering questions like that right now, however. Not when the battle was raging around her.

"Agh!" Stella cried out to Neve's right. The healer spun quickly to face her. She found that an orc had landed a lucky hit on her thigh.

Neve cast {Healing Ground} before her mind had even caught up to what her eyes had seen. It was pure instinct. Her spell was weak, but she hoped it would give Stella enough healing to push through the pain.

[My mana…]

MP: 200/330

[I don't want to let it get too low. I should get a couple more spells in and then let it- huh?]

"Worry not, child. You aren't the only healer here."

That was Father Uriel's voice. Neve looked behind her and found the man casting spells at the other high-level players, with an efficiency and a quickness that outmatched her own. The magical runes he placed all throughout the battlefield glowed bright, nearly looking like beacons of light.

"This is a team effort, Neve. It is alright to rely on others."

Neve chuckled as she turned back toward the players ahead.

"… I'm not too used to doing that," she muttered, though Uriel caught her words anyway.

Because Uriel was taking some of the healing responsibilities into his own hands, Neve looked around, trying to gauge how the fight was going.

The high-level players, aided by herself, Uriel, and other healers, were performing beautifully. The same could not be said for the low-levels, however.

Screams and cries could be heard amidst the sounds of blades clashing and bones breaking. One boy was pushed down by a large orc and had his head stomped on, dying instantly. The sight of it made Neve turn away quickly. She wished she could do something about it, but it was simply not smart to worry about them right now.

In stark contrast, Carson was laughing as he wielded his massive ax to great effect, swinging it joyously and sweeping away groups of enemies at a time with it. His bronze armor was covered in green and black blood, as was his face, and he was loving every second of it.

Neve understood then why the clips of these players online got so many millions of views. It was an inspiring sight, to be sure.

She was taken out of those thoughts, however, as she noticed something odd.

It was her map. On it, she could see a red marker drawing closer and closer to her own position.

[Huh?] Neve tilted her head. [What is…?]

Suddenly, a creature appeared that put all of the others around it to shame.

A giant troll carrying two clubs that were as big as old trees appeared. Every step it took caused the ground to tremble slightly, and the roar it proceeded to give nearly tore Neve's eardrums.

She'd never seen anything like it outside of the MMOs she used to play. It was a true raid boss, in the flesh.

Level 51

MP: 200/200

[Wait… Its level is so high too.]

"That… may be a problem," Uriel murmured beside Neve.

"Is that the floor boss!?" Neve asked.

"Prob'ly," Allen, cleaning blood off his knives, said, walking up to Neve. "The first floor is kinda throwing everything it's got at us, isn't it?"

"That seems like the point," Stella said, walking closer to them. As Carson and John noticed, they too stopped and took a few steps back.

"Ah, finally!" Carson called out. "An actual challenge!"

"A troll as our first-floor boss. Are they mocking us?" John asked.

Despite its intimidating size, Neve could understand why he was asking that. Trolls were among the most straightforward kinds of monsters, with clearly defined strengths and weaknesses.

For a moment, that irritating thing Thomas had said went through Neve's mind.

[Fairness… Yeah, right. Maybe they really do just think we're that weak.]

She snuck a glance behind her, wanting to see how the lower-level players were doing. Immediately, her eyes fell on Thomas, who was working to eliminate some enemies surrounding him.

He did not look anything like Carson as he fought. All Neve could see in his eyes was anger and rage, currently being vented out on his surrounding opponents.

Neve just sighed and turned back toward the troll.

"Okay, what are we gonna do about this then?" Neve asked as the high-level players stood around her.

"Treat it the same as every other troll," John responded, holding his blades by his sides. "Slash its legs, attack it from multiple angles, and aim for its eyes, if possible. Get on my back, everyone. I can carry this."

"I'll be right next to you," Stella replied, nodding with a smile. With her polearm held out before her, she went in with John, and Carson soon joined them as well.

"Hey, wait for me!" The bald-headed man proclaimed loudly as he followed them with his ax beside him.

"Guess I'll show off a little too. Why not?" Allen asked as he went with them.

The sight ahead of her really looked like something out of a fantasy movie. Players in gaudy, brilliant armor, clashed with an enemy that looked so much bigger than them but did so because they knew they could handle it due to their combined strength.

The sight behind her, however, was a reality check. Death and pain were all she could see coming from the lower-level players.

So, naturally, Neve focused on what was ahead.

"Neve, you focus on aiding Stella and Carson. Leave Allen and John to me, alright?" Uriel instructed, probably because his healing power was more potent.

"Got it."

"Good."

With that, the fight against the boss began in earnest.

John looked like a whirlwind of blades, using high-level skills that cast a glowing silhouette around his body, that Neve hadn't seen before, as he targeted the monster's legs. The creature growled, raising its clubs up into the air and trying to bring them down on top of him, but he was too fast. He dashed out of the way and before the monster could locate him again, another opponent had appeared. Carson slammed the blade of his ax on top of the monster's right foot, earning a pained howl. Instantly, the monster moved to smack him away with one of its clubs.

Neve ran toward him, moving between other skirmishes that were happening at the same time. When she was in range, she instantly cast {Healing Ground} on top of him. While this was happening, Stella approached the monster from behind.

She leaped high up into the air, raising her spear.

Bringing it down on the troll's back, the monster roared. The spear remained impaled in it, and the monster thrashed violently, trying to shake her off.

Allen then saw a window of opportunity to use one of his assassin skills.

Throwing out two knives in quick succession, he took out the troll's eyesight in one swift move.

"Uh, can someone finish it off already!? I'm getting dizzy here!" Stella yelled out.

"On it," John replied quickly.

He stood in front of the troll with both swords outstretched.

He crossed them and then dashed forward. The man looked like a bolt of lightning as he jumped up, aiming for the troll's head.

With a pair of immaculate slashes from his swords, he took the troll's head off.

Neve watched him fall back to the ground, impressed. But, she needed to check in on Carson.

She ran to his side and crouched next to him. The man hadn't gotten up.

"You okay?" She asked, leaning over him.

His eyes opened and he started cackling.

"Hahaha, yes, yes, I'm fine," he responded as he stood up. "That thing packs a serious punch. It's good that no one else got hit. Others might not have been able to take it."

Relieved, Neve helped him to his feet.

Neve hadn't noticed, but as the troll fell, many of the other monsters were slowly being cleaned up as well.

Before long, the battle was over. The first floor had been cleared, just like that.

"Is everyone alright?" Carson walked toward the others. His question was only meant for the high-level players, of course.

"Just fine, old man," Allen replied.

"Isn't that my title?" Uriel asked.

"You're all old to me," Allen shrugged.

"Haha, ahh, God bless."

Neve caught Stella looking back, away from them. There was a serious look in her eyes.

Neve looked toward the same place and understood what had caught her attention.

The lower-level players were all slowly getting their bearings, healing themselves, and picking each other up.

Neve checked her HUD to see how many players were still around.

78/100

[… 22 people died in the first fight?]

Neve couldn't believe it. She had only noticed one of these deaths as she tried to help the higher-level players. It was incredible.

A portal appeared behind the troll's body.

[Floor 2]

"Alright, everyone," Carson called out. His voice soared above anyone else's. "We should keep moving. Come on."

"Shouldn't we take a break?"

That voice came from Thomas, the level 8 player Neve had spoken to earlier.

He stepped forward. Like the others, the man was covered in blood. He did not look happy about it, though.

"We need some time to recover. Can't we-"

"You're welcome to do so," Carson responded. "But, there's no telling what else will come. And, remember, our intent is to clear the entire main dungeon. We need to keep going while we're warmed up. I'm moving on, the rest of you can do as you wish. If you want to sit around and wait here, that's just a risk you'll have to take on your own."

Without another word, Carson walked through the portal to the next floor.

"Didn't have to be so dramatic about it, but yeah," Allen mumbled, following behind him.

Uriel and John both did so as well without saying a thing. Stella, however, walked over to Neve first.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, her hands on her hips as she smiled down at Neve.

"Uh, good… good," Neve said, wanting to look away. Even with monster guts covering her body, she still looked beautiful.

"That's nice to hear. I saw you a couple of times during the fight. You're quick. You've got a lot of potential, Neve."

"T-Thanks."

[I'm so fucking pathetic,] she thought, feeling how her heart turned to mush under the weight of those words.

With that being said, Stella went into the portal as well.

Neve couldn't keep herself from sneaking a look again at the low-level players.

Thomas was somewhat far away, saying something to the others. He looked like he was giving a speech. Probably something to help them all cope with what had just happened.

She felt sorry for them, but there was nothing about this situation that she could do.

The world was just unfair like that.

She went in with the others and entered the next floor.

This one was some sort of desert, with red-orange sands and rolling hills as far as the eyes could see. The map showed that this spot was a safe zone.

The landscape wasn't what caught everyone's attention, though. No, Stella, Carson, Allen, Uriel, and John were all frozen, looking at something ahead.

As Neve peeked around them, she saw what they were looking at.

The low-level players saw them too, as they came in from behind Neve. Thomas stood beside her, staring at the same things.

Two players covered in blood that reflected the moonlight, were on their knees beside a small campfire.

Carson walked over to them.

"What happened to you two?" He asked. Neve could hear it all from where she stood.

"I-I-I…" One of them, a woman, struggled to speak. "I-I tried to escape…"

"Huh?" Carson pulled back.

"So many people were getting hurt…" She said. "I saw some players leaving the dungeon and I tried to follow them. I thought I was going to die."

The other player, a man, continued:

"Four of us. Four of us tried to escape but we had no Activity Points. So, we were punished." His voice was fully devoid of emotion as he explained the situation. "We were sent into an arena and told that we weren't allowed to leave until two people died... We killed each other."

The girl swallowed and wiped away some tears.

"They said that we could skip a floor as a reward and… we didn't want to be alone outside, so... we let them dump us here."

Neve and Stella looked at each other. The looks on their faces let them both know they agreed on how awful this was.

Neve looked to the right and found that Thomas seemed even angrier.

"… Take some time before you follow us," Carson told them. "Rest here. This spot is a safe zone. The rest of you, come on. Let's keep moving."


Capítulo 8: The Second Floor and an Unfortunate Realization

No one said much as the players began moving through the second floor. As they ventured out past the safe zone, it seemed as though this floor would not function the same way the last one did, with an army of monsters meeting them right at the start.

The mood was awful, with most players keeping their heads low as they begrudgingly dragged their legs forward. Again, Neve felt for them, but it couldn't be helped.

This was just how things were.

As they walked over the sand, on their way to the red marker on the map, indicating this floor's boss, Neve kept her eyes peeled. A scream from somewhere behind her caught her attention, though.

"Uwah!?" A guy yelled out and everyone turned toward him.

A grey, sickly-looking hand had sprouted from the ground, grabbing his right leg.

"What?" Neve asked.

More screams followed. Her eyes went from one player to another, all of which were being grabbed like this.

"Monsters? Are they in the sand!?" Carson asked in turn.

Almost as if on cue, a few hands nearby burst out.

Neve was grabbed, along with everyone around her.

"Agh!"

Neve flailed wildly, nearly falling on her back. The thing's grip was too strong. Neve felt like her leg was about to come off. She tried, but she was powerless to shake it away.

Stella, however, came running toward her and cut the hand off with the blade of her spear, causing Neve to slip as the pressure pulling away at her was relieved.

The instant her back made contact with the sand, another hand sprouted. This one wrapped around her throat.

"Hegh!" Neve couldn't breathe. The hand squeezed her neck so hard that Neve wasn't worried she'd be choked to death, she worried her neck would break. Stella, however, came and cut that one off too.

"I've got you!" Stella told her as she grabbed her by her shoulders, pulling her up onto her feet.

Neve coughed twice.

[Holy shit.]

"Look out," she tried to say then, as a monster fully came out of the ground from behind Stella.

They were zombies.

Off pure reflex, Stella spun and kicked the creature in the head.

The blow was effective, but just barely.

Neve moved to cast some spells, but the look on Stella's face made her pause.

[Huh?]

Then, she spotted the creature's level. Instantly, she understood the problem.

Level 25

MP: 50/50

[Huh?]

Wondering if, maybe, it was just this creature in particular that was this strong, Neve checked the others' levels as well, trying to push the sounds of screaming players out of her mind for a moment.

No. Each and every one of the zombies was around level 24.

[Their levels are higher... Why? Why did they get stronger? Is it just because we're on the second floor?]

"Focus, Neve," Stella said. "You're a healer. Your responsibilities are too great for you to keep standing around like this!"

"R-Right!"

As she heard that, Neve began looking around to see who needed the most help. One of the zombies was holding a sword. It slashed at a girl's stomach, and the woman fell back, her guts spilling out from her body.

Along with a few other healers, Neve cast {Healing Ground} under her and the wound on her body slowly closed, cutting off the guts that had escaped her. If it had just been Neve's spell, individually, the player would have just died, but the healing effects stacked and she was saved.

Another player took that zombie on then, distracting it before it could finish her off.

Continuing to inspect the battlefield, Neve only had to cast a few more spells before the wave of zombies was dealt with.

The whole "fight" lasted just over a minute, but Neve was tired.

"Is that all?" Carson asked, looking around.

"Seems like it," Stella responded. "The boss marker hasn't moved."

"… Then this floor's different. They want to whittle us down before we get to the boss."

"Let them try!" Allen said, chuckling. "If every monster they send after us is this weak, we have nothing to fear."

"Yet," Uriel added.

"Hey."

Another voice spoke up.

The high-level players went quiet and turned toward it. Neve did the same.

Thomas stood there, his armor covered in blood, with a dark expression on his face. The level 8 player walked up to them.

"Yes?" Carson asked.

"Don't you think we should take a moment to rest?" He asked. To Neve's ears, it sounded like he was holding back a deep anger. "If their intention is to win a battle of endurance, then we need to keep our energy high."

"H-He's right!" A man shouted. "We can't just keep moving like this."

"Like I said before," Carson began responding. "You're welcome to-"

"So, you want to sentence us to death simply because we can't keep up?" Thomas asked, cutting him off.

That question brought silence upon the group. Carson put his weapon away before continuing the conversation.

"You act as though I designed this place. I didn't."

"But, you know that we are not as strong as you. You know that we won't be able to keep up if we move forward, right? Doesn't that mean our deaths are on your shoulders?"

Carson scoffed, looking away. Thomas took another step forward.

"One hour. That's all we need," he said.

Carson put his axes away, looking down for a few seconds.

"… John," Carson said, looking away. "You're our strongest. What do you think we should do?"

The man in the black and gold armor was cleaning blood off both his swords as he was posed that question. He shrugged.

"We meant to keep this a democracy, right?" John asked. "We should rest, then. If that's what the majority wants, then it's fine."

"Then we'll do that," Carson said. "Resting for a single hour is pointless, though. We'll walk back to the safe zone and set up camp for the night."

Thomas did not give a word of gratitude as he quickly spun around and walked away.

The other low-level players followed behind him. Neve watched them go, feeling uneasy.

[That was... kind of intense,] she thought as she followed behind the high-level players. [Oh, well.]

---

Later, the tents were set up once more at the safe zone. As before, the low-level players were separated from the high-level ones, to prevent the high-level ones from doing anything in the nighttime.

A lot of the players had gone to sleep already, including the high-levels. As for Neve, however, she felt she couldn't just yet.

She was sitting atop a hill that overlooked a large part of the second floor's landscape. With some of her remaining WS tokens, and some that she gained from helping with the last two fights, she purchased a single slice of pepperoni pizza and a wooden bench to sit on.

Checking her status, this is what she saw:

Neve Stephens

Level 20

MP: 330/330

EXP: 141/200

Activity Points: 120

WS Tokens: 32

[Almost leveled up,] she noted. [Would be good to get stronger before we get to the 3rd floor. Though, with how things are going…]

"This spot taken?"

A voice cut through the silent atmosphere.

Neve turned to the right. Carson was standing there with a friendly smile on his face.

"Uh, no," Neve responded, shifting to the left to give him more space. He was a pretty big guy, after all.

"Agh…" Carson sat down with a huff. Like Neve was doing, he stared ahead. "You want a drink?" He asked, suddenly. "I'll pay for it."

"Ah, no, sorry," Neve shook her head. "I don't drink."

"Really? Why's that? You thinkin' of applying to the Church's Guild or something?"

"No, no," Neve laughed a little, forcing a smile. "Just… drinking brings up bad memories."

"Ah, understood." He didn't press her on that. Though, he quickly bought a bottle of liquor from the World Shop and began drinking on his own.

The man wasn't wearing his armor, right now. He was wearing a regular T-shirt and some shorts. He looked so… normal.

Bulky and absurdly buff, but normal.

"So, Neve… What do you think?"

"About?"

"Everything," Carson said. "How we've done. How we're doing. How things are."

"Uh… Not much to say," she muttered. "Looks like things are going to get harder, though."

"Heh… Yeah, seems like it," Carson gave a bitter chuckle. "I guess I should apologize for that."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"You haven't caught on? I swore you would have, given how clever you seemed in that meeting we had before."

"Ehm, no, I haven't."

"Ah, well, uh... let me explain. So, you know how this place scales with our levels, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, see, uh," he took another sip, "what that means is that the level of the monsters here is probably going to match the average level of our group."

"Um, yeah, I understood that much," Neve nodded.

"Well, Stella had some suspicions after seeing the zombies' levels. So, she math for us once we set up camp. You know she used to be a pencil pusher, right?"

"She told me."

"Yeah, she's good at math. To try to figure it out, she took note of our players' levels and calculated what the average would be. She said that there were a few ways to do that, but that her calculations didn't make sense. Then, she told us that if you do try to calculate the most common level and call that the average, it would be something like 13 or 15. But, that there's one method, one bullshit way of doing things that makes the levels make sense. The one that worked was, uh, taking into account all of our levels, taking the highest, taking the lowest, and using whatever number was in between. I think that's what she did, anyway. I don't know, I didn't catch everything. Anyway, you understand the issue, right?"

"... Ah," Neve lowered her head. "Yeah."

"Yeah," Carson replied with a smile. "John, Allen, Stella, Uriel, and I, and all the other high-levels. If the 'average' level is calculated that way, then as the lower-level players die, our levels will push the 'average' up."

"But," Neve interrupted him, "why was the boss's level like 50 or whatever?"

"That's simpler," Carson said. "The boss's level was 51. Isn't that kind of a very specific number?"

"I guess."

"Well, Stella assumes that it's because the way the boss's level was calculated is like this: the system took the highest level player, John, and made the boss's level that plus 10. You add it up, you get 51. Take it all in, think about it for a second."

Neve did just that. She played back the latest fight in her mind and tried to analyze each of the variables she'd just been presented with.

It didn't take long before she realized why Carson was apologizing.

"I get it now."

[So, that means that, as lower-level players die, the level of the monsters is going to get higher, because the lowest level is getting brought higher to the top, that being John's. But,] she continued, [even if John was to somehow die, as long as the higher-level players exist, things are going to be harder for the rest of us. Shit.]

"Wait, but," Neve added, "shouldn't the lower-levels be getting stronger too?"

"Huh?"

"That one level 8 guy was level 8 before coming into the First Floor... and he was still level 8 after. If the monsters' levels are getting higher, it would be more manageable if the lower-levels were getting stronger too, but..."

"That's cause we're doing most of the work, which is also not good because that means they aren't getting as much EXP," Carson stated. Neve paused. "Also... You heard what happened with those four low-level players, right? They ran away and tried to leave the dungeon. I'm guessing that a lot of these people... I don't know if they've even swung their swords once in the time that they've been here. Anyway, who knew this place's game design would be that broken, huh?" Carson cackled. "Fuck, that stings. The guild representatives came here to help but it turns out that we're fucking things up for you. So, again, on behalf of all of us, I'm sorry."

Neve took that apology, but she couldn't accept it.

"It's not your fault," Neve shook her head.

"I'm pretty sure it is."

"No, it isn't."

Carson turned toward her. The look on his face begged for an explanation.

"It's on the lower-level players for coming here in the first place," Neve shrugged. "This is the most important mission humanity has. Why would someone who's level 8 or whatever decide that they wanted to come here? They must have been suicidal."

"Well, why did you decide to come here?" Carson asked.

Neve paused, swallowing and looking away.

"… Because I'm suicidal."

That statement caught Carson off-guard.

Neve looked down, half-closing her eyes. Exhaling deeply, she explained herself.

"I… After the Unity Trials started, I tried to look for something to live for. I became a healer, I tried to help people, and I did everything that I could for anyone that I could. But, nothing worked. I had lost everything I liked," she said, laughing somewhat weakly. "I lost my family. I lost my- I used to be a gamer, but I lost my passion for that even after people discovered you could buy internet service off the World Shop. I wasn't dating anyone, I had no friends. I… I had nothing to live for."

Neve leaned back the same way Carson had been doing, staring up at the night sky.

"I heard about this. The 10th expedition into an impossible dungeon, or whatever. So, I… I thought I had enough."

"… You came here to die?" Carson was in disbelief. Neve nodded. "But, you're trying so hard out in the fights. What's that about?"

"Because, even though I want to die, it would suck if other people got hurt because of me. If other people got hurt because I failed, you know?" She looked over at him. "So, I want to do the best that I can before it happens. I want it to happen naturally. I want to be fighting a boss, with you and Stella, maybe, and I want to have the boss get one last, lucky hit on me just before you guys are able to take it out. That's how I want to go out."

"Hmph," Carson shook his head. "I don't know much about your life, Neve. But you're far too young to be talking like that."

"Is there a right age to start talking like that?" Neve asked with a smile. "I don't know if I can wait that long."

"… I hope my son never starts feeling like that."

"You have a son?" Neve asked. She had known of Carson since before they met here, in the Final Challenge, but she hadn't known that.

"Yeah," he answered. "He's a couple of months old."

"Months!? You… You had him in the middle of all this?"

Carson laughed loudly.

"Why do you think I fight so hard?" He laughed even louder. "Neve, before everything kicked off, I was working construction. My wife was pregnant when the monsters appeared. I was scared, I was terrified, actually. But, it didn't take much time at all for me to start fighting. I had someone to look after, and that mattered more than anything else."

Neve couldn't believe that story. Compared to his, her story seemed so much less meaningful.

"I don't mean to say this as a brag or anything, but, that's what it's like to have something you want to fight for. Stella's got a promotion lined up at the Valkyries, you know? If she succeeds here, they want to have her be the guildmaster. John almost has enough WS tokens to buy himself a private home, away from the real world. He actually hates fighting, so he's pretty excited about the potential of early retirement. Uriel thinks that this whole thing is a test from God, and he wants to prove himself to him. Allen… I don't know what motivates him. Probably drugs and hookers, if I had to guess, I dunno."

Neve chuckled. Carson smiled back at her.

"For me, right now, what motivates me is this." He reached into his pockets and pulled out a piece of paper. "This is a journal of sorts. I had no idea how long I'd be here, so I figured I'd take this and write something in it every now and then. I want to give this to my son when I walk out of here."

"I… I see," she responded. Carson kept going, though.

"Point is, I think, if you wait long enough, eventually, something comes around that's worth fighting for. Something that's worth living for. So, I'm sorry, but I hope it doesn't happen," Carson told her. He stood up, facing the moonlight defiantly. His scarred, bulky arms rested tiredly by his sides. "I hope that if that boss fight takes a shot at you, I'll be there to tank it. And I hope that if you get out of here, you'll find what you want to fight for. And that I might convince you to go have a drink with me sometime."

"That last one's less likely than me finding something to fight for, honestly."

"Well, shit."

They laughed together, sitting there.

However, the good times did not last.

There were raised voices coming from behind the two of them, by the camps. Both players turned toward them.

"What's happening?" Neve asked.

"Uh... Looks like Stella's arguing with someone."

Quickly, the two of them got off the bench. In the distance, there were two groups gathered around the high-level players' tents.

John, Allen, and the other high-level players, and the low-level players standing opposite them, with Thomas leading them.

Stella and Uriel were speaking to the level 8 player. The Valkyrie seemed incredibly frustrated.

"... I'm sorry, but we can't do that." Neve heard Stella tell him with finality, turning around to walk back to her tent.

She didn't catch any other part of this discussion. But, she didn't need to. What happened next was all she needed to see.

"So am I."

Then, as soon as he said that, Thomas raised up his hands and threw two daggers, as quickly as the low-level player could.

One landed between Father Uriel's eyes, killing him instantly. The other went through the back of Stella's neck.

Stella fell forward and blood began pooling around her body before anyone could react.

[What...] Neve froze. The pizza she'd been eating fell to the dirt. [What just happened?]


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